Page 19 of Technical Advances

I’m fairly sure I heard him mutter, “Unbelievable.”

I’ve often called my lab my sensory deprivation chamber—well, at least in my own mind I have. Maybe out loud to Beck once or twice as well? I say a lot of things in Beck’s presence since he’s really the only person I talk to on a regular basis.

I glanced at the clock and realized I’d been down there for an hour, and all I’d done was stare at my smartboard. Perhaps I’d needed a little respite after being up all night.

I’m not sure if the buzz of my phone was what made me check the time, but when I pulled it from the pocket of my lab coat, I discovered a series of texts from earlier in the day, all from Benji.

Did you buy me breakfast?

was followed eighteen minutes later with:

Oh wow, this burrito with the eggs and all the veggies is so good. My roomie likes the one with the sausage too. THANK YOU.

That was followed by a picture of a robot with a speech balloon also thanking me.

I began to type you’re welcome but decided that perhaps Benji preferred conversing in images. New Day Tech held international publicity events every time we introduced a new emoji, but I’d always found using them such an odd way to communicate. Beck and I texted all the time, but we never sent each other GIFs or smiley faces.

Before I could click on one of the images that was automatically suggested for my reply, three dots showed me that Benji was typing again.

I’ve been working all morning,

he began.

Check out the spreadsheet.

The dots continued, but I cut him off, forgetting the GIF in favor of a typed response.

Can you come to the office?

His reply was immediate.

When?

I quickly found an image of the word NOW? with a paisley background that was aesthetically pleasing and sent it, fairly proud of myself but also thinking that it would have been just as easy to type out that little word.

His response was sent quickly—three letters⁠—

OMW.

I couldn’t concentrate on my work.

Assuming that he lived near MIT, I calculated that it would take Benji about forty minutes to arrive if he hit the T just right, so exactly forty minutes later, I found my way up to the lobby of our main entrance, which is where Beck hunted me down.

“Anson, what are you doing here?” he said as he approached me, but before I could answer him, his attention, and mine, was drawn to the entrance.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ani. What is he doing here?”

An unassuming Benji walked through the outer doors in khaki shorts and a navy-blue button-down covered by a gray zip-up hoodie with red MIT lettering. The handles of a paper bag hung off one of his slim wrists, bouncing against him with every step.

“I have that sweatshirt,” I mumbled as we watched him approach the second set of doors.

Then, to Beck, I answered, “We’re working on …”

“I know what you’re working on! He’s not on the payroll yet, Ani. We barely agreed to hire him twenty-four hours ago. His background check isn’t even finalized! He shouldn’t be here,” Beck fumed, lowering his voice as Benji arrived in front of us, a backpack slung over one shoulder, the paper bag providing the only kinetic energy as Beck and I stared at Benji, and Benji smiled at me.

“Hi,” he breathed softly, proffering the paper bag. “Figured I owe you lunch. Have you eaten?”

“You brought lunch?” I asked.