against her face. She sat up, pushing it away. The furry thing fell onto the ground, brushing against the curtain, and giving off a small yelp.
"Jerrem!" Yin growled, "What were you doing in my bed!?"
"Nothing!" He said, "You just came in late and I found you asleep! I thought you might like some company!"
"I would've asked for it if I wanted it moron." Yin jumped down from her bed, and ruffled her fur. "Can you please leave?" She asked.
Jerrem sullenly nodded his head and left, closing the door behind him. Yin harumphed to herself and started grooming her fur. Marcus was still in stand by mode, and Yin wanted it like that until she finished, doing a quick once over to get any loose fur and dirt off of her, finally turning Marcus back on when she was done.
Marcus didn't say anything when Yin drifted out of the room, seemingly at random. He followed her out into the hall, turning left down toward the deeper sections of the ship. Her chosen path suggested she was taking an interest in the deeper, less explored areas connected to the ammo deposits left untouched since the war.
"Yin," Marcus said, "I will repeat my warning. I do not think you should go down there."
"Why?" Yin said, skipping down a few steps. "He said it was only slightly reactive."
"Yin, just because something is slightly dangerous does not give you the right to choose whether or not it is right or wrong."
Yin sighed and stepped back on the upper landing, "I really want to go down there though."
"Your choices define what you become. If you desire to risk your life doing something that has serious consequences, regardless of that thing which is gained, you will find yourself unable to make the decisions that will save you from yourself."
Yin went back to her room.
"Well, what am I supposed to do then? I've pretty much done everything worth doing. What more could I possibly do?"
"The decision is yours."
"But If my decisions have to be controlled, how will I know which ones to make?"
"Only you will know which decisions are right for you."
"Then what if I said I wanted to go back to the inner city and check out a couple things?"
"Doesn't that sound like a better idea to you?"
"Maybe." Yin said, "I kind of want to go down and explore anyway."
Marcus remained silent.
Yin threw her arms up in exasperation. "Alright! Fine! Whatever, I'll leave it alone!"
"The choice has always been yours."
"Yeah, I know, I get it." Yin loped back out into the corridor, and made a bee-line for the kitchen, where she was sure Jerrem would be slouching back in the corner, playing his videogames. She made it there, and found Jerrem exactly in the same place he was yesterday.
Yin poked him in the side when his attention wasn't pulled away from his computer. "Jerrem. Where's my food?"
"Get it yourself!" Jerrem snapped back, "I only did you a favor so you wouldn't starve. If you want any more, you'll have to find it yourself."
Yin frowned.
"I'm not sure where to go."
Jerrem sighed and shut his computer down, "Follow me. Again."
Yin filed in behind him, bored with how much following she seemed to be doing lately.
"My mother usually has me search out the local wrecks for anything that hasn't been scavenged yet, but sometimes, she goes off the rails and makes me put together a rapid-grow garden."
"Why not just grow your own food all of the time?"
"That stuff is expensive." Jerrem explained, "More expensive than an hours worth of scavenging."
Yin opened her mouth to argue, but decided to let it go.
"So where to now?" Yin asked. "Any way I can stop in the city while we're out?"
Jerrem just shook his head, "Yin, if you really want to go into the city, I suggest getting another tour guide. I have other things I need to do."
"Important things like video-"
"No," Jerrem cut in, "I do have responsabilities you know. I help keep my family fed. This little excursion just cuts into my personal time. If you want more, I can't help you."
He trotted ahead at a fast walk, only stopping to look behind when Yin's footsteps fell behind.
"I don't get why you haven't tried figuring out where you come from." Jerrem said.
"I have tried," Yin responded, "but Marcus told me it isn't something worth going back to, so I haven't bothered looking in to it."
"Why not get your memory back then?"
"Doesn't that sound kind of naive to you?"
"Doing what?"
"Making the assumption that one can just walk into any old place and get their memories back."
"Not really." Jerrem said, "You can walk in to any drug store, and they'll probably sell you a memory enhancer."
Yin looked at him sideways, "I want my memory back, not enhanced."
Jerrem shrugged, "It can do both. It's meant to increase brain activity in the areas that retrieve memory. Sometimes, if you have something you've forgotten, it'll reconnect the lost parts of your memory."
"I guess that sounds pretty good." Yin consented, "Does it have any side effects?"
Jerrem tilted his head in consideration, "If you've buried something bad, it's going to hit you really hard."
Yin's expression grew slack when she thought of the report Marcus had given her about her human father.
"I don't think I want to remember."
Jerrem shrugged again, "It's your decision. If you think it isn't worth it, then don't do anything about it."
"Maybe." Yin sighed. She looked out to the city, making it's impressions on the horizon, and wondered. My family doesn't exist, lost to the memories I don't have, she thought, but that doesn't mean I don't have one. She glanced at Jerrem, noticing the way he acted as if nothing mattered except that very moment. He swatted at a fly, watching as it flew away. I wish I knew what to do, she thought, sighing inside, is it worth finding out who I was in my memories? She felt fear at the idea of returning to that other world that seemed so distant, and yet scarring in how personal it would become. It seemed so contrary to want something like that. Marcus had said her life was being torn apart, but to her, being torn apart was something completely different.
"Marcus," Yin asked, "What if I didn't need to get over the past? What if I just needed some time to overcome what I'd felt, and when it was all over, I didn't need to be afraid any more?"
"Yin, I'm only here to relay what you want to know, and give advice when the time comes." Marcus said, "I don't hope to sway you in either direction, just show you what is true."
"Why does Marcus always talk like that?" Jerrem asked.
"You've only heard him speak like three or four times." Yin said.
"I can still tell when someone's been around the block a few times to know something."
"Yin," Marcus said, "I advise you to choose what meets your criteria."
"Like that guy." Jerrem said.
"Alright Marcus." Yin said, "I was thinking about what you said earlier, and I-"
"Hold that thought." Jerrem said, "I want to hear this, but I'm going down first." He slipped off the path into the grass and down an open hatch behind some brush.
Yin sighed and sat down, falling into a wakeful sleep when Jerrem happened to be gone for a few minutes.
He popped back out with a smile, his sidebags bulging from raided supplies.
"You can continue now." Jerrem said.
Yin rolled her eyes and continued, "Marcus, I'm going to have my memory restored."
"Why are you telling Marcus?" Jerrem asked, "He's a robot."
"Well," Yin explained, "he's very helpful, and shows great wisdom in this kind of thing."
Marcus didn't say anything, and Jerrem made his own 'I told you so' face.
"Okay," Yin said, "Fine. Just give me the food and I'll be on my own way."
"Sure thing boss. Just make it back before dark this time." Jerrem said, gripping a few sustenance packets with his teeth an
d tossing them on the ground, before trotting away.
"Okay!" Yin said, "I'll be careful!"
"You do that!" Jerrem called back.
Yin ate quickly before turning back toward the city.
"Here we go, Marcus" She said, "Hopefully I'll figure something useful out of this mess."
Marcus said nothing before following just behind as she made her way back into the city.
The streets were entirely deserted when Marcus and Yin arrived, leaving Yin at a loss as to what to do.
"I think it would be best to find the drug store before having a mental breakdown." Marcus finally said when Yin expressed her frustration.
"Well, that sounds easier than it actually is." Yin complained, "We're in the middle of a city that neither I, nor you, remember."
"Should I construct a schematic on data collected on our last visit?"
"Sure, why not." Yin said, flopping onto the ground while Marcus ran the calculations.
"If you will follow me."
Marcus began floating off down the street, making a right turn at the first intersection. Yin followed behind, frustrated with herself for not just searching out the store before Marcus did.
Yin's frustration died out when it became apparent that the city was under some kind of lockdown at the moment, keeping everyone off the streets. A Meregal wearing a blue uniform was lying on a bench some ways down the street, and blew some kind of whistle, approaching them at a quick lope, when she saw them.
"Are you cleared to be out in-" The female began. Her eyes lit up with recognition when she was close enough to identify her suspect. "Yin, I didn't expect to find you here. I heard you'd dissapeared after the tower fell. Most assumed you were dead."
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Yin asked, puzzled by the character in front of her.
"I met you on the way into Jasper. My name is Menny."
Yin
The Urimine Effect Page 21