"York," he heard his name, hissed through teeth with an air of urgency. Some distant part of his mind convinced him that he was dreaming; it was the middle of the night after all. He heard the voice again, accompanied by a rough shove of hands. Realizing he wasn't dreaming, York turned on his side, still pretending to be asleep. He hoped the other person in the room couldn't see how his hand was slowly sliding underneath his pillow, searching for the small knife he kept concealed there. He put on an air of good-natured spirit, but he was a member of Project Freelancer-suspicion was necessary.

"York, wake the fuck up!" This was accompanied by a shaking of his shoulders. He recognized the voice, but in his half-asleep state, he couldn't place a name to the voice. Female, well, that narrowed it down. He was still searching for his knife-realizing the stupidity of the gesture. He would already be dead if the intruder wanted him so.

He turned abruptly to confront whoever had disturbed his slumber. As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness, he recognized the figure. Her brown hair was hanging loosely around her face-different than how she wore it in training and under her armor. She was clothed in a wordless t-shirt and long sweatpants. He had never seen her in casual clothing.

York slowly sat up, trying to shake the feeling of sleep off, "Allison, how the hell did you get in here?"

Tex was twirling something in between her fingers, and he recognized the object to be the pocket knife he kept under his pillow, "You're not the only one who knows how to pick locks, York." She tossed the knife onto his lap and turned on the light in his room. His eyes protested against the sudden brightness.

"I assume you have a reason for waking me up at," he glanced at the digital clock on the wall, "one-thirty in the morning?"

Tex turned towards him, rolling her eyes at his complaining, "It's Carolina." Her tone was severe. She was not known to be the most jovial of people, but somehow the way she was speaking was different from normal, everyday conversations.

York unconsciously sat up straighter, running a hand through his unruly hair with sudden anxiety, "What's wrong? Is she OK?" His heart quickened at the gruesome images brought about in his head. Delta, sensing his distress, began running percentages revolving around Carolina getting injured. The probabilities were low, according to his AI, but the fact did nothing to ease his feelings. He pinched the bridge of his nose and instructed Delta to go offline until he was needed. Another voice in his head was the last thing he needed right now.

Tex sighed, "I-I'm not sure. I'm assuming, given the fact she was muttering like a madwoman, she's suffered a mental breakdown of sorts. I'm no doctor, though."

He was out of bed at that, searching the nearest drawers for a shirt to throw on. York and Tex had struck up a friendship in the recent weeks-a close one at that. They had run into each other more than once on chance occasions, York eventually gaining the courage to converse with her. He allowed her to go head-to-head with him in the training room at hours of the night where the facility was vacant of people. She always beat him, of course, but he could tell she appreciated the outlet for her increased aggression. Her AI was messing with her mind, making her say and do things she normally wouldn't-she had admitted to him during one of their late night sessions. York was now able to see her as the person underneath the unbeatable skills, the cloak of mystery, the AI that influenced her actions; he saw her as Allison. As far as he knew, he was only the second person she had treated as such, the other being this mysterious boyfriend she would elude to in some conversations. However, when questioned further about him, she would avoid direct answers.

His mind turned to the matter at hand. Carolina's pride constantly got her in trouble. Taking both Eta and Iota was nothing more than her ploy to regain her top spot on the leader board. She was going to kill herself attempting to beat Texas. York had certain...feelings for Carolina. Because of those feelings, he wanted to protect her-keep her out of harm's way. He didn't want to sit there and watch her drown herself in her bottomless well of despair. He couldn't stand to lose her.

"Did you tell anyone? Call a medical team down to her location?" He was beginning to panic now.

"No,"

"Why the hell not?" He asked incredulously, "If she's having a breakdown the director needs to kno-"

"York," Tex's voice remained solemn, coaxing him to calm down, "the director doesn't need to know." There was a strange note to her voice that chilled York. He forced himself to calm down and think rationally, pausing near the door to turn back to the elusive freelancer. Seeing the look in her eyes, he nodded. Something was wrong here, something that even the director shouldn't be part of.

Tex walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Trust me." York nodded. He did trust Tex.

The animosity between Tex and Carolina was no secret amongst the Project. Carolina had labeled Tex as an enemy the moment she saw Tex fighting against Maine, Wyoming, and York those many months ago and had made it her goal to out-fight her. York knew Tex didn't outright hate Carolina, as Carolina so thought. However, Tex's competitive nature kept her from making amends in their very strained relationship.

Tex walked past him, out into the darkened hallway of the freelancer base. York followed closely.

She walked quickly, stopping briefly at each corner to check for guards patrolling at this late hour. She moved as silent as a ghost, drifting through the shadows with ease. He followed, anxiety causing him to constantly look around, as if Carolina would be there telling him how crazy he was for worrying about her. He was surprised as Tex lead him outside of the base, into the humid air of night.

"What were you doing out here?"

Tex glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "Nothing important." His eyes narrowed at the response. She was hiding something from him, but he wasn't in the frame of mind to press her for information. He did notice, though, how her gaze shifted to the building that housed the simulation troopers for a fraction of a second. He decided to think nothing of it.

She lead him down the slope behind the base to a boulder that marred the grass-covered land. He quickened his pace as he glimpsed Carolina slouched against the rock, but stopped dead when he was close enough to fully see her.

Carolina, dressed to sleep, had her legs pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around them, and chin resting on her knees, slightly rocking back and forth. Her eyes were shut tightly, her mouth pressed into a thin line. She appeared to be in pain. Around her head floated her two AI's, Eta and Iota. They were talking quietly, both at the same time, their voices blending together into meaningless nonsense.

York watched as her mouth moved quickly, appearing to say the same two words over and over again. He stepped closer, trying to hear what she was saying. Her AI's began to buzz quicker around her head, staying an equal distance apart from each other and making it seem as if Carolina was crowned by a glowing halo of shifting light. He ran to her, the shock of seeing her in this state finally wearing off.

"Carolina?" His voice was barely a whisper as he knelt in front of her, hands resting on her shoulders and shaking her a bit, attempting to break the trance she was in.

She continued to utter the same phrase over and over again, seemingly without pausing for breath. He leaned closer, putting his ear close to her mouth and realizing her words to be, "Stop it, stop it, stop it..."

She was begging her AI's to stop.

"Eta, Iota," his voice was much stronger than how he felt at the moment, "offline."

They stopped moving, one appearing in front of his face while the other continued to talk to Carolina in an indiscernible tone, "We do not respond to commands from freelancers other than those in which we have been implanted." The one closest to him uttered.

That is not correct. Protocol 23.021 states we obey commands from all those who issue them properly.

York mentally thanked Delta, "I believe there is a protocol which orders you to obey my commands. Instruction: go offline."

The two AI's seemed reluctant, silent as they searched though their programming to find a loophole in the command. Finding none, they winked out of existence.

Carolina stopped her uneasy rocking and muttering.

He cupped her cheek with his hand, forcing her face to be level with his. "Carolina, open your eyes." He was distressed now, seeing what the two AI's were doing to her. It was torture.

Her green eyes half-opened, taking in her surroundings. She appeared confused for the first couple of moments. Seeing York, her eyes shot wide open and she clutched his shoulders with an immense amount of force, "They're trying to kill us."

"What?"

"I can't...they're both in my head, talking, I can't distinguish anything. They both shouldn't be in there...it's-it's too much. I can't-"

"Carolina-" her frantic rambling cut him off.

"I shouldn't have gotten both of them. It's not right. Something bad is going to happen. They're planning...I don't know. They're driving me insane; I can't do this, York. I can't."

He was shocked. He had never seen Carolina so disheartened before. It was saddening to see the dearest person to him in this state. "Tell me what's wrong, Carolina. Are your AI's doing this."

Carolina's eyes, however, were fixed on the figure over York's shoulder. Texas was watching the scene play out with a pitying expression. She wouldn't dare intervene. Carolina never wanted help from Texas.

"I don't regret anything." Carolina intoned once again, her voice weaker than before, "I have to beat her..."

With that, Carolina collapsed forward into York's grasp.

He held her back, immediately freeing one hand to check her pulse. He found one, but it was erratic. He observed the way her eyelids were moving underneath their lids. It was then he realized he was shaking.

Tex was at his side, "She's out cold." York nodded, "We should get her back into the base."

York was nearly speechless, "The director...he knew this would happen, didn't he? He knew she would be driven insane by the two AI's in her head."

"Yes." Tex voice was soft, disapproving, "He plans everything that fucking happens."

"That bastard." York spat, clutching Carolina's form to his chest. He maneuvered one of his arms to be under her knees, and his other to cradle her upper back. He was angry now, angry at everything they had been put through in the director's little scheme to end the war. He was angry that the director put Carolina in a situation where she thought she was forced to prove herself. The director had gone along with a plan he knew was going to ruin the mind of one of his top agents.

And he did nothing stand by and let it happen.

He was going to make the director pay for what he had done to this woman he cared so deeply for. His payback would come one day. For now, he had to focus on Carolina. The seeds of revenge had been planted in York's mind, and he was a man of action. Yes, the director of Project Freelancer would pay dearly.

York declined Tex's offer to help him carry Carolina back into the base. He wanted the red-haired freelancer as close to him as possible. Once back at her dorm room, York laid her down gently on her bed, covering her well and kissing her forehead before leaving.

Tex bade him good night and left to return to her own room, and York did the same. Sleep never came to him. He could only think about how defeated Carolina had looked and how the director was to blame for everything happening to his team, his friends.

He was losing her.

Carolina remembered nothing of the previous night the next morning.