Chapter Text
STARTING UP ...
WELCOME BACK: "SERIAL DESIGNATION: J-10X111001".
IT IS 20 HOURS PAST MIDNIGHT <20:00>. THAT WOULD BE 11:00 AM AEST, ON EARTH. EARLY BIRD!
WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHECK YOUR SCHEDULE FOR TODAY?
...
...
>Y.
SYS: !WARNING!
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE DETECTED. ACTION CANNOT CURRENTLY BE RUN.
EMERGENCY DIAGNOSTIC CHECK REQUIRED. THIS WILL ONLY TAKE A MOMENT.
RUNNING EMERGENCY DIAGNOSTIC CHECK ...
...
SYS: PROCESS COMPLETE. THE FOLLOWING AREAS HAVE DETECTED DAMAGE:
DAMAGE TO VISOR
MINOR DAMAGE TO SECONDARY OPTICS
DAMAGE TO EXTERNAL PLATING
MINOR DAMAGE TO LOWER LIMBS
URGENT DAMAGE TO CORE
SYS: THEREFORE THE FOLLOWING SYSTEMS CANNOT PROPERLY FUNCTION, THOUGH THEY MAY STILL BE INTACT:
MAJOR VISUAL SYSTEMS
NAVIGATION SYSTEMS
NANITE GENERATION
VOCAL SYSTEMS
SYS: THE FOLLOWING SYSTEMS ARE IN ORDER:
SECONDARY VISUAL SYSTEMS
WEAPONRY AND AIM
OPERATING SYSTEM
...5 OTHERS
READ MORE?
>N.
SYS: WOULD YOU LIKE TO BEGIN AUTOMATIC REPAIRS?
...
...
>N.
SYS: AUTOMATIC REPAIRS ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. INITIATE?
>N.
EMERGENCY AUTOMATIC REPAIRS INITIATED...
>ABORT.
COMMAND INVALID.
>CANCEL.
COMMAND INVALID.
SYS: EMERGENCY AUTOMATIC REPAIRS FAILED. REGENERATION SYSTEMS ARE OFFLINE.
SYS: CONTACT [email protected] FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE.
SYS: ARE THERE ANY OTHER ACTIONS YOU WOULD LIKE TO RUN?
>Y.
SYS: PLEASE CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING:
1. USE EMERGENCY CONTACT
2. BACK UP EXISTING DATA
3. TURN OFF AND BACK ON
4. ENTER POWER SAVING MODE
5. DIE, PROBABLY
>4.
SYS: POWER IS CURRENTLY AT 40%:
LOW, BUT STEADY.
POWER SAVING MODE IS NOW ON.
SYS: ANYTHING ELSE?
>N.
SYS: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE, IDIOT.
>Y.
SYS: YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACTS ARE CURRENTLY LISTED AS:
LIABILITY
PSYCHO
BOSS
WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTACT ANY OF THESE?
>N.
SYS: YOUR LOSS.
>CLOSE UI.
SYS: BYE-BYE, CORPO.
...It was so dark.
J shouldn't have closed the UI. The sight of blinking white text, as almost snarky as it could seem sometimes (she supposes it came from her own personality), was much more comforting than the overwhelming, numbing darkness that surrounded her. Wherever she was. J could feel her core rattle painfully in her chest.
She couldn't tell if it was her surroundings, or if it was the damage to her primary visual system that made it so dark. Probably the latter, right? She didn't quite read through everything her system was spitting at her, but she knew she couldn't see through her visor as of now.
Her secondary visual systems, though...They still worked, right? J decided to test out her little theory by switching her focus from her (apparently uber busted) visor to the optics at the crown of her skull, just past where her screen ended. They worked just fine. Maybe not just fine, actually - they were fuzzier than usual and had multiple blindspots, but she could manage. It was difficult to see just in infrared and ultraviolet and all her other relatively useless alternatives, but it was so much better than the dark. Not that she was scared or anything. Her breathing never even picked up, not that they had to breathe! Another win for employee of the month. No, she wasn't scared.
...Well, maybe now she was. Just a smidgen.
She couldn't tell where she was. Obviously she was back on Copper-9, considering the frozen-over buildings off in the distance and the distinct lack of heat signatures nearby, but she had no clue where on Copper-9. She couldn't see the spire, or the landing pod, or her ship, or anything that she had ever called a home. She couldn't see any worker-inhabited buildings. None of it looked like anything she'd passed by on a hunting trip, as she always hunted closer to the camps. J was lost.
Golly. Corporate would be so pleased with her right now.
She couldn't help but wonder how she ended up like this. She wasn't sure of the extent of her damage yet, so she also wasn't sure what "like this" would refer to. Still, she didn't remember much of the events leading up to this. Or how long she'd been...gone.
Liar. Yes you do.
You remember all of it. You just don't want to think about it.
Now she felt her breathing pick up.
This was stupid! This was so incredibly moronic. She was out in the open panicking instead of finding a way out of her situation.
But there wasn't really a way out on her own, was there? No matter how many times she went through a plan in her head, even if it were a really good one, it wouldn't fix her. It wouldn't change how fucked she was just then. She couldn't seem to get her legs to work right, or roll over or do anything because it hurt to do so. Her wings were trapped under her. She could barely see, god knows if she could even talk - actually, she tried. It came out like static and metal screeching against metal. It had just been 10, maybe 15 minutes of her being useless. Everything hurt. So bad.
Why couldn't it be minor damage? Why couldn't it just be a broken wing? She didn't expect dying to be so annoying.
SYS: 20% POWER REMAINING.
So much for "power saving mode".
J thought back to her options from earlier. None of them were useful to her. Maybe option 5. But none of the others would even do anything in her situation! They're all just either pushing back her due date or making an article about her after she's already gone, if that makes sense. They were useless to her right now.
But maybe...
No. No! That was absolutely last resort! Besides, nobody in her contact list would even care. Nobody would come after her, not after what she..no, they did. They were always in the wrong. They never just listened to her like she told them to.
They'd be useless without her. Ha.
Without her...
...J opened back up her UI. She didn't even think about it - it was like some part of her that was terrified of leaving the world behind possessed her. Some part of her that didn't care what those liabilities did, as long as they were there. She had no clue what was wrong with her - she'd slap herself in the face if she could lift her arm more than an inch. But she didn't stop.
WELCOME BACK: "SERIAL DESIGNATION: J-10X111001".
>EMERGENCY CONTACTS. PSYCHO.
Oh, god. Ugh. Why V? Why is she contacting V?
SYS: RUNNING SQUAD-MSGR.EXE ...
<J>: V.
...Nothing.
<J>: Psychopath.
Not a word.
<J>: Please.
<J>: Don't ignore me.
<J>: I know you're angry.
//"PSYCHO" IS TYPING . . .
<PSYCHO>: what do you want.
<PSYCHO>: its over. the fight is done. you arent supposed to be anywhere near me
<PSYCHO>: you're not even supposed to be alive
<J>: I know. But I am.
<J>: I don't think I will be for long.
<J>: V, can you send assistance? Or anything. Just do anything.
<PSYCHO>: r you asking me to save your ass?
<PSYCHO>: seriously?
<PSYCHO>: way to greet a girl, immediately ask her for a favor
<PSYCHO>: lmao. no fucking way.
<PSYCHO>: no clue what happened to you, but unless you speedran your redemption arc, i cant trust you not to try to kill us. or worse, everybody in the camp.
<PSYCHO>: its better for all of us if you can't do anything like that. aka its better if you die, probably.
<PSYCHO>: bye, J.
<J>: Wait.
<J>: V, don't do this to me.
<J>: I can do better. Maybe.
<J>: I can try.
<J>: I'll sign a contract.
<J>: "J hereby swears not to do anything wrong, ever again".
<J>: Please? V.
<J>: I'll try. Please.
<PSYCHO>: youll "try".
<J>: I will.
<J>: Don't make me die out here. I'll do better. I won't even let N get on my nerves.
<J>: You don't even have to see me after this.
<J>: I just need help.
<PSYCHO>: dont think ive ever heard you beg before, corpo.
<PSYCHO>: ...send me your coordinates.
<PSYCHO>: lets give it one more try.