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Demetra frowns at the small, circular object that lay on the table in between them. "I don't want this," She mumbles, "It's just a slab of metal."
"You, of all people," Francis remarks, "Should know that it's not just a slab of metal."
"Really?" Her tone is flat. "I guess. but it really just does look like one."
Her face is on the computer screen, and Francis is frankly still lost on how she is able to see him, without a camera or anything. She says it's something to do with 'magic'. He scoffs and waves her off. She's made of code. Not magic.
"Do you want to try it out or not?" He hums, "I stole enough OSS tech to fashion it, and I'd like for my hard work to be utilized."
She looks down at the object again, as if she's trying to lean out of the screen to see it. "Is that a projector? What's that supposed to do?"
"You'll have to find out yourself," Francis plugs the object into the computer where Demetra resides. "I suggest that you transfer soon because I'd rather you be on a singular system that I can keep an eye on instead of in the OSS systems where anyone can find you."
She rolls her eyes.
Francis had found that she was hiding in one of the lesser-used computer systems in the OSS building. It was one of the few used in the almost abandoned main control room for the Game Over mission. Since then, he'd been trying to figure out how to work with her and get her out, while keeping her existence a secret.
Arnold and Rez still don't know.
"Are you going to transfer or not?" Francis asks, impatiently, "It's far better than a USB, so you cannot fight me on that."
"It looks cramped," Demetra scoffs. He gives her a look and she rolls her eyes again. "Fine."
The photo of her on the screen turns to static and then fully vanishes.
He sits for a few moments, waiting, hoping that she can and will transfer into it and he can get her out of this stupid system. There's a small red light that blinks, suddenly, and he celebrates to himself. It worked!
Or, the first part of it worked.
He quickly unplugs the device and shuts down the computer. One, he needs to get out of here. Two, she'd attempt to transfer back into the main computer system if nothing happened.
He steps away from the computer and walks out into the hallway, making sure there is no one coming first.
He has to get back to their 'dorm'.
Neither Rez nor Arnold are back yet, so Francis throws the device down on the floor and moves to grab some food. He tosses a bag of popcorn into the microwave, starts it, and quickly double-checks that neither of his roommates are in.
He retrieves the popcorn once it is complete, and then presses a small button on the device. He sits on the couch with his popcorn and resolves to wait.
The moment of truth.
A flicker of light appears from over the device as Demetra materializes. She looks almost identical to how she was in Game Over, but she has altered her appearance to make herself look older, closer to the amount Francis had aged since Game Over. A year and a half.
"You just threw me in there and left me to wait?" Demetra's voice raises as her sentence completes, coming from both the device and her, somehow. "I swear, if you had- Wait." She looks around the room, turning a few times. She looks down at herself, her feet, her hands, then looks back up at Francis.
He continues to eat his popcorn.
"You stole hologram tech," She whispers, her eyes wide.
"Yep."
She attempts to take a step but nothing happens.
"Haven't gotten that far yet," He hums.
"Yet," She stresses, smiling at him. "Do you know what it was like in that computer all that time?"
"Lonely?" He asks, and she sighs in some sort of relief.
"Yeah."
"You'll be stuck in here for a while though, until I can figure out movement."
"Well, then I can at least annoy you," She shrugs, and he laughs.
"Annoy Rez instead, I'm sure Arnold will get a kick out of that." He shoves another few pieces of popcorn in his mouth.
"Arnold, Rez?" Demetra asks, "They live here too?" She's excited about all of this, Francis can tell, and he's immensely proud of himself.
"Yep." He throws a piece of popcorn at her and the place where it goes through the hologram wavers for a few seconds.
She glares at him. "What was that for?"
"Testing," He shrugs, "I don't know how long it'll take for you to touch things, let alone move at all, but maybe if I get their help, we can figure it out. I've been tempted to ask Gerti for help as of late."
"Gerti?" She echoes, tilting her head.
"Another Spy Kid, she's far too smart with tech. You'd like her." He stands up. "I haven't told anyone yet, I didn't know if it'd work. I need to go take care of something, so you can stay here until either Rez or Arnold get back."
"Stay here?" She repeats- she's been doing that a lot, it seems, but it's understandable.
"I'm just moving to another room. Just so it's even more of a shock." He grins, walking around the couch and into the small hallway. "Rez is supposed to be back in the next ten minutes or so, but Arnold could be back sooner."
"But-"
Francis walks into his room and shuts the door.
It's not even five minutes later when he hears Juni Cortez shout "Demetra!"
Arnold comes to his room, pounding on the door. When Francis opens it, Arnold stares at him, arms crossed. "You never told us."
"The surprise was worth the wait?" He laughs, hearing Juni talk animatedly to Demetra in the living room.
Arnold looks back quietly, for a few moments. "Yeah, I guess so."