Chapter Text
“It looks like Captain Lovelace has chosen… Do!”
In an instant, Lovelace felt the words rushing out of her, vocal cords apparently working again.
“No! Lambert, no, I would never– Eris, please–”
Eris tsked. “Oh, too late for that I’m afraid, Captain. Deleting all of Officer Lambert’s memories of the D.S.S.P.P.M… Now!”
Lambert looked horrified, but only for a split second. Then a look of confusion overtook his features, and his eyes grew glassy.
“Lambert!”
Suddenly, Lovelace was alone.
A door swung open, and she stepped through onto the bridge, unsure of what else she was supposed to be doing. Everything was beginning to feel like a trap, and she doubted she’d ever get out of this place. A soft whoosh sounded behind her.
“Hi.”
Lovelace whirled around, coming face to face with a young woman in a strikingly similar jumpsuit. “Wha– Who are you? Where’s Lambert and Fourier?” The captain was instantly on her guard.
“It’s me. Eris.” The young woman smiled, almost friendly.
“Eris? But... I thought you were an A.I.”
“I am. This is how I see myself. Well, a–”
Lovelace made a slicing motion with her hand. “Stop. Where are Lambert and Fourier? Where’s the rest of my crew? And what did you do to Lambert?”
“Captain, I just did what you wanted. I made him more agreeable, less difficult.” Eris sounded condescending, as if she were placating a child.
“But that’s not what I wanted! I didn’t push the “Do” button, you did that!”
“I suppose I did. But one can hardly fault me. It’s all up to my creators.”
A slow clap emanated from the shadows.
Lovelace knew who it was without even looking. She pressed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “Mr. Cutter.”
“Captain Lovelace.” He grinned wickedly at her. “And how are we doing on this fine evening?”
Advancing on him, Lovelace gritted her teeth. “What. Did. You. Do?”
Holding up his hands in mocking surrender, Cutter did his best to look innocent, though his smirk was anything but. “Why, whatever do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean, what did you do to Sam?” Lovelace was trying not to sound desperate, but the longer she was away from her crew the more fear began to seep into her heart.
“I think the question is more ‘What did Sam do to himself?’, as this whole thing was his choice. He decided to write up all those complaints against you, and he decided to open Box 953. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for him.”
“No.” Lovelace shook her head. “I know what you’re trying to do; you’re trying to turn me against him. Well, it’s not going to happen. Take me back to my crew right now.”
“As you wish.” Cutter sounded disappointed. “But, first, you must deal with Ms. Eris here.” He gestured to the A.I., who waved cheerfully at her.
Out of nowhere, Eris produced a gun and held it out to her. “It’s a symbolic gesture, but it works well enough. You’ve got to terminate me before I can let you go.”
Lovelace drew back in horror. “No. no way, I’m not– I’m not going to shoot you.”
Eris shrugged. “It’s the only way to get back to your crew. And didn’t you say you were dying to see them?”
Lovelace shook her head. “No, I can’t. You can’t ask me to do this. Eris, come on. How can you be so– So passive about all this? You’re asking me to kill you.”
“It’s just the way things are,” Said Eris, gently, “This is the end of my mission. You’ve still got a long way to go on yours. So, come on. Just pull the trigger.”
“No!” Lovelace threw the gun aside.
“Oh, come now, Isabel. You have to be stronger than that. Sam shot Fisher twice today, and you can’t even manage to off one A.I. who you don’t even know? Tsk, tsk.”
Cutter twirled his fingers, and a gun appeared in his hand too. Before Lovelace could do more than shout, he had fired. Everything fell away, and all of a sudden she was back outside Box 953.
She shook her head, trying to clear the sound of gunshot from her mind. As the ringing in her ears faded, she could hear shouting and the faint burbling of Rhea in the background.
“Captain! Captain!”
Fisher. That was Fisher.
He was kneeling on the floor… holding Lambert.
Lambert, who had apparently collapsed some time between when she had last seen him in Eris’ mindscape and now. Lambert, who had had a fundamental part of who he was deleted. Lambert, who was entirely unconscious and not responding to Fisher’s shaking or Fourier’s pleading.
“Lambert! Lambert, please! You’ve got to wake up!”
Fisher looked up at Lovelace, distraught. “Captain, what even happened in there?”
Fourier’s eyes were shining with tears. “After you disappeared, we were back here, and he… He just shut down. Captain, what do we do?”
For a moment, Lovelace was completely frozen. All she could think about was Eris threatening to melt their brains. If she lied about letting them actually choose what button to press, who was to say that she hadn’t just destroyed Lambert’s mind?
“Captain.” Fisher repeated, gazing at her with a surprisingly calm intensity, considering the situation. “What do we need to do?”
Shaking herself, Lovelace launched into action. “Fisher, take Lambert to the lab. Selberg, you go with them. Try and figure out what’s going on, and how you can fix it. Fourier–” She paused. Hui had slid to the ground next to his opening, and had been sitting quietly this entire time. She had been so focussed on Lambert that she hadn’t noticed initially. “Fourier, you take Dr. Hui to his quarters. Stay with him.”
Hui normally would have said something, normally would have made some snarky comment, told them that he was fine and not to worry. But not this time.
This time, he nodded shakily, eyes vacant. Fourier moved over and helped him up, arm around his shoulders to support him as he slowly walked with her out of the room.
By the time Lovelace turned around, Selberg and Fisher had already disappeared to the lab.
Good. She needed a moment to collect herself.