DOOM SAGA I - I'll be home tomorrow

Day 167

The Fortress

His eyes ripped open at the sound of a bone-shattering outcry. Alarmed he jumped to his feet and darted around the doorframe from the outside where he had been sitting. He rubbed his sticking eyes, the fine salty crystals scrubbed his skin. She kicked wildly and tossed her arms around, crying in pain and discomfort. Only now he saw the display gloom red as her temperature had risen dangerously. He couldn't even understand how her body was able to burn so much energy after all.
He hesitated, thinking, frowning. The number was high. Awfully high. And he could not even imagine the pain it did to her, let alone the damage.
She would not thank him for what came next, while he quickly picked her off the wet sheets, holding her tightly as she fought against him. He braced himself as he hauled her to the shower and with the swift push of his elbow let cool water pour down on them. She hollered and nearly slipped from his grasp, clawing into him, trying to get over his shoulders like a frightened cat. He was focused on the display, checking if her heart was playing along for that shock on the system. Her back buckled and he could feel all her muscles twitch uncontrollably as if the water was poison to her. He himself shivered a little too, though the water was only temperate. He hadn't noticed his own body burning mildly as well. It had only taken a minute or two to cool her down, her body already relaxing in his hold, while all he could hear were quick and quiet gasps.
He let himself sink to the floor, his back sliding down the wall, and made sure her head was secured under his chin so she would not accidentally swallow any water. Her temperature had gone down by a full digit, but it was dangerous yet. Hold on just a little longer, he thought.

He woke up with a start, letting his head fall back into the sheets, frowning from his restless dreams. He hated sleeping like this. He hated the dreams. But she was pulling him along every night. On Earth, it would be even before dawn right now. His hand groping its way over to the other side of the mattress found nothing. His head stretched high as he scanned the room, ears sharp. Stuff had been rummaged, her notebook had fallen face down off the drawer. How deep had he been sleeping? He grabbed the monitoring system, she still had a temperature but everything else was fine. Her puls was a little quicker indicating to him that she was moving or something. Following the bearing, which pointed to a spot on the stairs that lead to the command room in the main tower, he wondered what she was doing there. She lay on the steps, a thin blanket pulled tight around her, in her arms she held a little thing packed in brown paper. He brushed the hair out of her face to take a look at her, but she didn't open her eyes. Instead, she pressed the package closer to her chest and tugged the blanket over it. What was it she had wanted to do?
She had come far and it must have taken her an immense amount of energy. But he picked her up without any resistance, only her face showing her frustration about it. It must be important to her. He walked up the staircases and she looked up at him confused. He sat her down in the middle of the room and waited for her to do whatever it was.
"Mh!"
She pushed against him.
"Mhmhh!", she croaked and flailed her arms at him. He leaned out of her reach and as he still didn't understand what she wanted she pulled him back in and covered his eyes with her palms. He sighed tiredly. A secret, of course. He softly picked her cold hands off his face and nodded. He walked back through the hallway as a bright hue began to shine on his back. Forcing himself not to turn around he thought about continuing his rest for once as a calm voice spoke.
Hello, Io. It has been some time. Do you like to continue your project?
The AI was restricted to only the command room by him, yet seemed to know what it was all about. But the girl wanted to keep it a secret. He didn't like it. He didn't like the thought of secrets between them, though he had enough on his own. He felt restlessness growing inside him. His hands started to fidget, his muscles working as he walked on. He needed to let it out somehow, this irritating heat like embers in his stomach, before it would set him ablaze.