Monday, November 2, 2009

Painful reminders

I lean back with my left foot up on the crate at Bootleggers, "Things been happenin' too fast. Don't know muchof what went on..... a lot was out of fucus in my head." I rubbed my leg feeling the ache in my foot.

I looked at the coffee cup on that same crate, wishing it was a wiskey, "After the whole thing happened at the lab, Krenshar wanted Lily and me. Said we had to stand trial for the damages. Coop covered for us not tellin' him where we were. A bit later, Lily was down in the river, near drowned. I jumped in, pulled her out." I looked out the window as it started to get dark, "Coop showed up shortly after. Lily showed him why she was in hidin. The jars with the babies in em. Left Coop thinkin'... She said she's been lookin' for the coin too. Coop said he'd have a look see." I leaned forward to take another drink of hot coffee.

"Before long Xoxo showed up. She said somethin' 'bout my eyes havin' chips in em... Seein' what I see. So maybe someone'd be watchin' and trackin' me. Said the only way to keep everyone safe was for me to get in her ship and fly into the black...... That lasted a day..... Got stir crazy. While she was sleepin' I go the ship to ground and ran. Don't know where to or how...... Just started wakin' up in a bar...... Jai was there...... then Lily...."

I shook me head, "Lily said somethin' bout a plan. So Jai said some thing's at me I said sure then Lily said yeah, Got handed a ring and was told to go with it, " I took another sip of the hot liquid, "From there I think we'd gone to Hale's.... Danced and then went to Caliban. Jai turned us in. Things started clearin' for me. Lily was sayin' somethin' bout a cub, Krenshar got real quiet. Handed me Lily's coin..... Said somethin' 'bout it bein' me to make her right. It wasn't long 'fore the folks outside were threatenin' to put me in a cage...... That didn't sit well with me.... Lily tried to knock me across the room. Don't know how I kept me feet, knocked me a few steps...... Snarlin', I was ready for anythin'....."I shrugged at that point, " maybe her doin' more then the one hit. We bit each other..... Don't ask. I'm not even for sure why. Well that all ended up with us kissin' in a corner..... Then Lily told me she was settin' somethin' off... Shut the door down when she did. She told me to run, I didn't want to leave her there, but she told me to go, so I got out..... Half blinded by the flare.... scrambled to the nearest tunnel entry. It's how I got out." I frowned, thinkin' of what was goin' on.

"Lily told me to go. I couldn't see well enough to fly out on my own, had to catch a shuttle to one ship then another to get to someplace to hole up." The next mornin' I headed back to Caliban to find Lily and bring her home. Coop, Kash, Gabe, and a few others came to help get us out....... But Coop had somethin' on his mind," I sighed lookin' in my mug and the steam risin' from it, "He said somethin' bout he was movin' on. Handed me the reins to the Raivenn, then turned and left. Just like that..." I frowned lookin' back out the window and into the darkness.

"We got the ship back to Mac's. Didn't know what else to do. We were pretty much confused and a little spun about." I looked back at my Left foot restin' on the crate, " That happened a few weeks back. We worked on gettin' Raivenn ready to work. Talked to Pod. He had a place I could go to have the gorram chip taken out of my head. Thanks to Cursa findin' it was there. So I talked with JJ and Sentry to come get me if they didn't hear from me after a day or two. That was when Jai contacted me. She said there were doc's who could remove it," I rubbed me left leg, feelin' the dull ache in my foot, "So I left, not knowin' Lily was on board. Things didn't seem right. They wanted me in a stasis chamber to be scanned.... Didn't feel right. Call it gut instinct, but I wasn't goin' to climb in. Jai had my shades and guns, at that point. Lily showed up beggin' to talk to me before they did anythin' to me. It's 'bout the time we escaped there." I took another drink of the still hot coffee.

I rubbed the back of my neck, not sure how things got so spun about, "I think we got to Hale's. Hid in the tunnels.... Lily bit me in the calf. Not sure why. I think after that was a bright flash then nothin'. Things went spinnin' out of any control for days, from what I was told." I looked into the cup again, not sure what happened, "I woke up on Hale's. Splittin' headache, tubes in and out. At least that headache wasn't like the blindin' one I had b'fore." Leaned forward and took the boot off. I sighed lookin' at the bandage wrapped 'round my left foot. "Had a gorram hard time walkin' with my foot achin' bad. Seems the 'Liance was the ones who had me. Cut into me. Took some bits, and blood, then cut my little toe off. Not sure why. Don't know how long b'fore Krenshar, Kash, Miya, Kitten, Pluto, and Thoth came to rescue me from the 'liance. That's what I was told later. I owe em all."

Rubbin' my leg again, puttin' it back up on the crate. Made me mad feelin' hobbled, "So been restin' with my foot up, 'til Caliban called for help a few days back. Reavers landed. "Kitten and me, we took Raivenn and flew there. Came to lend a hand or rescue the folk there." I shrugged, "Then yesterday or so Xoxo come 'round lookin' for me. She said I wasn't allowed to see Lily any more, then walked out. I limped out after her, wantin' to know what was goin' on. She said she wasn't goin' to let Lily become human. She'd find a way to stop the process..... Hell if I knew what that was about.... Threatened to kill me. I didn't care, Lily's, well special. She deserves to be more'n someones peice of property or pet.", I leaned back tryin' not to get angered, "I was pretty mad at how she was sayin' she'd stop the process, 'til Xoxo was ready for Lily to be..... Not sure whatall that meant. I said somethin' in my usual fool self way and got slapped for it."

"Yesterday Lily contacted me sayin' she'd be on the ship in her bunk. Then this morning she was talkin' bout findin' Mindo and Aurora. we went lookin' all over. Tried Botany Bay first, then to some place called the junkyard......Where Blue lived. We found the place...... Lily ended up steppin' into the chamber. it sealed and filled with a blue gas.... I tried to get her out of there. But didn't know how to. She said some things that confounded me at first; 'When I encountered Blue Sun single source 041295 Lily, my updates activated. I am now sentient.
I was designed by Weyland Yutani Corperation. My initial programming was done by my creaters. I was upgraded by Alliance Intern 24601 in a stealth update. The stealth program enables sentience.' "

It took a minute to consider what I remembered, to make sure it was right. Sighin', I went on, "I asked Blue 'bout Lily and it said, 'Lilybell Snoodle. Created by Mindo Lupindo. Lily is a genetically seeded organic construct created to bring life to the machine. I must protect Lily. I am programmed to protect Lily, and facilitate the creation of AuroraBlue. That plan has been corrupted.' Then Krenshar showed up. He was actin' like Lily and her like him..... Then Lily stepped out. Krenshar told me to get Lily as far from the place as I could. I hurried her back to the ship as my bad foot would let me. I got her back to the Drift as fast as I could."

I reached for the mug again taking a few good gulps."Then Immy showed up.... Not actin' like her old self. Real strange like.... I started gettin' suspiscious that either Xoxo or Mindo messed with her. I asked her, more like cofronted her, tryin' to find out what the hell was happenin'. She turned 'round and kissed me," I shook my head unhappily, "Not what I was expectin'. She left fast, then come round again. Come on board Raivenn. Kerm , Sentry, General, Charly, and Lorie were there... She was dressed in way too revealin' clothes and actin' all strange. At that point I told her as much. That wasn't Immy, at least the one I knew. No way. The way she was actin', the clothes, even how she never looked at anyone. Like the fire went out inside her."

I took off my shades, lookin' across the room at the people sittin' at the bar talkin' quiet, "She tried again with gettin' close. At that point somethin' inside me started yellin' 'this was real wrong'. She wandered off then, still glassy eyed. Made me mad, I didn't have any answers. It's why I got some pretty cut up knuckles for my pains, punching the cargo container." I looked down at my raw knuckles, finished my mug of coffee, set it on the crate. "It's been too long a day, hell, weeks, what with strange happenin's and even stranger behaviors, all the way round."

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