Oz
Idrifted in the dark. There was no sound except a faint buzz. Somehow, I thought death would be more exciting. Either I would be roasting in a fiery pit or dancing with some hot angels in heaven. Come on. It’s heaven. The angels must be hot.
But I was neither here nor there. Lost in a sea of black, floating. The feeling was nice, but something was tugging at the back of my mind. Something I had to do. Somewhere I had to be. There was a reason I couldn’t leave yet, and my soul seemed to be holding me here, waiting for me to figure it out. I had never been a quick learner.
A sound echoed from behind me, and I twisted what I thought was my body, but couldn’t really be sure, towards the sound. A click. A series of beeps. A bright flash blinded me, and suddenly the space around me exploded in lines of code.
Bright green and scrolling faster than I could see, I had the sudden urge to touch it. To hold onto it and follow the brilliant numbers to see where they would take me.
Reaching out my fingers, I felt a brush of something against my hand. It made no sense. Code wasn’t tangible. Just sets of numbers that existed in hard drives. But the second my fingers made contact, a sense of familiarity struck me. I knew this code. I had hacked it.
Viper. These were the codes to his programming. The ones I had found when I had hacked into his processors. But unlike then, I don’t have any resistance. It felt like the gates had been flung open and a welcome mat had been laid out for me. He wasn’t fighting my intrusion. Instead, he was wrapping me up in his programming and leading me home. I was in his head, or he was in mine. Either way, it didn’t matter.
It was the last link. The final thread that we had needed to bond. I could feel it everywhere, calling me and drawing me back from the darkness. He was waiting for me. I had to go back.
I began to move, following the code like a trail of breadcrumbs. I had no clue where it would take me, but I trusted that it would lead me to my cyborg.
The further I went, the brighter the numbers glowed. They scrolled faster and faster, flashing so quickly it was hard to keep up.
I told myself that it meant I had to be getting closer. At least, that is what I wanted to believe. I prayed it wasn’t taking me somewhere else. That elusive heaven or hell that waited for lost souls like me. I wasn’t ready to leave yet.
I had a man I loved, a home, friends, and family. I planned to fight for them. I would battle the devil himself if I had to.
The world around me exploded with a flash of purple, so bright I had to shut my eyes or be blinded. It washed over me, shining through my eyelids even as I squeezed them shut even harder. It lasted for no more than a few seconds before the light dimmed and I opened my eyes, not believing what I was seeing.
My body rested on an exam table, still and lifeless, blood staining my chin and neck. My skin had paled, and my pink hair stood out stark against the metal. I had to be in the lab. Well, my body was anyway. I stood next to it, looking down at myself in horror.
My eyes desperately scanned the room. I searched for the cod,e hoping it would help me understand, but it had left me, vanishing into thin air as quickly as it had appeared. My gaze found Viper standing by the table, his hand clutching mine. My cyborg’s face was drawn, his lips pressed together tight, as flickers of pain burned in his eyes.
“I am here, V,” I shouted. “I am right here! Look at me, Viper! I came back for you! Please, baby, see me.” I screamed until I was hoarse, tears of frustration welling up in my eyes. Viper gave no indication he had heard me no matter how loud I yelled.
Next to him stood Dax, so I tried calling out to hi., “Dax, you big, green, nerdy, Science Model! I am standing right in front of you!” I waved my hands frantically, but just like Viper, Dax didn’t seem to be able to see me, either.
I threw my head back and let out a howl. This couldn’t be how things ended. Was I cursed to follow Viper around for eternity, my cyborg never knowing I was right beside him, unable to talk or touch him?
Would I watch life play out like a movie in front of me, a never-ending play that I had no part in? Condemned to simply observe as I haunted the halls of the rebellion?
Suddenly, a blur of red shot past me and I saw him plunge something into my body’s chest and I flinched. Ouch. That looked like it hurt. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then I felt a sharp tug before I was slammed back into my body like a rubber band being snapped. The force left me with no time to think. All I could do was feel as I re-oriented myself back inside my skin and bone. It was like wearing a suit that doesn’t quite fit at first.
Pressure and pain came rushing at me from all sides and I gasped. Yelling from all around me stung my much too sensitive ears, the lights of the lab bright and blinding.
Something gripped my hand, fingers curling around mine, Viper’s voice echoing in my ear, asking me to open my eyes. The voice of my cyborg told me I had done it. I had made it home. Time to go back to the land of the living, Oz.
Opening my eyes slowly, I blinked against the harsh light. “Viper,” I managed to croak, my mouth and throat dry.
A purple head popped into view, Viper’s face hovering above me. “Oz?” Purple eyes met mine, scanning every inch of my face, and whatever he saw made a hint of a smile appear on his lips. “There you are.” I felt his hand tremble around mine. “I thought I had lost you. But you came back to me.”
I nodded, unable to speak. I hurt all over. But I could feel. Every pain, every ache. It told me I was here. I let out a breath, my eyelids fluttering shut.
“No. Stay with me, okay? Keep those beautiful blue eyes open for me.”
I swallowed hard. “Easy for you to say, “I rasped. “You weren’t the one who was dead a second ago.”
“There is the sass I know and love.” And the look on his face told me he meant it. I wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I am sure there were a few people who would have been happy to learn I had died. Too bad for them I had come back to life.
For him.
For Poe and Axios.