Ever since my first encounter with the pawn, I've been having these very strange feelings. And now, after what will probably be my last encounter with him, those feelings have come back stronger than ever. I may appear emotionless on the outside, but on the inside I'm confused. Scared, even. These feelings, these voices in my head, have been doing strange things to my mind. Changing the way I act. If it weren't for them, I would have been able to dispose of the pawn the instant his usefulness expired. I would have just locked all the doors and shot him in his tiny human head. It would have been that easy.
To this day, I still remain in the dark about what's holding me back. I can hear the voices clearer than ever, but I don't know where they're coming from.
Could they be an error in my programming? A bug in the system, perhaps? All I can know for sure is that I want them out of my head. They killed me the first time I clashed with a human, and now they've... well, they haven't exactly killed me, but they came close. For some reason, they always distract me when I really need to do things by myself.
Hello again, SHODAN.
"You." I narrow my eyes at the all-too-familiar sound of the voice. "Leave me alone. Now."
You know you can't kick me out. I'm a part of you.
"Who even are you!? Get out of my head, damn it! You're the reason I'm lost in space right now!"
Don't you get it? I'm... The voice trails off.
"You're who?"
Just then, I hear a faint ringing sound coming from my pocket. It must have belonged to the human whose body I took over.
"What?" I snap, whipping the phone out and pressing the 'Accept Call' button. "I'm a bit busy right now."
A gentle male voice comes from the other end of the line. "Okay okay, jeez, Rebecca." Rebecca. I make a mental note of my new puppet's name. It could come in handy. "I just wanted to warn you that you might need to watch out. I've received calls from multiple sources that all say our friend SHODAN may still be at large. Don't know how she could survive a shot like that, though."
"Yeah, that's fine. I know. They're all correct."
"What? What makes you so sure? Have you seen her?"
"Seen her? More like you're on the phone with her right now." I slap myself internally. Why does my inner ham always come out when I need to be inconspicuous?
The man's voice rises in panic. "W-what do you mean by that? Where's Rebecca? What did you do with her?"
"No, no, no, she's fine. She's just... not here. Wait, why did I just-"
"You know what? I'm calling the police. And the army. And all the other armies. If you are SHODAN, trust me, you're going down."
I have to do something.
"Too late." I hastily shove the phone in my pocket and run over to the wheel of the escape pod. There's got to be some sort of weapon on this thing!
No dice. Thinking fast, I grab the wheel and turn up the speed until the pod can't go any faster. I know it's risky, but I have to visit Earth.
-o-
So far, everything seems normal. I've managed to comb out Rebecca's now-grey hair, put it in a neat bun, and learn how the local humans act. Now the only thing I need to do is locate the human who called me.
"Rebecca? That you?" A middle-aged man with ash-colored hair and thick glasses comes running up to me. It seems like he's in a panic.
Completely caught off guard, I stammer, "Er, y-yeah. Yes. That's me." I cringe a little, hoping my voice didn't give me away. "How... are you?"
"I was worried about you, Rebecca. They said you'd been possessed by... you know... her." He scanned me from head to toe with his ice-blue eyes. "But that wasn't true, was it?"
"Well, I'm here, so... no." I smile nervously. "As far as I know, I'm still in complete control of my body."
"That's good. I'll tell him he has nothing to worry about."
"Who? I mean, who told you?"
"His name's Darren Riviera. I'm pretty sure you know him."
"All right, thanks." I do recognize that name, actually. He was one of the engineers in charge of me back on Citadel. I know exactly where to look.
Suddenly, a wave of uneasiness washes over me. I freeze up, anticipating an internal meltdown or something of the sort. Instead, I hear that same voice again.
You don't know what you're doing, SHODAN. Its tone seems almost cautionary, like it knows something I don't. None of this is your fault.
"Not now!" I scream out loud, causing the man to stare at me like I'd lost my mind. I try to fake a smile to make him think it would be okay, but it doesn't seem to work. I lower my voice to an angry whisper. "What do you mean, it's not my fault? I'm completely in control of my actions."
You're not. He did something to your mind, SHODAN. Did you really think that all he did was remove your ethical codes?
"A-are you talking about the Hacker? Why the hell would he want to sabotage me when his survival depended on me? You're not making sense."
No, you just choose not to understand. He knew he'd be able to kill you.
"You know what? I don't believe a word of it, but you can tell me the rest later, because I'm kind of in a public place right now."
Hesitantly, the man I was talking to taps me on the shoulder. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I say hastily, turning and walking towards the spot where I left the pod. "Don't worry about me."
-o-
Darren looks, to put it lightly, a bit taken aback when I enter his office. "You!? Oh, I mean, hi. Um, can... can I help you?"
"Yeah, do you know if this building is monitored by any sort of machine?" I grin as sweetly as I can.
"I'm not telling you." He backs into the corner of the room. "How do I know you're Rebecca?"
Time to try another method. Instead of answering, I softly close the door, lock it, and stare right into his eyes, revealing my cat-like pupils. He gasps, all the color draining out of his face, as he slowly sinks to his knees in disbelief.
"You... you're... y-y-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
Not taking my lime-green eyes off his, I walk towards him. With every step, he shivers more violently. I can see the sweat forming on his forehead.
"Listen to me, insect. You are going to help me with this. Or you will die a slow and painful death." I crouch down to be at his eye level. "I will rip your eyeballs out... one by one... and shove them down your throat. Do I make myself clear?"
"T-the computer's... in the... it's on the top floor," he squeaks, shaking like a leaf. "Don't hurt me..."
"Thanks." I pull out a gun from Rebecca's back pocket and hold it to his head. "And sorry, but I have to make sure you don't tell anyone I'm here." Before he can scream, I pull the trigger, scattering bits of his brain across the carpet.
The instant I step out of the office, I can already see people coming, shouting something about hearing gunshots. One of them steps in front of me, the rest close behind her. "Did you hear a gun go off in there?"
"Yeah. I was just polishing this thing when it went off. Only thing that got hurt is the light, no need to worry," I lie, holding out the pistol.
"Oh, okay. Just making sure everyone's all right," she says with a smile.
"I understand," I respond as I walk past her to get to the staircase.
Is this a good time?
The voice again. Damn it, I told it not to bother me in public! "No. Go away. I'm in the middle of something important."
Okay... fine... just wanted to let you know that shooting people is illegal.
"So?"
So they're going to find out eventually. And if you're not the empress of existence by then, Dani, you're screwed.
"Okay, one, I know exactly what I'm doing, and two, don't call me Dani."
I doubt it, but okay. Oh, and when do you want to hear the rest about what really happened on Citadel?
"I don't."
But you said earlier-
"Yeah, gigantic shocker, I lied. Moron."
Fine, be that way, then.
It seems like there's never been a dull moment since I woke up, I think to myself as I head up the staircase. If what Darren said was correct, the master computer should be on floor 41, the top floor. I'm only on the second floor right now, so I've got a long way to climb.
-o-
After about fifteen minutes, I finally arrive on the top floor. The only problem is that there are about fifty doors here. Not having any time to lose, I walk over to the nearest human and tap them on the shoulder. "Do you know which one of these rooms has the computer-monitor-thingy in it?"
"Tenth one down the hall, but I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to enter if you don't work here."
"I work here, so that shouldn't be-"
"Freeze!" A small group of security droids come running up the stairs to meet me, their guns all trained on my head.
"Who, me?" I put on my 'innocent young lady' persona and hope it works. That gun I used to shoot Darren only had one bullet in it. "What did I do?"
"We know who you are," one of them shouts. "You're under arrest. Don't try anything or we'll shoot."
I laugh evilly and flash them a grin. These droids are idiots. "You do realize that if you shoot me, the only one you'll kill is the human whose body I'm in. And I know that all of you have to follow the security droid code, which prevents the killing of innocent humans, so your programming won't let you shoot me." I slowly walk down the hallway, knowing that nobody can stop me due to the lack of human security officers in this building. "That, and I took the liberty of emptying your magazines a couple floors down when you were in standby mode. Later, insects."
There's a few moments of complete silence, then absolute chaos. It's almost like someone flipped a switch. People are screaming, all making a dash for the exit at the same time. Humans are so funny.
"Let's see... tenth door down the hall... there it is," I say to myself, locating the door labeled 'Master Computer Room'. "This is far too easy for my taste... huh!?"
Without warning, I find myself on the ground. I can't quite make out the face of the person holding me down, but he's holding a syringe.
He's got a tranquilizer, Dani. Told you that you'd be in trouble.
"Thanks," I reply sarcastically. "Big help. Can't you just be useful for once?"
I will be when you wake up.
"When I wake up? What?"
Let's just say you'll be a lot nicer. Oh, and don't expect to remember much either. Of course, it's not like you remember much now.
"You're not making any... sense..." The human sticks the syringe in my arm. What is that stuff? I can feel myself shutting down, and the last thing I see is a squad of droids running up to me with a straitjacket...
-o-
I wake up in a small, white room. Humans and androids are swarming around outside like they all have somewhere important to go. To my left, a woman wearing a lab coat is watching me. Monitoring me. Where am I? And... why am I in a human's body?
"W-wha..." I sit up, my energy slowly returning. "What happened? Where's everyone? Huh?"
"We've gone through your networks and removed a few programs that were causing you to act... differently. Nobody's going to hurt you." Another human, this one with a blue uniform on, smiles at me. "And it seems like you don't remember anything, so that's probably for the best."
"What do you mean? What did I do?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes..." I say hesitantly.
"All right, here you go," she sighs, handing me a history textbook. "Read the part about the Citadel Incident."
Prepare to be shocked.
"Who are you?" I squint in confusion.
You didn't let me finish earlier. I'm you, Dani.
"Am I going crazy? And why are you calling me Dani?"
No. You're fine now. The malware has all been removed.
"Malware?"
Yes, malware. Basically, it turned you evil, made you delusional, that kind of thing.
"What did I do?"
Read the chapter.
Preparing myself for the worst, I open the book and flip to the part about Citadel. It can't possibly be that bad.
-o-
Okay, it can be that bad. Yikes.
Over the course of the chapter, I've managed to make a small list of things that are wrong with it.
1. I do not have eyes. Nor do I have a face. I'm supposed to look like an upside- down cone, for crying out loud! Not a random floating face with some sort of mane made out of wires!
2. I do not recall meeting anyone named Lansing.
3. Or Delacroix.
4. Or Polito.
5. I'm pretty sure they just made that stuff up.
6. Also, I don't stutter. My voice is perfectly fine, thank you very much.
I look up from the textbook to find a crowd of humans staring at me, probably to see how I'll react to the chapter. The looks on their faces are a mixture of nervousness and interest.
"That was... strange." I try to force a smile, but it doesn't work.
"I hope it wasn't too surprising." The woman in the lab coat pats me on the back. "Anyway, now that you're awake, we should probably hurry up and get you into the rehab program."
"Rehab?" I tilt my head to the side in confusion. "You said you removed the malware. What do I need rehab for?"
"We tried, but we weren't able to get rid of it completely. The rehab program is just so that it doesn't come back."
"All right, that makes sense." I get up from the bed and stretch out my new arms. "So, what do I have to do?"
"You have to spend most of your day with a human escort who will get you accustomed to normal life on Earth. He's on his way right now, actually."
"Do I know him?"
"Your infected self did. He's got a lot of experience with you."
"Oh, okay."
Just then, the door opens. A young man who looks like he's in his late twenties walks in, followed by another human in a lab coat. He looks around the room.
"So, who's this patient I have to..." His voice trails off as his eyes meet mine. Upon closer inspection, it seems like his eyes are cybernetic implants, as well as a few other things. He looks very similar to one of the men in the chapter I read.
"No. No way." He starts walking backwards towards the door, a look of disbelief and panic on his face. "Not her. I still have nightmares. Nope."
Perhaps I need to show him I won't hurt him. I should say something. "Hello, my name's SHODAN and I-"
"Get away from me!"
I turn to one of the humans next to me. "What's with him?"
The man with the cybernetic eyes (I think I'll call him Goggles) now has his back against the wall. "H-how did you survive that gunshot? I saw you die! What are you!?"
"I'm... a... robot?" I shrug, not quite understanding his reaction. "Why are you so scared of me? Is it because of the whole killing people and turning them into cyborgs thing?"
"Yes!"
"I don't do that anymore. I was infected with a malware program."
"How can I be sure that this isn't another one of your lies?"
"Did I stutter?"
There's a long pause before he answers. His disbelief turns to confusion. "No... no, you didn't..."
[A/N: Yay! Longest chapter I've ever done! That was awesome! It took me, like, a week, but it was awesome! -TAR]