Romantic Reunion 2/2
"Caitlyn?..." Artemis was, to put it mildly, confused as heck.
"Wait… how did you get here?" Artemis asked.
"I'm a different Caitlyn, silly," Caitlyn said.
Artemis was even more confused the more questions he asked.
"I'm a different Caitlyn from the other one you already know of," Caitlyn said.
"Oh... so there's two of you?" Artemis asked.
"In a way, yes, in another way, we're the same person albeit with two different personalities and a distinct consciousness," Caitlyn explained.
Artemis, still confused, decided to close his eyes thoroughly and get himself to sleep.
Caitlyn massaged his forehead and would stretch out his hair and massage his scalp. Despite being a broken, cynical, uncaring, and unforgiving man, Caitlyn still looked at him as the person she fell in love with a long, long time ago.
The day he changed her instead of always being a cold-hearted weapon.
They were happy to be together for 2 years until the war came.
And the day where they last meet physically on Mars.
It pained her heart when she couldn't do anything to save them both but she did what she had to do and saved him over her.
Fortunately, that was the thought if she was fully human.
But despite her sacrifice, she's okay with it because she's neither alive or dead to begin with. Even though her artificial human body was lost, she was still inside her husband's heart and mind, binding inside him before she eventually retreated.
Looking back, she did not regret not revealing herself sooner. But how could she? Artemis, although part man and part machine, was still an unstable copy individual who had lost all his memories from before.
She was the cause of his so-called amnesia but she didn't really erase it completely. Instead, she hid his memories inside a vault within his mind. A vault she had been guarding ever since.
But the vault's locks were scattered some time ago and the memories began to leak. Despite doing her best, the emotions that were suppressed along with the memories leaked out.
When he faces the Devourer, the result will get even worse.
If that happens, an uncontrollable rage will take over Artemis, causing him to lose control and wreak havoc.
When the breach was about to happen, she decided that it was finally time for her to finally reveal herself to Artemis.
Or otherwise known as, Zack Synder, her husband.
She let her husband rest for a while. A few hours passed before she poked him awake by poking his forehead.
"W-What?" Artemis asked lazily.
"Dummy, after so many years, this is how you treat your wife?" Caitlyn teased.
Artemis, being the confused man as he was, could only smile awkwardly.
Caitlyn then slowly and steadily began to explain to Artemis what he needed to know and understand. But that did not mean she'd reveal everything to him.
If she were to reveal everything, his memories, the past, Artemis will undoubtedly turn into a monster she could no longer tame or reason with.
For that reason, she started slow and vague.
"I and the other Caitlyn you know were once together, in other words, we were one," Caitlyn said.
"I see," Artemis said as he nodded gently.
"I thought I could transfer my consciousness fully into her and that new body she harboured but... I was wrong, instead, we somehow split and not just with her, bits of my consciousness were split among all your droids," Caitlyn said.
Understanding what this meant, Artemis was shocked but thanks to the calming effect of Caitlyn, Artemis did not panic.
In this realm, he was a complete human. Nothing repressing his emotions except for a calming aura that came from Caitlyn that kept him calm.
"I know you're confused... but due to my mistake, some of your Androids, maybe all of them, may develop their own personalities and consciousness," Caitlyn said.
Artemis was silent.
"I was there when Michael and Johnathan became self-aware, I didn't think it was possible... well, we back then didn't think it was even possible," Caitlyn said.
"And then, well, you know the rest. Surprisingly, you went along with it. Thinking it to be a rare occurrence that was now bound to happen sooner or later, you feared you'd lose power but you still tolerated their existence, why? Even I know the folly of thinking that self-aware machines would stay loyal to the maker forever," Caitlyn said.
"But you chose to tolerate them, not because you calculated it would be improbable for them to do otherwise, no, you tolerated their existence because you decided to place your trust in them," Caitlyn said.
Artemis' eyes glowed but this time, they did not glow red but shimmered like a child who was given his favorite toy.
"You continued to deny what you felt deep inside but now, you don't need to, I'm here to help you, I'm here to guide you," Caitlyn said.
Artemis then raised his hand.
"Were you the voice that I heard back then? Telling me to fix the Earth…" Artemis asked.
Caitlyn put up an awkward smile on her face, silently saying that she was guilty.
"Yeah... I put it up so that you had meaning, but I didn't expect... you know portal and then fantasy world all of a sudden," Caitlyn said.
Artemis smiled.
He smiled, again.
"I'm still confused about a lot of things.. but… I'll set aside those questions for now," Artemis said.
They both smiled.
"So... you'll accompany me? How?" Artemis asked.
"Dummy, I've always been with you from the very beginning, although I purposely hid myself. Now, since I can no longer do so without putting you in danger again, I'll put myself forward in your mind," Caitlyn said.
"Basically, you'll be the voice in my head but louder and apparently more annoying?" Artemis teased.
He teased her..
Artemis was teasing his wife.
Unheard of.
"Hmph," Caitlyn pouted, in a cute way.
"You're calling your dear wife annoying? After I put myself through the most terrible things with you and after so many years you call me annoying!?" Caitlyn shouted in anger, her last word had a bit of a robotic sound, and for some reason, her eyes suddenly turned purple just a split second, but Artemis didn't notice it.
Artemis was silent for a moment, but he laughed a little and placed his hand over Caitlyn's left cheek which instantly calmed her down and she blushed.
"It feels so real... but I know we're only inside my head, right?" Artemis said.
"Yes... but this is me, and what you're feeling is exactly what you'll feel in the real world… or... worlds," Caitlyn said.
"Good," Artemis lifted his head in a sitting position and leaned forward.
And the two of them kissed.
[IMAGES]
The garden around them soon began to fade in sparkles.
"You'll stay with me? Right? You promised," Artemis said.
"Of course, my darling,"
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Adding a romance tag in this book is not for nothing, readers.
Of course, I'm a male, but that doesn't mean this book is always action and bloodshed, I kinda like a bit of romance.
Especially Drama.