The ocean was calm and quiet, and gentle waves were rolling out across the sand towards her. The water played around her feet, pulling at the sand below them as it receded back. Somewhere in the distance, the sea melded with the fog. But the peace was an illusion. Something was out there, she could feel it, and it was coming for her. Two urges were fighting inside her – the urge to flee, to run away as far and fast away as possible, and the urge to head straight towards it.
Null? She could heard Lars' incorporeal voice as if he was right next to her.
Yes? She replied without averting her gaze from the sea.
What is this place?
His voice seemed closer than usual, if that was even possible, considering it was literally inside her head all the time.
What do you mean? She asked. Is this not one of your dreams? A memory?
Well, it certainly isn't one of mine...
What. What do you mean-
Reflexively, she turned around. She hadn't really expected to see anything, or, if anything at all, she had perhaps expected to see him like he was in his memories. She certainly hadn't expected that.
What the- she backed away, almost stumbling over her own feet as the waves tugged at them and stirred up the sand underneath them.
What is wrong? He asked.
"Lars, look at yourself!" she cried out.
"How exactly am I supposed to do that?" he asked, baffled.
And then, after a moment, the realization hit him. She could see it on his face. His face.
"You're-"
"How is this-"
How did we get here? What is this place?
Questions both spoken and unspoken whirled through the shared space between them, quickly blurring the line between his and her thoughts. The waves became more forceful now, pulling at her, calling her back toward the sea, and toward the fog.
"No, wait. Stop this," she said, in a vain hope to command the tide itself.
But the waters rose rapidly and relentlessly, reclaiming what belonged to the sea.
"Wait!" she screamed, and stretched out her hand towards him, but it was too late.
His eyes were wide with shock and fear as he reached out for her as well. Their fingers barely brushed against each other before the waves collapsed above her, swallowing her whole and throwing her back into the darkness.
~ ~ ~
She woke with a stifled cry, bolting straight upright and hitting her head against something so hard she instantly fell back on the surface she had been lying on.
"For fuck's sake", she cursed.
Well, it's good to hear you're still cursing like a sailor, despite our career as a space pirate having just taken a serious hit, Lars remarked.
That's not funny, she thought, rubbing her forehead. Where are we?
The brig, he explained, as she took in their surroundings.
It was a small cell, not more than two by two meters. She was sitting on the lower unit of a bunk bed and had hit her head on the upper one. Immediately, her hand went to the hidden pocket in her dress. The chip was still there.
Good, she thought. That means the General is still out and they haven't noticed yet that we have it.
I'm surprised by your optimism, he remarked. It's unlike you.
What's up with you, why are you so snarky? She asked.
....it suits you, he added, in a softer voice.
She furrowed her brow skeptically, but did not pressure him any further.
I don't remember how we got here, she realized.
That's because they knocked us out. They were quite scared of you.
Of us, you mean.
No. Of you, he asserted.
She could feel it now - besides the headache at the front of her head, there was a tingling at the back. The metal plate had probably protected her from any serious injury, but the sensation was not exactly pleasant. Still, the lump forming on her forehead where her head had hit the upper bunk was worse, and she rubbed a hand over the throbbing lump above her eyebrows while she took in the rest of their surroundings. The holding cell was old-fashioned, but the doors were electrical.
Wait a moment...They haven't realized that I'm an aug, it occurred to her. How stupid can they be?
Seems like you were right. People weren't paying much attention to your face after all, he remarked.
She smiled at the notion, despite the fact that he sounded somewhat cranky, and she still couldn't quite figure out why. And then, as sudden and brief as a flash of light during a thunder storm illuminating a nightly landscape, an image flickered through her mind. It was a just a snapshot, a memory of the dream she had had while unconscious. But it was enough to bring it all back to he forefront of her mind, where it lingered as a vague and hazy collection of shifting images. There were several other questions floating about in the periphery of her mind, but they all became of lesser importance right now.
Lars, that dream... she began to ask the one that really mattered. Where you really there?
He remained silent, and that was answer enough.
What was that? She asked.
I wish I knew, he said, back to his usual soft voice.
In that dream you were –
I know, he said wistfully. I felt it. It was strange. Different from this.
A few seconds of silence passed between them, and she found herself wondering whose dream it had been. Never before had they both been corporeal in a dream – either she had shared his memories from his times as an android, or they had dreamed as one, as Amy.
Null, he addressed her, pulling her out of her thoughts. What did it look like?
What did what look like? She asked.
....what did I look like, he clarified. She knew his voice better than anything in the world, but she had never heard him sound quite like that.
Bashful, she realized, baffled as she finally made sense of his tone. She wondered what was going on behind his side of the veil.
She rubbed her forehead again and winced in pain as she tried to remember. She attempted to conjure the image up in her head to show it to him, but it didn't work. The images danced out of focus and out of her grasp the more she tried to hold on to them, slipping away like sand through her fingers.There was only water and sand and lots of fog.
I... I don't know, she finally said. And yet I am so certain I saw you-
It's okay, he cut her short. Never mind.
But it bothered him, that much she could tell. He had fallen silent now, on his side of the veil, and she wondered what he was thinking about.
I saw you too, he finally said. You were different too.
Different? She repeated. How?
In contrast to her, he was able to visualize his recollection of the dream perfectly. She wondered if it was because he was an AI with perfect memory, or if it was because it had been his dream all along and she had only made a coincidental cameo in it. As his recollection of the dream came to life around her, it was almost as if she was back on that beach, but this time she stood on the other side. She was him, and she looked at herself, with growing disbelief. She held on to the image, even as he tried to take it back to the remote spaces where he stored his memories.
Null, he spoke her name, and she could feel goosebumps rise on their arms as she continued to stare at herself – her whole self. A woman with grey eyes and dark hair. No augments, no titanium plates, no implants. Just a human.
Null, he called her again. Focus. We need to get out of here.
Yes. Of course, she agreed, shaking her head vigorously to snap out of the powerful recollection. It caused the throbbing pain to worsen, but it did the trick. She was still in control of the body, so she got up and cracked her knuckles.
I have been looking forward to adding a prison break to the list of our felonies, she stated.
Your optimism continues to surprise, Lars replied. Just how hard did they hit our head?
Cut out the snark, she said, and tell me something useful about short-circuiting electrical doors instead.
Clearly, the brig had not been designed to hold an aug. Many things had changed about Amy Larsson since the time they had taken up that name, and among them were the interface augments she had gotten on New Elysium, along with the upgrades for the eye. They hot-wired the door effortlessly and simply walked out of the brig, knocking out two station guards patrolling a corridor further down along the way. They were back on track, although they would have to be much faster and more vigilant, now that people might be aware that 'Emerald Lakes' posed a threat. They still didn't seem to know exactly who or what she was though, and nobody seemed to have noticed her escape from the cell, so for now she proceeded with their plan as intended.
If we had the shoes now, I could use the heels to crack open that panel, she remarked.
If you had worn the shoes during that fight, you would have broken our legs instead of the bouncer's ribs, he said.
Just saying, she shrugged as she began to fashion a hook from one of the wires that had been holding up her complex hairdo, they're not completely useless.
She inserted the wire into the narrow crack between the panel and the wall, and after some fumbling, there was a click, and it came loose. She placed her hand on the switchboard below it, and allowed him to make adjustments to the positions of her fingers. Hacking was his specialty – he had tried to teach her, but she had found it difficult to leave behind her body completely for the sake of accessing cyberspace. Something was always holding her back, like a heavy anchor, so she couldn't reach very far.
Lars, on the other hand, maneuvered the networks they accessed effortlessly, every single time. The wires running along their arm were invisible underneath their skin, but now they felt as if they were pulsating softly, like veins pumping blood. Instead, they transferred a part of him to the circuits below her hand.
She was always worried about him when he did it, but she tried not to make him feel it. Somewhere, deep down below her rational thoughts, she had this eerie fear that he would one day simply seep out of her, leaving her alone inside the shell again, and never come back.
I'd never do that, he remarked, and she could feel her cheeks flush with color.
She hadn't meant for him to hear those thoughts. She hurried to hide them behind the veil, as she entered the station manager's office they had just broken into.
Seems like everyone is still at the party, Lars remarked as she cast a glance on the surveillance monitors.
What are we looking for? She asked as she sat down at the terminal.
First, our own arrival records, he explained. May I?
Of course.
She let him take control, and their fingers started to fly across the old fashioned keyboard at what seemed to be an impossible pace. Somewhere halfway through his endeavor, he put a hand on the CPU while the other never stopped typing. Simultaneously, he continued to manually manipulate the data, reading and altering files on the screen with lightning speed, and sifting through the files in that virtual space that she could not access. It was one of those moments where she could only sit back and watch him in awe as he worked his magic. It was beyond her comprehension how he was able to do all that, with just a human body. Well, an augmented human body, but still. It was quite fascinating.
Good, he said, abruptly relinquishing control back to her. Time to go.
You have everything? She asked in disbelief.
She hadn't been paying attention for barely a minute, and in that time he had successfully obtained almost as much data than the entire crystal chip in her pocket contained.
Are you doubting me?
I'd never dare to, she replied with a smile as she rose to her feet.
Ridding themselves of the shoes had resulted in another advantage, she realized, as she snuck through deserted maintenance corridors noiselessly. Somehow all of this reminded her of a day several months ago. It had been one of the first times they had embarked on a serious illegal endeavor, the first step in a plan that had ultimately led to the capture of their first ship, which they had later traded for the vessel that was now known as the Blackstar.
Back then, she had gotten themselves into a fight through a stupid mistake, but in contrast to today, she was the one to end up with several broken ribs. She had barely managed to get away, and they had to flee through a corridor not much unlike this one.
He sensed what she was thinking about, and conjured up his own recollection of the events.
Lars, I don't think I can do this, she had confessed to him, as she sunk against a wall, overcome by the waves of pain spreading through her chest with every breath.
Yes you can, he told her. It is just pain. It will pass.
She groaned. Easy for you to say.
How about I take control so you can rest for a while?
No. At this rate, you're gonna tear the shell apart. I don't think we can survive another brawl like that.
I would never let that happen, he said with that familiar softness in his voice.
He had made it easy to believe. And so her ragged breathing had calmed, easing the pain.
I promise to be careful, he had whispered, And I will get us out of here.
We've come a long way since then, he now commented on the memory.
Less soft, I believe you called it, she remarked.
And now look at you, getting us out of here all by yourself, he said proudly.
Well, I had a little help back there with the cell door, she admitted. And that guard who came at me from a dead angle. And that office door. And the terminal.
Sorry... his voice sounded rueful. He knew how important it was for her to do this mission according to her plan. There was more than one reason why it had to be like this, and she hoped that in the long run, it would work out as intended. They needed the information on that chip, but even more so they needed nobody to know that it was Amy Larsson who had stolen it.
Don't worry, I'm glad you were there to help me. I know I asked to have my turn, but... we're a team. I should have known I couldn't do this alone.
Neither could I, he stated.
She smiled, thinking of an old saying that floated around somewhere in that area of their mind that didn't quite belong to either of them: The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
This Amy Larsson really is some badass bitch, huh, she thought.
She is indeed.
Minutes later, Amy Larsson had successfully infiltrated the station command center. There was one last thing to do before they could leave.
This time, she accessed the terminals herself. They had intruded sufficiently deep into the secure parts of the station that the security measures on the terminals were less elaborate.
Tell me again why we are doing this, he asked, and she stopped in her movements.
What, are you getting old or something? she teased him. Forgetful?
No. I just want to hear you say it.
There was something strange to the tone of his voice, an uneasiness that was unfamiliar to her and made her hesitate for a moment. She shook her head softly to get rid of the feeling that welled over from his side of their mind, and began to type again.
"We're going to blow up the nastiest part of this godforsaken place," she muttered under her breath as she moved her fingers over the keyboard, "The ventilation ducts on deck twelve will be flooded with hydrogen, whereas the oxygen levels on the deck itself will gradually increase. Then we're going to use a structural weakness on the outer hull of the station to break a power relay, causing an explosion. An estimated one hundred and twenty high ranking members of the Neo Tokyo elite will tragically die in the ensuing fire."
Very well, he lauded her like a teacher a student.
Now you make me feel like it wasn't my idea but yours, she commented.
No. I just want you to be fully aware of the repercussions of what we are doing here.
She leaned back in the chair and stared at the screen for a moment. It was all set up – one last input, and the hydrogen supply lines would overflow, then the explosive charge that they had placed on the outside of the station would begin its countdown.
What do you mean?
Her hand hovered over those last few input keys. She could feel her pulse accelerate as he seemed to tense up, incorporeal inside her mind, and yet very physically.
Amy Larsson is many things, he explained. Currently, she is a pirate. A thief. A smuggler. A raider. A spy for New Elysium. But once she activates that sequence...
She will become a terrorist, she thought. Yes, I understand that. But then again...
She folded her hands together and closed her eyes for a moment, shutting out the world around them and joining him on a deeper level inside their mind.
...if Lars and Null did a proper job, it will take them a couple of weeks to figure out that Amy Larsson was ever here at all, she noted. And in the meantime...
...we are free to progress toward out next goal, he completed her sentence.
A memory crept over from his side of their mind. It was the ship, in all its terrifying glory. The Aphelion.
Our next goal? She asked as she opened her eyes again. She didn't understand. The Aphelion was the goal.
What, he said, and she could sense him smirk now, once again very physically. Don't tell me you wanted to steal one of the most powerful military vessels in the entire galaxy from underneath the noses of Neo Tokyo's elites, only to use it to patrol the borders of New Elysium until the end of our days?
Oh, she exclaimed, as he unfolded his idea before her in a vivid spectacle. Ohhhh!
How silly of her to think that he wouldn't have everything planned out down to the tiniest detail by himself already.
And yet, she thought to herself as she peered past the veil at the things he kept there, carefully organized and structured, he agreed to go along with my plan...
Because it was a good plan, he explained, as she once again failed to keep her thoughts from him. Well, except for your choice of shoes perhaps.
You will never shut up about those shoes, will you, she groaned.
No, he affirmed. I hate them. And I hate it when you make us walk in them.
Hate is a very strong and passionate word, she pointed out. I don't think I've heard you use it before.
He fell silent at her remark, receding behind the veil. It made her feel quite lonely whenever he did that. She had come to understand it as his way of pouting.
She sighed and reached for the interface panel again, but her hand remained hovering above the keys. It was shaking. It was a grand plan the she had concocted, and an even grander plan that he had now put on top of hers. She couldn't do it alone. It was silly of her to believe she could do anything alone, but if this mission had taught her one thing, it was that she didn't have to, and never would have to again.
So... off to new shores, I suppose? she asked hesitantly after a while, softly poking at his presence in her mind.
He returned from behind the veil like the sunlight breaking through a blanket of thick clouds. She could feel confidence flow through her, washing over her like a flood that he brought with him to their body as he joined her again. They were both in control now, a symbiosis of two minds that thought exactly alike in that moment, despite their differences.
Aye-aye, Captain! he said, as they initiated the sequence together.