That's right you guys, you're not hallucinating! I actually managed to update this at a decent time and you are about to read it. So I was thinking about this for awhile now and I finally came to the conclusion that this story is kinda popular.
Here's the thing I want to do. I want you the reviewer to type in exactly why you like this story so much and you can do this by private message because I want everyone to have a fair shot at this.
The person that sends me the best message will win a prize for you to pick the Roosterteeth quote of the week for next chapter.
Now why don't you enjoy my very lovely story.
(Seriously, you should enjoy this one!- Bramble)
Last time on Freelancers Watch Red vs Blue...
"...So you're telling me they get dumber than this?" C.T said disbelievingly, rubbing her forehead.
"Well they don't get much smarter if that's what you mean." Kale said off handidly. She groaned at his words.
"God damnit..."
And now the continuation
Kale looked around some, more satisfaction in his face.
"You see? It's not all doom and gloom." He got a few looks but the mood had lightened to a very high extent. Kale looked over to the Director. "You want me to play the next one Director? Your call." He stated this blankly, smirking a Counsellor looked at the Director apprehensively.
"Director?" He folded his arms for a moment, contemplating the current situation. On one hand, he wanted to see more. But on the other hand, the agents had not yet taken what they had witnessed in properly. He mentally assessed the situation before sighing and giving what he thought was probably the worse option. To a man like him, who always wanted more information anyway.
"We shall take a moment to think over what we have seen and then we shall continue. Agents?" He asked turning to the group at large. "Are there any complaints?" They caught a quick glance at one another.
"No sir." Was the answer among them. The Director nodded his dismissal of the,, irritated at the fact that he had to wait.
Kale took this opportunity to stretch a bit. As he cracked his neck he felt a hand tap on his shoulder. Which naturally scared the shit out of him and made him jump across the sofa, landing unceremoniously on the floor. He quickly spun around to find C.T. standing behind him, laughing her head off.
"Oh my God...don't sneak up on me like that!" Kale whined, trying to slow his rapid breathing and catch his breath while she howled with laughter. Eventually, they both got to the point where they could talk somewhat normally again.
C.T crossed her arms, still panting slightly from laughing so hard "Is it my fault that you're afraid of a little tap?" She punched him in the arm lightly, grinning. "Just wanted to talk with you for a bit. Unless you'd rather chat with the Director?"She pointed over her shoulder to the Director, who was having a rapid discussion with Counsellor in hushed voices.
"No C.T, you're fine...what are you doing over here with me anyways? Shouldn't you be chatting with your freelancer buddies?" She looked over at her fellow agents who were glancing at her every once in a while, apprehension on their faces.
"That's the thing. Actually, we were hoping you could answer a few questions. if you don't mind of course!" She added the last part rather hastily. Kale got a bit nervous at this.
"Really? What kind of questions are we talking about here C.T? I mean there's only so much-" He yelped as she grabbed his arm and started hauling him over to the group. Freelancers York and Carolina turned to their direction, expectant looks on their faces. Kale, being practically dragged by C.T at this point, stopped as they got to a close enough distance.
"Uh..hi there." He said nervously, edging away slightly before being stopped by C.T., who was shaking her head, clearly telling to take the way that wouldn't end with a broken arm and answering questions anyway.
"Look Kale, we just want some questions answered. We arn't going to kill you if you can't answer them. We might hurt you a bit, but- OW! Carolina!?" York finished his confession with a yelp as Carolina punched him. Apparently Kale wasn't supposed to know that part about being beaten up. Kale raised an eyebrow at Carolina, consigned to his fate. She glared at Kale and then nodded.
"Good. Now first off, we want to know some more about what's happened in the.." She stopped and looked sceptical for a moment before fixing her features into a, what she thought was friendly but was really just terrifying smile."Future." She finished, as though the word cost every inch of her patience.
He thought for a moment. "Could you be a little more specific?" C.T. started to respond when Carolina stepped up, fed up now.
"Who else is dead Kale?" He paled a bit as she said that. The first question she asked and he couldn't answer them. They all turned to him expectantly.
"...Carolina..I don't think...I can't answer that." He said sadly,looking down. York put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from grabbing Kale and, persuading, the information out of him.
"What happened to Wash, Kale?" He said, almost knew that he had to answer this one.
Kale looked at York, nervousness clear in his tone of voice.
"That I think I can answer, but I might have to be a bit vague. Washington was registered article 12 after an accident that happened here. At project freelancer." The team held disbelief on their faces.
"Article 12? You mean the bloke went off the bloody deep end? Well, there's a right nasty mess!" Wyoming replied,shock in his voice.
"Don't ask me what happened either because the videos will explain everything...and a little more." Kale cut them off, looking back over at the counsellor and Director's they were no longer there.
A.I Chamber
Alpha had a splitting headache. Around him...everything was bright...so bright...
"Alpha?...Can you hear my voice, Alpha?.." Alpha quickly realized it was the Director's voice talking to him.
"D-Director...what happened to me...where am I?" His voice was obviously afraid. His surroundings became more apparent around him, as the walls started to thicken like they were cement drying. He was in some kind of room filled with computers and monitors...why did it feel so wrong?
"It is all right Alpha. You are safe now...you did an amazing thing today, Alpha." The Director sounded very happy about whatever Alpha had done.
"Director please...I feel so confused." He had desperation and agony in his voice. "Is something wrong with me?" Sadness crept into his voice.
"No Alpha, nothing is the matter...would you like to come out now?" Yes he wanted to get out of here. He felt so wrong here...did something happen? Why were his emotions so conflicted?...What emotion was this again? He couldn't remember...it was fading away like a lost...memory. He had the slightest feeling that something had been lost. If only he could remember what!
All of a sudden he was back in reality. "What? Who? Where?"He was next to the Director and Counsellor.
"Director? But...where am I?" He looked around. He was being carried out of a room designed to contain him when he went AWOL. They didn't use it that often...just to run some tests.
"Would you like to watch more of the videos, Alpha? You can watch from the cameras if you may wish." He groaned and rubbed his holographic head.
"Yeah I...I think that's what I want.." He was losing the feeling of soreness, slowly coming around from being out of the chamber.
Why did he feel like he...was missing something?
He reflected on this but decided it was best just to leave it alone and go to the cameras. "Besides...I need to see how Houdini has been doing."
Back to the Training Floor
"...No York! I don't know the next winner of the Grifball championship!" Kale said tiredly. York tried again once more,not convinced yet.
"It would be for some of the funding for Project Freelancer!" He said, looking pleadingly at Carolina who was glaring at him.
"No sorry York, I really don't know." Kale groaned, shaking his head and massaging his temples frustratingly. York threw his hands up in defeat, before muttering out of the corner of his mouth.
"You sure? Ouch!" Carolina had elbowed him and was glaring at Kale again. He swore that all she ever did was glare. She was probably born like it, a permanently grumpy baby, always trying to drink her milk faster than all of the other babies. He tried not to laugh. Laughing was like a minefield around this lot.
"I want to know about Agent Texas." Carolina said, meeting Kale's eyes. Kale blinked and turned to her direction, almost doing a double take. He hadn't expected this!
"Where did you..?" She rolled her eyes at him, almost in a taunting manner. She was clearly happy to be one up on the prediction master.
"I heard that she was the one who died in the Meta attack on the outpost in the first video. Was she one of us?"
Kale looked around as the freelancers shared some looks darkly.
"Well...yeah, I suppose you could say that she was." He rubbed the back of his head a bit.
"Was she on the leaderboard?" He had to take a double take again. She was very good. She knew what she wanted to know and what she wanted to know was what he didn't want to say.
"W-what?" She took a step towards him.
"Was she-" She was interrupted however, as the Counsellor and Director come back on to the floor.
"Agent Carolina, that is enough interrogation for now. The Director said coldly to her.
"Yes sir." She said through clenched teeth as she stormed back to her seat, obviously upset.
"Carolina..." Kale said sadly. York headed off with her and Kale mentally sighed. He was running low on time for Carolina...2 days until he met the airlock. How the hell would he explain this mess to her and get her not to tell anyone else at the same time.
"We have come to a decision, agents." The Director said, his voice unnaturally loud as his soldiers looked at him. "We will allow our guest to show the next couple of videos. Unless,there are any complaints?" He looked around, eyebrows raised like he would dare someone to say yes. York looked half tempted to say yes.
"If you may." He gestured to Kale as he sat down. Alpha, now not as sore as he was before, looked down from the cameras as the next video started.
"You heard him folks," Kale said in a southern drawl, before stopping as the Director glared at him. "Sit down and enjoy the feature presentation! Behold, season 6 episode 3!" He takes his usual seat next to C.T., who put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
"Beginning playback!"
Chairman: Dear Director.
Fade in to an installation of some sort
Chairman: Due to your busy schedule we have begun interviewing members of your staff. I'm certain you will let us know if this bothers you.
The Director narrowed his eyes, knowing that the Chairman would just love the opportunity to ask more questions about the project if he did that. Alpha, inside the cameras, was going over several cases where the Chairmen had done so on occasion, feeling rather annoyed at the fool's insolence. He pushed the rush of anger downwards. Not needed at the minute.
Our debriefings keep coming back to a single subject at Outpost 17-B. Can you explain to us what this Meta is, and what your plans are to deal with it?
"Well, we sent Wash after this thing so maybe we already have a plan?" York said taking a guess. Maine growled a bit as a response, disagreeing and trying to say that this was just a desperate gambit.
"Oh yeah, thanks for agreeing Maine." Maine began to stand up, looking at York furiously.
"Easy big guy, it was just a little joke." York said, edging away a bit. Maine glared at him, before sitting down angrily, imagining the twenty two different ways that York could be "accidentally" pushed down a set of stairs.
As the Chairman talks, the scene pans around to a blue soldier with grey highlights approaching Washington down some stairs.
Soldier: Oh no, hell no. Excuse me Sir, but no God damn way!
Washington: You must be Lieutenant Miller.
Words pop up at the lower left of the screen. Outpost 28: "Rat's Nest" - Blue Base
"Rat's nest? Hey, I think I know that guy!" York said, looking at the blue soldier a bit closer. "Wow, that's private Miller! I saw him a few missions ago when I was stationed over at that place with C.T!" He smiles, looking over at her. "You remember the shy guy jittering his rifle every time a shot was fired right?" She smiled, thinking back to that time. Maine had now mentally moved on to the fifty six ways that York could be killed by a friendly fire bullet.
Miller: I got Reds comin' out my ass here boss. You show up and take away one of my men? For a- what did you say this was for?
Private: Secret mission sir.
Miller: Aw, you gotta be- ah, what!?
"Oh come on Miller, what's the matter with secret missions?" Alpha snickered to himself, hidden away in his cameras. This was actually rather fun. Like spys and all that shit.
Washington: I think you have bigger issues than troop assignment, Soldier. How about getting some of these vehicles back in working order?
Miller: What the hell do ya think I'm talkin' about?
"What's the bloke mean, Carolina? I could fix a ruddy jeep in a few hours. It's a bloody piece of delicious cake. I do like cake." Wyoming was instantly shushed by the others, who had realised by now to stop Wyoming before he moved onto cake.
"Don't look at me Wyoming, it's their mechanics problem, right?" She looked over at Kale who had the biggest grin on his face.
"Oh well...I don't really know about that." They both share looks at each other, Kale trying to show Carolina that he was telling the truth. Eyes narrowed, she turned back to the film.
Miller: This is your fault, you sent us the new guy, he said he was good with vehicles. All he does is talk to 'em. Talk to 'em! What the hell is that all about? And now look at the damn things.
Washington: I don't have time to discuss your problems. I have orders and those orders say that I need Private Caboose, and I need him now. He has information that is vital to the security of-
Miller: Wait a second. Caboose? You're taking Caboose? And I don't have to pay you or anything like that?
"Pay him?" C.T looked over at Kale who is chuckling to himself quietly.
Washington: Is that a problem?
Miller: Problem? Heh heh, hell no. It must be Christmas morning and no-one told me.
"Uh...this guy-" Kale looked over at Carolina. "Caboose." She took a careful look at his grinning face and sighed.
"How bad is this guy?" He laughed a bit and looked down.
"Just watch."
Miller: You stay right there, and I'll get him for ya. Private Jo-Annis. Jo-Annis! Jo-Annis, where the hell are you?
Joanes: Sir, for the millionth time, my name is pronounced Jones. Jones!
Private 1: Shut up, Jo-Annis.
Joanes: Seriously, lots of people have the name. It's very common. How am I the first guy you've met called Jones?
Miller: Jo-Annis, I need you to go down to the brig, untie Caboose and get him up here.
"Untie? Is this, Caboose, like an insubordinate soldier or something?" C.T asked, a bit concerned about who Wash was tagging along with. Wash was like a little brother to her and she didn't want him hurt. Kale patted her arm consolingly.
"Well...actually he does do a good job of being a soldier if you know how to order him around..." Kale said a bit unsure himself but trying to make C.T. feel better. After all, she had made him feel better so far.
Caboose did technically have the biggest body count if he counted his last battle...of course since Tex was technically on his team before...well then again, they were robots with imperfect versions of-. He shakes his head and rubs his temples. God this guy was confusing...still he was one of his favourite characters.
Jones: Me, alone?
Miller: Double-time, Jo-Annis!
Joanes: It's pronounced- never mind. Christ.
Joanes disappears to go get Caboose
Washington: You keep him in the brig?
Miller: We keep him tied up in the brig. I'm not takin' any more chances.
A gunshot is heard
Joanes: Ow-howhow! Why!?
"Holy shit! Did he just...on his own..." York tried to grasp the logical reason why anyone would do that to a fellow trooper. Maine meanwhile, was thinking about how easy it would be to sick this Caboose on York. It would talk no trouble at all if he could find him. Maine smiled to himself, making him look like a slasher psycho. York and Kale glanced nervously at him and then at each other, shrugging.
Caboose: Be careful.
"Careful?! You just shot another person, a living soldier! How do you be more careful?!" Carolina started ranting, fury on her face. More steam was pouring from her ears. This time, it was the Counsellor who saw. He decided to needed to see a psychiatrist after all this.
Caboose approaches from what must be the general direction of the brig, without Joanes
"Prepare yourselves to enter a world of stupidity big enough to fill a black hole...a world where team killing is apparently ok sometimes and that it was just an accident...Prepare to enter...The Caboose zone." Everyone just stared at Kale like he's gone crazy. "That would have been hilarious where I come from." He replied, looking away in what seemed to be embarrassment. They all just sighed in a "F***ing dumbass"kind of way.
Miller: You'll understand soon enough.
Caboose: You wanted to see me Principal Miller?
"What? Bloody Principal..." Wyoming asked, his mouth dropping a bit. "Does this bloke think this is a game? This is a bloody war going on! I do say! This is simply horrific! How is this man a bloody soldier!?" Kale just shrugged. The Director was rethinking his whole "Simulation Trooper" idea.
Miller: Where's the guy I sent to getcha?
Caboose: Oh him, yeah, um- he let me out and then somehow shot himself in the back somehow. Uh, but we don't think it was anyone's fault. Everybody agrees it was an accident.
"What?...He...but..." York tried asking but failed to form words. Carolina just patted him on the arm, apparently far too used to this. The Director just shook his head in disgust.
Miller:Jesus, would someone go check on him?
Someone goes to check on him
Milller: Hrgh, Caboose, this here is Special Agent Washington from Blue Command. He has something fan-tastic he needs to talk to you about.
"Believe me, if I was stuck with THIS IDIOT, getting him off my back would be like every holiday wrapped in one." Carolina said, seething rage. York and Wyoming stood up as one and moved to a different sofa as her hands balled into fists and she unconsciously started to rip pieces of sofa apart.
Caboose: Command? Oh no. They never have good news. Did somebody die? Was it my Mom? Is she dead? Or my Dad, did my Dad die again? Oh no.
"How...how does this person function?" Alpha thought to himself, the headache coming back in at full force. Imagine being stuck in a canyon or something with nothing but this guy and some sexually frustrated retard for company. Wait, where the hell did that thought just come from?
Washington: What is this? I- I don't-
Miller: Heh heh, you see? He's yours now, heh heh heh, no takebacks.
"Oh Wash buddy...I'm sorry, but your life is so messed up." York said, facepalming himself multiple times. Maine was now imagining how Caboose could be falling down some stairs, preferably on top of an unaware York. Two idiots with one stone.
Caboose:Is it my brother? Was my brother killed? That's it, isn't it? My brother is dead!
Washington:What? No, nothing like that.
Caboose:Oh good. Because I don't even have a brother- how sad would it be to not have a brother and to lose a brother all in the same day?
Most of Project Freelancer, the Director and Counsellor included, could not even try to understand what he was talking about and had flabbergasted looks on their faces. In other news, Kale was laughing his ass off while C.T. stared at him, apparently too stunned to speak.
Washington: No-one died!
Private 3: Jo-Annis is dead, Sir.
Washington: Okay, no-one besides him.
Caboose: Once again, nobody's fault. Psst! I think the new guy did it.
"I dont think my brain can take much more of this..." C.T moaned out rubbing her head.
Washington:Private Caboose, you were stationed at Blood Gulch, correct?
Caboose:Yeah... that was fun.
"Oh, thank you god. We're actually getting some logic here!" York cried out, his hands clasped before him.
Washington: And our records indicate you were infected by an aggressive artificial intelligence program at one point. The Omega A.I.? Is that correct as well?
The room suddenly went quiet and things got serious again. The Director had his full attention on the words A.I. That seemed to be where all his trouble seemed to come from."So...this guy was infected with one of these... these A.I..things?" York inquired, a bit more interested in the soldier now.
"Yeah and that was the A.I that was taken off of Agent Texas." Carolina pointed out, interest in her voice as well. Texas! She needed to know!
Caboose: Yeah. That wasn't as much fun.
Washington: Okay, well I need you to come with me. I'm investigating a critical issue and, you seem to be the only person with the knowledge and experience necessary to help me. And I just realized how ridiculous that sounded once I said it out loud. None the less, I need you to come with me.
"So, what's the deal with Caboose and this A.I thing, Kale?" York said a bit hesitantly, apparently not expecting an answer. Kale thought it over before nodding at York.
"The A.I...sort of possessed his body at certain points and times, making him feel certain emotions and twisting him to his control." The Director just for a moment...looked horrified at this. For him to give this thing to his own agency...no, it was for the good of the people...for the good of her. He regained his composure and turned his attention to the video, mind trying to find alternatives and fail-safe's.
Miller:Can I have a word with him first Sir?
Washington: Sure, I guess.
Miller: Now Caboose, I know we didn't always get along.
Caboose: I got tied up!
Miller: Right. But all these mistakes, I know it's not your fault. You seem like a good kid. You're just a little, confused.
"Aww Miller, I knew you cared about the kid." York said, the smirk was visible in his voice and on his face.
Miller: But I wanna give you a piece of advice. This guy looks like a tough customer. And you're bound to get in to some situations that maybe you're not prepared for.
Caboose:Right. Like a rodeo.
Miller:Now if that happens, if you find yourself in danger, or in a situation where you think something bad is going to happen to you? I want you to remember just one thing: Never, ever, come back here.
York and C.T looked at each other. "So, how badly do you want to screw with Miller for doing that?" She shrugged and turned back to the presentation.
"Enough to get the message across."
Caboose: Okay.
Miller: No, I need to know that you understand. I need to hear you say it.
Caboose: Don't ever go backwards.
Miller: Okay, I guess that's as close as we're gonna get. He's all yours!
"So the curse goes on to another...Wash, you poor chap. You are truly a poor gentleman on this day" Wyoming said, shaking his head in despair.
Washington approaches, then leads the way away
Washington: Great, let's get going.
Caboose: Okay.
Caboose follows Washington away
Caboose: ...Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Washington: Just, try to stay quiet.
Miller: Boys, this is a great day! Things are finally changin' for us. I can feel it.
Private 3: Should we bury Jo-Annis now Sir?
Miller: Fellas, let's just enjoy this moment a little longer. He's not goin' anywhere.
Cut to a view of Washington and Caboose walking away from over the shoulder of a random blue soldier who didn't say anything"
Kale, who had a smile on his face, wavered.
"Oh no.." He whispered to himself. C.T looked over and frowned a bit.
"What's wrong?" He just shook his head in horror.
Caboose: I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I have to go to the bathroom again.
The blue soldier colour shifts to white, backed by some suspiciously spooky music.
"That..." He said, voice quivering for a moment. The Director and Alpha's minds came to the same conclusion. Since they were the ones overlooking the armour prototypes they knew who this probably was.
Agent Maine.
He was the Meta.
South's Room
South was storming around her room in pure anger. North had left at her request and now she was alone. She picked up another paperweight and threw it across the room, screaming in rage.
"GodDamnit!" she shrieked, punching the wall for the fifth time. Her hands were bleeding, but she didn't care. As she drew back her hand for another punch, a hand closed around her wrist. She struggled, but the hand didn't let go.
"Get Off!" she screamed.
"No." Said a quiet voice. She stopped dead, before slowly turning around. Wash was standing there. Tears were still pouring down his face as he stared at her. She looked at him for a moment, before he pulled her into a hug as she sank to the floor.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. It was unforgivable. She had shot her friend. His arms tightened slightly as his body shook slightly, though he was in more control then her.
"It's alright. It hasn't happened yet. It won't happen. There's nothing to apologise for."
And Wash just held her as she cried into his shoulder.
Resistance H.Q
The leader of the Resistance was listening in on every word in the viewing chamber. He growled a bit as he was left in suspense. "Damn it Connie, I told you we should have had video footage." He was in his regular uniform of armour in what seemed to be a briefing room he was using. He was completely alone.
"Hey boss, I got the new shipment of energy cores for the ship!" A lady like voice said cheerfully, entering the leader quickly silenced the feed before she could hear.
"Iris, what have I told you about knocking before coming inhere?" Iris was a blond woman, currently wearing her armour, a set of ODST armour with a pair of lips painted on and carrying what seemed to be a package.
"Well, is it my fault you're so secretive to your own team,Jeris?"
He growled at her when she used his name. "Iris I swear to God-" She rolled her eyes and pointed to the box in her arms.
"Look, I just got the new shipment of power cores for the Staff of Charon. You wanted to get the new battleship up and running in a few weeks, right?" She said, raising her eyebrows.
"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious Iris. I was just in a meeting with our contact before I had to cut it off." She stepped back a brief moment of realization on her face.
"Oh sir, I'm so sorry I...I will just be over in the bay area sir.I'll tell Dax to place the cores into the war ship." She said, her voice trailing off, before she turned and left the room, running off in a hurry.
Jeris groaned and turned his attention back to Connie's microphone.
They had more than enough evidence to prove that the Director was doing illegal actions through this government project, they just didn't have any physical proof.
"Connie...please be safe."
He needed that kid. And he needed him soon.
Another chapter down and another episode done!
Our Roosterteeth quote of the week comes from an animated adventure where apparently Google is more complicated then we originally thought.
Joel: If we were people like if I just walked into Geoff's garage and took his lawn mower theoretically he could be like "Joel stole my lawn mower." In the Google world its like "No no no I didnt steal your lawn mower because you didnt say I couldnt-
Jack: What is that analogy?
Joel: You didnt follow that?
Geoff: I think Joel's gonna steal my lawn mower!
Laughter ensues.
Well I hope that you liked the chapter and I hope you liked that I actually updated in an ok time frame.