LEDGER

Tenth

The distance does not help. The more my brain processes this, the more I realize nothing will help. I was not made to fight. I was made to take orders, to be pleasant, to serve. There are built in barriers in my head making the thought of hurting someone, even the monster that is Evan, unbearable. What does that mean now though? Do I have enough time to get a warning to Parks? Is there anyway that Isla and Cole and Cate might still be saved? Evan must have kept copies of their code. If that is the case, we all still have a chance. If not..-

"Asa, please follow emergency protocol and destroy all hard-drives." Evan's voice resonates from the invisible speakers. "We wouldn't want any leaks from this place reaching the outside."

For a moment I wonder why Evan is talking to Asa like that. Then it becomes clear, why Asa was so secretive about being self-aware artificial intelligence. He cannot help but be that way. The moment he realizes this, Evan has almost no hold of him at all. That is why he is keep his distance from Asa, despite using him now. The words must have really been a reset code of sorts, I have no other explanation for it.

I have to find Parks, the others, Asa, and then get out of here. There is nothing I can do for the human loss Evan has caused, not that of his daughter, or every poor AIMER researcher naive enough not to see the demon in that man's head, not the own corpse I inhabit. But I can at least help the last person left to me.

I run to the elevator and find it mercifully operational. Evan is keep his word so far, giving me a chance. The distance from it to my room and Asa's is trivial but it seems to stretch forever, a disparity that is my body's fault alone. I force myself to disregard it and think.

"Asa, I said stop." Parks is saying, in a quiet commanding tone. If Asa is nearby I can't tell. He says nothing, makes no sound. Until I turn the corner and see him standing as still as a statue, some feet away from Parker. The researcher has his back to me, but Asa's flickering eyes alert him to my presence.

"Just wait a little bit." Parks says, his tone turning sharper, pointing at something. "Take a second and talk this out with me. Since when do you listen to Evan?"

Asa says nothing, does nothing, for a second looking completely lost. That was the trap. I have a split second to scream at Parks before Asa charges him full force. Comparing the two men now, there are so many things Asa has over Parks. Better rest, health, habits, bigger build, less inhibition about hurting himself. Parks looks so terribly frail for a moment, like there was no winning this fight from the beginning.

At least that is until Asa collides with Parks and the tension goes out of him like power from a wire. Still, his force was so tremendous that it pins Parks to the wall behind him, before letting up.

There is a tiny fraction of a second, where the awareness is both there and not in his periwinkle blue eyes. Then, just as quickly, it dissipates, not even with a breath or a sound or anything at all. One moment he is alive, the next the knife has its desired effect, severing some main artery from his heart.

Parks had done no such thing but it feels like he took the knife to my knees as well. They buckle and I cannot predict or remedy it in time, because everything else starts bleeding too, only not really. Dying right now sounds almost nice and not scary at all, like a easy 'quit' button that I do not have the right to inside of a human body. There was never any choice, not for me or Asa or anything else that is man-made.

Asa and I crumple on the floor at the same time, but he is not reaching for me like I am. Parks moves toward me and I brace myself for pain unlike any I have felt before. Shouldn't a knife hurt more than anything else I have experienced?

"Max, I'm sorry." Parks says and tries to intercept me when I go for Asa. I cringe away and he steps back as well, letting me pull Asa, or Aston, onto my lap.