Resilient Creatures

Girl Almighty

"Not gonna lie, I was super surprised when I got your text about meeting up. You've basically disappeared off the face of the earth, Kelly." Chloe sipped from the glass in front of her as she looked at Kelly on the other side of the booth. The downtown Seattle bar was somewhere between swanky and hip, and the electro hip hop music blaring over the speakers was just loud enough that both of them had to speak louder than normal.

"I know, I know," Kelly replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I have not been a great friend recently. I swear I was going to make it up to you. So here we are."

"So you're paying for drinks. Got it. Excuse me!" Chloe mocked like she was calling for a waiter so she could order drinks. Kelly rolled her eyes at her friend. She missed Chloe's vibe. She didn't realize how much she needed this when she was deep in the project. 

"Well now that you mention it, I don't mind paying for drinks if you're willing to hear me out." Kelly grinned, crossing her fingers that this wouldn't blow up in her face.

"Hear you out...about what?" 

"Well, the good news is that I was able to get project kiwi almost fully functional. I was able to run some tests on a...patient...and was able to get really accurate translations."

Chloe's shocked face was a genuine reaction, her hands on her face and her mouth agape. "Wow! That's sick! I can't believe you dragged me out here just to tell me that! You could have called me! Unless..."

Kelly was already nodding. Chloe had read her mind somehow. "Yeah, so the bad news is that the machine still needs some work, and I need your help."

"My help? What do you mean? What happened to Dr. Ahmed?" 

"Well," Kelly started, not knowing how many details she'd be able to share. "Dr. Ahmed decided to step back from the project because of some health issues, and so he's..."

"Oh my god, so is it true? Is he transforming? What is he like these days?" Chloe's barrage of questions showed that she had been thinking and probably talking about it recently.

"Err, yeah, he is. I don't know if it's public information so don't share it. Don't." Kelly gave Chloe a stern look, knowing it probably was going to get out anyway. "He's mostly fine. He's been overwhelmed and stressed lately, so I think that's what prompted him to step away."

"Yeah, but you're saying he wants you to finish the project? All by yourself?"

"Well," Kelly rocked her head side to side as her voice went up in pitch, "Yeah, he said I could keep working on it, but he may have thought we were closer to being done than we are."

"So basically you told him you're at the finish line, and he said, Cool, I can take off now and go live the rest of whatever life I have?" 

Chloe's comment made Kelly feel like she had to defend her boss. "No, not exactly. Listen," Kelly collected herself, knowing she didn't need to rub Chloe the wrong way right now. "We are actually pretty close. The software is mostly done, the hardware just needs some minor modifications and then we're done."

"Okay..." Chloe's voice trailed off as she still struggled to put the pieces together. "So why are you talking to me about it? I can't even help you. Hardware's not my specialty." 

"I know," Kelly paused, ready to put on her most persuasive tone. "But you know other people who are good at hardware. Other people at Neurality."

"Kelly! I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it." Chloe wagged her finger at Kelly as if scolding her. "I knew that you had a hidden agenda calling me out here." 

"It's not like that. I wanted to see you too. I've missed you. And I wouldn't ask you unless I really needed your help."

"I don't get it. Why are you still on this project? You had such a good track at Neurality and you decided to go all in on Project Kiwi. I didn't say anything when you didn't join me when I transferred, but it has been hard to get a read on you since you've got MIA. Why is this so important to you?"