Night 75: Farwell

[ninelivesonce]

Who: Taura and Sechs (closed)
Where: Subway Station and Tunnels
Summary: Taura and Sechs make for the Institute


Taura had slept, a little, waiting for darkness to fall. She was a soldier; she could sleep anywhere, but fitfully, waking at every soft unidentified noise (or sometimes at nothing at all). Still, it was better than wearing a hole in the tiles of the rebel HQ. The tiles were already more hole than substance, anyway.

The whole place looked like it was going to come down around their ears any minute, really, and the subway wasn't the exception. It was a dark, dank hole in the ground, that reminded her far too much of a certain basement.

Then again, the best thing in her life had turned up in that basement. The comparison made her feel better, at least, even as she was intentionally drawing it to make herself feel that way. It was a bit like lying to herself, but everything she was thinking was true; those were the best sorts of lies, because she couldn't argue with them. She was well aware this didn't make as much sense as it seemed to, but it kept her mind off worrying about what they were walking into, so she continued building her mental house of cards.

Comments

[sixth_attack]

Earlier that day, the thought of staying in bed for hours was an unbearable one for the battle-starved Replica. Now it was a grueling process which he was glad to be finished with. The medical attention he received in exchange for his promise of good behavior had been well worth the wait, for he was walking on his own by Taura's side. Sechs' gait may have been encumbered by a limp and a more pronounced slouch to his back, but he didn't let that slow him down or take away any dignity from his battered stride. He may have been broken before, but he was not beaten yet.

Having lost everything but his battle gear (which now sported crudely sewn patches over where his fatal injury tore through), Sechs had been given a few tools from the rebels. A radio for communication and a crowbar for breaking through barriers (and potential enemies). What Sechs considered to be the cherry on top of the supplies cake was the gun given to him by the rebels. A beautiful little semi-automatic handgun... Something Sechs thought he would never feel against the palm of his hand again. He didn't think such a little thing could lift his spirits so high! Despite it's battered condition and meager three bullets, it was quite the update from makeshift weapons looted from hardware stores (although, he was going to miss that machete he "inherited" from his first and most hated roommate, Will...). He and Taura may not have been the most heavily equipped army in the world, but they were ready for anything, including whatever awaited them inside the darkened subway tunnel before them.

"Shit..." Sechs took out a few painkillers from his pocket and brusquely threw them into his mouth. "This is gonna be a long walk, isn't it?" he said after dryly gulping down the pills. "We don't have all night for a boring evening stroll here!"

With his painful injury mostly under control, Sechs could feel his inner powers slowly surface from weeks of being suppressed by the institute. He knew he could dash through the subway easily, but he wasn't sure if Taura could catch up. Not only that, but he had to remind himself that despite his returned abilities, he was still organic and prone to injury. Yet he hated the idea of losing precious night time hours for safety's sake.

"How fast do you think you can run?" he asked, giving Taura a challenging smirk as he readied his legs for a sudden burst of speed. "I don't wanna keep our friends at the institute waiting too long for us!"

[ninelivesonce]

Taura's answer was a grin, the whites of her teeth flashing in the dark. And speed of her own, her long legs taking two strides to Sechs' three. He was a lot faster than she'd expected -- that speed wasn't human, and it had been a long, long time since a run with someone else had been a challenge.

She was panting a bit when she broke the silence. "What are you going to do when you find them?" She hadn't seen Rita in days; their investigations into direct action against Landel had stalled, and she was running on old intel. Marc had cleared up a lot, but added even more questions in their place.

[sixth_attack]

Sechs barked out a laugh, exhilarated by the speed he shared with Taura as they raced into the depths of the abandoned subway. The rushing air cooled his face and swept his thorny hair back, awakening senses long dulled by all the past weeks beneath institute rule. It was enough to elevate the android's mind from the heavy worries which followed them into the unknown. Sechs knew just how dangerous it was to return to the institute in a dire time as this, especially with the approaching military's intervention and whatever explosive confrontation would ensue from it. With Landel still in power, there remained the grave risk of losing one's abilities and freedom (or worse...). For now, all Sechs could do was move onward into the fray. He already did all his thinking, worrying and planning, now it was time to act.

"I'm gonna make sure they're ok and then see if there's any ass-kicking I can do while I'm there!" he boastfully replied. Keeping his pace close with Taura's, Sechs found it to be just the right speed, fast enough to cover ground quickly but not too much on his aching wounds. "Then I'm getting them outta that damn place before Landel gets his way with us! This sick game of his is over!"

[ninelivesonce]

One way or another, he was right -- the game was over tonight. For them, if not for Landel. Taura didn't say that, because that sort of thing tended to go over about as well as offering a fair deal on Jackson's Whole.

"I'm going to kill him." It didn't matter if that wasn't quite the right revenge; even when the military had taken over, the Institute had remained, but it was a plan. "Or watch someone else get there first." She wasn't, actually, picky about which. "If we can't help people who've been brainwashed, we can stop it from ever starting again."

There was a breeze, starting to pick up momentum. The tunnel wasn't endless -- it just seemed like it, and it was curving towards something she couldn't yet make out. Water, maybe; the air was full of it everywhere down here, but it was, if anything, getting wetter.

[sixth_attack]

Sechs' rambunctious pace faltered at Taura's remark. Kill Landel... He hadn't thought of that -- of course it was something he always thought about ever since he first learned about the Head Doctor! It was just that such cravings for revenge were always a far-fetched daydream which Sechs had just begun to lose hope of ever achieving. Just catching a glimpse of the elusive Landel was something Sechs could only imagine and then not totally believe when he actually did see the doctor himself during his ousting by the military. The Master of the Institute was more of a untouchable force than an actual human being, only giving samples of his presence through his daily announcements and the inescapable institute he controlled. To think that the opportunity to actually confront Landel in the flesh was possible felt... surreal.

So surreal in fact, that Sechs' toothy grin shrunk into a troubled scowl. He didn't want to miss the chance of getting his revenge -- but what if his friends needed help getting out of the institute? Sechs couldn't stand the idea of his allies spending another day trapped in that prison or dying there before they even got the chance to escape. But then what if Landel escaped to torment them another day? Even worse, what if Sechs could only choose one desire over the other?

"I want him dead too," Sechs finally growled, keeping his eyes focused on the path ahead like a predator on the hunt. There was no time to stop and think or turn back. "Whatever happens and whoever does it, Landel has to be stopped."

Getting over that mental hurdle, Sechs recovered his pace and caught up with Taura. He was beginning to notice a change in the structure of the tunnel walls around them. With each dashing step forward, the rigid concrete and steel passing by crumbled and morphed into disordered rock and earth. The train rails beneath their feet became less numerous and disjointed, giving way to a muddy path leading away from man-made charters. The air was getting wetter and heavier, adding droplets of water to the sweat on his skin. There were even splotches of moss to be seen amongst the damp rocks. These signs told Sechs that they were approaching the next step in their journey.

"We must be getting closer to that underground lake Marc mentioned," Sechs observed, his gruff voice creating odd echoes throughout the ancient caverns. As they drew closer, Sechs felt his powers gradually drain away, slowing him down to the unsatisfying speed of an injured human. "Damnit!" he hissed, pausing to catch his breath and rub at his aching wounds. "My abilities are starting to go! Landel must still be in power then..."

[To here.]