Page 22 of Logic Broken

The Ovt male was standing on the other side of the table, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. There was a manic gleam in his reptilian eyes that just enhanced my worried feeling. Letting them strap me down was hard; I hated the restraints as they made my physical body vulnerable. I was fighting this battle with my mind, so I had to let them think they had control over me in this way.

The scientist hooked me up through my nav port to a medical computer, muttering about getting accurate readouts from my mind. I tried to contain my excitement. Yes, perfect. He had just given me access to this base’s entire network. Because we were in the lab, and he had his encrypted notes on my species opened, it took me only a moment to get hold of everything I wanted.

“Now, let’s map your brain, shall we?” Lekri announced, lowering a medical device above my head that blocked my view of the room. I felt a spike of fear, I didn’t like that I couldn’t see what he was up to, and I didn’t understand what type of experiment he was about to perform. And then pain shot through my foot as he jabbed me with a needle, and I knew… Barbaric idiot, this was unnecessary to map anything, even if it would light up the part of my brain registering pain in my damn left toe.

I had only one option, to ride this out so I could get back to Jenny in a few hours. I’d have to seriously distract myself. So I delved into the system, taking over everything that I could, making myself at home in it. When I controlled even their communications network, I searched out the Vagabond and made contact for the first time since I started this quest. And on the side, to keep my mind at ease, I watched the feed of Jenny in her cell so that I knew she was safe.

*

Jenny

Nobody visited, not even to bring food or water, so it was a good thing that Akri had made sure I had both those things before they took him. Sitting with my knees pulled up on the cot, I didn’t dare touch any of it at first, unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching me. Akri was being stubborn, and I was terrified that he was about to get seriously hurt for something that wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted.

He thought he wasn’t able to control the body he was in, the urges he felt. I knew that was just reality; we all struggled with that from time to time. He was going to end up extremely disappointed and possibly injured for it; this wasn’t worth it. I knew my mom had often adopted the philosophy that a person had to reach certain conclusions on their own, even when you’d rather protect them from the harm it would bring. I guess this was me learning that was sage advice. Akri had to find out on his own that there was no magical answer. He had to learn the hard way like we all did growing up.

I paced for a while, but eventually, worry did give way to boredom, I caved and fished the datapad out from under the mattress. Thumbing it on, I browsed through whatever was on it while I contemplated my options. I’d promised Akri I’d wait here for him, but what if he was in trouble and he couldn’t let me know? Then my mind strayed to what we’d shared earlier, and I flushed a little with desire, followed rapidly by another spike of fear.

My instincts were screaming at me that something was about to go horribly wrong. Or was that just my fear of losing people I cared about? I’d lost my dad when I was in my preteens, then my mom when I had barely started adulthood. I hadn’t let anyone in since then, too afraid to lose them like I had my family. Now Akri… Akri had made himself at home in my heart, and here I was, sitting helplessly in a cell while he was being tortured as the price for information he didn’t understand he didn’t need.

The datapad held nothing that could hold my interest, just schematics of places he’d been. There was data on the amulet and some notes about a store in Akrod that had crafted the thing. There wasn’t a single game, Akri probably didn’t do those, and I had to make sure to introduce him. I was sure his logical mind would enjoy some good puzzles at the very least.

When a buzzing jolted the thing in my hands, I nearly dropped it. A pop-up appeared over the screens prompting me to accept something. I rushed to press ‘approve,’ and a little line appeared in the center of the screen; it wriggled and enlarged when sound came out of the datapad. “Jenny,” a computerized voice said, “I need you to carefully follow my instructions. I need your help.”

It didn’t sound like Akri, but I knew it was him. “You were right,” he said. He didn’t say about what, but I knew he meant that he shouldn’t have taken this risk, that it hadn’t been worth it like I’d warned. I didn’t feel anything but sadness; it would have been nice for him to discover a magical way to control the ‘violent’ urges he was so worried about.

Listening closely to his instructions, I hoped I could remember what he wanted me to do; there were quite a lot of steps. The computerized voice made it sound like there was no urgency but I felt it anyway. Akri wouldn’t put me at risk to mount a rescue if he wasn’t in serious trouble.

Opening the cell was no trouble at all. The door responded to my hand wave like Akri had promised me. I gathered our things in case we’d need them later, and then I was off down the corridor, my fingers crossed the entire way while I fervently hoped I wouldn’t run into any guards.

The hallways I had to follow according to Akri’s directions were blessedly empty, but I didn’t breathe easy until I’d counted down the doors and found the one I needed. It opened for me when I swished my palm over the hand scanner, and I froze in place when I stared at what was on the other side of the door.

It was the sound of voices coming from far away that spurred me into action. I ducked inside and low lights flickered on, displaying the rows upon rows of laser rifles neatly stored in several racks. This was a freaking armory that Akri had sent me too. What did he want me to do? Storm the lab in my lonesome?

“Biosignatures indicate you have reached the armory without incident,” the mechanical voice said from the datapad I was clutching against my chest. “There should be a box on a shelf to your left. Open it. The inventory indicates there are communication devices inside.” I rushed to follow his instructions; what did he have in mind? Was I just here to call for help?

I followed the instructions he gave me carefully to set it up so it could interface with the translation implants in my head. My palms were a little sweaty and clumsy as I worked, the urgency to help him riding me hard. I couldn’t explain it; other than that I just knew that he wouldn’t ask me for help unless he really needed it.

“Good job. I can hear you if you speak to me now. Are you okay, Jenny? It’s going to be alright.” He still sounded like a machine, which could only mean that he was not actually speaking to me;’he was sending his thoughts to me through the network of this base. That meant he was hooked up to a device that allowed him access. I hoped that he wasn’t stretching himself too far; his condition when he’d been brought to the cell earlier had been horrible. I didn’t want him to end up like that a second time.

“I’ll believe that when we’re back together. Where are you? What’s happening?” I asked in a hushed whisper. I couldn’t hear voices now, but I wasn’t convinced it was safe just because it was quiet right now. No way could I have so much luck and avoid guards entirely when I made my way down to him. And he better help me get down there since I wasn’t going to let him send me away.

“Okay, Lekri is preparing to remove my right Liades so he can dissect it. You’re going to have to break me out. I don’t plan on losing a limb here.” The voice was calm, it had no inflection, but that didn’t stop me from imagining the panic that Akri had to be feeling. He thought he’d be getting prodded in a painful way, not undergo some kind of amputation. No wonder he was asking for help.

“Step outside and take a left. The hallway should be empty,” he said. I hesitated at the door of the armory. Should I take a weapon with me? In the end, I tucked the datapad in Arki’s satchel and snatched one of those high-tech tasers from a shelf. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I felt better having it on me. It had worked last time; I’d make it work this time if I had to.

The hallway was empty as promised and I broke out into a run to save time. The voice in my ear had me make several turns, then backtrack a section when I encountered a set of guards standing around. The time lost made me extremely anxious, but finally, I was standing around the corner of the hallway with the single elevator down to the basement levels. This time, not one but six guards were standing in front of it.

“Now what?” I whispered when I updated Akri on the situation. And for the first time since we’d met he cursed, the words sounding odd when said by a computer instead of his real voice. It made me realize that he was really worried. How close was that scientist to finishing his preparations? Was he about to start cutting?

“I have provided a distraction, hurry darling,” Akri said right as an alarm started blaring and red lights started flashing above my head. Some kind of emergency alarm, had he just pulled the ‘fire alarm’ hoping to get everyone to evacuate? That seemed too simple; I didn’t think these guards were allowed to leave their post unless they had confirmation of some kind.

I could hear them talking excitedly around the corner and I listened closely to make sure they were leaving before I risked looking. “There’s an armed breach in Section Eight. We’re closest. Let’s go!” One of them said, and then to my horror, “Specks, you stay behind. The rest of you, follow.”

Oh shit, that meant I still had one guard to deal with. I could ask Akri for more help, but he’d already given this his best shot. I couldn’t dawdle either, so I waited only long enough to make sure that the others were far enough away that they couldn’t hear us.

I snuck a quick glance and grinned when I realized the guard was standing with his back to me, watching the direction his buddies had left in. He didn’t even have his weapon at the ready. It was on his back, hanging by the strap while he fiddled with his hands in front of his body, doing something I couldn’t see. Considering that he was an Ovt, probably Garga, a type of stimulant they chewed on with their toothless mouths.

Making my footsteps as quiet as I could while still being quick was aided by the still-blaring alarm that covered a lot of the noise I made. I held the taser at the ready, relieved that this particular Ovt was of fairly small stature; I could easily reach the back of his head and neck. Ensuring I hit him on the skin was the best way to get him to go down.