York sat in the room alone, his armour on the ground next to him as he stared forward towards the wall in front of him. It was a soft tone of blue in colour, and his eyes were so entranced by it, so romanced, that he felt himself slipping out of consciousness. He felt dazed, and dreamy, before the AI flickered infront of his eyes, averting his attention from the wall onto the small fragment of that AI that he despised so.
"Agent York, you have not eaten for three days. I would advise that y-"
"Not now." York cut him off, not even wavering his line of sight to directly meet with the AI. "I don't want to talk to you. Log off."
"But Agent York I recommend that you—"
"Log. Off."
The AI flickered from view. York rubbed his hand through his hair and tried to wake himself up from the trance he found himself in.
North and South had gone back to Project Freelancer. They had decided that The Meta posed a bigger threat to them, but assured York that once they had used the Project's resources to take down The Meta they would leave again and join him.
York snorted. Join him in what? This squalor? This shit hole?
He finally managed to stand, going to the window of the empty apartment room and cooling himself down a little. His eyes traced the area. His bad eye was still terrible, and faltering all the more, but he did not care. It did not matter. He had nothing much left worth to see or look at.
His mind wandered to the others left behind. Wyoming had originally been seen by North looking for Carolina. Chivalry? Or something more sinister? York could never really trust the old British geezer as far as he could throw him. Washington? The last he heard from North and Delta, he'd been kept in a high security area in the Mother of Invention after the failure with Epsilon. He'd become too unstable. Had he been corrupted too? York did not know. All he did know was that it was very unlikely for him to ever meet Washington again. Florida, well, he hadn't had much to do with him, but he'd stayed with the Project too. So here he was, grouped with Texas and The Meta for being traitors of the team.
York could feel Delta buzzing in the back of his head. He'd figured out that he did it when frustrated, like an impatient little sound. He tried to ignore it for a few minutes longer, before he gave mental permission for Delta to resume.
"Agent York, I would appreciate it if you did not force me to log off when I am simply attempting to assist you."
"There's no help for me, D," York replied quickly. "You'd have been better off going with South. You'd be doing something useful, helping them out with catching The Meta."
"I think you fail to see my task at hand, Agent York," Delta replied. "My task is to protect and assist you, Agent York, in your missions and endeavours. I was assigned to you, not to Agent South Dakota."
"It sounds like you care," York said, a little jokingly. "The sentiment means a lot, D, but I'm not part of the Project anymore. You do not have to cater to me and my needs. I can hand you back over to be with the others. Safer. More secure."
Delta was silent for a few moments. "I hope that I do not disrupt protocol, but I think you misunderstand one thing, Agent York. I am not as tied to Project Freelancer as you may think. My task is to assist you, Agent York. I was told nothing of being owned by The Director or the Project."
York gave a side-glance to Delta, before looking back forward at the wall. "Is that your way of saying you do care?"
"I guess you could interpret it in such a way, yes."
York gave a soft "huh", before a small smile appearing on his face. "Mind just calling me 'York'?"
"As you wish, York."
"And I didn't mean what I said earlier. Not wanting to talk to you, I mean. I'm just… you know… a little…"
Delta interjected. "York, I can see inside of your mind. You need not explain yourself to me."
York chuckled. "Yeah. Guess I forgot about that."
York stood, looking towards his armour. "Hey D, want to do a mission with me?"
"It is what I am here for, York."
York bent down, picking up his helmet, wiping away the dust from the visor and staring into it. "Great. Let's get started."
