Nearly inaudible over the wind whipping through their hair and clothing, Noah broke the silence between them. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry."
They were gliding along the desert sand on his Rex Ride, moving at a speed that lifted clouds of dirt behind them. Lucky them that the sun had gone down. Being fried for the second time would be the perfect cherry-on-top to an already shitty turn of events. At least (for better or worse), he had company to fry alongside with. Noah would burn faster than him, too.
Rex failed to understand what his friend was getting at. It was impossible to understand him and process his own thoughts at the same time. Not that shelter was his top priority but for the moment, he had definitely gone and made himself homeless. With this and his mind still reeling over his confrontation with Black Knight, he almost didn't want to bother making sense of what Noah had meant. It was hard to remember not to be angry with him since he wasn't to blame.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I can't remember Providence doing anything to me- If I am a potential spy. A tool they're using to get to you. I swear it wasn't my choice. I never agreed to anything. I didn't know."
"Would it have mattered if you did know?" He asked with bitter humor in his tone. Although He knew it wasn't the other boy's fault this time, there was no other way to vent his frustrations.
"Rex, I swear!" Noah pressed on unhappily.
Rex didn't say anything further. Would it even matter when he didn't even know how much of brainwashed-Noah was even the real Noah? Why bother assuaging brainwashed-Noah's feelings with reassurances that he believed him? Anything he said to him would probably get lost in programming. Talking to a pawn was just dangerous and stupid anyway. Rex was bad at keeping his big mouth shut the longer he was kept talking and with a trusted face like his friend's, he had no faith in himself to keep a lid on it.
They were on the same page at least.
"I'm not going to know if or when she'll try to get me to spill information about you. You should keep me in the dark." Noah said, trying to maintain conversation. It made Rex want to smile, how in sync they were with each other. Either way, Noah's ass was getting left at home. Rex snorted.
"First, I gotta have something to keep you in the dark about." He told him honestly.
The only thing that remained certain in his mind was that, somehow, he was going to have to gain access to the quarantined base. This wasn't something he was going to tell his friend of course. Black Knight would get her notice about what he was up to when, and only when, he was charging through their quarantine block. By then, it would be too late to do anything about it.
Noah was already more involved than he needed to be, but guilt wasn't part of Rex's decision to leave him at home. The blonde had given Providence his leash from the start, a dumpster fire he'd willingly jumped into all on his own. This was just Rex pulling him out. And it was impressive. For all of the times Noah warned him against doing something stupid, he sure didn't follow his own damn advice. His lack of choice was a product of his willingness to work under White Knight in the first place. If he'd never been on the Providence payroll, Black Knight never would have been aware of his existence. She could have never tried exploiting their ties if they were nonexistent.
The thought festered in his mind, boiling over into something uglier. Rex could only grind his teeth, trying to focus on anything except his own feelings- feelings which were dialing up to 100 very quickly. It was hard to concentrate on anything else when the passing scenery was nothing, dirt, and more nothing. Water under the bridge, Water under the bridge, he kept thinking to himself.
"Where are we going?" Noah wondered.
"Thought I wasn't supposed to tell you anything." Rex answered, sounding more cranky than he wanted to sound. "I'm taking you home."
Noah tightened his grip on him. "Yeah? And after that?"
"We're not talking about it, remember?"
It wasn't necessary to tell Noah his intentions. He had a feeling they both knew the logical direction Rex was going in; he wasn't going to twiddle his thumbs and let someone else act as the clean up crew to life's little messes. The funny part was that, most of the time, he was front and center in these messes. So, this was just an ordinary day of the week for him.
"Just don't do anything stupid."
"Like agreeing to be some spy for a some organization I barely know?" He retorted pointedly. "Because that would be stupid. In fact, if I made stupid choices like that, I'd stop advising people not to do stupid things altogether."
Noah tensed.
"That'd make me a huge hypocrite, wouldn't it?" Rex finished.
"I didn't know I was being used to spy on you, Rex. I swear. I don't even remember getting this implant or-"
"No, but you probably wouldn't have existed to her if you hadn't gone and sold your soul out to Providence. Of course she knew who you were. You agreed, willingly, to be a spy once before. You're in Providence's database. On their payroll. That's why you're in this mess. I'm just getting you out of it. After this is over, just do me a favor and stay home from now on. Don't look for me anymore and forget about Providence."
Rex was fuming by the end of his small speech, gripping the handlebars of his vehicle with more force than necessary. So much for water under the bridge Noah was quiet. Hopefully the message had been drilled firmly into his head. Or maybe the implant had messed with his brain function as well. Maybe he was being a little too harsh, but it was the only way he could vent his frustration. He'd succeeded in shutting Noah up. For the duration of the ride, he didn't hear a peep from his friend.
When he dropped him off in front of his home, the porch light was on. It was getting darker, but Rex hadn't noticed with his goggles on. Providence had wasted so much of his time already, leading him by the nose the entire time.
Noah tried one more time to appeal to him. "You could stay the night. My parents wouldn't mind."
Rex sighed. It wasn't hard to reject the offer, but he wished that things could be different. If so much of his time hadn't been wasted already... If only. He would have taken him up on the offer if he could afford one more night. But the setting sun only urged him to end this conversation faster, reminding him of what he had to get done,
"I have to get going, Noah. Thanks for the offer, but it goes against my 'don't look for me anymore' request." He gave his friend one last glance before starting up his Ride.
"So that's it? You're going to ditch me for good?" Noah exploded at him. Rex forced himself to tune the other boy out, speeding down the road on his way back to the desert.
It was Noah's own fault; he had no business getting involved in Rex's life to this extent. At least, that's what he told himself. The reassurances didn't help Rex feel better. Normally, he wasn't so self-hating, but he had never asked for this life. Sure, he could tell himself that being an EVO was an awesome responsibility, and it did give his world meaning. In spite of all the hate he received and all of his sufferings, he was the only cure the world had. For years, he had tried to convince himself that he was important. The venom he received didn't compare to the honor it was to be an EVO.
That honor was stripped from him. Rex had been made obsolete by Providence's new and inventive ways at reigning in EVOs. There was less property damage. Less casualties. People had found a more effective and safe way to deal with EVO rampages. Why did Rex have to be an EVO if everyone would have gotten along just fine if he hadn't been? What was the point?
And if Rex could have been just an average boy- not an EVO, then he and Noah might have been better friends.
Oh well.
Providence had no use for Noah now. He'd be off the organization's payroll for good. They'd remove the implant. Maybe now, he could have a normal life with normal problems. Rex remembered visiting Noah's school once-upon-a-time ago. It felt so distant now and so surreal to live like a normal teenage boy. He envied the other guy. Why did Noah ever want to give up normalcy and stability in exchange for being a part of whatever freak show this was?
Well, he had been White's spy. They were a real pair of like minds. Who was psycho enough to get themselves turned EVO and give up being the only normal person left on earth?
Rex's musings were put on hold. In the distance, he could faintly see a blockade of black trucks and barriers. He immediately knew that he was seeing the start of New Providence's quarantine around the area to prevent access to the old headquarters.
"Thrill me." He breathed to himself and halted his ride when they trained their arsenal of weapons at him. Rex disassembled his build, staring down the barrels of their missiles and firearms. He was not sure of how he was going to get through this blockade; he took Black at her word when she said her agents wouldn't be like White's.
"Rex Salazar, you are unauthorized to proceed any further." someone announced through one of their vehicle's loudspeakers. The sun was gone by then. The wind kicked sand up into the air, clouding the space between Rex and the army of vehicles. The voice of the soldier was out of place in the cool desert. Their presence was just a disturbance, but they were not threats. "This section of the desert has been sectioned off for your safety and the safety of the public. If you attempt to trespass, we will have no choice but to use force."
Rex snorted.
"You sure convinced me guys! I totally changed my mind!" He called back, raising his hands in surrender. "Let me just turn back around…"
Rex quickly assembled his Smack Hands; gleaming orange and gray metal quickly formed itself around his human limbs. In the place of his arms were titanic, mechanized arms that took the sudden assault of gunfire that had followed his transformation. He grinned, rushing forward with his two, metallic arms as his shields. The bullets pelted him, deflected harmfully away from his body as he charged through the barriers. His builds collided with one of the vehicles, creating an unbearable squeal of metal against metal. Nails on a chalkboard. He didn't even wince, rushing forward passed the quarantine line.
He'd made it.
Rex rushed forward to embrace his victory, assembling his boogie pack to take to the skies. In the air, he dipped and twisted, avoiding gunfire like a twirling, red-orange bee. He chuckled. Black Knight had given herself and her army a little too much credit.
But she wasn't the only one.
Involuntarily, Rex's whole body jerked backward. He screamed. The sound tore through his throat, as painful as the sudden stabbing of needles prickling beneath his skin. He didn't want to. He couldn't help it and didn't notice the way his boogie pack was ripped off of his back by an unseen force greater than him. He did not get to see where his machine landed, nor did he notice that he was being dragged backward through the air. The agony only stopped when he hit the cool sand; the grains that stung his eyes was still nothing compared to the phantom sting radiating throughout his body.
He squinted up and saw a pointy-headed, blurry figure looming above him. When his vision cleared up, his eyes were able to focus on the figure a little better. He wore a black faceplate that concealed his features entirely. His helmet and staff both ended in a similar shape as a chess' bishop. Engraved directly down the center of his mask was a cross, but what unnerved Rex the most was that there were no visible eyes through the two slits in the mask. He was trying to figure out what that meant but was too dazed by his fall. Nothing made sense.
"Rex Salazar. You were repeatedly warned about trespassing onto the quarantined area. You are prohibited from entering for your own safety and the safety of the public." droned a voice from inside the mask. Rex continued to study him, listening to the signals whirring in between them, the faint electric whine that lingered in the air.
It made sense. This was why Black Knight thought her army was better. They would not be prone to human error. They would never die or grow tired from battle or suffer debilitating injuries. Agent 00142, the agent who had picked him up from the desert, flashed through Rex's mind. If they were ever destroyed, they could be rebuilt. The perfect soldiers.
"You're a machine." Rex realized. His eyes flitted into the distance, to the sea of black vehicles guarding against the public.
"I am Agent Bishop." The robot informed him. "And you are under arrest for attempting to cross into hazardous territory."
Rex scowled. "Sorry, Bishop , but I'm a busy guy. I don't have time to entertain Black Knight's tinker-toy brigade."
He pushed himself off the ground, quickly forming his BFSword around his wrist. He swung his blade at Bishop, the defenseless robot who had but a staff to defend himself with. It was almost unfair, and Rex felt… guilt? They weren't people, sure.
But he could hear them.
He could hear them.
Bishop's insides transmitted, '01110100 01110010 01100101 01110011 01110000 01100001 01110011 01110011 01100101 01110010 00100000,' in a consistent stream, giving him directives to move. And wasn't that like breathing?
He squashed the desire to empathize with them down. There was nothing to identify with. Rex was not a machine, Bishop was not a man, and Rex needed to get into headquarters. His sword smashed into Bishop's staff with a loud clang. Rex pulled his arm back, prepared to swing his blade again. The staff in Bishop's hand could not continue blocking such a massive weapon for very long. It was just a matter of breaking it down. On Rex's third attempt to hit the agent, his hand suddenly froze in the air. His face, body, and limbs felt stuck.
The same pain that had taken him out of the air ripped through his body again. A thousand hornets were thrumming beneath his skin, burning him from the inside. He couldn't move a muscle, not even to scream this time. Bishop lifted his staff into the air, his movement slow and deliberate. Rex felt his body being lifted from the ground, hovering in the air like a fish caught on a hook.
Make it stop make it stop make it stop. Tears of pain pricked at the corners of his eyes. It only stopped when Bishop swung his staff, sending Rex sailing in the air. He landed in the dirt over the other side of the barricade, pain throbbing through his entire form. Gasping for air, he choked on sand, trying to focus on something that didn't hurt.
"Rex Salazar. You are unauthorized to be in the area." Bishop repeated his internal directives as two soldiers exited one of the armored vehicles. They opened up the back of the van, approaching Rex with trained weapons. Bishop continued speaking, "Prepare to be arrested and detained for trespassing."
"Does asking nicely ever work out for you?" He sneered. Soreness disregarded, he stood up slowly, assembling his sword at his right arm. The agents open fired at the first sign of hostility. Reacting just as quickly, he flipped the lever on his sword. Slowly, it rotated, picking up speed until it was spinning at a dangerous velocity. The hulking sword-converted-buzzsaw deflected blasts away from his more fragile, human body. His eyes locked onto the less fragile, mechanical bodies of the two enemies shooting at him. Their humanoid forms pulled human empathy from Rex, but he knew it was a trick of the mind- the same way they'd used his friend's face and body to use his own feelings against him.
Overriding the instinct that told him to hold back, Rex swiped his weaponized arm at the two robots, cutting them clean in two. When they were halved, frayed wiring exposed their artificiality. Electrical sparks jumped out from the bottom of their torsos and other than that, they no longer moved. Before he could feel smug, Rex felt himself being hauled up into the air by an invisible force again. The pain returned, radiating once again through every nerve in his body. He clenched his teeth to bite back a scream.
Bishop had raised his staff again, keeping Rex suspended without so much as touching him. He forced his eyes to remain open this time, eyes tightening from the anger. This was a colossal waste of his fucking time. It was anger and the pressure of the unseen power that had a hold on his body. He glared, straining his eyes defiantly and with venom at Bishop.
Indifferent, Bishop swung his staff, sending Rex flying into the back of one of the armored vehicles. He slammed into the back of the van's wall with a loud crash, bashing the back of his head against the reinforced steel. No longer held up by Bishop's strange abilities, his body promptly slid off of the wall, crumpling onto the floor of the vehicle. Warm wetness trickled down the back of his neck. Breathing heavy, Rex got to his knees, stars in his eyes. The little light streaming in from the moon began disappearing quickly as the van doors were being shut.
"No." He snapped.
Abruptly and unthinkingly, his human hand shot out to stop the doors from shutting in on him. Robots did not have the imperfection of Rex's own empathy. They did not hesitate like he did. The doors shut on his stubborn palm regardless. His body seized up, going rigid with shock. Rex's eyes widened, all he could see: a bright splatter of red between the two sealed doors his hand was caught between. He opened his mouth but no sound came out, just a pathetic, strangled gasp. Red streamed down the crack in the door, dribbling down to pool at the floor of the van. He gasped again breathing heavier and faster. There was no way to get enough air into his body. He jerked his arm repeatedly, but the motion caused pain to flare up his arm.
Don't be scared, Don't be scared.
He was aware that he was panicking. Logically, he knew that the nanites in his system would repair whatever damage the robot soldiers had done to his body. It would be like nothing ever happened. He knew this, yet he couldn't stop his body from shaking. It was cold and dark. All he could see was his mangled hand and the bloody red smatters it had painted onto the walls. Everything hurt, alarm rang in his head, and there wasn't enough air in the enclosed space. More human imperfection. Don't be scared, he told himself, but his body did not obey him. Rex exhaled loudly. All he could see was red. All he could feel was pain.
The vehicle he was detained within started up. He could hear the engine roar to life. Rex closed his eyes and concentrated on the noise instead of his own fright. The low hum of the van was the only thing he allowed to fill his head. Instead of focusing on the emotions coursing through his body, he replayed his fight with Bishop, trying to figure out what went wrong. When he had lifted Rex, it had felt like being hauled up by his insides. Whatever it was that he did, it had to have limitations. It had something to do with his staff. This he knew for a fact.
Rex's body was no longer in a state of panic. Looking at his palm wedged between the steel doors, he tried to assemble one of his Smack Hands. The transformation failed to break apart the doors like he had hoped. The metal could not begin to build itself into a proper, sturdy shape; it fell apart as quickly as it appeared, only nudging the doors apart a weak centimeter for all of Rex's efforts. Metal scraps stabbed into his skin, clinking onto the floor as his creation was destroyed before it could form. He bit his lip, taking a deep, shuddery breath.
Putting his uninjured palm flat against the vehicle floor, he began to toy with the engine. Blue light emitted from beneath his hand. Slowly, the car began to slow to a crawl until it did not move at all.
Just avoid Bishop, Rex resolved. Defeating Black Knight's soldiers was not his priority. His mission was to get passed her blockade. The only way to get his job done was to avoid engaging with the soldiers directly. He needed to avoid being attacked. Much like his favorite video games, enemy bots only attacked when they recognized a threat. They only shot at you when they registered that there was something to shoot at. Yes, they were perfect but perfect to a fault. They didn't have human intuition or common sense to think for themselves. All Rex would have to do is make sure they didn't register him as an enemy.
The robot soldier driving the armored vehicles opened the door once they had been stopped for a while. Rex's hand was freed. The solider grabbed him by the uninjured portion of his forearm so that he could examine the injury they had caused him. The angle of the fingers were bent and twisted, the skin bursted open like a grape. Rex could barely twitch them and even that was only because the nanites were repairing his nerves. Were he a normal boy, they would probably have been long gone. It didn't matter. What mattered was the point of contact between Rex and the solider.
He grinned.
Blue light and the faint whirr of electricity emitted from Rex's damaged limb. The robot stilled as Rex's commands slowly flooded his programming:
We're driving passed the blockade into the quarantined Providence base.