to boldly go...

[bravejemma]

Comments

[projecthydra]

You shouldn't. They're pressing into the system settings.

[He rolls a shoulder in sudden discomfort.] Could rework the way things oper--

[His arms drop away from her.]

Hey, um... Can you make me one of those... the... sitting... chair.

[He sinks backward, whether or not she's able to pull a proper asset file in time to catch him.]

[bravejemma]

[She realizes what's about to happen a fraction of a second before he starts to drop. In her panic, she conjures up a chair with not a moment to spare. It's nothing fancy, but at least Will is spared the indignity of landing on whatever might be considered floor hereabouts, in a heap.]

And what does that mean?

[projecthydra]

....Remember when I told you about that part in my code that doesn't match anything else in the system?

Shows up weird in root scans.

[He twitches and spasms.]

Th--they--th... testing variables.

[As he struggles, Jemma might notice a numbness spreading across her right side. Something smells like lilacs, for no apparent reason.]

[bravejemma]

[Oh, that was... Not fun. It may have started as lilacs, but it soon turned to burning chocolate, a charred sweetness that wasn't right. She texted her right hand -- it moved, it had just lost all feeling.]

Do you -- suppose it may be the same for me?

[Because she definitely feels strange, and she can't say she likes it.]

[projecthydra]

Probably. You have the same anomaly.

[His eyes roll, and he blinks to keep focus.]

Here -- sit down with me. I, um... access is..

California. I was from San Mateo... [He thinks. He's not sure if that's accurate information or just what's being brought up now.]

[bravejemma]

[She sits by him, but not without difficulty. Now her joints have begun to go stiff and limp at intervals, like the worst sort of arthritis she can imagine.]

Sounds nice.

[It hits her hard this time, right in the gut. She doubles over slightly, giving it a moment before she could talk again.]

I came from Sheffield. England.

[projecthydra]

Might change. It's -- they're messing with our code. We're.

What planet did you say that was? The database is... 

[And then there's another flash, and the warping sensation grows more aggressive. Tiny little pinpricks poke at her awareness. Someone has opened up a dialogue box to type with her.

> Hello
> Is there someone there?
]

[bravejemma]

[Earth. She comes from Earth. I'm Jemma Simmons and I come from Sheffield, England, United Kingdom -- ]

> Hello?

[projecthydra]

[
> I'm presently operating on a theory.
> Please state designation and function.

]

[bravejemma]

> Jemma Simmons
> I don't know my function

[hypoxic]

> I knew it
>
> Are you ready to go home, Jemma?

[bravejemma]

[The cursor blinks for quite awhile.]

> I don't know how.

[She can't, can she? She's tried.]

[hypoxic]

> just trust me.

[And then, all at once, things go black for her. It's a more limiting darkness than the usual kind. There's no company here, and no sense of connectedness. Her link to the system is cut off. For the first time in months, Jemma is genuinely alone.]

[bravejemma]

[It's not just alone -- it's empty. The circuitry is now dead, and she doesn't feel that pulse anymore; it had become how she measured life. And now she was dead. She moaned a little. Now Will was alone. And she wouldn't see Fitz again.

Then again, if this was the afterlife... it could be far worse.]

[hypoxic]

[Sound arrives slowly, a faint underwater sort of noise.]

It's going to work. Just give it more time! This is the one. I know this is the one. You put your hand near that switch again and I rip your bloody arm off do not tempt me.

[bravejemma]

Fitz --

[Who else could be so angry and determined and Scottish? She knows that tone as well as she knows the person that it belongs to. It rings in her ears.

But that can't be. She's dead -- or good as.]

Will.

[Maybe it's the virus again. She can't let it trick her like it did before.]

[hypoxic]

She said something.

She said something.

[She sound is closer now, more urgent. Something soft and velvety nudges her hand.]

Jemma -- can you hear me? Are you awake?

[bravejemma]

[She pulls her hand away, though nothing else moves, not yet. She's holding her breath, until she lets it out in a rush and automatically takes one out again. Her eyes open but it's too bright and they squeeze shut again. She tries to sublimate back into the code -- become the ones and zeroes that stream by at breakneck speed, but there's nothing. Her avatar remains.]

[hypoxic]

You lot said there wasn't any degeneration. Get me a better medic to find out what's wrong.

Jemma? Please, give me some kind of sign you understand me. Squeeze my hand -- something.

[bravejemma]

Fitz --

[Her voice is creaky from disuse, throat dry. He's put his hand in hers again and she squeezes it. She squeezes it like it can save her from the bright, noisy, solid reality.]

[hypoxic]

Yes -- it's me. I'm here.

You've been asleep for a long time.

[bravejemma]

Not asleep.

[She tries opening her eyes again, this time letting them become accustomed to the med bay's bright light, little by little.]

[hypoxic]

[Fitz is there, hovering over her. His expression is still fairly neutral, though his tone betrays anxiety.]

No -- you aren't now. I know that. I knew this time would be the one that works.

[He knew the last twenty times would be the one that worked as well.]

[bravejemma]

I wasn't.

[She can't argue. He will just have to get used to it. She squeezes his hand again, and is torn for a moment -- Fitz is here, but Will is still there, and now he'll be alone. Tears came to her eyes, and one escaped, running down her temple.]

[hypoxic]

She's tearing up -- someone help her take care of that. She hasn't got much range of motion.

[Which brings him to some other questions.]

Are you feeling things all right?