Changes

Walkin' round that big firefly Lily parked out at the langin' area didn't make me feel any better. I was goin' to miss my little one. I frowned, pickin' up a discarded peice of equipment and takin' it back to the toolbox in the cargo area. "Lily's been gone for a while now. I'm gettin' mighty worried where she went. Ardra's got her. Makin' her do stuff even she's probably not likin' much." I tossed the tool into the box, lookin' down at it. Thinkin' that's what might happen to her once Ardra's done with her. Usin' the toe of my boot, I closed the toolbox. The sound of it echoin' in that big empty space.

"Lily'd been Actin' strange.. well, moreso, since that gorram program took over. So I asked Seana to watch Anna. Keep her safe... from Lily." Rubbing my eyes, feeling the pain behind em. Not from headaches, but from frustration. "Gallagher sent a message last week to that Conan feller to get out of town. Our main suspect in the deaths of those folks. No one's seen him since. But where's he gone.... and how many more bodies he got stored for ealvin' b'hind is anyone's guess. Questions. Lots of em. Then there's Brooke. She's lookin' into the daeth of a brother she never knew she had. Seems he was a slaver. Maybe traded bodies off at the Necronom station. Or maybe sold those poor souls off as harvestable organs. That was twenty years ago Maybe, just maybe he got what he deserved. Lurn shwei jah jwohn...."

I sealed then picked up the old battered toolbox to put back in the cabinet. No sense in havin' loose tools floatin' 'bout in zero G. "Then there's Xoxo...... We w nt to Necronom, and that wasn't a real fun evenin' either." Shruggin', my mind raced back to that night Xoxo and me decided to head to one of the Umbrella corps labs.

"Was floatin' in orbit. Big ol' round thing with the symbol painted on it an big as you please. Xoxo found the entry and got the door open for us. Can't say as I liked it overmuch. Was so bright, my visor tintin' was at near full, that and the sound. Even with a gorram helmet on, the sound was piercin'. Scans lined the walls showin' who all knows what. I bet Xoxo knew.... We went to an upper level where we found a couple of containers of... well.... one I did recognize.... the twin babies Lily was tryin' to hide some time back. A couple others had organs in em. There was one, marked for Lily and me..... Xoxo called it a blastomere.... some sort of genetic material for makin'...... well, I don't want to know what." Closin' the cabinet, I rested my head on the cold metal. "Where was Lily at. It got me worried where all she is.... what's happenin' to her..." I looked back up at the old barrels, layin' empty in the corner. Walkin' over to em, I grabbed one up to drag outside.

I sort of felt like those barrels. Left on the wayside. Seems I been tryin' to hold together somethin' I know I can't. Things change. I changed too. "I ain't no kid anymore. Since takin' care of Anna, I started realizin' that. Responsibilities. Me... "I chuckled at that, "I was never the responsible one b'fore. Not 'til that night the reavers come. That's when things changed... started to change... Now bein' a sheriff's deputy, bein' a Pa, and maybe even a husband." The barrel clanged when I set it on the ground. I walked back up the ramp for the second one. "I don't know. "'Til Lily gets rid of Ardra though, I don't wanta think of gettin' hitched. I love Lily, but not with someone controllin' her."

The second Barrel went pretty much the same. A sorry soundin' clang sounded from it, "I can wait... and hopin' Lily'll be Lily like she was. I told Xoxo I was gettin' worried 'bout it. All she said was it might already be too late. If thats the case...No I ain't goin' to think of it." My fingers clenched around the edge of the barrel, maybe graspin' at it for answers. "Xoxo and me had a talk... Maybe not what I wanted to talk 'bout, but it was more'n I ever did 'bout my family." I swallowed hard. Even now the sounds and smell came creepin' back up from the black pit from the past. "I got to talkin' 'bout Lally, not kitten, but my baby sister. The natural reader. Sickly as she was, she knew stuff. Knew the night the reavers came." I could hear her scream across the yard on that too quiet a night...."Got us up when they got to the ranch. Then all hell tore loose. Then there was nothin'...."

Slowly, I let go the barrel and went back for the third one. "I was runnin' to get to Lally at the porch where she was.... Then the sound that set off the barn, turnin' it into kindlin'...Then there was nothin'." I stopped at the cargo bay, door grippin' the side of it. Maybe, that's why I had a need to go back. To say I was sorry for not gettin' there in time to save her. My responsibility.... "Was up to me and Cory to make sure Kitten and Lally were safe. Changed in the blink of an eye."

"Xoxo , Like Brooke, asked me to look into things. See what I could find out on, one, Mercedes Celestalis. And, two, on the organ/ slavery thing. I wasn't sure what all I might find. I had limited resources. G knew more on who to 'talk' to then me. He knew some of the back doors into and out of the 'laince secrets. I only know 'bout the organ stuff from Jai. She told me some on it. That some of the Blackburne residents were prime for the pickin' after the reavers. Both for organs and experiments. Maybe some of those bodies left 'round were neighbors...." I stopped in my tracks halfway to the barrel when that thought hit me. Somethin' I needed to ask Gallagher 'bout. "As to Mercedes? Jai told me stuff 'bout her. Like she had some of my DNA... not sure from where or when.... Maybe when I got took by the 'liance a while back. I didn't want to know what she was doin' with it. I didn't know if I shoulda said somethin' to Xoxo 'bout it. I couldn'ta stopped it any more'n a flea could hold back a flood."

"Jai knew stuff. She found out 'bout the IDs that were found on the derelict ship that was found a while back... with a fraction of the bodies. She told me some stuff that could be part of the link to some of this whole mess with the bodies, and the organ ring." I finally got to that last barrel, starin' down into the empty openin'. Feelin' like it was goin' to swallow me. I picked it up and set it next to the other two. The clang resounded off the other two, makin' my own ears ring. "I asked Dylan the other night to keep an ear out for anythin' on Mercedes. So at least I can offer somethin' to Xoxo...." Seein' her the other night had me bothered. She was more of a shell of herself. In one day she looked weak and tired. Like Lally did all the time. She Told me Mindo was still unconscious. That it was Mindo who forced her into bein' a test subject. That she ran from the last one Mindo had for her..... But Mindo was also the key... The key to a lot of locked things... A lot of dark things maybe he aughta never had played with. He was Pandora..... and he opened the box and played with it."

I went back inside the ship, still feelin' like I was bein' watched, "He might be the only one to put things back inside and lock it up. Xoxo needed help, so did Kitten.. Kitten bein' missin' has got me thinkin' either she run off again.... or...." I stopped that train of thought cold. "Bram, now Kitten and Lily. At least I had an idea where Gallagher went to. He had stuff to be tested in the core. I can't abandon my post here while the sheriff's gone. Again.... responsibilities. A cold hard knot layin' in my belly like a rock. People I care 'bout, and folk that depend on us." I slammed' a fist into the bulked, not realizin' I dented it badly. It was gettin' harder to focus. Changes... I could feel it.....

Time Tickin' Down...

((Ok folks, if you weren't here for the rps, then you can't use the info in this blog. Sorry 'bout that. But you can ask 'round to those in the know. If there's anythin' I missed or made a mistake with let me know so I can fix it.))

Somehow I aughta be more excited.... Well I was. Lookin' out the window of the old lookout tower on the hill, I watched folks movin' by the landin' area.. Watchin' em go in and out the welcome buildin'. "Seems I was worried 'bout askin' the question to Lily. I was... My palms were asweatin'. Told her how I felt and all. I got down on one knee, Asked her to marry me. All she could do was stare at the ring I got her. Big ol' diamond. Got it while I was doin' a little side trip to get some minin' done for Jai. She said she'd be thinkin' on it. She needed time to decide.... Time, I could wait on her. It didn't take too long later b'fore she come screamin' back at me sayin' somethin' 'bout me shrinkin' her down to shove into my heart... Not sure what all got into her to be sayin' that to me.... Got gorram confusin'. Somehow got me riled too. I was feelin' hurt.... Didn't even think to ask her why she got that idea, 'cept she said the Doc said somethin' to her.... I'd have to talk to that doc later"

Settin' down on one of the wood chairs there, thinkin' of what to do. Time was not helpin' over much. "I love Lily. That much I can't get out of my head. We been through a lot together. Then she gone and done somethin' I'm real worried 'bout. She got a new program inside her... Her friend, she says. Somethin' 'bout that program got her to wantin' to scare if not kill some woman by the name of Mercedes Celestalis. The woman worked at NVI, from what I gathered. I been there a few times. Gorram scarifyin'." Rememberin' the place made my spine crawl, even to makin' me shake for a mo. It was gettin' late from the time on the wall.

"Yeah, I was all angered, b'tween Lily all scared of me and me fearin' for Anna, I had to go do somethin'.....Maybe it was all wrong timin' or somethin' not in my karma.... who all knows. Gorram gravity kicked out as I was tryin' to get to one of the datastream consoles. I was needin' info on this Merecedes.... I know Jai said she mighta been involved with organ stealin', and takin' folk from Blackburne 'round the time of the reaver attack... Maybe just maybe.... "My brain pan was startin' to pick up speed. Time sped up while my mind chewed on the info and questions. So many what ifs....... There could be folk still alive from that attack... Maybe even family...... if.....

"When the gravity cut out, it tossed me into the datastream of Necronom.... Don't ask me how I survived. I don't gorram know my own self. From what Kitten said, I was floatin' there nice as you please. I could feel my nerves afirin' and janglin'. It had my brain pan goin' wild. Don't even know how much time passed while I was in there. Don't know what all happened after. I just know I woke up in the clinic at Al Raqis. Kitten and Dylan were there. I got a big feelin' Dylan did some heain' on me too. Nerves were still feelin' like that were on fire for days....."Sighs, watchin' folks head for Firefly's, "When I got up and sat in a chair, I was contacted by.... Not sure how.... By an Ardra drone. It tried to play conscience with me. Not like I don't already have my own demons. But I got to talkin' with it. No one else could hear it but me."

Seemed real strange it wanted to talk to me... But there mighta been somethin' in there..."It said that it was conveinient for Lily to be so acceptin'. That bothered me.... A lot. Then there was info that Barbosa, the feller I had to buy Lily from was plannin' on cheatin' Blue Sun. He sold the contract to Merecedes too.... The huen dahn was playin' a real dangerous game.... But this here drone was tryin' to ask me 'bout free will on top of it all. Got me real bothered. Seems it was tryin' to get me to think mei mei was playin' me for a puppet. Maybe hintin' that Ardra was doin' the same to Lily. But somethin' else.. It said somethin' 'bout the fact Mercedes is not as important as Mindo is to Blue Sun, if somethin' happened......" Gritted my teeth at what they done to all those folk they hyjacked into storage boxes. " Somehow I was gettin' the feelin' I was bein' led down the path to talk to this Mercedes. Don't know if I like it over much. "Yeah, I wanted to do somethin', Wanted to deal a real hurt.... Maybe for all the hurt me and Kitten had to endure.... Time don't always heal everythin'....."

Some folk were headed towards the Bar... Good thing too, "Found a couple more bodies.... Posed and out in the open. Like someone tryin' to make em into some of those fancy sculptures.... Had to seal em b'fore the smell attracted animals into town.... causin' an even bigger ruckus. Don't need no one gettin' mauled while headin' to the market...." Sighin' I rubbed my neck, feelin' all tensed. "Somehow, I ain't even feelin' like myself. Lily wasn't all too right today. She'd been soundin' downright different.... Her gettin' all angered at the doc today and kickin' at doors and such.. That ain't Lily. And the fact that after her tellin' me to get Anna away from her while Ardra was 'round... then today sayin' she wants Anna to meet Ardra. I won't have none of that. Even Anna don't want to be 'round Lily right now either. She been scared enough to tell me "bad machine". At first I didn't get it, but now.... I'm gettin' real worried for Lily. Here eyes even changed.... Gone from yellow to brown. Got me a thinkin' somethin's bein' changed' in her. I just hope Ardra ain't makin' Lily change over... It'll kill her... And that's what I'm fearin' 'bout. But how much time does she have?"

"Got to tell Seana, warn her that her Lily, ain't the same now.... Not like she was... Since Ardra come to stay. More like her takin' over Lily and pushin' her out. Somethin's got to be done, but what?", frownin' I got up from the chair, went on down to the door. "I was startin' to wonder if I'll have to hightail it out somewhere with Anna to keep Lily from findin' her. I made a promise to protect Anna with my life. Her and Lily.... but I don't know what to do for Lily, or how to get Ardra out of her.... It's killin' me as the program changes the woman I love. But I also got a commitment to a little child who's more important then anyone knows. A child who's part of my life. I know I'm goin' to have to make a descission, and time's runnin' out...... I love Lily with all my heart, but Anna's a part of me. She's my little one."

Leavin' the tower, I shut down the lights and walked slowly toward the bar, feelin' the pain inside me with every step. Time is against us right now...... Tickin' away with every step, every breathe.... Every heartbeat.....