S&N: No More Dancing 4

Fic Or Original: Original

Genre(s): Science Fiction/Romance

Rating: T (as according to fictionpress)

Characters In Chapter: Samara Crichton, Nazilla, Kered, Iraca

Relationship(s): Samara Crichton/Nazilla, Nazilla/Glau

The ride took longer than I felt it should. My Machine side knew we were on schedule, but my lingering human side hated the awkwardness of riding in the car. Samara wasn’t bad, but Kered’s presence was awful. Even if all he did was stay silent and tell Samara directions from time to time.

My Machine side was even uneasy with him in the vehicle. Of course that was a logical fear as Kered was an Elemental and, therefore, could change his mind about me. With him attacking me it could mean that even if I escaped, I would find no safety in the organization I was a part of.

Finally the house of the Wind Elemental came into sight and I mentally calmed myself. This would be it. Either this was a trap or she wanted to help us. But even if she wanted to help us, that didn’t mean she had the ability to.

I had met my fair share of people who wanted to help but just couldn’t. Either through pure arrogance or ignorance. I hoped this Elemental wasn’t either if she was to help us.

Samara pulled into the driveway and Kered turned to look at me.

“Go.” He said simply and I nodded.

As I exited the car I knew there was no other option. I would obey him or I wouldn’t. If I didn’t obey him then he would have a case against me. He could easily point out how I could quickly turn to The Net’s side, if I had even truly been on Karma’s side since my death.

If I were human I would have done some breathing exercises to calm myself down. As it was, I went through multiple files about how to get away if this situation changed for the worse.

I knocked on the door and waited for the Wind Elemental to reply. I heard distant sounds of human feet and then she opened the door.

“Hi, I’m Nazilla.” I told her, putting on a fake smile that I knew would reassure her.

“Oh, you’re from Karma. I’ve been wondering when you would come.” The Wind Elemental said. “I’m Iraca. I’m assuming Kered is with you.”

“Yes.”

“He can be hard but he cares.” Iraca said with a gentle smile. “Lord knows all of us have to deal with some assholes that know what they’re doing.”

I nodded back hiding my disdain for the man. I gave Samara and Kered a thumb’s up and they got out of the car. I noticed that Iraca seemed excited that Kered was here. Were they lovers or had they fought together?

Either way I wanted to keep Iraca’s kindness for me, which wouldn’t last if Kered had his way.

Once we were all together, she smiled and let us all in. Samara kept by my side and she seemed nervous. Maybe she was worried the two Elementals would destroy me? Was she going over plans in her head about becoming a traitor for me?

“You haven’t visited me in awhile.” Iraca said.

“Been busy.” He replied. “I should introduce you to my fellow colleagues. Samara Crichton and her girlfriend Nazilla. Nazilla died three years ago and the Net turned her into a Machine. She claims to still be loyal to Karma.”

In an instant Iraca’s feelings about me seemed to change and it was like my name finally clicked in her head. While she appeared outwardly cheerful, my scanners could tell that she was now more tense. Well, at least I got a few moments of someone not hating me.

“So why is she here then?” Iraca asked. “Why send a Machine to my front door?”

“If you had been in danger, she could have reacted the quickest out of all of us. If you had been replaced with a Machine, she could have dealt with you.” Kered explained.

While Kered said each syllable calmly, I could tell that he cared for her. There were slight inflections that would mean nothing to the human ear, but meant everything to me. There were slight inflections that showed worry and deep care for Iraca.

I put a very small part of myself to figuring the mystery out so that the majority of me could focus on the important things.

“So do you have it?” Iraca asked, seeming to want to avoid more discussion about me at the moment.

“Yes,” Kered replied. “It’s in the trunk. As it’s heavy we’ll let the Machine get to it.”

“I’ll go with her.” Samara said and the two Elementals nodded.

I walked out to the car and was glad that my girlfriend was by my side. I heard the door close and then I stopped walking as did Samara.

“You’re scared of them.” Samara said.

“If they want to shut me down permanently they can. All of Karma will believe them over you.” I told her. “I don’t know if I’d call the feeling fear or self-preservation.”

“Either way you don’t have to worry.” She said as she opened the trunk and casually looked around for bystanders. “You have a use to them and you are my girlfriend. You are my right hand woman. They know killing you will do more harm than good. They won’t risk doing anything to you until they have further evidence.”

I nodded and picked up the sheet that Glau was currently wrapped up in. I knew that I had no real reason to worry about either Kered or Iraca. But maybe I was actually more worried about the Machine I was now carrying.

Samara walked beside me with her hand on my shoulder until we entered the house.
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