A/N: Well, for those who care, I'm back in China! Yippee! What this means for you is that I now can watch AOU again. Double Yippee! I'm spending quite a bit of my time watching and rewatching the Ultron scenes to try and get a better hold on his character, but it's not my strong point.
Anyway, I'm just going to keep winding this thing to its climax and close, and then I'll probably go and do a rewrite of the whole thing, polish it up. We've got a lot of action coming up, though! Not to give any spoilers, but... lets just say there will be two.
It had been two months since I last saw Pa, Aleks, or Ultron, and six weeks since my trial, sham that it was. I had gone in knowing that it was merely a formality to lock me up for good without breaking too many human rights laws, and so I felt no more than a twinge of disappointment when the ruling came. It was a lot of years. Lets leave it at that. I'd much rather ignore the injustice of it all.
Every now and again, sometimes every day, sometimes more than a week apart, they would 'interview' me in that blasted room. Still, those pleasant little escorted walks down the corridor to equally pleasant little talks with Baldy VonBaldstein were the highlight of my life at the moment. It meant getting my out of that makeshift cell in the building I was being held, for one thing. For the other, it gave the only hints I had that my family were still alive.
"You need to give us more to work with, Katja, dear," Moskvin was telling me now, as he paced behind his desk with an exasperated expression. "Your family has been extremely cooperative with us, it is only you that refuses." It was this kind of thing that gave me hope, because that was the closest I ever came to finding out they were okay. Still, no matter what they said, it didn't change my attitude. These men were liars, and they had taken us, imprisoned us, threatened us, and I wouldn't bend. I stared dead into his eyes, no longer afraid of this pitiful excuse for a man after so many of these chats.
And he was starting to crack. He stopped his pacing and slammed his fist onto the table three times, causing me to flinch. "Damn it, you stupid girl, do you realize what I am authorized to do to you and your family if you do not comply?"
"Baldy, if you think I give the slightest damn what you threaten me with anymore, you are sorely mistaken," I said, my first words to him since his usual rant started about ten minutes ago.
He scoffed, rolling his brown eyes heavenward. "Still clinging to the hope that the mindless machine and war criminal known as Ultron will come and take you away from this scary place?"
"I've come to realize I don't need him to whether he will or not. I've also come to see your determination to deny his autonomy as hilarious. I'm sure he'll share the joke over your corpse, too."
He breathed through his clenched teeth, sending spittle my way. "Tell us where it is," he said again, emphasizing his refusal to call the robot a he.
"I will not tell you anything about Ultron. I will not do anything to help you in this harebrained war plot. If you guys are stupid enough to pit our tiny people against a world power and the Avengers, you deserve everything coming your way."
Moskvin seemed to calm down suddenly, which made me more wary than his anger. He smirked, and sat himself back down. "I would find your ignorance unbearable otherwise, but since you haven't exactly been kept up to date these last couple of months, I'll pity you. Do you honestly think we are the only people that have been waiting for an excuse to start firing on the Americans? We have allies, large allies. And the Avengers?" he paused to snicker and shake his head. "They are too busy battling each other these days. It is providence that we fight this war. It is our side you should want to be on."
I felt sick. I didn't want to believe it, but it was all very likely, and I wasn't so naive as to dismiss it because I didn't want it to be true. I could think of a lot of places that wanted to take a bite out of the US of A. "You still won't win," I insisted feebly. "You don't have the firepower. No one does."
His smirk broadened, as if I had fallen right where he wanted me, "That, my dear, is where you are wrong, thanks to your father."
If my hands hadn't been restrained, I would have facepalmed so hard at that moment. Instead, I settled for a heavy sigh and two words, "Show me."
We walked, Moskvin, my usual two armed guards, and I, through an area of the compound that I hadn't seen before. It was the same clinical white and polished steel, but at one point there were windows to the outside, and I looked to the blue sky beyond them longingly until I was pulled past it and it was no longer in view. It must have been far too long since I had seen the outdoors, because the light of the sun had been to bright at first, and then as I blinked I imagined I saw red stars against the blue. It did nothing to lift my spirits, only to make me more upset at my trapping. The trap that was about to get much worse, if Pa had really done what I thought he did.
Eventually Moskvin came to a stop, and I almost ran into him with its suddenness. I probably would have if the guards hadn't been holding my arms in their iron grips. We were standing at a large window, only, rather than to the outside world, it overlooked a huge factory-like space, as big as an aircraft hangar. People in white lab coats and dirty overalls were milling about like ants, and I wondered if one of them was my Atyets, because along the conveyors that looked at first glance like they ought to be assembling cars, were the fresh shells of Ultron sentinels. A shiver of dread ran up my spine, and his Baldness noticed.
"Beautiful, is it not? And it doesn't stop here. Once mister Feliks Dobronravov was on board helping our engineers crack all those lovely schematics we picked up at your place, mass production was simple. Simple enough to share with factories in China, Russia, Egypt, just to name a few." He was speaking like he was merely a tour guide, not part of the budding World War III. "Did you know, that here alone we can churn out thirty-two ready models daily, and worldwide, our side is producing over one thousand each day. Impressive, right?"
"I would lean a little closer to oppressive, than impressive. You're really mass producing the very things that turned against Tony Stark and attacked Sokovia in the first place?"
He snorted, as if I was a fool. I probably was in his eyes. "We are not interested in the dodgy processors and artificial intelligence that ignoramus messed around with. We have, of course, written our own program. We have taken only the best, and improved it."
"Why," I started, trying to ignore the headache that was beginning to form, "why are you telling me all this?" I wished the floor would open up and swallow me, because death would be a far better alternative to watching this. Everything I had feared was coming true before my eyes.
"It was part of Feliks's bargain. We cannot dispose of you, so we may as well make some use of you. Are you convinced yet?"
I shook my head and stepped away from the glass. "No," was all I said, and this time I was put back into my cell a little more roughly than usual.
Six months. Six months since I had seen my family. Six months since I had last seen the true Ultron. Four months since I had seen the fakes. Four months since I had seen Baldy, not that it was any loss. They had well and truly given up on speaking to me after that day, and sometimes, sitting on my uncomfortable bunk, staring at the wall, I wondered if I should have just given in. Sometimes I wondered whether I should have stayed at school, never returned to this forsaken country of mine. Sokovia used to be my home, now it was my prison, serving up cold beetroot stew day in and day out.
Sometimes, when I was feeling particularly low, I wondered what my life would have been like if my Pa had been the one to get cancer instead. I doubted my mother would have had a hand in the second Ultron army to scourge the human race. These thoughts, however, just made me feel worse, because I shouldn't ever wish death on the father who loved me, and looked after me, even if he did make mistakes. It wasn't that I hated him, I loved him like I always did, I was just so disappointed in what he was doing. And then the second thing- I felt bad for calling those robot reproductions 'Ultrons', because they weren't him. So far I just didn't have another name for them.
But you shouldn't get me started on Ultron. I had well and truly given up on any lingering notion that he would come and bring some pain on these guys that had taken us. There were many emotions that stirred within me now with the name Ultron: resentment, bitterness, betrayal, anger, fear, hurt, longing. Longing for his sorry metal ass to get in here and do some serious damage to that damn cell wall, that is. That lying creep said he would help us. Well, jokes on him, because right now he was getting cloned by humans, to be controlled by humans, in a war by humans, and there was nothing he could do about it, because he couldn't bring himself to get off his lazy ass and-
The explosion sent me flying off the bed in a cloud of rubble, landing with a thud and a wrong-sounding crack from somewhere in my chest. Probably the part that was hurting, but I wasn't a doctor. I rolled under the bed and put my hands over my head as more explosives went off, each one shaking the building like an earthquake, and the only coherent thought my ever helpful brain could conjure was, What the H-E-Double-Toothpicks was that?
Soon after the explosions was the sound of gunfire and shouting, and the occasional guttural screams. Who was attacking now? Were the Avengers finally pulling through? Eventually the cacophony in my general area of the building died down, replaced by eerie silence. And then footsteps. One set, light and running, the other, slow and heavy. Coming this way. Was it death or rescue?
Eh, either way, it had to be better than this damn cell.
I started pulling myself out from under the bunk, wincing at every movement, spitting out plaster dust. There was rubble everywhere, and two of the walls were down, one being the wall leading to the hallway, where stood a very familiar figure. One that brought tears of joy to my eyes, and I wasn't even embarrassed. In my haste I staggered to my feet and sprinted across the small room, almost tripping several times in those few steps, and lunged into my brother's embrace. My nose was running, my eyes were leaking, I was covered in dirt and debris, and I was so, so happy to bury my disgusting face in his prison-issue grey coveralls that matched mine.
"It's okay, sis, it's all okay now," he said, sounding choked himself, as he hugged me tighter. I hissed in pain and pulled away, holding my ribs.
"Yeah, no, I love you, but lets not hug until I've had this looked at, okay?" I grunted, and he nodded with that kicked-puppy expression I had missed so much.
"You're right. We need to get out of here."
We started moving, and went to turn the corner when my brain finally caught up with what was happening. "Wait, how exactly did you pull off this whole escape thing, anyway?" And when I looked up, I realized I shouldn't have asked.
"Katja, you look awful."
Ultron.
"Gee, thanks, robutt. You look... taller," I retorted feebly, feeling beyond exhausted all of a sudden. Well, the mystery of where he and that vibrani-whatsit had gone was solved. He had gotten busy upgrading himself while we had all wasted away, apparently. But hey, I wasn't complaining. If I had to choose between greasy, falling apart, zombie Ultron like he was before, and the shiny beefcake Ultron that stood before me now, well, his attitude seemed much easier to deal with when it was coming from that bod. Not that I was shallow, or anything. He smirked at my comment, and it was bizarre to see him do it, after having to 'insert smirk here' with all our conversations before now. Six months ago. Okay, exhaustion gone, now I was angry.
"What the hell, Ultron? We were stuck in here forever, and you never came like you said you would!" I stomped up and shoved him in the chest. Or rather, I tried to. He didn't budge, but he did find my attempt amusing.
"Well, technically I'm here, so I did come, and it wasn't forever. Hence, no promises broken."
"You're insufferable!"
"You know you love me," the android that I had first seen in grainy footage on the news, and then drafted on a makeshift blueprint, now said these words to me and winked, and I began to question whether they had put something extra in that beet stew because this would make much more sense if it was all a juiced up hallucination.
I stood there gaping until Aleks yelled at me to snap out of it and catch up, because we really had to go and they were already down the hallway waiting for me while I zoned out. And so I, grumpy and red in the face, started jogging to where they now stood, holding my ribs gingerly, until something dropped through the ceiling and landing in front of me.
I yelped and scrambled backwards from the large metal shape between me and my escape buddies that were now running back towards me and whatever this attacker proved to be. And slowly the metal shape stood from its crouch. Everyone paused, and looked on in awe and horror, even Ultron, who stared at himself.
They certainly had managed to crack those schematics, because before the three of us stood all seven feet of the prime Ultron form. Another Ultron Prime, that is. Because how could the universe possibly stick me in deeper crap when I had that sassbot in my life? By giving me two!
The newcomer robot stared at me with bright orange eyes, though I would have thought it would be more interested in its red-eyed twin. "Who... who are you?" I managed to say after much to long a silence.
And it responded, in a monotone voice that sounded like pennies in a blender. "I... am Infinitus."
Then it lunged.
A/N: Phew! Is that enough of a cliffhanger for you? Did you see it coming a mile off? I always feel so predictable... Not quite as long as I would have liked to write for you, but I wanted to keep moving, rather than make it perfect.
So far everyone's already in pretty deep doodoo! Thousands upon thousands of human controlled Sentinals, and now a human controlled Prime? Dayum. Things are looking bad for our hero, and we're not even close to the finale!
Anyway, reviews make writing happen harder, better, faster, stronger! So do it! Do it now!