Time is of the essence, which was the reason why Ajax is relying on his bullet time right now. He may feel sick afterwards. He may feel regret afterwards. He may want to kill himself afterwards. But, he has no choice.
So, now all he has to do is prepare his mind and soul to kill these terrorist. As evil as they may be, they were once innocent. At one time, they were blameless babes with no blemishes on their hearts. Not anymore. If he takes their lives, they will never be given the chance to redeem themselves.
So be it.
In truth, Ajax has a strong sense of justice. He has his own conception of right and wrong. Though he views life as sacred, he views those that would take life as having committed unforgivable sins. He does not believe in the death penalty, not because of anything about the morality of the state killing people, but because there is a relatively high chance that death row inmates can be found innocent.
In this manner, he also finds the idea that he will have to kill not beyond the pale. There are, after all, people that deserve death, or at least who must be removed from the world to make the world a better place. These terrorists certainly count. In the best case, none of them are bombs. In fact, they might not even have plans to kill every single person in the three buildings.
But, they still sent two people to give their lives in suicide attacks against people who were supposedly on their side, who they in particular viewed as innocent.
In this manner, they are all deserving of death regardless of what their plans in the buildings are. Especially considering…
That little girl… and her mother.
Ajax considers people like Willia and Pieroly who might be living in these apartment buildings. The young beastkin girl reminded him of his sister, Rita. The honorable mother reminded him of his own mother.
Would mom have ever allowed me or Rita to be humiliated in public like that?
Honestly, Ajax doesn't know if his mother would fall to her emotions in that manner. It depends on what she felt in that moment, whether a flood of emotions could force her to commit a crime of passion. How many mothers like his own mother are there in these buildings? How many little girls like Rita are there in these buildings?
Here he is right now, given the chance to prevent a violent, fiery death. Many violent deaths. Is he going to leave even the smallest chance that children will die a fiery death? Is he going to spare even one of these terrorists who might then go onto kill someone in a place where he cannot do anything to stop them?
No. He cannot.
In the end, it wasn't too hard for Ajax to develop his resolve to take human life. It was a pretty obvious choice to him. The only thing that he can offer these thirty men is to ensure that their deaths are quick and painless. He promises that when he has a clear shot, he will always aim for their skulls to steal energy from.
He promises that he will not let any of them live. He will hunt them all down. He owes the people he failed to save at least that much.
Furthermore, for making him feel this way, for forcing him to kill, he will hunt them all down. Even if they are able to somehow escape this area today, he will not stop. He will sniff out their locations, he will overturn every rock, look in every cave, until he stops their hearts. Otherwise, every murder they commit in the future would be on his hands.
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In the end…
They chose this. Not me. Not me. Them. It's either them, or the innocent people they’ll try to kill. The only problem is… going to three buildings in time would be cutting it pretty close. I need at least one alternative.
Ajax looks back at Sigvor and Dzan. His perception returns to normal for now. He starts absorbing energy through all directions except in front of him where his two friends are waiting.
Dzan and Sigvor notice the air around them getting colder. They notice Ajax's breath start to become visible. It's obvious to them who is doing this.
"A-Ajax? Are you ok?" Sigvor asks, once again cautious towards Ajax’s state of mind.
"I'm fine, Sigvor, Dzan.” Ajax says, calmly. “Now, I'm going to speak for the next tens of seconds. Try to the best of your ability not to interrupt me, because we don't have a lot of time right now."
Ajax's eyes stare at them for a moment before he speaks.
"I am going to those two buildings over there." Ajax says, pointing to the buildings farthest away from them. "Within each of the three buildings, there are members of a certain terrorist group. They are trying to either kill everyone within the building, most of the residents being demihumans, or they are trying to collapse the building itself, which will have the same outcome."
Dzan and Sigvor want to interrupt, but they feel the air around them only start growing colder. Though luckily, they don't feel the cold of Ajax's back that is covered in condensed frozen air. Both of them feel uncomfortable, as if they're in danger. However, it's not that they feel that Ajax wants to kill them.
Rather, they feel that Ajax will kill them accidentally, as a result of whatever he's got on his mind right now. Ajax reads their expressions but doesn’t have the time to care.
"While I'm going to the farthest two buildings. I want you two to silently, and I do mean as silently as fucking possible, track the group who is going into this building right here." Ajax points to the building closest to the three of them.
"Dzan, Sigvor, I truly apologize for having to put you in this situation. What I tell you is to not confront them unless they look like they're about to do something that will result in another fire bombing or terrorist attack. Just follow them and watch them until I am able to get there. If you find an opportunity to kill them, then kill them. It is certainly possible that not all of them are human bombs but I can't judge that for myself in the moment."
Dzan and Sigvor notice Ajax's voice becoming hard and authoritative. He is not asking them to do this. He is ordering them. He even says as much. Neither of them understand what exactly has happened that Ajax would become this kind of person so quickly. It only makes Dzan think that Ajax has truly experienced something harrowing.
Sigvor had grown to trust him as a friend. But, now it feels to him as if Ajax is someone with a split personality. How can he change his entire personality so quickly? Wasn’t it only a minute earlier that he was speaking to them like he normally does? Ajax keeps speaking, perhaps identifying their apprehension towards him right now.
"I am only asking you because I don’t know exactly what I’m about to walk into in those two buildings. If I can’t make it to the one you two are at, you need to handle things. I would not rely on you two if I absolutely didn't need to. It is… not a safe task. You two are my last hope and I can only pray that you follow through."
Even though he speaks that last sentence, his gaze towards them is as if he's saying: Try it. Try to defy me and see what will happen after all this.
At least that is what Sigvor believes. If he’s understanding the current situation correctly, then Ajax is asking the two of them to confront a group of psycho terrorists with just the two of them.
Does he really have no other option? What is… How did this all…
As Dzan tries to reason with himself why reality has turned out this way, Ajax sighs. He looks at the two of them with worried expressions. To Sigvor, that looks like the real Ajax. Before either of them can confirm or deny Ajax’s orders, he immediately starts sprinting towards the direction of the two buildings that he has decided to handle.
There will be no waiting. There cannot be. Things will end with this.
Frozen air condenses onto Ajax’s clothing. His head slowly becomes covered in a helmet of ice. The air he passes through falls to the ground as snow as he sprints towards his destination. Time is running out.