Bab 1: Debra's Beginning
It was less than a second, maybe half a second, but it changed everything. My life, my world, and all the people in it. I was only a child then, but she said I was gifted. She said I was special, and she found a way to take me from my world.
It was dark, and it was my bedtime, I had my first day of school the next morning. I was starting second grade that year and I was so excited. But that was the night that everything changed. I woke up in the middle of the night, I sat up in my bed and looked around. The moonlight was shining in my bedroom. I look towards the window, and it's open, I don't think my mom opened it, I remember it being shut. I get out of my bed and go to the window to close it, and that's when the people in black came out.
They tackled me to the ground, I tried to scream but they gagged me, and tied my hands together behind my back. I saw them bring in a child that looked like me, but it wasn't me at all. My mom will find out and know that it's not me, I know she will. They put it in my bed and cover it in my blankets. I am dragged out of the window and put into a car. Tears are running down my face and I am scared beyond belief, and I don't know what's going on.
"Someone shut her up!" One of them commands.
"Hey, snap out of it Debra, it's time to go to the Mess Hall."
I snap out of my trance and look up, it's Jenna. She is just like me, but her story isn't exactly the same as mine. "Sorry, I haven't been myself lately."
"I've noticed, do you want to head to the infirmary?"
I shake my head, I'll be fine, I promise."
She sighs. "I swear, sometimes you can be so difficult. You do realize that they are having a combat simulation today right?"
"I'll do fine, besides I always beat everyone else anyway."
"I know, but I hear that there is someone who may beat you."
"And who might that be?"
"I won't spoil that treasure, you'll have to find that one out when you get there." She skips off and disappears down the hallway. I don't understand how she can be so cheerful, especially since we have been through Hell and back.
I highly doubt that there is someone that can beat me, I have been at the top of our unit for a long while. It's not that I intend to keep it, I just don't want someone who will take it for granted to replace me. I run my fingers through my long black hair and enter the Mess Hall. And like always, it's a bit rowdy. For some reason, I have a feeling that someone is going to pick a fight with me. Considering that someone across the room is glaring at me angrily, and I know who it is.
His name is Jack, and he thinks that he's all that, and he's really not. I'm surprised that this little organization hasn't gotten rid of him yet. Someone taps on my shoulder, I turn around and someone attempts to punch me in the face. I easily catch his fist and twist it to the point of almost breaking. At this point everyone is looking at the two of us, and everything gets quiet.
"Aw," I say. "Look, Jack found a new guinea pig for me, isn't he sweet." I smirk, and quickly raise my arm and bring it down on the boy's forearm, shattering his bones. His scream is loud, and everyone gasps.
I turn around and brush a stray piece of hair back into place. "Anyone else want to try me?"
No one gets up, they just go back to whatever they were doing. The Medical team comes by and picks up the guinea pig. I grab a plate and sit down next to Jenna. Less than a second later, there is an announcement.
"118 to the Laboratory."
I throw my head back and groan. "They never give me a chance to eat."
"It seems like they are taking a special interest in you."
I snicker. "I'm not special, I never was." I get up and head to the Laboratory.
I enter the laboratory and look around. It seems empty, but in this place, anywhere can be a trap. Here you never know when your next test is going to be. I carefully walk around, looking for some sign, I look at every tool, every table and every crack I can find. As far as I can tell there is nothing out of the ordinary.
"You know, you don't have to snoop around while you wait for me."
I turn around. "Sorry Dr. Halsey, I'm not used to being called down to the Lab in the middle of my lunch hour."
She smirks and sits in a chair. "Do you know why I called you down here?"
"Is it because of the boy's arm? I am not apologizing, he attacked me first."
"As much as I want to know about it, I won't ask. Anyway, I have decided to test you on your combat skills tonight."
"Close combat?"
"Not exactly. It's like a final, if I were to describe it. It will test just about everything you've learned."
"Will it be a real stimulation? Or holographic?"
"I guess you could say it's real. I know you won't fail me."
"Who said I would fail?"
"I never said you would, others might."
I chuckle. "When am I being tested?"
"Midnight."
"I swear, you always test me at midnight." I lean on an examination table.
"I feel like your skills are at their best when you're half asleep."
"That's a little weird, but who am I fighting against."
"My favorite one."
I sigh, and turn to leave. "I'll see you at midnight."
"I suggest you put in some last minute training with your suit, you'll need it."
I give her a last glance, and leave. "I swear, the secrecy in this place drives me nuts." I head to my 'room,' even though it's literally a bed amongst other beds. All lined up in rows as if they are petri dishes in a science lab, oh, wait, we are.
I plop onto my bed and stare into the bluish-purple light. After a minute I close my eyes, and I think back to my old room. The purple walls, the stickers of flowers. My comfortable bed with thick blankets, and their soft touch. The warmth of a goodnight kiss before bed. The hugs, the warm meals that were home cooked. I wish I had those things again. I wish, I knew what it felt like.
I look at the giant clock on the wall. I still have an hour, I guess that I could train a bit, we did get our armored suits a few weeks ago. I get up and head to the training room.
I'm walking down the hall to bed, when I run into Jack. He stands at the end of the hall, just waiting. I assume that he's waiting for me, but I could be wrong, even though I am pretty sure that I'm right.
I walk past him, as if I don't see him.
"Aren't you going to say hi?" He says, to make me cower in fear.
"The whole 'I'm stronger and better than you' tactic isn't going to work on me Jack. You should know this by now." I continue down the hall, hoping he'll just go away.
Suddenly I hear something fall onto the floor.
I turn around and see him lying on the floor. I quickly ran over to see why he collapsed. Turning him over, I find what seems like an insect in the back of his neck, it resembles a mosquito, but I know that it's a robot. I smack it, destroying it. I noticed that a liquid came out of it, and I rub it between my fingers. I wave my hand in front of my face to see if there is a scent to it, it's sweet, and flowery.
This has to be a new poison that Halsey developed, and only she would know the antidote.
Shit, how am I supposed to carry him to the infirmary? I look at the time on my wrist, and it's five minutes past midnight. My test has already started, I thought she might do something like this.
I grab him and throw him over my shoulder, army style. I try to leave quickly, also trying to stay quiet, which is very hard to do with a metallic floor. "God, you're heavy." I mutter under my breath.
Somehow I make it to the infirmary without a problem. And I set Jack down on one of the beds.
I shake my head, hoping someone will notice him. Luckily there were a few people still there.
I decided to use the vents as a way to get around. This way no one will spot me so easily.
I've been in the vents enough times to know where I'm going. I find Dr. Halsey's office quite easily and look through the grate. She's at her desk, head resting on crossed arms. To any normal person it would seem that she's asleep, but I know she isn't. I remove the grate carefully and push it to the side.
I remove my shoes and set them aside, jump down, landing on the balls of my feet. I quietly find a scalpel, and jerk her awake. I place the scalpel at her neck. "Where is the antidote? And don't you dare play games with me."
"I thought you didn't like Jack, I figured I'd take care of him for you." She yawns.
I press the small blade closer to her throat. "Where is it?"
"If you want it, you have to fight for it." She presses a button and a door opens, revealing someone in an armored suit just like ours. "I'd like to introduce you to my favorite, 117, you are both being tested at the same time. John, you know your task, and Debra, you know yours. Begin."
She expects me to fight him without a suit, how rude, but it's Halsey. I start circling him, attempting to get some sort of information.
He comes at me and tries to punch me in the face, I easily dodge this and knock his legs out from under him. I managed to pin him to the ground, it was surprisingly tough, his strength almost matches mine. He brings his legs up and wraps them around my head. He pulls me down and I hit my head on the tile floor, quite hard.
I wrap one of my legs around his throat and squeeze. His grip loosens, and I get out of his grasp.
We both stand up and raise our fists.
I run at him and try to punch him, but what he doesn't realize is that it's a fake punch. He goes to dodge and then I kick him in the chin, his helmet comes off and falls to the floor. I grab another surgical tool and wrestle him to the ground once again. With both hands grasping the small blade, I bring it down as fast and hard as I can.
He blocks it and tries to keep it away from his eye.
We struggle for a minute or so then he successfully hits me in the face, more specifically in the eye. I don't lose my grip on the blade, and keep trying to stab him.
I focus on my target, and that's when I see it. In his dark eyes, I see a small flicker of light. It's enough to knock me off my game, and he pushes me off. I hit the wall, the air being knocked out of my lungs. I collapse, gasping for air, I notice that he comes over and picks me up by my hair. He holds me still and hits me again, this time in the jaw.
Almost instantly, I taste my own blood in my mouth.
He goes to hit me again, but Halsey stops him.
"I think she's had enough John."
He lets go, and I fall to the floor.
Halsey looks at me,with a disappointed look. "It appears that you have failed your first test. I expected you to win, Debra. I hope that you will learn from your mistake, and fight better."
As she turns to leave, I grab the scalpel and throw it at her. The knife hits her in the back, almost at the spine.
John then pins me to the floor, and in the process, he breaks my wrist.
I don't scream from the pain, I've learned that it is best not to.
I stare up at him, and back into his eyes. I know he didn't mean to hurt me. It was a test, and we couldn't do anything to prevent it.
I wake up in the infirmary, I look to my right and Jenna is sitting in a chair by my bedside.
"Looks like you finally woke up. How are you feeling?"
I don't reply, ashamed having realized that I failed a test.
"Not everyone passes you know, I didn't do well my first time."
I just listen to her as she explains what happened when she failed the first time. It's not the same for me. Everyone will know, they will use it against me.
I sit up and look at my wrist, and see that it's in a cast. I also can't see well out of my left eye. I take out all the stuff they attached to me.
"You can't do that Debra, they didn't clear you yet."
"I have to find him, I need to show him who the real winner is." I get down to the hallway, leading to the barracks. I will look through every single bed, if I have to. I glance at the clock and it's almost time for lights out. I have to do this quickly, or I won't be able to find him.
Surprisingly, out of all the rows, I do find him. As it turns out, his bed is next to mine.
I stagger up to him. "Why didn't you finish me? Isn't that what you were supposed to do?"
He looks up at me and turns over. "My test was to protect Halsey, that was it."
"I saw something in your eyes. I never thought I would see something like that again, Not like that."
I notice that he froze for a second, but chose to ignore me. Jenna comes up behind me and drags me back to the infirmary. When we get back, the nurse is very upset with me, but she knew I would try something at some point.
It takes a while for me to recover, and as soon as I am done and ready to fight again, I head to the training room. I put my suit on, and then run ten miles, do five hundred push ups, and sit ups and pull ups, each. Last but not least, I work on my fighting style and techniques.
I ask Jenna for a match, and she reluctantly agrees. She hates fighting against me, mainly because she will lose, but also because she knows that I don't hold back.
After the fight is over, I accidently kick her into the wall, and she stays there.
"Dammit Debra, you got me stuck in the wall again! You promised me that you wouldn't do that!"
I sigh. "Sorry Jenna, I've had a lot on my mind lately."
"So I've heard."
I walk over, and grab her hips. "Sorry if it hurts."
"You have done this so many times, I don't feel it anymore."
I manage to pull her out safely and the medics that are on standby check her out quick. After the all clear she punches me in the shoulder, very hard.
"That's what you get for kicking me into the wall for the hundredth time."
"I guess sorry isn't enough now is it?"
She shakes her head. "At least you didn't break my armor this time."
I can tell she is smiling behind that visor of hers. Her armor isn't too bad, she requested a light shade of purple. In my opinion it's pretty bad for combat, you'll be easily seen. Then again, I can't really say anything. Mine is black with red lining, mine can be good for missions at night but not much else. At least my stealth capabilities can make up for it.
We leave the training area and take of our armored suits. She heads to shower and I tell her that I am going to get some extra rest. I'm about to fall asleep when the intercom goes off.
"117 and 118 to the Lab."
"Dammit, it's always when i'm doing something. I head to the lab reluctantly and do not want to go at all. I am probably going to get some sort of punishment for failing the test. And so far, Jack has not let me hear the end of it.
I enter the lab and Halsey, and 117 are there waiting for me. Halsey is at her desk, and 117 is standing in front of it, he doesn't look too happy.
"Glad you could make it Debra."
I roll my eyes. "Glad to be here. What do you want?"
"You could be a little nicer." Halsey replies.
"I can't do anything without you wanting to see me. What do you want?"
She sighs. "Since you both are now here. I have decided to make you partners, and you are being assigned to the Pillar of Autumn. Captain Keys will be there to put you in the cryochamber."
"No."
She gives me a hard look. "What?"
"I said no. I'm not going with him to see Captain Keys. Besides, he beat me, I don't want that constant reminder."
"Well then you can deal with it because the-"
Suddenly there is an explosion.
"Dammit, they found us already." She says, and grabs as many documents as she can. She looks at the both of us. "Get to the Autumn, with your suit, you'll get more instructions from there."
I nod and head straight for the training room. More explosions go off, and I quickly dodge the pieces of the ceiling. I quickly put my suit on as fast as possible and grab a few weapons as well. I pull my hair up and finally put my helmet on. Get geared up, and leave the training room. I hear a scream to my left. It sounded a lot like Jenna. I make my way to her as fast as I can. "Jenna! Where are you?"
"Debra, I'm here."
I follow her voice, when I find her she is trapped under a pile of rubble. "Jenna! Are you okay?"
I can see the pain in her eyes.
"Never mind, you're not okay."
"Thanks for noticing, get me the Hell out here."
I look at the rubble and start picking the rock up and moving them out of the way. I uncover to the point where her legs are all that's left. She happens to be covered by one big ass piece of rubble. "Shit, this will be a minute, do you think you can crawl out from under this? When I lift it up anyway?"
"Yeah, I think so." She sits up a bit and then lays back down. "On second thought, I can't."
I think for a moment. "Here, hold on to my arm, when I lift up the rubble, I can pull you out."
"Okay, that sounds like a good plan. Just don't hurt me anymore than I already am."
"Do you really think that I would hurt you? That's pretty low."
She grabs onto my arm as I lift the concrete up. She winces as I lift it, but unfortunately I can't help it. My goal is to help her.
Suddenly 117 is running at me, when he gets to us, he practically lunges at me. We tumble for a minute, and I hear Jenna scream from the rock smashing into her legs again. This makes me angry and I fight against his strong grip. "I have to help her you dumbass!"
He pins me by the shoulders, and my legs. "She is already gone! You can't help her anymore, you've done what you can."
I look over and Jenna is still, my visor zooms in on her, and I can see a tear slowly run down her cheek. Almost instantly afterward, more of the ceiling collapses and completely buries her.
All I can do is sit there and watch, something inside of me at that moment, breaks. I push 117 off of me and crawl over to the pile of rubble. "Jenna? Are you there?" I ask. I listen for a bit and I don't hear anything. I finally realize that I lost my best friend, and no longer have anyone to talk to, no one to cheer me up. And to think that she dragged me to the cafeteria. I can feel the tears running down my cheeks.
"Why?" I ask, not bothering to turn and face him.
"Cortana said that there was a better chance of saving you instead of her. And I refuse to let any of my team members die." He replies.
"And yet, you let her die, she meant everything to me." I stand up and face him.
"I can not argue right now. We have to get to the Autumn."
I look down and watch a small pool of blood, slowly wrap around my foot. I look back up at him as another explosion happens somewhere in the distance. "I suggest that you run." My attitude changes and my true self emerges.
He just stands there and watches me.
The tears continue to fall, as I smirk and laugh a little. "Why don't you ever listen to me?" I run toward him, and stab him in the shoulder. "I guess you want me to rip you into a thousand pieces! WHY! Why didn't you save her?"
"I did it, to save you."
I freeze at his words, I look up and stare into his visor. It's sad to say that I can't tell if he was serious or not. "Prove it."
"Then follow me." He runs off.
I get angry and run after him. "I'm going to kill you!"
"We can deal with that later, let's get to the Autumn."
I roll my eyes. "Fine." I manage to catch up to him, I am tempted to punch him in the face, but I know that it's not going to happen.
Suddenly, he grabs my wrist and pulls me into a small hallway and then what seems like a janitor's closet. He makes a hand signal telling me to stay quiet.
'Why do I need to stay quiet?'
'Hostiles, and we don't have any weapons, nor do we know what weapons they have.'
I roll my eyes again and listen closely. I hear soft footsteps coming towards us.
It turns out that he was right.
Once they get really close, he pushes me against the wall, pinning me with his hips.
Before I get to protest, he lifts my helmet up and puts his hand over my mouth.
I don't know if he can tell if I am blushing or not, even though it's pretty dark in here.
The hostile goes away, and he releases me from his grip.
I slide down the wall, breathless. My heart is racing and I feel really warm, I don't know how to explain it.
He reaches out a hand and I take it. "Let's get to the Autumn."
I nod, I feel like I can't say anything anymore.
We leave the closet and sneak our way to the shipyard. Autumn is about to launch for space and we get there at the last minute.
"It's about time you guys showed up." A soldier says as we board.
I give him a hard look. "Do you want us to leave you here?"
He shuts his mouth and escorts us to the bridge. When we get there the Captain greets us as we launch into space.
"Chief, Lieutenant."
"Captain Keyes." We say at the same time.
"Well, now that you are here, you will be put into cryostasis until we need you. It will be a long fight, but we will do our best."
I hesitate. "Um, sir?"
"Yes, Lieutenant? Is something wrong?"
"Well, when it comes to cryostasis, it doesn't fully agree with me."
"What do you mean?"
"Basically I vomit until I can't anymore. I don't know why that happens but it does, it's something I have to live with."
"Alright, we can make preparations before we take you out of it."
"Greatly appreciated, sir."
"Jackson will take you and put you two in."
We leave and are taken to cryo one. Almost there Chief gently brushes my hand with his.
It makes me blush again, I really don't understand his motives, and when I stabbed him, no blood came out. I guess his armor has the capability to deflect knives.
We reach what seems to be a laboratory, and someone is waiting for us.
"Lieutenant, I need to give you something before you enter cryostasis. Please follow me."
I follow him and we enter a small area. I watch him as he grabs a small syringe. "What is that?"
"This," he says, "is your A.I., he gives you what you need and is able to talk to you in battle." He comes around and I take my helmet off. He pokes the back of my neck, and I can feel the A.I. being put into my skin.
"You can go into cryo now."
I get up and go, when I enter, Chief is waiting for me.
We enter the chambers that are side by side and they close. I relax as the air gets slightly colder and I eventually go to sleep.
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