>>5356031“Elise.” The technopath addresses. “Your brother informed me about what happened between you and Conduit.” Matt had to; Conduit’s situation was something that everyone on this plan needed to know.
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you.” You say in a rush, guilt flashing through you for having hid that from him. “It just happened so soon that–”
“͔͍̳͜N̤̭̙̜͍͡o̥̯͉̮–”̘̳̠̞ Eddie cuts you off, the noise startling you into silence, and, in spite of the fact that he doesn’t even need to breathe, the computerized man emits a long, weary sigh.
“I’ve known this would happen for a long time, long before I gave up my physical body. Doctor Charles would’ve found a way to get his hands on my brother with or without my death.” He tells you. “I just never wanted to acknowledge it.”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Conduit would be in danger so long as he’s a prisoner within FutureLabs’ whitewashed walls. You think it must have really pained Eddie to make that final call in giving up his body, but, in the time he’s been separated from it, he’s done far more in helping to get Conduit back than he has when he had his physical body.
“Please continue, Matt.” Eddie refuses to stew in the uncomfortable silence.
“Mhmm…” Matt’s face is the pinnacle of clinical impartiality. “You have any way to get back in touch with Conduit, Ellie?”
“Dreaming,” You answer simply. “But that’s a horrible idea– last time I went in Conduit’s head I got stuck there for a day and a half.”
While the time in Conduit’s realm felt like the span of a few hours, you’d fallen asleep in the late evening and woke up in the middle of the afternoon. If you go to sleep in the middle of FutureLabs, you’ll be no better off than a sitting duck.
“Hmmph…” Matt huffs, putting his hand to his chin. “If you can’t get to him fast enough, it’s gonna become touch-and-go real fast.”
While Matt has a fair point, though you could spend a whole eternity planning for this thing, you've found that all of your fights end up becoming touch-and-go more often than not-- it's just the very nature of a battle. A strong base for this extraction is what you really need, so, when it gets to that point, it will be as painless as possible for everyone involved.
“Any other ideas?” You suggest, wanting something more surefire– something you can do while you’re awake. If all else fails, you’ll use the dreaming thing as a last resort.
“Plenty, actually.” Matt takes your question as a challenge. From nowhere, he pulls out a garishly-colored notebook that’s filled to the brim, all manners of papers and bookmarks spilling out from the sides.
“You shouldn’t put that kind of stuff on paper.” You rebuke him, because putting anything in the physical plane is the equivalent of playing with fire.
>(2/?) 