Retrieving Memory

A Chapter by BrynnaW.

Hack kept his eyes on the road but his thoughts were distracted on what had happened. Zero was arrested and Wretch was dead. What could they do now? He still had no memory of the girl wrapping her arms around his waist and resting the side of her head on his back as the wind blew her hair back. Dagger... or Wisty as she had told him when she remained a part of the virus. The back of his shirt began to feel dry and he guessed that she had stopped crying. He felt her arms tighten around him as another car passed. She couldn't get used to it... Being exposed completely to the open road. The wind pushed her back every time a car would narrowly come by and, without a helmet, her hair was flying everywhere. An irritating buzz began to stir in the back of his head. He shook his head, trying to ignore but it increased. Cautiously, he got off of the freeway and headed for the hotel. They'd need their equipment before they could do anything.

Dagger hopped off of the motorcycle once Hack parked. She nodded to the woman at the check-in and waited for Hack to open their hotel room. Instead of packing up their equipment, she sat on the edge of the bed. Hack no longer cared that he couldn't remember her, it was obvious that they had a relationship and that she was struggling with everything.

"He'll give us a day," Dagger hung her head.

"What?" Hack sat next to her and peered beneath her hair to see her watery, red eyes. The buzzing still continued in his head and his vision began to form small blurry dots.

"Base 1? Sorry, forgot you don't remember. Base 1 will give us a day before he starts chasing us."

"Oh... Right..."

"Anyway, where's Zero?"

Hack looked into her eyes but saw that she averted hers. His hand gently rested on her leg as he ran his fingers through her messy hair. She turned her head, the touch wasn't the same. Hack wasn't the Hack she recognized.

"The police arrested him. I'm sorry."

Dagger bit her lip, "Don't apologize, it's not your fault. We'll get him back."

"Yeah... uh, Dagger," Hack wandered around the room as his vision darkened, "I need you to get my memory back."

"I-I... I can't." Dagger also stood.

"Dagger, please, you can do it."

"No, if I slip up... if I slip up you may never be able to get your memory back."

"I need----"

"No. I won't do it." She headed toward the bathroom.

Hack grabbed her arm, "I trust you."

Dagger sighed but opened up the laptop behind her. She handed him the attaching wires and leaned over the computer. Hack lay back on the bed, resting his pulsing head.

"Starting up." She called out, receiving a nod from Hack. Dagger tapped a couple more keys, "Online." Her voice quieted. Hack closed his eyes and she sighed again. Once she pressed enter, they'd be exposed to the security. The screen was currently black but, once that button was pressed, codes would layer over each other and barely be visible to the human eye.

"Wait..." Dagger said under her breath, "Hack, where are my comp glasses?"

"Comp glasses?" His head turned to her though he had lost his vision and was nearly unconscious.

"Uh, never mind. Give me a minute, though, I need to make something really quick." Dagger rummaged through the wires, choosing a couple out of the bunch. She smashed a small water glass and took a large piece of it over to her wires. With a steady hand she glued the frayed wires to the edges of the glass and pulled thin threads of the copper across the surface of the glass. The thread-like copper was thin enough to be barely visible. The CD insert popped open. She grabbed the other wire and spread the fray inside of it.

Dagger nodded to Hack one last time before tapping enter several times. The glasses began to form electric currents over the thin copper, sensing the higher UV rays in different codes or 'hot spots.' As the codes popped up on the screen, her new glasses underlined hot spots as RED.

It was a battle. Each code was an attack against them but only the major threats was counted RED. She quickly read the code and placed her own attack against the security. For every RED she placed an even higher virus to keep back the security as she searched for Hack's memory. There it was; underlined in blue. Dagger flew one more attack before commanding it through XL to open. See you recognize that code, you stupid piece of crap, Dagger smiled to herself. Her fingers stopped as she waited. Slowly, the last attack, a bright light crept from the laptop before she slammed it shut. With a sigh of relief, she looked over at Hack.

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