He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Thirty Nine - Recommencing the Missions

Rush felt drained to his bones and not even the idea of finally being able to cook for himself gave him pleasure.  He had lost weight during the six weeks of filming the drama as he had struggled to eat the food prepared by robots and dispensers.  The phobias of this life outweighed the personality traits of his past lives.  Though he had returned home and despite being unable to leave his home due to the media storm, he had barely regained two pounds.

Today was his first day returning to the company as North wished to speak to him about upcoming projects and the Chairman wished to discuss the renewal of his contract.  He used private transportation in order to get to First Entertainment's offices; the upper monorail trains were effectively personal pods with no more than four seats, ferrying small groups of wealthy individuals to their destinations.  There were more tracks, less waiting times and smoother movements between buildings.  Rush wished he could take the pod to meet with Kez, but the boy lived in the mid-levels with no access to the floors beyond his school.

It didn't take long to renew the contract with the company, the conditions were favourable, although Rush had decided to renew for just two years. The Chairman had obviously questioned this, but Rush simply stated that he needed to look at things again then. Afterwards, Rush and his manager went to his office.

North's office was much like the other managers with similar talent beneath their wings; a reasonable size with their own coffee machines, large desks, up to date Holograph Units, etc. The man placed three tablets before him so he could compare the projects, but nothing really stood out between them. "What do you think?" North asked.

Rush shrugged. "What do you think?" he parroted the question.

"Fair enough, they are all pretty standard," North agreed. "I'll hold fire a few days, see if anything better comes up." He placed the tablets within his drawer before leaning slightly forward. "Ah, I hear that Honor is currently hovering on this floor. I think she heard you would be in today." Rush nodded his gratitude for the warning.

It didn't do much good. The woman practically pounced on him the moment he left the room. "Who is she?"

"Excuse me?" Rush replied.

"Who is the home wrecker that you dumped me for?" she demanded angrily. Naturally, several passerby's paused to watch the unfolding scene.

"Perhaps you ought to talk inside?" North suggested, indicating the privacy of his office.

"Not necessary," Rush told him, before turning his attention back to Honor. "It is none of your business."

"I knew it!" She spat, confidently. "There is no one, that was just an excuse wasn't it!" Rush shook his head in denial then made his way to brush past her. "Rush! You have to change your mind about us!" She pleaded.

"I'm sorry, that will not be happening."

"Why not?"

"I do not love you."

"What has love got to do with it?" She demanded, making Rush realise that in this world she was entirely correct with her words. He cussed, beneath his breath as he looked into her eyes, noting the odd conjoined twin pupil in one of them. It had caught his attention when they had first met and perhaps he had stared at it too long, making her falsely believe he was interested in her. "Come back to me. You know we look great together. Our children will be the most beautiful."

An vibration upon his wrist caught his attention and he noticed that his bracelet was glowing. He had wondered whether it was indeed Yang upon his wrist, but the little system had remained silent all this time, so he couldn't have been sure.