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"And that is not the only thing you can give me- you backstabbing blender!" Horizon says with spite, after receiving a level 3 stock for her Havoc rifle from Ash.
"Your passive-aggression is noted...and disregarded." Ash sighs internally. Granted, she is the reason why Dr. Somers is acting this way, but was she always this- immature?
Ash matched up with Dr. Somers for the Duo Apex game, much to her displeasure. Team cohesion is paramount to one's ability to win, yet they are acting against this interest. Every word exchange between the deadly simulacrum and brilliant scientist is charged with animosity.
A dark hole activates while Ash is in the middle of striking down her opponent. She feels the gravitational pull and stabs her sword in the ground to avoid being dragged in, staring up at Horizon. It takes the opponent and deactivates; Ash stands up while pulling her sword out of the ground.
"Your timing- could be better." Ash stalks towards her with irritation.
"Tch, don't talk to me about better timing, Reid." Horizon walks past her to loot the fallen.
Gears grind loudly inside Ash's mind, but she reminds herself that this was inevitable. Somers has every right to be this angry at her, but they are competing in the games. In order for them to win, they must try to work together without sabotaging one another.
"We must put our differences aside if we have any real chance of winning, Dr. Somers." Ash looks at Horizon, equipping a level 2 barrel to her sniper.
"Easy for you to say." Horizon holsters her sniper on her back and stands up. "But I suppose you make a point." Her blue eyes stare begrudgingly at Ash.
"Your cooperation is- sufficient" Ash nods to her.
Horizon turns away from her and jogs to gravity cannon. It launches her to the next area with Ash bringing up the rear. They travel to high ground, so the scientist takes out her sniper and scopes the area, looking for the last team. Horizon spots them, one using a survey beacon while the other covers them. The distance should be okay, except her sniper stock is a level 1, making her hiss out a sigh.
"What is it?" Ash asks Horizon when hearing her sigh.
Horizon blankly looks at Ash then rolls her eyes. "I found them. The problem now is my sniper stock. At this distance, I could- miss and scare them into hiding." She hates admitting she might not be accurate enough to hit the last team and braces for Ash's snide comment.
"Hmm." Ash considers what to do to correct this problem. They are far away from lootable buildings, even so, it would take time to find a suitable sniper stock if they do find one at all, and by then, the last team will have gone to a different location.
Confused that Ash did not make a rude remark, Horizon takes some time to think herself. An idea forms in her head, but she thinks Ash might not go for it if explained in detail.
"I have an idea." Horizon looks where the last team is located and sits down. "Come here for a moment."
"Why?" Ash is curious about her actions and walks over.
"I need you to keep the sniper steady. Hurry up now before they leave." The redhead pats the ground in front of her.
The simulacrum gets down on her knees while facing away, offering her shoulder as support for the sniper rifle to be placed.
Horizon has a different way of using Ash as support and says. "Be a dear and lean down for me." She uses her hands to reposition Ash.
Ash trusts her for the moment, letting Horizon move her in an optimal position for the sniper. She is turn to face Horizon then feels Horizon push her head down to rest on the scientist's right thigh. She hears Horizon set the sniper on her jump kit, and then Horizon rests her elbows on Ash's back. The simulacrum can't help but feel perplexed, quietly enduring this- odd situation.
Horizon can feel her aim will hold steady as she lines up the shot. She takes a steady breath, then quickly headshots one opponent, taking them out of the game. The other bends down trying to find cover, but Horizon moves faster to shoot them in the head as well.
"Well, this was better than I could hope. I suppose you can be helpful for once, Ash." Horizon smirks when she hears the announcer stating she and Ash have won the game.
When Ash hears the announcement, she grabs the sniper and tosses it off her. She moves up, still on her knees, to tower over Horizon, watching the amusement fade from her blue eyes. An old feeling comes back to Ash. Did this woman honestly believe she could use her, and that will be it? She wants Mary to be reminded who is superior.
"You always did enjoy it when I- got down on you." Ash muses, waiting with anticipation for her reaction.
Horizon scowls at Ash, then the words sink in, making her freckled face turn red. Memories of being with Ashleigh in bed, remembering her steel-blue eyes burning with desire. Ashleigh would press feather-light kisses up her leg before-
"Heh, I see you still remember that." Ash watches Mary's flushed face with pleasure, delighted she still had an effect on her.
Ash lifts her hand to Mary's face to brush her red hair out of her blue eyes. The metal hand barely grazes her skin, yet Mary can feel the tingle of Ash's touch. Ash looks at Mary, then at her metal hand. A glitch occurs, and Ash remembers she is no longer the woman Mary knows. She snatches her metal hand away from Horizon's face. Pain streaks through Ash's mind; she stands up and heads to the dropship waiting for them.
Bewildered, Horizon snaps out of it, her emotions disagreeing with each other. Her present self argues Ash is her enemy, who she will never trust again. Her past self stirs up memories of happier times with Ashleigh, hoping there is still a chance maybe their time together was not all a lie. She gets up and walks to the dropship towards the lockers, looking out from the corner of her eye at Ash.
"You did an excellent work out there," Ash says coldly without looking at her.
The monotone robotic voice unsettles Horizon. "What can I say? I had you to keep my aim steady." She says cautiously, wondering what has changed from earlier, but Ash does not respond.
The lack of response from Ash causes Horizon to grit her teeth. "Figures, you act like this, a cold-hearted machine like you are now and back then." The small hope for the Ashleigh that seems to love her before slowly vanishes from her mind.
When Ash hears Horizon, emotions flood her mind. Regret, pain, sadness, rage, broken love- Ash punches her hand through a metal locker to vent her frustration.
"What the hell are you doing?" Horizon shouts at her, confused why Ash would hit the locker.
"Why does it matter? I'm only just a cold-hearted killing machine." Ash seethes at her, watching her former love recover from the initial shock, then glares at her.
"I don't know what games you are trying to play. Bringing up the past-" Horizon's face gets warm for a moment, but she shakes her head, "Then acting like this a frigid machine. But your mind games will not work, so you can stop pretending you ever once cared about me." She angrily declares and strides away from the simulacrum.
The footsteps fade away, and Ash pulls her hand out of the locker, looking at the torn metal hand. She will have to replace it when she gets back to the workstation. Her mind tries to overwhelm her again, and then the rat pops out of her hood. She holds her undamaged arm out, watching the rat run down the metal arm. Peace returns to Ash's mind; she lifts her arm so the rat would go down to sit on her shoulder. She rips the torn locker door off since it will be replaced later to grab an apple to give the rat. She cuts a piece off with a knife and offers sliced apple to the creature, who happily takes it to nibble on while staring at her.
"If only it were this easy to-" Ash utters and comes to a stop. Of course, it's never easy when it comes to other sentient beings. Why is she trying to bring up old memories? To rekindle an old flame that was snuffed out the moment she stranded Dr. Somers in space. There will never be anything between her and Dr. Somers again. It is time to forget old memories and move on. She is a simulacrum that needs to achieve perfection and remove the worthless human sentiments preventing her from attaining the goal.