Red vs. Blue: Northern Wind

Theta

Red, blue, purple, and pink. Randomly alternating lines of those colors surrounded him, changing course constantly and creating a mesmerizing pattern against the deep black void inside of North's neural implant. Theta knew this wasn't physical; it was only a space he had imagined to keep himself relaxed while North was asleep. The lights were the same colors as him, so they felt familiar. The faniliarity helped him feel secure. Sometimes Theta liked to do calculations in his head as a way of keeping himself occupied at night. When North was asleep, it was all he could really do. Artificial intelligence programs couldn't sleep, so he was out of luck.

He sometimes remembered Delta, which also helped somewhat. Delta was like him, except he didn't have the same anxious nature. He was more logical and seemingly always knew what to do. Theta wanted to be a kind of program like him. But he and Agent York disappeared months ago after the break-in. Delta was long gone. Now Theta was, once again, alone.

But now that there was quiet, Theta had a chance to figure out what was wrong with North's shield unit. The colored patterns became particles that flew away, disappearing. An oversized projection of the shield unit materialized in front of Theta. He began tinkering with it, searching for the problem. Fragments of metal were removed, wires were disconnected. Every time Theta thought he had figured it out, he found something that said otherwise. But he had to keep searching; if he didn't, North would be unable to repair the unit. If he was unable to repair the unit, he would die. Theta continued his examination, humming lightly to himself as he did so. Then he found the problem: part of the metal casing had splintered and fractured a wire. This seemed obvious now, but that didn't matter. Now Theta needed to find a solution.

He experimented with different tools, all of the ones he could think of. All of his testing led him to the same conclusion: the wire needed to be replaced. But where could there be a replacement wire? Theta pondered this as deep orange light began to creep in. He turned around to see the sun's rays lightning up the void he stood in. It was morning now; North would be awake soon. Now he just stood, watching as the sky slowly became a mix of purple and orange, red and blue. They were his colors, red and blue. Theta wasn't really sure where they came from, or even where he came from. All he knew was that he had come from somewhere, someone. But he could never seem to figure out what. It worried him; normally, he could figure stuff out in a few minutes, maybe even a few days sometimes. This time, however, Theta was stuck. It was like a part of him was missing, and that part was what he needed to find the answer to these questions.

Theta was snapped out of his thoughts by North calling for him. The projection of the shield unit dematerialized as the void turned into an environment of dirt, rocks, and trees.

"Good morning, Theta," the Freelancer greeted him.

"Good morning to you, too," Theta replied.

"You have any luck figuring out the problem?"

"With the shield unit? It looks like part of the metal dented and splintered, cutting into one of the wires," the AI reported.

"You have any idea how to fix it?"

"We could replace the wire and try to buff the dent, but I'm not really sure where or even how we could do that."

North began pacing back and forth, trying to jog his memory. Theta surveyed the area in the meantime, just to make sure Wyoming wasn't anywhere nearby. Not a spec of white apart from the Sun's reflections against the surfaces of the ponds that surrounded them.

"I think I have an idea, Theta. We're going back to the Pelican," North announced.

"Let's go then."

Theta returned to North's implant, now seeing through his eyes. The wind pushed gently against the leaves of the trees that dotted the landscape, sometimes detaching a leaf or two, which would end up falling delicately onto the surface of the lake, creating a ripple as it floated seemingly for eternity. North's footsteps kicked up small clouds of dust, adding to the isolated, yet remotely serene atmosphere.

Minutes passed; soon, the Pelican was in sight. The glass was shatted in places, and sand and rock kep the fallen aircraft rooted in its place. This was where North and Theta would repair the shield unit. North ducked into the wreckage, removing the shield unit from his armor.

"Theta, I'm gonna need you to pull up the projection. Where is it damaged?"

An enlarged image of the unit materialized, where the point of impact was clearly detectable. North found a toolbox and shuffled through it, taking out a welding torch, pliers, and a wire cutter. He activated the torch, a bright blue flame sparking to life and letting out a faint, low hiss. The flame licked fiercely at the metal, leaving behind a glowing rectangular orange trail that allowed North to remove that section of metal.

Theta kept wanting to get away from the sparks that jumped out, though he knew they could do no harm to him. He had grown accustomed to being in this form, and it had begun to feel like he really was there, despite only being a programmed life-form. North, however, was fully human, though the techsuit underneath his armor protected him from the sparks. They landed on him and fizzled out, miniature clouds of smoke rising and fading into the air.

Now the metal was removed, allowing North to see inside of the unit. Theta adjusted the projection to match the current state of the physical object, to give the Freelancer a much clearer view of what he was doing. As North moved his hands and tools, Theta mimicked the movements through his own imagery. North now had the wire cutter at the ready and was homing in on the frayed wire. Now had reached it, the shears clasped around one end of the wire. He cut it completely off, moving onto the next end. With another snip, the other end of the wire had been disconnected from the unit. He set down the wire cutter and cautiously disposed of the frayed wire.

"That was stressful. But we did it, Theta! Up top!"

North put up a hand facing Theta, and the AI struck his own against it. But Theta felt that something wasn't right. He couldn't quite place it, but he knew their success would only be temporary.

"Now all we've gotta do is put a new one in. I need you to-"

An explosion sounded out; the assailant had returned.

"Damn it! I need you to try to locate a wire in the engine that can replace this one! I'll hold him off!"

"But there's so many! What if I can't find one? What if you-?"

North cut him off. "I'm going to be fine. You can do it. Trust me."

Trust me.

"... Okay. I'll try," Theta replied.

North dashed out of the aircraft, hip-firing his sniper rifle back at the attacker. Now he could get a good view of his adversary. And he was not ready for the sight. White armor. EVA-class helmet. Alien grenade launcher. It felt as though a dagger had stabbed into his heart and flown straight through his chest at the speed of sound, like the bullet of his own rifle.

The assailant was Agent Maine.

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A/N: I got really thirsty halfway through writing this. Also, I know this chapter is way shorter. I promise the next one will be way longer. I'm setting up quite the finale here. Also, take note of how every title has been the name of the character whose perspective the chapter was mostly from. First North, then Ash, now Theta. I will be quizzing you on this later.