The only thing I really have to say about this chapter is... Be prepared.
Thanks to them favvers, followers and reviewers!
Dragonblade94 - Well what can I say, besides thank you? Oh, and I know how that feels, it's really antagonizing to wait for a new chapter of a story that you're loving, and while I feel giddy about it ('cause I'm making y'all wait, mwoahahah), I also feel bad because this time I'm the one that's controlling the chapter updates. Anyhow, here's for you!
EDIT: I ALMOST FORGOT TO ANSWER THIS REVIEW, OHMYGOD, I'M SO SORRY! I THOUGHT I HAD ANSWERED IT BUT MY BRAIN TRICKED ME.
tsarlanis - First of, thank you so much for that healthy dose of opinions, I love it! I'll address the matters in your review one by one, so that you and everyone else gets a good and readable explanation. Yes, the Spartans aren't front centre in this fiction, and it's meant to be like that. They're supposed to have that mysterious element surrounding them, but at the same time, the readers get enough insight to fully understand what kind of characters they're dealing with when reading the story. And no, MC isn't going to be that stereotypical guy rescuing damsels in distress (013 isn't a distressing damsel anyway, so that's alright). As for her character and her accompanied flaws - yes, she has that one huge flaw, the Achilles heel. Everyone has one huge faulty flaw in their personality, and hers happens to be that she doesn't know when to back down. If she is provoked, she's going to make damn sure that the one who provoked her did so wrongly, as she has a low tolerance for bullshit and provocations. And because of this, it led her to her unfortunate predicament.
Lastly, Kelly and the revenge on the ODSTs. Kelly hasn't gotten a lot of spotlight, and that is also something I did on purpose. Frederic and MC and Linda have all shown parts of their personality, but Kelly hasn't. It's because she is a very closed-off individual, she's not much for giving away information about herself, and that includes about everything - from habits to body language. And as the story progresses, Kelly is going to progress as well, and trust me when I say that I have stuff in store when it comes to Kelly. She'll have her nice spot in the spotlights. As for the revenge on the ODSTs, yupp, they're not out of the picture for a couple chapters to come. They're one of the main antagonists, and so it's going to be handled precariously, as they too have their story-line planned out already. How it's going to play out though, you're all simply going to have to wait, mwoahahah. (I keep doing this evil laugh today, what's wrong with me, it's sunday?).
Disclaimer: What? Halo 6 isn't out yet? Damn. If only I owned the franchise... -dramatic swoon-
Chapter 10 – Wistful Thoughts
Once again, she was met with fluorescent lighting and whitewashed walls, which meant she was at the Infirmary.
Hadn't she said that the chances of her returning here were so slim that they were more or less nonexistent?
She believed she had said that, at least to herself.
Apparently, she had been wrong.
She seemed to be wrong about most things as of late, and she thought to herself that perhaps she was sustaining a hidden concussion or something, as she had had an almost flawless sense of judgment before.
'Nah, I'm not turning delusional.'
Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, and almost immediately she regretted having opened her eyes at all.
Or well, eye, the other one seemed to be permanently glued shut.
'Has someone taken my other eye or what?'
Her hand came to her face to touch the eye that refused to open, and upon connecting with the skin, a zing of pain shot through her nervous system and she cursed.
"Fuck that stung like a bitch…" 013 then came to the conclusion that apparently, her eye had only swollen up, and not been taken.
"Why is my eye swollen…" She mumbled, before twisting her head to look around. She was definitely at the Infirmary, because it was just white everywhere.
A sound brought her attention to the door, and her eye crinkled as her lips twisted into a small smile.
"What's up, Doc? Long time no see." The blonde doctor halted in her step and directed her glasses towards 013, who was lying on the bed a few meters away. The female sighed, and clutched the pad she was holding with one hand so she could gesture towards 013 with the other.
"I thought I told you to stay out of trouble, yet you end up here with two broken ribs, a swollen eye and a minor concussion. That is the complete opposite of 'staying out of trouble', 013."
Upon hearing the doctor list her injuries, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"What? How did I end up with two broken ribs, a swollen eye and a minor concussion?" The blonde doctor before her arched an eyebrow before worriedly sweeping her gaze over her form.
"You don't remember?" 013 shook her head at the inquiry.
"No. But seriously, Doc, what the hell happened?" A frown swept over the blonde's facial futures, and she reprimanded 013 for her swearword.
"Language."
"Yeah, yeah…" The marine muttered in reply, not bothering to apologize.
The doctor then walked up to her, the worried expression having returned.
"You were carried here by one of the marines. He said you were lying unconscious on the sparring mat. No one knows what happened exactly, but there is talk that a couple of ODSTs ushered everyone out of the gym to have a fight. I'm guessing you were the one they were fighting." The doctor told her, a hint of pity tinting her words.
'ODSTs? A fight? What?'
Her brow crinkled further, and she shifted her head to dully stare at the white ceiling. The symmetrical rectangles placed next to one another looked like they would move by the slightest touch.
'Maybe if I stand on a chair, I can shift the plates and climb up to crawl through the ceiling… Wouldn't that be fun…?' She idly thought to herself.
"Are you paying attention to what I'm saying?"
"Huh, what? You were saying something, Doc?" The doctor stared at her for a few seconds before her hand rose and she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I said, you are most likely suffering from temporary memory loss. It all should come back in a few days, maybe weeks. At most, it might even take a month or two, but for now, you are staying here." 013 grumbled under her breath.
"I really don't like this place, do I have to stay here? Can't I go after you've wrapped my broken ribs and given me a healthy dose of morphine for my pain?"
"No, absolutely not. You are staying here for the time being. You will be dismissed when I deem you healed enough. And you are dealing with memory loss, which is going to be an issue because you wouldn't be able to find your way on this ship." And with that, the female turned on her heels and resumed to walking into the intersecting room, leaving 013 to glare after her.
"Stay here my ass…"
Inwardly she knew she would listen to Doc's words, but it didn't mean she had to like her current situation.
'Crap. So what to do? There's no TV, no cards, no company… I could count the rectangles on the ceiling…'
About an hour passed by before the doctor returned, this time with gauze and two tubes filled with some unknown substances.
"Alright. Sorry for the delay, 013. Other matters got in the way. Now let's take care of your ribs. Are you feeling any pain?" The doctor fired off her questions, and all 013 could do was numbly nod her head for yes or shake her head for no.
As the blonde went about wrapping her upper torso after having applied one of the unknown substances that caused her skin to tingle and feel funny, 013 remembered that she mentioned 'other matters'.
"What did you mean by other matters, Doc?"
At the inquiry, the doctor momentarily paused in her actions, her hands hesitantly stopping their motions.
"… A squad of marines recently returned and needed to be looked at before being assigned their rooms." She said carefully, her eyes studying 013. Was she trying to discern something?
"Did anyone die?" 013 blatantly questioned, her eyes curiously looking at the doctor.
"No, no one died, but there were three that suffered damage from a grenade and falling shrapnel."
"Any severe injuries?" 013 carried on, not at all bothered by the fact that a grenade had been involved. The doctor furrowed her brow before replying.
"… A loss of an arm." The blonde doctor then returned to wrapping her ribs.
"You might know one of the injured." Came her voice then after a few minutes of silence. 013 glanced back at the doctor, her gaze having returned to the roof after their conversation ended.
"Do I?" the doctor nodded slowly, glancing at the marine before returning to focus on her work.
"Jefferson Clark."
"Jefferson Clark… Nope, don't know him."
"You usually call him Jeff." 013 heaved a breath, trying to remember if she knew anyone named Jeff. Or Jefferson.
"… No, still nothing. Are you sure it's the same guy? How do you know I know him?" The doctor smiled a small smile, before answering.
"Well, this isn't your first time being in this Infirmary, and often when you are here, Jefferson has visited you. You have a nice friendship with each other, always verbally insulting the other." The blonde remarked, before chuckling lightly. It caused 013 to crack a wide smile, the corners of her lips curving upwards.
"I knew it! You do have a sense of humor!"
The female doctor laughed, before shaking her head in forfeit.
"I never said that I didn't."
"No, but your attitude has always been on the stern side." The doctor arched an eyebrow, glancing at 013 again before tucking in the end of the bandage and making sure it sat firmly. She then lifted from her bent over position before standing up and rounding the bed to assess the marine's swollen eye.
"How come you remember that? You don't remember who Jefferson is, but you can remember my so called 'stern attitude'? Not to mention you recall the nickname 'Doc' that you have given me." The doctor prodded at the eyelid, trying to discern how much salve she should apply to it. 013 only hissed upon the contact, and had to refrain from flinching away from the Doc's cold fingers.
"I don't know, I just remember for some reason." 013 tried to shrug, but it only came out as a half-shuffle, and the fabric of her gown scrunched up.
"Perhaps you have to see to spark the memories that are currently lying dormant..." The doctor analyzed, and she then gave a nod to herself, before resuming with her questions.
"How much exactly do you remember, 013?"
The marine lied in silence, her mind working to make up an answer. It was really hard, because it felt like she was grasping at straws, as she didn't really remember anything. She just felt that the Infirmary and Doc was something familiar to her. If she thought further on it, she didn't know why she felt familiarity.
"I can't remember anything, just my name, and this… This familiarity of being here and calling you Doc." 013 then said. It was the best answer she could come up with, as she had nothing else. The blonde doctor's eyes narrowed in thought, before a tiresome sigh was exhaled.
"Just as I thought. Your memory core has been affected, meaning you can't recall any of your memories. All you rely on right now, is your body's instincts and muscle memory." 013 glanced at the female, her mouth drawn in a thin line.
"Well that sucks."
Nothing else was uttered for a few minutes, but then the doctor 'ahaa'd', and 013 looked at her as if she had finally gone crazy.
"Uh… Doc, was that a good 'aha', or a bad 'aha'?" The doctor just shook her head at 013, a glimmer inside her eyes.
"You will get to visit Jefferson, perhaps that will help with the loss of memory." 013's lips quickly curved upwards at hearing the splendid idea.
"Oooh, do I get to go now? Please? Pretty please? Please with a cherry on top?" 013 pleaded with the doctor, who once again sparked another zing of pain as she prodded at her eyelid, and 013 mumbled another curse.
"Ouch, shit hurts…'
"No, you will visit him tomorrow. What you need right now is rest. And what have I told you? Language, 013!" The blonde reprimanded, her finger waggling in front of 013's functioning eye.
"Old habits dies hard, Doc."
"Then try harder to refrain from cursing when at the Infirmary."
"No promises." 013 said in a sing-song voice, and the doctor just shook her head once again. Dealing with 013 was bound to be infuriating, and perhaps a little impossible at times. She didn't know how many head shakes she had done already, but she knew it was probably one too many.
"You injuries are now taken care of. Try to get as much rest as you can, and hopefully you will feel better tomorrow. I'll dim the lights on my way out." And with that, the doctor picked up her tablet again, and walked towards the door. She dimmed the lights before walking out, just like she said, and the door then quietly shut after her departure.
013 felt her eyelids droop as soon as the light dimmed down, and before she knew it, she was out like a light. (Pun intended haha.)
The following morning, 013 woke from her slumber feeling well-rested, however as soon as she shifted, pain exploded throughout her body, and she had to muffle a scream. The meds had been flushed out her system, and so she was left with nothing to dampen the pain. It felt like someone had gone loose with a baseball bat on her body, it hurt so much. The stickling pain at her side was the most prominent one, which made sense, because she did after all have two broken ribs.
"How the fuck that happened, I still have no clue… If I was in a sparring ring, why did they fight as if life depended on it?" 013 muttered to herself. She wasn't all too bothered that she didn't remember much, even though most people would probably panic.
It wasn't like she was really missing out on anything, because she didn't remember jackshit! What she didn't know, she couldn't be bothered by, right?
The Doc had said her memories were dormant, and that it would take time for them to resurface. How long, that depended on how fast her brain repaired itself, as it was currently dealing with a minor concussion, on top of apparent memory loss.
She didn't know that her life was really just a mess - that she was actually facing dire consequences, nor that she was currently in a dispute with Spartans.
Hell, she didn't even know that she was friends with them to begin with.
So all in all, it was almost better for her to suffer from memory loss, as it gave her breathing room.
Obviously it wasn't the best method in the book, but it was the one she ended up with, unbeknownst to her.
Just then, the blonde doctor came through the door, a smile on her lips.
"Jefferson is awake too, and I'm assuming you're dying to see him?" She asked as she set the pad down on a nearby table, her gaze directed towards 013.
"What I'm dying for right now, is pain relief meds. Do you have any with you, Doc?" 013 mumbled, her face twisting into that of pain as she grasped her left side. The doctor was quick to walk over to a cabinet and grab a bottle of said pain relief. A glass of water and two pills were handed to her, and 013 gulped them both down.
"Thanks. So how do you plan on me getting there? Do I get to walk or must I take an embarrassing wheelchair?"
"That depends on if you feel okay enough with walking. I recommend using a crutch to assist you though."
"A crutch will be fine, as long as I don't have to use a wheelchair." 013 said, her voice adamantly stating that the day she ends up in a wheelchair, is the day she would lie six feet under.
Not at all that the statement was rather contradicting, but it did get the message through, and that was what mattered.
The blonde doctor nodded, before walking into the intersecting room. She returned shortly after, carrying a crutch. She held onto it while 013 slowly pulled herself up from her lying position on the bed. The process was slow, and a little excruciating, but there was little she could do about it. The meds had just kicked in, and they were slowly but surely soothing the pain flowing through her system.
Just as she jumped down from the bedside, as she was too short to reach, her knees almost buckled, and she quickly grabbed a hold of the bedside to regain balance. The Doc assisted her with righting herself to regain her balance. 013 then glanced at her after having stabilized her footing.
"For how long have I been here, exactly?"
"Three days." Came the answer.
"I've been unconscious for two days? No wonder I felt so well-rested… And weak, apparently." 013 muttered, her eyes fluttering to watch her holding herself against the bed as to not fall down in a heap onto the floor.
She grabbed the crutch that the Doc offered her and leaned heavily onto it before taking a cautious step forward. It felt better now that she was moving her body again, the blood flow regulating and finding its way to her legs to help her stand better. 013 limped with the help of the crutch over towards the direction of her doctor, who was currently standing at the intersecting archway.
"How long is the trip to this Jefferson guy?"
"About three rooms over, so not too far. Had I thought it was too far, I wouldn't have suggested for you to walk there." The blonde female said, and 013 nodded in consent.
They slowly made their trip across the rooms, the habitants glancing curiously at her. She smiled and waved at them as she passed by. Most times they waved back, but there was one grumpy marine that just kept glaring at her.
'Geesh, sorry for disrupting your staring contest with the wall…' She mumbled to herself as she passed him by.
Finally they stood at the archway that would lead into Jefferson's room, and 013 halted momentarily. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel nervous, despite not knowing who Jefferson was. The Doc had said she knew him pretty well… Inwardly she thought that she would only feel terrible over the fact that he would recognize her, but she wouldn't recognize him.
It was an extremely unfortunate predicament that she was in.
"Are you sure this is going to be fine, Doc? What if my memories don't come back?" The doctor looked at her with a sad smile on her lips.
"They might not come at first, but perhaps if you keep spending time with him, it will speed up the memory recollection."
013 only nodded slowly before taking a deep breath. She then proceeded with limping into the room, the crutch making scratching noises against the floor as she dragged it with her. 013's grey orbs were drawn to the individual lying in the bed after her eyes swept over the interior of the small room. There was a white blanket covering his whole body up to his torso, and she idly wondered why. He seemed locked in a very interesting conversation with the doctor sitting next to him too, and she didn't want to interrupt them just yet. She couldn't help but also notice how he remained unmoving, his body not moving even once even though he was talking rather animatedly.
There was then a cough from the blonde doctor next to her, and the conversation immediately stopped. 013 stood still with a baited breath as Jefferson shifted his eyes over to her. His facial futures lit up and a huge smile spread on his face.
"Tutes! Hey! Long time no see!" 013 had to chuckle at that, remembering how she said the same thing to Doc, who was standing right next to her. She heard a chuckle come from that direction, and she glanced at the female.
"You two are definitely alike." She said, a smile now present on her lips. The doctor then ushered her to answer him, her smile reassuring her that it all was okay.
013 scratched the back of her neck nervously, before an uncertain smile curved the corners of her lips.
"Hey there, buddy." She replied, her grey eyes sweeping over his face to gauge his reaction. He didn't seem to suspect about her apparent memory loss yet, which meant she would have to tell him.
'This is gonna suck, I can just feel it.'
"So Tutes, what happened to you? Why are you here? You look like someone went loose with a baseball bat on you." Jeff remarked, his eyes taking in the extent of her injuries. He eyed her swollen eye a little longer than the crutch and her wrapped side. Most likely because it was the one injury that stood out the most. 013 laughed nervously, before shifting the crutch to her other hand.
"Well… That's what I thought first too, that someone took a baseball bat and decided to wreak havoc. Nah but in more serious terms, I got into a fight… Which kinda landed me in here." She said, smartly avoiding mentioning that she didn't even remember the events that led up to her being here. Jeff just let out a guffaw, before wincing slightly, and then shaking his head.
"Of course you'd end up in trouble while I was gone. I guessed I hoped too much that you would behave." Jeff chuckled again. There was a moment of silence, and 013 deemed that now was the moment she would have to tell him.
"Uhm… Jeff…" 013 started rather uncertainly. She knew she had to tell him about her memory loss now, as it would do not good to drag it all out. She had already called his attention, so there was no backing out either. She swallowed, and shuffled over to the chair that was previously occupied by the other doctor. The doctor had come to stand next to her own Doc, and 013 glanced at them wearily. They both only nodded reassuringly, and 013 took a deep breath.
"Yeah, what's up?" Jeff inquired, his gaze so full of innocence and naivety... The smile was still present on his face, however it had receded to just a small curve of the tips of his lips.
The expression he had just caused another sting of pain to erupt in her chest, just because of what she was about to say...
"There's something I need to tell you…" 013 shifted her gaze to the floor, as she fiddled with her hands. She then closed her eye for a few seconds before looking up and meeting Jeff's gaze head on.
"I suffer from memory loss, Jeff."
There was only silence after she had spoken. She saw how Jeff's face fell, and his brow scrunching up in confusion. His jaw was working, his mouth trying to form words but ending up failing every time. 013 swallowed the lump growing in her throat. She was waiting for him to say something, anything, and for every passing second, she felt all the more uncomfortable.
But then finally, Jeff spoke.
"But… You're acting just like you usually do. You're joking around, you're sarcastic… You called me Jeff… This has to be a joke, right? You're pulling my leg, Tutes?" The hopeful expression on his face had 013 breaking a little inside, the dams she had built up cracking. She could feel liquid building up in her eye upon seeing the vulnerable state of him. She didn't know what to do, how to handle it all.
His eyes desperately searched hers, the royal blue orbs shifting between her good eye and her eye patch (he had the tendency to always shift his eyes from one iris to the other, so much that i's become a habit, and despite that she has eye patch, he still does it), trying to find any trace that she was indeed pulling his leg.
But she wasn't.
What she was stating was the actual truth.
She was suffering from memory loss.
She didn't remember who he was, not even his name. Had she not been told by Doc that she usually called him Jeff, she would have said Jefferson instead of Jeff.
She didn't remember their friendship.
A stray tear fell from her one functioning eye, and she had to repress a sob. She shook her head back and forth before settling to look at him again.
"I'm s-serious, Jeff, I don't r-remember a-anything…" Her voice cracked when she spoke. Jeff was sitting in silence, but upon further scrutiny, 013 could see the glassiness of his eyes, and she knew he was desperately fighting to digest the information.
"You don't remember anything? Not even… Not even me?" His voice was so weak, that 013 had to heave a deep breath to get enough oxygen through her system. She felt like everything was falling apart, she felt like she was destroying his life, because she was sitting here and telling him that she doesn't remember batshit. And from gauging his reaction, she figured that they had been very close friends, if not best friends.
"T-the Doc said that in a f-few days I might be able to remember a few things, b-but she also said it could take weeks… E-even months." The brunt of all emotions had now passed, and she instead felt herself numbing, as if her cortex was shutting down the emotions department within her brain, if only to help her out.
Jeff sat in silence for a few moments before a wavering breath escaped from his lips. He closed his eyes, and swallowed hard.
"So you're saying… You might not remember me, or anything in general, until a few days has passed? How big is the risk of you ne-… of you never remembering?" Jeff had a hard time getting that last part out, but he managed, and 013 almost broke down again upon hearing the despair in his voice.
"I don't know…" She brokenly whispered.
Time skip –
She had returned about an hour later to her room, and right now she was laying in her silence, the Doc having gone away on errands.
She reminisced back to her conversation with Jeff, which had been nothing short of heart wrenchingly painful.
Jeff had openly sobbed when finally realizing that his supposedly best friend didn't remember him, and 013 had tried to comfort him as best she could. But in the end it didn't really matter. No matter how you cushioned the news, the fact that she might not regain her memories was a very realistic possibility. The moments she shared with Jeff before the memory loss were moments only he could currently recall, and it ended up with him telling her of their best moments, along with their worst, so she could regain those memories. Not that it would be the real deal, but at least she would know how she acted prior the memory loss.
She remembered that he told her of one prank where he stole her clothes from her locker when she was busy. She had apparently been forced to walk commando trough the ship to find him and harass him for his not-so-funny prank. He said that if looks could kill, those she passed in the corridors would've been lying dead on the floor.
She had to chuckle at that, because it sounded like something she would do, if she imagined that she would have to do it all over again.
013 let out a heavy sigh. She dearly wished she would get her memories back, because it sounded like she had a very good life, one packed with thrilling adventure and action.
'Whoever did this me will have hell to pay for taking my life away from me.' 013 thought to herself. No one knew who the responsible ones were, they only had suspicions, but not even then was she allowed to know.
"It may affect your trauma and worsen your state." They said.
'If anything, it might actually trigger my memory recollection because of their direct affiliation, but noooo, it's still too risky. Wimpy asses.'
She shuffled on her bed to find a more comfortable position. She was feeling tired from her interaction with Jeff, as she was bombarded with memories that she just couldn't remember herself.
She closed her eyes, deciding to take a nap to refuel her energy.
Her 'nap' turned out to be five hours long, because when she woke up, the digital clock built into the wall said 10:46 PM.
"Well shit, that was one hell of a nap." She said to herself, and a wistful smile spread across her face. She had actually had a rather pleasant sleep, along with a pleasant dream. She dreamt of a man with brown ruffled hair and huge-ass muscles embracing her. Since he was so tall, over 6 feet tall, he had to lift her up. He had swung her around, and they both had laughed heartily. They even had matching smiles when they looked at each other, as if they were each other's reflections.
If there was something she remembered in particular about the dream, it was the intense, sea blue eyes the man had had. They had been so captivating, and just so beautiful.
His eyes were like someone had collected the sea and placed them within his orbs, the wild untamable ocean storming within his eyes. And they looked to be so honest, so full of passion that she felt overwhelmed when their gazes had connected.
'I wonder if he really exists… Maybe I have a boyfriend… Or a husband? I have to ask Doc.'
She returned to her sleep 20 minutes later, as there was nothing better to do, and she still felt tired. Most likely her body was using up all the energy to mend itself back together. Not to mention, her brain probably needed the energy the most to get her cells to full functionality. The mind healed a lot slower than physical wounds, as it has to do the DNA of the human body, the culmination of what made her, her.
Five days passed by, where she spent a few hours of every day in Jeff's room, just talking and listening and laughing and crying. There was still no change when it came to her memories, and she knew it was taking a toll on Jeff. With every story he told her, he had that hopeful gleam in his eyes that the story he was telling next might be the one to reawaken her broken mind.
On the sixth day, the Doc said she was free to return to her room, which ultimately meant she was allowed to wander the corridors of the Infinity.
She was actually feeling a little afraid of doing so, as she didn't remember anyone. All she knew was that she was a good marine, as her skills laid in her muscle memory, and not her memories.
'Now that I'm free, where the hell do I go?'
Just then, her stomach churned.
'Guess I have my answer.'
How she was going to find the mess hall however, was something she would have to try figure out. Maybe the ship had signs that described what was on what floor. Doc had said the Infinity was a pretty huge ship, the biggest one there is, and that kind of unnerved her as well.
She was serving on the biggest ship of the UNSC, yet she didn't know how, why or what she was aboard the ship. Was she a Commander? A Chief Petty Officer? Or was she just a brawn, a military brat that was part of the many other marines?
013 slowly stepped out of the Infirmary, the only place she deemed as her safe haven at the moment.
'I have to get going sometime.'
And with that, she stepped out into the hall, looking both ways before opting to go right. It felt right to go in that direction, and she trusted her gut instinct. It was really all she had anyway, according to both herself and Doc, as she couldn't remember these hallways despite having walked in them before.
She soon stumbled upon an elevator, which was the best thing she had seen as of yet. The corridors that she had trekked through were eerily empty, and 013 couldn't help but wonder why they were so vacant.
Weren't there supposed to be a hell of a lot of people onboard the biggest ship of the UNSC?
Or had everyone just conveniently taken a coffee break at the exact same time?
013 shrugged, dropping the thought. She glanced into the elevator, reading the labels that were etched onto the wall. Her eyes skimmed across the words, and almost at the very end did she find the two words she was looking for.
Mess Hall.
She entered the elevator and pressed on the button that would lead to the mess hall. The ride was quiet, and she thrummed her fingers against her arm that were crossed in front of her. A ting signified that she had now arrived at the right floor, and she cautiously waited for the doors to open.
As soon as they did, she was met with a few people standing in the corridor that led to a corner further ahead. She figured that behind that corner, the entrance to the mess would be there and so she slowly approached the junction. The people in the corridor glanced at her, while some even openly stared. She saw them shift their eyes to her patched eye before shifting to meet the other -the functional one.
And right now, that one single grey orb was quickly filling up with exasperation along with irritation. Her eyebrow arched as she stared back at them, quietly asking them what their problem was.
"What?" She voiced out loud, her eye pointedly scrutinizing them with a judgmental edge.
The people almost immediately returned to their conversations, slightly embarrassed at having her bark at them for their very rude staring.
"What's their deal…" She muttered to herself as she hurried through the corridor, wanting to escape from them ASAP.
Not that it really mattered, because if there were people out here, it was guaranteed that there would be even more people in the mess hall.
She let out a quiet sigh before turning at the junction. There were two massive double doors there, with windows built into the surface. Through the windows, she could spot a few tables with people surrounding them.
'Well, time to greet the crowd.'
She steeled herself as she approached the doors. Her stomach was nervously fluttering, churning, and her nerves tingled with anticipation. She felt the adrenalin course through her at rapid speed as the doors neared.
Finally, she reached the doors and pushed them open, mainly using her right hand as her left side couldn't handle too much pressure because she still had two broken ribs.
They were healing nicely according to Doc, and so she didn't want to take any unnecessary risks that would hinder their healing, lest she would end up at the Infirmary again. And it wasn't exactly on her to-do list, seeing that she had a few more urgent matters to solve, mainly her memory loss.
As the doors slowly swung open, the people within looked over to see who had entered. The chatter that reverberated throughout the room immediately died down, and she was suddenly met with several pairs of eyes staring at her. The lump that was forming in her throat made it much more difficult for her to breathe - she hadn't anticipated that everyone would look at her as she entered, but to the contrary of her beliefs, she turned out to be very much at fault.
Her one good eye swept across the room, trying to discern any recognizable futures. She almost thought that it would bear fruitless results - that she would, just like everything else, not recognize or remember anything, but then that all changed.
The one she ended up staring at was a man that looked so eerily like the one from her dreams that she had to draw after her breath – it was a completely unexpected sight.
'I never asked Doc if I had a boyfriend or not.'
Her eyes widened upon settling on him. He was the only thing within the whole room that she felt herself recognize, even if most of it stemmed from her dream.
'Or maybe it was a memory?'
She saw how his stormy blue eyes filled up with surprise, before they then turned dark, almost ominously so. She herself could only express open confusion, and her brows formed a cone that spoke of said confusion. She looked much like a deer caught in the headlights.
Mainly because she didn't understand why he seemed to almost be glaring at her, his gaze critically scrutinizing her. What's up with that? In her opinion, it was pretty uncalled for.
Deciding then that perhaps approaching him wouldn't be in her best interest, or his for that matter, she let her gaze drop to the floor, before shifting it over to the serving area.
She had come here to get some food in her system, and that was what she was going to do, despite the awkward tension that was filling up the atmosphere.
Her stomach growled in consent.
Notes:
Alright, there are some things I want to address in this chapter (besides the plot twist, badum-tzz. Bet you guys weren't expecting that one). Anyhow, I want to explain what exactly is going on in Reclaiming His Humanity. 013 is notoriously known for being a sarcastic, sassy girl with a lot of confidence, however despite all that, she, just like any other human, has her insecurities. One of her greatest flaws is that she hates people doubting her, and poking fun at the fact that she is a hybrid, as the experiment is a really bad memory for her. I mean, she was stamped as a failure without understanding why. 'Course it feels like a punch in the gut when people make fun of that.
In the last chapter, she was provoked into fighting the ODSTs two on one, and that's mainly because she had to address the fact that they weren't going to drop their plans of revenge. Having to constantly watch her back unnecessarily much, she decided that, what the hell, why not let them take out their testosterone-filled problems on her. Unfortunately, she hadn't predicted that they would let vengeance get in the way of the soldier's code of conduct. Of course, she did have her doubts about them, however she never expected them to break the holy and unspoken rule that applies in sparring matches (Which is to intentionally hurt the opponent by foul and despicable ways). Basically, she thought they would have enough honor to know and respect that rule.
They didn't.
As for the memory loss, it's actually based on real experience. A friend of mine has personally experienced memory loss and she described it in this way; you only recognize things, but don't remember them. You get the odd sort of feeling that you know, but at the same time, you don't know.
That's what she has told me, and I understand what she means by that. It's kind of like deja vú, really. Deja vú means that you experience a phantom event, as your mind thinks you've already done it, but you haven't. The difference between deja vú and memory loss, is that you can only feel a certain familiarity, however you don't have a memory to connect that familiarity to, because obviously, it's temporarily (or permanently, that depends on the severity of the damage dealt) gone.
I hope that cleared a few things up!
P.S. Please do tell me what you thought of the sneaky plot-twist! Good/bad? Shitty af or DAAAAMN, DIS AUTHOR HAS SOME BALLS TO PLAY WITH MY MIND LIKE THIS. ? Which one is it?