It's been a few weeks since the battle royal and since I delivered Cerebro's information to Stryker since than I've been experiencing sharp pains in my left arm and right leg. I knew Stryker had something to do with this but since I didn't have proof I wouldn't be able to make much of a case. At least I know I wasn't suffering alone Trent would blank out on reality and fade into the virtual world uncontrollably. Mike's injuries isn't healing as fast as they normally would but he got better enough to crawl out of bed and walk around. Nina's eye slight was failing her at a random rapid rate like sometimes she can see as clear as day and all of a sudden she'd go completely blind. I keep trying to convince them to stay away from the upgrade but with this many glitches in our software and the problem growing worse everyday it's just a matter of time before somebody hits there breaking point.
"Trent?...Trent!?...TRENT!?" Spike yelled
Trent slowly started to blink back into reality, "I'm sorry I guess I just blanked out for a second. Ummmm what are we doing again?" He asked looking around
"We're playing basketball the score is tied and you're holding up the game." Spike said getting frustrated
"Oh yeah! My mistake." Trent said passing the ball to Scott and snapping back to normal
"Is he alright AJ?" Kitty asked watching him from the blechers
"He's just been a little distant lately that's all." I said
"Yeah riiiiiiiiight. Kurt is distant Trent acts like he is on a differnt planet." She said
"More like a different galaxy." Nina said taking her seat in the row above us
"You should be the last one to talk you blind brat." I said
"Ease up on the name calling it's not her fault her vision is failing." Warren said sitting down beside Nina
"It's not my fault you're trained like a puppy." I said
"And Trent isn't? He carried you on his back all day yesterday cause you caught a cramp in your leg that lasted for 5 minutes." She argued
"He just wanted to make sure I was alright that's it." I said lightly blushing
"I call major bs on that claim but again Trent has always been a marshmallow when it comes to you." She said
"Why is that anyway? Better yet how did you guys meet?" Kitty asked
Nina looked at me before shrugging her shoulders and rubbing the back her neck with three fingers. You see 9 times out of 10 me and Nina always get asked how did we meet but instead of telling the truth we came up with five different stories to tell. We signal each other by holding a certain amount of fingers behind our necks and to make sure we have the same story so it seems legit. We eventually got Mike and Trent to go alone with it and every since that day we never told the truth about how we met to anybody until now when I coughed and Nina smiled.
"Me and Nina are close because our moms were childhood friends. They made this promise saying if they had girls than they would be just as close as they were if not more." I started
"That's why we think of each other as sisters cause our parents literary raised us to believe that as a fact." Nina said
"Even when I was moving around we always stayed connected somehow. We ended up going to Washington Military Academy in Virginia together and that's where we met Mikey." I said
"That nerd." Nina said slightly giggling
"Wait Mikey was a nerd?" Kitty asked a little shocked
"Mike had a brain?" Warren asked
"Yeah but he was a different person than he was more like you to be honest." Nina said looking at Warren
"Mikey was like one of those cool nerds who make straight A's on his report card and go out for the football team with the whole school cheering him on." I explained
"When did you guys meet Trent?" Kitty asked
"Before or after he ranaway from school?" Nina asked
"Why would he runaway from a military school?" Warren asked
"That's a funny story actually ummm...he ranaway because he didn't want to gethishaircut." I muttered through clearing my throat
Kitty and Warren busted out laughing, "Really a haircut?!" They both asked
"But that was just a rumor. After his parole officer dropped him off he instantly ran for it and stayed hidden on campus for about a month or so something like that." I answered
"How did he get caught?" Warren asked
"He got busted trying to smoke weed in a tree near the football field." Nina answered
"My lovable dumbass." I said looking at him and Spike before anwsering a phone call
"Prime Time! GAME POINT!" Trent yelled before shooting from the three point line
Spike jumped up and desperately tried to block the ball or at least knock it off course as it flew over his head and inches from his fingertips. The ball bounced off the rim before going in the basket and while Trent and Scott were celebrating Kurt and Spike was urging over who cost them the game. Nina Warren and Kitty were cheering from the stands while I was trying to make my way down to continue a phone call with Marko. While I was walking each step I took felt heavier and heavier I was losing my grip on the rail that was secretly keeping me balanced eventually I fell down every single step from highest part of the bleachers.
"Alex!?" Kitty yelled racing down
"Alex are you alright?" Nina asked trying to make her way before tripping on the rail
"Watch out!" Warren said catching her before she fell down the stairs, "Didn't you see that rail in front of you?" He asked holding her from behind
"There was a rail there?" She asked slowly turning around
"Holy crap. Nina how many fingers am I holding up?" Warren asked staring at her dull colorless lifeless eyes
"Ummmm one no no no two no four including your thumb?" She said with a nervous yet frightened smile forced on her face
Warren glanced from her to the three fingers he was holding up before grabbing her hand and guiding her down from the bleachers.
Kitty Scott Spike and Kurt surrounded me and tried to make sure I was conscious before Trent walked over and picked me up off the floor, "I guess I'll take her to the nurse." He said before leaving the gym
"What the hell are you doing?" I groaned
"Shut up liar. You told me it wasn't that bad." He replied sneaking into the boys lockerroom
"It's not you're just over reacting." I said
"Oh yeah prove it." He said putting me down against the wall and walking to the other side of the room, "Come here." He said just a few feet away
"Fine!" I yelled carefully making my way over
I shifted most of my weight to my left leg still when I applied the slightest pressure on right leg it felt like it was gonna snap in two. Trent stared at me with his arms folded watching me struggle to take the few steps I need to make it across the room. Eventually I did make it across the room without his help but he can tell by the I was sweating and gasping for air that I needed help. He held me up and put my hands on his arms, "Squeeze my arms as tight as possible." He said looking at me
"Alright I guess." I said
While my right hand had a tight grip on his wrist my left hand however couldn't even pitch his skin. He slowly lowered his left arm which was causing my hand to slip off. It was obvious that I was falling apart even though I refuse to admit it I desperately needed the upgrade.
"You need to get the upgrade now." He said sitting me on the counter
"I'll be fine without it. Did you bring your shaving kit?" I asked
"I still don't think it's a good idea for you to be messing with your wires but it's in my gym bag I'm getting in the shower." He said
"And you're just gonna leave me here?" I asked looking in his bag
"Of course. I need to keep an eye on you anyway just incase you get any bright ideas." He said walking to the back
I rolled my eyes before pulling out the tweezers and opening a slot on my knee showing my wires and veins connected to my right leg. I carefully moved around some of the wires and connected them to different circuits hoping that it'll help after wiggling my toes and standing on my own two feet everything seemed normal. After doing my elbow for my left hand and nearly busting a vain I had complete control over everything but the question remained: How long will it last? Not even two seconds after that I got a text from Marko asking two very dumb yet important questions: Am I ok and where the hell am I?
"Trent we gotta go Marko and Stryker are waiting on us." I said walking to the back, "Didn't you hear me we have to go like right now." I said peaking in
Trent was half necked standing in front of a mirror breathing heavy staring into space quickly glancing around. He was trembling and his left eye was twitching at a rapid rate. The only other time I ever saw him like that is when he was using so for him to act this way sober it was scaring the hell out of me especially when he started mumbling to himself.
"Tr-...Trent? Are you...alright?" I nervously asked walking up to him and placing my hand on his back
As soon as he felt my hand he slowly stopped trembling and his eye stopped twitching as he closed them. He slowly balled up his hands into fist before inhaling a deep breath of air and screaming so loud I couldn't do anything but cover my ears and take a few steps back. After 10 straight minutes of him screaming he started punching every mirror he saw until pulled him away from the last one and managed to get him to sit down in a corner with me. He scrambled around for almost 30 minutes before spacing out again and leaving me to do nothing but worry and get a good look at his bloody knuckles.
"Trent? Trent are you with me?" I asked softly stroking his hair back
He lightly groaned before closing and reopening his eyes leaning back into me, "Wh-...What the hell just happened?" He asked lightly
"I...I don't know." I answered looking at all the glass shattered on the floor and the broken mirrors before looking back at him