Another day, another chapter! We're finishing up on the Nagasaki, and it looks like we've hit some turbulence on our way to Terra Beta. Please fasten your seatbelts and hold on tight!
Warnings: cursing and implied...past situations ahead.
Chapter 19
North could remember back, years ago, to his childhood on Earth. He remembered growing up with South and his two very loving parents in a cabin up in the mountains of Colorado, yet undeveloped by the ever expanding needs of mankind. As humanity had taken to the stars to quench its curiosity and need for more resources, North did not grow up in a heavily populated area and, therefore, did not have many friends. South (Michaela) held a passionate jealousy even in their childhood, so Michael had spent many of his days alone in the wilderness behind his house. He used to go out there for hours, listening to the sounds of nature as it flourished beyond his eyes, beautiful and deadly at the same time. Birdsong was his favorite sound, and he could mimic nearly every mountain bird's whistle almost perfectly (a skill that annoyed Michaela to no end). He could also recognize the sounds of an alarmed flock of birds when confronted by a predator.
And that was the noise coursing through his throbbing head at the moment after he felt something take a hold of his neural net. The three Freelancers and one Operator were all on the ground in their pain, clutching their heads in a futile attempt to stem the tortured sound racing through their minds. What sounded like a million birds screeching was blocking out all senses, and their AIs were in intense pain. The holograms were flashing different colors in their distress, but it was Delta and Omega that were screaming in tandem with the "bird."
"MAKE IT STOP!" they pleaded, though no one could help them. "MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE! ALLISON!"
Meanwhile, millions of miles away from the current position of the Nagasaki, the entire ship had come to a near standstill. Maine, Wyoming, and Virginia had keeled over during practice, nearly paralyzed with agony as they screamed to their vocal chords' limit. The Director and the Councilor, down in their laboratory at the time, paused in their testing as a voice screamed through the computer.
"Why is this happening?!" the tortured masculine voice asked no one in particular, nearly mad with the psychological, emotional, and mental torture that had increased beyond what it was used to. "No, no! This isn't right! Where am I? What is- no. No. NO!"
"Alpha, you must make sense of yourself," the Director demanded angrily, while the Councilor stood bewildered and limp. "What exactly is happening?" he drawled.
"Director, we must stabilize him!" the Councilor noted in alarm as he check the tortured AI's statistics. "He is getting ready to produce another fragment too soon! If he makes another copy, then he will self-destruct!"
Giving a sigh, the Director began typing into the computer to attempt to alleviate the Alpha's pain, though there was no sincerity in his actions or thoughts beyond preserving his creation for further study.
"ALLISON!" the Alpha screamed in his throes, agonizing at the loss of his loved one from the past and the idea that he might lose her again.
The Nagasaki- borne Freelancers were trying to gain control of the situation. The buzzing and screeching in their minds, exactly like what had attacked the stowaways when they had first snuck on the ship, was ever persistent and painful. They were all moaning for the pain to stop, to end the suffering they were experiencing as an inexplicable heat careened through their minds.
Instinctively, without even realizing it, North began whistling to calm down Theta, who was rocking back and forth and holding his body as he and his host were "attacked." Theta had always been curious at the human ability to whistle, as AIs had no such capability. When North was so inclined, he would satisfy Theta's curiosity and need to hear the many whistles that North could produce, and it helped calm the AI down significantly after experiencing a "nightmare." North began whistling the song of a white-breasted nuthatch, and Theta stopped panicking as much as his host calmed him down, trying to bring down the worry and pain in North's mind as well with gentle pulses through his neural net. The other AIs began calming down quite a bit as well, and the barrage against them lessened gradually.
"Keep whistling," York encouraged his friend. "Whatever it is, it seems to like it."
Taking a breath, the blonde man began using a robin's warble now, and the screeching in their head came to a dead stop then pulled out. The presence was back in the room, and had actually made itself known with the hard light projectors. A tiny shape "hopped" over to the Freelancers, gazing with curious digital eyes. It was a tiny black bird, what may have been a cross between a magpie and a raven, with long sweeping feathers and an elongated crest of feathers. The whole creature was bathed in a swirling sky-blue light, with code running across its body. The miniscule bird was an AI.
"North, I think that you can stop whistling if you want to," Dawn whispered, and North thankfully stopped. His mouth had been getting sore. "Come here," she spoke gently to the AI, who gently fluttered into her open hands. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to the smart AI from the Antietam, the ship that was destroyed. Meet Chickadee."
"Hi there!" the AI chirped in a distinct female voice, waving a wing like a human would wave their hand in greeting. Uncertainly, the Freelancers waved back. "Dawn, you didn't tell them about me?" Chickadee turned to the woman holding her, sounding almost like a hurt child.
"Sorry, Chicki. It must have slipped my mind," Dawn bowed her head in mock shame to the AI, whose informality was so unlike what the others were used to with their AI fragments. The little bird flitted from Dawn's cupped hands, circled a moment, and landed on York's shoulder. "Don't get jumpy, York," Dawn chided the man as he flinched slightly at the presence of the AI on his shoulder. "When she was human, she'd use that as any excuse to start pestering you."
"I'll do it anyway." Chickadee responded as Delta appeared with her on York's shoulder, curious at the other's presence.
"How did you know her human donor?" Texas asked as the little green AI and the blue AI started watching each other intently.
"Chicki's actually the only living copy of one of my sister's that I have left," Dawn explained, sitting back to watch Delta and Chickadee get into a bit of a scuffle.
"You had a sister whose name was Chickadee?" North asked, curious.
"You got a problem with that, buster?" the bird asked, and North held up his hands in defense. The AI had some serious attitude.
"About three years ago, Chicki volunteered for developing a smart AI when things were starting to get nasty with the Insurrectionists. Just a few days after the surgery, a double agent snuck into her room and gave her a morphine overdose." Dawn stopped for a second, staring at the little bird. "Luckily, the other Operators got the bastard who did it, but my sister was gone by then. So, we used the sample and made her again."
"You have not been very lucky, have you?" York asked, and Dawn shrugged her shoulders.
"Luck is for those who can appreciate it. I'm neither fortunate nor experienced enough to really appreciate it," she replied, watching as Chickadee settled on York's shoulder. "Chicki, were you the one that nearly had us clawing our eyes out?" she asked the AI.
"Sorry about that," the little bird responded, hunching her shoulders apologetically. "It's been going on and off since…since the Antietam, I think," she responded, trying to remember.
"If you don't want to talk about it now, we can always do it later," Texas offered her hand to the bird, who lit down on her finger and freed up York's shoulder for a rather irate Delta. Chickadee tucked herself in behind Tex's long blonde hair.
"I guess she's comfortable now," North observed watching the smart AI sink into a 'nap.' He looked up at the clock. "Come on. We don't want to be late for dinner."
In a few minutes, the three Freelancers sat at a large metal table with Dawn, Julius, White Dragon, and White Griffin. Meals on the Nagasaki always started this way, with awkward silence and little to no conversation. A few gigantic plates of food were set in front of them with the evening's meal: spiced rice with chunks of meat, roasted vegetables, and fruit preserves with bread rolls. The food here was a lot tastier than what was on the Mother of Invention, the Freelancers noticed; it might be because the food hadn't gone through numerous processing and packaging plants to get to its destination.
The conversation for the evening started with White Dragon, who nudged at a white scar along his cheek. "Phoenix," he addressed Dawn, who finished putting a forkful of rice into her mouth. "Have you heard any finalizations on the marriage plans for Bianca and Red Stallion?"
Dawn held up a hand to pardon herself, gulped her food down, and set her fork on her plate. "Not yet," she responded truthfully. "As of now, I think she's still undecided on a wedding dress. She sent me a note a while back asking if I had my mother's old wedding dress, and I said that when I got back, I'd help look for it."
"Assuming that we can even have a wedding." Griffin, with a pale complexion and greasy brown hair, always had something snide or derogatory to say in a conversation or an order she was giving.
"Give it a rest, Griffin," York groaned, rolling his eyes as he stuffed a jam-filled roll into his mouth. "We'll kick those Insurrectionists off the planet, and everything can go just fine."
"I'm not talking about that, York," White Griffin sneered, her nose crinkling in distaste at the intrusion from the outsider. She didn't clarify any further.
"What ARE you saying then, Griffin?" Texas asked with the barest traces of a growl in her voice.
"I'm just saying that there has not been a lot of success with relationships for Black Phoenix's family in the past," the brown-haired woman shrugged. Dawn froze, her fork poised over her plate of food. North glanced over at her worriedly. His girlfriend's face was impassive, but her eyes seemed to be glimmering with some unknown emotion.
"For example," White Griffin continued on her tirade despite a warning glance from Dragon, "Jessica has had two engagements in the past that have never gone through completely, and she currently has five children. Heather never seems to have a boyfriend, but she has four children and is currently pregnant with a fifth."
"Stop," Julius tried to silence his counterpart, but White Griffin gave a malicious grin and continued without pausing.
"Tina used to have a husband, but she had three miscarriages and her husband left her for the Insurrection. Chickadee was MURDERED by her fiancé because he was a double agent for the Insurrectionists! And Bianca…well," White Griffin gave a short, humorless laugh, "we know what SHE'S done to get Farjad's heart."
"And where does that leave YOU in all of this, Phoenix?" White Griffin pointed a finger lazily at Dawn, who looked up with a blank face. "Did you tell your boyfriend about what happened with the last guy that YOU dated? How he just wanted a good time and left you the first chance that he could get?"
North's heart froze mid-beat. He wasn't the first person to have dated Dawn? Then again, he thought to himself, why should he be surprised? With how old Dawn was, it was natural that she had at least one boyfriend or two. Still, he glanced over at her. Though her black hair mostly concealed her face, North could tell that Dawn's shoulders were slightly tense with hurt and shame.
"Can you really say such things to show how jealous you are?"
White Griffin whipped around to see Chi standing on the table, in human form, with an intense glare in her eyes. "Why should you, a half-assed AI, care?" the woman snarled at the tiny amber woman.
"All that you are saying is based off of jealousy for the fact that my host is currently in a healthy, successful relationship that deviates from the normal behavior of her family," Chi responded evenly, though her face was stern.
"What's your problem with Dawn, anyway?" Tex asked, her eyes glinting dangerously. Both York and North were on the offensive as well, tense and ready for a fight. White Griffin paused, realizing that she was going to be outnumbered.
"The way that I see it," York started, "is that you're just like a popular high school girl; always belittling people around you because they have something that you don't and you're jealous about it. Why you've been able to get away with this for so long, I don't know."
"But-but- she's impure!" Griffin cried out in exasperation. "She's not a virgin! Who would want that?"
"Do you think that it really bothers me that I'm not the first person for her to love?" North asked, folding his arms and raising one eyebrow. Julius looked over and nodded encouragingly, a small yet triumphant smile on his face. North continued uninterrupted. "If I love her, I don't care about what her family's done. It doesn't make who SHE is as a person."
"You should be happy that there's going to be a wedding," Texas rebuked the white-armored woman. "It'll be something good that comes out of this revolution."
"I actually find it quite sad," Dawn spoke finally, her voice soft and dangerous, "that you have to resort to attacks on my family's actions and their honor to make yourself feel better and try to tear me down. Why would you do that anyway? What do you gain from it?"
White Griffin only gawked, at a loss for words, which gave Dawn an opportunity to continue. "So what if I have ten nieces and nephews, and that Tina can't have children? Or that Bianca's getting married? As long as they're happy, healthy, and they're not being hurt, I'm okay with that. You're coming to me and attacking me about what my sisters are doing because I'm the head of the family. If you have such a problem," Dawn stood up, "go to them about it. Otherwise, you have nothing to gain from talking about neither me nor my family the way that you did. Now, please excuse me. I have lost my appetite." Dawn turned to walk away from the table, and it looked like she had won the fight.
White Griffin stood up too, unexpectedly. "I guess I'm just saying that the whole bushel of apples never fall far from the tree."
Dawn whipped around, facing her offensive subordinate. "What. Did. You. Say?" she growled. North tried to get up to comfort his girlfriend. Her voice and her face both flashed huge warning signs that she was ready to shoot Griffin, cut out her tongue, and shoot her tongue.
Griffin's smile was devilish. "You heard me. I mean, you were born at least five years before your sisters were born, and they're quintuplets. From what I remember," and the offender made a mock motion of tapping her finger against her chin in contemplation, "your mom never married. And both you and your sisters all have different physical features. For all we know, your dad is some lazy drunk lying in a gutter somewhere in the inner colonies. I guess it's true that all those genes AND behaviors get passed into the next-"
White Griffin never got the chance to finish her sentence. Dawn launched herself at Griffin and knocked her to the ground, kneeling on her chest and with a dagger to her throat. Everyone stood up in alarm at the reaction.
"You can go ahead and attack me and my sisters about what we've done in the past, and I won't give a damn. But you go ahead and attack my mother-" Dawn yanked Griffin's head up by the hair and brought the dagger closer to the side of her neck, "and I'll make sure that those are the last words that you ever hear. My mom gave her life so that you could live the way you do. Pretty shitty way that you show your gratitude." Dawn let go of Griffin's hair and let her head fall to the floor. "Next time, stop when people tell you to stop." She stood up, withdrew her dagger back into its sheath along her belt, and left without a word.
No one spoke for a long moment, before White Griffin spluttered and turned to the others. "Well?" she demanded. "Aren't you going to do something about this?" Nobody said anything. "Oh, come on!" she snarled. "That bitch just attacked me! Why won't you do anything about it?"
"You didn't deserve what you got," Omega growled at the woman, who balked at the malevolent AI.
"Dawn would have been right for really hurting you," Theta spoke, supporting his brother. "You should be grateful that she let you live."
"The AIs are right," Julius added with nods from the Freelancers. "Dawn would have been within her right to gut you like a fish and feed you to the sea eagles back home."
"It was your own stupidity and goading that caused the reaction from Dawn," Delta added sagely. "It was highly illogical."
"Don't pull all that Spock crap with me, you militarized leprechaun," Griffin growled at the green AI, and then looked to her commander. "Dragon, come on! Back me up!"
White Dragon had had his head tilted down as if he was snoozing, but he brought it back up when he was addressed and gave his lieutenant a very dirty look. "Even I wouldn't stoop so low, Griffin. You got off light with that stunt you pulled," he snarled, and Griffin lurched back in alarm. Her eyes were wide with bewilderment. "You insulted more than one person with what you just said. I was actually going to take the opportunity tonight, while we were going to have a PEACEFUL dinner, and ask for Phoenix's permission to propose to Tina."
Whatever color was in White Griffin's face flooded out. She gaped like a fish out of water. White Dragon stood up abruptly, taking his lieutenant by the back of the neck. "I apologize for my subordinate's behavior," he said to Julius and the Freelancers, steering Griffin towards the door of the dining room. "White Griffin and I are going to have a discussion about her punishment, if you'll excuse us."
"Well, certainly not the best dinner conversation," Julius groaned and placed his heads in his hands tiredly.
"Do you think we should go after Dawn?" Texas asked, but Julius shook his head.
"With something like that, the best thing to do is let her blow off some steam and get her head together. Otherwise, someone's going to end up hurt with her temper."
"If I may ask," North asked, "who is Dawn's father?"
"Lad," Julius turned his somber eyes to meet all of theirs', "I can't say anything. It isn't my place. And I suggest that you do not ask Dawn about it either," he warned them. "The subject of her father is a touchy one at best."
"North, wake up," Theta whispered in North's ear, and the blonde man sat up in bed in an instant, turning on the bedside lamp. York gave a grumble and turned to face the darkened wall.
"Is something wrong, Theta?" North asked his charge worriedly. The AI appeared from a holographic projector in the wall.
"Not me," Theta shook his head. "Chi wants you to go down to Dawn's room. Something's not right."
Quietly yet with urgency, North slipped out from under the covers. He shivered at the draft that hit his bare chest, so he grabbed a woolen robe from the stand by his bed, wrapped it around his body, and exited his bedroom. The hallways were pretty much deserted, and he made his way unimpeded to the door down the hall marked with a black phoenix in flight. He pressed his ear to the door and heard rapid, panicked breathing. The door automatically opened when Chi identified his presence, and North rushed over to where Dawn sat curled on her bed, her head buried in her knees and her hands wrapped around her feet. Silent sobs ran through her body, and North wrapped his arms around her. He leaned back against the cushions of her bed and helped Dawn lengthen out, calmly stroking her head as she gave shuddering gasps to try and calm her down.
"It's okay," he whispered over and over again, pulling her tight against his chest. She grabbed at the wool robe.
"North?" Dawn finally asked when her panic attack had subsided. He tilted her head up so that she could see him, and Dawn relaxed against him. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "I had a nightmare about the night that my mom died."
"You don't need to apologize," he said, tracing the tattoos on her face gently with his hand. "It happens to everyone."
"I'm also sorry that I-"
"Lost it back at dinner? Don't worry about it," he said gently, giving her a tight hug. "You had every right to do that. You can't feel guilty about something like that."
Dawn didn't reply. Her breathing and her heart rate were finally relaxing a bit, and it seemed like she was falling back asleep. North made to let go and leave her to her privacy, but Dawn grabbed his hand. "Please, don't leave," she whispered tiredly, leaning against him. "I don't want to be alone right now."
"…If that's what you want," North responded after a moment. He didn't think that he'd have the energy to go back to his room anyways. Well, he thought as Dawn settled back to sleep in his arms, it was only a few hours until morning. So what if people thought weird things if he left her room in the morning? Nothing was going to go wrong for Dawn.
Not if he could help it.
I know that some of you might not qualify that as one of my "end passages" that take place somewhere else. I'll make it up to you in the next flashback chapter. Chapter 20 will be the landing on Terra Beta, and 21 will be more flashbacks about Courage through Eternal Night and her journey.
'Til then,
anna1795