Chapter 7: You Fight Me
The evening hours of the ARK had settled in, and yet, the corridors continued to bustle as something new followed to take the place of Black Doom in the excitement department.
"Shadow... what are we doing?" Swift asked quietly, casting a confused look at me. I didn't respond, save for advancing to the next pile of crates. A new shipment of items from Earth had come in today and, though we weren't supposed to show our faces to the astronauts who weren't too used to anthros, much less ULFs (as Maria and The Professor often called us), here we were. I wanted to get a look at these humans who lived on Earth year-round, besides trips up to give those on the ARK supplies needed to run a space colony. "I don't want to get in trouble!" She hissed as she crawled over to my side. "We're supposed to be in our room!"
"We're not going to get in trouble. Besides, you need to learn how to conceal yourself." I growled, insisting upon her education.
"Yeah, but I've learned this in the training! Why now?"
"Bet you haven't learned to sneak around when you don't want to."
"There's a difference?" She snarled, almost loud enough to give us away.
"Yes, now shush!" I warned, darting to the next pile. With a sigh, Swift followed.
As the hours passed until we could no longer take being hunched over like that, my mind continued to wander and formulate, to the point where I almost got us caught several times. I could barely look at my other half, the other half of the machine that The Professor had created. And now, he was going to let it die. But my brain would do everything it could to prevent it.
Finally, a plan occured to me as we got ready for our nightly activities. While on my evening sprint around the colony, I also drew up some important items for my plot.
I returned more confident than when I left, though it was more of a dark confidence than anything...
"Aww, Shadow! You shouldn't have!" Swift practically jumped for joy as I handed her an iPod of her own. It was black and cold, as if it knew what was inside of me. She gently placed her index finger on the click wheel and spun it to 'Music', receiving a message that said '1 Songs'. Just before she pressed the center, I grabbed her hand, causing her to look up.
"Save it for later." I managed to force a smile on my face. She grinned heartily in response, creating incredibly terrible feelings in my chest. However, it was the only thing that would allow her to know that my intentions were good, though the outcome may or may not be favorable.
"Alright." She replied, dancing, from my view, to her nightstand and gently placing the device upon it. After a moment of silence between us, Swift seemed to have an epiphany, as her eyes widened and her movements became more staccato.
"Are you okay?" I asked, watching her closely.
"Mmm-hmm. I need to go out. I left some data I had collected for The Professor in the Arena." Her eyes expressed the importance of this information, so I nodded.
"Go. Just try not to get in trouble." I shook my head at her, to which she responded by sticking her tongue out at me.
"I'll do my best." She grinned mischievously at me, but I just sighed as she left the room. Turning my head to get a glimpse of the clock, I noted the time.
I'm giving you seven minutes, little one. I pushed to her. She only responded by increasing her pace. Knowing that she understood, I closed my mind off for the second time that day; a bitter taste resonated in my mouth at the thought of deceiving the closest being to me twice, or even once, in a day. I strode over to the bed and flopped down on it, staring at the ceiling and running over the plans I had invented. Were it not for the situation I designed it for, I would say that the plan was one of the most incredibly clever plans ever.
I suppose I'd better get started. With a sigh, I lurched from the bed and practically ripped it apart as quickly as I could. When I had separated everything, I quickly made the bed back up with the clean sheets I had bought earlier that day.
"Just wanted to spice up the room a bit. Metal and white can get a bit dull, you know?" I explained my excuse quietly to myself, wondering if anyone would care about the change from white to black dappled with white and the occasional yellow dot, a representation of space on the bed sheets, and a fluffy black comforter. I was careful not to raise my voice above a whisper, for the security camera apparently also recorded sound. I slipped the matching blanket of the set under the bed, a key part of my plan.
Well, not really a 'key'… just something I'll add on for the heck of it.
I discontentedly paced around the room, contemplating how I would go about the evidence.
There was 'that'. I thought as I shoved two of the old sheets under the new and turned off the lights. Clambering to the top of Swift's dresser, which still had the dent in it from me backing into it, I took out a camera and leaned over next to the one mounted on the wall. I took a quick snapshot of the room from it's view, then climbed back down, grasping the photo close as it slid from the camera. I placed that facedown on my nightstand, and then flopped back on the bed.
Maybe I should just go to Dome 1 and snag myself a big bloody hunk of meat… I shook my head at the morbid thought, then reconsidered, this time agreeing to it.
"So, it begins." I growled despondently. The situation alone was enough to make anyone sick, but the fact that I was physically attached to it… Now that made me want to puke my guts up. However, I warily concealed my emotions behind a deliberate façade.
The instant I leaned my head against my pillow, I sensed a change in her mood. I forced my mind into Swift's, immediately detecting her threatened demeanor, though she tried to hide it the second I pushed to her.
What's going on?! I shouted to her, leaping off the bed and starting out the door in spite of the lack of an answer. Without contacting her again, I was able to learn her location simply by brushing her mind, something I was unable to do before.
The Arena. She made it all the way without any trouble, now look what happens. With a sigh, I sprinted across the colony, through The Center, and into the media box of The Arena. Skidding to a stop by slamming my heels down against the propulsion of my Jet Shoes, I snarled as my eyes locked on a small throng of scientists. Swift was backed against a wall, growling menacingly and clutching a set of discs.
"I don't know why you're trying to stop me, nor do I want to hurt you. But, I will if I must." Swift hissed, navy and black quills bristling.
"You will be the death of us all should you live another day! It is my job to rid the colony of any threat to the human life aboard, and you are the biggest yet!" The leader, another cocky white-coat, yelled at her.
My brain instantly ran through the scene where Jim almost killed Maria, The Professor, and potentially Swift and I as well. Though she and I didn't allow the conclusion to become catastrophic, it left a mark on us.
"You're pathetic, you know? If you can't do what you're designed to do, then I should destroy you." He said arrogantly, a tone that burned like acid.
"There's no point in justifying my correct responses. I know I'm right and that's what matters." Swift replied with a shrug. "And if anyone's pathetic, it's you. After all, I'm not the one preventing data being received by The Professor." Her eyes flashed defiantly.
"I will deliver the information myself with your corpse." The white-coat laughed maniacally. "Perhaps along with your brother's as well."
That did it.
Something snapped inside of Swift, something that had always been a sore spot for her.
The man made the first move, however, lunging at her with a knife.
What is with all of these white-coats going crazy? Is it the ARK?
Swift dodged, though she also aimed to counter with a deadly burst of Chaos. I leapt between them, grabbing Swift's arms and forcing them up, launching the blast into the ceiling.
"You idiot!" She hissed, anger burning in her caramel irises as she looked back at me.
"You killing one of them wouldn't do anyone any good." I replied, tone a bit more scathing than I had intended.
"It was my decision! Ridding the world of a threat to the both of us shouldn't be something to question!" Swift scowled. I quickly moved the both of us to the side when the man made a move towards us.
"Thank you for your help in containing this mistake, Shadow." He said venomously, eyes shooting daggers into Swift.
Not good. I winced at the comment, knowing that was also a rough one.
"Mistake?!" Swift yelled incredulously, tearing herself from my grasp. I looked down at my gloves where she had been to discover a streak of red across one.
"Swift, you're hurt." I said unthinkingly, other than concern. Swift's eyes narrowed, never leaving the man's face, and she backed out of the room. I threw myself at her mind as she disappeared, only to be blocked out adversely. I stared in shock at the wall for a few seconds. It scared me, knowing that I may very well have destroyed all chance of she and I remaining in contact when she reached…
I shook my head roughly and sprinted back the way I had come, heart thundering against my ribs as I began to melt into a nervous wreck. I slid into the door of our room with a loud crack, not paying any attention to the immediate throbbing that pounded out of my arm. Urging the machines on, though they couldn't go any faster or slower, I stumbled through the doorway to find Swift on the bed, her face buried in her pillow.
"Uhhh… Swift?" I asked hesitantly, standing as still as I could, as if she couldn't see me if I didn't move.
"TRUST, Shadow! EVER HEARD OF IT!?" Swift lurched to her feet, fists clenched and eyes red-rimmed with tears, I supposed. Sure enough, a few leaked from her eyes as she glared furiously at me. "I can't believe you stopped me! I was following protocol, following what The Professor told us!"
"Swift, I didn-." She shut me down.
"I trust you!" Her voice cracked over sobs. "I trust you with all of my heart! I trust you with my life and you can't allow me to do something protocol! Why don't you give me the same level of trust I give you? Huh?" Swift's face contorted in, I guessed, emotional pain.
"I had to make sure you didn't get in trouble!" I tried, my voice more biting than I wanted.
"I can make decisions too! I can do things that even you can't!" She swung her arms out to either side for emphasis and blood began trickling down her right shoulder from the wound. It had already closed up, but I had made it open again. "What if we were separated? How am I supposed to fight my way back to you if I don't know how?!" Swift snarled, eyes questioning.
What if, Swift? What if? When? When we are separated… I froze and stared unseeingly at her.
Wondering what nerve she could possibly have struck, Swift sank to her knees, confusion and pain riddling her face.
"Don't shut me out…" I barely heard her whisper as she dropped her eyes to the metal floor beneath us. She allowed the disk of information to slip from her grasp, and it clattered to the floor.
"Do you want me to take-?" I asked after several minutes.
"Yes." She replied softly, sorrow dripping from her voice. It tore at my heart knowing that I was the sole cause of her pain. I gently picked the disk off the floor and wrapped it in the two old sheets. I was careful to drag the sheets along the ground as I passed Swift and went out the door. The instant I was outside, I pressed my back against the shadows our doorway created, looking at the parts I had pulled along to confirm, much to my remote happiness, that some of Swift's blood had gotten on the sheets. I cautiously folded the sheets and walked on.
After I delivered the disk to The Professor, thanked by a worried expression, I continued on to Dome 1, where I plucked a bloody carcass of God-knows-what from the butcher's back room and wrapped it in the sheets away from cameras' views. A cursory glance around the butcher's gave away a receptacle that lead directly to the main waste area, so I shoved the remains inside. The matter would be burned by 1300 tomorrow, so either it would be discovered if I was found out or it would burn.
I hurried back, only to find that Swift was asleep, her pillow damp with tears. Tired as I was, I only sat down on the bed, pulling myself up on my side and looking down over her. Apparently, she shared my exhaustion, as Swift didn't move a bit when I sank my hand into her quills comfortingly, though who I was comforting, I wasn't sure.
When Swift was a baby, the only thing that would calm her down sometimes would be to submerge my hand in her quills and gently massage between her primary quills, also an effective sleep-inducing action. This is what I was doing to insure that she would be deep in sleep before I did anything.
I tried my hardest to cherish those last moments with her, since neither of us would know when we would be able to see each other again, though I was the only one that knew the situation. However, with the severity of the predicament pressing down on me like an omnipresent and ever-dropping weight, cherishing the moment was something I found hard to do. With my other hand, I grabbed the photo from my nightstand, clutching it to my chest. After sitting there for a few more moments, I finally stood and climbed Swift's dresser, this time with an extended pin in hand along with the picture. I carefully pulled on the pin, sliding it to a medium length, and placed the picture on the end of it. Then, I clipped the pin to the camera, blocking out my movements from it with an image of an empty room. To reinforce my location, I quickly went into our bathroom and turned the water on in the shower. I returned to the main room and removed the black blanket with white and yellow dots from under the bed. I quickly removed her iPod from her nightstand, another crucial part. Holding the blanket out with one hand, I cautiously rolled Swift onto it and into my arms with the other. Then, I cradled her tightly against my chest and wrapped the blanket more tightly around her as I took to the metal corridors of the ARK.
I had run so fast that I was a blur even to myself. There was no way any camera along the way could have picked me up. And I had done it without awakening my precious cargo, which was an accomplishment in itself. I stunned one last camera as I dragged myself into the observatory, pulling the two of us up to the outer glass encasing of the lone escape pod that served as the room's emergency service. Slamming my fist down on the button that opened the door, I exhaustedly pulled the both of us into the glass shell. Both the outer and inner coverings remained open, and would remain so until I pressed either of the two launch buttons, one in and one out. No matter which one I hit, the launch sequence would be unstoppable, the decision inerasable.
I back against the outer wall of the pod, pulling Swift's head onto my chest with her body resting against my own. I gently laid the iPod off to the side of the escape pod, careful not to disturb her.
As I once again submerged my hand in her quills, my mind raced over the mere month and a half she had existed. I realized, as I review such a short time, that we had formed a bond without compare between us. Made strong by the depth of the connection between our minds and the sheer thought that she was made for me, we had come so far. And now, brother and sister were to be torn apart by something I was unable to comprehend further than an immediate danger to Swift. I could have torn my own heart out then and there.
"I… I have t-to let y-you go…" I whispered, choking on the words I didn't want to say, for they meant it was truly over. A sudden wave of sadness smashed headlong into me and I couldn't help but begin to cry. Heaving sobs, the black and blue hedgie before me began to blur while tears began to streak down my muzzle.
After a few seconds, she started to stir. Afraid she would wake up, I thought quickly back to when I was an infant and Maria had sung lullabies to me just before the scientists began to run their often painful tests on me.
Lullaby, you? I hope Maria's got a good one… Shaking away an indignant voice in my head, I pulled one up, one of my favorites.
I began to hum soothingly as I gathered myself. Slowly, this changed into the tune of the lullaby and then the words came to me clearly.
"Sleep sugar, let your dreams flood in
Like waves of sweet fire. You're safe within.
Sleep sweetie, let your floods come rushing in
And carry you over to a new morning."
I continued to softly sing the verse until she ceased moving other than the gentle up and down of her chest as breath came and went. Stroking her fur for the last time, I balled up part of the blanket and slid it beneath her head as I extricated myself and laid her on the metal floor of the pod. Clambering from the pod blindly as the tears began to fall more fiercely, I staggered over to the outer controls for the pod. Before I could give myself a chance to change my mind, I pressed the red blinking button labeled underneath as "Launch". Whimpering as the glass fully encased Swift, I placed my hand on the outer chamber as the pod began to fill with air from the reserve solely for the pods for the journey, over Swift. Finally, I heard something click faintly, like a clock just before it sounded the alarm when time was up.
"I love you, little one." I muttered quietly. Swift disappeared in an instant, escape pod headed for the only place that would be safe from Black Doom and maniacal white-coats: Earth.
I sank to my knees before the now empty outer shell. The explanation would be a Chaos overload. The reason would be the white-coat who had attacked her, named Dan. The evidence would be taken from the waste receptacle if they really wanted to dig there for 'her' body. My purpose would be that I was too distraught to think of proper disposal and I hadn't a clue what she was doing. She and I would escape.
For the moment, at least.
I prayed that she would accept my explanation for it all once she awoke, hopefully away from too many humans. If she didn't hear it from me, she would know when she took a listen to that iPod of hers that my intentions were good.
So, this is how it's gonna end? Separated by cruel fate…
I picked myself up and, casting one last look at the desolate observatory, rushed back to our room, this time with a much heavier burden to bear.
XxX
"Little did I know then, though, that this was only the beginning of something so much bigger than the two of us." I smirked as I took a sip of the hot cocoa brought to me by a white bat.
"Totally." My blue and pale doppelganger agreed, casting a loving glance over at the sleeping form of my semi-clone sister, huddled by the fire. In any other circumstance, I would have growled menacingly and possibly ripped his throat out, however, things had changed… a lot… It was no longer just Swift and I in a dance of death aboard one Space Colony ARK.
No, this was now all of us. And only with all of us could we survive what would come…
A/N: Sadly, this is the end of Silicon and Stars Collide; you've all been a wonderful audience. -takes a bow- Fear not however, this is only the end of their beginning (as inferred with the pathetic little snippet at the end)! In fact, this is numero Uno in my series Rise Above This (aka RAT lawl XD). To read the next two, called Paralyzer and Shadowed Reflections along with some of the other, not quite connected yet, stories in the series, or just to check out what else I've pulled out of the dangerous place known as my brain, scroll to the top and click on my name thedarkhasfallen and scroll down to My Stories. Paralyzer is the next one in the series, though it doesn't really go to deep into what happens between SASC and Paralyzer, nor am I going to venture there, other than saying that it was a dark time. XP
I would like to thank my sole faithful reviewer, Hero Memory, for being so freakin' awesome! XD
By the way, the lullaby that Shadow sang (OMFG she made Shadow sing! WTF?!) was the chorus from Poets of the Fall's "Sleep". Beautiful, eh? I think I've fallen in love with the boys from Finland! :D I freakin' love everything they do! If only I could get tickets if they came to the USA. 8D Yesh, if only... By the way, this little verse, which I've christened "Swift's Lullaby" reappears throughout the RAT series, usually as something either of the ULFs hum, but it's not in every story. You won't find it in Paralyzer, that's for sure. XD
As for the playlist of this story, I'm working on it, but I think I've got it. Here goes (in order): "The Adventure" by Angels and Airwaves, "Hand Grenade" by Thousand Foot Krutch, "Sense of a Spark" by Finger Eleven, "Welcome to the Universe" by 30 Seconds to Mars, "Beautiful" by 10 Years (the inspiration for this fic), "When Angels & Serpents Dance" by P.O.D., "Connected" by Hoobastank, "High Voltage" by Linkin Park, "One Step At A Time" by Jordin Sparks, "Ashes By Now" by Lee Ann Womack, and "You Fight Me" by Breaking Benjamin.
Thanks for reading and please remember to review! Until next time...
-When darkness falls, heroes will rise-
-Swift-
