Core Memory (Lolix)

Chapter Nineteen

"Sorry that I had to disappoint you there, Grif," Felix said, shrugging as the other tensed at his name being said.

"How the hell did you even survive that? I mean, there's no way, you have to be a hallucination, right? Two, grenades and a fucking fall off an entire cliff! How did you even live?" Grif questioned, not even noticing Locus coming up from behind him.

"I can assure you that he didn't come out of that fall completely unscathed."

"Fucking shit don't come up on me like that!" Grif screeched, moving away from the doorway, but still far enough to keep a good distance between him and Felix.

"Yeah, talking about a fucked up back, scars, head trauma, and oh the best part, amnesia!" Felix cheered sarcastically, waving his hands with an overly 'done with this shit ' look on his face even though it wasn't evident to the other two.

"Felix..."

"Oh, so it's Felix now, huh? What happened to Isaac?"

Locus was about to give a gruff reply, but Grif had beaten him by opening his mouth first.

"Wait, so you don't remember anything? Then how the fuck do you know my name?"

Felix sighed, tapping the side of his helmet, "I have audio and visual logs, you idiot. I'm almost caught up with them, so I know about you, Simmons, Tucker, and whoever the hell else there was that I'm forgetting about right now."

Grif shifted from where he stood, glancing between the two mercenaries. "So, you're really not here to kill us? I mean...We blew you over a cliff, man. It's hard to believe there are no hard feelings there."

He stood from his spot on the bed, walking over to Grif who backed himself into a corner, leaning down a bit. "Would you rather me kill you? I was pretty crazy back then, so I can understand why you guys would do it, y'know, with me about to destroy a planet and all, but if you want me to kill you, I can very much do so."

"That's enough," Locus grunted, pulling Felix away from the other orange-colored male.

"I was just joking!" Felix huffed, roughly pulling himself out of Locus's hold.

"I'm not asking for you two to get along, but at least try to make it an easy ride." The taller of the three of them said through gritted teeth before turning back towards the front of the ship, leaving the other two alone in the room.

"So...You hungry?"

"You fucking bet."

---

"Alright, so as soon as I get in, I distract them, right?" Grif asked for the third time already from his spot at the door.

"Yes, that's the plan," Locus said with a tired sigh. "Felix?"

"Yeah?" He popped up, hopeful that he'd be able to come along.

"Watch over A'rynasea while we're gone."

"Wh- No way! I wanna come with!" He immediately protested. Why the fuck wouldn't Locus want him to come with? He's dragged him on every other mission or fix-up so far, what makes this one so different?

"No. Not this time." Was all he had gotten as an answer before Locus had cloaked.

"Sorry, buddy," Grif said, shrugging as he started to walk away.

"Wait! C'mon Grif let me come with you!"

He stopped in his tracks, turning to Felix as if he had just suggested something insane. "And what, have Locus beat my ass for letting you in? No way, being a distraction is enough of a death wish for me."

Felix's shoulders slumped, "To think I even gave you some food on the way here."

"Fine, fine. I'll leave the door open just a little bit, but if he asks how you got in you better not fucking mention me."

"I won't!"

---

Why was it so hard to find where everyone was in this damned place? The hallways were empty, the only noise being the whirs of the nearby machines. Did they even really need to come here if it was this much of a fucking ghost town?

Turning down another corridor, he could hear voices near the end. Quickly, he moved up against the wall, holding the pistol Locus had given him earlier close to his chest as he slowly made his way down.

"Are you okay? Can you guys fight?"

The voice sounded familiar. It wasn't Locus's, but Felix knew he had heard it from somewhere before. The same went for all the other voices he could hear. It seemed like Locus had succeeded in finding the troopers, but where was he then?

"They must have moved out and left a skeleton guard to watch the cells."

There he was!

Felix slightly eased as he peeked his head over the corner, looking at the others gathered around one another. Sure enough, Locus was among them.

"A decent plan...Considering-"

"Oh! Big B is back! He even brought a friend, hi Felix!"

Fuck.

"What?"

Locus was pissed, he didn't even have to see his face to know that. Just the way the male had gone silent, how rigid he stood as Felix's name was said, he was pissed. He regretted not staying on the ship. Not only that, but all eyes were on him as well.

"Either we're all collectively hallucinating the same ghostly figure of Felix, or this guy doesn't know how to stay dead."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Locus growled, turning to now look at Felix, who shrunk back under his gaze. "What part of stay on the ship did you not understand?"

"I-I just wanted to come with! You can't just act like we haven't been traveling together for the past fucking year! I thought we were doing this shit together!"

The troopers glanced between one another as Tucker held up his sword a bit in defense, ready to fight if Felix decided to pull something. Grif was oddly quiet as well, but only because he knew he had a part to play in this too.

Locus slowly walked up to Felix, up close, and leaned down. "Leave."

"No." Felix retorted.

Another growl escaped Locus's throat, and the next thing Felix knew, he was shoved aside, with Locus cloaking and walking away. Again.

"Talk about a fucking lover's quarrel."

Felix let out a small, shaky breath before turning to look at the others. Sure enough, they were all there. He could recognize every single one of them.

"Let me guess, you're turning over a new leaf too? I mean, come on, why couldn't you have just stayed dead instead?" The teal one, Tucker, said with an irritated voice. Honestly? Felix couldn't blame him either.

"Listen, I know I did horrible shit before, I get that, but when I say I don't remember doing any of it, I mean it. It's not an excuse, but at least be a little easier on me." Felix sighed, "I got picked up after my fall, couldn't walk properly for a long ass time, head trauma, all the fun shit, alright? So it's not like I walked by without injury. I know an apology won't cut it for what I did, but I'm sorry."

There was a small bit of silence before the darker blue one, Caboose, spoke up, "I forgive you!"

"Caboose! You don't just forgive someone so easily like that!" Tucker then scolded, before returning to look at Felix. "Look, I trust Locus more than I would ever trust you, but if what you're saying is true, then let's just get along. For now. Just enough for us to get the fuck out of here alive, alright?"

"Sounds perfectly fine to me."