Sentience (Private, Domus, Age of Cyborgs)

Bigfox3

(Well, since we only had four posts in here, I figure Lucas and I can work back up to where we were before. XD)

Marcia was delighted to learn that her paid vacation was coming up. Especially after the fiasco with Tom the talking cyborg-cube. She had no idea such a level of consistent anger could exist, and at times felt sorry for it. Of course, this was all just a pretense to the real reason she was leaving. A very BIG pretense...

--------The day of Zeon's return--------

Zeon was finishing his report to Tala a few hours after his recovery. Marcia couldn't help but notice that Tala was a little distracted during his report, so she made sure to take careful notes so Tala could review them later. She had to set down her clipboard when Zeon was done so that she could get feeling back in her hands. As they were leaving, Tala said, "Marcia, I'll be escorting Zeon back to his room. Please wait here." She nodded to this, and when they disappeared down the hall, Marcia remembered, Oops, forgot the clipboard!

As she grabbed her clipboard off the desk, she noticed that the DMRI program was still up. What she saw astounded her. "Oh my," she said aloud, and thought, Is this Zeon's brain? It's phenomenal. She also realized all the implications of what it meant for Tala. "Oh no..."

She heard Tala's voice calling for her and immediately dropped the clipboard. Tala walked in and found Marcia on her knees under the desk. "Marcia! I can't have you wandering off like that in B-5 security areas," Tala said. She immediately noticed the DMRI program open and assumed that Marcia didn't see it. As she came over and switched it off, Marcia was apologizing, "I'm sorry, Tala, I left my clipboard in here." She got up and dusted herself off, making sure not to look at the computer. "Well, shall we?" Marcia said, gesturing towards the door.
----------

Since then, Tala had become far more broody than usual, and even had to be snapped into attention by Marcia herself. Marcia's leaving left Tala feeling less cheerful as the days passed, and even Zeon noticed the gradual change in mood.

When the day of her leave came, Tala offered every luxury that could be afforded of the fortress, but Marcia declined everything but a basic self-defense kit and an ATV to take her back to the city, where her family's limo would be waiting.

As she was making her way to the ATV, Tala came running. "Marcia!" She stopped just short of her, and asked, "What, you're leaving without saying goodbye?" Marcia smiled, and said, "Well, goodbyes are hard for me. You take care, though, okay?" Tala smiled and said, "We'll look after things while you're gone." Marcia simply smiled, and hugged her. "Don't worry, with Zeon around, the place is indestructable," Tala said nonchalantly. Marcia squeezed her and whispered, "I'm sorry." With that, she turned and ran for the ATV, leaving Tala confused.

Only for a moment.

Marcia... She couldn't possibly... She remembered the day Zeon returned from their last trip to Edwin. She knew. Oh my gosh. She knew! And she didn't even bother to tell her! "Marcia!!!" she cried and tried to chase the vehicle, but to no avail.

"She knows..." If she knew, she should've probably also known that she wanted someone to talk to about this! Feeling a sense of betrayal, she stamped her way back into the fortress and down into her chambers, leaving a menacing aura in her wake challenging anyone to try and bother her just to see what would happen.

As she slammed the door to her quarters open, she noticed a note on the bedside table with her name on it in Marcia's handwriting.

[i]Dear Tala,

I apologize for not telling you this before now, but I did see the DMRI scan of Zeon's brain.

(And my brain's gone kaput. More editing later...)
_________________
...and then everything exploded and we all lived happily ever after. EDN!!!1110ne DX