RELICS

Chapter 12 : Contradictions?

The walk back to our dorms was a silent one. A very different silent from when we had walked into the gym six hours earlier. The Sim was weighing heavily on us. Outright defeat and Enigma's warning had brought us down to our knees. Not that we were flying that high anyways.

More than anything , all I could think of was the moment I snapped at Noah. He died in the sim because of me. I couldn't help but think that something was wrong. There was absolutely no way that I could have lost control so fast. There was absolutely no way that ALL of us could have gone rogue.

As we entered the dorms, no one spoke a word. I welcomed the silence as I wanted to do nothing more than be by myself

As I crashed onto my bunk, I couldn't help but replay the scenes from the sim. Noah and me arguing, Ajax snapping us both out of it. The raider driving the spear through Noah. It all replayed in slow motion.

The utter chaos in a matter of seconds completely threw me off. Everybody had been affected. Well, everyone except Ajax and Ryan

As I turned and tossed around in frustration, Ajax and Ryan's words echoed. "What do you guys mean?"

I sat up. Why were Ajax and Ryan not affected? Why was I so easily affected? What could have made me snap like that? Especially at Noah that too. My best friend.

Jfyfnvfoijowevouyoubvoijweijcuwbuhbvowbo!!!!!

I felt my brain crash and burn from all the contradicting facts in everything that had happened in the last three days or so.

No matter what I did, No matter how much I tried to relax, and clear my mind, (which on the average is quite an easy task for me I must say),I just couldn't fall asleep.

It was obvious that one thing weighed heavily on my mind, and that was Noah. I sighed. I had to sort this out one way or the other. I couldn't stand this awkwardness between us, but today was not the day for it.

I knew  that we both needed space to think about everything that happened. When the time came, I would make sure to set everything right. Or at least try to set everything right.

Today's sim had really rubbed me the wrong way. Like I said, no matter how I looked at it, everything seemed suspicious.

Those raiders, the way we were not even aware that we had been dropped into a sim despite being trained to be the lightest of sleepers.

The only way for us into the sim was with the help of a band worn on the wrist. I definitely do not remember either of us having the bands on.

Most importantly, the way went rogue kept replaying in my mind. I kept trying to run through possible events that could have set us off.

High frequencies? Chemical implants? The sim itself? Was the situation itself designed to trigger us?

Moreover, why were Ajax and Ryan not triggered? Were they trained differently? Was something wrong with us? Was something wrong with them?

I replayed Enigma's outburst and Dell's sympathetic smile that expressed her weak attempt to console us. A reminder not to be too hard on ourselves.

I could see Ajax tossing around in his bed on the other side of the dorm. Emma and Ryan were awake too. Noah, Levi and Raven were MIA. It was obvious that all of us were distressed.

Frustration overtook my brain once again and I couldn't help but smack my face into my pillow repeatedly.

"What in world are you doing?" I heard a deep voice ask.

"Dean?? Oh uh, Nothing really. Just uh, you know. Uhmm just extremely frustrated about everything. Poor Martha just stumbled into my line of fire." I rambled, making awkward gestures with my hands.

"Martha?" He asked

"Oh this lovely lady right here. She's Martha" I answered picking up my pillow.

"Riiiiighhhhhttttt" he smirked, very obviously failing at maintaining a straight face.

"Long day huh?" I asked with a sad smile of my own.

"That it was" He replied, making his way over to the edge of my bed .

"May I?" He asked pointing at the bed. I nodded and he took a seat at the foot of my bed.

"Anways Luna, I just wanted to remind you that today was tough on all of us. I can see that you're very obviously beating yourself up over the sim and I thought I should knock you out of that zone. Get some sleep. It'll be good for you." he continued.

I stared at him, confused. Was this really Dean King?

"That and I wanted to tell you that the way you held Noah by the neck, that technique sucked. You really need to work on that"

I laughed. " Thanks Dean. I appreciate the advice. Why don't I practice my grip on your neck tomorrow?" I asked narrowing my eyes in mock annoyance.

He smiled as he got up. "Good night Lu."

"Good night Dean" I replied with a smile of my own as I watched him make his way back to his side of the dorm.

I fell back onto my bed, closed my eyes and tried falling asleep. Well, You can guess just how successfully (NOT) that went.

I heaved a deep sigh as I got out of bed despite my tired,aching body screaming out in protest.

My feet automatically wandered to the pantry in search of it's familiar comfort. I would be able to think in peace there.

Before I could even take out my knife to jiggle the lock open, I noticed that it was already unlocked. Someone was inside.

That someone could only be one of three people.

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AHHHH! We get a Dean-Luna interaction finally. So Our little babies are just beginning to feel the heat. Who do you think is in the pantry??

Fact of the day :- My brain often keyboard smashes in stressful or exciting situations. Anyone else does the same or is it just me?

Also, did anyone get the 'NOT' reference? xD

Anyways, Thank you for giving Relics a read. It really means alot!.

                                                     - Yours Truly, Lilempress