As soon as they reached the border of Armenia, Perrie's time device blinked and she knew, it was Jesy trying to contact them. She pressed a button, and a hologram of an annoyed-looking Jesy appeared in front of them.
"Where are you lovebirds?"
"Just passed the border," Perrie answered. "Where are you?"
"We're at the Victoria Bridge. Meet us here as soon as possible."
Perrie nodded, "Copy that." She then swerved around the next conjunction.
"How are you familiar with all the places?" Jade inquired.
Perrie turned her head momentarily to Jade where the brunette saw a thin circle formed on the center of the blonde's right eye pupil. "I'm not familiar, I'm just scanning the place."
"Of course, you can do that!" Jade flails her arms up before dropping them freely on her lap. "You have a portable GPS in your eye. Why didn't you use it the first time we went to Jesy's hideout in Kansas?"
"Jesy's cabin does not exist in any digital form of map or GPS. She kept it hidden from modern technology. The same with her hideout in this place, and her other hideouts all across time. That's why we're going to meet her at the bridge."
"Oh, wow. You guys are dope!"
Perrie slowed down which caused Jade to look ahead the road. Sure enough, they were approaching the bridge. Jade could make out the halo headlights of a black vintage muscle car parked nearby. She also saw Jesy get out from the driver's seat, waving at them.
"Get in my car!" Jesy instructs them.
Perrie and Jade both got out of the supercar and left it on the side of the road before riding Jesy's classic 1964 Pontiac GTO. As usual, the car doesn't look like it could go over 200 miles per hour, but knowing Jesy, it's just a cover. The car's engine roars almost like the Maserati that Perrie and Jade stole.
Jade noticed that most of Jesy's hideouts are located in a forest because they made a left turn to a rocky and uneven road. The ride ought to be bumpy but Jesy could care less, she was still driving crazy fast when she suddenly hit the brakes abruptly. If it hadn't been for the seatbelts, her passengers would've kissed the car's windshield.
"What the–" Leigh looks at Jesy who stared ahead, frozen in place. She looked like she saw a ghost.
When Leigh looked at whatever Jesy was staring at, she saw a woman standing a few feet away from the car with a rocket-launcher that looked like it was installed on her left arm, aimed and ready to shoot at them at a moment's notice.
Perrie's eyes widened at the woman, while Jade remained clueless who that woman is.
"Tay-Tay..." Perrie managed to say out loud.
"She's not your Tay-Tay anymore, Pez," Jesy reminded her.
"You think she'll shoot us?" Leigh asks.
"I know that look. And yes, she'll shoot us!" Perrie blurts out. "WE NEED TO GET OUT, NOW!!!"
Even before they had the chance to open the car, Taylor launched the small anti-tank rocket their way. Their eyes widened while Jade closed her eyes shut, gripping hard on Perrie's hand. She didn't notice that the blonde was hugging her while the rocket was fast approaching them.
And when all of them were expecting to be done for, Jesy and Perrie's door swung open from the outside. They all looked at who the mad person was.
"You have exactly eight seconds to exit the car. MOVE!!!" Taylor ordered.
Jesy scrambled out, followed by Leigh-Anne, then Perrie who was aiding Jade out the car. They immediately ran to where Jesy and Leigh were already hiding.
In just a few seconds, they heard a loud explosion, the ground shook a little, a couple of gravel splattered all over the place. The smoke from the explosion engulfed the air. Everyone was so confused at what just happened.
When the air cleared out, they saw what's left of Jesy's Pontiac. What they weren't prepared to see were four burnt bodies inside the car.
"Now they think you're all dead." They all turned around to find Taylor with a large cut in the middle of her chest, there were severed wires that sparked every now and then.
Perrie observed her for a moment, and she saw that the Taylor in front of her is her sister, not the killing machine. She ran to Taylor and was about to hug her, but she hesitated.
"It's me, Pez..." Taylor smiled. Perrie smiled back at her causing Taylor to rest her arm over her sister's shoulder. "I removed and fried my motherboard to free myself from the Faction's control. And so that they won't be able to trace me and see everything that I do. So, I'm sorry if I look like a zombie right now."
"Those bodies...who are they?" Jesy inquired.
"Just some random corpses in my fridge." Taylor answered.
Perrie raised her eyebrow, "Random corpses in your fridge?"
"I kill people now, Pez. People like scavengers." Taylor reminded her.
"You kept their bodies in the fridge?" Perrie questioned, her mouth slightly agape.
Taylor only shrugged, "No body, no crime."
"But...you were working with them...the Faction."
"That was just a cover, dear sister." Taylor removed her arm from Perrie's shoulder and walked ahead. "You've been gone for too long, Pez. Not just you – all three of you. A lot has happened to me in Exobase City. The Faction has been corrupted. The Chief is dead. Everyone wants to lead. The system is broken."
Taylor stopped walking when she sensed the four women didn't move. "It's going to be a long walk to your place, Jesy. Do y'all want to stay here in the woods? Or y'all want to know what went down?"
"What went down." Jesy answered.
"Then, walk with me." Taylor encouraged, then they all followed her.
"How did you do that back there?" Leigh asked. "I saw you fire the rocket at us, and yet you helped us get out of the car before it exploded."
"The one who fired at you was just a part of me – a hologram," Taylor explained. "I may not be the same Taylor who used to make paper airplanes with silver glitters on them, but I won't kill you even after they ordered and programmed me to do just that. I'm not stupid. I know I'm going to be just one of their 'collateral damage' once they don't need me anymore."
"So, you're what now, like Perrie? Half-A.I., half-human?" Leigh asked.
"I'm the one who replicated Perrie's A.I. side. Having the ability to keep my human-side, was my choice. I figured it all out."
"But you fried your motherboard, what will happen to you next?" Perrie inquired.
"I'll shut down in two or three days."
"What do you mean shut down?" Perrie pressed further.
"I'll die," Taylor simply answered.
They all went silent at Taylor's answer. Jesy hugged herself, Leigh slowed her pace. Jade wanted to hold Perrie's hand to comfort her, but she doesn't know if Perrie was okay with that.
Perrie furrowed her brows, stomped forward, stopping in front of Taylor. "No!! You're supposed to go back to your regular, human self!"
Taylor looked at Perrie, "That's not how it works, honey. Once you become an A.I., there's no going back to being human. The motherboard is connected to my heart, you know that. The heart can't handle the A.I. part of your body, that's the motherboard's job."
"There's got to be another way!" Perrie's voice was shaky. "You can't just die!!"
Jesy pursed her lips, "There is another way." They all looked at Jesy who was walking beside Leigh-Anne. "If we can find the person who designed it, we can ask them to create another motherboard for you."
"I only have two days," Taylor refreshes their memory.
"I'll do it. I'll find that person." Perrie volunteered.
"No–" Taylor was about to rebut when Perrie stopped her.
"I will find that person!"
Perrie fishes out the time device from her pocket. She was about to press on the button when Taylor stopped her. They had an intense staring contest of some sort, Perrie's hand was shaking as Taylor was keeping her from pushing the button.
Taylor knows her sister very well, what she wants, she will get – no matter what the cost is. Finally, Taylor let go of Perrie's hand. "You've already found...her." She released a breath she'd been holding.
Perrie's eyes grew wide but her brows furrowed in confusion. Then, Taylor looks at Jade. Perrie did the same, along with Jesy and Leigh-Anne. Jade wasn't sure what's going on. Then, they all looked back at Taylor.
"Jade Thirlwall originally designed your motherboard which is actually called The Microcircuit." Taylor revealed.
Perrie's jaw plummeted to the ground. They all went silent, nobody made a sound, not even a clearing of a throat. All they heard was the chirping of the crickets and low hoot of a nearby owl.
"M-Me? But...h-how is that possible?" Jade finally spoke. "I'm only an expert in car repair and upgrades."
Taylor looks at Jade. "Right at this time, yes – you're just a mechanic. But thirteen years from now, you're a different person – a monster when it comes to technology."
"How are you sure it was me?"
Taylor paused for a while before answering, "Your name was encrypted in the system of the microcircuit. When I decoded it, I found the year when you designed it. So, I traveled back there and found you. We've already met...I mean, I met the future you."
Everyone else was still silent, trying to digest everything that Taylor was telling them. However, that wasn't entirely true.
"The Faction wanted you all dead not because you guys went rogue, or because they think you've already found the group of scientists who made the red mercury bomb. They were never after those scientists anyway, they're after Jade."
"I don't understand," Perrie furrowed her brows. "If they want Jade dead–"
Taylor shakes her head, "No. They only want all three of you dead, not Jade," Taylor corrects her. "My mission is to kill you, Jesy, Leigh, and retrieve Jade to bring her to Exobase City, so she could create more A.I. soldiers. Not like your design, Perrie, but pure A.I. – the type that only answers to the Faction's orders – a real killing machine."
"But...even if you get me to Exobase City, I don't have the knowledge to create this kind of technology. At least, not yet." Jade voiced out.
"Uh...with the technology in our time, the Faction can play with your brain," Taylor informed her. "The idea to create the microcircuit has always been there in your brain, regardless of time and the place you're in. They can extract that knowledge from your mind."
Perrie heaved a deep sigh as she held her head from the amount of information she gained today.
"So...what now?" Jade asked. "I want to help you. Create another microcircuit, but I don't know how." They all looked at Taylor, waiting for her answer.
"Wait...you said you replicated Perrie's microcircuit, why not do it again? You can do it again, right?" Leigh asked, a little hopeful.
Taylor shakes her head, "I didn't want anyone from Exobase City to have the prototype, so I destroyed it."
It was obvious that they all felt dejected, especially Perrie. While Jade was deep in thought. There has to be another way to save Taylor.
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♫ Where Are You? - Elvis Drew x AVIVIAN