You really thought you could get away from me, didn't you Kiddo? That you could just walk away and none of it would matter. Well, now you get to see how things work in the real world.
Rhys sat on the chair in the corner of the room and tried not to feel sick. It had that standard white, sanitary look of a medical ward, but there was no equipment, just a console and a desk. He almost contemplated trying to hack his way in, but the screen flickered eerily for a moment and he changed his mind. Jack was watching. Of course he was.
The guards shifted restlessly outside, just visible through the window. He should jump them. The room was locked, but they'd have to open it eventually. If he could grab one of their guns then he might stand a chance, he could make a run for it, find a way... Rhys groaned. He knew he was kidding himself. He was hardly in any condition for a fight, and even if he did escape the what? Jack had control of Helios, he'd just round him up again and find some way to punish him.
The door slid open. The man who entered wore a lab coat, and a smaller man in a smaller lab coat tailed him, a clipboard clutched to his chest.
The first man stared at Rhys for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. Lets take a look at you then."
He moved with practiced efficiency, checking his arm first, then his ECHO eye before moving to the port.
"Any previous malfunctions? Anything you think might have sparked this?"
"Uh, no, it was fine until I was hit over the head."
The man frowned. "You were hit over the head?"
"Yeah..."
"How long ago?"
"Um, a few hours? I kind of blacked out, I'm not exactly sure."
He pursed his lips, then turned to the man with the clipboard. "Get a message up to-"
The console flickered again and a familiar blue face replaced the desktop. "Hey there, just thought I'd check in, see how things were going. Soooo, important question, what's the hold up?"
The man turned to face the console, obviously contemplating the best way to address the most recent Hyperion overlord.
As a rule, people on Helios never worried too much about who was in charge so long as it didn't affect their career. Leaders were very interchangeable, and when someone went out an airlock and someone else said they were in charge, the majority of workers knew to shrug their shoulders and say 'yes sir' when given an order. Of course, as a rule that new leader wasn't an AI of a former psychotic CEO who had died in a volcano years prior. There was a first for everything.
"Ah," he said, licking his dry lips, "well, I'm afraid I must regretfully inform you that there is a minor setback..."
"Is that right?"
"You see," continued the man, "the subject has experienced a recent head trauma, and so I really can't call it advisable to operate until-"
"You know what's not advisable?" Jack interrupted in his dangerously sing-song voice. "Saying no. To me. I told you to fix those cybernetics right away. Did that... not... get through to you?"
The man considered his position carefully. "I'm very sorry for any misunderstanding, I'll prep my team immediately."
Jack beamed. "That's more like it."
"Hey, uh, I dunno, maybe he had a point," Rhys found himself saying. "I mean, if there's some kind of risk it's probably best to wait... until..."
"Look, cupcake," Jack said, "that attitude of yours, I have to tell you, it's getting reeeal old."
"You mean the attitude of not wanting you in my head?"
"See, that's what I'm talking about. Because you know, you know I could make this so much worse for you kitten, I don't even have to say. You know. But, ha, you just won't shut up. Can't take a goddamn hint! So just sit back kiddo, let this happen, and I promise it will all be over quick."
There was a warning in that voice, a threat that went far beyond his words. Jack was always at his most frightening when he grinned, because behind that smile, behind the lightness of his tone a wolf lurked, staring hungrily. He set Rhys on edge because he knew this was a man who would laugh as easily as he could kill. He'd been a fool to admire him. A fool to think he would stay safely contained. He'd be even more of a fool to snap back at him now.
Rhys looked down at his hands and said nothing more.
"I'll... I'll go prep the team..." the man in the lab coat said, shooting one last look at Handsome Jack's face on the monitor before he left the room, his smaller assistant scurrying after him.
The screen flickered and Jack disappeared, though if he was really gone or not Rhys had no way of knowing. How many places could he be at once? He couldn't be omnipotent, right?
"Just think positive," he muttered to himself.
Fiona and Sasha would find a way to get to him. If Jack was distracted watching him then they might escape, get them all out of here... but he couldn't help but think of their empty faces as he was dragged away. They hadn't uttered a word. Did they even care, or had he ruined that too? Surely it was different now they knew about Jack... wasn't it? But he hadn't even had the chance to ask.
"Yep... totally positive." He glanced at the door, running a nervous hand through his hair and wincing as he brushed the wound at the back of his head.
Let this happen, and I promise it will all be over quick
When the man in the lab coat came back he was accompanied a small collection of medical staff who wheeled in a bed and a tray of equipment. They ignored Rhys, setting about arranging things to their pleasing, adjusting lights and lining up sharp looking tools on the tray.
It was a few minutes later when the man in the lab coat finally addressed him. "If you would kindly move to the bed Mister..."
"Rhys," he said, unable to take his eyes off the door.
"Of course."
The man waited patiently while Rhys forced himself to stand and move toward the bed.
"Now, it will be a fairly simple procedure," he heard the man saying, "we'll simply, ah, remove the implant so that we can run diagnostics on it and fix any damage before reinstalling it, nothing we haven't done before. If you would just lie down... yes, that's right. We'll be putting you under for the duration of course, so you won't feel a thing. Just relax, here, breathe this and count back from ten... you'll be out like a light, just like going to sleep... it will all be over..."
It was then that he really started to panic.
Just like when he'd first had his arm installed. He'd been in fine the weeks leading up to the operation, the waiting room, even while they talked him through it. It was just when they had pressed the mask to his face that the reality of it set in. That he might never wake up again. That those could be his last few moments, his last few instance of life, and there was nothing to do.
Now Rhys wondered if this was the last time he would ever be himself. The last time he would ever be anything but a hostage in his own head...
He lunged off the bed. He swung his fist at the first person who reached for him, knocking them back as he scrabbled up, looking left and right desperately for some kind of escape. The door swished open.
Rhys turned in relief and was immediately tackled down by the entering guard.
"Thank you," said the man in the lab coat as Rhys blinked back stars. "Would you mind moving him back to the bed?"
"Sure."
He felt himself dragged up, manhandled across the room and lifted before he knew what was happening. He dropped onto the bed with a faint 'oof'. It was another few seconds before it occurred to him to sit up. Someone pushed him back down.
"Hold him, please," the man with lab coat said.
"No," Rhys said, struggling against the weight of the guard and the three assistants who piled in. "No, you don't have to do this!"
The man with the lab coat lifted the mask attached to the gas canister. "Sorry about this," he said as he pressed it firmly to Rhys's face. "Just relax."
Rhys tried to fight, but he couldn't. There was no was to getting off the bed, no way he could reach the mask to pull it from his face. He tried to hold his breath. He clenched his teeth and told himself to ignore the burning in his chest, the tickle in his throat. His eyes watered. He swallowed convulsively. Too soon his body gave in, gasping in breath after hungry breath. The world wavered. Desperately he clung to consciousness by his fingertips, raging against the darkness creeping at his vision, but the room swam out of focus and he could feel himself falling. Down and down...
Where were you? He wanted to ask. Why didn't you come?
Then there was only black.