"Would you really condemn the human race to die in six months?"
"We'll figure something out… we always do." The words sounded harsh in Clarke's dry rasp, her eyes lingering on the switch resting at her fingertips. Her heart pounded hard against her chest as Becca leaned in closer with a reassuring smile.
"Yes, Clarke, there's still hope."
"According to my calculations there is not." A.L.I.E.'s monotone sent a shiver up Clarke's spine. She wanted to believe that they could survive again; they always found a way to persevere through the grit, blood, and tears since crashing to the ground. Everyone had suffered and was broken, both emotionally and physically, but they survived nonetheless. Surely they could survive again...
Becca's expression grew desperate, her eyes darted to the lever, "Ten seconds-"
"-Let me ease their pain, we can save the human race- together," A.L.I.E. tilted her chin and fixed her cold gaze on Clarke, whose trembling fingers now reached for the kill switch.
Clarke's eyes flickered up to the screen depicting the compromised nuclear plants scattered around the globe, and her heart twisted like a vice at A.L.I.E.'s words echoing in her mind.
"... by my calculations, in less than six months 96% of the Earth's surface will be uninhabitable… even for those born in space. So you see, the City of Light is the only thing that can save you…"
As desperate as Clarke was to hope in their survival against all odds, the reality of their fate began to sink in. No one could escape what was waiting for them - not the grounders or her own people. Even if they could inhabit what little Earth remained after the fallout, how could they sustain themselves? All the choice they had left was either death by radiation poisoning or starvation. Both options would lead to a slow, debilitating, and agonizing end.
Clarke's eyes caught a glimmer of light reflecting from her father's watch. She jerked away from the kill switch and took an unsteady step back, raising her wrist to her chest to clutch her father's watch in her other hand. A satisfied grin curled the corner of A.L.I.E.'s lips as Becca shook her head in disbelief.
Becca stepped forward, eyes wide. "Clarke, only you can operate the kill switch as the commander. What are you-"
"-You're right, I am the commander. You said yourself that A.L.I.E. 2.0 has merged with my mind, and I am in control," Clarke's voice broke, tears welling in her eyes. Her fingers nervously caressed her father's watch as she turned to A.L.I.E., whose grin steadily widened.
"Clarke, pull the lever-!" Becca shouted, but abruptly fell silent and dropped her eyes to the floor. Shaking her head, she raised her palm to her chest, "It's too late.."
"The A.L.I.E. 2.0 code upload is now complete," A.L.I.E. glanced around the room with dark, vacant eyes before fixing her gaze upon Clarke. "The kill switch has been disabled. You have chosen wisely, Clarke. The human race may now live on in my City of Light."
"No, our City of Light. Not yours," Clarke said, her voice steadying. A.L.I.E.'s grin waned before cocking her head to the side. "You may have created the City of Light, but now that the merge with the flame is complete, the control protocols you've created in your programming are no longer exclusively yours. You absorbed the A.L.I.E. 2.0 code with the goal of eliminating your world's kill switch, but I don't want to destroy the City of Light. Not anymore."
"Even if the uploaded code does offer the flame access to the City of Light's programming terminal, my presence will prevent any such action," A.L.I.E. droned, a slight smile slipping back onto her lips.
Clarke's fingertips grazed along the metallic surface of her father's watch as she listened to A.L.I.E. speak. Becca had said only moments after stepping through the door that it was through her own will that the watch manifested itself. Clarke had the power in this world, as the commander, to manifest what she needed most. And what she needed most now was…
A strange compulsion swept through Clarke, and she suddenly found herself reaching behind her back to feel the cold, wooden hilt of a knife tucked into the back of her trousers. Wrapping her fingers around the handle, she pulled out the weapon and held it before her. Her heart fluttered as warm tears stung at her eyes; she remembered the knife eloquently dancing between Lexa's fingers during their first encounter. She had recognized the knife again when it skewered the wrist of her attacker in the forest, having been hurled by Lexa in her defense.
Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op . Attack her and you attack me.
I will always be with you.
Clarke smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. She had only seen Lexa a few moments ago for the last time, but it already felt like an eternity.
"That's just the thing," Clarke nearly laughed, brushing the tears from her eyes, "You revoke our free will and torture us until we bend to yours. I can't accept that, but I also refuse to accept either option offered to humanity by you."
Clarke took a step forward, clasping Lexa's knife firmly in her hand, "I don't need to activate the kill switch or destroy the City of Light, I just need to eliminate you. "
Rushing forward, Clarke threw her shoulder into A.L.I.E.'s body and slammed her against the nearby wall. She braced her arm across the woman's shoulders and plunged Lexa's knife deep into her chest, piercing her heart.
A.L.I.E. gasped and clawed at Clarke, who pressed her full weight against her thrashing body. The more the woman pushed back, the harder Clarke pressed against the knife, and with each passing moment felt fueled by the memories of those she'd lost because of the AI. A.L.I.E.'s arms grew slow and heavy, and her labored breathing gradually softened into a whisper as she slid down the wall onto the floor below.
"C-Clarke..?"
Clarke turned from A.L.I.E.'s lifeless form to see Becca standing behind her, black blood smeared across her open palms and streaked down her chest and belly.
"Oh god, no!" Clarke ran towards Becca, caught her as she slipped to the floor. Trembling hands desperately searched for the wound in Becca's chest and discovered a open laceration above her heart. "H-how?"
"T-The A.L.I.E.s have m-merged. Her fate is m-mine..." Becca's voice was thick, blood bubbling up her throat, and her breathing grew shallow. "But I can s-still save you, Clarke…"
Hot tears streamed down Clarke's flushed cheeks as she cradled Becca in her arms, "I thought I could find a way to save us, I'm sorry!"
Becca smiled weakly, blood slipping from her the corner of her lips, "You have. Our f-fight isn't over, yet."
Clarke's sobs quieted as she looked down at Becca, who now felt strangely familiar and welcoming. Her face was the same as before, but her words touched Clarke in a way that felt both heartbreaking and soothing. Becca weakly reached her hand up behind Clarke's neck and hovered her blackened fingers above the the chip implant.
"And p-please, Clarke," Becca continued with a smile, "Never apologize to me."
Becca brushed her fingertips along the skin above the implanted chip in Clarke's neck. An abrupt, blinding agony cascaded through her body, and her own deafening screams followed her consciousness into the black.