As the large office door was closed before them, Elijah and Sajjan began to walk back to the Reception area. Elijah was the first to speak, "It's just one thing to another isn't it?"
There was a small smile on Sajjan's face but he wasn't sure if he was just putting it on, "Indeed, I feel like this war is escalating faster than any other before, particularly regarding the targets so far."
"That's a good point. Never heard of Corporation Headquarters being attacked before, then again it was never technically the Corporations that were actually fighting each other was it? Taking each other out would have defeated the point of the Pax Economica."
Sajjan nodded as they turned a corner, "Very true, but then this never was part of the Pax from the very beginning, GA made that explicitly clear with their opening move of the war. That was the entire point of that broadcast. They wanted everyone to know that this was not the same kind of war they had grown so apathetic to."
As they entered the Reception area, Elijah replied with, "Well as its so different maybe it'll be over sooner? Considering GA has taken literally everyone else in the world on." As they walked towards the elevator doors, a man stood up from a seat next to the wall and hurried over to them.
As he caught their attention, Elijah realized it was the same nurse who had come into Desmond's office to tell them about Berlioz's return. "Excuse me, I am sorry to bother you, but would you two happen to be the Ravens who investigated the attack on the Ark?"
His eyes nervously flicked between the two of them like he was unsure if asking such a question was allowed. Sajjan answered as Elijah stumbled to think of a cohesive sentence.
"Indeed we are, can we help you?" There was a flash of relief on his face, clearly this was a man who hadn't dealt with Ravens much in his time on the Ark.
"When we brought Berlioz in, he asked if the Ravens investigating the attack on the Ark could see him as soon as possible. He specifically refused treatment until he'd spoken to you so we're somewhat eager for his request to go through."
Elijah and Sajjan looked at each other. Berlioz requested to see us? Personally? In ways it made sense, he had his side of the story regarding Exavil but he likely had no idea what happened to the two of them in their mission. Elijah was about to answer when Sajjan quickly spoke first. "Elijah, give my apologies to Berlioz but I have business to attend to that I must prioritise. I'm sure you have time?"
"You what?"
Sajjan just smiled wide, unflinching. He came to the conclusion very quickly that Sajjan probably had something extremely important to do and he genuinely couldn't go with him. "Uhhhh yeah! No sure I'll… I'll go."
"Thank you Elijah, I will be sure to speak to you later." He nodded to the both of them before turning around and heading back to the Reception desk.
"Ok, right this way then." The nurse held his arm out towards the still open elevator door. As they stepped in, Elijah looked back at Sajjan while the doors shut but he didn't look back. A somewhat awkward silence fell on them as they descended back into the heart of the Ark.
"Can I ask how he is?" Elijah was somewhat concerned as to the state he would be seeing Berlioz in as the nurse hadn't originally gone into detail as to what had actually happened to him.
"The biggest issue is the shrapnel that's made a mess of his gut, we stopped the majority of the internal bleeding with cavity foam but once that breaks down he'll be in trouble. We've got a couple of hours before that but I'm hoping the moment you two are done talking we'll wheel him into surgery and actually sort him out. He won't be piloting any ACs for a while though, no chance that injury will heal under the conditions you guys go through in those things."
Elijah couldn't keep the concern off his face at that, as much as it sounded like they had it under control, the fact that Berlioz was putting off the surgery that would guarantee his survival didn't leave the best taste in his mouth. "I'm assuming that any other injuries were less severe?"
The nurse's face twisted somewhat, "Less severe only in that they didn't threaten his life in that very moment. He had a concussion, two broken ribs, lacerations on his head and arms. Heavy bruising pretty much all over his shoulders, chest and back. I'll be honest, I'm genuinely surprised he managed to get his AC back in the condition he was in. Any ordinary man would have probably passed out."
This did nothing to ease Elijah's anxiety. The question running through his mind now was if Berlioz was cognitive enough to hold a conversation of any depth.
As they left the lift and headed to the Medical Wing of the Ark, Elijah had the sudden realization that he was actually going to have a one on one conversation with Berlioz. No interruptions, no fighting, just to be able to talk.
As they approached the Medical Wing's main entrance, nerves began to get the better of him as nausea washed over him and his hands started shaking. This reaction was somewhat unwarranted as Berlioz wasn't exactly threatening his life, but it was more that he hadn't had the time to mentally prepare himself for such an encounter.
As brief and strange as their last meeting had been, everything he'd heard and learnt about the man who was number one had been second or third hand knowledge. Nothing particularly concrete and not all of it could be trusted to be true.
This would be the moment when the truth would come to light, when he could get answers to questions that had been sidestepped or turned around. Maybe Berlioz wouldn't tell him everything, but it was the best opportunity that he was going to get. He could know exactly what it was he had been striving for this whole time.
He stood awkwardly shuffling a few feet behind the nurse while he spoke to the woman behind the Medical Wing's Reception desk, unsure as to what exactly was going to happen next.
Only a moment later the nurse began to walk away, turning to wave him over. "This way Raven, he's resting but still awake."
As they passed by occupied room after occupied room, it suddenly struck Elijah as to how small this wing was. It wasn't surprising that it was so overloaded following the attack on the Ark.
Seconds later they stood before a door that had 'Gerald Hutchinson - Engineering Dept.' on the information panel. Elijah raised an eyebrow at this, looking to the nurse for an answer.
"Oh that? His request, didn't want anyone wandering past and noticing who was in there." He opened the door and then stood aside, "I figured he'd want to speak to you alone."
Elijah stepped inside as the door was closed behind him. The silence was deafening. In the bed in front of him lay a man wearing an oxygen mask who looked to be in maybe his thirties, of Asian descent with short black hair. The most surprising thing about him was just how unremarkable he was, no real defining features, no scars or facial hair. If you lost sight of him in a crowd for a moment he was the type of person you'd never be able to pick out again.
Elijah became very conscious of the fact he was just standing and staring, so he walked to the wall facing the foot of the bed to grab a chair from the few lined up there. As he grabbed the chair and turned around, he glanced at the patient info on a clipboard hanging on the end of the bed.
'Berlioz Lamond - Raven, DOB: 05/01/2079'
Turned out his guess regarding Berlioz's age had been correct. Learning his surname was strange, it was like something you just weren't meant to know. He didn't look long enough to see anything else but still felt somewhat guilty for peeking, like a child who wasn't caught stealing but still knew what they did was wrong.
He carried the chair over to the bedside and placed it as quietly as possible. The nurse had told him that Berlioz was awake but right now his eyes had been closed the entire time Elijah had been in the room.
The moment he sat down, a muffled voice quietly said, "That's illegal you know."
Elijah almost jumped out of his seat, but managed to pull off just jolting upright, looking at Berlioz who had turned his head slightly to stare back at him.
"I- Uh- Um- Y- Uh" Not a single coherent thought passed through Elijah's mind as he scrambled for a response that wasn't stupid despite having already failed that task.
"Doctor-Patient Confidentiality is still a thing these days, can't go peeking at things like that."
Elijah settled on the one thing to say that made sense, "I am so sorry!" Even if thinking straight was beyond him, at least apologizing was a thing he could still do.
"It's fine, I guess I should say, welcome to the club of those who know my last name." Berlioz slowly pulled his right hand from under the covers at his side up to his face and pulled the mask off, leaving it sitting around his neck. "I feel it's unfair that you know more about me than I do about you though, what's your name Raven?"
"My name is Elijah Thomson, I am the pilot of the AC Havok." A weak frown crossed Berlioz's face.
"Havok? I reco- Ahh that was you wasn't it? Outside the Rayleonard Energy Cell Factory"
If Elijah could have sweat any harder they would have been swimming in only minutes. It wasn't unrealistic for Berlioz to remember him, even as brief as their encounter had been, it was only a day or so ago so it would have still been somewhat fresh in his mind. It certainly was for him. "Yeah that was me." He was mentally kicking himself for not saying anything else, Yeah that was me?! Come on could you be any blander?!
"That's a hell of a coincidence, who'd have thought the Raven I faced then would have been the same to investigate the attack on the Ark. The same Raven who now sits alone here. Speaking of that, weren't there two of you sent?"
"Uhh yeah, Sajjan said he had something he had to prioritise over this, he wanted me to say he was sorry."
Berlioz chuckled quietly, wincing slightly, likely because of the broken ribs and shrapnel wound. "I haven't spoken to him much, but Sajjan is a memorable fellow. If I get the chance I'll have to ask him what was so important."
Elijah was no longer surprised at Sajjan's connections and acquaintances, he just assumed he knew everyone regardless of position and status.
"I suppose we'd best get to the point, I can't have the medical staff working themselves into a state for too long." Berlioz very gingerly shifted himself up the bed somewhat until he was in a more upright position. "What did you and Sajjan find then? Start from the beginning."
So Elijah told him about the meeting with the Governor, leaving out the part regarding his sale by Rayleonard to the Ark. Then went on to tell Berlioz about finding the large hangar doors in the mountains, their descent underground and finally the colossal manufacturing line on the lowest level.
Berlioz was silent throughout, only listening until Elijah had finished. There was a brief moment when nothing was said, but Berlioz suddenly said, "Well GA's desire for Motherwill now makes a lot more sense."
Elijah said nothing as he tried to follow Berlioz's apparent chain of thought, something that he obviously saw and proceeded to explain, "GA won't have a lot of bases where they could resupply a force of that size, certainly none where they could do it without giving the location away. Motherwill, while slow, is mobile and after a few days could be in a totally different location."
"So they want to use it to keep that air force going while using its guns to strike distant targets?"
Berlioz frowned at that, "I feel like the destruction of Exavil was more for show than an actual functional use of Motherwill's own firepower. Those cannons certainly have range, I can attest to that. But it's not like they can strike across the continent like a fighter can. Motherwill's primary function for now will be the support of that aerial force."
On that, Elijah decided to ask regarding the investigation of Exavil, despite knowing most of the details from the meeting with Desmond, "So what did you find at the Exavil site? I mean I know about Motherwill but was there anything else there?"
Turning his head back to look at the ceiling, Berlioz answered, "No, not really. There wasn't anything left. All that was there was rubble, ash and bodies. No survivors, no one to rescue, nothing anyone could do."
Elijah would never admit it, but now having had more time to look at Berlioz close, the finer details became clearer. The tone of his voice matched his face. Worn down. Tired. Older than they are. There were dark circles under his eyes, ones that looked like they'd become permanently etched there. Like no amount of sleep could get rid of them.
Worried thoughts began to run around his head, that anxiety was coming back. Just like the talk with Leonhardt, just like the fight at the Rayleonard Facility. That uncertainty that his preconceived notions regarding Berlioz and being the Ninebreaker were at risk of being proven wrong.
Elijah decided to press on with a different topic, "The nurse told me that you might not be able to pilot for a while with these injuries. You think you're gonna be bed ridden for this whole war?"
"Oh is that what they told you? Must be a new guy, most of the staff here gave up trying to keep me in here years ago."
Annoyingly, Berlioz left it at that. Now frowning, Elijah tried another question, "Why the title Ninebreaker? Where does that come from?" He'd been told many different myths and stories regarding the highly sought after position but he wanted to know if any of them were true.
Berlioz pondered for a short moment before answering, "Only a few months after the creation of the Ravens, an independent Raven who broke away from the Ark had been raiding multiple Corporation bases and colonies. It was getting to the point where they could not afford to leave them alive any longer so they commissioned the Ravens to kill them."
Elijah hadn't heard this version before, so he listened carefully.
"Unfortunately, this particular rogue Raven was extremely skilled and they cut down would-be killer after killer. Nobody alive remembers anything about them or their name, only the name of the AC they piloted, called Nine Ball. Initially the Corporations were unwilling to spend much but as the damage to their bases and property grew larger and larger. The death count climbing and climbing, they eventually hired the current number one Raven, Leos Klein, to take him down."
This was all entirely new to Elijah, who had never been told all this before.
"It actually took Klein two attempts to bring Nine Ball down, as he was forced to retreat the first time due to battle damage. But in the second encounter, he finally killed him. Upon returning, he was given the title of Ninebreaker, the one who broke the Nine Ball. We don't know the circumstances behind his death but it is safe to assume that Kasumi Sumika killed him and took the position of the Ninebreaker for herself."
The tangent Elijah tried to take the conversation on quickly petered out, leaving him wondering what to try and talk about next. In a similar vein to his meeting with Leonhardt, he had Berlioz's undivided attention, to waste it would be almost criminal.
However, eventually, Elijah settled on the fact that he was just going to have to get to his own personal questions. "Hey Berlioz, what… what's it like being the Ninebreaker? What's it like to be the number one?"
Elijah waited, looking up from the floor to see Berlioz still staring at the ceiling, unmoving. In an instant, the silence became oppressive, as Elijah's nerves got the better of him. Oh God, should I not have asked? Is he pissed?! What do I do? Do I just leave? Is h-
"I was wondering when you'd ask."
He still wasn't looking at him, but at least his answer wasn't yelling or orders to leave. His face on the other hand still gave the impression that he wasn't exactly happy to be talking about this.
"There are a lot of different answers for even a single question like that. You can't just explain it in a single term or concept. There are many, many layers to living like this."
None of what he was saying sounded good. Elijah pushed onwards regardless, "Ok, what if… What if I said that… I wanted… If I wanted to be the next Ninebreaker, what would you say?"
Another pause. Elijah wanted to be glad that Berlioz was apparently putting this much thought into his answers but equally his stomach was twisting something fierce at the potential reply.
"Part of me wants to just let you."
What? Elijah wished he could have misheard him but Berlioz was speaking clearly. He couldn't understand, just give away the Ninebreaker position? Surrender the place that could give you almost anything you wanted?
But Berlioz wasn't done and Elijah was beginning to regret asking now.
"The other part, doesn't want there to be another Ninebreaker. If I had my way, the rank of Ninebreaker will die with me and we'll just be done with it."
His mouth was dry, Elijah could not believe what he was hearing. "But… Why? Why would you… I... I don't understand?"
"How about this, why don't you tell me what you think being the Ninebreaker should be? Why don't you tell me what you think you're aiming for? What you think you're gonna get out of it?"
The twisting gut feeling he'd had the moment this conversation thread started reached a peak. Elijah felt sick, the hostility and venom in Berlioz's questions was unexpected at best. He couldn't construct any kind of adequate response, doing little but trying to speak, nervously looking around while Berlioz's gaze burned into him.
"I- I don't- I di- I just-" Stammering, Elijah just wanted the world to swallow him whole so he didn't have to sit here.
"I'll let you in on a secret. The secret I could never speak of until now," Berlioz began, interrupting Elijah's feeble attempts to talk, "Many years ago, well before I was the Ninebreaker, I was picked with a group of other Ravens for a test pilot program in Rayleonard. Towards the end of the program, I was approached and told that I would be the winning candidate. I was offered an exclusive contract, which I accepted but couldn't sign until the test program had officially ended."
He didn't sound as harsh now but it was easy to hear that his voice was strained, this wasn't something he talked about lightly. Elijah did his best to listen carefully.
"For the first few weeks following my acceptance, it was… it was like a dream. There were enormous parties and events, drink, women, VIPs, hopeful speeches promising the return of the glory humanity had in the past. I genuinely believed I had stepped into some bizarre world of wealth and power. That my skill had given me the right to partake in this decadent life. I'll bet that's what you thought it was like. That's what was waiting for you at the top, the life and acknowledgement you wanted so badly."
There was a noticeable bitterness to Berlioz's speech, there was more to this story that he had yet to hear. In ways, Berlioz was indeed correct. That definitely sounded like what he expected. Elijah nodded slowly, staring at his feet.
Berlioz continued, "In a terrible way, I was right. It was a dream. It wasn't real. One night I was woken by men beating me senseless, putting a bag over my head and dragging me to a transporter. The next time I saw anything I was forced into a chair with a new edited contract on the table, armed soldiers flanking me and Victor Rayleonard sitting opposite me. He was the man I thought was going to take me places. I thought he cared about me, thought he was a good man with big plans for the future. I was right only about the last part."
Elijah didn't want to hear anymore. He'd been wrong. He'd been wrong this whole time. Spent too long dreaming. Too long imagining what he could do with that power. Now was the time to stop dreaming and Berlioz was the wake up call.
"The new contract had none of the previous things offered to me. A fraction of the original pay for my exclusive service, no housing, no support, nothing. I would effectively be signing my rights away and pledging myself to them as little more than a weapon, an extension of Victor Rayleonard's will."
He paused, taking a slow deep breath.
"Of course I initially refused, not quite understanding what was going on at the time. They asked nicely, I said no. They stopped being nice, I said no. They beat and broke me, I said no. I honestly thought I was going to die, but there was no way I was going to sign that contract…"
Elijah was rapidly realizing that as much as this was part of Berlioz's warning against being the Ninebreaker, it was probably one of the first times he could tell his story.
However much Elijah wanted to turn around and leave, to carry on believing in his goal and wish, he could not go on knowing it was false. He carried on listening.
"It came to a point when I realized there was literally nothing they wouldn't do." Berlioz shifted slightly, now looking back at Elijah, "I have a sister. Her name's Alicia. The only family I've got left. The uncle who sheltered me after the Great Destruction died many years ago and she went into a foster family. I'll be one hundred percent honest and say not a soul alive except you and I now know this."
While this wasn't exactly earth shattering knowledge to Elijah, the fact that his sister had been such a secret to keep meant she was obviously important in some way.
"On the table in front of me, a portable computer was set up with a live two way camera feed. At first I had no idea what they were planning as I was drifting in and out of consciousness at this time, but when the feed on the other end turned on, I knew exactly what they were capable of. The other video feed was of my sister, tied to a chair in her own home with Rayleonard soldiers behind her, one with a knife to her neck."
He'd known Rayleonard were often ruthless but this was flat out abhorrent, it was becoming horrifically clear as to why he was the Ninebreaker now. Berlioz carried on, quietly.
"Victor told me that he'd expected resistance. Beforehand, several of his most trusted men broke into the home of the family who had been raising her, killed them and had setup this feed in the event I didn't sign the contract."
If Elijah wasn't sitting so close and leaning in, Berlioz would be almost inaudible. He was grateful for the silent room. It didn't make listening to what he was actually saying easier though, his head filled with the image of what Berlioz had to go through.
"He took a gun from one of the soldiers in the room with us and put it to my head. He gave me a choice. I refuse one more time, he shoots me on camera and the soldiers kill my sister. Or I sign it and we both live. I'm sure you can guess which I chose?"
The weak smile on his face said it all.
He valued the life of his sister over his own. Signing a contract that effectively ended his life as an individual.
"I haven't seen her face since then. Only later did I learn that there was an additional clause in the contract that meant I could have no contact with family so long as that contract was valid. The only reason I know she's still alive is because I kept fighting for them. It's been nearly eight years since then, she'd have turned twenty six this year."
Any sympathy for Rayleonard that Elijah had held at this point was gone. Blaming those in the Corporation for the actions of the man leading them was wrong but it was hard to detach them from the whole.
As terrible as Berlioz's story was, Elijah was fully aware that all of these events preceded his becoming the Ninebreaker. "I don't… I don't really know what to say but I'm sorry."
"What's there for you to be sorry for? What happened wasn't your fault now was it?"
"No I kn-"
"I get it, it's fine."
He really didn't want to press on but, "But you weren't the Ninebreaker at the time? Did… Did things get better then?"
It was a grasp of blind optimism that Elijah hoped would yield results.
"Does this seem like a story with a happy ending?"
Of course not, but Elijah wished dearly that it did. However, "Well the story hasn't ended yet has it? You're still alive? Rayleonard is gone, surely you can see your sister again?
Berlioz gave him an exasperated look, one that said 'You should know better'. "The contract I signed still exists, I know I was transferred to the Ark, they hold my contract now and it isn't one that can just be dissolved without consequence. It's not like anything has changed, I was the weapon of Rayleonard and now I am the weapon of the Ark. I was a fool to think otherwise but they're all the same. Desmond is a better man than many but he is not a good man. Good men are like a myth now."
The slight against Desmond was not unexpected, Elijah had seen Sajjan's anger with the leader of the Ravens and now Berlioz too expressed an apparently deep dislike of him as well.
"After I signed that contract, Victor and the rest of Rayleonard acted like it never happened. They proudly showed off and publicly gave me Supplice, the latest product of their research in a glamourous event, the parties went on as usual, the drink came as usual. It was like they were trying to convince me that it all wasn't real. To accept that reality. To believe what they were offering was better."
Berlioz's face twisted as he became visibly angry, "It made me sick to my core. To see them laughing and celebrating my signing. Like they believed I had come on willingly. Like I believed in their cause!"
Elijah had to lean back now as sitting so close was almost terrifying. Berlioz was past noticing, carrying on, "When the day came that the Ninebreaker Wynne D. Fanchon stood before me, you know why she was fighting? You wanna know what she wanted? My mission was the wholesale slaughter of thirty thousand unregistered refugees who had set up a colony in an old Rayleonard Underground Storage Center. My orders were plain and simple murder and there was nothing I could do to refuse. She defied Leonemeccanica to stand before me, to protect the innocent. To do the right thing…"
"Did… Did she try the same thing you did to me? To convince you to turn back?"
Through a bitter and wry grin, Berlioz said, "She did. Just like before, you can guess the choice I made, can't you?"
Elijah could. Berlioz's past was being unfolded and laid out before him like a blood soaked origami figure.
"I'll give Wynne her dues, she certainly earned the position of Ninebreaker, she deserved the title. She was someone I could maybe have called good. I didn't know her that well, I couldn't call her a friend. We were both S-Rank, we were aware of each other's skill and our position. But I had Supplice. I had an advantage that shouldn't have existed."
"You don't need to say it. You're the Ninebreaker now, I can guess what happened."
Berlioz gave a weak, empty laugh, Elijah wasn't looking at his face anymore, just the floor. "Yeah I bet you can. The difference between us wasn't just in our ACs. We both had something to fight for, something to kill for. Hers was a selfless fight, a fight for the many. Mine was selfish, a fight for one."
Elijah was silent now, just listening. The conflicting beliefs in his head clashing as his ideals of being the Ninebreaker and the truth crashed into one another.
"There was no way either of us could walk away alive. When the end came she begged, she pleaded and begged not for her life but theirs. For the thousands who's only chance to live was her."
I wish I could walk away.
"She got up again and again until her AC literally could no longer stand, she dragged herself in front of the gate into the mountain. She screamed at me, how I was a monster, how I was little more than a vicious animal following orders. How could she possibly believe otherwise? She didn't know of course."
I wish things could have been different.
Elijah looked up at Berlioz. He was silent, the thin wet streaks running down the side of Berlioz's face said it for him.
"I killed her at that gate, propped up against the thing she gave her life protecting. I had to drag her lifeless, broken AC away to enter. My Operator at the time faked Wynne's voice to trick them into opening the gates. They thought she'd won, that they were saved. You don't understand what despair looks like until you've seen it spread across the faces of thousands, cowering in the dark…"
I was wrong.
"I don't know what was worse, actually doing it, or going back. I found out that in the time between Wynne's death and my return, Victor himself had spoken to the CEO of Leonemeccanica and smoothed the whole affair out. I'll tell you what greeted me, the monster, the animal, when I stepped onto the transporter ramp."
Please stop.
"Cheering. Shouts of praise. Pats on the back. Everyone was so glad I had put an end to the rogue Raven Wynne D. Fanchon, who had murdered thousands of defenseless civilians. She was blamed for the deaths of all those people, as punishment for disobeying Leonemeccanica. Her family were cut off from Wynne's funds, any entitlement they might have had to compensation for her death in service to the Corporation."
The spite and bitterness was still in every word despite the now quiet tone he used. He sounded tired, exhausted both physically and emotionally. It was sapping Elijah of his own energy.
"Her family were left with nothing, believing that she had slaughtered thousands on a whim. They thought she was a monster, everyone did. I weighed the life of my sister against the lives of thousands, including Wynne's and…"
Berlioz had barely moved now, just staring at the ceiling, silently crying. Elijah almost couldn't bring himself to look at him. It was too much.
"I was told the Ninebreaker before Wynne, another Leonemeccanica Raven called Nidus, died defending his family after they were found to be selling Corporate secrets. He was killed by Wynne. That was how she claimed the title."
He paused, taking a deep breath, shuddering through the pain.
"I think that's what it's like being the Ninebreaker, to answer your question finally. That's what waits for you at the top. That's what you've been striving for. Your humanity stripped away piece by piece. Wynne knew what she was doing, I don't know what threat hung over her head, perhaps a similar one to me. I don't know. But that gun against your head never goes away, every second you can feel it there, you know it's still there. Their finger on the trigger ready to pull the moment you turn."
Elijah could feel the lump in his throat, a burning ball of anger and regret. Anger that this had all happened. Regret that he'd been chasing something that didn't exist. No one had ever told him what it was like, he just fabricated his own idea and convinced himself that was the goal. He wished he could go back to the dream, to go back to sleep and forget.
He croaked out, "I- I finally understand what y-you meant. When you said you wanted the Ninebreaker t-title to die with you."
"To prevent another monster being born. That's what we Ninebreakers have become. We used to be known as the strongest, most skilled fighters. Honourable men and women who could be counted on to do the right thing. But now? Now we are little more than animals on a leash. Monsters who corrupt others to become monsters themselves. I am the fifth Ninebreaker. I will be the last. "
"I guess maybe… Maybe I should find some other dream to chase then?" It was hard to keep the bitterness out of his words but he was finding it hard to not be angry with Berlioz for stealing his goal away from him. He should be thankful, thankful that he had the foreknowledge to avoid such a future but still…
Berlioz very slowly wiped his eyes using the edge of the cover, "I won't tell you what to do Elijah, and it's your life to live. But you know what will happen if you don't change course. You won't like what you find if you keep going."
There was a choice Elijah now had, an obvious one but still one that had to be considered. Did he abandon his dream? To cast aside the goals and hopes he had once held to try and achieve something else? Or did he pursue it regardless? To attain what he believed was right and real, no matter the cost.
Did it really matter at this point? What was the point? Elijah had just been flat out told to abandon his dream. That it was wrong to chase what he had wanted for so long. He didn't want to believe Berlioz. He didn't want to believe that was all that awaited him.
He looked up at Berlioz who was still staring at the ceiling, "You've given me a lot to think about. I want to say thank you for telling me your story."
"I don't need your thanks Elijah," he said with a weak shrug, "I just hope that it lets you make the right choice for you, whatever that may be."
Elijah stood up from the chair as Berlioz moved the mask back over his mouth, closing his eyes.
Turning around and exiting the room, Elijah didn't know what exactly he was leaving behind in that room. Was it really for the better? He truly didn't know what to do with the information he'd been given.
The walk back to his quarters felt like a million years. All the thoughts of Berlioz, the Ninebreakers and their horrific history. He wished he'd never heard it. He almost wished he could have gone on without that knowledge.
Once he was standing outside his door, he unlocked it and stepped inside, not saying a word. Sajjan was nowhere to be seen, a note on the table read, The Cafeteria kindly delivered us some meals on the Governor's orders. I put yours in the fridge. He would have appreciated the thought at any other time but now, he wasn't really hungry.
He took his jumpsuit off, letting it fall into a heap on the floor and crawled into bed.
He was tired. So tired.