Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Do not read this disclaimer.
Asch and ter Borcht came to yet another walkway that was on the outside along the building. It was now completely dark out. They came to a point where they could see a large, strange device mounted high above them.
"Is that what I think it is?" asked Asch, pointing to it.
"Yes," said ter Borcht, "that is the Subatomic Energy Core, the very thing that fuels Re-evolution."
"It looks like a giant onion."
Ter Borcht began to laugh. "Yes, I suppose it does." Then he took his machine and placed it on the ground in an upright position. The machine was grey and had four legs. The body was a rectangular shape with some buttons, knobs, and gauges. On the top there was something resembling a gun.
"This spot should do," said ter Borcht.
"What is this thing anyway?" asked Asch.
"It's a machine that can take objects and encode them as data, similar to the one I used to place Max in my virtual world."
"So what are you planning on doing with this?"
"I'm going to take the Subatomic Energy Core and encode it as data. That way, no one from Itex will ever be able to fuel this evil plan."
"Do you think it'll work?"
"Well, I can't answer that question. My machines have only been used to encode solid objects. I've never tried it with pure energy before."
Ter Borcht took the gun of the machine and aimed at the giant window of the core. When he had the gun lined up, he pressed a couple of buttons on the machine. Then there was a mechanical whirring coming from it. A white circle of light formed at the end of the gun and then a white beam blasted from the machine towards the Energy Core.
All Asch and ter Borcht could do now was watch and wait.
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We continued making our way through the building. We made it up a couple more floors. There was nothing else that stood out that we needed to look at. And there were no other Eraser attacks since the last one we had before meeting Fang and Angel.
I still couldn't believe that Fang was back. We were all together again. But still there was just one thing wrong. I'm pretty sure you can figure it all out.
Yep, Fang still looked like an Eraser, kind of. I wanted him back to normal. I liked him better that way. He was hot.
Whoa, no time for those kind of thoughts. But still… he had to get back to normal.
We came into a large room with a giant glass window. There wasn't much in it, but we could see the Energy Core. Then I noticed a beam of light coming from somewhere into the Core.
"What is that?" I asked.
"It's Doc," said Fang, "I mean, Dr. Roland ter Borcht."
"I wonder if Asch is with him," said Iggy.
"I'd imagine so. Ter Borcht wouldn't have been able to make it without some protection."
"Yes," said a voice from somewhere else in the room. We looked over to where the voice came from. Jeb was standing in a corner of the room by the giant window.
"Ter Borcht always manages to get incredibly lucky like that," Jeb said.
Now I really had to give points to Jeb for bravery. There was the six of us all together, seven if you included Total, and here he was all by himself right next to us.
But then again, he probably had something waiting nearby to take us out. A horde of Erasers, some new mutant experiment, or who knows what else.
He started walking towards us. "I have to congratulate you all on making it this far. I have to say, I honestly didn't think you'd make it. But you continue to defy the odds Max."
"Isn't that why you made me?"
"Yes, but I also made you to save the world and follow orders, which you haven't done very much at all."
"Here we go, back to this. How about we just skip the debate and we get right to the part where I kick your ass?"
He stopped walking. He was about two feet from us. I could have just flown straight at him and annihilated him right then and there. But something was telling me that something wasn't right.
"There you go again Max," said Jeb, "letting your emotions cloud your thoughts."
"My god, you are like a broken record. How many times do we have to have this conversation before you realize we're just never going to agree?"
And then it hit me. This wasn't Jeb at all.
"Wait a minute. You're just another one of those robots, aren't you?"
"Very good Max. You continue to impress me."
"So if you're just a robot," said Fang, "then where's the real Jeb."
"Oh, he's run off somewhere. But I wouldn't be able to tell you where."
"I say we just destroy him now," said Gazzy.
"Hold on Gazzy," I said, holding out my arm, "He could be another one of those bombs like in the building in San Francisco."
"Perceptive as ever Max. You're right. I might be a bomb. I could explode at any second. How do you get yourself out of this situation?"
"You are not about to tell me this is a test."
"No, this is your judgment. Are you and your friends truly worthy to exist in this world Maximum Ride?"
I couldn't believe this. Jeb was actually giving me a chance to prove my worthiness. Not that I needed one. But I didn't understand why all of a sudden he was doing something like this.
Nonetheless, I had to figure out if this Jeb-bot was a bomb or not. And if so, how do we stop it from turning us into toaster crumbs?
I reached for its shirt and ripped it off. I saw the mechanical parts of him, but I didn't see any timer like the last one.
"No timer," I said.
"Not all bombs have timers," said Iggy.
"Well, you and Gazzy are the experts. You figure out if he's a bomb."
"All right, we will," said Gazzy.
They came up to the Jeb robot. "Very good Max," it said, "using your resources. Very smart."
"Shut… up," I told it.
Iggy went around feeling the mechanics of it while Gazzy looked around it, trying to spot anything that said the thing was a bomb.
"I don't see anything that looks like bomb material," said Gazzy.
"Neither do I," said Iggy. Everyone, including me, rolled their eyes.
"Anyway, from what we can tell, he isn't, but the only way to know for sure would be to take him apart. But even that could be dangerous, and we don't have the proper tools."
"So then how do we know for sure?" I asked, starting to get frustrated, "He could blow up any second."
"What will you do?" asked the Jeb-bot.
"I told you to shut up." This was starting to get to me. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have the Voice in my head to guide me. I had to rely on myself, my instincts. Everyone was looking at me, looking to me to lead them.
I looked at the Jeb-bot. Is he a bomb or not? The question just consumed my mind.
"I don't think you're a bomb," I said, "in fact, I know you're not a bomb."
"Are you sure Max?" the Jeb-bot asked in a mocking tone.
"Yeah, I'm sure," I said as confidently as possible.
"All right Max, if that's your decision." The Jeb-bot then froze in place. We all froze as well, fearing the worst. But after a few minutes, but nothing happened.
I came up to it. There wasn't any counter or anything that appeared. I touched it and then the Jeb-bot fell over on the ground. We all thought it was going to explode just then. We covered our faces and braced for it, but nothing happened.
"So, what was that about?" asked Angel.
"You don't think Jeb has actually started to care about us, do you?" asked Nudge.
"I doubt that," said Iggy, "but I don't get what this robot was for. Was he testing our will or something?"
"Maybe he was just providing a distraction while he made his escape," suggested Gazzy.
"Well, whatever it was," I said, "it was a waste of time."
"So, Jeb ran away," said Fang, "What a coward."
"That means all there is left is Anne Walker," I said. "She's the only one left, and she must be here."
"Let's head for where that beam of light is coming from," said Fang, "That must be where Asch and Dr. ter Borcht are."
So we left the room and headed towards the beam.