Fade (Walker #74033 fanfiction) Book 1

Chapter 13

The week that went by wasn't particularly interesting to Jevden. Without being able to act as an Explorer, he was forced to find other ways to occupy himself. While he mostly just walked around the Compound and read accounts of stories in the Archives, he found an interest in joining Au Ra in the studio section, where he found that she was a very talented singer. Listening to her sing songs that randomly came up on the streaming service made him reminisce about a time when he was able to do that in his home.

Many times, Jevden would try activating his drone to no success. He'd look at it disheartened, knowing it wouldn't work, but unable to accept it. There were other secrets to the drones that he wanted to figure out, but it was impossible to discover at this time. Activating other drones didn't work either, as if they all had a mind of their own and were attempting to resist. It frustrated him, but he couldn't find it in himself to face Walker #2 about the situation. He had a gut feeling that somehow it would only make things worse on him, and he didn't want to make his sentence run longer than it had to.

He saw Margrethe more frequently those days, even getting to play the Aviation game with her sparingly, but she was mostly busy with her own work with the Unity Force. She was able to reveal some information about their activities, but it wasn't enough to understand what was happening. According to her, they weren't allowed to give away everything they were doing, since their missions were so critical. They couldn't risk anyone having the wrong idea and trying to take matters into their own hands. Despite that he knew it wasn't true, he felt that the explanation was targeted at him.

Near the end, he started to lose track of the days and almost forgot his punishment entirely as he woke up one morning, seeing the beams of sunlight through his window. He rubbed his eyes and rolled out of bed, pulling on his mask and sweatshirt. He left the room, trying to decide how he was going to spend the morning, when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He glanced up and saw #2 walking up to him, hands in his sweatshirt pockets. He had on dark jeans and boots, and walked at a brisk pace, training his eyes on the ground. They shifted up and locked onto Jevden's. He was surprised; why was #2 here?

"Good morning, Jevden," he said in a low voice once he reached him.

"#2," Jevden replied with uncertainty. "I've never seen you up here before."

"I was coming to get you," he said, leaning against the wall. "#20 was requesting you down at the conference room."

"Me? Why?"

"They need all hands-on deck. The Researchers found the prophecy disk last night and we believe it's the last. We're in the process of calling all the other Explorers back to the Compound, so you and Walker #20 are the Explorers we're counting on."

His eyes boggled. "Are you sure?"

#2 nodded. "Come on, they're getting ready for the briefing."

Jevden followed him hesitantly. "But aren't I restricted from going with them?"

"That drops today," #2 replied without turning around. "Even so, this matter is important and something you should be a part of."

Jevden felt his heart racing as excitement coursed through his veins. "Look, I'm sorry about-"

"Don't worry," #2 interrupted, holding up a hand. "I'm ready to look past that. If we're all going to survive in the coming years, we need to ensure there are no barriers between anyone in this community."

Jevden smiled, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders. He'd been feeling guilty about the whole incident and felt glad that #2 was essentially forgiving him. They stopped at the elevator and #2 gestured for him to go in. Jevden obliged, anticipating the next stage of the mission he was going on.