Indecisions

Back from where they were picked up in the Playground, Savan felt as if they have just woken up from a long sleep, so they did some stretches, took in deep breaths, and casually giggled to themselves. The sound they made was small at first but became cheers and yells of joy with each movement. 

-" I've got an augment, yes I did it", started the clopy to sing, and grabbed Azin by her hands to spin with them, which the C.T.D happily complied to do so.

Marc, though, was still shocked by the discussion they had back at the clinic. He promised that he wouldn’t report that the patients knew about the C.T.D creation process, but Vivar was an entirely different issue, especially after he found out what he was working behind the scenes. “I mean, that is exactly for what my family exists, our tenets are for this. No, this…this is wrong, but…Azin. This could help her”. Thousands of thoughts still swirled around his head, making him unsure of what the right cause was.

He never told Angie everything, but the C.T.D wasn’t just owned by the family, she acted as a caregiver for him since he was a child. Or at least he was told from a young age that his parents programmed Azin to behave that way, so while he came to terms over the years that it wasn’t sincere care he received from her, it was real for to him. Until one day, when he could have sworn that Azin acted differently. She lied to her father one day when he accidentally broke an antique piece. 

-" It was a mistake, sir, one of my hands tripped the vase while I followed the young son", she said to the man, covering for Marc. He would have just gotten scolded and maybe punished for a bit, but it wasn't anything threatening. But still, she lied for him.

That was the only time when Marc saw Azin act that way, and over time he came to believe it was part of her programming, maybe something his other father did, but now...Unwilling to just ponder on it, the boy went straight towards the C.T.D and, knowing that they were spied on, just asked- “ Tell me, Vivar, are you certain that it would work?”

It wasn’t the knight who assured him first though, as Savan surprises him with a small pat on his shoulder- “ Marc, I trust him, we can do it. Trust me as well, I accepted part of my role in this.”

-” Affirmative”, added Vivar. “ I am certain that it will succeed, but only with my partners help." Believing that it was enough for now, he left the boy with his thoughts again and asks Azin to help him scan the surrounding area for a  new destination. Besides Vivar’s scheme, they also needed a game plan for the competition, which for now involved meeting with their new, other, half. 

-“ C.T.D Vivar, please be more sincere with Marchos. He was raised differently from the rest of the people”, mentioned in passing Azin. The knight, surprised by the request, just gave both a look and silently nodded in agreement.

While still not fully convinced, Marc makes a small report about his observations, leaving out, for now, the C.T.D’s regained identity.

-----

On the other side, Angie also wanted to start their preparations for the meet-up, but the hacker had some questions of her own, so she asked to contact Priya.

-" Oh, so she convinced you to work with her crazy schemes now?", asked the miner, who was puzzled by her request.

-“ No...maybe. Look, Vivar's thing and how he wants to use Savan's brain waves...Let's just say I don't think he could do this on his own, ok?"

-" So you think whatever she plans to do in the Playground is connected to Vivar?"

The miner raised her hands, and Angie groans a bit at the thought of having to talk with her again, but she agrees that those are valid concerns.

-” I thought they were creepy beforehand, but meeting a CEO enforced that belief ten-fold. Can’t believe you still plan on becoming someone like that”. 

-" Well there are some advantages. DId you know that once someone becomes a CEO, they give up their family names and they become the sole owner of their first ones? So, I would be the only Syna left, while the rest who used it will be forced to change it."

-" For real? How many Synas do you know?"

-" Two other. All annoying know-it-alls, that think the world circles around them."

-" You don't say?", Angie answered with incredulity.

She then lets out another groan the moment the woman picks up with a cheery voice as if she was talking with some old friends- “ Hii guys!”

-“ Hey, shut up”, snips Angie at her-” So round one is done. Now, explain what you want. Is it information, a C.T.D…some mud?”

Priya giggles, but not at her “witty” remarks, just that she found it amusing how Angie didn’t have any sense of tact or patience for conversations, but she found some charm to her. It wasn’t a mocking laugh either, just amused that she found something so rare. At least it did since she rose up the ladder. 

-” Ah, the spunk of a worker. I missed it so much, it’s incredibly scarce for me to find these days”, to which Angie got frustrated, thinking that she was mocked.

-” Anyways, yes, you are correct. Besides some mud, my original plan was for Ingress to find the central station for the Playground. You see, when this place was built hundreds of years ago, it was decided to not connect directly to the city’s network, but through several underground nods. So, for now, let’s just say that I need a direct connection to the station, and in order to do so I looked for allies. One of which I gather has already made himself aware”.

-” Wait, you don’t mean….”, asked Syna incredulously.

-” Yes, the former champion Diaz Cid, which you know as Vivar. The Defective one.”

Angie was genuinely shocked by this, even forgetting her irritation with the CEO, which now inhabited Syna. She immediately began to violently type on her virtual keyboard, while mumbling and swearing a bit

-” Ok, that’s bullshit, alright! If Vivar was, as you two claim, a previous winner of the competition, how do you explain this then?”, she yelled after playing the video interviews with the three supposed former participants. Priya guessed in her mind that Milla probably provided the girl with the clips, trying to keep her on her side by any ploys necessary. While not entirely surprised that it worked, Priya still felt a want to slap the girl over her head, especially since she appeared firmly convinced that the victors still are rewarded at the end.

-” Ugh, those are just virtual creations dear. I can’t prove it, but ask your C.T.D to check the footage for anything that might be out of touch, not real. Something. And, to be clear, do you think that I or your parents are the only manipulative monsters? Child, do you believe that Milla and Samuel got, and remained, where they are now just because they are “hard workers”?”. Priya stopped right before her rant could devolve into something nastier. She used her short nailed hands to cool her head, tired-looking eyes, and non-makeup face.

-” Go on”, asked out of a sudden Angie. “ Or not, it’s the same for me. It’s clear that you can’t be trusted, but at least you seem to be somewhat bitter at the other CEOs, so maybe that’s something I can trust.” The girl sighs and waits for a second. -” Ok, ok. So until Sovereign finds any bits of proof, we’ll drop the C.T.D discussion for now. Except for just two questions. Priya, just tell us this. Is Vivar right, can he and Savan restore the other C.T.Ds like he is?”

-” It’s….complicated. The fact that Vivar even managed to become aware so was by several factors, but my research says that it involves the waves emitted by a C.E. We use the same mind molding process on both groups, but it erodes at the clones. And with Savan being one of the oldest ones, the erosion is at a higher process than with another."

-" Did you and Vivar trick Savan into becoming some guinea pig for your little project?"

-" Would trust me if I say no? The C.E entered the race of their own accord, but getting paired with Vivar was through our machinations. Becoming the user of your counter-measures was..."

-" But you trick them?!"

-" No. Vivar has been forward with them since the first week in the training facility. He told them everything. If by the third week Savan would have changed their mind, Vivar would have made him unable to compete and the C.E would have been assigned a new C.T.D partner...Unlike me, he wants to show his hand in good graces...I just can't, for now."

Angie says her goodbyes and then hangs up, letting out an exasperated yell which grabbed the rest by surprise. She just wanted to participate in a normal competition- “get some parts and maybe inscribe my name in history or something. Ughh, why did it have to become so…complicated.” After she felt a bit more compelled, she saw that Syna was still dealing with her own problems, so she gave her a delicate pat on her shoulder. While not exactly the pep-talk the hacker need, it was enough of a try to make her feel a bit better.

-” Well, we don’t have any other way to solve this mess now, right? So should we do as originally planned and meet with the others?”

Syna didn’t say anything, but she approved of the suggestion and pointed toward where they should go. “Yeah, let’s just go for now”.

-----

It took each of the groups about half of a day to reach the border of their biome, and it would take them another two days to find a middle ground. Unbeknownst to them, that was enough time for each to have some pursuers attached, who only monitored the teams.

While each had their own reasons to stalk them, one of the three spies decided to confront Savan and Marc directly. The girl came, during the next morning, moving slowly towards them, with her hands lifted above her head and without her C.T.D. On the other side, Syna’s head was followed through a scope, which then shifted towards Angie, Sovereign, and Ingress, but most of the time it followed the hacker’s position. A flying object was hovering meters above the ground, almost reaching the ceiling, while the short-haired man on top of it aimed his rifle toward the group. “Found ya”, he sourly said to himself.

Marc immediately took a fighting position and threatened her not to come closer, at least not without explaining what she was doing. 

-” Hello fellow participants. My name is Anna Drums and I just wanted to ask if I can come with you for now?”