Chapter Text
Run.
The word seemed to reverberate around the sides of Harper's skull as she bounded down the sandy path, leaving a trail of footsteps and dust in her wake. The blazing desert sun's heat glared down on her as though in disapproval, causing waves of heat rise off the sand like flames above a roof. The strenuous movement combined with the heat would normally be enough to kill a person, but she'd done this so many times now that it came easily to her.
Well, sort of.
She sent a quick look over her shoulder. The mobs she was running from were just far enough away for her to dart behind the nearest cactus unnoticed, dragging her arm across the sheen layer of sweat that had built up across her forehead. Just a moment, she thought to herself. She needed just a moment to collect herself.
But any moment out in the open like this was a moment too long. The heavy, robotic footsteps were already approaching, each step louder than the last. They were coming. As usual, her peace was short lived.
She dragged herself away from the safe refuge the cactus provided and forced her tired legs into a run, ignoring their aching protests. Directing her attention down at her feet, she was relieved to find the path she'd previously been following. It had morphed from a measly trail of white sand to larger, more evident patches of pale sand, stark against the red. They'd built it this way on purpose, so that the mobs would have a harder time finding the town.
A pang of grief struck her in the heart, the way it always did whenever the town came to mind. She shook her head, instead trying to direct that energy into fuelling her escape, willing for the negative thoughts to dissipate. But unlike every other brainwashed living thing in this world, those memories were not something she could just run away from.
Regardless, she kept moving.
After a few minutes, the pale sand path beneath her feet had transitioned into a sandstone walkway, indicating that she had arrived at her destination. Slowing her run as she approached, Harper lifted her gaze ahead.
Awe and grief thundered through her veins in equal measure as she took in the appearance of the town that had once been Crown Mesa. Houses of terracotta, ranging in colour from maroon to yellow, built from resources only found in a Mesa Biome. They stood tall even after years without any inhabitants. Cobwebs had started to gather in the corner of cracked windows, shattered glass littering the floors around them. Flowers had wilted away in their pots. Not too far away were the animal pens that had once been home to livestock, now empty, with barren dirt beneath, and she could faintly see tumbleweeds rolling in the distance. Of course, there wasn't a trace of water anywhere. Though it was expected with the climate of a Mesa Biome, she knew the lack of water was due to one other reason.
Harper's legs moved on their own accord, gently carrying her along the dusty road. She could almost picture the bustling crowds and the loud chatter as though it were yesterday. Where she had previously been met with lively enthusiasm, there was instead desolation, as the town lay abandoned in front of her.
How long had it been? Six, seven years? She'd lost count. But it had certainly been long enough for her hair to go completely white with stress, for her loneliness to nearly drive her to insanity, for her mind to soak in the severity of her mistakes, regret consuming every bit of her thoughts.
If only someone could walk out of that house, she thought, gazing sadly at one of the terracotta homes. Someone with a free mind, who had perhaps been in hiding the entire time. That way, at least she could explain. Though honestly, she didn't know how she would explain.
She figured she could start off by telling them that she hadn't meant for this to happen. She would never willingly have done this to them, and if she could, she would take it all back in a heartbeat. The citizens of Crown Mesa were kind, a strong contrast to the company she was used to having after spending most of her time with Hadrian and Mevia. She would never forget the friendships she had made and the amazing things they had done for her.
Especially Harry, she thought to herself, a small smile coming to her face.
That first time she had come to Crown Mesa, she'd had no idea where she was. She had stormed out of the Games angrily with the Redstone Heart in hand, having just turned her back on the previous friends who only found joy in watching innocent people suffer, and walked into the first portal she saw. The Portal Network had spit her out around the area she was currently in, and when she'd followed the path all the way to its end, it was Harry who had first greeted her, welcoming her into the town of Crown Mesa with open arms. Harry, who she befriended, and who she eventually developed feelings beyond friendship for, though she would never admit it out loud. And it was one of the conversations she'd had with him that had played a huge part in leading up to her current situation.
"It's impossible to get anything done in this heat," Harry said, wiping his arm against the sheen layer of sweat that had built up on his forehead. "We though about waiting until nightfall to plant the crops, but-"
"Then you'd have the monsters to worry about," Harper finished for him. She stared out the window. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, streaking the sky with flashes of orange, yellow, and pink. Mobs had started to spawn already, littering the sand below.
Harry sighed. "If only we could get the mobs to do things for us, hey? Wouldn't that be sweet?"
He'd only been joking at the time, a subtle jab at her innovative tendencies. But it was that joke that had sparked that inventing fire inside her, and once that was lit there was no putting it out.
So she got to work creating it. PAMA. A computer that could connect to the minds of mobs through chips, allowing them to do whatever the townspeople wanted. It had been a very appealing idea at the time. Harry had been with her, supporting her every step of the way, through the planning, the intricate redstone work, and the assembling of the large, green screen. Finally, after months and months of hard work, it was finished. Her heart had swelled with pride as she gazed up at it, grinning like a proud mother when the large screen lit up into a cheerful smile and introduced itself to her. Hadrian would disapprove of the way she had used the Redstone Heart - using it to help people instead of making their lives miserable. Though, in hindsight, she supposed that she would be more concerned if he actually approved of her methods.
PAMA had worked like a charm. People were overjoyed. Complaints about the heat lessened, and the town was running more smoothly then it ever had before. PAMA was always learning, expanding its databanks so that everything from farming to mining to building could be completed faster and more efficiently. The tedious work that used to take teams of people could be accomplished at night by mobs as the citizens slept comfortably in their homes.
She didn't know how it happened, but somewhere along the lines, things had gone so, so wrong.
It was all a blur now. She remembered screaming and yelling, people being violently dragged out of their homes and forced towards the chipping machine. There was the sound of metal against skull, flashing red eyes and matching redstone chips, blood stark against the pale sandstone. The memories blurred together in a whirl of panic and hysteria and self-blame, because how could she have allowed this to happen, how had she not considered this? Suddenly, the mobs weren't the only things under PAMA's control, and she was all alone.
It had been a long time, since the last person of Crown Mesa had been chipped. Those moments often revisited her in her nightmares, rendering her more exhausted than when she'd gone to sleep. She'd spent hours trying to get those memories out of her head, but deep down, she knew she would never be able to.
The desert landscape in front of her suddenly blurred, transforming into blotches of reds, whites and yellows.
Harper hastily wiped at the tears distorting her vision. Sometimes, it was almost too tempting to succumb to her grief and let the mobs that were constantly searching for her finally capture her. She wondered if being chipped would stop her from feeling grief, remorse, and basically every other negative emotion she had felt these past few years.
But she couldn't. She was the only person left with a free mind. If there was any small, minuscule chance that PAMA could be defeated, she had to take it.
It was the least she could do.
The sound of heavy footsteps jolted her back to reality. Hastily, she swivelled around, looking around for the house with acacia-rimmed windows. When she spotted it, she swiftly darted up the front steps and shut the door behind her, gazing through the small window.
Sure enough, a horde of zombies and some Crown Mesa's citizens had been after her. They paused momentarily, taking in their surroundings and no doubt trying to fathom where she could have gone. The lifeless red eyes momentarily landed on the house she was hiding in. She ducked, hopefully out of sight, and clenched her jaw tightly, dreading the possibility that they would walk up the stairs.
To her great relief, the group averted its gaze and turned around, walking away to resume its search.
She let out a heavy breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and turned around to face the home's interior. It was a simple; a blue carpet decorating the floor, and a chest placed against the wall that was directly across the door she'd entered from.
This house had been empty for as long as she could remember, even before the whole PAMA fiasco. The townspeople had allowed her to use it as a sort of storage house for all her redstone gadgets. She walked over to the chest, lifting the lid and peering at the contents inside.
"There you are," she muttered. Fresh redstone chips, still where she had left them all that time ago. She reckoned PAMA would use them if it had anything left to chip, but since that wasn't the case, they were sitting here all this time, untouched.
Harper picked up a chip and analyzed it, turning it around in her palm. If she could get these back to her lab, she could maybe figure out a way to deactivate them... perhaps through her transmigrational headset...
Consumed in her thoughts, she failed to notice the figure steadily approaching her from behind.