24Back in Hoka
"So what do you plan to do to bring me back?" I asked Doc Violet as he started fiddling around with figures and things on a holographic desktop.
"I'm making heart and muscle tissue," Violet said, "taken from some stem cells that I harvested from you while you were in my care."
OK, that wasn't creepy. That wasn't creepy at all. (OK, yeah, it was.) "Oh, is that all?" I said snidely.
"No, I'm just putting it in terms you'd understand," he retorted.
"Shut it," Lintata, who had stayed near my cryo-tube the entire time, glared daggers at Violet while he worked. She'd been nice to me as she always was but I didn't understand the hostility here. Violet, on the other hand, avoided her like the plague.
I was missing something.
"She asked the question," the doctor said tensely, "so keep your orders behind your teeth, I have commands from Hikato."
"Whereas I am free to do as I like within this domed city," Lintata snapped back, "which includes punishing betrayers if necessary."
"Whoa!" I put up two holographic hands, "Hold on, did you say betrayer or am I hearing someone else's thoughts?" I asked my friend specifically.
"He used you as a guinea pig!" Lintata's face was full of fury, "and he's the person that got you pulled into the system!"
I wish I could have seen my own expression. (I probably could but knowing how to do so was a different matter.) I turned slowly to Violet, not sure what to say or how to react, "Is she right?" I had to know before I blew up on him.
He couldn't even meet my eyes, "You're a miracle," he said softly, "and I wanted to know how you existed. So I asked some high people to put you into the system."
"A miracle," I repeated, the words tasting and feeling wrong because I felt like a failure rather than that.
"You have a changeable DNA," he continued, voice low and head hanging. He still couldn't look at me, "I ran several tests with different variations and you can't die from disease. Have you ever been sick in your life?"
"Motion sick," I said, "once. A long time back."
"I mean sick. Really sick, cold, whooping cough, chicken pox, anything like that?" He clarified, glancing up quickly before he turned back to what he was doing.
I thought about it, "Not sure, actually," I replied.
"I'd bet that you haven't because your body doesn't attack the different diseases that I've tried on several replica 'you's', if you will. Your body accepts them and changes the virus, bacteria, or whatever to fit your body as fuel. The few things that could kill you are broken bones or loss of your major organs," he pressed some buttons, did some fancy motions, typed on a holographic keyboard, and then stopped to actually face me at my next statement.
"Or a bullet," I said softly but loud enough for him to hear.
His eyes met mine, level and without worry or fear. He didn't regret it, I could see, "But if I can take that special gift you have of not getting sick, I can literally wipe out disease. No more disease. Ever. Do you know how many lives that would save?"
I nodded, "That would be an amazing scientific discovery. But why couldn't you have just contacted my family and told them this? You didn't have to put me into the System, I would have come to you."
"Would you?" He challenged me, "Would you be willing to be poked and tested on a regular basis?"
"I don't know," I snarled, "I never got the chance to decide! Because of you I got tossed into a fight I never really had to be a part of!"
We stood there, glaring at each other.
"You have no idea what this discovery will mean," Violet dropped his gaze first, "or you'd know why I had to do this."
I swallowed hard, "I know what it is like in places without proper health care. Trust me, I have seen illness and death that no one should ever have to experience. So when you say that I don't know, that shows your own mistake. Because of you, I am where I am now. Maybe there's some good that will come from my death but right now I'm having a hard time seeing it."
Putting down a device I'd never seen before, Violet faced me again, "I'm sorry," he sounded like he meant it but I was pretty wary of trusting people. Dying had that effect, "that you died. I'll do everything I can to bring you back to life."
I nodded, "Good. I'll let you do your work, I'm going to go find Hikato."
I never thought of Hikato as a workaholic. But as I found him in his room, staggering with sleep, I realized that he was pushing himself much further than I'd thought before.
"Hey," I said as I fully materialized.
Hikato glanced up as I appeared, frowning, "You shouldn't have clearance for this area," he commented.
Shrugging, I glanced around his room. It was much like my old one, sparsely furnished but arranged so it didn't look empty or tiny. More strategic than anything, "So what? I'm not part of your computer system."
Nodding, Hikato stood, "That's what bothers me. You should be. You have our data in you."
He had a point but I wasn't sure whether I agreed with it or not, "I also have the Allied data in me, that could be why I can bypass your clearance things."
Eyes glimmering with an idea, Hikato stood, "Do you think that you could get into the system of the Allied States?"
"It is a possibility," I agreed, "but I don't know how. I've never tried."
"Maybe you should," Walking over to his closet, he started unbuttoning his shirt.
I turned quickly, I had no desire to see Hikato in the nude or in any other similar way. I waited while he changed.
There was a silent period as he changed and I had to ask, "Why do you think this happened?"
Hikato did not respond right away. He was thoughtful, "There is an old saying that says, "Do not ask, why me. But rather, why not me?" and it is a phrase I keep in mind often. We are similar in that we have both experienced great loss. Your loss much greater than mine. But you've made it this far and we've been able to learn more about how we can bring together our countries once more." He walked in front of me, dressed in a robe and slippers, "And all I can say is that had you not been in all those situations, we'd be at the same place we've been the entire time. Unable to help without killing. So while you've lost a lot, you've saved a lot."
I nodded, "I'll try to go back to the Allied States. This Diekman guy, is he safe to trust?"
A swift firm nod confirmed that, "Absolutely. He's the one who suggested we try to help you."
Straightening my shoulders, I smiled at Hikato, "Thanks."
He looked a little sad, "We'll continue trying to bring you back. Good luck."
"Thanks," Steeling myself, I closed my eyes and reached out for the cold feeling of the Allied States system that was part of me. Finding it, I had to push myself towards it. I don't know what Hikato saw, I was too busy concentrating on holding onto the coldness of the connection.
It was a long journey, it felt like it took forever as I let the coldness of the American system wrap around me. But as I zipped along through what the old generation called the 'internet', I found myself back in the Allied States. I popped up on an old computer that didn't have a firewall.
The security systems, as I knew from my past experience in Tokyo, were to be avoided as much as possible. I didn't know how much I could do though. It was not safe for me to wander around the computers and devices, I had to have a specific goal and place in mind.
Who could I talk to that was safe?
Mal.
I had to find Mal. He would be locked up still, so I would have to get to a different computer with the right level of clearance to see the surveillance cameras they had placed in the holding cells. This was going to hurt.
I left the computer, going along the internet cord till I got to the next computer. It wasn't turned off, it was on "Sleep mode" which was perfect. The firewalls should be down, with luck. I entered the computer. It was like one would normally enter, only I had the ability to skip past the access codes. Unlike the Matrix, I didn't see the 'code' of a computer since I was code myself. Instead, I saw what the code translated to. So, when I went into the computer, I saw the password and everything that made the computer work. It was like swimming/floating in the brain of a computer.
I don't know if I would have been labeled a virus or a bug but I was not willing to find out any time soon. Bypassing the safety protocols and the big red bug sweep scanner, I went straight to the hard drive. There, I searched for the computer's access code to get control of the security cameras.
I came up with nothing.
Gritting my teeth it was really hard for me not to scream in frustration. I sat there, thinking. Unfortunately, I didn't know that the bug sweeping firewalls were on a randomized timer. So when fire burned along my holographic spine, I screamed in shock.
Rolling away from the incoming firewall that ate at my holographic existence, I knew that it would chase me. I had to get out of the computer.
Glancing around at the data I was in, I wondered if I could hide in a folder. But when I tried it, the firewall swept through it, leaving the data untouched but I had a few heart-stopping moments of fear as I wriggled out of the pages of the folder just mere moments from being caught and erased.
I'd gone through too much. A mere computer scan was not going to be the end of me.
Leaving the computer, I swept into the internet and zipped along. I'd had an idea. But I didn't know if it would work. It was a shot I had to take.
I zipped along to the Nursery where I could find my Uniform. It was coded to me, there shouldn't be any worry of a virus cleaner trying to wipe me out.
However, as I got to the row where my Uniform had been before I'd died, I came face to face with a problem. My Uniform was gone.
"Curses most foul," I muttered. It was probably back in Japan with my body.
I couldn't get into the other Uniforms, they weren't coded to me. I may have been able to borrow Milo, Lio, or one of the twins' Uniform but theirs were gone. Also in Japan.
"Now what?"
Speaking out loud to myself was one way to avoid feeling as lonely as I felt. But I had to find Mal. I found the computer that controlled the Nursery. That would definitely have access to the security cameras and I had to risk it.
Sure enough, I found the security cameras and went to the holding cells. No Mal. Fear gripped me. What had Ancela done to him?
There wasn't time to think about it, there was another bug sweep coming my way. This was was different though. Where the firewall had looked like a red wall, this one was a bright blue orb that focused on me.
I'd been in enough simulations to recognize a hostile object when I saw it. This one was faster and by the sparks coming off of it, much meaner.
I threw myself out of the computer, skidding through the internet as I paused to look behind me. I'd not counted on the virus eater to follow me. It powered through pages and in my direction with unnerving determination.
I zipped through the internet wires I found at random, moving as fast as I could, ducking into folders, down into other computers, but that only summoned more virus eaters. I had a pack of them on me when I hit my first stroke of luck.
Or rather, I came to the end of the internet line in the building. The virus eaters closed in and I reached out for anything, completely certain that the virus eaters were going to kill me if they so much as touched me.
My back ached but for a split second, as I backed up to the end of the internet, I felt a cold and soothing sensation against my spine. The next second, I was falling out of the internet and landed.
Blinking, I found myself staring at a wall. There was no sign of the pursuing virus eaters. The wall looked real. Not sure what happened, I turned around.
I was in a room. A real room. It took me a moment to realize this and I sat there, surprised. What had I done? Once I had my bearings, I realized that it was an old storage room. Hence the lack of internet. But the wall I'd faced had a simple metal strip where the internet connection would have been.
To test it, I reached forward and touched the metal strip. In the blink of an eye, I was back inside the internet, the virus eaters roaming aimlessly since I'd merely disappeared. They saw me and I could not help it. I flipped them off as they advanced and then leaned out into the cool metal I'd projected myself through.
Sure enough, I was back out in the real world. "HAHA!" I laughed and then clapped my hands over my mouth. Being loud was probably not the smartest thing to do when infiltrating enemy lines.
Ok, so that gave me a whole new range. If I could get through metal, then this building was open range. I could project myself from one metal wall to the next. And this building was composed mostly of white metal walls.
A grin stretched across my face.
I leaped out of the storage closet, going through the wall and into the next room, touching the completely metal door to exit. This was so much fun!
Without my Heads Up Display, the titles that I saw were gone and so I'd have to do a room to room search till I figured out where I was again.
The room across was the training room. So I had gone down two floors in my mad dash away from the virus eaters. OK. But where could I find Mal?
I went from room to room, trying to find him.
As I repetitively went through doors and walls and didn't find him, the fear that Ancela had hurt him grew. "Come on, Mal," The mumbled words were a prayer that he was still alive, "where are you?"
I turned a corner and stopped. Mal was entering a room. Free. What the heck?!
He closed the door and I ran over to it, pausing a moment as I stood just outside it. What would he say? What would his reaction be?
I took a breath, that I didn't need, and walked into the room. Mal stood with his back to me, taking off his shirt. I couldn't react. Longing to hug him and let him hold me ran through every inch of me, which caught me off guard. I had not realized just how much I'd missed him. Sure, the memory of him was clear as day. But it wasn't him. And now he stood before me..
I realized I should say something before he got any more undressed.
"Mal," my voice sounded horrible. It was weak, tinny, and pathetic.
He stiffened, as though he wasn't sure he'd heard me.
I cleared my throat, "Mal, it's me," that came out better, but the words were stereotypical. But what else was I supposed to say? "Yo, Mal, turn around and face me ye big hunk of a man!" Yeah. Right. That just. . .
No.
He turned slightly, looking over his shoulder with an almost hostile gaze, "Tawny," he sounded angry and upset.
"Hi," I gave a little wave, not sure what else to do.
He turned all the way around and crossed his arms, "What are you doing here?"
That was not the approach I expected. I mean, I had been a movie goer and in the movies when the heroine appears from near death or comes back to life the hero is happy to see her. This, however, was no movie. And he most certainly did not seem glad to see me.
"I came to see you," as if that wasn't the most obvious thing on the planet, "to make sure you were OK."
He scowled, "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," Probably not the most romantic line. But I was hurt. I'd literally faced death and hell and come back to make sure he was alright. And I was getting interrogated?!
His scowl deepened, "Of course I'm find but do you know what I had to do to get you on that plane?! Why did you come back?! You could be hurt! You need to rest!" he barked.
Understanding dawned like sunshine after a stormy night, bringing along bright rays of relief and delight. He thought I was in my body again. And he hadn't been angry, he'd been worried.
"Oh, no!" I waved my hand and smiled, "No, no, no, my body's back in Japan. This is my projection!"
He blinked, "Projection," he repeated.
"Yes," My head bobbed up and down as I nodded, "I'm here via the internet and some really complicated-"
Mal walked over and reached for me. But his hand went right through my wrist. A tingling sensation crawled up my holographic arm, cutting off my words.
"A holograph," he looked impressed, "and you pushed yourself through the walls using the metal as a conductor for the energy necessary to project your image out so I can communicate with you, yes?"
Reason #2348 why I loved him. I smiled, "Yeah, that."
He looked like he desperately wanted to hug me and the feeling was more than mutual, "So," he ran a hand awkwardly through his hair, now that we'd both established that the other person was really the other person and alright.
"Yeah," it was ridiculous but I couldn't stop grinning.
"Cut that out," the words were said in gruff fondness, "you look idiotic."
"And 'so' is a great way to begin a conversation," I retorted, still grinning.
He chuckled, giving in, "You're right. A lot has happened in the past few days."
"Oh?" It wasn't like the meeting could be any more romantic, Mal was real and I was a holograph.
"Yeah. Look, Ancela's got control of the Allied States. He's going to splash O'cana's treachery all over the news and work with the UN to open us back up to the rest of the world. O'cana is 'dead' to those who are aware of the situation. We're making the news public tonight on live Holo-Vision."
Well. They certainly had been busy. I nodded, absorbing the news, "OK, that makes sense. I came here to figure out what was going on. What else do we need to know?"
"First, who's we?" Mal wondered.
"The UN, Hikato, and myself," I clarified, understanding Mal's hesitation to say anything.
"Ancela wants everything. He wants to be President of the Allied States and he is willing to kill to keep that position," Mal's eyes grew distant.
"What do you mean, 'kill'?" The look on his face was not soothing at all. He looked tense, caged.
"I mean, he's using the other Chosen to manipulate me. If I mess up things for him or try to disobey him, he'll kill one of the Chosen as punishment against me," his hands clenched at his side.
"Oh," apparently Ancela's paternal feelings extended only to me and he'd already killed me.
This was problematic, "Duly noted, I'll let the UN know that your actions are being controlled and are not in accordance with Ancela's."
"Thanks, I don't know what will happen in the next couple of days. It's going to be chaotic," he rubbed a hand over his face, sighing. He looked so tired. He still had the bruises and cuts and his shoulders were bent in exhaustion.
I wanted to hold him, to tell him that we'd make it through everything just fine. Stupid mortality. I was dead.
Violet better be making progress on bringing me back, I thought with some anger. I cleared my throat, "I should probably get back, Hikato will need to know what I know."
"You'll be back though, right?" Mal asked.
I nodded, "Yes, absolutely. I'll be back and forth between here and Japan constantly."
He looked relieved but that my have been wishful perception on my part, "Alright. I'll see you later then," he waved a hand and shuffled somewhat awkwardly for the second most powerful guy in the city, "I'll, uh, talk to you, yeah?"
"That would be nice," I agreed, grinning.
"Good, good," his head bobbed up and down as he grinned back, "Well, bye, I guess."
"Bye," I waved and withdrew back into the system. The familiar pang of missing him came back swiftly as I zipped along and searched for the second person I needed to talk to. I hadn't told Mal about this but that was alright. I'd let him know later.
The nice thing about people in control is that they normally had their offices in places that were easy to find. They were busy enough, they did not need the extra hassle of getting lost while trying to find their ultra secret lab somewhere deep in the darkest corners of their haunt. It was predictable and while Ancela Nastasi was absolutely brilliant, he knew when it was best to act predictable.
No nice greeting for him, biological father though he was. Lurking within the door, I waited till he could not miss seeing me come in from a closed door, "Well, well, well," I crossed my arms as I walked- or rather, projected- over, "never one to waste a tragedy are we?"
Although his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, he still held the same military presence of power I'd sensed when we'd first met a while back. However, I had one card up my sleeve that he was not aware of and I intended to use that to the best of my abilities here and now while I had a good shot while his defenses were down.
I sat on his metal desk, downloading everything in the computer he had sitting on said desk and storing it elsewhere while I distracted hi with my presence, "Honestly though, I expected a bit of mourning from my own father."
He stood up abruptly, "How did you hear that?! You were dying!"
I tilted my head to the side and grinned up at him, "Now, Darling Dad, don't be so cliché. Besides, surely after such a dramatic revelation you've read enough books to know that I couldn't possibly stay dead, right?"
He turned away, "I sent you to Japan. Why are you back?"
Chuckling, I made sure I had finished downloading everything from his computer and hopped off the desk, "Funny thing that," I liked having the shock factor over him, "I'm not actually 'back' in every meaning of the word."
Frowning, Ancela turned back to me, "What does that mean?"
In answer, I merely walked right through him, "It means," I said as he gasped and spun to see me walking upside down from the ceiling, "that I'm not actually back but I can make your life a living hell."
I faced him upside down. We were about eye to eye even though we were on different planes, "And if you think that you're home free to do what you want with the Allied States then you're wrong. Because I'll fight you ever step of the way."
"Really," he seemed to have recovered his wits for he grinned at me in such a way that it made me wonder just what he had up his sleeve, "and how do you intend to do that if you're just a holograph?"
He underestimated me. But that was good, I could use that.
Smirking, I returned to the ground and looked out the window, "I'm sure the People will be shocked to hear that you killed both me and O'cana," I glanced down, "especially since you claim to be the hero of this story."
Ancela laughed, "So you did inherit the devious gene then, didn't you?"
Rage boiled up inside of me, "You may claim to be my father but the only thing you gave me was DNA! You are not my father, you will never be anything but a general who gave away his children, so don't even bother taking credit for anything I've done."
"Yet you called me Darling Dad without hesitation," he retorted.
Laughing, I turned to look back at the city, "You don't honestly believe I meant it, do you?" The city stretched out around the building. Gray, orderly, and routine, the city was a well oiled machine that was about to have a cog out of place. Things were going to grind to a halt as all they knew was thrown out the window along with all they'd been told.
The silence from Ancela Nastasi caught me by surprise, making me turn to see him. He looked old, worn, tired. Nothing like the proud man he'd appeared to be only seconds ago.
"My life has been a series of unfortunate twists and turns. I did what I had to in order to survive. Surely you know what that is like, by this time," he raised a tortured gaze to mine.
The anger bubbled hot and furiously inside, "You know I do," the words came out in a snap, "so do not bring Teal into this. You could have stopped her. For that matter, you could have stopped all of this. From the very beginning. And you know it."
Confusion ran across his face, "What do you mean?"
"The only reason I was brought here was because I'm genetically different," I clarified firmly.
The guilt that ran across his face was undeniable. Any doubt that he may have not known why I was part of the Chosen was gone. He'd known full well what had been happening. I was quivering in anger, barely able to keep from yelling and screaming.
"You have no right to call me yours," I growled out, "my family are the Chosen. You hurt any of them and I can promise that you will pay the price in every way that you fear."
He had gone and made me angry. He stared at me in silent fury and I returned the look. Finally he looked away, "What do you want from me?"
"Your word," which was strange since I had just threatened him, "that you will not continue to feed the People the lies that they've known all their lives. They deserve the truth."
"They deserve the truth," he repeated, closing his eyes, "do you have any idea how little they truly deserve? If anything, they deserve to live the way we have. To see everything they have ripped from them!"
"And just how will that make it better?" My garbage-o-meter was reaching the "full" line and I was getting fed up with him, "It won't bring back any of the people you've lost, it won't make you happy, and it won't fix anything. All it will bring is misery."
"Good," the venom in his voice was undeniable, "because misery is what brings reality with it."
"And what does reality have to do with misery? Yes, reality is miserable but only if we let it be! The choices we make when we are faced with misery is what changes us! Our choices are what we become! Does it all mean nothing?!" I was shouting not caring if anyone heard me.
He brushed away my words with a hand as he turned away "The only thing that means anything is power. Manipulation to get what you want."
I let the words hang in the air a moment, controlling my emotions once more.
"And just what has your power given you?" I wondered, softly, "has it given you a life that you're proud of living?"
His back quivered in anger, "Do not speak to me of pride. I am a warrior and I fight to protect my country."
"Do you fight for your country or for the person next to you? Because what it all boils down to is whether or not you're fighting for your own life or for the life of the person you fought with," I said firmly.
"I paid the price for my life," he snarled, "and I'm alive. You fought for the person next to you and you're dead!"
"True," there was no arguing with that, "but the person I fought for is still living. And still fighting for me. I have friends, brothers in arms, a group of people I'd be proud to call family who support me and help me even though I can't do much for them anymore. They care about me. And what do you have? An empty office and the hatred of all those around you. Of the two of us, who do you think is happier?"
"I am the most. Powerful. Man. In. This. City." Each word was bitten off sharply.
"Who can't even look in the mirror at night," I concluded for him.
"Get out," he whispered, "get out of here and don't come back."
I walked in front of him, "No. I am staying. You can't kill me. And I won't let you hurt my brothers and sisters in arms."
With a shout of anger, he pulled a gun out of his clothes and shot at me. The bullet zipped right through me, digging into the window that wrapped around the office. It stuck in the glass. Bullet proof. That was an interesting fact to remember, might come in handy later.
I sighed, "Were you not listening?"
Lowering the gun, he sighed in frustration, "Worth a shot."
"Literally," I lifted an eyebrow in vague amusement but I was getting tired of this, "Look, I want the safety of the Allied States. You can keep your power but only under the conditions set for you by the UN."
Snorting, he shook his head, "You're giving me orders?"
"No," I shook my head, "I'm telling you. If you don't obey, I will ensure you get torn to shreds," I turned to leave and paused without turning back to look at him, "after I finish playing with your mind."
He chuckled, "Without remorse?"
"You would not listen to reason," I replied, "maybe you'll appreciate insanity better," and then I left him to wallow in that.
I felt so dirty, so horribly low after that discussion.
Author's note:
I apologize for the highly overdue chapter, please bear with me, more coming soon.
-Ink