The siblings entered the abandoned unlocked base strewn with bodies; one in particular. South made the sign of the cross over herself; she had never done that before, not for any fallen comrade or family member. She waited for North to catch up to her.
"York..." North's tuned away, his voice choked with emotion.
"Wyoming-that bastard!" South shouted, punching a wall for dramatic effect.
'really funny a-hole we say we're looking for Agent York and you give us directions to his corpse!' she said to herself throwing up her hands.
Even though he was not her best friend, and the last time she saw him he was helping Agent Texas take down an entire ship; York was always a good person whose humor and positivity made him a beacon of light. She genuinely hoped his soul was in a better place.
"You don't know he did this!" North shouted back at her. He felt a sharp pain in his heart.
"Like hell I don't. I can't believe you shared out supplies with him!" South sat down with her back against the wall, trying to determine their next move.
North took a knee and in his grief he suddenly remembered Wyoming's words 'Unless you want to end up like my previous henchmen I would advise you to not underestimate former freelancers.' Something had gone down in this place and now he felt like an absolute moron; yes, agents left project freelancer for various reasons, and some came out more warped then others.
"Maybe we should take the AI and armor enhancement." South suggested at what she did not realize was the worst possible moment.
"You are not taking York's AI!" North was full on angry now. She was still obsessed with getting her own AI?!
"I meant to keep them from falling into the wrong hands; like the hands if a certain psychotic rogue agent who ripped Carolina's AI out of her head." South said trying to reason with him.
"I can't even look at you." North. It was the same sickening feeling he had when Agent Texas told him South was petitioning for one of Carolina's AI. He really thought his sister had changed.
South decided took a step back from the conversation; was this argument worth perusing? She had two choices; tell him the truth about her mission, he would be allowed to live, but knowing she betrayed his friendship and trust they would likely go their separate ways. The other option was to drop the subject and just let things play out; he would die believing she had changed, believing she was a decent human being.
"You're right it would be disrespectful. I'm sorry, let's just go." She placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Give me a moment." He wanted to be alone, to say his final goodbye.
"Sure. I'm going to look around see if I can find us a ride." She said, glad to see him calm again.
South hid around a corner to contact command "Command, agent York is dead what the next is objective?"
"You objective is to choose a direction and run" said the voice at the other end of the line.
"The meta?" she assumed.
"We have reports that it's coming after the Delta AI; meaning he's headed straight for you. As of right now Washington will likely reach the York's body first, but that would make North's AI the next closest target." Command explained.
"How far are they?" South asked.
"Washington is 6 hours away traveling by vehicle, and Maine is 3 hours away traveling on foot." There was no reason to state it like that other than to confuse Agent South.
"Copy that…"After a moment of WTF South decided to assume that info meant she had 3 hours to get as far away as possible
She searched the base for any vehicles they could take. "score."
20 minutes later South found her brother, still kneeling over the body of his friend.
"I found an abandoned vehicle; we should get out of here." She said softly, trying to be respectful of his emotional state.
"why?" he asked in a whisper.
"Did you want to stay here?" she asked sarcastically.
"Who are you communicating with?" he asked in a serious tone.
"What?!" oh shit. Luckily ever since she was a kid; when ever she was at a loss for words her mind defaulted to anger (dating back to one very specific reason)."What is your problem?! Yes you fucked up by helping Wyoming but don; take it out on me."
"I don't trust you." he said, in the same callus monotone voice.
"I thought you said you would always have my back? because god knows I..." she made a motion with her hands to shut herself up. "no, just no."
"You what?" he was curious now.
She had a secret one moment in their childhood when she 'had his back'; she came to his rescue, but at the cost of her innocence. She never told anyone, holding on to the anger and pain; forever knowing he owed her a debt he could never repay.
She could have used the story, but he didn't deserve the story. because in addition to being the story of a little girl sacrificing her body; it was the story of a sister's unconditional love.
"Fuck-you." she turned to leave. "You can stay with the dead."
She stomped of, leaving him alone again.
North sat down next to the body unsure of what he wanted to do. But there was one 'person' who knew all the answers, maybe he could lend some insight.
"Delta -you there?" he asked, placing his hand on York's shoulder.
"Agent North this is a surprise. Are you recovery 1?" the little green AI asked.
"No, is that the person tasked with collecting back the AI's?" he asked.
"Where is agent South?" Delta abruptly changed the subject.
"Sulking." he was pretty sure she was still in the base.
"Is there a problem?" Delta asked.
"Long story short; I was tortured, we fled the ship, but I'm pretty sure she's still working for Project freelancer." He sighed.
"Would you like my advice, as someone with many siblings?" All the AI considered themselves to be siblings, and after all this time Delta really did miss them.
"I'll take any advice I can get," he answered.