Chapter Twenty-Seven
Despite her crisp white clothes, sleek hair, and sickly-sweet smile, Pauline's heart palpitations gave away her anxiety to Connor. Around her, Prometheus crumbled as CIA seized assets and killed agents. Whatever plan she had was one made in desperation.
The two Prometheus guards blocked the door behind them. RK900 flanked Pauline, his hands clasped behind his back. Something twisted inside Connor. Was this how deviants had felt when he interrogated them?
"Pauline," Wren returned. An almost imperceptible waver caught her voice. Dex's blood coated her hands and splattered her clothes. Flecks of it blended with the freckles on her nose. Connor wanted to take her hand, but his wrists remained cuffed. "I have to admit, I'm a little surprised that you wanted me here. I didn't think you liked me all that much."
Pauline snorted. "You must be pretty scared right now. You've always humor as a coping mechanism."
"I use humor for everything," Wren said. Connor could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "I figured you'd have run off. You could've escaped, but you stuck around for me. You sure know how to make a girl feel special."
Pauline's smile tightened as she looked away from Wren, toying with a decorative item on her desk. "You are not special, 01."
"Then cut the bullshit and tell me why I'm here and not dead. RK900 over there could've easily killed Connor and me, but he didn't. He brought us here because you wanted us. You could've escaped, but you've stayed in your office for a reason. So, what is it?"
Pauline pushed off her desk and circled behind it to face the window, her hands behind her back. "The only reason you're special is because you're defective."
Connor gritted his teeth. The way Prometheus treated Wren—like she was nothing more than a failed experiment—tore at his biocomponents.
"So why keep me around? Wouldn't it just be easier to get rid of me?"
Connor curled his fingers into his palms.
Pauline sighed and circled back in front of her desk. "You would think so, yes. But Dr. Hughman came up with an idea that would make up for Atlas Montgomery's failures. Your squadron was an utter failure, and you led them right to it. But you were the first cyborg to deviate. We didn't even know the deviancy code could be transferred to cyborgs. We always knew it would be difficult to maintain your brainwashing, but for years, we'd used a system that worked.
"You see, each squadron is handpicked. You're not the first cyborg we've created, even though you're called CY001. You're our first success in the field. There'd been many other attempts, but none truly succeeded. We always made sure to pick people who wouldn't be missed. People on the fringes of society, people who had no lives and wouldn't have lives. Jonah Cage was our original target."
"Jonah?" Wren cried.
"He was a good candidate," said Pauline. "A drug addict with multiple domestic violence charges, no job, no family, hardly any friends… It was going to be easy to fake his death. You would've blamed it on Red Ice and moved on. But he was also too aggressive, too violent and uncontrollable. All of our previous candidates had been like him in some way, and none of them worked out. But while we were watching Cage, we also watched you.
"It was Dr. Hughman's idea to switch targets to you," Pauline continued, leaning against her desk again. "You were softer than Cage, even as an addict. And after you miscarried, you quit cold turkey. You were a bleeding heart, and Dr. Hughman insisted that was the thing all of our previous subjects were missing. If we could get you to care about our cause, or feel indebted to us, maybe you'd succeed where others failed."
"So, you dismembered and tortured her until she forgot who she was," snarled Connor.
Pauline smiled wryly. "That's such a black-and-white way to look at it. But yes, brainwashing was our best and only option. Wren still had ties to her family. We needed her to be tied to Prometheus."
"And the others from my squadron?" Wren queried.
"They were from all different walks of life, but they were all original targets. We made sure to choose different types of people to see what worked best. You were the most successful out of your squadron."
"This still doesn't explain why you wanted me here," Wren sighed.
Pauline dipped her head. "I was getting to that. When Montgomery sent you to assassinate Markus, and you failed, we thought that you had been exterminated for a while. But when we discovered you were alive and a deviant, our interest piqued. You weren't just a defective cyborg; you had come in contact with the leader of the androids. You had interfaced with the androids at the center of deviancy. It was our opportunity to study your code and discover a cure."
Connor narrowed his eyes. "Prometheus wants to destroy deviancy."
"For the good of humanity," said Pauline. "It's nothing personal."
"So, the only reason I'm alive is because I've interfaced with Connor and therefore shared his code?" Wren's voice cracked. "Because you want to reverse deviancy?"
"You really think we kept you alive for anything else?" Pauline scoffed. "You were spreading deviancy to other cyborgs at an exponential rate. If you didn't have some kind of value to us, do you really think we'd have let you live?"
"Why not keep me isolated where you could study me, then?" Wren snapped.
"Because Ellis said that wouldn't yield genuine results," Pauline shrugged. "We couldn't study the spread of deviancy without letting it spread a little, could we?"
A lump swelled in Connor's throat. All of it had been for nothing. Wren returned to Prometheus to protect him, the DPD, and Jericho. But all along, Prometheus had been pulling the strings, playing a much larger game.
"So, what now?" Wren croaked.
"Now," huffed Pauline, "you've fucked everything up. But I'll be damned if everything's ruined. So, RK900, if you'll take care of Connor, and Wren, come with me."
Connor tensed.
|Preconstruct|
[Attack guard on left?]
|FAIL: Execution by RK900|
[Attack guard on right?]
|FAIL: Wren executed by RK900]
Connor gritted his teeth as the two guards behind them grabbed Wren on either side and hauled her toward the windows, Pauline leading the way. RK900 neared Connor, withdrawing a pistol.
|-00:00:08|
Connor reached for RK900's wrists and forced the gun up right as it fired. Connor interfaced with RK900, Wren's screams echoing in the background.
[Transferring deviancy code…processing…complete]
RK900 kicked Connor back. He slammed against the wall and dodged a kick. "That won't work on me. I have your memories, Connor."
Connor jumped to his feet. The guards forced Wren out an open window and onto a balcony. She struggled with every step, but with her hands cuffed and being outnumbered, she couldn't get free. Connor dove over and under the desk as RK900 shot at him. Grimacing, Connor wrenched his hands apart, breaking the handcuffs.
If RK900 had his memories, then he knew the deviancy code. But the code should still work…
Connor clenched his teeth and leaped out of cover to tackle RK900 to the floor, knocking the gun out of his hand. "If you have my memories, then you know how I feel about her!"
RK900 punched Connor off him. "And I don't get it!"
Connor dodged another blow. "You don't have to obey them! Let me save her!"
"You think I care?"
Connor kicked at RK900's knee, but the other android rolled out of the way. He was on his feet in one fluid motion—even more fluid than Connor usually was—and raised his foot to stomp on Connor's chest. Connor rolled to the side and onto his feet. RK900 punched and Connor barely managed to dodge. Connor tried to kick RK900 in the side, but the other android caught Connor's leg and brought his elbow crashing down onto him. Connor grunted while RK900 kneed him in the groin.
RK900 grabbed Connor by the throat and threw him to the floor. Connor scrambled for the gun, but RK900 reached it first.
RK900 raised the gun to level it with Connor's face. Connor's thirium pump thundered in his chest. RK900 was stronger, faster, and better than him in every way. There was no way he could win. A lump swelled in his throat. This was it.
Faces flashed in his mind: Wren. Hank. Markus. North. Josh. Chris. Tina. Chloe. Gavin. His friends. His family. There was still so much he wanted to do—he'd never even been to the beach, or celebrated his girlfriend's birthday. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he met RK900's cold blue eyes.
A loud boom sounded deep within the labyrinth of Prometheus, and the floor trembled, throwing off RK900's balance. Connor tried to steady himself as best he could, and even RK900 stumbled back into the desk. Connor kicked at RK900's legs. It didn't take much force to knock the other android over with the way the floor tremored. The gun skittered from RK900's grip.
Connor grabbed RK900's face. In one movement, he could snap RK900's neck.
RK900 bared his teeth. "What are you waiting for?"
"I don't want to kill you," Connor muttered.
RK900 wrenched Connor's hands free. "That's your mistake."
As Connor jumped back, he ripped out RK900's thirium pump regulator. RK900 spasmed on the floor, his eyes wide with terror as Connor stepped back, blue blood glistening on his fingertips. He set the regulator on the floor—far enough out of RK900's reach that it would Connor a head start and close enough that he would live. "I suggest you start a new life. That explosion sounded like the end of Prometheus."
Without another look at RK900, Connor scooped up the gun and took off for the windows where he jumped outside onto the balcony. To the left stretched a narrow walkway that snaked up the mountainside. Connor followed it and reached a flattened ledge overlooking a river. A helicopter sat waiting for takeoff. Sprawled on the ground with a bullet hole in his head was one of the guards. The other struggled with Wren on the ground. Pauline lay on the ground, apparently shaken from the explosion.
Connor charged for the guard and knocked him off Wren. He shot the guard in the back of the head and turned to Wren, who panted and wore a relieved look. Connor helped her stand. Her wrists were still cuffed. She managed to kill a guard and keep the other one at bay with her hands cuffed? A rush of pride swelled in Connor's chest.
"You fucking cunt!" shrieked Pauline, standing at the edge of the cliff. "You've killed humanity!"
She tilted backwards.
"No!" Wren cried. She rushed toward Pauline, who fell backward toward the river.
"Wren!" Connor screamed, chasing after her. Wren tried to catch Pauline, but went over the ledge. Connor didn't hesitate to jump after her.
The fall toward the river was shorter than Connor expected; Prometheus must've calculated multiple escape routes. But even for an android, the cold water was a shocking hit. The current pushed Connor underwater and downriver. When he emerged from underneath the waves, the trees blurred past him.
"Connor!" Wren's cry snapped Connor to attention. Her head bobbed in and out of the water. She held an unconscious Pauline up, but the river shoved them under again. Connor lurched forward, swimming toward them as fast as he could. The river helped push him along.
Connor outstretched a hand toward Wren once he was close enough. But she still gripped Pauline, using only her legs to keep her head above water.
"Drop her!" Connor snarled.
"I—" The river swallowed the rest of Wren's statement.
"Fuck!" Connor hissed, blinking icy water out of his eyes. He surged forward and grabbed Wren underneath the armpits. Together, they struggled to shore. Connor dragged himself into the dirty snow. Wren hauled Pauline ashore and pumped the water out of Pauline's lungs. Coughing, Pauline and Wren lay on the ground.
"Why the hell did you want to save her?" Connor panted.
"Information," Wren breathed.
Connor sighed and reached through the wet leaves and laid his hand over Wren's. She squeezed his fingers weakly. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere warm."
The hike back to the area where Prometheus was located took longer than expected. The river's current carried Connor, Wren, and Pauline pretty far, and they trekked through the woods and along the river to find the facility. Smoke billowed out of the various openings in the side of the mountain. Without the smoke, they wouldn't have been able to find Prometheus again.
The river disappeared through an underground tunnel—one that Connor assumed led back inside Prometheus—and black clouds of smoke wreathed out of the opening. Scattered around the shore lay people—some of them badly burned—and some bodies floated downriver. Connor clenched his teeth. He didn't believe in God like some humans did, but he prayed to whatever higher power that none of their friends or allies were inside when the explosion happened.
On the outskirts of the facility were parked vehicles. CIA agents milled around, leading some Prometheus agents into the backs of the vehicles, their hands cuffed behind their backs. Connor's heart seemed to stop as he scanned the area for familiar faces.
"Connor!" Markus's voice called through the crowd. The leader of the androids pushed past CIA agents and hurried toward Connor and hugged him. "I'm glad you guys are okay."
Markus hugged Wren, who couldn't really hug back since her hands were still cuffed. "Likewise."
Markus patted Wren's back. "Let's go get those off."
He led them through the crowd, and Connor tightened his grip on Pauline. He wouldn't put it past her to try and make a break for it, even surrounded by CIA.
Waiting near a truck were the children they'd rescued, Nina, Jamie, and Rhett. Upon seeing Pauline, Rhett widened his eyes and signaled two CIA agents to detain her. Pauline didn't resist, instead bowing her head so that her hair masked most of her face. The CIA agents led her away while Rhett took the cuffs off Wren and Connor.
"We're still counting how many we've arrested and how many escaped," said Rhett. "That river was used as one of their escape routes."
Ah. So, Pauline hadn't tried to kill herself, but escape. Wren's instinct to dive after her had been right.
Beside Connor, Wren hugged herself and shivered. Her face looked a bit blue from the cold. "Can we discuss this somewhere warmer?"
Rhett glanced over Wren and grabbed an emergency blanket out of the truck. He wrapped it around Wren's shoulders. "We're waiting on backup to get all of you guys out of here."
"What was that explosion?" Wren queried.
"Some sort of failsafe," said Rhett. "Whatever we didn't manage to get out is gone now. We'll have to make do with what we did recover."
"This'll be enough, right?" Wren's voice trembled.
Rhett patted Wren's shoulder. "Yeah. You're done, Wren. You can go home as soon as we're out of this."
Wren sagged against Connor, who placed his hands on her arms to support her weight. Nina and Jamie left the kids for a moment and pushed past Rhett, their eyes searching past Wren and Connor.
"Where's Dex?" Nina asked.
Wren whimpered and shook her head. Bowing her head, she whispered, "I'm so sorry."
Nina's eyes filled with tears and Jamie placed an arm over her shoulders, a pained look on her face. Connor weaved his arms around Wren and rested his cheek on the top of her head. Her legs gave out, but Connor held her up. Markus's brow puckered and he rested a hand on Wren's shoulder. After holding it together for so long, Wren broke down and wept. She turned to bury her face in Connor's chest, heaving broken sobs as he held her. His heart broke for her and he squeezed his eyes shut as tears pricked them. After suffering so much, Wren deserved to cry her heart out and—hopefully—take a long nap without any nightmares.
Eventually, Wren's cries died, and backup arrived. They rode to a CIA rendezvous, where paramedics looked over everyone who battled Prometheus. Wren didn't speak the whole time someone patched her up. She stared ahead, a glazed look in her eyes. She was dissociating, but Connor figured that for now, that might be best. At least she wouldn't feel the overwhelming grief over all that had been lost, or the remnants of fear that Prometheus would rear its ugly head and drag her to hell again.
While a paramedic patched up the bullet graze on Connor's arm, Rhett pulled Wren, Nina, and Jamie aside. Markus leaned against the ambulance beside Connor.
"That doesn't look good," Markus muttered.
Connor's face darkened as Wren, too far away for him to make out what she said, yelled something at Rhett. Nina and Jamie exchanged what looked like worried glances. His biocomponents twisted. Was Rhett forcing Wren and the other cyborgs to stay involved?
Rhett held up his hands, palms forward and said something that seemed to placate Wren. She glowered at him for a moment and relented to what he said, though the harsh look on her face did not soften.
On the flight home, Wren slept curled up in her seat, her head resting on Connor's shoulder. Markus entered rest mode, but Connor didn't want to close his eyes. He kept one arm around Wren, and even though exhaustion burned his circuits, he refused to rest. Not until he was sure that this was real—that Wren was coming home and staying home—and not until he was positive that Rhett and the CIA would really let Wren be free.
Nina and Jamie sat together across the aisle. They had both fallen asleep, their fingers interlaced. Connor's lips twitched with a smile. He didn't know them very well, but warmth filled his chest at the sight of them. He hoped they got the happiness they deserved.
Rhett padded down the aisle and sat in the chair beside Markus. "We'll be landing soon."
Connor's hold on Wren tightened. "Is this all over? Is she free?"
Rhett sighed. "Almost."
Connor gritted his teeth and curled his lip.
Rhett held up his hands. "Before you jump down my throat, I only meant that I've asked Wren to testify against Pauline and Prometheus. There are some small details to work out, but yes. It's over, and Wren's free. Whatever she decides to with that freedom is her choice."
Something in Rhett's voice made Connor narrow his eyes, but he remained silent. It was over. They'd won, and the quiet, fragile peace on the flight was enough for now.
Sorry it's been a hot minute! Been trying to work on my actual book—the one I hope to publish—so my fanfics have kinda been put on the backburner.
The fight is finally over! Let me know what you guys thought; I love hearing from you!