LJ Idol 10: Week 15: Patchwork Heart
Intersubjectivity
She shoulders her laptop bag and steps into the aisle joining the off boarding line.
When she makes it to the side of the bus she retrieves her pack, checking to be sure Mimzy her stuffed traveling companion is secured to the side, before hoisting the large pack up onto her shoulder and following the crowd into the passenger waiting area inside. She scans the inside of the station noting the restroomsand,the closed for the night food counter.
She checks the clock on the wall and the time on her ticket. She’ll have to wait here for an hour before the next bus north.
She sets her pack on the floor up against the one long bench seatand sits back, sprawls out her legsand stretches her arms.
She reaches into the back pocket of her denim cutoffs and pulls out the worn paper folded in fourths; smooths it out on her knee. It looks like one of those trope movie ransom notes, cut and pasted words in different styles and colors and, she supposes, in a way it sort of was. It was a map that would lead to the answer. It was more than a game for her it was the only thing she knew.
___________
He sees her before she gets on the bus.
Looking out the window he watches her drop off her pack to the baggage attendant. He waits for her to board and tries to subtly look over the seats.
She sits across the aisle and one seat up. He has a perfect view when she settles in and opens her laptop. He hadn’t bothered to try the wifi signal on this bus but he had all of his clues already.
He tries to div out what it is about her that makes him know she is another player. He’d become so accustomed to being surrounded by NPCs that he’d started to believe that other players didn’t exist IRL.
He wonders if she’s ever met The Man in the Gabardine Suit as he thumbs on his ereader. He starts highlighting his favorite phrases in blue and synchronicities in green.
__________
They make it to the first rest stop at 4am which she considers lucky so she decides to go inside.
Hi. I’m User51, he says extending his hand. He’s tall and skinny with a backpack over one shoulder and a woolen cap. Please verify that you are human? He smiles at her like it’s an inside joke.
Is this an, I’ll show you mine sort of thing? She asks.
He shrugs.
It’s been awhile since she’s interacted with another player. She had never really considered herself a "team player." Although, she could be irrational in her pleasure of simple efficiency. The ratio of output to input. Balance.
She pulls her map out of the side of her day packand unfolds it carefully holding it up for him with both hands.
He reaches out but she snatches it back before he can touch it.
Okay, okay, he says, still smiling, holding both hands up and then making a show of putting them into the pockets of his hoodie.
She holds it up again slowly. He nods and takes a step forward.
He looks it over it for a minute before looking up into her eyes.
What’s the one that got you started? He asks, stepping back again.
Skynet is watching. You?
The best is yet to come, he says glancing back over his shoulder.
She folds the map back up and returns it to the pocket.
C’mon, he says motioning to the small arcade room. She looks out the window at their bus waiting in the parking lot but he’s already started to walk away when she looks back. She hurries to follow.
We got a quarter? He asks when she falls into step next to him.
She takes one out of the lower pocket of her cargos and places it on his waiting palm. He feeds it into a pinball machine.
We like pinball? She asks dryly.
He tilts his head toward the display where the high scores are scrolling by in orange pixelated letters. User51 in the top three spots.
You’ve passed this way before, she says.
Bent over the machine he pulls his map out with one hand and launches the ball with the other. He holds it out to her. She makes no move to take it and his hand flies back to the paddle button on the side still clutching the paper in his hand.
He’s intent on the game so she reaches her arm under his and slips the paper out careful not to tear it and unfolds; reads while he plays.
__________
The round ends and he turns away from the machine.
Is this the part where you say come with me if you want to live? She asks with a smirk.
This is the part where you tell me your name, he says.
She stares at him for a minute before holding out her hand.
Meta4, she says. He shakes her hand and when she offers his map back to him, he takes it before walking over to the air hockey table.
She drops in the quarters and takes up her striker.
Personally, I think the whole thing; it’s more like chess and less like a virtual scavenger hunt, he says as they pass the puck across the low friction table.
Is that a Hal9000 joke? Really? That’s what your map is telling you? She’s indignant and he likes the way she uses her whole body to express her opinion.
You want it to be real. He realizes; standing and forgetting to protect his zone.
No, I just want it to make sense, she says as the disk clinks into the slot under the rail on his side of the table.
But time travel though? He asks looking at her skeptically.
Absolutely. And just so we’re clear AI took over a long time ago.
He pulls a face at her like he can’t believe she even has to say it before retreving the puck.
__________
What’s the ultimate question? She asks him later when they are back on the bus.
Am I the only one? He answers.
What’s your favorite scary movie?
I can never pick favorites, she says.
They fall into a companionable silence for miles.
He lets her read the passages he’s highlighted in his reader. She shows him how she folds pages into the center of her notebook to organize her stories.
He unfolds a set of pages that’s folded the opposite way under another set of pages.
This here is what we call a subreddit, he says.
She laughs and opens a page to let him read.
__________
We’re here, he says a few nights later motioning for her to close her eyes just before the driver throws on the harsh cabin lights. She turns her head to his shoulder, breathes out, blinking slowly before fully opening her eyes and looking up.
They go inside the station and share an order of dry scrambled eggs and salty french fries.
When he comes out from the bathroom she holds up their maps that she has bonded together with duct tape.
He hugs her and they walk together to the gate.
Later that night he gently wakes her.
I got a new one, he says, his face illuminated by the glow of his laptop screen. She moves to look as he tilts it toward her.
PATCHWORK HEART reads the captcha.
She smiles. He pulls the computer back into his lap and takes a screen shot of the page.
She takes out their map and runs her finger along the places she had stitched it together. Then she leans overand kisses his cheek.
Image is a collection of cutand pasted distorted captcha phrasesand numbers with Patchwork H3art in the middleand "User51 <3 Meta4" under the words "verify that you are not a bot"
_____________
*NPC means non player character. IRL means in real life. AI stands for artificial intelligence.
* Intersubjectivityand Captcha the flagwere two of the intersection week topics in Season 9. I was out by then but had this vague idea.
*I am glad these two finally got together, they’ve been in my head for so long geez.