07-14-2018, 08:49 PM
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They had been corrupted. Used. Manipulated. There was no changing the past like some tried desperately to do. Washington knew that there was no way that he would be able to recover and go back to being the way that he used to be. The Freelancer had seen plenty of things over his lifetime, and he knew that there was a chance that he wouldn't even come back from some of the missions. He and Maine were the ones that got injured the most in the program, as Washington wasn't all that great and Maine was usually the muscle. They had worked together on a couple of missions here and there and Washington considered him to be a great teammate that was one of few words. The other was capable of conveying what he wanted just by the way he acted. That might be one of the reasons why the Freelancer had got along with the other so much because the other didn't have the means to try and argue against him when it came to making snarky comments.
He had remembered the moment where the guy had found his signature weapon during a heist, and the other had asked him what he thought of it. Considering that it had been alien technology meant that it was going to look cool no matter who got their hands on it. He never even got to know the name of the weapon that Maine ended up using for the majority of the time. Then there was the aspect that Maine was forced to use his weight to get the package onto the top of the roof, which Carolina had done. It had been a crazy day, and it had also been the day that Maine got shot several times and got shot in the throat, meaning that he would never be able to speak again. It was a harsh blow to all of them as no one wanted to end up getting basically crippled from an injury. There was no such thing as a medical discharge, as every Freelancer found a way to fight through their disabilities.
Before even Maine got injured, it had been Agent York that had ended up losing an eye thanks to an explosion that had been ironically caused by Maine himself when they were fighting against Agent Texas on the training floor. Washington had thought that they were going to be punished but the Director had done no such thing. Eventually, Carolina had given her AI to Maine, so that he would be able to communicate with the rest of the time. That AI being named Sigma. An AI that Washington didn't like interacting with him at all, he would much rather be locked in a room with a thousand Delta's than the likes of Sigma. The other obviously had an underlying tone to him, and Washington now knew why he had been created and what exactly signified. Creativity. He wasn't sure that was the right word to use to describe Sigma. It was difficult to even think what AI's were capable of when they were all experimentation. The Freelancer had been told by his coworker that after the Mother of Invention crash-landed onto Sidewinder, that Carolina was attacked by Maine.
Eta and Iota were taken and ripped out from her implants. Something that Washington could only imagine how painful that could have bet before tossing her off of the cliff. There was a chance that he could have gotten caught in the explosion after what he had done to Carolina. Washington knew that if the other had made it to this world then it was going to be a problem. Especially since Theta was now on the playing field and they had no idea where the AI that represented Trust even was. Or even if North was still alive, although the life of North wasn't as important as the likes of an AI. When it came to recovery it was a simple protocol that was going to need to be followed, and that meant that they were going to have to find North's armor if he did die in it and get rid of it so that no one could get the gear and use it against him. One of the reasons as to why they went after CT once the program realized that they had been betrayed by the female. Either way, he hadn't mentioned all that much about Agent Maine to the majority of those that lived in the outpost anyway. Washington had no reason to when there was little that was even known about each other.
They had once been considered family, but now that felt a long time ago. It felt empty to think of them as such. They were all threats as far as Washington was concerned, including Carolina, who he didn't even fully trust since she was the Director's daughter. Because of the appearance of Theta though, Washington had increased his patrols through the territory. He didn't know whether the next Freelancer he saw would actually have the armor on them compared to Carolina who didn't have any form of her armor. The armored smilodon believed that he was going to be capable of defending against anyone that was going to attack him. Washington didn't have his AI like some would think, as Epsilon was taking from his implant a long time ago, although he did have all of the memories of the Alpha in him now. That information confidential that no one knew about and he hadn't told anyone about the memories before the Mother of Invention did explode.
The smilodon was walking around doing his usual patrols when he saw something shiny that was off in the distance. What was that? Anything metal could prove to be useful to the likes of a former human. It wasn't exactly hard to hear Washington coming thanks to the armor that he wore across his body rattling with each step that he took. It was only when he noticed a helmet that he stopped himself five feet away from who it was. He knew that helmet. Anyone in the program would as there were none others like it. His breath stopping in his throat as he realized who it was. Agent Maine. Carolina had been right. Fuck, she had been right. Washington wasn't sure what had happened to Maine after the crash, and maybe he had tried to do something that he regretted. All of them did. Washington spread out of his front paws a little bit, getting into a stance that would make him capable of defending himself if the other did attack him.
His gaze in his visor started to dart around as he looked to see if there were any civilians around. This wasn't their fight. It was theirs and only theirs. Washington didn't even know that Agent Maine still had his AI's or not, as from the angle that he was looking at from the size it was almost impossible to tell with the other's helmet on. "Heyyy Maine... What are you doing here?" Washington would say in a nervous tone as he looked at the larger creature. Agent Maine had always been the largest out of the group so that it would be no surprise that the hellhound was even larger than that of the smilodon. He was getting nervous. Should he call for Carolina? Could he even take Maine on with brute force? He didn't know. Different variables started to work in his head, and he just hoped that Maine would answer his question so that he wouldn't have to attack his former friend. His white claws dug into the ground, ready for whatever the other was trying to accomplish here. "speech"
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