"Ahh..", "Sorry sorry!" Elliot apologizes to Wraith while attending her wound. "I... I used to fight with them. The I.M.C." Elliot stopped wrapping up her arm while slowly reaching down for his weapon. "I'm running away... from all of this. I didn't sign up for what they are doing, I swear. I used to work for Investigation and Extraction teams. But, after I saw what they really were... I realized I was wrong. Everything was. They took noticed of this, and decided to use me for, experiments of sorts. In one of them, everything went wrong. I got these... abilities. But my memories went a bit hazy. Right now, you guys are the first one that I meet after so long... or that's what my memory says." Elliot and Pathfinder stood there for a second, looking at each other in disbelief. "So let me guess. You are now looking for your, well, past. You and Pathfinder are not that different from each other. He's actually looking for his, 'creator'." "That's right!", Pathfinder says jumping in. "You don't happen to know my creator, do you friend?" "No," said Wraith, "sorry." A sad face appeared in his chest monitor and he went back in his seat. "Wraith... listen. It's, been years since I went back home. With, my mother."
"My brothers. I... they were, fighting too... I lost them... I don't know if they are still alive, or... dead. But atleast, please, let me go to my mother. And then I can help you get a ride so you can keep searching. Maybe some money, and clothes too. Can't use that suit without drawing attention-" "Sure," said Wraith, "and I'm sorry for that." Surprised, Elliot said, "W-wait, you serious?" Wraith said "I mean yeah. It's not like I got nowhere else to go." Elliot and Pathfinder look at each other in sympathy. "So... what are you two going to do, after... all of this?" Wraith asked. "Well, since we now can't come back because they're probably looking for us, I need to find a better job. Not only for me, but for mom too. It's been a dream of mine for some time to join the Apex games. It's in a private planet in some place called King's something." "King's Canyon..." "Pretty well known amongst some mercenaries. Pathfinder's joining too, hoping to find his creator wait what did you say?" Wraith shook her head, "King's Canyon..." The voice quickly says "It's there. It has to be."
"Oh you know the place?" asks Elliot. "Yeah... I think it's were I first enlisted, during the war." Pathfinder approaches them both. "Friend, according to my database, the I.M.C. outpost and recruitment facility located at the Outlands has been lost during the war and it's integrity is unclear. But not to worry, friend. I can track it down for you in no time. Ofcourse, if you're interested..." "Wraith..." the voice said, "these games... if you manage to get in. If their systems are still up, we can search ourselves there." Wraith just sat there, thinking. This was the real deal. Blood games, entertainment for many, death for a few. However, she was different. She was, "gifted". Could alternate realities serve her once again? There was only one way to find out. "Ok. I'll go." "Great!", Elliot said surprised yet content. "We have a squad now. That was, quick." "Hey you're heading home right?" Wraith asked while checking the monitors on the front. "Right, let me set it up for you..."
Elliot inputed coordinates in the monitor. After that the pod began maneuvering as if correcting its angle. Then the engines ignited and the pod took off into what seemed nothingness.
"You just shot 3 million dollars of research, and then let it escape."
"You know how important she is, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"We've been using spectre technology on droids. She is the first successful human being for the project... you know what you have to do. Think it as a way of reedeming yourself, and saving your head from a bullet, Williams."
"Yes, sir. Consider it done."
They stayed in the small confinement for it seemed hours, sustaining on the rations and limited oxygen that the pod provided. Finally they entered a sector where a cluster of plantes could be found surrounding a star with enough distance in between. The pod headed itself to a planet surrounded by asteroids. The pod began it's orbit evading the cluster of rocks to begin its descent as slow as possible. It tilted in a perfect 45 angle and slowly was pulled towards the planet's atmosphere. Then the shaking started. If you were a citizen, walking down the streets of the city at night, you could see a small beam of light rapidly descending from the sky in between the clouds. The fire turning from red to blue, the pod was in an upright position and it's engines were at full power, slowing down the descent. Once it was almost arriving on the roof of a huge building, the engines released all the fuel it had left in a single thrust seconds before slowly touching down on the cemented roof.
They unbuckled and the blast door opened automatically. They were greeted by darkness briefly. But then they looked down. They looked down and saw the living city they arrived at. The moving of people and cars. The lights of stores and buildings. Everything was all the same for Elliot and Pathfinder. But for Wraith, it was something, breathtaking. As if she hasn't seen such thing before. And even if she lacks memory, she knows she hasn't seen such scenery before, only heard of it. She stood in the edge of the huge building in the middle of everything. All she did is stood there and slowly glance, everything. "Well... this is, new...," the voice said as she contemplated the view as well. "Wraith?" It was huge, everything covered in colors of all sorts. "Wraith...". Even if it was night, the city was still very awake. "Wraith!" "H-huh?" Wraith jumped and turned around. "Enjoying the view?" Elliot asked. "Have you ever seen a city before, friend?" Pathfinder approached her. "This city is called Sethion City. There's so many fun things you can do in cities! There's restaurants with all sorts of food, and things you can purchase, like fashionable accessories! Ah! I got a great idea, friend! I can be your tour guide if you'd like!"
"Yeah that sounds great and all, but we gotago, unless you want a tour behind bars... ha, get it?" said Elliot, almost talking to himself. "Right," Wraith acknowledged and they made their way before authorities could notice the strange pod that arrived from outer space, "...but where exactly?" They stopped to realize there was no way down. "Oh, leave this to me friends! Hang on to me tight!" Elliot got on Pathfinder's back, and Wraith took tight hold on Pathfinder's right arm. Pathfinder's grapple was immediately launched on a small corner of the floor. He threw himself to the abyss and slowly started decreasing in speed as they dropped down. Wraith took in the view, and forgot she was holding on from a fall of over 1,000 feet in height. It took a minute until they reached the streets of a secluded alleyway in between buildings. "Thanks," said Wraith. "You're very welcome!" Pathfinder responded. "Yep, thanks" said Elliot while getting down with shaking legs. "You alright?" Wraith asked taking notice of this.
"Y-yeah, yeah I'm fine-" "Elliot here is scared of heights" Pathfinder jumped in. "N-no, I'm not. I just got, cramps... A-anyway, you guys stay here" said Elliot while taking some of his gear off, leaving a blue navy shirt and cargo pants. "I'll go get us some money and clothes for the time being. You guys stay put." Elliot made his way out of the alleyway and to the streets. He managed to find a small currency station inside a small store selling groceries, and transferred all the money earned from his war duty to his bio chip implemented in the palm of his right hand. Next, he went and bought clothes for him and Wraith, guessing sizes to the best of his abilities. In the mean time, Pathfinder and Wraith were sitting on top of crates in the dark alleway barely illuminated by the city lights. "So, you're also kinda looking for your past?" asked Wraith. "That's right friend," said Pathfinder. "You see, I woke up in the scraps, with my memory bank completely depleted."
"Once I stood up, I noticed that there was a firefight going on not so far from the scrap yard. It came from a town which was in flames from a battle. I did not know why, but my parameters decided to take a look at the events. Once I got there, that's when I saw it. Two heavily armed soilders aiming another one who was badly injured, standing infront of what seemed a family. They were crying, sitting on the floor agains a wall and nowhere to go, with that man standing in between and at gunpoint with only a pistol to defend himself. He was told multiple times to stand down, yet he just stood there, as if figuring out something he could do and trying to protect that family at the same time. He was helpless, outnumbered and weak. The innocent civilians seemed to be horrified and terribly afraid. Next thing you know, I jumped in and pulled one of the armed soilders. He fell immediately to the ground, while I grabbed his weapon and fired. Yet I did such things without the knowledge that I could do so. That man, was Elliot."
"He quickly aimed at the second one and fired without hesitation. The civilians were very grateful, and I was very happy that they were fine. Elliot also thanked me, and asked me to join his ranks... Once I was there, in the action. I felt, that I had what you humans call 'purpose'. For me it's just commands that I follow, yet that day I realized what I was made for, even with a blank memory bank. I decided to join Elliot if it meant doing the things where my parameters could function at maximum performance. But even though I was happy, my memory bank was still... blank. So I decided to stick with Elliot and join the Apex games, where I could find more information of the whereabouts of my origins, preferably my creator."
A sad face appeared in his monitor, and Wraith could not help but feel pity for the robot. "Well, I hope you find your way," Wraith said. "Thank you, friend. I hope you do too!" The ambiance changed when a man with bags approached them both almost running. Catching his breath he said, "Well, here I am. Did my best on guessing your size, but hope it fits." He gave the bags to Wraith, filled with simple shirts and jeans with a pair of shoes. "We'll be waiting for you outside friend!" said Pathfinder while both leaving to the streets.
After a couple of minutes, Wraith left the alleyway wearing jeans and a dark green shirt, while she had her gear hidden inside of the bags. Through the streets, they took their time for Wraith to take in the city and its people. They noticed the authorities going through the streets in between traffic trying to reach the building where the pod landed. Then, they made their way walking towards a less populated area outside of the city streets, where condominiums could be found with a nice view to the huge buildings. For Pathfinder and Wraith, they were aged buildings, very different from other buildings. For Elliot...
it was home.