Hacking the Sun - The Re-Remake

Chapter 20 Wherever The Devil Roams 2/2

"He is."

"Except, that nutjob you paid to vomit your message on the Fourth of July, he was an amateur, like SK-3. Know how I know?"

Again, Malvis was silent.

"When I took Drama in the academy, my teacher—he was pretty cool—told me that, in order to reach a broad audience, a stage actor had to project his voice. Ancient Greeks and all that. From what I remember that day, the hack who plastered his face all over New Sumer, his vocals hit like a fucking horn.

"Fear tends to skew perception, Angst macht den Wolf größer als er ist, so New Sumerians didn't catch on. Almost got me too, I'll admit. That actor is not with Sub Terra; David wasn't responsible for any of it. Human flaws worked against you. Flaws can be a good thing.

"See, humanity doesn't rebel because you're aliens; it's because you're robots."

"Jessica..."

"With hearts of stone..."

"Accept my entreaty."

"And minds of metal."

"You haven't seen a mind of metal!"

The Azarean's first pant and the first bout of fury were startling. The bright red eyes dilated. Quickly, Malvis reclaimed his composure and cleared his throat. What came next was the cock of a gun.

"Get away from her."

Dexter appeared on their flank, focused, his pistol leveled at the Goliath Agent.

Coldly, Malvis' head creaked and angled until his crooked gaze rested on the boy, as if to an insect. "You've brought a toy to a battle of words, human. What do you intend with that?"

Dexter stared Malvis down, a mix of anger, anxiety, and fear to freeze his trigger finger. "I said, back away from her."

Dexter. The new reality of the situation made Jessica's blood rush. "Dex, we'll all be okay if you're not rash," she said shakily.

His dark eyes darted between her and the alien. "What does he want?"

"To compromise," said Malvis.

"Azareans don't compromise without lies and force."

"Yet, you do not see me conducting diplomacy with a weapon."

Jessica bent her knees, —"Is that what this is?"—gaping between her friend and Goliath's agent.

"Dispense with your firearm." Malvis lifted his sleeve.

"Just do it, Dexter!" Jessica, however, needed the distraction, and carefully nudged her hands closer together.

1...

Jessica ignited her Vambrace and input characters.

2...

Malvis lifted her by the neck and squeezed as her feet kicked back and forth.

3...

Her weightless pain was accompanied by Dexter's weapon discharge, and thunder in her throat.

4...

More gunshots scathed reality as her breath funneled.

"I laid bare the stairs to your ascension," Malvis seethed. "No matter. One human or a million is inconsequential on the road to providence. Surrender the intel you stole, and you may live to see it." 

The sound of turbines preceded blazing lights in the distance, and the resonance droned in her ears. Airships. 

"Or you may live long enough to see Asgard purge the woods... Did you believe Goliath would consider a second eye for humans living under trees? Not before tonight."

Eventually, Jessica's knees hit the ground. Salvation allowed her to inhale and wheeze, to muster a sliver of energy for breath. Feeling around her neck, she looked up and caught Dexter struggling on top of Malvis.

"Just run, Jess!" he cried.

"Moron!" she coughed.

Laboriously, the young man grappled with the alien on the ground. Jessica needed that extra moment, though. Dexter needed her. Revving her lungs, she powered the luminescent brace around her forearm and made a call. She was distracted by raspy moans, all the while.

Dexter dangled under Malvis, by the wrist. From underneath his coat sleeve, the Azarean ejected a blade. The long edges irradiated into a yellow neon that hissed like his next sentence.

"A will that cannot convert must be severed."

Dexter hit the ground unconscious; his arm followed. Jessica's heart sank, her face numbed, and she was deaf to her own scream.

"DEXTER!"

Eyesight handicapped by tears, a blurred image of her friend convulsed under the wicked branches. The blade illuminated the ground where Dexter's arm had dropped, humming with whatever energy cauterized the wound.

Casually, the alien watched Jessica fume until her eyes turned into fire.

A hot flash later, her senses returned. When the atmosphere cleared, she inhaled then focused on the subject of her hatred. "Babel!" she screamed.

"Here!" he said.

She sprinted away.

"Cowardice will only stall your demise, Lynx," Malvis spat. "But not the demise of your kin."

I'm not running! A hum echoed across the woodland when Jess stepped out of the clearing. From the distant mansion sped the gravity board. She slid on the ground, letting the deck magnetize to her feet, to uplift and circle around in a single maneuver.

"Boost, Babel!"

Malvis reappeared in focus. She charged at full speed.

"Haaaaaaaa!"

"Naive gir-!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

'