<b>Kenji Avery – White</b><br/>Mid-June, 2022<br/>12:25pm - To Segway 2<br/>Theme song:<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FTQWstnLAxBA&amp;hash=5d3d4073caa503d729620b6086ec5a15" href="https://youtu.be/TQWstnLAxBA" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Traffic Light - Daughtry</a><br/>Present: All the siblings<br/><br/><div class="bbImageWrapper bbImageAligned--left js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/kenji-2-jpg.135926/" title="Kenji 2.jpg">
<img alt="Kenji 2.jpg" class="bbImage lazyload" data-src="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/kenji-2-jpg.135926/" data-url="" data-zoom-target="1" height="585" src="data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='449' height='585' viewBox%3D'0 0 449 585'%2F%3E" style="width: 161px" title="Kenji 2.jpg" width="449"/>
<noscript><img alt="Kenji 2.jpg" class="bbImage" data-url="" data-zoom-target="1" height="585" src="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/kenji-2-jpg.135926/" style="width: 161px" title="Kenji 2.jpg" width="449"/></noscript>
</div>Kenji's smile warmed when Chris told him that he was staying there. "No shit? Okay, cool." He was calculating what it must have taken for Chris to decide to come home for good, and thought that maybe it had something to do with the color red.<br/><br/>Or maybe Chris had figured out that there really was no place like home and the Matrix reawakening was the only sign he needed that it was time. Whatever the reason, Kenji was glad to hear that there would be more than one opportunity to grab a drink and reminisce.<br/><br/>At the observatory he waited for the mirrored floor to open, then stepped into the abyss and floated steadily to the ground. They passed through the titanium doors, ignored the containment room with the Matrix, and made their way to Segway Two. It felt like he had never left and somehow that feeling made him feel even more guilty than before.<br/><br/>He paused inside the Operations Room to take a measure of who was there and who was lacking. It seemed he and Chris needed a moment to take this in. The faces, the memories all flashed before him. Remembrances of their laughter, their fights, the secret tears and the angry voices. There was too much history here to throw it all away.<br/><br/>When Chris lit up yet another cigarette, Kenji stepped away. The memories of Uncle Creepy were too real with that trigger floating in the air. He glanced over to see Terry enter the room, then make a beeline for Idris. Kenji wasn't sure how he felt about Idris now that he was older and she looked the same. She didn't seem so much like an adult now. Of everyone here, she was the most immaculately dressed, looking like she had her shit together, but he wondered if she still missed mixing drinks or if her search for Mother's killer ever gave her comfort.<br/><br/>Kenji's eyes followed Terry to her next target; Emmy. By now Kenji had moved to where he could see both Addy and Emmy's profiles and realized that they had just been finishing up their conversation when Terry arrived. There was something going on with the women. But wasn't here always something going on with the women? Either they were all on their periods at the same time or they all wanted chocolate and ice cream, and in between there had been arguments about people using another's makeup, someone's favorite shoes going missing, or some other weird female crisis. It made Kenji glad that he was a guy.<br/><br/>He spared Addy a small smile when she shot him that look that meant they needed to talk. He missed her, and now he knew what she had rushed off to do. From the look on Emmy's face she was having a 'come apart.' He glanced down, hiding his smirk at that memory of a doctor, one of his favorites from the south, who often said that drug addicts in the ER were having a come-apart over their next fix. Then he'd always say "Bless their hearts, they're just fighting to die." Whatever<i>that </i>meant.<br/><br/>Was that what Emmy was doing? He looked at her, then watched as Addy was hugged by Terry, who then went to find a seat. His eyes flickered back to Addy at her request of a beer. Surely, she was jesting. And through it all, Emmy remained a roiling yet stoic anchor in the storm.<br/><br/>Glancing about the room he saw that everyone was growing quiet, as if they were all just waiting for something. And that 'something' was sitting in Mother's chair.<br/><br/>"Well, Emmy – we're here," he said. "We're home. What's next?"