Tripwire

Chapter Eighteen

I couldn't get over myself. I still felt terrible for asking Daisy to cut herself. I know it wasn't my fault, but even then I was somewhat responsible.

It had been an hour since it happened. Elijah and I sat at the table, anxiously waiting for her to wake up. Ruby was knelt on the floor next to Daisy, a worried look in her eyes as she stroked the unconscious woman's hair.

"Ruby?" I ask, "Didn't you say you knew what you're doing?"

"I do, but she's done this too many times and I'm scared that one day... she'll most likely end up killing herself," Ruby answers.

I heard a gentle shuffling as Daisy slowly came to. Ruby wrapped her arms around Daisy in a tight hug as she slowly pushed herself upright.

"I... I'm sorry... he asked me to do it..." she mumbles weakly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"I know... I know... I just should've been more careful when giving you the knife..." Ruby coos softly.

"No... I shouldn't have dug it in that hard..." Daisy replies.

"You say that, yet you still do so whenever you have your hands on a knife. You're not a child, Daisy," Ruby says.

"Yeah..." Daisy answers.

Ruby let go of Daisy, and sat for a moment.

"You told them, right?" she asks.

"What..." Daisy mumbles.

"You did tell Orion and Elijah why we're here, didn't you?" Ruby asks again.

"I..." Daisy starts.

"She did," I chime in, "apparently the guy who runs the Outpost is gonna destroy the timeline or something?"

"Exodus, yes? And we need both of you to help us restore the timeline." Ruby explains.

"She said that too," Elijah adds.

"Yeah, uh, how do you want us to help exactly?" I ask.

"You know his weaknesses right?" Felix quizzes.

"Kind of? Daisy might know more than me, though. She's the one who managed to get close to him," I answer.

"True," he replies.

"Daisy?" Ruby says softly, "Do you know what Exodus's weaknesses are?"

"His weaknesses...?" Daisy mumbles, "Well, he... he has... a god complex..."

"So we just treat him like a normal person to piss him off?" I suggest.

"I'm afraid that's not going to work..." Ruby declares apologetically.

"Then what do you think we should do?" Elijah asks.

"It would be best if we go in armed, though we may need more people on our side," Ruby answers.

"What about your friends?" Daisy mumbles, absentmindedly staring at the wound on her arm.

"M-my friends?" I stutter.

"Yeah... aren't some of them, like, really strong?" she asks, looking up at me with tired eyes.

"Are you saying you want me to get them?" I ask.

"Well, if you know how to do it then yeah," she answers.

"He does. You're the main reason he knows how he's able to teleport," Elijah adds.

"Oh... yeah, I'm still sorry about that..." Daisy murmurs.

"Also, why was I unable to read your thoughts?" he asks.

"I... uh... F-... Earl-Grey made a special implant to prevent you from reading them. Just to make the whole 'killer-robot' shtick more believable, since all the guards at the Outpost are Vactaroids," she answers.

I shivered at the last part of her sentence. It made so much sense, but it's still a horrifying thought.

"So, you want me to do it now?" I ask again, hiding my fear.

"Duh!" she laughed sleepily.

I began thinking about the Outpost, and about my friends that were still back there. For a second, I thought it wasn't working. I didn't know whether it was thought or emotions that triggered it, and I began to grow worried.

"It's not working!" I cry.

Daisy cleared her throat and stared blankly at me with a familiar yet uncanny look in her eyes.

"Hello, Orion. Remember me?" she says in the monotone Adiys voice.

It sent a chill down my spine. How can someone so suave and playful like herself also be so scary and so void of emotion?

"Do you want me to kill your friends?" she continued, still in the voice of Adiys.

I began shaking angrily, and for a moment I forgot that Adiys wasn't real and I genuinely didn't want her anywhere near my best friends.

"ADIYS, NO!" I screamed, "STAY AWAY FROM THEM... PLEASE!"

My head spun and my vision became blurred. I could hear Daisy giggling proudly, though it was muffled like I was underwater. I felt a falling sensation for a split second before everything went black.