P A R T T H R E E
C h a p t e r E l e v e n
R o c k t h e b o a t
Back at The Celestial, some of your classmates stood around a circle in the lobby.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
A stunned silence hung heavily in the air. Those who hadn't been part of the adventure were staring at the hologram with wide eyes and slack jaws.
"Error. Visual input is registering as frozen." IRIS broke the tense silence, and you sighed.
"No, Iris, they're just... staring at you." You said in a voice dull with exasperation.
Everyone gawked at the flickering hologram of Iris, emitted from the tiny, spherical drone floating behind her.
"So... this is the Observatory's A.I?" Quinn asked with raised eyebrows, nervously fiddling with a strand of flaming red hair.
"Not exactly. She's a backup copy Elena restored. But she doesn't know what happened on the island." Sean correctly, and Aleister's eyebrows rose.
"She remembers nothing?" He asked, voice riddled with disbelief.
"No. I apologise for the inconvenience." IRIS said, monotone voice tinted with sadness. Nearby, on the couches, Michelle was using a first-aid kit to tend to the wounded.
She snorted. "Sounds more like convenient to me." She jerked her wrist roughly, and the needle that had been stitching Craig up scratched against his skin.
"Ouch! Easy doc!" He tried to sit up, but the moment he put pressure on his wrist he whined like a wounded puppy.
"Pipe down, you big baby! You clearly sprained your wrist in that fall on the mountain. And I thought you were the toughest guy in school." Michelle scoffed as she shook her head.
"Hey, you really think so, Meech?" Craig teased, and Michelle jerked the needle too hard again.
Craig hissed, and Michelle smirked.
"Shut up. I'm just saying. How do we know she's telling the truth?"
"You do not. I was not programmed to have any facial tics to signal deception." IRIS said, and Michelle gestured in her direction.
"Thanks for proving my point. By the way, I'm shocked we didn't all get killed out there."
"We're fine, Michelle. We handled ourselves well." Sean reassured her.
"We were lucky. This islands getting crazier by the minuet. There was a good chance a lot of us wouldn't come back. We can't keep pushing our luck like this." You said, and Sean frowned at you.
"Really, Elena? I get that we've had some close calls, but we fought through it. Look what we've accomplished."
"The point is that Michelle has a point. The machine can't be trusted. We should destroy it. Now." Estella said, and IRIS winced.
"Please refrain."
"What? No way dude!" Raj exclaimed, moving to stand in front of the hologram, arms outstretched, when Estella reached to grab at her.
"Out of the way, Raj-" She said angrily, and Raj shook his head.
"No!"
"Take it easy, Estella. Not too long ago, none of us trusted you, remember? And you didn't trust any of us. We all proved ourselves, give her the chance to do the same." You said, placing a hand on Estella's arm.
YOU ARE READING
-Endless Summer-
Mystery / ThrillerIf there was one word that could describe Elena Claire it would be reckless. The plucky college student had always edged towards any danger possible, longing for life's great adventure. But when offered the opportunity to have such a thrilling adven...
