Reviews :
Nikki Firesong : Thank you SO MUCH! Yes, we're VERY excited! I didn't think it'd change much, but WOW. It's a world of difference. It's gunna be so good, I can feel it :D and, thank you for the review and the support! I'm excited to finally get into the meat of this story. I'm trying to be VERY careful in how I go about all of this. It's fun!
Burgie : Thank you! And yes, I love Eighteen a lot. She's not a huge part of the story, but I definitely do appreciate her camaraderie she brings to the group. I should definitely draw a picture of her, shortly.
Snake557 : Thank you friend! And yes, poor girl got lost from her pack. You'll find out more about her later!
Song Listened To :
Eyes Shut by Pixl
Completing the Circle ft. Rachel Mellis - by Gareth Coker, Ori and the Blind Forest OST
*Chapter 121*
In darkened hours of a still bristling cold Sugar Rush evening, Turbo's hull of a code room was alive with activity. With the crisp feel of electricity certainly due to fogging the glass of his spherical code room, in which overlooked Orion City, Turbo's furrowed expression was buried deep in circuited work. With splays of holograms all about him, drop down indexes hovering at the ready, his able hands eagerly blipped between scans and chores. With one screen eagerly illuminating Sugar Rush's core, inner workings, another hovered still on the very little information that said severed protector arm could provide him, as well as the bubbled version of the arm itself patiently hanging in wait, Turbo couldn't help but anxiously allow his eyes to dart to the other flickering screen he had on display to his farther left, amongst the many; this one was streaming Berri's final concert, in Dance Dance, live. Turbo swallowed hard and, every chance that he was able to see Berri's figure on stage, was another reason to count a billion blessings that she was still alive.
Among the chaos, he had a bigger visual representation of his phone's screen also on display, a proper show of his and Throttle's text conversation. Although the two went back and forth casually, he was thrilled Throttle was inside Dance Dance with the band, so to properly keep an eye on them and make sure everything went smoothy, especially since Berri decided it was a good idea to tag along a former deleter to their traveling group. Turbo could feel his forehead begin to get sticky with the neverending gloss and fade of beads of sweat, as if this was now a constant epicenter of his anxiety, the whole fact that Berri was swimming out in the world was bad enough. Turbo furrowed his brow in a pang of unadulterated surprise the second Throttle sent Turbo a photo of him cozily snuggled next to Eighteen, backstage Archived Chaos' currently live show. Turbo grit his teeth in a further drawn out spike of terror and could hardly believe what he was even seeing, here.
Tee : She's really cuddly, kind of like Chester. She also purrs! I don't know, Bo, you may be overreacting.
Turbo slowly shook his head, heaved a shaky breath and gingerly cued the glowing red holographic keyboard, amidst the zillions of twinking lights Orion City proudly displayed past his peripheral view. In rapid fire, he shot Throttle back an angry, floored message of whole terror and continued to shake his head amidst the constant quip of an 'mm-mm' grunting noise.
Turbo : There's no way in hell I'm allowing that thing near me. One wrong move and you're deleted, Throttle, I'm seriously panicking so badly right now
Tee : Honest, Bo... She stayed with us for the past week, she's really friendly. Eighteen and Berri are fast friends and she's a nice stress reliever, especially after their shows. Her purr can put you to sleep instantly. She's like a giant, cuddly kitty.
Turbo : You can equate her to adorable, domestic animals all you want, Tee. Even if she IS seemingly harmless, she's a part of a bigger more dangerous brood, and who KNOWS who has tabs on her.
Tee : Berri exterior swapped with her the other day, I guess she went into Eighteen's memory files and saw a tall, dark figure. Indistinguishable.
Turbo huffed a loud, irritated noise, and upon a gentle back step, he viciously flagged his hands outwards in a haphazard show of entire irritation. With such flag of resistance, every single last holograph and screen of a proper, dazzling display immediately dissipated into confused, angry red pixels of fervor. Once the code room hummed said silent, neutral, stationary hum of pin-prickled readiness, Turbo urgently shoved his face into his palms and quickly realized, with the sheer amount of grime on his face and fingers, that he had been too anxious to shower, eat or properly sleep for days. The feeling of a proper, shaggy beard began to stubble his face in disarray, his golden eyes were muted in exhaustion, he peered his gaze down to his right and was sorrowful to see Chester, previously snoozing by his feet, now wide awake and poised in readiness. Although still curled on the ground in his lazy, dog-like spiral of comfort, his head, ears and blind eyes were held taught to Turbo in soft camaraderie. Turbo panted through his nose and urgently peered down to Chester in hot contemplation, and with a spike of adrenaline now bursting through him, he cued his hand outward in preparedness and felt his stomach dip in impending terror.
"Alright, Lash... If I know you well enough, I know you have something to do with this, you stupid bastard," Turbo's deep voice grumbled in irritation, his eyes fixated to the hurried spiral of holographic drop down indexes and confused blips of correction, Turbo furrowed his eyebrows into his crazed eyes and began to fumble through gamer files he was mildly unfamiliar with, due to not really coming down this path often; a forbidden path he had promised the King and Queen that he'd never traipse down. Turbo's growling, exhausted voice trailed on as he somehow felt as if he was slipping into a nightmare, his finger hovered over the very gamer's file he swore he'd never go nosing into, "If I can get to the bottom of this before that creature is brought into the game..."
Chester suddenly huffed a noise of gentle agitation as he very quickly got to his feet. Although he couldn't see what was going on, he flattened his ears, scurried to his bigger paws, tucked his wings tight to his being and began to nervously back step. As his ribcage gently tightened, he opened his fangs and softly, though urgently, uttered one of the only words he was confident in genuinely stating without much trouble.
"Turbo," Chester warned nervously, the depth of his voice had Turbo flinchingly glancing over his shoulder in a weird mix of tender delight and concern, though he furrowed his brow once more and urgently peered to his chore, at hand.
"It's fine, Chester, it's FINE," Turbo grunted in irritation, as if somehow getting closer and closer to Lash's coding was reverting him to the colder, hardened shell of a man he previously was, and as his near-crazed eyes dug tight into Lash's quivering, fragile little coded bubble of code room purgatory, something Tessa had so diligently shoved away for good, Turbo almost allowed a curious, devious smile sprawl his face as his finger pushed closer to the trembling 'open coding' button, patiently waiting for him to get this over with, "A-Alright, Lash... I-Imma let you out for JUST one second..."
Turbo gingerly lulled his eyes closed and did whatever he could to so daintily get his fingerprint sagged into the green-lit button of acceptance, just waiting to unleash Lash to the world, once more, though he was viciously jolted awake in a near blinding light of a burst, something that had his coding now held rigid in a death grip of paralysis. Turbo choked a noise as his dim code room suddenly illuminated with blinding white emergency lights, as if they were on a movie set and the house lights drew to a blinding power on at the end of a cut scene. Turbo choked a startled noise and pried his exhausted eyes open, and although it was previously just him and Chester in his darkened, sulking code room, he was floored to suddenly see Tessa's shorter stature suddenly gain height over him. The death grip of a lock her incredible silver circuits had on his exhausted, shaking figure forced him to kneel before her, the look in Tessa's eyes was that of entire authority and disappointment.
"Turbo Black, you mind telling me what the hell you think you're doing?" Tessa's stern voice glossed over Turbo like a boiling hot cup of coffee over his seemingly drunken adventures of grandeur, poised stoic above the entirety of the city, a quick slap to the face that was due to sober up even the delusional.
Turbo trembled in a rile of immediate regret, just what no sleep and pure, genuine exhaustion was now doing to him had him feeling the pit in his stomach morph into that of a black hole of dire urgency. He choked a noise of entire plea, and although Tessa's death grip, on his angry red coding, was beginning to ease up, he continued to sag deeper into a proper kneel of a grovel before his Queen. Turbo panted through his mouth in a gape of terror, and although it was collected, he was well aware he likely looked like an entire hot mess.
"You swore on your life that you wouldn't go nosing into Lash's coding, you want to take a second to explain yourself, Turbo?" Tessa barked in agitation, though it held that motherly bite of entire disappointment, a whole entire let down Turbo was well aware he only barely was able to redeem, from this stand point, simply a hair's length away from betraying the people he loved the most, Turbo allowed proper tears to well in his eyes, tears of entire remorse.
"Your Majesty," Turbo's trembling voice uttered, he shook his head and gingerly sagged his forehead to his code room tiles in a full bow of grovel, "I-I have no clue what came over me..."
"I'll tell you what came over you, the fact that you've been shelled away in this loft for DAYS," Tessa stabbed as she gestured out to Turbo's illuminated code room, and upon gentle realization, she held her hand out, cued Turbo's code box and immediately showered the code room with every single last one of Turbo's stats and vitals; she knew she shouldn't go nosing into private information, though due to Turbo's acting out, she furrowed her brows in concentration and was well aware she didn't have a choice, "Let's see... No reset for nearly four nights now, you've had approximately thirty two beers in this time span and almost four packs of cigarettes. The only proper meal you've had, if you can even call it that, was a bag of chips two hours ago."
Turbo trembled and could feel the weight of everything come over him, a swathe of pure exhaustion that only just came crumpling over him, and with the hot realization that Berri's mother was confidently standing over him in a show of entire authority, Sugar Rush's Queen, Turbo shut his eyes in dire remorse and knew he was doomed, here.
"If it weren't for all of these factors screwing with your judgement, Turbo, I'd have you thrown out of the branch of the royal family so quickly," Tessa urged dominantly as she pointed a finger down to Turbo's shaking figure, "Care to explain yourself, here? What the hell were you thinking, about to unbubble Lash like that? I'm grateful I got the warning signal before it was too late!"
"I-I just thought he might have information about the deleter Berri has now adopted," Turbo grunted, he dared to lift his head and gaze across his blinding code room, a blur of white beyond the peripheral of Tessa's bare feet, "I-I... I can't stand the thought of her bringing that thing into Sugar Rush."
"So, you'd rather unbubble Sugar Rush's greatest threat without consulting anyone about it first?" Tessa urged in dark irritation, and although she was making a point with Turbo remaining knelt and grovelled before her, she heaved a short sigh through her nose and got down to her knee, alongside Turbo. In a firm show of tough love, Tessa firmly gripped Turbo's shoulder and made him sit up, so she could get a good look into his eyes, "Turbo, what the hell happened to communicating? I understand how badly you want to unbubble Lash, and get information, but... You KNOW this is not how you get your way... This isn't how you get your ideas across, or get anyone on board, what the hell has gotten into you?!"
"I don't know, I don't know," Turbo blurt in a stagger of pure, divine exhaustion that now made itself very clear, "I-I have so much going on, through my brain... That stupid boy-band idiot just... Has everything that I want. I just... Feel as if I have nothing and EVERYTHING to lose."
"What is this all about?" Tessa urged nervously as the two finally locked eyes, and it was here did Turbo finally soften out of the rile of entire emotions he was now drowning in.
Turbo furrowed his brow and peered his teary eyes tight into Tessa's caring hazel orbs. The bright light illuminated her features, the tender look of authoritative concern that hung tight to her face assured Turbo that she was here to help, as if an angel to come properly assure him his wrongs could be reversed. He aimlessly peered about her gentle features, the wave of her long auburn hair, the comfortable green t-shirt and black sweats she was in, Turbo lulled his eyes closed and understood he had massively disrupted a likely quiet night inside, had previously been preparing for bed and readying themselves for another normal day to come. Turbo heaved a raspy sigh and collected his thoughts, he shook his head and felt as if he was now running on fumes.
"I just... Want to do something so grand, something that will really hook people's attention," Turbo's weakened voice eased in sorrow, he almost hung his head as Tessa's now softer, loving presence sagged into his, she fully understood that this wasn't simply a rebellious act, but a blindsided act leeching off of his pure exhaustion, "I wanted to get answers, I want... I want people to see me as a good guy, as a... Saving grace."
Tessa side-eyed him in cheeky, girly understanding, and as her larger hand lovingly gripped the girth of his broad, strong shoulder, she eased a tender giggle and tucked her messy hair behind her right ear as she warmly allowed non-verbal silence between them. She was entirely aware Turbo wasn't looking to impress the world, a mask of trying to cover his feelings for Berri was now unravelling and he knew it. A poor, uneducated job at trying to cover it all up, Tessa heaved a soft sigh of relief through her nose, looked off to the vast, twinkling city beyond his illuminated code room and felt her terrified veins wiggle with a sag of casual relief.
"You know Berri already sees you as a good guy... You know you already have her camaraderie," Tessa's warm, motherly voice soaked into Turbo's shivering soul, "You won't gain it by messily unbubbling someone you suspect MIGHT have answers."
"He has answers," Turbo darkly muttered, although still hovered in defeat.
"Well, then, if Lash DOES have answers, what in Sugar Rush's wild blue makes you believe he'll give YOU those answers?" Tessa instructed patiently, and as Turbo's shoulders sagged, Tessa was well aware Turbo likely hadn't even thought this far ahead, in his brilliant plan, "You betrayed him, Turbo... You stole the code room back from him, and gave it right to my mother... You and I both know that's something Lash is never going to forget."
Turbo felt his skin grow cold, his muted yellow eyes shakily lofted across his vivid white code room, straight to the gingerly lofted little code room bubble he had nearly ripped wide open. Lash's trembling, grey bubble, which hovered in frozen code room purgatory, almost screamed a deafening plea to unbubble him, to remind him where loyalties lay, to pray that Turbo would jump back into his corner and take the reigns once more, though as Turbo's eyes gingerly sagged to Tessa's gaze, he felt his darkened world gingerly lift with color. The way Tessa's familiar eyes pleadingly peered into his, the vividness of the golden flecks in her sincere gaze, the authentic aura she radiated, Turbo felt Berri's presence in this instance and tried his hardest to ease back a swathe of emotion that wanted to swallow him whole, a wave ridden on true, pristine exhaustion. Turbo heaved a shaky sigh and allowed Tessa's reasoning to gloss him.
"You're going to do extraordinary things, Turbo," Tessa almost whispered, the sincerity in her voice was palpable, she shook her head and leaned in a little closer, the narrow of her sweet gaze assured to him that she likely was the mother figure every single person needed, in their lives. He soaked in her presence and understood, in this raw instance, just what it was like to have a mother. Turbo felt his veins wiggle in the newfound feeling of truth that Tessa lofted in his direction, she squeezed Turbo's shoulder and pressed on in great warmth, "It doesn't matter what your past looks like... It doesn't matter what challenges lay before you. You're going to do great things..."
"... I almost made a massive mistake," Turbo mumbled in pure regret, to which Tessa bobbed a nod and heaved a shaky sigh.
"Turbo, if this is going to be a regular thing, we might need to dumb down some of the rights you have, inside the code room," Tessa warned tenderly, and although she gave Turbo a nervous look of authority, she almost seemed as if this was news she didn't want to deliver, "If you're going to let yourself slip into this dark of a void, this much of a downward spiral, maybe... Maybe you should take some time off."
"Your Majesty," Turbo agreed in whole entire defeat, and even though he wanted to desperately argue, he figured he didn't have a say; he felt hope come back to his circuits the second Tessa tilted her head in understanding, an even ground the two were on.
"I don't want to take work away from you, if that's only going to make matters worse," Tessa pressed in nervous curiosity, "Zed and I need to know we can trust you, here, Turbo... You've done nothing but made us proud for the almost year and half you've been in charge of this sector of the code room. I can see, here, this was just an extreme lapse in judgement, due to not properly taking care of yourself."
"You've given me enough days off, and a world of patience," Turbo's exhausted voice grumbled as Chester finally began to bravely saunter over to the two, "I just... Have so much on my mind, I just let myself go. It's not like me..."
"It's not," Tessa agreed nervously, she bobbed a nod and glanced to Chester's bumbling, slow-approaching presence, "Take the next day, or two, off... Catch up on sleep, take a shower, have a good meal. Berri will be home tomorrow evening, and... Maybe all of us can reconvene then."
"... I don't want that dreaded creature to be there," Turbo worried in boyish defeat, though Tessa shook her head and eased a small giggle.
"Do you trust Berri?" Tessa pressed cheekily, and though Turbo looked as if he was ready to go to war for Berri, he knew just what Tessa was insinuating, here; he sighed a long sigh, through his nose, and lulled his eyes in defeat.
"Yes, ma'am," Turbo croaked, to which Tessa shrugged.
"Then, we have to understand that Eighteen is important to Berri, now," Tessa assured nervously, "Trust me... Zed and I are pretty on edge about it, as well, but... Berri's a lot sharper than any of us give her credit for. If she thought this wasn't a wise thing to be doing, she wouldn't be doing it. Let's just... All get some rest, and after you've properly taken time to care for YOURSELF, then we can reconvene and take the steps to solving JUST what is going on."
"Okay," Turbo huffed in tender defeat, though Tessa could see the sheer relief in his demeanor, as if he maybe needed someone to instruct him to go do the daily, self care routines that were normal on a daily basis.
"You can't pour from an empty cup, Turbo," Tessa gingerly concluded, "My father always told me to look out for number one..."
"Whose that?" Turbo's deep voice warmly asked, to which Tessa gave him a coy smile and gingerly tapped her larger finger into the broad of Turbo's chest.
"Yourself."
