Villainess

3.3

'I forgot how disgusting buses are...' Lorraine thinks, tastefully ignoring the moldy lollipop stuck to the seat next to her.

'When we first merged, I remember sensing that you rode a bus-'

'Hold up, hold up: you looked into my memories?' Lorraine feels a chill running up her spine, but it's most likely due to the unmovable windows blowing in the cool desert air.

'Duh. Everything is splayed out before systems at the moment of death for everyone. I thought you would've picked up on that after downloading others' memories,' 008 dryly laughs, causing a wrinkle between Lorraine's pale blond brows.

'I mean, it makes sense... I just never had time to think about the technicalities of me downloading others' memories...'

'You don't really need to.'  Lorraine can almost sense the system shrugging based off its tone. 'Just focus on your survival right now. If you have any burning questions that I have the ability to answer, save 'em for a rainy day.'

'Fine... what were you saying earlier? Something about me riding a bus?'

'Yeah... how did you do it? I know you had the music routine to time out the route, but on rainy days or when there were road accidents, it would be off.'

'I...' Lorraine paused, racking her memory. 'I... I can't remember.'

'Oh...'

Lorraine shifts, sitting up in her seat. 'Damn, I really can't remember. Like... like I remember the big things, like how my bedroom felt and how I'd time things out, but...'

'I'm... I'm sorry if I stressed you out, that was not my intent-'

'No, no, don't worry, this realization would've been inevitable,' Lorraine responds, turning her body. Outside, golden squares of light from the bus raced along murky blue sand, colored by the night. 'It's funny how much I can remember from the past two worlds that didn't belong to me, but how little I remember from my own.'

Without moving her gaze, she props her elbow up on the seat, setting her chin in the palm of her hand. 'And from when I could still see-'

'Lorraine-'

'I wonder if I'm even recalling my own parents' faces right, or if those have been muddled, too-'

'Eman, look at your elbow!'

'Huh?'

She glances down, noticing her right elbow is sunken into the seat she was leaning on. 

'What the f-' 

Lorraine yanks her arm back, but it's stuck. Shit. 

Quickly, she moves her head to look at the front of the bus, but the tired bus driver keeps his gaze only forward. Thank the gods she took a seat near the back...

'008, what time is it? And how far away is the next stop?'

'It's currently 7:08,  so we're about 6 hours or so out from Starsan. The nearest bus stop that this bus will pull up to is about 25 minutes away.'

Okay, that's not too bad... but my elbow is still stuck in this gross seat!

'You said I have superpowers, right? Is this one of 'em?'

'You have one ability, which is to phase through objects at your leisure,'  008 responds. 

'I thought I'd automatically know how to use my abilities? But why can't I get my arm out?!' Lorraine yanks once more with her elbow, trying not to get the bus driver's attention.