DMAORG - Code of Conduct

Tyler awakes to the sound of whispers outside. For a moment, he thinks - he knows - he's back in Dema. The air feels cold, and whispers don't belong elsewhere than such a gloomy place. But then, a ray of sunshine peeks through the half-closed tent, and the warmth of it shifts Tyler's mood so quick he opens his eyes as if waking up from a bad dream. Only it's not a bad dream. Not even a dream at all. This is his life now. His life in Trench.

Still, the whispers continue, and Tyler is intrigued. Swiftly, silently, he moves to bring his ears closer to the opening. He can't peak outside without being seen, but he picks up the voices clearly now, and he recognizes this one more easily than he'd rather admit it.

"Something's wrong," she says, and Tyler can feel the nervousness in her voice, even from that far. It's funny, it's like he knows her so well she can't hide anything from him... except he doesn't remember knowing her.

"You know it'll come back, Jenna, you just gotta be p-"

"Be patient, I know," she cuts the other person off, "I know. It's just... It's been weeks, Josh. It's never taken that long. What if he's... what if he never remembers?"

Tyler's blood grows cold. It's Jenna and Josh, and they're talking about him. About the very thing that still makes him anxious. And now it's making him angry, because yes, it's been weeks, and no, he still doesn't remember, but the very people talking about it behind his back now have assured him countless times that this was normal, that there was nothing to worry about, that things were all fine and there was nothing wrong in the world now that he was out of Dema. And they both lied.

Now that he thinks of it, besides the whole amnesia thing, Tyler still doesn't have ANY answers to his MANY questions. What was this place? How did he land in Dema if this was his home? How have they been able to rescue him, and why exactly did he forget where he came from? How many times has this happened already? And why were they not just simply telling him about the things he could not remember? Why were they hiding this from him?

"Talking about me?"

Tyler is now standing right outside of his tent. He doesn't care that he is still in his underwear. He doesn't care that his hair is all over the place or that he won't look too great in front of the girl he likes (THAT he remembers very well now). All he cares about is the truth. He deserves it. And he's going to get it. He hasn't come out of this hell hole that was Dema just to sit there and hope to remember, has he?

Josh and Jenna flinch at the sound of his voice, and immediately seem to feel sorry, but it's too late. Tyler doesn't want apologies. He doesn't want anyone to feel sorry about him and his situation.

"You know, you could just talk with me instead," his says, his voice still hoarse from the night he just woke up from. "Instead of lying, I mean."

"Ty, it's not what you th-"

"What is it, then?"

"Tyler," Jenna starts with her angel voice.

And Tyler has to fight himself in order not to drop it, because she looks so soft and nice and he wants to believe in anything that comes out of her mouth. But he can't. This is not how it works. "What is it, when you tell me I shouldn't worry about not remembering things, and do exactly that, worry about it behind my back? What is it if that's not lying?"

"We just care about your feelings, Ty," Josh lets out with a sigh, an apologetic look on his face.

"Yeah, we know you're anxious in nature, we just-"

"You don't KNOW me," Tyler's voice booms in the silence of the early morning. And he believes that. How can they know him so well, when he doesn't even know himself? It's frustrating, and Tyler closes his hands into fists, but what he really wants to do is punch something, and it angers him even more because he was never subject to these kinds of mood swings before. It wasn't joyful in Dema, and that's an understatement, but at least he could control himself there. Control his emotions.

"Tyler?" a new voice asks as Clancy appears at his sides. "Are you the cause of all this ruckus?" and he grins, and Tyler just flips. Something snaps in his head, and he finally lets go of all his inhibitions to speak his mind.

"You," he goes, pointing a finger at Clancy. "What's your deal?"

"What's my- What?"

"What's your role in this? You got me out of there, didn't you?"

"We all did, I just h-"

"Cut the bullshit. You were in there with me. And you knew. You remembered where you came from, and what you had to do. How come?"

"Tyler," Jenna cuts him softly. "It's complicated, and there are things we don't even understand ourselves..."

"Then tell me what you know? How's that complicated?"

Nobody answers. Tyler's eyes switch from Clancy to Jenna, then to Josh, and back to Clancy again. They all look away, unable to stand his stare for long.

"What are you hiding from me, huh?" The anger in Tyler's voice hasn't subsided. In fact, it's even stronger now. "You all seem so certain the Bishops are the bad guys, but you're just as enigmatic as they are, and I'm seriously starting to doubt everything that's going on here."

"We're on the good side of things, Tyler," Jenna says, "I promise!"

And Tyler really really wants to believe her, but everything is so confusing, and he doesn't understand anything, and he just wants to remember, he just wants to know what he's doing here, what's the purpose, what's going on? And he's just as lost as when he was in Dema, and even though everything here looks more beautiful, more warm, more alive, even if HE feels more alive than he's ever felt... he doesn't see the point, and he feels his heart grow cold again.

"If you really want me in on this, you have to fill me in. Now."

|-/|-/|-/

Author's Note:

I guess you can tell I haven't had much work these days: two updates in two days? Hasn't happened in at least two years! I hope you enjoy this, and I hope I'll get as much free time in the weeks to come so I can keep on writing - I've missed it so much!