by A M Lopez
He whispered under his breath, “Oh come on, come on.”
Aaron stepped forward. “Arthur, what’s happening?”
Arthur’s whole body was tensed, bracing himself for something. “Not now.”
Everyone watched Arthur with confusion, heads tilted.
He stopped typing and crossed his fingers. “Come on, Lancelot, come on! Yes!” Arthur jumped up, just when his laptop sounded another alarm. “Lancelot, you traitor— ” Arthur threw himself at his laptop, “ —I trusted you!” Arthur’s fingers flew against the keyboard as he screamed. “No!” Arthur sighed, closing his eyes, when a ping rang out from his laptop. His head snapped back to the screen and his eyes widened. “Percival! You, beautiful knight, you!” Arthur cheered, doing a small dance.
Eva looked around at her team, mouth wide open. Allison’s body was shaking as she snickered behind her hand while Dimitri rolled his eyes. Aaron’s stern face was looking away, but Eva could clearly see her lips twitching upwards. Her gaze settled on Connor. He wasn’t as tense as before, but he didn’t have a smile on his face. Eva wanted to talk to him, but decided that it should wait for later.
Arthur started rambling, scratching his head while a small blush settled on his cheeks. “It is hilariously ironic how Lancelot failed me and Percival saved the day. Honestly, I don’t know why I still run Lancelot sometimes. He usually betrays me, but he used to be my most loyal program.”
Eva was going to stop him before he turned blue, but he continued to ramble.
“One day, I sent him to protect my systems from a virus someone was using to attack me. He was able to quarantine the virus and destroy it. However, Lancelot got infected slightly and was never the same. I tried my best to fix him, but he had integrated his code with the virus so I was too late. One good thing did come out of it though.”
Eva was horrified.
“Lancelot had begun building a separate program without my knowledge. I found out about it when my programs were failing and it came out of nowhere and saved my system. It was amazingly loyal and strong, so I named it Sir Galahad. I had actually been about to make a new program when it popped up, so instead I just improved that one. And— ”
Dimitri’s laughter stopped Arthur’s ramble. Arthur’s eyes had widened and his brows furrowed, Eva couldn’t help but laugh at how offended he looked.
Before Arthur could say anything, Allison spoke up, heald titled to the side. “Why did you choose those names?”
Arthur looked like a deer trapped in headlights. Meanwhile, everyone else looked curious, except for Dimitri. He was curled in on himself as his laughs got louder.
Arthur mumbled, “They are named after the Knights of the Round Table.”
Eva blinked twice. “As in King Arthur’s knights?”
Arthur’s shoulders slumped and his face got redder. “Maybe…”
At this point, Dimitri was on the ground laughing his butt off. Allison’s head rolled back and Aaron was trying to stifle her laughs. Eva looked at Connor and their eyes met, they couldn’t help but start laughing.
Arthur tried to defend himself. “Hey, leave me alone. They are really awesome names and they just fit really well! An example would be Percival! He was one of King Arthur’s most loyal knights, just like the program is one of mine.”
The team’s laughter got louder. Even Aaron, could no longer hide her laughs. Allison was giggling as she asked the next question.
“How is a program loyal?”
Arthur beamed and puffed out his chest. “I consider a program loyal when it is not easily turned against me. Percival, for instance, has amazing firewalls and is almost impossible to infect. Also, when they don’t fail me and I know I can count on them to get the job done. I used to consider Lancelot super loyal until he got infected and now is unreliable when it comes to protecting my systems.”
Arthur smirked as if he just proved his point. However, his smirk dropped when everyone kept laughing. “What? It makes sense!”
Arthur crossed his arms over his chest as everyone laughed louder. Dimitri picked himself up off the floor and walked over to his twin, ruffling Arthur’s hair. “I’m sorry, but it’s still hilarious.”
“I was really young when I named them though. I thought it was really cool back then.”
Dimitri raise an eyebrow at his twin, disbelief written all over his face.
“Fine. I still find it cool, but for good reason!”
Everyone who had finally stopped laughing, once more fell into its embrace.
“I’m serious! I even have a Guinevere! She is one of my viruses. She attracts other viruses and then makes them think she is a part of them. She may not be loyal because she caught the virus from Lancelot, but she is super helpful! I was actually able to save most of her coding and altered the infected parts to help her trick viruses easier.”
Arthur had straightened up again and was smiling widely. Everyone tried not to laugh but a few giggles and chuckles slipped out. Arthur glared at them. “You guys better leave my knights alone before I hack into all of your tech and do as I wish.”
Everyone froze except for Dimitri, who smirked. “You guys are forgetting who the knights are loyal to. We all know from experience people are only loyal to strong leaders.”
He winked at Aaron, whose eyes widened before she smiled.
Arthur took his twin’s statement a step further. “Yeah! You guys should fear me!”
Everyone finally began to laugh again. Allison was laughing so hard she almost couldn’t speak.
“He’s like an angry kitten! I can’t!”
Arthur scoffed. “Call me a kitten one more time. I dare you.”
“You are a cute, angry, fluffy little kitten.”
Allison’s smirk dropped the second Arthur began to slowly clap. He smirked and his eyes narrowed. Everyone, including Dimitri, froze.
“I hope you are ready for what’s coming. If you’re not? Well, that’s not my problem.” Arthur’s smirk turned into a wide smile as he grabbed his laptop.
“I have to go improve some of my programs. Have a great day!”
Everyone watched as he practically skipped out of the room.
Allison was pale. “I should go apologize, shouldn’t I?”
Dimitri laughed and turned to her. “It’s too late for you. Goodbye, Allison. Rest in peace.”
With that said, Dimitri left the room to find his twin. Allison slowly turned to the remaining members, her eyes widened in fear.
“I will miss you all. Aaron, you get my tools. Connor, you get those new training bots I was making you. Eva, you get my newly made sneakers. Dimitri will get the robotic first aid kits. Finally, Arthur will get my notebook that I write all of my best jokes and puns in.”
Aaron smirked. “What about Dawn?”
Allison raised a brow. “She comes with me no matter where I go, even in death. So back off, captain.” Allison snapped her fingers and playfully strutted out of the room.
Aaron let out a surprised laugh and shook her head. “I should get back to the control room. If anything does happen, warn me and I might be able to save Allison’s life. Have fun, you two.”
With a wave, Aaron exited the meeting room. Eva turned to Connor, who had a fond smile on his face.
“You want to go spar?”
Connor turned to her and raised a brow. “You’re on.”
As the duo left the room, Eva knew that no matter how bad things were at the moment, it would be okay.
The team hadn’t fallen apart. At least, not yet.
Chapter Three
Eva blinked twice at the sunlight coming in through the open window. A comforting breeze had flown in, the cold air wrapping itself like a present around her body. She looked down at herself, still in her training suit. Yesterday, she had come in late from training hard and passed out on the nearby couch.
Eva stretched her arms and legs, the position she was in having compressed her muscles. In fact, everything was compressed, Connor had pu
shed everyone hard the day before. She let out a breathy sigh, attempting to run her fingers through her brown locks. Eva quickly realized her hair was still in a braid and finally gathered enough willpower to leave the comfortable brown couch. Her sock-covered feet touched the tile floors of her room in Headquarters.
This room was not as welcoming as her bedroom in Dawn. It was smaller and had a noticeable metal feeling. She walked to the bathroom, opening the white door and came face to face with herself. She had bags underneath her eyes for days and her posture was slumped over, calling out for a break. Piece by piece, she took her hair out of the tight braid she had put it in yesterday. The waves came out, framing her face nicely, however she put it into a bun so she could take a relaxing shower.
She flicked her wrist, activating the thin metal watch Connor had gifted to her in 2015. Eva smiled down at it, soon it was going to mark two years that she had been with the team. Time had flown by in a ridiculous manner. Instead of having time to interact and get to know her team more, she was thrown in the line of fire. The team was tired, close to the point of burning out, but still working hard. She turned on soothing music and stripped her suit off, sliding into the shower to relax with the warm, gentle water hitting her back. The cool, August weather was flowing into the room contrasting nicely with the warm water.
Eva closed her eyes, leaning into the water, but quickly snapped back. Desperately flicking her wrist underwater, the screen appeared distorted. However, Eva had no care, as she accessed the calendar. The black font clearly read, "August 9th". Eva’s eyes widened in shock. In Triangulum, she worked hard every day without care of the dates. Eva leaned back onto the wall.
"I'm eighteen." She incredulously whispered aloud.
The year before, Eva's birthday was spent fighting off Connor's dad in another dimension. The team only found out she turned seventeen after they got back to Triangulum a couple of weeks after fighting. By then, they were immersed deeply into work once more.
In disbelief, she sauntered out of the shower and dried herself off with the white towel hanging on the back of her door. Putting on a different set of training clothes, she left her hair in the bun and walked out of her room. She slowly stepped out, the familiar cold hallway greeting her. The lights above were sharp as she walked to the training room separated for them. Slowly pushing open the door, she spotted Connor once again training as hard as he could. His face was set into a fierce expression as he fought against a blue human-shaped hologram. The moment he realized she was in the room, he waved a sweaty hand and canceled the sequence. The hologram dissipated into blue smoke as he turned his body towards her.
Eva looked around. "Where's the rest of the team? We did have practice today, right?"
Connor unwrapped the white fabric he had around his wrist. "Yes, however they all had meetings to go to and stuff to figure out. It's just us today."
Eva nodded, looking at the floor.
Connor squinted his eyes at her, but didn’t say anything further. He motioned over to the stretching station. "We can start stretching."
Eva went over to the gray matted area and sat down, stretching her legs in a v-shape. The silence was killing her, so she flicked her wrist and music began to play. The upbeat sound flooded the room, connecting to the speakers. Eva still hadn't made any direct conversation with Connor. She could feel his questioning gaze on her, but kept as silent as a mouse.
After finishing the stretching routine, they decided to spar together. Standing face to face the speakers said, "On your mark, get set, go!"
Connor swung his arm at her side, but Eva was distracted by her thoughts. She didn't see it coming and fell.
"Are you okay? That was a plain in sight move, you should've moved out of the way or blocked." Connor inquired as he grabbed her forearm and pulled her up.
Eva pulled her strands of hair behind her ear and looked to the side. "I'm fine, let's just go again."
Connor warily nodded and waved his hand. Once more the speakers came on and the duo put their fists up. Connor swung again at the same spot and again, Eva wasn't paying attention.
"Okay. We're talking about this." Connor pulled her up and dragged her over to the side of the room, sitting on the floor where no one would be able to see. She slumped on the floor and rested her head against the wall.
Connor squatted in front of her, a concerned look on his face. "What's going on, and don't say nothing, because I know you too well."
Eva shrugged and closed her eyes.
"Oh, so you're not talking now? I guess it's time for extreme measures." He gripped her hand and dragged her up once more.
"Why do you keep dragging me?" She grumbled lowly.
He started to push her towards the door. "Go put on something better than what you have on now, we're taking a break."
~
Having complained for a while saying she wanted to stay in her room and sleep, Connor clamped his hand over her mouth, careful not to touch her glasses. After begrudgingly going to her room and changing into simple black jeans and a shirt, Eva met him in the lobby downstairs. He'd taken one look at her and twisted her around, messing with her hair. Eva tried to escape from his grasp, but he was quick. Connor let her hair down and spread it. She tried to say something but he gave her a look that quickly shut her up.
But now, with his hands in her hair instead of covering her mouth, that little trick did not work long-term. A honk took them out of their bubble and they looked forward. A silver colored hover car with a taxi cab sign greeted them, and the driver waved them in.
"Come in younglings!" The chirpy man greeted them.
Eva and Connor glanced at each other and shrugged before climbing into the taxi. The sweet smell of candy smothered their senses as they took a seat. A bush of white hair sprouted out from the driver's seat.
"How are you dandy looking specimens doing today?" The man looked like the jolly old Santa Claus her parents used to put up every Christmas season, with rosy cheeks and eyes shimmering with kindness.
"I don't know, where are we going Connor?" Eva crossed her arms and awaited his response.
Connor took out a piece of crumpled paper from his front pocket and handed it to the man before relaxing and shooting her a smirk.
"Ooh, I see now. Well, let's get going!" The man laughingly said.
Putting the car into motion, they set off from the grass into the street. Triangulum was never filled with cars, people mostly enjoyed walking to places since the air was nice and fresh. Looking out the window, Eva took her time to take in the passing surroundings, eyes wandering everywhere. In her time here, she was never given the chance to go out and explore, capturing Richard was more important than sightseeing.
Giant glass skyscrapers leaned above her, seeming as if they were going to fall. The streets were nice and clean, beautiful shops surrounding the space. This seemed too perfect to be true, but from what Eva had heard, Triangulum did not have as many people as Ranison.
The planet was smaller in size than Ranison's and due to that, there was only one president leading the people. Everything was small and peaceful. Eva turned to look to the front, they were heading into the city's interior. Every building visible was decorated with minimal flowers, and in the middle of the whole city, lied a beautiful flowered garden. This was where the taxi dropped them off.
As Eva and Connor climbed out of the hovering car the man yelled out, "Alrighty! You are at your destination, have fun lovebirds!"
Eva started to sputter, denying his statement, but it was too late. The man had already driven off, leaving Eva's explanation in the dust.
Connor ran his fingers through his dark hair, chuckling. "I like that guy."
Eva punched him on the arm and glared at him. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going or what?"
Connor threw an arm around her shoulders and began to lead her out of the garden, and down the street. Neon blue lights flashed around her with shop names, soothing music fading in and out as they wa
lked past the stores together.
The weight around her shoulders was comforting, and Eva stayed silent. The view was perfect, and Eva's hopes were coming back for a nice birthday. Why didn't she want to tell Connor? At this point, not even Eva knew the answer to that question. She was relaxed and enjoyed this walk, that is, until Connor turned the corner into an alleyway.
"What are we doing here? This leads to nowhere." Eva turned her head and looked up at him.
"Don't worry about that, just follow me."
Eva ducked under his arm and started to back away. "Nope. This is not happening. Weird people are going to come out and attack me. Is this seriously going to be one of your training techniques? I'm out of here."
Eva began to walk away, however Connor grabbed her hand and dragged her towards him.
"I thought we already agreed that you trusted me." Connor smiled down at her, his smile soothing her.
"I knew I shouldn't have said that in the stupid dimension killing days." Eva grumbled but followed along as he dragged her towards the end of the alleyway in the direction of a large garbage can.
Eva began to feel a bit better once she saw no one was going to attack her, but Connor made her jump six feet in the air once he put a blindfold on her.
"Could you at least have given me a warning?" She tugged on the blindfold, wanting it off.
Connor took her fingers away from the blindfold, straightening her blindfold gently over her glasses. That movement made her hold her breath, and after he finished, he took her hand and softly said, "I'm going to lead you somewhere, don't walk too fast, just come with me."
Eva hesitantly nodded.
This wasn't something that would cause her panic, as she had her other four senses to use. The smell of cooked food began to flood her nostrils and a small wave of heat touched her body. However, she did not hear anything except for her footsteps and Connor's.
