hexaflexagons | [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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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.

"Have D run some diagnostics," she said. As for her, she was going to remain outside, watching the direction Carolina had gone in. There wasn't anywhere else for the girl to really return to, not unless she wanted to abandon her armor and try to blend in at a settlement somewhere. She'd have to come back eventually or Tex would go find her.

[Liberation AU]

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