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Devon thought for a brief moment, then relaxed his expression into seriousness, "Oh, yes ma'am. She arrived with another woman about 40 minutes ago. I'll go get her..." And with that, he was off. He first headed off in the direction of the medical center, then detected the scent of a home-cooked meal, realizing that none of their members could cook. Instead he followed the scent, and stopped just short of running into Scarlet, "Little miss! You have a contact from Northwest! Some woman, I think the name was Bella or something..."


Eva nodded sadly to Dante's statement, understanding exactly what he meant. Honestly, she wanted to just stop, to give up. There wasn't anything logically to live on for except empty promises and listless hopes. She could hope this world would get better, but seeing its condition only shot down that possibility. The nurse was finally finished with bandaging, and left the ward altogether. Eva settled back into the comfort of the pillow, her eyes unfocused as she looked hazily upward. She heard footsteps approaching.

It was Devon. He came back after notifying Scarlet of the call, bomb-free. He saw the pain in the woman's expression, "What's got you so down?"
She didn't even look at him, "Everything." Her voice quivered, tears began to well up at the edges of her eyes.
He pulled up a chair and sat next to her, "Heeey, don't cry! Please don't. Crying's a sign of hurt, and I don't want anyone hurt..."
Eva turned to face him now, her head's movement causing the water to spill over and down her cheek. "Life isn't without some pain, though. Even in the fake world we still have pain and sorrow."
Devon reached back to the table behind him, snatching up a tissue and used it to wipe Eva's face dry, "Still doesn't mean I like it. I refuse to hurt anyone, or let them be hurt in my presence. Now, robots are another story altogether..."
Eva frowned, "But...aren't robots kind of like people, too? I don't mean to defend the one that did this to me, but what about Genesis? Isn't he like a person?"
"Well, a little, I guess. Find me a robot that can feel pain, and I'll stop hurting them, too." Devon smiled, "I'm really not the bad guy they make me seem like in the VR... I only blow things up to help take down the VR, so that people can finally see the truth. That, and the serum makes me all wonky in the head... I dunno how you people can stay sane your whole lives on that stuff. Guess I'm allergic."

Eva had since pulled herself up into sitting, picking at the meal Scarlet had made. When the girl came back, she smiled weakly, "This is really good, thank you."
Devon was about to leave, but spun back around when he recalled something, "Oh! Uh..." He glanced down to her nameplate, "...Eva. Remember what I said about being next to me in line?"
She nodded, confusion evident as she bit into a piece of chicken.
"Okay. That was important because it means you should have a microchip."
Eva stopped mid-bite, "Er...I had one. The robot extracted it."
Devon blinked a couple times, then resumed talking way too fast, "Okay, that could be problematic in the future, but we can fix that. Anyway! That chip can allow you access to administrative powers in the VR. It's a hacking tool. You can edit certain aspects of the environmental coding with it, like making barriers and fading through layers. What guardians can do." He paused for a moment to catch his breath, "We gave one to random strangers so that they could help us take down the system. You see, the servers only intended for a certain quantity of 'guardians' at any given time, so if edits are being made constantly by higher numbers all around the region, it could potentially crash the system. Even just temporarily. We need any chance we can get..."
Eva seemed rather uncomfortable with the topic. She just didn't know who to side with, who to believe...
"Since you lost your other one, would you mind getting a replacement? It's really fast and relatively painless."
She shook her head gently, "God, I don't know... I have to think about it. Is that alright?"
Devon nodded eagerly, "Please do. It's a big responsibility to ask of someone. Take your time." He smiled, then left.
Eva had stopped eating completely, her nerves causing her to feel moderately sick. She almost felt angry. Angry at Devon and his people for dragging her into this, for ruining her life. At the same time, though, she was glad to know the truth. She glanced over to Scarlet, the one person who hadn't yet hurt her, "Thank you."

Eva thought, then agreed, "Alright...yeah, I think I'd like that." She said, but there was clearly some hesitation in her tone. These people seemed to know a lot, and she desired the knowledge they possessed. And they had a plan. But on the other hand, she already trusted Scarlet, and didn't really want to lose her only ally. She sighed, then looked up in time to see Chris enter.
He tossed a small pile of folded clothes to each girl, "I only guessed on your sizes, but at least they're new and clean. The bathroom's down the next hall to your right, if you gals want to wash up."
Eva accepted them gratefully, then got up to leave. Her side still dully ached as she walked, but the pain wasn't nearly as distracting to her as the action of walking itself. Her steps were clumsy, graceless. The exact opposite of what she was used to. It also took more muscle effort to stay upright with the heavier gravity. She soon found herself in the bathroom, without even remembering the journey there.
She locked herself in one of the many shower-stalls, carefully removing her bodysuit without ripping any bandages or stitches. The water also felt far heavier, overbearingly so. It flowed down hard, closing in around her like storm clouds. Eva stumbled away from the water torrent, leaning against the tile wall, breathing accelerated in a panic. A muffled sob escaped her lips. She couldn't take this realness; she feared the truth.

((Meanwhile, Scarlet and the revolutionaries are so used to it. xd Imagine if Eva randomly thought about how heavy Scarlet's hair must be-- it goes down to her ankles because is hasn't been washed or cut in 4 years. And Scarlet doesn't seem to even notice.))

I took the clothes and followed Eva, and I stepped into a stall as well. I turned the water on, and soon the stall was full of steam and pouring hot water. I grabbed some soap and scrubbed myself down, before taking some shampoo and running it along my scalp, then working the shampoo into my roots before working it down to the tips of my hair. As I washed my hair slowly went from a very dark red, an almost black color, to a much more intense deep crimson. The hot water felt really good.

I heard Eva's sob, and I sighed. It must be shocking, how real this world is compared to the other one. But I was used to both; I didn't know how or what to say to console Eva.

((It would drag her to the center of the planet!))

Soon I had finished up as well. I rinsed myself of the soap and turned off the water, patting it dry with a towel afterward. I tossed the grey bodysuit and put on the clothes Devon had given me; they were a pair of small blue jeans, white shirt with a slight V neckline, a blue vest with a lot of pockets and a pair of white combat boots. I was surprised they had the stuff in my size.

I left the stall and looked around. Eva was no longer there, so I tasted the air. I tasted the strong smell of soap and shampoo, and I followed it.

Soon I had found Devon and Eva. Eva looked half awake, kind of, and Devon was holding her in his arms.

What's goin on?

I helped Eva up and helped her into one of the extra rooms. I helped her down onto the bed.

Should I wake you up when our ride gets here?

I wandered back out into the underground, not quite sure what to do while I waited. I shrugged. There was still a chocolate cream pie to eat.

I hurried to the kitchen and cut myself a slice, and I sat on a chair nearby and nommed on it. Real chocolate. Mmmm.

Eventually, fatigue caught up with me as well. I finished the slice of pie and slumped over the table, drifting off into a pleasantly dreamless slumber.

Eva wanted so bad to believe him, to trust him. He was one of the few things preventing her from falling completely over the ledge. But he had also hurt her; he let this happen. She stared forward blankly, devoid of tears or a smile. Devoid of feeling. Raowan set her down in the armchair and knelt beside her, "Eva?"
"I need some time to think. Alone."
"Alright." Raowan nodded, rising back into a stand. He kissed her forehead lightly before turning to leave.
Eva waited for the click of the door closing, for the silence to resume. The sun was falling behind the horizon in both worlds. She sat in the dark, unmoving, unchanging. She eventually stood and headed for the standing mirror, where she watched her own reflection with detest. 'If I can edit the environmental coding, then I should be able to...'
Her reflected image obscured, blurring and shifting as the real one changed. Her eyes faded from purple to a more subdued blue-grey, her hair shortened and lightened in color to her natural honey blonde. She even gave herself the x-shaped scar of the gashes on her right cheek. Eva took in this "real" appearance for a moment, then drew back her fist and punched the mirror's surface. It shattered around the strike's epicenter, reaching out with a spider web pattern of fault lines. She punched it a second time, and the reflective surface gave way into hundreds of shards arching out around her. Her knuckles bled and stung.
Eva left the mess behind, slinking down the staircase like a phantom. She met Raowan halfway down, who looked incredibly concerned.
"What happened?"
"I want nothing but the truth from now on," Eva started, "So I have started by being true to myself."
He was about to respond, but she stumbled forward as if to faint. He grabbed onto her by the shoulders, "What's wrong? Have they found you?"
"No, I'm waking up." She replied with slurred words, the virtual world falling dark around her, "I'll be back later."
And with that, she left the simulation, leaving behind only her avatar body.