The trio started to regret ever being near the stones. Or even having any ideas of ever using them for anything either. And Ash wished that they hadn't worked when they did. Even if he really had wanted to see his Mother as bad as he did. As well as show Eli what the future looked like, too. Well, more than the brief glimpse he got a few hours ago.
And in all honesty, he was curious if he existed in the future at all. As he and the other two, weren't entirely sure if he was or not.
Since they couldn't remember ever hearing about him or seeing him. Not even in passing. Then again, they had other things to worry about. Mostly surviving the humans that were out to kill them. And, before he deviated, Connor hunting them down. Quite possibly doing worse things then just murdering them. And none of the trio wanted to think of any that. It was just way too terrifying and depressing.
Right now, they were worried what they would deal with. The consequences of what Chloe's actions were going to be. And some part of Oliver felt she had gotten herself in trouble. After all what she pulled was a really, really, dumb move.
That poor woman could have been shot by that cop. Or any form of army personnel. Oliver was more than a little surprised that she didn't get harmed. Just how lucky that she was to not be. Though he had this feeling there was more to it. Like maybe the Army was already using the stones. And that Chloe poked her head in at the right moment. Possibly the odd RK unit was at the helm of it. It seemed far more likely then her being able to steal them.
After all, they would have kept an eye on the androids during this. Non-cop ones at the very least. Especially, if they were prototypes that directly involved Elijah. Like Ash, Markus, and Connor were. The three that also had deviated the quickest. He highly doubted that the Army would let Chloe past completely undetected.
That was also something to ask another time. Right now, they had to listen to David speak. Even though he would rather cram pencils into his ears instead.
"This is your second chance to be using the stones today.",David informed. A smug smile on his face as he did so. It was irritating as Hell but, he lived with it. Knowing that getting David angry wouldn't do any of them any favors in the slightest. He added,"I will be going with you during this trip."
"Stay close and don't even think of running off or I will shut you down.",David warned. Another unnecessary threat. But, one that he knew better than to object about. As it most likely would cause them more trouble than it was worse. And they didn't need to give him another reason to hurt them. The jackass could easily come up with one of his own. Why give him any more ammunition to use against them? There would be so many issues for them to deal with. And probably another unnecessary threat of being murdered once again by David. Or anything else by the seemingly heartless bastard could come up with.
Seemingly heartless.
As he seemed to care for his fellow humans in a small way. Even if his way of showing it was a dickhead move. And just really overprotective if he were being honest.
Anyway, Oliver reached over to the stones like before. And the sensation from earlier happened once again. Finding himself in that room once again. Seemingly in that RK model from before again as well. And it looked like there were newer androids from before. A ginger and a blonde. The ginger looked to be a gardner of some kind. While the blonde had strange glitter on the top of his skin. Mostly likely fake as no human liked glitter in any day and age. This wasn't the only thing that had changed over a few hours. As there were more guards in the room with them. None looking familiar but that was to be expected.
They had their guns on their belts and not pointed at any of them. Though he suspected if he moved wrong they would pull their guns out in a second. So, he stayed as still everyone else began to join him.
Ralph coming before Ash like he had before. Admiring the body that he had just been placed in. Probably liking the sparkles that were on the skin. For whatever strange reason. It wasn't anything that Oliver wanted to linger on. So, he ignored it as he stared at Ash in the ginger's body. Who looked more tense than he had seen him in a good long while. Eyes darting around the room to look at the guards in fear. Carefully reaching over to grab Oliver's hand as he did so. Giving it a gentle squeeze as he looked super tense. In a tone that was too low for humans to hear, he stated,"I really hope that Mom's okay and not what I think she is."
"I really hope that she's with Elijah right now. Don't worry, we'll probably see her later.",Oliver reassured. It wasn't hard to understand his fears in the moment. And part of him knew that Ash's fears weren't entirely unfounded. But he didn't want Ash to get so stressed that he would shut down over the whole situation. They would find out his fate of his Mother, soon.
And he would try to make that if it meant having to beg that prick, David over it.
Speaking of whom, he came last. Arriving in the body of a young man that had a similar uniform to Matthew's. Except he had bright green eyes, dark red hair, and a whole lot of freckles. It was, weird. But he chose not to comment on it. In fear of angering the man who already wasn't happy with any of them. David then proceeded to take control of the whole situation. Telling the men who were guarding them who he was. And who was currently in charge.
This wasn't anything the trio were really paying much mind to. Instead, they were really focusing on inspecting the room. Sure it was the same room as it had been before. And that really wasn't much of a surprise for any of them. After all, this little thing had happened only a few hours ago.
So, why would they change where they had the stones?
What was, was the amount of discomfort they saw in the humans. How some of them motioned for their guns before they stopped themselves. Which was really something that puzzled Oliver. Why were they that surprised that the trio could use the damn stones. After all, they had placed androids in the room. So why was it so damn shocking for them? All of this felt like a complete overreaction to him. Was it really that big of a deal that they had used the stones? That it had worked in the slightest bit?
'You think we had murdered someone by the way they're acting right now.',Ralph muttered. It definitely seemed this way. And a small part of Ash wondered why they were so scared. It wasn't like they had disturbed anything. Harmed anyone. Definitely hadn't broken anything in the room either. So why in the Hell were they so scared like this? Oliver reminded,'Again, they're just being cautious. As long as we keep our cool, we're going to be just fine.'
'Still seems pretty over the top for just a few minute visit, Oliver.',Ash muttered. Even if he agreed, he understood why the humans were acting like this. Sort of understood their actions in all of this. Though he still despised being treated by these humans in this manner. Having to be submissive to any of these people. Being afraid that one misstep would be the one that killed them. They followed after David and a younger guard. Keeping as close to each other as they could. Ash was still holding onto Oliver's hand so tightly. Feeling terrified that they were going to be shot at any time. Glancing at the humans that they passed as they walked through the halls. Feeling uncomfortable with the barely controlled looks of disgust from the people they passed. It was like they wanted them to know how much they hated them. Probably what they were doing. Ash reached behind himself as to grab Ralph's hand. Giving it a gentle squeeze as they walked down the hallway.
Ralph gently squeezed his hand back without saying a word.
While the androids were feeling uncomfortable with the humans, David was worrying over something else. Everything he was looking at in the moment.
For the androids it probably wasn't anything they hadn't seen before. But, David couldn't believe the difference in such an amount of time. As he had never pictured the future looking anything like this. If he were asked a week ago, he probably would have pictured things being the same. Maybe a few newer things in place of old. Though he wasn't entirely sure what they would be. Definitely not what he was seeing in the moment. And it made him quite nervous as he walked towards Young's office. There were also a few more androids than he anticipated there would be.
Way more than he ever expected to be in the military.
Some look to be Oliver's model. A few looked like they were Ralph's. One looked like North as well. And there were several that reminded him of Simon. A lot of them had similar faces and model numbers. They just looked like the ones he had seen on the Destiny. Well, almost all of the damned machines looked the same. Almost. There was only one thing that stood out to David. And it was starting to make him more than a little confused.
There weren't any androids that looked that much like Ash.
In fact, he was thinking right, there really weren't any on the Destiny either. None. There weren't any that looked even slightly similar to him. Would Ash's 'Mom' be one of them? Just how much would that blonde look like Ash? And was this something that the 'Chloe' had done on purpose or something? This seemed like a huge possibility in his mind. Though it just seemed so strange to him. Speaking of that blonde, he had a question that had been bugging him even more.
"How did that blonde get to the stones in the first place?",David questioned. The man leading them explained that Young had Elijah Kamski come to the base. Wanting to question him over his androids use of the second gate. Trying to understand which of them could have cracked it so easily. When it took the rest of them so much longer. The young man continued,"She had gotten out of the room on her own and ran to the room."
"We were lucky she didn't get to touch the stones. Who knows what could have happened if she had.",he muttered. Looking more than a little annoyed with the idea of her trying to. And it was pretty understandable in his opinion. The blonde android didn't have clearance to do what she had tried to do. Even if it was just going to see the android she created and 'mothered'. As it had pissed him off that the trio behind him did what they did to.
As they had no one's permission other than Lieutenant Scott's.
Especially after that annoying pacifist 'leader' Markus, or whatever his name was, promised his people would behave. They pulled that kind of stupid stunt. He had been so tempted to get rid of them right then and there. Just get them gone for everyone else's good. But, Everett seemed so against this for whatever reason. And he wasn't entirely sure of the why. Or why he bothered these machines for. As he found them to be entirely too...uppity. For lack of a better word. They had barely been on the ship for a damn day.
And some were acting entirely too damn comfortable for his liking. Like they owned the ship or something. Wasn't hard to see why the government wanted them gone. Too much trouble for anyone to want to keep.
At least in this case.
He felt the group wasn't really all that worth keeping. As they did do some good for the ship. Some good. Enough that he felt he couldn't get rid of them right away. Especially, since these three were doing a lot of work for the Destiny.
Ash doing repairs that human counterparts could do.
Stuff that he really didn't expect humans to do. Nor would he begin to. Mostly fearing what could happen to them if they were in those spots. Was this extremely selfish of him? Yeah, sure. He supposed that it was. But, he really didn't give that much of a damn. What else were these machines good for? If not labor that human beings couldn't do?
David did his best to not let his emotions show. Not wanting people to take them the entirely wrong way. And ruin his plans to figure this whole mess out. Like where Ash's Mother was at. Ask her why she did what she had done earlier. As well as talk to Young about all of this mess. See if this is an actual older version of his Everett or not. If it was, what the Hell did that mean?
If not, then what in the Hell did this mean? Could that mean the Destiny traveled to a completely different universe? Did that mean none of them could go home?
Now there was an ugly thought he didn't want to entertain. Ever. The idea of himself and the others never getting to go back. That their loved ones might die without ever seeing them again. At least some of them. Like Eli's. It made his heart drop as they neared the possible future Young's office. Just unsure of where things were going. How things were going to be like for all of them. And how in the Hell were they going to get back then? This whole thing seemed a little overly dramatic to think on. But it felt like the truth of the situation.
That there wasn't going to be a back for any of them.
Another thought that wasn't all that wise to dwell on. And he knew it, too. Yet he couldn't stop himself from it. The thought just stuck to his mind like glue. There was just nothing that he could do to dislodge it from his active thoughts. All David tried to do was shove the thing down. Pretend that it just didn't exist in the slightest bit.
Which was for the best in his honest opinion.
Overthinking wasn't going to help anyone onboard the Destiny. Either the androids or the crew of Destiny. Mostly the human crew of the Destiny. Which those stupid machines were barely helping them at all. At least that's what he kept telling themselves as they stopped at the other Young's office. That was something that nearly stopped him in his tracks. Part of him was a little concerned about going into his office. What was this Young going to be like? An older man? Or maybe it would jut be some freak copy of him? And who knew what that version would be like? Or if he would even actually want to see David or not? Sure, Young had agreed to meet with him. But did he really want to see him or was he just doing it out of obligation or something?
There was this nagging thought in the back of his mind that screamed 'no'. And it was kind of eating at his heart to think of it. The idea that Everett was just going with the motions. Just doing his job and nothing more than that.
Something about that genuinely upset David in a way.
Ignoring all of this, he took a quiet deep breath. Straightened his spine while forcing a calm look on his face. Then walking into this Everett's office. Nearly stopping in his tracks once again when he saw him. Everett looked good for whatever age he was. His hair was graying in a few spots. But, it sort of worked for him. Which was a little confusing as to why he was feeling this way. Carefully, he shook those thoughts from his mind as he tried to stay in the moment. Young gave him a polite smile as he stared up at him. He stated,"Hello, David. I would say it's good to see you."
"But you seem a little...distressed.",he added. Barely taking notice of the androids that had entered the room. And non-verbally dismissing the young man that had escorted them to him. Calmly, he questioned,"Just what had you so on edge?"
"I was a little concerned that you would be way different than this, an alternate universe or something like that.",David blurted out. It wasn't how he wanted to say this fear. And it sounded utterly childish as well as stupid to his ears. So very stupid to his ears. For a moment, he wished that he hadn't said that at all. Also wishing the ground would swallow him up as well. He added,"That I would see you at the age I left you at and that we traveled to a different dimension...that...that none of us could go back to Earth."
"I can understand why that would be distressing for you, David.",Everett sympathized. His tone was so much calmer than he anticipated it would be. And the older version of Everett gave him a gentle smile. Getting out of his seat and walking over to him to pat his shoulder. So very careful. Like Young thought he was made out of glass or something. Which would piss him off normally. But, it wasn't in this situation for some reason. For some strange reason, it was sort of soothing. He added,"But, this is definitely your future not another universe."
"Is he even alive right now, Young?",David asked. A little surprised with himself for how he phrased it. As he felt a little weird referring to his older self in that matter. 'He', like it wasn't himself he was asking about. Though this didn't seem to bother Young in the slightest. And he motioned for him to sit at a chair in front of his desk. While the androids stood awkwardly near them. Neither of them really paid them any mind.
"Yes, he's very much alive and very well.",Young assured. And this wave of relief washed over him. It was sort of good to know that he was alive. Even if he hadn't realized he had been worried about it. There was this small part of him that was afraid he had died sometime in the future. Either by sickness or something out of his control. Apparently he was more worried about it then he even actively realized. Young added,"So is Rush in case you were wondering at all."
"Oh? And how is that scrawny little asshole doing?",David questioned. Not even surprised that he was alive at all. Wondering what the future version of Rush was like. As he felt that little jackass could survive anything thrown at him.
Sometimes he swore that Nicholas was a human version of a cockroach at times.
"I forgot how much you two didn't get along all those years ago.",Young muttered. Rolling his eyes at David's immature choice of words. Like he were speaking to a rebellious teenager and not an adult. It made him feel a little bad for saying what he did. Before David could ask him further about this, Everett stated,"We should get to the reason why you're here and the whole stones scenario."
"Chloe and Elijah had been in my office before that happened.",he continued. Shuffling papers around on his desk for whatever reason. It looked like he was just keeping his hands busy. And part of David wondered if he had angered him in some way. Instead of lingering on this, he listened as Everett let out an annoyed sigh. Then he muttered,"I was asking about the androids that were seen. And the one we captured that operated the newer gate."
"So how did that blonde manage to get to the stones, Everett?",David questioned. Completely ignoring the part where they captured the gate operator. As he felt that had been a possibility. Since if the android who had operated the gate was on board, they would have sent them back sometime later in secret. Or at least sent some of the group back one by one until everyone was gone. Even if it was a few hours later or something like that. The androids nearby shifted uncomfortable at the news but, said nothing. Which was good for the three of them in his book. It also didn't matter in the moment.
Finding out how that blonde managed it had been eating at his thoughts. Ever since the trio had touched the stones not that long ago. Everett answered,"Elijah had been asking me so many questions about how we communicate with the Destiny, so I informed him about them."
"I suppose that thanks to my attention being on her maker, she slipped away sometime during it.",Everett theorized. That little admission somewhat irked Telford. How could he be so damn careless with the stones? What would have happened if she got the chance to take them? Just what could have happened if she did something to them? They wouldn't have any chance of communication to this point. It would literally keep them in the dark about what was going on. At least, that's what David felt. As he was pretty sure that Elijah probably wouldn't return the stones. Nor would he be near them if they ever ended up in use. And there was no way in Hell he could let the androids touch the stones if she had them. David snapped,"God damn it, Everett. That was stupid and reckless. How the Hell could you have let that happen?"
"I barely took my eyes off her for a moment and didn't realize she would leave without Kamski's orders.",Everett defended himself. Looking more than a little upset with himself over it. And it somewhat made him feel guilty for yelling at him. As he probably had already been beating himself over it. Definitely gotten chewed out for not keeping an eye on the blonde android, too. Young sighed,"But, I suppose I should have realized what a Mother would do for her child."
"And how much she really missed seeing Ash.",he added. Barely glancing at the trio of androids near them. Unsure of which one was supposed to be Ash, as was he. So that might be the reason he wasn't speaking to any of them. Or even really looking in their direction either. Telford stated,"I suppose a Mother would do anything to get to and protect their child."
"I suppose that even applies to machines like them.",he grumbled. Deliberately not looking in the direction of any of the androids near them. Keeping his gaze intently on his co-worker instead. Not wanting to speak to any of them. Or even really want to acknowledge the three of them. Young answered,"I shouldn't expect anything less from a Mother like her."
"I'm sure that Eli's Mother would have done the same if she had even the smallest of chances.",he added. But there was a huge difference between them. Eli's Mother i a human being. This sort of thing was completely for a human Mother like her. And Ash's Mother, Chloe, was just a fucking machine. How in the Hell could that even be close to normal?
In any sense of the word?
"Speaking of Eli, is he still around?",Ash, David guessed, asked. Probably a bit concerned if the guy he duped into being his friend was around. David resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this. Giving a little annoyed sigh as he glanced at the trio. Young didn't seem to be the least bit annoyed with the machine. Instead of telling them to shut up, Young answered,"Alive and well."
"And the last time I knew he was teaching Computer Engineering at a local college.",Everett continued. It wasn't that big of a surprise to David. As this seemed like a good job for the younger man. It was also good to know he got his act together, too. As part of him felt he would just be unemployed and living in his Mother's house forever.
"Wow, that's really amazing. His Mom must be so proud of him!",Ash, maybe, gushed. And it was sort of 'amazing' to know about. He guessed. It was also a little adorable that he was so proud for him. Though there was no way in Hell that he would admit to this. And turned his gaze back to Everett instead. Everett nodded his head in agreement about this. Giving a warm smile as he asked,"So, are you Ash?"
"Yeah, I'm Ash. It's good to see you, Mr. Young.",Ash confirmed. A huge grin on his face as well. One that David found a little dopey when he glanced at him. Mostly thanks to the face that he was now wearing. Whatever model this was, he looked really weird. David chalked it up to the fact he looked like Mortimer Snerd. But said nothing as Everett informed him to just call him 'Everett' instead. Ash nodded his head and then he asked,"Is there any way that we could see Eli?"
"Yeah, we would love to meet his older self.",chimed in another android. One that had very cold blue eyes and had a high collar on his shirt. His model number as RK 900. That android was probably being 'borrowed' by Oliver. As that other machine, Ralph, didn't talk like that at all.
For whatever reason.
"I can have him over in at least two hours or so.",Everett answered. Surprising David jut a little bit. Why was he even allowing this? Instead of lingering on this now, he felt he should ask about it later. Right now, he listened as Young turned to him. In a calm voice, he continued,"For now, how about we discuss everyone's current status on board the Destiny."
"How are things?"