Chapter 57 - Mistakes Have Consequences Too (Part 1)

Vicky, Mia and Aiden arrived at the safe house, after they're successful attack on the lab.

"Why does this hurt so much?" Aiden asked. Clenching his fists, and holding his gunshot wound.

"Why don't we log out? You'll feel a lot better," Vicky replied.

"We better get going too," Mia said, opening up her head-up display. She logged out.

Vicky watched Aiden log out, and she too logged out. Vicky woke up in the pod. She rushed to Aiden's room to check on him.

Aiden stumbled out of the pod. He was holding his stomach, exactly where he got shot in the game. Vicky grabbed him, and kept him on the bed. She rushed to find the team in the living room. They were still planning for the attack on Raina Corps.

"Guys!" Vicky said, rushing into the living room. Vicky had blood on her hand.

"What happened?" Connor asked, without hesitation.

"Aiden! Aiden needs help," Vicky said.

"There's some crazy stuff going on the TV you guys need to see this," Jessica said running into the room. She looked at Vicky and blurted "Is that blood?"

"Yes," Vicky replied. Jessica stared at her. "It's not mine!" Vicky said.

Sarah went to check on Aiden, while the rest of the team followed Jessica. Theo, Sophia and almost everyone else was in front of the TV watching the special broadcast about what had happened at the lab. Many people had died in real life. It was not just the guards, but other people who were in the other rooms that the laser penetrated through had died too.

The broadcast ended with an apology from Caiden, to all the staff of Raina Corps that was in the game. The whole ordeal was not explained as it happened, but Caiden explained what happened as someone hacking into the game, to target specific individuals. He blamed Violet, and the underground city for the attack.

Vicky looked at Mia, and walked away from the TV. She went to check on Aiden. Connor and the captain noticed Vicky leave without saying anything.

"Is he going to be okay?" Vicky asked, as she strolled into Aiden's room.

"It's nothing much. The bullet... or whatever made this wound, just grazed it," Sarah said, bandaging the wound.

"Thanks!" Aiden said. He tried to sit up on the bed. He held his wound in pain, and lied back down saying "I think I'm going to spend the rest of my day here."

"It's better if you did," Sarah replied with a smile.

"Vicky! Are they really dead?" Aiden asked, staring blankly at Vicky. Sarah looked at her too.

"We'll talk about that later," Vicky replied.

"Talk about what later?" the captain asked. He and Connor walked into Aiden's room. Vicky instantly looked at the ground.

"Aiden! What happened?" Connor asked, turning his gaze from Vicky to Aiden.

"I… I…" Aiden stuttered. He looked at Vicky who was slightly shaking her head sideways.

"I'll get her out of here," the captain said, noticing Vicky. Connor nodded his head to the captain, as he walked out, with Vicky following him.

"What was his wound like?" Connor asked, looking at Sarah.

"A gunshot… a grazed bullet," Sarah replied. She looked at Aiden and said "You can tell us what happened."

"Uh…" Aiden stuttered. He was sweating, and kept glancing at Sarah and Connor.

"No one's going to hell at you," Connor said sitting on the side of the bed, and continued "Just tell us what happened."

Aiden looked at Connor and Sarah, and told them everything that happened.

Meanwhile, the captain took Vicky to her room. Vicky sat on her bed, hands clasped together, staring at the ground.

"What happened?" the captain asked.

"Nothing," Vicky said, without budging an inch.

"I know you're lying," the captain replied.

"Seems like you and my dad know everything these days," Vicky responded, looking up at the captain.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the captain asked.

"I don't know, you tell me," Vicky replied.

The captain sighed. He turned away from Vicky, and walked towards the window. Vicky looked at him.

"Don't you trust us?" the captain asked. Vicky gave a small laugh.

"You hid the truth about my father. How am I supposed to trust you after that?" Vicky asked.

"That wasn't my secret to tell," the captain said.

"Well then. This isn't mine to tell either," Vicky replied.

"So there is something that you're hiding," the captain said, turning towards Vicky.

Connor stormed into the room, and shut the door.

"Vicky! This is your chance to come clean. What happened?" Connor asked, holding in his anger. He tried to keep a calm demeanor, but was too furious to hide it.

"It wasn't her fault," Vicky said, staring at the ground.

"Wasn't whose fault?" the captain asked.

"Mia! She didn't know what the gun could do. It was my fault. I should have said something before she shot it. I could have frozen time, but I just stood there," Vicky replied.

The captain looked at Connor for an answer.

"What was shown on TV… it was their fault. They found a gun in the lab. Mia shot the guards with it, killing all those people," Connor replied.

"Dad! It wasn't her fault. How was she supposed to know that the gun would kill them in real life?" Vicky asked, standing up from the bed.

"I'm not blaming anyone. You should have told me what happened," Connor said.

"You should have come to us with the plan of breaking into the lab," the captain said.

"He's right. What if that bullet killed Aiden. What would you have told Theo and Soph?" Connor asked.

"But he survived. He's fine," Vicky said, sitting back down on the bed.

"Whose idea was this?" Connor asked. Vicky didn't reply.

"Come on kid. Answer him," the captain said.

"Mia's," Vicky said, staring at the ground. She looked defeated. Connor looked at Vicky. Vicky looked at Connor, and continued "It was Mia's idea, but I was the one who was calling the shots."

"You're a smart kid. Why'd you go through with it?" the captain asked.

"I just… wanted everyone to be safe. We'll look on the bright side, we got the gun out. What do you think Caiden and Alex would have done with that gun?" Vicky asked.

"Then it wouldn't be our problem, Vicky," Connor replied.

"How would it not be our problem? It would then be that we had the chance to get rid of the weapon, and didn't take it," Vicky said.