Good Zeke hunting

Ryan didn’t quite know what to feel about the church and the people in it, but it seemed like Zeke found him a few friends. Maybe even people that valued him despite what he assumed was quirks that set him apart from everyone else around him. Even if one of those friends had a name he wasn’t sure if it was real or one of those fake names. Not like he was going to question it now, when he could just wait till later or find out somehow. Still the idea of just enjoying social interaction in the café with people he might not hate felt pretty nice. Nihilus seemed fine enough, Connor was a nice guy and he liked Zeke. As far as siblings were concerned he thought they got along pretty damn well.  ”Well that sounds fu…” That was when an unknown person broke their way into the conversation in a way that didn’t sound good.

Mostly mentioning something about multiplying and his eyes scanning over his current friends before looking to the sharply dressed stranger.  Something happened between them that left him more awkward than anything else, though he did scoot a little closer to Zeke and tried to make sure he was kept safe despite there being no obvious danger. Something about this stranger made him feel…as if he had to be on guard. Might have been the obvious enmity between him and Nihilus. As if there was supposed to be some kind of fight that would break out between them any second now, if his…mother hadn’t done something about it. He didn’t really know how mothers worked so he could just make assumptions.

Once he was gone, Zeke stated they liked to dick with him often, which meant he was the kind of person that did this and Connor looked around before chuckling awkwardly but there seemed to be a kind of pleasant texture to that laugh. Everything about him was pleasant.  ”Take us to Church? Sounds like a song I heard before,” Connor noted, seeming to return to hovering around Zeke, hands buried into his pockets while he seemed like he was taking everything around him in. Ryan wondered what was going on in his head, though he didn’t have the same telepathic insight that his father had. Instead he had to run off social ques that came in dealing with people, even some of those didn’t get him very far. The only people he really understood were Lucas and maybe his dad when he had the time to talk. When he was much smaller.

These physical changes weren’t shown often, not until he was around people his age. It was only then that he found himself painfully awkward in ways that he didn’t want to think about. He telekinetically adjusted himself and took up speed as Zeke seemed to play around with something in the wall and then they went further, a small explanation from the frazzle haired blonde as to where they were going. ”Bunker in a church huh? Wonder what kind of place this is.” Connor seemed to muse over the fact, looking to Zeke and Ryan with a questioning glance as if he had never been around a place like this.

”No clue. Never been to a church before so I have no idea how these work.” Ryan admitted, looking away from Connor and counting the many seemingly imperceptible lines within the wall. Anything to grasp his attention aside from what his mind might have been focusing on. It was easier once they walked out into a proverbial miniature garden of Eden, his mind quickly taking in even the animals which seemed to take flight and skitter about.

How much money did it take to make this?

However much their shared friend seemed highly interested by this whole thing. ”Woah, there’s a hot tub? Try not to drop too much on me all at once bud.” Connor seemed to loop an arm around Zeke’s shoulder, giving him an affectionate squeeze, turning attention to the voice and eye which considered them. It seemed to know Ryan, though that likely meant he had been talked about by his erratic sibling.  ”names Connor. I’m sort of a friend with Zeke here, like to think a pretty good friend too.” He gave him another small jostle before actually breaking the contact and turning back to Nihilus and Ryan.

”So what kind of stuff do you get upto here? It’s pretty new to me honestly and didn’t know there was like…a garden thing down here.”

The hot tub seemed to excite Connor, and Nihilus gave a sideways glance at the young man as he looped an arm around Zeke, causing Zeke to blush and give Nihilus a wayward smile. Zeke saw the smile, and he recognized it as the same smile that Nihilus gave him when he realized that Zeke was feeling overwhelmed. Zeke felt like a small bunny in a cage with a playful wolf when Nihilus had that smile. He shuddered as Connor squeezed him and he let out a happy little squeak, when his eye opened and he saw Nihilus he was hsocked to see the sound made Nihilus' face twist into a cartoonishly shocked face.

The eye from within the rounded glass wall seemed to focus upon the one known as Connor as it assessed them, beginning to draw diagnostics from their electromagnetic fields and take in data at impressive speeds. The robotic yet sot voice seemed to adjust itself as it seemed to warmly welcome this new boy into their group. Zeke seemed to place an arm around Coonor's waist and pull into him a little, enjoying the feeling of having another friend nearby, the feeling of being considered a good friend made him oddly warm inside and a lot less spasmatic.

"I see, Connor. Welcome. my name is Zodiac. I hate to inform you, however you have an alarming level of EM radiation that seem to cause oxytocin secretions within those around you." The computer said as it seemed to close it's eye into a cartoonish half-moon, as if the eye were happily closed on some incomplete cartoon. "Thankfully this does not seem to be detremental in any way. In any case, please be cautious of those around you. Young Nihilus has the same issue, though he experiences through a path quite differently than your own."

" 'Ey! Don't be tellin' people that I make their oxytocin rise. They'll get the wrong idea." The young man, Nihilus seemed to interject. Why he despised this fact it was beyond even the A.I to know. It was simply a fact and nothing more. Zeke chuckled seeing Nihilus banter with the A.I before he settled his eyes to the others.

"I'm sorry, Nihilus. I do not believe there is a "right" idea to this thought. Nevertheless, Welcome Connor. I hope you can perhaps be a good influence on young Nihilus." The A.I seemed to settle in from it's happy placement and opened up again, looking the group of boys over. "If you should need anything, please do not hesitate to contact me. You may do so by saying my name to activate my attention." The A.I said as it seemed to fade a bit, still appearing on the glass, but the lush and vibrant blue waters behind the glass seemed to glow through with an innate sense of life and energy.

"Nah, well how could you have known? That's kinda silly when ya think about it. You're cute though, so i'll let it slide." Nihilus said with a smirk and a shrug. He walked up to Ryan and gave him a pat on the shoulder before motioning to a dart board that seemed to hang from the wall, several darts with polished and perfectly glistening fins laid out. "Speaking of...let's get you loosened up. You're too tense, how about some darts. Always helps ease the tension when you're stickin' somethin'." Nihilus said as he ushered Ryan towards the board.

"We gotta all get to know each other I guess. So this will be pretty simple. Each dart you put in the board, I answer a question. You can ask anything you want about me and I'll answer. If you can't think of one, you can have Zeke or Connor ask. Same for me though... Each dart I get on the board, I ask one. Fair?"

Connor considered the eye examining him, unsure what it was doing but not really saying anything against it. Ryan just looked around, his brother wrapping an arm around this guy and making a sound he had only heard once before from some kind of squeaky toy. He didn’t know if he found that endearing or if he was jealous he wasn’t the one wrapping an arm around him. He allowed his own jealous and out of nowhere thoughts to fade when the computerized voice introduced itself as Zodiac, mentioning something about strange EM waves around Connor which was messing with people’s oxytocin. He dug around the information swimming in his mind, finding only that it messed around with trust and the like.  Was that why he was feeling so weird around him?

”I’ll keep that in mind,” Connor stated likely unsure what he should say when people said he had strange EM waves radiating off of him, instead wrapping an arm around Zeke without thinking in reaction to the same motion. From an outside perspective they might have been seen as more than friends, though Ryan was pretty sure his younger brother didn’t realize that. Likely didn’t care or maybe he did. ”good influence? I’ll try,” He considered the younger male named Nihilus, likely wondering over what he was even called Nihilus in the first place. Did his parents hate him or was that just a weird naming choice? Maybe he named himself that and everyone else for some reason respected it.

Ryan was ushered away from the group, though Connor lead Zeke along with them to see what they were doing. Looking rather interested in what they had planned for the dart board. The rules to the game sounded simple enough, so he nodded in agreement. ”That’s fair. I think I might have one or two questions,” He picked up one of the darts, seemingly weighing it in his hand and looking to the board itself before stepping back a couple steps. All it took was a few calculations, how much force he needed to apply and let it fly through the air and sink dead center of the board before looking to Nihilus without really any excessive pride. Not like it went any other way than he expected.

”So your name, is it actually Nihilus?”

"Yeah. It's not exactly thematic but...my name is Nihilus. It's Latin. From the Adverb nihilus and the pronoun nihil. Both of which meaning "Nothing" and various different thesauric words." Nihilus said with a small chuckle. He cleared his throat and nodded as he looked to the board, seeing where he needed his pointed projectile to go. He reminissed for a moment before looking back to Ryan with a slight sigh. "It's not a really common name. I get way too many Star Wars references thrown at me. So for the sake of just running around in the community I tend to use the name "Nico". Just so you know." Nihilus clarified. Now he wasn't going to explain how he got to the name Nico, but it actually had something to do with his origin point, and whom he had come from. A slight wave of repulsion kicked in as he thought about it, though he masked it from his face as he focused in on the board.

He watched the board for a moment, reared his arm back a little and then rotated it in circles before posting his arm out to measure a bit. He brought his forearm up like a post and carefully jerked his wrist forward as he released the dart. It flew to the edge of the boars, barely touching the black line of the last circle, which separate the target from the white paper. Nihilus' face scrunched up with a bit of embarassment as he turned to face Ryan with an arched eyebrow and a small smile. "That count?"

"S-so we've go-gotta find something to do too. W-what do you normally like to do C-C-Connor?" Zeke began to spazz a little as he seemed to break away from the young man and ran over to a small box in the corner of "room", rummaging through it and pulling out a plethora of random objects. They ranged from stranged stuffed animals all the way to finely organized boxes of random metal bits, as well as heat-etching devices with the cords unplugged and wrapped around the heated coil. Zeke seemed to wear a focused face for only a moment as he let out a series of satisfied giggles tossing things over his head as he withdrew the kit and the coils. Then he moved them to a table that sat off to the side, the box remained open even as Zeke walked away.

Ryan took in the explanation with mild interest. So, the guys name was actually Nihilus? Something about it interested him, if only because even among his own kind who were likely unusual, he was not sure he ever heard a name like that. From what he could tell his dad tended to pick names that wouldn’t stand out in a Canadian or American setting, considering they tended to favor going out there. He nodded along, taking in the information given to him and watching the dart fly through the air and land close. How close he wasn’t sure, but he was willing to give it to him. Making Star Wars references however were not something that he tended to do, because he was still trying to catch up on Pop culture.

”That counts I guess,” Ryan admitted with a shrug, wondering what questions the newly named Nico could ask him. Zeke however broke off whatever he was doing with Connor, digging through a box and stating they needed to find something to do. weren’t we doing something already? he thought to himself with a confused expression but not saying anything about it. Connor however didn’t seem to mind, stroking his chin as if trying to think of something.

”A bit I guess. The arcade, a little skateboarding and I’m pretty good on the acoustic.” he mused, walking over to his younger sibling and casually seeing what he was doing. What exactly he was digging for? ”I’m a guy of many talents,” He added with what Ryan could describe as a charming smile. ”anything else to do in here? Video games or something?” Connor questioned, looking to Nihilus and then Zeke as he inserted himself into the game and tossed a dart, hitting the outer ring of the board.

"It counts. Cool. Tell me your favorite song." Nihilus smirked as Ryan gave him credit for the shot. He nodded to the young man before watching the boy named Connor walk up with Zeke as he withdrew thew boxes. Nico identified them as Zeke's jewlery kit, smirking a little as he looked to Ryan and chuckled. "Zeke...Darts can be played in teams bub." Nico said with a smile, Zeke's face flushed a moment as he laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back og his head.

"GYAH! S-sorry! I-I was just trying to let my friends bond." Zeke had said this and seemed genuinely embarassed that he hadn't taken the hint. He looked and listened to Connor as he said about liking skateboarding, which caused Zeke to smile wide, but wince at the same time, painful memories coming back to when Nihilus tried to teach him. "Ooooh! So cool! Ha-eeeehm. Nyah, I don't skate well haha. I just make this stuff." He said as he set the box down and stood up. As Connor walked over to the other boys, Zeke seemed to grunt a littlre as he almost tripped over his shoe laces, scampering over to the rest of them. Connor asked about video games. Nihilus stepped away, passing Connor and dropping to a knee, helping Zeke tie his shoe, the small blonde unable to do so because of his shaking hands, no doube shaking more than normal due to the embarassment.

"Sure, there's a lot of them. There's also the simulator room and the there's Zodiac's transporter. So if there's not something here to do, I can get us anywhere in the world. As long as we know where it is." He said as he smiled at Zeke, who returned it with a nervous chuckle and tugging at his hair a little. "Oof...I'm losing here. Alright, Connor. Ask someone something."

”Favorite song huh? A lot of songs to pick from,”Ryan mused, thinking over the many songs he had heard in his very short life time and wondering which one would count as a favorite. Could he really pick something like favorite? That was quite the question to put on him despite how small it really was. Even if it meant nothing really, his mind was going to overthink it anyway. Feeling like a thousand thoughts were shooting through his mind in a second, though that just meant he would likely come to a conclusion rather quickly. ”favorite song is I guess killer queen,” Queen had been something he took to listening more lately, even devoting a small music player to it because the band because he didn’t care for relying on at times spotty service from his phone.

Connor meanwhile looked over the box which had little meaning for him beside what was in it. Though he managed to look infinitely interested in what was going on with it. ”I’ll have to show you my skating skills sometime,” Connor noted, looking over whatever the young blonde claimed to make. Some looked like jewelry though he couldn’t quite tell what all of it was. Ryan noted his expression of brief concern when Zeke nearly tripped over his own laces, though Nico was quick to help him tie those laces up which fixed that issue. Having hands that had a hard time not shaking was likely something that made many things difficult. Ryan had the idea of that, though he knew his opinion of Zeke was a shared one among most siblings save for maybe the ones responsible for what he was.

The mention of being able to go anywhere around the world seemed to impress Connor, or rather the expression it made him form. ”Sounds like a lot to pick from. Though something like a sim room sounds like it was pulled from Star Trek.” Connor added, trying to imagine how something like that would work or look like.  Then the question weight was put on him, the pink eyed male seemingly hovering around his younger brother. ”Hm, so Zeke, favorite food? I know it’s a pretty lame question but I’m not good at the questions. Well unless they’re awkward anyway,” He asked and then seemingly apologized without really saying an apology. With that question he waited for Nico to do his own thing, while Ryan pulled out his phone and began scrolling through for interesting articles.

"G-uuuh....hmph...hmmmrrrr.....GHA I CAN'T CHOOSE!" Zeke seemed to think about it for a moment before suddenly he had a nearly 180 turn in personality, his face bright red as he was panting, his brain seeming to tear itself apart at the prospect of having to pick one food. Nihilus reached over and with a flick of his middle finger he seemed to tap off of the tip of Zeke's nose, suddenly the color draining from him back to his default, nervous beads of sweat lingering before a look of confusion and a sudden sigh.

"Don't overthink things. Pick one, trust your gut Sir-Spazz." Nihilus sighed, a small smirk on his face as he rolled his eyes and seemed to put his hands back into his pockets. Zeke's sigh seemed to let out a lot of energy at that point, he looked sheepishly to Connor and seemed to have a nervous chuckle.

"Sh-shrimp noodles." Zeke said, though immediately it caused some confusion in Nihilus. Was he saying the Shrimp Ramen, or was he saying that the Shrimp Alfredo was his favorite? Did he just like shrimp? It wasn't an overly important detail, but now he was confused.

"So we've discovered taste in music, favorite foods. Is there anything that people want to do, but haven't done? Because if so...do it now. Because I got a plan, and we're going to be going somewhere else. Whenever y'all finished, follow me." Nihilus said as he seemed to walk just outside of his own little area, back into the garden. He walked over to the pond towards the offset and sat there with his folded arms. Zeke seemed to follow him just out of instinct, or perhaps habit.

"S-so is...Killer Queen a good song or...is it like...one of those historic songs?" Zeke asked, though the question was to be asked from eyes that were wrought with worry, hidden deep behind the iris'. Nihilus tried to contain a chuckle, though failed. The fact that the child was holding onto that question was an amusing prospect. Nihilus seemed to mutter something and then Pulled on Zeke's shoulder, pulling him and then twisting his friend and shoving him into the water, where Zeke promptly vanished.

"Answer it on the other side. We got 6 seconds! Go-Go-GO! Let's get this bread gamers. Get into my- the portal. Go!" Nihilus began to pressure everyone to immediately follow after Zeke, realizing that where they would end up on the other side was hopefully a nice, pleasant surprise.

Ryan watched Zeke ruminate through the question of his favorite food, followed by a small fit of screeching which sounded as if he were more in pain than anything else. he could tell Connor was almost bothered by the sound, a small tugging downwards on the corners of his lips. That just seemed like the kind of person the pink eyed male was, constantly worrying over how people he considered his friends saw him. ”Shrimp noodles huh? You got some good tastes there Zeke,” Connor offered the compliment, massaging the blondes shoulder as if in some attempt to calm him down. Ryan didn’t know if that would really work but he let the male do what he seemed to think was right, since his younger brother did react well enough to him.

”Well I can’t think of anything,” Ryan stated, racking his brain with something he would have wanted to know about Zeke, Connor or Nihilus though he was presented with nothing interesting enough. Mostly just mundane questions with equally mundane answers that his superhuman mind found no true intrigue with. Connor continued to hover around Zeke, seemingly worrying over the prospect of another one of his fits while Ryan followed Nihilus through the garden and to the pond. The small ripples spreading outwards caught his attention somewhat, though he already was garnering more interest in what was going on.

”Pretty old I guess. Connor offered, though it seemed like he knew the song well enough. Didn’t have the time to describe it before he was dragged into the portal  to what he didn’t know.

The generation of such a portal was an astounding feat in it's own right. Nihilus knew his father was not one for science, however he did have a firm belief in aspiring to knowledge. It was simply a requirement that you understand such knowledge when you seek it, if it cannot be understood, there was reason that it could not be. It was quite a perturbing thing, how everyone analyzed his parents and by extension himself. The stigma thrown on them for their faith was a regularly occurring thing, and his own dual nature within this seemed to bring all the more suspicion and animosity towards his family. Nihilus sighed as the portal stole his attention away, recalling that it was not always wise to allow his thoughts free reign.

    "W-wow..." Zeke whispered, trying to piece together what he just experienced. Flashing lights, larger than life billboards and neon lights in the sky illuminating with a beautiful contrast against the darkened sky. All of this seemed to peer down an alleyway as Nihilus was the last from the portal. He looked up and grumbled a little bit as he looked up, the rain falling. Looking to the left and then right he could ascertain that the street was packed and yet very few people would take notice of their appearance. The street was rather dark, yet as Nihilus looked back to them he smiled a little. He was held with embarrassed that he didn't anticipate the weather, scratching at the back of his neck.

    "Haha, sorry guy. I completely forgot to check the weather here before we came." He sighed, resigning to admit the fact he hadn't anticipated this. Nihilus went from the alleyway and turned the corner, looking to the left and to the right as he stepped out. He seemed to move with a purpose, a look on his face like he was scouting for something. As the other stepped from the alleyway they'd be greeted with several, dozens of electronic signs alongside the buildings, all in a languages of strikes and strokes. Nihilus didn't seem to pay the rain much mind as he pointed out in two different directions. "I don't care where we go, but We're headed to those places at some point."

   His hands extended to a bright and vibrant alleyway to the far-side of the street, then to the distance due north, there was a small stand that had cloth draped around it. There had been steam coming from the top of the ornate woodworking, though the strange cloth and plastic seemed to obscure and grant some privacy.

Ryan didn’t know if he should be impressed by the portal or not. His time in the world outside the compound suggested portals were not common, though he didn’t say anything about the feat itself. Instead allowing his mind to consider the feat with mild intrigue, following through to what might have lay beyond. He was all to prepared to defend himself and Zeke should he need to, though that suggested he would be able to against whatever lay beyond. Not that he assumed Nihilus had any reason to want to see him dead.

Beyond they stepped into a city street, neon lights blinking in the distance like stars. His eyes widened for a moment, almost starstruck by the sight itself as if the amazing thing was just entirely expected.  Rain was drizzling down from the sky, streaking down his face, it was pleasant really, though he didn’t feel the cold that came with it. The place had a sensation of the cyberpunk genre, though he wondered if he was lacking the clothing aesthetic for this kind of place. ”Wonder what we can do in this place?” Ryan wondered, looking around with eyes now wide in amazement. There was so much that he could do, perhaps there was.

”Only one way to find out. You been here before, right Zeke?” Connor looked to the blonde male, offering a friendly smile and letting his expression beg the question. Without thinking about it, Connor softly grasped Zeke by the elbow and seemed to be leading towards the vibrant hallway. Likely like a bird that saw a shiny looking thing that could lead to something interesting.