Chapter One: Roses are Red
Artz Gallifreya Lanaria woke up in a medical ward with a creepy ass black dude looking down at her. Admittedly, she could have reacted better to the situation and not have freaked out like a little girl that was scared of the dark, but then the asshole opened his mouth to calm her and all bets were off.
"Everything is alright, Miss Lanaria. There is no need for alarm. You are safe." He reassured which made her stare at him in disbelief.
Why? Because she recognized his voice. There was no mistaking that monotonous dribble with a fake smile and eyes sharper than a fucking hawk. The creepy man watching her as she slept sounded like Councilman Aiden Price, second in command of Project Freelancer and the right hand man of the Director, Leonard Church. What the fuck has she gotten herself into now and why was she overcome with the desire to punch him square in the face?
"Who the hell are you? Where the fuck am I and what the heck happened to me?" She demanded before realizing that he had called her by name, "And how the fuck did you know my name?"
He appeared to be entirely unfazed by her tone, words, and overall lack of tact or decorum...what a fucking prick.
"You have been in the care of the Director of Project Freelancer for several years. An incident with one of our agents has resulted in your being here in the infirmary. Your injuries were quite severe and required you to be placed in a medically induced coma in order for you to physically recover; however, due to recent technical difficulties, the equipment maintaining your bodily functions was damaged and thus resulting in our current situation." He explained without actually giving away much information.
Amnesia? Seriously? The desire to punch him in the face was getting stronger by the second. She got the feeling that she really didn't like this guy before she lost her memories. Fuck...amnesia was such a fucking pain in the ass!
"So what you're saying is that due to these technical difficulties, I have lost my memory for the last several years, yes?" She asked, seeking verification.
"That is correct." Price answered, making her right eye twitch slightly in irritation.
"You know, I'm trying really hard not to do something right now." She replied in a vague manner.
"There is no need for physical violence…" He began, confirming her suspicions.
She had punched this guy in the face before, but she simply had to ask anyway.
"I punched you in the face once, didn't I?" She asked, fighting to keep the amused smile off her face.
The council man wisely remained silent. Must have left one hell of an impression on the dude if he wasn't willing to utter a peep about it. She became distracted when some of her hair fell into her face and she noticed that it was the completely wrong color.
"What the holy living fuck?! Why is my hair red? Did I dye it or some other stupid shit and what the fuck happened to my body? Wait, did my eyes change colors? What the fuck happened to me?!" She exclaimed her emotions sky rocketing.
The councilman attempted to calm her which resulted in her acting on the desire to punch him and the pansy was actually rendered unconscious by the blow. So there he was sprawled out on the floor with a giant bruise forming on his face from where her punch landed along with a broken and currently bleeding nose. Her attention was drawn to an older looking man that was chuckling softly near the door. He signaled the guards outside to remove the out cold black man from the room. He entered fully and came to a stop near her bedside, but noticeably outside of her striking distance.
"The Director, I presume." Artz stated though the man's eyes gave him away.
"You presume correctly, Artz. It is a relief to know that even without your memories of our time together, you are still the same." The Director replied and she heard the genuine sincerity in his voice.
Was she and the Director friends? Seeing her perplexed expression, he offered some clarification. As it turned out, they were not particularly close, but they did hold a modicum of friendship with each other. He told her about the many times she had challenged him and even about the times she had slapped him which made her smile and snort in response. Man, was she gutsy...slapping the Director of Project Freelancer and getting away with it. Awesome!
"So what now?" The now redhead asked, uncertain of what her future would hold.
"I need your help. The Alpha AI has become the primary objective of Agent Maine and needs to be protected at all costs." He began.
"And what does that have to do with me?" She interjected, wondering what she could possibly be good for in regards to the artificial intelligence unit that has been tortured over and over again.
"Everything. You and Alpha are close friends. He cares for you a great deal and you can help him acclimate to his new home. Furthermore, should Agent Maine succeed in locating the Alpha, you will be able to stop him." The Director continued, making her jaw drop.
"I am not a fucking freelancer, so there is no fucking way that I could take down the Meta." She snapped, wondering what the hell was going on inside the demented fucktard's head.
"I said you could stop Agent Maine. I never said anything about fighting him. You and he were also friends. According to his most recent psychological evaluation, you are considered family to him. He would never harm you." He explained, making her stare at him.
She was friends with rhe fucking Meta?! Holy shit! Just who else was she friends with?
"You have many friends, Artz. Unfortunately, most of them have fled with their AI fragments of which you were close to. You seemed to favor Delta and Theta the most though." The Director elaborated, an almost wistful expression flashing across his facial features briefly, "Please consider my proposal. I know that Alpha would be much happier with you by his side."
"You can stop buttering me up now. I'm not a fucking roll or a baked potato. I'm still trying to figure out what the heck happened to me, but there is no way I'm going to be able to do that here. Someplace quiet and out of the way will do wonders for my stress level right now and maybe punching Price in the face again." She retorted, starting to feel a bit drowsy.
"Very well. I will inform Agent Florida that he will be under your direct command from now on. In the meantime, get some rest. We'll talk more at another date and time." He replied, his tone remarkably kind, almost fatherly even.
With that final remark, her eyes slipped close of their own accord and she fell asleep.
The crimson haired woman looked around, wondering where she was. It was quite beautiful with crystals shooting up out of the ground, large trees with low hanging branches, a small river flowing into a nearby lake, and if she listened closely, she could just make out the sounds of a waterfall which was probably further upstream.
She heard a child-like giggle coming from behind one of the trees, so she turned in that direction and saw a purplish pinkish glow. Within that glow was a miniature version of a space marine from the Halo franchise. He seemed very familiar to her...Theta?
"Are you Theta?" She asked quietly as to not scare the shy AI fragment.
"Yep! That's me!" He said happily while hopping out from behind the tree.
"This is a dream, right? I mean you're not really here. You're supposed to be with Agent North Dakota." She postulated, trying to make rational sense of the situation.
"Actually, that's the first me. This is a copy of me that was downloaded into your brain and I'm not the only one here. We're all here, but since you're still recovering, the others can't come out now. They thought that you would be the most comfortable with me which is why I was picked to keep you company while they continue to help you heal and undo the damage that South caused by messing with the medical equipment." Theta explained, fidgeting a bit.
The AI fragment was obviously feeling quite nervous and wait, did he say South as in Agent South Dakota and twin sister of North Dakota?!
"South Dakota was the agent that landed me in the med bay and fucked over my head?" Artz asked, wanting to make certain that she wasn't leaping to the wrong conclusion.
"South got pretty mad and you two had a fight. You won which made her even more mad because you beat her without wearing any armor and without any equipment. Church and Tex managed to keep you alive and the rest of us protected your memories...well most of them. We couldn't stop the cascade fast enough to prevent you from losing your memories, but Delta says that with time, you'll be able to get all of them back eventually." The purplish pink marine answered rapidly.
Theta was just so cute and really sweet too. She had a feeling that they would be great friends. She was curious about something though.
"You say you're a copy, but can you connect to the original?" She asked genuinely curious.
Her brain was trying to tell her something and judging from how her AI companion started jumping up and down excitedly, she'd say she was onto something.
"Yeah! You wanted all of us to be as up-to-date as possible, so that not a single bit of ourselves would be lost. The other me is pretty scared right now and pretty sad too. He thinks you're dead...that you were killed when the ship crashed. I tried to tell him that it wasn't true, but the link between us only works one way. All of his data comes to me, but nothing from me can reach him." The AI fragment revealed, sounding totally depressed.
She found herself in front of him before she could blink and in a half a second, she was hugging him. It was a fucking dream world, so yeah, she was going to hug the sad, chibi space marine. He was surprisingly warm and seemed to grow hotter the longer she embraced him. He was glowing a bit brighter too.
"Oh wow! He feels it! He doesn't understand what it means, but he does feel a little better! Thank you, Artz!" Theta proclaimed, hugging her back.
She was happy that she could help. She had no clue as to exactly how though. She would just chalk it up to the Power of Love and Friendship and leave it at that. Perhaps having little Theta inside her head wouldn't be so bad. She certainly felt less lonely now. It was going to get crowded once the others started popping up, but she'll deal because she was always having conversations with made up characters for her stories, so it wouldn't be that much of a problem...hopefully.
When Artz was finally released from the dastardly infirmary, she finally got to meet Agent Florida as known as Captain Butch Flowers...seriously, what the fuck Rooster Teeth? What was up with giving this guy such a weird name? Anyways, Agent Florida informed her of the plan to hide the Alpha AI amidst the simulation troopers of Project Freelancer.
Once given the green light for active duty, the crimson haired woman set off with the freelancer to a place aptly called Danger Canyon. Seriously, Rooster Teeth, just why? Danger Canyon and Blood Gulch...just why? She watched as the soldiers conducted the many training exercises, drills, and obstacle courses. She decided to intervene before the guy called Hammer was killed.
"Hey Cappy, I found the ones we need." She informed, waving him over to the window and pointing to the two space Marines currently on the catwalk high above the ground,
"Their names are Richard Simmons and Dexter Grif. Recruit them immediately for the Red team. Don't bother with a test mission. That's an order." She ordered sternly, making no room for argument.
"As you command, my lady." Agent Florida replied in a jovial mood that made her want Gibbs smack him in the back of the head.
She would normally act on such a notion, but she didn't feel like breaking her hand to the freelancer's helmet. Fortunately, the Hammer guy got to live while Simmons and Grif were given their new orders to transfer to Blood Gulch Outpost Number One. Now she just had to stop Sarge from getting half a dozen other soldiers killed and all for the sake of a promotion.
Artz and Agent Florida made their way to a different training facility in a more mountainous region. They watched as the candidates lined up and were approached by Special Officer Lemons...for the umpteenth time, Rooster Teeth, what the fuck?!
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. My name is Special Officer Lemons. Command has seen fit to gather you here today because we believe that each and every one of you exhibit the specific traits we're looking for in commanding officers. Under normal circumstances, you would go through a specialized training course, but Command has already made their decision about who will lead the newly formed team to victory against the Blue devils." The officer informed, making the redhead smirk.
She had spoken personally to Special Officer Lemons and informed him of the specific candidate that they wanted as the leader of the Red team. She could hear the others grumbling about the lack of a chance to prove themselves worthy of the promotion, but she preferred them alive and grumbling than dead and silent. The officer informed Sarge of his new promotion and she sighed when the one called Daggerknife challenged Officer Lemons about it.
"My father, his father and his father before him have all been exceptional military leaders and I most certainly will follow in that tradition." Daggerknife proclaimed proudly.
"Tradition doesn't win wars. It takes strength, intelligence, and the will to survive!" Sarge exclaimed in his usual gruff manner.
Fuck...this was not going to end well. Was Daggerknife's death unavoidable? She mentally asked her AI companion, Theta, and after some deliberation with his fellow AIs which took a fraction of a second, they unanimously agreed that the man's death was ninety eight point two percent likely to be a fixed point in the time stream. She trusted their judgement and decided not to intervene. The last thing she needed was to break time herself long before the reds and blues were ready to face insane gods from the dawn of time that were actually AIs housed inside the Monitors.
"Gentlemen, please. Command has already made its decision…" Lemons interjected but was summarily ignored.
"Well if it's strength and intelligence you're looking for. I've got it in droves." Daggerknife stated.
"I'm only hearing two out of three, Daggerknife. But me? I've got the full package." Sarge persisted.
Good grief, she felt like she was getting dumber by listening to these two idjits. Her favorite purplish pink space marine assured her that the AI fragments were preventing any loss in brain cells. She bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from audibly laughing. Agent Florida was still unaware of their presence inside her cranium, so she had to modulate her reactions for the time being.
"I will fight for this army until this war is won!" The soldier declared starting to lose his composure.
"Fighting is one thing, but would you die for this army?" Sarge asked goading him on.
"Of course I would!" Daggerknife yelled.
The crimson haired woman sighed as she heard the pistol be fired and the distinct thud of a body hitting the ground. Damn it...fucking morons. Shit, best stop Lemons from getting himself killed.
"Stand down, Officer Lemons. No need for you to end up dead too, so back off and escort the other candidates to the rendezvous point." She ordered over the radio.
Lemons did as he was told and out of seven people, she managed to save six. It wasn't perfect and she was annoyed that she couldn't save everyone, but the important thing was to remember that she at least tried and that for every life she managed to save, it was worth it. Sarge was still an idiot though. Now onwards to the formation of the Blue team.