A Red Vs. Blue Fanfiction:
"I against I and Me against You"
Episode II: Booze Gives You Buds
It had taken the whole day for Carolina to realize her situation.
This is it. Rock bottom. The absolute bottom. You can't get any lower than this.
She still had trouble wrapping the idea around her head. As someone who had been once a high-ranking operative – the best that Project Freelancer had to offer – the idea of being a mere simulation trooper was still insulting for her. It was hard for her to accept that fact, but it was mostly just one giant blow to her pride. For years, she prided herself on being untouchable. That no one had ever taken her spot on the Leaderboard. That was a fact.
But...that was Project Freelancer. The group she once called her family. The group that was broken apart because of a man who just couldn't let go of the past.
Now, she was just a mere scrub. A simple soldier. Cannon fodder. A simulation trooper.
On the one hand, this idea was insulting. Part of her wondered what the hell she was thinking, choosing to forfeit her pride. On the other hand, she had made a promise. A promise she was determined to keep, even if it killed her. And that promise was the whole reason she was even here in the first place.
Due to Blood Gulch's bizarre placement, there was no night time. That didn't mean there was a curfew. By now, the rest of Blue Base was out cold. Even so, Carolina couldn't sleep. She had spent the last hour awake, having tried and failed to go to sleep. When it became clear that she wasn't going to bed anytime soon, she threw on her equipment and left the base, choosing to go out on a scouting.
The layout of Blood Gulch was somewhat familiar to her, though she didn't pay it much mind. She headed up to the cliffside, sniper rifle hoisted on her shoulder and rifle in hand. Once Red Base was in sight, she swapped weapons and aimed it at the opposing encampment. There didn't seem to be any activity, other than the occasional bizarre sounds from the lizards that were crawling around the place.
"I wonder how York's doing...?" Carolina thought aloud, lying flat on her stomach, zooming in on Red Base. "Knowing him, he's probably trying to lay low. Maybe breaking into a few stores."
Upon thinking about York, her mind wandered back to Project Freelancer. More specifically, the time she spent with a certain jackass. A somber, yet happy smile crossed her face beneath the helmet.
She wondered if Church was still a jackass...
Project Freelancer, Mother of Invention – Years Ago
"...there were signs of viral infiltration, but it was sloppy." Aiden Price, the Counselor of the Project and the Director's number two man, said as he and a few other crew members examined the glitching console Carolina had been using earlier. "There were no signs of any virus' being implanted, nor probes. Were there any other unusual signs?"
Carolina shook her head. "No. I had FILSS run it through before you got here. It doesn't seem like this was an actual attempt to infiltrate the database. Maybe a probe attack?"
"Possibly." Price nodded his head. "We will be investigating it further."
After another few minutes of investigation, the crew and Price left. Carolina watched them leave, leaning in her doorway. Their backs vanished from sight and she soon slipped back inside, shutting the door behind her. Glancing around her room, she tapped the device on her wrist and de-activated some of the security footage, providing a repeated loop. It was a trick York had taught her around the time they decided to "occupy themselves with free time." She didn't think she would ever have a use for it, though.
Once she was sure that there was nobody watching her on anything, she sighed in annoyance before tapping the small band on her ear. "You can come out now."
For a moment, there was nothing. Then, pixels and polygons began to dance within her field of vision, forming into a solid, sapphire blue shape. "God fucking dammit that hurts..." the AI that had sneaked in through her computer groaned, rubbing its neck before craning its neck, probably giving her a glare of some kind. "What the fuck did you do? And more importantly, where the fuck am I? And who the fuck are you?"
Well, he's certainly the most vulgar sounded AI I've met.
"I heard that!" the AI snapped at her before it then realized its predicament. "Wait a second... D-did you just put me inside your head?!"
"It's only temporary." Carolina told it evenly. "And I have some questions for you. Depending on how you answer, one of two things are going to happen. One, I let you stick around. Two, I hand you over to the Director."
The AI balked. "E-excuse me?" it asked in disbelief. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?! I ain't your prisoner, you bitch!" Then, it paused for a moment, staring at her before speaking up again. "Wait... Did you say the Director? As in, the Director of Project Freelancer?"
"Who do you think I'm talking about?" Carolina snorted.
"...are we in Project Freelancer?"
"Congratulations, you've successfully snuck inside the Mother of Invention, home base to one of the last bastions of humanity." she said sarcastically with a small grin. "And you just happened to sneak on board."
The AI was silent for a moment. Then, it pressed its hand against its helmet before it groaned. "Oh, fuuuuuuuuuck me..."
Blood Gulch – Present Day
Carolina snickered slightly. Her first meeting with Church had been quite the interesting one, albeit strange. Thinking back on it now, it was her first real glimpse at what her life was about to become, even if she wasn't made aware of it yet. She did feel a little bad, treating him horribly in the first few weeks of their forced partnership. In all honesty, the only reason she hadn't turned him over to the Director by then was because of what he had told her. About a future that she doubted would come to pass.
At least, not if she couldn't help it.
"...and look, I'm telling you, he isn't going to notice a damn thing."
"And I keep telling you, when Sarge wakes up, he's going to be pissed you broke into his stash of beer!"
Carolina blinked. She turned her head, finding two soldiers come into view, one maroon and another orange, the latter of which holding a six pack. When the orange one noticed her, he promptly stopped in his tracks like a deer in headlights.
"Grif?" the maroon soldier asked. "What's the matter?" He then noticed her. He then proceeded to mimic the now-named Grif's actions and froze on the spot while Carolina stared at them blankly beneath her helmet. "Oh, shit..."
A tense silence fell between them.
"...sup?" Grif broke it weakly, holding up the six pack. "You, uh...want one?"
When Grif offered her a beer, Carolina debated shooting them on the spot. Cut down a few soldiers. Then she decided against it, namely because she could use a good excuse to get shitfaced, however unlikely. Thus, she sat with the two enemy soldiers before her, helmets removed. Simmons, for some reason, wore thick-rimmed glasses with neat autumn-burned hair neatly swept back. He looked rather nerdy, if she was being honest. Grif, on the other hand, looked like a total slob. He had chubby cheeks and a freshly shaven peach fuzz, coupled with messy dark hair.
"This is total bullshit." Grif complained as he chugged down the last of his beer can before moving on. "How come the Blues get a girl on their team?!"
Carolina's eyebrow twitched. She was tempted to grab her pistol. There was nothing to stop her. However, Florida had told her that she wasn't allowed to kill them. The whole reason why Church was placed here was because Blood Gulch was meant to mirror another testing area where the teams had been locked into an epic stalemate. To continue that illusion, she wasn't allowed to kill any of the soldiers on Red Team.
...but they only needed two people, right?
"Grif, be nice!" Simmons admonished his friend before turning to her. "Sorry about him..."
"Let me make this clear." Carolina said simply as she took a quick drink of her can before tapping her hands against her holster. "Only reason you two aren't dead is because I really, really needed a fucking drink. Get the picture?"
Simmons whimpered. "C-crytsal..."
"Whatever." the fatass burped. "So, blue, how'd you end up here?"
"None of your business. How's that for an answer?"
"Fine, fine. Geez, you on your period or something?" Carolina scowled, reaching for her gun. Grif promptly held up his hands in defense. "H-hey! It was a joke! Fuck, take a chill pill."
Simmons sighed. "That's what you get for trying to piss someone off." he said, shaking his head. "Again, I'm really, miss..."
"Carol." Carolina answered curtly. "Second Lieutenant Carol Mackenzie."
The two froze. "...wait, back up. Second Lieutenant?" Grif asked in disbelief. Carolina nodded. The orange soldier stared at her before he threw his hands in the air. "Seriously?! We're stuck with a nutty seargent, and the Blues have a girl for a boss?!"
That was technically half-true. She was a superior to the blue simulation troopers, but Florida was the one in charge with the higher rank. Not that she'd tell them. If anything, seeing the fatass stress out was fun.
"S-so sorry for the d-disrespect, ma'am!" Simmons suddenly said, stiff as a board.
Carolina chuckled. "It's fine." she said before finishing her beer and going for another one. As she popped it open and drank, she soon frowned. "Fuck... This isn't going to get me wasted anytime soon."
"Well, sorry to burst your bubble lady, but this is all we can steel from Sarge's stash without him noticing." Grif said. "And I am not sharing my stash of booze."
"Of course you wouldn't, fatass." Simmons rolled his eyes. "More importantly, what were you trying to do with Lopez?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you were poking him all over the place and asking him something."
"Well, I saw him drinking motor oil. Since we don't got much of anything else, I wanted to know if it tasted good. Bastard wouldn't give me an answer, so I tried to pester him all day."
Simmons sighed. "Grif, you do realize that Lopez is-"
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TWO?!" a roughe southern voice shouted. Immediately, Carolina was on guard and fell to the ground, grabbing her sniper rifle. Through her scope, she found a soldier holding a shotgun looking around Red Base, dressed in standard red armor. "DAMMIT, SIMMONS! I EXPECT YOU TO BE ON TIME! IT'S APPROXIMATELY THREE AM! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"
Grif groaned. "Fuck, I forgot about that..."
"We better get down there before Sarge comes looking for us." Simmons said, getting up and slipping on his helmet. "Um, f-feel free to drink the rest of the beer, ma'am!" With a stiff farewell, Simmons and Grif left the area, heading back to Red Base.
Carolina watched them go, making sure to stay out of sight lest she be seen by the commander of Red Team. She looked back at the remaining cans of beer. There were two left. Hardly enough to get her drunk.
She looked back at Blue Base. Then back at the cans. Shrugging, she set her rifle down and went back to drinking, hoping that, by some miracle, she could get shit-faced and drown her sorrows.
...god she missed her friends.
Church: Hey, asshole. You're late!
Sarge: And what kind of introduction was that?! You completely skipped the badass introduction of Red Team!
Me: Well, excuse me for being busy on other stories and dealing with a fucking ulcer!
Caboose: Wait! ...where was me and Sheila?
Me: Don't worry. You'll get your spotlight, Caboose. In the meantime, here. Have an orange.
Caboose: Um, yeah, I-I can't drink orange juice.
Me: What? Why not?
Tucker: Ugh. Don't ask.