Life Inc.
Chapter 5
“Sir, anomaly detected: Citizen 04-07-8967 is back online.”
“Must have been a miscalculation. Deal with it.”
“Right away Sir.”
***
Louis stared longingly at the object of his affection, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand, propping himself up on his elbow. He was vaguely aware of the teacher droning about chemistry at the front of the class and the gentle rain pattering relentlessly at the window beside him, but there were far more important things that held his attention. Harry Styles was kissing his perfect girlfriend two desks across from him, one hand on her waist, the other tangled in her blond hair because frankly, life was a bitch.
Last night, as soon as he had heard Harry calling desperately out to him, he had raced downstairs, almost breaking his neck in the process, but he was too late. Harry was turning to face him, his green eyes looking blankly and confusedly at him until Louis realized that Harry wasn’t looking at him, he was looking through him. Whatever had malfunctioned with his chip seemed to have fixed itself.
Harry had left his house quickly, without a second glance, leaving Louis standing numbly in one place, desperately trying to hang on to the memory of what laughter felt like. That night, his nightmares were the worst they’d ever been and in the morning he dragged himself into school to face the seven hours of pure torture that was watching Harry go back to his perfect existence before Louis.
Louis knew shouldn’t be doing this to himself, it was foolish and wouldn’t make anything better, if anything it would make it worse. But, now that he knew how Harry really was, what it was like to talk to someone, to share a meal with someone, to laugh with someone, he knew that he had to protect Harry for as long as he could.
The company had wanted Harry dead, and thanks to Louis’ intervention, Harry was still alive. That didn’t matter while his chip was broken, or dislodged, or whatever had happened to it, because he wouldn’t show up on their systems and they would think he genuinely was dead. But now that Harry’s chip was working again, Harry would appear again and they would know they failed the first time and would try again.
Louis couldn’t just let the boy who had stolen his heart die. He was even more emotionally invested in Harry now that he had made him laugh. He couldn’t help it, he knew that it was futile and a little creepy, but it wasn’t like Harry was ever going to see him again and Louis felt like he owed Harry even more now.
So, he had committed to keeping Harry safe whenever he was near so that Harry could be happy until such a time when he either failed, or the corporation sent out an operative. Louis had only ever seen an operative once, when he was about fifteen. The thought still sent a shiver down his spine. He would never, ever interfere when there was an operative involved.
Louis finally had to look away from where Harry was whispering in his girlfriend’s ear, hating that the twinkle in his green eyes had been his last night, to a degree, when Harry had teased him, had made him laugh.
“You’re pathetic Tomlinson,” Louis muttered, focusing instead on what the teacher was saying about atomic structure. He could still see the pair in his peripheral vision, Harry’s strong fingers trailing up and down the blonde’s spine until Louis let out a strangled frustrated noise and closed his eyes, just listening to the teacher instead.
***
Louis didn’t have to wait long before he was saving the life of Harry Styles again, as he had predicted. The corporation had clearly been made aware of his continuing existence and were intent on fixing the supposed mistake.
Louis never went to PE. It wasn’t the physical education he had a problem with, it was the fact that if the class was playing football, or rugby, or any other kind of team sport, he couldn’t join in, which inevitably put a dampener on the lessons for Louis. Anything else they did was just athletics and that usually just consisted of running, which Louis liked to do on his own terms.
The class that Louis had adopted, Harry’s class, was scheduled to have double PE after chemistry, so Louis found himself haunting the empty corridors, humming quietly to himself, watching real life carry on around him through windows in classroom doors. He eventually slumped himself against a wall, bouncing the tennis ball that he always carried with him off the opposite wall.
He wasted a good half an hour doing that, enjoying the gentle rhythm the thumping of the ball hitting the wall provided. He was singing now, voice getting louder the more he got into the songs, mostly show-tunes, enjoying belting them out to a world that couldn’t hear him.
He was a little surprised when Harry limped past, shorts revealing a relatively deep graze on his knee, suggesting a misunderstanding with the unforgiving tarmac of the damp school tennis courts. Louis tucked his tennis ball back into his bag, standing up and trying to ignore the fact that it was Harry in shorts, assessing the damage. There was only a little blood, which made a thin crimson trail down Harry’s leg, but Louis was suspicious.
Two days ago, the corporation had unsuccessfully tried to kill Harry. They must be a reason why they had wanted him dead and they would be trying to correct the apparent mishap, so why had they let him escape whatever incident he’d just had with just a graze? Louis knew there was more to this.
He was right: as Harry was descending the stairs that would eventually take him to the nurse’s office, Louis following close behind, his foot slipped sending him sprawling backwards. Louis just managed to reach out and catch him in time, arms slotting beneath Harry’s before it was too late.
As Harry righted himself and Louis quickly released him, he shuddered at the thought of the cracked skull and pool of blood that had clearly been the intention if he had missed and suddenly the power of Life Incorporated scared him more than it ever had before.
Harry was completely oblivious to his near-death experience, thinking only that he had slipped and his adrenaline had spiked. He shook himself off and carried on his way to see the nurse, unaware of Louis’ unintentionally forlorn eyes boring into to the back of his head, his protector rooted to the spot, torn between love, desperation and utter horror.
***
“Attempt #2 unsuccessful, Citizen 04-07-8967 still active. T-minus 3 attempts until operative dispatched.”
“Must have been a miscalculation. Deal with it.”
“Right away Sir.”
***
Louis stared longingly at the object of his affection, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand, propping himself up on his elbow. He was vaguely aware of the teacher droning about chemistry at the front of the class and the gentle rain pattering relentlessly at the window beside him, but there were far more important things that held his attention. Harry Styles was kissing his perfect girlfriend two desks across from him, one hand on her waist, the other tangled in her blond hair because frankly, life was a bitch.
Last night, as soon as he had heard Harry calling desperately out to him, he had raced downstairs, almost breaking his neck in the process, but he was too late. Harry was turning to face him, his green eyes looking blankly and confusedly at him until Louis realized that Harry wasn’t looking at him, he was looking through him. Whatever had malfunctioned with his chip seemed to have fixed itself.
Harry had left his house quickly, without a second glance, leaving Louis standing numbly in one place, desperately trying to hang on to the memory of what laughter felt like. That night, his nightmares were the worst they’d ever been and in the morning he dragged himself into school to face the seven hours of pure torture that was watching Harry go back to his perfect existence before Louis.
Louis knew shouldn’t be doing this to himself, it was foolish and wouldn’t make anything better, if anything it would make it worse. But, now that he knew how Harry really was, what it was like to talk to someone, to share a meal with someone, to laugh with someone, he knew that he had to protect Harry for as long as he could.
The company had wanted Harry dead, and thanks to Louis’ intervention, Harry was still alive. That didn’t matter while his chip was broken, or dislodged, or whatever had happened to it, because he wouldn’t show up on their systems and they would think he genuinely was dead. But now that Harry’s chip was working again, Harry would appear again and they would know they failed the first time and would try again.
Louis couldn’t just let the boy who had stolen his heart die. He was even more emotionally invested in Harry now that he had made him laugh. He couldn’t help it, he knew that it was futile and a little creepy, but it wasn’t like Harry was ever going to see him again and Louis felt like he owed Harry even more now.
So, he had committed to keeping Harry safe whenever he was near so that Harry could be happy until such a time when he either failed, or the corporation sent out an operative. Louis had only ever seen an operative once, when he was about fifteen. The thought still sent a shiver down his spine. He would never, ever interfere when there was an operative involved.
Louis finally had to look away from where Harry was whispering in his girlfriend’s ear, hating that the twinkle in his green eyes had been his last night, to a degree, when Harry had teased him, had made him laugh.
“You’re pathetic Tomlinson,” Louis muttered, focusing instead on what the teacher was saying about atomic structure. He could still see the pair in his peripheral vision, Harry’s strong fingers trailing up and down the blonde’s spine until Louis let out a strangled frustrated noise and closed his eyes, just listening to the teacher instead.
***
Louis didn’t have to wait long before he was saving the life of Harry Styles again, as he had predicted. The corporation had clearly been made aware of his continuing existence and were intent on fixing the supposed mistake.
Louis never went to PE. It wasn’t the physical education he had a problem with, it was the fact that if the class was playing football, or rugby, or any other kind of team sport, he couldn’t join in, which inevitably put a dampener on the lessons for Louis. Anything else they did was just athletics and that usually just consisted of running, which Louis liked to do on his own terms.
The class that Louis had adopted, Harry’s class, was scheduled to have double PE after chemistry, so Louis found himself haunting the empty corridors, humming quietly to himself, watching real life carry on around him through windows in classroom doors. He eventually slumped himself against a wall, bouncing the tennis ball that he always carried with him off the opposite wall.
He wasted a good half an hour doing that, enjoying the gentle rhythm the thumping of the ball hitting the wall provided. He was singing now, voice getting louder the more he got into the songs, mostly show-tunes, enjoying belting them out to a world that couldn’t hear him.
He was a little surprised when Harry limped past, shorts revealing a relatively deep graze on his knee, suggesting a misunderstanding with the unforgiving tarmac of the damp school tennis courts. Louis tucked his tennis ball back into his bag, standing up and trying to ignore the fact that it was Harry in shorts, assessing the damage. There was only a little blood, which made a thin crimson trail down Harry’s leg, but Louis was suspicious.
Two days ago, the corporation had unsuccessfully tried to kill Harry. They must be a reason why they had wanted him dead and they would be trying to correct the apparent mishap, so why had they let him escape whatever incident he’d just had with just a graze? Louis knew there was more to this.
He was right: as Harry was descending the stairs that would eventually take him to the nurse’s office, Louis following close behind, his foot slipped sending him sprawling backwards. Louis just managed to reach out and catch him in time, arms slotting beneath Harry’s before it was too late.
As Harry righted himself and Louis quickly released him, he shuddered at the thought of the cracked skull and pool of blood that had clearly been the intention if he had missed and suddenly the power of Life Incorporated scared him more than it ever had before.
Harry was completely oblivious to his near-death experience, thinking only that he had slipped and his adrenaline had spiked. He shook himself off and carried on his way to see the nurse, unaware of Louis’ unintentionally forlorn eyes boring into to the back of his head, his protector rooted to the spot, torn between love, desperation and utter horror.
***
“Attempt #2 unsuccessful, Citizen 04-07-8967 still active. T-minus 3 attempts until operative dispatched.”