*Chapter 131*
Tessa felt her ears prick with the sound of the heavy bolted door that Zed locked shut behind her. She idly groped for a light switch, and once illuminated, the foyer of their small room came into view. A cozy, quaintly crafted room with dark floors, sophisticated cream walls and marble trimmings, Tessa cocked an eyebrow and was delightfully surprised to find that it was far from the dump she thought she'd be walking in on. To her immediate left was a bathroom, to her right was a small kitchenette and closet, though beyond her was the main room. She bit her lip softly, and as if the silence in the room was becoming deafening, she was almost annoyed that she could hear every single breath and move Zed took.
She softly came into the bedroom and looked to her right. A large, comfortable looking bed, spread in cream downs and brown pillows, the dark headboard was the epicenter of it all; it begged her to lay down and relax. She knew she had work to do, still, though she eased towards the bed, as if she were toying with the idea of laying down and shutting Zed out for good; a nice game of 'think about what you've done.' She softly sat their pack on the bed and slipped off her sandals, which had begun to become annoyingly grippy. She finally peered her curious stare to Zed, as if to wonder just what he thought. He raised an eyebrow as he slumped his helmet on the night stand and began to take off his over shirt. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows and assessed him, as if to look angry, though inside she was secretly enjoying watching his every handsome move.
"I like it," Tessa eased, as if somehow this was a gift to her, and the least she could do was assure him that he had done well.
"Me too," Zed said in a quiet, surprised tone. Their voices were muted here, though as if the silence picked up on everything, it was as if it were secretly toying with reverse psychology.
"So uh... We just stay here for the rest of the night, then?" Tessa wondered curiously, as if their adventures for the day came to an end too quickly.
"Well, we don't have to," Zed suggested as he rubbed his bare collar, over his tattered wife beater. A shirt that once was clean and tidy for their prom night, "We can go back out for dinner, or something, if you'd like. If we go anywhere, it's best to stick together... Even if I'm likely the last person you want to be with, right now."
Tessa crossed her arms and, as much as she wanted to loudly agree, she felt as if she couldn't bring herself to it. She gave him a disgruntled look, an annoyed glower that lead to suggest he didn't know everything going on inside her head. Quite the contrary, she didn't mind his presence; once they got all their skeletons out of the closet, though, she knew somehow someone's opinion would change.
"I'll probably shower," Zed winced as his gentle fingers tenderly prod at the bruises on his neck, "Soak my neck in hot water or something... God, that sucked."
"So..." Tessa started, she felt a lump gather in her throat as Zed's eyes darted to hers, as if to keep up with her and convey to her that he was prepared for this beat down of theirs. Tessa swallowed and nervously pushed out of their comfortable eye of the storm, "... Penny really killed Selka, huh."
"Yeah," Zed dared as he looked down, "She saved my life... Selka followed you back to Sugar Rush. I guess you... Met up with him, in Game Central Station," Zed's voice was laced with impending hurt.
"It's not like I planned to meet up with him," Tessa kept her voice stern but quiet and collected, "He was in the station when my dad and Lickity went chasing after you... I-I was on my way to go looking for you, as well."
"Wow, after the hate-fest," Zed scoffed with a sarcastic smile, "I'm surprised."
"I already told you that I don't hate you," Tessa barked, she began to feel the heat rise, "Lickity knocked some sense into me... I went back to look for you. Selka just so happened to be creeping around, like what he always did best."
"Lickity knocked sense into you?" Zed asked confusedly.
"She killed me," Tessa urged quietly, "I'm thankful my sorry hide was inside Sugar Rush... But, after knowing just how you two met, I know where her true loyalty stands."
"Wait... How do you know how Lickity and I met?" Zed wondered as he dared to step closer to her, the two stood five feet from each other; he figured that was a safe distance.
"Long story short... I had to time travel in Sugar Rush's memory files to reverse the disappearing curse Oliver was sat in," Tessa explained, "The game was getting rid of everything that didn't once exist in the downgraded version of Sugar Rush."
"Since Oliver is the youngest, he was the first to go," Zed stated knowingly.
"Technically, my unborn baby brother or sister was first to go, but I digress," Tessa spat in growing hatred, which made Zed flinch and give her a look of almost annoyed sorrow. She shook her head and continued, "On the way back, my mother's work station screens, in the Hull, was... Well... Showing snippets of random memories you had acquired over time."
Zed raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't know whether to be floored or concerned. He froze and let the impending doom fall over them, as gracefully as he had been wishing.
"I saw how you freed Lickity, from Orph's ties," Tessa finally let a kind smile sprawl her face as she crossed her arms and looked down, "I... I saw a really sweet moment between you and Penny... You told her that you really liked me."
"Y'saw that," Zed scoffed as he rubbed the back of his head, though he winced as he tried not to get too close to his bruises, nor did he let himself get too close to impending happiness that seemed to attempt to hang in the balance. Tessa squinted and held her eye contact to the ground in growing sorrow.
"I saw the first moment we met... I saw what Radex did to you..." Tessa finally uttered, which made the room grow even more painfully still, "It makes me wonder how humans manipulate each other... No one here has brain circuitry you can simply alter, do they?"
"No... It's trickier for humans to get away with something as massive as what Radex nearly got away with," Zed assured softly, though he gently braced himself.
"All those code boxes... Everything I've ever learned or done. It can't be altered here?" Tessa worried as she finally tore her eyes from the tired curtains over the window, she peered down to her small hands and felt a wave of uneducated worry come over her, "W-We don't have a code room to access all those memories?"
"No," Zed wrinkled his nose, as if he hadn't pondered that thought himself, his eyes finally gripped Tessa's; though his eyes weren't as vibrantly blue, in this world, his soft, grey stare was still equally as captivating, "I really don't think such a thing, as a code room, exists on Earth."
"So, where do all those memories go? Everything that was altering your brain circuitry... It just, doesn't exist anymore?" Tessa could feel her thoughts begin to work on overdrive, as if every single question known to mankind came flooding to her fresh, new mind.
"It does," Zed corrected as he looked down in impending guilt, "I remember everything..."
"So? On with it," Tessa urged softly, she lightly shifted her feet and crossed her arms in pure anxiety. The warm room was painfully still, the strange loss of the feeling of surging electricity, through every single aspect of her surroundings, had Tessa's every single sense honed to just how exhausting the silence was. Tessa impatiently gestured her hand a little before she continued, "I got glimpses of this nonsense, in Sugar Rush, but I'm tired of wondering just what has been up your sleeve. Please just... Get this over with."
"Do you have a few hours?" Zed scoffed with a playful smile that so badly wanted to surface, though his tired body somehow couldn't manage it.
"Does it LOOK like I have anywhere to go?" Tessa argued as she widely gestured her arms outwards, "What am I gunna do, catch a bus and find the nearest In'N'Out, again? I don't know squat!"
"Alright, alright," Zed waved her off and took a few idle steps away, as if getting distance from her was a wise idea, "If you can find it anywhere in your heart to forgive me, now would be the time."
"I can't promise you anything," Tessa snapped, she began to feel even more protective of herself and her kingdom, "You can't promise me a wiped clean Sugar Rush."
"Radex's plan, for Sugar Rush, was to overthrow it, clearly," Zed stated softly, he hoped his calm demeanor would cue her into the same wavelength, "He had told my brothers, and I, that it was an alliance he was trying to form."
"Finn didn't want anything to do with it," Tessa stated, as she remembered the snippet of Finn from the memories, she witnessed, in the Hull.
"None of them did... All five of my brothers tried to warn me," Zed shook his head and looked down, "But I was too stupid to see even past my own nose... What I was certain of, was Radex was here to help us form an alliance with Sugar Rush. The strongest racing game in all of Litwak's. I knew Dead Zed would flourish."
"He tricked you," Tessa urged, her stern gaze pierced to his. Zed gave her a sorrowful frown.
"I almost got away, but... Because I wouldn't cooperate, he set a sic on my brain circuitry and altered my judgement... Wiped my memories, set my brain on a one way street and pressed play," Zed shook his head and let his eyes get lost on the carpet beneath their feet, "This whole time, he's been harboring his own coding, in mine, because... He knew that once I gave it to you-"
"Sugar Rush goes down the shitter," Tessa snapped firmly, she began to grow angry, "You were programmed to fall for me. It was all a trick."
"You know this is the farthest thing from what I'd ever want to happen," Zed rushed nervously, though he was cut off, yet again.
"I heard what he said," Tessa darkly urged, "He told you that it was almost funny that you'd be forced to fall in love with someone like me... Our whole relationship has been one massive lie..."
"Tessa, that's not true," Zed dared to let his voice raise first; he was certain she'd beat him to it.
"This whole time, you've been on an auto pilot, thinking 'wow! That girl is really pretty. Maybe if I sweep her off her feet, teach her to dance, keep her from harms way..." Tessa set an unforgiving glare into Zed's skin, "I can eventually have my way with her and join Radex in this near-genocide.'"
"Tessa, I didn't ask for any of this, I tried to get Radex out of my game! Once I realized that an alliance wasn't what he wanted, I checked out so quickly," Zed urged as he dared to take a step closer to Tessa, though he began to feel desperate, "I-I was programmed to pursue Sugar Rush's princess... To sweep her away and give my coding to her, whether she survived our code swap or not... But Tess, please listen to me..."
Tessa kept her mouth shut and, through a teary, hardened glare, she set her hurtful gaze straight into his, as if she was on the verge of not wanting to listen to him any longer.
"You can't tamper with emotion... NO ONE can," Zed rested his hand over his chest and dared to let a small smile and a chuckle escape his figure, "Once those memories came back to me, and everything reversed and went back to normal, I was floored to feel one thing left standing, among the dust... It was the way I felt about you. None of that has changed."
"How sweet," Tessa mocked; Zed froze in growing, angered annoyance.
"Sure, Radex programmed into me that I'd be attracted to you, pursue you and, amongst other things, attempt to court you," Zed's voice was quiet, "But... I fell in love with you... That wasn't something anyone, not even myself, could control. Tessa, just because my brain was on a one way street, doesn't mean I was a mindless robot. I can't just forget my feelings for you."
"Well, I'm sure you're really proud of yourself, now, for falling for someone like me!" Tessa loudly argued as tears finally escaped her eyes.
"Yeah! I am! Y'wanna know why?" Zed pressed loudly, "Radex had no clue that you'd grow up to be a coding genius! He had no clue that the very person he sought to destroy, was the very person that could fight back tenfold... This Earth already has a gross standard of what beauty should look like. Maybe Radex thought anything resulting from Ralph would end up looking funny, but... I'm glad I found just what I needed, inside Sugar Rush."
Tessa fell silent and gave Zed a hard, nervous stare, as if she so badly wanted to crumple into his arms and pray to God that this mess would finally wash away, and they could finally be on the same page, though she held her solid stance.
"Tessa, no one can tamper with genuine feelings, or true love," Zed gestured his arms, "Emotion goes so much farther than our coding. It's something, us gamers, will never be able to understand. They're unalterable, inaccessible... Not even Radex could make it so my love for you was erased, with his vengeance."
"I just feel fooled," Tessa shook her head and latched onto her grudge; Zed grew impatient.
"We ALL have been fooled... I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am, for this whole mess," Zed nearly pleaded, "I would have never asked for any of this to happen. If anyone is the fool, it's Radex... His plan practically backfired on him."
"What, so without all of this mess, you probably wouldn't even know my name," Tessa volleyed; Zed gave her a hard glare.
"That's totally irrelevant, because you wouldn't even know my name, either. This mess is a blessing and a curse," Zed stated loudly, the tendons in his neck tensed as he took a step closer to Tessa.
"A BLESSING?" Tessa dared to raise her voice higher than Zed's, "How can you say that?!"
"Because without this mess, I would have never met YOU!" Zed's dominant, deep voice practically made the walls shake, though Tessa froze and peered up at his powerful figure. She raised her eyebrows in impending, crumpling pain, though she remained frozen.
"Zed, I-"
"I'm glad we're in this hell hole!" Zed shouted as he took a step or two away, though he gave Tessa a look of dire, passionate concern, "At least I'm with the one woman I fell in love with... I'm with my favorite person ever. And though this situation sucks, I'm just glad you weren't simply a memory that faded away."
"I need some air," Tessa complained as she dropped her angry front and waved her face a little, as if she was likely about to faint; Zed furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at the door.
"W-we can go to the lobby, or this... This room has a balcony," Zed offered, as if he was suddenly fearsome that she wanted to be out of his presence.
"I just need to get out of this room," Tessa urged as she gently swiped a room key, slipped on her sandals, and head for the door; Zed raised his eyebrows in growing, terrified anguish.
"Wh-where are you going?" Zed worried, though Tessa largely looked over her shoulder; tears streamed her cheeks.
"I'm gunna stay on the hotel grounds, I won't get lost, I'll be back before curfew, I promise to not drink and drive," Tessa loudly, and sarcastically listed off the points on her fingers before she opened the door wide and set one last, hard glare into Zed's skin, "I'm not a child. I'll be back in an hour. I just need to be alone."