It was still the dead of night when Brad burst into the dark hangar.
He didn't turn on any lights, he didn't make much noise. But he did heft the small door shut behind him and lock it, slipping past crates and cabinets to shove himself onto an uncomfortable bench near the wall.
His head dropped back, the cold night's filtered light tracing the uneven plumes of his breathing. He'd been running, and didn't speak until he'd caught his breath.
"Ambient."
Ambient rolled over on the raised walk where it'd been asleep. ~Mm.~
"The kid and I. We - there's - there's still some link. Because of the Fury. Right?"
~Eh?~ Green optics lit groggily. ~Ah've no idea. The One's… different.~
"That's his name? 'One'?"
~Aye.~
Relative silence settled. The Zoids remained asleep, and Ambient started to drift off again.
That was, until it heard the scrape of teeth on metal and the cock of a gun. Then sharp inhales, sharp exhales. Hesitation.
Very deliberately, very slowly, Ambient pushed up and stood. Its talons clacked as it followed the walkway and descended the stairs.
~Lad.~ It was shaking its head as it approached. ~Y'really gonna just up and blow yeh'r brains out? Yeh just cleaned up the place.~
Brad said nothing.
~Ah mean. I'll be glad to take care'a the mess. But.~
Nothing.
~Y'know. Save yeh'r mate the trouble.~
That did it. Brad pulled the gun's barrel out of his mouth and glared.
~There we go. Now, what's got yeh wanting t'redecorate?~
Hunger woke Vega again.
Instead now it was the dead of night, shearing him uncomfortably out of a deep sleep. And the hunger wasn't just discomfort anymore. It was excruciating, maddening.
He gaped, and couldn't catch a breath, ribs consumed with what felt like fire.
Oh no.
One.
The Organoid was outside somewhere, pacing in the night, its ability to communicate clearly degrading by the second. It felt less like a creature and more like shambling, sentient starvation in-mind, but Vega could tell it was trying to censor itself. Both out of necessity, and to keep Zero's meddling at bay. At this point, it just wanted to eat the white Organoid, too.
Fortunately, everyone else remained fast asleep.
Vega hurried outside, trying to stay silent as he dashed to One and knelt. The Organoid hunkered unsteadily, its chin trailing strings of its silver-tinged drool.
Being both warm and living made Vega stand out in the night. One turned its head sharply to the child's arrival, slipping its jaws over his entire shoulder, arm, and side. Its fangs pressed into his pale skin everywhere they touched, but none pierced.
Vega wasn't at all concerned; his trust was absolute. It was the desperation of the act that struck him. One was making an attempt to stay grounded and in control of itself… something made increasingly difficult by the fact their bond made Vega see volunteering to be consumed as somehow reasonable.
He shook his head to clear it.
"Hey, hey, hey. You're okay. We'll find you something. Is there anything left in the Fury?"
~No.~ The beast replied quietly, forlorn.
Vega cut his eyes at the Blitz hangar, then back. "Think. You want a Zoid. Where else are some Zoids we know we can get to. And get. Fast."
~I don't know.~ One's jaws became tighter. ~I don't know. I don't-~
"Come on. Think! There were a ton of Zoids at - that base. They're probably still there. Yeah?"
Bad things had happened.
He'd had no control of the situation. He'd been used, abused, and now swept aside and expected to just be. It was intolerable. It wasn't fair. And all that seemed to remain were mixed spectacles of horror, any pleasures in life wrung dry by futility.
Ambient listened silently.
It wasn't the first time he'd been told such things.
Brad's voice was thin, and shook as he spoke.
"I just don't want to hurt anyone. I never wanted to."
~Strange thing t'say, when yeh seem t'have already killed, long before all this.~ Ambient's optics brightened for emphasis. ~Over money.~
Every inch of the man's veins iced.
"I didn't mean to."
~You shot a man in the back of the head because he stole from you.~ Ambient smirked at the memory's intensity. ~...and because you wanted to see what it was like. Because you knew you'd not be caught.~
"It was a mistake."
~You think y'can lie? To me?~ Ambient chuckled unpleasantly. ~Small wondeh'r the One wanted you. He asked, didn't he?~
The effort needed was massive, but paid off. Vega remembered the Mackaray Base's main hangar in great detail: he'd spent a lot of time hating it.
One cued from the memory and jolted there in seconds. Vega dropped smoothly to a dim catwalk, and One alighted on its rail.
Emergency lighting buzzed here-and-there, off-color. The pervasive drone of base operations - previously taken for granted - were gone. Stagnant, humid air clung with its chill, no more fans, climate control, or ventilation to dispel it.
Other than that, for the most part the hangar seemed intact. Just devoid of people, a fresh abandonment that had yet to begin a journey towards ruin.
Vega hefted himself into a lean over the railing, where he stared at the dark hangar floor below. He clicked his tongue a few times, something he often did to get Zoids' attention.
From the silence blossomed a chorus of whirring stabilizers and shifting servos. A number of small Zoids' eyeglass lit attentively, their heads rising in the dark.
Their obedience garnered no reward.
Vega's face cracked with a vicious smile. He popped the rail with his palms in victory, throwing an eager glance to One. The beast shrieked with a feral delight and dove.
A gnaw of dread grew in the pit of Brad's stomach. Not only had he broken into a cold sweat contemplating the Fury - One - again, but Ambient was right. One hadn't forced his way in. One asked if Brad wanted power and control, the very same things he was after when he'd decided to shoot the double-crosser.
He hadn't enjoyed it. He did regret it.
But he always knew that if he could somehow undo the decision… he'd just do it again.
The memory was too instructive, a hit of pure confidence to which he could always refer. Nobody else was ever supposed to know that.
Ambient gave a dismissive sniff. ~What you donn'ae want to harm is your allies and your mate. That's what yeh'r worried about, that's what y'mean.~ It shrugged, and raised a cracked brow. ~Why care about anythin' else? We should always want t'destroy our enemies. They're… our enemies.~
"I don't have enemies. I just - I want things to be normal. To feel safe. Know that I w- that everyone's gonna be safe." Brad raked his fingers through the sides of his hair, unsettled. "I don't think I can do anything about the kid. He's a shit but he's not stupid. I just…"
~Lad, lad, lad. Look.~ Ambient reflected a strong, yet idle mental image of the night Brad and Naomi had been ambushed in the forest. ~Every weed's got its roots. Some, you can pluck.~
Brad's pupils pinpointed with the memory of when this mess had all started.
~And some? Have to burn.~
Backdraft. The Fuma Team.
