Chapter 34
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
A half hour later the key members had moved to the warehouse. Jangles had said he had to think some things through. He decided to head back to Fenway, after saying his goodbyes he left abruptly.
Jinn and Rhapsody were chatting with Remmy.
"You were dancing on the air!" Remmy exclaimed rather loudly. Her heart had been racing the entire time. "I've never seen anything like it, flames everywhere, music and singing.. Amazing!! "
Rhapsody had her arm around her friends shoulder. "That damn Q helped you find the path! That was my job." She showed Jinn a pouty face.
"I'll split my reward with you.. how's that?" Jinn winked at her as she kissed her cheek.
Rhapsody's eyes widened, "really?"
"Nope." Jinn stuck her tongue out as she jumped behind Remmy.
Q introduced Leah to Renri, the two girls were chatting like magpies.
Tal suddenly looked 10 years younger. She stared at Q, an arm wrapped around his waist. "The house is going to be pretty lively."
"I was thinking about that." Q pursed his lips, he didn't want to bring up anything that ruined the nice mood.
"What's on your mind?" Tal's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. He had done it, he said he would and he did. In her eyes, being reliable was everything.
"I think you should call her doctor before we attempt to log Renri out of the game. They should run a few tests." Q said hesitantly.
Tal seemed to think about it for a moment. "That's a good idea."
"Pops and I can stay here with her until you give us the go ahead."
Q walked Leah over to the Bunk area, the Songbirds were getting ready to turn in. They were singing a song together when Q and Leah entered.
"I have to get back to surveying tomorrow Q." Leah looked a bit sad about going back.
"Oh hey, take this." Q opened the trade window and gave her his Red Dome tent. "Get everything rolling with the survey team, then I need you to come back here."
Leah smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Hmm? Got something planned?"
"Yep, we'll be looking in on some friends of mine." Q waved at the smiling Songbirds and took his leave.
He stopped at the door, "thank you for having my back today Songbirds."
Q spent the next half day taking Ren around Talon.
"This is really amazing!" Ren had talked Q into a piggyback ride, claiming she was tired.
"I know, I give the best rides." Q replied modestly.
"Hahahah.. I mean Talon, you dork." Ren hugged his neck tightly. They were walking on top of the city walls, you could see everything for miles.
Tal had logged hours ago, but before she did, she told Ren everything that had happened the past two years.
Q's Com-chat blinked.
"Open Com."
Pop's old face smiled at him through his hud. "Ren's brainwaves are the same as yours and mine. They are confident that she will wake up when she logs-out."
"Okay Pops, we will see you there." Q disconnected com and started walking back.
"Hey Quinn, let's just log-off here." She looked out at the country side as she hopped down.
"Sounds good," he brought up her interface, and logged her out. He watched as she disappeared.
"Log Off TAP."
Quinn exited the VR chamber and walked into his bathroom. He could hear voices and movement everywhere in the house. "I should give them a bit of time I guess." Q grabbed his tooth brush and applied some paste. He stepped into the shower and turned the water on.
A half hour later Quinn stood at the railing outside his door. He could just barely see into Ren's room, from Tal's body language he could tell that things were going good. He could hear Anna speaking from down the hall.
"Yes, Q is the founder of the Fora Development Group, no we aren't taking sponsors at this time."
Quinn stood at the doorway of her room and peeked inside. Anna was sitting behind her desk, there were a half dozen huds on, everyone of them had a person on the other side.
"Busy?" Quinn loved asking obvious questions.
Anna glanced up, "I'm putting you on hold." She spun her chair and motioned Quin in.
She had a pair of black rimmed glasses perched on her head. There was a large cup of coffee sitting precariously close to the edge of the desk.
"Well done Quinn! I watched it all on Live broadcast from my desk." She took a sip from the mug and then sat it back down.
Quinn looked at all the huds she had put on hold. "Is it okay for you to do that?"
"I've been at this desk since the broadcast, those are just the smaller fish. Major media networks, corporate offices, everyone wants a interview. Everyone wants to sponsor Q." Anna pointed to one of the huds, "recognize him?"
"Hmm? That's Mr. Obreen, great hair guy." While she was distracted, Quinn slid his hand over and snatched her cup. He smiled and leaned back in his chair.
"Hey I need that!" Anna protested when she noticed Quinn was about to drink her coffee.
Quinn took a sip, "don't be so stingy." He frowned as he took a glance at her notes. "Anything I need to know?"
Anna shook her head, "I've been telling your story all morning. TAP admin has notified me that your mailbox has exceeded their limit. Now all of your mail is getting sent to my desk."
Q whistled.. "I get cranky when I get more than two."
"Try Eighty Thousand.. and counting." Anna was certain by watching him, he had no idea how big of a deal he had become. "Don't worry, I'll filter it and reroute it back to you."
Quinn took another sip of her coffee and then sat it down. "Love letters I'm assuming?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"Hahaha... doubtful Quinn." She grabbed her coffee back and moved it to the other side of her desk.
"Keep up the good work Anna." Quinn walked to the door while humming to himself.
"Is that Bingo?" She continued to laugh as he left the room.
He paused outside the doorway and looked back. "At lunchtime, all this shuts down."
"Quinn, there is so much to do. I can't just-"
"Lunch time, no exceptions." he interrupted before continuing toward the stairs.
There were three people, complete strangers, sitting on his couch. They were huddled behind some sort of medical screen, so Quinn assumed they were part of the medical team. One person tried to stop him from entering Ren's room, but he brushed her aside. "Yeah... it's my house, so pound sand."
Renri's bed was slightly elevated, her voice was a soft raspy whisper as she tried to answer questions. She looked pale, tired and weak. Tal was standing at the foot of the bed, her eyes were red but she wasn't crying anymore. She had a smile on her face, for the first time in two years, she looked happy.
There were a few monitoring devices hooked up to Renri that hadn't been there before. A doctor was asking very basic questions while writing down everything.
Quinn cleared his throat and barged right past him. Renri smiled when she saw him.
"Quinn." She spoke so softly it was difficult to hear.
"Going to stay in bed all day lazy bones?" Quinn glanced at the doctor sitting next to the bed. "That's my chair."
Tal covered a laugh as she watched Quinn bully Renri's Neurologist.
"Don't be mean." Renri's blue eyes were bright, even if she were a bit tired.
Quinn reached over and grabbed her hand. They smiled at each other and Quinn started talking. He ignored the looks and the people moving about. He told her about everything that had been going on. There weren't many important items. Just the funny kinds of things that Ren would want to know. She laughed, and made all sorts of faces as Quinn compressed the past two years into twenty minutes.
"Well that's it!" Quinn saw that the doctors were starting to lose patience with him. "I'll be back later. He bent over and kissed her forehead before walking out.
"Quinn." Tal stopped him in the hallway.
"Yes?" he paused, his stomach rumbling.
"Go get some breakfast. I'm going to want to talk to you later." Tal's eyes were clear. She had cried her tears already, the weight of the past two years was already leaving her shoulders.
Quinn sat at the Island by himself as he drank from his water bottle. He had been hungry, but suddenly felt sleepy and too lazy to make anything.
"This is crazy.. why am I so tired?" Quinn didn't bother to talk to anyone, he just walked up the stairs and collapsed on his bed. 'It's my damn house.. I'll sleep if I want.'
A weight on his bed woke him up, he opened his eye to see Tal's face in front of him. "Too close!"
Quinn propped himself up while stretching.
"Feel better?" Tal was holding his hand.
"We at the holding hands stage now?" He tried to shake it loose but she tightened her grip.
"Thank you Quinn." She watched him with those pretty blue eyes.
"Damn... you are being sincere, my one weakness," he shot her a fake glare. "Aren't I someone that you can count on?"
She nodded, "I could thank you everyday for the rest of my life, and it wouldn't be enough."
"Such words, are those things really necessary between us?" He reached to his beside table and grabbed a tie for his hair. "Aren't I part of your family too?"
She leaned over and hugged him close. "I love you Quinn."
"Hmm, I see." He looked around the room, "yet you didn't bring your secret crush any food?"
"er.. Secret crush?" She tilted her head to one side, a habit Quinn had always found very cute.
"Damn, forty years old and you don't know that men are won over with food?" Quinn laughed at her as he rolled off the bed.
"Hey.. I'm 35 you little punk!" She went to grab him and then froze."
Quinn smiled innocently. "That right?"
"Oh god. You tricked me into telling!" She grabbed for his ear but Quinn ducked away.
"Too slow Captain!" His laughter followed him as he escaped out the door and down the stairs.
The four of them sat around the table holding hands. "Thank you for the meal," they said quietly before everyone started taking sandwiches.
"And god bless Quinn." Tal added softly as she started pouring lemonade for everyone.
Quinn stared at her for a moment, but she refused to look at him. "Who made all the sandwiches?"
Anna smiled and pointed to herself, "this girl right here."
Quinn took a large bite and gave her a friendly smile. "I love sandwiches, I hereby proclaim you the Sandwich Queen!"
"Seconded!" Pops had one in each hand and was eating them both.
"Ren was able to drink part of a vegetable shake earlier." Tal handed Quinn another sandwich as she spoke.
Quinn made a face at her and shuddered. "The hell? A vegetable shake?"
"You should try it before you say that Little Q," Tal scolded.
"Pass," Quinn replied.
"Pass," Pops refused to make eye contact.
"Pass," Anna couldn't even pretend to be on-board.
"...." Tal.
"The Doctor said he wants her to keep playing TAP," Pops leaned back in his chair. "He wants her brain to keep active as her body regains strength."
"Makes sense I guess." Quinn helped Pops clean up and then headed over to Ren's room.
Tal was sitting on her bed talking when he entered.
"You must have been tired Quinn," Ren was sitting up in bed, several pillows propping her up.
"Hmm? Who me?" Quinn pretend to be confused, "No I was just too busy, I gotta lot of things going on you know."
Tal snorted as she stood up. "Sure, he had appointments lined up out the door."
"You're just jealous! " He smiled at Ren, he picked up the old headset sitting on the corner-table. "You won't be able to use the VR chamber for a bit Ren, but I'll get you a new headset."
Quinn left the room and dashed up the stairs to his room, he picked up the new headset from his desk and sat his mom's old one back in the box. He stared at it for a moment. "I'm a person who holds grudges... it's a bad trait I know. These things you left behind enabled me to help Ren, so... I'm going to move forward and let those bad things go."
He reached into his desk and pulled out an old framed picture of him and his mom. He had never displayed it before. He sat it down carefully facing him.
Ren gave him a smile when Quinn walked in with the new headset a few minutes later. " Hey, they are bringing a wheel chair over tomorrow, I get to try it out."
"Can I get a ride?" Quinn carefully put the headset on Ren.
"Course you can." Ren smiled sweetly at him.
"Want me to log you in? Or do you want to do it yourself." Q stood up, making sure everything looked good.
"Nope, I got this." Ren closed her eyes.
Tal and Quinn walked up the stairs together.
"Need help getting in?" Quinn asked.
"Nope, I got this." Tal ruffled his hair before turning toward her room.
'Damn, those two are definitely mother and daughter.'
Quinn slid easily into the VR chamber, he made a few adjustments to the seat as he slipped the neural net over his head.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
A half hour later the key members had moved to the warehouse. Jangles had said he had to think some things through. He decided to head back to Fenway, after saying his goodbyes he left abruptly.
Jinn and Rhapsody were chatting with Remmy.
"You were dancing on the air!" Remmy exclaimed rather loudly. Her heart had been racing the entire time. "I've never seen anything like it, flames everywhere, music and singing.. Amazing!! "
Rhapsody had her arm around her friends shoulder. "That damn Q helped you find the path! That was my job." She showed Jinn a pouty face.
"I'll split my reward with you.. how's that?" Jinn winked at her as she kissed her cheek.
Rhapsody's eyes widened, "really?"
"Nope." Jinn stuck her tongue out as she jumped behind Remmy.
Q introduced Leah to Renri, the two girls were chatting like magpies.
Tal suddenly looked 10 years younger. She stared at Q, an arm wrapped around his waist. "The house is going to be pretty lively."
"I was thinking about that." Q pursed his lips, he didn't want to bring up anything that ruined the nice mood.
"What's on your mind?" Tal's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. He had done it, he said he would and he did. In her eyes, being reliable was everything.
"I think you should call her doctor before we attempt to log Renri out of the game. They should run a few tests." Q said hesitantly.
Tal seemed to think about it for a moment. "That's a good idea."
"Pops and I can stay here with her until you give us the go ahead."
Q walked Leah over to the Bunk area, the Songbirds were getting ready to turn in. They were singing a song together when Q and Leah entered.
"I have to get back to surveying tomorrow Q." Leah looked a bit sad about going back.
"Oh hey, take this." Q opened the trade window and gave her his Red Dome tent. "Get everything rolling with the survey team, then I need you to come back here."
Leah smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Hmm? Got something planned?"
"Yep, we'll be looking in on some friends of mine." Q waved at the smiling Songbirds and took his leave.
He stopped at the door, "thank you for having my back today Songbirds."
Q spent the next half day taking Ren around Talon.
"This is really amazing!" Ren had talked Q into a piggyback ride, claiming she was tired.
"I know, I give the best rides." Q replied modestly.
"Hahahah.. I mean Talon, you dork." Ren hugged his neck tightly. They were walking on top of the city walls, you could see everything for miles.
Tal had logged hours ago, but before she did, she told Ren everything that had happened the past two years.
Q's Com-chat blinked.
"Open Com."
Pop's old face smiled at him through his hud. "Ren's brainwaves are the same as yours and mine. They are confident that she will wake up when she logs-out."
"Okay Pops, we will see you there." Q disconnected com and started walking back.
"Hey Quinn, let's just log-off here." She looked out at the country side as she hopped down.
"Sounds good," he brought up her interface, and logged her out. He watched as she disappeared.
"Log Off TAP."
Quinn exited the VR chamber and walked into his bathroom. He could hear voices and movement everywhere in the house. "I should give them a bit of time I guess." Q grabbed his tooth brush and applied some paste. He stepped into the shower and turned the water on.
A half hour later Quinn stood at the railing outside his door. He could just barely see into Ren's room, from Tal's body language he could tell that things were going good. He could hear Anna speaking from down the hall.
"Yes, Q is the founder of the Fora Development Group, no we aren't taking sponsors at this time."
Quinn stood at the doorway of her room and peeked inside. Anna was sitting behind her desk, there were a half dozen huds on, everyone of them had a person on the other side.
"Busy?" Quinn loved asking obvious questions.
Anna glanced up, "I'm putting you on hold." She spun her chair and motioned Quin in.
She had a pair of black rimmed glasses perched on her head. There was a large cup of coffee sitting precariously close to the edge of the desk.
"Well done Quinn! I watched it all on Live broadcast from my desk." She took a sip from the mug and then sat it back down.
Quinn looked at all the huds she had put on hold. "Is it okay for you to do that?"
"I've been at this desk since the broadcast, those are just the smaller fish. Major media networks, corporate offices, everyone wants a interview. Everyone wants to sponsor Q." Anna pointed to one of the huds, "recognize him?"
"Hmm? That's Mr. Obreen, great hair guy." While she was distracted, Quinn slid his hand over and snatched her cup. He smiled and leaned back in his chair.
"Hey I need that!" Anna protested when she noticed Quinn was about to drink her coffee.
Quinn took a sip, "don't be so stingy." He frowned as he took a glance at her notes. "Anything I need to know?"
Anna shook her head, "I've been telling your story all morning. TAP admin has notified me that your mailbox has exceeded their limit. Now all of your mail is getting sent to my desk."
Q whistled.. "I get cranky when I get more than two."
"Try Eighty Thousand.. and counting." Anna was certain by watching him, he had no idea how big of a deal he had become. "Don't worry, I'll filter it and reroute it back to you."
Quinn took another sip of her coffee and then sat it down. "Love letters I'm assuming?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"Hahaha... doubtful Quinn." She grabbed her coffee back and moved it to the other side of her desk.
"Keep up the good work Anna." Quinn walked to the door while humming to himself.
"Is that Bingo?" She continued to laugh as he left the room.
He paused outside the doorway and looked back. "At lunchtime, all this shuts down."
"Quinn, there is so much to do. I can't just-"
"Lunch time, no exceptions." he interrupted before continuing toward the stairs.
There were three people, complete strangers, sitting on his couch. They were huddled behind some sort of medical screen, so Quinn assumed they were part of the medical team. One person tried to stop him from entering Ren's room, but he brushed her aside. "Yeah... it's my house, so pound sand."
Renri's bed was slightly elevated, her voice was a soft raspy whisper as she tried to answer questions. She looked pale, tired and weak. Tal was standing at the foot of the bed, her eyes were red but she wasn't crying anymore. She had a smile on her face, for the first time in two years, she looked happy.
There were a few monitoring devices hooked up to Renri that hadn't been there before. A doctor was asking very basic questions while writing down everything.
Quinn cleared his throat and barged right past him. Renri smiled when she saw him.
"Quinn." She spoke so softly it was difficult to hear.
"Going to stay in bed all day lazy bones?" Quinn glanced at the doctor sitting next to the bed. "That's my chair."
Tal covered a laugh as she watched Quinn bully Renri's Neurologist.
"Don't be mean." Renri's blue eyes were bright, even if she were a bit tired.
Quinn reached over and grabbed her hand. They smiled at each other and Quinn started talking. He ignored the looks and the people moving about. He told her about everything that had been going on. There weren't many important items. Just the funny kinds of things that Ren would want to know. She laughed, and made all sorts of faces as Quinn compressed the past two years into twenty minutes.
"Well that's it!" Quinn saw that the doctors were starting to lose patience with him. "I'll be back later. He bent over and kissed her forehead before walking out.
"Quinn." Tal stopped him in the hallway.
"Yes?" he paused, his stomach rumbling.
"Go get some breakfast. I'm going to want to talk to you later." Tal's eyes were clear. She had cried her tears already, the weight of the past two years was already leaving her shoulders.
Quinn sat at the Island by himself as he drank from his water bottle. He had been hungry, but suddenly felt sleepy and too lazy to make anything.
"This is crazy.. why am I so tired?" Quinn didn't bother to talk to anyone, he just walked up the stairs and collapsed on his bed. 'It's my damn house.. I'll sleep if I want.'
A weight on his bed woke him up, he opened his eye to see Tal's face in front of him. "Too close!"
Quinn propped himself up while stretching.
"Feel better?" Tal was holding his hand.
"We at the holding hands stage now?" He tried to shake it loose but she tightened her grip.
"Thank you Quinn." She watched him with those pretty blue eyes.
"Damn... you are being sincere, my one weakness," he shot her a fake glare. "Aren't I someone that you can count on?"
She nodded, "I could thank you everyday for the rest of my life, and it wouldn't be enough."
"Such words, are those things really necessary between us?" He reached to his beside table and grabbed a tie for his hair. "Aren't I part of your family too?"
She leaned over and hugged him close. "I love you Quinn."
"Hmm, I see." He looked around the room, "yet you didn't bring your secret crush any food?"
"er.. Secret crush?" She tilted her head to one side, a habit Quinn had always found very cute.
"Damn, forty years old and you don't know that men are won over with food?" Quinn laughed at her as he rolled off the bed.
"Hey.. I'm 35 you little punk!" She went to grab him and then froze."
Quinn smiled innocently. "That right?"
"Oh god. You tricked me into telling!" She grabbed for his ear but Quinn ducked away.
"Too slow Captain!" His laughter followed him as he escaped out the door and down the stairs.
The four of them sat around the table holding hands. "Thank you for the meal," they said quietly before everyone started taking sandwiches.
"And god bless Quinn." Tal added softly as she started pouring lemonade for everyone.
Quinn stared at her for a moment, but she refused to look at him. "Who made all the sandwiches?"
Anna smiled and pointed to herself, "this girl right here."
Quinn took a large bite and gave her a friendly smile. "I love sandwiches, I hereby proclaim you the Sandwich Queen!"
"Seconded!" Pops had one in each hand and was eating them both.
"Ren was able to drink part of a vegetable shake earlier." Tal handed Quinn another sandwich as she spoke.
Quinn made a face at her and shuddered. "The hell? A vegetable shake?"
"You should try it before you say that Little Q," Tal scolded.
"Pass," Quinn replied.
"Pass," Pops refused to make eye contact.
"Pass," Anna couldn't even pretend to be on-board.
"...." Tal.
"The Doctor said he wants her to keep playing TAP," Pops leaned back in his chair. "He wants her brain to keep active as her body regains strength."
"Makes sense I guess." Quinn helped Pops clean up and then headed over to Ren's room.
Tal was sitting on her bed talking when he entered.
"You must have been tired Quinn," Ren was sitting up in bed, several pillows propping her up.
"Hmm? Who me?" Quinn pretend to be confused, "No I was just too busy, I gotta lot of things going on you know."
Tal snorted as she stood up. "Sure, he had appointments lined up out the door."
"You're just jealous! " He smiled at Ren, he picked up the old headset sitting on the corner-table. "You won't be able to use the VR chamber for a bit Ren, but I'll get you a new headset."
Quinn left the room and dashed up the stairs to his room, he picked up the new headset from his desk and sat his mom's old one back in the box. He stared at it for a moment. "I'm a person who holds grudges... it's a bad trait I know. These things you left behind enabled me to help Ren, so... I'm going to move forward and let those bad things go."
He reached into his desk and pulled out an old framed picture of him and his mom. He had never displayed it before. He sat it down carefully facing him.
Ren gave him a smile when Quinn walked in with the new headset a few minutes later. " Hey, they are bringing a wheel chair over tomorrow, I get to try it out."
"Can I get a ride?" Quinn carefully put the headset on Ren.
"Course you can." Ren smiled sweetly at him.
"Want me to log you in? Or do you want to do it yourself." Q stood up, making sure everything looked good.
"Nope, I got this." Ren closed her eyes.
Tal and Quinn walked up the stairs together.
"Need help getting in?" Quinn asked.
"Nope, I got this." Tal ruffled his hair before turning toward her room.
'Damn, those two are definitely mother and daughter.'
Quinn slid easily into the VR chamber, he made a few adjustments to the seat as he slipped the neural net over his head.
A half hour later the key members had moved to the warehouse. Jangles had said he had to think some things through. He decided to head back to Fenway, after saying his goodbyes he left abruptly.Jinn and Rhapsody were chatting with Remmy."You were dancing on the air!" Remmy exclaimed rather loudly. Her heart had been racing the entire time. "I've never seen anything like it, flames everywhere, music and singing.. Amazing!! "Rhapsody had her arm around her friends shoulder. "That damn Q helped you find the path! That was my job." She showed Jinn a pouty face."I'll split my reward with you.. how's that?" Jinn winked at her as she kissed her cheek.Rhapsody's eyes widened, "really?""Nope." Jinn stuck her tongue out as she jumped behind Remmy.Q introduced Leah to Renri, the two girls were chatting like magpies.Tal suddenly looked 10 years younger. She stared at Q, an arm wrapped around his waist. "The house is going to be pretty lively.""I was thinking about that." Q pursed his lips, he didn't want to bring up anything that ruined the nice mood."What's on your mind?" Tal's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. He had done it, he said he would and he did. In her eyes, being reliable was everything."I think you should call her doctor before we attempt to log Renri out of the game. They should run a few tests." Q said hesitantly.Tal seemed to think about it for a moment. "That's a good idea.""Pops and I can stay here with her until you give us the go ahead."Q walked Leah over to the Bunk area, the Songbirds were getting ready to turn in. They were singing a song together when Q and Leah entered."I have to get back to surveying tomorrow Q." Leah looked a bit sad about going back."Oh hey, take this." Q opened the trade window and gave her his Red Dome tent. "Get everything rolling with the survey team, then I need you to come back here."Leah smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Hmm? Got something planned?""Yep, we'll be looking in on some friends of mine." Q waved at the smiling Songbirds and took his leave.He stopped at the door, "thank you for having my back today Songbirds."Q spent the next half day taking Ren around Talon."This is really amazing!" Ren had talked Q into a piggyback ride, claiming she was tired."I know, I give the best rides." Q replied modestly."Hahahah.. I mean Talon, you dork." Ren hugged his neck tightly. They were walking on top of the city walls, you could see everything for miles.Tal had logged hours ago, but before she did, she told Ren everything that had happened the past two years.Q's Com-chat blinked."Open Com."Pop's old face smiled at him through his hud. "Ren's brainwaves are the same as yours and mine. They are confident that she will wake up when she logs-out.""Okay Pops, we will see you there." Q disconnected com and started walking back."Hey Quinn, let's just log-off here." She looked out at the country side as she hopped down."Sounds good," he brought up her interface, and logged her out. He watched as she disappeared."Log Off TAP."Quinn exited the VR chamber and walked into his bathroom. He could hear voices and movement everywhere in the house. "I should give them a bit of time I guess." Q grabbed his tooth brush and applied some paste. He stepped into the shower and turned the water on.A half hour later Quinn stood at the railing outside his door. He could just barely see into Ren's room, from Tal's body language he could tell that things were going good. He could hear Anna speaking from down the hall."Yes, Q is the founder of the Fora Development Group, no we aren't taking sponsors at this time."Quinn stood at the doorway of her room and peeked inside. Anna was sitting behind her desk, there were a half dozen huds on, everyone of them had a person on the other side."Busy?" Quinn loved asking obvious questions.Anna glanced up, "I'm putting you on hold." She spun her chair and motioned Quin in.She had a pair of black rimmed glasses perched on her head. There was a large cup of coffee sitting precariously close to the edge of the desk."Well done Quinn! I watched it all on Live broadcast from my desk." She took a sip from the mug and then sat it back down.Quinn looked at all the huds she had put on hold. "Is it okay for you to do that?""I've been at this desk since the broadcast, those are just the smaller fish. Major media networks, corporate offices, everyone wants a interview. Everyone wants to sponsor Q." Anna pointed to one of the huds, "recognize him?""Hmm? That's Mr. Obreen, great hair guy." While she was distracted, Quinn slid his hand over and snatched her cup. He smiled and leaned back in his chair."Hey I need that!" Anna protested when she noticed Quinn was about to drink her coffee.Quinn took a sip, "don't be so stingy." He frowned as he took a glance at her notes. "Anything I need to know?"Anna shook her head, "I've been telling your story all morning. TAP admin has notified me that your mailbox has exceeded their limit. Now all of your mail is getting sent to my desk."Q whistled.. "I get cranky when I get more than two.""Try Eighty Thousand.. and counting." Anna was certain by watching him, he had no idea how big of a deal he had become. "Don't worry, I'll filter it and reroute it back to you."Quinn took another sip of her coffee and then sat it down. "Love letters I'm assuming?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her."Hahaha... doubtful Quinn." She grabbed her coffee back and moved it to the other side of her desk."Keep up the good work Anna." Quinn walked to the door while humming to himself."Is that Bingo?" She continued to laugh as he left the room.He paused outside the doorway and looked back. "At lunchtime, all this shuts down.""Quinn, there is so much to do. I can't just-""Lunch time, no exceptions." he interrupted before continuing toward the stairs.There were three people, complete strangers, sitting on his couch. They were huddled behind some sort of medical screen, so Quinn assumed they were part of the medical team. One person tried to stop him from entering Ren's room, but he brushed her aside. "Yeah... it's my house, so pound sand."Renri's bed was slightly elevated, her voice was a soft raspy whisper as she tried to answer questions. She looked pale, tired and weak. Tal was standing at the foot of the bed, her eyes were red but she wasn't crying anymore. She had a smile on her face, for the first time in two years, she looked happy.There were a few monitoring devices hooked up to Renri that hadn't been there before. A doctor was asking very basic questions while writing down everything.Quinn cleared his throat and barged right past him. Renri smiled when she saw him."Quinn." She spoke so softly it was difficult to hear."Going to stay in bed all day lazy bones?" Quinn glanced at the doctor sitting next to the bed. "That's my chair."Tal covered a laugh as she watched Quinn bully Renri's Neurologist."Don't be mean." Renri's blue eyes were bright, even if she were a bit tired.Quinn reached over and grabbed her hand. They smiled at each other and Quinn started talking. He ignored the looks and the people moving about. He told her about everything that had been going on. There weren't many important items. Just the funny kinds of things that Ren would want to know. She laughed, and made all sorts of faces as Quinn compressed the past two years into twenty minutes."Well that's it!" Quinn saw that the doctors were starting to lose patience with him. "I'll be back later. He bent over and kissed her forehead before walking out."Quinn." Tal stopped him in the hallway."Yes?" he paused, his stomach rumbling."Go get some breakfast. I'm going to want to talk to you later." Tal's eyes were clear. She had cried her tears already, the weight of the past two years was already leaving her shoulders.Quinn sat at the Island by himself as he drank from his water bottle. He had been hungry, but suddenly felt sleepy and too lazy to make anything."This is crazy.. why am I so tired?" Quinn didn't bother to talk to anyone, he just walked up the stairs and collapsed on his bed. 'It's my damn house.. I'll sleep if I want.'A weight on his bed woke him up, he opened his eye to see Tal's face in front of him. "Too close!"Quinn propped himself up while stretching."Feel better?" Tal was holding his hand."We at the holding hands stage now?" He tried to shake it loose but she tightened her grip."Thank you Quinn." She watched him with those pretty blue eyes."Damn... you are being sincere, my one weakness," he shot her a fake glare. "Aren't I someone that you can count on?"She nodded, "I could thank you everyday for the rest of my life, and it wouldn't be enough.""Such words, are those things really necessary between us?" He reached to his beside table and grabbed a tie for his hair. "Aren't I part of your family too?"She leaned over and hugged him close. "I love you Quinn.""Hmm, I see." He looked around the room, "yet you didn't bring your secret crush any food?""er.. Secret crush?" She tilted her head to one side, a habit Quinn had always found very cute."Damn, forty years old and you don't know that men are won over with food?" Quinn laughed at her as he rolled off the bed."Hey.. I'm 35 you little punk!" She went to grab him and then froze."Quinn smiled innocently. "That right?""Oh god. You tricked me into telling!" She grabbed for his ear but Quinn ducked away."Too slow Captain!" His laughter followed him as he escaped out the door and down the stairs.The four of them sat around the table holding hands. "Thank you for the meal," they said quietly before everyone started taking sandwiches."And god bless Quinn." Tal added softly as she started pouring lemonade for everyone.Quinn stared at her for a moment, but she refused to look at him. "Who made all the sandwiches?"Anna smiled and pointed to herself, "this girl right here."Quinn took a large bite and gave her a friendly smile. "I love sandwiches, I hereby proclaim you the Sandwich Queen!""Seconded!" Pops had one in each hand and was eating them both."Ren was able to drink part of a vegetable shake earlier." Tal handed Quinn another sandwich as she spoke.Quinn made a face at her and shuddered. "The hell? A vegetable shake?""You should try it before you say that Little Q," Tal scolded."Pass," Quinn replied."Pass," Pops refused to make eye contact."Pass," Anna couldn't even pretend to be on-board."...." Tal."The Doctor said he wants her to keep playing TAP," Pops leaned back in his chair. "He wants her brain to keep active as her body regains strength.""Makes sense I guess." Quinn helped Pops clean up and then headed over to Ren's room.Tal was sitting on her bed talking when he entered."You must have been tired Quinn," Ren was sitting up in bed, several pillows propping her up."Hmm? Who me?" Quinn pretend to be confused, "No I was just too busy, I gotta lot of things going on you know."Tal snorted as she stood up. "Sure, he had appointments lined up out the door.""You're just jealous! " He smiled at Ren, he picked up the old headset sitting on the corner-table. "You won't be able to use the VR chamber for a bit Ren, but I'll get you a new headset."Quinn left the room and dashed up the stairs to his room, he picked up the new headset from his desk and sat his mom's old one back in the box. He stared at it for a moment. "I'm a person who holds grudges... it's a bad trait I know. These things you left behind enabled me to help Ren, so... I'm going to move forward and let those bad things go."He reached into his desk and pulled out an old framed picture of him and his mom. He had never displayed it before. He sat it down carefully facing him.Ren gave him a smile when Quinn walked in with the new headset a few minutes later. " Hey, they are bringing a wheel chair over tomorrow, I get to try it out.""Can I get a ride?" Quinn carefully put the headset on Ren."Course you can." Ren smiled sweetly at him."Want me to log you in? Or do you want to do it yourself." Q stood up, making sure everything looked good."Nope, I got this." Ren closed her eyes.Tal and Quinn walked up the stairs together."Need help getting in?" Quinn asked."Nope, I got this." Tal ruffled his hair before turning toward her room.'Damn, those two are definitely mother and daughter.'Quinn slid easily into the VR chamber, he made a few adjustments to the seat as he slipped the neural net over his head.
