|Valentine|

The Patrol cars that had been designed for the transport of prisoners were the best money was able to buy. Triple layers of steel, a smooth engine and several weapons were all on board, as well, as built-in cuffs. Valentine was being subjected to the latter now, bag still over her head. She chewed on the gag in her mouth, feeling more furious than one could attribute to Dark Eco.

She had to feel angry. The moment she would stop feeling angry was the moment fear would overtake her. The cuffs around her hands and feet were stronger than she could have anticipated. Erol's voice sounded next to her when she tried again to jerk them loose.
'Don't bother trying. These were designed for your freak friend in a fully transformed state. You wouldn't be able to even dent them.'

Valentine ignored him, giving another jerk. 'I am not afraid anymore.' She reminded herself. She had freed herself from fear the moment she had decided to go through the plan with Jak. She concentrated on the feeling of Eco around her, to see if she would be able to control it like when the tasers had been shot at her. She could sense the Eco, but the steel encasing them was too thick to allow her to do more than vaguely sense it.

They pulled to a stop, and the cuffs around her hands and feet came loose from the floor with a hissing sound. Two soldiers grabbed her by the arms, nearly carrying her along the way. With her feet bound and the sack over her head, Valentine wouldn't have been able to walk on her own anyway.
Salutes and orders were barked as they moved. Valentine was surprised they were going up instead of down towards the cellars. Though that probably didn't mean she was off the hook just yet. The more they went there, the more a chill nipped the air.

She was seated down roughly on a chair. The chains on her feet hissed again, sinking into a lock on the floor.
'Tell the Baron we have her. He'll want to interrogate her himself.' Erol commanded someone. Valentine heard heavy boots walking away, before the sack was pulled from her head.

Bright lights blinded her and before she had blinked, an armored hand struck her against the jaw. She cried out, not able to completely lean to the side due to her handcuffs being stuck to the chair as well. She looked up into Erol's face, who gave her a grim look.
'I should get you warmed up before the Baron gets here. The sooner you talk, the faster we can have this all over with.'
Valentine shook her head, slowly. She was rewarded for the effort with another smack across the face, this time sending her to the left instead of to the right. When she was looking straight up again, Erol flexed his hand. 'You always were a tough little bitch.'

'Sir, Commander Ashelin wants you to check a disturbance in the science department. There seems to be an uproar due to the subject's performance.' A soldier said, face hidden underneath the black and red mask. Erol let out a deep sigh.
'Very well. I'll try to make it quick, so the Baron won't have to wait too long before you start talking.'

Valentine watched him leave the room. She looked around for a few seconds, but apart from the chair there was no other furniture. The walls were a depressing gray, and apart from the door there was no other way out of here. She went back to chewing the gag and yanking at her cuffs to keep herself busy, and to focus on something else beside the pain Erol had just caused her. She had to escape on her own this time.

When the dark grey door opened, she let out a growl from behind her gag. Ashelin had just entered, looking at her with a sad look. Being the Baron's daughter, Valentine had never held much affection for the woman, despite Torn's obvious infatuation with her.
'Valentine… we need to talk. Can I trust you not to bite your tongue when I take out the gag?'
Valentine's big blue eyes scrutinized the woman warily. Finally she gave one nod, at which Ashelin immediately removed her gag.

'What do you want with me?' she asked curtly, giving the cuffs another yank for good measure.
'I want to help you get out of here.' Ashelin told her. The redhead looked to the side. 'You're a good friend to Torn, and it isn't right was my father did to you.'
'Right, and Dark Eco is actually made from kittens and rainbows. If you're going to help me escape, get me out of these cuffs and set me on my way.'
'You'll never make it.' Ashelin stated. 'From here on out there's a corridor a hundred yards long with men stationed on every available inch. And you are in no condition to fight your way out of here.'

Valentine ignored her throbbing cheeks. 'Try me.' After a few seconds of silence she spoke again. 'So, what's your great plan, if you're not breaking me loose here?'
'My father is going to transport you to one of his facilities in the Wasteland. Once you're in there, there is no way out.'
Valentine let out a weary chuckle. 'Let me guess… no way out of here, no way out of there… the transport?'
Ashelin nodded. 'I believe you know Jared? He's rigging the car that's transporting you there with an explosive device. It'll explode once you're at an optimal point, leaving you in the Wasteland. Once you're out of the car, you use this.'

Ashelin showed her a tracker device, before slipping it in Valentine's left shoe. She made sure it was safe there. They would have to undress her in order to find it. 'They already checked you for sensors when you came in here, so they won't be checking again. Once you activate it, he will come for you.'
'He?' Valentine asked.
'Damos. He's still alive, and he has a city there were he collects everyone he thinks is useful. I have no doubt he'll accept you.' Ashelin said, looking back to the door nervously. Erol had been gone for a while now.
'My king…' Valentine whispered. 'How will I face him? I failed in protecting his son, I got captured.'

'You didn't fail, Valentine. You were willing to sacrifice yourself in order to save a lot of others. If anything, he will commend you for that.' Ashelin paused. 'There is one other thing.'
'What?'
'It is still an hour before the transport leaves. My father will try to make you talk in the time that he has. Don't tell him anything.'
Valentine chuckled again. 'An hour? Last time he had me for four years. An hour will be nothing.'
Ashelin looked at her in worry. 'I hope so. I have to leave now, they can't see me in here. Keep strong, Valentine.' Ashelin said as she gagged the woman again.
Valentine nodded once, before she was once again left alone in the room.

She tried to steady her breathing. She had to keep her panic under control. She could make it through an hour, she had had worse. She was living worse.
Her heart leaped in her throat when she heard new footsteps coming closer. Her broken hand throbbed violently with the pulse of Dark Eco.

'Praxis.' She hissed, putting every ounce of contempt and utter hatred she had into the word as soon as Erol undid her gag. He nodded once towards her, waving a hand at Erol. The man left them, walking stiffly as if he didn't want to miss a moment of what would happen.
'Child. You have been quite a handful these last few years, haven't you? I can list at least thirty crimes this year alone you committed, without even looking at your file.' Praxis said, trying to sound pleasant.
'I'm not a child anymore!' She spat at him, angry.

He struck her, harder than Erol had done. She had trouble seeing again as she struggled up. 'You are still a child.' Praxis told her. 'A child who is fighting someone who only has the best interests for everybody in mind.'
'Remind me how pumping me full of Dark Eco was in my best interest?' she asked him venomously.
'To protect the city. Now that we have you back, we can go back to researching how to create super soldiers who can defeat the Metal Heads with ease.' Praxis told her. Erol had returned with a chair, which he placed down in front of Valentine so Praxis could take a seat.

'Big words, coming from the guy that's giving them Dark Eco.' Valentine answered coldly. 'You usurped my lord's rightful place, and are hunting his son. I will never give you what you want.'
Praxis placed a finger on her injured hand, pressing down. Valentine clenched her teeth together to stop from screaming. 'But you will. Now, or in a year. Tell me, where is the Underground? How many people?'
'Drop dead!'
Praxis placed full force on her hand. Valentine let out a scream.

'Now… tell me.' he commanded.
'Band-width can be saved by compressing the files with gzip-'
Praxis pressed again. She screamed.
'Tell. Me.'
'If one ignores the content-coding systems and bypasses the server security systems-'
Erol punched her in the stomach. She was too late to prepare for the hit, heaving once it had been delivered.
'One can manipulate the TTY layer –'

|Later|

One hour later Valentine was hauled into the military Cargo Bearer that would transport her to the mystery facility. Covered in bruises, gashes and her own blood, she was certain she made a pitiful sight. They had gagged her again, adding the bag for good measure. She felt the car taking off into the air, and thought about Haven City.

She hoped the Kid was okay. He was probably crying right now, but he would get over it. If King Damos indeed ruled over a city in the desert, she should be able to convince him to let her go back and retrieve the boy. Her face hardened when she thought about Jak. He had left her to die, or if not her, a good part of the Underground. She had thought she could trust someone who had been through the same things as she, but apparently not. If she ever saw him again, she would have to take measures.

The ride was noisy enough as it was, but apart from that utterly boring. The only two guards that had been assigned to accompany her were in the front of the vehicle.
What felt to be hours later there was suddenly a thunking sound, followed by an explosion in the front compartment. Valentine could feel the Bearer crashing down, bracing herself for impact. As soon as the power circuits were out, her cuffs loosened with a hissing sound again.

She pushed herself up on one hand, ignoring the pain. A particularly nasty gash under her eye – payback from Erol – started to sting when sand started to whirl around her as she pulled the sack of her head. Undoing her gag, she looked around. The sun had just gone down, painting the Wasteland a vicious red. Nowhere around her was any variation on the monotony of dunes stretching. She flinched, looking back when the sound of metal moving was audible.

One of the soldiers had been killed by the impact immediately, his body torn in two. She could see his legs a bit away from her, the upper half nowhere to be seen. The other one seemed to have survived, just now climbing from the wreckage. Valentine swore under her breath, letting herself fall down again. She was hardly able to move, let alone actually fight. Her stomach ached from several punches, and her throwing up in reply to those punches.
She could hear the man scuffling closer to her. She tried to seem dead, evening out her breathing. The man gave her a push with his gun.
'Research subject alpha, get up.' He told her, voice unsurely cracking through his speaker.
When she didn't react, he gave her a small push again. 'Subject alpha, get up now.'

When the man let out a cough, Valentine realized he must have been shaken up pretty badly. He coughed again, this time splatting warm blood on her arm. If he was coughing up blood, his injuries were pretty severe. He let himself plop on the sand next to her.
'This is how it ends.' He said out loud, dropping his gun next to him. 'Sole survivor of a crash.'

Could she attack him before he reached his gun? That was the main question. If she lay down here long enough, the sand would eventually bury her. Despite the sun already being gone, the air was still hot and bone-dry. She kept her breathing even, trying to find out how she was going to be able to put force in a weakened condition.
'What was that?' The man suddenly said, turning around. Apparently he could hear something she couldn't in her position. As the man scrambled up, she relaxed for a moment, before she realized what the problem was. She could feel Dark Eco near them. She hoped it was Meta, and not a random Wasteland Metal. Dying like that would only be second worst to dying in a lab run by Praxis.

She listened as the man got up, readying his gun. Her mind started racing. If the man shot at Meta, there was a chance her friend would die. And even if she were to help a random Metal Head, it wasn't like she would be hurting her own chances. The blob of Dark Eco started to move closer, until finally Valentine couldn't take it anymore.

'Hey, asshole!' she tried to yell at him. Her voice came out in a squeak, and particles of sand found their way past her chapped lips. It was still enough to confound the soldier, who looked down at her in surprise for a second. The second was all that the Metal Head had needed, jumping him. Valentine could feel hot blood spouting on her body, growls coming from the battle. In a few seconds, it was all over. Valentine worked herself up with her good hand, looking to see what had happened.

Meta immediately pushed her face against Valentine, clearly distressed by the wounds that were visible on her friend's body. A slightly rough tongue washed a splash of blood from Valentine's face.
'I'll be fine. I just need to-' she cracked, bringing her hands to her boot. Meta soon caught on, pulling the boot away from Valentine's foot. The tracker fell in the sand, before she picked it up and pressed the button. It bleeped once, before a bright red light started to flicker at regular intervals.
'And now we wait.' She told the Metal Head. Meta had probably followed her transport the moment she had left the city. 'Could you find me some water?'

|Damos|

Damos always went out with the patrols when they got a beacon signal. Somebody knew they were in this desert, but they hadn't alerted Praxis about it. Instead, every once in a while, an outcast would be holding a signal they could track. Sometimes it was a person they could use, most of the times it was the dead weight they could expect out here.
They reached a small oasis, which was hardly worth mentioning. A single tree that had managed to grow in this Wasteland, next to a puddle of nearly non-existent water. The car stopped nearby, close enough to observe the two figures near it, thanks to the green filtering goggles they all had in front of their eyes.

Damos signaled the men to ready their guns as soon as they recognized a Metal Scout. This seemed to be one outcast who had been claimed by the Waste before they had gotten to them. Before the men he had taken with him could fire, he held up his hand. Was he seeing this right?
The Metal Head was letting water pour over the outcasts head, prodding the body with a paw every once in a while. A quick look to the side showed that the others had seen the behaviour as well.

The lying shape got up, dipping her hands into the water and bringing it to their mouth. After a quick gargle, they spat the water back out. She seemed to be saying something to the Metal Head, who seemed to be listening intently.

The animal swayed it's head to the side, looking directly at their group. The woman followed the creature's gaze, and tried to stagger up from her knees to face them. Something seemed to keep her from doing so, as she fell back down again. The animal moved in front of her, the yellow gem in its forehead gleaming in the dark.

Damos signaled the men to put down their guns, bringing the car closer. The woman wrapped her arms around the creature's neck as they approached, clearly holding it back from attacking. He could only guess how alien he looked to her, dark scarf wrapped around his head, only green goggles visible. If she could even see that much in the dark.

'Did king Damos send you?' she asked, her voice sounding as if she had spent the last few hours screaming. Cuts covered her face, and one side of her face was swelling up. She seemed to have gotten Praxis pretty angry to have received this kind of treatment.
'No talking, runt.' Kleiver spoke next to him. Damos held out a hand to the side.
'Is this animal obedient to you?' he asked her.
She nodded. Her face was filtered green through his goggles. He could see how hard she was fighting to remain conscious. 'I would like to confer with my king. I fear I must report to him… I have failed…'

Her grip slackened from the creature's neck as she slumped forward. Instead of attacking them, the creature just observed them. As Damos nodded for them to take the girl, it just kept watching, alert if they should harm her.

It would seem this one might not be dead weight.