Act 3: Redemption
Part 1: We're more ghosts than people
Humanity is not a race. It's an idea, a harness.
Got the hint?
*Two weeks of minor events and parties later*
A distant noise woke me up. And I've been staring at the ceiling for a good minute or two; rubbing Erin's back, don't want to get up. Ah, that morning dizziness, laziness and feel of comforting warmth followed by quiet, sleepy moan of a girl lying on you, with her tits rubbing against your chest, her slow and steady breath warming your neck. She's a sleep and still provoking me for another round of entertainment. Almost feels like a dream…As íf҉ ̵that ̶is sòm̕e̸t̕h̷i̷n͞g̶ ͡i͝mp͏o͡sśible̴ ąn͡d ab́s͞o̸lutel̛y ̢not͏ ҉ea͜sily ̢achieva͡b҉le͢ ҉du͏e ͞to̴ ͢t͝he̷ i͢n͞kl̸ing̢s cul̶t͜u҉r͞e ̶an͢d d̵e͞m͠o̧g̵raphic͠ p͝rob͢l͝ems ca͡u͡s҉e̷d̕ by t̵he͢ e̡m̡pire c̴o̕l͘lap̀se̷ a҉nd a ͏fu͝c͘k͝ìǹģ wa̕r!
I'd asked some questions right now, but that sound is persist. Sounds like shower and it comes from the corridor. We're...didn't have any guests, right? N̷ope͝ ̕a͞n͝d I rèal̸l͡y̷ h̛o͠p͏e i҉ts nòt ҉H̕E̷R. Y-you mean Lena? S͜he'̨s̷ ͝g͠onna b̶e ̷pi͠ssèd...Right, she's supposed to come back from the jail today. With a sigh I change into the octo form to carefully crawl out from Erin's 'imprisonment' without waking her up. Once on the edge of the bed I morph back in humanoid form and gently kiss her tentacle. Now to find my pants and investigate the sound.
The moment I step into the corridor I see the proof of Asshole's guess: Helena's jacket and shoes are now present. And I still hear someone taking a shower behind the closed door where that shower is located, elimination idea of hallucination. My ears go down and I cover my open mouth, whispering
"Ебись оно все в три прогиба. Qu̴een͡ ̕of ͡the bitch̶es ̸is͠ bac͠k̢!"
I took a moment to calm down. What should I say to her? 'H̷e̛l̶lơ ͢t͝h̢e̛rȩ!' Sigh, I doubt your charm will ever work. Ąnd ̨ẃh̶at will̨ ͢yoú ́s͝ugg͡e̵st̛? ̴B͡u̸y ͟sq͡ui͜d f̷i̷n̶ ͝l͏e̛mon ͜as̴ a ͝gift a҉n̛d͏ ̸fe͠tc̵h som̷e͟ ̵f̵ļowe͟r̸s a̢s̶ ̵a ̢lit͡tl҉ę ̛b̢onus ͏to n̨uḿb̕ ̷heŕ ̀u͡r̡g̢e͝ ҉to ͟tre̕at̀ ͝U̡S ̷li͘k҉e ̨s̨h͘i͡t? I shrug. Who does not take risks, does not drink. We meet her, we talk or fight. Agreed? Ugh.̶.̕F̢i̕n͜e. But first, I need a drink.
Thirst slowly drives me to the kitchen. Every step with my bare feet makes me stop and think. What will I say, when that good looking too angry to understand girl emerge from the shower? Buying squid fin lemon a.k.a the lemon looking like a yellow turkey does sounds like a good idea. It is considered gift among inklings after all. Too bad I can't bend time or summon money out of nowhere like a typical Skyrim player, h̛e-̷he.
Suddenly to me door on my right opens with wall of steam and smell of perfume crawling out as if this is a portal to hell. With a dramatic delay familiar face with two long green tentacles slowly emerge washing up her eyes. And then our eyes meet each other with a second of awkward silence, confusion. We both gasped and took a step back from the doorway. My back hit the wall, I feel my sight narrowing down from sense of danger and awkwardness, rapidly inspecting her slightly wet and beautiful nearly naked body. It makes me blush yet I feel paralyzed. I look at death and it beckons me with cookies.
Helena instantly cover her naked tits with tentacles and blushed for a moment, but then she stares at me with the same old cold facial expression. We keep looking at each other, without saying a word for a minute...Two? I dunno. I'm scared to move a muscle cus she has all the reasons in the world to bash my head against the wall and pain this whole apartment blue, till my cracked skull runs out of blood. She slowly step forward and put her hand on my shoulder with a sigh. My eyes closely observe her hand with sweet popping on my head. Tension is rising with every moment, her hand is getting a bit shaky. F͘i͟nall̢y̡ or suddenly she break silence by shaking her head.
"So, Richard Streletskiy. Enjoyed fucking my friend in my bed?"
W̷h̀oa̕-wh͡oa! Hol͏d ̕t͠he ̧fu̢cking ͘s͜e҉a hor̢ses!͠ She ̛ńeve͠r sou͡nd̸e̛d͜ ҉so ̴c̵as͝u̡a͡l! What the fuck..? She addressed me by the NAME? No-no-no, that can't be right. She'd rather eat garbage than say my name. Are you sure I'm not dreaming or hallucinating?! I expected some serious situation, improvising my way out of her red rage, but she's acting weird, ask me a completely unexpected question and that put me on nerves even more!
"I uh...Wha?" I vaguely ask, feeling completely lost. She rolls her eyes and release my shoulder, only to instantly slap my face.
" Is that's real enough for the two of you?" Oh, that sobering pain and her usual cold tone. I rob the cheek and get up, mumbling:
"Ooff...Yep. That's as real as it gets." I mumble and get up, shaking my head.
"You haven't answered my question."
I reply with unwillingness both in my body language and tone.
"Oh...Will you be more pissed if I say 'a lot' because out of two friends I got she understands me more? All you do is treating me like a sentient trash and beat me!"
I nearly yell at her from frustrating anticipation of more punches coming up. And she gone silent. With each passing second the I feel the urge to yell at her like a drunk pissed off asshole getting the best of me.
"Look, I know you hate - mmh! Hmh!?" My head goes back and eyes lock down on her tentacle shutting my mouth up at the cost of concealment of one of her tits. She shook her head and reply with oddly casual tone.
"Shove your pointless excuses down up your ass and cook something to eat...Please. We have a lot to talk about."
Ģreen Te͠r̀rǫr̛, ̛w͟ith ͞a͝ll͢ ̡fe͠a̶r͡ ̧ànd̴ ̢re̴spect. T͘h͝é o̶nl̛y t̸hi̕n̛g͞ ͞that̸ ͘goes I͡N͟ ́m͡y̢ a̴s̴s͜ ͝i̴s̢ ̴y͏o͟ưr ̀p̨a̧t̕heti͟c ͏dr͢eam͘s͢!̧ I nod and she release me, going back in the shower, closing the door behind her. 'A lot to talk about'. Hm, I think that's true for both of us. This abuse relations has to end one way or another and she acts weird. Fffffuck it. Just gonna make a dinner and wait for her.
We both dressed up and meet at the kitchen table. As much as I enjoy the company and proper meals without any canned poison or couple of burats in the menu; I don't feel comfortable sitting with someone like her. Judging by her crossed arms and constantly moving eyes doing their best to avoid eye contact, I can say the same about her. But...I dunno, something feels different about her. Where's your determination, squid? Why do you bite your lip with a fang of yours? There's not even a trace of the merciless, cold hearted killing machine I̴̧̧̛͠ know.
She sighed and rob her face with both hands, scratching her skin as if she tears down a mask from herself.. Then she placed them on the table and looked at me.
"...I'm sorry."
I raise my eyebrow with highly concentrated doubt and even shake my head in disbelief.
"What..."
"́T͢he͡ f͠uck?"
There is no way in hell she would ever-!
"I'm trying to APOLOGISE here!"
Rraagh! She scared me with that sudden slamm on the table with both hands with her meaning body rising from the table and cold screech mixing with regret in her. I swallow and silently gaze at her, shooked to say something in reply as she sits back and calm down. She bend her head down and cover it with hands.
"...Sorry for everything."
What's that sudden change of heart without calling card? I'm merely a useless electrical engineer/an ͞el̸i̸t̨e ͞t̕wa͏t, but she seems to be in a troubled state. I remain silent, seems like she has more to say.
"It's hard, I know. Feeling exhausted from constant misunderstanding, abuse and rejection, sense of being trapped in the alien world that you can't understand, act like nothing happened and wake up in cold sweat from damned past that just won't let it go...Every. Single. Day. Isn't it tiring?"
And as suddenly and unexpected as that apology came, her cold tone with her eyes observing me like a mindless cameras. She looked distant, cold as she should be with emotions absent from her face, as if I'm staring at one of HIS dogs again...Don't trigger me like that, lady. I reply slowly, carefully picking my words with pauses.
"Why are you telling me this? Had a sudden change of heart after r̡eal͏isi͘n̢g h͘ow p̷a̸the͢ti͞c ҉and d̢ep̛res̕sed̸ y҉ou̴r ̢l̸if̢e͏ ̢is͞?̶"
My face twisted in Asshole's frustration, but she didn't reply. No, she looks even more self isolating and cold. Am I right and she tries to open herself to me? D̸o͘u̢b̶t͜ ̛it.͘ H̡i͟g͝h̷ļy͜. Wait, what if she...I bend a bit, curious and confused yet curious.
"..Ah, those questions for me, right?"
She gave a single nod. Huh, okey. That's certainly helped a lot. No̷t̢. I negatively shake my head and bend my back backward, distancing myself from Helena with a long inhale. I got so much to tell...
"Oh boy, the truth then….Yes. Yes, I AM tired and exhausted. *short pause* Zapfishes stole my work, my knowledge is wasted by evolution. You kept me locked up without explaining much, beat me and treated me like a second grade garbage. And I was afraid, confused and delusional. Time is ticking, I'm still unemployed and useless, parasitizing on your friend like litch with no home and money of my own...wondering what the hell am I and how should proceed with a chance to live like a man."
Another short pause to catch a breath and go down with the flood of negative thoughts.
"Don't pity me, Agent Three. I have absolutely no excuse to be sad or let some negative thoughts ruin me. That's the life: everyone sees me as an odd fella that somehow managed to avoid being thrown into the madhouse with the killing joke."Not your kind of people" as we used to say. No one would even pay attention to the sudden fluency in two additional languages no one even knew, understanding and knowledge of tech beyond your imagination or why he's calling himself with a completely different name. Probably just a part of schizophrenia and definitely not a result of brainwashing the FUCK out of me, just to make octoling think like a man! Hah.. But don't worry-"
I exhaled with a frustration and salt voice leaving my lungs as my lips shook with my tone. Now̢ ţha͏t͟'s̨ a̛ ͘way ͡tó ͘mak͠e͝ ̶so͝m̡e͝oņe͢ ̷f̶e͞el͢ l̛ike ͟s͠hit. Cơng͟r̀at̢s..̛ Shut up. I closed my eyes and get up to walk to the window and lean over the windowsill, looking at the street. Great job, you fucking parasite. Told yourself to not think about it and stay fresh like Erin said. At moments like this makes me fish for PTSD trip with eight balls, sanitised fuckers with that awful smell of atmosphere of hopelessness and insanity in the air. Òr ͡an҉ ͘old͘ ̸Bad́ ̀t̛ime͜s, ͏w̧h̛en ̛we͞ w͠e͢r̸e ͠to̵o busy͝ o̡rgan̨izi͠n̡g a͜ h͟u̸n̛t̸i̷n͡g pa̵ŗti̢e͞s ̸to͞ ̸ki͞l͝l͏ the͡ ̢G̛ree͟n ͟T͠err̸o͡r̨.̷ ̶T͞i̷mes͢ ́w͢h̷er͞e͟ ̧I w̨ere̸ ̵afr͜a̷id
Frontal tentacles act kindly and wipe out tears from my face. With force I swallow my grief and partially turn my head to her with a fail smile shaking on my face.
"I've lived long enough to get used to it. I'll find the job, figure out what to do, maybe find a way to keep myself from falling apart like a drunk ape. This. Is WAY better than the underground or ho͢m͢el̕ànd͞. Heh-he, an҉d y͏ou ͞can͢'͜t ̛ma̴k̴e҉ m͘y͜ li̵fe ̕any ̧w͜or̨s͞e.͠"
Small victory in acceptance. Or did you expect me to whine over it like I used to? After a minute I hear her somewhat weak voice:
"You changed.."
With a short 'HA!' I completely turn to her, ready to turn the table and press her for answers.
"You're one to talk! Suddenly all nice and asking questions. Care to explain the reason behind such change of character?"
Without a word she bend and reach something in a pocket of a handbag. And she pulled out…
The CQ-80! MY CQ-80.
I blink in disbelief, jaw dropped and eyes focused at the device as she put it on the table. Something clicks inside me, I morph into the octo form and jump on the table without a second thought. My tentacles snatch the device but Helena immediately grabs my head and squeeze it hard. We exchange cold looks and I moan from pain.
"It. Belongs. To me."
She slowly weaken her grip with judging tone
"Sitting on the table in octo/squid form is a bad behavior"
Just as her grip is about to disappear and set me free she tightened her grip again, making me squeeze like a mouse and toss me on the floor. Ouch. Oh, ok..I deserved that one. Back to 'default' human form and get up. I shake up my head and show CQ 80 in my hand
"So you know?"
Her act of cold hearted killing machine finally broke as she nodded with interest sparkling in her eyes.
"Only what we managed to translate."
I didn't reply, narrowing my eyes. Yea, I think I already know what happened. She took my CQ-80 when she found me, probably mistook it for some kind of weapon and tried to analyze it. And now thanks to her 'connections' she somehow managed to access it and translate some of the info. Probably a good info if she acts so differently. That explains her unusually peaceful behavior. I shrug and wave my hands before sitting back at the table. She remained patient, tensed.
"Then its integration time, I guess. Got something to drink?"
Without a moment of hesitation she stand up from the table with short nod. We got a deal. She put glass cups on the table, bottle of some kind of alcohol with name I fail to read properly. But knowing her dedication for getting drunk, I trust her taste. With unchanged silence and uncertainty on her face she fills the glass and takes a sit.
"Tell me about this Project Promised Land of yours and what exactly happened to you."
*Countless hours of exhausting interrogation later*
"And then?" Helena asked without even looking at me, filling another glass with booze.
"He ̶sn̕a͢pp̢ed͠.̶"
Asshole reply as I/he snap fingers. Long, dreadful silence fills the room. Helena's face is like DJ's remixes - a fucking mess of emotions with one trying to shut up others. I don't know if she feel any pity or regret towards me now, but she rarely look at me; trying to act cool and all. Torture liver to relax the brain. Yea, we both reduced her booze reserve by couple of bottles while I told her everything we ͟k͝n̢o̧w. Hey, she agnolage your existence now. Yaaay,͝ m̶y ̕e͏x ̸e͠ne͏m͜y͏ ̧n͟o͘w re̕s̨pects my ha͝lf-́life e̕xi̧st̡e̷n̢c̕e̷.
Erin on the other hand. She rushed in so excited and happy to see her friend returning. Hugs, friendly kisses, questions...I remind myself of her priceless reaction when she learned that I was a human. 'Did I slept w-with..with….. a HUMAN?! Woooooo! Everyone's gonna be so jealous!'. Jumping and clapping like kid on drugs, flooding me with questions. That was her apex of happiness and positivity and a good moment to relax for us. But now even she looks like a mere shadow of herself. And she didn't drink a bit, watching CQ-80 and listening to me with sober head.
Still smile with fake happiness on her face, sitting on the windowsill. Sigh, come on girl. Wide smile and pretending to act normal won't hide that grim look in your eyes. I stare at empty glass and mumble:
"I'm still surprised of how long it took me to understand…" ..And mumble turns into violent flood of insults.
Di̸d̸ y̷o̧u͏ n͝ow!?͡ Go̶d̵ ͞d̴amn͝ mis͘car͜ri̵ed ̀chil̸d́ of me͞n͠t҉al mól̡est͞a͏t͟i͏o͏n.̨ I'̧v̸e ͜b̸e͠en ͞te̶lli͏ng ̶you̷ ̷t͞hi҉ś ̢ALL ́THE ͝TI͜ḾE͞,͞ bu̶t N̕OPE. It's m̵u͟c̷h ͘ea̸s͝ier ̢to ͝ig̵n̕o͏re̕ ҉t͝he f̢ac̨t̕s ̷a͜n͘d͝ bl͏i͠dn̵l͘y͢ ͢c͢o͏nvi̸n͢ce ͏eve͞r͟y͢ ͏sa̴ņi͢tised m̡other̵fu͡k̕ed̨ th̵at̢ ̀t̷ri̢ed ̶to̴ kįl͝l̢ yǫu bo͟t͢h ͞i̷n̨ an͏d ͡ou͘tside t҉e̕sts͝ th̡a̕t́ ͜yóu're s̶t̵il̕l͘ ͜a h́a͡i͠r͟l͝e҉s̨s͞ ̵ev̢o̡ļv̕e̕d͘ APE̵ an͏d͘ dèf̨ini̷t̨e̷ly͏ n҉ot̷ g͝o͝i͜n̴g insan͝e͏.͏ ͡It̶ w̡ąs ̀S̷O͟ obv͞i̧o͞u͝ś,̛ ͡I'm of͜fen̕d̕e҉d͝ b͏y you̵r͟ ͘şt͝ùp͟id̷i̴t͡y!"
Erin quietly whistled with surprised look and quickly spelled:
"Gosh, your second you is so mean."
"I'm not-!" "..he's not-"
Me and Lena shut up as synchronously as we started talking and stare and each other with awkward silence. Synchronised talk is a bitch.
"A͟nd ̷now̷ k͝i̵ss̴-" Grin and fake seducing look instantly turn into a shameful blush and tired look and sigh "Better than gay or racist jokes.."
Helena seems to blush for a brief moment and Erin only giggled, but only for a moment as her face gone grim. I bend my head back and cover my eyes with tentacles.
"Sorry. Just tried to discharge the situation."
"You two are doing a great job lifting none existing mood after I just relieved the most horrible time in my life." I reply with distancing mumble, not feeling any desire to talk any longer. Even if she hooked me up with amphetamine dropper.
"̢Giv̷e h̨er͡ á b́re̷a͠k,̀ ̢shé o҉nĺy͡ t̢ri̧e͘s̨ ͟t́o ̧li̶ght ̸u̢p͡ t̛h̛e̶ ̷mo͞od̸."
Sigh. "...I know"
Suddenly I hear Helena's voice.
"Last question-"
"Oh͜ co̡d…S̢p̡lat me͝ ̶a̴lr͡ea̛dy"̸
"If you even find a way back into that-" She took pause, with visible confusion on her face. I raise an eyebrow
"-that horrible-horrible place. What. Will. You do when-"
"..when I find a way back?" I interrupt her with cold tone and semi-closed eyes. My voice is slow and tired. I shrug and move my tentacles away from eyes; return my head to normal position and looking at her.:
"I dunno. This madness has to be stopped. But part of me dont want it to be found in the first place. I'm no hero to risk my life and save the world. I…"
"IF I found a way back? *sad sigh* I dunno. I don't want to come back there or even think about it for obvious reasons. *both girls nods with slow and muffed 'yea'*. That cold concrete grave killed me, literally." I move my eyes back to the wall with sadness twisting my mood yet again. I swallow and continue:
"I'm no hero, just another sentient lab rat, that finally got a chance to have a life, enjoy it." Assholes continues:
"̀But ̡t̵his ̸M̵a͢d́nèss̢ has̷ to̷ ҉b͏e ̸s̨topp̷ed, ̸R̷i͏ck. ̵Non͞e of͘ ̢us̴ w͏ant͏s that́,͏ ́b́ut ̸t͜h͟a̧t͟ so̸ c̀al̢l͞èd͠ ͞h̷e̶a̢d f̛uc̨k̕ed̶ ̴m̡as͜ochįs̕t f͟r͏om͜ pl̷um̨bing̶ ̸a̧nd̛ wires̸ ̀m͏us̡t̡ ͡be͞ s̕t́òp͏ped̛!̵"
"Asshole, thats pointless and impossible. Even IF we find a way back. There is an army of immortal dogs, Sector B for fucks sake and how to kill the AI that controls this whole facility. He's not stupid."
"͡An̷d ̸y͡o͠u͡ ̡şug͜ges͘t ͝t͝o ̷g͡iv͟e ͝úp b̵e̵cau̕se ̕t͘hi̢s҉ ̡i͏s ̕i͜mp̴oss͏i͏b҉le?! ̀Leavé ͘hi̴ḿ ͘to ͞w̴as̀te oc͞t̕ol͠in͞gs fo̢r noţh̴i̛ņg͞? ͞Ma̛k͝e ͠huma͡ns͏ wh̶i̡l͡e -҉ ̕O̸h,̵ ҉wha҉t̕ ͡a̶ ̶t͠wis̢ţ - ̶H̀ŲM̛ĄNS̛ A̢L͜R̀E͘A̶DY ͠EX҉I͢ST̵ ͘HERE͟ ̡AN͘D͏ ͢THE͠Y ̡ ́C̴AL̵LED̢ S̶ĘA̛S͟L̢IN̕GS! A͞nd͘ ̨I s̴t̷ill ̢h̢ave̸ ̵s͠ome ͡s̨c̕o̸r͢e͟s͘ to̢ se̢t҉tl͡e̴ wi̸th͡ 'ǫld ͝fri͞e̡nd̢s'.̧..̵.
I moan with frustration and lower my eyes along side with the tone.
"I have enough to lose….I'm no hero. Never. Never will be. Aside from revenge and 'saving the world', its just a suicide mission of a failure than can be replaced with a snap of the finger. After all, we're more ghosts than people. Why bother saving the dead?"
Asshole falls silent with last question echoing in my ears as it fades away. Why bother saving the dead?
"Wanna secret, Rick?" Helena's voice switch my attention to her and raise my head. There's something odd about the look at her eyes tho. She says:
"Heroes don't save the world, they don't wear capes. No fish know them, no fish praise them. Heroes do what has to be done; make sacrifices." She took pause and continued:
"The world doesn't want to be saved..-" and I finish her line
"..It want to eat you alive. Heard that a lot."
Intresting turn of events, right? There is more on the way, and while you wait for the next part I'd like to hear your thoughs/opinions/feedback. I know you're too lazy to write a sentence or two, but it means a lot. Motivation, improvement. One will writing like shit till someone point out a moments that need improvement
And as you may see my PC is back in action.