An Act of Chivalry (Sander Sides)

Chapter Fifteen

The elevator doors cracked open, allowing us to exit. We were in the main hub of the building. A dark blue filled the room as people paced to and fro. The people down here either recorded sightings and sorted through information, or they listened to governor's speel for about an hour. Today was Phil's day to take care of the last one...I pray for the guy. Once they start, they never seem to stop.

I followed near the front, listening to Remy as he chatted with someone on the other line. "Yeah whatever, screw you too Billy...Of course...don't even think about it. Everything under control, don't be so brash bitch...thank you boo. Chat later, bye!" Remy pulled away from his phone with the biggest eye roll I've ever seen in my life. Only Remy could accomplish such a thing.

A guard standing by an upcoming door opened it for us and I nodded as I passed by. This room was much more open compared to the other. The dim blue glow was brighter here as ten people swarmed the open gadgets. "Yo Roman!" Remy called, waving a hand lazily in my face. "Quit daydreaming and pay attention will yeah?" I nodded.

"Thanks," He muttered, "So Thomas, sides, I'd like to direct your short attention to the center scale." He joked, pointing to something holographic in the middle of the room. "So we know Logan escaped. The dude left while Thomas went to take a dump." I glanced back at Thomas, whose face was beaming red with embarrassment. "What we didn't know, was why this happened..." He paused to take a sip from his coffee. "Low and behold the lab came through. With this-" The hologram shifted away from its map perspective, growing and warping a moment before it formed into a pair of gloves.

"These, the dish looking things you've mentioned are more than what meets the eye." The glove on display then broke down into many different thin layers. "The following layers are in reality computer chips. Cool isn't it? They were meant to aid future robotic technology in graphic surgeries...This didn't work as planned." The layers of the gloves broke down further, showing an almost needle-like implant within the glove fingers. "These were supposedly going to be used for last-minute cell eradication. Letting first responders implant nanobots into the system as an urgent resort. The project didn't work as intended so they scrapped it. Deceit got it before the device could be destroyed."

"So," Thomas interfered. "This Deceit person uses nanobots to take hold of his victims. Do we know why?" Remy shook his head no in response.

"Deceit?" Patton questioned behind me. "According to Logan, we have reason to believe that this lunatic calls himself Deceit." The hologram shut off and Remy started out the door. We followed.

-----

That night was both a warm and a long one. I knew this the moment I closed my door behind me. The room was dark so I stumbled into bed. Slipping off my shoes and stubbing my toe on the way there. Today was one of the busiest in a while, filled only with the nervous theorizing of coworkers and companions.

With this in mind, I ducked under the covers, holding a cat pillow close to my chest as I waited for sleep to take me. A minute passed on the red light of the alarm nearby. First a minute, then two, then ten, then an hour. I couldn't fall asleep.

I tried everything within safe limits to fall asleep. Changing positions, pillows, blankets, and even stumbling out of my room once to grab some water...Nothing. Eventually, I had to face facts. It was to warm tonight to keep my jacket on.

I groaned, tossing once more before throwing the blankets off completely. "Fine," I huffed. "Have it your way, it's pitch black in here anyway, I'll be fine." With the extra reassurance to push me forward, I pulled off the jacket and threw it carelessly on the ground beside me. This left me in some sweatpants and a black T-shirt.

"Much better." I shivered at the temperature change, quickly hiding back away under my blankets and holding my cat pillow for comfort. I could survive a few hours without the stupid jacket anyway.

However, when I opened my eyes again, I wasn't laying in bed. I tried to get up from my position but the pit in my stomach left me grounded. The situation was real and I felt trapped, trapped in a blurry mass of colors.

"Virgil?!" I voice echoed. "It's alright, I got you." I let out a sob, unable to move. I was experiencing the pain all over again. Except a few things seemed different.

I wiped my eyes, clearing enough tears to understand my surroundings. I was on the floor head resting on Roman's lap as I shook. I didn't know why though, every other figure was blurry. One also shook on the floor, but they were alone. Someone else stood beside them as they both stared at the last blur. The last blur laid on the ground. A mix of red and yellow filled the space.

"Ro? What happened?" I questioned.

"You did." He replied, voice monotone but casual, as if he was stating the obvious.

"What?" My voice cracked in response. "What did I do?"

The world began to fade black. "Roman? Roman!" The surroundings had quickly fled and now I was holding my last friend for dear life. My companion was also fading away. I was crying once more as my hands fell through the one I cared about. As all color finally left I was left alone, unsure of what was up and what was down. That began to intensify when the floor dropped below me.

At first, I was calm, used to hitting the ground and forming into my normal 2d figure. That didn't happen this time. I dropped lower, lower, lower, until I felt everything slam into the ground at once.

I jumped awake on my bedroom floor, curling in on myself as I rendered what happened. My chest tightened and my heart raced. I'd never take my jacket off again.