Motherboard

Star Date: 08.10.3010

I sat up abruptly, gasping for breath on the rusty metal floor, blinking rapidly as the world came in around me. My hand shook as it clutched a fist full of the torn, damp shirt over my heart; trying to stop its wild racing.

Where am I?

I took in the rundown warehouse.

Who am I?

A searing pain overcame me before I clutched my head in desperation.

What is this?

I moved my hands back to see a thick, blue, bloody residue from my forehead.

With no memory and confusion beginning to fill me, I clumsily began to stand up. I slowly turned my head to the left and spotted a door.

That must be the way out.

I gathered up the strength I had left, and staggered to the door, as my vision began to double.

I struggled to get the rusted door open, and as it gave with a resounding creek, I was blinded by the brightness of the sun.

Stretching out for miles was nothing but sand. The question of how I got here continued to flood my mind, but I was snapped back into reality by another wave of pain.

I need to leave.

Haggardly, I began to stagger down the endless sandy road. I was soon well enough to run as my legs weren’t too tired, I just needed to escape.

It seemed like hours that I was running down that road when I spotted a hover vehicle heading in my direction.

I have to get out of here...this is my only chance.

I boldly stood in the center of the road with my arms stretched wide. Then my eyesight started to go, and that’s when the world went black.

“Cyd?”

I heard a voice call out that name repeatedly.

Is that my name? Can’t be.

I forced my eyes open trying to focus on the figure that was in front of me.

“Thank God! You’re finally awake,” she exclaimed, getting up from her chair to envelope me in a hug. She was a slender woman, tan skin, shaved head, and a blue tattoo of a dragon on the right side of her face.

“Who are you!?” I exclaimed as I shoved her off. I lost my balance doing so and grasped the side of the hovering platform bed that I was sitting on.

“Did she just ask who you were?” Said a tall man with a bionic arm as he entered the room.

“How did I get here?” I was worried they could hear the panic in my voice.

“Cyd. You need to calm down, so I can explain everything to you,” the dragon tattoo woman said softly as she took my hands into hers. She further explained while looking into my eyes, “Your name is Cyd Jones. I’m Gemma Quintanilla, and that scary gentleman over there is my husband, Trei.”

“And who are you to me?” I retorted, taking my hands away from Gemma.

Trei replied, “You’re our partner. We work for an organization of bounty hunters named Motherboard,” he seemed calm, placing his bionic arm around Gemma’s waist.

“This….Something doesn’t feel right,” I said as I tried to get up from the hover bed but collapsed back down.

“Cyd, you’re too weak, you need to rest!” Gemma exclaimed. “Here,” She placed a small black notebook on my lap “This is the notebook that you usually use for investigations. You ran off when you thought you had figured out where our bounty was. You accidentally dropped this on the ground,” her eyes left mine to glance at Trei.

“It’s been over a week since then, Cyd. We thought we’d lost you.” Trei stated as he brought Gemma closer to him.

The room was quiet as the hum of the technology in the medical room took over.

“I-I think….I’m going to need a-a moment” I stuttered as I laid down on the hover bed with my back to the strangers.

Gemma whispered, “Sure. Take all the time you need.”

The last thing I remember before everything went black was the sound of their feet, and the door closing softly behind them.



“Let me go!” I heard my voice shouting repeatedly in the darkness.

“Look. You’re going to have to put the electro restraints on her because she is too much!” said a male voice over my screams.

I slowly opened my eyes, as I was welcomed by the whirring of machinery around me. I got off the bed and made my way towards the door.

I made my way through what looked like an apartment, and one observation that I made was that--they were rich.

There were large walls of glass windows that overlooked the neon-lit city below. The white, minimalistic furniture that was decorated throughout the apartment, only made its surroundings seem more desolate. I slowly made my way to the living room where Trei and Gemma were sitting on the sofa talking to one another.

“Well, look who’s awake?” joked Trei, as Gemma turned from him to greet me with a warm smile.

“I don’t know how I got here, but if you say that’s what happened,” I paused still feeling unsure, “Then I will believe that what you said is true.”

“Of course it’s true, Cyd. We have no reason to lie to you,” Gemma said as she got up to give me another hug. My body went stiff because something was vaguely familiar about her perfume.

“Since that’s settled,” Trei stated as he got up from the sofa, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

“We have to leave for a couple of days because I got a tip that the bounty is in San Valiin now,” he casually mentioned as he crossed his arms.

“Who’s the bounty?” I blurted out with curiosity.

Gemma replied, “They’re twins that go by the name “Gemini”. Didn't you read the notebook that I gave you?”

“No, I can’t say that I have,” I shrugged, looking back out the windows that overlooked the city.

Trei was stern, “You might want to do that if you want to know who you’re up against. It might trigger some memories of why you ended up in the middle of nowhere.”

I nodded and turned to head back to the medical room.

As I walked back to the room, a bright white light appeared through a slightly ajar door.

Was this door like this when I was heading to the living room?

I stopped and looked through the small space to see the craziest thing that I could have ever imagined.

It was a room filled to the brim with money. Gemma and Trei were not only rich--but FILTHY rich.

Another pang of pain pulsed through my skull and I steadied myself on the wall.

“Are you alright, Cyd?” asked Gemma softly, coming toward me from behind.

“I’m fine. Do you need help packing?” I asked, turning slightly to see her concerned silhouette.

“No, Trei and I will take care of that,” Gemma stated as she placed her hand on my shoulder. “We leave in the morning. I placed some clothes for you in the closet for tomorrow, since the ones you came in are no longer usable.”

“Thank you, Gemma...I’m going to go rest now.” I shrugged out of her palm and slowly walked to the medical room, closing the door behind me.

I sighed and leaned against the wall in the tech-filled room. That’s when I spotted the small black notebook sitting on the hover bed.

I walked over to the bed and opened the book. Inside of the front cover it read:

Property of Cyd Jones.

I began to flip through pages of what seemed like random scribblings until a note caught my eye:

BEWARE THE MOTHERBOARD.

What?! I thought I was a part of the motherboard. Gemma and Trei said that I was their partner. Why should I beware of an organization that I am a part of?

I began to feel weary again as I digested what I had just read. Tossing the book at the foot of the bed, I struggled to climb onto it, and I collapsed; letting sleep take over me.



“Let me go!” I heard my voice shouting repeatedly in the darkness.

“Look. You’re going to have to put the electro restraints on her because she is too much!” said a male voice over my screams.

“Just shut her down! Gemini just said to bring the body back. We’re not getting paid any less than if we were to bring her back not functioning,” retorted the female voice in response.

“You’re just mad that I beat you at your own game!” I cackled at the blurred figure of a woman sitting in front of me.

“You can keep talking if you want to, Cyd. I’m not a fugitive. You are!” the woman taunted as she used the butt of her gun to nudge my forehead.

“I’m disappointed in what the Motherboard has become. I wanted to be one of you!” I said as I felt the cold, blue tears leave my eyes, “The organization did so much for San Valiin. They helped their people. Now all they do is kick us around!” I sneered.

The male voice stated, “We do what we do for your own good. But, it still doesn’t answer why you broke into our funds and stole $20,000.”

“I did it to make a statement. To give the money back to the people which you stole from,” I felt the corner of my mouth lift into a smirk.

“We took what we were owed. Don’t try to make yourself sound like a hero for your failed “Robin Hood” attempt” The woman laughed as she stood up towering over me.

Wait….that perfume.

That was when everything came into focus. I was in a hover vehicle handcuffed to the gridded floor.

The male voice that I heard was driving with that looked like a bionic arm.

I was still smirking when I looked up slowly at the menacing woman above me to see someone that I didn’t expect--Gemma Quintanilla.