The Other Side

Track 9: 4Am by Miracle of Sound

There was a building near the outskirts of one of Hyperion's many facilities. Bright lights filtered through the windows as steam and darkness clouded them. Faintly through the glass a man could be seen pacing back and forth in the room full of building plans, Loader schematics, and computers. His hands grasping the only chair in the room, sapphire emerald eyes glassed over with water that was quickly washed away by the sleeve of his coat.

Handsome Jack threw the chair he was holding across the room, frustration and rage consuming his mind and emotions… I'm running short on time, damn it. He needed to awaken the Warrior, he wanted to exact his revenge on the Vault Hunters, and he desired the satisfaction of seeing the two Musicians dead after what their father did to him.

He left Jack on Elpis after seeing what the power of the Destroyer and the Vaults were doing to him, and he bid his farewell to raise his daughters in a "safer" environment on Pandora, since Elpis wasn't safe anymore.

Jack looked down at the Echo on the table next to him. Across the bottom piece read in bright teal letters, fading away with time. Play with the other Echo, my girls have it. – John

He walked around the room, running his fingers through his hair. You were my friend John, why did you leave me there with those Psychos? Why did you give the Echo I needed to your fucking kids anyway?! Why did you betray me like the others did…? Although you were more civil in the way you did it, but seriously! He sat down in the chair he threw earlier, exhausted and began to rub his temples, trying to calm himself. He peered through the glass before him to see Angel working away in her Core.

"Any luck with locating them, sweetheart?"

"I'm trying, but the signal to their Echoes are weak for some reason. I was able to track Ballad and Prelude for some time, but I lost them."

Jack sighed, "Okay, just find them and get them to trust you. Try and get in touch with the Commando when you can."

"Alright,"

He left Angel to her work and dropped his gaze to the Echo on the table again, before picking it up and studying it.

In bright gold letters across the top read, Jack & John, Programming Bros.

You were my only friend…

He reminisced on the past life he and John shared on Helios. He remembered how they would be busy at their computers and would bother Tassiter at the most inconvenient times that resulted in them being called to his office by the wrong names, the duo calling him an asshole as they left. He recalled seeing a smile on John's face when Rhys would show his daughters, who were only two years old at the time, around the base. Prelude would be holding his hand while Ballad would be running around with Rhys trying to catch her. Angel would play games with them while they worked away on their programs when she was visiting and testing her powers.

At night under the glow from Pandora, the programmers would sit together after their work was done and talk with two sleepy children in their laps.

It was all so nice…

Yet, when the Crackening occurred and the Lost Legion arrived, things eventually turned sour between them… It separated the bond they shared as John realized what was becoming of his friend, he turned against Jack and installed a program into all Hyperion robots, which Jack has yet to discover and left him to raise Ballad and Prelude on Pandora for the remainder of their life.

It's not fair, it's not right. John had to know something I didn't… but what?

Jack strolled over to his desk, picking up the framed picture of him holding on of John's daughters. It was Ballad, she was smiling and filled with happiness, and so was he. The words Uncle Jack danced across the bottom part of the frame in fading black letters. It brought a tear to his eye, but it was quickly forgotten when he tossed the picture, effectively breaking the glass as it met the floor.

He couldn't dwell on the past, there was a future for Pandora… and he was the one to make it flourish.

Tis a short chapter, but it gives a bit more background to Ballad and Prelude's life and how Jack played his part in their life and how it effects him.

Let me know what you all think =)

It means a lot to me to hear feedback on the story (Let me know if I messed up on portraying Jack so I can try and amend it for future chapters)