"All right, Argus. A little further."
The three started down the hall. A T-3 appeared at the end and blocked the exit.
"Other way! Other way!" Frantic, Maxwell 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 puppets!"
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. With a powerful 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. 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. The T-3 took a step toward them, and then another, till 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. The T-3 slid sideways a few inches. It looked from the men to the turbine, realizing the device was a very powerful magnet. 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. 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.
"I have some important news. 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 problems." 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. Inside, several mechanics worked on vehicles.
"Yep... Yep... I understand. I’ll get right on it."
Chapter Forty-two
What Is The Truth?
7:58 P.M...
In the Gallery...
Unfinished Melody chimed. Ginn's statues seemed to watch Kat as his harmonious creation played on, trapping her in its gentle rhythm. The statues stared at her with their stone cold gaze. Her eyes drooped, and she sneered, fighting the peace that endangered her. 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. Kat forced herself to remain up and resist the urge to lie on the floor.
"It cannot be!" The Rogue pointed the Bowie at her. “After a year of hunting you, surely I would have noticed you're not quite human. Wouldn’t I? Tell me! Are you one of them?"
Her eyelids grew heavy, so very heavy. She focused on the Rogue as the room whirled around her. Kat put a hand to the concrete floor in an effort to combat the effects of Unfinished Melody. "One of them?" she thought. "One of who? What is it talking about?" She laid the gun down and smacked her face, trying to snap herself out of the haze. It worked for a few seconds, and she grabbed the gun. Kat lifted herself, stumbled back to a statue, and leaned on its metal base.
"I can't worry about that now," she thought as the melody took hold of her again. "I’ve got to do something about the music." She glanced down and saw the Music Box at her feet. With the Rogue preoccupied with its question, Kat seized the opportunity and quickly scooped the Music Box up and closed the lid.
She shook off the effects, raised the PPK, and yelled, "One of who?"
The Rogue was ecstatic. "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. "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." It laughed, overcome by the realization. "You are an organic-mecha. Why else would you have Ginn's Unfinished Melody?"
Kat chuckled, keeping the PPK 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 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 imprinted 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."
"She..."
Kat didn’t know how to react as she thought, "Kimberly wouldn’t. We’re partners. We’re supposed to watch out for each other
. Not..." Her faith in her faded. "What do I really know about her?" She closed her eyes, realizing the betrayal. And it hurt. It hurt very deeply. "I know one thing. Kimberly’s drive to find the truth no matter the cost."
Kat opened her eyes and stated, "What?" She shrugged as if it didn’t matter. Kat acted as if the betrayal didn’t sting. "What do you want me to do? Cry?" She put on a good front. "Like you said, I can’t."
"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. 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. 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 shrugged 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...
The walls seemed to move in on Kat as she aimed the gun at the Rogue. "Kimberly betrayed me, and the Rogue betrayed her. Is there no trust in this world?" she wondered. "Do I really want to know my part in it? Maybe it’s best I don’t remember." Those thoughts quickly vanished from her mind and alarm set in as the Rogue unfolded its plan to her. "No!" she thought, forgetting her own peril.
Kat bolted for the exit, but it moved and blocked her escape. She yelled, “Get out of my way!”
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, "So why such loyalty?"
"I..." she started to answer.
Kat then thought, “I don't know. I only know that there's this nagging feeling from a memory that won't surface. The locked away event pesters me. It beseeches me 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." It lunged.
She shot twice, and it dodged the speeding projectiles. The Rogue swiped its blade at her four times as she stumbled back from the slicing attacks. 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. It slammed her gun arm down, forcing the PPK from her hand. She punched it in the face several times with her left fist. 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 the Bowie. The large blade lay a foot from its grasp. The Rogue stretched to snatch it, and Kat woke. She pressed against its elbow that pinned her to the floor, but didn’t have the strength to push it off.
The Rogue laughed as she wrestled against its arm. "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 to prevent it from reaching its weapon.
"Unless you achieve the Delta Phase." The Rogue stretched, even with her grasping at its arm, and touched the hilt with its finger tips. "I came across your file of Phases." It fumbled with the handle, trying to pull the Bowie 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 its pale 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. "That is what the Council has been waiting for. They sent those human assassins after you, so you would kill them, but you never did, did you?" 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. Now the Council has given up on you. They have activated another project to take your place. It is only a matter of time before they call for your termination as the Factory has called for mine."
Realizing the Rogue faced its own troubles, Kat stopped resisting and searched its face. "Can something created out of metal and circuitry know fear?" she wondered. "Can it understand what I've been through?"
She told it, "You’ve managed to stay alive."
"Yes, I have, but only because I have killed to do so."
"I guess it can't understand how I feel," Kat thought. "After all, it's only a machine. It doesn't have emotions. And it only knows how to destroy." She tried to squirm free of it. "It's a machine who will kill me if I don't do something!"
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. It will not be long and–" It faced her. "–bye-bye Ms. Griffin." The Rogue applied more pressure, choking her, but it made sure not to kill her.
It thought to itself, “Her death should not be so quick. Pandora must 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. "That is better. Stay right there for a second." It walked over to the Bowie and picked it up. "I want to finish this properly."
Kat slipped deep into her mind. "No. Kimberly can't die, there’s something..." She remembered the Note R.G. had left her and the words she had lived by. The words resounded in her heart as she thought, "There’s something I must remember." Ultra-Epi saturated her blood. It had been triggered by her peril. Part of a memory flooded her mind. Her eyes flew open, and they were engulfed in the blue Ult L-E. She recited in a trance,
"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 Rogue asked.
Kat surfaced from her unconscious state. She sat up, stood, walked to the PPK, picked the gun up, and aimed for the Rogue. A new ability actuated inside her. Her senses became even keener, and she focused on the Rogue. She saw a yellow-green electrical apparition surrounding it. This energy was what gave the Rogue its artificial life. Her heart raced.
lub-DUB–lub-DUB–lub-DUB
The new warning the muscle sounded was faster. The heart didn’t caution her of danger, but proclaimed like a war drum the end for her enemies. The e-field her body generated naturally, changed, and stored its output in the center of her heart. The ball of storming energy, the size of a pea, doubled with each heartbeat. It kept growing till it engulfed the muscle.
The blue Ult L-E dissipated as her pupils dilated, making her irises appear jet-black. They were cold like a shark’s, and they never wavered from her target. She felt the buildup of energy. Kat feared 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. Let us begin then. Wait. I detect a power buildup in this room. This is odd.” It tilted its head, trying to wrap its logic around the realization. “The buildup is coming from you, Pandora. What are you..."
The e-field massed till it could no longer contain the energy and pulsed. It sent 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. The Rogue lost power and froze in place like a mannequin. Light from Research Lab Five came through the open door. The small E.F.P. only affected the Gallery.
“I should shoot it now, while the Rogue is disabled” she thought. “But I feel I must wait. There's something I'm supposed to experience. I believe it's a new ability.”
Within seconds, the Rogue’s backup battery kicked in. Bio-mechas were designed to revive if ever an electromagnetic pulse weapon was ever used. It blinked twice. "I detect a power buildup in this room. This is odd. The buildup is coming from you, Pandora. What are you..." The Rogue tilted its head again. "I believe I already said that." It searched its back logs. "Yes. I lost power. The lights are also off. What happened to them?" The Rogue switched to night vision. 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."
She didn’t respond only stared at it as the yellow-green electrical apparition faded. A bright ghost-image of the Rogue appeared beside it. The Rogue moved, joining the image. At first, Kat didn’t understand what she was seeing. The ghost-image moved again a split second before the Rogue.
"I’m seeing where it'll be," she thought. “I'm seeing its movements before they happen.”
Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness Page 23