Justric

Found Alive

Trembling word of encouragement filled his ears as Lucien slowly crawled back up the slope, being careful to move only one limb at a time in case the slippery incline gave way beneath fingers or toes. He wasn't even sure what the words were, but that didn't matter. They were Cassie's words. That was what mattered. His own breathing was labored from both the effort and the fear of death, the fear of losing her again. As Cassie slipped off of his back, it was all he could do for several moments to regain his breath and calm his pounding heart. The adrenaline fueled zen clarity was fading now to let his anxieties flow back into his consciousness. Yet the moment had also helped to diffuse at least some of the confusion in mind, to give me a small measure of peace. When his love gave him her light hug and weakly scolded him, Lucien was surprised by his own reaction.

His arms were flung about her shivering frame to draw her into a fierce hug, nearly crushing her. She felt slightly heavier than he remembered but just as warm within his arms. Eyes closed, he held her fast in the frigid cavern and did not want to let go. It was Cassie. There was no doubt about it now. Between how his own body had reacted to her kiss within Uncle's lab and how he automatically had responded to her when she was in distress, how could he doubt?? "Just don't leave me again," he whispered through chattering teeth, "Just... not again, Cassie."

Finally realizing that the freezing cold the River Bank cavern was not the best place for a reunion of any sort, Lucien reluctantly stood and hefted her into his arms. With her body cradled close again his cave moist sweater, he carried her up and out of the darkness and back towards the oil and paraffin lit tunnels of The Colony. His heart was still at war with itself, only not over her identity and his guilt (which still lay beneath to be resolved). Instead, his confusion now stemmed from accepting that Cassie had returned with accepting that Casey had been... changed. How much had they altered her and what did those alteration mean for her and Lucien now? As he carried her back towards the lab, he did his best to ignore the startled stares of those few other survivors that they passed. No doubt tongues would wag, speculation adding to rumor and distorting facts amongst the humans as to why Lucien was carrying this Android unsupervised throughout the lower tunnels, and why were they both wet? It was, from his cynical experience, more trouble to be dealt with later.

"So what now?" he whispered to her as they neared the lab. "You say you love me, that the kiss brought back some memories or whatever. And for all that I took up with Pony, I still love you. I love you, Cassie. But I don't know what to do now."

"I know what to do," a voice growled as they entered the lab. Uncle stood there with three of the beefier Colonists and none of them looked pleased. Without turning his head from Cassie and Lucien, he ordered one of the men to go find Toni immediately. Then, "I am... greatly disappointed in you, Cassie. I asked that you not leave the lab. Liana told me what happened. I realize that you may have been motivated by more human feelings to take action, which is good in its own way, but you must understand that at this time you are far more important to us than Lucien is." He looked up at Lucien unapologetically. "I'm sorry, lad, but there it is. Cassie is a wealth of information that could turn the tide for us, while you have been a liability for most of the past year. Your death or injury, while regretful, would not balance against the loss of an Android finding its humanity again."

Uncle gestured towards them. "Restrain him and get him out of here. Chain her."

Weaked by the cold and his own mental state, Lucien wasn't able to move fast enough. One of the men was on him before he could react, pulling Cassie from his arm and kicking him hard in his too sore ribs. The man's foot managed to find one of the spots Uncle's fists had left their mark upon earlier, leaving Lucien to drop his love even as he crashed against one of the empty tables. The second man advanced upon Cassie with heavy chains, chains that even an Android would not be able to break. Neither Cassie nor Lucien knew this, but the restraints had been designed specifically to hold Android: a heavy leather collar for the neck trailed a length of thick steel from which heavy cables radiated to bind the wrists, elbows, knees and ankles. "I'm sorry, Cassie," Uncle offered, "but until you prove you can be trusted, you will have to be imprisoned here in the lab."

Found Alive

(Laughing) Poor Hassle! We haven't even introduced the character, and you're already planning his demise!

I was thinking about the conversion process from human into Android. The entire procedure, from chip implant through skeletal replacement, would probably be done without any sort of painkillers or anesthetic, and that would be part of the reason why their memories are erased. The Androids could not function as intended after such trauma. Otherwise, the robots would simply install the controlling chip and not give a damn about how their slaves 'felt' about what they were being made to do.

Found Alive

Lucien grimaced as he shivered on the ledge, her words merely adding to his guilt and confusion. How could she love him if she didn't remember him?? It didn't make sense! And if she was remembering flashes of their time together it only made him feel all the more horrible for he had betrayed those memories by turning to Pony. Adding to the morass of emotions the weigh down his reason was the faint heartbeat of that hope he thought long dead; 'We can be happy again...' Could they? Could they be happy? He could not see how it was possible for them to be as they were before, both of them having changed so much in just that one year: he mentally and emotionally, her physically. Even should they strike some sort of accord, found some new happiness, what of Pony? Was it fair or kind to her to just cast her off? True, Lucien did not love her but he was fond of her, not to mention indebted to her for keeping him going. What about Toni, for that matter? He could not see any reconciliation there at all, and that would be a strain to any relationship reforged with Cassie. If they could reforge it. And how could they if she couldn't remember...

His thoughts continued that inevitable locked circle that wheeled about his head until they sped together faster and faster into tight spiral of despair. He was so close to stepping off the edge, his foot hovering there and held up only by three words: 'I love you.'

The sound of Cassie yelping, then screaming for him, broke through Lucien's mix of remorse and dismay. There was not reasoning now, no anxiety or fears of the future brought out of the past but only the moment of NOW. And in that moment, Cassie was in danger.

The salvager became the robot, his body reacting instantly without conscious thought as he snapped his head to listen to where the echoes might originate from. He backed away nimbly from the outcropping to wordless slid down the scree. The cavern had become his favorite retreat from the world, a place where even Pony didn't dare follow him. Lucien knew the place by feel and there was only one section in The River Bank where Cassie could have slipped so. He quickly shucked of his boots and socks, tossing them in the direction of the access tunnel. The cave's floor here was such that he would need the flexibility of his toes and bare feet to traverse it. Barefooted, Lucien dropped to all fours to crawl down backwards along the slope with fingers and toes seeking out every possible crevice and ripple in the rocks to keep from slipping. When he felt his toes touch the frigid waters, he began to edge to where Cassie had to be. "Cassie. Grab my legs, they should be right next to you. Grab them and then climb up on my back. I can pull us up from there, I can... I can carry you piggy-back just like we used to do."

Found Alive

(Adopting a Sigmund Freud accent) "Zo, tell me about dis dream you ist having."

Found Alive

(Ahem) It's still morning.

Found Alive

Oh wow. Talk about a challenge! Finding her in the dark? Through rushing water??

I have to cell it here for the night. My brain is fried. But with luck I should have a post waiting for by the morning.

Found Alive

Whoof. Sorry, that took a little longer than I thought it would. I hope it works for you.

Found Alive

Lucien ran from the cave to the deepest, darkest place within the Colony he could think of. Commonly called the River Bank, that place was deemed far to dangerous for the humans to use; as useful as the fresh waters might be, the drop off was far too treacherous for anyone to even attempt. Once in someone fell into the water, there was no getting out without some rescuer with a rope and secure footing. The water came from the high mountains far to the east. Insulted stone and strata helped to keep the river near freezing, and the cavern was the coldest place in the entire cave system. He found himself there in the pitch blackness, standing upon the sole flat precipice above the waters. Even through his heavy wool sweater, Lucien shivered.

For the third time in his life, the world has he had come to know it had been shattered. The first had been the robotic rebellion that claimed his family and friends while he had managed to slip away. The second had been the loss of the woman he loved. Now the third: that woman's return and all the horrors that entailed. Lack of sunlight and the constant stress of avoiding death or capture while searching for supplies for some fifty humans had finally broken his spiritual back, Cassie being the proverbial straw. All he could think of now was escape. A final escape. He swallowed to try and clear the lump in his throat as he thought about the release that awaited him. He wouldn't drown, he was sure of that. Or rather, he wouldn't be conscious of drowning. The waters were born of melting ice and snow, and hypothermia would do him in long before the waters filled his lungs and stole away the precious air. Even before his body might be dashed upon the rocks within those speedy rapids and carried further underground where there was no air at all anymore. That would be the best way to end it, he had decided; let the cold water seep away his warmth to leave him numb and unable to think.

Before he could jump, Cassie's voice echoed about the cavern. Lucien closed his eyes, not wanting to listen but unable not to. She forgave him. What a joke. She had no memory of them, nothing solid, so how would she know forgiveness??

"You don't understand," he called back with chattering teeth. "I. Gave. Up. Without you... there just wasn't any point, Cassie. I tried, I mean... I really tried to hold it together. I used...every excuse to try and keep on looking for you, even after Uncle called it quits. i thought... even if I couldn't rescue you... I could at least join you. Or get killed and not have to deal with it anymore. It... it just hurt too fucking much, Cassie." Lucien sniffed. "Toni will tell you I started sleeping with Pony then, but it's a lie. She started taking care of me because I wasn't taking care of myself. Then after... after you were declared lost, I had no one else to turn to but her. I failed you, and I failed myself, and I told myself it didn't matter because the only person worth being anyone for... had been you. And you were gone."

He laughed bitterly then. "But now... here you are again! And all I can do is... feel guilty. I should be dancing up and down, and shouting and jumping and hugging you... but I can't feel any of that. All I can feel is... how much I hate myself. I hate that I let you get captured, I... hate that I meant so much to you that you slammed that security door in my face to save my life. It didn't even have a glass window in it, Cassie. I couldn't even see your face to say goodbye! I hate what I've become, and I hate what they did to you, and I hate that you can't remember me, and I hate that I can't do anything about any of it."

"So give me a reason," he pleaded, "Give me one... good... reason why I shouldn't just jump and get it over with."

Found Alive

That's... actually perfect!

Slight delay in responding. My fingers are having a hard time getting out what's in my brain.

Found Alive

Somewhere dark and alone, probably a section of the caves much deeper than the rest. As for what? Cassie wouldn't really know since she's never seen him like this, but between you and me he's bordering suicidal right now.