|
The Dream Machine Chapter 22: Visions Aya and Alia signed in with the nurse at the front desk of the medical wing before meeting Zero and X outside of one of the patient rooms. Aya noted one of the Doyle’s closest officers standing around the corner of the corridor before exchanging a few hush words with Zero. Aya nodded, then opened the door to the room. Immediately Dr. Sky, who was lying in bed, pulled the sheets tight against herself, using it as a shield of some sort. Aya nodded to Zero and X the closed the door, which unnerved Dr. Sky even more. “Sky, I’m just going to stand over here by the door until I explain this to you.” Aya put up both her hands in the air, declaring innocence, but Dr. Sky still glared at the Hunter with great suspicion. “I can’t believe you!” Dr. Sky yelled. “Why did they let you in here?! HELP!” “Sky, I didn’t do it.” Aya insisted, still standing by the door. “I was with Alia since 2:00 o’clock until just now. I didn’t leave her sight for even a minute.” Dr. Sky’s eyebrow flattened a bit in doubt. “I have a tape from the video conferencing we did with a unit at Cove 09! You can see it if you want!” “So…it couldn’t have been you?” Dr. Sky lowered her sheets slightly, but her body was still tense, ready to spring away from an attack. “No, silly!” Aya said, before walking a little closer. “Do you really think this innocent face would be that of a criminal?” She smiled at Dr. Sky, then blinked in thought. “Uh… scratch that thought. But if you really don’t think you can trust me…” She grasped one of Dr. Sky’s hands and passed her something. “I’m giving this back to you.” The young scientist drew her hand back and found the chip that contained the key code. “This…” Confusion was mixed with doubt in her eyes. “The key code?” “I was keeping it safe for you.” Aya explained. “When we got back, there was a very good chance Doyle would have convinced Signas to arrest you on the spot. I couldn’t let Doyle have the chip.” “So… who attacked me?” “First to come into mind would be one of Doyle’s lackeys…” Aya coughed. “But the conclusion they came to was this.” She presented a plastic pouch with a small bar of soap inside. “They think you slipped.” “Slipped!” Dr. Sky bolted upright angrily, emphasizing her point with an index finger. “I did not slip! I saw you, er, someone who looked like you, and she pushed me!” “I can do a bit of checking for you.” Aya patted Dr. Sky in the back. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure this out. It’ll be alright. You just concentrate on nursing that big bump on your head.” “Aya!” Dr. Sky called as the Hunter started to go. “You hold on to this.” She returned the key code chip and nodded. “I’m sorry I accused you of attacking me.” “Hey, I’m more offended you think anyone could be as gorgeous as me.” Aya pocketed the chip and flashed a smile “I’ll go check on those little cherubs of yours and tell them where you are. Stay safe, okay?” “Okay.” “Your cheeks are a little flushed.” Aya leaned in closer. “Do you want me to call the doctor? You don’t look too good.” “You’re doing such a good job of cheering me up, thank you.” Dr. Sky rolled her eyes. “Now go. You should take the assistant bots to dinner.” “Sure, no problem.” “Oh.” The scientist smiled mischievously. “Bring lots of credits.” ------------------------------------------- “Who do you suppose attacked Dr. Sky?” Zero asked X as they walked. “I thought they concluded she slipped on a bar of soap.” X replied, studying Zero intently. “Why do you think otherwise?” “Why would she lie about being attacked?” Zero pursed his lips. “And if she didn’t lie, she must have seen something.” “Maybe she’s getting a bit stressed. Have you seen all the files Dr. Cain is having her read?” X scratched his head. “I think it would give anyone a headache. We’ll just have to keep a lookout on her.” X narrowed his eyes. “If anyone’s after her, it’s probably Doyle. He must know by now she has one of the key codes. He must know I have several as well. Naturally, he went for the easier target.” “Well, the key code she has is still safe. I’m not sure exactly how she knew, but that’s what Aya said.” Zero nodded. “We need to keep it that way, get the rest of the key codes, and find the location of the weapon. The possible locations you gave us will be where we start.” The two entered a conference room where many of the Unit Leaders, including Doyle, waited. Signas was sitting at the head of the table, and stood up as the two Hunters arrived. “Gentlemen, please have a seat.” Signas began the meeting. “The Zero Virus attacks have gotten worse since our last meeting. Our prevention tactics doesn’t seem to be working as well as we hoped.” The Leader of the Hunters paced in front of the room. “We need a different strategy.” “Commander.” Doyle drew the attention of the room as he stood. “My Unit has come up with something very interesting. It seems that the Mavericks have a new weapon, designed specifically to attack underground coves…” Doyle peered over to see the shocked expressions on X and Zero’s face. “Where did you find out about this?” Signas sat back down at the head of the table, grasping his hands together in front of him and carefully studied Doyle. “It’s all detailed in the report right here.” Doyle slide a data pad to the front of the table. “There are key codes scattered about the Maverick bases, for their security reasons, we presume. We should move as quickly as we can to retrieve these codes and find the location of the weapon.” Signas took the data pad and considered it in silence. “What kind of plans do you have in mind, Commander Doyle?” --------------------------------------------- “I cannot believe Signas bought that!” Zero threw his hands in the air in frustration he and Zero left the meeting. “Doyle is leading us on a wild goose chase for the location of the weapon.” He cracked his knuckles angrily. “He knows perfectly well where the weapon is, he’s going take us to hell and back before leading us there.” “Maybe we should consider telling Signas what we know about the key codes.” X suggested, crossing his arms behind his back. “He already knows about our suspicions about him.” “The problem is that revealing those facts would only support Doyle’s report.” Zero shook his head. “Unlike Doyle, we don’t have any conveniently fabricated story about how you got your list of possible locations…” Zero stopped. X never explained to Signas about his actions during his absence. That wasn’t necessary. The Internal Disciplinary committee was elated at X’s return, and was even happier when X did not provide most of the details on what he did. Zero hadn’t minded, either. The last thing he wanted was to see X dragged off to jail for the murder of mavericks probably unfit for life anyway… But I had to go and say something stupid like he didn’t have a convenient story… “What I meant to say was…” Zero began, but X shook his head and smiled. “I know, Zero.” X nodded supportively to his friend. “That’s not important now. What we need to do is investigate on our own. Find a couple of people we can trust and work on looking at our own locations.” “We should go talk with Aya and Dr. Sky on this. Should we ask Dr. Cain for help?” “I don’t want to get Dr. Cain in any trouble… If we get caught, I don’t think the committee will be as lenient as before.” “Okay, then we should rely on the team we’ve got, and work from there.” ---------------------------------------------- “If I weren’t so tired from reading these I’d go hit him right now.” Dr. Sky said angrily as she put another data pad on the coffee table. Zero, X, Aya and Dr. Sky sat around the coffee table covered by maps, plans and data pads. “He knows how bad this will look on our part if we get caught with the chips. I’m sure he’s thrilled at the prospect of us cowering under our sheets.” “We’re not going to do that at all.” X pointed to a list clipped to the large map. “Here’s the list of maverick bases we can check out. Because we don’t want to raise suspicions, it has to be a covert operation. If one of us gets caught, we can only rely on each other to come to the rescue.” “Sounds risky.” Aya leaned in, checking the list. “Then again, I’d hate to consider the possibly of our chips landing in Doyle’s hands.” “Which is exactly what would happen if we let Signas in on what we know.” Zero nodded slowly. “Signas would want the chips, and Doyle would somehow weasel them from Signas, then we can kiss everything goodbye.” “Zero, Aya and I will go to these places and check them out. Dr. Sky, we need you here to spot for us. Here’s the software you will need on the terminal to communicate with us.” X handed Dr. Sky a set of discs. “We will start the first mission tomorrow night. I’ve planned out how to work around our work schedules so we still have time to recharge, rest, and prepare for these missions. Here are your new schedules.” X distributed data pads to the party. “We should have just enough time for everything.” “Eh? What’ve you got there?” Aya asked Emma, who was standing in the doorway to the bedroom. In her arms was the Zero plush she made. “Oh my, how cute! It’s a miniature Zero!” Aya marveled at the workmanship of the doll while Dr. Sky looked at X, horrified at something. “Uh.. Emma made that. She was bored. It’s nothing.” Dr. Sky fired out the explanations at a thousand miles per hour. “It’s her Zero plush!” X smiled, then walked over to Emma and reached for the doll. “It’s very well made, Emma.” Still holding the doll, he looked over to Dr. Sky, who was looking at something interesting on the ceiling. “Here you go.” X returned the toy back to Emma. “Any chance you’re going to make an X plush?” At that comment, Dr. Sky’s eyes went even wider than before and she started to blush. Zero watched X and Dr. Sky exchange glances while Aya played with the Zero plush. I hadn’t noticed until now… “Well, I’m going to go to bed.” Zero tugged at Aya. “Come on, Aya. I need you to look at something.” “Huh?” Aya felt a squeeze on her arm from Zero, then noticed the way X and Dr. Sky were acting. “Oh… yeah… let’s go.” Before X or Dr. Sky could say anything, the two hunters were out the door. “Hey! Wait!” Dr. Sky stammered as the door closed. “Ugh, they left us with a mess to clean up again.” She gathered some of the data pads together on the coffee table. “How inconsiderate of them…” “Well, I’m used to it.” X smiled and started to help cleaning up the coffee table. “This copy of the map is yours. I’ll give you new maps for the bases as we go on the missions.” Dr. Sky nodded, and rolled up the map on the table. “Um… about the other day…” “Hm?” X turned his head up to look at Dr. Sky. “Oh, about that!” He reached for a paper bag on the sofa. “Here, apology offerings.” She reached for the bag and opened it while X smiled. “Chocolate chip cookies?” She reached inside the bag and took one out. “Apology offerings?” “Yeah…” X nodded. “You know, with the hot fudge argument… well, I didn’t think it ended so badly.” “No… it…” She perked up, then beamed. “I didn’t think it ended so badly either. But thank you.” “I should go.” X gathered up some of the data pads then headed for the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the meeting.” He waved goodbye, lingered for a moment, then headed out the doorway. “He is cute, isn’t he?” Dr. Sky asked Emma before taking a bite of the cookies. “Mm… these are good.” -------------------------------------------- When X got to his quarter’s doorway, he found Zero leaning by his doorway, an amused expression plastered on his face. As X approached, Zero turned and looked at X sternly. “You like her, don’t you?” Zero asked, putting a hand on X’s shoulder “So what if I do?” X shrugged casually. “Are you suddenly her big brother now?” “You could think of me that way.” Zero smiled. “Well, I’d approve.” The red hunter patted X on the back before leaving. “The job to keep an eye out on her is yours. I’ll give Aya the heads up.” Zero, Zero. X grinned. How predictable. -------------------------------------------------- After putting away the data pads, Dr. Sky brought out a glass jar and poured the cookies she just received inside. She closed the lid picked up the jar. Her mind was on a particular B-class hunter when it was interrupted by a sudden cold dread. She stood still for a moment, expecting the feeling to pass, but it waited, swirling through the air like a preying serpent. She turned around slowly, clutching the cookie jar for some type of protection. She gaped at who was standing by the couch. “Doyle!” She dropped the cookie jar and covered her mouth. A shard of glass sliced her leggings when it bounced. “Gah.” Her hand clamped over the wound, reflexively, when she looked back up at Doyle, he was gone. “What the…” A little braver now, she grabbed a nearby chair and checked every inch of her quarters for uninvited guests. The bathroom had a leaky faucet, the kitchen area had dirty dishes, and the assistant bots greeted her with curious stares in their bedroom. Finally she set down the chair and sat down, looking nervously around the room. “I am losing it, aren’t I?” She asked herself. She heard light, but familiar, footsteps enter the room. “Hey guys.” Several of the assistant bots brought bandages and disinfectant solution. “Thanks.” Emma handed her the bottle and Evariste offered cotton balls. What’s happening to me? She thought helplessly. Why am I seeing things? Fan Fiction - Top |
