by Thom Parsons
He didn't hesitate.
He didn't waste a second.
He popped up, spotted the three enemy combatants on the opposite side of the train platform and took all of them down with just a few bullets. Their bodies digitised into oblivion, blurring out in a bright blue haze. Silence once again filled the waiting platform.
Suddenly, in the distance, Owen heard the loud, yet muffled sound of a train horn. His mind was still on edge and he reflexively jumped slightly. Something was coming their way.
Across the platform, Ethan stood up, moving carefully and anxiously. He was afraid that there could still possibly be a few more enemy avatars around.
"Thank you," Owen said to Ethan, breaking the uncomfortable silence and genuinely meaning the words that came out of his mouth. The two of them could have been killed in that firefight, but Ethan's quick thinking had saved them both. Ethan said nothing in return, but instead just gave Owen a slight nod.
He moved with a sense of urgency across the platform towards the location that the enemy shooters had been. Reaching down to the floor, Ethan picked up a fully automatic assault rifle that had been dropped down to the ground. Owen visibly tensed and gripped his pistol tighter as he watched Ethan pick the weapon up. Is this the moment that he's been waiting for?
Ethan spotted the tension in Owen immediately, and slowed his actions down, as if to show that he was not trying to become a threat. There was a strap attached to the weapon, so he wrapped it over him and gently threw the rifle over his shoulder.
"We're going to need these," Ethan said as if trying to justify himself. He reached back down to the ground non-threateningly and grabbed a second rifle to offer Owen. Ethan's hand was wrapped around the centre of the fully automatic weapon, with its barrel pointing up into the air. "In case of trouble," he clarified. "And there will be more trouble."
Owen tentatively put his pistol back into his waistband and reached out to grab the rifle from Ethan. The man's right. He conceded. We're going to need these. Who knows what we're walking into next…
The immediately recognisably noise of a train filled the platform as Owen saw a bright light coming their way from down the tunnel.
"We both know that the only way out of here is that train… right?" Ethan said, looking over at Owen.
"Fine," Owen answered without making eye contact as he was too busy checking over the assault rifle that Ethan had just passed him. He looked up from the weapon and over to where Ethan was standing before he continued to speak. "But you're answering my questions when we're safe onboard that train."
"Fool," Ethan replied. "We're never going to be safe."
The train slowed down drastically as it passed the waiting platform. All of its doors were open, but strangely, it didn't stop. At least not completely. It was going slow, just the right speed for both Owen and Ethan to jump aboard.
Next stop…the great unknown.
Chapter Sixty Seven
Date: December 11th 2035 (Two Days Earlier)
Location: New York City Streets
To Eli, it was clear from the start that somebody working closely to Owen was a double agent. How else could the events of today be explained? How else would somebody know to follow our van on this exact day at this exact time? None of this is coincidence. One of Owen's group is a snitch. That would also explain how somebody knew where Marcus Ortega was at the point he was killed... Not that he was there to see it, but it was obvious that an unknown party was blatantly following them back at that point in their mission as well.
Lets face it. Eli thought as he walked towards his home after their mission inside the PRoGRaM Prison System. It's either Nick or Kate. It's not Owen, because that makes no sense whatsoever. I need to start testing the waters here. I need to try and figure out just which one of them it is. Nick or Kate…
Immediately, he had the sense that somebody was following him. It wasn't like there were many people around either, so his finely tuned sense of perception picked up the signs fairly easily.
Carefully, he managed a quick and subtle glance over his shoulder.
It was Kate. She was following him! There she was, walking along, admittedly a fair distance behind him, seemingly without a care in the world. She had her phone pressed up against her ear and wasn't looking in his direction at all, or even keeping an eye on him, but it was massively suspicious that she was going the same way that he was, especially when Eli knew for a fact that she lived in the opposite direction to the way that she was now heading.
Maybe she's collaborating with Ethan? The paranoid side of Eli's brain thought. It was the first thing that sprang to his mind. Feeling dangerous, he immediately felt like he should put his theory to the test. With another quick glance over his shoulder, he saw Kate again, still following him. Maybe I'm reading the signs wrong? Maybe she's not following me. Maybe she's genuinely going in the same direction as me. There's only one way to find out though, right?
It was time to act. It was time to find out exactly who's side she was on.
To his right, Eli noticed that there was a long, poorly lit alleyway. If she's really tailing me, then I'll know for sure if she follows me into that. Secretly, Eli was really hoping that she would follow. There was always something about Kate that didn't quite add up to him. But whatever that was, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Eli turned quickly to his right and walked into the alleyway. He slowed his pace down considerably so that if Kate really was following him, she wouldn't be able to hide it here. Reaching into the back left pocket of his jeans, Eli pulled out his mobile phone and held it down low in his right hand, angling it so that he could use its reflective screen as a makeshift mirror.
Thirty seconds passed as he walked at a glacial pace down the dark alleyway. The entire time, his eyes were locked onto the reflection on his phone's screen so that he could keep an eye on events behind him inconspicuously, without giving away the fact that he knew he was being followed.
And then it happened.
Kate turned and walked down the alleyway behind him, purposely following him! What the hell is she doing? Why is she following me? What is she planning? Now that it was really happening, Eli didn't know what to do. Every sign that pointed to Kate being a double agent was right, but then he realised that he had no idea what to do next.
She closed the gap quickly. As she walked, she reached into some sort of concealed pocket on the inside of her jacket, whist looking around to make sure there was nobody else in their vicinity. He watched as Kate quickly pulled out a small silenced pistol. Without hesitation, she aimed it forwards and pulled the trigger.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three silent shots fired out behind him, slamming right into his back. No matter how much he had prepared himself mentally, the moment that they hit, the pain that Eli felt was incredible… even with the bulletproof vest that he wore underneath his shirt.
Eli flailed out as the bullets smashed into him. He stumbled forwards, falling into a huge pile of garbage bags that were piled up against the battered brick wall to his right. Within seconds, he had passed out from the pain.
It was the horrifying smell of garbage that brought him back around, only minutes later.
You lucky bastard, Eli. He thought to himself as he slowly came back around to his senses. What if she had shot you in the head? What if she had checked your body? All she needed to do was walk up to you and put one more bullet in your brain and you wouldn't be here now. Was it worth it?
Yes. Yes it was. He countered his own thought. Now I know just who I can trust.
Kate had made it personal, and Eli was never going to forget that.
Slowly, he sat himself up in the pile of garbage bags, his back throbbing immensely from the three bullets that were currently woven into his bulletproof vest. That's gonna take some time to heal. He thought as he used to wall next to him to steady himself whilst he got up to his feet.
Carefully, he unbuttoned his shirt and unclipped the bulletproof
vest that he wore underneath. It was pretty much useless now, so Eli discarded it in the pile of garbage bags that he had just clambered out of. He winced in agony as the vest brushed again the bruises on his back where the three bullets had hit him. They hadn't penetrated his vest, and luckily there was no blood which was always a good sign.
What the hell was Eli supposed to do now? Think it through logically. What's your next step? Okay, so first things first, you need somewhere to lay low. Although, that's not a problem. You have a lot of contacts out there that owe you, so it's time to call in some favours.
Secondly, you're going to need to get your hands on a weapon. How else do you plan on dealing with Kate? But he had to stop his thoughts right there and then. What the hell was he even thinking? Revenge? Of course it's about revenge. Nobody turns business personal like this and gets away with it.
Was Kate really the person that he was after? She was the one that fired the shots, but she sure as hell wasn't the one giving out the orders. As the famous saying went... don't shoot the messenger.
Kate isn't the one in control. She's not the one you're after, although she's going to get what's coming to her sooner or later. Kate's got a boss, so you're going to need to find out who that is. Going in guns blazing isn't going to work. If anything, it's likely to spook whoever's in control, and then you'll lose them forever. You need to play this one smart. It's all to do with Owen. If he can figure out…
Wait… you bugged Owen's apartment, remember?
Eli had completely forgotten about the audio bugs that he had placed inside Owen's apartment. He did it the first day that he was there, back when he, Nick, Kate and Owen were talking about the PRoGRaM Prison System, and about Alex Morgan.
Just listen in! He said to himself. Keep an ear on things unfolding there. Let Kate work with them, she might slip up and lead them to where they need to go. To whoever's in control. Then you can jump back on the bandwagon.
That settles it. I'll lay low for a while.
And that was exactly what he did. For two days, Eli stayed under the radar and out of the way. He was dead to the world, or at least, that was what he wanted the world to believe. For two straight days, he listened in on Owen's apartment, admittedly with some difficulty. I put three bugs in there, and they're all picking up interference? Something's not right…
Hour upon hour passed without anything of interest happening. Then, on the evening of December 13th, two days later, Eli finally picked up something of use as he listened in to Owen's voice.
“… I don't know.”
“… I think he might have been trying to steal the PRoGRaM device.”
“… Holy. Shit.”
"… It’s Ethan!"
Ethan! He was the last piece of Owen's puzzle. If there was anyone who could lead him back to whoever's in control, then it was Ethan Darkes.
Time to make a move.
Chapter Sixty Eight
Date: December 13th 2035
Location: PRoGRaM (CORRUPTION DETECTED)
Nothing but darkness lay on the other side of the glass as their train picked up speed and fired deeper into the New York City underground network. So here they were, trapped on a train in the final carriage underneath a collapsing city. Owen cared little for this environment. All he wanted was a way out of PRoGRaM. A way back to the real world.
"We're stuck in here then…" Owen said as he sat down on one side of the subway train. He lay his assault rifle across his lap as Ethan followed suit and sat opposite him. "Back on the waiting platform," he continued, resting his elbows on his knees and looking up at Ethan. "How did you know those avatars would get distracted like that? By something as simple as a bit of noise?"
"I programmed them," Ethan replied, offering only a vague answer in response.
"Was that your contribution to PRoGRaM?" Owen asked. "You programmed the avatars?"
"It wasn't just the avatars. It was everything inside the world. Marcus created the map, Alex created the technology, and I created the artificial intelligence. Everything from weather patterns to traffic. From avatars to vehicles. I'm the reason that everything feels so alive inside the world of PRoGRaM."
"Which is why you knew…"
"Which is why I knew how those avatars would react," Ethan confirmed with a nod. "Because I was the one that programmed them."
The subway train rumbled beneath them as the two men sat in silence. So that was what Alex did for PRoGRaM. But why was he so unresponsive in the Prison System? What happened to him in the two weeks between then and now? That's a question for another day. Marcus was at the scene of Annie's death, Alex was at the scene of Annie's death, so Ethan…
"Where were you?" Owen asked, breaking the silence. "On the night of the crash. Where were you?"
"Owen," Ethan replied. "It's not the best time right now."
"Alex Morgan was there, watching and waiting for it to happen. Marcus Ortega too, he was there, executing someone at the side of the road, presumably to distract us."
"Ha!" Ethan shouted at Owen manically, but didn't laugh.
"What's so funny?" Archer replied. "Who did he kill to attract our attention?"
"It's irrelevant now," Ethan said, letting out a sigh.
"So, where were you?" Owen asked, determined to at least some answers before PRoGRaM got to him, but Ethan didn't answer.
It's as if he doesn't want to tell me where…
And then it clicked.
"You were driving the van," Owen said as he and Ethan locked eyes. "You were driving the van that killed her."
Without remorse, without breaking eye contact, and without saying a single world, Ethan confirmed it with just a slight nod.
How am I supposed to feel now? I thought about this day for the last few weeks. About what I could do when faced with the bastard that had run Annie down. I promised myself I'd kill him, regardless of what Annie would or wouldn't have wanted me to do.
Owen looked down, eyeing up the assault rifle that was resting on his lap.
But if I kill him, then my answers are gone. So it's up to you, Owen. What's more important? Revenge, or the truth? Actually. Wait it out. Then you can have both.
"I…" Ethan began saying before the train jolted slightly, cutting him off. The carriage shook, throwing both Owen and Ethan around in their seats slightly. What was that? Owen thought to himself. He didn't want to talk this one through with Ethan. He couldn't even look at the man right now. Something's not right.
Suddenly, there was another jolt through the train, but this one was far more violent. It shook the entire carriage without remorse, throwing Ethan out of his seat and onto the floor of the train. Owen grabbed a pole nearby in an attempt to keep himself stable and upright.
Another shudder.
Another jolt.
The train continuously shook, remorselessly vibrating and throwing everything around inside that wasn't tied down, including Owen and Ethan. There was a screeching noise. A sound like metal on metal. Archer observed, thinking quickly back to Annie's death before snapping himself out of it. Now is not the time to get distracted.
The screeching noise got louder Something bad is coming. Something bad is going to…
But that was where Owen stopped thinking, because that was when the train stopped throwing everything around. That was when light began to seep in once again through the windows.
And that was when weightlessness took over.
The track had ended.
The train had fired off the edge of what could only have been a cliff, and was falling endlessly downwards with Owen and Ethan inside. But they didn't fall forever. They fell until they hit the water, thousands and thousands of feet below them.
Chapter Sixty Nine
Date: December 13th 2035
Location: Owen’s Apartment, New York
“Eli?!” Nick shouted at him, shocked to his core. “You scared the shit out of me, you dumb fuck!” He breathed heavily, half tempted to laugh. Here he was, expecting death, but
instead he had someone completely unexpected turn up to save him. “Where the hell have you been?” he asked, not understand why Eli had waited until now to show up again.
“Dead,” Eli responded in a deadly serious tone as he watched Nick rub his wrists where the handcuffs had been.
“Tell me later,” Nick said to him, shaking off his vague answer. “I need to help Owen right now!” he continued to say as he turned away from Eli.
“What’s happening?” Eli asked, watching intently as Nick typed furiously away onto his keyboard.
“Serious problems," Nick responded without even looking towards Eli. "There’s a virus inside the PRoGRaM’s base code. It’s changing the world, trying to kill Owen and Ethan.”
“Is the virus blocking you from pulling them out?” Eli asked, trying to understand where Nick was at with his work on the rogue code. He looked around for a chair to pull up.
“Yeah,” Nick replied.
“Shit. You think you can get rid of-“
The two of them turned around quickly to a noise coming from the entrance to Owen’s apartment. There was a quick, loud thud, followed by nothing but silence. Eli pulled a gun from the inside of his leather jacket. "Have this," he said to Nick as he attempted to pass him the gun.
“Where did you get a gun from?!” Nick asked out of sheer surprise at seeing Eli with a weapon. Eli held it by the barrel and stretched his arm out to pass Nick the weapon, whilst constantly keeping his eyes trained on where the noise had come from.
"This was Kate's gun," he explained in a rush. "Quickly, take it. Just in case."
Nick reluctantly reached out and grabbed the weapon from Eli. He hadn't handled a gun in years. Not since basic training. But if push came to shove, he knew exactly how to use it. Not that I really want to. He thought as he cocked the weapon, putting a bullet in the chamber.