Page 68 of Repossess My Heart

More sobs fill the room as Six jerks his helmet off, his dark skin glazed with sweat. The odd glow of his eye implants lighting his face. He stares at me like I’m a bomb and he might not be wrong. After so many years of nothing then this… I don’t think I’m handling my reintroduction to genuine emotions well. His eyes widen as my sobbing mixes with laughter, my own hands reaching up to tug at my messed hair almost frantically.

“Hey, you have to get your shit together.” He warns, not in a threatening way. I get the sense that it was his attempt at comforting me. He doesn’t wait to see how effective it was. When some code pops up from his wrist implant, he entirely tunes out my breakdown and begins doing something to the door.

Soon enough the grip on my chest eases a bit, letting more rational thought through. My eyes finally take stock of the room we’re in… a control room. “Is he escaping up top?”

“Not without you, and not before he blows all this up, apparently.”

“It's not for me… he’s not doing this for me.”

Six just nods focused on his task.

“This room… what does it control?”

He shrugs, “Everything.”

My legs are shaky whether from the physical exertion or the mental one I’m not sure but I make my way rapidly towards his drone, slapping my hand down on it. A scream leaves my mouth as it jolts me hard. I fall back, landing roughly on my ass gawking at the reddened skin on my hand. “What the hell?!”

“What the fucking hell is right! You can’t just touch someone else’s drone.” He’s staring at me again before he runs his hand across the top of his dreaded hair. “Don’t tell him that either. The fuck are you touching my shit for?”

“I… Nine’s drone never did that. I- I have tech in my spine. I need it to be powered on for a moment.”

“Uh- no. No way I’m pairing my drone to you.”

My head spins as I work to my feet. “Six, he’s going to kill thousands of people. This tech is the only chance we have of getting them out.”

Another louder blare sounds as a female voice booms over the hidden speakers, “Reactors are at critical levels, evacuate immediately. Suppression systems failed.”

Nathan…

“Ah fuck…” he curses, his eyes glazing for a moment as he pairs with something in the room. A bright light fills the humble space. You’d think the command room for an entire level of civilization would be a bit bigger. I turn towards the panel, staring at the buttons and nobs there, willing my brain to make sense of it. To see something. There’s a reason for all of this. There’s got to be.

“They’re all going to die Six…”

“I’m looking into it. Just shut up for a second!” He snaps, my brows pull together as I cross my arms over my chest when he adds, “Don’t tell him I yelled at you.”

“I’ll tell him you fucked me if you don’t pair that drone to me-“

My words are cut off by a loud slam against the metal door. Six and my eyes meet before more tears burst into my eyes, “It’s him! Open the door!” I lunge towards the control panel.Why?I have no clue it’s not like I can open it myself. Six stops me anyway, pressing his finger to his mouth in the universal be quiet gesture. My lips part as he blinks his eyes displaying a larger holo screen than his wrist, it takes a second to get over the surprise of that but when I do I realize it’s a blue-lined layout of us. The light flickers, the view sliding to just outside of the door.

“It’s his drone.” I whisper, watching as it slams the door again before hovering towards the panel, its odd metal arms extending as it patches into the control panel on the outside.

“Why isn’t his drone with him?” I choke out, staring at the screen. It blinks out before coming back up, turning my attention back to Six. Only to realize it’s not the holo flickering but him. It’s him blinking, his eyelids interrupting the display.

“I don’t know, but it’s going to fry the fucking system if it doesn’t-“ With that, the door slides open, letting the drone zoom in straight to my side. “…stop.” Six finishes dismissing the holo display and glaring at the now permanently open door.

“Where is Nine?”

“Master Nine is working his way to our current location.”

“Yeah, and then what?” Six snaps, “he wasn’t supposed to blow the whole fucking place until we were-“

He stops as the drone dips, its lights flickering. “My power stores are at critical levels. I cannot connect to him nor patch you through.”

“Can you connect with me? Maybe if you turn the tech on it can show me how to let people out?”

“I cannot without depleting my stores. My primary objective is keeping you safe and ensuring your escape.”

“You know the escape tube code then?” Six interrupts, eyeing the drone.

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