Glitch #ONC

Chapter Twelve

When Luke opened his eyes he was ready to jump up and throttle the person hovering over him. His hands went for it, but his brain kicked in at the last minute to stop him. Brilliant blue eyes, glazed with tears locked onto his own. He felt Mel's pain, her anguish, and let his hands flop.

"Luke?" Her voice was thin and wispy.

"Queenie?" Luke sat up too quickly, the world swam before his eyes and he had to put his hand on Mel's shoulder to steady himself.

"One of the stewards was kind enough to offer to walk her around and cool her off for me. What happened?" Her skin had lost its glow.

Luke forced himself to laugh, he needed to break the tension building in the warmth of the medical tent. "I forgot to breathe. I got so lost in the moment, the chance of going clear that I forgot to breathe. Pretty silly, really."

Mel kept a scrutinous eye on him while the paramedic did another round of observations. 

"I did make it past the finishing markers, didn't I? I would be so mad at myself if I fluffed at the last minute." Luke watched the cuff inflate around his bicep. Internally he was screaming and wanting to rip it off along with the peg on his finger.

"From what we were told you almost made it to the gate, good thing you jumped off when you did or else I think you would be looking at some serious injuries." The paramedic removed the medical devices one by one, apologizing profusely as the ECG dots took some of Luke's chest hair as a souvenir. "Looks like there isn't anything untoward going on here, we can take you to the hospital for some further tests if you want?"

"I'd rather just take it easy, I'm sure if anything changes Mel will frogmarch me to the nearest hospital." Luke smiled at Mel, but she didn't reciprocate.

"Are you sure he is okay?" Mel turned to the paramedic, planting her back between them so that Luke couldn't see.

"I would advise him to take it easy for the next 24 hours, but he looks fine."

Mel nodded reluctantly. Her eyes scrutinised every movement Luke made to rebutton his shirt and make himself presentable, wanting to see him wince or show some sign of a root cause. She didn't talk to him, she couldn't, her answers were gestures and sighs. 

Once out of earshot of people, and with Queenie back in their possession Luke questioned her. "You're mad at me aren't you? Why? I did everything you asked of me, thinking positive, going for the win, what did I do wrong?"

"Is that all you did?"

"Yes, thank you very much. They jumped me."

"What?"

"They used my happiness to drag me back to the real world, they wanted, he wanted to have a word with me."

"Who? Why? What happened?"

Luke told her almost everything in one, barely coherent speech. His head throbbed every time he forgot to breathe. He skipped over the director's final revelation, she didn't need to know what he had seen. They had only just gotten over her telling him about her physical self. 

"But why has he singled you out, what have you done?"

"I exist." Luke spat.

"I don't understand."

"My ability to interfere with electrics, it existed before the simulation and it makes it harder for them to control me somehow." Luke flopped down on the backseat of the truck. "He wants me to control it, to stop it happening, to be a good little sheep. I told him I can't, even with a positive mind frame it is hard. I'm still popping bulbs and changing stations on the radio." Luke knotted his hands together, digging his nails into his palms. "I just want it to stop Mel."