Err0r

Chapter 20: Calculated

     The next morning Pixal sat on her bed. She had walked back to her room after a while of sitting in front of the double doors. She guessed a part of her was waiting for someone to walk through so they would open. No one saw her or heard her. She was alone, even now. She let out a low shaky breath as a painful presence in her mind reminded her she wasn't alone. She held her head in her hands wishing for it to stop. She wanted it to be a nightmare but everytime she tried to pretend the painful awakening of reality told her otherwise. When the presence lessened she peered through the doorway of her room. The hallway to the lobby seemed to stretch further and further. She didn't want to sit here and wait for her demise. She wanted to do something.

"Accessing Borg Tower blueprints." she monotonously whispered to herself.

A blue screen on her wrist appeared and she looked it over carefully. She narrowed her eyes as she noticed the double doors in the front of the lobby. She knew she had to find another route out. This time it had to work. Last time she was sloppy and improvised in her planning this time she would escape doing what she did best; calculated coordination. That thing may have thought that she wasn't going to try her hand at escaping again, but it underestimated just how much pain she was willing to take. She didn't know what she would do after she escaped, most likely get out of this dreaded city. At this point she didn't care where she went as long as this thing couldn't reach her. Then a thought crossed her head; Borg. She tried to block him out of her mind but failed to do so. If she left him here what would become of him? She knew he was a human so whatever it was, it seemed better than what would happen to her. Although he might be killed. Pixal pondered the thought for a moment. She wished she didn't care about him.

Pixal wished that she thought of him as he thought of her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force the negative things he said to her into her mind. She could think of plenty of reasons to dislike him, to hate him even. And yet she couldn't. She couldn't hate Cyrus Borg. She really, really wanted to but for some reason she was unable to. She wanted to kick herself. This whole caring thing was putting a dent in her plan. She didn't know if Borg would even follow her anywhere, let alone leaving the city entirely. Then she recalled his discomfort when he was alone. He was like her, paranoid. She remembered the fear in his eyes when that thing had spoken to him, before she knew what was going on.

"Think, Pixal think." She whispered to herself.

Borg was crippled that was a given. It would be much harder to escape with him, but if it was just her... She couldn't bear to think of what would happen to him. Maybe nothing would or maybe he would be killed she didn't know. A thought crossed her mind about the opposite scenario. If it was him in this position would he take her? She shook off that thought, she knew the answer but she didn't care. Cyrus Borg was her creator and even if he refused to admit it she cared about him, she loved him. Regardless of what he thought she couldn't ignore that one simple thing. He was the reason she was standing there right now, the reason she was breathing and thinking. If not for him she wouldn't even exist. Which according to her was leaning more towards a negative than a positive. Even so she would try to help him. She would've liked to think she owed it to him to do so but she didn't. There was nothing he had done for her that she hadn't already repaid. Her whole life she worked for him. The moment she opened her eyes she was his personal assistant.

She wondered what her purpose would be if she wasn't with him. If she wasn't doing her job then what was her purpose? It was a question that haunted her day and night and especially now. She didn't know how to answer it. She never did. Pixal let out a shaky sigh. Borg had yelled at her, called her creepy, weird, soulless, used her and more. Yet she wanted to help him. She wanted them both to escape this prison. She knew what he thought of her, she had since the very beginning but that didn't change her loyalty towards him. Perhaps it never would. A small tear slipped from her eye. She didn't care. Everything he had ever done flooded back to her but she shoved the memories aside. Her bright green eyes opened and her mind was made up. She would take him with her. Pixal visited the blueprints again and noticed that despite the many screens set in front of the lobby doors and the other emergency exits there were none in front of the windows. She decided that's the way she would exit. Night time was a better time to escape. Especially with Borg's disability his black hair and outfit would blend into the background. She needed to find a way to turn out the lights that came on before she did anything. She wished she could communicate with Borg but it was too risky right now.

She opened up the small compartment in her wrist panel. She could see a few wires below. A thought crossed her mind but she didn't really think it would work. Her energy was the same as the energy that flowed through the lights. If she could find a way to cause them to overheat and eventually circuit out she would have a window to escape. She knew the creature used its connection to the power to zap her. Maybe if she was able to push the energy back the same way the lights would shut off for a short time. She started running the calculations in her head and decided that would be her best bet. The only issue; if she was still connected to the lights when they circuited out she would too. It would only be for a brief moment but she didn't know if that would render herself unable to move or not. It would be enough time to get Borg out... Her mind reminded her that she was trying to escape too. She would have to risk it.

Her heart beat faster as the sun began to set. She peered out the window at the passing cars. She watched the sun until it disappeared over the hills in the background. She would use the excuse that she was going to make dinner for Borg if anyone or anything happened to get suspicious. She stood up and her legs began to shake. She felt her breathing getting heavier as she peered into the hallway. She hit herself and blinked a few times. Her fear dissipated but not entirely. Pixal walked out into the lobby. Her eyes locked onto the window closest to the ground floor. She also noticed that the previously cracked double doors had been repaired, most likely earlier today. She briefly looked over at the screens and felt a huge sigh of relief inside of her as she noticed they were turned off. Unfortunately she didn't see Borg. She wondered how she would be able to get to him if the only way to his office was into the elevator. She had seen him use it several times but she didn't dare go near it again.

She sat at the front desk like she always did and bent down to see underneath it. Pixal had known there was a control panel under it. It wasn't a light switch per say but it did connect to the lights. Or at least the lights in the lobby. She carefully used the tools in her wrist to open the panel. After a bit of work it slid off. She caught it before it fell to the ground. She laid it gently on the tile floor and peeked her head up. Pixal pulled out the wires and opened her own wrist panel. She pushed past her beating heart and pulled out one of her wires. Then she paused. The feeling of being watched sent a shiver up her spine. She hurriedly got up and noticed Borg's tall figure staring down at her from the staircase. His eyes were wide as he saw her wires sticking out. He seemed to panic but he didn't move from his spot. She ignored his looks. Her plan would have to change. There was no way she was going to be able to get to the window from all the way over here. Her eyes scanned the room for anything that was connected to power. Then she found it. A security camera right above the window she had chosen. It seemed too perfect but she didn't care. She wanted out and she needed to be fast.

That thing would only stay away for so long before it realized something was up. Or it would stay hidden the entire night. But wishful thinking wouldn't help her. She needed to act as fast as she could. She let out a soft breath. Her nerves were beginning to sink in. If she didn't try now she wouldn't try again. She looked back at Borg one more time before she climbed onto the windowsill. She carefully stood up and pulled the security camera closer. She ripped it from the wall hard enough to expose the wires but gentle enough not to disconnect them. She used a small razor blade inside of her left wrist to cut the end of one of the wires off. It sparked and she cautiously pulled the razor blade closer to her own hand. With a quick swipe she had cut it enough so it let off sparks of its own. She winced at the pain but pushed past it anyway. She brought it closer and closer to the camera's wire. When they met the sparks connected. For a moment nothing happened. Then she could feel the spark ignite inside herself. She held onto the windowsill and clenched her fists.

Just as she thought the same reaction was taking place inside the lobby. The lights began to flicker in and out. She opened one of her eyes and tried to keep herself steady as she waited until they went out completely. Slowly but surely the lights began to dim. She looked back down to catch sight of Borg but she no longer saw him. The nagging in her mind wanted to find him but she couldn't do anything now but wait. The longer the two wires were connected the faster the lights flickered. Then they went out. She let out a painful sigh and brought her hand back. She used another one of the tools in her wrist to break open the window. Unfortunately for her it didn't break nearly as quietly as she had hoped. The glass shattered and she wanted to jump out immediately. Something inside of her didn't allow her to. Borg was still missing. She leapt down and looked around the lobby. She knew he had to still be here. Pixal finally recognized him in the dark. Her eyes met his and he looked away. She couldn't quite see his expression. She walked to the back of the contraption and began to push at it. Slowly it slid across the floor. She almost thought she could feel it pushing against her. Then they reached the bottom of the windowsill.