Through the Looking Glass: Chapter Two

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As soon as Kaylr rolled over, Merith pounced again, going to bash his head with a swift kick from the side.

"And what happens to the ones who are with Kaylr?" Asher asked worriedly. "Do they have a means of escape? Kay didn't look like he had a weapon, and Merith was pretty well shackled." He shook his head, "This guy hates me a lot right now, I doubt we can talk him into joining us. And changing his owner files seems... cruel."
He dragged mirror Asher out of the way and set him down, shuddering as his shirt shifted again.

~~
Vestia would summon Shane.

"I gave Merith a lock-pick and Kay chose to go." Starr said, frowning at his expression "Is it cruel to free him from being owned by Kylar? I doubt Kylar will survive this day. No matter what else, we need to fix whatever they did to you"

~~
Shane frowned at the summons and shook his head then headed for a lift to go to the lab. He couldn't ignore a summons.

Asher nodded, somewhat reassured by that.
"We can't completely free him, because he's dangerous and cruel, and extremely unpredictable," he said softly, "And forcing him to submit to us just doesn't seem right. Sure, you wouldn't hurt him the way Kaylr does, but you'd still have to give him orders, lots of orders, to prevent him from hurting us."
He nodded. "I don't think I can handle physical sensation. It's far too distracting. The sooner it's out of my code, the better."

Starr frowned at that then sighed and nodded "Then he must stay off until we are long gone" She said then looked to the door as Shane came in. She went to him, hitting him with a sleep spell and catching him before he fell. "Alright Shane, go and find our friends, bring them here." She said and watched their Shane go then sighed and lifted the mirror Shane to lock him in with her mirror self "Well, at least I go to learn a lot of new spells here" She said then looked to Vestia again "Vestia, can you let the programmers through now, please?"

"Of course, Your Highness," Vestia said. She almost sounded amused. The doors opened for Will and Steven to come in.

Starr looked to the techs as the doors opened to let them in then motioned to Asher "His coding was changed after he arrived, I need it back to what it was before to run some tests."

Matt still looked worried. "wait... physical sensation? You... you can FEEL stuff? What the hell!?"


Will and Steven looked at one another warily. "Changed.. how?" They both asked. They were pretty terrified in the presence of the princess and all these people milling about was just all the more concerning. What was going on?

---

Stellan would lead Merith and his double through security doors, ducking and dodging security details. They weren't following a careful pattern now, they were combing the floor looking for them.

He lead them into a room to hide as a group marched past.

Esk was itching for a weapon, where the heck had they put their weapons?

"If we catch a guard alone, I can take their gun." He whispered.

Stellan nodded.

The constant security patrols slowed them down a lot. Kay and Gier had stopped to hide, now sitting opposite one another in a small storage closet while they waited for the guards to move on.

“It's all my fault” Gier sobbed quietly as he bandaged Kay's injured hand.

Gier... Kay's heart ached to see the man this broken. You can't keep punishing yourself.

“Why not? I deserve it. All of it.”

The guards moved on.

No you don't, you're a good man Gier, I know that in my heart, you're a GOOD man.

Gier shook his head. “How do you deal with the guilt? How do you... move on?”

Kay looked down at the floor. I don't know. I've never been very good at it myself. He looked awkward for a moment or two before adding I threw myself into other things, hoping to atone, to.. make amends. And it helped a little, the hurt lessens over time, there are good days and there's bad days. But we can't turn back time, we can't change the past, we can't erase our mistakes. All we can do is try to move forward, try to be the best we can, try to make up for it. And I know it's hard and I know you don't think you deserve happiness, but his current state, it's not your fault. You admitted yourself he was no saint before all this happened. They just made a monster worse. And I know you love him as much as you hate him, but it's time you stopped forgiving him for everything and forgave yourself. You do NOT deserve this place, you do not deserve his abuse. Gier, you don't deserve any of this. You have to believe that.

Tears streamed down Gier's scarred face, he swallowed hard and gazed sadly into Kay's eyes. Eyes so familiar, yet so alien at the same time. No madness, no gleam of manic sadistic glee, only kindness, and sadness, and love...
Gier reached out, pressing his lips to Kay's desperately.

For a moment Kay relented, his lips parting in surprise and longing, but rapidly reason took over and he pulled away, shaking his head.

“Why not?” Gier protested. “The android? “

Kay nodded. I love him. With all my heart I love him and Gier... you're dead. He..  He's dead. You aren't him, you wear his face but you aren't him. Kay's eyes welled with tears. I'm sorry Gierhart, but we can't be substitutes for one another. I'm not your Kaylr, and you're not my Gier. He's gone, and I can't betray his memory like this, just as I can't betray Asher. I love them both, so deeply and so utterly and yes, I miss Gier so much, but he's gone and he's never coming back. You aren't him, you just... You aren't him.

Gier sighed. “Yeah... I know.” He moved to get up. “We should keep moving. “ Pretend like that didn't just happen. He wiped his eyes and put on his best stoic face, reaching out a hand to help Kay to his feet.

I'm so sorry. Kay told him, standing and pulling him into a hug.

Gier rested his head on the top of Kay's, closing his eyes and savoring this few moments of closeness. It had been so long since Kaylr had shown him any of this sort of affection without a threat of violence looming overhead, he held onto Kay, reluctant to let him go. Kay was right of course, they couldn't be substitutes, he wasn't Kaylr, Kaylr wasn't him, but couldn't he just pretend for a little while?

“ahem.” A voice broke them apart, they both turned, wide eyed.

Kaylr was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, an expression of malice on his mangled face.

“Running away with my doppleganger are you Gierhart?” He spoke with icy coldness.

Gier shook his head vigorously “It's not what it looks like!” He protested rapidly.

“Oh but it is isn't it? I didn't think you had such a spine in you my dear. “ Kaylr tutted, shaking his head. “Such a shame. “

Leave him alone. Kay moved to stand in front of Gier.

Kaylr's eyes narrowed. “He's MINE.” He hissed. “I'm not going to let YOU take him. “ His gaze flitted back to Gier. “You know full well I don't like to share my toys. “ He smacked Kay hard in the face, sending him staggering sideways, then kicked him to the floor, booting him a few times in the gut for good measure.

“I don't want to be your plaything any longer Kaylr, i'm done.” Gier told him, with false bravado, his voice shaking a little. “Get away from him”

Kaylr smirked. “Oh, you think you get a say? “ He tilted his head, moving away from Kay to round on Gier.

“I am done Kaylr, do you understand me? Done.” Gier told him sternly, straightening to his full height.

Kaylr's eyes narrowed dangerously. “I'm not letting you go Gierhart.” He hissed. His expression softened suddenly, he reached out a hand to stroke Gier's face. "I love you... " He told him in a tone that could almost be considered sincere.

Gier nodded, relaxing into the touch.

Kay struggled to his feet, wincing in pain and wiping the blood from his face
Kaylr, please. Let him go. You don't need him.

a wicked smile spread across his face Kaylr's face. “You're right.” He took a step toward Gier “I DON'T need him.”He moved with startling speed, grabbing Gier and hauling him down by his collar till they were face to face.
Gier looked terrified.

“You, my dear Doctor Heinz, have outlived your usefulness.” He spoke coldly, pulling a knife from his belt and yanking Gier awkwardly into a deep kiss.

Kay's eyes widened as he realized what was happening, he ran at Kaylr, trying to tackle that blade away from him but Kaylr was faster, in one fluid motion, as Gier tried to jerk away from him, he slashed the knife across his ex lover's throat.

Gier cried out, his scream ending in a gurgle as blood spewed from his mouth and the gaping wound at his neck. He collapsed, hands around his throat, vivid crimson leaking through his fingers as he gasped for air.

Kay hit Kaylr in the side and they both barreled over, slipping in the steadily expanding puddle of blood.
Kay managed to punch Kaylr a few times, hissing softly in pain. Man hitting people actually really hurt. Yeesh.
Kaylr just laughed. “If I can't have him, nobody can.” He giggled.

Kay shook his head, climbing off of Kaylr to rush to Gier's side.

Gier stared at him in terror, unable to stem the flow of blood. He lowered himself to the floor, looking up at Kay with tears in his eyes. “i... “ He could barely speak “Sorry. “ He managed in a choke.

Kay looked down at him desperately, pulling off his vest quickly and pressing it against the wound hard, trying to stop the bleeding, hopelessly trying to save the other man as Kaylr stood and loomed above them, a ghoulish grin on his face.

Kay shook his head, tears streaming down his face. Not again, not again, not again.

Gier shuddered, his eyes rolling back in his head.

No, no... come on Gier, come on.. you can make it through this! Kay shook him, desperately trying to rouse him.
Then he felt hands on his shoulders.

“Come now Nurse Freidman, it's time to go.” Kaylr sang.

Kay shook his head again, sobbing silently as he stared at Gier's twitching body.

Gier managed to reach up a hand, Kay grabbed it, watching in horror as Gier stopped twitching, the pumping of blood slowed and his body went limp. He squeezed his hand, pleading, begging for him to move, please, don't leave me, not again.

So much blood, so.. so much blood. He shuddered, not even fighting back as Kaylr dragged him painfully to his feet and held that same knife to his throat.

“Let's go for a walk shall we?” Kaylr cackled, pushing Kay forward, away from the mess, away from Gier, down the hall the way they'd come.

"Asher, tell them what was done to you so we can get started." Starr ordered then motioned the techs and Asher over to one side "Over there" She turned to Matt next "Yes, they changed his code. Messes up the experiments when things are changed before you even start." Come on Matt, catch on. "Why don't you watch over them, I can't do any of my current experiments until they are done anyway"

~~~
Shane headed down to Kylar's lab floor to search for the others.

Matt just looked confused, but he nodded and went over to watch in.

The techs looked equally as bewildered, and cringed when Matt joined them.
Being watched over by this guy was nerve wracking, Mattias hardly had a reputation for being kind or gentle.

"oh.. okay android... let's uh.. see what's going on." Steven started, putting his laptop down and handing him a data cable. He kept casting wary glances back at Starr.

(Who does Shane find?)

Starr was rubbing her temples for a minute before straightening and going to organize the others, getting them in the cell room and removing most of the cells to help calm them. She left the cells the infected were in just because she couldn't just kill them. She had caught the look from the techs, too many milling about.

Shane would probably find Merith, Esk and Stellan.

Stellan froze, raising the knife defensively.

Esk's eyes narrowed. Hey, solitary guard, just what they'd been waiting for.

"Esk, Merith. I am glad I found you" Shane said after glancing down the hall to be sure he was alone then closing the door behind him "I don't know how much time we have, Starr and I are not the ones from here, everyone we could get so far is in her lab...where's Kay?"

Esk looked at Shane warily, then nodded. Yeah, he was telling the truth.

"He stayed behind to hold his evil twin off. Then the doors came down." He spoke detatchedly.

Stellan still held the knife tightly.

"You don't happen to have a spare gun?" Esk asked flatly. "I hate being unarmed, there's security everywhere, we're not gonna get very far without weapons."

Shane grinned "But I am security" Shane said then chuckled "Yeah, Matt can access his mirror's pocket space, so we have a whole cache of weapons up there." He said then pulled out non magic cuffs "I can get you up there without question, these do not have the anti-magic on them"

Stellan nodded. "Let's get out of here, quick. before someone questions you."

Esk nodded. "Cuff Merith, i'll cuff myself. You should probably ditch the knife." He told Stellan matter of factly.

Stellan nodded and handed it to Shane. "My brother is still around here somewhere, he'll be angry and... extremely vicious. We must try to avoid him. "

Shane took the knife and handed over the cuffs to Esk then Merith "Yeah, let's get you three up to Starr then I can come back and find our Kay and James and Sara" He said with an unhappy frown as he placed the knife in his belt. "Ready?" He would tell them which way to go to get to Starr's lab and follow closely

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Matt just looked confused, but he nodded and went over to watch in.

The techs looked equally as bewildered, and cringed when Matt joined them.
Being watched over by this guy was nerve wracking, Mattias hardly had a reputation for being kind or gentle.

"oh.. okay android... let's uh.. see what's going on." Steven started, putting his laptop down and handing him a data cable. He kept casting wary glances back at Starr.

"One of the techs installed your universe's pain detection code in my OS earlier today," Asher said, plugging himself into the techs' laptop. He tried to sound as computerish as he could, because if he didn't, he thought he might panic about all this again, and that would be useless. "If you can remove that code, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Gier too, we have to find him." Stellan nodded. "My brother will take this out on him, he always does."

Esk shook his head. "He had his chance, he opted to stay and help the asshole."

Stellan shook his head. "That doesn't mean we give up on him."

"Why not? No point trying to save people who don't want to be saved." Esk shrugged and followed Shane, clicking his cuffs on in such a way that he could get them off again if needed.


----

"Oh man, that code is damn complicated... " Will and Steven exchanged worried glances as they looked at the screen and the code. "Shit.. series 7s man, you can add stuff, but removing it again... we need Michael."

"Yeah" Shane said with a shrug. What was one more when he had three to find anyway. "Hey Vestia, I don't suppose you can just tell us where they are, can you?"

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:"Oh man, that code is damn complicated... " Will and Steven exchanged worried glances as they looked at the screen and the code. "Shit.. series 7s man, you can add stuff, but removing it again... we need Michael."

Asher frowned. "You can't get it out?" he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. He couldn't live like this! It was torture!

"Calm down man, calm down." Will urged Asher.

Matt put a hand on his shoulder in a vain attempt to reassure him, really missing the whole sensation being terrifying memo.

"We need Michael, he's the expert on this sort of thing. I mean, Will and I usually only mess with the ownership files, not the actual code itself." Steven stared at the code. "all things considered, i'm amazed he hasn't shut down completely yet... "

"Right? the sensor information is going crazy." Will agreed.

Asher winced, and forced himself to not jerk himself away from Matt. Unexpected sensations were awful, how did anyone handle them?

Starr totally asked Vestia to look for Michael, so she went looking for him.

James had just started getting on a lab tech uniform when lockdown went into effect. He'd come back and rejoin Sara to look around at the dimmed lights and listen to the sirens. "Well this should be interesting," he told her.

Merith had stayed dreadfully silent, his eyes as cold as daggers, narrowed with no warmth to them, only an gluttonous desire to shed blood.

~~~~~~

Vanessa looked up from her cell. She stood, sensing this change within the man she was bound to. She stood, still in that green arcane draconic form, and bashed herself on her door, trying to ram it open.

~~~~~~

Both Quinn and Mirror Third suddenly tilted their heads up, speaking in unison, "Oh? What's that?"

"What was what?" Matt asked, looking over warily.

---

Esk glanced to Merith. "you'll get your chance to rip that guy's throat out soon enough. " He told him flatly.

Vanessa continued to smash herself against her cell, growling viciously.

~~~~~~

"Feels like..." Mirror Third thought aloud.

"Not quite..." Quinn shook her head.

"Perhaps maybe..."

"Just a little..."

"That's not assuring..."

"Yes, very dark presence, there..."