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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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.

The pad wasn't, quite, snatched away, but Carolina didn't handle it with any particular gentleness. Her visor remained in glare position as Texas backed off, but apparently she wasn't going to start reading until the other woman gave her more space.

A lot more space.

She stared at the inactive screen for a minute, left thumb activating the device, before she carefully punched in the passcode. It took a great deal of effort not to ask if the files had been doctored. She wasn't stupid, after all - and neither were they. Both her AI would know, would be able to tell, if someone else had modified the data - but she wouldn't ask them until after she'd looked herself. She needed to be able to think clearly and Carolina was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that neither of her fragment partners were letting her do a very good job of that.

And if she didn't like the way her stomach twisted as she watched the files populate the screen, she wasn't going to mention it out loud.

No sudden moves on her part, although she was ready to act should Carolina decide for whatever reason to attack or throw the datapad across the room. It was clear the other woman wasn't stable right now, thanks primarily to her companions that her father had so lovingly given her (thanks, asshole). Unlike Omega, Tex could wait for Carolina to reach her own conclusions about what she was reading.

It's an uncomfortable silence while she reads, skips forwards, then skips back between entries. Her hands do not tremble, she won't allow them to, but her breaths become shallower as Carolina takes in what she's reading in front of her.

Helmet throwing when at her wits end, yes. But Carolina hasn't proven herself to be the sort to throw all her tools out of the pram in a tantrum yet. ..Yet. Given the decay in her temper and arguably her sanity since The Director left her screaming on the training room floor, it sadly couldn't be ruled out.

"..When did Connie get this?" She doesn't want to believe what she's reading. And could anyone blame her, really? She hasn't accessed Beta's section yet, locked as it is, but it's only a matter of time.

There were subtle hints that told her that the information was being read, digested. It was a lot to take in and at least Carolina was taking the time to read it instead of throwing it back in her face and denying it all. This was a start and she wanted to make sure the other woman understood everything.

"I don't know. I found it in her dogtags with a message for me," she answered. Who knew how long CT had been sitting on this goldmine. If only she had said something sooner, things may have turned out differently.

She wished she dare take off her helmet. But the occasional twitch of turbulence set Carolina against such actions. Giving one last, concealed glance towards Texas, she pushed down the black cloud of anger caught in her gorge. It hurt, even if she did, ultimately, understand. Connie hadn't trusted her. Couldn't have trusted her, loyal as she was to the Project. Couldn't have known how she would react to these files.

And there were so many files.

Only once the general horror had fully set in, the dread and realisation, did she skip back to Alpha's entry, skimmed it slowly, brows knit tight. She could feel the press of two minds at the back of hers, wanting release again; she ignored them. They were offline, for now, however long that would last. She flicked over to the next entry, Beta's entry and tapped the images, re-entered the security code when prompted.

..She didn't like that there was additional security for this one, for Texas, and liked it even less that it was her mother's name that hid it.

It's a miracle her grip doesn't crack the display when that video starts to play.

It turned out he'd gotten to the controls just in time. That turbulence they'd felt earlier was the first signs they were heading to the surface of the planet below and he leveled the plane out while Delta communicated with the authorities on the planet, who had immediately noticed their entry into the atmosphere. Identifying as something they weren't was tricky, and this landing was going to be even trickier. "Better get strapped in," he said over the intercom. He'd been cleared for a landing at a spaceport but he had no intention of touching down there. They needed to find a nice open field somewhere to avoid dealing with spaceport authorities and procedures.

Her eyes remained trained on Carolina even while she got herself situated across from the other woman. Without being able to see her face, it was hard to gauge exactly what was going through her mind. Were things falling into place? They needed to or there wasn't going to be much any of them could do. An uncooperative Carolina wasn't going to be by them and that meant Tex wouldn't be able to do anything to help her if those AI went out of control.

Tex waited until the video died down and gave Carolina another moment to read a bit farther on. "Do you believe me now?" she asked.

When York called back, she reached to pull the harness down a little more securely, but Carolina's attention was firmly rooted to the datafile. The text linked to it, explaining the anomoly, the 'twin' AI, and how the concept of fragmentation inspired by the digital ghost who may as well have sprung full formed like Athena from Zeus' forehead from the way the write-up described it.

But Director Leonard Church was no god, no matter what he played at.

The only response that Tex's question received was silence. And the repeat play of a video who's words Carolina knew by heart, playing over again an image that left her sick to her stomach. There was such a thing as too much information. And Carolina had hit her saturation point.

Edited (/tweak) 2014-04-21 00:07 (UTC)

They hadn't yet made a landing in their stolen Pelican. Delta calmly told him the steps to follow, though York was winging things a bit. He'd never taken the time to familiarize himself with every button on the console so some of the commands he was getting were kind of useless. He knew how to hover though, and how to lower the plane vertically, so even though it made more sense to come in for a traditional landing this was easier. He was taking it a bit fast though—!

"Shit!" he exclaimed, slowing the descent sharply, causing a sickening stomach turn. He'd slowed things just in time, because though they landed harder than they should have, it wasn't so hard that anything broke on the bottom of the Pelican. Or at least, he hoped not.

Edited 2014-04-21 00:10 (UTC)

Well, if any of them were on the verge of sleeping, it wouldn't be an issue now. "Goddammit, York," she cursed. "Did you break the ship?!"

It seemed like the ship had settled into place now and she got her harness off to go investigate the cockpit and make sure everything was reading all right. The landing could have been worse, but there weren't make risks they could take with their one and only transport. Getting another would be a pain in the ass and she was relieved when she saw that yes, it was still running fine.

"I'll give it a look over outside. Keep an eye on her," she said quietly.

Carolina was glad she'd taken that extra precaution to keep the bar held down, though part of her mentally agreed with the annoyance in Texas' yell at York. They were down, grounded somewhere, but they had landed.

She stayed in place long enough to be certain that both were in the cockpit, that their attention was fixed firmly on the pelican.

She breathed the name of her AI, ignored the static cling of their awareness infringing on her own. There was disorder, then, harmony, a singular time of agreement between three minds.

Carolina snapped the harness up and off, abandoning her seat to stagger once, then half bolt for the ladder leading up to one of the roof hatches. She needs space, she needs air, she needs away from the pair who'd brought her with them without her leave. Eta queries the system, Iota forcing its way in, and as the hatch slid open with an obliging hiss, on one of the consoles near York's elbow a warning light flashes in bright red: OVERRIDE INITIATED - PORTSIDE HATCH >> OPENING

Don't say goodbye, uttered the recording again, datapad left behind on her seat. I hate goodbyes.

Edited 2014-04-21 00:44 (UTC)

He quickly flipped the switches that would lock the Pelican down and rushed to the ladder after her. He didn't dare call out to her, but he wanted to check to see that she wasn't going to do anything rash once she got up there, like bolting for the treeline. They'd come too far at this point for her to run and report them, or something, if she was still going to stubbornly cling to the Project being right. He climbed the ladder and poked his head up through the hatch to check out what was going on.

She should have known Carolina was going to bolt. Tex was right behind York and she watched the girl's figure pull away from them. "D, what's the closest settlement to here? How long would it take her to reach it on foot?"

By the time York's head is popping out of the hatch, aqua blue armor is already skidding off the tail of the ship, knees bending and aching with the crunch of her landing once Carolina hits the dirt.

To give the male Freelancer credit where credit is due: the field he chose is far enough off the beaten path that no one likely noticed an pelican touching down out in the woodlands. It's not so early that the area is thick with mist, but the morning light hasn't stretched far enough to chase dull shadows away at this hour. The blur of aqua is still bright, briefly, as her AI activate her speed unit on queue, the boost carrying her the full length of the field in under a minute, and she's vanishing into the treeline and beyond, headed east.

Not in the direction of the nearest settlement. But that hadn't been her intent in the first place.

Too much, too soon, Carolina needed time, needed space, needed to breathe, and she couldn't do that with them there.

He clambered up through the entrance once he realized that yes, bolting was exactly what Carolina had in mind. Her speed enhancement meant he didn't have a chance of catching her and he stood there in dismay as he watched her figure grow smaller and smaller.

To Tex's inquiry Delta answered after a moment to access some data and process it. "The closest settlement is due west, 65 klicks away. The direction Carolina left in is south. The speed at which she can reach the town depends on when she realizes she's heading in the wrong direction. However, at the top speed her armor enhancement affords her, she can reach it in less than an hour."

She watched Carolina until she was out of sight. A lot had been dropped on Carolina just now and anything they said right now would be on deaf ears. The image of a young Carolina, upset that her father was going to miss another one of her school events due to work, flashed into her mind, but the memory was gone as quickly as it had come. That was another life, one she wasn't a part of.

"She needs some time. We'll find her in a bit. Let's make sure the pelican isn't damaged," she said and climbed out of the ship.

"It's not," York said confidently, then immediately swung down to the ground to check it over.

"Maybe." She was going to give the belly of the ship a good inspection and take mental note of any dents she found.

"Looks okay to me," he said after a good look-over. "I'm going to go check the computer system and see if it spits out any errors." There were surely sensors that kept track of the engines and landing gear and stuff like that.

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crankypsychoex - 2014-04-24 00:47 (UTC) - Expand

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