"We have to be logical about this, Murphy." Cleo states. "If we make a wrong move, we'd be targets." He nods at this. They had been talking in hushed tones ever since they stepped out of the mansion. They are now standing by the shoreline, devising a plan.
"What do you suggest we do?" He queries. He had never been the type for long-term planning.
"We give them our devotion first." She slowly says, as if weighing other options.
"Wait. What?" He bursts into a semi-rage, he didn't want to be anyone's slave at all. Not again.
"Listen to me, if we do that for a temporary time—" He cuts her off.
"It'll buy us time." She nods. "We just have to get them out of our sight once we leave this island." She adds.
Before he could say anything, a bellowing "John!" startled them both. It's Jaha.
"What're you doing here, Jaha?" Murphy looks at him suspiciously.
"I just came to give you these," Jaha walks toward them and presents a chip on each of his hands.
"No pain, no hate, no envy." Jaha smiles.
"No thanks," He interrupts disdainfully.
"John…" Jaha trails off.
"No. Pain, hate, envy. Those are the ABCs of me. You get rid of them and there's nothing left, so why don't you get that thing out of my face?" He turns away, slowly walking away from the older man.
"Just think about it, John."Jaha calls out. Cleo steos out toward Jaha this time, giving herself a quick reminder of what to do.
"We're willing to offer you our service, Jaha. As long as you give Murphy and I time to think about our decision. We will take the chip as soon as we are ready." The old man seems convinced by this answer and hands her the chips instead.
"We have to carry on with our mission now," Jaha states. Cleo nods at this and stalks away to Murphy.
A boat docks by the shore, with a woman and two men. Murphy's face lights up seeing Emori up ahead. Cleo's face turns sour for a moment as soon as she sees his face. He turns to her and says, " We can trust her, sort of." He laughs to himself. But all she reciprocates is a shaky smile.
"Let's go then," she walks with him to the boat.
They sail until daylight. That's when she's introduced to Emori, a tan, long-haired young woman.
"So, John tells me he found you in the bunker." Emori starts the conversation. Cleo blinks owlishly and goes to her habit of playing with her necklaces.
"Yeah, he found me. Weeks before we got out." Cleo's tone is clipped, not harsh but she didn't really feel like talking to anyone.
"I'm Emori. You're Cleo, right?" Cleo hums in agreement.
"This place had been my home once." Cleo looks out to the sea, almost wistfully. As if doing so will bring back the cities that have been reclaimed by the earth.
"How did it look like?" Emori asks, she seems rather skeptical but still curious.
"Hey," Murphy joins their conversation.
"Hey." Emori replies, flashing a small smile toward Murphy.
"Hi." Cleo murmurs.
"She's about to tell me how this place looked like 97 years ago." Emori speaks up.
"It wasn't as green. Little trees. Tall buildings. Some have 10 floors. Others 20. Even 100 floors if you were in the main cities." Cleo's voice cracks at the mention of these buildings. And Murphy knew exactly why.
"The people?" Emori presses. Cleo freezes.
"You wouldn't like them." Murphy says, Cleo feels relieved he had interrupted.
"Oh." Emori looks deep in thought but dismissed it.
"We're docking now. Then a trip to the dead zone."
"Dead zone?" Cleo asks as they all step down from the boat.
"Sand dunes, landmines, and stray people." Murphy explains.
"We'll be on foot from here. Hope you're okay with that, Princess." Cleo looks ready to protest but instead bites back.
"I ran through cities back then. This'll be easy." Murphy looks at her as if she'd grown another head. She gives him a look back that says "we'll talk about this later". He doesn't press and instead keeps mum.
Jaha and Emori's brother, Otan head off "for a walk" like the former had suggested. Gideon, the weird older man with them is quiet, kneeling and saying nothing.
Emori begins explaining how A.L.I.E. had recruited them. Drones, she'd said. But she mentions about having other people she works for. Cleo doesn't pay much attention as she is lost in her own thoughts.
She carefully takes the case holding A.L.I.E. and tries to make a run for it. But the old man, Gideon takes her by her throat, choking her. Despite her attempts at fighting him, and Murphy coming to help, it only allowed her to get out of Gideon's grasp.
"There is no pain in the City of Light." He declares.
Emori didn't think twice about stabbing his neck and killing him.
"You killed him." Cleo looks at his dead body gushing out blood. At this, Jaha and Otan immediately return, knowing the plan had been changed.
"I'll hurt her if you don't give that back, Emori." Otan holds Cleo in a vice grip. He and Jaha had returned from their walk already and didn't really pay attention to Gideon lying lifelessly right behind them.
"Let her go!" Murphy holds the case right by the water. "I'll destroy this if you don't listen to me." Murphy warns. Otan releases his hold of Cleo. Cleo runs up to Murphy, giving him a quick thanks. They head to the boat, Murphy dumping the bag in the water before they leave.
"It's a different world now, Princess. Get used to it. Let's go." Emori says. Cleo hates how Emori had mockingly called her 'Princess' but she let it slide. She needs the woman anyway.
"C'mon Cleo. The other two are chipped. We can't stay here." Cleo nods feebly at his words.
Emori starts the boat up and they sail away.
97 years later and it's still a dog eat dog world. Different methods, same reasons. Old habits do die hard. Cleo sighs, looking out to the sea.
"Where are we going?" Cleo asks after a long moment of silence. She's been quiet since Emori had kissed Murphy's cheek. She had pretended not to see it but she did anyway.
"Polis. We're going to look for more tech." Emori answers.
AN: Thanks for reading, y'all. Thanks for the follows and faves as well. Y'all are awesome! :)Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Cleo.