About ten days ago, after the incident at the museum, Henry was asleep after checking the rewards he had received from his massacre. Just few minutes after Miley had confronted Henry, she felt a wave of emotions wash through her, one that she recognized well from the first day Henry got the system.
It was that of anxiety and joy, but this time was coupled fear and panic. But it dissipated as fast as it came, it was strange that she could even feel it, but disregarded it as maybe Henry was having a dream.
Then it happened again, when Xavier had visited Henry at the hotel bar. Miley had been sensing that Henry wasn't himself anymore but didn't have solid confirmation.
She was pondering long and hard about it when she felt a sudden surge of emotions enter her; sorrow, pain and guilt. It was coming from Xavier
Miley had sensed Xavier's emotions and didn't how she did it. But she wasn't surprised, she had been able to feel Henry's emotions since the first day and she concluded that it was because they were connected through the system.
This only confirmed that she possessed an ability to sense emotions, which must have been connected to her past, but she didn't tell Henry. She began trying to control the strange power, focusing her mental energy on Henry, but it was all pointless, there was nothing but anger and darkness.
But Miley didn't give up, she kept trying to delve into his mind... or wherever the fuck emotions resided, and today when Henry was massacring the worms, she felt it.
The same one she had originally felt but disregarded, it was faint and seemed to be clouded by darkness, but she felt it clearly, the slight joy and anxiety of the stupid kid she had first met after waking up.
It was Henry, and he seemed to be in peril, she could feel the fear and loneliness, and she was undoubtedly sure that this person, the one who killed and was in control of the body was not Henry, he was a fake.
"Though i must say, it should have been pretty obvious, ever since the time I killed those people mercilessly," he chuckled
"But i just couldn't keep up with the constant pretense of being naive and stupid, it made me feel weak!" he voiced out, clenching his fist
[What have you done with Henry? Where is he] Miley asked impatiently
"Relax, he's in good hands. But you know for someone whose just supposed to be a guide, you care a lot for him. The attachment was to much, it made me sick,"
Miley didn't care much about what he was saying, she only wanted to know one thing
[What are you planning to do with him? Who are you anyways]
Henry smiled "Well, if you must know, i am Henry. But a little different," he replied, trying to sound mysterious
[I'm not buying your bloody nonsense, Triad must have done something. You have been present since the day he had an encounter with them] She pointed out
Henry frowned "You think... i work for those animals who tried to have me killed," he said slowly "You're right, I've been in control of this body since that day, and I don't even know if it should be called my body,"
"But to think, i would try and harm the imbecile who created me. Then you know nothing about who I am, you're just a parasite in my head," he stated coldly
Miley was confused "What is he talking about? What does he mean by that?" She expected whoever this was to be some kind of body jacker or something, but he acted as if he actually owned the body as well
"But since you now know that I'm not the Henry, you so much care for, that I'm just a ruthless, maniac. Then so be it,"
"Just know that there's nothing you can do about it, you are only a mere Ai who thinks it has a life, not to talk of memories. You will only watch me do as i please, you have no say. You're a system," he muttered
"That Henry you know is gone and he'll never return so long as i exist. I will not die so easily and stupidly again!" Henry declared, a strong resolution etched in his voice
[You're wrong, i can feel him, and i won't stop trying to get to him wherever he is] Miley stated with determination
"Good luck with that, but as of now i no longer need your services, you're only a plague getting in my way. All of this was never your concern anyway, you are meant to serve me but clearly you have become rogue. Be gone!" he retorted, referring to Miley as though she was an object
[You won't sense me anymore either, i won't sit and watch as you take what isn't yours. Just know that i will find Henry and you won't win] She said with conviction before entering a Sub-dormant state
But Henry knew Miley was still inside his head, and now, she was a threat that needed to be eliminated. This was going to be a battle inside his mind
"Good riddance, she's only a useless distraction, though I need to find a way to get her out of my head completely," he pondered, remembering what Miley had said once about his head exploding
"But no more pretending to be like that brat, i won't be labeled as weak... no one will call me weak." Henry stated before leaving the forest and heading back to the hotel
*****
Henry turned on the shower and took a deep breath as the water flowed down his body. He was thinking back to his fall out with Miley earlier that day, and it made him angry, at himself, at Miley, at everything.
He slammed his fist into the bathroom wall causing a slight crack from the impact, he turned off the shower and left the bathroom, freshening up and putting on some clothes
Henry layed on the bed about to sleep as he was to annoyed to even eat. He closed his eyes and waited for the sandman to do his job, but was suddenly interrupted by a constant ringing sound coming from his bracelet. Someone was calling him
He frowned when he saw who it was and accepted the transmission. The bracelet then displayed an hologram, one of a young girl putting on glasses
"What!" he asked impatiently
"My my, someone's in a bad mood," Alicia replied in her usual teasing voice which always got on Henry's nerve
She had contacted him on the night he had first visited their house, telling him to save her contact info as he would be getting a lot of calls from her.
This only made Henry more annoyed, he didn't even know how she got his contact details and now he was going to become some kind of errand boy, heeding to masters every call.
"I take it, you need something from me so, get on with it or get off my face!" he replied
Alicia chuckled "Someone's being rude, i shall have to teach you some manners later," she stated with a wink
Henry rolled his eyes "This girl is really something," he muttered inwardly
"But quite on the contrary, I'm the one who has something to give you. Meet me at the field near to the city's outpost tomorrow. 8am sharp." she instructed
"Okay, I'll be there,"
"Good, don't be late. Oh and rest well, We'll test your speed limit as well." Alicia stated before ending the transmission, not waiting for Henry's reply
Henry sighed "I don't need to test my speed limit, the system already tells me what rate I'm in. Besides i thought she could tell as well, or maybe she's talking about something else," he pondered
"Well, I'll just have to wait and see." Henry shrugged "Speaking of see, i think it's time me and that fool finally have a chat." he muttered as he layed back on the bed and closed his eyes, his consciousness drifting away somewhere, but it wasn't dreamland.
*****
Henry could be seen sitting on the floor in a small, cold prison. Everywhere was filled with darkness except for the prison itself that was illuminated by a single lantern.
He sat on the ground, exhausted and clearly frustrated, he had been yelling and banging the metal bars non-stop for a long time now, and he didn't know how much time had passed, it was only an endless nothingness
The darkness and silence were twisting his mind. He had begun to have slight hallucinations of horrible things, things that weren't real.
"I'm... so... tired," Henry said slowly, the suffering clearly visible in his voice
"I can't take this anymore!" he yelled, suddenly regaining energy and slamming his fist on the prison bars, only to feel more pain and exhaustion
"What did I even do wrong? I had just gotten a second chance at life and now, I'm being deprived of it!" Henry voiced out in frustration
"Someone... help." he muttered, placing his head softly on the bars.
"... I'm afraid, no one's coming to save you..."A voice suddenly said from inside the darkness
Henry perked with curiosity, he stood up and stared into the darkness, hoping to confirm whether the voice was real
"Hahaha, I'm already going mad," he concluded, but then he heard the voice again
"... Look at you, you're pathetic, i can't believe i let you have control for that long," the voice said snapping Henry back to his senses
"I heard it again, it's definitely real!" he exclaimed "Whose there? Show yourself!" Henry yelled
"Are you sure about that?" the voice asked
Henry gritted his teeth, he couldn't take the suspense much longer, his sanity depended on it
"Just show your damn self!" he yelled again
"Hm, becoming dominant i see, just what I was hoping for. But if you insist then..." the voice said, and suddenly paused
Then a figure emerged out of the darkness, it was a teenage boy who looked exactly like Henry, the face, the body, everything.
"... Here i am."
But Henry was rather calm "Ha! I knew it, I've gone mad!" he said, in complete denial of the situation
"This is just another hallucination," he muttered dismissively
The figure frowned, he walked closer to the prison, and stood just inches away from it, facing Henry
"Do you think this is an hallucination?" he said as his face morphed into that of another teenage boy, he had short brown hair and a scar ran vertically across his left eye
Henry widened his eye in shock "You... that scar... it's you!" he said in disbelief
This was the face Henry had in his past life, but with a scar. Henry didn't know him but at the same time he did. Henry got that scar when his mother had died, he was so angry he cut himself with a knife. But the scar had healed over the years, it wasn't even visible on his face anymore, so this was a shocking thing for him.
"Good, you atleast remember me," the boy said "I don't believe we've had the luxury of ever meeting like this. Actually we've never actually met, have we?" he asked with a smile
Henry was still surprised, he hadn't expected anything like this, the feeling he got of the boy in front of him was spine chilling, but yet he felt connected to him
"Who are you?" Henry asked
The boy smiled as his face reverted back to the 'normal' Henry face
"I'm you," he said "I'm Henry as well, but..."
"... You can call me scar."