“KITTIES!” 24-42 cried as she stepped back into her lodgings, her cats mobbing her. It was so good to be back home!
After they’d loaded Tytus into the Cage, they’d packed up and returned home. Tytus was now confined to his lodgings, which the Experiments were a bit concerned to find out were also lined with the stuff that could supposedly contain their power. 24-42 didn’t really care, her only concern was to get back to her cats.
“Did 897HYN74-42 look after you while I was gone?” She asked the cats, who responded with varying degrees of purrs, meows and headbutts. 24-42 had already advised everyone that she needed time to decompress and not to come anywhere near her lodgings until the next day.
“I think everyone needs some time to chill out.” She set her bag on her bed and headed out to the couch to eat some ice-cream and indulge in some much-needed reality telly. Not that she planned to pay much attention.
Once she was settled, she started to think about Tytus. He had shown her kindness, holding her hand after she had completely lost it in their cave rescue mission. She was determined to return the favour, but had no idea how. The Major had said he was brainwashed, but 24-42 didn’t believe that for a second. She knew in her heart that Tytus had joined the Haunted Maze Troupe willingly, and stayed because it served his purposes.
“That’s the same reason I built my multi-million dollar business empire. Because it served my purposes. It made me think…” She sighed to herself. “But he loved HER.”
She set her empty bowl down, the ice-cream long devoured. She then got up and walked to the glass door that opened out into her yard. It was raining outside, which annoyed 24-42 because she wanted to be out in the sunshine.
“His loss really. We could have had it all, but now…everyone who knew me thinks I’m dead. My millions are now being used to fund this place. Yet…”
She put her fist to the glass. It took a huge breath, but she finally said it.
“I’m glad it turned out like this.”
There. It was out now, even though no one had heard her. The pain that HE had left in her heart was now just a memory, a sore spot that would ache every so often, but would never send her into a rage again.
She looked around the lodgings. It wasn’t very big, but it was home. HER home. A home that no one would ever take away from her, like they were when she was a child. Her friends, her REAL friends, they were all here. They were the ones who had stood by her as she sorted herself out, as she tried to quell her bosom enemy. Suzie, Henna, Daniel, Alexis, Tytus, M42…
This is why she had to save Tytus. This is why she WAS going to save Tytus.
Because what are friends for?
–
“15-42 is still resisting. You can’t go and visit him.” C5683-42 said the next day when the Experiments insisted on visiting their friend.
“We can handle him a lot better than you can, we’re strong enough.” Daniel pointed out.
“24-42 is strong enough, but she’s already been through enough.” C5683-42 said. “The rest of you are liabilities.”
“We can talk to him. We can make him see sense.” 24-42 tried.
“Absolutely not. By order of C42, who is extremely busy cleaning up the mess he made.” C5683-42 said.
“The mess SHE made by picking a former Trouper to be one of us.” Alexis snapped.
24-42 wondered how she had the nerve to speak like that sometimes.
“The decision is final, now please leave.” C5683-42 said.
The Experiments walked away from Tytus’s door, all of them grumbling.
“We’re his friends, surely if anyone can get through to him it’s us.” 24-42 pouted.
“Maybe they don’t think we’re as close as we think.” Henna suggested. “I mean, how many of us actually saw that coming?”
There was silence at that one.
“No, I don’t believe it. Tytus may be a little tool who enjoys stirring the pot, but he couldn’t be like that.” Daniel insisted.
“He didn’t seem too ashamed of having been a drug dealer before he got arrested. Remember the day after the Exposure? Zero remorse.” 24-42 pointed out. “The only reason he agreed to all of this is that it got him out of gaol. He doesn’t want to atone, he just wants his freedom. If he had realised he was only exchanging one gaol for another, he would never have signed up.”
“He’s not LIKE that!” Alexis snapped. “Look at all the stuff he did to try and make our lives easier with M42.”
“He did that because he likes causing trouble.” Henna said.
The four stood at the end of the hall that led to Tytus’s lodgings. 24-42 and Henna stood on one side, while Daniel and Alexis stood opposite.
“It really isn’t going to help things if we’re arguing. The fact is, if we want to help Tytus we need to accept the truth about him.” Henna pointed out.
Daniel and Alexis narrowed their eyes, before walking off together.
“Well that’s one thing I didn’t expect to happen. I thought those two grated with Tytus?” 24-42 asked as she and Henna headed to the lunchroom.
“Well, together they plotted most of the pranks against the Major together. I guess that helped them bond?” Henna asked. “Plus while you were having your mental breakdown we all bonded too. We were worried about you.”
24-42 blushed slightly.
“I guess that’s sort of blinded them to how he is. I’m here on a deal too, I wasn’t just any old dole bludger y’know. I did a lot of tax fraud as well, and theft.” Henna said sadly. “I didn’t know anything else, Mum died when I was a baby and Dad had to raise four of us himself. I knew it was wrong, and I never wanted to, but we never thought that we had a choice. I want to make things right, and Tytus doesn’t.”
“Wow.” 24-42 said. “Your life was as hard as mine, if not harder. At least I never had siblings to worry about…at least, not that I know of.”
“Yeah, but at least I had my Dad, as dodgy as he is. You had no one.” Henna said as the pair got themselves a drink from the vending machines and some snacks too.
“Yeah. I mean, I assume I’m an orphan, I don’t know the first thing about my biological parents. I was given my name by my first family. They gave me up when I was three.” 24-42 sighed. “Apparently I was violent even back then.”
“I can’t imagine being passed around from family to family.” Henna said as the pair sat on one of the couches overlooking Training Ground 6. “Did you keep in touch with any of them?”
“None of them wanted to.” 24-24 opened her drink and had a mouthful. “The last one wanted to, but she died not long after I started uni.”
She sighed. “This is the first time I’ve actually talked about it outside of therapy with S42. It’s weird. It almost feels like everything that happened before I came here happened to someone else.”
“That’s because it did. None of us are who we were before.” Henna said.
“Only Tytus doesn’t want to let go of who he was before.” 24-42 leaned back. “I can kinda understand, even if I don’t agree with it.”
Just then, M42 walked in. “Can I asked what happened between you two and the other two?” He came and sat on a recliner that was next to them. “They’re looking murderous, and they snapped at H42 when she asked.”
“A disagreement on how to handle Tytus. They believe he’s a glorified saint.” 24-42 told him.
“It wasn’t THAT bad.” Henna chuckled. “It’s just that Daniel and Alexis don’t believe that he’s capable of being a turncoat. They want to chalk it all up to brainwashing.”
“If it were brainwashing then Tytus would be dead. Didn’t they see the mass suicide that happened because they failed their mission?” M42 pointed out.
“Exactly.” 24-42 nodded. She looked wistfully at the Major. “Unfortunately I think we’re going to have to postpone our beach date until this gets sorted out.”
“YOU’RE postponing a date? Usually I can’t get you off me!” M42 looked surprised.
Henna laughed.
“This is about returning a favour.” 24-42 said seriously. “Tytus was there at my lowest point. I owe it to him.”
The Major nodded. “I’ll forgive him anything for that.”
“I wish C42 would let us in to see him.” Henna sighed. “We could talk to him. He’s one of us.”
“Speaking of us, where are Team B42?” 24-42 asked.
“They’re hanging around Training Ground 3, MB42 has them straight back to work.” M42 said bitterly. “He took what I said about powering up and is now going to push his team to the brink.”
“That’s not fair!” Henna and 24-42 cried.
“I know, but there’s nothing I can do about it.” M42 sighed.
“If only we had Tytus. He could help us put Major Butthead 42 in his place.” 24-42 groaned.
Henna howled with laughter as M42 tried to keep a straight face. “I love it! Major Butthead suits him perfectly!”
“I have my moments.” 24-42 grinned.
–
24-42 decided to go for a walk that afternoon after Henna had headed back to her lodgings to watch the tennis.
“It’s a game of skill and self-reliance!” She’d insisted when 24-42 had turned up her nose.
She was thinking about a delicious soup recipe that she’d read in a magazine when she stumbled upon Training Ground 3, where Team B42 looked thoroughly miserable and MB42 was screaming his lungs out at them.
“This is bad.” 24-42 looked horrified as 01-42 nearly fainted with trying to keep up. They had to get Tytus back to deal with MB42 once and for all, but how?
That’s when 24-42 noticed the blue sky above the Training Ground. All the training grounds were open air. So were the yards in all the lodgings.
And both 24-42 and Henna could fly.
24-42 bolted towards the wing where Henna lived. When she got there, out of breath, she banged on the door.
“What is it?” Henna opened the door, annoyed.
“I know how to get to Tytus.”