Waiting for Hunter, Bain and Shi XIn

Dialogues | Waiting for Hunter

Bain and Shi Xin wait for Hunter to emerge from the dark night. They’ve been at the rendezvous for several hours and begin to wonder if he intends to meet them at all. Bain is standing up, shaking his human arm, trying to loosen the boredom from his veins. Shi Xin remains still, an oasis in the whirl of Bain’s anxiety, her long legs and black jump suit wrapped languidly around the rock-hewn chair. Behind them a troupe of off-world traders repeatedly gamble their winnings. Shouts of triumph and misery resonate through the cavern and cast through the entrance where Bain and Shi Xin hail for their seventh coffee of the night from the cart nearby. The android reaches across to pour a perfectly calibrated potion into the re-useable mugs, as Bain nods, then sighs dramatically.

The time does not matter, nor the year.

Shi Xin: You waste so much energy.

Bain: I know. I can’t help it. I’m not built for hanging around like this, too impulsive!

Shi Xin: Just sit down for a little and relax. Honestly, it’s much easier. Try some meditation.

Bain: Come on, do I look as though I’d try meditation!?

Shi Xin: No, but you look as though you’d benefit from it!

They lapse into silence, in what has become a familiar rhythm between them, short bursts of hectoring, a lack of resolution, followed by an absence of words.

Bain: So did he really not tell you where he was going?

Shi Xin: I think I mentioned a few times now, he did not.

Bain, shrugs and its his hands: Okay, I know, just trying to open a conversation.

Shi Xin: Well, try something different.

Bain: Um, are you really not tempted to join the traders back there?

Shi Xin: You mean apart from their excessive drinking, misogyny, loud chanting of meaningless phrases and inane squabbling over a game of chance which enriches some at the expense of the others?

Bain: Okay, yes, it’s not very you.

Shi Xin: Is it you then?

Bain: Well, it might have been once.

Shi Xin: Before you lost the arm?

Bain: Oh, speak your mind, why don’t you!

Shi Xin: Sorry, I didn’t realise that was insensitive.

Bain: Don’t worry, I’m only joking. It’s just that nobody really mentions it, unless they want something from it.

Shi Xin: What do you mean?

Bain: Hmm, it’s more than just a metal arm. Obviously it can withstand extremes of heat, but it contains some of my DNA and I can summon objects, create them by thinking.

Shi Xin: But that’s incredible.

Bain: Hah. It’s not as easy at it sounds! It’s exhausting to do it.

Shi Xin: What sort of things?

Bain: Um, obvious things like keys and guns, and money, other stuff too.

Shi Xin: So, it takes the fun out of being a thief then!

Bain, sitting down, finally: Those days are long gone. Since being with Hunter he’s shamed me into a different way of life.

Shi Xin: Glad to hear that!

Bain: Oh, I’d hate to think you’d be as sanctimonious as Hunter.

Shi Xin: He’s ascetic, rather than sanctimonious I remember one of your discussions with him, he enjoys taking the contrary view. He seemed to be teaching, rather than preaching.

Bain: Maybe. I just hate it that he’s always right.

Shi Xin: D’you think he’d say the same?

Bain: That he was always right?

Shi Xin: No, that you hate it that he’s always right!

Bain: Oh, so you think he is!

Shi Xin: Well, his perspective is different from us, so he seems more objective.

Bain: We only talk about the big stuff, human condition, differences between species, and robots, survival, truth and beauty. It was the only way I could make him talk.

Shi Xin smiles: Yes, when he’s on a mission he’s so focused, I don’t know how you manage – you’re so restless and talkative.

Bain: At least you’re laughing. I’ve missed that! Why can’t you spend more time with us?

Shi Xin: I have my own things to do, mainly trying to understand my place in the universe. I know so little.

Bain: But you know so much, all the teaching in the mountains, you know more about civilisations, and religions, and philosophy than anyone I’ve met, except Hunter, obviously.

Shi Xin: That’s kind of you but you weren’t exactly a model student were you? All I know was drilled into me by the priests, at least you seem to know who you are. I’ve seen you talk with so many different types of people.

Bain: I think that’s almost a compliment!

Shi Xin: Take it, they don’t come very often!

Bain: Ok, but I think I just have a sort of jack-the-lad charm. Years of surviving on my own have taught me when to take an opportunity, and when to run.

Shi Xin: Yes, I’ve seen that. I don’t know enough of that sort of thieving. Not sure I could make myself either. I was the only girl in a group of 10 boys, with male teachers. The boys were mainly cruel and unsympathetic, especially as the teachers were so kind. I knew right from wrong but since coming into the real world I see that people have so many different ways of living with their morals, just to survive, or get along with their neighbours.

Bain: Ah, well, that’s true. Hunter would say that’s essentially human to adapt in that way, but I think it’s a basic sense of living, that all beings adapt to what’s going on around them and make the best of it, or they die.

Shi Xin: So they compromise themselves in some way, in order to survive.

Bain: You could put it that way, but life is full of compromises.

Shi Xin: So when the wind blows, the reed bends, so as not to break.

Bain: Hmm. I suppose you learned that on the mountains.

Shi Xin: Oh yes, and many more besides.

They laugh conspiratorially. For a moment the gentle sounds chime with the booming noises of the traders behind them. Bain stretches his legs and smiles. He glances over to Shi Xin as she too seems to relax a little more, and realises how beautiful she is, her skin glowing in the reflections of the slowly emerging sun. He regrets the significant age difference between them, but shrugs and soon dismisses the stirring. In turn, Shi Xin catches at Bain’s thoughts, betrayed by the corners of his mouth, and decides that she must be careful with this old thief, treat him with kindness, as they wait here for Hunter to arrive, if ever he does.

Links