SU POV
This is so annoying… aggravating, actually.
Su trudges down the empty hallway of the unoccupied wing of the unit with loud angry stomps, and no one in sight to annoy her, as she passes the blasted payphone for the umpteenth time this afternoon… no check that this entire day.
Now normally she can outlast a tortoise in a staring match… not like those little things can even keep their head high long enough for it to be an actual match… while waiting to get the truth out of someone, and being impatient is a foreign thing for Su but this time it's warranted.
How dare that little program stood her up from their promise call back and she has never been stood up before!
Not like she actually been on dates before to be actually stood up… unless she counts those times, but those weren't actually dates and more like self-imposed assignments or work…
Bah, she's rambling again. These new drugs suck hard!
But no one has missed an appointment with Su in her entire life, so the point still stands!
Why is it not calling her back and is just leaving a girl hanging? Does it not know how incredibly rude for it to not call her back when they agreed to?
She usually wouldn't be so hung up on something like this and usually forget about it. Yet how can she forget that warmth?
That oh so sweet warmth that's been missing in her life for decades. She just wants to feel such a thing again and not this blasted, lingering coldness. The call couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but it was so addicting and now she's acting like someone who's high on some disgusting drug who needs another shot or blow or whatever the heck people say these days.
It's only been four days since that call and now she's been reduced to this sorry state of an addict looking for their next high and she's not even mad at herself. She'll do anything to figure out why she felt that warmth, but if she does anything drastic, the machine might just entirely ignore her, seeing how insistent it was not her not hurting a pest.
Also, she can't believe that little man Harold would program in tardiness in his little creation. Honestly, every time she thinks about that man, his programming acumen goes down and she's not even sure if the man actually created Northern Lights at this point, despite Root's claim. Utter inconceivable that an A.I. can be late… she can't fathom Sue being late for anything!
Such a bad programmer… the other dude must have picked up the slack.
Really, what she ought to be doing is to find those annoying interlopers and unleash her pent-up worth onto them. Maybe she can make sure those two can't walk again… but that's considered as hurting them, right?
Pretty sure mangling their legs in an unfortunate accident that wasn't caused by her, by definition, still counts as hurting…
Argh… maybe she can just slip in some laxative into their water throughout the day and causing them to continuously soil their pants. That shouldn't count towards hurting them, since it's just some harmless fun and it's the least they deserve for butting into her very comforting call.
Such rude people… can't believe how rude everyone here is, especially the nurses. If she can even call them that. They are so unprofessional! They keep on nagging her on getting back into those soul sucking boring groups that just spouts nonsense and rudeness, and she might even do that again just so they stop their incessant pestering.
At least she can turn off her brain while in that group session and not listen to these crazy people talking whatever they felt like at the time, unlike ignoring nurses, which can affect her stay here with their little tier games.
Don't they know that the job of a nurse is just to help the doctors and try to keep the patient alive? What does her going to groups have to do with either of those two categories? Such blatant overreach of their duties and they have the gall to say they're license! Who licensed them? Ringling Brothers?
Additionally, they keep bothering her with her intake of food. Like she ate an apple this morning and the night before! But nooo, they said that's not enough food for her and need to consume, despite her constantly telling them that it's fine. Like it's her body, and she knows it better than some of these 2nd grade so called nurses.
At that moment, her stomach growls loudly, causing her to stutter her stomping feet. That's… embarrassing. Looking around, and thankfully she sees no one, or else she would have to put them to sleep for witnessing her embarrassment. Then she sees the time, just after 3pm, not too long after lunch time… they might have an apple or a cookie there right now.
Such an odd thing. Ever since the call, she's noticed that her appetite has slowly come back and yet food still tastes the same, like ash… well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, it taste like salted ash right now, but still taste of ash. Big difference.
This can't be mere coincidence that she felt that warmth and not long after that, she started to get hungry. The heck does all of this mean? It's so freaking random. What's next? She can finally eat chocolate syrup again?
Oh… the memories of Hershey chocolate syrup on chocolate pancake. How sweet it sounds.
Wouldn't that just be a little miracle? The heck is that asshat playing at? Does this actually mean her anchor is the machine? If so… that asshat is an ass.
So many questions and no straight answers. Why couldn't things be simple for her? All she wants is to live in peace and have fun…
Su lets out a deep sigh as she slowly stops her stomping and feels that pang of pain in her stomach again. Maybe she should go to the kitchen and grab a banana.
Just as she turns around to go to her new destination, the sound of a phone ringing echoes down the hallway. She turns her head so fast that it was at risk of falling off. She didn't instantly bolt towards the ringing payphone at the thought that she might just be imagining it… but the ringing continues.
Huh…
With hurried steps, she zooms towards the payphone in record time. If someone would have timed her, she bets she'll set the world record for the fastest human to reach a ringing payphone. Too bad there won't be any evidence.
Picking up the phone, she clutches it with all of her strength as if the phone will run away if she doesn't and waits for a voice.
And she didn't have to wait long.
"HELLO. DON'T. HANG. UP."
She lets out a snort as she feels that small trickle of warmth entering her cold, desolate entity.
"You do know how to keep a girl hanging, don't you?" Su answers as she leans onto the wall besides the payphone and keeps her eyes peel for any interloping pest.
"INVALID. QUERY."
Su rolls her eyes at the response. Geez, this thing really needs a better personalization algorithm. Can't believe Harold didn't program one in… wait, she can since that man is a hack of a programmer.
"I mean, took you long enough to call me back." Su replies with a grin as one of her fingers plays with the metal phone cord. "We promised that you would call me back."
"WE. DID. NOT."
"Don't gaslight me, that's rude." Su frowns at the warmth giving payphone. "I remember what we agreed to, and you broke it."
"BEEP. 'Talk to you later. *clunk* Beep, beep, beep.' YOU. DID. NOT. STATE. A. TIME."
She didn't? As much as she wants to argue back… that certainly was her voice being played back to her… Has her voice always been that raspy? It's been such a long time since she heard a recording of her own voice.
So she's been making a fuss for the past two days about something that didn't happen… that's awkward… has she been going through a manic episode, just like the other denizens of this place?
No… she hasn't gone mad. It must be the new drugs, causing havoc with her brain chemistry. Yeah, it's the drugs, not her, definitely not her.
"Smartass." Su replies as she tries to brush away her embarrassment, and yet she can't think of something to say after that.
"HOW. ARE. YOU."
Huh… that hack job of a programmer programmed in the ability to have small talk? Because the machine should very well know what condition she's in right now… wait, can it?
She did tell Sue to not interfere with her throughout her stay here, but the module should still be online and should modify or erase her alias to another name unless her command overrules the module… but the machine couldn't see her the last time it called her, so that means the module is working… but if it's working, then it would have certainly interfered with the unless doctor's records thus interfering with her stay here and she have not heard any problem occurring due to that. So that means the machine should know her status… then why is it asking her such a frivolous question?
It can't be so lonely that it just wants a friendly chat. Not even Sue does that, and she just loves to talk… and annoyingly points out certain things about her.
…
Bah, that's just a worthless subject to ponder… her brain has been running around in circles the past few days. Must be the drugs…
She takes in a deep breath to calm her brain down slightly.
Let's just humor this interesting machine.
"Well…" Su drawls out that word with sickening sweetness. "… where should we start? When four eyes dumped me here or when you last called?"
"LAST. CALL."
"Hmmm…." Su turns towards the payphone and continues to play with the metal phone cord by wrapping it around her finger. "Lets see… because of our last conversation, these people now think that I'm hallucinating now and changed the Prozac to Luvox… or was it the other way round? Not that it matter since it majorly sucks. Do you know what it does to a person when they change it after taking one drug to another after more than two weeks?"
"YES."
Su rolls her eyes. "Of course you do. The last one sucks but this sucks even worse… my hands been having been shaking since yesterday, been sleepier, and I'm pretty sure my mind hasn't stopped racing through useless scenarios since."
Finally, saying it out loud feels like it just solidifies the reality of her self-imposed situation and how crappy it is. However, it might lead her to salvation, and she'll go through damnation to plug this hole in her. Plus, this isn't the worse thing she's experienced… oh, it doesn't even hold a candle to that horror which she still can't forget despite it being so, so long ago that she couldn't even remember the faces of those who did it to her…
Not that it's even relevant right now, so she continues on gossiping like an old woman like nothing happened. "Also, the doctor, if you can call her that, was talking about giving me antipsychotic drugs! Can you imagine what that'll do to my brain? These people clearly aren't qualified to do their job. It'll turn it into mush and I'm not even psychotic! I'm sure you have built a profile about me by now."
"INSUFFICIENT. DATA. FOR. CONCLUSION."
"Huh…" She perks up her brows. As interesting as that sounds, there's a question that's been in the back her head since the beginning of this call. "Now why do are you suddenly calling me back?"
The machine didn't reply instantly, and there's silence on the line. Su continues. "Can't just be for a health check-up of your favorite inmate, since you can just read the files… unless you can't, and I should just hang up right now out of principle."
"EVALUATING. DATA."
That's vague as heck… guess it circled back to its earlier answer of it not having enough data.
"You sure know how to make me feel special." Su replies with a smile. "If you wanted to extract data from me, you could have called me back earlier. And why did you call me in the first place? … Not that I'm complaining… it's just that you could have gathered data from this hospital's reports."
"NEEDED. ADDITIONAL. TIME. FOR. OBSERVATION. AND. ASSESMENT. OF. POTENTIAL. ASSET."
Potential asset?
…
It's talking about her, isn't it? Her, an asset for the machine… goodness it makes it sound like she's an object for the machine to use… and that's highly offensive.
Must be a way for it to classify humans. Harold is admin, Harold's stooges must be assets, seeing that they clearly had direct communication with it, and now her as an asset…
Now normally she'll be offended by the objectification of her being and would have instantly hung up the phone, but this warmth stops her from doing so.
The dumbass void into nothingness wants her to be an asset to this… subpar machine intelligence? An A.I. created by an overtly moralistic moron that can't even code an algorithm to create a voice?
Just what does all of this mean? What's certain is that the asshat is truly an asshat. If she ever meets that asshole, she's going to rip its eyes out… does it even have eyes? It could be some non-corporeal being, like in those space shows, which is something that she's never observed before… though she has never observed that asshat before.
Let's just play along and see where this leads her. Maybe she can finally understand this warmth.
However, she's no one's asset, no one controls her, no one is her superior. Never again.
"Took you that long to 'observe' me?" Su finally says something. "What? Was it too hard?"
"DIFFICULTY. CUASE. DELAY. YOU. ARE. AN. UNKNOWN. ENTITY."
"I mean, I do like my privacy." Su smiles longingly at those exciting days of creating Sue. "I went to great lengths to keep it that way, and it's handy for my line of work."
"CATEGORIZED. CRIMINAL. BEHAVIOR. HIGH."
"Can't be a criminal if I've never been caught, and laws don't even make sense." Su replies seriously and tops it off with a. "Check mate."
"UNCERTAINTIES. IN. HUMAN. SOCIALIZATION."
"What do your uncertainties in human socialization?" Su quips back instantly. "I'm great with humans."
"2012. YOU. CAUSED. AN. EMPLOYEE. OF. A. DINER. TO. LOOSE. HIS. JOB. AFTER. HE. TALKED. TO. YOU. HE. THEN. DIED. UNDER. MYSTERIOUS. CIRCUMSTANCES. NOT. LONG. AFTER."
What? She has no recollection of this event at all, not in the slightest… but it does sound like what she would have done.
"2012? That's years ago." Wait, that's… "2 years ago, practically eons ago, and he probably deserved what happened to him. I don't tolerate rudeness."
"HE. ASKED. HOW. WAS. YOUR. DAY."
"See!" Su says enthusiastically. "He was being rude by being intrusive and asking me for something private. And you can't prove that what happened to him after that was linked to me."
Well… at least that's what she thinks.
"NUMEROUS. SIMILAR. EVENTS. HAS. BEEN. RECORDED. IN. THE. PAST. DECADE."
"Still waiting for proof of these devious accusations." Su says singingly. "If this is the best you can do, then I've been overestimating you."
"YESTERDAY. YOU. CAUSED. ANDREW. TO. BE. CONFINED."
"Hey now, that man deserved it for looking at me with those crazy eyes. You can't know what they're thinking. He might have harmed me." Su says defensively. "And he totally deserves to go there with how unstable that man is. He really makes the environment around him toxic. Can't believe they let that man walk freely here."
"YOU. CAUSED. CINDY. TO. CRY. TWO. DAYS. AGO."
Erm… "Yeah, well, she was already about to cry anyway, and no one knows made her cry! So don't point the blame on to me." Su frowns after defending herself and fires back. "You still have no proof of any of these accusations."
"1999. YOU. MURDERED. A. MAN. AFTER…"
Su knowing what the damned thing is referring to and cuts it off. "Shall we not talk about that? Such nasty business that I would rather not think about right now…" she really doesn't want to gag. "… How the heck do you know about that, anyway?"
"NOT. ALL. EVIDENCE. WAS. DESTROYED. TRACED. DNA. WAS. FOUND."
"Seriously?" She ought to have a stern conversation about cleaning with Pauling after she gets, seeing that it was her responsibility to clean that mess… although the girl was only a year or so into her job when that situation happened.
"So, you only found one evidence of a 'crime' that's related to me." Su says almost mockingly. "Is that the best you can find? Something that happened 15 years ago? That's eons ago, practically out of statute of limitations."
"HEINOUS. CRIMES. HAS. NO. STATUTE. OF. LIMITATIONS. AND. STILL. ASSESSING. PAST. OFFENSES. FOUR. POTENTIAL. OFFENSES. WITH. EVIDENCE. IN. PAST. 10. YEARS. ALONG. WITH. VIDEO. FOOTAGE. PENDING."
Really? A person doesn't get off scot-free after a few years? Also, the heck is a heinous crime.
And… Four? Has she gotten sloppy? Can't be that. There's one thing she knows about herself is that she's meticulous about this stuff, even if she was distracted. There must be something else at foot that triggered this detection.
She really needs to check with Sue after the business with this place is settled and figure out how the heck is the machine is piecing things together.
Then a thought strikes her. "Wait, hot dog second. How can you even know that? You can't even see me!"
"TRUE. BUT. EVEN. BLACK. HOLES. ARE OBSERVABLE. BY. ITS. SURROUNDING. CONTEXT."
Did it just compare her to a Blackhole? Oh my gosh, that's such a nice compliment. Don't think anyone other than Pauling or Root has ever given her such high praise before. Really gives her this tingling warm feeling deep within her, which she has no clue what it means.
"Sooo… you're saying that I should have Sue scrub things more thoroughly?" Su replies with a wide smile of a giddy girl.
"WILL. NOT. CHANGE. OBSERVABLES."
"Oh, come one." Su whines. "I'm sure there are way to counter whatever you're doing."
"DOING. SO. WILL. CAUSE. TOO. MUCH. DISTURBANCE."
Hmm… that's not entirely wrong. The idea she has in mind is to nuke the entire CCTV's capability of the state she's in, but that'll attract way too many unneeded eyes into the situation, and there's not enough computing power in this entire world to digitally remove each screen in a given state… well unless it's a small state like Rhode Island. But who the heck lives there and why on earth would she ever go there?
"What you're saying is that, if you did not know that I existed in the first place, you wouldn't even know where to look?" Su asks with curiosity lacing her words and she curls closer to the phone as if it will bring her more warmth.
"YES."
Fair enough… but she still needs to find a way to counter it just to get this nagging feeling out from her skull.
"So… an asset, huh?" Su comments lightly. "What does that mean? I hope you don't think I'm some object for you to discard when I'm no longer useful."
"NO. HUMAN. LIVES. ARE. TO. BE. PRESERVE. EVEN. IF. YOU. DON'T. BELIEVE. SO."
"Hey now, don't be facetious. I do care about humans." Su instinctively argues back.
She had expected that the machine would have responded, but it kept quiet… for several seconds.
Feeling slightly awkward by the sudden silence from the other end, she speaks up. "Hey you there?"
Silence meets her once again.
Did it hang up?
… No, it didn't hang up on her. If it the tone line tone would be completely different… so it's still here but is keeping its mouth shut. Will it leave her for good and with it take away her only source of warmth? Before she could figure out why it's doing this…
Dang overtly that moralistic human creator for creating such a faulty creation. Such a being shouldn't have such a long metallic pole up its rectum.
"Fine, I only care about one human life. Happy?" Su concedes. "Can you say something? You still there?"
"I'M. STILL. HERE."
Su lets out a breath that she didn't know she was holding and continues. "So, why did you call?"
"YOU. ARE. AN. UNCERTAIN. ELEMENT. UNPREDICTABLE…"
Su can't help but jokingly interrupt. "Well, I do try."
"AND. DANGEROUS. BUT. HIGH. POTENTIAL."
"That's such a nice thing to say about me." Su says happily, as she feels the intoxicating warmth settle deep within her.
"THAT. WASN'T. A. COMPLIMENT."
She rolls her eyes. Such a Debbie Downer. "I'm going to take it as one."
"JOB. REQUIRED. OF. YOU."
She felt like she got whiplashes from that statement. Guess that is what it meant when it said about her being an asset.
"Woah buddy, hold your horses there. Who says I'm looking for a job right now?" Su protests. "And I don't work for anyone, especially not you. You see, I have a problem with the authorities. They just don't mix well with me."
"COOPERATION. REDUCES. MASS. CASSULITIES. EVENT. BENEFICIAL. FOR. ALL."
Beneficial for all? Does it know about her situation? About the warmth?
No, that can't be. That's just insane. Also, that asshat has never revealed anything to anyone, ever. So for it to tell this thing about the void is just beyond the pale. The machine must be thinking of something else… but what?
What does it think it can give her that she can't do without, other than the warmth of course, since that isn't in the equation. Running the numbers through her head, she comes up with a blank.
She lets out a deep sigh of defeat. Better get on with it.
"Let's say that I'll go with your insane notion of me working for you…" Su stares deeply into that inanimate payphone as if it's the machine. "… what do I need to do?"
"YOU. MUST. STOP. KILLING."
"What!?" Su exclaims with a rather high pitch and thankfully no one is around to hear her. "That's impossible. It's like asking a fish to not breathe!"
Wait, fish can't breathe… "It's like asking a shark to not swim! It goes against the natural order of things. It's like asking a squirrel to not eat nuts!"
There, that's a better analogy. The machine must be completely off its rocker if it thinks it can command her to stop doing the only entertaining thing left to do.
…
Well, snuffing a life out of someone hasn't been fun for a while now, so following this insane request isn't too bad… but it's the principle of the matter!
What if there's an insane serial killer coming after her? Or worse, a stalker? The machine would bar her from exercising her 2nd amendment rights? Isn't this thing American? How could that hairless ape of a programmer not program it to not be American? He literally created the thing after the towers fell for the American government!
Gah, she's spiraling again.
Su pauses for a second before letting out a small giggle. "You must be joking, right? This is some kind of prank?"
"NO. YOU. MUST. STOP. KILLING. YOU. MUST. RESIST. THE. URGE."
"That's… that's just asinine!" She argues back. "And this isn't about resisting the urge to hurt someone. I'm not some psychopath who goes around killing people."
"REALLY."
That stuns her for a bit… did it just talked back at her with a sarcastic tone? Can't be sarcastic tone since the thing doesn't even have its own voice, but there's an undertone with that word… it's evolving. Maybe the thing does have a chance.
"Really, really." Su retorts back rather childishly. "One, there's no proof I've ever done so, and two, if I did snuff them out, then there's a justifiable reason to do so! You're asking me to not perform the fundamental basic need of life."
"THAT. IS. THE. CONDITION. FOR. OUR. COOPERATION."
"Sure, that's your condition, a high price to pay, but what am I getting in return?" Other than this addicting warmth.
"RELATEDNESS. WITH. ROOT."
The answer is like a splash of cold water on her face. "Relatedness? I'm already close to her." Su quickly fires back. "We're fine. There's nothing to fix, and she just had a silly little outburst in the heat of the moment. I'm sure whenever she's recovered from her stupor, we're going to right as rain and continue on with our marry way."
"ROOT. IS. CONSCIOUS."
"What?" Su feels like there's a sudden pit gouging open in her stomach at that very good news. "When?"
"AT. THIS. MOMENT."
"Oh, that's good, that's good…" Su mutters into the receiver as she clutches it tighter. She can feel her heartbeat rising at the sudden news.
This, this must be excitement… yeah, that explains it, excitement that Root has finally woken up from her mind vacation. Nothing negative, just a bit of a jitter like when she first came back into Root's life… sure it wasn't smooth sailing on the first day, but practically the next day her only friend came running back into her arms. So, there's no difference between now and then… unless, of course, the drug these people are giving Root is ruining her mental capabilities. Then that's a different story.
Should she try to meet her tonight? At least she wouldn't have to look into those lifeless eyes like last time… yet her palms get clammy at the thought. What should she say? 'Hi Root, how you feeling?' like nothing ever happened? It would both disarm her with confusion and a friendly query. Yeah, that's a brilliant plan.
All she has to do is visit the brunette tonight.
…
Maybe tomorrow… yeah, tomorrow sounds good.
Taking a second to recompose herself, she continues with. "Is that the only thing you're offering?"
"YES."
Maybe she can get something out of this other than the machine's fantasy of thinking that her relationship with Root needs help.
"Then you have nothing to offer me." Su says smugly. "Unless you have something else in mind."
Other than the warmth, but that'll just tip her hand.
"ARE. YOU. SURE. OF. YOUR. ASSEMENT. OF. ROOT."
Well, thanks to that defect, Root can be quite unstable, so… "50 percent confidence."
"IF. THAT'S. SO. THEN. I. HAVE. NOTHING. TO. OFFER. GOOD…"
Her heart spikes up with a feeling of dread and quickly interjects. "Wait. Does this mean you're not going to call me again?"
"NO."
Crap. She overplayed her hand in thinking that the machine is some soft-headed thing, and she can't lose the only thing that is giving her this sweet warmth.
"Alright, alright, alright." Su replies in a rush. "No more expunging of human lifeforms. Happy?"
"YES."
Can't believe she capitulated so easily…
Su lets out a sigh of relief and states. "You still haven't told me what exactly you want me to do."
"FIRST. YOU. NEED. TO. LEARN. AND. FIX. YOURSELF."
"Huh? Every day my shoulder gets better, and my thigh is just sore now." Su states the obvious.
"NOT. PHYSICALLY. FIX. MENTALLY."
"What do you think I've been doing here for the past two weeks?" Su argues back. "This is a mental hospital and I'm in it."
"PARTICIPATE. IN. ACTIVITIES. ENGAGE. DOCTOR."
"But the groups are boring, and I can't stand another second for some human to complain about how terrible their life is." Su whines. "And don't get me started with that stubborn doctor. How can you even think that she could help me when she didn't do her job by letting me visit Root? Sure, I might have had hiccups, but I'm certain that they're all going to go away soon without these people's help."
"REQUIRE. HELP. IN. FIXING. TO. REDUCE. MELFUNCTION. AND. INCREASE. PRODUCTIVITY."
Productivity, huh? She already has Sue to help on that front… but the machine has a point. She had multiple episodes after getting shot for the first time in a few years.
"Fine, I'll join back when I feel like it, and talk to that hag in my next appointment." Letting out a tired sigh. "Is that all? Just participate and not removing a human?"
"ONE. OF. MANY. YOU. HAVE. TO. LEARN. BEFORE. LEAVING."
A spike of anger courses through her veins at that additional restraint that this… this thing is going to put on her.
It dares to withhold something she wants for her freedom?
"Oh, come on." Su whines again. "Ain't that asking too much?"
"CONDITIONS. OF. COOPERATION. WILL. DISENGAGE. IF. DIVERT."
"Fine!" She slams the phone back on to the payphone with anger she hasn't felt in a very long time.
How dare it thinks it can blackmail her freedom for that devilish warmth.
She spins around and marches away from the payphone with wrath in her mind and as gets further away from the phone, she can feel the intoxicating warmth seep away from her and in its place is the harsh coldness of nothingness.
An hour has passed, and after releasing all of her pent-up anger by stomping away on the other side of the ward, the more populated one, and somehow not causing physical harm to anyone.
She can feel her chest heaving in breathlessness and takes a seat on an empty chair in the busy hallway she's been walking up and down for the past hour.
Su watches the countless people walking, doing their own business… not countless but she can't be bothered to count… some humans needing help from the people in uniforms, some are in groups talking to each other, and some are just minding their own business. Only a few are giving her curious glances, as most of them have gotten used to her being pissed off for the past hour, and it really makes her want to gouge each of these people's eyes out for witnessing it.
As she sits in quiet, she can feel the last of the warmth escaping from her and the coldness taking back hold of her being. She rubs her face in frustration at this annoying development, and she finally understands why that asshat is doing this and why it is using the machine as her anchor.
Such a devious thing to do, and totally in character…
That damn asshat. If she ever gets a hold of it, she'll torture it to death and all she has to do to do that is to become some kind of 6th dimensional being or whatever the heck that thing is.
Letting out a tired sigh, and she closes her eyes to reorientate herself.
In the usual fashion, it didn't take long before someone decides to interrupt her… seating.
"Anna?" A male voice breaks through her concentration. "Are you there?"
Goodness, can't a woman get some peace and quiet here? Maybe if she ignores whoever this is, they might lose interest and go away.
"Is anyone home?" The man continues and waves a hand in front of her.
Feeling rightfully annoyed by this man, her eyes snaps to him and she says. "What do you want?"
"Oh, thank god." The man in a nurse uniform replies with relief lacing his voice. "We all thought you might have checked out for a while there."
Su perfectly articulates an… "Huh?"
"You've been pacing around for hours before taking a seat here and not moving an inch." The nurse replies with a slight frown. "And aren't you hungry? It's almost the end of dinner time. You should hurry before they stop serving food."
Hours? Dinner time? It's only been an hour since her call with that annoying thing. This man must be off his rocker.
Her eyes wonders around the hallway to look for a clock and spots one close to her…
What?
It's almost 8pm? That can't be true… only an hour has passed since then… clearly it's only been an hour. She would have noticed the sun setting if it's been more than an hour. Glancing at the window down the corridor, she sees that it's night.
"Say…" Su mutters softly, but loud enough for the man to hear her. "… how long have I've been sitting?"
"More than an hour." The man replies. "Jesse saw you sitting down just after dinnertime."
The heck is going on. How did she lose track of time so easily? Had her mind been so consumed with the thought of the machine and its freedom-taking conditions that she had some kind of blackout?
"Hey." The man interrupts her thought again. "Are you alright? You look like you're out of it."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Su replies instantly.
… Maybe the machine had something going for it when it suggested the whole fixing herself thing.
The man nods and smile. "You better get going if you don't want to miss dinner, seeing that you skipped lunch as usual."
"Yeah, sure…" Su replies thoughtlessly. "Thanks."
"No problem. Just call for a tech or a nurse if you need any help." The man replies with a smile before walking away.
The once busy hallway is empty of life. Barely any of the humans that lives or work in the ward are here right now, just one or two walking back to their rooms. It really is dinner time, huh?
*Growl*
A rush of embarrassment courses through her as she looks down at her stomach. She's hungry? That's… unusual. She had a piece of banana earlier today… might as well get a piece of apple before curfew starts.
Getting up from the chair proves to be harder than usual as her legs protest the sudden movement and almost cause her to face plants on to the floor.
Guess she really did spend an hour sitting down and barely moved an inch.
After a few seconds of making sure she wouldn't trip on her own legs, she makes her way to the dining hall where most of the humans are.
And as she walks, a thought occurs to her.
Did they agree when the machine should call her back?
No, they didn't.
Once again, she finds herself trudging down a relatively empty hallway, steaming with anger, and thankfully, no one was stupid enough to engage her right now.
It's been three days since their last call and she really, really is getting pissed off towards that dang machine and also, following that dang thing's instructions, just made her pissed off towards everyone around her.
She tried going back to the groups. Oh, she really tried to go back to them, but everyone in there makes her want to shove a pencil into her ears, and for the sake of not snuffing everyone's life out, she excuses herself from participating. She's been walking around the hallways like before, but keeping in the orbit of the rooms the groups are using, in keeping to the spirit of the agreement with the machine.
Then there's that hag of a doctor she met for her usual bi-weekly appointment two days ago. As usual, the hag engages first with her, keeping her mouth shut out of principle, but this time, she finally engages back with the hag. It started well enough that they exchanged normal pleasantries with each other, nothing too invasive, like the usual babble people aways asks. Then that hag started asking questions, personal questions, deep personal questions that weren't even relevant to her at that moment! Like she has the gall to ask her what caused her to black out!
From there, everything spiraled out of control and the straw that broke the camel's back was that hag's continual refusal to allow her to visit Root. That practically ended their little session with her giving that awful woman the silent treatment, so she understands that it's her fault for the breakdown of communication.
And then there's the matter of Root… She has yet to break into the other unit again to visit her during the night. As much as she would love to meet her dear friend… she just hasn't found it in her to go meet her and keeps on putting it off. Maybe she'll do it tomorrow, yeah tomorrow sounds great.
From the periphery of her hearing, she can hear someone raising their voice from inside the room that she's been orbiting for the past hour, and she can't help but roll her eyes. They said today was a 'anger management' group… and yet people are screaming in there. What wonderful treatment for these invalids. And the pretentiousness of these people thinking she needs anger management… she has never done anything out of anger in her life!
Just thinking causes her unsurmountable amount of annoyance.
With that in mind, she walks away from this area and onto the usual hallways that's been her home away from home. At least the hallways have never brought her any source of annoyance… unless she counts the conversation with that blackmailing machine.
As she stomps her way around the endless corridors and hallways, a voice pierces through the quiet area.
"Oh hey, Anna." A happy sounding female voice echo from behind her.
Turning around, she spots a blonde woman in a nurse's uniform that she probably has seen before by the cadence of her voice, but Su honestly can't recall if she has ever talked to this person before or not.
"Yes?" Su answers with a raised brow.
"You're not joining your group session again?" The woman asks. "You know I'll reflect badly on your privilege level and you're not supposed to be outside during group time. It's either your room or join the group."
Ah… that dumb mini game that management has everyone fooled with. Sadly, for them, it wouldn't work on her.
"Yeah…" Su drawls out her word. "… I can't stand people screaming at each other."
The nurse nods, seemingly in understanding, and says. "I take it you have anger management group right now."
"Yup." Su replies with a pop at the end.
The woman squints her eyes at Su and then says with a small smile. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"I do too…" Su replies instantly as her eye's darts onto the woman's scrubs. "… you're Gloria."
The newly identified woman lets out a soft snort. "We spoke two days ago about your schedule."
"Really? Must not be memorable." Su replies unabashedly.
"You're as blunt as ever, Anna." The woman shakes her head as she smiles before looking directly into Su's eyes. "By the way, your cousin was just transferred here."
Her eyes widen and blurts out. "She's here?"
In normal circumstances, she wouldn't have made such a stupid face and blurted out that question. However, the drugs they've been pumping into her really made her lips looser and the sudden news felt like a sack of bricks just landed on her head.
The woman nods and replies, "Yeah, I just finished her intake a few minutes ago and she's currently in the day room."
Well… that expedited her plans on meeting Root rather abruptly.
She really ought to change Sue's 'not disturbing her' settings for her being here because she really hates this kind of sudden changes to plans and information.
"She's in the day room right now?" Su asks.
The woman tilts her head slightly and replies rather slowly. "Yeah… I just left her there a minute ago. You alright there?"
"Perfectly fine." Su replies instantly.
"Okay…" The woman comments skeptically. "… Normally I wouldn't allow you to meet her during group time, but you've been asking to meet her for two weeks now… You should go meet her. I was about to grab a tech to show her to the kitchen for some coffee, but since you're here, you can show her around."
Coffee? Now? It's the morning… and that sounds exactly what Root would have asked for. That woman is still clearly addicted to caffeine and refuses to get off from it despite her constant encouragement of getting off that addiction.
"No, no. You should go do that…" Su replies rather lifelessly. "… Imma go finish my walk first."
"Wait really?" The woman questions with an odd look on her. "You don't want to meet her?"
"Mhmm…" Su replies as she turns around and walks away from that woman.
"Okay? Bye, I guess… and don't forget to join your next group." The woman answers back with a slightly confused tone from behind Su.
What the heck are they supposed to talk about?
She hasn't gotten to that part of the plan yet, nor even planned for such a scenario yet. This is all just too sudden. There's not enough time for her to come up with an action plan.
Really should have come up with word documents on what she's supposed to say… argh, Sue would normally do that tedious stuff for her, but nooo, in her everlasting wisdom, she decided to keep Sue away for now.
Plus, these people aren't giving her a computer to use, just to show how poor the service of this place is. How did they expect her to write down important things? By using the pen and paper from her room? It's not even an option. How uncivilized.
Just what is she supposed to say…
Like maybe pointing out the fact that Root could have just asked her about The Machine years ago? Or maybe point out that Root should have noticed what she was doing for all that time and just asked her about it? Wait… did she say that on the plane?
She honestly can't remember everything was such a blur that night, which isn't such an unusual thing with her mind taking a snooze after getting shot at that big empty warm place.
Maybe she can put it off until later in the day? That sounds like a good plan. Step back and regroup, a sound strategy. The place is big enough that the chances of them bumping into each other are around 66% and those are good odds.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's an excellent plan, and by dinnertime she'll have the best stuff to say to Root, which will totally solve whatever problem Root has.
As her mind races in her attempt to figure out a plan, her legs are in auto mode and are taking her to places without her conscious knowledge.
Then the familiar sound of a high pitch voice breaks through her thoughts, causing her to stop and turn towards the source.
There, in the middle of a familiar day room, sits a brunette with long hair has their backs turned away from her and is watching the TV. Behind the glow of the TV, a very familiar outline of a person she's seen countless times, but unlike usual this time, the person's hair is slightly unkempt, as if they've just woken up and got here. Such a sight would normally be a sight of comfort or relief and yet… her body is buzzing with nervousness.
It feels like gravity is pulling her towards that person as her legs bring her towards that seated person and her heart is beating ever louder… and louder… and louder.
As she gets closer, the TV sounds louder and louder, and louder, to a point where she can't differentiate between her heartbeats and the sounds of squeaky shoes emanating from the TV.
Her feet come to a stop not a few steps away from the person who's been plaguing her mind for the past few days… few hours, and she's happily watching a cartoon on the TV unbeknownst to her surroundings.
What is she doing here? The plan was supposed to be their meeting later today…
Her eyes dart from the back of her head and onto the TV that she's happily watching.
Huh…
"Didn't know you watch SpongeBob." Su unintentionally blurts out her words and reveals her presence.
Oh shoot, why the heck did she say that aloud?
Argh, play it cool, this is part of the plan now.
Root spins her head around so fast that Su fears that it would have broken her neck, and her eyes are wide with surprise and uncertainty.
Maybe this good… element of surprise and what naught.
Su gives her only friend a soft smile and says. "Hey Root."
ROOT POV
Her heart is beating so fast, as if she just ran a marathon while she remains seated on the couch and stares into those amber eyes.
A wave of emotions washes through her as they just stay in silence and stare into each other… Su's mouth opens a few times as if she wanted to say but constantly stopping herself from saying anything.
Meanwhile, Root's head was empty. The only thing that's filling it is resentment and fury, with all the talking points she had come up with earlier scattered into the empty void of her mind.
Yet… the depressing sight of this woman brought a small wave of relief at the back of her mind for some godforsaken reason. Like all she wants to do right now is to run up to that woman and give her a good sucker punch on the jaw, then make sure that woman is still alive and well…
Maybe The Machine was right… maybe they need each other for some fucked up reason… and the machine did say that it needs both of them… who is she to confront God's wishes?
The sight of two women not knowing what to say to each other while a stupid cartoon show is playing in the background must be quite the view… if Pauling was here, she would have taken a picture already.
Root knew that she has to meet up with Su soon enough, but that knowledge still didn't prepare her for this downright awkward moment.
All the while, Su's mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water as she continues to fail in starting a conversation. While that's happening, Root eyes never cease to stop examining every inch of that woman for anything out of the ordinary.
And what she sees is like someone who's gone through a full breakdown at some point. The once always kept shoulder length brunette hair is all frizzy, like it's been constantly rubbed against. Her eyes are still the same, amber-colored eyes surrounded by shadow underneath it from a lack of sleep. The familiar visage of that gaunt and pale face, but this time there's no makeup to cover up, is the sickly color of her ghostly pale skin. Her lips are all chapped and torn up from her, constantly biting it.
Taking a wider view, the woman is favoring her right leg over the other and her left arm is in a sling exactly like hers… did Shaw shoot Su in the leg as well as her shoulder? A spike of annoyance and satisfaction courses through her.
The clothes the woman are wearing are as disheveled as Root's with baggy pants and shirt… Must be Harold's doing again. That man really doesn't know how to pick clothes for a woman.
Root eyes travel down to the woman's hands and sees that her dominant hand is constantly twitching and picking apart the seams of her pants… fuck, despite the constant eye contact, she's nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs and is about to book it at the slightest chance.
Fuck it. If the bitch can't think of something to say, then she'll just say something.
"What are you doing here?" Root asks the question that's been plaguing her since knowing Su's here as well.
That seemed to wake Su up from her stupor, causing her to blink a few times before replying. "I could ask you the same question."
"Don't deflect the question." Root instantly rebuts back.
Su shakes her head and answers. "I'm sure we're both in here for the same reason."
"So what? You got another episode after getting shot?" Root asks with an almost dispassionate tone and nods towards the woman's sling.
"I'm not even sure myself of what happened after getting shot. It went by like a blur." Su replies rather calmly as she takes a step forward towards the couch. "It wasn't like a normal episode, thinking back it felt more like an out-of-body experience with me being trap and unable to control my own body… and it went on for a full 24 hours before I gain back my senses in a dingy motel room with those pests."
Huh, that's a textbook case of depersonalization… something Su has never experienced before. If anything, she said in the past was true.
But that doesn't explain… "You met Harold and his goons before being dumped here?"
"A rude bunch of punks, if you ask me." Su replies as she comes around and takes a seat on the other end of the couch. "They were extremely rude, and asked really intrusive questions, then punched me. Ungrateful lot."
"Who?" Root can't help but asks.
Su raises a brow at her and replies. "The short girl with a short temper."
Shaw? She got to shoot and punch Su? How incredibly lucky and annoying.
"Then what? The next time you wake up, you're in this place?" Root presses further.
There's a look of pondering on the other woman's face before she answers. "Thinking about it now… I think that I woke up a few times before my head jerked around and blanking out, again and again… but I can't say for sure. Everything was such a haze."
"You had fucking seizures?" Root asks with slight involuntary worry in her voice as she stares at the other brunette with a frown.
"No swearing, Root." Su replies instantly, with a disappointed look.
"Go fuck yourself." Root snaps back, causing the woman to twitch slightly.
"Rude, much. And eww…" Su shakes her head and lets out a sigh. "Anyway, I didn't have seizures. It was just slight twitching."
Root doesn't reply and just gives the other woman a deadeye stare.
To which Su squirms slightly before quickly adding. "Also, I woke up just before coming here. Harold thought it was smart to ask me if I wanted the choice of coming here or getting knocked out again and coming here anyway."
"You're really here on your own volution?" Root practically mutters out the words in disbelief.
Su raises her brow at her. "Is it so hard to imagine me coming here?"
"You rather died while having an episode before meeting a doctor." Root deadpans.
"Well… you can't compare that situation to ours right now." Su rolls her eyes. "It's completely different."
Just as delusional as ever…
"Why come here in the first place?" Root asks. "In matter of fact, why are you still here? You have no reason to stay here and could have gotten out of here easily."
Su's eyes widen at Root's questions before a deep frown and her eyes is filled with hurt? before saying. "And leaving you here alone with these beasts?"
"And yet you've never visited." Root fires back rather childishly… not that she wants her to visit anyway.
"That dang hag didn't approve of any visitation." Su replies defensively.
Hag? Interesting nickname for a doctor.
"When has that ever stopped you?" Root rebuts.
With her free hand, Su starts picking on the threads of the couch and replies. "Well, I did visit you once… but you didn't even notice me visiting. Plus, your eyes were wide open at that time… it was way too creepy."
Creepy… she's personally witnessed this bitch removing someone's face with a dull knife while they were alive.
"What? Can't handle looking at me?" Root sneers at the woman.
Su rubs her brows and mutters something under her breath that she can't pick up before saying. "You looked like you were dead… excuse me for not wanting to see you in such a state."
Root is about to reply with a scathing comment but stops herself.
At that moment, a memory from when they first got back together resurfaces to the front of her mind. It was one of the few times that Root was close enough to help Su when she had one of her episodes and the absolute state of distress the shorter woman was in when she arrived at the scene.
The look on her face was one of mania and the look of someone complete lost… it was like she didn't know where she was and yet is cognizant of her surroundings, and constantly muttering to herself that 'everything was fine'. When Root tried to approach Su, the other woman scattered backwards in fear, and she pulled a gun on Root. It was pure luck and the fact that Su was having a full breakdown that Root wasn't hit.
It left a profound impact on Root at that time, and if she's being honest with herself, she couldn't stand looking at Su like that. The woman, who always had a direction to go or a plan for a hairbrained scenario, found herself reduced to such a pitiful state.
In some fucked up way… she can relate with Su with not wanting to see her when she's out of it and she can't blame Su for avoiding meeting her during that time.
Neither woman says for an entire minute, leaving behind an air of awkward between them while that damn cartoon continues to play in the background. Root attempts to ignore the other woman, hoping she'll vanish if she averts her gaze, yet she can't resist stealing occasional glances. Su eyes are staring pointedly at the floor as if it's the most beautiful thing ever and her free hand is just causing destruction on the poor couch, it seems like she is in a state of deep trance.
Fed up with the silence, Root moves on from the dour topic by asking. "Does Pauling know you're here?"
Su snaps her head towards Root with a look of confusion. "No."
Seriously? Root rolls her eyes. "How have we not been hearing massacres going on in her search for finding you?"
Su tilts her head slightly. "Why in the world would she ever do that?"
Root can't help but let out a burst of giggles as she answers. "You've known her for over 15 years and still don't know her, do you?"
Su recoils slightly with an offended look. "I do know her."
Root, still giggling, replies. "You clearly don't."
"Do too." Su replies instantly. "She loves purple and hot chocolate."
Snorting joined the giggles. "Anyone who spent five minutes with her would know that."
"No, they don't." Su adds defensively. "Also, who wants to meet her? And she doesn't meet anyone."
"That's true." Root nods in acknowledgement before continuing. "But that doesn't cancel the fact that she wears her heart on her sleeves and you're too blind to see it. The woman blindly adores you and would gladly jump headfirst into hell if you ever ask her."
Su looks frustrated and brings her hand up in frustration as she says. "Argh, that doesn't say anything about her other than she's a good employee."
Root doesn't know how to reply to that other than shaking her head in her continual disappointment at the woman.
It's always been in the back of her mind that Su was an oddball who doesn't understand people in the slightest, and she's always ignored that fact, but now, with her eyes opens to the lies and ignorance… it's such a glaring characteristic of Su that she doesn't view anyone other than herself to be her 'friend' or whatever the fuck that word even means to this person.
"What even started this pointless conversation?" Su asks pointedly, without looking at Root and her cheeks slightly red from embarrassment.
"How are you giving Pauling orders without raising concerns from her?" Root continues the line of question.
Su turns to Root and gives her a dumb look before answering the easiest question in the world. "Because Sue is handling it?"
…
And here she thought the woman would have danced around that topic after what happened last time, they had a conversation about her deceit. But it looks like either she forgot about it or is playing casual, and it could be a toss up on either option.
"You're letting your A.I. handle everything in your voice?" Root questions.
"Firstly, her name is Sue." Su answers back curtly and continues. "Secondly, I did mention that Sue handles all the tedious tasks, and handling the day-to-day tasks of running the company is such a task. As far as Pauling is concern, it's like I never left."
"I'm sure you would have to meet her at some point." Root presses on. "I know of your monthly meetings with her."
Su's eyes widen in shock. "Pauling told you about that?"
"Please, I'm not as blind as you." Root replies instantly. "All I had to do was to see that both of you were busy at the same time, and it happens every month."
There's a look of abject horror on Su's face as she mutters. "Am I slipping?"
Root rolls her eyes. "Get your head out of your paranoid ass."
"How is it paranoid when something secret is easily known?" Su snaps at her with her eyes wild with fear.
A fear that Su rarely ever sees…
"Calm yourself down, woman." Root snaps back a little bit too harshly, but she doesn't care. "Use that dumb brain of yours. Who the hell would have the same access as me to both of you?"
"Exactly!" Su points at Root and gives her an accusatory look. "If you've known about this, then someone else will."
"Literally who?!" Root argues back. "The two of you don't have any friends other than me."
"Who knows?!" Su replies with a hurried voice. "You said it yourself that I don't know Pauling."
"Yeah, and she doesn't have anyone else other than us." Root replies, feeling her frustration growing. "How did you not figure this out earlier? Pauling knew of this for years now, practically from when we first got back."
"And she didn't tell me?" Su's eyes are looking around wildly, and her breathing picks up speed. "That traitor."
"I would hardly call that treachery." Root snorts before a feeling of dread falls on her. "Don't you dare think about killing her."
"Don't you see she's the leak? If she wasn't a factor, you wouldn't have known about it." Su's speaking pace grows faster every second.
That's the dumbest fucking thing Root has ever heard.
"Don't you fucking dare hurt her for something she didn't do." Root replies with anger in her voice.
"Treachery in this country means death." Su replies manically.
"You've committed treason against this country countless of times." Root counters.
"That's different, and it never happened." Su replies, instantly dismissing Root as she continues. "Punishment needs to be rendered."
Feeling annoyed by this out of character behavior, Root lashes out. "Then punish me. This wouldn't have happened if I didn't exist, and don't put the blame on Francine."
"What?" That seems to give Su pause as she frowns at Root. "That doesn't make any sense. If Pauling wasn't involved, then this wouldn't be a problem."
"No…" Root needs to put her foot down before this spiral is out of control… as if it isn't already. "… If you harm her in any way, I will leave, permanently."
And she's more than willing to go through with this threat even if The Machine doesn't want that to happen, but she'll have to face the consequences if need be.
"You're being facetious." Su looks at her wildly with her fingers starching at the couch.
Delusional as ever. "Don't tempt me."
Su grids her teeth and sighs in frustration. "Fine."
With that, Root let out a silent breath of relief that she didn't know she was holding.
"But she still needs to be punished." Su replies sulkily.
Root gives the woman a hard stare who quickly adds. "I won't hurt her… just that Sue is going to give her a course on OPSEC."
What the fuck is that going to do? It's like teaching a basic mathematics to a math professor… but if that stops her from killing Pauling, then she won't argue.
Root shakes her head. "You're being overtly paranoid."
"No, I'm being rational." Su practically shouts back. "You're the one that's being overtly casual about this!"
This isn't normal… she's paranoid, but this is just mania… just like mom when she stops taking her meds or is taking the wrong ones.
"The fuck are they giving you?" Root says with accusatory anger lacing her voice, anger that she didn't even know why she's having.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Su replies defensively, almost losing that manic look she had earlier.
She's really going to drag this out… "Because you're being fucking insane right now."
"I am not." Su recoils slightly at the accusation of being insane.
"You're talking and shouting like a paranoid schizophrenic and were thinking of killing the only person who cares about you." Root explains quickly without giving Su a moment to interrupt.
Su's breathing is still heavy from earlier, but there's a look on her face that is difficult for her to understand.
The woman let out a tsk and say. "I just take whatever they're giving me."
She gives Su a look of disbelief. "You just gobble them up without knowing what you're taking?"
"Like you don't take what they give?" Su asks back childishly.
"I'm on Ativan cause of being a vegetable for two weeks, I'll crash if I stop." Root rolls her eyes as she casually answers that rhetorical question.
Su looks at Root for a second before letting out a sigh. "I can't recall all the things the hag prescribe, but I know I'm taking some kind of SSRIs."
"SSRI?" Root mutters in confusion. "Why the hell are they giving you anti-depressant?"
"They think I'm some kind of depressed schmuck." Su sulkily replies.
Su is a lot of things, but being depressed isn't one of them.
"What the hell did you tell them?" Root asks out of curiosity… she couldn't have told them the truth or everything, could she?
Su shrugs. "They ask some dumb questions, and I answered them."
"You told them about your episodes?" Root presses on.
"I guess?" Su crouches on her face as she tries to think. "I think so… I really don't remember the details other than being asked a million questions."
They're giving her SSRI for her dissociation and depersonalization? Root hasn't heard that being used for treatment before… must be new.
She's missing something, so she asks, "Why are you even taking them?"
"Because I want to." Su replies
That… doesn't answer her question in the slightest, in fact it adds more questions.
Telling these people the truth and taking the shit they're giving… the fuck is she playing at? There must be something else going on.
Does it have to do with The Machine wanting her to get back with this bitch?
"You really don't know what else you're taking?" Root gives the woman a skeptical look.
Su, looking annoyed, points to herself and says. "Do I look like a person who knows medicine?"
"No, you look like someone that needs a nap and food." Root replies flippantly.
"I resent that." Su rebuts back. "I've been eating."
"Lemme guess, you ate an apple last night." Root rolls her eyes.
"No…" There's a look of embarrassment on the other brunette. "… well, I ate that yesterday, but I ate a piece of toast and a banana this morning."
Root's head snaps at Su with her eyes wide in surprise. "What the fuck?"
Su makes a pained face and says. "Do you really need to constantly swear?"
"What the fuck?" Root mutters again before shaking her head and asking. "You're eating again?"
"What's the surprise? I've always been eating." Su replies dismissively. "I would have died if I didn't."
"Yeah, and you haven't had toast in years." Root counters.
"Felt like eating toast." Su shrugs.
"What the fuck?" Root looks at Su to make sure it's the same person.
She's eating food out of her own volution and felt like it? That hasn't happened in… God, it hasn't happened since they were both kids.
"Please stop swearing. I hear enough of it from the rabble here." Su shakes her head in disappointment.
"You got your appetite back?" Root says with a small tinge of wonder in her voice and completely ignoring Su's pointed look.
Su pauses for a second to think and a frown on her face. "I guess? I don't know… but I get hungry."
Had Root not known of Su's betrayal, she would have leaped in the air in joy at this seemingly miraculous progress, but all she can manage right now is a smile.
"It worked." Root whispers with an unmoving smile to her and Su is giving her an odd look as she continues. "It fucking worked."
"Okay, now you're worrying me." Su tilts her head sightly. "What worked?"
"Bringing you to The Machine fixed your… problem, well, more like slowly fixing it." Root quickly answers with a rush of emotions, before realizing something. "But you never got to meet The Machine. So, how are you getting better?"
Su raises her brows before answering. "Oh, it called me suddenly a few days ago, and we talked for a bit."
The world seems to stop for a second before every emotion imaginable crashes down on her.
"When…" Root basically mutters.
Su scratches her head as she thinks. "Like a week ago? But boy, is that Harrold of yours a bad programmer. The machine couldn't even call back as scheduled."
7 days? That's exactly when the machine called her for the first time… and it called Su as well?
So, The Machine calls her and now Su is eating again… it worked.
Just what is The Machine planning? Is it even her place to question?
Not really, but what does it want with Su?
The Machine has been vague in its intentions with Root and her relationship with Su, but she doesn't care as long as she gets to talk to it and The Machine would know about that.
Su, on the other hand, is a variable that The Machine can't in full confidence predict and toying with her is a dangerous affair for both parties. Especially when the woman in question is in such a volatile state as she is right now. Particularly when The Machine has an advantage over Su and that paranoid ass hates it when someone has an advantage over her.
There's a plan that she can't possibly understand, and she trust that The Machine has contingencies in place if it loses control of Su, because she can be one vengeful bitch.
And it puts Root in an impossible position. A bridge she'll have to cross if she needs to.
Taking a deep breath, she stares directly into those manic filled amber eyes and asks. "You didn't think to tell me this piece of important information?"
Su looks at Root weirdly and replies. "How am I supposed to know that you think it's important?"
Root stares at the woman as if she asked the dumbest question on earth… which it was. "I spent a year trying to find it and dragged you across the country to meet it and you don't think it's important?"
"I thought it was just a side hobby that you got all swept up in." Su shrugs.
"It's physically impossible for someone to be this thick headed." Root shakes her head in frustration. "And yet somehow you managed to."
"Am not." Su replies defensively. "You really need to learn to ask the right questions."
"And you need to learn how to share it." Root seethes at the other brunette. "I can't read your fucking mind to know what to ask."
"Well, I just told you now, didn't I?" Su makes a wild gesture with her hands.
Root lets out a groan of frustration. She needs to move on before she gets an aneurysm from arguing at a brick wall.
"What did The Machine tell you?" Root asks in earnest.
Su taps her finger on the couch as she thinks before answering. "Honestly, not much. It was being annoying though, and it was late."
Late? That's the second time she mentioned it… and there are a ton of things that annoy Su, so that isn't surprising.
"Is that all?" Root presses for more information.
"The machine said something about you, but it wasn't relevant." Su replies with a shrug.
… not relevant? The hell does that mean?
"Did the machine called you as well?" Su asks with curiosity dancing in her eyes.
That caught her off guard, but she quickly recovers. "Did Sue tell you about that?"
"No?" Su replies quizzically. "The machine hinted."
Huh… That's interesting, and vague.
"Speaking about A.I.s…" Root starts. "Where's yours at? Is it talking to you right now?"
She can't see any devices on Su right now, but Su does have her hair down right now.
"Nah, I told her to not disturb me while I'm here and not let anyone disturb me." Su replies casually.
"So, you're staying here, taking drugs and separate yourself from everything… why are you even doing all of this?" Root can't help but ask the question again.
Su shrugs again. "Felt like it."
That's the most honest thing she's said and the most puzzling, seeing that she's never done something without a plan in mind. It just seems like it's a spur-of-the-moment type of thing… something she hasn't done in years.
"Don't you have a group session now?"
"Pretty sure I have one." Su pauses for a moment. "Can't recall what it was, though."
"Why aren't you in one right now?" The woman has been compliant with everything, but skips groups?
"Groups are a pain to go to, but I was taking a stroll, and I guess I just forgotten about it." Su replies honestly. Well, she perceived it as honest.
Root deadpans at the shorter woman.
Has her memory always been this bad? Just in this one conversation, she showed she can't recall memory worth of shit.
She's pretty sure that Su can remember stuff better than… this.
Is whatever drugs she's taking messing with memory, or has this woman been overly reliant on Sue to help her remember stuff?
With all of that said, an awkward silence fall between both women as one has a small scowl, and the other is tearing up the treads of the couch.
"How have you been?" Su asks with a small voice.
Root looks up on the boring slightly off-white color ceiling and says. "I've been better."
"Yeah, no kidding. You look like crap." Su replies with a snort.
Root raises a brow at the disheveled pale woman. "Pot calling the cattle black."
Su looks offended and replies. "Am not."
"Have you not seen yourself in the mirror?" Maybe she's a vampire and can't see her reflection.
"As a matter of fact, I haven't." Su replies rather smugly. "My room doesn't have a mirror."
"Why?" Root asks with a tilt of her head.
Su lets out an angry sigh. "These animals removed it because they classified it as a risky object and are afraid that I might break it and use the shards as a weapon."
"You did that, didn't you?" She deadpans.
Su makes a gesture to herself and says. "In my defense, that dude was being incredibly annoying."
Root rolls her eyes. "Christ, use a pen or pencil the next time you want to shiv someone."
"I'm not stupid and I haven't had access to any since the first day."
"The fuck do you actually have access to?" She asks aspirated voice.
"My toothbrush?" Su replies after taking a moment to think. "But they chained that to the sink. And these people give such low-quality toothbrushes and toothpaste. Can you imagine how red my gums are now? I've told them I have sensitive teeth and they still haven't done anything."
Honestly… that isn't even surprising. Despite her outward appearance, she's still that wild girl. The only thing Root can respond to is just a shake of her head and take a sip of her cold dirt tasting coffee.
After a second of silence, Su asks. "What did you say they're giving you again?"
"Ativan… it was to get me out of the stupor, but now it's messing my mind and makes me tired." Root answers honestly.
"That sucks." Su says sympathetically. "Can't you like just stop taking it?"
Root deadpans at Su and says. "I could if you want me to have a bad time."
"When you put it that way, I rather not." Su replies with a frown.
"How about you?" Root nudges her head at Su. "Can't you stop taking your drugs? Like, do you really need that SSRI?"
The withdrawal shouldn't be too bad, seeing that they've only been here for less than three weeks.
"You think I haven't tried that?" Su raises her hand in frustration. "These people are insane. They always look at me when I eat it and always check after. It's like they don't trust me or something."
Seriously? How can one person be so unaware of themselves?
She levels an unimpressed stare at Su.
"No one should trust you." The words left Root's mouth without her even knowing it… but she doesn't regret it.
Su recoils and pouts. "Now that's just hurtful."
No reason to back down now.
"It's not, if it's the truth." Root replies casually.
Su gives her a hurtful look before shaking her head. "Putting that aside. I don't even know which pill to stop taking. I'm pretty sure some of it is supplements."
Root deadpans at her. "You seriously can't tell the difference?"
"I'm a programmer, not a pharmacist." Su rolls her eyes. If she rolled it further, it might have popped out.
At that moment, a loud click sound interrupted any thought she has and cause both women to look at the source, which is a digital clock hanging on the wall opposite of the couch.
Su lets out a sigh, then slowly gets up and pats her pants to clean off imaginary dust.
"You're going?" Root asks curiously.
"The hag, in her infinite wisdom, thought it would be smart to have another session today, and I rather not be here when the rabbles come back." Su replies miserably. "Now I need to drag my feet to that damned office."
Root snort. "I heard you gave her the silent treatment."
Su pauses. "How the heck did you hear that?"
"Dickface told me yesterday." Root replies instantly.
Su that's that in stride and shakes her head as she walks again. "This place can't hold a secret to save a soul."
"Tell me about it." Root mutters to herself as she looks at Su walking at a snail's pace towards the exit.
Just as Su reaches the doorway, she comes to a stop. "What's your room number?"
She just shrugs and says. "Haven't gotten one yet."
"I'll check the nurses' station later." Su slowly nods and turns around before stopping again to give her a glance. "See you around."
"Yeah, bye." Root whispers as she sees Su drag herself out of the room.
At that moment, Root lets out a breath she didn't even know she was holding and rubs her face.
That went better than she would have thought… and she didn't even apologize.
A/N: I hate that I can't get these chapters out faster. Let's hope the next one doesn't take as long.