Chapter 3
The Demons we hide
Allison seemed completely transparent, but she was there. She was obviously wavering though, half of her body flashing like pixels. She had her blonde hair tied back, and she was wearing standard military clothing, all from the boots, to the hat, to the bulletproof vest,
"I can't sustain this mass of form long, but I wanted to meet you," Allison told Niko, hands clasped behind her back. "I'm only an AI, and I'm not all the way here."
Allison shook her head, making the pixelized part of her body flash even more. "There's no convincing her, you know. She'll never change." She wishes she could tell Niko the whole story of what was really going on behind the scenes of the Insurgents, why she was there. The distance from the AI separating lab to where Niko was short, and the max distance, she could travel without being assigned an Insurgent. Like she ever would.
"Take care of her, ok?" she asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. "Keep her out of trouble. Be patient with her." She looked down. "I wish I had more time to talk, I wish I had more time to tell you more, but I can't. Just...Tell Sapphire that memory is key for me." She did not even ask, and her voice sounded even more hard and stiff than it had before, which was saying something. "Tell her to check the dog tags after she's done."
"Her dog tags?" Niko asked as Allison started to disappear. "Wait I gotta ask you a question! I know some of my powers are natural, but why did I get some of yours?"
Allison shook her head, and the pixels kept going nuts. Her voice grew choppy, too. "I am but an AI," she told Niko, mouth twitching, "I don't know everything there is to know."
"JUST deliver my messages," she ordered, "I need you to." And with that, Allison dissolved into a mess of pixels.
Niko sees Sapphire behind him, looks at her, and explains everything Allison told him.
"Well that's all she told me." Niko said. "What do you think she meant?
"Memory is the key..." Sapphire muttered to herself as Garnet showed up by her side. She looked down, and when it finally hit her, she flicked her head up.
"I've gotta go, be right back, Garnet, Niko," she muttered, leaving no explanation. She then dashed off into the crowd of Insurgents nearby, destination unknown.
"Where do you think she went, Garnet?" Niko asked.
Garnet just shrugged. He hated Niko to no end for getting in the Insurgents affairs and getting other agents, especially Sapphire, in danger. When this was over, he knew he would never see Niko again, at that time he would be at peace. Just then, Sapphire comes back with a pair of dog tags that did not seem to belong to her, but to Allison.
"Sapph?" Niko asked. "What are those dog tags for?"
Leave it to Niko to ask the obvious. Garnet thought.