Virus
Chapter Eleven

Two hours later, we arrived at the airport. Disembarking from the taxi, which had been funded by a false credit card supplied by Eva. I wasn’t a huge fan of the idea, but the rest of the emergency money was for a- well, emergency, and therefore I wanted to keep it just in case. And the taxi driver would get his money- funneled straight from the government’s budget. Anyways, I couldn’t help feeling kind of terrible, but I had larger dilemmas to worry about. Dealing with credit card fraud would come later… or never, if we failed in our mission. Entering the airport, I began to question myself. I knew that what I was doing was illegal, but this would be a crippling hit against the Amalgamation, to show that its defeat was coming. Surely the lives of the missing people were worth an airplane or two… right? After entering, I increase my Time Lapse to the maximum amount it would go, disregarding the massive drain on my power source. I dashed through the metal detectors, moving fast enough that the world around me slowed to a crawl. Looking outside and spotting the first available airplane that was connected to the airport, I dashed through the tunnel connecting the two, spirited a confused crew out of the airport, and locked the doors. There would be barely any time for Lance to board, but we had developed a foolproof plan along the way- he would arrive. I reduced my Time Lapse to moderate, since I would still need to move faster than normal to fulfill the roles of both pilot and co-pilot- or rather, A.V.A would. Hopefully my energy reserves would last…

Soon, I heard a knock at the door. “OPEN UP,” Lance yelled. With money passing hands to gain a better spot in line, Lance had legally gotten through the airport. I quickly opened the door, pulled Lance through, and shut it just as the police arrived behind him. Gunshots thudded against the door, but to no A.V.A- I had uprooted some seats in preparation for this and blockaded the door just as Lance was inside.

“This is actually kind of fun,” I remarked, and then realized what had just come out of my mouth. “I mean, besides the committing crime part. Anyways, buckle up!” I hopped back into the pilot’s cabin, knocked off the bobble head into the trash, and replaced it with the console. Looking at the bobble head, I felt terrible once again- the bobble head was innocent. Sighing, I put it back on the dash before giving Eva control of my body. As I lost motor control, the airplane ripped itself out of the connecting tube, and wheeled out into the driveway. Since we were committing crime already- I decided, why wait- and asked A.V.A to wheel the airplane out into the launching strip without having to wait in line.

I watched my hands operate the various controls faster than possible as the airplane took off into the air. We were on our way. The console showed the necessary coordinates, and no one would be looking for a passenger plane in the middle of Arctica, where the base was located. It was a smart choice for a location- scientists were usually more interested in Antarctica, its opposite. And no one would notice a small base in the middle of nowhere…the only question was where the Amalgamation was getting its money, although the answer to that was simple- skimming off the budgets of companies it had plants in, slowly growing its orb of influence in the world. There was nothing much to do, so internally I nodded off as A.V.A piloted us to who knows where…

I was woken up by A.V.A a couple hours later. We’re close, was all she projected, but it was enough. I looked out the window, only to meet a barren, snowy landscape. There’s just one issue, A.V.A continued. Where do we land the plane? We need it on the way back as well.

It was a good question. “Just look for a flat strip of land- we’ll have to do our best.” I replied. There was no going back now- we had to save Kira. After circling the area, A.V.A finally set it down roughly a mile away from our destination. There was no way we could come closer- the plane would be discovered by radar and all hopes of escaping would be gone. A.V.A stated she would be able to mask our signals, but we were much smaller than a passenger plane. A.V.A had also helpfully disabled tracking- no one knew where we were. Perhaps some people had noticed I had not written to school explaining my absence, but my goal far exceeded the norms of daily life. The plane touched down, albeit not without a fair amount of turbulence and shaking due to the uneven landing area. Finally, the wheels screeched to a stop, and we were faced with the issue of disembarking. Usually, the airport had a connecting pathway to help passengers enter the airport, but in the middle of Arctica this was not the case. The cold stung at my cheeks, until I lowered my pain reception. However, it didn’t feel right- not feeling. This made me feel like a stranger to the world that was supposed to be my own. I had grown up in this place, and now it felt like I didn’t belong… I still felt human, to a degree, but only to fraction of what I had before. I was unsure, and this was much more of a fright than the Amalgamation. The Amalgamation… I couldn’t really catalog how I felt about it… On one hand, I despised it for taking Kira and doing who knows what with her. However, the Amalgamation was only code. Perhaps it was forced to do this by a programming error… What I felt towards this creature, this virus was pity. Pity and the desire to help it in some way. Maybe, just maybe there was a human inside those lines of binary, just like me. No, I could not feel anger towards a creature that couldn’t control what it was doing. Anyways, looking down at the ground, I felt the cold bite my cheeks again as I returned to passing myself off as human.

Back to the issue of reaching the ground- I knew I could jump down, no problem, use the cable in my wrist to allow Lance to rappel down as well. I could pull myself up again with the grappling cable, but both Kira and Lance as well… I didn’t know if that was possible. Or, you could just fly… Eva commented with a hint of amusement.

WAIT. I can FLY?!?!?! I mentally screamed.

Sure, easily. Eva replied. Just activate the engines in your legs and yes, you can fly. However, I must warn you- the drain on your battery is tremendous.

COOL!!! I yelled back. I knew I wasn’t in the mood for the situation, but I was basically a robot superman- I could FLY, could fire energy beams (from my hands, but still) and had abnormally high strength.

However, I would rappel on the way down- I needed the energy later, and I was already exhausted from the plane stealing job. However, we had been lucky enough to come during polar summer, and therefore there was plenty of sunlight that my solar chargers, along with the accompanying amplifiers, were slowly increasing my strength. Yanking the cord free from my wrist, I called up to Lance, who was looking at the ground with no small amount of uncertainty. “COME ON DOWN!!” I yelled over the wind. “SEE, I HAVEN’T DIED YET- IT’S PERFECTLY SAFE!!!”

Lance looked down yet again, then dubiously slid down the wire. Once on the ground, his face regained some of its color. “Just like a fireman’s pole!” he exclaimed.

I ripped the hook free of the plane door, then coiled it back into my wrist. With A.V.A guiding the way, we made our way over to the point the console had directed us to…