Jay Everwood sat alone on a park bench, looking around.
A father pushed his daughter on the swing set. A woman walked her dog. A busker played music, their guitar case open for donations.
A vaguely familiar figure came into view from the distance. Jay narrowed their eyes, making sure they were correct before smiling. They stood up, approaching the figure until they eventually met in the middle.
"Hey, Rex. It's good to see you. You finally grew a proper mustache!"
"Heh. Yeah. And look at you, your hair's gone gray."
"Yeah. I'm old."
They stood in silence for a moment before Rex lunged forward to hug Jay. Though a bit surprised, they returned the embrace, patting him on the back. Eventually, they split and Jay motioned for them to walk, to which Rex acquiesced.
"How have you been? What have you been up to?" Jay asked.
"Well… After everything, I tried art but that didn't pay the bills. So I became a high school art teacher. That still doesn't pay the bills, but its better than just art," Rex chuckled slightly. "Though I now forever hate myself for being a sellout. What about you?"
"After Ilse, I just… wasn't myself for a while." their voice trailed off quietly.
Rex averted his gaze to the ground, grimacing. "Sorry."
"It's not your fault. A few months after the funeral, I visited my friends in Site-120. When I came back, I bought myself an apartment and started fostering dogs from the shelter. I write freelance when I want splurging money."
He nodded. "Do you still see Harry, Melissa, and the others?"
"Not as much as I would like to."
"What about James? What's he up to?" Rex stuffed his hands into his coat pockets.
"He went off to study game design and he works at some game studio in Vancouver." Jay smiled.
"Do you miss him?"
"Of course. But that's fine, I have the dogs to keep me company anyway."
"You said you write, yeah? What do you write about?" Rex asked as he kicked a pebble further down the path.
"Usually whatever the client asks of me. But if left to my own devices, I like to write stories of inter-factional political intrigue," they said, a smile returning to their face.
"Write what you know, eh?"
"Yep. What about you, Rex?"
"I got married fifteen years ago to Mike. Remember him?"
"The guy who you met while trying to sell your sculptures?"
"Yeah. He's the sweetest guy ever. We've been wanting to adopt for a while now, but the paperwork is a nightmare."
Jay was silent a moment, watching children play in the park. A look of pain flashed over their face, but they still smiled and congratulated Rex with a hearty "Congrats!"
"Thanks, Jay."
Silence befell the conversation once more.
After a few moments of silent walking, Jay spoke up: "I can't believe it's been so long."
"Thirty damn years," Rex sighed.
"Yeah."
"Did you ever learn what happened?"
"Huh?"
"You had a higher clearance level than me. Surely the higher-ups figured out what happened?"
"Not at all."
"That's so frustrating."
Jay shrugged. "You can't explain everything. You should know that just as well as I do."
"It's just so unfair. We spent years working with anomalies only for all of them to just up and vanish? I dedicated so much of my life to it and then boom. Nothing."
"How do you think I feel? I was with the Foundation longer than you."
"I miss feeling like I was doing something worthwhile. Protecting the world. Doing what needed to be done behind the scenes." Rex grumbled.
"The Foundation wasn't exactly the most noble of institutions."
"I know, but what I was doing meant something, you know?"
"Don't tie your self worth to your job. You are more than that. Look at you, you got married and are trying to start a family. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Jay said, looking down to match his gaze.
"It does, but… I just miss the magic."
"Adjusting to the new normalcy is hard. It took a long time to really hit me. But this is what the Foundation was trying to protect. It's goal was achieved. We can afford to fade away into mundanity now."
"How can I lead a normal life knowing everything I do? Knowing how many times the world almost ended? Knowing the things we used to keep in containment?"
"That's all in the past and you can't change it. You need to let it go."
Rex sighed again.
"It's just so hard."
"I know it's hard, I lost Ilse. Trust me, I know better than most that it's not easy."
"You're right. Sorry."
"Don't apologize. You're not at fault here, Rex." Jay raised their prosthetic arm to pat him on the back.
"Bad habit."
The two continued to walk through the park in silence for a few minutes until Rex suddenly came to a stop. He gazed forward at the fork in the road, cocking his head to the side. Jay continued for a few paces until they realized he hadn't proceeded with them.
"Something wrong?" Jay asked.
Rex took a step towards the divergent gravel path.
"Is it just me or does this path look weird to you?"
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