8-4 How I Remembered

Date: September 10

Place: Second Headquarters

[Rei]

I walked up to Cedrick who was in silence in a corner with Noel sitting on a metal stool beside him. Stepping another inch towards them made my nerves act up. My beating chest and sweat dripping explain how greatly nervous I am about his confrontation regarding the incident.

Without uttering a word, he decided to strike for a conversation as I watched his lips of what might come out of it.

"Before I forget, I want to talk to you about what might be important information," without knowing who he was talking to as he looked at his friends, I felt obligated to answer.

"Sure. But that might have to wait until we're back," I say in a monotone voice as I try to get my glimpse out of his teary eyes. And I hear Cedrick sigh as he scratches his head.

"She said we can discuss it later," he summarized my words as he explained it to Noel who was looking in Cedrick's direction. Cedrick didn't need me questioning him and explained. "He can't understand anything right now," he gave another sigh as he walked to my side. "His chip must've malfunctioned," he continues.

"But you can communicate with him?" I can't help but wonder.

"I took up English from school," he grinned with a boasting scoff. "That's right," he changed the subject. "They told me that their items are in the main lobby and it's ready to pick up anytime we feel like it," he continues.

"Alright, I'll leave that to you then," I say as I also remember something. "We'll be here for about another hour and a half so don't wander too far," I say giving a glance to Noel to hint Cedrick to pass it onto him. "And tell him I'm sorry too," looking around the place to avoid showing him my anxious complexion.

"You tell him the latter yourself," he sounded dejected as I nodded heavily with a bitter countenance.

[Noel]

As expected, they're not too shaken by this. I'd say they're too tense to explain the current situation to me properly rather than worried about them. And I don't need to understand the context of their conversation to tell that much. They're too obvious about it.

Then Cedrick explained how long we would have to stay here and warned me not to stray too far. I wonder how our little conversation will go; will they confess everything, hide a few pieces of the picture, or completely lie to me? I wish I have the ability to read people's minds.

[Rei]

"Captain Rei," a soldier saluted as I turned my attention to him. "Supreme Commander wishes to discuss some things with you about some rooms. If you'd follow me," his posture was stiff as if someone would punish him for slacking. Somehow, he looks like someone I haven't seen anywhere before. His eyes were staring at me blankly, with thick brows and a broken nose; a completely new face. "Captain?" he stood confused as to why I was inspecting his entirety.

"Shall we go?" I curled my lips upward.

"Right this way," we started to drift away from the two. We walked past the busy crowd and took a few lefts and rights along the way. So far, he didn't stutter another word as he walked a few inches in front of me.

"What kind of place did the Supreme Commander want me to inspect?" the water droplets falling from the ceiling and some small rocks or debris falling out of the concrete walls are enough to know that we're quite far from any presence of people. I wouldn't hesitate but ask him in an apathetic tone.

"I'm not sure myself, he just told me to bring you," he abruptly looked at his watch and showed a hologram of the building's layout. "This way," he says and took a left. "Don't worry, we're almost there," he added and kept on walking.

A few more steps and he stopped in front of a red wooden door. "I think this is it. I'll guard the outside so please," he held the door open and waited for me to take a step inside.

This situation right now is uncomfortable and I can't help but sense if something was amiss, besides the fact that there was already a detailed floor layout of this building from what I saw on the hologram. I have my suspicions peeked and am prepared for any surprises that might come.

But all of that melted away when I did see the Supreme Commander standing in the middle of the room, looking at his watch and inspecting the room as I finally took a step forward.

"You're finally here," he celebrated by greeting me with a wide smile on his wrinkly face. "What took you so long?" his friendly gesture is like him.

"So what did you call me here for?" I intended to dodge his question.

"Why are you always so cold to me," he pretended to be glum by playing with his tone. "Did you forget the times we spent together?" as he spoke my name which I deliberately tried to bury in my past, I didn't hesitate to throw a small dagger. And I understood the situation quickly when it just went through him and stuck to the wall behind;  a hologram.

"How deep did you dig about me?" I'm trying to ascertain which two of the questions I have are correct.

One; did he get any information about me in this newly acquired headquarters or just happen to come across some unknown source? Or two; a person from my past?

"I heard Acel died. Or are you protecting him from me?" the latter of the list seems to check out as I hear a cocking of the gun behind me. I tried to sneak a peak to see the door open and the same soldier who led me here was a few inches behind me to steal the gun from him.

I was trapped.

"Did you like my gift for you this time?" then Dr. Norby's true body appeared in the hologram. I remember him having the same features as he did back then. He wears a long lab coat with a black shirt and trousers, strips of black and gray hair slicked to his back, and glasses.

"What gift?" I raised my voice as I gritted my teeth and paid no attention to his question earlier.

"Doesn't they remind you of how subjects 1-016 and 4-002 looked when they were helplessly screaming while helping you?" a maniac grin and laugh were portrayed on his face. And I soon realized that the gift was supposed to be none other than Vincent, Shawn, and Patrick in those horrible states.

As much as I wanted to wrap my fingers around his neck, I couldn't even move more than an inch with a gun still pointed at me.

"Look forward to the other gifts," the hologram ended and a whack from the butt of the gun made me lose my balance as I fall to the ground, face flat. Then a fleeting pain was inflicted on my left arm. I heard the door being shut as my consciousness drifted away.