Altier was counting every second as Billie stood there. He made no move towards her, but his eyes were darting between her and the stairs. Not that it was easiest thing to tell with those lids up.
Seeing the flip phone being pulled out, Altier said a silent swear. He didn’t have the cables needed to hook it to his own smart phone to download the photos. Even if he could do it remotely, it didn’t matter because his phone was off. By the time it turned on, the others might be back down. Staring at a screen with small text would have to do.
When Billie moves the phone to him, Altier’s full focus was on it. His closest hand moved up to snatch like a hawk after prey. Yet the jolting movement stops as soon as she asks the question. His hand retreated to his side, fingers somewhat twitching. He briefly considers just grabbing it, but a violent confrontation would be pointless.
“My…” Altier caught himself, and let out a brief puff of air. That was the wrong way to start it, he knew better.
“I know one of them. She never came back from her last trip. I need to find her.”
Paying more attention to Billie to see how she reacts, Altier notices how nervous she looked. It has been awhile since anyone looked at him like that. Should have kept the shades.
“You can hold it. Deliah Halkin,” Altier says, hoping Billie would understand to flip through the photos for that entry.
Clarissa listened as Billie and Altier spoke about the files in the diner. She wasn’t part of the group then, not in person anyway. She knew they were told to get those files, and she desperately wanted to know if …
She walked up beside Altier, making sure to stand in his periphery, but not crowd him as he looked at Billie’s phone. She stood there, awkwardly as he searched for someone named Deliah Halkin. As he searched, Clarissa looked to Billie.
“It’s Billie, right?” She asked. “Would you mind checking to see if there is a file for Ryan Sterling?”
She wanted to be the one to search, but after the events in the other room; she didn’t think Billie would let her look at her phone.
John let out a sigh of relief. Seeing the body of what appeared to be a young teenage boy laying on the ground of the airlock didn’t help alleviate the stress of the day. Typically, operations of this kind were oddly routine; his training had taught him how to deal with professionals. Retired military, government officials and even mercenaries - but civilians? Whoever the new higher ups were made decisions that seemed to undermine all his work. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Clarissa breaking into their communications they way she did; he may have never realized the files he had been given on this potential team didn’t match up with what he was seeing.
All this following a major security breach had him silently seething. He had to keep a calm demeanor, but this day just kept getting worse.
Cass and her team were supposed to have already been underway hours ago; but she was tasked to introduce this new team to his group - her After Action Report on the new recruits left him wondering how they got chosen to begin with. Maybe it was the security breach?
“Did they accidentally get the invite instead of the ones in his original files?” he thought, as he looked down on Oswin. “Poor kid.” he thought as he waited for Bynari to arrive with his kit to examine him.
Looking back to Gracie, he finally said “Thanks for watching over him. I’ll get him moved downstairs; hopefully my tech can figure out if this was intentional or if he had a power failure.”
He didn’t want to tell her that he had no idea if his tech could actually do an accurate diagnosis on Oswin. He didn’t trust his original files, and with today’s events; he wasn’t sure he could trust these new people. He wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t trust him either.
“I understand”, she said in a serious voice. Her grip on the phone weakened, indicating that she was ready to give it to Altier, but he didn’t seem to make any attempts to take it from her.
Her suspicions that he had a personal reason to be here were confirmed. If true, it was in her best interest to let him take a look at those files as they had the closest thing to a common goal in this; and she didn’t really need to worry about him undermining her effort to get those files in the first place.
After a brief nod, Billie nodded, signifying that she understood what he wanted of her. She brought the phone closer to her face, adjusted her glasses, squinted her eyes not without effort to see what was written on the screen better, and quickly started flipping through the photos, looking for any mentions of the name Deliah Halkin. The man seemed to have put some trust in her, so she concluded that she could afford to do the same in return as well.
Billie briefly stopped her search to shoot a stern, slightly annoyed glance at Clarissa and promptly turned her attention back to the screen of her phone.
Unlike with Altier, she didn’t have any reason to trust the girl in the slightest. Where was she when we were getting these files in the diner? Did she help in any way? What makes her think that she has the right to ask for something here?
If Billie found the file with the name Deliah Halkin, she’d hand her phone with the right document open on the screen over to Altier. If she found any mention of the name Ryan Sterling, she’d briefly look over at Clarissa and give her a quick nod. Otherwise, she’d quietly shake her head and not address the girl in any other way.
Billie would also shoot a quick look at the stairs to see if someone was coming down from the air lock.
As Billie and Altier look through the files on Billie’s phone, one of the monitors on Bynari’s workstation wakes up. The cursor on the screen moves for a moment before disappearing entirely. Then a small window opens; indicating that a data transfer has begun before the window disappears.
Several other work stations come out of sleep, no signs of cursor movement or notifications that something has happened, but to the trained eye; the indication lights on the computers show massive amounts of data being transferred.
If Bynari arrives up the stairs and performs a cursory check over Oswin’s body, he will very easily locate the numerous ports at the base of his skull, hidden underneath his hair. Connecting to any one of these ports will provide Bynari with a very unhelpful screen:
TOTAL SYSTEM FAILURE SYSTEM REBOOT IN [Unauthorized access. System profile does not match UCO admin.]
If all of this occurs, Oswin will readily jump at the sudden access to power and try to force his way into the system again, but to no avail. If only I could just tell them all they have to do is pull my skin up and use the manual switch underneath my ribs… Well they aren’t really ribs, they’re more like- Y’know what that’s not important right now.
…Why are there so many people downstairs I’ve never seen before?
Altier, upon seeing Clarissa come into his vision, wanted to shove the girl into the ground. He forgot to consider she was still around. Restraining himself, Altier tries to reposition himself so that Clarissa can’t see the screen or, if necessary, do some light warding with a free arm.
When she claims to be looking for someone, he almost doesn’t believe her. If the girl was good enough to hack whoever this group was, surely she had other means. She could steal it from the info broker later.
Altier takes the phone and strains to look at the screen, skimming through the document. Mostly looking for any leads on where she went, last seen, any such clues for finding her.
No sooner does John say this, when Bynari comes into the room. Seeing Gracie sitting on the ground next to Oswin, he lets out a nervous chuckle.
“Not everyday you see someone dismembered, laying on the ground like that.” He said, visibly uncomfortable at the situation.
John shot him an annoyed look, before asking “Any chance you can get him on his feet again?”
Bynari knelt down next to Oswin, and pulled out a small device; about the size of one of the new digital wallets the team received earlier. “That really depends on what the cause is.” He answered. “What is the kid’s name?” He asked, turning the device on - an image of a playful 16-bit dolphin appearing on the single color LCD display.
“Oswin.” John replied, he own curiosity peaked seeing the device in Bynari’s hand.
“Oswin,” Bynari said. “I’m not sure if you can hear me, but I’m going to try and help. I apologize in advance for getting up in your business like this, but I promise I’m just looking for signs of trauma.” Holding the device near Oswin’s body, he moved the device along Oswin’s spine - keeping it several inches away, not actually touching it to him as he let it scan his body.
After a couple minutes, the device chirped and the screen changed. “Looks like it found a small power signature.” He said, running his hand along the back of Oswin’s skull. “It’s not enough to tell me anything more about a cause, but maybe there is an access panel somewhere near here.”
Finding the ports, he opening one and knelt down to get a better angle on the port. Then after a second, he reached into his kit and pulled out the correct cable to connect to his device. Plugging it into the device in his hand, he attached a small pill shaped connector to the end of the device. Looking to Gracie he said, “I’m not sure if he’s asleep or hurt - but with full prosthesis like this, some people have experienced pain from being connected like this.” Pointing to the pill shaped connector on the cable, he added “this device eliminates that pain by regulating the power from my scanner so that when it’s connected; the power goes from Zero until it slowly reaches the amperage it needs to send a diagnostic request. Makes sure it doesn’t cause him any distress while I check on him.”
John nodded as he heard Bynari’s words. “I’ll leave you two to it then. Keep me apprised of the situation. In the meantime, I’ll head back down and make sure everyone else is aware that you’re treating Oswin.”
Turning, he walked down the stairs.
Bynari read the readout from his device.
“Unauthorized?” he thought, scrolling through the devices commands. Coming to a menu, he was about to execute a program when he caught himself.
He had gone into the “zone” and when he saw a problem, he instinctively moved onto the solution - but Oswin wasn’t just a machine, he was a person. Had he used that program to brute force authorization; he could have hurt the kid. Deciding against that process, he unhooked the cable and placed his equipment back in his kit.
Looking to Gracie (if she is still in the airlock with him) he says, “I don’t have access to his system. And I don’t want to risk forcing access with this equipment. We have better equipment in the medbays though.”
Standing, he walked over to the shimmering rectangle on the west wall. After a second the shimmering transformed into a monitor, a keyboard materializing next to it.
Looking back to Oswin, he says “This may feel strange. But I promise; it won’t hurt.”
After a second, the floor beneath Oswin’s body begins to shimmer and ■■■■■ as his body slowly lowers into the viscous substance that was once the floor. In less than a second, from Oswin’s perspective - everything goes black. And for a moment, he can almost hear the soft sound of a woman’s voice; reassuring him that everything will be alright.
The darkness wears off and Oswin’s body is now on a shimmering hospital bed, his dismembered arm laying next to him.
“I mean, it seemed intentional…”
She said sheepishly, eyeing Oswin closely.
She a bolt of panic shot through her- What if the kid never wakes up?
“He did it himself….”
She mumbled, as she watched Bynari examine Oswin. There was a level of disdain in her voice, but was overshadowed by her concerns of the possibility that there was a malfunction, and she’d be responsible, and anyone would know there’d be blood to pay.
“Well, what do you want me to do?”
She asked, concerned. She didn’t want to be responsible for another accident, and certainly not this one. She stood up, appraising Bynari, as he walked over to the keyboard. She was slightly interested in the fact that it just popped out of nowhere, but she was more focused on what Bynari was doing, then what was happening around them.
Gracie’s eyes became saucers as Oswin disappeared through the floor.
“Wuh-WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!”
She threw her hands in the air.
“What just happened?! He just-you-I’m going to explode…”
“Sorry about that,” he said, his hands slightly raised in a sorry about that, please don’t freak out sort of way.
“I forget that most people haven’t seen this tech before.” He says. “Oswin is fine, he was just moved to the med bay.” He waited uncomfortably for what felt like an eternity, before adding; “It’s perfectly safe, I’ve done it a few times myself.” Looking to her, he asks “Do you want to give it a try?”
Having given her phone to Altier and indicated to Clarissa that the name she was asking about was indeed present in the documents, Billie stood next to the man, shifting in place and lightly tapping her foot on the ground anxiously as she waited for him to finish reading the file.
She thought about the names of the five missing people that she saw in the documents. She was quite surprised to find out that that the person Clarissa had talked about was actually present there, having been fully expecting that the girl was lying or just simply wrong. Beyond that, none of the names seemed to be familiar to her, and she didn’t have the time to look into the contents of the files themselves to determine if these missing persons cases were somehow related to the thing that killed Oswin that night…
Billie noticed the sudden surge of activity on the many computer monitors to her side and looked over in their direction which concern. She wasn’t well versed in computer technology at all, so she wasn’t sure if this process was supposed to be happening or something was going wrong. In any case, all these monitors eerily springing to life gave her a bad feeling. Was it just her paranoia acting up or a genuine reason for concern?
Suddenly, Billie was reminded that there was something she wanted to talk to Altier about back in the kitchen without anyone overhearing it. Now that Cass, the broker and that man were gone for the time being, it seemed to be the best chance for her to do it. She’d prefer that Clarissa wasn’t around for this, but she was afraid that she wouldn’t get a better opportunity than that before the two men returned.
Billie turned to Altier, letting out a nervous sigh and spoke under her breath in such a tone that indicated that the matter she was talking about was of great concern to her. She focused on Altier’s face, but was periodically throwing anxious glances towards the stairs, trying to see if someone was coming down or not.
“Ugh… Something… followed us into this building, but it wasn’t- it wasn’t that woman. I… don’t know how to explain, it was-”
Billie realized that it would be much easier to show Altier the image she had taken in the store, as she couldn’t find the right words to explain what she had seen, so she reached for the goggles that rested on her hat…
At the same time, she tried focusing on the presence she had felt back in the store, in hopes to determine if it could be felt down here. If that thing was still watching her.
Suddenly, Billie stopped what she was doing and turned quiet, noticing the figure of the broker walking down the stairs.
She felt that she couldn’t trust him, or his colleagues, with this information. She wasn’t sure if they needed to know. Would she be able to explain it to them sufficiently? How would they react? What if that thing was somehow related to them and I saw something I wasn’t supposed to see? What would they do in that case? So much could go wrong, she didn’t want to risk it, so she concluded that it’d be better not to involve them in this.
She shot one last pleading look at Altier, hoping that it would indicate to him that she couldn’t talk about this in the presence of the broker. She removed her hand from the goggles and quietly stretched it out towards Altier with the palm facing upwards in such a way that it wouldn’t be visible from the broker’s perspective, waiting for the man to give her the phone back.
Billie flinched slightly, hearing Gracie’s distant scream from the air lock. She had no way of knowing what had caused it, but her paranoid brain immediately jumped to the worst conclusions. She tensed up and began carefully watching the broker’s every step as he descended down the stairs, looking for any signs of ill intent.
Altier quitely grumbled, “oh come on, what’s all they got?” He hoped there were more leads, but at least they found the car.
When Billie starts talking, Altier looks away from the phone. The phone was slowly closed as he looked at her confused. His normal eyelids blinked a few times. He mumbled what was the start of questions before Billie looked at him to hush and someone was coming down the stairs. He gave the phone back to her immediately.
Once she had the phone back, Altier said towards John, “How’s it looking up there?”
The group of three caught John’s attention from the top of the stairs, they way they huddled around each other sent off red flags in his mind. But then he remembered that they were basically thrown to the wolves. The incident at the diner would have rattled most people, even Cass said she was surprised to learn that things didn’t go according to plan.
Then with the security system being triggered the way it was … it wasn’t hard to figure out these people didn’t trust him.
He was okay with that, trust like respect was earned; and thus morning’s events didn’t lend him any room to maneuver. Deciding it best that they learn to trust him the old fashioned way, he shifted his weight, making sure his heels hit the stairs, allowing the impact to echo with each step.
That action confirmed it. He could tell by her subtle movement that they were confiding with each other. Over what, he didn’t know. But he could tell even at this distance that they didn’t trust Clarissa either.
“Kid thinks she’s smarter than she really is.” He thought as he descended the stairs, deliberately slowing his pace to allow them to finish whatever they were doing.
Despite her attempts at focusing on whatever that Thing was; Billie is unable to feel its presence.
John kept his expression emotionless, falling back on his training; not wanting to show that he saw what they were doing. “Whatever that actually was.”
“I left Bynari with Gracie and Oswin in the airlock. Last I saw, he was performing a non-intrusive scan.”
He could tell that Billie was concerned for the boy, but he wasn’t entirely sure why. Mentioning his name earlier appeared to trigger some sort of response. He didn’t want to push that topic; not now anyway.
Altier in the other hand was harder to read. He carried himself like a man that knew what he was doing. Even his micro expressions were nearly undetectable; well, except for that odd mucus around his eyes. That didn’t look like an infection, but it was triggering a memory from when he was training in the Everglades.
He was about to walk to the work station when his tablet chirped. Turning to see it laying on the coffee table, he walked over to it. “Excuse me.” He said, as he picked it up from its place in the table. Seeing a message, he quietly read it, then turned to the group of three.
“I just got notification that Oswin was transferred to Med Bay 1.” Touching an icon in the screen, an image of Oswin laying in the hospital bed appeared on a big screen monitor in the main room.
“If you would like to visit him, you’re more than welcome. From what Bynari reported, he still has some more scans to perform; however, he doesn’t believe Oswin has been harmed in anyway.”
Putting the tablet down, he walked to the kitchen and after opening the refrigerator, he pulled out a bottle of water.
Oswin’s fright at the situation and forgetting that he had seen John before this became less and less confident and more and more remorseful. The only reason everyone was concerned about what had happened to him was because he chose to reject Gracie’s attempts at consolation, and now this simple dismissal of her efforts had become something much more involved. But, in spite of his apologetic nature, his wounded ego would not be giving up so easily.
…Or so he thought.
Oswin craned about, not questioning how it was possible for him to see or crane about without control over his body. He had done this once before, to a major degree, and it had been instrumental in establishing his autonomy, but that didn’t come to mind at that moment.
Mostly because any other thoughts were overridden by the horrifying notion of Bynari plugging something into the back of his head without his consent.
The notion of being hacked into was an extremely uncomfortable one for Oswin, and he was getting panicky rather quickly. Whatever it was didn’t appear to allow for two-way communication, as no signals were coming through, but Oswin was not a very good judge of such things.
Oswin exhaled a sigh of relief in his mind, one that stopped about halfway through when the mention of better equipment was made. I hope this timer’s going to end soon. I wish I could look at it while I’m like this. Actually, I wish I wasn’t like this to begin with. And I don’t just mean mechanical.
His opinion of Gracie was beginning to improve. She didn’t seem very interested in butting into things, instead hanging back and acting slightly defensive. Glad that she doesn’t seem to trust him either. That’ll help for when I decide to ask him why he thought it was a good idea to…
…I… don’t think I could actually confront him about it. I don’t think I could be mean.
Oswin took a moment to react to the words that Bynari spoke, too busy gawking at the bizarre level of technology at display that made him forget all about his fear of getting hacked. Can he just make whatever he wants with that? Could I get a rocket arm? I really want a rocket arm. I saw this rocket arm in a video game one time, even though it was rated past my age, and this guy could shoot it off and control where it went in the air, and for some reason he was punching orphan child soldiers-
…Huh? Feel strange? I don’t-
Oswin’s mental throat tightened as he suddenly began sinking into the floor, which had transformed itself into a mental goop. As the darkness swallowed his consciousness, Oswin tugged and pulled at his mechanical body to no avail, completely helpless to what was happening. But, just as he began falling into complete panic over his entirely self-inflicted circumstances, there was a calm, a stillness, as if he was being transported under someone else’s power. It was more that a sense of calm in his mind, or one that could be felt in the skin. He was absorbed by the sensation.
And then - a voice. Were the words spoken, or was he feeling those, too?
…Billie?
Oswin’s consciousness slowly returned to the world around him, taking a moment to realize the darkness was gone. Unfortunately for him and his newfound sense of calm, he was now in an entirely different location, seated on his side in a hospital bed. If he had thought about it at all, he might have perceived that it was at a similar feeling height to the rest of the subsection of the repair store, and therefore probably in the same general location, but as far as his frightened mind could tell, it was the other side of the world.
He had been whisked away to somewhere completely unknown, and now he was alone. Powerless… and alone.
Somehow, it managed to get worse, as the calming voice Oswin had heard in his mind - one that he had decided absolutely had to belong to Billie - had no visible owner. Billie was nowhere to be found, not in the room or anywhere else. No sounds outside the room that he could perceive. Now not only did he feel horribly alone, he felt abandoned as well.
And he hated that feeling.
It came readily to mind like an itchy wound every time he saw other children, returning to the benevolent wings of their parents. He liked to be around young adults and older teens, never people close to his own age. It was far less likely that those who attended the college would remind him of the one thing he could never technologically fake.
As much as he would have preferred to be plain scared, Oswin was now feeling more hopeless than ever. It was a brilliant combination of grief from abandonment and the dread of loneliness that pushed him closer and closer to the brink. But maybe, somehow, if she could just hear him… If he reached out far enough…
“…KzZTt Billie? Billie?” His eyes moved first, then his mouth and head, as his body slowly and rigorously confirmed that each area of his mechanical host was in fact still functional. He pushed away the notifications that yelled at him to inform him his arms were missing. He couldn’t put those back on without an extra hand anyhow.
“Billie?” He looked about the empty room like a wounded animal, his voice reverberating with dread. If he was capable of crying, he’d certainly be doing so now, as all his hope against what seemed to be inevitable rang in his shaky words. “Billie??”
“As in no bodily harm or truly any harm?” Altier asks though didn’t expect an answer as he looked at the screen.
Too annoyed to ignore it any longer, Altier rummaged through one of his pockets and pulled out a small bottle. Resealing the ginger ale, he put that bottle in the other’s place and opened the small droplet container. He leaned his head back, using one hand to force his eyes to stay opened, and squeezed out a few drops. After several blinks, he tried to pull back the third eyelids.
When they started getting dry, it was a worse than the normal dry eye problem. When eyelids get stuck, it feels like they’re suctioned to the eye as they’re pried off. Often taking multiple attempts of pulling them back without the aid of fingers. But he couldn’t touch these ones and there wasn’t some airgap either. Rather than a heavy rug, retracting it was more like pulling up flooring made of a gelatin with suction cups. Once he is able to get it back into the corners, he applies a couple drops to each eye and blinks with the third eyelids again to ensure it applied to both sides.
“Where is the med bay located?” Altier asks as he applied his eyedrops.
John shook his head, “I have no idea. Most people with full body prosthesis can’t afford a 1:1 representation of a natural body, so they don’t display physical injury or trauma the same way flesh would.” Looking at his tablet, he brought up a smaller window that could be seen on the big screen.
The smaller window (still several times larger than a standard television) showed footage from the group in the warehouse, prior to entering the airlock. The video played a few seconds before focusing on and zooming in on Oswin; his arm dislocating from its socket. Billie can be seen holding Oswin’s disembodied arm as she approaches Trevor and begins to question him.
“I’m not sure how he’s setup, but from what little I can see; that didn’t look painful.” John says. Looking over to Altier, he is about to continue speaking when …
John stopped mind thought as he watched the man. Now he knew why his memory of the Everglades kept coming to mind. Altier had a third eyelid like the alligators he saw.
John makes a mental note of what he saw
Unfazed by what he just witnessed, he inclines his head toward a hallway on the south west side of the room (near what looks like living quarters). I’ll take you to him.
After the broker descended down the stairs, Billie carefully watched his every move, staying in the same tense position. His words provided no explanation to what exactly happened up there, so she had no reason to calm down. For all she knew, Gracie and Oswin could be dead, and her and Altier were going to be next.
Non-intrusive scan? What does that even mean?
“Wha-”
Utter confusion appeared on Billie’s face in response to the broker’s statement. Med bay? Why?
Seeing the big monitor light up in her peripheral vision, she slowly turned towards it almost involuntary, even if she was beginning to suspect what she would see.
Catching a small glimpse of the image, she immediately turned away from the screen in an abrupt motion and faced the floor directly in front of her, too scared to look back.
She tried to get the memory of Oswin’s mutilated body on a hospital bed surrounded by countless doctors and nurses desperately trying to keep him alive out of her mind, but to no avail. What she saw on the screen resembled the image ingrained in her mind too much, she was completely unable to look at it.
In a way, Billie could shield herself from the image displayed on the monitor by looking away… but then there was the sound.
The kid’s voice echoed in her mind as she tried her hardest not to show how much distress it brought her on the outside, meanwhile on the inside she was getting overwhelmed by guilt mixed with confusion and anxiety.
Why is he calling my name?! He doesn’t know me… why not someone else? Why me?!
Billie was conflicted. She knew that she couldn’t go to that room to see him in person, but she couldn’t bear to stand here and listen to the sound of his voice being played along with the video recording. She began pacing back and forth in the main area, not knowing what to do with herself.
Altier was taking to the broker, but the sounds of their voices blended it the background noise as Billie tried to process what was going on.
Finally, she opened the beer she was holding and took a drink, hoping that it would help her deal with her current predicament.
She raised an eyebrow. At first, she was puzzled. Give it a try? She didn’t quite catch his meaning until after a moment, when her brain went off with a ding, and she looked more urgent. Yes yes yes yes! I need to make sure he is okay! YOU JUST MADE HIM GO POOF!
“Yes. Right now.”
She said, as she walked towards him, half bouncing with newfounded worry over the situation.
HE’S FRIENDS WITH PRESLEY I HAVE TO MAKE HE’S OKAY BECAUSE IF HE ISN’T THEN PRESLEY WON’T BE AND-
She was nearly trembling with anxiety.
“Quickly…-please. Really quickly.”
If he wakes up all alone…and no ones there…
She shuddered to remember such a moment. And what if his systems fail-they DID FAIL! OH GOD…
Without further details, Altier was left guessing as much as the info broker as to any harm. Probably not physical, unless those cybernetics were as fragile as Gracie complained about. System conflict with extreme emotional distress? Now this is why he picked fixing tractors over horses - easier to diagnose.
Altier gives a nod to John as thanks for the direction and offer. However, with Billie’s sudden pacing, Altier asks John to give them just a moment. After watching her do a couple laps, Altier moved to stand in her path. If she tries to walk around him, he’ll stretch out an arm to stop her. Not to grab, just serve as a barricade.
“Billie,” Altier says, snapping twice if she’s still in a stupor. Even if he fails to get her attention, he’ll continue.
“Look, I don’t know what’s between you two, but the kid seems to have imprinted on ya. We can try to figure out and settle this madness now or leave him in a glitchy mess. Can’t imagine what the eggheads would say if he was brought back shouting your name. Maybe you can punch it out of’m. I dunno, could always tell him you died and see what happens.”
Billie’s reaction didn’t go unnoticed by John, confirming for him that this was a stress response. What he was having trouble understanding, was why did this response come with Oswin? He watched her as she drank the beer, treating it like a band aide? Maybe …
As she drank, her scars stuck out to him. Were these self inflicted? He needed to know.
He sent a mental command to the hidden ear piece similar in function to the ones Cass provided the group in the diner. But as he tried to access the device, he could tell something was wrong.
The device didn’t respond to his command.
As Altier spoke with Billie, John moved to Bynari’s work station. Placing his hand in front of his ear, he sent a mental command for the earpiece to disengage, waiting for the device to release itself from his nervous system.
No response.
Looking over the top of the monitor to see if any of the group were paying attention, he opened a drawer and pulled out a small metallic cylinder; placing it against his ear. After a few seconds, the earpiece began to liquify and move as though it was attracted to the cylinder. Once all the material that was once an earpiece was connected to the device in his hand, it reformed into an earpiece. Removing it from the cylinder, he places it on the desk; the same brackets appearing as the desk scans the earpiece.
[*SCANNING …
UNKNOWN VARIANT DETECTED
RECOMMENDATION: QUARANTINE DEVICE]*
“Unknown Variant?”
John proceeded to approve the quarantine of the device. Looking over the top of the monitor, he checked in the group. Clarissa was standing near the desk, trying her best to be inconspicuous; but failing in her attempt.
Looking to Altier and Billie, he checked in their current status before picking up a traditional headset, placing it on his head.
“Bynari, I need to back at your station ASAP.”
Bynari gave Gracie a quick nod before typing something quickly. Looking over his shoulder to her he replies, “Okay. You’re all set. Just, try and relax. Like I told Oswin, this won’t hurt. It just … different. Oh, and don’t try holding your breath.”
After a second, the floor beneath Gracie began to shimmer and change density, becoming the consistency of wet cement; but without feeling like cold oatmeal. Her weight slowly causes her to descend into the floor; should she try and move, or bend down and touch the “fluid”, she will notice that it is quickly acting more like water, while maintaining the same color as the floor.
When she is waist deep in the floor, she can start to feel a slight tingling sensation throughout her body, like the beginnings of a limb going to sleep. As she is about to sink completely (her head about to be “submerged”), a darkness overtakes her.
In the darkness, she hears a whisper. The sound of a woman’s voice; reassuring her.
As the darkness fades, she is left with a feeling that despite the days events, she and her team are safe.
Once the darkness has completely left her, she is standing in the medical bay, next to Oswin’s bed. The entire process she just experienced lasting less than a minute.
——————————————————————
“Bynari, I need to back at your station ASAP.”
Gracie had just finished falling through the floor when John’s message came over the comm.
“What’s up?” Bynari asked, John’s tone (although slight) was enough for him to realize something was wrong.
“Just get here,” John replied. “I have something I need you to look into.”
“On my way.” Bynari replied, sending a mental command to his earpiece.
No response from the device
“That’s weird.” He thought. Not wanting to waste more time, he typed a command into the keyboard and waited for the floor beneath him to shimmer. A moment later, he began to slowly rise out of the floor next to his workstation, next to John.
Clarissa, caught off guard by Bynari rising out of the floor for no apparent reason screamed.
“No wonder Billie drinks the way she does.” John thought, rolling his eyes.
When Altier appeared in her way, Billie instinctively tried to go around and past him but was blocked by his arm at the very last moment, resulting in her accidentally bumping into it, as she wasn’t paying attention. The one effect that this had on her is that she didn’t try make any other attempts to avoid him and was forced to reluctantly listen to what he was saying.
“But I… I don’t even know him, what would he-”
Billie got quiet and stared at Altier in response to his comment about punching the kid. She genuinely couldn’t tell if it was a jab at her and the diner incident from a couple years back or an actual suggestion that the man was making. Either way, she didn’t like it one bit. She couldn’t understand what telling the kid that she died would accomplish either.
The one thing she could agree with him on was that she didn’t want the kid calling out for her any longer. Not only would it likely raise some unwanted questions, but it also caused her a great deal of distress and she wouldn’t be able to bear it any longer. Something had to be done about it.
Maybe if I go there and stand around while others are dealing with him, he’ll shut up? I don’t want any problems…
She still couldn’t understand why he was calling out for her. What made her so special? As far as she knew, there was nothing separating her from the others, so what did he find in her, the one person who didn’t want anyone’s affection…
At last, she let out a heavy sigh, took another drink of her beer, building up all courage she could muster at the moment, and gave Altier a short reluctant nod, signifying that she would go into Med Bay 1 with him. It was a hard choice, and one that would likely backfire on her, but the alternative of staying here and being forced to listen to the kid’s voice without the ability to change something seemed to be much worse.
Of course, she wouldn’t go there by herself, that would be too much to ask of her, but she was going to follow Altier and whoever else was going with him.
Hearing Clarissa’s scream, Billie turned around sharply towards the workbench to see the broker and Bynari standing next to it, looking at something with a great deal of concern.
Where did he come from? She could have sworn that Bynari wasn’t there just a moment ago, and he definitely wouldn’t have been able to come down the stairs so quickly…
She anxiously looked between the scene unraveling in front of her and Altier, unsure what to do. The courage she had built up to visit the Med Bay 1 was fading very quickly…