EX//MACHINA: EXORDIUM

Chapter X - The shadow of wickedness

— So then, Peter... — James calls out to the boy from a distance, appearing to choose his words carefully. In response, the young man just laughs to himself, thinking, "Here we go again". — Do you... want to tell us why Amy hates you?

This question, on any other occasion, would have taken him by surprise, not expecting something so direct and frankly painful. However, in this case, hearing the sound of a slap and a low complaint right after was enough to make Peter burst into laughter. He didn't need to look back to understand that it was Emma, reprimanding James for his words; she probably didn't expect something like that either.

Honestly, he'd prefer to stay quiet and not have to answer any interrogations, especially given their current location: in the middle of an apparently peaceful forest, with trees all around and the scent of nature, but no signs of life. A single bird singing would be enough to dispel the eerie feeling of death in such a beautiful place, yet there was only silence. On top of that, their task there was far from pleasant: finding Coalition fugitives, two women and a child who had escaped with supplies during the chaos.

He didn't volunteer for this, nor did he have any interest in dealing with such a situation, as he not only understood, but also intended to do the same as these fugitives. The problem was, he didn't have a choice. Laura insisted he come and bring Emma, and once again, James came along as an intruder. Apparently, he couldn't even express dissatisfaction, since he hadn't seen Amy anywhere after the attack three days ago, and Laura seemed to be involved in it. He chose to listen to her and not try to force her to reveal if she was telling the truth; Peter certainly didn't want Amy to die because of him, even if she "hated" him.

— She doesn't believe that whole memory loss story, that's all I know so far. — Peter lies in his last statement, thinking that the voice in his head is a good starting point to understand Amy's reasons. — And I don't think she'll believe it for a long time.

— It doesn't make sense; she can't keep hating you. You guys were so—

— James, I'm not sure I want to talk about this right now. — Peter cuts the young man off abruptly, but tries to sound as polite as possible. He wasn't annoyed by the topic; he just didn't want to discuss it at every opportunity, as he already had to think about it all day. — She doesn't believe me, there's nothing I can do.

Peter wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but the atmosphere seemed to have soured considerably with that. A quick glance at James showed that he didn't seem angry or anything, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. Peter even considered giving in to the questions, but he convinced himself that for one day, he had the right to relax about it. Anyway, after hearing James and Emma whispering in the distance, he knew this subject would eventually resurface. He had a vague impression that James wasn't the type of person to give up easily.

Trying to distract himself from it and focus on his unfortunate task, the young man began to search for tracks, any clues at all. He didn't know if he was any good at finding footprints or tiny bloodstains or the like in branches. Still, it was the best thing to do, so he started looking in all directions for any human activity, and...

Yeah, Peter definitely wasn't feeling good about having denied that conversation, and no distraction could take it off his mind.

— James, Emma, how was I... — he thought about how to phrase his question in a way that would avoid bringing up unpleasant topics as much as possible, although it might be inevitable. — How was I before all this?

He didn't even need to look back to see the sparkle in the young man's eyes.

— Oh, man, you were awesome! — James seemed to be trying to keep his voice down, apparently still conscious of the task they had. — You were the kind of guy everyone liked, never got into fights with anyone, that sort of thing.