Interpersonal Relations #1
Isaac dwells in a spider-like web of wires.
Wires of all sizes and colours are draped across every door frame and light fixture. Some are dusty and some tangled, each one however presumably serves a purpose.
It had seemed like a nice flat to his father the day he helped him move in. The windows were not caked in mould back then. Isaac hasn’t invited him round again since that first day. That was six years ago.
The light bulbs all worked back then. Now none of them do. Isaac gets all the light he needs from his computer monitors.
His physical life is simple and requires simple maintenance. A microwave burger every three hours and a can of Pepsi-Max every half hour provides him with enough fuel to work and play. Packaged foods make plates redundant; they are only necessary for certain guests and Isaac never entertains.
His doorbell just rang. It rang twenty minutes ago as well. Twice in one evening? That’s rare. He thinks maybe he should answer it this time.
Peering through the spy-hole in his front door he can see his only friend IRL Robert standing in the hall way. They have been friends since school. In truth they are more like associates these days.
Isaac wonders why Robert is here this evening. Has something gone wrong with the server? If so, then it can’t have gone wrong his end. He monitors the status of the server that sits humming away in his wardrobe constantly. Could it be a social call? That seems unlikely as they haven’t hung out properly in almost a year. Why then?
Robert rings the doorbell again. Isaac realises he can simply open the door and ask Robert why he is here. He wonders just how long he was sat programming on his computer to achieve this deeply introspective mood. He takes a deep breath and opens the door as far as the chain will allow.
“Robert” exhales Isaac through the thin gap “why are you here?”
Robert looks slightly bemused.
“You called me.”
“Did I?”
“Yes. Last night.”
“…did I?”
“Yes… are you high?”
Issac’s frowns in thought, “…no... but I may have been last night. Why did I call you?”
Robert shakes his head in amused disbelief. “You said that you got an email from one of our connections and that there was something important you needed to tell me that you couldn’t say over the phone.”
“Analogue dialogue? That doesn’t sound like something I would suggest.”
“And yet here I am.” Robert makes fists within his black leather gloves, he’s getting a bit impatient now.
“This must have been an important email.”
“So it would seem.”
“Shall I let you in?”
“Yes please.”
