Maxwell took a few more labored breaths and peeked around the corner, and a red exit sign was at the end of another long corridor. "Like the other halls. Can you carry him for a while?"
"Yeah, you ready?"
Maxwell nodded. He was very tired, but was more afraid to stay in one place.
Peters started down the hall and said to the blond man, "Let's go, Joe."
"Argus," he mumbled, holding his bruised side. "My name's Argus."
"All right, Argus; it's only a little further."
The three started down the hall when a T-3 appeared at the end and blocked the exit.
"Other way! Other way!" Maxwell franticly waved the two back. "Run!"
"Wait!" Argus said through gritted teeth and held out his hand. "Give me the gun."
Wishing they would get the Hades out of there, Maxwell glanced at the Beretta and gave it to him.
Argus pushed through the pain of his pummeled body and aimed for the crazed T-3 as it rushed toward them. He shot three times, aiming for its forehead, but it evaded with bio-mecha speed.
"It can't be!" Argus fired again and missed. "The T-3s are like the Rogue. We have to go!"
"What do you mean?" Peters grabbed him and helped him down the hall back the way they came.
The T-3 stopped running, lifted its weapon, and fired. Click. Click. It looked at the empty gun, threw it away, and walked toward them, shouting, "Pretty poppets!"
Argus freed himself of the tech, knowing he slowed them down. "Run, leave me."
Maxwell paused, gasped for breath, and glanced around. "Where are we?"
"I said run!" Argus yelled.
"We're near room B10-011." Peters looked to his partner. "What are you thinking?"
"Remember the toy in room B10-040?"
Peters replied, "Yeah, let's hurry."
Both men got on each side of Argus and forced him to continue with them.
"Come on, Argus," Peters urged. "We have a plan."
* * *
The T-3 followed the men down several halls and around a corner as they entered a room. The T-3 paused, saw the B10-040 above the frame, and tried the knob; the door was locked. It heard switches flip and a powerful turbine activate within, and with a mighty turn and push, the T-3 forced the door open. It entered as Peters stepped from a corner and sprayed its face with a fire extinguisher. White gas blinded the T-3 for a few seconds till the mist dissipated, and Peters ran across the room, joining Maxwell and Argus in a corner to the left of the T-3. The roar of the turbine in the right corner increased as the T-3 took a step toward them and then another until a powerful force stopped it in its tracks. Kat's Beretta sitting on a table along with a metal pen in Peters' shirt pocket flew across the room and attached themselves to the roaring machine, and the T-3 slid sideways a few inches. It looked from the men to the turbine, realizing the device was a very powerful magnet, and the T-3 lifted into the air and rushed toward the magnet as if hurled.
"Let's go!" Maxwell shouted over the wail of the turbine. "We don't want to be here if the power fails."
The three rushed out and headed for the main entrance.
* * *
Elsewhere in Noir...
Zax waved to one of his fellow security officers as he left the Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office. He made his way to a black sedan, started up the car, and left the parking garage, and once he was about ten miles away from the office, he placed a hands-free device in his ear and made a call.
"This is the Delivery Man, give me a direct line to R.G." A few seconds went by, and he continued, "I have some important news for you. Kimberly and Katharine are at the Factory." He listened. "I understand you don't want them there since the T-3s malfunctioned, but they're there." Zax nodded. "Yep, the S.C.Ms. let them through the gate with no problem." He cleared his throat. "The reason I called, the Rogue is also at the Factory." He sighed inwardly. "Don't get upset. There was nothing I could do. Remember, we don't have them on a leash. All I need to know is, what do you want me to do?" Zax turned down an alley beside Dad's Donuts, activated a garage door, and pulled into the Maydag Auto Garage and inside, several mechanics worked on vehicles. Zax said, "Yep... Yep... I understand. I'll get right on it."
Chapter Forty-two
What Is The Truth?
7:58 P.M...
In the Gallery...
Ginn's statues seemed to watch Kat with their stone cold gaze as his harmonious creation played on, trapping her in its gentle rhythm. Her eyes drooped, and she sneered, fighting the peace that endangered her as the sounds around her became clear. She heard the hum of the lights, the low rattle of the A.C., and the Rogue's shoes stamping across the concrete floor as it backed away from her. The bio-mecha warning her heart drummed, faded along with the urgency of the situation. She fell to one knee and covered her ears, but she couldn't get the melody out of her head, so Kat forced herself to remain up and resist the urge to lie on the floor.
"It cannot be!" The Rogue pointed its knife at her. "After a year of hunting you, surely I would have noticed you are not quite human. I would have or would I? Tell me! Are you one of them?"
Katharine's view...
My eyelids grow heavy as I focus on the Rogue. The room whirls around me, and I put a hand to the concrete floor in an effort to combat the effects of Unfinished Melody. What's the Rogue questioning me about? Am I one of what? I lay the gun down and smack my face, trying to snap myself out of the haze; it works for a few seconds, and I grab the gun. I lift myself, stumble back to a statue, and lean on its metal base. I can't worry about what the Rogue's freaking out about as the melody takes hold of me again. I have to do something about Unfinished Melody. I glance down and see the music box at my feet, and with the Rogue preoccupied with its fervent rantings, I seize the opportunity and quickly scoop the music box up and close its lid.
I shake off the effects, raise the PPK, and yell, "What are you talking about?"
End Katharine's view...
The Rogue ecstatically said, "I should have known; no human could do what you do."
"What are you saying?!"
"Come now, do you ever wonder why you have no memories?" The Rogue studied her anew. She had always been an object of fascination to it, but now she was a goddess of a new whimsical world. "Come to think of it, I have never seen you cry. Are you not capable? Do you not have emotions?"
She shouted, "Of course I have emotions! Get to the point!"
"My dear Pandora, you are not human." The Rogue laughed, overcome by that revelation and the realization that it may be one step closer to knowing why it had to hunt her. "You are an organic-mecha. Why else would you have Ginn's Unfinished Melody?"
Kat chuckled, keeping the gun leveled on it. "That's stupid."
"Is it? Is it really?"
"Yes! And it makes no sense!" A sinking feeling hit her, and she shouted, "Why would you say such a thing?"
"Because I have come to the conclusion that it is true; remember I had said the Sphinx Corporation was working on organic-mecha that could pass as human. You must be their only success."
"I am human," she insisted and glanced at her left shoulder that throbbed. "I bleed."
"I also bleed, though my blood is synthetic oil. How hard would it be to make that oil look like blood?"
She continued her argument, "I have flesh and bone, not metal parts."
"That is also possible. Man does clone human organs. How hard would it be to put them all together?"
Denying the notion, Kat said, "You're lying. Messing with me. I'm human, and I'm leaving."
"Not this time. Whatever you are, I am going to end your existence." The Rogue paused. "But before I do, I thought I would let you know that your friend..."
"What about her?" she interrupted.
"Kimberly betrayed you. She traded your life for bits of information."
"You're lying!"
"Am I?" The Rogue im
printed her reactions to memory; nothing would escape its sight. "Who suggested that you come to the Factory? Who said you should search this room where I found you? Who is looking for a disk? And who would do anything for that disk?"
"She wouldn't." Her deceit surprised Kat, and she denied the possibility. "She wouldn't."
"Are we talking about the same assassin? Surely you are not this naive, Pandora. I know you are trusting, but surely not this trusting to believe a killer."
Katharine's view...
"She..." I start as I don't know how to react.
Kimberly wouldn't sell me out... We're partners; we're supposed to watch out for each other. Not... My faith in Kimberly fades. What do I really know about her? I close my eyes, realizing her betrayal, and it hurts; it hurts deeply.
I know one thing about Kimberly and that's her drive to find the truth about her mom no matter the cost. I open my eyes and state, "What?" I shrug as if the betrayal doesn't matter to me, and I act as if it doesn't sting. "What do you want me to do? Cry?" I put on a good front. "Like you said, I can't."
End Katharine's view...
"No, I do not want you to cry," the Rogue answered. "I only wanted you to know, she will be getting hers."
Her heart skipped in dread as she took a few steps forward and demanded, "What do you mean? What have you done?"
"I did not lie to Ms. Griffin. I told her where the disk could be found, and all she had to do was bring you here." The Rogue rapped its chin with the blade. "I did forget to mention I told the T-3s she was coming, and for my efforts in getting the Chairman's daughter here, they agreed that they would let you two in and wait before attacking. Did you not think it was odd the T-3s never found you two?" It continued after she didn't respond, "Well, like I said she will be getting hers, after all, I did tell them to wait." The Rogue looked to a watch on its wrist. "Ms. Griffin should be entertaining guests right about now."
Chapter Forty-three
Always Know
8:18 P.M...
Katharine's view...
The walls seem to move in on me as I aim the gun at the Rogue. Kimberly betrayed me, and the Rogue betrayed her. Is there no trust in this world? Do I really want to know my part in it? Maybe it's best that I don't remember. Those thoughts quickly vanish from my mind, and I forget about my own peril as the Rogue unfolds its plan to me and alarm sets in. I bolt for the exit to go help Kimberly, but it moves and blocks my escape, and I yell, "Get out of my way!"
End Katharine's view...
Her reaction baffled the Rogue, and it asked, "Why would you try to save her? She has done nothing but hurt you." Unable to process the information, it inquired, "Why such loyalty?"
"I..." she started to answer, but she didn't know. Kat only knew that there was this nagging feeling from a memory that wouldn't surface, and the locked away event pestered her and beseeched her to act. She finally answered the Rogue, "I need her resources, besides..." Kat thought of Preacher. "No one should die." With all her soul, she swore, "I won't let anyone else die."
"Are you not forgetting something? Before you can save anyone, you have to prevent your own demise." The Rogue lunged, coming after her with more determination than it had before.
She shot twice at it, but it dodged the speeding projectiles. The Rogue swiped its blade at her four times as she stumbled back from the slicing attacks, and then Kat regained her balance and kicked its hand, knocking the Bowie from its grip. The Rogue beamed like a cobra before it strikes and tackled her to the floor, and it slammed her gun arm down, forcing the PPK from her hand. She punched it in the face several times with her left fist, and her attack damaged the artificial epidermis covering its metal skull right below its left eye. The Rogue relished in the battle; this is what it had been waiting for. It seized her by her t-shirt, lifted her from the floor a few inches, and whacked her head on the concrete. The blow knocked her out for a few seconds, giving the Rogue enough time to pin her with its left elbow and reach for its knife. The large blade laid a foot from its grasp, and the Rogue stretched to snatch it as Kat woke up. She pressed against its elbow that pinned her to the floor, but she didn't have the strength to push it off.
The Rogue laughed as she wrestled against its arm, and it questioned, "How do you plan on saving Kimberly from the T-3s when you cannot even defeat me? You do realize they are like me now."
She gritted her teeth, pushing against its elbow.
"They have evolved," it continued. "You will not be able to defeat them, unless..."
Kat changed tactics and clasped its right arm and pulled on it to prevent the Rogue from reaching its weapon.
"Unless you achieve the Delta Phase," the Rogue said as it stretched even with her grasping at its arm, and it touched the hilt with its finger tips. "I came across your file of phases." It fumbled with the handle, trying to pull the knife closer. "You will have amazing abilities if you can attain them." It couldn't grip the handle. "Unfortunately, you cannot reach the Delta Phase unless you reach the Gamma first." The Rogue gave up and turned to her. "Do you know what that evolution is?"
She didn't answer, struggling against it.
A smile slithered across the Rogue's pallid face as the word snaked from its mouth, "Murder... You will have to kill a human." The Rogue paused for a moment and studied her terror and determination. "It is what the Council has been waiting for. They sent those human assassins after you, so you would kill them, but you never did." It added as if proud of her, "You showed them. You always found a way to stop the Closers and bounty hunters without killing them, and now the Council has given up on you. They have activated another project to take your place, and it is only a matter of time before they call for your termination as the Factory has called for mine."
Katharine's view...
Realizing the Rogue faced its own troubles, I stop resisting and search its face. Can something created out of metal and circuitry know fear? Can it understand what I've been through?
I tell it, "You've managed to stay alive."
"Yes, I have, but only because I have killed to do so."
It doesn't understand how I feel; it's only a machine. It doesn't have emotions, and it only knows how to destroy. It's a machine who will kill me if I don't do something, so I try to squirm free of it.
End Katharine's view...
The Rogue changed its tactic and placed its hands around her throat.
She clutched its wrists and struggled to breathe.
In the distance, gunfire erupted.
"Do you hear that?" It turned its head toward the door. "The T-3s have started their attack, and it will not be long and then–" It faced her. "–bye-bye Ms. Griffin." The Rogue applied more pressure, choking her, but it made sure not to kill her. Pandora's death should not be so quick; she had to have a grand finale.
"No," her voice faded as she slipped into unconsciousness. "There's..." After a few seconds, she fell limp.
The Rogue released her. "Now that is better. Stay right there for a second." It walked over to the knife and picked it up. "I want to finish this properly."
Katharine's view
I slip deep into my mind. Kimberly can't die, there's something... I remember the note R.G. left me and the words I lived by, and the words resound in my heart. There's something I must remember. Ultra-Epi saturates my blood, I can feel it; it must have been triggered by my peril.
Part of a memory floods my mind. My eyes fly open, and I feel they're engulfed in the Ult L-E as I recite a poem as if someone else is controlling me,
"Though the clouds darken the sun,
and the rain becomes tainted,
always know there will be
a love that will not die.
Though hope seems a distant memory,
and human machines walk the land,
know no one can destroy
a love that will not die."
"What are you babbling about?" the R
ogue asks.
I surface from my unconscious state, and I sit up, stand, walk to the PPK, pick up the gun, and aim it for the Rogue. A new ability actuates inside me, and my senses become even keener as I focus on the Rogue. I see a yellow-green electrical apparition surrounding it; this energy must be what gives the Rogue its artificial life. My heart races.
lub-DUB–lub-DUB–lub-DUB
The new warning the muscle sounds is faster, and the heart doesn't caution me of danger, but proclaims like a war drum the end for my enemies. Somehow I know that the e-field my body generates naturally changes and stores its output in the center of my heart; it's like I can see it. The ball of storming energy the size of a pea doubles with each heartbeat, and it keeps growing till it engulfs my muscle.
End Katharine's view...
The blue Ult L-E dissipated as Kat's pupils dilated, making her irises appear jet-black, and they were cold like a shark's and never wavered from her target. She felt the buildup of energy, and Kat feared it and relished in it.
"This is different," the Rogue commented and questioned, "Are you wanting to continue our Waltz? Yes, I see it in your new eyes. You are ready, so let us begin then. Wait, I detect a power buildup in this room, and this is odd–" It tilted its head, trying to wrap its logic around the data. "–the buildup is coming from you. What are you..?"
The e-field massed till it could no longer contain the energy and pulsed, sending a small shock wave in all directions. The E-Field Pulse washed over the Rogue, fried exposed circuitry, and dissipated as it hit the room's walls. The accent lights went out, plunging the room into darkness, and the Rogue lost power and froze in place like a mannequin. Light from Research Lab Five came through the open door. The small EFP had only affected the Gallery. Kat wanted to shoot the Rogue while it was disabled, but she felt she must wait; there was something she was supposed to experience first.
Within seconds, the Rogue's backup battery kicked in, and it blinked twice. Bio-mechas were designed to revive if ever an electromagnetic pulse weapon was used, and the Rogue restated its last few sentences, "I detect a power buildup in this room, and this is odd, the buildup is coming from you. What are you..?" The Rogue tilted its head again. "I believe I already said that." It searched its back logs. "Yes, I lost power, and the lights are also off. What happened to them?" The Rogue switched to night vision, and it scanned her. "There is no longer a power buildup inside you, so I was right." It pointed at her. "This E.M.P. explosion proves you are organic-mecha, and this fact must be the reason I hunt you, after all, you are like me." The Rogue stepped toward her. "In the end I guess it does not matter if I am right or not, I will kill you either way."
All Worlds: Fantasy And Science Fiction Series Starters Page 40