The Human Experiment

Paradise

Chapter 6

            Ian was once again in possession of the sword from earlier.  Scarlett couldn’t figure out the purpose of carrying it now though.  As the two of them moved forward the plant life blackened and died making the path much easier to transverse.  She was still reeling from the fact that the A.I. running the system had seen fit to save her in the first place.  It was a mystery as to what it was thinking.  It was clearly intent on keeping her alive for now.  If the dying foliage was anything to gauge her assumption by.  What made her so special?  Maybe it wasn’t that she was important at all but the purpose of the system itself.  There was supposed to be no danger in using the constructs to start with.  Following that train of thought meant that the A.I. was acting upon its programing.  Could that mean that the malfunction was indeed a hacker? 

            She watched Ian’s backside as she worked through her thoughts.  She didn’t think it was Ian who had done this.  He was clearly the muscle to Everly’s brain.  From the interactions of the two so far it was clear that they knew each other well.  If Everly was the hacker, Ian would know.  The fact that he had choose to save her life earlier made her doubt their involvement.  If they were the ones behind it then there had been no reason behind helping her.  He could have left her for dead and gone about his way.  The fact that he hadn’t had to mean something.  It could be that the hack was never meant to become dangerous.  That line of thought made the hacker seem rather inexperienced and looking to make a name for themselves.  Everly did not come off as incompetent in her skill set by any means. 

            Her inner debate was disrupted by the sounds of giggling and moaning from up ahead.  She really hoped that the creator of the construct was the one they were about to stumble upon.  She didn’t want to be in that world any more than she had already.  Just because the A.I. had gotten rid of the poisonous plants didn’t mean that there weren’t other dangers still lurking around.  She wanted to leave before they unwittingly stumbled across anything else.  Ian’s gait slowed the closer to the sound they got.  Scarlett nearly ran right into his backside when he came to an abrupt halt.  Stepping aside she was not prepared for the scene before them.

            A sparkling waterfall ran golden water over top of blood red rocks that protruded from it.  The sand at the banks of the bright pool of water were black as night and twinkled in the sunlight as if it held stars.  Seated upon one of the flat rocks of the bank was a woman stretched out like a lazy cat enjoying the warmth of the sun.  She wasn’t anything Scarlett had ever seen before.  She found herself entranced with her ethereal looks.  Her pale pink skin seemed to glow in the sun as her long silver hair fanned out around her glistening like tensile.  Her long pointy ears went almost unnoticed if it wasn’t for the glint of gems that covered the length of the one, she could see.  The attire she wore wisped in the breeze as if it was light enough to float away.  The colors were muted in comparison to the rest of the surroundings in a dull black, bleak greys, and cream.  The only thing that made it fit in with the woman’s look was the artful way it clung to her long body.  Barely covering what shouldn’t be seen.

            Scarlett figured there was no other way to find out if the woman was the creator, then to approach her and ask.  Her movement was cut short however as another person burst from the water.  The spray of gold washed over the woman who let out a squeal of delight.  The moisture turned the gauzy material of her outfit see through leaving nothing to the imagination anymore.  Scarlett blushed at the sight shifting her eyes to the new occupant.  He was the opposite in color to the woman having skin so white in color it reminded her of pure ice.  Black markings ran the length of his skin long his fore arms and chest before disappearing beneath the surface of the golden pool.  His hair was a violet purple in color but glittered no less then hers.  His eyes were as gold as the water he was still partially hidden by making Scarlett wonder to the color of the woman’s.  She had yet to see them as her eyes had been closed when the two of them had first came upon them.  Knowing that the woman was exposed at this point left her not wanting to chance a look.  She kept her eyes locked on the man’s face glad that the rest of him was hidden from sight.  She knew that could change in an instant but was drawing a blank on what to do.

            A sly smirk creased his thin lips as he devoured the sight before him with his eyes.  Scarlett felt the need to begin fanning herself as she watched him.  She was sure that the day had not gotten hotter as the light source was still mostly positioned upon the couple.  She was glad when he lowered himself gently into the water figuring he was about to resubmerge himself.  How wrong she had been though.  As quick as a strike from a snake he dived his face into the apex of the woman’s legs.  Scarlett shrieked as if in fright turning her back on the couple.  Ian glanced down from beside her smirking at her reaction causing her to glare at him.

            “Should we go see if one of them in the creator?”  He teased her forcing her blush to deepen.

            “You go right on ahead.  I’m going to stay right here thank you.”  Her words made a laugh burst from him loud enough to almost drown out the woman’s enjoyment behind her.

            “Are you sure?”

            “Positive.”  She all but growled out the word to him causing him to laugh harder at her. 

            “What the hell is that?”  Everly voiced out making Scarlett jump in response.  With what they had stumbled upon she had forgotten that they weren’t the only two that had come across the couple.

            “Can you see the constructs like a show playing out?”  Scarlett asked genuinely curious as to how much Everly could see.

            “No.  It’s only code coming across in front of me.  However, I’m well versed in computer language enough to know exactly what is going on right now.  I’m kind of bummed I’m not there to see it for myself.”  Ian shook his head letting out a loud sigh.

            “Figures that’s your response.”  He chided his partner to no avail.

            “If I’m reading this right you may want to go interrupt soon.  They’re about to get to the main event.”  Everly pointed out.  Not wanting to hear anymore beyond what was already going on Scarlett plugged her ears with her fingers.  She hoped it would keep out the sound in case Ian took his time heading over.  Laughing at her he headed off in the direction of the waterfall, but she refused to watch him walk over.   With her back firmly to the other three she waited while humming silently to herself.