Reliant ~ [John Soap MacTavish]

XVI. A Feeling of Dread

Alex Heart ~ 17:00

The pressure in my head is practically unbearable, and the first thought that crosses my mind is the fact that I want to die.

Not in a funny, jokingly kind of way.

But a genuine dreading feeling that pushes me to thoughts I shouldn't be thinking.

As I try to open my eyes, the tiniest beam of lighting from the small lamp on my desk makes the sharp pain in my head ten times worse. I wince, quickly pressing my eyes shut again.

"—Alex," Carter's voice whispers from my right. "Are you okay?"

I don't make any sound. I don't speak, I don't sigh. I don't do anything for a good minute simply because I can't.

After what feels like an eternity, I finally manage to pull myself together. "What—happened?" I huff the words out in a whisper.

He comes to stand closer, one of his hands finding my back as he attempts to comfort me. "He did it. He chipped you."

I fall back in my chair, my neck unable to support the weight of my head still. "I feel like I'm going to die."

"I know, I know," Carter says quickly before tapping his hand on my back just once.

"Knife—" I sigh. "Grab my knife from underneath my belt."

"Knife?"

"Cut it out of me now," I say, my eyes still closed and my voice still just a breath.

"Alex I can't," Carter interjects, his grip on my back tightening for a moment. "He'd find out it wouldn't work anymore and just give you a new one."

My hand clenches into a tight fist, my knuckles white-hot with the searing waves of pure rage coursing through me. How could he have done this? How could I have allowed it to escalate to this point?

"I found something better," Carter says, briefly allowing my rage to slip away and be replaced by something that resembles hope. "You might want to thank Fraser for this."

Fraser? Some random dude from the technology department I had only seen once?

"Stay still," Carter mumbles, pushing my head forward and inching my hair away from my neck before I can question anything.

A soft beep sounds and the noise reverberates around my brain for only a second, before all ringing seems to stop. Suddenly, my head doesn't hurt too bad anymore, and my eyes are now able to be opened without being too sensitive to light.

"What the fuck?" I ask, stretching my shoulders before sitting up straight again. My hand reaches over to the back of my neck and my fingers find a new, small but present wound. There's no blood coming from it, and beneath the skin is still a noticeable bump. It's still in there. "What did you do?"

A smile tugs on the corner of his lips. "Promise you won't get mad. I did it for your own good."

"What did you do?" I ask again, my voice more urgent this time.

"I bribed Fraser," he says hesitantly, "—with your money."

"What?" I ask, my brows furrowed as I genuinely have no idea what he's talking about.

"I'm sorry—" he starts rambling, "it's just that he started building this thing because he didn't trust Canmoore. He heard about the chips so he made something to sort of disable them. He made two, and when Canmoore got you the other day, I didn't know any other solution so I—"

"—You did the right thing, Carter," I stop him. "Thank you."

He sighs, almost relieved. "I know, but still."