The Chip (Part 5 of the Flawless Imperfection series-last part!!!)

Author's note: This is the 5th (and last) part of the Flawless Imperfection series, so I would suggest you read that before you read this (if you haven't already)! Thanks! :D

LAST STORY OF 2020!!!

10 days. That's all we had to take on the most powerful government in the world.

“10 DAYS?!” Jax exclaimed. “How are we supposed to find and deactivate the Chip in 10 days?”

“Finding the Chip won’t be a problem, however getting past the guards will.” Mira reminded everyone. Even though the Chip doesn’t work on Jennie anymore, she can remember everything from when she was still controlled by the Chip.

Jennie nodded. “I heard the Lead Equal saying that everyone will be under the Chip’s control by the start of the new year, which is in 10 days. We won’t stand a chance once the entire world is under control of the Chip.”

“Well… what should we do first?” Luke asked, glancing over at me.

“Hm… I guess we can visit my dad… he helped us last time.” I looked at Jax, who nodded along with me.

“This is a weird question but, what’s his name?” Jennie had an expression on her face that I couldn’t quite make out.

“Number 665, why do you ask?”

“N-no reason!” All the color drained from her face, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it.

“Alright, let’s get going then!” Mira clapped her hands. But, despite the cheery attitude, I had a sinking feeling that we were forgetting something.

We waited until night to sneak into my house, time consuming but necessary.

There were no guards in front of my house, but there were one in front of everyone else’s. This was strange, but I wasn’t too worried about it.

The front door was unlocked, which was pretty normal. I picked up the nearest item (a coat-rack) and banged it against the floor, doing the same thing I did last time when Jax and I asked my Father for help.

But nobody came downstairs.

“Father…?” I whispered. Something was wrong.

“Uh… Adira…?” Jennie hesitantly glanced up at me, her brown eyes filled with regret. “There’s something that I didn’t tell you…”

“Yeah? What is it?” 

“I… uh…” she took a deep breath. “When I was still controlled by the Chip, they made me kill someone. I didn’t really pay attention to him because I was still under the Chip’s control, but I know that his name was Number 665.”

My heart stopped.

“Omg, Adira… I am so, so, so sorry! I should have told you before, I’m sorry!” Jennie cried, tears forming in her eyes. She walked out of the room, getting a tissue to dry her tears.

But before I could speak, before my mind could even think about what Jennie had said, the front door banged open.

“HANDS UP!” Guards dressed in white stormed into the house, their Lasers pointed at our hearts.

I frantically looked at my friends, whose eyes were all filled with fear.

Jennie poked her head out of the doorframe, and her eyes widened when she saw the Guards.

I shook my head the slightest bit. There’s a chance that the Equals don’t know that the Chip doesn’t work on her, so she may be able to help us.

Jennie must have interpreted my message correctly, because she nodded and ran off.

“Do not move, or I will shoot him.” The leader of the Guards indicated to Luke, his finger on the trigger.

“Okay, okay! We won’t!” Jax glared at him, putting his hands up.

Luke, Mira, and I did the same thing.

“How did you find us?” Mira asked.

“You can thank your little friend over there for that,” another Guard smirked, gesturing to me.

“Yeah, the Equals put a tracking device on her, it’s how we knew you were in Thykora as well,” the Lead Guard added.

The tracking device. I froze. I completely forgot that I still had that! How could I forget? It was the reason for the fight that I had with Jax. 

“Oh… so you didn’t find my note?” Jax asked. The Guards shook their heads.

“Oh God, I am so sorry! I can’t believe I forgot about the tracking device in me…”

A Guard came up behind me, holding a syringe that I knew way too well.

He plunged it in my arm, and everything went black once again.

I woke up to a familiar scene, the white walls and bedspread only adding to my nausea.

No, no no no no no! I can’t be back here! My heartbeat quickened. I desperately glanced around the room. This time my arms and legs were strapped to the bed, making me unable to move.

I guess they’re taking more precautions this time. That made me feel a bit better, at least my escape had upset them. But at least this time my memories weren’t erased. 

“Here we are again, Number 1027. This time, however, our circumstance is a bit different. You see, we are going to take you to a research facility, to see how your mind works. Just so we make sure that nobody can resist the Chip.” The Lead Equal walked back into the room, and my breath caught, hoping that they didn’t catch Jennie yet.

“We will get a Guard to escort you and your friends to the facility, she is one of our most trusted Guards.” She smirked at me, knowing that I was now getting worried. It was going to be hard to escape one of their most trusted Guards.

“Good seeing you, 1027. Next time I see you will have a Chip inside of you. I cannot wait for that day to come, you have caused us so much trouble.” The Equal smiled at me, her eyes containing nothing but malice. 

She seemed to be expecting something, maybe an apology? But I stayed silent, only glaring at her from the bed.

She shook her head, disappointed, and left the room, leaving me to struggle alone in my binds.

They were leather, almost impossible for me to break out of by myself. I lay there, helpless, until I heard the door open again.

I sighed. It’s hopeless now. There’s no way that I will escape again.

“Adira!” A voice hissed.

I looked up. “What?”

“Shh, it’s me, Jennie!” I covered my mouth. They must have not found Jennie after all! 

“Most trusted Guards?” I tried not to laugh.

“Yeah, that was before the Chip stopped working on me, but they don’t need to know that,” Jennie winked, but something was wrong. I’ll worry about it later, we gotta get out of here first.

She helped me out of my binds, and “handcuffed” my hands. Jennie escorted me out of my room, and we collected the others.

Jennie put her fingers to her lips to silence any questions, and as soon as we were out of sight, we ran.

Mira stood there, gasping, still in shock. “Wow I never expected this to be that dangerous, but I mean we all need some danger in our lives to keep it interesting,” she joked, but her joke hid the fear in her voice.

“Yep, sadly we have already done this all before,” Jax sighed, looking at me.

“Well, what next then?” Luke asked.

“Before that… Adira…” Jennie wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“No, it’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” I smiled to let her know that I didn’t blame her. “It’s the Equals’ faults.” I bit back tears. My Father and I were never very well acquainted, but once I found out that he wasn’t like the others, I always had the hope that we could get to know each other.

But that will never happen.

Jax came up behind me, wrapping me in a hug. I buried my face in his arms, letting my tears out.

My friends walked up to us, and comforted me.

“S-sorry,” I sniffled.

“There’s nothing to be sorry of,” Luke said, hugging me as well.

“Well, let’s make your father proud, shall we?” Mira grinned at me as I nodded, wiping away my tears. 

“It has been 9 days already, we have one more to find the Chip and deactivate it. You guys were stuck in that place for a pretty long time. ” Jennie informed us. She still could tell time without a clock even though the Chip has no effect on her anymore. I guess that was one advantage of having the Chip. 

“We have to hurry, but first we need a plan.” Jax looked thoughtful.

“I’ve got one. Listen…” Luke smiled, and we all leaned in to hear him.

“It’s perfect,” Jennie grinned evilly.

We were standing in front of the secret entrance to the Control Room, a small space that was barely visible.

Jennie led us, handcuffed, inside.

Unlike the Equal Tower, the Control Room had more of an eerie, aquamarine glow to it.

“Miss, can I help you?” A Guard addressed Jennie.

“The Lead Equal told me to bring these prisoners here.” She replied, talking in a flawless manner. 

“Okay then, Miss.” He opened the door for us, and Jennie led us through. We still didn’t dare speak, though.

We climbed five flights of stairs, and then turned to the first door on the left. We entered it, and Jennie locked the door behind us. Then, we walked to the bookshelves on the far end of the room, she reached up and pulled down the book on the highest shelf. I gasped as the bookshelf swung open, revealing a secret passage. At the end of the walkway, there was a keypad, in which Jennie typed in: 197529562384017.

Wow, that is impressive that she can remember all of that! My friends had the same surprised expression on their faces.

We walked into the door that just opened, and Jennie pressed her badge to the scanner. Then, we walked down six more flights and opened the door on the right.

“Here we are,” Jennie whispered.

“Wow,” Luke looked around in awe. 

In the middle of the room, there was a huge machine. It had everyone in the Union’s name on it. And then, at the very bottom was a huge red button which said: Deactivate the Chip in everyone.

“This is it,” Jax whispered. “You can do the honors, you probably suffered more than anyone because of the Chip.” He stared at me, and all my friends nodded their agreement.

I smiled gratefully at them, and raised my finger, ready to press the button.

And then someone behind me screamed.

I quickly whirled around, and saw a sight that made my heart skip a beat.

Mira.

She was laying on the ground, and behind her, was a Guard who had her Laser still poised right where her heart was.

“MIRA!” Luke screamed, his voice piercing the air. “NO!” He ran to her, and Jax was right behind him. Jennie took her Laser and fired it straight at the Guard’s heart, and then shot it twice more in anger.

Luke was yelling, yelling at the dead Guard and at the sky. Jennie screamed for her friend, and Jax just stood there, in shock.

I felt like the world was spinning around me, around Mira’s body on the ground. I wanted to move, to run to her, but my feet didn’t follow through. 

She’s never going to be able to experience life without the Chip anymore. I can’t believe this! My thoughts swirled around my mind, slowly forming one thought: This is all my fault. 

My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor, not even hearing my friends cry out my name. And then everything went black.

“Adira!” 

“Oh my God, she’s not waking up!”

“Adira please…”

“Wake up!” The last voice brought me out of my unconscious state. It was a voice that I had thought I would never hear again.

“MIRA?!” I lurched upright, not believing my eyes. 

“Turns out that the shot didn’t hit her in her heart, but it was close.” Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, it was a few inches off,” Jennie added.

“Thank God for the Laser’s accuracy,” Jax spoke what I was thinking. If it was not as accurate, her heart might have been affected.

“Oh God… I was so worried! Thank God you’re okay!” I sat up and hugged Mira, but withdrew when a sharp pain ricocheted in my head.

“Ugh… what happened?” I asked, rubbing my head.

“You fainted for a few hours. We were so worried when you wouldn’t wake up,” I could tell Jax was telling the truth, my friends still had concern lining their faces.

“OH MY GOD!” I exclaimed.

“What?” Luke asked, confused.

“The Chip! What time is it?” I asked Jennie.

“It’s uh… 11:58. YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES!”

I hurriedly ran to the machine. But before I pressed the button, I glanced at all my friends.

This was Jax and my dream, to be free, but now it wasn’t only ours. There was a whole world out there, all detained under the Chip’s cruel spell. And now we would be able to help all of them.

I grinned, and smashed the button with my palm, channeling all my anger from the Equals to that button, just in time for the new year.

Now that the world has been freed, there was a lot to take care of. People would obviously have a lot of questions, and I would probably make about a million mistakes.

But as long as I had my friends with me, I knew that we could take on anything. After all, we were Flawlessly Imperfect.

THIS STORY IS DEDICATED TO LITLOVER, MIRA CAPLAN, AND JENNIE FOR BEING SUCH GOOD FRIENDS AND SO SUPPORTIVE!!!