hexaflexagons | [Liberation AU]

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[Liberation AU]

The world had changed since one man's cry had sent her crashing across the training room floor, mind ablaze with a single name. And so too had Carolina's place in it.

That she'd awoken alone and scared and dazed, with nothing and no one to anchor her in the recovery ward except the chatter of two imbalanced AI hadn't helped matters. Not with the whispers at her back in the corridors and the feeling of all eyes on her when she'd all but stormed the bridge. She'd been down, yes, but not out. A miscalculation wasn't enough to discourage her, not when she knew that she could handle it. She would prove she could handle it. It hadn't been her fault that the match had been interrupted..

But that hadn't stopped people from staring, clearly wondering just how much more rope was needed for Carolina to hang herself with, for when she took that next fall from the high pedastal she'd worked so hard to climb on top of...

Because that number one slot would be hers again - but not through her own doing. Not in the way it was supposed to count. No, it was 'thanks' to Texas leaving, breaking the trust of the Director and the Project. Attempting to steal other AI. Defection during wartime carried harsh enough penalties as it was, but no, no, Texas had to go one better. She couldn't settle for one death (traitor or no traitor, and oh, it hurt to think of Connie), Texas dared to try and drag the rest of the team down with her. Her team. Her best friend.

Between that news, Iota's petulant whining and Eta's discordant drone in the back of her mind, it had been all Carolina could do to keep from screaming like the child the Director accused her of acting like.

Even now, Carolina could feel the press of two discordant minds on her own, whispering about the shapes in the corridor shadows, how they lingered in the elevator shaft behind York as he stepped out of the dark towards them. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was taunt, wavering in spite of her best efforts, unable to hide the hurt. Across the twin barrels of her plasma rifles, gold visor tipped, tilted to glare as she shook her head. (Distantly, she was aware of the thrum of her weapons', the energy pulse vibrating even through her gloves. The ship shuddered around them, but that, Carolina didn't seem to notice.)

"Why are you helping her?!"

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Now that all the excitement was over, the adrenaline had left his system, and it left him feeling a little drowsy. There wasn't much else to do besides doze there in his seat. Delta had offered to run some probabilities as far as their chances of being followed and so forth, but that wasn't something York was interested in hearing right now. Not right now. Especially since so much of the information that D would be working from was speculative. They didn't actually know how much damage the missile barrage had done or what kind of disarray the ship had been left in after the gravity had been turned off. No, for now it was best to watch and wait things out, and try to conserve some energy for what was to come.

With re-entry into the atmosphere shaking things up within the pelican, the first stirrings of consciousness began within Carolina, difficult at first from beneath the sea of mental chatter generated by the other two minds occupying her own. She hadn't really, truly, made time to intergrate with them properly, and now it was an effort to bring the unruly fragments to heel.

That both possessed a(n un)healthly sense of self preservation would either be her salvation, or her undoing.

Behind her visor, green eyes flickered open, and a slow breath was taken as she tried to get her bearings; it took a minute for Carolina to realise that this wasn't the Mother of Invention, a fact backed by the chatter of Iota in her ears, pointing out York across from her.

If he was there, then who was..?

Texas. Of course. (They added kidnapping to their crimes, Eta rumbled, as Iota flickered offside.)

She had no desire to give away the fact she was awake. Instead, her body shifted a little to the left, pressing against the support rails brought down to hold her in place while they were in transit. It was a natural enough action that it wouldn't cause alarm. With the right application of pressure, she could unlock it from its moorings. Even use it against her captors! ..But she'd only get one chance to break away while their guard was down once they'd landed. So for the moment, Carolina bided her time, and waited. And fumed.

The advantage of being an AI was that she didn't have to worry about winding down and needing an immediate rest. There were too many things that could go wrong, as little as they could be and she wasn't going to risk something happening to their ship on their way in. She accessed the ship's mainframe and changed it's designation so when they were hailed, it wouldn't ping as related to the Mother of Invention. Just a small, convoy ship coming to assess the situation on the planet, that was all.

It was a simple enough cover story and she stood to head into the back to make sure York would be on the same page.

"Hey, you awake in there?"

He hadn't noticed her come back but at the sound of her voice he was immediately attentive. "Yeah, of course," he said, sitting up straighter. "Looking like we're in the clear so far?"

"For now. I've chanced the ship's designation, the people planet side won't be able to connect us back to the Mother of Invention if we don't give them reason to," she said and glanced over at Carolina. Looked like she was still down for the count. "What did you tell her before she passed out?"

He sighed. "Not enough. Everything I'd planned to say just went out of my head when I went to tell it to her."

She shook her head and glanced at Carolina. "I had a feeling she wouldn't give you a chance to say much."

She couldn't see his frown but she might hear it in his tone of voice. "I know what I should have said, it's just too late now." He hadn't rehearsed it to himself enough. Why had he gone in so sure he'd get the whole story out in such a high-pressure situation?

Too late, Carolina mentally agreed, resenting both of her kidnappers. She'd given him a chance, more than he should have because she'd believed that York deserved that much, that just maybe she could make him see the folly of his actions.

And all she'd learned was that she didn't know who to trust anymore.

us us us no one everyone wants us can't trust anyone

She mentally ran through checklists of possible destinations they could be headed to, trying not to trip over the white noise of her AI. But she came up short each time, all too aware that she wasn't even certain what system the Mother of Invention had been passing through when they'd sabotaged it. Let alone what planets were in range to be reached by pelican.

Said pelican jostled with a bout of turbulence, and Carolina winced, not quite able to suppress a sound as she was rocked from side to side even with the bars in place. She wouldn't be able to continue feigning unconsciousness for much longer.

She glanced over at Carolina and braced herself as the turbulence passed. That didn't seem to awaken her, though she was curious about how the girl's AIs were handling the trip. "How good of terms is D with the pair in there?" she asked and motioned toward Carolina's head.

"Well...at this point they're not on any terms. You think we should try talking to them?"

"Informing Carolina's AIs of the reasons for our actions will only aid in her understanding once she awakens," Delta offered.

"Yeah, I agree. Let's try it." York sat up, leaned forward a bit. This could be a really important conversation and it needed to go better than the one earlier had gone. "Programs Eta and Iota, online."

At the command, Carolina winced, the two AI buzzing loudly in her head. They did not wait for her to give them approval: two incomplete armored figures materializing, one over each shoulder in cyan and gold. They slowly gravitated towards one another until their outlines blurred into a singular hazy shape before Carolina's visor. A flickering holographic mess which would fall in and out of oversharp focus.

"Command acknowledged." said one, the other's voice overlapping in a hiss. "trAItors"

"Tell that to the Director," she replied and folded her arms over her chest. There were a lot of different directions this conversation could go and Omega wasn't offering any suggestions for help. Whether this went well or poorly, he had decided it didn't matter. Either outcome could be warped to his benefit and he imagined it wouldn't be long before he managed to get Tex to kill off her main competition, one way or another.

"I'm Beta and if you want to know what's really been going on instead of the pretty little lie you've been buying into, then allow access to the ship's network." The gift she had been given spoke for itself and she had the files downloaded that she could share. Her only hope was that they weren't too far gone to care about the evidence.

The pair fizzled, briefly unmerging to exchange a glance as they gossiped between them, while Carolina's mind reeled beneath their static shock. She couldn't buy that line, couldn't believe what Tex had just stated, though whether the doubt was fed by her AI or she was feeding them, she could not have said.

Eventually, the two (three) turn their focus back to the one claiming AI siblinghood. "Warned about lies, warned about you," was the cautious timbre of Iota, before blurring back, letting Eta take over. Yes, thought Carolina. Even the Director had to admit you were flawed in the end, that you couldn't be trusted, look at what you've done.

"How do we know it is not a trap, to get us out, get us away." The two AI nodded out of sync. "Sigma said you would try such things."

(When did he say that?, she demanded, unable to remember, but neither of Carolina's AI deigned to answer.)

"One thing at a time, here," York said, putting his hand out. "Look, we aren't on the best footing right now, and you don't really have a reason to trust us right now, but you know Carolina always trusted me in the past, right? I mean, there's that. Can we start there?"

Behind her helmet, Carolina winced harder, torn between emotion and logic here. This wasn't safe, wasn't any place she needed to be, and her life was very much in danger if she wasn't prepared. But.. If they had something, had the Beta - a Beta AI had even existed? No. No, the Director would have mentioned it. Wouldn't he?

Meanwhile, the twins shuddered, before turning their collective gaze on York. Then, in a close approximation of his own voice interrupted only by a hint of static and reverb, they replied, "'I can get those damn things outta your head!'"

Then followed a distrustful silence. No. Apparently we cannot. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

She shot York a glance. Just what were those AI parroting? Hopefully not something he had told Carolina recently. Even if it wasn't, it wouldn't matter as long as Carolina chose to believe those words. The AI were making it harder, yes, but offering to remove them was not the way to go when they had this strong of an influence.

"I'm not lying. I have proof. I'm Beta, the second AI that came out of this screwed up Project. We're not playing any games here."

He sank back in his seat, giving a defeated little jerk to his head. Yeah, it would be pretty clear from his body language that this was a direct quote. "No games, no tricks. I didn't mean it like that, you know. I'm just worried about what having you both is doing to her. You know how she was after the match."

He had said it, but it wasn't because of her AI that she hadn't believed him. Carolina knew York thought he was doing the right thing, saying the right thing, but both the Counselor and Director had made it plainly clear exactly what it was Texas had been after.

And Wyoming had been attacked. There was no changing that fact.

Texas had proof. Or so she claimed.

"Then I want to see it," Carolina croaked, lifting her helmet against the ache pulsing in her head, the extra pressure from both her AI who objected at once within the space of her own mind.

Carolina's AIs weren't going to allow any sort of connection, but the woman being aware made this easier. It only took a moment for Tex to produce the same holopad that had been given to her. It was about time Carolina saw things how they really were.

"Connie gave me this," she said and held it out for Carolina to take. "Password is Allison."

His gaze was keen as it fell on her but for once he had the wisdom to keep his mouth shut, as much as he wanted to rush over to her and check her head for lumps. "I'll go check our progress," he muttered after receiving a suggestion from Delta. It was best to leave the two of them to sort this out between them, and then the damage between them could be repaired separately. He couldn't help casting a look back at her before he finished making his way into the cockpit, though.

There was a sharp look for York as he quietly exited the scene. "Coward." muttered Iota, "Always running away," agreed Eta coldly, neither paying attention to Carolina's muttered 'knock it off' as she turned her attention back to Texas.

Then she stiffened at the mention of CT. "Why would she give that to you?" Texas had killed Connie. Texas had shown no remorse over it. And Carolina had not been fast enough, smart enough, good enough to prevent it.

It just added more kindling to the fire, never mind-- "Allison?" Both AI reacted then, and in spite of herself, Carolina couldn't hide the reaction that caused in herself. Left hand pressed up against her helmet. It was a poor reflection of the reaction that had required Tex punch her lights out on the training room floor - but that didn't mean it wasn't overwhelming with two in her head, temporarily or otherwise.

Edited (whoops wrong colour) 2014-04-20 01:51 (UTC)

"Because I'm the only one that could do something about it." And would. Carolina was great out on the field, but she had a lot of maturing to do, still. Would she have been able to rise up against her father so easily? Tex supposed they were about to find out since moments ago, Carolina and her AI were both adamant she was lying out her ass.

"Just look. It's all there."

Edited 2014-04-20 01:58 (UTC)

Would Carolina rise to that challenge? ..Hard to say. Her loyalty to the Project -- to the Director -- had been unquestionable from the beginning, after all, firmly nipping dissension in the bud if hints bubbled within the team. But even she had started questioning, bucking at authority (if only in private, to start). Would they be where they are right now if someone had said something sooner?

A WhatIf for another day. Right now, however, she's still pretty adamant you're lying about something, Tex. But Eta and Iota both seemed to be wavering over the identity issue of 'Beta', indistinct and uncertain AI chatter muttered out in the open.

Not quite so quietly inside their host's head, however. Finally, counter whispers were proving too distracting from the issue at hand, and Carolina sat straighter, pressed her back into the padding and harness of the pelican's seats. "Eta, Iota, retire." Only once they had disappeared, riding roughshod over her sanity as they went, did she take several deep breaths, and then extended her hand for the datapad.

Omega's grumbling of dissent was going on in the back of her mind. His patience was wearing thin and his main issue was why even bother? This was becoming more trouble than it was worth and it could have been over much sooner if Tex had just listened to him and killed Carolina back on the training room floor.

She didn't let Omega's bitching make her waver. This needed to be done. She set the datapad in Carolina's hand and took a step back to allow the other woman some space.

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