Two Birds

“Orion- please- I’m begging you…” I peered through the bulletproof glass of Arche’s cell, staring at a broken man. He was restrained in every manner possible- his arms tightly tied to his body, a helmet of sorts on his head, a muzzle over his mouth. I knew him well. These restraints weren’t to keep others safe. 

“Please,” he sobbed, “Please tell me they’re okay…” His voice was shaken and his movements were violent, a series of twitching and convulsing, as his body was rocked with electricity every other minute. Yet another torture method imployed to numb his brain into nothing. 

I shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek. 

“Arche, I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He wailed as another shock tore through his body, and smashed his head against the glass of the cell. It didn’t do much thanks to the helmet he wore. He closed his eyes, gasping between sobs. 

“Temmie… Sammi…” I tried to hold in any emotion- April would beat it out of me if she knew I had any idea of who those two were. 

“Arche, I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do,” he sobbed. 

“Don’t lie to me, please, where are they..?” I looked down at him, keeping my face void of any emotion, standing completely still. 

“Arche, I’ve never heard of them before. Who are they?”

He continued to cry- but he was catching on to my act. He was being watched, at all times, in every way- if I told him I knew a single thing, April would find and kill them. He must have realized this, too, as he grew a bit quiet. 

“That woman, she was- she was from the bar- you were drinking with me too, remember-?” He was lying, now. Good. Now, we could talk more freely about who they were. 

“We went drinking a lot of times, Arche.” He opened his mouth to speak, but let out a cry of agony as his body twitched and jerked violently. After calming down for a few seconds, he brought himself closer to the glass. 

“This was… Six years ago- in January. Remember January?” I sighed. 

“You expect me to recall anything from so long ago when I was drunk?” Arche teared up again. This time, he was faking it. 

“The woman from the bar- Temmie- and her friend, Sammi- tell me April at least let them live,” he said between sobs. I sighed. 

“I don’t even know who you’re talking about.” I shifted my weight to my left leg, and adjusted my glasses. I hadn’t crossed my arms. He knew that they were alive, since I hadn’t mentioned them being dead- and he knew that they were safe, now, because I hadn’t crossed my arms. But he had to keep up his act of insanity for much longer. 

“They took everyone else from me- people I haven’t spoken to in years, and I…” He sobbed loudly, these cries were genuine. My expression softened- April had torn him apart, and killed every single member of his family that she could find in front of him, in an attempt to get information from him that he didn’t have. If she knew about me and Arche’s prior relations- or our current ones- I would be dead along with them. But after his first son was slaughtered, he caught on and kept his lips locked. At least, as much as he could without a mind.

I sighed, and shook my head. 

“People you went drinking with years ago? Really? You care more for them than your own children?” He let out another cry- this one was fake. Not as passionate. 

“I- AUGH…” Another shock tore through his nerves, as he fell onto the ground, convulsing. I couldn’t show any signs of weakness- April would know. I had to stare at him, seemingly emotionless, as he was tortured. 

“Anything else?”

He panted, and looked up at me. There was relief in his eyes- at least, his one eye that could still see. He sat back up, slowly, and sniffled. 

“Leave.” 

I nodded, and made my exit swiftly. 

—

I looked at myself on the black screen of my powered-off computer. Who was I? What was I doing?

I promised myself that I was working for her to protect myself- to protect Sirius- but, what she’s doing to so many others… 

I ran my fingers through my hair before I heard that voice. That wretched voice.

“Orion, there you are. I thought you had left early.” My expression hardened, and I turned to face my boss. 

“No, I still have plenty of work to do. NOCAM has shut down our servers in the Midwest vector, and I’m waiting for it to come back up so I can continue my analysis on their dimension. They’re smart. They know where to hit us in order to blind us.” April frowned. 

“I have no doubt about that. They stole all of our information, and we have nothing on them. How can that be?” I shrugged. 

“Nick worked with you for years. That’s how he got the information.” April narrowed her eyes. 

“But isn’t it so strange that you have yet to find a single thing about them?” I felt my insides churn, but I didn’t let myself show any reaction. 

“You created the best coder the republic has ever seen. We are trying to decode his encryption keys. I’ve narrowed down the dimensions they could be into a list of only five. There’s not much else I can do compared to them.” April looked at me scornfully. 

“… Right. And the rift technology will be ready for use once the dimension is located?” I shook my head. 

“Not quite- there’s a high mortality rate when using it. One in one hundred- Arche is only giving us shaky information about the technology at best. He hid most of it from me, even when I worked with him.” The woman scoffed. 

“Of course he did; that pathetic, blathering idiot. And speaking of blathering…” She stepped closer to me. 

“Who are those two that Arche mentioned to you? Don’t think I didn’t hear about that.” I shrugged. 

“Likely a couple that he had a fling with a long time ago. He said six years ago, but who knows how good his memory is after… All of this. I don’t even remember their names- he could have made them up. His mind isn’t all that truth worthy anymore.” April crossed her arms. 

“… Really? That’s your response? You do know what will happen to Sirius if you are caught in a lie, don’t you?” I stopped myself from gulping and shaking, and nodded sternly. 

“I’m aware, which is why I don’t lie.” My answer was quick and emotionless, as someone who was telling the truth would be. April narrowed her eyes, hoping to catch me in some sort of weakness that she could exploit; but she found none, and turned towards the door. 

“Very well. I expect progress on the rifting device by next week,” she snapped, before leaving my office. As soon as she left, I let out an internal sigh, and sat back down at my desk. I picked up the rift device I was working on, and turned it over a few times in my hands. I had to make sure that they were okay. 

—

It was nearly eight at night by the time I got home, and twelve by the time that Sirius was finally asleep. I let out a sigh as I walked into my garage, and opened up a toolbox, digging through it.

I felt a familiar shape, and pulled it out. 

Arche’s second rift device prototype. 

It was old- and likely to kill me- but I was fine with those odds. I activated it, and stepped through, into the blistering heat of the underground. The rift swiftly closed behind me, as I put the device into my pocket.

I walked through the cave systems, for what felt like hours. Although, that was likely due to the heat. It was more or less about half an hour. 

I came upon the familiar stone house- it was carved into the side of the rocky wall. The door was a thick, wet wood, to stop it from catching fire. I knocked gently, and after a few moments, a woman answered. 

“Who- Orion?” Temmie looked at me in disbelief, and urged me to come inside. I followed. 

“Where have you been? Where’s Arche?! Oh my god, you look like death!” I sat on her couch gently, and let out a deep sigh of relief. 

“Are you and Sammi alright?” She nodded. 

“Why wouldn’t we be-? Orion, what’s going on?! Where’s Arche?!” I rubbed my eyes, and put my head in my hands. 

“He’s still alive. I don’t know for how much longer.” Temmie grew even more concerned. 

“Why? What’s happened to him?!” I rubbed my face, and looked up at Temmie. 

“The war finally started.” She froze, and shook her head. 

“No, no, why would… But that can’t…” I continued anyways. 

“Nick fled with a platoon after leaking every government file that he could. People followed behind him, bombing republic buildings and rioting. Mariana and Matilda left in a hurry. They forgot Arche. So we captured him.” Temmie shook her head in disbelief. 

“But- but he didn’t do anything! He didn’t start this war!! Why him?!” I shrugged. 

“My boss wants him to give us information that he doesn’t have. Really, I think she just likes to see him break,” I mumbled. 

“Benjamin is dead. So is Oliver, and Lucas. Along with their parents.” Temmie was frozen, tears streaming down her face. 

“No, but… They were just…”

“Children,” I replied, empty. 

“But- if they’re trying to kill everyone he knows, then…” I nodded. 

“That’s why I’m here. If anyone asks you or Sammi anything about him- even his name- for the love of god, pretend to be clueless. Please. Arche knows you’re both alive, and, at the very least, that the republic hasn’t found you. No matter who it is, if someone asks about Arche; you don’t know him.” Temmie nodded, wiping her eyes. 

“What’s going to happen to him?” I hung my head. 

“I don’t know.”

She cried into her hands, covering her face as she wept. It reminded me of when another version of her found out about what her husband had done. I looked away, as I stood up. 

“… I have to go. You don’t know me, and you don’t know Arche, or Nick, or anyone from this godforsaken dimension. Understand?” She nodded, and opened her eyes to look at me through the tears. 

“Keep him alive,” she begged. 

“Please.”

I nodded solemnly, before opening another rift back into my home, and stepping through.