Title: Take A Look In The Mirror
Rating: PG-13 (robotic violence, suicide, self-mutilation, some profanity)
Summary: Exactly 18 years after a terrible accident occurs in Cyberspace, the Cybersquad reflect on the events on that day and the years afterwards...
TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR
By Final Fantasy
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Cyberchase!
Chapter 2: Denied
The metallic sound of my fists against the door resounded through the near- empty room. I had pounded it in frustration and anger...why did it have to end this way? Why did I have to die?
My antennae sparked faintly as I caught the sound of voices, coming down the hallway. I could hear their footsteps sounding out their beat...I could hear their muttering as clearly as if I were there with them...they sounded alive, so alive. It was a change to what I was used to. Throwing myself against the heavy metal door, my fingers causing deep furrows in the steel, I screamed. I screamed as loudly as I could.
"Help me! HELP ME!...Oh God, please just help me..." My voice died down to a cracked whisper as I slumped against the door, hearing the footsteps fade away to nothing. Maybe it had been a figment of my imagination. It was probable, since this door had been locked for – what was it now? – 5 years. Ever since the CBI had come and cleared out the old torture chambers. I had been locked in here, and no one knew...my food had run out five days ago.
As I slammed my fists against the door once more, I felt them crack horribly. Drawing them back with a gasp of pain, I surveyed the black-red blood beginning to pour from the inch-long cracks in each. It hurt like hell. Nearly all of my other limbs had gone that way; I had endured pain for so long.
With my last desperate onslaught, the door had begun to groan, though I had not noticed this, and with a loud screech of metal against metal, it slowly toppled over and landed with a bang on the stone floor outside. The lock had rusted at last.
I attempted to get up, but my legs gave way beneath me and I fell to the floor once more. They no longer worked properly; I hadn't been maintained for so long...so very long...My shirt, rent and torn in too many places, was practically falling off of me, and was soaked with the blood, sweat and tears of the ordeal I had been living through...barely. And not only that, I had also witnessed the death of the one being who I had loved. Not brotherly love. The other type of love...she had destroyed my creator, The Hacker, with her bare hands. I had enjoyed the sight of him screaming in pain; it was a bloodthirsty thought. But to see my love fall to the dirty floor, dying even as she fell, to see her suffer like that, was enough to send me spinning into emotional torment for many days. I'll tell you what happened, when Inez died...
...FLASHBACK...
The eleven-year-old boy leaned on the dead girl's body. I could see him shaking with suppressed sadness; it was horrible to see both him and her like that. Hacker, who had killed Jackie, was standing near Matt, close to laughing. He was actually grinning at the heartbreaking scene before us all! I felt a flash of anger rise up in my mind as I watched him; in that moment, I decided it was time, and released Inez, who I had been keeping prisoner.
Unexpectedly, and with a scream of rage, the girl leaped forward, straight at Hacker. I moved to stop her, but I was too late...she snatched up the knife from where it lay and brought it down in the chest of the green cyborg, causing him to topple backwards, onto the floor, with a yell of pain.
Inez, tears falling from behind her glasses, knelt and put one boot on Hacker's stomach, and grasped the knife handle with her delicate hand. With as much strength as she could muster, it looked, she pushed the blade down and around in a circle, flicking the knife so a huge chunk of Hacker's flesh was ripped out and thrown behind her. The cyborg was hardly daring to breathe; he was watching her fearfully, though he made no sign that he felt pain.
Suddenly, the Latino came to his central memory cover. Inserting the blade under the cover and flipping it up, she let it fall to the floor with a metallic clatter. As she looked deep into his eyes, gripping the wires that kept him running, she hissed something I only just caught. "Now the joke's on you, Hacker..." And with those last words, she pulled up with both hands, snapping the wires in her grasp.
A blast of electricity jolted into her, and she dropped to the floor, still holding the broken and trailing wires in one hand. There was a shower of sparks as electricity continued to pour itself into Inez's jerking body, giving her a halo of bright blue. Then, with a loud bang that made the remainders of us jump, Hacker had frozen, a look of extreme horror on his face. Inez fell still, and silence reigned, with only the steady drip-drip- drip of blood still pouring from Jackie's prone form.
Giving a loud gasp, I found I could move, and stumbled over to Inez's still body. Fear made my limbs difficult to stir; I reached her at last, falling to my knees, terribly aware of the fact that tears were threatening to overflow. Time seemed to stop as I stared down at her paper-white face, hoping, praying...it was then that she twitched, and shifted her head slightly to look at me. Her lovely eyes seemed to look straight into my soul...then, my lips longing for her touch, I leaned down and gently kissed her, wanting to express all the love I had for her, and unable to in that sweet, fleeting moment...yet I think she knew. I think she always knew. And it was that knowledge that kept her alive for that single second.
As soon as I drew away from her, she shuddered, and finally went limp, her eyes going awfully, horribly blank. Her hand went cold in mine; I didn't even realize I was holding it until then. With a sigh, I gently closed her eyes with a shaking hand, and laid hers down at her side, getting to my feet and gazing down at her. Even in death, she was beautiful.
...END FLASHBACK...
With a defeated sigh, I slumped to the cold floor again, muscles protesting, and began to drag myself forward, one thing firmly fixed in my mind. Had to get to the torture chamber. Had to get there...
Every movement was torture itself, but I ignored it and struggled on. The thought of Inez was enough to keep me going...my strength was running out fast. I gasped for breath, the cracks in my broken body wet with fresh blood. It was smeared on the stones as I dragged myself ever forwards, staining them black-red, making them slippery and hard to grip. My knuckles, scraped and bloody, were white through the layers of dirt, but I pressed on.
Grip. Drag. Rest. Grip Drag. Rest. It became a pattern in my mind, as I automatically moved through them all. The blood continued to flow. The cracks continued to enlarge, spreading across my body in a network, a spider's web that would never be washed away by the cooling rain. My mind continued to grow weaker by the minute.
But somehow, I got there. I saw the chamber up ahead, and dragged myself over the threshold, wondering vaguely if it would still be there. For once, my luck seemed to work for me, and I caught the deadly glitter of a knife, lying in a patch of moss, half-covered by the green plant. With trembling fingers, I clutched at the cold hilt, pulling it towards me with an effort. I tested the blade with one finger, propped up on my elbows. A bead of blood formed at the tip of the finger, and began to slide down to my palm.
Still sharp.
Setting the knife on its hilt and holding it with a pale hand, feeling the icy coolness of the deathly beautiful blade, I positioned myself so my chest was above the still-gleaming steel. Then I let it all go...let my mind wander...let my limbs go limp...
As I slumped to the floor, the blade sliced through the thin steel of my chest and embedded itself in my central memory. The first crackles of electricity sounded in my ears, and my antennae sparked for the last time...already, I could feel myself slipping, slipping into the all-consuming death.
Nothing mattered anymore. It was better to end my life now, than continue suffering like this. Buzz had been taken by the CBI, was probably dead by now. My creator was murdered. My only love had ended her life. Jackie...she was dead. Matt had gone, to where I didn't know. What was the point? All hope had left me alone and shivering in the dark.
The last faint sparks fell to the floor and were immediately extinguished...I heard the faint, godly sound of my system shutting down for a final time. I had fulfilled my part in that long story of the Cybersquad which was but a flash of silver in the stream of time. I took in my last breath, and let it out slowly...My vision flickered, until, at long, long last, the darkness came.
Maybe beyond the barrier of life was something more for me. I rose to greet it.
Rating: PG-13 (robotic violence, suicide, self-mutilation, some profanity)
Summary: Exactly 18 years after a terrible accident occurs in Cyberspace, the Cybersquad reflect on the events on that day and the years afterwards...
TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR
By Final Fantasy
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Cyberchase!
Chapter 2: Denied
The metallic sound of my fists against the door resounded through the near- empty room. I had pounded it in frustration and anger...why did it have to end this way? Why did I have to die?
My antennae sparked faintly as I caught the sound of voices, coming down the hallway. I could hear their footsteps sounding out their beat...I could hear their muttering as clearly as if I were there with them...they sounded alive, so alive. It was a change to what I was used to. Throwing myself against the heavy metal door, my fingers causing deep furrows in the steel, I screamed. I screamed as loudly as I could.
"Help me! HELP ME!...Oh God, please just help me..." My voice died down to a cracked whisper as I slumped against the door, hearing the footsteps fade away to nothing. Maybe it had been a figment of my imagination. It was probable, since this door had been locked for – what was it now? – 5 years. Ever since the CBI had come and cleared out the old torture chambers. I had been locked in here, and no one knew...my food had run out five days ago.
As I slammed my fists against the door once more, I felt them crack horribly. Drawing them back with a gasp of pain, I surveyed the black-red blood beginning to pour from the inch-long cracks in each. It hurt like hell. Nearly all of my other limbs had gone that way; I had endured pain for so long.
With my last desperate onslaught, the door had begun to groan, though I had not noticed this, and with a loud screech of metal against metal, it slowly toppled over and landed with a bang on the stone floor outside. The lock had rusted at last.
I attempted to get up, but my legs gave way beneath me and I fell to the floor once more. They no longer worked properly; I hadn't been maintained for so long...so very long...My shirt, rent and torn in too many places, was practically falling off of me, and was soaked with the blood, sweat and tears of the ordeal I had been living through...barely. And not only that, I had also witnessed the death of the one being who I had loved. Not brotherly love. The other type of love...she had destroyed my creator, The Hacker, with her bare hands. I had enjoyed the sight of him screaming in pain; it was a bloodthirsty thought. But to see my love fall to the dirty floor, dying even as she fell, to see her suffer like that, was enough to send me spinning into emotional torment for many days. I'll tell you what happened, when Inez died...
...FLASHBACK...
The eleven-year-old boy leaned on the dead girl's body. I could see him shaking with suppressed sadness; it was horrible to see both him and her like that. Hacker, who had killed Jackie, was standing near Matt, close to laughing. He was actually grinning at the heartbreaking scene before us all! I felt a flash of anger rise up in my mind as I watched him; in that moment, I decided it was time, and released Inez, who I had been keeping prisoner.
Unexpectedly, and with a scream of rage, the girl leaped forward, straight at Hacker. I moved to stop her, but I was too late...she snatched up the knife from where it lay and brought it down in the chest of the green cyborg, causing him to topple backwards, onto the floor, with a yell of pain.
Inez, tears falling from behind her glasses, knelt and put one boot on Hacker's stomach, and grasped the knife handle with her delicate hand. With as much strength as she could muster, it looked, she pushed the blade down and around in a circle, flicking the knife so a huge chunk of Hacker's flesh was ripped out and thrown behind her. The cyborg was hardly daring to breathe; he was watching her fearfully, though he made no sign that he felt pain.
Suddenly, the Latino came to his central memory cover. Inserting the blade under the cover and flipping it up, she let it fall to the floor with a metallic clatter. As she looked deep into his eyes, gripping the wires that kept him running, she hissed something I only just caught. "Now the joke's on you, Hacker..." And with those last words, she pulled up with both hands, snapping the wires in her grasp.
A blast of electricity jolted into her, and she dropped to the floor, still holding the broken and trailing wires in one hand. There was a shower of sparks as electricity continued to pour itself into Inez's jerking body, giving her a halo of bright blue. Then, with a loud bang that made the remainders of us jump, Hacker had frozen, a look of extreme horror on his face. Inez fell still, and silence reigned, with only the steady drip-drip- drip of blood still pouring from Jackie's prone form.
Giving a loud gasp, I found I could move, and stumbled over to Inez's still body. Fear made my limbs difficult to stir; I reached her at last, falling to my knees, terribly aware of the fact that tears were threatening to overflow. Time seemed to stop as I stared down at her paper-white face, hoping, praying...it was then that she twitched, and shifted her head slightly to look at me. Her lovely eyes seemed to look straight into my soul...then, my lips longing for her touch, I leaned down and gently kissed her, wanting to express all the love I had for her, and unable to in that sweet, fleeting moment...yet I think she knew. I think she always knew. And it was that knowledge that kept her alive for that single second.
As soon as I drew away from her, she shuddered, and finally went limp, her eyes going awfully, horribly blank. Her hand went cold in mine; I didn't even realize I was holding it until then. With a sigh, I gently closed her eyes with a shaking hand, and laid hers down at her side, getting to my feet and gazing down at her. Even in death, she was beautiful.
...END FLASHBACK...
With a defeated sigh, I slumped to the cold floor again, muscles protesting, and began to drag myself forward, one thing firmly fixed in my mind. Had to get to the torture chamber. Had to get there...
Every movement was torture itself, but I ignored it and struggled on. The thought of Inez was enough to keep me going...my strength was running out fast. I gasped for breath, the cracks in my broken body wet with fresh blood. It was smeared on the stones as I dragged myself ever forwards, staining them black-red, making them slippery and hard to grip. My knuckles, scraped and bloody, were white through the layers of dirt, but I pressed on.
Grip. Drag. Rest. Grip Drag. Rest. It became a pattern in my mind, as I automatically moved through them all. The blood continued to flow. The cracks continued to enlarge, spreading across my body in a network, a spider's web that would never be washed away by the cooling rain. My mind continued to grow weaker by the minute.
But somehow, I got there. I saw the chamber up ahead, and dragged myself over the threshold, wondering vaguely if it would still be there. For once, my luck seemed to work for me, and I caught the deadly glitter of a knife, lying in a patch of moss, half-covered by the green plant. With trembling fingers, I clutched at the cold hilt, pulling it towards me with an effort. I tested the blade with one finger, propped up on my elbows. A bead of blood formed at the tip of the finger, and began to slide down to my palm.
Still sharp.
Setting the knife on its hilt and holding it with a pale hand, feeling the icy coolness of the deathly beautiful blade, I positioned myself so my chest was above the still-gleaming steel. Then I let it all go...let my mind wander...let my limbs go limp...
As I slumped to the floor, the blade sliced through the thin steel of my chest and embedded itself in my central memory. The first crackles of electricity sounded in my ears, and my antennae sparked for the last time...already, I could feel myself slipping, slipping into the all-consuming death.
Nothing mattered anymore. It was better to end my life now, than continue suffering like this. Buzz had been taken by the CBI, was probably dead by now. My creator was murdered. My only love had ended her life. Jackie...she was dead. Matt had gone, to where I didn't know. What was the point? All hope had left me alone and shivering in the dark.
The last faint sparks fell to the floor and were immediately extinguished...I heard the faint, godly sound of my system shutting down for a final time. I had fulfilled my part in that long story of the Cybersquad which was but a flash of silver in the stream of time. I took in my last breath, and let it out slowly...My vision flickered, until, at long, long last, the darkness came.
Maybe beyond the barrier of life was something more for me. I rose to greet it.