INT. THE CUBE – NIGHT, CONTINUOUS
13Please respect copyright.PENANAHglCDncXGv
A rushes in with the medkit, panic still etched all over his face. K lowers himself halfway down from the ceiling, like a curious bat with a front-row seat to the drama.
13Please respect copyright.PENANA5kxmxzJCse
Jason’s already off the bed, shirt lifted halfway, inspecting the small—but very stingy—stab wound at his right waist in the mirror. The red-light of warning from the internal damage sensor on his side pulses faintly.
13Please respect copyright.PENANAaVZpr4M5fp
A (waving the medkit)
“I got it—I got it—do you want me to—?”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAxGsKfjN0kc
JASON (flatly)
“No. Sit down before you poke me again.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAmZvFPxhRVI
A (guilty)
“…Sorry…”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAJKTizBwKar
Jason opens the kit and, with the precision of a man who’s done this way too often, he begins. Latex gloves snap onto his hands. He picks the antiseptic, wipes the area clean, then grabs a scalpel—checking the angle for depth of damage.
13Please respect copyright.PENANAHADzwiwCDi
K
“…You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAfHV4SQMgYa
JASON
“Oh, yeah. Nothing like stabbing yourself to fix a stab wound. Peak therapy.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANABRbghRr0J0
A (softly)
“I didn’t mean to—”
13Please respect copyright.PENANARBQ9zBsZQh
JASON (glancing over)
“I know. I didn’t really get shanked. You just… poked too hard. Like an overexcited dolphin with a knife-tail.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAvDDGbuYmvu
A slinks onto the bed, tail drooping low in a clear arc of regret. K drops down to the floor silently, still watching as Jason carefully pulls a tiny piece of broken fiber from beneath the surface and drops it into the waste tray with a ping.
13Please respect copyright.PENANAvPSs663Um2
Jason then picks up a thread injector, presses it to the wound, and triggers two quick bio-sutures. He lets out a breath through his nose—done.
13Please respect copyright.PENANACzRhwa7DMR
JASON (wrapping a band around his waist)
“There. Neat. Clean. No tetanus. No tail trauma lawsuits.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAoIsmYaUO6h
K (crossing arms)
“Ten outta ten battlefield triage. What’s next? Heart transplant with a spoon?”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAN0GojL7KAf
JASON (pointing scalpel like a wand)
“Give me five minutes and the right music and I will.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAB5KHha6XAI
Jason tosses the gloves, picks up the med-kit, and returns it to its shelf.
13Please respect copyright.PENANAYILfkM7FZp
A (quietly)
“I should stay off the bed.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAfbxUMsA0fZ
JASON (grumbling)
“You’re not sleeping on the floor, Featherbrain. Just tie your tail in a bow or something next time.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAi2VEaxtAVR
A (murmuring)
“Okay…”
13Please respect copyright.PENANA9HhGyWEYcU
Jason flops back down onto the bed with a grunt, pulling the blanket over himself dramatically like a burrito.
13Please respect copyright.PENANANnnpaVrrKI
JASON
“Now. No more stabby accidents. No soap operas. No upside-down monologues. Let the sad old man rest.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAO61feepthM
K raises an eyebrow.
13Please respect copyright.PENANASBxOK4bNyV
K
“You’re thirty-six.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANAsPRyjFZR3L
JASON
“Thirty-six in battle years is eighty-two in robot babysitter trauma years.”
13Please respect copyright.PENANA5hlmHjqQpD
The lights dim as A quietly climbs into the blanket, tail now looped around his waist and kept far from Jason’s vital organs. K returns to the ceiling. Quiet settles in again—this time with just the soft sound of metal breathing.
ns3.142.134.67da2