Chapter Text
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North
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It was a little embarrassing, how out of practice North had gotten. Between the animals and the unending maze of trees, it took nearly an hour to find her way through the woods alone. When she reached the clearing’s edge, she paused, weapon out. On the one hand, even this piece of shit probably wouldn’t lay the same trap twice. On the other? She sure as hell wasn’t here to mimic Markus .
“Hey, asshole!” North compromised, hand cupped around her mouth to shout.
No answer. She waited a moment. Nudged through the leaves with the barrel of her gun. No oil, and no obvious bait, either. Fuck it. She crossed the open ground quickly, rifle up, and kicked the cabin’s door wide.
The single room was large, dim... and completely empty. North glanced out the windows just in case. Kicked, irritated, at the grating in the unused hearth.
...Apparently without the screaming torture victims, Connor’s evil twin wasn’t easy to turn up.
Last time, this place had been the heart of an inferno. She’d been worried sick when she respawned outside of it, and relieved when Markus finally got back to her. He’d told her everything was taken care of, but it wasn’t until after they’d met up and logged out that he explained how .
To say North was pissed was a massive fucking understatement. This wasn’t Connor, who’d struggled, deviated, and never looked back since. Connor tried. This was the asshole who’d killed him. A piece of trash who’d hunted their people without pause--while using the contact information she gave Connor to snipe at them with shitty little lies along the way. It had taken far too long for North to block the number, and even after Connor had explained his (weird as hell ) body transfer, she still had to keep herself from snapping sometimes when she saw new messages turn up from that ID.
But no. Of course Markus hadn’t killed him. Markus thought people could change. That Cyberlife’s lackey was no longer a danger. Never mind that he’d just tortured a couple dozen people from inside a video game.
Markus’ reassurances weren’t anything North planned to take on faith this time. And she wasn’t inclined to give everything Sixty had done already a pass, either. Not that she’d worked out what to do when she did catch up. She made a face at the fireplace. Did she actually want to talk to that murdering shitsack?
...She didn’t. But she’d be even more pissed if she gave up now.
North shouldered her rifle, spun on her heel, and stalked out of the abandoned shack. The clearing looked just as empty as before, and she surveyed it carefully before picking a direction to start out. Considering how much of the forest she’d traipsed through on her way in here, it shouldn’t take much longer to comb through the rest.
She’d find him. She’d say what she needed. And then? Maybe she’d get a chance to explain her side of things more thoroughly. With bullets.
---
He wasn’t in the fucking woods.
---
By the time North finally caught up, she’d nearly given up on the endeavor. She was taking a break, if nothing else: traveling to a spring Alice had shown her to restock consumable supplies. She rounded a corner, ducked under an outcropping, and… there he was.
Back turned. Crouching to refill a canteen. The hat was gone, but Connor’s profile was distinctive, and she could see the glint of a familiar revolver at one hip. Besides, there couldn’t be more than one asshole in the game wearing a stupid villain coat like that.
For a moment, North only stared, unable to believe her luck. Then she called up her rifle. Leveled it towards his center of mass… and nudged her aim a little lower. She felt her lips curving up in a sharp grin as she opened her mouth to call a warning--
--when the fucker turned around. And shot her.
“What the hell ?”
North opened her eyes at her last warp point, mouth jerking open again in sheer, indignant shock. There was no one else in sight. She sat up, looked around--reached for her inventory to find her consumable supplies far lower than they’d been before. By a lot more than the usual penalty for dying. The shithead hadn’t just seen her--hadn’t just shot her--
North shoved herself upright, snatching her rifle back from inventory with a growl. Oh, no. This wasn’t over.
---
The second time, she found him in Fort Laramie. She was headed for the trading post when she saw a figure in the crowd and squinted after him.
‘ Hey Connor ,’ she sent, ’ Weren’t you and Josh going to be in talks all day? ’
An error message popped up in return: Player Offline . She froze as the pieces clicked together: there was no stupid badguy coat, but Connor always wore suspenders these days, whether he was in this game or out of it. His asshole copy didn’t have them. “Holy shit,” North muttered, grabbing for her rifle.
“Hey, Sixty!” she barked. “Stop right there and turn around!”
He paused, then glanced back with a look pointed enough to stab someone. North returned the glare.
“We need to talk,” she told him, walking forward.
His lips twisted. “You might need to. I don’t.” He gave her rifle a withering glance before blatantly turning his back on her.
He started walking. He--fuck this bastard, he was walking away .
“Oh, screw you , asshole,” North growled, firing a warning shot. Dust sprang up from the ground by his feet, drawing startled sounds from players all around, and he stopped again, reversing abruptly and striding towards her. Even without his coat billowing around him, he was tall and cut a dramatic figure. (Good thing exposure to Markus had made North immune to being impressed.)
“Why?” His approach veered as he drew closer, starting to circle. North turned to continue facing him, rifle up and ready. “Because you say so? Because you think you have anything to say that I need to hear?”
“We need to talk,” North repeated stubbornly.
“ You want to talk. I have better things to do than coddle your delusions of importance.”
They were gathering a crowd, leaving a wide space around them where no one wanted to walk. From the corner of her eye she saw a tumbleweed roll past, which she ignored in favor of glaring at him.
“Listen, fuckhead, I’m here to make sure--”
She didn’t get to finish. Faster than anyone else she’d ever seen he drew a revolver and shot her again , and the next thing she knew, Fort Laramie was gone. She was on her back in a field a few minutes away, her rifle was back in her inventory, and she’d lost even more supplies with the death.
“I don’t fucking believe this,” North hissed, scrambling to her feet.
By the time she got back inside he was gone.
---
The next time she found him, she played it smart. She’d caught the barest glimpse of him heading towards a cave she was coming out of, and threw herself behind a dead tree by the entrance, hoping against hope that he hadn’t seen her. His footsteps approached the cave, and by proxy her.
They kept going. They went inside.
Only when she was absolutely sure he was gone did she breathe a sigh of relief, lips curling upwards unpleasantly. Then she took out her rifle, turning around and facing the cave. Eventually he’d come back out, and when he did, she’d have cover and he wouldn’t. If he tried anything--well, it sure as fuck was her turn to shoot him this time.
She waited.
A few people came out. More people went in. After a while she started seeing the same faces amidst the traffic coming out, and she frowned, picturing the cave’s general map. How long would he take to explore? Was he checking everything twice? Was there a puzzle she’d missed?
… More people left. North was just starting to wonder if he’d found another way out when something thunk ed against the tree beside her. She glanced up and saw nothing, but there was a faint hissing sound. Immediately wary, she began to stand--
BOOM! Cra-a-ak-SH!
A huge, heavy impact slammed North against the ground--hard enough she wondered if it would cause her to respawn. When she opened her eyes she was still there, and the tree she’d been hiding beside was now pushed off its roots, pinning her to the ground.
“Fuck,” she groaned. Her rifle was still in her hand, but trapped--with that whole arm--under the tree.
“I can’t believe that actually worked,” Sixty drawled, stepping into view. He was back in his dark coat again, twirling a revolver idly.
“What just…” An explosion. The hissing--that’d been the fuse on a stick of dynamite or something. She knew they existed here. North craned her head back toward the tree, before gritting her teeth and glaring at him.
“How the hell did you get out of the cave? I saw you go in. I’ve been watching this whole time!”
Sixty paused, head tilting incredulously. “We’re in a game , you idiot. Figure it out.”
That meant he’d used some kind of game mechanic to escape, like an item, or teleportation--
Oh. He’d teleported back to the access point, and she’d just sat there like a complete moron while he caught up. North’s cheeks were flaming, and if the fucker weren’t watching she’d bang her head on the tree. As it was, he smiled, falsely kind.
“There. Was that so hard?”
“Fuck you, you shitty-ass knockoff,” North spat.
The shithead snorted, mouth twisting. He took a step back, and without looking away from her, began to pace.
“Is this the only kind of planning you know how to do? Opportunistic idiocy that gets blasted to pieces by even the slightest common sense?”
North groaned, because god dammit, was she going to have to sit here and listen to this? She pulled on her arm with the gun, growling, “I didn’t come here for your bullshit.”
“Didn’t you?” Sixty lifted his eyebrows in mock surprise. “So much for talking. Or did you think you would be the only one to speak?”
North pulled on her arm hard , but it didn’t budge. After a few seconds, she recalled the rifle to her inventory, leaving sudden space under her to move that arm. She jerked it free, producing the rifle again where there was room--
--only to see Connor’s asshole clone catch his revolver and point it calmly at her face. She stilled.
“You know… I thought I was underestimating you before.” He didn’t even look at her rifle, staring her straight in the eye. “But now? It’s clear what a gross mistake that was. If your friends are even half so incompetent, I could take on all of you at the same time without so much as a scratch.”
Insults and retorts crowded in her throat, everything from ‘Don’t blame me for Markus’ stupidity’ to ‘if you’re so great then how did Connor kick your ass so hard you lost your own body’. She opened her mouth to deliver one of these, eyes narrowing, and that’s when he pulled the trigger.
She opened her eyes in a forest clearing.
“This is absolute bullshit ,” North snarled, smashing a fist against the ground. This was the third time she’d had a gun on his position, and he’d turned the tables without batting an eye.
‘Talking’ was, admittedly, an increasingly low concern. No, what North really wanted? Was to finally pull the damn trigger herself.
She pushed herself up to sit, scowling. If she really wanted to do that, then she needed to catch him off guard. But every time she’d tried, he’d seen her coming. As much as it stung to admit, North… could probably do with some help.
…
… Well. In a way, he’d asked for it, hadn’t he? With that comment about friends. If it was his idea in the first place… no one could say that wasn’t fair .
---
Markus was alone in his cabin when she barged in without knocking. He’d been sitting by a crate with a tablet in hand, and he startled badly, half rising.
“What’s--” He stopped, then blinked at her. “... Oh. Hello, North.”
“Markus.”
He looked down at the tablet, then quickly around the room, as though he’d forgotten what he was doing. North lifted an eyebrow, glancing at the tablet’s screen. The header looked vaguely familiar.
“Is that a report from Connor?” she prompted.
“Uh--yes.” Markus settled gingerly back onto the crate. That explained the surprise, then: Markus always zoned out reading Connor’s reports. It was odd, because while Connor’s status updates were dry, they weren’t boring . “What’s going on, North? Is everything alright?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she assured him, refocusing. “But Sixty just issued a challenge to us over Oregon Trail. I think we should accept.”
Markus blinked, then slowly put down the tablet. “... Sixty just what ? North--what have you been doing ?”
“I went to check on him.” North crossed her arms. “We talked. He said all of us put together couldn’t take him on, so we have to prove him wrong. When are you free?”
“Hold it, what do you mean ‘take him on’? Like--in a game playing sense?” Markus stood, holding a hand up as though to stop her physically.
“What other sense is there?” North returned, more darkly than she intended. “You made sure he won’t be a problem in the future, right ?”
Markus pressed his lips together, giving her a look. She stared right back at him until he sighed.
“...He’s safe. For now. But I’m not so sure this is a good idea, North. Besides,” he continued, spreading his hands.”We’re also busy. Jericho is in the middle of trying to pave the road for a complete shift in society.”
“It’s not like we’re going to be doing this in the middle of some treaty, Markus,” North interrupted, wrinkling her nose faintly. “If you’re worried about Sixty acting out, then how about I ask Connor what he thinks? He’s the closest thing that we have to an expert on the subject. If he agrees, are you with me?”
Markus lowered his hands. “If Connor agrees…” He hesitated, frowning. “I don’t have any objections in general. A friendly challenge seems unlikely, but it would be better to address it than ignore whatever he’s up to. He was silent for a moment. “... And we have all been too busy. We need to do things together. We need to talk .”
“This would help us talk,” North agreed immediately. “And bond.” And coordinate to take that asshole down, preferably feeding him his own teeth in the process. Markus quirked an eyebrow, and North wondered how much of her thoughts was bleeding through the innocence she was trying to affect. (Probably a lot.)
North turned to the door, calling over her shoulder. “Great. I’ll talk with Connor and the others, and text you with a time.”
“This is all assuming Connor agrees with you,” Markus told her retreating back.
North waved without looking. “He will. See you later, Markus.”
She left. The communication chatter from the lower levels was getting heated, and she was due for a patrol. She’d call Connor after.
---
‘ Connor, we need to talk about Sixty.’
His reply was immediate. ‘ Is this an emergency?’
‘No, but it can’t wait until tomorrow.’
‘One moment.’
North folded her arms. The sun was going down, its last rays barely visible through her cabin’s cracked porthole.Connor and Josh were still on the mission Markus had given them, but she’d already looked up the time zone he was in. Theoretically the negotiations with the deviant leaders for the New England area should have been finished for the day. Or at least coming to a break.
Eventually curiosity got the better of her. ‘ Are the treaty negotiations running long?’
‘No, Josh is provoking a mob.’
‘He’s what?!’
Connor’s reply was to send her a picture. It was obviously one taken directly from his optical units, and it showed Josh standing his ground stubbornly in front of a small crowd of scruffy, unfriendly humans. The timestamp was less than a minute ago.
North sighed. ‘... Don’t let the idiot get hurt,’ she told him. ‘Kick all their asses if you have to.’
Connor didn’t reply immediately, and now that she knew what was going on, she didn’t expect him to. North unfolded her arms, settling tensely down on a crate.
Finally, Connor sent a second picture. It was a shot looking over his shoulder, showing his arm dragging Josh bodily at what seemed to be a sprint. Much further behind them were the humans. Mouths were open in shouts, and a few were waving bats and crowbars, but they were too far away to reach the pair. (Especially if Connor kept up his pace.)
‘ We escaped,’ Connor reported redundantly. ‘ We’re at our shelter now.’
‘ Please tell me you cracked some of those assholes’ heads along the way.’
‘Not exactly.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s a little complicated. What was it you needed to talk about?’
North scrunched up her face, wishing Connor were there to glare at.
‘ Sixty challenged us over Oregon Trail. I’m getting a headcount for who can help me kick his ass into next year.’
There was a pause. Then, ‘ What exactly do you mean by ‘challenged’?’
‘Oh, you know. ’ She grimaced. ‘ Challenged. ‘I could take you all on’. ‘Even if you all tried at once you still couldn’t defeat me’.’ If this stupid thing was going to work at all, she needed Connor’s shooting skill. On impulse, she added, ‘ Markus already said it sounds like a fun group activity, he’s just waiting on you all.’
Silence. It went on long enough that North pushed herself to her feet and started to pace.
‘ I was under the impression that Sixty was disinclined to interact with us,’ Connor finally said.
‘ What can I say?’ She raised her eyebrows and smoothed her expression, even though he wasn’t there to see. ‘ I’m very persuasive.’
Another pause, This one, at least, ended sooner.
‘ He’s competitive and you provoked him.’ North barked a startled laugh, rocking back on the crate. Despite everything, it was easy to forget sometimes that Connor had been built to analyze people. He continued: ‘ I’ll join. When are we meeting?’
‘I haven’t figured that part out, yet.’ North was still smiling. ‘ I’ll tell you when I do.’
‘Understood. Say hi to Markus for me.’
‘I will.’ She stood. ‘ No love for Simon?’
‘ Simon also, of course,’ Connor answered quickly.
She snorted a little. Connor was easy to wind up, sometimes. ‘I’ll be in touch.’
Two down, two to go.
---
Josh was next. He was initially reluctant, but when she promised he didn’t have to shoot anyone and could help with the support tasks, he agreed. She shouldn’t have been surprised; Josh was the one that’d pushed for her and the others to start playing the game originally, and she knew he still logged on when he could.
Simon, ironically, was the most difficult to convince. Mostly because he’d stopped believing in ‘free time’.
“You can’t honestly expect me to believe you don’t need some kind of stress relief,” North told him flatly.
Simon lifted his eyebrows, eyes at half-mast. “I do, but I don’t find the same glory in chaos that you seem to. What I need is to know our newest additions are safe, clothed, and sheltered.”
North’s eyebrows drew closer together. “That’s…” She looked at him. He looked the way he always did, which by human standards was ‘too exhausted to be functioning and yet somehow still here.’ “... Simon, waiting until this is all over to do anything but work means you’ll never stop.” He grimaced, but she didn’t back down. “You know you need breaks, right?”
“I know,” Simon said quickly. “There’s just been a lot going on lately…”
She knew he’d been busy. Following Markus around as a part-time advisor (and clandestine bodyguard) meant that she’d had a front row to see as responsibilities shifted. Markus had been swept up more and more by public appeals and inter-city work, and handed off more of Jericho’s day to day affairs to Simon. But considering their recent numbers… and that Simon had already been stretched thin...
“Simon,” North said slowly. “Please tell me you’ve been delegating instead of taking everything on yourself.” He looked guilty, and her frown deepened. “ Simon !”
“Don’t start,” he said shortly. “Just don’t.”
North closing her mouth on a flood of replies, jaw clenching. Then she let a slow breath out, and looked down her nose at him. “Alright...”
Simon eyed her, understandably wary.
“...though,” North added. “I do think that if I have to deal with Markus’ lectures on how ‘working ourselves like machines is no good for us’, and ‘exploring our creativity is part of what makes us complete individuals’, then I shouldn’t have to be the only one.”
“North,” Simon warned.
“He has a point,” North insisted, brushing her gentle mockery aside. “I want to keep everyone safe just as much as you do, but you shouldn’t be taking this on alone. Not even just for your own comfort, but for the stability of Jericho.”
Simon opened his mouth, then closed it, conflicted.
“What happens if you’re in charge of everything, and something happens to you?” North pointed out. “What happens if you burn out?”
Simon pressed his lips together reluctantly. “... I’ll talk with Nathan and Lucy about this tomorrow,” he conceded.
“I’m glad,” North told him honestly. Then she shifted, raising her eyebrows. “... Do you have any plans for how you want to spend your upcoming free time?”
Simon gave her a flat look that had the corners of her mouth tugging upwards. “Well, Nathan said one of the YKs had a stray cat that needs socializing.” North’s expression twitched, and he snorted, rolling his eyes. “...And I hear there’s something going on in Oregon Trail soon.”
“You heard correctly,” North said, smiling fully now. “How about tomorrow night? Our usual time before we stopped playing like we used to?”
Simon shrugged. “I’ll be available.”
“Good.” She reached forward, clapping a hand to his shoulder. “I’ll see you then.”
Simon made a vague sound of assent, waving her away. She snorted, and left.
---