((We he ell, this chapter is long overdue. Sorry to those reading this faithfully; I've had a hell of a month. Before I forget, I wanted to give a shout out to Princess Kinzie and TheMasterOfFiction for sticking with this from the start. I always appreciate my readers' support, and hope you guys stick around 'til the end!))
Their night was long, warm, and passionate. Both parties could attest to the fact that many noises were made, some of which ill-befitting their current, rather grim situation. Even so, the two were finally showing years of hidden passion, and much like an over pressurized soda bottle, all it took was a small turn for the feelings to come rocketing out all at once.
And Jesus Christ it was epic.
The Boss woke up to the incessant buzzing of the bed-side alarm, a salvaged relic from Zinyaks' collection of alien artifacts. For a moment, the Boss thought the whole thing had been imagined, a dream, until the door slid open, and in walked a scantily dressed Kinzie, carrying two mugs in her hands.
There was a warm, gentle smile on his face sat upright to accept one of the mugs from his lover, his eyes following her as she joined him in the bed.
"So I didn't imagine it." The Boss was the first to speak, his voice low in the early hours.
Kinzie shook her head, looking more attractive with her hair down around her shoulders. It gave her less of a hot-librarian, more art professor look, but the Boss was in no place to complain. He loved her no matter how she looked or would look. "Boss, I…I've been waiting years to tell you that…"
He silenced her with a finger against her lips, quickly replaced by his own. He pulled back, his forehead gently touching hers. "I know, Kinzie. I do too." The redhead flushed, her face red with emotion. It was adorable in the awkward sort of way, and the Boss simply laughed, pulling her to him with his free arm.
Securely under his grasp, Kinzie leaned into his warm chest, content listening to his strong and even heartbeat just under her ear. It made her relax, more relaxed than she'd ever been since everything went to shit. It was nice to have somebody to care about in a galaxy that was out to kill them.
The Boss knew they couldn't stay like this forever, as much as he wanted to. A check on the time told him that Asha and Ben would be waking soon, and he needed to talk to what remained of his crew. 'Now there's a sentence I thought I'd never use.' What remained of his crew? A hacker, strategist, genius AI, and lastly himself, the general of it all. He'd never expected anybody to die, and he could tell the deaths were wearing his friends down.
Gently rubbing Kinzie's arm to get her attention – she'd turned it into a teddy bear – and freed himself from her grasp. A small moan of discontent emanated from his girlfriend, causing him to smile and laugh a small amount, something he appreciated. It was good to see her relaxed like this, and after pulling on his spacesuit (after kissing Kinzie, of course,) headed out onto the main deck, only to find a harried looking Ben King.
The Chief of Staff was hastily scrawling on a scrap piece of paper while poring over one of the many digital displays in the simulation room. Kinzie walked in seconds after the Boss did, her hair tied back in her signature messy bun. The mousy woman approached Ben, resting a hand on his shoulder as she advised what he was doing. Leaving them to it, the Boss set out to find the resident AI, CID. Sure enough, the ball of floating circuits was found on the bridge.
"What do ya got for me, CID?" The Boss wanted to know what progress had been made on this "Mother," as well as deconstructing the simulation.
"Research progress at fifteen percent." The deadpan tone was often CID's way of hiding bad news.
"I'm guessing that isn't good." The Boss folded his arms across his chest, leaning on the bulkhead. "Give me a straight answer, CID."
"The simulation is constantly changing. Being re-written from the inside out."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning it is highly inadvisable to return to the simulation. There is no way to guarantee safety in returning, if you'd be able to return at all."
"So the Gateways are collapsing?"
"Not collapsing. Being re-coded. Turned into unpredictable transit points."
The Boss was curious, crossing the room to where CID levitated at a console. "Explain, CID."
"Zinyak created multiple simulations; fake Steelport being his thirty first. With Mothers' Control Interface Devices re-writing code inside Gateways, it is unpredictable where you'd exit the simulation; or rather, into what simulation."
Pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing, the Boss nodded, thanked CID for his research, and headed off in search of Kinzie.
He found her back in her usual spot; the alcove below the bridge. She was busy typing away at her laptop, and he knew her focus would be intense. However, when he approached, she closed the laptop and gave him a knowing smile, causing the Bosses face to adopt a pinker shade. This didn't go unnoticed by Kinzie, who motioned for him to sit next to her. "You know Boss, you look cute when you blush. I actually thought you were incapable of blushing."
His only response was to playfully nudge her with his shoulder, but he was quickly back to business. "Whaddya got for me, Kinzie?"
The auburn haired hacker pulled her laptop back to life, her fingers bullets on the keys. "CID's right. The simulation is too dangerous to enter any more. Plus, I can't seem to get anywhere on deconstructing it. I get shut out every time I try." While not new information, the Boss found it to be frustrating. No closer than when they'd started, and what did they have to show for it? Four dead friends, all of whom died for nothing. Purposeless, needless death.
The Boss noticed that seemed to be a recurring theme, but right now, he couldn't let that get the better of him. He still had a ship to run, not to mention represent humanity's last hope at survival. As it were, the latter was looking rather grim, even with the humans Zinyak had captured. Those men and women didn't last long outside of their sustaining support pods, and most had died within weeks of being released.
Meaning, if no other humans existed, there were only four humans left in existence.
A grim situation indeed, but he appreciated the distraction of the auburn haired woman sitting next to him, and after making her put her laptop aside, laid his head down on her small yet comfortable lap; just like the fantasy she'd been having not three days before. She was loving every nano-second of the contact, but soon, a flashing red light on the extension laptop – a PDA, really – caught her attention. Reaching for the palm sized device, ice ran through her veins, and she nudged Michael.
"Boss…you gotta take a look at this." She showed him the screen, and his blood ran cold.
"Of all the fucking times…bring this to CID. I'll go get King and Asha. We need a plan, and soon."
Kinzie nodded and tucked the PDA into her pocket, heading off to the bridge. The Boss went off in search of the other crew members. This left the laptop by its lonesome, and any passerby would see the screen, clear as day.
Warning.
Warning.
Foreign program detected.
11:14:10 – Program sent message – Content: 'You are not Mother.'
Hey guys. A Silent Conversation here. What do you guys think of it so far? Good, right? Anyway, wanted to apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out. If you have any suggestions or want to share ideas, shoot me a message. I'm always looking to improve. Bye for now!
