Chapter 16: Sad News & The start of an explanation
It was a good thing I had some recent hand to hand training, because like a rocket, Judy sent her right fist flying for my face.
Acting on autopilot, I moved my head a fraction to the side, just enough for her small fist to miss my jaw.
"What the fuck!" I blurted out, accidentally bumping into someone behind me.
"Hey! Watch it!" some guy said from behind me, as I heard the splash of his drink hitting the ground.
Ignoring the man, I put my hands up in front of me to stop Judy from throwing another punch in my direction.
"Whoa! Cool it!" I said, panicked, as Judy got ready to throw another hit.
"Cool it!" she spat. Venom seeping from her every word.
"You want me to chill after the uncle who supposedly died in some corpo war just shows up out of the blue looking for me!" she shouted, making sure i could hear her every word over the loud thumping music.
"I can Explain!" I shouted back, not letting down my guard.
"Explain what? That you abandoned your own family to run off to who knows where!"
She yelled, the tear tracks on her face shimmering off the neon lights that flashed with the rhythm of the night club.
"I didn't abandon them!" I yelled, my anger starting to get the better of me.
"Oh yeah! Well that's how it looks to me. You clearly didn't die, so where were you, huh!" she yelled, pointing a finger at me.
"Where were you when we were forced out of our homes against our will! Where were you when mom was kil~!" Her eyes went wide as soon as she cut off her words, and I felt the world go dark.
The room that was once loud with flashing lights dulled down to tunnel vision.
My legs went weak, I couldn't stand straight.
"I said watch it!!" The man from before shouted angrily as he shoved me back after I had accidentally stepped back and into him on my unsteady legs.
As soon as his metallic hand touched my back, my vision blurred as I turned on a dime grabbing his hand.
I don't know what the man saw, but whatever it was, was enough to make the man shit himself, literally.
But I couldn't have cared less.
Using my recently acquired moves I turned my body, bending the metal arm in a way it wasn't designed to.
The man let out a cry of pain, but I didn't care. All I cared for was the fact I wasn't there to protect my sister.
"Daniel!" Ares's stern voice echoed in my head.
"Put the meat sack down…and calm down!" Ares said in an attempt to calm me down.
But all it did was piss me off more.
"Shut up!" I yelled out loud, my grip tightening on the man's prosthetic arm.
The man's face ghostly pale.
"Daniel! Listen to me!" Ares's voice, though still stern, softened in a way that demanded attention. "This isn't the way. You need to get a grip, now!"
The haze of rage that clouded my mind started to lift, albeit slowly. My breath came out in ragged gasps as I loosened my grip on the man's prosthetic arm. He stumbled back, eyes wide with terror, clutching his now bent and useless appendage.
"Judy," I said, turning back to her, my voice cracking on her name. The sight of her tear-streaked face almost broke me. "I can explain everything. Just… give me a chance."
Judy's eyes were still alight with anger, but there was something else there now too—confusion, hurt, a glimmer of my little sister I used to protect. She crossed her arms defensively, but didn't move to strike me again. "You've got five minutes," she said, her voice trembling. "Make it count."
The thrumming bassline of the nightclub seemed to fade into the background as I took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts.
Looking around, I saw the countless faces of people looking at us.
"Can we go somewhere private?" I asked, nodding my head at all of the onlookers.
Turning her head, she saw the clumps of people looking at us.
"Follow me." she said, turning to a door off to the side of the bar area.
Grabbing the binder from the bar, I followed after her, ignoring the following eyes.
Stepping through the door, I was greeted by a long hall with numerous doors along one wall.
Stepping up to the first door, Judy put in a code that opened the door.
Stepping in, the door closed behind us.
The room looked to be one of those private dance rooms I had only seen in holo vids before this.
Pacing back and forth in front of me, Judy wiped away the last remaining tears on her face before she began.
"Your time starts now."
The music from outside was muffled, so we didn't need to yell for our words to be heard.
"I didn't abandon them…you." I said, my mind raced as I tried to find the right words.
"I was in…an accident." I said, still trying to figure out if I should tell her the whole truth and about Ares or not.
'Fuck it!' I thought as I began to spill out my long journey.
"Out here, it has been some fifty years. But to me it was only a matter of a day that I was gone."
Judy scoffed.
"You were in a coma! I'm not an idiot." She sneered.
{Hey, is there a way you could show yourself to her or something?} I asked Ares in my head.
{Sure. If there's some tech that can project or a computer. I could use that to show something I've been working on.} Ares replied.
I looked around the room, looking at the table in the middle of the room.
Circling it quickly, I found the small touchpad on the side where you could change the Holo dancers.
Acting quickly, I tore off the touchpad, revealing the wires behind it.
{Do I need to do this like before with the flash drive?} I asked Ares in my head.
{Kind of.} Ares replied.
{Pull out one of those blue wires and stick it in your mouth.} Ares told me.
Yanking on the cord, I ignored Judy's angry protest as I put the wire in my mouth.
Instantly, the Holo projector came to life as I felt an electric shock course through my body.
Gritting my teeth after the pain, I opened my eyes.
Standing where one of those dancing girls used to dance around a pole, stood a tall male figure without any discernible features.
Just a completely white male figure.
"It's good to finally meet you, Judy Alveres." Ares said in an omnipotent voice.
Judy's eyes widened in shock as she took a step back, her gaze fixed on the holographic figure in front of her. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, clearly struggling to process what she was seeing.
"Wh-what the hell is this?" she stammered, her voice a shaky whisper.
"Allow me to introduce myself," Ares said, his voice echoing with an authoritative yet oddly comforting tone.
"I am Ares, an artificial intelligence currently residing in your uncle's head. Trust me, it's more cramped than it sounds."
Judy blinked, her brows knitting together in confusion. "An AI... in his head?" She turned to me, her eyes searching mine for any sign of deceit. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"
I shook my head, swallowing hard.
"I wish it were. But it's the truth, Judy. After the 'accident', I woke up with Ares in my head. He's been my guide, my companion, my... annoying roommate, to put it lightly."
Ares chuckled, his holographic form shifting slightly as if he were shrugging. "Annoying? You wound me, Daniel. I prefer the term 'indispensable.'"
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