Five
Cyber Six did not recall exactly how it was she'd ended up back in her darkened apartment. For the most part, she did not care.
The important things were still there- Meridiana was safe, and the man who would destroy it was gone. Even better than she'd hoped- she was still alive at the end of the day, something she hadn't expected at all when running towards that laboratory where all the trouble had started.
I can't believe it. I'm actually alive. Everyone is safe now.
In keeping with her mood, the sun was shining surreally bright over the bay, giving her home town an aura of peace, the calm after the storm. The scent of the bay, much like the smell of the streets after it rained, wafted through the window to where her form lay sprawled on the bed in ecstasy.
An insistent knock suddenly came from the door, and it took her a moment to compose herself, barely enough time to get her suit off and a grey T-shirt on, and throughout all of it, the knocking didn't cease its rhythm.
When she finally pried the door open, Lucas stood there in the hall, smiling warmly, with a new note of affection in him that she couldn't place. His golden hair seemed to fuse with the beautiful sunlight coming off the bay, somehow creating the sensation of warmth all over her body.
Realizing that she was gaping, and that her hair was halfway between hair norm and that of her alter ego, she tried to stammer out something that would explain it.
"Uh, hey Lucas! I-I'm just in the middle of-"
Without hesitating a moment more, her friend stepped into the room and felt her over passionately. In his gaze, she could tell that he'd learned the truth, probably from Lori.
"You're not angry after I kept it from you? After I convinced you she was mine?"
Still so warm, he radiated compassion and feeling for the one whom he'd stepped near the bed with. "No. I'm just so glad you're alright. After Lori told me, yeah, I was shocked. But I nearly broke down after seeing that explosion. I had to find you."
With that, she knew it was safe to drop all pretenses. A great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, one that had grown with the heightening of their emotions at every meeting. Someday he would have to find out, she knew, and now the revelation had been completed in as smooth a fashion as possible. He was taking it very well.
Not feeling afraid to drop onto the spring bed, Lucas stargazed at the ceiling in wonder and hope. "So he's gone? The guy who made that Island?"
She nodded in grim pleasure, mixed with the pleasure of finally coming clean with him. "Yes. Von Reichter is dead, but not by my hand. His other creations killed him after he offered me the freedom from Sustenance in exchange for joining him. But I would rather die."
Lucas took time to absorb all this new information spewing forth from her, and in the time it took for him to mull it over, her thoughts turned momentarily to harsher realities. Without Sustenance, without her creator, her days were numbered.
That was a tiny dark splotch amidst a garden of silver lining- she would not allow it to ruin her remaining days, days that were the closest thing to paradise for her as could be.
They still had their home, and they had each other. That was all that mattered.
Lord Marsden frowned slightly over his tea from heart of his study. "You're certain of this?"
Already regretting proposing this idea, but knowing that this was the only man that could do something about it, Grant unconsciously bowed to his host. "If the reward is ample, I'll do whatever it takes. I think it might be possible."
And yet, even his benefactor didn't really know what emotions Grant had glimpsed during his dive into the Cyber's mind. For the last day or so, it had driven him crazy, chipping away like a steadily dripping leak. He'd requested several times to repeat his performance, which only helped to maintain the illusion to her nervous system- as far as the Cyber's smell or taste or touch sense was concerned, she was hale, whole, and healthy. He'd drawn more and more memories from the subconscious mind, and now knew as much about the woman's battles against her creator as she did.
"In her time spent in Meridiana" Marsden suddenly asked, "did she ever suspect anyone else behind the happenings in that city besides Von Reichter?"
The tough old snake still had a few surprises left that Grant didn't know about despite all his talents, but it was only a matter of time until that was no longer the case.
Until then, they were on the same side. He smiled. "No. She held him responsible for every strange creature that showed up. I wouldn't call it obsession, but she certainly had one colossal hate for her maker... which is why I've come to you with this idea now. Whatever you wanted with your subject- which is none of my concern yet- it can't possibly be more appealing to you than having the only remaining Cyber in the world under your control!"
"IF you can pull that illusion off" the other man mused. "If not, I'm no worse off than I started. Go ahead with the next dream, but I want updates on what you're doing. I'll make whatever changes are needed to your plan. If it works, I'm going to make you a very rich man."
Both smiled, both with very different reasons to.
Names of cities, states and countries were meaningless to Data Seven. He only knew directions, and what direction Big Sis was in. That sense was accurate to a room, but its lack of definition made it frustrating for Lucas.
For one thing, he had no idea how far the trail would take him- across the sea, very possibly. They only had a finite time before the trail would go cold, and all hope of finding Cyber Six would be gone.
As a result, the pair was occasionally at odds aboard the cramped passenger car, with Data Seven annoyed at being treated like Lucas' exotic pet in front of the others. No one else had a black panther as a pet, and the only other feline aboard shrank into its petite cage in fear.
"It's going as fast as it can, buddy" Lucas assured his traveling companion quietly, ruffling his fur delicately, "and you might be able to go faster, but I can't. Look, you need someone to help you get over international waters. Once we get to the country she's in, you can go on by yourself if you have to- but remember that I'm on this trip too, okay?"
Seemingly satisfied by this for now, Data Seven ignored the faint trail of scent particle pointing in a completely different direction, and concentrated instead on the banging underneath them. Something must have come loose, Lucas had reasoned. They would repair it after the next stop in the countryside.
Despite everything, he was enjoying himself. The forests and ravines in this area were always pleasant to the eye, with few roads or buildings to spoil the view. This was quite close to the area where he and Adrian had taken a field trip once... and where Adrian had wound up injured, probably fighting another opponent who had wanted to kill the woman who Lucas hadn't known was Adrian's other self.
Stupid, again. Many memories of either person reminded him of the other, now that both were inseparably blended together in his mind. So much made too much sense- he'd never seen them together in person, and yet continued to try and learn more about the woman he loved through Adrian Siedelman, and never even guessed it until that fateful night.
Well, he decided, no more lies. They were one and the same, and he would just have to deal with that.
He was on the precipice of dozing off under the hazel sunlight when Data Seven suddenly sat up from under the seat and roared. He easily scared everyone else in the car, and caused the one sitting above him to tumble over, dazed.
"C'mon!" he scolded the panther warily. "I'm trying to get some sleep here. It's a long trip, why don't you-"
He only got that far before Data Seven bowled him over onto the floor once again. Even groggy as he was, Lucas could not mistake the sound of glass shattering, and at two different windows. Something had shot in and out of the car all in one motion, flying right where his head had been moments earlier.
Without pausing to check on him, the panther sniffed again and charged out the window opposite from Lucas.
"Excuse me" he muttered time and time again, trying to make his way to the back of the car in with something approaching a jog, ignoring the conductor. He could already hear the whistling of some sort of projectile from above, this time turned to Data Seven's destruction.
When his feet clanked out on the cab walkway, he climbed the ladder while crouched down to avoid any more of the blades that had shot through the car, ignoring the blisters he'd created on his hands as a result.
Not such a great idea. The wind created by the train's momentum made climbing anything extremely difficult. Well, difficult for him... Data Seven was standing on the far end of one of the train car roofs, snarling angrily at another who was able to withstand the incredible gusts with no problem whatsoever, his back turned to Lucas, unawares.
From behind, he looked human enough. Dark skin stretched over taut muscles along his narrow back, and his snow white hair flowed down the back like a voluminous cape, cut short at the neck. At his waist hung what looked like a vine, which harbored at least ten more of the knives that he'd used to assault the train car. It was those strange knives that Data Seven had detected, and was determined not to get a closer look than he already had.
Unable to move back down without making noise, Lucas watched in pained fascination as the train clattered past a tangle of trees and into open countryside, interrupted by only the occasional ridge or underbrush, and held his breath.
Only one of the two beings perched atop the roof would be getting off at the end of the line, and he would not dare to lay money either way.
M: I was just finishing this chapter when I remembered a character from a book I read once that is basically just like the type I thought up for the knife-wielding assassin- Raven from Snow Crash. Suffice it to say, the next chappie may be a bit late since I'll have to come up with a brand new background for him. That, plus College begins for me in just two more days... wish me luck.