Reception

Chapter 19 - Digital Download

"That didn't seem too terribly difficult," said Alice, trying to hide her obvious pain.

"Don't move," cooed Damien, applying alcohol to her bullet hole. Alice winced, whimpering slightly.

The group had managed to return to Sarah's house. Along the way Joshua and Sarah had procured supplies from the local pharm-tech station.

"We are going to delete her, right? If so, can I push the button?" she batted her eyes at Sarah and Joshua before succumbing to the uncomfortable feeling of pain-numbing solution being applied to her shoulder.

"No, we're not going to delete her, sadly," replied Joshua, putting his TED back into his suit pocket, "Headquarters wants her contained and questioned."

Sarah folded her arms, "We still have a problem. What about Michael?"

"She's right," Damien said, dabbing at Alice's wound, "My best buddy is capture by some unknown group. Who knows what sort of nasty, evil things they're up to?"

Joshua chuckled a bit, "Nasty?"

Damien nodded, grinning, "Okay, maybe that was a weird word to use, but still..."

"I agree," whimpered Alice, "Michael getting caught was probably due to our coming out into the open."

"Our?" echoed Sarah.

"Yes," Alice's oceanic eyes landed on Sarah, "The Holos' movements are probably what prompted this attack. We've been at war with them ever since we went into hiding."

"Who?" Damien asked, stopping his medical task long enough to gaze into her eyes.

Alice, fighting a blush, inhaled deeply before responding, "The government."

Sarah scoffed, "The government? Really? You're saying that the government just attacked us?"

Joshua nodded, "Things are not like they appear, Sarah. It's a long explanation, but for now a very simple summary is we are the good guys and the government is playing the majority of the city-state for a fool."

Damien gulped as he returned to treating Alice's wound, "Joshua, I'm all set here. You said you can get the bullet out?"

Joshua nodded, shuffling around Sarah and switching with Damien, "Thank you. Yes, I'll take it from here." Joshua looked into the open hole where the bullet lodged itself, "Do you feel pain any longer?"

"Not really," mumbled Alice.

"Good, I'll take care of it," Joshua's voice was sweet like caramel and inviting as he picked up the deadly looking set of tweezers.

"Have at," conceded Damien as he took Sarah by the hand. "May I have a word with you?" Sarah nodded, her cheeks becoming a light pink, "We'll be right back."

Joshua waved them away without looking, "Oh, trust me, take all the time you need." Joshua looked at Alice, catching her eyes, "You're going to want to focus on not vomiting at the feeling. This won't be fun."

*****

Damien gingerly guided Sarah to the chilly late-October air outside. It was the same spot where he and Michael had had their conversation. The vines let Damien know the world hadn't changed, their grasp as firm as ever around the building upon which they grew.

"Sarah, I wanted to apologize," Damien started, his chocolate eyes full of sadness as he met hers.

"About what?" Sarah asked, her heart soaring as it danced in her chest.

Damien's grip on her hand tightened slightly, "I didn't want to hurt your feelings from earlier. In fact, the whole deal with Alice was to get more information. Maybe that wasn't fair to her, but-" he paused, making sure he wasn't saying anything wrong, "-but maybe that was wrong. It just ends up hurting Alice and you."