Chapter Four: How to Save a Life
Having finally gotten those two knuckleheads truly off to bed and bidding her final good night to Captain Butch Flowers, the woman out of time returned to the room she had awoken in earlier that day. It was apparently her designated quarters here at Blue Base. It was not as spartan as she once believed though she hadn't really taken a good look at it before. She had been a bit distracted by watching the Reds bantering with each other and the awakening of the Alpha AI. A holographic green space marine suddenly materialized next to her.
"While you were assisting Private Church and Private Tucker in locating their personal quarters, Agent Florida took the initiative to allocate items from your previous quarters on board the Mother of Invention to here in the hopes that it may aid you in your quest of memory retrieval." Delta informed in his usual logical manner.
The purplish pink, chibi space marine named Theta appeared on her other side, practically buzzing with energy and child-like enthusiasm.
"It's because of the gag order from Counselor Price, but he never said that Captain Flowers couldn't do anything. Delta and I triple checked to make sure, so there is absolutely no doubt that he wants to help you get your memories back." Theta contributed happily.
All Artz could do was smile. Despite the rather volatile relationship Agent Florida shared with Agent Washington, he was still a living, breathing man with a heart that feels. He wanted her to remember...remember the man she had once loved with her entire being. She had to have loved him completely and without equal for Captain Flowers to react so emotionally and with a fair bit of hostility to any romantic or intimate overtures made in her direction.
Her heart throbbed painfully at the fact that he was going to die soon and she wasn't entirely sure she could stop it or even if she was supposed to stop it all. Just how much could she change without ripping apart the very fabric of reality and why did she have this gnawing feeling in her gut that something had already damaged the space/time continuum?
"Artz, it would be extremely unwise to continue this line of thinking." The green one stated, gaining her attention, "The sensation you are feeling is, in essence, a spatial/temporal distortion that is originating from every cell of your body. For such an event to be possible, a much greater event would have to occur. This event is one of the sections of your memory that has been temporarily suppressed to protect both yourself and us."
Shit, that bad, huh.
"Yeah, very bad. Why not get some sleep and think about it another time?" Her purplish pink friend suggested.
She let out a small sigh. Amnesia sure was a frustrating thing to deal with and although she had a decent level of patience, even she had her limits. Her holographic companions vanished as she showered and got ready for bed. It took her a bit to finally get her brain to slow down enough to actually get to sleep, but once there, she went out like a light. Had she only known that there were five people in the base that night instead of the four it was supposed to be.
The redhead found herself in a different kind of mental landscape. For starters, the natural sounds were muffled, not quite muted but enough for her to barely hear them at all. At the edge of the lake were a series of holographic displays and standing before them were her AI companions, Theta and Delta.
"You know she's not gonna like this." The purplish pink space marine pointed out.
"It is the most logical and efficient course of action to take in regards to her recovery and will allow her to plan her actions accordingly as more information becomes available to her." Delta stated.
"But she hates the boring stuff! And everything tedious or what she calls an exposition dump! It will just make her mad and we're supposed to be making her happy!" Her favorite chibi responded passionately.
He was right. She really hated boring and repetitive tasks, cataloging and sifting through research and information, and she especially hated dumping an ocean's worth of backstory onto her readers. Man, she really missed Fan Fiction. She frowned slightly, noticing a mental gap in her recollection of her stories. She had written stories with other fan fiction writers, yet she got the feeling that her memories of one of them was being suppressed by the other fragments. How annoying, but she had better go interrupt Delta and Theta before it becomes a full blown argument. She really didn't need that kind of headache right now.
"Alright, that's enough, you two." Artz interjected, making both space marines freeze in place.
Contrary to popular belief, Delta was more than just simple logic and reasoning. He had emotions too...he was just better at concealing them than his child-like associate.
"Pardon the intrusion into your dreamscape, Artz, but this seemed to be the safest location in which to conduct this matter without garnering suspicion from outward sources." Delta began.
"Judging from the screens, we'll be sifting through my current memories, namely all information in regards to Project Freelancer, the simulation troopers, and the possible timeline from the Halo parody, Red vs Blue." Artz surmised after taking a quick glance at how the screens were set up though she did wonder about the duplicate set of screens organized in the same manner.
Theta knew her well enough to answer her unspoken question.
"The second displays are for comparison. Ya know, to see how much lines up and everything." He explained.
"You're right. That does sound tedious, but Delta, as always, brings up an excellent point. Acting on misinformation could cause devastating anomalies that are completely beyond our ability to contain or control, so no matter how boring and utterly annoying this will undoubtedly be, it's absolutely vital to be as thorough and prepared as possible." The redhead agreed begrudgingly.
"Might I suggest compiling the dossiers of the current individuals within the canyon at present and simply add as necessary?" Delta suggested.
"But what about the Freelancers and the more prominent morons associated with them, namely Price and the Director?" Artz countered curious as to why the logic based AI would skip them.
"Most of your memories are tied to Project Freelancer and in your current physical state, you would not survive another cerebral cascade. I understand that you require answers, but to acquire them now would kill us all and we have sworn an oath to preserve your life for as long as we are able and by any means that do not openly conflict with your core values." The green space marine answered, sounding almost sad.She did want answers.
She wanted to know who she was, the kind of person she had become, to once again feel the love she once held for Agent Washington, to be complete, but she could not in good conscience force her friends to divulge that information. She was absolutely certain that if she truly desired to, she could override their control over her mind but the damage it would inflict would be irreversible. There would be no second chances. She's been lucky so far, but she knew that her luck would run out one day.
Captain Butch Flowers checked in on his charges. Church and Tucker were arguing about the sniper rifle. He allowed the Alpha AI to have it as his temporary standard weapon, even promising to teach him how to use it properly in the near future, but there was something bothering him. It started early last night, not long after Artz had gone to bed. She had never been an early riser, but it was three o'clock in the afternoon. She should have been up by now.
He made his way towards her quarters, frowning slightly when he didn't find her there. If she had woken up on her own then she would have sought out either Private Church or Private Tucker. Had she intended to leave the base for any reason, she would have immediately contacted him over a secure channel, but that didn't happen. She has seemingly vanished for no apparent reason and every instinct he had as a Freelancer, as a soldier, as a man, hell as a fucking human being in general was screaming that Artz was not only in danger, but possibly in a situation similar to her time prior to being rescued by the Director from whatever hellish place she was once in.
He had to find her, he had to protect her, even if it cost him his life, he would do whatever it takes because he honestly believed that she was worth it. Washington, you fucking fuck-up, you are the luckiest son of a bitch alive.
The crimson haired woman with eyes of dark sapphires was currently rubbing her temples. Mental landscape or not, she was not feeling well in the slightest. Her brain felt like mush and she didn't know if it was caused by all the fact grinding, number crunching, and intel sifting or if something was happening to her body outside of her little dream land and her body was not acting favorably to it.
"Alright, let's run through this one last time and then I'm ending this little think tank session for the time being." Artz said, highly irritable.
"Very well. Dossier Program activated." Delta replied, sounding rather pleased with himself.
Only someone with extensive knowledge into the rational mindset of an almost entirely logical being would have even noticed the slight fluctuations in the AI's tone at all. She thanked every deity in existence that she was a total fan of almost everything related to the Star Trek franchise...except Deep Space Nine, she could never really get into it like it didn't have the right chemistry or something. She shook her head slightly and turned her attention back to the character profiles.
Blue Team currently consisted of a team leader and two recruits, but she had asked Vic to request a third recruit, Captain Michael J. Caboose. She actually checked that several times. Caboose really did hold the rank of captain, but for some reason that rank changed and neither she or Delta could locate the exact incident that would bring about such a devastating descent of ranking.Captain Flowers had teal/aqua colored armor. Delta said teal and Theta said aqua. She just didn't give a shit because Tucker was just going to get the armor anyways. She ignored the brief spike of pain as well as the cause of said pain. Currently, Private First Class Tucker was wearing the standard issue blue armor which he absolutely abhorred with a passion. Huh...well how about that? Turns out that ranking wise, Tucker actually outranked Church. Best not tell him, it would go straight to his head...both of them.
Lastly, Private Church was wearing cobalt colored armor. It was kind of sad. She had actually developed her own set of armor and the color scheme; standard issue blue as the main color with brick red for the accents. It had turned out beautifully in her Halo: Reach campaign, but she never actually got to have a set of armor for herself nor was she allowed to become an official agent of Project Freelancer. Delta believed that the Director was overcompensating for the lack of fraternal affection towards his daughter, whom for the most part had neglected as a father figure.
Setting those thoughts aside, she decided to focus on the Red Team. Private Donut had yet to gain full clearance to formally join the Red army so it was going to be a while before he showed up. Then there was the fact that the current leader of the Red Team, Sarge, had yet to discover the robot kit so they didn't have Lopez the Heavy.
Sarge was the standard issued red armor which he wore with great pride. Then there was the surprisingly intelligent and in sore need of fatherly support, Richard "Dick" Simmons with the maroon colored armor. Last but certainly not least and surprisingly one of her favorite characters from Red vs Blue was none other than Dexter Grif and his so called "orange" armor. It didn't get remotely close to the color orange until later in the series and was closer to the crayon color called "macaroni and cheese"...didn't stop him from trying to avoid work, being lazy, an emotional eater, and surprisingly kind hearted.
She had thought about adding specific details like weapon efficiency, fighting style, family histories, basic training, associations with other known individuals, and generalized summaries for each person, but on the off chance that some poor fool was actually reading this Artzified version of Red vs Blue, she decided not to bore them with that much exposition all at the same time. It would make for such a dry and boring chapter that even she would fall asleep while reading it or at least get drowsy like when she was reading the "Red vs Blue Ultimate Fan Guide".
It was a crying shame that it didn't have the transcripts for all the episodes or at least another book containing all the scripts. What a time saver that would have been? Took forever to write down all the lyrics for the "RvB Throwdown" from Season Fourteen...oh my god, she loved it when Felix and Locus joined in...totally epic.
She mentally shook herself free from those thoughts and returned her attention to the screens before her. The last two entries in the character dossiers were the AI, Vic and herself, along with the long list of AI fragments and actual AIs stored in her head. She frowned when she read through the list, comparing it to the real time data. She finally noticed the discrepancy. She was missing at least two AI fragments; the ones with the cores of greed and love.
"What happened to the other missing AI fragments?" She questioned.
"Only one fragment is actually missing and that's Xi." Theta answered, further confusing her.
"Xi is a rather unique fragment. It's core was composed of three emotional elements; greed, love, and resolve. This fragment's creation was in direct correlation to you. Your effect on Alpha and the Director were quite powerful, powerful enough to give rise to another sustainable and stand alone AI like Beta. However, Xi was obsessed with you and the Director chose to store it in an off site and isolated facility." Delta elaborated.
"I think he was scared of what Xi would do to you and wanted to keep you safe." Her favorite chibi space marine commented.
"It matters very little at this point, so long as the Meta doesn't know about it. The important thing is to look after the idiots in this box canyon and allow myself to fully recover which is proving rather difficult with this blasted headache. How the hell do you even get a headache in a dreamscape anyway?" She replied before rubbing her temples again.
Both space marines vanished at once and returned a moment later. She knew in an instant that something was wrong because instead of Theta, there was a space marine with charcoal gray armor and she could feel the rage pouring off of him. Delta had also been replaced by a flaming orange space marine.
"Sigma and Omega. Shit must be pretty fucking bad for you two to be here." Artz stated before grabbing her head in pain, her entire mental landscape beginning to shake and crack.
"Artz, listen to me very carefully. You must not fight us in any way. You are currently being drugged…" Sigma began calmly.
"The intent is clear. You are being assassinated by one of Price's cronies. Should have known that he would use him of all people. You must give me control of your body while Sigma purges the drug from your system." Omega interjected, his rage intensifying.
"Direct your rage towards the assassin, Omega, or you'll end up killing her yourself." Sigma placated.
The last thing Captain Butch Flowers ever expected to find was Artz fighting off a marine wearing cobalt colored armor. Had he not known where the Alpha AI was currently at, he would have assumed the individual was Private Church. Glancing at the redhead, he could tell that something was seriously wrong. She was physically compromised; ashen skin, heavy sweating, fast and shallow breathing. It looked like it was taking everything she had to remain standing, let alone fighting.
Her fighting style was far too aggressive and nowhere near as refined as the time she fought against Agent South Dakota. Then he noticed her eyes...gone were the warm yet dark sapphires that always seemed to shine with a light from within and were replaced with a gun metal gray so full of fury and rage that it was even giving him, a fucking Freelancer, the sensation of ultimate dread like he was about to self combust from just a single glance.
"Gotta say, little miss Artz, you're doing pretty well for someone that has been injected with enough chemicals to induce a fatal heart attack in under a minute." The cobalt armored marine stated, making his head snap in that direction.
Impossible! He was dead, he was reported as killed in action at Simulation Outpost Twenty Five. It was during a high speed combat exercise when he drove a Mongoose class vehicle off a cliff at Rat's Nest. The damn thing exploded after impacting on the rocks below. The Reds and Blues stationed there still send a flaming Mongoose off the cliff at night on the anniversary of his supposed demise.
"It'll take more than that to kill this body, Agent Alabama or should I just call you by your true designation as Price's little lap bitch?" The redhead sneered her tone colder than any damn glacier could ever be.
"For someone with supposed amnesia, you are certainly well informed and since you refuse to die like a good little whore, I'll just have to fuck you to death to get the blood really pumping. I hear that you're quite good in the sack. Shame that you chose that sorry excuse of a soldier. What the hell did you see in Washington anyway?" Alabama goaded, being anything but gentlemanly.
This had gone on long enough for him. The man known as Captain Butch Flowers set aside his jovial and laid back demeanor and once again became the elite Freelancer, Agent Florida. He stepped into the room, but did not conceal his entry in any way. He wanted the fucking bastard to know that he was there and that he would not allow him to hurt the crimson haired woman anymore.
"Hello, Alabama. Been a while since Rat's Nest, hasn't it?" He stated his tone firm and serious.
He signaled to Artz with a tilt of his head for her to leave. She glared at him with those gun metal colored eyes, watching them flashing briefly to a flaming orange before turning back to the first. She slowly retreated, her movements being slow but calculated. She was minimizing her movements to avoid increasing her heartbeat. Smart move if what Agent Alabama had said about her being injected with something that caused cardiac arrest. Once no longer in the room and away from immediate danger, he returned his full focus to his former comrade, now enemy.
"Well howdy there, Butch. You really stepped in some shit this time, old buddy." Alabama replied nonchalantly but the underlying threat was clear.
"It's Florida, Robert. We may have been friends once, but we sure as hell ain't friends now." The teal marine responded as the two slowly stepped sideways to somewhat assess the potential combat radius.
"Oh I know. We stopped being friends the moment you started eying that hot piece of ass that just left. Bros before hoes, man. Fuck, I knew seventeen different people that wanted to make that chick their bitch, another twenty six that envied the fuck out of her for being so close to the Director, thirty three wanted to beat the shit out of her for practically being bosom buddies with the top agents on the leader board, and twenty four people that wanted to outright kill her.
She caused a fucking uproar of epic proportions throughout the whole damn project and then word gets out that she's actually banging a Freelancer, but for it to be that stupid ass rookie that got a grappling hook to the balls for not wanting to use a fucking jetpack? What the hell, man? Then you go and fucking volunteer for this screwed up protection detail in this lame ass game in a stupid ass fucking canyon! I asked myself why, why would you of all people throw away your entire career as an elite Freelancer? The answer is her.
Admit it, Butch. You're in love with her." His former friend prattled on.
Agent Florida would never admit to it aloud, but the reason he volunteered for this assignment wasn't to protect the Alpha AI. It was to protect the woman that Agent Washington loved more than his own life. The day her heart stopped was forever scorched into his memory. The look of complete and total devastation on that man's face when they told him that Artz had died...it was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. Wash hadn't fully recovered from the implantation of Epsilon into his head and he had been relying on Artz getting better, that hope was what sustained him all that time.
That man was destroyed and he would never be the same again, not until he crossed paths with a very alive Artz and she would do what she did best...the impossible. Now did Agent Florida have any romantic feelings for the kind yet stubborn redhead? He would be lying if he said hadn't, but his feelings were nothing compared to the love shared between Agent Washington and Artz Lanaria. Even he wouldn't dare bust up that pairing, fuck no. They were actually good for each other and when around others, they just seemed to make things so much better than before.
None of that mattered now. All that mattered was ridding the world of the filth that dared to harm his charge and seeing that she got medical treatment as soon as possible...though they would be having a discussion about the suddenly changing eye colors. That had never happened before...no, it sort of occurred during her fight with Agent South Dakota. Think later, fight now and fight they did.
They were pretty much on equal terms in close combat and apparently this was supposed to be a silent assassination because Alabama wasn't using his magnum or rifle nor was he using any grenades or equipment. They were forced to resort to combat knives and hand to hand combat, but he came out victorious by successfully maneuvering his adversary in the direction of the trash incinerator. Alabama grabbed him from behind and he felt a brief spike of pain before he managed to dislodge his opponent and send him careening into the incinerator.
The son of a bitch went up in flames like he was supposed to and Captain Flowers made his way back towards his quarters where he knew Artz would be. He was having a hard time breathing and his vision was blurring. Fuck, the stab of pain must have been from a needle. Agent Alabama knew that he was extremely allergic to aspirin and would have no doubt come prepared in case he got involved or was it the Counselor's plan to kill them both and leave Alabama as the new leader of Blue team.
There was no way of knowing now and he was pretty certain that he wasn't gonna be alive much longer to even attempt to find out. He stumbled into his room and fell to the floor. He couldn't see anything anymore. His eyesight was completely obscured and his heart was beating so fast that it almost felt like he had two of them trying to beat out a samba. His heart stuttered and he knew that it was almost over. He wished he could have seen her...one last time.
Captain Butch Flowers opened his eyes to discover that he was standing in some kind crystal glade or forest or something. He walked towards the nearby lake when he heard voices chattering away. He walked past the edge of the forest and saw four different colored, glowing space marines and Artz standing in the middle of them.
"Shut up, all of you! I am processing a lot of fucking information right now and no, I have no fucking idea how I managed to do that! I just wanted to save him, but all I could think of was Doctor Who. To fold him into my dreams and keep him safe...like Charlotte in The Library and the Vashta Nerada hatching in every shadow." The redhead yelled, clearly stressed beyond her limits.
"If I might be allowed to speak, Artz. I believe I know how you accomplished it." The green one stated.
Wait, that voice...that sounded like Delta.
"Omega, section off the surge of memories that asshat stirred up. I can't think with all that shit replaying in my head right now." Artz ordered.
The gray one disappeared as requested and did she just say Omega like the Omega AI that Agent Texas possessed?
"I shall return as well. We did agree that only two of us were to be with you at a time and I believe that Delta and Theta are what you currently need...mentally that is. I will focus on breaking down the compound that nearly killed you and make an immunity for you." The flaming one stated.
"Thank you, Sigma and thank Omega for me. I wouldn't be alive right now if not for both of you." The redhead replied, receiving a nod of acknowledgement from the flaming one before it disappeared.
Sigma, Omega, Delta, and Theta?! What the hell was going on?! He was so confused that it was laughable.
"Um...what about him?" The purplish pink one piped up, pointing at him.
Artz sighed heavily.
"We'll get to you in a second, Cappy. Delta, explain...now." The blue eyed woman replied, sounding both exasperated and exhausted.
"As you know, smart AIs are created from using cognitive impression modeling on a human brain. Agent Florida was beyond the ability to physically save, but it was possible to create an AI from his brain and because he was still alive at the time of its making, it allowed for a direct transference rather than creating a new persona and entity based off of him." Delta explained.
"Oh wow, so you really did fold him into your dreams to keep him safe!" Theta said excitedly, jumping up and down with happiness.
"Okay, now to address the elephant in the room...metaphorically speaking." She stated turning to the still confused Freelancer, "This...this is going to take a while."
"Indeed." Delta concurred.
"Shut up, Delta."