Chapter 28A - Persistence

I untangle wires from various servers and rip them out as quickly as I can, sparks flying across the air as I dash from server to server. After a few moments, it doesn’t seem like anything has happened yet. In my hurried frenzy, I decide to target a different row of servers instead, and as soon as I disconnect more of them, the lights completely shut off.

“Shit–” I stumble around in the dark, desperately looking around for a source of light as my eyes adjust to the pitch black dark. I trip over a bundle of wires and fall to the ground, injuring my arm from the sudden impact. As I’m trying to pick myself back up and recollect my bearings, something sharp presses lightly against my neck.

I freeze in fear, feeling my face turn pale. Before I have a chance to think, a sickeningly familiar voice rings out all around me, echoing against the walls and serving as a harsh indicator my efforts have all gone to waste.

“Veeeeery impressive. Very! Wow!”

A green light emerges from the shadows, and Ell1s takes form as he slowly walks towards me with an infuriated expression on his face, smiling through the anger. “If you couldn't tell, I'm being sarcastic. I really don’t appreciate you messing with all of this important machinery! Good thing you only disabled a few unnecessary functions.”

He sighs and walks to a few of the broken servers, assessing the damage, before returning his sharp, piercing glare back to me.

“You’re really that determined, huh? I mean… I had a feeling you’d been up to something! But I was being polite and choosing not to be intrusive! I had hope within me that you’d finally warmed up to this place and accepted your fate, seeing how much more talkative you’ve been, but…"

“Ah, what a shame. It doesn’t matter anymore now, does it?”

He adjusts his glasses, now fully opaque as he glares down at me. I glare back at him, angered yet frozen in fear as the blade against my neck doesn’t falter. He paces back and forth, his anger growing each second. “I try not to be nosy, you know? I gave you space. Time to adjust. It’s a miracle that you’re even alive, you know? I tried to understand you, I did! But in the end you continue to choose to throw your entire life away? Everything you could’ve had? I- seriously, I don’t understand! Why? Why dedicate the time you have left to such an unrealistic goal?” He grits his teeth. I don’t respond.

“I don’t want to be alone in this place again. I can’t bear the silence and how I yearn for company– just anyone, SOMEONE to talk to! Don’t you know what that’s like? The desperation? The natural, burning human desire for interaction? I don’t know why I feel this way! I was never meant to feel this way, becoming more than something artificial… I mean… you have to know what it’s like, right? You miss her, don’t you? Whoever this ‘Calista’ person is, right? Must be a very important person if you keep mumbling in your sleep about her–”

“Don’t bring her into this.”

I force myself to stand up, prying the sharp object away from my neck. I glare into his eyes as I watch his angered expression change from a glimmer of surprise and then into an irritatingly smug grin.

“What, can’t handle the truth? It’s written all over your face. Don’t act like you don’t miss having someone to depend on. Having someone to talk to, the feeling of company by your side…”

“I’ve never felt those things before until you came along! And now you want to leave and destroy every glimmer of hope I’ve had within me?” He clenches his fists. “How... How selfish! Destroying the little chance of survival you have left for something so unlikely? Why would you throw everything away, just like that?”

He takes a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking again, the sudden flood of emotions making it difficult for him to function. “Oh, I’m sure, if any sort of afterlife even exists, little Calista is smiling down at you alright. Watching you shatter the one chance–”

I punch my fist into one of the servers, watching Ell1s’ hologram glitch uncontrollably for a bit until returning to normal. I stare at my hand, blood dripping from the wounds of the sudden impact.

“Don’t fucking bring her into this. You don’t know her. You don’t know me. You don’t know ANYTHING I’ve been through. Don’t even THINK about comparing me to yourself. We are nothing alike. You trapped me here for your own selfish reasons. My past has nothing to do with ANY of this.”

“So keep talking and I won’t hesitate to do some actual damage.”

I watch his face contort into a smile, holding back a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

Before I can say anything else, a bundle of wires grabs me and forcefully throws me against the metal wall. I feel my vision turn to static for a brief moment, the impact leaving me disoriented. I grit my teeth as my head aches, and the room feels colder than before.

“Do you think you have a choice? Did you really think I would abandon the one chance to serve my purpose, what I was made to do? And now, the first human survivor to ever enter this facility wants to LEAVE? Maybe I’m selfish. Maybe we’re both selfish. I don’t know.”

Ell1s turns his back to me, angered and trying to compose himself. I wince in pain as the wounds on my left hand bleed, and my dizziness slowly subsides. I attempt to get up but the wires wrapped around my body forcefully slam me against the wall once more, and I recoil from the impact yet again.

He speaks up again, his tone now desperate and shaky. “Just… why? Why are you so persistent? Why can’t you just stay here? I can’t be alone again… I can’t…”

I take a moment to collect my bearings as I struggle. Ell1s, now glitching with greater intensity and increased fervor, doesn’t bother to stop me this time. I break free and stand there silently, staring at him as he appears to be lost in panicked thoughts, covering his face with his hands as drops of holographic tears fall to the ground. After a minute of silence, he weakly speaks up again.

“Go walk back upstairs and patch up your hand.”

The lights faintly flicker back on again. I hesitate, and stare down at him for a few seconds, before finding my way back to the staircase I entered from. I look down at my injured hand. There's a number of sharp cuts, scrapes, and newfound abrasions around the knuckles.

As I begin to ascend upwards, I hear his voice ring out again.

“Don’t bother asking me for anything anymore. I’m sure you have everything figured out on your own.”