The Algorithm

Chapter twelve - Kill Count

It had been a long flight back to GUARD and Adrien had slept through most of it, as did Marinette and from what he had heard. She was still unresponsive and Adrien had only seen her twice since they escaped the scorching desert and both times it was just for a moment. The first was when they entered the plane and the doctors were hooking her up to machines and wheeling her away and their second meeting was just as brief.

Plagg had told Adrien to look out the window and the blonde, not being able to resist the curiosity building inside of him, stared out the aircraft window like a small child. They were flying over a large meadow, with bright green grass and dainty purple, pink, and yellow spring flowers. A vibrant blue filled the sky and was adorned with white fluffy clouds, along with a thick oak forest surrounding the meadow's edge. It was the type of place you would see in an oil painting, but this certainly didn't look like a secret government base. That was until the ground split in two.

The meadow was cut down the center and the halves were pulled apart from one another until a large ravine was revealed with a runway in the center. The nose of the plane dipped down and they landed gracefully on the underground runway. Adrien continued to watch through the window as the two plates sealed back together, trapping them underneath the earth's crust.

"Welcome to GUARD," Tikki told him as he watched in awe. They dropped the exit ramp and walked into a very large aircraft hangar. Planes, jets, bergs, and helicopters were spread out amongst the area. People were running around, doing maintenance on the different metal birds and unloading pallets of supplies from the bellies of some of the flying machines.

The place was well lit and had a mechanical buzz running through the air, along with the scent of oil. As Adrien took it all in, Marinette was whisked past him on a gurney surrounded by nurses and doctors. He only saw her for a moment, she had a plastic oxygen mask strapped over her nose and mouth and tubes running from her wrist and forearm. He only caught a glimpse of her dark hair before she was put on a lift and taken farther underground. Suddenly all of Adrien's confidence that she would be alright faded away. The doctors were flustered and rushing which only brought Adrien more anxiety.

Plagg seemed to sense his worry and placed a massive hand on his shoulder. "She'll be alright, kid." He reassured him.

"Nurse!" Tikki yelled at a dark-skinned man trailing behind the group of doctors while bringing the equipment inside. "How is she doing?"

The man shrugged. "We're waiting on test results, we don't know what they overdosed her on so we don't have a form of treatment ready. Right now is just a matter of keeping her stable." After he gave his answer he ran off to catch up with the other doctor at Marinette's bedside.

"Tikki?" Adrien asked. "If it's alright, I would like to go with Marinette." Tikki shook her head.

"Your loyalty to her is admirable, but there is nothing you can do to help her. We have a lot to brief you on about your new life." She stated. Adrien dipped his head in disappointment but then he noticed her last statement.

"New life?" Adrien questioned.

"Everything will be explained to you. But first, I'm sure you will want a shower and fresh clothes."

Adrien was taken in a lift and brought deeper into the earth's depths. He was led down a halfway line with walls the color of milk and doors on either side. Plagg gestured to a room on the left side. "This is your room, make yourself at home. Clean yourself up and meet us in the command center." Adrien nodded but before he could ask where the command center was, Tikki and Plagg turned back and were headed for the lift. Confused, and lost, he entered his dorm.