Out of Cryo - Season 2 | A Horizon: Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Chapter 5: Runtime

Voices. Multiple threads of conversation coming from every direction. Different places, different times, different speakers.

I've been here before.

Had I? I couldn't remember. Maybe that had been a dream.

We were here before.

My head was pounding - a deep pain that started from the back of my skull and increased in pressure as my thoughts began to collect.

Shit, what did I do?

"I'll go! I'll go, just...don't hurt her."

"Becks, no."

That voice...I don't remember it.

"The world, Rebecca, is not fine."

"Becks..."

"Becks?"

Dark wood. A table. Chopsticks – still wrapped. I looked up. Jenna sat across from me in the booth, frowning in concern at me.

"Hm? What?" I stared at her before turning my head once I noticed the server, a younger guy – maybe in his late teens – standing next to the booth taking our order.

The fuck was that?

I tried to make up for yet another space-out on my end. "Oh, uh...I'll have whatever she's having."

Jenna raised an eyebrow as the server thanked us and walked away. "Seriously? You hate tuna."

Oops. I shrugged – tried to play it off. "Oh, well I guess you can have mine then."

Jenna laughed and folded her hands on the table. "All right, I'll bite. Something happened today. Come on, spit it out."

I shook my head. "N-no. I just...it's been a weird day is all. Sorry," I said as I fidgeted with the chopsticks. And it was true. I had some hazy memories of earlier in the day – something about a report for work and then Dennis messaging me constantly to let me know he just had to show me something when we met up next. Then I dropped Jenna off at the park, ran some errands, and picked her up.

So why was that so hard to remember? And Jenna and I are...together? Like together together? I think I knew it, yet it was still a surprise to me and I couldn't figure out why. Should I go to the doctor or something?

My Focus beeped. I noticed the current time: 17:21, October 3rd, 2070. The hell? 2070? A reminder: Clean fish tank tomorrow.

"It's okay. I guess I forgive you," Jenna teased. She took my hands in hers and winked, making me smile and calming me down a little. Everything's fine. I'm here, she's here, we're having sushi – it's all good.

A brief flash of light. I looked down and noticed the ring she was wearing. Not that it was weird she was wearing a ring – she wore jewelry all the time. The weird part was that she wore it on the ring finger of her left hand and the piece itself was a brilliant white gold with two small sapphires surrounding a slightly larger diamond.

Is...that what I think it is?

She noticed me staring at it and glanced down. "What? Oh, shit, did I lose a stone?"

"No, no," I rushed. "I was just looking at it. It's really nice."

She shot me a very unamused look. "Well, I would hope you thought so considering you picked it."