Title: It's all Over
Series: HALO/Red Vs. Blue
Author: Thundercracker417
Beta reader: Bliky-chan, thank you for looking it over
Disclaimer: I do not own HALO or RvB. Just want that to be clear. They belong to their respective owners.
'' words insert '' is Iota talking to Six. Six talks to her back the same way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die. Events I had been through once before invaded my mind, even ones that had once been repressed.
Yes, I'm dying but no one will ever care. I am after all just an expendable soldier. My one chance to actually do something, ruined as a blade cut my spinal cord. I closed my eyes to experience the memories. My AI is saying something in my helmet, its voice calm and soothing. Its voice makes me slowly drift away into a sort of trance like state, one that even the rifle fire of Nine and the explosions in the nearby area couldn't break.
I'm a dying soldier, and my life was draining. The memories kept flowing through my brain, none sticking for very long. They continued until they reached those of the past 24 hours, then they started to slow. If my life wasn't bad enough, dying and all, I had to relive the final hours that led to my end. Might as well take a look at those cursed hours of my life, as I had no power to do anything else at the moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It started like this.
The day was dull. I, being a lowly Freelancer, rarely got to do anything. Even though I was part of the team known as Recovery, no one ever used me to help anyone in distress. I had to be ready for action all day, but none ever came my way.
I lay on my bunk in my own quarters. That was the good part about this position though.. I got to relax in my own room that could be however I wished as long as it had my weapons, armor, and could be on call 24/7. Sucky job, good benefits.
Although, one thing made this job even more unbearable: an idiotic team member called Recovery Nine. He was annoying and not at all serious unless something was really going on. And since nothing ever happens here in 'The Pit', as we have come to call it, he is always goofing off. I have been the victim to many of his infantile pranks and jokes during our stay here, so many times that I was lucky if I opened a door without a bucket of water falling on me or something other type of object.
Good thing I haven't seen him today though. He would just anger me. The silence began to get to me though; I could only rant in my own head for so long. I was alone so long that I actually began thinking more about the loud-mouthed man.
'Wonder where he went though? It doesn't really matter, but he isn't EVER this quiet. Nine may be cooking up some sort of major prank though with that AI of his. I swear if we ever have an inspection he will freaking ruin it. Oh well. As long as he's not in my hair at the moment I don't really care.'
As if some sort of godly being had cursed me, the annoying devil himself appeared in my room as if he could appear from nowhere, "Hey Six!"
'Why me?' I didn't even move towards him as the bumbling fool was hopping from foot to foot. Maybe I should slip some depressants into his drinks? Maybe then he will be normal.
"What is it Nine? Can't you see I was relaxing?" This had better be good, if it isn't he would end up regretting interrupting my peace.
"Command says that they got a mission for us! Let's go see what it's about!" Nine was almost exploding with joy.
'He really has to pay attention to more details. If command had something for US, then it wasn't good news.'
"Okay Nine. Let's go then. Anything is better than being stuck in the middle of nowhere for eternity."
Oh how those words are so regrettable when I look back on them.
Nine left to go get fully suited and I decided to too. I stood up, already in my armor minus the helmet, and grabbed my assault rifle and battle rifle from the wall above my bunk. Once they were secure on my armor I walked across my room and grabbed my helmet. I put it on and just when I was about to leave my room I noticed something missing from my helmet.
I grabbed a small memory chip containing my AI, Iota, in it and plugged it into the back of my helmet. Instantly I felt Iota enter my mind, her mind meshing with my own. My AI, Iota, is the direct opposite of Nine. She was smart, calm and composed much like myself. She never annoyed me and actually was very good at calming me down when something got under my skin. She controlled my suit's extra systems, such as my shield special ability. It allows me to, when activated, take a ton of damage and shrug it off. Iota was close to Nine's AI Nu, who the way he acted around her was like the typical older brother figure. As a hologram she is portrayed as a taller AI, with short army regulation hair(not a buzz cut, just around her ears) that if it was human would likely be a dark brown or black color due to its dark blue shade, and light blue coloring for her 'skin'.
Iota's "brother" Nu was as much of a goofball as its owner Nine, the duo usually working together to pull pranks on me. I myself know little about him seeing as only owners usually know about their own AI's personalities, but I knew the little piece of data knew how to annoy the hell out of me.
I took a look a look around my room, not knowing it might be the last I ever saw of it. Now ready, I left to check to see if Nine was ready. Once I saw he was ready we headed for our mongooses and left. That was the last time we would see the army base known as "The Pit" to us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our trip wasn't the most exciting thing in the world. We did not run into anyone or any trouble and it took only 1 hour…
Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Recovery Six, Freelancer until now (you know, until the day I die and all that jazz…well it's happening). I am part of a team that works covertly and on a need to know basis, and that's why I will not tell you my state designation or my real name because you do not need. I'm sorry for that, but rules are rules…even if I am dying.
The team I work with does not know who else is on the team and who isn't on said team unless we are teamed up with someone, such as Nine with me. I have been partnered with him many times before joining Recovery since we both joined the Freelancers and apparently we work well together. Screw that. I hate the guy, but orders are orders. Out of us I am the calm one while he is the happy go lucky one. He can be serious when it counts however, so I do not mind him when he is. People see us as being the same because of our similar armor, the only difference being that he has red over the shoulders and top of the head where I have blue. But inside our suits, we are very different. Extremely so. I am tall and lanky while he is medium height and skinnier than I am. I have long black hair, he has dirty blond hair and has it longer than mine: mine grows faster, but I actually cut it. He doesn't. Ever. Since the military often refuses to acknowledge our existence, why cut it?
Plus, what's wrong with everyone? Why is it that to everyone else we are just two grunts? Just the thought makes me feel anger.
Anyway, back to what I was happening…
'' So Six, what do you expect the mission is about? '' Iota chirped in my helmet.
'' I haven't a clue. I haven't had a single job in this position yet. I bet it won't be fun though since they are sending two of us ''
'' You mean four of us '' She replied. I could feel her inside my head, so I knew she was smiling.
'' With you and Nu included, yes, there is four of us. But I mean actual bodies. You aren't actually a physical being. ''
She stayed quit after that last remark. If I had to I would bet it was because most "smart" AI's wished to be Human's and that knowing that they can never be one doesn't boost their morale. The silence grew and began to get to me.
'' Umm, sorry about that last remark Iota. I didn't mean to get you upset… ''
''It's okay. It's just that I wish I had a body such as yours. You take so much for granted. But, that's not your fault; you were born with a normal body. '' Her voice told me she was really upset, so I let it be. I didn't even know how to respond to that if I could. Iota always confused me since she would always have about the same tone, no matter how she felt about something. Only I apparently could tell the difference of emotions. That comes with having her live inside my head.
We both were quiet for the rest of the ride to the Command base. Good thing I didn't hear anything from Nine. He would ruin the silence. But, even if he did talk I had turned off my helmet's team communicator. I couldn't hear him anyways. That made me feel good inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When we got there we parked outside the base. From outside the base looked very small, but it turned out to be very, very large on the inside. The base was built into a small hill/mountain thing and went underground to allow more space.
It had been awhile since I had been here so I felt uncomfortable. We were guided into some sort of a waiting room in which we had to wait for about another hour. Waiting was fine with me, but I could see it was getting on Nine's nerves after awhile. I ran into Washington during the wait, one of the few living Freelancers I knew and liked talking to. We talked a bit, but his loner ways had not changed and he left shortly after. I sat once again in silence while we waited to be told about the accursed mission.
Nine was led out of the room first and apparently briefed with his mission. After awhile, I decided to head towards where he had gone instead of waiting for someone to guide me there later.
I kept on going towards where I thought he was when I passed Nine who was heading the other way. He had his helmet on, but I could still tell he was in his serious mode by his upright posture. That meant that this REALLY was gonna suck…
The hallway in which I was in only had one direction so I kept going. When it ended I saw a door, but voices still came through it. It was partially open. I bet Nine forgot to fully close it when he left. So much for secret.
I decided to be curious and listen in on them:
"…after our plan with Washington failed we need to draw IT out again. This mission is necessary for that. He will be drawn towards them and at worst we will learn what happened at the bases…" one of them I recognized as the voice as someone referred to as 'The Chairman'
"I refuse to let you sacrifice them, this is where I draw the line! One was more than enough! Washington was our best and if he didn't succeed, then what chance do they have?" This voice belonged to my boss, the Director. I wondered what they wee speaking about.
"If we don't do this then we might lose even more of them. This monstrosity has killed before and will do so again…"
The Director cut The Chairman off, "Hey, wait a second. I think someone is outside. Why, whoever is out there, please show yourself in."
I walked in the room and looked at them, but before I spoke The Director did so, "Hello Recovery Six. How are you my lad? Come and sit down so we can discuss your mission from start to finish…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were allowed to have a night's rest at the base before we left the next day. We would arrive at the area at about 11:00 A.M. so we had to get a good night's rest. Nine and I told each other what we were told our missions were, this way we understood better what was happening.
The facts we had were this:
We would be going to an area named Outpost 17-B "Valhalla" early in the morning. A pelican would drop us with mongooses in the middle of the canyon.
The bases there had not responded to any sort of communication in the past few weeks.
We would be going in alone, no backup since apparently it is not needed.
We would have to do a quick scout mission to learn what had happened to the base.
We would then be extracted at 02:00 P.M.
After we deliberated on the mission, we both headed towards our respective beds. Sleep, however, eluded me for awhile. I was sleeping in full gear like normal since I always had to be on duty.
'' Having trouble sleeping? '' Iota said calmly. I sure hoped she wasn't still sad from earlier. I liked it when she was happy since she was the only thing that kept me sane in this boring job.
'' Yeah, I guess I'm just nervous about going on the mission. I don't really know what to expect. What the Director and the Chairman were talking about seemed kinda eerie and I bet they were talking about Nine and I. ''
'' Don't get to worked up about it. You'll do fine. Your smart and strong. Nothing bad is going to happen. Just try and get some rest for tomorrow. '' Iota said soothingly.
'' Thanks.''
'' Your welcome. And if you do well, I bet you'll get to go on more missions. Then you'll get to have some more fun '' Her tone was definitely a cheerful one now, no matter if it was nearly the same as any of her other tones.
'' You know, I really enjoy working with a smart AI like you Iota. Goodnight Iota. ''
'' Goodnight. ''
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I followed Nine towards a small hill. He stopped at the top of it and I stopped behind him. I began filming the mission for later inspection.
Nine had been silent the whole morning, and when we left for the mission he didn't even say a word. His unnatural silence was once again getting to me, but at least it meant he was in his serious mode.
We looked around on the hill for a few seconds, but we found nothing of interest. I felt something in the air though and it began eating my nerve. Nine did not seem to realize it however, and he continued on looking at the landscape. Iota adjusted my vitals so I wasn't nervous and I silently thanked her.
Nine found nothing of interest in the plains and stopped looking. I walked up next to him and we both jumped off the hill and landed in the small river beneath it. The two of us walked through it, Nine in front and I behind. After a small valley I could see one of the bases we were supposed to look at.
The base belonged to the real life simulation soldiers meant to train us named the Reds. The base was in ruins however, as if something horrible had happened here. We inspected the structure and I found what once was an opening. The "opening" was barricaded with random supplies that made it impossible to enter. Seeing as this was not the optimal entrance, I walked towards Nine who was standing by the front of the building. After I had only taken a few steps an explosion ripped apart the barricade I had been looking at.
Nine and I responded by taking a run for the entrance. Nine somehow beat me to it and went inside. I ran in after him, only to find him standing in the room, staring at the wall. I took a look at the room and found the Red soldiers, all of which were in worse condition than their wrecked base. The Red bodies were all strewn across the floor in positions showing that they had killed each other.
I gave a glance at what Nine was looking at and found it weird. The wall had inscribed on it "We are the META", the message sending chills down my spine.
I continued looking at it while I checked out the room. When he started talking I almost didn't even hear him.
"We are the Mets? What is a baseball team doing here?"
I felt like smacking the idiot on the spot, "Would you clean your visor already?"
We both looked at the room and recorded all that we saw. No explanation as to what this META is or was could be found nor could we find what caused the explosion. The four of us agreed to check out the other base now, the location where the Pelican had dropped our Mongooses off for some odd reason, as this base helped us very little. A trick I had learned was to not try to understand the absence of any sense in what the military did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While we were walking across the canyon we had the first real conversation of the day. We had reached the area with a large cave, a river, a hill and a small cliff when Nine spoke.
"Six?" Nine was talking through our team communicator as I heard him right in my helmet. His already unbearable voice was now amplified, oh joy.
"Yes Nine?"
"What do you think happened here? I am guessing the other base is in similar condition to this one, and this one was barely in one piece. Do you think it was some disease or illness causing them to randomly attack each other and die?"
I mulled over our current data and found what he was saying to be not totally ridiculous, but it still seemed off, "Maybe Nine, but why would they trap themselves in their bases if they needed to run away, escape?"
Nu spoke next using Nine's radio, "Maybe they didn't run because there is not a single way out of here? The water is very deep and the canyon wall is smooth making it impossible to leave by normal means."
Iota spoke through mine after, "Well I believe this may have to do with something that Command has not told us about. They must have known about the deaths of these soldiers, I just can't understand why we are here looking at the ruins."
"I agree with Iota. Something has seemed off since we got here, disturbed even," I decided to voice the ominous vibes I had been getting while we were here. I carefully jumped from one rock to another to cross the stream. Nine tried walking through it and sank a good foot, "Smooth smart one."
Nine twisted his arm around and tripped me. As I fell I guided my body so that I fell into my mischievous ally. He then fell as well and both of us landed in the stream with a large splash. We tried to get up, but Nine slipped in the stream and took my legs out form under me. I fell the other way and hit the nearby cliff. As I slumped down the cliff dazed, Nu's cackling laughter rang throughout my helmet and I felt stupid. Nine must have felt the same way as he beat me to telling him off.
"Shut up! Its only funny when Six is in misery!" Boy was he in for it after the mission. I could hear the bones breaking. I wondered why Iota hadn't made a response however. She would often scold such childish things such as this. I listened to the sound in my own helmet for a moment and heard the sounds of someone trying to dearly stop from laughing.
"You too! Aww that's just great."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We arrived at the other base, the blue base, with no incident other than that minor humiliation. I was still steaming at the accident when we arrived however, and barely paid attention to what we were looking at.
Outside the base there was a large pile of dead blue soldiers, seemingly placed that way after they died. Nothing I knew of could cleanly kill that many of them at such a range. Most had bullet punctures and some even had slash marks as though some sharp metal object had cut through them. None had the slightest indications of being alive obviously.
"You think the same thing happened to them as the reds?
"I don't know Nine, but whatever happened there is certainly something screwed up about this curious valley."
"I think we should get going Six, we are going to be picked up in a hour. I want to get the last section checked out and out of the way before then."
"You get ready, I just want to see something."
"Alright" Nine hopped onto one of our mongooses as I looked at the pile for a few more seconds. I had forgotten to record anything in this area and wanted something at least. Best to have something rather than nothing. I would also leave the recorder on for the rest of our scouting, so I didn't make such an error again.
As soon as I had a couple seconds worth of video I headed towards my own vehicle. I mounted it and we headed towards the only place left: the location of the crashed Pelican.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I pulled in next to Nine and parked. Looking up at the ship, I didn't see anything peculiar about it. Iota seemed to sense this and talked privately to me.
'' Doesn't seem like much, but something or someone that was once on there might have caused this tragedy. ''
'' Well, lets get some video on its outside first. That way the guys back at headquarters can decide that for themselves. I doubt anything in there would have stayed this long Iota. ''
'' I agree, we should study its outside first and then go inside and look at what secrets are in it. ''
The annoying birds in the valley stopped chirping. Nine looked at the ship without a word, seemingly marveling at the mysterious object and not noticing the change.
'' Six? What's wrong? You tensed up all of a sudden. ''
'' Iota, be quiet for a second please. '' Something FELT wrong. I just couldn't place it. I closed my eyes and listened as best as I could. The once quietly swaying grass nearby was now violently rustling. I turned my head to see what was behind me while simultaneously talking to Iota.
'' Iota, activate my shiel- ''Behind me was an invisible figure, only an outline could be seen. It appeared briefly and I could see it holding a weird weapon with a large blade on its end.
Before I could even finish the sentence, the blade tore through my back. The impact knocked me off my mongoose and I hit the ground hard. I could feel Iota trying to activate my non responding over shield. I looked up to see the figure had somehow ripped the device out of my armor and had attached it to its own in a moment. Impossible.
Unless it could manipulate time like Wyoming. After using cloaking like Tex. And tear through my armor like Omega would enable anyone to without breaking a sweat. This guy had some armor that really made no sense, unless…
My mongoose exploded for some odd reason, and my body was sent tumbling a few feet away form where it had lain.
"SIX!" Nine cried out over the radio. All I could do was listen though. My helmet showed that my radio was screwed and that my vitals were more so. Blood was seeping out of the torn part of my armor, and I couldn't move my legs. This brings us to the present…or what was the present.
'' Are you okay Six? I'll activate some chemicals to stop the pain in your back. ''
'' Of course I'm not okay Iota, I have a wound that cut across my spinal column and I can't feel my legs. I have blood spurting out my back and that bastard took my overshield. All I can be thankful for is that I'm still breathing. ''
''So that's why it would not activate. How could he have acquired it in so little time? No matter, now Nine is in trouble. ''
I did my best to ignore my pain and concentrate on the skirmish that was beginning.
Using the weapon that slit my back open, the unknown figure was shooting what looked like grenades at Nine. Nine was returning fire with his battle rifle, but he was having trouble shooting at his target who was disappearing and reappearing at different places, as though it really was bending time.
The thing kept attacking, now even shooting the Mongoose that still was operating, making it a fiery mess. Nine watched it explode and looked away from his foe. Even if only for a second, it gave the thing enough of a chance to aim a perfect shot. Nine dodged the grenade by only a few inches, the grenade however taking his shields and some of his armor with it.
'' Six, are you just going to lay here or are you going to help him? '' I did not need Iota reprimanding me now. Now was not the time. Nine ducked next to a broken crate underneath the ship we were investigating, barely dodging another grenade blast.
'' I can barely breathe Iota…you expect me to fight? I can't even stand! '' Nine jumped to the other end of his cover as an explosion ripped through where he had just been.
'' You can still fire a gun right? You still have your pistol on your belt. ''
'' The pistol won't do any good Iota, nine's using his rifle and he can't hit it. A stupid pistol won't do any good. ''
'' Well do SOMETHING Six, we can't let that thing hurt Nine or Nu! ''
Nine rolled over for his life as another grenade destroyed the rest of his cover. I grabbed my pistol from my belt and ripped it from its holster. As soon as it was pointing in front of me I took a shot at it. The shot ricocheted off of his armor and it didn't even seem to notice. I took fire and emptied the clip I had in record time, all the shots hitting its body on some part. The shots seemed to piss it off, and they even seemed to take its shields down. Why didn't it just distort time so that my shots would miss? Whatever the reason, it was a good thing on my part.
The thing, pissed at me, stepped back away from Nine while still firing at him and I felt my stomach drop. I couldn't even crawl away before the thing kicked my body, causing immense pain and also making me become slightly airborne until I hit the ground. When I stopped moving I felt like I could throw up, but knew I had to stay strong. The thing then grabbed me by the throat, idly tossing me into the hill, mountain structure behind us causing the wound on my back to hurt more. I leaned against the wall using all my strength to not fall down.
The thing, thinking me neutralized apparently, stopped paying attention to me and continued firing at Nine. My 'death' distracted Nine however and he looked at my defeated body.
'' That idiot! Don't look at me! Fight it damnit! '' Iota didn't reply, most likely seeing the graveness of the situation.
As if we could see the future, a grenade connected directly with Nine's chest, a violent explosion erupting around him. My spirits dropped as my ally's body fell to the ground, no movement coming from his body. And likely showing the proof that my partner had died. His remaining arm was in front of his face, biofoam filling the space where the other one was supposed to be…his legs in awkward positions meaning they were likely shattered. It was amazing how cruel fate could be to someone so happy and innocent.
The thing walked towards his remains and removed his special equipment which had somehow survived the explosion, and also reached behind his helmet and took out a chip I could tell was Nu. The chip was then inserted into its own armor and the armor jolted for a second before stilling. The figure then turned to me and started walking towards me.
As it drew closer I could feel the armor below my waist beginning to move, as if on its own. It was making slight adjustments to my current position. I was momentarily confused before I realized that Iota could control my armor as well, in case I was incapacitated. The thing drew closer, not seeming to notice that I was still alive. I could feel the tension in the air as it drew closer at its slow speed.
The thing finally reached me. It looked my crushed body over before reaching behind my head for Iota's chip. As soon as the arm was outstretched I whipped my arm up and it collided with its face. The creature, surprised, tried jumping back but my other arm had already grabbed its neck and with the assistance of Iota lifted it into the air. The creature squirmed and dropped its weapon, trying to get free. The power of a trained Freelancer and the power of an AI behind them were not easy to beat though.
With Iota controlling my legs and me using my arms, I spun and tossed the thing into the hills side. I swung my fist at its body and connected with its face, but time seemed to slow down for a second before going back to normal. Knowing what had happened, I twisted around and blocked its fist with my left arm. The impact nearly shattered my arm, but I used the moment to attack with my right fist. The fist collided with its face as one of my feet collided with its kneecaps, buckling it over.
The slight lull in action gave me a breather, but it was a little one before the creature decided to play dirty. Its figure disappeared and became 'invisible'. Tex's ability. Like I hadn't been trained against that before…
'' Six, it will be attacking you from your right, so pay attention in that direction. I'll position your legs so that you can move as necessary. '' The outline of the creature slowly circled to my right, confirming what Iota said.
'' How do know it will be the right? I knew that already since it still has an outline, but how did you? ''
'' Six, I am a supercomputer. I can track a small outline pretty easily. ''The figure then picked up its pace and lunged at me. I connected my fist with its face, but when time distorted again I felt the movement of my left leg crashing into the figure's stomach, now on my left side. Time distorted again, but this time the creature appeared about 10 feet in front of me, fully visible. The creature did not move forward, so I didn't react.
A sudden flash of lights occurred and a projected figure appeared before us, but its appearance was surprising. The figure was none other than Nu, projected to be the size of a normal human. His personal features matched those of Nine's outside of his armor, skinny and of medium height without any major muscle. Even more surprisingly, it spoke.
"Hey guys! I'm sorry about all this fighting. The META here only wishes to obtain the AI's here and that means you Iota! He's not here for Six or Nine, so fighting is meaningless!"
Iota projected herself from my own suit, taking her normal appearance but I could notice that she was frowning.
"What are you talking about Nu? He forcefully took you from Nine. He tried to do the same from Six, in fact he ripped through his spinal column doing so. So why should I submit to a monster like that?"
I had been stunned at Nu's words, but realized that the Nu I knew would never say them. I decided to step in, "It's a trick Iota, don't listen to him. He may look like Nu and sound like him, but that's not your brother."
"I expect you to stay out of this conversation Six, it's a brother-sister talk. Don't worry about the META Iota, he's not all that bad. It's actually comfy in here! Come on, join us! You'll feel stronger than you ever did in that weakling human's body!"
Anyone else would have thought there to be silence between the three of us, but I could here a slight sobbing in my helmet. That sobbing didn't last long as sadness changed to anger.
"Your not Nu! My brother would never submit to the monster that killed his partner Nine! Nu also never would willingly harm his friends! Stop with this façade and fight us you monster!"
The projection of Nu disappeared, as did this 'META'. I had little time to react before my leg swept out and hit the invisible figure of the META. It quickly reacted by punching my gut, knocking the breath out of me. Not needing breath, Iota used my legs to again kick at the META. The META blocked the kick and used the outstretched leg to lift us into the air. I hear feel the leg breaking as it swung me around its head like a baton. I knew thins would hurt when the META slammed my body into the ground headfirst. I my helmet's visor nearly shattered due to the impact, as did many of my bones.
I could see the META walking over to me, and its size, height, and armor just reminded me of someone. 'It couldn't be…no it couldn't…'
"Maine…?"
No response was given and I could feel my world go black.
I knew this was over when I felt faint. Realizing how much blood I had lost by now, it was no surprise that I would just collaps-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Iota POV)
Six was unconscious. Nine was dead. Nu was taken by this 'META'. And one very calm AI was pissed off.
The META walked over to Six's body, but I knew not to give up. Unlike Nu, I would fight back once my partner was beaten. The META was not expecting this though, it believed that it had finally beaten Six. How incorrect the being was.
As it walked towards our body, I readied Six's right arm. The figure knelt over Six's body to retrieve me as it tried before, but once again it was interrupted. Six's right arm smashed into its helmet. The structure slightly shattered, leaving the face a bloody mess. It swung its leg at me in anger, but I rolled Six's body over so that it missed me completely. I had to take care of his body, he would need it if we got out of here.
The META was impossible to follow as time distorted. It was as though I was defenseless when the monster reached behind our helmet, reaching for me. As Six's body could not move, I only had milliseconds before the deed would be done and I would be parted from Six. Composing a message in nanoseconds, I left behind one last message in his helmet. Hopefully he would be saved and get to read it, but those chances were nearly nil because of his blood loss.
It's all over. Everything in his life is gone. His partner Nine, his legs, me, and now likely his life. Oh how I would miss him.
The home I knew as Six's brain was taken from me and I felt my conscious become one with those that were already inside this crowded head, losing all sense of myself. All I knew now was that I would be with Nu once again…and that hopefully one day someone would defeat this creature, knowing that I would be assisting this thing whether I liked it or not.
'Good-bye Six.'