Fragments of Memories
AN: I did lift some of the dialogue from RvB Season 10 Episode 22 in this story. So of COURSE this contains spoilers. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: I don't own Red vs Blue
When he first saw the Director of Project Freelancer, Church, Alpha, Epsilon, whatever the fuck his name was now, he felt a barrage of emotions. Anger, fear, hell, even a small amount of trust. In fact, a small amount of every emotion came out, and every emotion that was made into an AI whispered voices in his small, programed head.
"He needs to PAY! He did this to us!"
"No, we can use this to our advantage."
"He lied to us!"
"He's brilliant; he should be able to fix us."
"There he is! Get away! He'll hurt us again!"
"He would never hurt us, he made us. He'll be kind to us."
But perhaps, most of all, he felt disgusted. This is the Director? This is the man who started it all? The lies and mistrust and all the lives lost lead back to this man? This pathetic form, sitting before them, bent over the desk in front of him? He was based off him? Before him, playing in the computer screen was a video of a woman, beautiful even in the military uniform she wore. This was Allison, Tex. The person that the man in front of him couldn't let go. The woman that Church finally did.
Something bubbled up in his mind, but he pushed it down, to look at later.
Church didn't really pay attention to the pleasantries shared between the Director and Carolina, for the anger in his chest was building up, and started to overflow. Had anyone been looking, they would have noticed his holographic form flickering, briefly flashing a dark gray. He stayed there, floating, until...
"I just need more time-"
"No! You've had your fucking time. You have to answer for what you did. To the Meta, to Washington, to Carolina, to me, and to her. To Texas!"
"Hello Epsilon. You came all this way just to see me?" the Director replied to his rant, his dejected tone of voice showing it did not affect him in the slightest.
"I've come here to remember what you've done. Somebody has to!"
"Church-" Carolina tried to interrupt walking to the other side of the sitting man.
"Not all of us got off scot free, Carolina." Church continued, not even noticing his fluctuating colors or the changing to his voice.
"He was brilliant, and we trusted him, but he lied to us. He twisted and tortured us, and used us. Manipulated us for his own purposes. For what? For this? This... shadow?"
He faded back to the normal blue color. "He needs to pay."
The video in the background continued to play in the background, as Carolina took off her helmet and looked down at the Director. Two pairs of emerald green eyes met before Carolina moved forward, planting a kiss on the forehead of him, then turned away.
"Come on Church. We're leaving."
"I thought we came all this way to kill him." Church said, as if to ask an unspoken question of What will we do?
"Church, remember what you learned in to memory unit?" Carolina asked, "You need to let go. Your past doesn't define who you are. It just gives you the starting point of who you're going to be."
At his insistence, Carolina laid her pistol down on the table in front of the Director and slowly walked away.
"You were my greatest creation." the Director said, as the holographic Church floated next to him.
"I don't know what I am. But I do know this. I'm more than just a copy of you. I'm better than you."
And so the Director stated with finality, "I wasn't speaking to you."
===)(===
When it was all done, and they were alone, cruising on the ship back to what should be Blood Gulch, Church had some time alone. Well, he wasn't completely alone, being stuck inside Carolina's head, but alone enough. And as he was alone he thought about the strange feeling in his head from when he spoke with the Director. Then, he knew.
When he said he remembered everything, he was technically right. Using all the logs of the Director and files from Project Freelancer, he remembered everything an AI should know. Dates and times. Coordinates. Personal logs. Letters. Calculations. Everything any good AI should know. But he was more than an AI. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was a copy of Leonard Church and had all the memories of him. So as he delved down into his mind, he truly remembered everything.
The first memory he saw was the same as the video playing in front of the Director the day they saw him. But it was from a different angle. He looked down at the camera in his hands. He looked up again and stared at his wife.
No, that's not my wife. A voice at the back of his mind stated, That's the real Allison. That's the wife of the Director.
But he pushed the voice aside. All that mattered was right now.
"Leonard, I'm going to be late." she said, then continued jokingly, "Don't make me hurt you."
Suddenly a blur passed by him and into her arms. A six-year-old Caroline was now in her mother's soft hands. "Goodbye Mommy." she said in a soft voice, her red hair swaying slightly.
That's Carolina? She's so small. But again, the voice was pushed away.
"Don't say goodbye," said Allison, "as long as you don't say goodbye I'm not really gone. I'm just not here right now."
"Okay"
===)(===
More images passed by, but the next one that stuck with him was sometime in the future. The three of them were in a shooting range, Him, Allison, and a now nineteen-year-old Caroline. In fact they were leaving though joking around.
"I can't believe you didn't hit the target once Dad!"
"Yeah Leonard, Caroline did better than you!"
"Well I'm sorry." he replied good naturedly, "I'm a scientist, not a soldier, I can leave the shooting up to you two."
===)(===
The last memories he saw was, by far, the worst. The two of them were standing in front of a newly dug grave. They were alone, the two of them. Father and daughter in front of a simple grave. He was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands. The sun was shining brightly in the Texan skies.
'It's unfair.' he thought 'How can the world still remain beautiful without her here? With her gone?' Something changed within him. 'With these new artificial intelligences being made, I might be able to bring her back. There's a way.' At this thought, his sad face almost instantly became stoic, calculating.
No! Don't do it! A voice from somewhere said, but it once again was ignored.
"Goodbye, Mom." said Caroline tearfully.
"No."
His daughter looked at him, shocked.
"Remember what she said. 'If you don't say goodbye they're not really gone. They're just not here right now.'
No!
Caroline looked at him, confused. Her father was never a religious man, but maybe, he truly believed, that her mother was with them in spirit.
Epsilon knew that. He was currently inside her head, but he knew that it was not true. Leonard Church would find a way to bring her back, or die trying.
And so, Epsilon, Alpha, Leonard, Church, saw the scene that started it all.