Ultima Ratio

Chapter 80: Questions and Answers

As much as recent revelations made Akira want to curl into a ball and hide herself from the world, she couldn't do that. Only her team knew the truth about Garza, and she was their captain. She could have an existential crisis later; first, she had work to do.

Their first order of business was to ensure they trust the old Garza, with "trust" being in the relative sense. After a few hushed sidebars with the other members of the squad, Akira called in for backup. Quyen met their plane in the forest a few minutes later, returning with the mind reader in tow. While the device wouldn't necessarily tell the factual truth, it would at least prevent Garza from lying about his memories.

Akira and the Guptas watched as Quyen and Elodie set up the machine for Garza, all ignoring his sweating, contorted face and the occasional whimper that escaped him, thanks to his dislocated shoulder. Danya, however, didn't stick around, heading outside almost as soon as Quyen returned. She only paused for long enough to meet Akira's eyes and give her a slight shake of her head, her expression just as pinched as Garza's. While it was clear she wanted to be alone, Akira's heart ached at the thought of not being there for her.

Half an hour later, Garza's story proved to be true—in his eyes, at least. The other Garza appeared just as Danya remembered him, and the team watched the two witnessed instances of him murdering—or attempting to murder—his alternate selves, then the Garza reunion in Pali Uli. Seeing the lively villagers filled Akira with a hollow dread, but she didn't dare pull her gaze from the scene.

But even with Garza's story verified, another question remained: could he be trusted to help them?

Unfortunately, they didn't have much of a choice. On their own, they had no other leads on finding his "evil twin," and as worn down and scruffy as their Garza appeared, his mind at least appeared relatively sane. After another hushed round of sidebars, the team begrudgingly agreed to utilize his assistance; they even agreed to refer to him as "Victor" for the sake of clarity.

While Elodie began to roughly patch up "Victor's" injuries with a deep scowl, and the others had three guns trained on him, Akira stepped outside.

Even after all of the commotion, the rural neighborhood remained still and quiet. Regardless, the storm in Akira's mind was the complete opposite, and she trudged into the forest, following her earpiece's location sensors.

Danya was huddled on the forest floor with her back pressed against a boulder and her head buried behind her knees. As soon as Akira quietly sat next to her, Danya leaned against her, and Akira didn't hesitate to wrap her arms tightly around Danya's shoulders.

For a while, they didn't speak—not with their words at least. Instead, Danya's shuddering breaths into Akira's chest and Akira's gentle kisses against Danya's hair spoke volumes on their own.

"I couldn't kill him," Danya eventually whispered, her voice barely audible over the wind rushing through the trees. "As soon as I saw his face...when I heard his voice...I couldn't do it."

"That's not who you are," Akira murmured into Danya's hair. "You're not a ruthless killer; he is."

"But I wanted to," Danya said, her voice breaking. "I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to understand what I felt, and I couldn't. I couldn't do something so simple."

At the feeling of warm drops seeping into Akira's lap, Akira squeezed Danya's shoulders.

"Danya, that doesn't make you a failure," Akira said. "You went against everything that you were taught. If anything, that makes you stronger, stronger than he ever intended. You're not letting him control you anymore. He shouldn't be mad at you for that; he should be scared."