The V.I.C.I Diaries - Broken (Part 11)

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The V.I.C.I Diaries - Broken (Part 11)

Post by DukeNukem 2417 » Mon Aug 08, 2016 6:50 am

You'll know.

The words still rang like church bells through Vicki's background thought processes, just as they had during the ride back to HQ. Even now, with a mission briefing about to be delivered, the brunette gynoid pondered those two simple words, and what they might possible mean for her mission---and for the fate of Epsilon.

She barely registered Alicia sliding into the chair next to her, looking worried. “Everything okay?”

“No,” the brunette gynoid croaked. “No, everything is not okay...or nothing is okay...I don't....”

Alicia sighed. “I get what you're trying to say, Vicki. This whole thing---”

“It's not this whole thing!” Vicki insisted. “It's....Epsilon, and Oberon, and now there's something that can kill us from the inside...” She gripped the armrests of her seat, as if breaking them in her grip could somehow wipe away the memory of what had happened to Casey. “All of this is getting....it feels like we're just going nowhere, while everything else is moving past us faster than we can track....”

“...it is a bit overwhelming, isn't it?” Alicia murmured. “All of this happening nearly at once....”

Vicki nodded silently.

“When you're right, you're right....” The House gynoid sighed. “We've got so many people running around out there,” she admitted, “on our side and however many other 'sides' there are....it's tough to keep track of them all without taking notes. Hell, I barely recognized half the people filing out when I got in here, earlier....” She brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, chuckling slightly. “I sort of envy the ones in the display windows, the ones they take pictures of for the catalogs.....”

Her comment earned a confused glance from Vicki.

“The 'display models',” Alicia clarified. “They....seriously, I never think of them as having to put up with stuff like this, All they have to worry about is looking good, and hopefully not getting bought by a complete toolbag, or anything like that....I mean, if they're even online while they're standing around, just waiting to....”

She stopped; Vicki was halfway slouched in her seat, tears streaming down both cheeks.

A “McArthur Park” joke died on Alicia's tongue as she moved closer to the brunette gynoid, draping one arm around her shoulder. “We can get through this,” she murmured. “I promise. Whatever happens next, all of us---the ALPA, the House....even the people at the Coalition who don't piss me off whenever I see them---we'll get through this.” She offered a reassuring grin.....

…which faded as soon as Vicki spoke: “....I....can't....

“Can't what? Vicki, what---whoa, okay....” Alicia nearly backed away, but decided instead to just let her fellow gynoid embrace her. “....whatever it is, you can do it...both of us are going to survive this.”

For a few minutes, the two sat in silence---one grieving for an inevitable tragedy, the other comforting a friend.

By the time others entered the room and took their seats, Vicki had dried her tears and given a silent nod of thanks to Alicia. If anyone else had actually seen the moment between them, they chose not to acknowledge it at all. It wasn't so much out of a callous “professionalism” that forbade the showing of emotion in times of crisis; in all honesty, it was simply a choice to not make a big deal out of one colleague choosing to console another. Vicki barely recognized any of the Field Agents who sat around her; they're probably bringing in as many people as they can for this, she mused.

“Any idea who's giving the briefing?” she quietly asked Alicia. “I don't see anyone...official-looking...”

Someone made their way to the front of the room just as Vicki's statement trailed off---mid 20s, not quite skinny but definitely disheveled, looking like a Kinko's employee on break. “We didn't have time to set up a formal presentation,” he mumbled, handing out spiral-ring binders to everyone. “These were printed up as fast as we could get them done....”

Alicia stared at the guy, her expression one of either amusement or possibly shock. “Binders?” she muttered, staring at the item in question. “Binders?!

“....we must have more people in the field than I thought,” Vicki realized. “A lot more...”

As if on cue, the Kinko's guy (as Vicki had mentally dubbed him) spoke up again: “Given the unusually high amout of agents active on field ops, all of you will be deployed on a case by case basis to handle other issues, regardless of clearance level...” He adjusted his glasses, clearly not comfortable with the position of temporary power that had he'd been put in. “....furthermore, all Field Agents must be on call for assignment at all times until the situation changes significantly. This may lead to a resultant....” He rode out the inevitable complaints from his “audience”; “....this may lead to a resultant need to skip college classes, cancel appointments or even miss family events...”

Vicki stared at the binder in her hands. “So this is what it's come to,” she murmured. “They're all after Epsilon, now....every Field Agent out there----”

“I'm surprised you're not wigging out about missing class,” Alicia replied.

“Believe me, I won't miss much,” Vicki deadpanned. “School has been a blur lately....two weeks ago, I had to literally go through my memories, manually, to remember who sat next to me in every class.....”

“You're sure that wasn't just good old distraction?” Alicia quietly asked. “I mean, this Epsilon thing---”

An outburst from someone a few seats away cut her off---apparently, they were set to join a patrol route on the same day they'd meant to camp out for the release of some new music album or another; Vicki wasn't paying attention to the details. It won't end until they find him, she realized. Until they find Epsilon, and....contain him.... Thoughts of Kirsten, an how overwhelmed she probably was by this, overwhelmed the brunette gynoid with an immense sadness. She doesn't even know how bad it is now.....

“....as soon as I find out who compiled these binders,” Alicia deadpanned, “I'm going to see how much they like having these spiral rings clamped on their....uh, Vicki, you do realize it's harder to read the briefing if the binder is on the floor, right?”

Indeed, the binder had slipped form Vicki's grasp during her rather melancholy introspection. “Sorry....I just...”

“You're worried. About a lot of stuff. I get it.” The House agent offered a reassuring smile. “If you weren't worried, I'd be worried---about your mental well-being, and all that....” She glanced back at her own binder with a sigh. “....but we'll make it through this Epsilon thing. All of us will...”

“What about making it through without a scratch?” Vicki replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Still flipping through the pages of her binder, Alicia gave a half-shrug. “Can't make any promises there, babe, but I'll do the best I can.” She grinned. “...speaking of, ah, promises....a certain someone just told me about how you caught them in an...intimate moment....”

The remark earned a silent stare from Vicki.

“For the record,” Alicia added, “the individual in question commends you for not mentioning it to anyone---”

A klaxon blared somewhere down the hall, cutting her off.

“Oh, for the love of....” Kinko's Guy shook his head even as he made his way to the door. “Another alert?!”

Vicki's reaction to the klaxon was more sudden: “It's a medical emergency notice. Coming from....” Without another word, she bolted out of her seat, with a thoroughly confused Alicia barely able to keep up. By the time the blonde gynoid reached the door, Vicki had already fallen into step with a group of paramedics making their way down the hall, asking questions without missing a step. “How long ago was the signal sent?”

“A few minutes. We don't have a lot of time.”

“He wasn't able to send the signal himself...Harcourt had to call it in---”

“Just got an update. He's losing a lot of blood....”

With every remark from the medics instilling a new jolt of fear into her thought processes, Alicia managed to get alongside them just as they reached their destination---the temporary office of Clive DuBraul, where the man himself was doubled over on the ground, blood staining his lips, his beard, his shirt and the floor in front of him. Cedric Harcourt stood nearby, wringing his hands and fighting back tears. “...he's still on the pills,” he muttered, “he hasn't missed a dose....”

Another figure---a young man, in a black, red-trimmed coat, black pants and Oxford shoes---shouldered past Alicia as she stood in the doorway, too shocked to speak. The medics parted to let the newcomer through; as he spoke with Cedric, the older man finally burst into tears, barely able to speak as he was led to a chair....

[RPB here. The House just got the news that there's been a situation.] The message, in Alicia's field of vision, did little to rouse her out of her dumbfounded shock. [Care to patch me through?]

[….just a sec.....] Alicia closed her eyes for a moment, opened them again....

….and in her ear, the voice of the Patriarch uttered a swear. [They're moving him now, Patriarch....they---]

[Who else knows?]

The three words of that question cut into Alicia's thoughts with a coldness she hadn't heard in a long, long time, and she could only reply with three more words, almost meaningless in their simplicity: [I don't know.]

[If word of this gets out....stay with them, Alicia. Make sure DuBraul survives the night, at least....]

[I don't really think his survival is in my hands....but I'll do what I can.]

[That's all the House could ever ask of you, Alicia.]

With the barest sound, the Patriarch's voice left the blonde gynoid's thought processes, just as Vicki brushed past her. “Another call just went out,” the brunette gynoid stated, not looking back. “Epsilon's been spotted, and someone else was tagged following him. If we leave now, we can track them both and make sure nobody does anything stupid.”

“....and what about Clive---”

“If you want to stay here and look after him, do it. I need to stop whoever's chasing Epsilon.”

The air of finality Vicki had become well known for left Alicia standing there, shocked into silence. “I'll...catch up with you when you get back, then,” she murmured, knowing that the Field Agent wasn't even listening to her anymore.

“....see you when you get back, then...” A sad sigh left the blond gynoid's lips. “Be safe, Vicki...”
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