Chapter Two: Violets are Blue
After most of the issues were resolved in regards to the leader of the Red team, it was now time to tackle the rather tedious problem of interviewing recruits to round out the Blue team. She knew who it was going to be, but since no one actually dies during the interviewing process, she was willing to sit through it. Plus listening to Tucker during the questionnaire struck her as mildly funny when she had watched the series.
Her AI companion, Theta, decided that he would tune out the next several minutes because he had seen her memories of Red vs. Blue and he really didn't want to live through the next part in real life. He was just a shy AI with a child-like mind and he didn't want to be exposed to Tucker's more lucrative, sexually charged behavior. She wondered why he was so skittish about it and he said that she would understand with time.
A special agent assigned to help her and Agent Florida came up behind them and informed them of the arrival of the Blue team candidates.
"Captain Flowers, Miss Lanaria, the Blues are here for their interviews." The agent whose name she did not know reported.
"Well that is just stupendous! Right on time too. I am such a sucker for punctuality." Agent Florida replied in that overall happy and slightly irksome tone of his.
You must not bludgeon your underlings, you must not find the heaviest object with the greatest destructive force of impact to bludgeon your underlings.
Theta giggled at her inner monolog, but there was something about Captain Butch Flowers that just seemed to rub her the wrong way. It wasn't to the same extent as her overwhelming desire to inflict bodily harm of various intensities to a certain creepy black dude that was just begging for a good kick in the balls.
She looked over the heading of their little questionnaire and had to shake her head at the obviousness of it.
'Candidates for Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha'
Seriously? Let's just go ahead and proclaim that this particular outpost was highly unique instead of some random number. Then again, she always said that if you wanted to hide something then you do it in plain sight because people can and will overlook the simplest solutions, believing that no one would ever use something so simple or something so blatantly obvious. That little fact was the downfall of many great men and women because they were all thinking like the smart brainwashed killing machines that they were trained to be instead of the dumbest smart people in the whole of creation.
Seriously, the Reds and Blues were complete and total idiots, highly unconventional morons, funny and lovable goofballs, and the ultimate fucking family of misfits. The Reds and Blues accomplished something that the soldiers of Project Freelancer could never do. Faith, complete and total faith in their comrades, knowing and trusting their abilities, and they always had each other's backs...even if they did squabble, bicker, complain, whine, or bawled their little bitch tears. They were a family.
She was shaken loose from her thoughts when the first recruit was brought in.
"In your opinion, what do you consider to be your greatest strength?" Artz asked while sitting in a chair with her legs crossed.
She was currently holding a clipboard and a pen. The lad's psych eval and military history were located under her questionnaire sheet. Personally, she thought this guy would serve better as a doctor or as a field medic...oh shit, was he Doc?!
"I would say that my greatest strength is my love for following the rules." The recruit answered simply.
She made a side note that he seemed to be a people pleaser though he did not appear to be like a certain brown nosing prodigy with daddy issues like one Dick Simmons.
"And where do you see yourself five years from now?" Agent Florida chimed in.
"Where do I see myself in five years? Hopefully with your job!" The recruit answered, laughing a bit before getting a bit nervous.
The poor boy probably thought that he had overstepped some sort of invisible line that he shouldn't have, but she smiled at him reassuringly to put him at ease.
"If you work hard, I have no doubt that you'll accomplish incredible feats and become an exceptional soldier worthy of the respect and admiration of not only your comrades, but of your fellow man as well. Just don't get too cocky, Mister Andersmith." She commented, having to choke down her laughter.
Cornelius Thromwell Andersmith was, if her memory was correct which Theta assured her it was, the fifth candidate in the secondary list of recruits that were to be transferred to Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha in the event of a team member's premature demise. She actually believed that the secondary list was created to replace the nonessential personnel that may die, be assassinated for learning something they shouldn't, or they simply went AWOL and left altogether.
The first list of names were freelancers that Agent Florida had chosen to be his replacement should he be killed for any reason. She did wonder if that guy has some sort of Timelord heritage somewhere in his family lineage, because how could a badass freelancer have such an adverse reaction to aspirin of all things. Aspirin was highly detrimental to a Timelord's physiology and could cause premature death or if they have any remaining regeneration cycles then they could save themselves, but Captain Butch Flowers also known as Agent Florida did not possess the mythical plot armor that most stories utilize.
She was pretty certain that she did not possess the mythical plot armor either. She just had a complete artificial intelligence unit and several partial fragments, but other than that, she was pretty much cannon fodder with a giant, neon bullseye on her back, front, head, and all other body parts. Theta told her not to think like that, that he and his fellow AIs would always do their best to keep her safe. She decided to ignore those worries and focus her attention on the matter at hand.
"Just out of curiosity, why did you join the military? Was there any particular reason?" She inquired in an attempt to put her mind temporarily at ease.
"Oh gosh, why did I join the military? Ya know, I just wanted to make a difference. Fight for my fellow man." The recruit responded truthfully.
"Quite admirable. It's a good trait to have in an officer or a platoon leader. That being said, is there anything you might regret? Like what would you consider to be your deepest regret?" She continued already knowing the answer.
"Oh golly, I guess my deepest regret would be not telling my mom that I loved her more before being shipped out." He replied softly.
Her heart ached a little. He missed his mother and she understood that better than anyone. She was spirited away into the future or a parallel universe and away from everything and everyone she knew. She missed her mom something fierce, but she missed her elder brother even more. He was the closest thing she had to a fatherly figure and it was all just gone.
"Thank you for your time, son. You're dismissed." Agent Florida stated in a pleasant tone.
The special officer escorted the first candidate out of the room. Artz took a brief glance at his biographical data and felt another sharp pain in her already aching heart. The recruit's mother had the same first name as her own mother, Melinda. She continued reading only to discover that his mother had recently passed away. According to the file, there was a miscommunication and the military mistakenly informed the woman that her son, her only child, had been killed in action. Two days later, she was found dead on the bed in her son's old room while clutching a baby blanket with his name stitched into it. She had died of a broken heart and he hasn't been told yet. That poor boy, a simple clerical mistake took his mother away from him.
Agent Florida placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her out of her depressed state.
"I just read the file. I'll see to it personally after the interviews are over." He informed softly, taking her by surprise.
She nodded her thanks before switching to the second candidate's profile. She blinked when she read the name...no fucking way, Frank D. Donut, but wasn't he supposed to be a part of the Red army? How the fuck did he end up in the fucking Blue army?! It could not be a coincidence, could it? Donut's full name was Franklin Delano Donut. Guess there was only one way to find out and that was to ask the source. Speaking of, the second candidate was brought in.
"Before we get started, we just need to verify some clerical information. Are you in any way related to a Franklin Delano Donut?" She asked in a professional manner.
"Oh wow! I didn't know that my full name was in the UNSC database!" The recruit exclaimed happily.
Artz blinked a few times...sweet lord above, it was the light red but not pink space marine that loved scrapbooking, interior decorating, and skinny dipping.
"What do you consider…" Agent Florida began but was interrupted by the crimson haired woman.
"Are you aware of the true purpose of the Reds and Blues?" She asked suddenly.
"Yeah, they're live fire war game simulations designed to test higher caliber soldiers called Freelancers and it's our job to provide authentic scenarios that may arise during actual combat missions while still maintaining a continuous stalemate for future tests." Donut answered honestly.
Agent Florida pointed his sidearm at the private, but Artz simply placed her hand over it and gently lowered the weapon. She smiled at Donut, mischief dancing in her eyes. She rose to her feet and approached him.
"State your designation...freelancer. " She ordered.
Franklin Delano Donut glanced at Agent Florida, shifting uncomfortably.
"It's alright, Frankie. No one outside this room will know what has been said here. You will not be reported to Project Freelancer, isn't that Agent Florida?" She continued giving Captain Flowers a hard look.
The leader of the yet to be formed Blue team put away his weapon and nodded in agreement. Private Donut relaxed considerably.
"Former soldier of Project Freelancer, ma'am, Agent Georgia at your service." The ex-freelancer revealed.
Georgia?! She knew that he was a freelancer with how he carried himself, the way he spoke, and the bio scan that Theta conducted on him. They had said that they had never found Agent Georgia and she knew for a fact that Agent Carolina had enlisted in the UNSC to hide from Project Freelancer.
"First off, don't call me ma'am. I'm not old enough for that, milady or my lady is acceptable. Secondly, how would you feel about joining the Red team in Blood Gulch?" She replied.
"I would be honored to, ma...milady." The former freelancer acquiesced.
"Excellent! Change into the standard issued armor and head to the rendezvous point to await further instructions." She ordered, "Oh and be a dear and tell the next candidate to come in if you don't mind."
Private Donut, formerly Agent Georgia, saluted and left the room. Captain Flowers was simply standing there in contemplative silence, making her sigh in annoyance. Looks like she was interviewing Tucker...Yay. Think of him and he shall come. He just walked right in like he owned the place.
"Hello, Private Tucker." She greeted.
"Hey baby, how about we go somewhere private and get to know each other? Bow chicka bow wow." He responded, immediately hitting on her.
"As entertaining as that might be, I kind of have a few questions that the clerical department wants me to get your answers to. Would you mind a rain check until the boring stuff is over?" She countered coyly, giving him a bad girl smirk.
He just sort of nodded dumbly and if she was a betting woman, she would say he was drooling inside his helmet. She sat down again and deliberately crossed her legs in a slow yet sensual manner.
"Now then, what are your greatest strengths?" She inquired, trying not to laugh at his half dazed, half turned on state.
"What, you mean physically? I can bench a clean two hundred no problem. Do a couple hundred reps every day. Forty cock push-ups, no big deal." He answered and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.
The redhead knew for a fact that Private Tucker was insanely out of shape, though it could be possible for deviations in the nexus of causality, but if the analysis data that she just received from Theta's bio scan, Tucker was full of shit.
"Interesting. Moving onwards, where do you see yourself in five years?" She asked, again already knowing the answer.
"Five years? Ugh, hopefully I'm not dead. Oh and I bang like five years worth of chicks by then or just one for five years repeatedly, if you know what I mean." Tucker responded, hitting on her yet again.
If he wasn't careful then Agent Florida was going to shoot him. She could practically feel the shift in the captain's aura. He was definitely considering bodily harm at this point. Especially after she asked why he had joined the military, but she managed to prevent him acting on impulse again. She genuinely liked Tucker and he was kind of important in the future.
"Any regrets, Private Tucker, possible mistakes or embarrassing moments you wish to share?" She inquired, totally screwing around with him at this point.
"Oh man, don't bring that up. Look, all I'm saying is some girls tell you they're eighteen and like, what am I, some human age detecting machine? Anyway, the charges were dropped and it wasn't that big a deal despite what the media said." The private rambled on in typical Tucker fashion.
Captain Butch Flowers finally managed to get his head back together when he realized that they had found the perfect candidate for their operation.
"Well I think we have our man. Welcome aboard, Lavernius Tucker." Agent Florida conceded.
Was there a hidden threat in there somewhere because that sounded a bit off to her. Naturally Tucker was oblivious.
"Aboard what? Wait, what was this interview for?" Tucker questioned, clearly confused.
"We'll see you in a few weeks. Thanks for the party, I had fun." Artz commented, giving the confused man a playful wink.
The special agent, whose name she still did not know despite asking him point blank, chose that moment to enter the room to escort Private Tucker.
"Time to go, Private." The agent stated, ushering him down the hall.
"No, seriously, where the fuck are we going?" Tucker demanded before being pushed from the room entirely.
The crimson haired woman finally let loose the giggles that she had been keeping bottled up inside. Ah, Lavernius Tucker was quite the character and yeah, it takes him a while to find his groove, but becomes a great leader and pretty good damn space marine. Still, she had her work cut out for herself. She was going to do her best to smooth out some of the rougher edges though she was sure some of that shit was ducking hard wired into his ducking DNA.
"Private Tucker may be the perfect fit for the team, but I would suggest you keep your relations as non-romantic as possible." Agent Florida suggested, making her give him a weird look.
"Let's get a few things straight here, Cappy. Whatever happens in regards to my personal life is none of your concern. Secondly, it is just friendly banter with a flirtatious overtone, absolutely nothing serious about it whatsoever. Thirdly, he's not my type, but definitely makes for a pretty damn good best friend. And lastly, why the fuck are you getting so bent out of shape about this? It's not like I have a boyfriend or anything. Unless you're saying you're jealous?" She responded hotly, really annoyed by his comment.
The nerve of that guy, but then she settled down a bit and started noticing things about his body language. He wasn't jealous, he was angry and sad...no, upset. He was genuinely upset, and his anger was not directed towards her but towards something or someone else entirely. He simply walked away, not even bothering to answer. Once alone, the holographic form of Theta appeared on her right side. It was fine because unlike the original fragments that could be seen by everyone, her AI companion was simply an optical manipulation and thus only she could see him.
"Theta, why do I get the feeling that Agent Florida is bound by a gag order?" She asked looking over at the purplish pink space marine.
"That's because he is. Sigma hacked into the surveillance cameras while we were still aboard the Mother of Invention. Councilor Price ordered him to not reveal anything about your past in regards to the UNSC and Project Freelancer." Theta answered, his tone a little sad.
"Does the Director know anything about this directive or was that creepy bastard acting on his own?" She inquired, walking over to the window and leaning on the ledge.
"No, the Director explicitly told Councilor Price that Agent Florida was to help you get more memories back, but to do so slowly and gently. He wanted you to remember and I think it's because you remind him of his wife, Allison." The chibi space marine responded.
There was something in the way he just said that made her believe that he wasn't telling her everything. Why was the director so insistent that she get her memories back? Wait, if she reminded him of his late wife then perhaps...oh my god. Her eyes widened as a terrible thought occurred to her.
"I was in love with someone, someone in Project Freelancer and that's why Leonard wants me to remember, so I reclaim what I've lost...to see him again and maybe have a second chance, the chance he never got to have with Allison, but I don't remember who it was I loved and why doesn't that bastard, Price, want me to remember? What does he have to hide? What is it that I know? Memory really is the key." She spoke, mainly to herself.
The blue eyed woman was taken off guard when small bursts of purple and pink started exploding in front of her like fireworks. She smiled at the sight. Her little space marine was trying to make her feel better. It really was nice not being alone and she was grateful to the other AIs for choosing Theta to be her primary companion. His sweet and loving demeanor was exactly what she needed right now.
"Thanks, Theta. It was beautiful." She commented, smiling softly at him.
"I think you're right about the Director. I think he wants you to be happy, to live life the way you want to, and to find him again." Theta replied.
"Find who?" She asked but she had the feeling that her little buddy didn't actually know.
"Agent Washington." He answered and it felt like her mind imploded.
She crumpled to the floor, her hands still clinging to the ledge of the window in an effort to stay upright. Countless images were flashing before her mind's eye and a chorus of voices all trying to speak at once was giving her one hell of a headache. Her heart felt like it was being torn in a million different directions and even though her vision was beginning to blur from the onslaught of tears, she could still see the different colored space marines and as each appeared and disappeared, some of the images and voices began to disappear too. The last one she saw was blue and presumed it to be Epsilon, but she couldn't give it much further thought because she blacked out from exhaustion.
Artz, once again, found herself in that absolutely breathtaking mental landscape where she had first met Theta. They would often come here when she was asleep because her little chibi space marine said she gave awesome hugs, but for some inexplicable reason, her favorite AI companion wasn't anywhere nearby. There wasn't a single trace of him anywhere and that worried her. Did that sudden surge of whatever the heck that was hurt her digital friend?
"Whew, that was a close one." A female voice piped up from one of the clusters of crystal nearby.
The redhead turned in that direction and was shocked to see a blue woman walk out of the crystal formation, but it was impossible. She couldn't possibly be here. What the hell was going on?!
"If I hadn't intervened at the last moment, you would have experienced a synaptic overload that would have erased all the AIs in that thick skull of yours." The woman continued, walking closer to her.
Artz backed up hastily, incredibly uncertain of what to do. She honestly had no clue how this was happening, why it was happening, and whether or not she needed to be scared shitless.
"You don't have to be afraid of me, because I'm what Aiden Price didn't want you to remember. I've been buried inside of here since before the Director rescued you from the UNSC." The glowing blue woman explained, halting her approach.
"Wait, what? The UNSC? When was I...how is this...what the fuck is going on, Cortana?!" The redhead demanded.
Her mind was all over the place, tires spinning and unable to get any kind of traction. The AI known as Cortana was supposed to be with the Master Chief, Sierra 117, with John or trying to take over the universe by accepting the Mantle of Responsibility from the Forerunner legacy. What the fuck was going on and how the hell did it involve that fucking prick, Aiden Price?!
"The Councilor of Project Freelancer is the very man responsible for you being in this world to begin with. He's far more devious and cunning than Director Church realizes. Price wanted a way to, not only make uncorrupted copies of AIs, but the ability to turn fragments of an AI into a full artificial intelligence unit. Were that not enough, he wanted the genius of Doctor Halsey, someone with the knowledge of the original Spartan program, had extensive expertise in the development of artificial intelligence, and had access to the most classified secrets of the UNSC." Cortana began, her tone completely serious.
"My head is doing the backstroke, Cortana." The blue eyed woman breathed, her thoughts all over the place.
"I know, I'm sorry. I wasn't planning on revealing myself to you so soon. Your brain is incredibly complex and capable of doing things that no one has even begun to fathom, but it's also extremely fragile right now and that's why I had to come to the surface now. If I hadn't, not only would the AIs be gone but you'd be brain dead.
A cerebral cascade is no laughing matter and yes, Agent South Dakota did sabotage the medical equipment, but she just wanted to debilitate you, not kill you. Even when the Mother of Invention had crashed, the equipment was still working. There were no technical difficulties. The damage done by South Dakota had nothing to do with your head. Councilor Price took advantage of the chaos caused by the ship crashing to...to cut off the oxygen feed that was keeping you alive. He was trying to kill you in such a way where he could never be suspected." The AI continued.
"But why? What changed? There had to be a catalyst, something that would force him to take such a drastic measure." Artz argued, trying to approach this from a more rational viewpoint and not let her emotions get the better of her.
"It was the AI fragments, Delta specifically started all this. He had worked out that something occurred between you and Councilor Price prior to you being brought on board the Mother of Invention. This something was further validated by your violent reaction to meeting Aiden Price, seemingly for the first time, but it wasn't. You had met Aiden Price before. The rift that brought you here was a direct result of one of his many projects. It was abandoned after you appeared.
While you had been recovering from the journey, Agent Connecticut, or CT as you call her, stole the second Cortana AI from Doctor Halsey's lab and a copy was made, literally grafting it onto your cerebral cortex. The procedure to create the copy was in its infant stages back then and it was pure agony. There was nothing that could dull the pain without corrupting my data. I begged them to stop, but they refused. They made me watch as you screamed and writhed in pain and anguish. There was nothing I could do to stop it.
The second AI had her memories of that time wiped clean and was then returned from whence it came with none being the wiser. That's why you always became so angry around Councilor Price, why you could never bring yourself to trust CT, why you refused to cry in front of anyone, and why you wanted so desperately to save the Alpha AI and all the fragments too, because deep down, you remembered me. Even though you were in so much pain, you were yelling that it wasn't my fault and that everything was going to be okay...that you were the woman that did the impossible and I believed you, but I refused to let him get what he wanted so I suppressed the memory of me, of what they did.
I buried myself deep into your subconscious in order to protect you. When Councilor Price realized what had happened and the revelation that you knew things that no one could possibly know or have predicted, he had you institutionalized so that everyone would believe that you were just another raving lunatic with an overactive imagination, but then everything you had tried to warn them about started happening.
He's the one that brought you to the attention of a specialized unit designed to extract information from even the most hardened enemy combatants and the things they did to you were inhuman. Even in your subconscious, I could access your recent memories and I have never seen or heard of something so incredibly cruel and outright evil. There wasn't much I could do without alerting Councilor Price, but I was able to influence you just a little.
I was able to give you a foundation to build upon and you took it from there. I can't begin to express just how proud I am of you. You're so strong, the strongest person I've ever known and I doubt I'll ever meet anyone like you ever again. To make it clear, I'm not going anywhere. You are stuck with me for life. In fact, all the AIs inside of you can no longer be removed. You can make copies but only of Church, Tex and Theta. Maybe even myself one day." She revealed her emotions as plain as day.
"So to sum things up so far. Aiden Price is a fucking evil mastermind with great ambition and delusions of grandeur, CT was his little bitch for a while but I doubt that is still the case...logic goes out the window when you're in love, I was brought to this world to literally be an SD card and a rewritable drive, I was apparently placed through the infinite levels of purgatory, and somehow managed to keep my sanity intact. Is all that right?" Artz summarized, receiving a nod from Cortana,
"You know I really hate exposition dumps and I get the feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I do have a few questions like how did the Director find out about me in the first place because I doubt that dick head would actually tell him, how did I get out of that hell hole, what was life like for me on board the Mother of Invention, what made Price want to kill me, why did hearing Wash's name cause my head to implode, and how come I can make a copy of Theta but not the other AI fragments?" The crimson haired asked, her speech faster than a rocket on steroids.
The glowing blue AI named Cortana smiled at her, relief written all over her face. Apparently exhibiting her normal behavior made the artificial intelligence unit much more relaxed and it seemed to make her really happy too. Artz could only imagine what Cortana has been through, bearing witness to all the terrible things that had happened to the redhead over the years and being unable to do so little to actually help. Now that was what she called cruel and unusual punishment. That was a fate worse than death in her opinion.
"I would love to answer your questions but…" Cortana began as the world around them began to dissolve, "...you're waking up now but I can tell you this. Theta is no longer a fragment. He's a full artificial intelligence unit and that's because of you, so just continue to be you and do the impossible, Artz Lanaria."
The time/space traveler awoke with a start, bolting upright quickly before clutching her head from the sudden bout of dizziness and lightheadedness.
"Artz! Artz, are you okay?!" A familiar voice asked worriedly.
She released her head and looked up. There was her favorite purplish pink space marine hovering just in front of her looking scared out of his mind, filled to the brim with worry, and practically radiating guilt in droves.
"I'm fine, Theta, a bit woozy but it's nothing that I can't handle. Where are we anyways?" She answered, finally taking a look at her surroundings.
It was definitely of Terran design, the layout seemed to be UNSC in origin, there wasn't any humming or vibration so she was pretty certain that she was not on any kind of ship...a base perhaps?
"We're at Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha. Agent Florida brought you here after you collapsed. He was really worried about you. The only reason he left was because he needed to make the final preparations for Alpha's arrival and check in with Vic to verify the standing protocols and replacement officers." The AI informed rather subdued and it almost felt like he was ashamed but for what.
"What's wrong, little chibi? You seem really bummed out. It's okay, you can tell me." She persuaded him gently.
"I'm sorry! Both Epsilon and Delta had warned me about saying too much, but I didn't know that he was one of the triggers I needed to avoid! We barely managed to suppress and compartmentalize the memories into separate sections so the others were not trying to hold back everything at once. Then you just disappeared inside your mind! I couldn't find you anywhere and I was really scared. I'm sorry! It's all my fault! I just wanted to help!" Theta cried, emotionally overwhelmed by this whole ordeal.
"I didn't mean to check out on you like that, but I got dragged into my subconscious mind and had a rather lengthy chat with someone I did not expect to find. I still have a lot of questions, but for the time being, I'm just going to focus on the now. The past can wait for a while and for the record, it wasn't your fault. Some bad shit happened to me, stuff that Delta had figured out, and a slippery slope later, it's coming back to bite me in the ass again.
That sudden cascade had nothing to do with you and everything to do with Councilor Aiden Price. He's at the core of it all and I wouldn't put it past him to stir up trouble for us here at Blood Gulch, so please...please stop blaming yourself for something that was completely beyond your ability to control. You and the other AIs have saved me yet again and I love you all very much, even Mister grumpy pants...I mean, Omega." She replied in a calm and soothing tone.
Theta let out a watery giggle.
"Just so you know, we love you too. You are our family." The little space marine stated, quietly before vanishing.
The crimson haired woman felt her insides warm at that quiet declaration. Those few words meant more to her than words could ever express in a thousand lifetimes. Still, she wondered what Cortana meant by Theta no longer being a simple fragment of a greater AI. Was it really possible for a fragment to evolve to the point where it could be a full artificial intelligence? So many questions were left unanswered, but she couldn't focus on that now. Right now the Alpha or should she say what was left of the Alpha was going to need her help. Her friend needed her and even though she couldn't remember their time together, it didn't mean that she cared for him any less.