[REND] B2. 15.1 - Chips to Bargain, Chips to Eat

Myra Fletcher (Merge)

“Shit, shit, shit…” Myra hissed as she limped down the dim tunnel, her body convulsing now and then.

She steadied herself by leaning against the grimy wall, trying to absorb parts of it to reform her armor as she trudged along. But she could barely do it. Her powers… They weren’t working correctly!

Panic simmered. She might really die this time.

Hold yourself together!

What had happened? Did that fucking red laser affect her artificial Core? When she got hit, she suddenly felt weak. Very weak. Almost humanly weak. As her armor crumbled away, someone hit her with a device that buried into her back. At intervals, it sent out electric shocks that further hampered her recovery. It might even be releasing chemicals into her system because she could feel a distinct coolness running through her veins.

Her regeneration was so weakened that it couldn’t eject the foreign device from her body, as it usually should be able to. She had to get the damn thing out so she could properly heal.

But it was buried deep in the middle of her back, very near her spine. The PCM bastards intentionally shot the device there to incapacitate her powers. She could barely reach that spot. Digging it out was impossible, even if she was an extreme contortionist; she needed someone else to do it for her.

Myra stopped.

The device burned inside her, releasing a fresh jolt of electricity that traveled up her spine.

She clenched her teeth, dug her fingers into the wall to keep herself steady, and braced herself for another wave of suffering. The little that she could see of the dark tunnels doubled. Tripled. Her body uncontrollably trembled. The patches of cement that she had managed to mold into pieces of armor fell off her body as if she were molting. Her thoughts blanked, all she could hear was static, and her vision whited out.

After several seconds, the shocks stopped.

Myra gasped as she tried to remember her name and what had happened so far.

Steady. Steady. Get your thoughts together.

Why was she here?

Remember.

She had attacked the bunker at Angelus Heights, a fenced-off area several blocks past the apartment buildings. Interrogated the people inside. One of them received a call that the escaped Adumbrae was captured and brought to a different bunker—this place. She should’ve suspected that it was a fucking trap.

Too convenient. Too much of a coincidence. And she should’ve expected the PCM to make their move after she had hit several of their places. They wouldn’t just roll over and let her do whatever.

Myra resumed her journey, putting one trembling leg in front of another. Her weakened regeneration patched up her toasty body. She could smell her burned flesh from the electrocution, and it made her want to vomit.

No! Continue walking! Faster! She couldn’t see where she was headed, but neither should the PCM, right? There were no more working lights in this section of the tunnel. Soon, she’d be in complete darkness.

She peeled her ears for sounds of pursuers. It was silent except for her pained breathing and the pounding blood in her ears. She killed a lot of them back there, but there were more to come. They wouldn’t let her be after sacrificing a lot of their men.

They knew that they had hit her now. What new devices would they bring?

Despite knowingly walking into a trap, Myra had the momentary upper hand when she attacked because they thought she was an Adumbrae. Most of their machines didn’t work, much to their surprise. She should’ve gotten out back then instead of pushing deeper into their base and meeting even more bizarre machines.

But she had to check if Kelsey really was here.

She wasn’t, Myra bitterly thought. Now, Myra herself might get captured.

She wasn’t allowing that! These PCM fuckfaces wouldn’t get their hands on her! There was bound to be a way out of here. Tunnels had to lead somewhere, right? There must be a manhole or another bunker that could be her exit. If she kept moving in this direction, she’d be away from those nasty machines. The PCM dickheads couldn’t just lug those around while chasing her. If it were just their discount-store monsters, she could handle them. Fucking Frankenstein creatures with monster and human parts pieced together.  

She could handle them… if she didn’t have this device shot inside of her. Without armor, she wouldn’t have enough protection to fight the PCM monsters. And if they managed to bring the red laser here…

I have only one option left… If Myra couldn’t dig the device out of her back, she should do it from the front. She didn’t attempt it before because she was afraid of hitting her spine.

But she had to do this now while there was still some light and there were no enemies. She couldn’t gamble that this thing inside her would run out of energy or chemicals soon. This fucking metal piece of shit might even be tracking her location. The other side of the gamble was if her full regeneration wouldn’t return despite taking out the device.

She had to take the chance.

“This is going to hurt like a bitch,” Myra grumbled.

With no hesitation, she straightened all the fingers of her hand, forming spikes on their ends with the concrete she had gathered, and forcefully stabbed them into her body, a bit to the left of where the device was inside her. Her fingers penetrated her skin and flesh, breaking a rib. She keeled over, spitting out some blood. But she didn’t stop digging into her body. Immense pain burst from inside her as she shoved aside or tore into her organs.

Was her stomach supposed to be here? Her lungs! She couldn’t explain it, but she could somehow feel blood entering her lungs, making it harder to breathe. She gasped, feeling sensations of drowning.

Ignore it! Focus on reaching the damn device! Her only concern while rummaging through her body was to avoid injuring her spine. Her hand up to her wrist was inside her. Blood flowed from the hole she made, running down her abdomen and arm. An intense vertigo attacked her as the pain threatened to knock her out.

Is this it? She felt something hard. Angular. She grabbed it as her wrecked innards reformed her, making it more difficult to pull the damn thing out.

Myra enclosed the device with her fist—it was around the size and shape of a fishing lure that her uncle used. She held her breath and tensed her body. Here goes.       

One powerful yank and she took the damn thing out of her body. She dropped to her knees and leaned against the wall as relief swept over her. The gaping hole in her midsection gradually started to close. She was drenched in cold sweat, her entire being throbbing from the lessening pain.

“Fucking hell,” she gasped, coughing up more blood.

She stared at the device in her hand. Parts of it not covered in blood glinted from the meager light behind her. It started to hum. She closed her hand to crush it before it could electrocute her again. Liquid spurted from the device, hissing upon contact with her skin.

Far from fully recovering, Myra pushed herself to stand. She couldn’t stay here.

Walk. Walk, goddammit!

Heal quickly, my fucking useless body!

She grabbed her collar and tore open the front of her shirt. She then ripped the top part of her sports bra to reveal her artificial Core. As she used her power, the Core glowed. This was all the illumination she had. She couldn’t even see a couple of feet in front of her. She stuck to the side of the tunnel so as not miss any exit coming up.

Checking over her shoulder, the lighted section of the tunnel became tinier and tinier in the distance. Did I… Did I make it? Did the PCM give up?

She was tired. Very. She had exerted much of herself, fighting and escaping her own stupid blunder.

But she was alive and regenerating. A half-inch-thick layer of concrete coated her body, except for her Core and her face. Much of the pain was gone. And she could now catch her breath. However, there was an unshakeable fatigue that somewhat held her back from full strength, as if she had stayed up all night, catching up on her projects.

Was this caused by that device? Was her Core affected by the red laser? What the hell was even that?

She might need to consult with Dario about this. But she’d have to spill everything about Kelsey. Dario wouldn’t help her look for her monster sister, would he? If Myra packaged her pitch as stopping the PCM from their experiments, then Dario might be on board. Should she say that the PCM was experimenting on Adumbrae to look for a cure?

Or it might be a better idea if she’d ask Deen and Erind for help again. Johann, too. She had asked for his help in locating the secret PCM base she attacked. She’d decide after getting out of—

“So, you’re here…” said a slithery voice from the darkness.

Myra instinctively flung her arms. Didn’t connect with anything. She swung her arms again, shooting out parts of her armor. The hardened bits shattered against the walls of the tunnel. She couldn’t see anything.

“You didn’t hit me…” Terribly annoying laughter echoed in the tunnels. “Try again…”

Myra grew spikes all over her body and violently thrashed about to launched them everywhere. She knew that they wouldn’t hit the asshole hiding in the shadows; she didn’t even hear him approach. But she was buying time to regenerate. And to think—return to the lit area or continue her way?

Would the light even reveal this shadowy asshole? And if she turned back, she’d be jumping straight into the arms of the PCM. If one guy caught up to her, there’d be more.

Onward! She could only hope to find an exit before this asshole incapacitated her.

She crouched as she ran, raising her arms to protect her head. She thickened the armor on her back. Picking up speed, she intended to barrel through any obstacle.

“We have your friend…” cooed the voice. “Don’t you want to see her again?”

Where’s the fucking exit? Myra tried to ignore the voice taunting her.

“We’ll reunite the two of you…”

Myra tripped on something. She stomped her forward foot hard to stop herself from falling. Something was wrapping around her legs! She continued walking, tearing free with much effort. Run! A door broke the monotony of the continuous walls. She almost missed it because of the asshole trying to stop her.

She stopped herself, drawing much of the floor to absorb her momentum. She turned around and looked for the door she passed. A fucking exit, at last! She charged the door, bursting inside the cramped tunnel that barely contained her larger form. Reluctantly, she shed chunks of her armor. She made sure her back was well protected.

Another door. BAM!

There was no more door.

Myra exited to a wider tunnel.

The lights were on?

Her heart stopped. That shadow asshole wasn’t trying to distract her from this place; he forced her to pick the first exit she found. If she had thought more clearly, she would’ve suspected that this was also a PCM base, and they’d be prepared for her to come this way.

Red flashed from below her.

Looking down, she saw that she had stepped on a circular metal plate with blinking lights.

BOOM!

The explosion slammed Myra against the ceiling. Her ears rang. Her vision was filled with the afterglow of a bright flash. She dropped to the ground, flitting between consciousness and unconsciousness. Slabs of the ceiling fell on her. Scrambling out of the debris, she noticed that her right leg was all gone below the knee.

I have to get out of here! Where was the doorway? The blast had disoriented Myra.  

Just crawl away from the light. Away from the PCM members who had laid yet another trap for her.

She should’ve continued exploring the tunnels for an exit much further away, lessening the chance that the PCM had prepared she’d go there. If only that shadowy asshole didn’t—

Something wrapped Myra's face. All darkness. No air.

It didn’t just cover her face. The sheet was alive, wriggling to enter her mouth and nose, and even her ears. Tiny tendrils tried to pry her eyelids open to reach her eyes.

She furiously ripped off the sheet that had enveloped her head. The next moment that she could see again, she looked left at the humming blue light. Powerful electric shocks lashed at her. Her entire body wouldn’t listen to her. She suffered continuous pain until she passed out.

-----

“Rise and shine, Myra Fletcher!”

Myra opened her eyes to an electroshock cannon pointed at her face—she assumed that was what it was. Three prongs glowed blue. A recognizable vibration. The hair on her arms stood on end, and there was this metallic, burnt smell in the air.

Manacles clasping her neck, waist, and limbs secured her to a cold table. The table was tilted at an angle, allowing her some view of the room; the person talking was probably behind her. She could easily break free of these restraints.

But trying to escape probably wasn’t the best of ideas. I fucked up big time…

“Oh, you’re not attempting to free yourself?” The voice was robotic. “If you’re wondering who this is, it’s me, Cecilia! Don’t tell me that you’ve already forgotten about me.”

“Cecilia?” Myra wondered. “I don’t—ah, the head.”

“And currently, still a head.”

“You know my name,” Myra said. It probably wasn’t difficult to find out her identity once they saw her appearance, especially her blue hair.

“The sister of Kelsey Fletcher. She’s the one you were looking for.”

“Yep. You got me. Now, what?” Myra scanned her surroundings to the extent that she could move her head. They must be in a room in one of the many bunkers controlled by the PCM. She couldn’t think of a way out this mess.

“Now… we will find a way to contact Red Hood and sue for peace.”

“With me as your bargaining chip.”

“Precisely.”

A tiny flame of hope burned in Myra’s heart. Didn’t this mean that the PCM didn’t actually have Kelsey? If they did, they would use Kelsey as a bargaining chip to keep the supposed forces of Red Hood away. Threaten to kill Kelsey if Red Hood attacks—that would’ve been enough without Myra as hostage. Myra hoped that it wasn’t wishful thinking.

“However…” Cecilia continued. “You present quite a specimen. You… are not an Adumbrae.”

“I am not,” Myra said, sensing that this might be her bargaining chip. “What I have here is an artificial Core. You are messing with people way above your pay grade.”

(Author’s Notes: Poor Myra got captured by Cecilia. We have two groups aiming to save her. Johann and Deen, and Erind and Kelsey. I’m still not sure if Deen would ask Erind for help or want to keep her safe this time. The PCM now has a bargaining chip with Red Hood. But they don’t know that Erind doesn’t really care about Myra. But Kelsey cares. So, this is a huge headache for Erind to handle. Thanks for the support!)