Chapter IV: To Be Human
"I'm not in search of sanctity, sacredness, purity; these things are found after this life, not in this life. But in this life I search to be completely human: to feel, to give, to take, to laugh, to get lost, to be found, to dance, to love and to lust, to be so human." — C. JoyBell
Ama walked alongside Sebastian, her hand nestled in the crook of the senior detective's arm as they picked their way down the winding path of dirt. The rustling of the trees and flora around them served to soothe Ama's nerves, and she smiled softly to herself.
Although this place might not be the most vibrant of areas, the lasting warmth of sunlight pressing against her porcelain flesh proved to her one thing: that there was at least a sliver of Ruben Victoriano's mind that had not been twisted and disfigured with hatred.
This scenic expanse of towering ridges and sloping hillsides was a nice change of pace in comparison to the ordinary, blood-splattered walls of infirmaries and hospitals. And although Haunted and other contorted creatures were lurking around potentially any corner— which she knew they were— it was still pleasant.
"Detective, may I ask you a private question?" Ama began tentatively, effectively breaking the silence and drawing the seasoned investigator's attention. He peered down at her shorter figure out of the corner of his eye, and she cocked her chin up, meeting his stare with an innocent, inquisitive one of her own.
"It depends," He rumbled, his feet shuffling onwards as they continued down their path. Hesitancy rolled off of him in waves, and being the perceptive program she was, Ama easily picked up on such.
For a reason that remained unknown to her, Jimenez had decided to construct her with a fully operative range of emotions. But more so than anything, her ability to express empathy and sympathize with the feelings of those around her was remarkably honed. She was incredibly in tune with their moods and the ambiance surrounding her, and was able to adapt and adjust to it all, as well as generate her own emotional response to each unique situation.
She had no idea why she had been gifted with such human-like qualities, and she wasn't sure if she even enjoyed possessing them in the long run. To be able to understand and connect with another individual was wonderful, most certainly— but she was just a program, and sometimes, she forgot that. All of these emotions; all of these feelings and sensations— they made her feel human. And that was simultaneously the most wondrous and equally crippling thing to her. Because no matter how human she felt, she would never truly be one.
"What's the most wonderful experience you've ever undergone?"
Her question caught Sebastian a bit off guard, and he eyed her in an almost wary manner. He couldn't place why she would ask such a thing, but she smiled gingerly up at him, her gaze patient as always. There was, however, a new and genuine flicker of curiosity taking root in her eyes, and he was losing the will to leave her question unanswered. Somehow she managed to pluck at the detective's heartstrings, and he wasn't sure if he liked that about her or not. It was beginning to grow a bit unnerving— this ability of hers to overcome his barriers.
"That's an...odd question," He rumbled, directing his gaze forward once more as the sun rained down upon their backs, leaving a comforting trail of warmth down the length of their spines. They had nearly reached the crumbled brick structure now.
"Why are you asking?" He questioned. Ama's gaze softened then, and she tucked her head down, directing her tender smile at the ground.
"Just curious." She murmured, though there was an air of mystery to her tone that didn't fool Sebastian. He wasn't buying her innocent dismissal, but she seemed determined to pry this answer out of him. The question as to where this odd curiosity stemmed from certainly crossed his mind, but he didn't voice it.
After staring at her in both confusion and questioning, he stumbled upon the abrupt realization that she was still waiting for his answer. Her doe-like eyes were studying him, gazing expectantly up into his features as she awaited his response. The detective cleared his throat then, racking his brain for what he would deem "the most wonderful experience he had ever undergone."
He didn't have to mull over his answer for very long.
"Marrying my wife, and having a child together with her." He responded, his reply terse in a manner of speaking. It wasn't often that he spoke of this matter— not since the death of Lily and the disappearance of Myra. Rather than confronting the matter, he was often seen abusing his current coping method: alcohol.
Speaking of the loved ones he had lost brought an unexpected ache that settled in the deepest pit of his chest, and he attempted to stifle the harsh bite of grief that clawed at his heart.
Picking up on his sudden change in demeanor, Ama knew she needed to tread carefully now. She was inexplicably aware of his churning emotions, and therefore approached the topic more gingerly, careful to remain considerate of the detective's own personal feelings. Her curiosity came second here; it was not her intention to remind him of unwanted memories.
"That sounds wonderful." She sighed wistfully, and she felt Sebastian tense briefly. Peeking up at him, she could see something flicker in his eyes, and she would even go as far as to describe it as an unadulterated longing. But what for?
"Yeah. It was."
Oh.
What was the proper response in this particular situation? Would words soothe the open wound, or would it merely pour salt in it? Was he better comforted by silence or consolation? Picking up on facial cues and emotional shifts was one thing, but weighing which proceeding response would best soothe the dismayed individual was another. In the long run, Detective Sebastian Castellanos remained much of a mystery to her in that aspect.
Rather than sputter out the generic apology in a hasty attempt to solace him, she curled her fingers more firmly against the crook of his arm, holding it a bit more noticeably. She gave it a comforting squeeze, and judging by the sudden yet barely audible exhalation she detected on his behalf, she knew he had felt it.
"Thank you for answering my question, Detective." She sounded genuinely grateful, and Sebastian grunted. She smiled faintly then, seeming to have grown accustomed to this generic response of his.
Upon reaching the collapsed brick structure, Ama allowed her hand to drop from the crook of Sebastian's arm in favor of fluttering back down to her side. She approached the building— though at this point it looked more like a pile of fragmented bricks than anything else— and picked her way carefully inside.
"Search around a bit. Perhaps you might uncover a bit of ammunition." She advised him amiably, and he heeded her advice, stuffing a few more bullets into his handgun after having discovered the discarded ammo beneath a pile of broken crates.
"Where do you think this spare ammo comes from?" He questioned, and Ama paused, pondering briefly over her response as she tilted her head up, peering at the upper level of the brick structure.
"If I had to guess, I think its plausible to speculate that these bullets and other weapons of choice were left behind by the Haunted. They probably used them in an attempt to defend themselves before they turned." She murmured, her blue eyes glimmering beneath a ray of sunlight that filtered in through a collapsed wall.
"You keep calling them that. Haunted. What are those things, exactly? And why are you capable of...doing whatever it is you do to them?" He turned to face her now, and she cringed slightly. She supposed his questions were inevitable, considering that it wasn't everyday you saw some mangled corpse chasing after you, much less some woman who could send them away with a mere touch, or sometimes even just her presence alone. All of this was surely befuddling to him, and she knew he deserved answers.
But the question was, would Dr. Jimenez want her to enlighten this man?
"Ama." He pressed further, and she paused, fiddling with the sides of her dress as she spun to face him. Her lips parted, though her throat felt dry. His gaze was unwavering, demanding even, and she puffed out a slow sigh.
"The Haunted used to be people, just like you." She murmured, and his eyes narrowed a bit, his brow creasing together.
"You mean, like us?" He corrected her, and her breath hitched. She avoided his gaze as a spring-like zephyr caught her gown and hair and caused it to ripple elegantly, resulting in the muffled sound of rippling fabric. Likewise, a few strands of Sebastian's dark hued hair were plucked free from their normal slicked back position by the breeze, and they fluttered against his cheekbones and near his eyes, though the slight obscuration of them did nothing to lessen the intensity of his stare.
She met his gaze for a fleeting moment, her expression exuding uncertainty and doubt. Was it truly okay to inform him of where he truly was, and just what was going on here? What would be the consequences of such a revelation, and how would he cope with the jarring information? Not to mention, how would he feel knowing that he was conversing with a program that appeared to be human, but wasn't?
"Sebastian," She wet her lips, pursing them in careful thought as she inhaled tremulously, "I'm not like you. I'm not—"
Her words were cleaved abruptly by the sound of gunshots. They resounded throughout the area, reverberating off of the brick walls and surrounding rocks. Her head swiveled in the direction of the sound, and her heart hammered heavily in her chest.
"Could be Jospeh or Kidman. Come on, we need to hurry." Heavy footsteps pressed against the wooden staircase situated against the opposite wall— the aged steps creaking and groaning beneath the pressure— as the senior detective brushed past her, his hand grappling for the handgun that he carried in a holster bound securely to his waistline.
Releasing a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding as she hurried up the stairs after him, Ama briefly wondered if there truly was such a thing as luck in this place. This ominous interruption had spared her from having to break the news to the somber detective that he was living in someone else's mind at the moment, and that they were all active prey as of this very moment.
"Wait!" She cried out suddenly, picking up the edges of her frayed gown as she hurried over to the ladder he was preparing to descend. He paused then, his facial features crumpling in confusion as he stared at the steady warmth that was beginning to overtake her cheeks.
"I insist that I go down first." She spoke, and he peered at her questioningly. At first he deemed it one of her attempts to be heroic and to sacrifice her well being in order to aid his progression, but something told him that wasn't the root behind this particular demand. It wasn't until he noticed her plucking sheepishly at her dress that he managed to piece together what was warranting such a frantic request, and he turned to face her fully, his expression that of disbelief.
"That's what you're worried about at a time like this? That I'm going to look up your skirt?" He deadpanned, and a vibrant blush immediately erupted onto her fair features. She covered her face with her hands then, making a distraught noise at his crude bluntness.
"Well, you certainly didn't have to put it like that!" She groaned, and he swore that even her ears were beginning to turn a rosy red.
Resisting the urge to groan at the ridiculousness of the situation, Sebastian muttered a hasty 'you have got to be kidding me' beneath his breath, before he placed his hand on the flustered woman's back, ushering her towards the ladder.
"Fine, just climb down it. We don't have time to waste." The lives of his comrades could be hanging in the balance at this very moment, and he wasn't about to let one of them die because he couldn't make it down a ladder in time.
Ama scurried towards the ladder, hissing beneath her breath in a timid manner as she clambered down the rusted rungs as hurriedly as she could manage. Her gown gave her quite the trouble on the way down; the fabric sometimes snagging on rugged edges of the feeble ladder, and even tearing in some places.
"Why were you even wearing a gown in a place like this to begin with?" Sebastian grumbled as he scaled down the ladder himself, following quickly in the female program's footsteps. She opened her mouth to explain that she hadn't exactly been in control of her wardrobe, but she startled backwards when the detective's foot slipped ungracefully on a particularly unstable rung, and gravity immediately took advantage of him.
His back slammed against the dusty ground and he swore loudly, cursing his luck as the ladder groaned, toppling backwards towards him. Initially, he was unaware of the falling object given that his eyes were screwed shut in discomfort, but once he opened them and noted a rapidly approaching shadow eclipsing his figure— that was enough to warrant his attention.
By that time, Ama had already flitted to his side. She extended her hands, grounding her feet and digging her toes into the thick soil beneath her for extra anchorage. She caught one of the rungs, coiling her fingers around it tightly as she yelped beneath the excessive weight that abruptly pressed against her figure.
Her grip slackened and she stumbled backwards a bit, but before it could fall and potentially wound her, Sebastian had managed to hurry to his feet and get her out of the way. His hand clutched at her tiny waist, yanking her out of the way and allowing the cumbersome, unstable ladder to come crashing to the ground.
It hit the dirt with a crushing force, kicking up dust and creating a loud, metallic sound when it slammed against the earth. The tone hung in the air, echoing for a moment as the female winced. Yes, being crushed by that certainly seemed like it would have been unpleasant. Not to mention there were sharpened, bent pieces of metal poking out here and there on it— pieces that had likely been damaged or purposefully mangled— that could have gouged her.
"Well, I guess we're even. I saved you, and you saved me. Teamwork, right?" She tried to look on the bright side, her tone optimistic, but for some reason she felt like a scolded child when Sebastian eyed her pointedly. She sighed, stepping up to his side as she carefully dusted off his striped vest, straightening it for him as well as re-alining his tie.
He stood stiff as she fussed over him, shifting a bit awkwardly as he remained unaware of how to react. He started to question her, but he quickly decided against that idea. She stepped a few paces back when he shrugged her touch politely off, warranting a blink or two on behalf of the dainty female.
"Come on, we need to hurry." There was no room for argument in his voice, and Ama nodded, glancing briefly over her shoulder at the fallen ladder. Her gaze lingered on it for a few more moments before a faint, golden gleam stuck out amongst the sparse blades of grass. Her brows creased then as she turned, her concentration ensnared by the bright gleam.
Approaching the unidentified object, she knelt down beside it, rolling the circular object in her hand before she lifted it closer in order to further examine it. It appeared to be a simple gold ring, and she turned it in her hand, batting her lashes curiously at it.
Rising back to her feet, she spun on her heels and jogged a bit in order to catch up with the detective, who had already gotten a running start.
"Detective?" She called politely just as they approached two large, wooden doors that hung beneath an archway of brick and stone. He turned towards her, his calloused palms resting against the double doors, and he eyed the object that she presented to him.
"I think you dropped this." She offered the ring to him, and he turned immediately upon realizing what it was that she was extending to him.
His wedding ring. He wore it even now— even after the disappearance of Myra. He had refused to take it off since the day she went missing. It must have snagged on the ladder and slipped from his finger in his futile attempt to regain his grip on one of the rungs. He slid the valuable band back onto the corresponding finger, sparing a grateful glance towards the petite female. She seemed to understand the simple nod he gave to her, and she knew there was more gratitude behind it than he was letting on.
She might not have understood the significance behind the object, but she could tell that it was of great importance to Sebastian, and that was all that mattered. Perhaps when they were spared another reprieve from the constant onslaught of Haunted and other monsters of varying, grotesque degrees, she would further inquire about the origin of that ring and the meaning behind it. But for now, she left the subject untouched.
He turned then, and she smiled softly to herself as he swung the doors open, allowing the two of them to pass under the aperture.
Upon entering the open area, an unconscious figure immediately revealed itself to their line of sight. Joseph lay comatose, completely unmoving as Sebastian and his companion rushed to his side. Ama knelt gently beside the fallen detective, her hand ghosting across the expanse of his forehead as she pursed her lips in deep thought.
It didn't feel as if he was under Ruvik's control at the moment— if he was, he would have been howling and writhing beneath her touch. But the feather-light pressure against his temples seemed to rouse him, and Ama's expression softened as her eyes ticked to Sebastian.
"He's waking up." She reassured him, and he met her gaze for a heartbeat. There was doubt in his glance, and she knew then that he had witnessed his partner turn before under the influence of Ruvik. They were all susceptible to Ruvik's control, but Joseph seemed to have the unfortunate curse of being more prone to the side effects than others.
"Is he—?" The question was hesitant, low in tone and hushed in volume to avoid alerting the stirring male of their grim choice of topic. It was a vague inquiry, but nonetheless, Ama understood.
"No," She answered comfortingly, shaking her head in an assuring manner. Jospeh would not turn on them when he awoke; at least, not at this very moment. But just to be sure, the dark haired woman scanned the surrounding area, searching for the presence she was aware of at all times.
It was a good distance away, which meant that he was no longer within the immediate vicinity. But he was out there somewhere, lurking in the deepest shadows of this place, and she had faith that he would show his face again soon. A cold chill swept over her at the thought, and she cringed suddenly, her hand flitting up to her head.
"Ama?" Sebastian's question was laced with concern, and the woman gritted her teeth, her features scrunching up in discomfort as her head pulsated. Her hand began to tremble, and her face visibly paled as she grappled at her silken tresses in an attempt to ease the pressure gathering in her skull.
A white, scarred face flickered across her vision, and her surroundings blurred. A tinge of red overtook her sight, and her world flickered as the sunlit outdoors began to overlap with glimpses of burning sunflowers, and the pacing figure of a cloaked man began to draw ever closer to her.
She needed to dispel this illusion, but she was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate. Her grasp on reality was spiraling out of control, and she heard him then, his voice as silky smooth as ever.
Why can you bleed? Why are you capable of feeling pain and emotions?
His touch ghosted across her cheek, and his pale eyes bore into the depths of her own. His burned fingertips applied more pressure, until she was certain that he would bruise her. He stared at her, and for the life of her, she could not fathom what he wanted from her.
"I don't know..." She answered his question, clawing at her head as it felt as if it were splitting open at that very moment. Blood trickled down her arm as she broke the skin with her nails, and tears welled up in her eyes as she doubled over.
Why are you here? You are an anomaly.
"I don't know..." She strained out, her voice devoured with agony as she ground her teeth together so harshly that they threatened to chip and crack.
What's wrong? What's going on?
"Ama!"
"I don't know!" She wailed, sucking in lungfuls of air as her chest heaved sporadically. In the back of her mind, a brief smirk danced across pale, scarred lips. Her eyes snapped open as she awoke, and Sebastian's blurred, worried face came into view. He was clutching onto her shoulders so tightly she feared that he would break them, and he shook her firmly in his attempt to drag her back to reality.
When he saw her previously distant eyes refocus on him, he clenched his jaw, relaxing his grip ever so slightly. Joseph was standing close to him, awake and about now, and his brows were deeply furrowed as he stared down at the female. Sweat pooled on both men's brow, a detail that she failed to notice initially.
"Ama, what the hell just happened?" Sebastian demanded, and Ama's lips parted numbly, her answer withering on her lips. She did, however, quickly become aware of the distant growling of Haunted, the likes of which had not been present before. And come to think of it— her surroundings had changed as well. They were in some sort of building now, but she had no recollection of ever entering this place.
"That's a good question," The program responded at last, her eyes wide as she sucked in a tremulous gulp of air.
"You know what happened, Seb." Joseph's voice was grim as he glanced to the senior detective, who cocked his gaze in his partner's direction with a bit of a glare. But Joseph continued, dauntless in the face of intimidation, "She turned. Don't try to deny it."
"That's bullshit. Are you saying she's just as susceptible to this stuff as we are?" Sebastian pressed, and Ama's heart suddenly clenched tightly in her chest as Joseph pushed his glasses further onto the bridge of his nose.
"You saw it with your own eyes, Seb."
"You were designed to combat the creatures created by my hatred, but you yourself are not equipped to resist corruption. I can pick apart every inch of you that is good and kind, and turn you against those you try to protect. You're a part of my mind, after all, and are therefore mine to do with as I please."
Ruvik's words hit her like a ton of bricks, effectively leaving her winded. The grim realization of what was happening steadily fell upon her, and she paled, briefly forgetting how to properly function.
Joseph was right. She had no doubt that she had turned in that moment. It would explain the sudden migraine she had acquired, and her lack of recollection as to how she had arrived in this building they were currently in.
"Sebastian," She rarely ever called him by his given name unless it was a serious matter, "I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me the truth. What happened to me just now?"
He stared her down, and she could tell he didn't want to acknowledge her request. His hesitation was explanatory in itself, and she clenched her fists then, gritting her teeth as fresh tears began to well into her eyes. It was an astoundingly complex emotional reaction from a being that was supposedly only a program, but she was far too rattled to take note of that.
"You started grabbing at your head and screaming." The investigator began with a heavy sigh, "Then your eyes got— I don't know...darker. Blood started spilling from your mouth, and your skin turned pale, and veins started welling up under your skin."
He certainly wasn't sparing her any gruesome details, but she had asked for the truth, and that's what she was getting. Her gaze lowered as she quivered a bit, unable to believe that she had succumbed to Ruvik's reign. Had she managed to shake his control, or had he simply released her in order to lull her into a false sense of security? He was known to torment her, so it would not surprise her in the least if the latter had been his intention.
"And was I..." She couldn't bear to think of it, but she swallowed, looking apologetically at the two men before her. Now that she scrutinized them a bit more closely, they appeared to be a bit out of breath and shaken up, as if something had attacked them. The two of them even sported new cuts that had not been present before. "Was I the one that chased you two here?"
Sebastian and Jospeh exchanged a glance, and that was the only answer she needed. She stumbled backwards and away from them then, her hand flitting up to her chest to hover near to her heart. Shame overcame her features, and her wide eyes brimmed with tears of horror. She had one mission: to purge this place of the darkness that had consumed it and to protect the STEM admissions, but Ruvik seemed to have other plans for her.
"Ama, listen to me—" Sebastian began, and she shied away from him, terrified that she might hurt him again. He glowered at her, growing steadily more frustrated. Joseph had already turned once, and he wasn't shunning him. He wasn't going to send her away for something she had no control over. Besides, they needed to get moving; the Haunted were on the prowl, and they were drawing nearer with each passing moment.
"You don't understand, Sebastian." She whispered, sweeping her hand through her hair as she lifted her teary gaze to him, her back pressing against the wall, "He won't stop. He won't ever stop. He'll always be there in my head, taunting me and corrupting me— beckoning me to him..."
"Who? This Ruvik guy? Ama, what the hell is going on?"
The door began to quake as the undead flung their bodies against it and pounded it with their fists in their attempt to break it down. Their growls were louder than ever, but they sounded worlds away to her.
Ama had meant what she said to Ruvik— she was not scared of him. Rather, she was scared of failing at her duty to protect these people and to cleanse this place of the foulness that had overtaken it. She didn't want to be converted into a being of darkness; she didn't want to be turned against Sebastian and the others. The thought of her own two hands bringing harm to them was more than she could take. She had been designed as a peaceful and docile being, and the aspect of hunting anyone down with the intentions to kill made her feel sick to her stomach.
A glass bottle suddenly came hurtling through one of the two open windows of this place, and the shrill sound of glass shattering against the flooring drew Ama's attention. Her eyes stretched wide in distress as churning flames leapt up from the spilled oil, spreading across the room in an instance. She gasped, shying away from the blaze notably as Sebastian glanced to her.
She wasn't sure what it was, but something about fire stirred a deep fear within her. It made her heart pound in her chest, and her pulse roared in her ears as he eyes remained glue to the trail of ash and flame that the busted Molotov Cocktail left behind.
"Ama?" Sebastian's voice sounded distant as he called her name for what felt like the hundredth time today, despite the fact that he stood not but a few inches from her. Her chest heaved, and she whimpered, stumbling away from the sight of the small inferno. She felt horror grip her tight, and suddenly she doubled over, groaning beneath her breath as her head pulsated with a violent force.
Oh god. It was happening again— already.
Crackling flames obscured her vision entirely, and her body felt as if it were melting from head to toe. She screamed, her back crashing into the wall as she writhed violently. Sebastian's cursing faded into a distant backdrop as faces flickered briskly through her mind like some sort of eerie, antique film. She saw two figures in a barn, engulfed in flame and burning alive. Their pain and panic was her own, and she struggled to breathe as her lungs were gripped tight with a suffocating black smog.
The two figures that assaulted her waking consciousness were familiar to her. She knew them as Ruvik and Laura, and she seemed to be reliving their tragic downfall to the barn fire— the same one that had torn their family in twain all those years ago. Did being a part of Ruvik's mind somehow make her susceptible to fire? It certainly felt as if that were the case.
"Stop..." Her voice trembled as Sebastian fired a round off at a nearby barrel containing flammable content, igniting the Haunted that surrounded it. Her body quaked, and she struggled to keep a grip on her mind. She watched him toss matches down onto the bodies that struggled to get up, and they shrieked and writhed, withering away until they were nothing charred remains.
"Stop, please!" She felt like weeping. She couldn't tell if she was pleading with Ruvik to release her from his influence, or if she was begging Sebastian to quit fueling the flames. She wasn't sure, but she did know one thing: whatever this horrible feeling was, she wanted it to stop. She felt as if she herself had been set ablaze, and was currently wasting away to nothing more than a pile of ash.
Fire encased most of the room now, and Ama was beginning to panic. She looked around in a dazed and alarmed manner, stumbling around in a disoriented fashion as she attempted to seek fresh air. Anything to rid her of this awful, asphyxiating blaze.
Her eyes locked onto a window, and everything else seemed to fade around her. Sunlight streamed through the gap in the wall, and fresh air was just a few short steps away. Behind her, she could hear someone shouting her name, but she couldn't quite place the voice. It didn't matter to her— she needed to breathe.
"Ama, stop!"
The voice of the detective ripped her from her hallucination as he hauled her back, roughly yanking her away from the ledge she had been standing on. She gasped, sucking in lungfuls of air as she glance around wildly at her surroundings.
She seemed to regain her wits about her, and when she realized she had just nearly jumped from an exposed ledge, her blood ran cold. That fall would have crushed every bone in her body, if she had even been lucky enough to land on the ground below. It was likely that she would have missed it entirely and taken a much longer topple down the mountainside.
The flames had died away now, and all the Haunted lay in a charred pile. Soot decorated Sebastian's features, and he swiped at his face, attempting to clear it of the lingering grit. Jospeh's chest was heaving and he now carried an ax in his gloved hands, his eyes trained on the rattled woman.
"Sebastian, I'm—" Her voice quiet and meek, but her apology was quickly cut short as the detective held up a single hand.
"Save it. Just focus on figuring out a way to control it." His voice was gruff, and his eyes matched his tone as he hauled both himself and her through the now unlocked door that Jospeh had taken care of. They retreated then, barring the double doors once they were closed, effectively blocking off the onslaught of undead that were in hot pursuit.
"Let's rest here for a minute, we can't keep going at this pace." Sebastian breathed once he had a moment to catch his breath. He sounded winded, and Ama's own chest heaved as well.
"I don't think it's safe to linger here." Jospeh spoke up, his voice thin with exhaustion. Sebastian had already sunk down to the ground though, and he leaned his head back against a crumbled brick wall. He looked worn down and beaten, and despite the rough and tough front he put on, it was easy to see in moments like this that he was only human, and could only do so much. They all were, in fact. Well, almost all of them.
"You two rest. I will stand guard." She offered, and the older of the two detectives cracked a single eye open to peer at the worn out female. She felt exhausted just as they did, and this was one of those moments where she wished desperately that Marcelo had granted her immunity to these sorts of things.
"I won't turn again, I swear to you." She whispered sorrowfully. If Ruvik attempted to regain control of her, she would fight him off. She refused to succumb to his twisted desire to see her tear apart the very people she tried to protect.
She stared long and hard at them, and the two detectives shared a look. Ama didn't wait for them to voice their agreement, and instead she turned her back to them, facing the door that rattled and quaked violently under the combined pressure of the Haunted that were attempting to force their way through.
The structure was secure enough to keep them at bay long enough for them to regain their bearings, and to take a short break that was well earned. Even if she too was enervated, she played it off as if she wasn't. She wasn't going to slack in her duties here— not even Ruvik himself would stop her from protecting these people.
Because obligations aside, it was beginning to become a matter of morals for her. She wanted to see to it that their lives were guarded closely; that they escaped from this encounter unscathed. Her well being did not matter. Her "life", to put it roughly, was disposable. She had known that from the very beginning.
Besides, no matter what she did, she was likely not going to exist for much longer. Once her task was completed, it was probable that Dr. Jimenez would erase her— wipe her from existence. If her purpose had been fulfilled, what use was there in keeping her around? And on the flip side of the spectrum, if Ruvik succeeded in converting her, she would lose her consciousness and her sense of individuality. She would become a full-fledged part of him, and would no longer be recognizable as the program that she had come to be known as.
Either way you looked at it, her future was grim. She wished she could have more time, a chance to explore all the things in life that she was curious about, but she knew that was asking for too much. She was not human; her feelings were not to be taken into account.
In the end, all that mattered was that her task was completed.
[A/N: Once again, you guys slay me with all of your support. I'm utterly gushing, thank you guys so much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter; a blend of moments that build you up just to tear you down. :D
Kyne's Peace: Oh my goodness, I'm beyond flattered that you would even consider me as an influencing factor when it comes to wanting to buy the game! I'm delighted to hear that you fell in love with Ama, and I hope that I can continue to portray her as a character of your interest! Indeed, I rather like the idea of a program being capable of human emotions and such as well. C: Thank you so very much for this review, and thank you for reading my story!
sweettea1: Oh gosh, you're going to slay with me your kind words. All of you are, I swear. Thank you so, so much! Where do I even begin? First off, I'm glad you enjoy the concept of her being his light! I've always taken fondly to the "opposites attract" philosophy and things of the sort, and I enjoy the idea of combating his darkness with light. I'm ecstatic to hear that someone shares that opinion! Also, I'm relieved to hear that I managed to balance Ama's powers. I was concerned about that, considering the very last thing I wanted to do was make her overpowered. As for your statement towards Ruvik's personality: he's a hard sucker to portray, haha! I can't tell you how relieved I am that you guys think I'm writing him in an accurate manner. Thank you so much for this review, and thank you for reading my story! I would also like to take a moment to say that your own Evil Within fic is phenomenal!
Aizawa Mei: Thank you so, so very much! It's really relieving to hear you guys say that she's balanced, and I sincerely hope I can keep her that way! Yeah, Ruvik is definitely an interesting character to portray. Oh gosh, yes. The only time he was ever even mildly docile was when he was a kid, and that was pretty much only around Laura. I mean let's face it; the kid was cracking open animal skulls to dissect their brains. That's not exactly passive. ^^; Well, here's the next chapter; I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you very much for your review!
Guest: Oh my goodness, thank you! I'm so very flattered! Ah yes, Ruvik's madness is certainly interesting to portray, and I hope it comes across as interesting when you guys read the updates!
Guest: Thank you, kindly reviewer! I shall do my best! Thank you for your feedback. C:
Iamkatieisme: Thank you, dear! Aha, I do my best to try and make the chapters somewhat lengthy, but not overbearingly so. I'm glad to hear that it's enough to keep you busy for a while! Ohhhh~ I'm curious to hear whatever theory you have about Ama. C; Nonsense, feel free to share your theories! It doesn't matter if they're wrong; guessing is part of the fun! You're so very welcome as well, dear! I adore your story like I said. C: At any rate, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, thank you for your review! ]
