Showdown

Once Azure has had enough hugging... Or at least enough to satisfy her for the current situation, we scramble to regroup. I double back and locate one of the guards I stunned on the way in and then liberate him of his trousers, belt, and boots. It's not exactly dignified, but right now I don't have much choice. I return back to Azure, who's managed to deactivate the execution room and retrieve my equipment, even if most of it is out of power at this point, it's still in mostly good condition.

"How'd you blow out the glass in there anyway?" I ask, putting my holster back on. My jumpsuit was a write-off, but the real casualty was my coat. I've had that thing ever since I stole it on the way out of the army, for a long time, it was like my partner. Still, I suppose I have a new partner now.

Azure shrugs honestly. "I knew I had to save you, Master, I felt this big build-up inside me, and I just let it out on the glass. I don't really get it myself." She admits. Prometheus said she had capabilities of both humans and AI... Maybe this is the result of them working in tandem? I'll have to ask him later. Azure takes my arm as we head further into the facility. I know there's another lift that heads straight to the landing zone on the roof, they use it when shipping prisoners out to the work camps.

I take the lead with Azure close behind, gripping onto my arm. I take it slow, but there's a distinct lack of guards at this point. I suppose they know they've lost by this point, common sense would say they retreated to save themselves or fight another day. Either way, we finally arrive at the lift with little fanfare. As we enter, I offer one of my earbuds to Azure, but she just waves her hand over it and taps her ear. I guess she doesn't need it.

"Lux, mission accomplished." I inform her, putting my earbud back in. "We're extracting to the roof, can you send my AV to meet us?" I request, throwing a smile to Azure, who grins back.

"Done and done. Good to have you back, Blue. Don't forget our deal, Tera." Lux replies over the call. Azure looks at me, both confused and concerned. I'm hoping that helping to orchestrate her escape has given her a better opinion of Lux... Or at least enough to hate-fuck her a few times. I shake my head to dismiss the comment, these are problems for when we're not in a warzone. As the lift reaches the roof, we step out to see Lux is as good as her word, my AV is touching down on the far end.

An earth-shattering kaboom knocks both of us off balance. I shield my eyes, then look back to see my AV is now a smouldering wreck. I look around the roof until I see the culprit. The Chief... No. Ludd shrugs his shoulder-mounted launcher off and straightens his tie. He turns to meet my gaze, and I see an expression I've never seen on his face before. It's cold and malicious, it makes me want to run and hide like a frightened child.

"I thought better of you, Tera." Ludd yells, beginning to approach us. "You've hurt countless good men and left others for dead. For what? An abomination of science? You really think you're doing the world a favour by protecting that thing? Aligning yourself with Prometheus? I brought you in because I knew you'd be an asset to this department, but you have let me down." He growls, stopping a few metres away.

His words hurt. Monster or not, this man put me on the path I've walked for my entire adult life. I just can't bring myself to give a shit, though. "Fuck off, Ludd. I should have figured out how backwards you were from your name alone. What? You can't understand the science, so you just decide it all has to die? Who made you judge, jury, and executioner? It makes more sense why you didn't give enough of a shit to fight for your wife and kid now – too busy playing dress-up with psychos." I spit back.

"You idiot. I'm doing this for my family!" He roars back. "You met my wife, my son... You never met my daughter. Do you know why? Because Methus created a killing machine that crashed a plane into her school. She would have been about your age now..." He reveals, the hurt obvious in his voice. "You have no idea what that feels like. So I swore it wouldn't happen again. I dedicated myself to hunting AI, only for them to evolve into something even more disgusting. An imitation human. Call it what you want, but you can't change genetics, it's just a collection of cloned cells with a delusion of being a sentient being."

"Sounds exactly like a human to me." I counter. "I'm sorry about your daughter, but tell me this: How many daughters have you killed in your mad tirade?" His scowl tells me the answer is more than none. "Maybe Prometheus deserves to be punished. But I know you need to be first." I decide.

As if on cue, Azure leaps from the side, delivering a jumping kick to Ludd's head, causing him to stumble back and give me an opening to deliver a punch to his gut. He pulls back, but he doesn't look to be in pain... In fact, he just seems pissed off. His bloodshot eyes glare at us like a bear eyeing its meal. Fuck. I was hoping he wasn't on HEP, but from those eyes, I think he's probably on a higher dose than anyone.

He rushes forward at speeds that shouldn't be possible for a man his size. He swings at Azure, making her jump back out of the way. I grab my last hypersonic and throw it on the ground. This stuns him long enough for me to grab his Snapper out of his holster and fire two rounds into him, but he recovers far too quickly and bats me away with a backhanded strike. It feels like being hit by a stampede, I fly back at least twice as far as Azure dodged, the Snapper clacking along the ground.

Azure rolls along the ground to grab the weapon and fires it three times at Ludd from a kneeling stance. Did she learn that from watching me? I don't have time to be impressed before Ludd delivers a boot to her chest, sending her rocketing back almost to the edge of the roof. It's now my turn to lunge for the weapon, managing to put three more shots in his back before he tries to rush me again. I'm a bit sick of being knocked around, so instead I throw the gun over Ludd's head, which distracts him long enough for a kick to the back of his knee, bringing him down.

The falling weapon is caught by Azure, who unloads the clip into the back of Ludd's head. I almost think we've got him until he leaps to his feet and pushes us both away. He places his right hand on his left and turns it. I hear a clunking sound as his prosthetic hand falls to the ground, revealing a blade of repentance in its place, but this one has another trick, I notice the telltale hum of vibrations. A high-frequency blade. I realise too late as he slashes upwards, hitting my shoulder and slicing me along it.

I fall to the ground, the cut's not as deep as it could have been, but it hurts like hell. Azure screeches like a banshee, going on the offensive, delivering blow after carefully targeted blow to Ludd's face. When he slashes at her, she simply isn't there anymore. She avoids his attacks with the grace of a gymnast and the style of a dancer. Still, she can't win on her own. I need to think of something. I'm out of ideas, out of ammo, out of weapons entirely... Or am I? That blade of his might just be his downfall.

"Hey, Ludd!" I shout, grabbing his attention as Azure backflips away from his most recent attack. "How about we let these decide who's the 'abomination' here?" I snarl, hurling all of my remaining nanodrones. The marble-sized orbs hover for a moment, then locate Ludd's integrated technology and swarm. The bots stick to him, his arm, and even the blade itself. He screams in frustration until finally the drones unleash their electrical attack, shocking everything they're in contact with. Ludd screams in agony this time... Before falling to the ground.

I pull myself up while still clutching my shoulder. Azure rushes over to support me as we approach his prone form. He was so focused on AI he probably didn't even think twice about grafting his body. Azure rolls him over, revealing scorch marks up his entire body. "Chief..." I say aloud, observing the barely breathing lump in front of me that used to be my mentor.

"You have the right to remain silent."