The warship was coated in pitch. A distinct feeling of violence wove through the darkness and Xiao briefly sensed Valentin's presence. He realized that he must be more careful with his thoughts and he quickly pulled away from the system.
His eyes gradually focused and he took a deep breath of relief as reality slowly settled in. Disoriented and shaky, he was met with a river of blood. The crimson soaked scene slowly coalesced in front of him.
"What happened......"
He saw that the passages were closed and Casey was leaning his head against the wall. Both Mark and Winn looked on stunned.
He saw that Casey's legs were severed below the knee and his heart tightened before bursting into pain at seeing his friends in such a state. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes misted, blurring his sight.
"Casey...your legs!" Xiao Yan rushed over to Casey, feeling his knees, confirming that was he saw was real.
Casey gave him a wry grin and pointed to the node. "They are on the other side of the door."
"You closed the door..."
Xiao Yan was surprised by this. Valentin controlled the access channels, How did Casey get past Valentin?
"All the nodes have emergency overrides and will automatically shut down when they encounter an obstacle. This is a safety response that the system doesn't control.I shut it down using this... they won't open again. There is no turning back, Xiao Yan." Casey's lips curved at the corners, his eyes glimmered with a hint of pride.
"We can carry you." Xiao Yan swallowed around the lump in his throat, he wanted to take Casey with him but he shook his head.
"Taking me will only slow you down. I will be a burden. As you continue, everything will be controlled by Valentin. He will have assassins all around him."
"So we are suppose to just leave you here?!" Xiao was adamantly opposed.
But Casey's expression was cold and resolute. Gone was the impish boy and in its place was a full grown man.
"Yes Major. I want you to leave me. You will push forward and likely encounter more problems. I will stay here and use the portable terminal to assist you. I will open the nodes to the channels and guard the edge of your thoughts. You just have to keep moving forward."
"Casey!"
"Xiao Yan, you are Valentin's match. Staying here is the only way for me to help you. Make sure you find Jane. His body is his own. It does not belong to Valentin." Casey closed his eyes wearily and his voice grew even colder and stern. "Don't lose sight of the goal. If you aren't willing to make sacrifices you will not succeed. If you hesitate you have already lost. You will fail, not only me and Heine, but everyone who followed you here...the entire Shire. It is all on you."
Xiao clenched his fists, his nails cutting into his palm.
"You have to remember that your thoughts are your own, no matter where you go. Be it Valentin's brain, mine...anyone's. You control reality. Reality is only what we accept to be true. You can create another reality. Go. You understand that if you hesitate, or go soft...once you know your goal you will pay dearly for it...more than you have already lost."
Xiao Yan clenched his teeth and paced restlessly, his stride gaining momentum.
It is very clear that he can no longer turn back.
It was as Heine said, all suffering must be left behind him.
Winn followed Xiao.
Heine lowered his head and removed his gun from his waist to give it to Casey.
"You cannot die here."
"Is that an order Colonel?" Casey glanced up and obediently took the gun.
"Protect Xiao Yan, he must not die here."
Xiao Yan kept moving forward. Casey's form gradually grew smaller until they passed the next channel and he disappeared from his sight entirely.
Xiao knew they would never see each other again.
The team made it to the next level, They were getting closer and closer to the main control room.
Heine stopped abruptly, Xiao heard a sound coming from the distance, it was rapidly closing in.
"Do I hear water?" Winn looked over at Heine.
Suddenly Heine scooped up Xiao Yan and turned back, Winn quickly responded and slammed against Liv and Mark.
The roaring sound continued to get closer and a huge wave rushed through the passage, instantly engulfing them.
Xiao's ears fill with water and he cannot open his eyes against the moving water. Heine's hands clamp around him and the channel is filled completely, sweeping them up in the current. The lights extinguished and darkness swept through the passage.
Amid the dark, Xiao faintly saw something approaching them, it was not Mark or Liv.
Heine's grip tightened around him and he released an illuminator. As the light pierced the pitch, Xiao realized that they were surrounded by Surge assassins.
Mark Liv and Winn were overwhelmed and dragged deeper in the channel.
The killers swarmed them and although Heine promptly cut them down, more continued to advance.
Although the x-2 allows them to conserve oxygen longer than most people, if they don't get air in the next few hours,they will die.
Soon the killers are able to separate Heine and Xiao. Xiao watched as Heine is surrounded by killers. He struggles to move toward him, he takes no notice of the blade piercing his flesh to dig deep in to his ribs. All he can focus on is getting back to Heine.
He is continually blocked by the group of killers, Xiao could no longer see Heine clearly. He only knew that the distance between them was widening. Xiao grew frenzied and grabbed the blade embedded in him. He pulled it out and plunged it into the killer's neck, cutting off his head. He was in great pain and his lungs were punctured, still when the killers attempt to cut his throat, he blocked the blade with his hand...but he couldn't stop the other's from attacking his back.
It didn't seem that these killers wanted his life. Although he was stabbed repeatedly, and his ability to move was compromised, no killer attempted a fatal attack. Eventually his body grew heavy and numb and the pain of the attacks began to dissipate as he felt removed from his body.
Heine...Heine...
He vaguely saw that Heine had broken through the killers surrounding him, they continued to swarm him as he approached Xiao, his fingers brushing against his. Xiao saw that a blade was embedded in Heine's side and his eyes scanned the wound.
He wants to move, but he can't move.
Heine... You can't die... leave here, leave here...
Xiao Yan finally closed his eyes.
The killer's blade was removed from Xiao and his blood bloomed through the water. His body sank and was engulfed in the darkness.
_______________________
When Xiao awoke he was violently shaking and his mind was caught in the image of Heine struggling with the killers.
There was a light in front of him and he gradually gained consciousness. He found himself soaked in a liquid with a mask covering his face, delivering oxygen to him.
He was in a culture capsule!
Through the glass he can see numerous holographic screens scrolling immense amounts of data in front of him. He is in Valentin's main control room.
Xiao roughly kicked at the containment capsule but he couldn't break it apart. It doesn't move or crack. His fists slammed against it until his bones broke but the vessel was not compromised at all. He did everything in his power but to no avail.
Xiao Yan slumped back and breathed hard into his oxygen mask. He wandered if he was still in Valentin's mind.
Suddenly all the displays powered down and a figure approached the capsule. The man pressed his hands against the front of the containment vessel, his expression was soft and it seemed as though his palms could reach through the glass and touch Xiao's face.
"So many times I have hesitated to kill you. Your existence is a double edged sword. If you mind were to serve me I could accomplish anything, but when you wish to pursue your own freedom you become my greatest obstacle."
Xiao raised his eyes and his pupils dilated as they took in the man's form.
"Valentin Sheehan,"
The man was drastically changed from when Xiao had encountered him in the Surge's submarine base.
His hair was almost completely white and wrinkles covered his forehead. Despite his aging he still looked healthy, like a distinguished professor at the Academy of Sciences.
"Don't look at me like that Xiao Yan. I have lived more than two hundred years. The fact this body has been able to support me all this time is already miraculous. This capsule was especially designed for you. Although it is transparent the material is actually made of high density titanium. Even if Heine Burton were trapped inside, he would be unable to escape."
"Heine! Where is he? Where are the people that were with me? What did you do to them?" Xiao Yan shouted, ferociously banging against the capsule.
"They don't serve a purpose for me, no need to waste nutrient solution on them. As for Heine...he has been quite the headache. Almost every one of my bases that were destroyed, fell by his hand. Therefore, I intend to torture him endlessly. Have you heard the story of Prometheus? He stole fire and for his betrayal, Zeus bound him to the rocks of the Caucasus Mountains. An eagle was sent, eating his liver out each day ...only for it to regenerate and repeat again. Day after day. Year after Year."
Xiao Yan sneered at Valentin. "You are hardly Zeus and he is not Prometheus."
"Xiao Yan. When you were asleep I entered your mind. I wanted to see your progress on X2 research. Your thinking ability is amazing, perhaps you don't realize that such an ability is akin to fire. You lived lazily, longing for wings to free you from the Shire but no clear way to achieve it. Heine Burton changed all that. He lit a flame and turned you from a mediocre lamb to a carefully polished weapon. Do you remember the first time you left the Shire? You were in the craft that crashed."
"I remember that it is hardly worth mentioning in light of your many attacks"
"The thing is...if not for Heine Burton, your mind would already be mine. He stole your brain from me, lit a flame and ruined too many of my plans. He changed everything. So for him I will dole out the most painful punishment. I will clone you multiple times. You have seen the clones of Jane and Casey. Although they are not perfect...they have sharp weapons."
"You are mad! You can make endless copies of me, but you cannot replicate my thoughts. Even if you make countless brains exactly like mine they will not grant you immortality."
"Haha. You look at me like a child asking for candy. You have always thought that eternal life is an impossibility. That it is taboo for scholars such as yourself. But nothing is impossible, it simply hasn't happened yet. But before all that, I need to perform an operation in front of you. One that will remove me from this declining body. It is only through the living that our wishes can be fulfilled, correct?" Valentin stood and knocked his fingers against the glass.
Xiao suddenly realized what this madman was planning to do.
He has Jane and now he wants to take his body!
Another containment vessel rose from the floor in front of Xiao Yan. Jane was unconscious inside, his eyes were closed and it was only the rhythmic movement of his chest that assured Xiao he was still alive.
Xiao struggled desperately. He kicked and beat against the glass, the fear welling in his heart scorched his every nerve.
Valentine smiled, lowered his eyes and lay down in another capsule.
His lazy voice drawled near Xiao's ear.
"You should know that nothing can stop what is about to happen in front of you."
Xiao frantically tried to break out of the vessel. He struggled until his bones broke the pain only reminded him of his failure.
Jane trusted him to beat Valentin, that is why he let go.
He cannot let him die here1 Absolutely not!
Despite Xiao's desperate struggles, he couldn't stop the main control system from performing the operation.
Xiao watched as Jane's brain and spinal column were removed and Valentin's implanted. Xiao's tears mixed with the nutrient broth as he looked on desperately.
Jane's brain was set in another containment vessel and his body quickly healed.
Xiao watched him sit up and clench his fists. He relaxed them and his mouth tilted in a smile that reminded him heartbreakingly of Jane's. Xiao began to beat on the glass with increased force.
"I will kill you! I will kill you! Valentin you can't live forever. You will never live forever."
Step by step, Valentin walked up to Xiao. He rubbed his shoulders and lazily stretched his waist, his muscles smoothing out into lean and powerful lines. He smiled at Xiao, "I am on the road to immortality. You will be a powerful ally on this path. Do you know why I haven't removed your brain? Because I want your brain to stay in your body as it is. I want you to watch as I progress, and spur me on. No matter how many copies I make of Jane and Casey, they never seem to have their consciousness. I need someone smart to talk with, someone who will contest my theories, doubt me...as i use reality to refute and win again and again."
Suddenly Xiao felt the air leave his lungs and his body grew weak as he realized his struggles were futile.
"Do you like me better now? Because my friend, we will be spending a very long time together."
Valentin turned his back, his knuckles sliding off the glass as though caressing Xiao's cheek. "I think perhaps you are the most valuable specimen in my collection."
Xiao closed his eyes and spoke slowly and carefully. "I can't stay with you to prove immortality, because I don't have an eternity to do so."
"Don't worry. I can solve this problem. I will simply create a myriad of healthy clones. You can pick out your next body."
The sadness on Xiao's face quickly switched to indifference. When he next opened his eyes, they were ice.
"No. You don't have the time to wait for another body." Xiao slowly moved closer to the glass, his cold gaze seemed to freeze the air in the room.
*****Sorry that I split this up. I didn't realize that this chapter was so long. It was taking me forever and then I realized why it felt so long...because it was very very long.
So I cut it up in order to get it out faster. Soooo....what does everyone think of Casey now? Do you like the climax so far?********
Also, sorry for the delay...
Work has been crazy busy pretty much since I began so I feel like I am operating in a completely chaotic mind state full of mistakes and terror. ..which makes me anxious and that anxiety creates more mistakes. I am also horribly socially awkward and that ups by about 1000% when I am nervous. I feel like all i do is jarringly speak words out of order in a near whisper and hysterical laughs. So embarrassing... Please say I am not the only one so inept at being human? Is this relatable to anyone, because I feel like a weird social outcast that will get fired for being so strange and anxious and disordered. Hopefully it calms down enough, long enough, for me to get a good routine going. Ahh, okay I am done spewing fear. Well, here at least...