Many Years Ago, Mother of Invention
"What the heck was that?!" Lazerus kept hold of the medical bed he had been on.
"Ship probably crashed." I shook my head and pushed myself off the floor, "It's the right time frame."
"Of course it's the right time frame. If you don't remember, Tex shot me because I tried to reason with her." He stayed calm, "Just fill a syring with the contents of that bottle over there." He pointed as I happily complied.
"You're stubborn." I laughed, grabbing tweezers and gauze, "I haven't easily forgotten that medicle training you gave me, yet." I walked over to him, setting the stuff on a desk-like structure. Seriously, what the fuck is the name of that metal thing where doctors and dentists set tools. I know it's not just called a tray, right? Look, I'm rambling.
"Dammit, that hurts." He winced as I started to pull one of many bullets.
"You're such a baby." I laughed again.
"Well, sorry that I use anaesthetics when I do this on you. Maybe next time you can be conscious."
"You're just saying that." I laughed once more, binding the open wound. I turned to face the window, "Where do we go next? Freelancer's fallen, and I'll die before I become a Sim. Trooper. All that's available is finding home."
"Yeah." He spoke in a low voice, almost as if he was hiding something.
"I should probably pack a bag." I laughed, "Who knows what we'll have to face next." Just then, I felt a dull pain in the back of my neck.
"Sorry, but I'm a goner. Just live the rest of your life with a fresh start. Only specific stimuli can make you remember. If you remember anything, don't persue Tex." With that, I fell to the ground, "I'm sorry." That weeping voice was the last thing I heard before I woke up in the snow, last remembered falling asleep and a broken heart as the cause of death.
A Few Years Ago, Sim. Soldier Training Facility
I woke up with tears brimming my eyes. It was still dark, and it not officially time to wake up. I've been woken up, somehow. I turned in order to lie on my side and saw a figure of blonde hair and blue eyes, that was barely visible in the moonlight.
I shot out of bed, hitting my head on the bunk above me, "Caboose?" I hissed, grabbing my glasses from the nightstand next to me, "What are you doing in the girls' bunker? You're going to get in trouble."
"There's no one here." He whimpered, ducking his head down, "I though it'd be okay."
I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Even if there's one girl in here, you can still get in trouble. And what do you mean no one? there are at least ten others scattered around here?"
He raised his head once again, "Could you tell me a story?"
I pondered on the thought for a moment, adjusting my glasses so that they didn't fall off my nose, "Once upon a time," I sighed, unsure how perceptive Caboose can be, "there was a girl. She was pretty much your average girl in her second year of college for her majors in forensics and music, taking a night shift in Walmart, and trying to fend for herself. You know, the basics." I took a breath, trying to recollect that fateful night, "One night, she curled up in bed, watched a few episodes of her favorite shows, set her glasses on her nightstand, and fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up, she had no idea where she had been and began to wander aimlessly. She didn't realize where she was until she found a familiar sight. It was then that she realized she was in the show that she watched so fondly. Time went by as she trained to be one of the greatest soldiers. She assumed she was alone, for no one understood what it was like to try to find home and fail so often. Finally, she met probably the only other person in the universe that could feel her pain. Together, they spent years researching how to get back home, but life happened to get in the way. The girl had been genetically altered so that she could not die, but the other was forced to have his life end. The girl wanted to remember, but she ended up taking the medicine to make her forget. She forgot the cause of her pain. She forgot the fun she actually had in this universe. She roamed the universe, alone once again, feeling and not remembering why she felt the pain of loss... because she was forced to forget until all that was left was that fateful night where she watched her favorite show, set her glasses on her nightstand, and fell asleep." I watched Caboose as he lied there, motionless and asleep, "Goodnight, buddy." I set my glasses back on the stand next to me, curled up into a ball under the covers, and fell asleep once more."
Present Day
"You guys should probably make your way over here." I said over the radio as I searched through the molecular compressor, "I woke up with nothing but the armor on my back that time, so either I bought another copy of that book, or Lazerus stored it on this. Maybe his notes are in here."
"What in Sam Hill are you talking about?" Sarge asked over the radio.
"Sorry. I must've left my radio on." I shut off the radio, and almost immediately, Caboose came running in.
"Walker! What is wrong? Are you hurt?" He looked me over for a moment.
"Caboose, is that you? Can you hear me?" The recording went off again.
"Church?" He walked up to the console.
"Caboose, is that you? Can you hear me?"
"Yes, Church. I can hear you. What is wrong?"
"Caboose, is that you? Can you hear me?"
"Church, I can hear you."
"Caboose, is that you? Can you hear me?"
"Caboose?" I interrupted the one-sided conversation, "It's just a recording."
"No. It's Church, and he's meaner than ever." He whimpered.
"Caboose, is that you? Can you hear me?" The recording went off once more.
"How 'bout you bring everyone here so that we can bring Church back." I suggested.
"Okay!" He ran out, leaving me back to my search.
Alice in wonderland was the next item to come onto the holographic screen, "This is going to take a while." I sighed, flipping through the inventory until something struck me as odd. Note di Transporto Universale (Universal Transportation Notes) by Lazerus X. Ray was written across the book in large font. The only thing odd about that was that I don't remember him knowing Italian. There were a few others signed by his name such as Soggetti Freelancer da Uno a Dieci (Freelancer Subjects One through Ten) and Note Mediche (Medical Notes).
"Three books in one inventory check." I snickered, pulling out the Freelancer one.
"Did you just pull a book out of thin air?" Simmons asked as red team (minus Donut) and Caboose started to walk in.
"Yeah." I leaned against the control panel, "What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing." He shrugged.
"Yeah. We can obviously accept your super strength and magician skills." Grif joked.
"Sure." I said, almost monotonically, as I read the leather-bound book. Damn, he has great hand-writing, and there are no errors in his writing (which was all in Italian, but for the sake of this story, it will be translated).
"I looked at some files." The notebook read, "The Director will kill me if he finds out, but I just had to know. Subject Zero: Michele (New Hampshire) Walker. Abilities: Undying, Strength, Greater Memory Capacity. Project: failed."
"Failed?" I asked in a low voice, "How was I failed?" I looked at my hands, "All those abilities seem to apply."
"Director's notes:" I read on, "She ended up knowing too much. She used her abilities and rebelled along with Agents Texas and New York. She must be quarantined."
"Sucks to be you." I laughed... "Wait, that was when Lazerus was shot... When did he have time to write this?"
"Subject One:" I continued to read.
"How are you just sitting there?!" Someone yelled at me, "We're all going to die!" I looked up to see Tucker.
"If this is another trick to get me to sleep with you, it's not working." I sighed, closing to book and putting it back in inventory.
"Although that would be great, the bomb's about to go off!" He continued.
I looked down at his hand, then looked back up, "Well, we wouldn't be in danger if you hadn't brought that in with you."
"How are you so calm about this?!"
"Because I know what's going on, and we're no going to die."
"Why do you say that?! There's not much time left on the bomb!"
"Fine, I'll see if I can talk to Andy." I started walking.
"Who is Andy?" I heard Tex ask.
"Hell if I know." Tucker answered, and with that, I went down stairs, and waited for Church to come back.