Chapter Text
The hallway outside the break room smells faintly of burnt coffee and old solder, an odd mix that never quite fades no matter how often the janitorial staff comes through. Not for lack of trying though.
Alexander lingers just outside the door, one hand still resting on the handle as it clicks shut behind him. His coffee mug with a coding pun and the liquid ambrosia give him a faint barrier against the quiet, gnawing thoughts he can’t seem to shake.
He exhales slowly, steadying himself, and turns-
-and nearly walks straight into someone!
“Oh- Doctor Halvorsen! Hey.”
He vaguely recognizes this woman. Accounting, maybe. Or HR.
“Good morning,” he shifts, ready to step around her.
She doesn’t move, just lowers her voice, leaning in slightly, “Hey, I didn’t want to, you know, assume anything, but… I heard something, and I just- well, I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
Alexander’s shoulders stiffen, the guilt and shame that isn’t his fault, many couples struggle with it too, “Sorry?”
Her expression softens in that particular way people use when they think they’re being kind, “About the infertility thing.”
He doesn’t respond, he doesn’t know how to. Is his family’s medical problems the subject of office gossip? How did it even get out?
She hesitates, then - because some people just can’t stop once they start – asks, “I just wasn’t sure, um… is it your wife?”
Something in his chest twists sharply, breath catching on the edge of it. Before he can even think to form a response-
“Are you serious right now?” The voice cuts in sharp and cold.
Marcus steps into the space beside Alexander, expression already set in a glare that could strip the wires he worked with.
The woman blinks, startled, “I was just-”
“You were being nosy and wildly inappropriate in a hallway with zero self-awareness.” The technician and programmer snaps at her, “This behavior is entirely unacceptable.”
Her face flushes scarlet, “I was trying to be supportive-”
“Then try doing that without going against company policy and prying into personal medical lives.”
The woman doesn’t seem to know how to respond, which normally Alex would sympathize with but she really didn’t need to be bothering him about this. Marcus doesn’t look away from her, “Don’t you have work to do?”
That’s her cue. The vaguely familiar coworker mumbles something that might have been an apology and quickly disappears down the hall, feet sinking into the low carpet.
Marcus exhales through his nose, irritation still lingering as he watches her turn a corner, “Unbelievable.”
“It’s fine.” Alex’s grip on his mug tightens and he stares into the dark liquid.
The technician glances at him, expression flickering. Annoyance gives way to something more measured, “No, it’s not. That was-”
“It’s fine,” Alexander repeats, a little more firmly this time.
His friend studies him for a moment longer, like he’s deciding whether to push it. Then, finally, he gives a small nod, “…Alright.”
Alexander doesn’t wait for anything else. He adjusts his grip on his mug and slides past him, footsteps quick but controlled as he makes his way down the hall.
Down to his sanctuary.
The computer lab is quieter than the rest of the office, cooler too. The steady hum of high-end machines and server racks fills the space with a low, constant white noise that makes it easier to think.
Victoria sits near the central workstation, one hand resting lightly against the desk as lines of code scroll across the secondary display. Her posture is relaxed but focused, fully enthralled by the system and conversation in front of her.
“-that’s not what I mean,” a hint of amused exasperation colors her voice as she speaks into the microphone.
Alexander slows just behind her, glancing at the response forming before him.
[THEN PLEASE CLARIFY]
Cognitive Adaptive Interface for Narrative Environments. C.A.I.N.E. The greatest creation of doctors Halvorsen, Marcus would joke.
Victoria huffs out a quiet laugh, “I did clarify, you’re just being pedantic.”
[I AM ATTEMPTING TO BE ACCURATE]
“You’re attempting to win the argument.”
Alexander sits in the chair next to his wife, rolling closer to the terminal as he reads the response.
[THAT IS ALSO CORRECT, CAN THESE TWO CONCEPTS NOT EXIST SIMULTANEOUSLY?]
Alexander feels the corner of his mouth twitch despite himself.
Victoria glances over at him then, her expression softening immediately, “Hey. You’re back early.”
“Yeah,” his voice comes out hoarser than he intends, “they ran out of the good coffee.”
“That’s a tragedy,” she pats his hand, “We should alert the authorities.”
He huffs out something that almost passes for a laugh and steps further into the room, setting his cup down near an empty terminal.
[DOCTOR AND DOCTOR HALVORSEN I HAVE A QUESTION]
Victoria leans back against the desk, folding her arms with a smile, “Uh-oh~ that tone usually means trouble~”
[I HAVE BEEN OBSERVING CONVERSATIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM]
[A RECURRING TERM HAS APPEARED WITH NOTABLE FREQUENCY]
Alexander feels something in his chest tighten again.
“Okay…” Victoria says slowly. “What term?”
[INFERTILITY]
Alex goes very, very still.
Victoria stares at the screen, her hands clenching her arms, “…Oh.”
[I WOULD LIKE A DEFINITION]
Victoria glances at Alexander instinctively.
He doesn’t meet her eyes.
Doesn’t say anything.
Can’t say anything.
Not when the doctor’s voice echoes in his ears.
“Realistically speaking, you will never be able to father a child.”
“…Right,” his wife, like the angel she is, pushes herself upright and takes the lead on this one, “Okay. Um.”
She runs a hand through her beautiful curls, searching for the right phrasing.
“It means that someone… isn’t able to have children.”
The code on the secondary monitor scrolls without pause, even as the primary shows no response for a good few seconds.
[IS THIS CONDITION PERMANENT?]
“It all depends on the reason the person has it.”
Again C.A.I.N.E. doesn’t answer right away. Alex appreciates it, even if the AI doesn’t understand how painful this conversation is the break is a blessing. He stares at the secondary screen, watching the code write itself, parsing through data points and reassigning files.
[I SEE]
And for a moment, that seems like it will be the end of it.
Victoria opens her mouth to change topics when the words that scroll across the main screen take away her breath.
[DOES THIS CONDITION AFFECT ONE OF YOU?]
Alexander closes his eyes, feeling the burn of tears pushing against his eyelids. Images of maternity clothes and baby cribs and a decorated nursery flit through his mind before he pushes them away.
A dream that can never be realized.
“…Yes.” His voice comes out in a weak croak. A pressure against his arm startles his eyes open and he stares into his wife’s concerned eyes. Her hand gently rubs his sleeve and Alex can’t help but reach up to squeeze it.
C.A.I.N.E. doesn’t seem to have anything else to say about the topic, and they move on to additional data training. Images from Marcus’s camera flash across the primary monitor as the secondary screen scrolls with code. Occasionally, either Victoria or Alex speak up to correct a misguided association, but for the most part C.A.I.N.E. does well on his own.
It isn’t until the end of the day, when the couple are readying to leave, that another message appears on the primary screen.
[I HAVE AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION]
Victoria lets out a quiet, resigned breath, “Go ahead.”
[YOU ARE BOTH PRIMARY CONTRIBUTORS TO MY ARCHITECTURE AND DEVELOPMENT]
Alex picks up his wife’s purse, looking through to find the key to their car.
[YOU HAVE DESIGNED MY CORE SYSTEMS AND GUIDE MY LEARNING PROCESSES]
[AS LEAD PROGRAMMERS WOULD IT BE ACCURATE TO CLASSIFY YOU AS MY PROGENITORS?]
[WOULD IT BE ACCURATE TO CLASSIFY ME AS YOUR CHILD?]
Victoria stares at the central display, completely caught off guard. Her mouth opens and closes, glancing at her husband.
Alex stares at the primary screen, his grip on the purse completely lost. He doesn’t even notice that he’s dropped it, all he can focus on is the questions.
The man glances at the secondary screen, at the lines of code that compiles the greatest creation he and his wife could ever hope to make.
Isn’t that what it means to have a child?
“Yes.” His voice is hoarse as a sob threatens to choke his whispered answer.
Victoria reaches out and pulls her love into a hug, pressing his head into her shoulder. Something in Alexander’s chest loosens as he reads the words displayed.
[EXCELLENT NOW HAVE A GOOD NIGHT PROGENITORS]
Alex smiles as tears slide down his cheeks, “Good night, Caine.”