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Just close your eyes, the sun is going down
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound - Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift
.
Everyone was out, everyone was free, everyone was done with this nightmare. Except for her.
It was a glitch in the system, a bug from Kinger’s collection that proved to be an actual ‘game bug’. Everything after was a blur, seeing an exit door, ignoring Caine begging them to stay, actually leaving and feeling their physical bodies again for the first time in years.
But then there was the march of people, their faces covered with masks and dressed in bulletproof uniforms. The group had ran, and ran, and ran. But they knew that they couldn’t get far…not without a distraction.
And so, Pomni had stayed behind, giving the others a chance to escape. She could remember someone screaming, telling her not to do this and stay with them. But it was too late, she was already gone.
Now, she was here. Strapped to a hospital bed, with foggy memories and remembering nothing but her circus name. Feeling only loss and hollowness at her closest chance of freedom yet losing it all within a few moments.
It didn’t matter though, everyone else was safe and free, even if it meant she couldn’t be.
She bit her lip, feeling tears burn in the corner of her eyes. She didn’t dare cry, this was her choice, she couldn’t fuss over it now.
It was funny, wasn’t it? She was the one so desperate for an exit and finding a way to leave, yet she was the one who was still trapped. Irony was cruel and brutal.
Her blood froze when she heard the door of the room unlock, shaking and pulling at the straps in an attempt to escape. Three scientists entered the room, ignoring her panicked state as they surrounded her. “Well subject P0-11, I have to say I’m impressed,” one of the doctors observed, “You actually managed to escape our little simulation.”
“You know my name, don’t you!” she spat, “Just say it! I’m not a lab rat!”
“Unfortunately you don’t get a say in that,” the scientist said, “It must be sad, being out of the game yet you still have no idea who you are. How pathetic.”
“Fuck you!” she growled. God it felt good to swear again.
“Regardless, you’re still here and useful to us,” He turned to the other scientists in the room, “Bring it forward.”
Her heart nearly stopped when she saw the other two scientists pick up a headset. Tears started to rush down her cheeks as she thrashed at her binds and screamed enough that it almost made her throat bleed. But she didn’t dare stop. There was no way she would be putting on another headset, in this lifetime or the next.
The first scientist was handed the headset as the other two held Pomni down by her arms. “GET OFF ME!” she screeched, “GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” Without warning, she lunged at them, grabbing at one of their arms with her teeth and bit down hard.
The second scientist yelped out in pain, clutching their appendage that now started to bleed. “You little bitch!” he growled, gripping her face, “You wanna take that kind of attitude with me! Huh?!”
“Now, now,” the first scientist deadpanned, placing a hand on the second scientist’s shoulder and pushed him away. He sneered as he looked down at Pomni, “Keep a calm head P0-11. It will only get worse from here.”
No, no this couldn’t be how it ends. Not with her being placed into another simulation, with a lower chance of escaping. This couldn’t be how the rest of her life would carry out. She kept thrashing, screaming, doing anything to delay the headset being placed upon her. She squeezed her eyes shut, shutting out the reality of the situation, buying herself the last few seconds of normality she had left…
The sound of a fist meeting flesh and a body hitting the ground was what made her freeze, though she refused to open her eyes. Not until the threat was gone. She heard the crash out metal and two other voices cry out before being silenced as well.
She could hear footsteps approach her, making her tremble for what could possibly be awaiting her in the light. She whimpered as two soft hands gently cupped her cheeks, wiping away a stray tear that leaked down her cheek.
“Pomni,” a voice whispered, “It’s me, love.”
It was so familiar. She knew that voice, didn’t she?
“Could you open your eyes for me?” the voice asked, “It’s okay, you’re gonna be alright.”
Pomni found herself opening one eye, a man with a kind face looking down at her with a caring smile. She opened the other one, letting the pieces fit together in her head until the puzzle was fully formed. “Jax?”
“Hey sweetie,” he confirmed, “Sorry I took so long.”
“You’re here,” she gave him a watery smile, “You came back for me.”
Jax moved his hands the the restraints on the bed, “As if I’m gonna let those fuckers take what’s mine.”
“Easy there,” she let out a tired laugh, “Let’s get out of here first.” Everything that had, it felt like such a blur. The escape, the capture, the fear. “I..I thought they…that I was…I thought I was gonna be trapped again.”
She let out a strangled sob, Jax’s hands immediately going back to her cheeks after untying the last restraint to wipe them away again. “Hey, hey, it’s okay I’m here,” he shushed her gently, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “I won’t let anything happen to you, never again.”
She let out another cry, it was all too much, she never felt so relieved and scared than she did right now. Jax scooped Pomni up into his arms, the girl clutching to him tightly as she pressed her face to his shoulder. “Let’s get out of here,” he spoke.
“W-wait! How are we gonna get out of here?!” she panicked, “The guards-”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t come alone,” he told her, “When we got far away enough, we managed to find the folks working on finding us. They’re the reason I was able to get back to you.”
“I wanna go home,” she sniffed. She couldn’t remember home, she didn’t know what she looked like. But right now, in his arms, it felt a whole lot like it.
“Yeah,” he nodded, stroking her arm, “We can go home.”
He passed the hallways, guards in uniforms swarming the halls and taking down the people who had kidnapped and tortured them for years on end in that digital hell.
For the first time in so long, Pomni felt the fresh air fill her nose the moment Jax stepped out of that building. For the first time, Pomni took a true, real breath. For the first time, Pomni was reminded that she was actually alive. She wasn’t a character in a simulation, to be pushed around like a toy.
She was human and alive .
Jax carried her to a nearby ambulance, not even daring to leave her side once she was placed down on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
“I’m here,” he whispered, holding her hand and placing a kiss against the back of it, “I’ll always be here.”
Pomni gripped his hand back weakly, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Jax’s eyes widened in surprise at the fact she would guess that, leaning into her face slowly one more time, “For you love, never.”
He sealed that promise by gently pressing his lips against hers, slow, sweet and soft.
This is it Pomni decided, smiling against Jax’s lips as she let out a comforted sigh.
This is freedom.