Factory Reset: Divine Corruption

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty: Reconciling

Ja'Kle groaned as he sat back down upon Mason's bed, head swimming with thoughts and regrets. He felt incredibly tired, and he could barely move his body to go anywhere. His arm in the cast hurt, and he felt phantom pain from his missing finger. It was weird, having it missing.

Among those scattered thoughts, there were many about Mason, and his reactions. Ever since Ja'Kle had woken up, Mason had been incredibly protective of him, even going as far as to direct Gear-Work on how to operate on his body. It was... weird to say the least.

Not to say that Ja'Kle disliked the idea of Mason caring for him, very much the contrary, but those words that Marissa shared with him before the invasion rang true. He could see it written all over Mason's face. He was guilty.

Over what, Ja'Kle couldn't tell. Maybe it was not being there, maybe it was for not hearing anything. Or, maybe it was a combination of that and the council dying, though from what Ja'Kle heard about Mason's mutterings, he doubted the latter suggestion.

A knock resounded against the door, and not a second later did a protogen walk inside. It was one that Ja'Kle knew, as he had a conversation with her before. The light blue protogen Freefall. Her visor displayed an openly passive face as she entered, though the side of her curved visor slipped into a light frown.

"Hello." She told him coldly, holding a light gray tray filled with good smelling food and cold drinks. Her strong claws held up the entire dish, somehow steadying it. Ja'Kle stood up, grimacing as he did so.

"Hey-" Ja'Kle started to say as he balance himself, flapping his wings gently to regain his equilibrium. He scoffed, glancing back at his wings. He forgot about what had happened with them, and his technical 'evolution'. There was so much he forgot.

"Look, I'm not going to pretend that you're not an asshole." Freefall explained, her voice morphing from one of coldness to one of a certain... lukewarm tone, "But, what you did for Mason's sister, Hannah, was... well, it was a good thing."

Ja'Kle scoffed as Freefall allowed the tray to slide onto the smooth bed, the drinks rattling with the ice inside them. Ja'Kle stared at it hungrily, before stopping himself. This conversation with Freefall felt important, and he'd respect that. After all, he did knock her out.

"And for some strange reason, out Captain has the hots for you." She continued further, rattling her claws against her chest plate, "Which is utterly insane, and I don't get it, but I can somewhat see why. You're not helpless like he was, I guess."

Ja'Kle raised his eyebrows, and Freefall sighed. She turned, her long slender tail whipping back and forth in the air like a mad cat, "Look, you're a jackass, and a bastard, but you're a good bastard-jackass. And, well, I can respect that. I came here to say... to say that I'm sorry, I guess. I treated you a bit unfairly."

She quickly regained her aggressiveness before Ja'Kle had the time to process it, "That didn't mean you could knock me the fuck out!" She exclaimed, turning around swiftly, her visor glowing in that shade of light blue. Her tail fell to the ground and swished on it instead as she sighed.

"But, still, you did a good thing, I'm not going to take that away from you. We're all thankful for you, you know?" She asked, and Ja'Kle gave a perplexed expression, not knowing if he could talk at the moment. Either because he didn't want to anger Freefall, or because he didn't know what to say.

She began to walk towards the door, her claws clattering against the solid metal ground. She paused as she exited, one paw outside the room, one in, "And, well, I think you'd make an excellent partner for Mason. He said he wanted to explain some things to you later, so look forward to that. Bye."