Sunstruck

Chapter 1

"See, that's what I mean man. Everyone expects you to act like a grown up, then they treat you like a little kid." Matthias opened up after a moment quietly listening to his music. He just explained how he still has to go to bed early on school nights.

"You do say that a lot." Xel pointed out, the back of his voice hummed with a faint electronic sound.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? I just turned 17 and like, you know, I got school work and other things to worry about. It's hard to hang out sometimes and relax." Matthias stated matter-of-factly. He was just thinking out loud, something Xel was more than apt to listen to.

"I'm always here." Xel pitched up his voice, his bright mouth curling up into a toothy smile. His blue lights lit up the late evening room.

"Well I mean, my mom trusts you more 'cus you're a Proto, and she thinks you're incapable of like, breaking laws or staying up past 10." Matthias gave a single pronged chuckle to his own joke.

Xel sat completely still for a moment, before looking towards Matthias. His movement was fluid and life like, but you could notice his stiffness if you paid close enough attention. "Not so much Andrea though, correct?" Xel inquired, still bright and positive. Most late gen Protogens were more adept at carrying conversations than their predecessors.

Matthias sighed quietly to himself. "Well, I mean we're cool, but, my mom doesn't trust Andrea, and she doesn't really trust you either."

Xel hummed a bit and nodded, shifting his lazy pose into another equally lazy pose.

"I'm sure if you two hung out more she'd open up to you. I know things were rough for her, but I know she trusts me, so..." Matthias trailed off, Xel nodding.

The music playing was some quiet, slower beats. Some electronic sounds, some sampled sounds from film or other music. They both looked out the window and stared up at the night sky, dark and clear. Despite the nearby light pollution, the lack of a needed orbiting star for the mobile, mechanized planet they inhabited made the night time sky that much darker. A big public corporation named SoLive handled that, allowing the Earth to wander through the universe in it's own protective magnetic bubble. All of humanity, and all of it's other manufactured species, were on one big space ship expedition. It was a lot more comfortable and spacious than it sounded.

Matthias pulled out his mobile device, a cheaper version of popular brands. Much like early phones, it was rectangular and fit in the palm of his hand. It appeared like it was a solid brick of opaque glass, but on the side facing Matthias was a 3d interface of all his applications and notifications. Opening the default messaging app, he first asked his mom if Andrea could hang out, then asking if Andrea wanted to hang out.

"I'm gonna invite her over right now. I'm gonna be busy at work next weekend, and it's been a month since we've hung out last."

"I don't really object." Xel shrugged his shoulders, sitting back and turning on the T.V, scrolling through it in search of nothing in particular.

To Matthias' surprise, he got an indifferent "sure" from Andrea, and an assuring "yes, go ahead!" from his mother. It was like flipping a coin twice and getting heads each time.

"Alright, she's gonna show up in a few. Try to, like... Be cool around her? Give her some space, but, we can just try to help you two get closer. I'd like for all my friends to be friends with each other too, I guess."

Xel's expression changed a bit to a more neutral, explanatory one. "I'll try to help out with that, don't worry. She almost thinks that I'm some sort of SoLive operative, or that I'm programmed to be a mindless drone for them. I've just already been here, didn't ask to get made by anyone."

"When you put it like that, you make her sound evil." Matthias spoke in another laugh, making Xel laugh a bit too.