"Wh—what!" Wash gasped.
"Everything has been going according to plan, Daveyboy," O'Malley sighed. "You fell right into our trap."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Wash, listen to yourself. Always whining. Always complaining. Pay attention, now. Your tiny human brain was outsmarted. We tricked you. Do you hear me? We've won, and the fight hasn't even started.
"We sent those incomplete signals to Command. We wanted them to pick up our general location. We knew they would send you, David. You're the only one who can help them. We made sure the others couldn't find us. We destroyed the tank's AI tracker. We ripped apart your supplies and the ship. Don't you get it yet? Meta made that sound outside the window to wake you up, and we created that burnt trail outside your window so you could follow it and find us here! You've lost, David, and you aren't walking out of here with us! We are the ones walking out of here with you."
"But wait!" I yelped. I needed to distract them. Screw collecting the AIs. We were no longer the hunters. We were the hunted. "If you wanted Wash, why did you attack him at Blue base?" I asked him the first question that sprang to my mind. I needed to buy us some time. We needed to escape.
Meta turned to face me and growled in irritation.
"…That was my fault," Sigma said, almost more excited than woeful at the memory. "I got a little carried away with Sheila's remaining power!"
It was O'Malley's turn to grumble furiously. "Ugh. That entire plan was a mistake. We meant to kill the Blues, but Sheila didn't have enough power left after we disabled her AI tracker. We meant to leave Alpha and Wash unharmed and kill the others, but Sigma couldn't control the amount of power we had left and it ended up attacking the four of them evenly."
"Why didn't you take Wash then? He was unconscious. You could have kidnapped him easily." I saw Wash glare at me from the periphery of my vision.
Another one of O'Malley's laughs escaped Meta's helmet. "Oh… we need him awake for the fun we have in store for him."
"What the hell is this?" Wash demanded. "You planned all this—everything—just for me?"
"Oh, don't flatter yourself," O'Malley responded lazily. "You're not my first choice. Not by a long shot. If I were able to choose, I would have wanted Tex in an instant. Perhaps we had our quarrels, but I'm willing to look past that. She was so good to me…" he trailed off, reminiscent. "But, as she's rather dead now, I have to go with my second choice. And that's you. You've already been taken over before, Wash, and we know your mind is weak. It's easily controlled. You won't cause us any trouble." O'Malley sighed. "So, actually, I take it back. We don't want you. We need you. Meta's power is waning fast. He can't handle all of us being in here at once. We need to spread out to a new host in order to regain some of that energy.
"Ever since I started infecting my lovely hosts through radio waves, any good host would keep his or her radio permanently off. So I'm stuck! However… not all the AIs need radios to jump from victim to victim.
"Take little Epsi here, for example. He's already been inside your head, Wash." At that, Wash cringed, and O'Malley cackled with delight at his reaction. "Yes… remember that, Daveyboy? What a pleasant experience that was? You see, since Epsilon has already formed such a close connection with your psyche, he doesn't need anything to transfer to your head. You're special in that, Wash. Epsilon can just go inside your mind without any help at all."
Wash and I both gasped.
"You—you want to spread out—" Wash stuttered. "You want to spread Epsilon to me?"
O'Malley grinned evilly. "David, David, David… perhaps you didn't hear me clearly. I want my own host. I don't like to share. Being crammed in here with everyone else is exceedingly uncomfortable. As the Director's rage, I get a perk—all the rest of the fragments listen to me. When I say I want my own space, I get my own space. So… as entertaining as that would be… no. Well…" he laughed again. "Not permanently, at least."
"You won't get inside me!" Wash spat heatedly. "My radio isn't on!"
"Exactly," O'Malley continued calmly. "That's why you need a little… persuasion."
His words permeated the still air of the clearing as their meaning sunk into our heads. I inhaled sharply and tried to stand, but collapsed back on the ground instantly. My damned ribs.
"Here's the deal, Wash," O'Malley said in a businesslike tone to Wash, who had frozen in horror. "Turn on your radio. Let me in. If you don't, I'll let Epsilon loose inside your head instead, and he will certainly change your mind. It's your choice."
Wash clenched his jaw with tension. "You're lying."
"Don't play games with me, David," O'Malley responded darkly. "You will regret doing so."
Wash gulped but didn't back down. "This is impossible. It's a bluff."
"Oh…that's it, then," O'Malley chuckled, the poison teeming in his voice. "I do love a challenge. Epsilon!" He barked.
"Y—Yes, Omega?" The memory AI replied.
"Your dear friend isn't cooperating. It is time."