The Heart Darkens

Am I Alright?

He closed his eyes, and opened them again. Once again, back to his roots. Back where he belonged, and couldn't escape. The room around him obscured as he went into his memories, slowly fading into darkness as a beacon of light in the shape of a window raised itself in the corner of his mind. The only light he had. Matthew had found himself in the Dark Room again. A place in his mind which he felt was bound to him. Who could forget what he'd been through? He had forgotten to take his pills throughout his mission, and now, he was back where he belonged. At least there waa a chair for him, now. 

He walked through the dark as clouded figures manifested from the walls around him. He ignored their screaming for the most part. He put his hand on the chair as he heard his mother's voice call out to him through the countless figures, in absolute agony. He inhaled with pent-up frustration, before sitting down in the seat, and leaned forwards toward the mirror he began to stare into. As much as he had grown to endure this place, it was the deepest part of him. He couldn't endure for much longer. His vision broke, as the clouded figures put their hands on him, he struggled not to break. Every calling of his name, "Matthew, Matthew!" Over and over again, never stopping, it was still enough. He screamed out in rage, a large roar boasting from him, before it cut off.

He opened his eyes. He was back on the seat in the escape helicopter, as it landed through a sealed hatch in the ground, and down on a landing pad. He was back in TECH HQ. He expected people would be all over him by the time he stepped out of the aircraft.

He slid open the side door to the helicopter, viewing the room before groaning and holding his thigh. The adrenaline he had gotten made him forget he'd been grazed, and stabbed. Not good. What was slightly more relieving to see was two aircraft workers attempting to assist him out of the helicopter as he stepped out, alongside Dr. Clarke and Sam entering the room to greet him. Matthew held up his hands to the workers to show he was fine. 

"I'm fine- i'm fine... I can walk." He hastily assured, stepping out of the helicopter and walking forwards with a limp. The workers gave a scoff and walked away to refuel the helicopter as Matthew headed towards the two in front of him. Matthew got out the memory drive to hand to Sam while Dr. Clarke immediately inspected him for injuries.

"Get this to the translators. I didn't have time to get all of it but it's the stuff that matters, I think." He said to her, holding out the drive. She took it and looked back up at him.

"What about their base?" She asked, looking at the memory drive in satisfaction but also in mild concern for Matthew.

"It was a railyard. Nothing too implanted for them to move. Chances are they're expecting us now so they've probably moved. My uh, exit wasn't exactly the best..." He admitted reluctantly. He was supposed to be better than that. Sam shook her head.

"My friend, we could already infer that. You are extremely lucky, I mean, the amount of bullets that just scratched you... It's something I can treat, certainly, but it's something I’ve never seen!" Dr. Clarke pointed out. "However, that limp tells a different story..." He said, looking down at his left leg, blood over the black pants where he was stabbed. "You are coming with me." Matthew rolled his eyes.

"Listen, Sam, you were right, they are more advanced than what we had thought. They're building something." He said, as he was taken by the hand again and out of the room. "Look on the drive, it's the key to figuring out what's going on!" Were the last words he said, before he was taken out of sight and to Dr. Clarke's lab. Sam looked down at the memory drive once more. As much as Matthew had caused a ruckus to Pestilence, he had helped TECH more in his first mission than any other TECH agent had, even Tenac. Maybe, she thought, he was the one to finally end this long feud between the two forces. But at what cost?