JanePtinum

  Ivy and Vince attempt to comfort me for close to an hour. Both of them seem pretty confident, despite everything. Cassie’s confidence, on the other hand, is clearly a mask. Her new arm keeps unconsciously fidgeting, and her foot is entirely unable to sit still.

  With every passing second I can feel Mary getting closer. She stands at the horizon of the world, on a slow but inevitable march towards me. She’s going to knock on the door at any moment, fury in her eyes and a weapon in hand, ready to put an end to me.

  Eventually the intercom comes to life. Hummingbird’s voice bres out of it, informing me of my judgment.

  “Hey Vince? You’re going to want to hear this.”

  “Three people know I’m here, and one knows why.” The voice is undeniably Mary’s. It’s missing the venom I’ve become familiar with in the st forty years, but there’s nobody else it can be. “I know it’s here. If I wanted to turn it in, I would have already. All I want is a conversation, but if you can’t give me that, I’ll have no choice but to inform the Rangers.”

  The intercom goes silent for a few eternal seconds.

  “I want to make something clear.” Silver eventually says. “If your accusations are true, Vince would be the only one aware of it. Not a single other person in this compound, including me, knows.”

  “That’s fine. Like I said, I'm only here to talk.”

  “If I were you, I would start your search in room 3-11.”

  “Thank you.” I can hear Mary stand up before a door opens and closes.

  “Blue,” Silver says an instant after the door closes. “I need you to speak to her. Just buy a few days for the storm to pass.”

  Instead of responding I scramble to my feet, sitting on my bed just across from the door.

  “You two should leave.” I tell Ivy and Cassie. I don’t want them in danger if I can avoid it.

  “Sorry, I think I’ll stay.” Ivy says as if this somehow won’t result in her death.

  “Mm-hmm.” Cassie’s hand wraps around her knife.

  I reach into my backpack, pulling out the box of ammo and a magazine. I start to mechanically load a few bullets into it.

  “I’m not sure that’s the best idea, Little Blue.” Vince says gently.

  I don’t listen to him. Whatever happens, I’m not going to be caught unprepared again. Fill the magazine, magazine in gun, rack slide, leave the safety on, just in case. I grab a small bnket and fold it next to me, hiding both my hand and the pistol in it.

  “Killing her is only going to make the problem worse.” Vince says more sternly.

  “I know.” I don’t pn on using the gun, but it does feel better to have the weight in my hands.

  “Are you going to be able to handle this?” Ivy asks.

  “I don’t know.” I look at Corax on my shoulder for an answer. He gives a small, unconfident nod. “Maybe.”

  “I can take care of talking if you need me to.” Ivy says.

  “No. I need some answers.”

  “She’s coming.” Cassie informs us a few seconds before the door opens.

  Mary stands in front of me. Time has taken its toll on her body. Her hair is gray, her skin leathery from the sun, and she stands with a small hunch. But her eyes remain unchanged. Two keen brown eyes, drinking in every detail of my soul.

  “B-11? Is that really you?” She asks.

  With that single line I’m back in the b. Trapped in a box, a single camera is my only connection to the outside world. I don’t even have the concept of being able to move yet.

  Mary leaves, following through on the threats she made. A gunshot sounds through the thick metal door, punctuating an end to her threat. I can hear three bodies hit the sandy floor. Kara, Finn, and Jared have left the world again, and it’s all her fault.

  Corax brings me back to reality, pulling on my ear with all his might. It takes him nearly ripping it off before I finally come back to reality. My fingers are curled around the pistol with every ounce of force my servos can provide. If it wasn’t for the safety I would have put multiple holes in the wall.

  “Sorry.” I whisper to Corax. “I’m ok, thank you.” I turn back to Mary, looking my demon in the eye. “It’s Blue.”

  “Yes, I do think I remember Simon saying something like that. It’s so hard to remember when your kind changes names so often.”

  How can she so easily dismiss me? I can see Vince from the corner of my eye, silently offering to take care of her.

  “Why didn’t you come back?” I ask the only question that matters.

  “What do you mean?” She asks, a confused look on her face.

  “I suffered in the dark for forty years. And you were alive the whole time? You never even bothered to check?”

  “What are you talking about? Someone attacked the base to get to our research. Why wouldn’t they take you?”

  I just stare at her dumbfounded.

  “I went through hell, because you made an assumption?” I’m too shocked by her words to be angry.

  “Look. I’m sorry, is that what you want to hear? But even if we knew you were there, we had no way to reach you.” She immediately dismisses my question.

  “Not a single opportunity. In forty years.” My disbelief is beginning to shed, making way for anger. I’m once again gd I kept the safety on.

  “Look B-11, I’m not sure what else you want me to say.” She says with a huff, as if I’m somehow an inconvenience for her. “This didn’t go how I was expecting. Let’s go home, there’s someone who has been dying to meet you.”

  “No!” If I leave with her, I have no guarantee I’ll ever see everyone again. “If Simon wants to talk, he can come here.”

  “It’s not Simon.” I can hear a hint of sadness beneath her annoyance. “It’s someone else.”

  “Then they can come here. I’m not leaving.”

  “B-11 don’t be-”

  “Miss Mary.” Vince thankfully interrupts her. “If I may say something, Blue has had a very rough time recently. She’s improving quickly, however, I’m worried another rge shift in routine could cause her to backslide a substantial amount. If it works for you, I think it’d be best if you let her stay here. We will visit as soon as she’s feeling up to it.”

  Mary’s eyes narrow, as if searching for some kind of trick. It is a trick of course, and if I say anything I’ll give that away.

  “You really think you know more than me?” She asks.

  “I doubt it.” Vince holds up his hands in surrender. “But I think whatever I’m doing is working, and I think changing that is too big of a risk.”

  Mary stares at him for a solid minute, her eyes dissecting his soul just as she has done mine so many times.

  “Fine.” She gives a loud sigh. “Bring B-11 to the Bastion as soon as you can.”

  Mary turns around without another word. No asking if I’m ok with the pn, not even a goodbye. She closes the door and disappears once again from my life, hopefully for good this time.

  “Wait.” Cassie whispers before any of us have a chance to talk. Almost thirty seconds ter she speaks again. “What a fucking bitch.”

  “Are you alright Little Blue?”

  “No.” I can’t even bring myself to put in the effort to remain sitting. I slump to the side, letting my head gently fall onto Vince’s p.

  Corax hops off my shoulder mid fall and crawls into my chest, letting me hold him close.

  “Why was she the only one who got to live?” My voice is barely comprehensible underneath the yers of emotion.

  “I know, it’s not fair.” He pces one hand on my side and with the other pats my shoulder. “Sorry I did this to you.”

  “Why did you?”

  “I wanted to get you out of your room for a surprise.” I can tell from his voice that he bmes himself for today.

  “What surprise?”

  “Look around.” Ivy says gently.

  I finally tear my eyes from the door. My first thought is to ask if I’m in the wrong room. But no, Corax was here. This is definitely ours.

  In the corner is a sturdy metal desk. The welds look good, but far from the perfection I’d expect from Sonia. On top of it sits a few sets of folded clothes. Two sets look identical to the ones Kara gave me so long ago, without the holes or discoloration from age of course. A few other sets are in the same style, but hosting different colors, including Ivy’s trademark bck.

  A small bookshelf has been put in another corner, with a dozen old books sitting on it. The first book Cassie ever let me read is pced front and center.

  Next to my bed is a tall metal stand. A bowl sits at the top, with fluffy bnkets overflowing from it.

  “Who did this?”

  “Lucas brought everything in while we were out. He made the desk, I made the stand, and I think you can guess the other two.”

  “Oh. Thank you. Sorry I ruined today.” Just like I always do.

  “You didn’t Little Blue.” Vince reassures me. “If it’s anyone's fault, it’s mine and Mary’s.”

  “It’s always her fault.” I say.

  “Only her fault.” Corax firmly nudges me, his words muffled by my body.

  “Well I guess I can’t argue with the both of you.” Even though he tries, Vince’s voice makes it clear that he doesn’t believe us.

  “Careful, Corax will bite you if you try.” Ivy warns him. I think it’s intended to be a joke, but Corax probably would actually bite him.

  Corax whirr quietly in my arms, happy his skills are so well known.

  “Why do you always do so much for me?” I ask quietly into the air.

  “Because we want to.” Ivy says gently.

  “Even though I always make things worse?”

  “I’m pretty sure we’ve talked about this Little Blue.” Vince says comfortingly, adding a little pressure from his hands. “Everyone and everything is a risk, we’re not going to stop caring about you just because you’ve hit an unlucky streak.”

  “But it’s not going to stop.”

  “Sure it will. We found you eventually, right? That’s a good stroke of luck for the both of us. And one day someone else is going to have a hard time, and you’ll be there for them, right?”

  “Of course, but I’m just going to keep putting you in danger.”

  “And I will too. I’m about to drag us all to god knows where to track down someone incredibly dangerous. Does that make you think less of me?”

  “No.” I reluctantly admit. I already know what he’s going to say next. He doesn’t need to finish.

  “And you’re no different.” Ivy finishes his thought for him. It does feel a little more impactful coming from her, knowing it’s not just Vince saying stuff to make me feel better.

  The intercom once again comes to life, interrupting our conversation.

  “Vince, we need to talk.” Silver’s voice fills the room.

  “Alright, be right down.” Vince responds.

  “Is it about me?” I ask, even though the answer’s obvious.

  “Probably not directly. If it was bad news, Silver would say it in person.” Vince gently lifts my head, scoots out from underneath me, and lowers me to the bed. “If I had to guess, we’re shipping out the moment the storm clears.”

  “But everyone’s still injured.”

  “We’ve been in worse shape before.” Cassie finally speaks up. “It’s not like I’ve never fought one arm down before.”

  “I’ll be back in a bit.” Vince disappears into the hallway.

  JanePtinum