Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, When Twilight Dawns (the Dying Informant, 23)
Title: When Twilight Dawns
Author/Artist: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme(s): 23; There is a moment when fears and dreams must collide
Character: the Dying Informant
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (unless otherwise noted) and the story is!
Cross-posted to other LJ comms and my journal
Author's note: This fic was mainly inspired by the prompt "delirium" at platonicism, and the majority of it wrote itself. The characters aren't mine, except for the doppelganger, who was co-created by me and Lucky Ladybug in an RP, and the story is! Thanks to Lucky Ladybug for plot help!
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Night had long since fallen upon the Amazon rainforest. A small jaguar kitten busied itself by playing with a few twigs in a low tree branch, growling inquisitively as it added its voice to that of the monkeys and frogs. The young cat did not notice the moonlight filtering through the thick over growth. In the dim, silvery light, water drops were visible on the ends of leaves, contemplating whether or not to fall onto the figure that was lying motionless beneath the big tree.
The small sliver of moonlight illumined the pale, drawn face of the young man beneath the tree. Sweat poured from his face, dampening his dark hair, and his breathing was labored. He was in pain, and a high fever had long since descended upon him, which had left him lying ill on nothing but a long, black trenchcoat that was now serving as his sick bed.
But he was not alone. Out of the moonlight, sitting beside the suffering man, was a much younger, golden-haired boy, the tears falling from his eyes as he regarded the unconscious man.
“You have to hold on, Techie,” he pleaded to him. “You can’t leave us like this…”
He glanced around the area, helplessly. Where were the others with the healing herbs? If they didn’t get here soon, it would be far too late…
The ill man’s eyes opened slightly as a gasp of pain escaped his lips.
“Techie!?” the youth cried.
“I… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… It’s not the Informant’s fault… it’s mine… I caused him to fail the mission… He’s dying in the jungle because of me…” The ill man’s eyes were glazed an unfocused, but the pain, both physical and mental, was evident in his voice. “I killed him… I killed the Dying Informant….”
“Techie, no!” the Informant cried. “You didn’t! I’m alive; I’m fine!” A few more tears escaped the boy’s eyes. “You’re the one who’s… who’s dying…”
He placed a hand on his friend’s forehead and gave a little cry of despair as he realized that the Techie’s fever had increased even further. The Informant pulled out a canteen of water and a handkerchief, trying to moisten the cloth so that he could place it over the Techie’s forehead in a last-ditch effort to try to bring the fever down, however slightly, but the boy was dismayed to find out that the water had long since been warmed up in the tropic heat. It wouldn’t do him much good, if any.
And so the Informant did the only thing he could do: pray.
Please, don’t take him yet, the boy pleaded. We need him here… I need him here.
“He’s out there in the jungle somewhere!” the Techie cried, startling the Informant. “And the others will get lost looking for us…” He made an attempt to rise.
“Techie, you can’t!” cried the Informant, trying to force him to stay down. “You have to rest until the others come back with the herbs!”
“I have to find them…” gasped the Techie, wincing in pain. “I have to…” He trailed off, eyes still out of focus as he tried to glance at the one who was trying to stop him from moving.
“Techie…?” asked the boy, bringing his face to the moonlight. “Do you know me?”
“…No…!” the other replied. “Let me go; I need to find them! Let go!”
He tried to pull away, and the Informant just enveloped his tortured friend in an embrace. The Techie struggled against him, weakly, but he never had a chance of breaking free. With a groan of pain and exhaustion, the brunet fell limply against the boy, unconscious again. And it was all the Informant could do from burying his face in the poor man’s shoulder and cry.
“Techie, please come back,” he whispered into his ear.
How had it come to this? Of all the places to be so dangerously ill, it had to be in the middle of the Amazon…?
“We should never have come here…” the Informant said, tenderly laying the older man back on the trenchcoat that he had lent him as a mattress. “I’m sorry, Techie… I’m sorry for everything…”
**Flashback**
The Informant should’ve known that something wasn’t fully right with the Techie back at ACME, when the Messenger had been going over the mission details with them. Double Trouble had taken a bunch of ancient figurines from a village, undoubtedly to present them to Carmen.
“They were spotted fleeing through the jungle,” the Messenger had told his colleagues. “They would’ve been out a while ago, but they got lost.”
“Lost…?” smirked the Inspector. “Those two party animals getting lost in the jungle doesn’t surprise me… ”
“It doesn’t?” asked the Messenger. “They had a V.I.L.E. helicopter; why wouldn’t they just leave?”
“It’s Carnival season in Rio,” the Inspector informed them. “Something tells me those recalcitrant twerps were trying to make it there before leaving Brazil, but those two apparently aren’t trailblazers.”
“Now if it was me out there, it’d be no problem,” said the Informant, smirking at the thought of the twins wandering around in circles. “I’ve been through the Amazon before, and besides… I know my around in the rough--”
He gave a start as the Techie unleashed a monster sneeze.
“Allergies getting to you…?” the Messenger asked, with a smirk.
The Techie managed a smile.
“Just a little cold,” he insisted.
“Well, be careful,” said the Informant. “You don’t want it to get worse…”
“I’ll be fine,” said the Techie. “It’s you I’m worried about; you still seem a little worse for wear from your last tailing assignment…”
The Informant rubbed a still-sore arm in response. It was another case of him returning to ACME as the Dying Informant. The Messenger and the Inspector had been on a mission; and it had been the Techie who had seen him return in a terrible state. The Informant was more upset about the failed tailing mission and how he was taken out by Wonder Rat, of all people.
“It’s not worth beating yourself up about it,” the Techie had said after the boy had woken up. “You’re still with us. And that’s enough for me and the others.”
“But it’s not good enough for me…” the Informant had replied.
“Not good enough!?” the Techie cried. “It’s not good enough that I’m here, caring for you, relieved to have you back after I thought I’d lost you!?”
That had brought the Informant out of his self-pity fairly quickly.
“I… I’m sorry…” the boy had said. “I didn’t mean…”
“I was worried,” the Techie had replied, hugging him. “So don’t scare me like that again!”
The Messenger brought everyone around by clearing his throat.
“Well, now that we’ve had our briefing, how about we head down to the Amazon?” he asked.
“Well, I’m ready for it!” the Informant said.
They headed for their private ACME plane, the Techie holding back a few more sneezes.
*****************************
The flight itself was uneventful, though the Techie was finding it difficult to sleep. His cold wasn’t getting any better, and it was making him feel oddly out of it.
“Techie?” the boy asked.
“Yeah?” he asked, turning to the Informant.
“We’re here,” he said. “You sure you’re alright?”
“Why do you ask?” the brunet wondered.
“No reason,” the boy replied. “Just making sure you feel okay. Come on.”
They took a boat down the river, admiring the sights of the rainforest.
“Ahoy, Captain!” the Informant exclaimed, tapping the Messenger on the shoulder. “Recalcitrant twerps spotted off the starboard bow!”
The Messenger looked back at him.
“What…?” the older agent asked.
“That way!” the boy said, pointing to the riverbank as the twerps saw them and immediately turned tail. The Informant leaped from the boat before they had even reached the shore.
“Infy, wait up for us!” the Messenger exclaimed, leaping out after him.
“And don’t leave me behind… whoa…” The Techie tried to follow him, but he was overcome by a brief spell of dizziness that caused him to fall short, landing him right in the water.
“Techie!” the Inspector exclaimed, pulling him out. “What happened to you?”
“…I…I think I stood up too quickly…” the other agent replied, massaging his forehead.
The Inspector frowned.
“You seem a little warm,” he said. “Maybe I should take you back to the city; the others can handle this.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” said the Techie. “With any luck, they’ll have already arrested the twins, and we’ll be going back now anyway…”
He trailed off as the two returned.
“They got away…” the Messenger said, with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Techie? What happened to you?” asked the Informant, eyes widening at him.
“I fell in the water…” he grinned, sheepishly.
“I think there’s more to it than that,” said the Inspector. “Techie, I really think one of us should take you back.”
“Guys, the mission…” the Techie said. “We have work to do!”
The Inspector exchanged glances with the others.
“Maybe we can go on for a little while…” said the Informant. “But if you’re not getting any better within an hour, or if you seem to be getting worse, we’re taking you back. Does that sound fair?”
The Messenger crossed his arms, thoughtfully. On the one hand, he really did think that maybe it would be better off if the Techie sat this one out. On the other hand, if he wasn’t a part of the mission, his self-confidence might take a hit.
“One hour,” the Messenger insisted. “And you have to be one hundred percent honest about how you’re feeling.”
“Right,” promised the Techie. “Now let’s catch us some recalcitrant twerps!”
“Yeah!” the Messenger agreed, leading the charge, with the Informant lagging behind to walk with the Techie. The Inspector followed close behind them, keeping an eye out for the slightest sign that the Techie was weakening further.
Some time had passed when voices could be heard up ahead.
“I didn’t want to miss the party any more than you did, but now we’re lost because we’re trying to get to Rio! And it doesn’t help that ACME is on our tail!”
“Well, maybe you should’ve kept track of where you left the chopper…”
“Ah-ha!” the Messenger whispered. “And we make our move in three… two… two-and-a-half--”
The Techie let out another monster sneeze.
“Run for it!” one of the twins yelled.
“Oh, no you don’t!” the Informant said, dashing after them.
“Dying Informant, go home!” the other twin threw over his shoulder as he followed his brother.
The Techie sank to the ground.
“Hey…” said the Messenger. “It’s not your fault… And I’m sure Infy will catch them with no trouble!”
“I don’t think that’s it…” said the Inspector, looking at how pale the Techie was. He felt his forehead, and his eyes widened.
“Techie…!”
“I don’t feel so great…” the brunet admitted.
The Inspector took out the first aid kit and checked his temperature.
“…You’re nearing a hundred and two…” he muttered.
The Messenger shook his head.
“That’s it; we’re leaving right now,” he insisted.
“But we can’t leave the Informant here all alone…!” the Techie said, eyes widening in horror.
“And we won’t,” said the Inspector. “The Messenger will back him up while I take you back. But first of all, we need to give you something for your fever.”
He handed him the bottle of medicine from the kit and a canteen of water, but before the brunet could take one of the pills, he felt his stomach lurch violently.
“I… I think I’m going to be sick…” he gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth. He fled, not wanting the others to see.
“Techie!” the Messenger yelled, running after him. He cursed himself slightly; he should have insisted that he return.
But their search for the Techie was met with a huge distraction. From a different direction came a familiar yell: the Cry of the Dying Informant.
“Infy!” cried the Messenger. What had happened!? Had Double Trouble overpowered him!? There had been occasions in the past when the twins were not satisfied by simply getting the better of him; they had badly hurt the boy before.
But what now!? Do they search for the Techie, or do they try to find the Informant!? The Messenger felt frantic. It would be no good if he and the Inspector got separated, too…
“We…we need to find Infy,” he determined. The boy was in the more immediate danger; they could find the Techie after they found him.
From where he was, the Techie could hear the Informant’s cry, as well.
He ignored his own ill state. He, too, remembered all too clearly how the twins had severely hurt the Informant before. He couldn’t allow them to do so again-especially when it was his fault that Double Trouble had realized that they were there!
He reached the battle scene first, horrified to see the twins tossing the unconscious Informant into the river
“NO!” he yelled, trying to reach his friend.
“Techie! Infy!” yelled the Messenger, as he heard the brunet’s frantic yelling.
The Techie was furious. No longer giving any regard for his own well-being, he tackled the twins. But in his weakened state, he was no match for them.
“Have a little swim,” said one.
They threw him into the water, and the brunet lost the grip on the medicine bottle as he went flying.
The twins were admiring their handiwork when the Inspector slammed into them like a freight train.
“Now that isn’t cool!” said the second twin.
“Neither was taking those artifacts!” the Messenger retorted, snapping the handcuffs on the twins. “Now come on! We have to find Infy and Techie!”
“They’re taking a little swim,” the first twin said.
The Inspector glared at him to be quiet.
“March!” ordered the Messenger. “Quickly! If anything happens to them, it’ll be your fault!” He swallowed hard. And mine, too… he thought.
********************************
The Techie could hardly swim in his weakened condition, but he let the current take him to where the Informant was, trying to bring him to shore. After what seemed like an eternity, he succeeded, bringing him to the edge of a ledge that overlooked a deep ravine.
The youth did not stir.
“You… you have to be alright…” the Techie said, ignoring the fact that his stomach was about to lurch again. “Oh, no…” He didn’t bother to hold back his tears. The Informant was badly hurt because of him, or even worse!
The Techie opened the Informant’s trenchcoat, and cried out upon seeing a large red stain on the boy’s shirt. He frantically search for the source, fearing the worst, but to his (partial) relief, it was coming from a very deep gash in his shoulder. But he was still losing a lot of blood… And the Inspector had the first-aid kit; the Techie had nothing to create a tourniquet with.
“You… You stay here… I’ll be right back…” he said, shakily getting to his feet. “I’ll find the others… they’ll be looking for us…”
He hobbled off, no longer caring about himself or his fever, which seemed to have increased in the last several minutes.
The Techie looked around, despairing. Which way had he come from? All of the trees looked the same…
He wandered around, calling for the others, fighting the weakness and the nauseating feeling that plagued him. But he let out a moan of despair as he saw the familiar golden curls of his still-unconscious friend.
“I’m sorry… I--”
The Techie froze, horrified, as he saw a large, greenish-brown snake slithering across the Informant’s chest. The serpent’s tongue sniffed at the wound, and as the boy twitched ever so slightly, the snake began to work its way around him, aiming to constrict him.
“NO!” the Techie cried, trying to wrench the anaconda away from the Informant with his bare hands. But the beast was far heavier than he had imagined. The snake brushed him off, absorbed in its task. “You can’t have him! You can’t!”
It was an exertion just to try to get the snake to budge. And gravity worked; the anaconda pulled off to the side slightly, sending it falling over the ledge’s edge. But the snake had already managed to get a slight hold on the boy, and took him with it.
The Techie cried out as the boy and the snake tumbled out of sight down the ravine. The brunet tried to climb down the side of the ravine, but his arms were so weakened that partway down, he slipped and fell the rest of the way.
He hit the ground hard, in pain and feeling more ill than ever before. Neither the Informant nor the anaconda were anywhere in sight. The Techie tried to get to his feet to look for him, but he had no strength
His friend was out there, dying alone in the jungle, if not by the anaconda, then by the blood loss. And it was his fault entirely.
The Techie sobbed in despair as the darkness closed in.
A little bit away, a very traumatized anaconda began to pull away from the boy. It wasn’t worth it, the creature decided.
The Informant, in the meantime, was being prodded back to consciousness by a deep feeling that told him that he must do so, and that he must do so immediately. The boy forced his eyes open and came eye to eye with the giant snake. He yelled again, prompting the anaconda to flee all the more quickly.
He sat up. It was a miracle that he was still here, he realized. Something must have made that anaconda leave him alone. But what…? And how did he get here? The last thing he recalled was losing a battle to the recalcitrant twerps…
He had to find the others; they would undoubtedly be searching frantically for him. But the Informant hadn’t gone for more than two dozen yards when he found the Techie in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the ravine.
“Techie!” he gasped, rushing to his friend’s side. He was unaware of the seriousness of his illness, having left before the Techie had gotten much worse.
“He’s dead…” the Techie moaned, trembling violently from the high fever. “He’s dead, and I killed him…”
“Who’s dead!?” asked the Informant, horrified that something had happened to the others. He tried to help his friend up, but recoiled at how hot he felt. “Techie…!” he gasped. “You’re burning up!”
The Techie didn’t even seem to hear him. He tried to get up, not even making it more than an inch off of the ground.
“Let me go…” he pleaded. “I… I need to find the Informant…”
“But I’m right here!” the boy exclaimed. But his voice did not alleviate the older agent’s worries in any way.
“The Dying Informant is dead… he’s dead!” the Techie howled, as the boy stared at him in horror. “He’s dead, and it’s all because of me! I tried to save him… I tried so hard…” A sob escaped his lips. “I let that anaconda kill him… I tried to fight it, but I let it kill him!”
And now the Informant realized why the snake had left him; the Techie had used up the very last ounce of his strength trying to save him, and he had been convinced that he had failed.
“Techie!” the Informant wailed. “I’m not dead! I’m not! I’m with you! I’m right here…”
The Techie’s eyes opened slightly, but they were not looking at anything.
“Whoever you are…” he murmured, unable to discern who was with him. “Just leave me here…”
“If I leave you here, you’ll die!” the Informant cried.
The Techie’s eyes closed again.
“But then I’ll see him again…” he said, his voice barely audible.
“No, Techie! Look at me! Look into my eyes, and you’ll see me again--!”
But he had already gone under again.
“Infy! Techie!”
“Oh, thank goodness…” the youth gasped in relief. “I’m here, Bro! Techie’s with me, but he’s in a bad state…”
The Inspector and the Messenger soon made their way down into the ravine, bringing Double Trouble with them.
“Something’s really wrong with Techie,” said the Informant. “He’s got a terrible fever…”
“He had one for most of the time we were in the rainforest,” said the Messenger. “I should’ve insisted he go back…”
He trailed off at the Inspector’s expression as he read the reading on the thermometer.
“A hundred and four…”
“No…” gasped the Informant. “Don’t you have the medicine in the first aid kit?”
“I gave it to him,” said the Inspector. “He was about to take it when he ran off, feeling nauseous.”
“Oh, you mean that bottle of pills he dropped as we threw him into the river?” asked one of the twins.
The three agents glared daggers at him.
“What now?” cried the Informant. “It’s getting dark; we can’t possibly find the medicine bottle now!”
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” said the Messenger, glaring at Double Trouble. “The Inspector and I will take these two back to the village where they stole the artifacts from. And once we make sure that everything’s back where it needs to be, we’ll kindly request the villagers if they have something to cure our ill friend.”
“We’ll need to take Techie’s handheld,” said the Inspector. “It has a translator and a GPS, so these two can finally get their sense of direction back.” He glared at the twins. “And you’d better take us to that village double quick, or you’ll be facing a murder charge. And before that, you’ll have to answer to us.”
“Yes, Sir…” the twins said, in unison. They could tell that he was more than serious.
“Infy…” said the Messenger. “It’s going to be hard for you, but you need to look after Techie. Keep him with us.”
“You know I will,” the boy vowed. “Be back quickly, though.”
“We will,” promised the Messenger, as he and the Inspector marched the twins off.
As they left, the Informant took off his trenchcoat, spreading it across the ground, and folding one end to make a pillow. And then he gently laid the Techie across it. The next few hours would be spent trying to communicate with the Techie as he slipped into periods of delirium, where he would cry out about how he needed to find the Informant, or what was left of him, only to slip back into unconsciousness again.
And through it all, the poor boy was unable to comfort him.
**End flashback**
Deep in the unconscious recesses of his mind, the Techie was wandering helplessly. He could see the vision, clear as day: the Informant, breathing his last in the anaconda’s thick coils.
The Techie screamed in agony, and the Informant, who had to hear it, could no longer hold back his sorrow. He sobbed.
Why…? Why couldn’t he convince him that he was alive and well?
“Techie…” the boy began, but he couldn’t find the words to say. And did it really matter? He was too out of it to believe him. “Techie, please… Stay with me…”
“Well, well, well…” a cold and familiar voice addressed him. “It looks as though the clumsy Techie stumbled into a mess he can’t get out of!”
The Informant paled. The voice sounded like his own. The boy whipped around to see his cruel doppelganger, the treacherous turncoat who betrayed the colonists to the redcoats during the battle of Bunker Hill.
“You!?” the boy cried. “What do you want from me!?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” the double said. “I don’t want anything from you this time…” His cruel gaze pierced the Techie. “I’m just here to speed your friend’s journey to the spirit world.”
“Oh, no you don’t!” the Informant vowed. “Techie’s not going to die; he’s going to fight until he comes back.”
“That’s why I intend to break that will to fight,” said the doppelganger. “You see, he thinks you’re dead… So I’ll just masquerade as you and send him on a guilt trip.”
“Not while I’m here!” the boy yelled, lunging at his double.
He went right through him.
“You seem to forget…” sighed the spirit. “I can do things that you can’t.”
The Informant clawed at the spirit, but it did no good. The doppelganger placed two fingers on the Techie’s forehead, tapping into his mind.
“Stop it!” cried the real Informant. He attempted to pull the Techie away, but the spirit put up a forcefield between them, forbidding the boy to reach his friend.
“Techie!” the doppelganger cried, his voice an echo of the Informant’s. “Techie!”
The older agent stirred.
“Is… is that… Is that really you?”
“No!” cried the real Informant. “It’s my double! You can’t listen to a word he says--”
“Of course it’s me!” the doppelganger snarled.
The Techie, still not conscious, recoiled at the sound.
“What happened to you!?”
The Techie wandered through the haze in his mind, and that was when he saw a ghostly form of the Informant, a look of disdain on his face.
“You…!” the Techie exclaimed, horrified. “You… You’re a ghost…”
“Of course I’m a ghost!” the image replied. “Look! Look at what you did to me-you and your stupid fever!”
“But… I tried… I tried to save you…”
“Techie, that isn’t me!” the real Informant howled. “I’m alive!”
“Trying wasn’t good enough!” the doppelganger roared back. “Do you know what it’s like!? Do you know what it’s like to have the air squeezed out of you!? Do you know how much I suffered because of you!?”
“No…!” cried the Techie, his voice laced with agony. “I would’ve done anything to save you… anything! You’re one of the closest friends I’ve ever had--”
“Yeah? Well, you’re the worst friend I ever had,” the doppelganger shot back. “A real friend wouldn’t have left me to die like that! I’m embarrassed that I ever thought of you as a friend! You can go ahead and head on over to the other side if you want, but you’re going solo. There couldn’t be anything worse than hanging out with you for all eternity.”
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
“Too little, too late,” said the spirit, turning to walk away.
“Don’t leave me!” the Techie cried, breaking the real Informant’s heart to pieces. “I need you!”
“Where were you when I needed you!?” the double roared.
“I’m sorry…! I’m sorry!” The Techie was beyond hysterical.
“Stop it!” cried the real Informant. “STOP IT!”
And, suddenly, he got an idea. Perhaps there was one way he could reach the Techie. Their conversation…
“Techie, do you remember what you told when I was wallowing in self-pity that time?” he asked.
The doppelganger glared at him, but the boy kept on talking.
“I was ready to give up on myself, but you made me believe in myself… Even when I didn’t!” the Informant cried. “I was saying that everything I had done wasn’t good enough… But you wouldn’t hear any of it! And, through that, you saved me!”
The Techie was in more agony than ever before. The fever was at a deadly level, but he was more concerned with how his dearest friend had died because of him, and now wanted nothing to do with him. The Techie’s only solace had been the thought that death would reunite him with his poor friend, but now… He would never see him again.
“Don’t go!” he pleaded, trying to grab the spirit’s trenchcoat to stop him from going. “I’m so sorry… I have caused you nothing but suffering… I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, let alone be your friend…” He sobbed. “But I need you…”
“Nothing doing,” the spirit replied.
But something was strange… The Techie could hear a voice coming from far away, and it sounded like the Informant. But… he was right here, wasn’t he?
The spirit looked furious as the Techie began to discern the words.
“You saved me, Techie! I would be nothing if you hadn’t believed in me… If you hadn’t convinced me to believe in myself and show me how much other people really did think of me as more than just an expendable agent! I’m alive because of you! ...But is that not enough for you!? Are you going to believe my double after I cared and looked after you...!?”
“It’s you…” the Techie gasped. It was the conversation he had had with the Informant only a few days ago! He glanced at the spirit before him. Even in his delirious, fever-affected mind, he finally realized one critical fact.
“You’re not the Informant…” the Techie said.
The spirit hissed in frustration, vanishing. The Techie didn’t move; he just took in the sound of the real Informant talking. He was alive, then…? Could it even be possible…?
But the Techie’s expression turned to one of horror as the Informant stopped talking in mid-sentence.
“You thought you’d lost me. Well, now I’m losing you, and you can’t let that happen…now when--”
And he spoke no more
He was in trouble! And the Techie absolutely had to help him this time!
The real Informant had been talking when his double glared at him with a livid expression. The cruel spirit left the Techie and instead attacked the Informant, enveloping the boy in a mist of shadows, making it very difficult for him to breathe, much less talk.
“This isn’t the end…” the doppelganger vowed. “If I possess you, I can still carry out my plan. After all, I am you!”
“No…” a weak voice replied. “You’ll never be him.”
“Techie…!” the real Informant gasped, fighting to his friend’s side.
“Impossible!” the doppelganger roared.
“Not really…” said the Techie, placing a hand on the Informant’s shoulder, as though to make sure he was real.
The spirit’s eyes blazed, and the mists began to envelop the Techie, too, whose breathing was already labored.
“No…!” gasped the Informant, enfolding his friend in a protective embrace. “I won’t let you hurt him anymore!”
The Techie was fighting a losing battle to hold on. But he had one solitary comfort-the Informant was alive, and still his friend. And no matter what happened to them now, one day they would be reunited on the other side.
The darkness began to close in.
“Techie!”
“Infy!”
The Informant was hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. With a cry of rage, the doppelganger retreated, taking his mists with him as the Inspector and the Messenger arrived with the herbs and Double Trouble.
“Are you two alright!?” asked the Messenger, looking them both over as the Inspector got to work making the herbal tea that the villagers instructed him to make.
“I’ll be alright,” said the Informant, still hugging the Techie. “But he’s gotten worse, and that double of mine is responsible for it!”
He was crying again.
“Give him this…” said the Inspector, handing him the herbal tea.
“Techie…?” the boy asked, holding the cup to the ill agent’s lips. “Come on… You have to take this; it’ll bring your fever down.”
The Techie did not respond.
“Techie, you have to drink it!” cried the Messenger. “We can’t lose you now!”
Desperate, the Informant tilted the Techie’s head up and began to gently pour the liquid down his throat.
“We’ve done all we can…” said the Inspector. “We need to carry him back to the city…” He swallowed hard. If the herbs had come too late, the Techie would not even last until they left the forest.
“I’ll carry him,” said the Informant.
“Are you sure, Infy?” asked the Messenger.
The Informant nodded, carrying his friend as they walked back. Tearfully, the boy explained what had happened.
“And it was reminding him of what you two had talked about that brought him back for that moment…?” asked the Informant.
“I wish I’d thought of it sooner…” the Informant wept. He glanced back into his friend’s face. “He probably would’ve come back a little bit… He wouldn’t have had to suffer so much from the delirium…” He sobbed. “My double made him believe that he brought me nothing but suffering and misery but… In reality, it’s the other way around…”
“No, Infy!” said the Messenger. “You brought him back!”
The Informant glanced back at him, and then at the Techie.
“Maybe…” he said. “Or maybe I was right and he was wrong… I really am a no-good, worthless--”
“Don’t say that…” a weak voice pleaded. “Didn’t I teach you anything?”
The Informant could barely conceal his joy as the Techie’s eyes began to open again, this time, focused and clearer.
The Techie managed a weak smile.
“That’s our Techie!” said the Messenger, as the Informant hugged his friend. The Inspector placed a hand on his shoulder, realizing that the Techie’s fever had, indeed, reduced by a couple degrees.
The twins merely rolled their eyes behind their sunglasses, but the others didn’t even notice. They had their friend back.
“How are you feeling?” asked the Informant.
The Techie glanced into the friendly face of his true friend.
“Definitely better,” he said, knowing that it wasn’t just the medicine that was making him feel that way. “…And I hope you are, too.”
The boy nodded, sensing what he was trying to say.
"And don't you scare me like that again!" the boy added.
“You rest up some more,” advised the Inspector. “You need it.”
The Techie wasn’t out of danger yet, but they knew that he’d be fighting it.
*****************************
“You’re worthless…” the cruel spirit was saying. “I am connected to the Dying Informant, you know. I can read his mind; he doesn’t really care for you. He only puts up with you because he’s too nice to tell you the truth-that you deserve to be alone! And I’ll see to it that it ends that way!”
The Techie gasped, his eyes shooting open as he lay in his hospital bed. Beside him in a chair, the Informant jerked awake almost in unison. They both glanced at the other chairs. The Messenger and the Inspector were still asleep, and Double Trouble were in a temporary jail until the Techie recovered enough for them all to take the twerps back to ACME, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment.
“Did you hear him, too?” asked the Techie.
The Informant nodded, wordlessly.
“It’s not true,” the boy said. “I’d never think that about you, I swear! Your friendship means so much to me, Techie…” The tears were welling up in his eyes. “I thought I’d lost you for good that time…”
“I know you wouldn’t think like that,” the Techie said. “I guess that’s why I was so reluctant to believe what that creep was saying…” He trembled. “But I thought I’d lost you, too… That anaconda…”
“You saved my life,” said the Informant. “And you got yourself into worse danger…” He took a deep breath, contemplating on whether or not to tell him what he had told the others about causing him nothing but suffering.
But the Techie seemed to sense his thoughts.
“If it hadn’t been for you, I never would’ve made it,” the Techie said. “You need to know that. And I guess I need to know that I helped you, too.”
“Then why do I keep dragging you and everyone into more and more trouble?” asked the Informant.
“Maybe it’s some sort of test…?” asked the Techie. “Maybe we have to prove that our friendship is the real thing… And that this is a test to make sure that we don’t abandon each other, even when it gets to be too terrible…”
“And that’ll never happen,” the Informant vowed.
“And the four of us know it,” the Techie said.
They lapsed into silence for some time.
“When I finally started to come out of the delirium, I remember waking up, and your trenchcoat was there…” the Techie said.
“It was the only thing I could do…”
“Thanks for looking after me,” said the brunet.
“You’d have done the same for me,” the boy replied, hugging his friend.
“Too true,” said the Techie, but he paused as the Informant pulled away. “What is it?”
“Your fever…” the boy said, placing a hand on his forehead. “I think it’s finally gone!”
“Alright, I knew it!” exclaimed the Messenger. He blinked as the Informant and the Techie stared at him. “Oops…”
“Nice going…” the Inspector deadpanned.
“Now what are you two doing up?” asked the Informant, unable to hide his smirk.
“Same reason you are,” the Messenger said. “We seem to be on the same wavelength…”
“We heard that spirit, too,” explained the Inspector. “Techie, you know you don’t deserve to be alone.”
“No one does,” said the Informant, glancing back at his friend. “And we won’t let that doppelganger of mine succeed.”
“That’s right!” said the Messenger, getting up to address the unseen spirit. “Hear that, Copycat!? You’ll never break us up! So you may as well ship out, you ugly customer!”
“Hey!” the Informant exclaimed.
The Techie couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. And then the Messenger started cackling, which drove the Inspector to chuckle, too. The Informant glanced at all of them before cracking up, too.
Through the window, the sun began to rise, shining its light through the glass and upon the four friends. There would be challenges-and more dangers-ahead, they realized. But as long as they stuck together, they’d be able to share moments like this one for a long time to come.
Author/Artist: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme(s): 23; There is a moment when fears and dreams must collide
Character: the Dying Informant
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (unless otherwise noted) and the story is!
Cross-posted to other LJ comms and my journal
Author's note: This fic was mainly inspired by the prompt "delirium" at platonicism, and the majority of it wrote itself. The characters aren't mine, except for the doppelganger, who was co-created by me and Lucky Ladybug in an RP, and the story is! Thanks to Lucky Ladybug for plot help!
************************
Night had long since fallen upon the Amazon rainforest. A small jaguar kitten busied itself by playing with a few twigs in a low tree branch, growling inquisitively as it added its voice to that of the monkeys and frogs. The young cat did not notice the moonlight filtering through the thick over growth. In the dim, silvery light, water drops were visible on the ends of leaves, contemplating whether or not to fall onto the figure that was lying motionless beneath the big tree.
The small sliver of moonlight illumined the pale, drawn face of the young man beneath the tree. Sweat poured from his face, dampening his dark hair, and his breathing was labored. He was in pain, and a high fever had long since descended upon him, which had left him lying ill on nothing but a long, black trenchcoat that was now serving as his sick bed.
But he was not alone. Out of the moonlight, sitting beside the suffering man, was a much younger, golden-haired boy, the tears falling from his eyes as he regarded the unconscious man.
“You have to hold on, Techie,” he pleaded to him. “You can’t leave us like this…”
He glanced around the area, helplessly. Where were the others with the healing herbs? If they didn’t get here soon, it would be far too late…
The ill man’s eyes opened slightly as a gasp of pain escaped his lips.
“Techie!?” the youth cried.
“I… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… It’s not the Informant’s fault… it’s mine… I caused him to fail the mission… He’s dying in the jungle because of me…” The ill man’s eyes were glazed an unfocused, but the pain, both physical and mental, was evident in his voice. “I killed him… I killed the Dying Informant….”
“Techie, no!” the Informant cried. “You didn’t! I’m alive; I’m fine!” A few more tears escaped the boy’s eyes. “You’re the one who’s… who’s dying…”
He placed a hand on his friend’s forehead and gave a little cry of despair as he realized that the Techie’s fever had increased even further. The Informant pulled out a canteen of water and a handkerchief, trying to moisten the cloth so that he could place it over the Techie’s forehead in a last-ditch effort to try to bring the fever down, however slightly, but the boy was dismayed to find out that the water had long since been warmed up in the tropic heat. It wouldn’t do him much good, if any.
And so the Informant did the only thing he could do: pray.
Please, don’t take him yet, the boy pleaded. We need him here… I need him here.
“He’s out there in the jungle somewhere!” the Techie cried, startling the Informant. “And the others will get lost looking for us…” He made an attempt to rise.
“Techie, you can’t!” cried the Informant, trying to force him to stay down. “You have to rest until the others come back with the herbs!”
“I have to find them…” gasped the Techie, wincing in pain. “I have to…” He trailed off, eyes still out of focus as he tried to glance at the one who was trying to stop him from moving.
“Techie…?” asked the boy, bringing his face to the moonlight. “Do you know me?”
“…No…!” the other replied. “Let me go; I need to find them! Let go!”
He tried to pull away, and the Informant just enveloped his tortured friend in an embrace. The Techie struggled against him, weakly, but he never had a chance of breaking free. With a groan of pain and exhaustion, the brunet fell limply against the boy, unconscious again. And it was all the Informant could do from burying his face in the poor man’s shoulder and cry.
“Techie, please come back,” he whispered into his ear.
How had it come to this? Of all the places to be so dangerously ill, it had to be in the middle of the Amazon…?
“We should never have come here…” the Informant said, tenderly laying the older man back on the trenchcoat that he had lent him as a mattress. “I’m sorry, Techie… I’m sorry for everything…”
**Flashback**
The Informant should’ve known that something wasn’t fully right with the Techie back at ACME, when the Messenger had been going over the mission details with them. Double Trouble had taken a bunch of ancient figurines from a village, undoubtedly to present them to Carmen.
“They were spotted fleeing through the jungle,” the Messenger had told his colleagues. “They would’ve been out a while ago, but they got lost.”
“Lost…?” smirked the Inspector. “Those two party animals getting lost in the jungle doesn’t surprise me… ”
“It doesn’t?” asked the Messenger. “They had a V.I.L.E. helicopter; why wouldn’t they just leave?”
“It’s Carnival season in Rio,” the Inspector informed them. “Something tells me those recalcitrant twerps were trying to make it there before leaving Brazil, but those two apparently aren’t trailblazers.”
“Now if it was me out there, it’d be no problem,” said the Informant, smirking at the thought of the twins wandering around in circles. “I’ve been through the Amazon before, and besides… I know my around in the rough--”
He gave a start as the Techie unleashed a monster sneeze.
“Allergies getting to you…?” the Messenger asked, with a smirk.
The Techie managed a smile.
“Just a little cold,” he insisted.
“Well, be careful,” said the Informant. “You don’t want it to get worse…”
“I’ll be fine,” said the Techie. “It’s you I’m worried about; you still seem a little worse for wear from your last tailing assignment…”
The Informant rubbed a still-sore arm in response. It was another case of him returning to ACME as the Dying Informant. The Messenger and the Inspector had been on a mission; and it had been the Techie who had seen him return in a terrible state. The Informant was more upset about the failed tailing mission and how he was taken out by Wonder Rat, of all people.
“It’s not worth beating yourself up about it,” the Techie had said after the boy had woken up. “You’re still with us. And that’s enough for me and the others.”
“But it’s not good enough for me…” the Informant had replied.
“Not good enough!?” the Techie cried. “It’s not good enough that I’m here, caring for you, relieved to have you back after I thought I’d lost you!?”
That had brought the Informant out of his self-pity fairly quickly.
“I… I’m sorry…” the boy had said. “I didn’t mean…”
“I was worried,” the Techie had replied, hugging him. “So don’t scare me like that again!”
The Messenger brought everyone around by clearing his throat.
“Well, now that we’ve had our briefing, how about we head down to the Amazon?” he asked.
“Well, I’m ready for it!” the Informant said.
They headed for their private ACME plane, the Techie holding back a few more sneezes.
*****************************
The flight itself was uneventful, though the Techie was finding it difficult to sleep. His cold wasn’t getting any better, and it was making him feel oddly out of it.
“Techie?” the boy asked.
“Yeah?” he asked, turning to the Informant.
“We’re here,” he said. “You sure you’re alright?”
“Why do you ask?” the brunet wondered.
“No reason,” the boy replied. “Just making sure you feel okay. Come on.”
They took a boat down the river, admiring the sights of the rainforest.
“Ahoy, Captain!” the Informant exclaimed, tapping the Messenger on the shoulder. “Recalcitrant twerps spotted off the starboard bow!”
The Messenger looked back at him.
“What…?” the older agent asked.
“That way!” the boy said, pointing to the riverbank as the twerps saw them and immediately turned tail. The Informant leaped from the boat before they had even reached the shore.
“Infy, wait up for us!” the Messenger exclaimed, leaping out after him.
“And don’t leave me behind… whoa…” The Techie tried to follow him, but he was overcome by a brief spell of dizziness that caused him to fall short, landing him right in the water.
“Techie!” the Inspector exclaimed, pulling him out. “What happened to you?”
“…I…I think I stood up too quickly…” the other agent replied, massaging his forehead.
The Inspector frowned.
“You seem a little warm,” he said. “Maybe I should take you back to the city; the others can handle this.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” said the Techie. “With any luck, they’ll have already arrested the twins, and we’ll be going back now anyway…”
He trailed off as the two returned.
“They got away…” the Messenger said, with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Techie? What happened to you?” asked the Informant, eyes widening at him.
“I fell in the water…” he grinned, sheepishly.
“I think there’s more to it than that,” said the Inspector. “Techie, I really think one of us should take you back.”
“Guys, the mission…” the Techie said. “We have work to do!”
The Inspector exchanged glances with the others.
“Maybe we can go on for a little while…” said the Informant. “But if you’re not getting any better within an hour, or if you seem to be getting worse, we’re taking you back. Does that sound fair?”
The Messenger crossed his arms, thoughtfully. On the one hand, he really did think that maybe it would be better off if the Techie sat this one out. On the other hand, if he wasn’t a part of the mission, his self-confidence might take a hit.
“One hour,” the Messenger insisted. “And you have to be one hundred percent honest about how you’re feeling.”
“Right,” promised the Techie. “Now let’s catch us some recalcitrant twerps!”
“Yeah!” the Messenger agreed, leading the charge, with the Informant lagging behind to walk with the Techie. The Inspector followed close behind them, keeping an eye out for the slightest sign that the Techie was weakening further.
Some time had passed when voices could be heard up ahead.
“I didn’t want to miss the party any more than you did, but now we’re lost because we’re trying to get to Rio! And it doesn’t help that ACME is on our tail!”
“Well, maybe you should’ve kept track of where you left the chopper…”
“Ah-ha!” the Messenger whispered. “And we make our move in three… two… two-and-a-half--”
The Techie let out another monster sneeze.
“Run for it!” one of the twins yelled.
“Oh, no you don’t!” the Informant said, dashing after them.
“Dying Informant, go home!” the other twin threw over his shoulder as he followed his brother.
The Techie sank to the ground.
“Hey…” said the Messenger. “It’s not your fault… And I’m sure Infy will catch them with no trouble!”
“I don’t think that’s it…” said the Inspector, looking at how pale the Techie was. He felt his forehead, and his eyes widened.
“Techie…!”
“I don’t feel so great…” the brunet admitted.
The Inspector took out the first aid kit and checked his temperature.
“…You’re nearing a hundred and two…” he muttered.
The Messenger shook his head.
“That’s it; we’re leaving right now,” he insisted.
“But we can’t leave the Informant here all alone…!” the Techie said, eyes widening in horror.
“And we won’t,” said the Inspector. “The Messenger will back him up while I take you back. But first of all, we need to give you something for your fever.”
He handed him the bottle of medicine from the kit and a canteen of water, but before the brunet could take one of the pills, he felt his stomach lurch violently.
“I… I think I’m going to be sick…” he gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth. He fled, not wanting the others to see.
“Techie!” the Messenger yelled, running after him. He cursed himself slightly; he should have insisted that he return.
But their search for the Techie was met with a huge distraction. From a different direction came a familiar yell: the Cry of the Dying Informant.
“Infy!” cried the Messenger. What had happened!? Had Double Trouble overpowered him!? There had been occasions in the past when the twins were not satisfied by simply getting the better of him; they had badly hurt the boy before.
But what now!? Do they search for the Techie, or do they try to find the Informant!? The Messenger felt frantic. It would be no good if he and the Inspector got separated, too…
“We…we need to find Infy,” he determined. The boy was in the more immediate danger; they could find the Techie after they found him.
From where he was, the Techie could hear the Informant’s cry, as well.
He ignored his own ill state. He, too, remembered all too clearly how the twins had severely hurt the Informant before. He couldn’t allow them to do so again-especially when it was his fault that Double Trouble had realized that they were there!
He reached the battle scene first, horrified to see the twins tossing the unconscious Informant into the river
“NO!” he yelled, trying to reach his friend.
“Techie! Infy!” yelled the Messenger, as he heard the brunet’s frantic yelling.
The Techie was furious. No longer giving any regard for his own well-being, he tackled the twins. But in his weakened state, he was no match for them.
“Have a little swim,” said one.
They threw him into the water, and the brunet lost the grip on the medicine bottle as he went flying.
The twins were admiring their handiwork when the Inspector slammed into them like a freight train.
“Now that isn’t cool!” said the second twin.
“Neither was taking those artifacts!” the Messenger retorted, snapping the handcuffs on the twins. “Now come on! We have to find Infy and Techie!”
“They’re taking a little swim,” the first twin said.
The Inspector glared at him to be quiet.
“March!” ordered the Messenger. “Quickly! If anything happens to them, it’ll be your fault!” He swallowed hard. And mine, too… he thought.
********************************
The Techie could hardly swim in his weakened condition, but he let the current take him to where the Informant was, trying to bring him to shore. After what seemed like an eternity, he succeeded, bringing him to the edge of a ledge that overlooked a deep ravine.
The youth did not stir.
“You… you have to be alright…” the Techie said, ignoring the fact that his stomach was about to lurch again. “Oh, no…” He didn’t bother to hold back his tears. The Informant was badly hurt because of him, or even worse!
The Techie opened the Informant’s trenchcoat, and cried out upon seeing a large red stain on the boy’s shirt. He frantically search for the source, fearing the worst, but to his (partial) relief, it was coming from a very deep gash in his shoulder. But he was still losing a lot of blood… And the Inspector had the first-aid kit; the Techie had nothing to create a tourniquet with.
“You… You stay here… I’ll be right back…” he said, shakily getting to his feet. “I’ll find the others… they’ll be looking for us…”
He hobbled off, no longer caring about himself or his fever, which seemed to have increased in the last several minutes.
The Techie looked around, despairing. Which way had he come from? All of the trees looked the same…
He wandered around, calling for the others, fighting the weakness and the nauseating feeling that plagued him. But he let out a moan of despair as he saw the familiar golden curls of his still-unconscious friend.
“I’m sorry… I--”
The Techie froze, horrified, as he saw a large, greenish-brown snake slithering across the Informant’s chest. The serpent’s tongue sniffed at the wound, and as the boy twitched ever so slightly, the snake began to work its way around him, aiming to constrict him.
“NO!” the Techie cried, trying to wrench the anaconda away from the Informant with his bare hands. But the beast was far heavier than he had imagined. The snake brushed him off, absorbed in its task. “You can’t have him! You can’t!”
It was an exertion just to try to get the snake to budge. And gravity worked; the anaconda pulled off to the side slightly, sending it falling over the ledge’s edge. But the snake had already managed to get a slight hold on the boy, and took him with it.
The Techie cried out as the boy and the snake tumbled out of sight down the ravine. The brunet tried to climb down the side of the ravine, but his arms were so weakened that partway down, he slipped and fell the rest of the way.
He hit the ground hard, in pain and feeling more ill than ever before. Neither the Informant nor the anaconda were anywhere in sight. The Techie tried to get to his feet to look for him, but he had no strength
His friend was out there, dying alone in the jungle, if not by the anaconda, then by the blood loss. And it was his fault entirely.
The Techie sobbed in despair as the darkness closed in.
A little bit away, a very traumatized anaconda began to pull away from the boy. It wasn’t worth it, the creature decided.
The Informant, in the meantime, was being prodded back to consciousness by a deep feeling that told him that he must do so, and that he must do so immediately. The boy forced his eyes open and came eye to eye with the giant snake. He yelled again, prompting the anaconda to flee all the more quickly.
He sat up. It was a miracle that he was still here, he realized. Something must have made that anaconda leave him alone. But what…? And how did he get here? The last thing he recalled was losing a battle to the recalcitrant twerps…
He had to find the others; they would undoubtedly be searching frantically for him. But the Informant hadn’t gone for more than two dozen yards when he found the Techie in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the ravine.
“Techie!” he gasped, rushing to his friend’s side. He was unaware of the seriousness of his illness, having left before the Techie had gotten much worse.
“He’s dead…” the Techie moaned, trembling violently from the high fever. “He’s dead, and I killed him…”
“Who’s dead!?” asked the Informant, horrified that something had happened to the others. He tried to help his friend up, but recoiled at how hot he felt. “Techie…!” he gasped. “You’re burning up!”
The Techie didn’t even seem to hear him. He tried to get up, not even making it more than an inch off of the ground.
“Let me go…” he pleaded. “I… I need to find the Informant…”
“But I’m right here!” the boy exclaimed. But his voice did not alleviate the older agent’s worries in any way.
“The Dying Informant is dead… he’s dead!” the Techie howled, as the boy stared at him in horror. “He’s dead, and it’s all because of me! I tried to save him… I tried so hard…” A sob escaped his lips. “I let that anaconda kill him… I tried to fight it, but I let it kill him!”
And now the Informant realized why the snake had left him; the Techie had used up the very last ounce of his strength trying to save him, and he had been convinced that he had failed.
“Techie!” the Informant wailed. “I’m not dead! I’m not! I’m with you! I’m right here…”
The Techie’s eyes opened slightly, but they were not looking at anything.
“Whoever you are…” he murmured, unable to discern who was with him. “Just leave me here…”
“If I leave you here, you’ll die!” the Informant cried.
The Techie’s eyes closed again.
“But then I’ll see him again…” he said, his voice barely audible.
“No, Techie! Look at me! Look into my eyes, and you’ll see me again--!”
But he had already gone under again.
“Infy! Techie!”
“Oh, thank goodness…” the youth gasped in relief. “I’m here, Bro! Techie’s with me, but he’s in a bad state…”
The Inspector and the Messenger soon made their way down into the ravine, bringing Double Trouble with them.
“Something’s really wrong with Techie,” said the Informant. “He’s got a terrible fever…”
“He had one for most of the time we were in the rainforest,” said the Messenger. “I should’ve insisted he go back…”
He trailed off at the Inspector’s expression as he read the reading on the thermometer.
“A hundred and four…”
“No…” gasped the Informant. “Don’t you have the medicine in the first aid kit?”
“I gave it to him,” said the Inspector. “He was about to take it when he ran off, feeling nauseous.”
“Oh, you mean that bottle of pills he dropped as we threw him into the river?” asked one of the twins.
The three agents glared daggers at him.
“What now?” cried the Informant. “It’s getting dark; we can’t possibly find the medicine bottle now!”
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” said the Messenger, glaring at Double Trouble. “The Inspector and I will take these two back to the village where they stole the artifacts from. And once we make sure that everything’s back where it needs to be, we’ll kindly request the villagers if they have something to cure our ill friend.”
“We’ll need to take Techie’s handheld,” said the Inspector. “It has a translator and a GPS, so these two can finally get their sense of direction back.” He glared at the twins. “And you’d better take us to that village double quick, or you’ll be facing a murder charge. And before that, you’ll have to answer to us.”
“Yes, Sir…” the twins said, in unison. They could tell that he was more than serious.
“Infy…” said the Messenger. “It’s going to be hard for you, but you need to look after Techie. Keep him with us.”
“You know I will,” the boy vowed. “Be back quickly, though.”
“We will,” promised the Messenger, as he and the Inspector marched the twins off.
As they left, the Informant took off his trenchcoat, spreading it across the ground, and folding one end to make a pillow. And then he gently laid the Techie across it. The next few hours would be spent trying to communicate with the Techie as he slipped into periods of delirium, where he would cry out about how he needed to find the Informant, or what was left of him, only to slip back into unconsciousness again.
And through it all, the poor boy was unable to comfort him.
**End flashback**
Deep in the unconscious recesses of his mind, the Techie was wandering helplessly. He could see the vision, clear as day: the Informant, breathing his last in the anaconda’s thick coils.
The Techie screamed in agony, and the Informant, who had to hear it, could no longer hold back his sorrow. He sobbed.
Why…? Why couldn’t he convince him that he was alive and well?
“Techie…” the boy began, but he couldn’t find the words to say. And did it really matter? He was too out of it to believe him. “Techie, please… Stay with me…”
“Well, well, well…” a cold and familiar voice addressed him. “It looks as though the clumsy Techie stumbled into a mess he can’t get out of!”
The Informant paled. The voice sounded like his own. The boy whipped around to see his cruel doppelganger, the treacherous turncoat who betrayed the colonists to the redcoats during the battle of Bunker Hill.
“You!?” the boy cried. “What do you want from me!?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” the double said. “I don’t want anything from you this time…” His cruel gaze pierced the Techie. “I’m just here to speed your friend’s journey to the spirit world.”
“Oh, no you don’t!” the Informant vowed. “Techie’s not going to die; he’s going to fight until he comes back.”
“That’s why I intend to break that will to fight,” said the doppelganger. “You see, he thinks you’re dead… So I’ll just masquerade as you and send him on a guilt trip.”
“Not while I’m here!” the boy yelled, lunging at his double.
He went right through him.
“You seem to forget…” sighed the spirit. “I can do things that you can’t.”
The Informant clawed at the spirit, but it did no good. The doppelganger placed two fingers on the Techie’s forehead, tapping into his mind.
“Stop it!” cried the real Informant. He attempted to pull the Techie away, but the spirit put up a forcefield between them, forbidding the boy to reach his friend.
“Techie!” the doppelganger cried, his voice an echo of the Informant’s. “Techie!”
The older agent stirred.
“Is… is that… Is that really you?”
“No!” cried the real Informant. “It’s my double! You can’t listen to a word he says--”
“Of course it’s me!” the doppelganger snarled.
The Techie, still not conscious, recoiled at the sound.
“What happened to you!?”
The Techie wandered through the haze in his mind, and that was when he saw a ghostly form of the Informant, a look of disdain on his face.
“You…!” the Techie exclaimed, horrified. “You… You’re a ghost…”
“Of course I’m a ghost!” the image replied. “Look! Look at what you did to me-you and your stupid fever!”
“But… I tried… I tried to save you…”
“Techie, that isn’t me!” the real Informant howled. “I’m alive!”
“Trying wasn’t good enough!” the doppelganger roared back. “Do you know what it’s like!? Do you know what it’s like to have the air squeezed out of you!? Do you know how much I suffered because of you!?”
“No…!” cried the Techie, his voice laced with agony. “I would’ve done anything to save you… anything! You’re one of the closest friends I’ve ever had--”
“Yeah? Well, you’re the worst friend I ever had,” the doppelganger shot back. “A real friend wouldn’t have left me to die like that! I’m embarrassed that I ever thought of you as a friend! You can go ahead and head on over to the other side if you want, but you’re going solo. There couldn’t be anything worse than hanging out with you for all eternity.”
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
“Too little, too late,” said the spirit, turning to walk away.
“Don’t leave me!” the Techie cried, breaking the real Informant’s heart to pieces. “I need you!”
“Where were you when I needed you!?” the double roared.
“I’m sorry…! I’m sorry!” The Techie was beyond hysterical.
“Stop it!” cried the real Informant. “STOP IT!”
And, suddenly, he got an idea. Perhaps there was one way he could reach the Techie. Their conversation…
“Techie, do you remember what you told when I was wallowing in self-pity that time?” he asked.
The doppelganger glared at him, but the boy kept on talking.
“I was ready to give up on myself, but you made me believe in myself… Even when I didn’t!” the Informant cried. “I was saying that everything I had done wasn’t good enough… But you wouldn’t hear any of it! And, through that, you saved me!”
The Techie was in more agony than ever before. The fever was at a deadly level, but he was more concerned with how his dearest friend had died because of him, and now wanted nothing to do with him. The Techie’s only solace had been the thought that death would reunite him with his poor friend, but now… He would never see him again.
“Don’t go!” he pleaded, trying to grab the spirit’s trenchcoat to stop him from going. “I’m so sorry… I have caused you nothing but suffering… I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, let alone be your friend…” He sobbed. “But I need you…”
“Nothing doing,” the spirit replied.
But something was strange… The Techie could hear a voice coming from far away, and it sounded like the Informant. But… he was right here, wasn’t he?
The spirit looked furious as the Techie began to discern the words.
“You saved me, Techie! I would be nothing if you hadn’t believed in me… If you hadn’t convinced me to believe in myself and show me how much other people really did think of me as more than just an expendable agent! I’m alive because of you! ...But is that not enough for you!? Are you going to believe my double after I cared and looked after you...!?”
“It’s you…” the Techie gasped. It was the conversation he had had with the Informant only a few days ago! He glanced at the spirit before him. Even in his delirious, fever-affected mind, he finally realized one critical fact.
“You’re not the Informant…” the Techie said.
The spirit hissed in frustration, vanishing. The Techie didn’t move; he just took in the sound of the real Informant talking. He was alive, then…? Could it even be possible…?
But the Techie’s expression turned to one of horror as the Informant stopped talking in mid-sentence.
“You thought you’d lost me. Well, now I’m losing you, and you can’t let that happen…now when--”
And he spoke no more
He was in trouble! And the Techie absolutely had to help him this time!
The real Informant had been talking when his double glared at him with a livid expression. The cruel spirit left the Techie and instead attacked the Informant, enveloping the boy in a mist of shadows, making it very difficult for him to breathe, much less talk.
“This isn’t the end…” the doppelganger vowed. “If I possess you, I can still carry out my plan. After all, I am you!”
“No…” a weak voice replied. “You’ll never be him.”
“Techie…!” the real Informant gasped, fighting to his friend’s side.
“Impossible!” the doppelganger roared.
“Not really…” said the Techie, placing a hand on the Informant’s shoulder, as though to make sure he was real.
The spirit’s eyes blazed, and the mists began to envelop the Techie, too, whose breathing was already labored.
“No…!” gasped the Informant, enfolding his friend in a protective embrace. “I won’t let you hurt him anymore!”
The Techie was fighting a losing battle to hold on. But he had one solitary comfort-the Informant was alive, and still his friend. And no matter what happened to them now, one day they would be reunited on the other side.
The darkness began to close in.
“Techie!”
“Infy!”
The Informant was hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. With a cry of rage, the doppelganger retreated, taking his mists with him as the Inspector and the Messenger arrived with the herbs and Double Trouble.
“Are you two alright!?” asked the Messenger, looking them both over as the Inspector got to work making the herbal tea that the villagers instructed him to make.
“I’ll be alright,” said the Informant, still hugging the Techie. “But he’s gotten worse, and that double of mine is responsible for it!”
He was crying again.
“Give him this…” said the Inspector, handing him the herbal tea.
“Techie…?” the boy asked, holding the cup to the ill agent’s lips. “Come on… You have to take this; it’ll bring your fever down.”
The Techie did not respond.
“Techie, you have to drink it!” cried the Messenger. “We can’t lose you now!”
Desperate, the Informant tilted the Techie’s head up and began to gently pour the liquid down his throat.
“We’ve done all we can…” said the Inspector. “We need to carry him back to the city…” He swallowed hard. If the herbs had come too late, the Techie would not even last until they left the forest.
“I’ll carry him,” said the Informant.
“Are you sure, Infy?” asked the Messenger.
The Informant nodded, carrying his friend as they walked back. Tearfully, the boy explained what had happened.
“And it was reminding him of what you two had talked about that brought him back for that moment…?” asked the Informant.
“I wish I’d thought of it sooner…” the Informant wept. He glanced back into his friend’s face. “He probably would’ve come back a little bit… He wouldn’t have had to suffer so much from the delirium…” He sobbed. “My double made him believe that he brought me nothing but suffering and misery but… In reality, it’s the other way around…”
“No, Infy!” said the Messenger. “You brought him back!”
The Informant glanced back at him, and then at the Techie.
“Maybe…” he said. “Or maybe I was right and he was wrong… I really am a no-good, worthless--”
“Don’t say that…” a weak voice pleaded. “Didn’t I teach you anything?”
The Informant could barely conceal his joy as the Techie’s eyes began to open again, this time, focused and clearer.
The Techie managed a weak smile.
“That’s our Techie!” said the Messenger, as the Informant hugged his friend. The Inspector placed a hand on his shoulder, realizing that the Techie’s fever had, indeed, reduced by a couple degrees.
The twins merely rolled their eyes behind their sunglasses, but the others didn’t even notice. They had their friend back.
“How are you feeling?” asked the Informant.
The Techie glanced into the friendly face of his true friend.
“Definitely better,” he said, knowing that it wasn’t just the medicine that was making him feel that way. “…And I hope you are, too.”
The boy nodded, sensing what he was trying to say.
"And don't you scare me like that again!" the boy added.
“You rest up some more,” advised the Inspector. “You need it.”
The Techie wasn’t out of danger yet, but they knew that he’d be fighting it.
*****************************
“You’re worthless…” the cruel spirit was saying. “I am connected to the Dying Informant, you know. I can read his mind; he doesn’t really care for you. He only puts up with you because he’s too nice to tell you the truth-that you deserve to be alone! And I’ll see to it that it ends that way!”
The Techie gasped, his eyes shooting open as he lay in his hospital bed. Beside him in a chair, the Informant jerked awake almost in unison. They both glanced at the other chairs. The Messenger and the Inspector were still asleep, and Double Trouble were in a temporary jail until the Techie recovered enough for them all to take the twerps back to ACME, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment.
“Did you hear him, too?” asked the Techie.
The Informant nodded, wordlessly.
“It’s not true,” the boy said. “I’d never think that about you, I swear! Your friendship means so much to me, Techie…” The tears were welling up in his eyes. “I thought I’d lost you for good that time…”
“I know you wouldn’t think like that,” the Techie said. “I guess that’s why I was so reluctant to believe what that creep was saying…” He trembled. “But I thought I’d lost you, too… That anaconda…”
“You saved my life,” said the Informant. “And you got yourself into worse danger…” He took a deep breath, contemplating on whether or not to tell him what he had told the others about causing him nothing but suffering.
But the Techie seemed to sense his thoughts.
“If it hadn’t been for you, I never would’ve made it,” the Techie said. “You need to know that. And I guess I need to know that I helped you, too.”
“Then why do I keep dragging you and everyone into more and more trouble?” asked the Informant.
“Maybe it’s some sort of test…?” asked the Techie. “Maybe we have to prove that our friendship is the real thing… And that this is a test to make sure that we don’t abandon each other, even when it gets to be too terrible…”
“And that’ll never happen,” the Informant vowed.
“And the four of us know it,” the Techie said.
They lapsed into silence for some time.
“When I finally started to come out of the delirium, I remember waking up, and your trenchcoat was there…” the Techie said.
“It was the only thing I could do…”
“Thanks for looking after me,” said the brunet.
“You’d have done the same for me,” the boy replied, hugging his friend.
“Too true,” said the Techie, but he paused as the Informant pulled away. “What is it?”
“Your fever…” the boy said, placing a hand on his forehead. “I think it’s finally gone!”
“Alright, I knew it!” exclaimed the Messenger. He blinked as the Informant and the Techie stared at him. “Oops…”
“Nice going…” the Inspector deadpanned.
“Now what are you two doing up?” asked the Informant, unable to hide his smirk.
“Same reason you are,” the Messenger said. “We seem to be on the same wavelength…”
“We heard that spirit, too,” explained the Inspector. “Techie, you know you don’t deserve to be alone.”
“No one does,” said the Informant, glancing back at his friend. “And we won’t let that doppelganger of mine succeed.”
“That’s right!” said the Messenger, getting up to address the unseen spirit. “Hear that, Copycat!? You’ll never break us up! So you may as well ship out, you ugly customer!”
“Hey!” the Informant exclaimed.
The Techie couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. And then the Messenger started cackling, which drove the Inspector to chuckle, too. The Informant glanced at all of them before cracking up, too.
Through the window, the sun began to rise, shining its light through the glass and upon the four friends. There would be challenges-and more dangers-ahead, they realized. But as long as they stuck together, they’d be able to share moments like this one for a long time to come.