Well, I managed to finally rewrite this. A few weeks ago, my hard-drive
wiped itself, including the two next chapters ready to upload. All the
data was unable to be retrieved, so I've had to rewrite the WHOLE thing. A
bit of a kick in the ass, but finally I've managed to do this! *waves
banner* Yay. Now, I've gone on for WAAAAAY too long now, so here we go!
S.A.I.N.T.
"Have you ever walked through a room, but it was more like the room passed
around you,
Like there was a leash around your neck that pulled you through,
Have you ever been at some place, recognising everybody's face,
Until you realised that there was no one that you knew."
-The Offspring, Have You Ever?
She leapt.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion for Rikishi. The girl was hurtling towards him, still naked, and still dripping with the fluid from the tank, but her eyes dead and evil, her hands outstretched. When she finally made contact, he realised that her move had not been slow, but had been faster then he could imagine. Her momentum threw them back onto the hard, cold floor, where she straddled him. Her hands were wrapped around her neck, choking the life out of him. But all he could do was lie there and wonder 'Why?'
"Get off him!" Sarah screamed from behind, vainly. But the terminator seemed to have not heard. As he began to gag, Rikishi managed to lift his hands and grasp hers in an attempt to pull her off but she was far too strong.
BLAM! BLAM!
Sarah had fired. Rikishi had seen the terminator's eyes widen as she was hit. Emotionless, she let go of Rikishi and climbed to her feet and faced Sarah. Two small holes in her back trickled blood. Rikishi rolled over and coughed. He heard a bang, and saw that the terminator had grabbed Sarah by the throat and slammed her against the wall. Sarah growled at Rikishi.
"Shoot her already!" she managed to gasp.
Instinctively, Rikishi removed his gun from his holster. But as he took aim, he felt a pang of guilt, and his stomach flipped. The terminator.she was that sweet little teenaged girl on the motorcycle from that photograph. That poor little girl.he couldn't shoot her.
But he could hit her.
He swung the gun and hit her with the handle. She fell sideways, and let Sarah go. Sarah slumped to the floor and coughed, as Rikishi had done. The terminator turned and glared at him. She stepped forward, a menacing look upon her face. Her eyes were dull, dead like a shark's. In a blur, she had grabbed him by the jaw and pinned him against the wall.
"You should have killed me," she growled.
Then she began to squeeze.
"AAAAAAAARGH!"
The pain was unbearable. She was being careful not to break his jaw...at least not yet, so it seemed. He screamed, the agony was horrid.
"Hey!"
Sarah was stooped on the floor, her hand wrapping around a large, serrated piece of glass. The terminator had not responded to Sarah, so she had stepped up behind her. Rikishi tried to hang on, watching as Sarah raised her hand, and plunged it downwards.
As Sarah stabbed her back, the machine barely seemed to flinch. But she did turn to grab Sarah with her left hand. As she did so, Sarah struck.
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
The bloodcurdling scream rang out as Sarah pinned the girl's hand to the wall, with the glass. Blood poured. With the distraction, the machine let Rikishi go, and he stumbled to Sarah's side. He felt his stomach clench, at the sight of the bloody mess that was the terminator's hand. He swore he could see the crackle of electricity about it.
Another horrid scream of agony sounded as the terminator gingerly pulled the glass shard out of her hand, and more blood splashed to the floor. She looked about with a pleading look in her eyes. Her eyes met Rikishi's, and he knew something was different. Before hand, they had seemed dead. But now they were bright and tears began forming in the blue orbs. She slumped to the floor, and hugged herself, huddled in the corner, sobbing.
Rikishi and Sarah exchanged looks. Sarah shrugged. Rikishi cautiously approached. The girl, with her head on her knees, continued to cry. Rikishi lowered and placed a hand on the soft skin of her shoulder. She glanced up at him fearfully. Then she realised the state of undress she was in, and huddled herself into the corner even more, trying to obscure her nakedness.
Rikishi lowered next to her. She choked back a sob as she felt his hand on her back.
"Leave me alone," she whispered.
He frowned. "What?"
"Just leave me alone!" she cried. "I don't know who you are, but just please...please leave me alone!"
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying? I seem to remember you attacking us?"
The girl lifted her head, blue eyes glittering, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What?"
Rikishi was just as confused as the girl. But Sarah had a knowing look upon her face. Sarah turned to one of the tables and picked up a clipboard. It was the one she had been reading from earlier. Sarah smiled nastily.
"Don't you know that you're a terminator, kid?"
The girl looked shocked. "T-terminator? That's...that's a robot. I'm not a robot. What are you saying?"
"You heard me," Sarah replied. "You are a terminator." The girl shook her head from side to side, in denial. Sarah sighed heavily and spoke again. "What's your name?"
The girl stopped shaking her head and opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped and looked confused.
Rikishi glanced at Sarah. She was flipping through the papers again. "Heh, no wonder you can't remember. It says that you're a SAINT T17/X. SAINT stands for 'Super Artificial Intelligent Neurone Transformer.'" She looked up and looked at Rikishi. "Neurone Transformer. She was a normal kid once. She's been 'upgraded'."
The girl was crying again. Sarah was fumbling around with the papers and stuff, stuffing them in her pockets. Rikishi knelt beside the girl. Now that she wasn't rampaging and strangling him, he felt the strong empathy return. He put an arm around her. She looked up at him, and seemed to relax as her eyes met his. She rested her head against his chest. It felt.right.like he had been in this situation before. He rubbed her back. She murmured something to herself that sounded something like "What's my name?"
"You know," he said, "'Joan Doe' is going to suck. Joan doesn't suit you. How about we call you Saint until we figure out who you are, huh?"
She glanced at him, unable to smile, but her eyes definitely looking bright and hopeful. Rikishi grinned. He turned to Sarah. "Don't you think? Saint's a pretty name."
Sarah glared at him. She was not happy. She fumbled with her pockets and then pulled her gun out. "You idiot. Get away from her."
"What?"
"You shit for brains. You know she's a terminator. This is probably some dumb act to get us to let our guard down." She took aim and the poor kid blanched. "We ought to kill her now, and get her out of the way."
"SARAH!" Rikishi snapped, leaping to his feet. "You can't- she's helpless!"
"Helpless my ass," Sarah replied. "Have you already forgotten that she was trying to kill you?"
Saint started crying again. She was a most pitiful thing to see- huddled on the floor, hugging herself, bleeding, and crying, staring up the barrel of Sarah's gun. She made a pleading sniffing noise, and Rikishi growled.
"She's scared!"
"So she should be. I'm gonna blow her head in."
Saint's eyes went wide, and she bit her lip. She stared up pleadingly, almost endearingly, at Sarah. But she ignored the girl, and took the gun off safety.
"Any last words?"
Saint's eyes rolled shut and she collapsed on the floor. Sarah lowered her weapon, a look of complete astonishment on her face. Rikishi leaned over and checked her over. She was out cold.
"Poor thing," he muttered. "She was terrified."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right, like a lion is scared of a kitten."
"You said so yourself, that she has no memory. She has no idea that she attacked us." He lifted her up, and then remembered that she was still naked. "Grab one of those lab coats that were left behind. We can't bring her back starkers."
"Bring her back?"
"Yes, bring her back!" Rikishi snapped. "You know, two of your friends died to get into this place, and even if my reasons for bringing her back are different, you need Saint. She's evidence to whatever it is that this bastards were doing down here. No go and get a lab coat."
Sarah sneered at him for a moment, but he was right. She stamped off sulkily for a second. Rikishi fondly touched Saint's cheek. She was such a pretty little thing, such a pitiful little girl. Sarah returned with a coat, which he promptly wrapped the girl in, then lifted the girl into his arms. He smiled inwardly. She was no where near as heavy as he expected.
They started to leave the lab, and went back into the lift. On the way up Sarah made a sighing noise.
"What?"
"We forgot about the terminators outside. What if they're still around? What if they've trashed the bikes?" Sarah said heavily.
"You didn't prepare for this?" Rikishi asked.
"Yes, I have a radio, so we can be picked up."
"Then I don't know why you're worried. We're safe in here, and if the bikes are trashed, we can wait in here." His voice was calm and patient and his tone seemed to reassure Sarah. Her face was etched with worry. He smiled at her. "We'll be okay, Sarah. I don't intend on dying out here."
When the lift halted, Rikishi moved towards the door. There was a small hatch through which he could see the outside world. He peered through and grimaced. "There are two unarmed terminators in the distance." he told Sarah. He paused. "YES! The bikes are still there!"
Sarah nodded. "I'll help you load the terminator onto your bike first. How quick do we need to be?"
Rikishi bit his lip. "We've got less then sixty seconds."
Sarah flung the door open. "Let's go!"
They rushed out of the door and Sarah lifted Rikishi's bike, and helped him on. He sat Saint in front of him, and pressed her close to his body so she wouldn't fall. The terminators saw them, and began to approach, but they were too slow. Sarah was on her own bike in seconds and before the tin-men knew what was happening, the two soldiers had sped off over the scraggy plain.
&&&***&&&***&&&***&&&***
The watchman had been expecting Lieutenant Takahashi and Captain Connor. They had not been expecting that they would have a hitch hiker. They gaped at the beautiful teenaged girl in the Lieutenant's arms. But as they approached to get a better look at her, Captain Connor pushed them back.
"Get medics and technicians down here, ASAP," she ordered. "Make sure they have armed escort. This woman is a new type of terminator. Get my son down here, too, I need to report this to him!" The men nodded and ran off to do Sarah's bidding, and seconds later, medics came to take Saint from Rikishi. He laid her down gently on the stretcher, and ran a hand through her corn silk hair. He touched one of the doctors, a handsome-looking Asian man, and said "Please look after her." The man smiled and nodded, but then they disappeared.
Rikishi turned and looked at Sarah, who had been staring at him. When their eyes met, she looked away, a guilty blush rising on her cheeks. He had hated the way she had came in, yelling out the danger, announcing Saint as a terminator straight away. And she knew that he had resented her for it. As she looked away, Rikishi felt his blood boil. He had already developed an attachment to Saint, a girl who didn't even know her own name. But he couldn't help but feel for her. He saw the way Sarah tried to avoid his gaze. What was she thinking, he wondered. Why did she look so guilty? Did she too, pity Saint, and now felt remorse for how she treated her?
Angrily, Rikishi scuffed his feet on the floor. He had seen a lot of scary shit. Fear is not something that can be faked that easily, he told himself. I saw her, her saw the terror and confusion in her eyes. She was genuinely scared. He lifted his head to see John come on, followed closely by T. It was hard to see, with the cyborg's shades, but Rikishi felt he had met T's gaze. Rikishi gave a solemn shrug and T looked away. John and Sarah were deeply engaged in conversation (no doubt John had plenty of questions to ask), but Rikishi didn't want to hear it. He walked up the corridor, following the path of the medics, hoping for some sense of peace in the white, empty halls.
He approached the room Saint had been carried into. An armed man stopped him.
"Can't I go in?" Rikishi asked him.
The man shook his head. "The doctors don't want loads of people in there. They're complaining about the guards in there already. But personally, if she wakes up and goes bananas, they'd be complaining more if there was no security."
Rikishi nodded. The guy was right. But he felt a little peeved. "You know, she's practically harmless."
"Who?"
"Saint. The terminator."
The man blinked. "'Saint'. I didn't think they came with names, only numbers. Well, I have no idea about these sort of things."
"She can't remember her name. So I gave her a new one," Rikishi said in a dreamy sort of voice, peering through the glass of the door. Saint was laid out on an operating table, while the doctors hovered over her, checking her. The guy made a small chuckling noise.
"She a softie like T, then?" he asked.
"I guess you could say that," Rikishi murmured. The doctors were injecting her. "Hey! What are they doing?"
The man looked over and put a hand on Rikishi's shoulder. "Chill, they're anaesthetising her. What if she wakes up? She could either be in a lot of pain, or whack out and attack everyone."
Rikishi calmed. "Sorry. I guess I'm protective of her. Look at her, she's so young..."
The man tilted his head. "I don't recognise you. What's your name?"
Rikishi looked at him. "I'm Lieutenant Rikishi Takahashi. I was only transferred here today."
The man smiled. "I hear you." He held out his hand, offering for a handshake. "Robert Harris. Friends call me Rumbo. Not entirely too sure why." Rikishi took his hand. Rumbo grinned. "Don't feel ashamed about the fact you feel for the kid." He jerked his thumb at Saint. "It's obvious that someone didn't. If she's harmless, like you said, she'll need someone like you, to help her through this."
Rikishi looked at this man in wonder. "You...you..."
Rumbo grinned. "I looked at you, and I knew you weren't scared of her, despite the way Sarah was acting around her. So I guessed that something's a little different about this terminator. Mind telling me what the deal is with her though?"
Rikishi turned away from the window and leaned heavily on the wall. "She's a neurone-transformer cyborg," he said. "She used to be human, but someone.someone did this to her." He felt his blood boiling again. "When she.came to her senses.she had no idea what was going on. And then she couldn't remember who she was. She has no memory."
Rumbo whistled. "Whoa."
Rikishi sighed. "She passed out. Sarah had a gun aimed at her, and the poor thing, she fainted. She had no idea why Sarah was attacking her. Or she knew at that moment in time was that she was naked, bleeding, hurt and huddled on the floor, staring up at a gun barrel. I would have probably fainted too." He rubbed his forehead. "Man.she's so beautiful.so scared.I just wanted to.to hold her.and look after her."
Rumbo smiled. "You've probably got a thing for her."
Rikishi laughed. "She's seventeen, we think! I'm twenty-four!"
Rumbo chuckled. "Not that bad an age gap. Or maybe you are just shy," he added slyly.
Rikishi blushed and nodded. "I am really loud in front of people most of the time. But when I see a pretty girl that I like, I do a one-eighty. It's weird."
Rumbo clapped a hand on Rikishi's shoulder in a hearty manner. "Don't be ashamed of the fact you like her. I saw her myself- she's a very beautiful young woman. And she's going to need someone who loves her to help her adjust to this world."
Rikishi smiled. Somehow, talking to this guard, he had achieved that sense of peace that he had been craving.
*** *** ***
So, now you've met the star-lady, Saint. And Rikishi has made a friend. Duh, you already know that cos you've just read it ^^;. I best shut up and carry on with the next chapter, ne? *starts typing furiously*
Thanks for the reviews so far, because even just a few have been encouraging ^-^.
S.A.I.N.T.
"Have you ever walked through a room, but it was more like the room passed
around you,
Like there was a leash around your neck that pulled you through,
Have you ever been at some place, recognising everybody's face,
Until you realised that there was no one that you knew."
-The Offspring, Have You Ever?
She leapt.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion for Rikishi. The girl was hurtling towards him, still naked, and still dripping with the fluid from the tank, but her eyes dead and evil, her hands outstretched. When she finally made contact, he realised that her move had not been slow, but had been faster then he could imagine. Her momentum threw them back onto the hard, cold floor, where she straddled him. Her hands were wrapped around her neck, choking the life out of him. But all he could do was lie there and wonder 'Why?'
"Get off him!" Sarah screamed from behind, vainly. But the terminator seemed to have not heard. As he began to gag, Rikishi managed to lift his hands and grasp hers in an attempt to pull her off but she was far too strong.
BLAM! BLAM!
Sarah had fired. Rikishi had seen the terminator's eyes widen as she was hit. Emotionless, she let go of Rikishi and climbed to her feet and faced Sarah. Two small holes in her back trickled blood. Rikishi rolled over and coughed. He heard a bang, and saw that the terminator had grabbed Sarah by the throat and slammed her against the wall. Sarah growled at Rikishi.
"Shoot her already!" she managed to gasp.
Instinctively, Rikishi removed his gun from his holster. But as he took aim, he felt a pang of guilt, and his stomach flipped. The terminator.she was that sweet little teenaged girl on the motorcycle from that photograph. That poor little girl.he couldn't shoot her.
But he could hit her.
He swung the gun and hit her with the handle. She fell sideways, and let Sarah go. Sarah slumped to the floor and coughed, as Rikishi had done. The terminator turned and glared at him. She stepped forward, a menacing look upon her face. Her eyes were dull, dead like a shark's. In a blur, she had grabbed him by the jaw and pinned him against the wall.
"You should have killed me," she growled.
Then she began to squeeze.
"AAAAAAAARGH!"
The pain was unbearable. She was being careful not to break his jaw...at least not yet, so it seemed. He screamed, the agony was horrid.
"Hey!"
Sarah was stooped on the floor, her hand wrapping around a large, serrated piece of glass. The terminator had not responded to Sarah, so she had stepped up behind her. Rikishi tried to hang on, watching as Sarah raised her hand, and plunged it downwards.
As Sarah stabbed her back, the machine barely seemed to flinch. But she did turn to grab Sarah with her left hand. As she did so, Sarah struck.
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
The bloodcurdling scream rang out as Sarah pinned the girl's hand to the wall, with the glass. Blood poured. With the distraction, the machine let Rikishi go, and he stumbled to Sarah's side. He felt his stomach clench, at the sight of the bloody mess that was the terminator's hand. He swore he could see the crackle of electricity about it.
Another horrid scream of agony sounded as the terminator gingerly pulled the glass shard out of her hand, and more blood splashed to the floor. She looked about with a pleading look in her eyes. Her eyes met Rikishi's, and he knew something was different. Before hand, they had seemed dead. But now they were bright and tears began forming in the blue orbs. She slumped to the floor, and hugged herself, huddled in the corner, sobbing.
Rikishi and Sarah exchanged looks. Sarah shrugged. Rikishi cautiously approached. The girl, with her head on her knees, continued to cry. Rikishi lowered and placed a hand on the soft skin of her shoulder. She glanced up at him fearfully. Then she realised the state of undress she was in, and huddled herself into the corner even more, trying to obscure her nakedness.
Rikishi lowered next to her. She choked back a sob as she felt his hand on her back.
"Leave me alone," she whispered.
He frowned. "What?"
"Just leave me alone!" she cried. "I don't know who you are, but just please...please leave me alone!"
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying? I seem to remember you attacking us?"
The girl lifted her head, blue eyes glittering, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What?"
Rikishi was just as confused as the girl. But Sarah had a knowing look upon her face. Sarah turned to one of the tables and picked up a clipboard. It was the one she had been reading from earlier. Sarah smiled nastily.
"Don't you know that you're a terminator, kid?"
The girl looked shocked. "T-terminator? That's...that's a robot. I'm not a robot. What are you saying?"
"You heard me," Sarah replied. "You are a terminator." The girl shook her head from side to side, in denial. Sarah sighed heavily and spoke again. "What's your name?"
The girl stopped shaking her head and opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped and looked confused.
Rikishi glanced at Sarah. She was flipping through the papers again. "Heh, no wonder you can't remember. It says that you're a SAINT T17/X. SAINT stands for 'Super Artificial Intelligent Neurone Transformer.'" She looked up and looked at Rikishi. "Neurone Transformer. She was a normal kid once. She's been 'upgraded'."
The girl was crying again. Sarah was fumbling around with the papers and stuff, stuffing them in her pockets. Rikishi knelt beside the girl. Now that she wasn't rampaging and strangling him, he felt the strong empathy return. He put an arm around her. She looked up at him, and seemed to relax as her eyes met his. She rested her head against his chest. It felt.right.like he had been in this situation before. He rubbed her back. She murmured something to herself that sounded something like "What's my name?"
"You know," he said, "'Joan Doe' is going to suck. Joan doesn't suit you. How about we call you Saint until we figure out who you are, huh?"
She glanced at him, unable to smile, but her eyes definitely looking bright and hopeful. Rikishi grinned. He turned to Sarah. "Don't you think? Saint's a pretty name."
Sarah glared at him. She was not happy. She fumbled with her pockets and then pulled her gun out. "You idiot. Get away from her."
"What?"
"You shit for brains. You know she's a terminator. This is probably some dumb act to get us to let our guard down." She took aim and the poor kid blanched. "We ought to kill her now, and get her out of the way."
"SARAH!" Rikishi snapped, leaping to his feet. "You can't- she's helpless!"
"Helpless my ass," Sarah replied. "Have you already forgotten that she was trying to kill you?"
Saint started crying again. She was a most pitiful thing to see- huddled on the floor, hugging herself, bleeding, and crying, staring up the barrel of Sarah's gun. She made a pleading sniffing noise, and Rikishi growled.
"She's scared!"
"So she should be. I'm gonna blow her head in."
Saint's eyes went wide, and she bit her lip. She stared up pleadingly, almost endearingly, at Sarah. But she ignored the girl, and took the gun off safety.
"Any last words?"
Saint's eyes rolled shut and she collapsed on the floor. Sarah lowered her weapon, a look of complete astonishment on her face. Rikishi leaned over and checked her over. She was out cold.
"Poor thing," he muttered. "She was terrified."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right, like a lion is scared of a kitten."
"You said so yourself, that she has no memory. She has no idea that she attacked us." He lifted her up, and then remembered that she was still naked. "Grab one of those lab coats that were left behind. We can't bring her back starkers."
"Bring her back?"
"Yes, bring her back!" Rikishi snapped. "You know, two of your friends died to get into this place, and even if my reasons for bringing her back are different, you need Saint. She's evidence to whatever it is that this bastards were doing down here. No go and get a lab coat."
Sarah sneered at him for a moment, but he was right. She stamped off sulkily for a second. Rikishi fondly touched Saint's cheek. She was such a pretty little thing, such a pitiful little girl. Sarah returned with a coat, which he promptly wrapped the girl in, then lifted the girl into his arms. He smiled inwardly. She was no where near as heavy as he expected.
They started to leave the lab, and went back into the lift. On the way up Sarah made a sighing noise.
"What?"
"We forgot about the terminators outside. What if they're still around? What if they've trashed the bikes?" Sarah said heavily.
"You didn't prepare for this?" Rikishi asked.
"Yes, I have a radio, so we can be picked up."
"Then I don't know why you're worried. We're safe in here, and if the bikes are trashed, we can wait in here." His voice was calm and patient and his tone seemed to reassure Sarah. Her face was etched with worry. He smiled at her. "We'll be okay, Sarah. I don't intend on dying out here."
When the lift halted, Rikishi moved towards the door. There was a small hatch through which he could see the outside world. He peered through and grimaced. "There are two unarmed terminators in the distance." he told Sarah. He paused. "YES! The bikes are still there!"
Sarah nodded. "I'll help you load the terminator onto your bike first. How quick do we need to be?"
Rikishi bit his lip. "We've got less then sixty seconds."
Sarah flung the door open. "Let's go!"
They rushed out of the door and Sarah lifted Rikishi's bike, and helped him on. He sat Saint in front of him, and pressed her close to his body so she wouldn't fall. The terminators saw them, and began to approach, but they were too slow. Sarah was on her own bike in seconds and before the tin-men knew what was happening, the two soldiers had sped off over the scraggy plain.
&&&***&&&***&&&***&&&***
The watchman had been expecting Lieutenant Takahashi and Captain Connor. They had not been expecting that they would have a hitch hiker. They gaped at the beautiful teenaged girl in the Lieutenant's arms. But as they approached to get a better look at her, Captain Connor pushed them back.
"Get medics and technicians down here, ASAP," she ordered. "Make sure they have armed escort. This woman is a new type of terminator. Get my son down here, too, I need to report this to him!" The men nodded and ran off to do Sarah's bidding, and seconds later, medics came to take Saint from Rikishi. He laid her down gently on the stretcher, and ran a hand through her corn silk hair. He touched one of the doctors, a handsome-looking Asian man, and said "Please look after her." The man smiled and nodded, but then they disappeared.
Rikishi turned and looked at Sarah, who had been staring at him. When their eyes met, she looked away, a guilty blush rising on her cheeks. He had hated the way she had came in, yelling out the danger, announcing Saint as a terminator straight away. And she knew that he had resented her for it. As she looked away, Rikishi felt his blood boil. He had already developed an attachment to Saint, a girl who didn't even know her own name. But he couldn't help but feel for her. He saw the way Sarah tried to avoid his gaze. What was she thinking, he wondered. Why did she look so guilty? Did she too, pity Saint, and now felt remorse for how she treated her?
Angrily, Rikishi scuffed his feet on the floor. He had seen a lot of scary shit. Fear is not something that can be faked that easily, he told himself. I saw her, her saw the terror and confusion in her eyes. She was genuinely scared. He lifted his head to see John come on, followed closely by T. It was hard to see, with the cyborg's shades, but Rikishi felt he had met T's gaze. Rikishi gave a solemn shrug and T looked away. John and Sarah were deeply engaged in conversation (no doubt John had plenty of questions to ask), but Rikishi didn't want to hear it. He walked up the corridor, following the path of the medics, hoping for some sense of peace in the white, empty halls.
He approached the room Saint had been carried into. An armed man stopped him.
"Can't I go in?" Rikishi asked him.
The man shook his head. "The doctors don't want loads of people in there. They're complaining about the guards in there already. But personally, if she wakes up and goes bananas, they'd be complaining more if there was no security."
Rikishi nodded. The guy was right. But he felt a little peeved. "You know, she's practically harmless."
"Who?"
"Saint. The terminator."
The man blinked. "'Saint'. I didn't think they came with names, only numbers. Well, I have no idea about these sort of things."
"She can't remember her name. So I gave her a new one," Rikishi said in a dreamy sort of voice, peering through the glass of the door. Saint was laid out on an operating table, while the doctors hovered over her, checking her. The guy made a small chuckling noise.
"She a softie like T, then?" he asked.
"I guess you could say that," Rikishi murmured. The doctors were injecting her. "Hey! What are they doing?"
The man looked over and put a hand on Rikishi's shoulder. "Chill, they're anaesthetising her. What if she wakes up? She could either be in a lot of pain, or whack out and attack everyone."
Rikishi calmed. "Sorry. I guess I'm protective of her. Look at her, she's so young..."
The man tilted his head. "I don't recognise you. What's your name?"
Rikishi looked at him. "I'm Lieutenant Rikishi Takahashi. I was only transferred here today."
The man smiled. "I hear you." He held out his hand, offering for a handshake. "Robert Harris. Friends call me Rumbo. Not entirely too sure why." Rikishi took his hand. Rumbo grinned. "Don't feel ashamed about the fact you feel for the kid." He jerked his thumb at Saint. "It's obvious that someone didn't. If she's harmless, like you said, she'll need someone like you, to help her through this."
Rikishi looked at this man in wonder. "You...you..."
Rumbo grinned. "I looked at you, and I knew you weren't scared of her, despite the way Sarah was acting around her. So I guessed that something's a little different about this terminator. Mind telling me what the deal is with her though?"
Rikishi turned away from the window and leaned heavily on the wall. "She's a neurone-transformer cyborg," he said. "She used to be human, but someone.someone did this to her." He felt his blood boiling again. "When she.came to her senses.she had no idea what was going on. And then she couldn't remember who she was. She has no memory."
Rumbo whistled. "Whoa."
Rikishi sighed. "She passed out. Sarah had a gun aimed at her, and the poor thing, she fainted. She had no idea why Sarah was attacking her. Or she knew at that moment in time was that she was naked, bleeding, hurt and huddled on the floor, staring up at a gun barrel. I would have probably fainted too." He rubbed his forehead. "Man.she's so beautiful.so scared.I just wanted to.to hold her.and look after her."
Rumbo smiled. "You've probably got a thing for her."
Rikishi laughed. "She's seventeen, we think! I'm twenty-four!"
Rumbo chuckled. "Not that bad an age gap. Or maybe you are just shy," he added slyly.
Rikishi blushed and nodded. "I am really loud in front of people most of the time. But when I see a pretty girl that I like, I do a one-eighty. It's weird."
Rumbo clapped a hand on Rikishi's shoulder in a hearty manner. "Don't be ashamed of the fact you like her. I saw her myself- she's a very beautiful young woman. And she's going to need someone who loves her to help her adjust to this world."
Rikishi smiled. Somehow, talking to this guard, he had achieved that sense of peace that he had been craving.
*** *** ***
So, now you've met the star-lady, Saint. And Rikishi has made a friend. Duh, you already know that cos you've just read it ^^;. I best shut up and carry on with the next chapter, ne? *starts typing furiously*
Thanks for the reviews so far, because even just a few have been encouraging ^-^.