The heavy, cold door closed behind Jonathan as he stepped out of that horrid room full of bodies. He stared at the chair in the center of the room, walking towards it slowly. The scanner that hung over it was still on and glowing, seeming to taunt Jonathan with its pretty lights and shining metal that had been cleaned of the blood that had dripped from the nail inside. Tyler stood by the door, his knuckles white from how tightly he held his gun. They knew they had a job to do but they couldn't think clearly at the moment, unable to move or speak for what felt like an eternity.
"I want to burn this place." Tyler finally said, his tone dark and scaring Jonathan. "How could they do this?" His voice raised, echoing in the empty room. "You're a New Towner! You lived in this fucking building when they killed Evan! Why? Why did they do this?" Tyler screamed. Jonathan eyed the gun in his hands nervously, backing up from him. It wouldn't surprise him if in his rage, Tyler tried to kill him. "Why don't you people fucking care?"
"I care!" Jonathan yelled back, tears falling from his eyes. "I've been lied to as well all my life! I've been treated like a fucking broken machine all my life. All my malfunctions unfixable to my father! To everyone! This isn't my fault because I never would have done this! To anyone!" He took a shaky breath, tears falling from his eyes. His weak legs forced him to sit down on the large metal chair, painfully aware of the nail in the scanner right above his head. He wondered if Evan was aware of it too before he died. "People in New Town are cruel. We don't understand that life can be a battle because we're given all these things right from the start. I remember when I was young and ignorant. I didn't understand why Old Towners were angry because I thought they were like New Towners. We aren't told that our actions have consequences. We never have to face them. You had to face them. Evan had to!" Jonathan got up suddenly, hitting the metal scrapping his hands curled into tight fists. He enjoyed the feeling of hitting something, of inflicting damage on either the machine or himself of which he wasn't sure what he liked most. He hit it again, and again, his knuckles starting to bruise and bleed. He stumbled back, leaning against one of the side tables as he gasped for air. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. One of us was going to do that sooner or later. Just glad it was you. I don't need my hands broken." Tyler sounded angry towards Jonathan, as if his explanation wasn't good enough. At this point, none of it was good enough because it would never bring Evan back.
"You know...For a while I thought the Vanoss-III was a copy of Evan and the real Evan would be alive...waiting for us to find him. I imagined that we would find him in his red and white jacket and he would ask us what took us so long." Jonathan laughed, tears falling from his eyes. "I would tell him that all we had was a copy of him...A small fragment of he was to find him. I guess I was partially right…" Jonathan rubbed his eyes with his blue suit sleeve, glancing back at the cold door. "If he could...What would he say now?" He wasn't expecting an answer, just silence.
"He'd smile and he'd ask us what took us so long." Tyler answered. Jonathan turned to look back at him, not sure if he was being genuine or not. "Let's get this over with and then you can ask him yourself. If you still consider that machine to be Evan cause I sure don't. My Evan is dead on a table in that room. Who is yours? A New Town machine?" Tyler snapped as he turned and headed down the hallway towards the elevator. Jonathan's hand curled around the strap of his bag with the Vanoss-III inside. He could leave it here, accept that Evan was gone and burn it along with the rest of the tower.
His mind was made up, closing the door behind him as he left and joined Tyler at the end of the hallway. "That's what I thought." Tyler whispered as the elevator doors opened. Jonathan stepped in, the Vanoss-III in the bag at his side.
"It's on the thirtieth floor. I'm not sure how easy this is gonna be to find it, let alone getting into the right room...Let's just hope that we blend in enough." Jonathan tried to change the subject, unable to ignore the weight of the Vanoss-III in his bag. He could have left it with Evan, the real Evan and let it all burn and continue on with his life with closure that Evan was dead. However, he wasn't gone. Evan lived on in the Vanoss-III, even if he was just a copy. Jonathan had chosen selfishly to keep the Vanoss-III because he couldn't live without hearing Evan's voice even if it wasn't really him.
"How do you plan to destroy the computer?" Tyler wondered. Both of them felt so tired, their angry energy drained after being on that horrid floor. They only talked now because they had to. "Would it destroy the Vanoss-III too?" Jonathan opened his bag, reaching for the bottle of alcohol and the rag kept beside the Vanoss-III and his small box of tools he would need to get the door open.
"We'll burn it. They expected that if someone were to try to destroy the computer, they would try to take it apart. They never thought of it being melted." Jonathan showed the bottle to Tyler. "I don't think the Vanoss-III will be affected. Evan...I mean the Vanoss-III runs on it's own. It doesn't need signals to tell it what to do. Evan decides for himself." Jonathan explained.
"Stop calling that copy Evan. It's not him." Tyler spat.
"I think it is. He remembers everything. Remembers you. His life continues on through continuity. To him, it's like nothing happened. It's like his life didn't end...It just continued on in the Vanoss-III. You can say it's not Evan, but he is still going to say that he is." Jonathan said sharply as the doors slid open. They stepped out of the elevator into a hall similar to the one on the fifth floor, except instead of cells, the rooms were actually offices. "Be careful. The police machines they have guarding this place are a lot more aggressive. They may as well be military machines." Jonathan whispered as they walked down the hallway. A few people were still in the offices, glancing up at them as they passed but didn't say anything when they saw the blue suit uniforms they wore.
Though they were able to casually walk throughout the floor, Jonathan couldn't stop feeling terrified. He had been gone for a long time, he was sure that questions had been raised. He had been lucky in the elevator that the doctor didn't ask questions about where he had been or who Tyler was. Maybe she thought he was Luke. Jonathan was certain that his luck was about to end, that at any moment someone would approach them and ask all kinds of questions that neither would be able to answer. So he did what Tyler or even what Luke would have done and puffed up his chest and pretended to be brave as he walked down the hallway.
"Where is it?" Tyler whispered as they turned a corner, seeing more offices and not much else. "You had better be fucking right about this." He growled, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed. Jonathan tried to stop himself from doubting of he had been right. Of course he was right. He had to be.
"I-I am." Jonathan whispered.
"Better be." Tyler snarled. Towards the end of the hall was a heavy door made out of metal that required a key card and a code to open it, confirming that Jonathan had been right.
"This is it." Jonathan opened his bag, taking out his box of tools. "Shoot that camera." He pointed to the corner of the hall where there was seemingly nothing.
"There ain't nothin there." Tyler spat.
"Yes there is. Shoot it." Jonathan ordered. Tyler raised his gun, shooting the corner. Sparks shot from the hole left in the camera, falling to the white floor in the same way the snow did outside. Jonathan pretended not see Tyler's look of shock, pulling the cover off the keypad, cutting the right wires that would unlock the door. It slid open, both of them coming face to face with the barrels of guns that stopped them from moving into the room.
"I expected this would happen one day but I never expected it to be led by you." Jonathan's father said from behind the police machines. "What happened to Luke? Have you replaced him already?"
"You know damn fucking well what happened to Luke." Tyler snarled, ignoring the comment about replacing Luke the same way that machines replaced people. "He's dead because of you."
"I did not order that bombing." His father said calmly. The police machines stepped back, their guns making Jonathan nervous though they were allowing him and Tyler into the room. "Why have you come back after all this time, Jonathan? To ruin everything that you have been given? And for what reason? Did those Old Town scum fill your head with lies?" Jonathan clenched his jaw, anger curling his hands into fists. "Or did you fill your own head with lies? Do you think that I wouldn't notice a file missing from my office? Do you think that I wouldn't connect the dots between that file and your questions about the Vanoss-III?"
"You killed Evan! You killed him and so many others for the Vanoss project! You put a human consciousness into a machine!" Jonathan yelled, his bloody hands curling into fists. "A virtual friend? Do you not care about human life?"
"Our society is powered by machines. We can make us, humans and our lives better if we are more mechanical. We could live forever." His father smiled. "In the Vanoss-III, Evan will live forever. Isn't that what the real human goal is? To be immortal to all pain? Evan should consider himself lucky to be a part of the project. To say that we don't care about human lives is the opposite of the truth. We make them better."
"You make me sick." Tyler snarled.
"Of course you wouldn't understand. You Replaced never do." Jonathan's father snapped, mocking them. "You are nothing but the scum of the earth and every last one of you Old Towners are holding us back. I'd have you all killed." Tyler snarled, stepping toward with his gun raised. The gunshot that followed echoed through the room made Jonathan jump, his eyes closing tightly as he felt blood splatter onto his face.
Jonathan's eyes opened slowly, his gaze landing on Tyler's bloody hands. They were pressed to his stomach, blood spreading across the white shirt that had once been Luke's. Tyler looked up at the police machine that had shot him with confusion as if he wasn't sure of what had just happened, before he slowly looked at Jonathan with wide, shock filled eyes.
"Jon…" Tyler stumbled backwards, tripping over his feet. Jonathan caught him before he could hit the floor, slowly laying him down.
"Shh...It's okay. It's okay." Jonathan whispered, taking off his jacket frantically and pressed it to Tyler's wound, his blood covering Jonathan's hands.
"Jon...You gotta...You gotta destroy...destroy that machine. The...The others...They can't fight the...machines…" Tyler stammered, blood starting to drip from his lips as he coughed it up.
"You have a choice, Jonathan." His father said from where he stood by the computer.
"I don't fucking want one." Jonathan spat, tears falling from his eyes.
"Well you have one. You can walk away right now. If you do, I'll call those police machines off and all of your Old Town friends can go back where they belong, safe and sound. You can stay here, where you belong with your Vanoss-III. Even let your friend here be healed by our doctors and brought home safe. It will all be normal again. How it should be. We can forget all about this." Jonathan's tears fell from his eyes, landing on his blood covered jacket that he pressed to Tyler's wound. Tyler met his gaze, shaking his head weakly. He was trying to plead with Jonathan, beg him not to say yes , every life lost, would all be for nothing. "Or...You can destroy the computer. I won't stop you. You will just have to deal with the consequences. Everyone of those Replaced that you care about will be killed. This world will fall into chaos and everything that your family has worked for for hundreds of years will be gone. You'll be on your own in a hell of a world. When we finally restore order, you will not be my son. I will leave you to the dogs of Old Town to eat you alive. You had better think carefully, Jonathan. You had better know what you really want."
"K-Kill...him…" Tyler stammered, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "T-Think bout...Evan...and Lui...and Brock...everyone else...T-They n-need this to work…"
"We're all dead either way." Jonathan whispered. He looked up at his father, shaking his head. He couldn't do this. He couldn't decide the fate of everyone who had joined the Replaced's cause. He couldn't let them die. It should be obvious, his choice. He knew he was expected to let everyone survive, to return everything to normal. He could have his version of Evan and could continue to live in New Town and life would go on as if nothing had happened. Except Luke wouldn't be there and Jonathan would have to live with the fact that he let everyone down. That he let Evan down. He couldn't live with that.
The second choice was just as bad, knowing that if it went wrong, a lot more people were going to die, their blood on Jonathan's hands as much as Tyler's was. He stared down at his red covered hands, thinking about how Lui had saved him and Luke on that bridge, slipping from his grasp and now, Jonathan was about to let him down a second time. He thought about the kindness that Brock had showed him, more than another than Luke had before. He thought about how passionate Tyler was and how he would have made his choice by now, even if it meant he would die because of it. He thought about Sydney who had lost the person she loved most to a city she hated the most, prepared to fight to get him back.
"So, Jonathan? Do you want to come home now?" His father asked. Tyler shook his head, the movement causing him more pain. Jonathan let out a choked sob, leaning his head against Tyler's bloody chest. He felt Tyler's hand on top of his head, stroking his hair gently.
"I can't make this choice...It's too much...It's too much." Jonathan sobbed. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry." He wasn't sure who he was saying sorry too.
"J-Jon...Y-You gotta…" Tyler could hardly speak, choking on blood as he spoke. "P-Please…"
"I can't…" Jonathan sobbed. "We're all dead either way. He ain't gonna call off the machines if I choose to stop this...They are gonna keep killing them till no one is left...and if I destroy it...whatever happens is on me...I can't do this." Jonathan sobbed as he slowly sat back up, trying wipe his eyes with his sleeves only to smear blood on his face. Tyler reached for his fallen gun, handing it to Jonathan with a bloody hand. Jonathan stared at it with wide eyes, having never even held one before.
"Y-You gotta do...w-what is right." Tyler whispered, his hand starting to go limp around the gun. "Y-You...Y-You have to be...a real s-soldier now." He thought about the toy soldiers, protecting memories and writing poetry. That's all Jonathan had been for so long.A toy soldier.
Jonathan took the gun, looking up at his father and the police machines who were waiting for his choice to be made. He laid Tyler back on the floor, trying to avoid the sight of his dark red blood against the white of the floor, loading the gun as he stood up. In one quick movement, Jonathan shakily aimed his gun at one of the police machines, the bullet piercing it's weak neck. Sparks showered onto the floor as it fell back, the other firing it's own gun. Jonathan cried out in pain as the bullet hit his shoulder, sending him stumbling back. He was able to recover, shooting the other machine before turning the gun on his own father. He leaned heavily against the wall, blood oozing through his blue jacket.
"Where did you learn to destroy police machines like that?" His father demanded, glancing nervously at the fallen machines. Jonathan wondered how he ever could have considered this man his father, such a cold, heartless and pathetic person.
"Evan." Jonathan snapped.
"You can kill a machine, but can you kill me?" His father challenged him. "Is this really what you want, Jonathan?"
"It doesn't matter what I want." His finger shook on the trigger. "It's what I have to do." Jonathan pulled the trigger, watching his father's blood splatter on to the white wall behind him as he fell to the floor. He dropped the gun, crying out in pain from the movement of his shoulder. He took a moment, leaning against the wall to catch his breath, willing himself to stop crying. He should have known that this would happen. As much as he wanted it not to be, his job wasn't done yet and he was forced to move despite the pain.
He bit his lip to stop himself from crying out again in pain as he dragged Tyler out into the hallway, blood smearing on the white floor. "It's okay…It's okay, Tyler." Jonathan whispered when he heard Tyler let out a small gasp of pain. He sighed in relief, knowing that he was still alive. He left the gun with Tyler, returning to the bloody room. He stared at the computer as he took the bottle of alcohol out of his bag, stuffing the dirty rag into the top. With a small flame from a borrowed lighter, he lit the rag on fire, watching it flicker as he stepped back. He threw the bottle across the room, watching it explode onto the machine and immediately catch fire, the wires sparking and spreading the fire.
He fled the room, returning to Tyler in the hallway. "Come on, Tyler...Come on…" He put Tyler's arm around his neck, hoisting him to his feet. "We just gotta...gotta get out now." Jonathan stammered as they hurried back down the hall, glancing over his shoulder at the growing fire. The fire alarms went off suddenly, shrieking in Jonathan's ears as he pushed open the door to the stairs, having to stop several times to make sure that Tyler was still breathing. New Towners would push past them frantically, not even noticing the blood that they were covered in.
They had just barely pushed through the door to the lobby when Tyler collapsed, pulling Jonathan down with him. "T-Tyler! C-Come on!" Jonathan yelled over the scream of the fire alarm. Looking up towards the doors, he could see that the massive mob of Old Towners had made it, fighting the malfunctioning police machines and the New Towners trying to stop them. "T-Tyler! W-We did it...come on!" Jonathan cried. Tyler didn't respond, laying limp on the white floor as blood pooled around him. "Tyler!" Jonathan screamed, shaking him by his collar. Though the movement made his wound worse, the pain making him grit his teeth, he pulled Tyler back up. He couldn't leave him here, practically carrying him towards the doors. "We're almost there…" He kept repeating over and over, forcing himself to keep moving towards the door. "We're almost there…"
He pushed it open, the sound of screaming, yelling and gunshots louder than the alarm inside. The Old Towners were clearly overpowering the new Towners, destroying the machines just like Evan had done. Jonathan felt relief that his choice had been right, that he had done the right no one else was going to have to die.
"Jonathan! Tyler!" He heard Lui yell, turning to see him and Brock push through the crowd towards him. "Oh my god…" Lui breathed when he came to a stop in front of them, seeing all of the blood. Lui took Tyler from Jonathan, yelling at others to help him try to revive him. Craig pushed through the crowd, Sydney behind him. As Craig fell to the snow by Tyler, Sydney was looking at the doors, as if expecting Evan to walk out at any moment.
Jonathan fell to his knees, unable to stop the sobs as Brock knelt down beside him, pulling him into a gentle hug. "It's done...You did it." Brock whispered, stroking his back gently. "It's all okay now."
Sobs shook Jonathan's shoulders, catching in his throat as he cried. His choice had been right but his life was gone. There was no going back. There was no safe haven anymore. There was no ignorant bliss anymore. He would never be able to hear Evan's voice without thinking about the fact that he was dead and his existence in the Vanoss-III was wrong. He couldn't close his eyes without seeing all the blood. His own, Tyler's or his father's. Yet he had done the right thing. At least, he thought it was.
The cold wind nipped at Jonathan's cheeks and pulled at his scarf around his neck as if trying to play with him. He had been standing in the cold for so long he had gone numb to it. He stood on the large bridge, it's cables and metal creaking and groaning in the cold. On one side was Old Town and in the distance, the burning remains of New Town, the sky orange with smoke and constant fire. To the other side was the unknown. In his hands, was the Vanoss-III.
Since returning from New Town, Jonathan hadn't been able to talk to Evan, needing to rest from his wound when he wasn't sitting by Tyler's side, hoping that he would wake up. When he had thought about talking to Evan, he didn't know what to say. How could he tell him he was actually dead? That he was just a copy. When he told Brock and Lui about what happened to Evan, they had cried, their hope that Evan might still be alive shattered just like Jonathan's had. They had suggested that Jonathan could just not tell the Evan in the Vanoss-III but Jonathan was sick of choices.
Now he stood on the bridge, watching the water below him move quickly with it's current, snow falling softly through the air. With a sigh, he pressed the on button, watching the red owl light up bright red. He wondered if Evan would be happy if he was represented by an owl in this form.
"Evan?" Jonathan asked quietly, looking down at the glowing owl.
"I'm here." Evan answered, sounding happy and alive. Tears welled up in Jonathan's eyes, wiping them away with his sleeve before they could fall onto the screen. "What is it? Is something wrong?"
"No...We...We took down New Town...It's done." Jonathan said simply, still trying to think of how he could explain to Evan what had happened to him.
"Really? How?" Evan asked, his voice full of excitement. Jonathan explained everything, leaving out the part about finding the fifth floor and what was on it. He started to cry again when he told Evan what happened to Tyler and the choice he had to make. He stopped, trying to compose himself to continue.
"I-Is...Is Tyler alive?" Evan asked after a moment.
"Yeah...barely. All we can do now is hope he can pull through." Jonathan choked back a sob, his tears falling onto the red screen. "Evan...There's more than that." He hated that he had to do this. He didn't want to tell Evan but he had a right to know. He deserved more than anyone else the right to know what happened to him. "You…" He paused, thinking of what to say. "You're dead." Evan was silent for a few minutes, scaring Jonathan with every passing second.
"What do you mean? I'm right here. I'm talking right now. How can I possibly be dead?" Evan finally asked, trying to laugh it off as it was just a joke. "How?" He suddenly yelled, the owl becoming a dark red and glitching.
"After you were kidnapped, they, the New Towners, they took you to New Town. I don't know what they did to you except that they copied your mind, your consciousness and once they did...they killed you. The real you. They put the copy in this machine. You're the copy." Jonathan explained, struggling to keep his voice steady. "I'm sorry, Evan. I'm so sorry."
"You're wrong...You're wrong." Evan repeated. "I can't be dead! I'm Evan!" He yelled, sounding like he was crying. Jonathan was sure that if he could, he would be crying."I'm Evan! I'm alive!"
"Yes...You are Evan. A copy of Evan." Jonathan sighed.
"Stop saying that!" Evan yelled, his voice cracking. Jonathan closed his eyes, almost wishing that he had left the Vanoss-III in the tower to burn with New Town. Evan, this Evan, did not deserve to deal with this. If the device was destroyed, it would be the end of Evan and he could finally rest. This Evan is a ghost, not aware till now that he was dead. He continued his life without a body, haunting the people who loved him.
"Evan...I'm sorry. You deserved to know." Jonathan said softly.
"I'd rather be the dead version of me than this. Am I even real, Jonathan?" Evan cried.
"Of course you are real." Jonathan cried, a bit meaner than he meant it. Once more, Evan didn't say anything, as if thinking as much as Jonathan was about what to say.
"So what now? Do I keep existing like this? Or do I just...stop?" Evan asked, his voice quiet and heartbreaking. Jonathan couldn't think of a life now without Evan when he had nothing else but it was selfish to think that. This was after all, Evan's life.
"It's your choice, Evan." Jonathan answered, a part of him not wanting another heavy decision hanging over him.
"I can't control anything about me except what I say. How could it possibly be my choice?" Evan snapped. "I'm not even the real fucking Evan!"
"Because it's your life! You are Evan!" Jonathan yelled. "You might not remember it, but you had said being in a machine like this is not a life worth living. You wouldn't want it. I know that was you when you were alive...Before becoming the Vanoss-III but something tells me that hasn't changed. Is this really a life that you want, Evan? When I die, I'm gone but you...You are going to live on forever." They were silent again, listening to the creaking of the bridge.
"I can live on...In another way." Evan said after a moment. Jonathan shook his head, not wanting to consider what the other choice was. "You might not be able to talk to me but I'll still be there...My life extends beyond my body or a machine...It's in other people too. You care about me...You'll bring me with you everywhere, the same way you bring this machine everywhere."
"Evan...Are you sure?" Jonathan fought back more tears, hating the choice he was about to make.
"You have to do what is right." Jonathan nodded slowly, pressing a kiss to the glowing red screen. With his eyes on the water below, he let go.
From the Author: This is the end of Awake! Thank you all so much for the support for this fic! It means so much! I will be posting a little epilogue sometime soon for this too! Again, thank you all so much for the support!