(A/N) I have stuff to say, but I'll save it for the end author's note. In the meantime, I'll just type the disclaimer.
Disclaimer - This story was written with AI Dungeon just for fun, meaning that some stuff was written by me and others were written by the AI. This results in OOC moments, especially in James' case, and chaotic energy in general. It's also why my writing style is different since this is mostly AI generated.
I also do not own these franchises or their characters. Silent Hill belongs to KONAMI, Resident Evil belongs to CAPCOM, and Final Fantasy IX and NieR:Automata belong to SQUARE ENIX.
Chapter 11: Hijinks!
James opened his eyes. He was still in that weird storage room. His vision was blurry and it was clear he didn't have the blindfold on anymore since there was no interface.
He was lying down on the ground, his shoulder still hurting from the bullet wound.
Remembering how he got into this mess, he panicked. Was 9S okay?!
His question was answered when the boy appeared above him, now wearing his blindfold again. He didn't look harmed.
"James, stay still" 9S advised calmly, as he continued to bandage James' wound.
James did as he was told.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
9S looked down.
"You're bleeding," the boy pointed out, frowning. "Relax and let me sort it out."
James watched as 9S took a small medical kit from his bag and began inspecting James' wound.
James sighed in relief.
"There's no exit wound so the bullet is still in there," 9S stated. "Brace yourself," he told him as he removed the bullet and applied pressure to James' wound. "You'll be okay."
James took deep breaths to calm himself down.
"What... happened?" James asked. "There were men here, right? Where are they?"
9S gave James a look.
"Shut up."
James fell silent.
"Okay," 9S said, still inspecting James' wound. "I need to get this fixed up."
James sighed.
"It needs closing with stitches, but before that it needs some antiseptic," 9S looked at James sympathetically. "It's going to hurt, but I need you to be brave."
James grit his teeth.
"Okay," 9S said.
James closed his eyes.
"One... Two..."
James forced himself to count to 3, before he opened his eyes.
"Three," he squeaked, wincing.
James grit his teeth and clenched his fists. 9S grabbed a bottle of antiseptic from his kit and held it to James' wound.
James winced, but clenched his teeth.
"Hold still," 9S said.
James did as he was told, gritting his teeth.
"I need to stitch this closed," 9S said, before frowning. "I don't have... thread."
James looked around and spotted a piece of thick rope on the floor.
"Use this," James said.
James took the rope in his hands and groaned.
"Stop moving!" 9S exclaimed, before shaking his head. "I need thin thread, James, not rope." He sat in thought for a moment. "Oh, we are in a storage area within a pharmaceutical company, maybe there's thread in one of the boxes."
He got up and went over to the boxes, inspecting them. "No, all of these are sealed. Wait, there's thread at the back of the room."
James passed out as he heard 9S go further into the room for the thread.
He woke up to the boy shaking him.
"James," he said with a smile. "Your wound has been taken care of."
James groaned.
"Come on, we need to get moving," 9S advised. "There's a staircase right down the hall, we can get out of here." He rummaged through his small bag. "I also have the sample, so we need to be quick."
He held up a vial with a dark red liquid in it.
James' eyes widened. "Is that...?"
"Yeah, it's that 'V-Virus' those men were talking about," 9S nodded. "The thing that can turn people into vampires and the thing I can use to hopefully make a vaccine."
James stared at the vial.
"This is just a blood sample," James said. "You don't need all of it."
9S shook his head. "Like I just said, it's a sample of the virus Zidane has been infected with. We need to bring it back so I can make a vaccine," he stated.
James stood up. "Let's go."
James and 9S left the storage area. James was still thinking about the vial when he spotted a staircase.
"There it is." James pointed. "Let's go."
James and 9S entered the staircase and James began counting steps.
"One... Two... Three..." James said, ready to leap onto the next stair.
"Come on, James, we don't have time for this," 9S said.
James glanced up at him, before pausing. "What?"
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not against having fun, but there is a time and a place," 9S elaborated.
James paused, before deciding to climb the rest of the steps. He reached the top stair and glanced around. "Let's just go."
James and 9S went down the hall. James noticed a door in the distance as they began walking.
"Do you know what's in there?" James asked.
9S shrugged. "No."
James approached the door and read the placard. "Lab coat storage room." James nodded. "Let's go."
James and 9S entered the room. James paused, taken aback. The door had been propped open, and two men were bending over a table, inspecting it. They looked up at James, giving him a mixture of shock and anger.
"Whoa!" one of them said, putting up his hands.
James and 9S went over to the table.
"What are you two doing here?" one of the men asked.
James answered, "We were taking a sample of whatever you're working on over here to the other side of the building for testing."
"Sorry, but you are not allowed in here," the man replied.
"Funnily enough, we're done for the day anyway," 9S told them. "We were on our way out."
The man narrowed his gaze. "What?" he asked.
"Zidane was bit by a rabid bat." James grinned.
"Who?" the man asked. "And what about a bat?"
"It doesn't matter, we're leaving," James said. "But before we go, you need to give us that sample."
James held out his hand.
9S glanced at James in confusion, gesturing towards his bag.
Oh, they already had the sample... there was still saving this.
"Do you two even work here?" the man eyed the pair suspiciously.
Shit...
"Show us your ID badges," the man asked, holding his hand out.
James began sweating bullets. What could he say?
"Well... you see -"
"What's that on your screen?" 9S pointed to the back of the room, where there was a notification of a system breach. "That doesn't look good."
"What the hell?" the two men ran to the computer in a panic.
"Come on!" 9S whispered, grabbing James' arm and bolting out of the room.
"Why would you do that?" James asked.
"Do what?" 9S asked.
James pointed towards the door. "Why would you leave before we got the sample?"
9S placed his hands over his face and groaned. "We already have it. What you just did raised suspicion."
James stared in shock. "But..."
"Exactly," 9S sighed, allowing his hands to fall to his sides. "You can't think of a counter argument because you don't have one. You need to focus, James." 9S turned and began to walk away. "Come on, they could call security any moment."
James looked down at the ground and, with a sigh, he followed.
James and 9S ran down the stairs, eventually leaving the building. As they ran out of the city limits, James glanced at 9S.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked.
"I was thinking we were in danger, and we needed to get out of there," 9S replied.
James looked over at his friend. "Not like this."
"Like what?"
James paused. "I don't know. Not like that."
"I wasn't aware I had a choice in this matter." 9S folded his arms, his mouth a line. "It was either I acted, or we got captured... again!"
James reached over and placed his hand on 9S' shoulder. "We got out of there. That's all that matters."
"Right," 9S said. "Let's go home."
James grinned. "Yeah... home."
The AI began to fall apart at the end of the chapter.
I want to start moving the plot in a more linear direction, but I guess I'll try to start next chapter.
Speaking of next chapter, I don't know when that will be since things are kicking off in my real life right now. As a result, I feel mentally drained and my creative flow is stuck. This applies to my other ongoing stories too, especially ones where I write alone and have events planned out, like "We're in Hell" and "Project Zero," but that's mainly because I don't have access to their planning sheets right now.
This one may get updated when I feel like it, since I only need AI Dungeon to work and for myself to be in a creative mindset. My other works are on a hiatus for now until I can get my planning sheets for them and I'm in a more stable situation.
Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest areas of improvement, which I guess is the same as the first sentence. R&R and thanks for reading!
