Chapter 11
April 11th, 2023.
Tuesday. 10:09.
"Words birds thirds turds." – Any hologram speaking.
'Words birds thirds turds.'- Any hologram thinking.
Waking up for the first time from a long, deep sleep leaves you a little disorientated and confused. The same could be said for someone regaining the control of their body... or someone else's. The feeling of motion, breathing, even feeling. When it came to falling asleep, you don't even notice you've done it till you wake up.
But dreams. You can't even tell you're dreaming.
"I'm sorry," she whispered into the small ball in her hands, tears running down her face. Her eyes were drawn to the small, delicate orb in her arms. It was warm. It had a heartbeat. It whispered sweet words in her ear, in a familiar soothing voice. "Daniel..."
"I'm here, Angel," despite seeing the light, lulling voice of her lover, her heart was filled with guilt, pain and sorrow. "I'm right here. Not leaving you anytime soon."
Her eyes started to fill up in tears again as she stared down at the sphere, watching it omit the sweetest light; like a star. But she could faintly make out the outline of his face, smiling. His dark hair, hazel eyes, always present smile or smirk.
"Promise?" She whimpered, reaching up to rub the tears away but stopped when she felt no hand on her face. Her eyes darted to her hand – lack of hand, before back to the orb, watching it crack down the middle. Now she could see the lights of an incoming truck coming towards her. Her mixed eyes widened at the sight, her voice stuck in her throat.
"No. I'm dead."
It shattered.
She screamed.
The young woman woke with a jolt, panting lightly at the nightmare. It wasn't new. She hadn't been able to have a decent night's sleep in weeks without a nightmare waking her up. They all contained the same thing. Memories of the accident. Of Daniel. Of waking up and finding out he was... dead.
"Ugh, that's smart," Alice spoke, sitting up slowly from where she was laid out, reaching to hold her head but paused when she felt the cool steel of her port. Oh, right. Looking around, she recognized the white walls and strong smell of sterilizer of a hospital. It had hit her where she was.
Pulling her hand away, she noticed the dark bruising around her wrist as well as circular spots spotted here and there. The young woman couldn't recall what had happened to cause this damage to her body. It took her a moment to proper survey her room, spotting a card and vase for flowers to her right. There was no one else in her room, automatically assuming that Hype knew she was here and had arrange this for their next meeting.
The young programmer sighed at the idea of seeing Hugo again, shifting to lie on her side away from the open curtains.
"Mornin' cupcake," she heard the hologram's voice to her left, unaware that he was sitting in the chair beside her bed with arms behind his head and feet up on her lap. "Ain't you a pretty picture," he teased, chuckling at the small groan that escaped her as she flopped back into the stiff bed below. "How ya feeling?"
"Like absolute crap," she whined, growling when she realized that her arm wasn't attached to her and there were no glasses for her to use. "What happened?"
The CEO smirked, shaking his hand in a gesture of 'nothing really' before continuing. "Had a talk, got shot a few times, cracked a joke or two, nothin' too big, babe."
"I got SHOT?" She frowned in his direction, already imagining his expression. "Jack-"
"Hey, I didn't shoot you," he growled as he sat up, his lips pulled into a straight line. "Thank those bastards," he paused for a moment, frowning. "Ugh, this is so frustrating. I know that I know one of those bastards. The accent, the voice, the body structure- it's all there but I ain't getting any names!"
Alice could just imagine Jack throwing one of his usual tempter tapetums, rolling her eyes as he was indeed throwing his arms up into the air with a deep snarl. Well, it was a little one. But it was one, nonetheless.
"A mental block," she yawned lightly, covering her eyes with her arm. Almost her entire body ached.
"Yeah, and, I friggin' hate it!"
There was a small moment of silence before she continued.
"Jack. Please tell me what happened," her voice was slow and quiet, fearful of what happened to her while she was blackout in the back of her mind. It took her a moment to process that her mind was gone while her body was still moving. It felt like a deep sleep.
Jack watched the young woman for a moment, already seeing the confliction in her face while he adjusted himself to sit up straighter.
"Sure, pumpkin. Gimme a minute to think- just lemme say, a lot happened."
April 10th, 2023.
Monday. 15:36.
"Ugh, my head," came a loud grunt from Alice's mouth, even though the accent was different. It was more American, so to speak. "Now this is a hangover..."
Only one of the three recognized the tone of voice immediately, feeling the bubbling anger filling his stomach as he took a step forward towards the fallen woman, staring down at her as she stood up slowly, almost like she was taking her first steps in years. Like watching a baby deer take its first steps as she stumbled at first.
"You didn't even hit your head," The tallest of the group growled lightly, moving his hand to her shoulder and holding her up by the fabric. Her blue eyes drifted to the man in front of her, narrowing them before giving a small confident smile. He was almost positive he knew who he was talking to, but he couldn't let his teammates know yet in case they reacted. "You ready for the first question," he questioned, releasing her shirt when she steadied herself.
The young woman moved her hand to her hip, moving her weight to it as she stood. It looked natural, the leader could tell there was a shift mentally.
"Depends on the question," she spoke, the accent more apparent than the AI wanted. "If I say too much, my head," her finger probed at the port on her temple, assuming the man was following her. "Goes PBBLT," Jack wondered how she looked blowing a raspberry, never seeing it before.
Maya stared for a moment before looking between her two teammates.
"Is she for real?"
Truthfully, it wouldn't have shocked any of them that Hype would be capable of doing that. They were merciless, cruel and selfish. They were the type that would rather destroy the information than let it fall into the hands of their enemy.
"I wouldn't be shocked if Hyperion implanted explosives in their own men," the leader spoke, glaring at the woman whose own expression didn't drop from the calm, almost observant smile she held. It was unnerving to the three; especially when her mannerism didn't so much flinch at his words. Either she already knew of what they were capable of- which they highly doubted, or this was someone who knew precisely what they were able to do- most likely a higher up. "I only have one question. Which A.I is in your head," the question was blunt, leaving no room to shift around the question.
Jack paused at this. He was wondering if he should dodge around the question, or give a random made-up name since he was Handsome Goddamn Jack. Everyone knew his name, and these bandits no doubt knew what he could do- what he had done. He was sure that if he so much as mentioned his name, he- she, would be put to an end.
When her smile finally dipped, she answered. "Rhys. Dunno his last name. Code-monkey like... myself."
The three spared a glance, not knowing the name so they just assumed she was either lying, or it was a low-level employee they were testing her with. They weren't entirely sure how far into the project they were at. Their leader had predicted trial testing, which this woman could be a part of.
Until they had better mean of interrogations, or transportation for it. They couldn't do much, knowing there was people waiting for her once the match ended, either with her being shot up- or the two-hour timing ending.
At least, for them, this meeting wasn't completely going to waste.
"That'll do... for now," the taller man spoke, nodding his head to the two. Maya moved around to behind her, capturing her arms with hers and tightening the grip.
"-What the hell-"
"Knock her out."
"Wait-wait-wait-wait-don't-"
*BANG*
"Son-of-a-!"
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
"We'll be seeing you soon, senorita. Don't forget us."
April 11th, 2023.
Tuesday. 10:23.
"You told them you were Rhys," she questioned with annoyance lacing her words, pinching her sore hand to the bridge of her nose. "Then you got me shot the hell up."
"Yeuuuuuuup," the hologram chuckled while watching her lean back further into her bed in pain. The man had to admit it hurt like a bitch, not something he wanted a repeat of. At least it wasn't as painful being shot by a real bullet. He'd take one made of paint any day. "Thought they'd ask me more questions-" he shrugged. "But who cares what those shits were doing," he grinned, moving closer to the woman who couldn't even see him as he scooted close to her. "How you feelin' cupcake? Does it hurt? Of course, it does- but do you think you can walk? You've got work tomorrow and I'm sick of that place. Think you can play dead till the weekend?"
Oh, how much she wanted to punch him already.
"I suddenly wish I was knocked out still..."
"Er- wow. Rude. Considering the BS I went through to help you, the least you could do is say 'thanks'," the former CEO wasn't completely serious with his words, knowing she was in so much pain because of his actions. In the back of his mind, he was sure he could have taken a different route to avoid getting her so injured. But 'what if's sucked and they weren't for him. He wasn't going to feel a lick of guilt over not being able to protect her- there was no point. He tried, failed, there was only moving forwards now.
"Thanks for not getting me killed," she murmured under her breath, sighing as she curled herself into a small ball on her side facing him.
He grinned. "No problem, kiddo."
The CEO couldn't help but watch the girl for a moment more before moving to stick his head out the door in search of whoever was coming to question her. Whatever alarm went off when her conscious came back was surely heard. Jack was just hoping it wasn't that sonofabitch from the beginning. Hugo. He grinded his nerves, almost as much as Rhys. He wasn't entirely sure why that idiotic programmer pissed him off so much. Maybe because the nerd reminded him a little bit of how he was when he was his age. Maybe. Probably not. He didn't really care.
Then he saw something he really, really didn't want to see.
After a moment, Jack pulled his head back through the door and stomped his feet over to the bed, glaring before pointing to the window.
"Jump out the window. NOW," he ordered, reaching to grab her wrist which she quickly moved it away recalling the bruising she had on her other one as a result of him doing the same before. She could feel it.
"What are you talking about?" Her eyes darted to the door as footsteps could be heard just stopping outside of it. The programmer stared in confusion, looking between the two as it opened. It was an odd sight to say the least. There were her friends, and Simon, said man holding a small yellow and blue hydrangea bouquet. It was an odd sight, and the expression Jack pulled was less than satisfied with him and the flowers. "… Are you guys in the right room?"
"Of course," Margret smirked at the question, tossing down a small bouquet of white roses onto the bed. Judith only rolled her eyes before accepting Simon's flowers and combining them both in order to fit them in the empty vase by her side. "So. Why didn't you tell us you already had a boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" "I'm not her boyfriend."
The two replies simultaneously, frowning in the shorter twin's direction as she plopped herself down in the spare seat beside the programmer. The two spared one another a glance while Jack growled and leaned himself against the wall beside her. Something, of course, the woman couldn't see.
"Suuuuuure."
"Did either of you bring my glasses?" Both twins looked between each other, one with a look of shock, the other looking unaffected.
""No(pe).""
With this, the woman sighed before glancing to Simon who was shuffling through his shoulder bag for something. She smiled lightly, feeling more comfortable around this man than Hugo, Walker or Kaiya.
"Thank you for the flowers."
"Noah chose them. He's surprised you're alive," he replied, pulling out a small blue case before handing it to her. Alice paused before opening it, a sigh of relief escaping her as she recognized the blue ringed contacts. "Walker handed me those before I left this morning."
"Yeah," with a nod, she started on putting the thin pieces on, both of the twins looking away while Simon looked unaffected by the sight. "What happened to my arm," she questioned, blinking as she got the first one in before looking around. Like she suspected, it wasn't in the room.
"In repairs. You must have hit the floor hard. Disconnected a few wires," he yawned slightly, raising his hand to cover his mouth. Margret and Judith looked between each other before back to Alice, just as she had finished putting the final contact in.
"I did. It hurt," she played along, glancing around the room once before till she landed on Jack. She stared for a moment, he stared back before she broke the connection and turned back to the normal people. "What happened after I got knocked out?"
"The other team found you and brought you back," Judith pipped up, smiling softly as she sat on her other side, leaving Simon to stand at the end of her bed. Tugging at the collar of her white jumper, she frowned. "They said you were at the bottom of the hill in the water when they spotted you. Why didn't you run to the exit if you got shot so many times?"
'… what story have they told the others?'
"Guess I didn't notice I was shot," she shrugged her shoulders, trying to pull off the nonchalant tone. "I'm fine. Really. Pretty sore though."
"No doubt! You got shot like twelve times," Margret giggled from her other side, prodding her in the neck where a light bruise had formed.
"We'll be seeing you soon, senorita."
Alice flinched away from her, smacking her hand with hers. "Ouch!"
"Don't touch me!"
It was a sudden rush of emotions. She felt uncertain. Betrayed, almost. Scared, for sure. Unsure was another. But the young programmer felt abandoned by her friends. It was supposed to be a fun day out and she ended up meeting the people that were targeting her. A voice echoed in her mind, shaking her core.
"Don't forget us."
Feeling the sudden change, Jack pushed himself off of the wall fainting hearing what was ringing in the back of her mind. Betrayal towards her friends, who were supposed to have her back. Hurt by the one man she thought she could trust, who said he would protect her. Her own heart monitor was starting to suddenly speed up as well.
"Kid- calm down-" "Alice- I'm-"
"Go away," pulling her hands to her face, Alice pulled her knees to her chest in attempts to hide from everything around her. Margret didn't know how to react to her best friend's broken reaction, reaching out but stopped when Simon grabbed her hand. The young chef's instant response was a glare and pull her hand back, seeing his serious expression she didn't say a word.
"I'd like a word with her," the tall man whispered to the two, ushering them out of the room muttering to visit later. Once the twins were out of the room, the professor closed the door quietly behind him, watching the young woman curl up tighter in her bed.
Unknown to him, Jack was trying to grab her attention before he could. The former CEO resisted the urge to reach out and touch her, seeing the results of his last attempt still on her wrist. It looked like her partner had abused her- and if you didn't know she had gone paintball. It would have been everyone's first thoughts. The sick feeling he had in his stomach when he knew those were the result of him... he recalled having it before, a long time ago. A memory to look back at later.
"Cupcake. C'mon now. Look at me," he kept his voice calm despite the frustration he was filled with; she wasn't listening to him, it was almost like he wasn't there. When Simon stepped closer, he felt an urgency to make her at least acknowledge him. "Ally. Ally baby, c'mon- look at me. I'm right here, baby I-"
"Get away from me, Jack," she murmured, moving her hands to her ears in an attempt to block him out. It didn't work, seeing as his voice was radiating from inside her mind and not her ears. The A.I. froze at her words, the underlining anger surfacing with a mixture of... shock? Hurt? nausea? Jack couldn't count the emotions he was feeling all at once.
He wasn't sure why responded in the way he did, right now.
"Well cupcake, that's not possible. You're stuck with me till either I'm removed or you're dead," his voice bounced around in her head, watching the small structure of the woman in front of him tremble and curl up tighter into the ball she had made of herself.
"No..." She cried, shivering as she finally opened her eyes and glanced up, connecting with Simon's through Jack. Seeing the man, she sniffled. "Please."
She paused, feeling the tears filling her eyes as the man stepped closer, mouth shut.
"Please get him out of me."
Her words stopped the two men in their tracks, both wide eyes at her words. Jack couldn't speak, his mouth opening but no words found their ways out. Simon stood and stared for a moment more before heading for the door, pulling his phone out.
"I need to make a phone call."
This left the two alone in her room, the droplets finally falling from her eyes now. She reached up and rubbed them away with her only hand, wincing at the bruises that lined her wrist and forearm. It hurt more than she thought to move, Jack was sure it hurt more than the nerves were recovering.
He finally found his voice as he stood by her bedside, keeping his fists clenched by his sides as he calmed himself.
"Alice... I'm-"
"Please, Jack," the cold words trembled from her lips, looking up to him with red eyes from the number of tears running down her face. She forced the smallest smile onto her face, looking down to her lap where she clenched her hand tighter which made her knuckles turn white. "I'm sorry. I'm... my limit..."
If he had a heart, it would have dropped.
"… What... are you saying?"
There was a pause.
"I don't think I can do this anymore."
Hope you guys enjoyed chapter eleven of many more to come! Please review favourite and follow this story!
Also, thank you for your reviews:
HeavenlyCondemned, AgentOhioS118, Ozuhananas
This chapter's question is: Which game would you want to be involved in- like, a vault hunter in?
Answer: Pre-sequel. I get to snuggle wuggle the cutie called Timothy! :D
