Part 5: Dreaming of Alice
"Shi-ite!" After her long silence during the fight, Tenenbaum's sudden exclamation gave David a shock. Taking a breath to slow his racing heart, he tried to familiarize the layout of the train controls while waiting for her to explain. "David, I need you to get to Gaia Plaza as fast as you are able."
At that moment, the armored teen felt the need to shout at Tenenbaum. Would it have been too much to ask for five minutes rest? He'd just climbed from the grave, through an underwater wreckage, and fought for his life. Was a short reprieve too much to ask?
"I know you are tired, and this can't be easy for you, but I am needing you to get there now." Without any other explanation, the doctor launched into a crash course on the locomotive's control system. While he was by no means an expert, David could at least get the train to Gaia Plaza.
Despite that he had pushed the throttle all the way forward, the train screeched at a snail's pace, slowly leaving that station and dipping into the ocean water. At the rate he was going it would be several minutes before he reached Gaia Plaza.
A sudden weariness crept through David's limbs as he waited for the train to get to its destination. Since he wasn't needed at the controls anymore, he slid to the floor as a wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over him. The short ride to Gaia Plaza shouldn't have been enough time for him to fall asleep, let alone dream, but he must have, for David soon found himself back in the Drop.
"Alice, get out of the bloody street!" David turned to look. There in the street, a young girl with short, brown hair and hazel eyes stood in the middle of the walkway. Around her, suits all but ran her over, oblivious to her presence. Hiding his grin, he went to the little girl. This was David as a young teenager. He hadn't killed anyone in Ryan's name. He hadn't been trained to ignore emotions like sympathy and pity.
Instead, he still felt sorry for Alice's mother, Mrs. Verloren, still laughed at the young girl's antics. Scooping her up, and hanging her over one shoulder, David brought Alice back to her still half hysterical mother.
"If you keep wandering off, she's going to beat you," David whispered in Alice's ear. "And then she'll tell my mother, who'll beat me."
"Don't worry Davy," the little girl responded. If anyone else ever called David "Davy," he would have to hit them. Alice was the only one who could get away with it. Sometimes, he would catch grief from his friends about spending time with someone nearly half his age, but he knew that if he didn't watch out for her, no one would. In the Drop the only ones who could help them were each other. As though she had read her thoughts Alice added: "I'll protect you."
Setting her down next to her mother, David tried to fix her with a reproachful glare. Alice merely smiled at the older boy. He didn't know it them, but that would be the last time he would see her.
The next morning, Mrs. Verloren had come by David's home, tears in her eyes, sobbing hysterically. She had lost Alice that very morning over at the Fishbowl Dinner. "You know how she is. She'll wander off, and won't say a word about it." David felt his heart jump into his throat. Alice couldn't be gone, she just… couldn't. Of course neither David nor his mother had seen the little girl that day.
Determined to find his neighbor, David had gone to the diner, retracing Alice's steps. He'd asked every living person in the Drop, begged the police to do something. However, disappearances in the Drop were common. People would vanish from plain sight every day. No one cared about one little girl.
The train lurched to a stop, jerking David from his dreams. Feeling dampness on his cheeks, he reached up to wipe away tears, only to find that something was in the way. Panicking, he struggled with his helmet's clasps. Off, off! Get it off! David screamed internally. At last the sphere of copper and brass came free and he threw it to the ground.
When he raised his gloved hand to his face, feeling the cold metal brush his skin, David choked back a sob. Inhaling sharply, he fought to control the feeling of loss and sorrow. It happened years ago, the teenager snapped internally, let her go.
"David?" Tenenbaum's voice echoed from his helmet. "David, are you there? What is happening?"
After a moment, David was able to bring his breathing under control. He wiped the last of the tears from his eyes and lifted the helmet in his hand. Already he could feel the sting of poison in his lungs. "I'm fine," David said, sealing the helmet back to the suit. "Bad dreams."