BUILD


    DEFINITION


    Incorporate something and make it a permanent part of a structure, system, or situation.


    "Engineers want to build in extra traction."


    -


    DATE - JULY 5TH 2015


    -


    From the late hours of the night, it was shown why Reece was placed in the high surveillance. Within seconds of being in the main wing, Reece could be able to remove the doors from the cells. Only for a few seconds, granted but a few seconds were all that was needed for each of the Virus to be freed from their containment.


    Despite their newfound freedom, they all chose to sit on the metallic floor in a small deformed circle. As it was already put, "We''ve already left so much evidence." So they all decided to casually sit together; with the exclusion of Clover who was afloat near the ceiling, her back arched to stay somewhat close to the conversation.


    Their conversation was a mix of trivia; They each came from different backgrounds, which ranged from Joslyn being a runaway with only the money in her pockets, Dex who dropped out to help pay for his family, Clover who was on a disability fund her whole life, Naya who went to a public school, Skylar who was in a private all-girls school, and Reece who was in an Episcopal School.


    "Oh shit, then you''re really smart then?" Was Naya''s first comment.


    "I don''t know much about schools but ''scope'' is a smart people word," Dexter was leaned back, and gazed to the ceiling, but he must have felt everyone give him a strong look, so he peered over to confirm it before he explained, "Like; the microscope, kaleidoscope, thermoscope-"


    "Yeah ok those are just types of telescopes-" Sky judge fully squinted her eyes at Dex.


    "Telescope!" Dex exclaimed, "That also has scope in it, that''s what uh Columbus guy used when he got to America, yeah?"


    Sky sighed, with a silent ''yeah, dex'' under her breath, before she looked to Reece who was fiddling slightly, "He either got in for being smart or because you''re loaded." She had a slight bite to her words. she likely noted Reece had a slight bit of shame to him.


    For a moment Reece hummed a flat note, "Yeah, my fuh-folks are ki-kinda wuh-well off," He whispered slightly, "Sorry."


    Though I never understood why Reece felt the need to apologize, Naya seemed to note Sky''s judgemental look, "Hey man, no one chooses what they''re born into!" She smiled, and looked at Sky for a moment, "Like, Sky never chose to be born with... Adrien?" Clearly she hadn''t thought through what example she was going to make, which drew Sky to glare at Naya next, "I should have said clouds- or like two siblings."


    "T-tuh-two sibl-li-ings?" Reece raised an eyebrow, "Oh... Trip-plets." Reece hummed for a second, "Th-that-tuh may-makes more s-s-s-sense now- I ju-just assumed Adrien was.." The eyes on Reece made him increasingly uncomfortable as he felt his stutter grow back, "Just boy and girl identical twins are kinda impossible." He cleared his throats, "I- uhm, where''s the other one?" He immediately changed the subject.


    There was a brief silence, sure the attention was turned to Sky but it seemed the rest of the group already knew, so the air was tenser. Clover hummed before she spoke, "It''s ok, stranger; Joslyn makes everyone uncomfortable too."


    When Reece looked to Joslyn, she shied away from a little more uncomfortable then everyone else.


    After a few more seconds, Clover spoke again, "She died in the womb." Her voice was flat and unemotive.


    Sky shook her head, "No, no she didn''t!" Her voice cracked slightly from nerves, she cleared her throat before she sighed, "Olive didn''t make it out of the house," Her lips pursed before she rubbed her eyelids, "She always said if we were ever discovered by the government or whatever, she''d use her power on herself before got her."


    "What could she do?" Joslyn hesitantly asked, her voice in a mumble.


    "Moss and vegetation used to grow off her if she was ever ''melancholy,''" She used air quotes, "She choked on her own vegetation and Adrien... She just went up." The explanations were vague and randomly strung but what she was trying to say made sense.


    There was a scarce silence, not sure where to go from that, but Naya tried her best, "Is that why Adrien is so... How he is?"


    Sky thought for a moment, "No, he''s always been Antisocial and angsty, but I think he''s different, I dunno," She shrugged, and leaned back up against the wall, "I never really saw him at home, he just sat in his room, and only came downstairs to get food and then he went back up."


    "N-No sch-school or anything?" Reece asked eyebrows furrowed.


    "A little hard to go to school when you become a breathing bonfire every time you''re mildly annoyed," She scoffed slightly.


    "That''s... Uhn-Understand-dable," Reece hummed.


    "Horoscope also has scope in it..." Dex mumbled, immediately making Naya force back a chortle.


    Sky inhaled sharply, "Dex, what the fuck, you''re still thinking about scopes?!" Before Dex could defend himself, Sky remembered something, "Hey wait, no, when were you guys born?" The immediate tone change made everyone stop, and not answer her. Sky grumbled, then looked to the white-haired angel on the ceiling, "Clover, were you born in October?"


    "Yeah, the first."


    Sky stood up to be closer to eye level with her "A premature birth?"


    Clover stared with her half-lidded eyes for a second before talking again, "Are you a witch?"


    Sky''s neck almost snapped as she turned her gaze to Joslyn, "Birthday?"


    Immediately, Joslyn jumped, panicked, "October fourth!"


    "Reece?"


    "Oh uh, th-the se-seventee-teenth..." He had a slight panic as well, "Of Oct-Octo-tober."


    "And I''m the fourteenth." She pointed to herself, then to Naya who was next in the circle, "Naya?"


    "The eighth, baby!" Naya clearly had no idea what was happening but Skylar''s energy had made her excitable.


    "And Dex?" She faced him this time, likely to get him to try and take this seriously.


    "Ninth- ninest?" He mumbled, unsure of what was occurring.


    "Cool, we''re all birthday buddies, another experiment thing you think?" Naya asked, legs crossed.


    "No, no the experiment would be if we were all different months..." She looked to Reece, expecting him to understand, "What happened nine months before Naya''s birthday?"


    Naya grimaced, "Ew, don''t talk about my parents like that."


    "No, shut up," Sky snapped, looking to Reece, "You look like you know."


    Reece inhaled sharply, and muttered something in Japanese before he stood up, "The Valentine''s day nuclear rain on Salt Lake City."


    There was a silence before Nay let out an exasperated ''ohhh'', "yeah ok that makes sense."


    "That''s it?" Sky furrowed her eyebrows.


    "I mean yeah, I''m sure that you both had it figured out a while ago," Naya shrugged, raving her hand nonchalantly, "But I mean I only realized I had superpowers like three days ago so this is all open to me."


    Sky was about to comment on that but she just sighed and rubbed her eyelids. Eventually, she looked over to Joslyn, "You figured it out, right?" She then stuttered as she realized the issue, "Not that-"


    "I- was told that the nuclear rain was Allah''s punishment to my parents for having premarital sex," Joslyn pursed her lips, accepting the looks she got, "Not that I believed that but, yeah I guess I figured it was related?"


    "Shit, alright," Sky grumbled, eyes a little wider than before, "I''m not even gonna ask you two." She glanced between Dex and Clover who just shrugged in acceptance of that conclusion.


    "Now all we gotta know is when Adrien and Toby were born." Dex said with determination, which made Sky fuss louder while Naya chortled.


    -


    Adrien walked the Moth Mound, eventually, he found the stairs. He thought momentarily before he made his way up. He noted a few dried blood spots across the steps. He passed the second floor and considered it for a moment before he looked up and saw the roof door was open.


    It took him a light grumble before he decided to head up there. He became purposely quiet as he saw Toby''s silhouette was crafting something it seemed. He continued to walk up the stairs. He observed whatever Toby was doing. He had a rope, blow torch, various pieces of metal, and random weapons which various from kitchen knives to guns with silencers.


    Expectedly, Adrien was hesitant to say anything or to approach. Instead, he just watched, looking to the door for a second before he noticed there was a lack of doorknob. He blinked a few times at the violence of how it was stabbed around the doorknob hole and then where it was shot as well.


    The next time Adrien looked over, Toby watched him with a blank look behind his sunglasses. Adrien jolted which was enough to make the blonde smirk slightly, "You both sure do like to observe," He commented loudly, "Or were you waiting for a one-liner?" Toby chortled, and put down the blowtorch.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    It took Adrien a second to process how to respond, only stuttering as a response at first. Adrien forced his eyes shut. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Toby made a high-pitched goofy giggle before there was a clank of a thrown gun.


    Of course, Adrien would be unfamiliar with that sound, so when he came to, he was understandably startled by the weapon in front of him. Toby was back to working on his bizarre arts and crafts project, "It''s fine, I know I''m intimidating," He started, and picked up the blow torch again, "Your disease isn''t very long-range so feel free to threaten me from the door, fire-crotch." He had a grin before he covered it up with the blow torch mask.


    For a moment Adrien hesitated before he picked up the gun with a squint. But just as quickly, he dropped it, "Nice try, dipshit!" Adrien shouted, "Every fucker you killed shot themselves, I''m not that gullible!"


    He stopped blow torching, in thought before he chuckled, "Well it doesn''t sound like I killed them if they shot themselves," Toby flicked up the mask with a smirk still under it, "But you make a valid argument." That was the closest to admission so far, not that it was ever needed.


    Adrien crossed his arms and carefully approached as Toby was focused on smelting a blade onto a gun silencer. Adrien examined a little closer. He awkwardly stepped over the weapons. The metallic box air vent''s hatch was open. Adrien walked over and peered inside to see a few scattered items, which included photos and manila folders. It was too dark to see inside, so he took a moment before. his hand lightly lit up.


    There was a slight noise in the background before a clack and then the sound of burst metal as a hole was pierced through the vent. Adrien screamed and forced his hand back. He glared at Toby who had the newly blow-torched weapon, "What the fuck?!" Adrien shrieked, "Did you just try to shoot me?!"


    Toby flicked back the mask, his expression blank "Not sure, did you just try to burn my stuff?" He held the gun up, the smelted blades still orange at the base.


    Adrien protectively stroked his hand, "N-no, I just wanted to see what-"


    "Coincidence," Toby interrupted, bring the gun down, "I just wanted to see how the gun worked."


    Toby proceeded to turn back around after appearing to give Adrien a glare which broke into a slight smirk as he turned. He picked up another knife and began to blow torch that one above the trigger, pointing outward.


    After a few seconds, Adrien''s breath came back as he eyed the inside of the vent, then Toby again. He picked up a knife beside his feet, lingering for a moment before he sped to Toby, who somehow noticed despite how quiet Adrien managed to be.


    He turned around just in time for the knife to clank with the mask. Adrien flinched, and Toby stayed still. He then sighed "One second," He flicked up the mask. He seemed unimpressed, yet lightly amused. He absolutely noticed the knife, he even pinched it by the blade and pressing it to his neck, "Go on."


    "I-" Adrien was taken off guard, "What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Toby''s smile lifted slightly as Adrien threw his arms up for a moment, "You''re too easy-going about murder, even if it''s you what the fuck?!"


    "I believe the word you''re looking for is nonchalant," Toby corrected.


    Adrien huffed, "Then you talk like a middle-aged supervillain," This made Toby grin and chortle, "Stop laughing, dickhead," Adrien pressed the knife back, "No more funny shit" He ordered, "talk; What''s your deal?"


    You could almost see Toby roll his eyes, "My deal?"


    "Yeah, you know; this!" Adrien gestured around the blonde who tracked Adrien''s movements, "I see you with a bat earlier, and now you''re doing some fucked up saw shit!" Adrien had small patches of fire on his shoulders, "And I don''t trust that you''re making all these right after Sky followed you to fuck-knows-where," It took Adrien a second to rephrase, "Fucking... What are the weapons for?"


    There was no reply, Toby just gave a strange look to Adrien before he leaned into the knife slightly, making Adrien wince it away. Toby just snorted and scoffed, and took ahold of Adrien''s hand to keep the knife still, "You won''t kill me, hotspur," Toby almost whispered, "But if you want to prove me wrong I won''t complain."


    Adrien''s hand shook slightly as he watched himself in Toby''s glasses. Toby reached for a gun, picking it up by the silence and offered it to Adrien, "Hell, I''ll even give you two options," Adrien didn''t even look to the gun, only focused on his own reflection, "It''ll be less blood on you if you use a gun."


    His grip tightened for a moment before he lowered his head. Toby let go of his hand, the knife lowered. Adrien''s jaw tightened as his eyes welled. Toby stayed silent for a moment, but out of the corner of Adrien''s eye, he saw the blonde open his mouth.


    Before Toby got the chance to speak, Adrien snatched the gun, aimed it to the sky and pulled the trigger. It let off a snap of a bullet being realized. Adrien''s eyebrows furrowed even further, eyes on Toby''s unphased expression, "What in God''s planet of Earth is fucking wrong with you?!"


    Adrien threw the gun to the ground, and Toby just raised an eyebrow, "What can I say?" He shrugged, grin sprawling across his face, "I guess I just trust you," He stood up and walked around Adrien, who only then tried to spot where the knife was on Toby''s neck, instead noticing a slight bit of odd black speckles, "Anyway, I''m planning on burning some government property."


    Toby lunged himself into the air vent box halfway, coming back up with a manila folder and a bag of bagels, "I hear you''re a bit of an expert, so if you wanted to join me..?" He trailed off, and let Adrien figure it out on his own.


    It seemed Adrien was rather out of it, blinking himself back before he spoke, "You... tried to give me a loaded gun because you trusted I wouldn''t shoot you?" He phrased it slowly to Toby who was already opening the bag.


    The blonde scoffed, "Firecrotch, you could have killed me at any time, gun, knife, or even without," Toby proceeded to sit on top of the vent, "And I could have made you kill yourself at any time," There was a silence as Adrien took in the info and tensed up, about to shout something before Toby interrupted, "No one will believe you, and even if they did, what would it prove?"


    Adrien accepted the silence, and even though I couldn''t see through Toby''s face, it was easy to tell that the ginger was seething by the measure of the flames around his feet. Adrien raised a hand to object, he opened his mouth to only let a noise out. Adrien just looked down as he either accepted this or was thinking of a way to retort it.


    A bagel was thrown to Adrien as it hit his arm then fell to the floor. He. looked up to Toby as he had a smug grin and a bagel in the hand that was pressed to his face, "You know what, whatever, who cares you''re right!" Adrien threw his hands up before he picked the bagel up, "At least I don''t look like a pompous douche-bag because I wear sunglasses at night!" He practically shrieked, "Or have the world''s stupidest fucking neck tattoo, to make me look like a dalmatian!"


    Toby''s smile drifted for a second as a hand raised to his neck, but Adrien continued, "And I''m taking this bagel, fuck you, you preppy-punk-bastard!" He flipped Toby off before he turned around to the stairs, a scorched spot where he stood was left behind.


    As Adrien left the roof, he attempted to slam the roof door, which obviously did not work as it just swung outside, leaving a burnt imprint of his hand. Of course, since Adrien made a fool of himself, he had started to scream again, "And who the fuck mugs a door?!"


    He angrily stormed down the staircase, bagel in his mouth as he tried to grumble more profanity.


    -


    At about four AM I fiddled with Tabby''s back panel to her TV, and I successfully unlocked it. After I flicked on her switch, her vents started to whirr and her screen brightened ever so slightly. A loading bar appeared on her face. I was unsure of her battery so I had already plugged her into the wall.


    The load bar twiddled back and forth, freezing every time it leaped. Tabby had missed so much over just a day. In my claws, I held the written transcripts I had taken from the past few days, eager to show her what she had missed. The Virus hadn''t ever really interacted in her presence nor had they ever shown interest in talking to her.


    She never let it show but I was sure it saddened her at least a little. As I scanned over the papers from last night, I felt off. The basement felt off, and the situation was Reece was certain to spiral, he was ''missing'' and the fact I was about to show it to Tabby felt wrong. I trust her, who else would I trust other than her. She understood a secret when she told me one. It was likely she only told me because I wouldn''t be able to say anything, but regardless it was a secret.


    In a random flurry of what I now know as gut instinct, I switched around and placed a few of the papers beneath my mattress. I then picked up a spare paper and scribbled down some nonsense scene where Toby blurred Skylar''s vision and promptly disappeared into a vent, then removed any mention of Naya knowing where Reece would be hidden next; no mention of Charlo.


    I felt guilty, this was Tabby and Tabby meant well and deserved to know what I knew. We were both made here, both made to serve the Moth Mound and to never, ever disobey. Perhaps that''s why I felt compelled to lie to Tabby. She was made by the Moth Mound and was programmed to never disobey, and if she did then it would harm both of us in the long term.


    "Alvi?" Tabby''s gears tipped into gear, her voice was half-booted but she was there. I swerved around, coiling my tail carefully as to not whack Tabby. Her system was always fragile after the rare event of a reboot. I blink a few times as Tabby''s static screen slowly cleared back to normal.


    She tested each of her fingers, "Was I... Rebooted?" She crossed her legs, I could only nod slightly, "What... Why, when?" Tabby''s memory box had not been updated, as it was always one of the last things to finish after a reboot.


    I sift through the papers, coming across the pages of the early hours of July 4th. I gave them over and Tabby was slow to accept. She scanned them, rather literally; her face glowed and she scanned in the note to run through her still slow-running gears.


    After an approximate fifteen seconds, Tabby seemed to kick start back, "Oh that butt-face!" She cracked, "Gosh what a sore loser!" She crossed her arms, "That''s so him..." She made a few more passive-aggressive comments, then looked to the papers, "Wait, how long was I out for."


    I raise my fingers, one with ''two'' and the other with ''four.'' Tabby curled up into a ball, "I missed the whole therapist thing then." I suspected right and now was my chance to cheer her up. I slide over all the papers, and lightly nudge her foot.


    Tabby geared over to look, head tilted. She scanned the first page and after a few seconds spoke, "Alvi!" She eagerly picked up the papers, "You''ve been logging everything?!" She started to scan each page, her fans kicked up the notch as she forced herself to scan everything.


    Proudly I gargled but tried to seem humble by shrugging. Tabby stood up, with a stumble, "You''re a mad genius, this is exactly what Warden needs!" My pride recoiled instantly, as I realized I was correct, "This will get you back in Ward''s good books for sure!" She cheered.


    She sat down again, and read further, "This is juicy goss too," She crossed her legs, "We should be reading this instead of that book!" She proudly exclaimed, again and hugged me briefly, which was awkward with her bulky rectangular head. That was the moment I began to realize, I was born at the Moth Mound, but Tabby was built here.


    -


    The Warden was fiddling with his cufflinks in his quarters when he heard his walkie talkie begin to spit awake, "Sir, Sir?!" the voice was frantic, and although it was hard to pinpoint, I had a fairly solid guess of who it was. The Warden groaned, with expectation for it to be another dead body.


    He picked up the talkie, "Yes?" He unpressed the button and almost set the talkie down before it immediately sprung to life.


    "Virus eight is gone!" Her voice stammered, "The door lock is broken and files have been stolen!" At that point, the Warden could only take in the words. He scanned his vanity and the mirror as if it would somehow help things make sense.


    "Gone?"


    The static pursued for a second before there was an audible snatch of the talkie, on the other end, "He''s gone!" Just by the tone, I could tell it was Veronica, "And if it''s any consolation; there''s a broken cast and MMHV three is gone too."


    After a long silence, Warden slammed his hand into the dresser, effectively causing several items to crash to the ground. "Sir?" Veronica repeated, unaware of the crash.


    "I''ll be down in ten minutes, don''t touch anything." He ordered and waited a few seconds in case of a response, which was never likely with Veronica. So after the fifth second, the Warden started to hurry to fix his uniform.


    -


    It was six AM when Charlo began to prepare the breakfast that day for the many breakfasts for the soldiers. I purposely waited for Tabby to leave the room before I began to check in with Charlo and begin to start logging again. Once all of the trays were set, they needed the pre-made sandwiches, juice boxes and all else that were stored in the back


    The second the doorway open, Charlo seemed to notice something was off. He''s been here longer than the Warden, so he can always tell when something amiss. He stepped in, and was sure to eye each of the shelves, high and low, and was sure to check through the middle.


    In the far corner of the food storage, two smaller bodies were sprawled across a pile of flour bags, both unconscious. The orange jumpsuits gave it away that it was two Virus. Charlo sighed and straightened up his posture before he continued around the corner of the shelves to see both Naya and Reece out cold.


    For a few seconds, Charlo just stood there in contemplation, it was unlikely he''s seen Reece. He has for certainty heard of Reece though. Of a Virus that became frantic and had to be forcibly restrained which resulted in various injuries.


    Charlo sighed and thought for a moment, but before he could come to an idea, there was an electronic pierce through the speakers, "Early meeting, soldiers report to the auditorium in thirty minutes, thank you!" Tabby chimed before the speakers went out.


    This of course awoke the two passed out Virus, Naya rose slowly while Reece struck awake at the first chortle of the speaker. He was wide-eyed, confusedly as his eyes darted around the room. Once Reece finally seemed to calm, his brows arched, breath still hurried.


    Naya had turned herself around, and faced the wall, already asleep again. Charlo took a moment, to assess Reece''s state before he spoke, "You''re not allergic to anything?"


    Reece hesitated, "Nuh-no?" He occasionally eyed Naya in hopes she''d wake up and help.


    "Alright." Charlo then turned around and picked up a box with previously made packaged sandwiches. He walked out of the food storage, closing the door behind him.