Part one of a three part series of short stories
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Static closed his eyes. It never fully got dark or quiet. He always had a low buzz happening as his eyes glowed with a screen saver for a bit anytime he closed them. The only way for him to feel bliss is powering down but that was dangerous since he needed to be in close hands with Harvey. It would happen maybe once a week, but since the band had been busy he hadn’t.
Everyone kept hyper reacting to Cornelius and every little thing happening as he restarted his stages of grief. With his brother somewhere remote, the feeling of lost family had returned and it was in the band's interest to keep the front man happy. But it was taxing on Static but he wanted to do anything to help him.
Molly had come over the other day when they were working on a routine. And of course he had to say something about apologizing how he treated her because it was needed. He was happy for Cornelius. He was overcoming past trauma. But there was just a level of jealousy he felt as no one really cared about him, the drummer. Most photos or anything people really asked from him were of the whole group. If Harvey was going through something he would hang with Kelly or his brother for the day. But Static had nobody except his band mates. Most people didn’t understand he couldn’t go far due to the wifi disability and that he could potentially glitch out. But with Cornelius being less social just left Static without anyone to talk to.
Static would reflect on his high school days on the porch in the early morning. His band mates weren’t awake yet so he would just stare out onto the street.
Being part computer he was able to envision every scenario. He could see what it would be like if he ran into the street or if he-
Static’s cheek held tears. Shit he can’t cry or he’ll short circuit. He held himself together the best he could till one week later at practice.
Cornelius and Harvey were arguing over an arrangement and he was just sitting on the drums rehearsing in his head. He accidentally touched the cymbal while practicing in the air and both heads turned to him sharply. And He shrunk. Not only was he not helping, now he angered them. This was all he had so he panicked.
Static dismissed himself and ran outside. He held his water in his hand and noticed his hand was shaking. He took a sip and leaned over a small wall that was outside the front entrance of the venue. He watched the cars go by and zoned out.
After a bit Cornelius came out to find him to tell him they're finally ready and Static didn’t respond. He went to tap on him and shake him and he still didn’t move. He went to face him and Static’s eyes displayed the scenario where he gets hit by a car. It was on a loop. It showed him walking out into the street and being flung around and what it would be like in his dying moments.
Cornelius slapped Static.
Static zoned back in and realized only partly what had happened. Cornelius was crying and angry with him and he was trying to piece together why until he remembered the screensaver/daydream. Static turned pale and his eyes became static. He became stressed out and lost his vision. He turned into a ball on the floor apologizing.
There was just silence between them as Cornelius wrapped his arms around. “Please don’t do that again…” Static swallowed. He didn’t plan that. He didn’t even know he did it. As a last ditch effort to avoid the awkwardness he powered down and went limp.
It was finally quiet. It was finally dark and serene. No thoughts. No worries. Nothing bothered him. He didn’t remember who he was or why he was sad. He missed one thing. It was this warm glow. It was faint. He felt nothing else but the need for that glow. First it didn’t bother him. But then he felt it. Hovering nearby. He tried to reach it but he couldn’t get to it. Then he saw his start up screen. He was powering on again. He reached for the warm glow the best that he could but was brought back to the presence of his two friends.
Harvey had powered him back on.
Cornelius was a crying mess as he just held his boyfriend's limp body not knowing what to do. Harvey was really the only one who knew how to power him on. It was complex unlike a real computer and very risky which is why they hardly did it. Harvey had to reassure him that he was ok and he didn’t actually die. Static was able to see again since the static had stopped when he reset.
All three sat and talked for a bit. The other two hadn’t realized that Static had felt alone and that he was going through high stress. Both feeling an equal weight for guilt for yelling at him.
The next week they decided since they didn’t have a gig to head back to Static’s. From the high stress Cornelius was in Static's panic. They decided to just chill on the couch and relax.