Malin wouldn’t let the android move forward, throwing one energy grenade after another. Seeing the state his enemy was in, she knew that was the only way to keep him out of the Level 5 chamber. And for now, her tactic worked. The Cyclops was just getting blasted and backing off.
Juzo watched them from afar. Making an effort, he got free from that web of distress, fear, and confusion he had gotten tangled at after learning the secrets of the Totem—and perceiving that strange sensation that he could not identify. Rubbing his eyes, he took the blurry veil off of them and concentrated on the desperate combat his friend was fighting to protect him.
He watched the enemy, and he knew it would be impossible to have a conversation with him. He had to go on, and if he didn’t do it for himself, he should do it for Malin; an effort like hers could not be wasted.
“Go ahead! Finish your mission!” Malin yelled at him.
So, Juzo removed the recorder from his ear, along with the monocle, and put them in his backpack. The original plan had been to leave the device hidden right there in the storage room, but with all the chaos, it was better to take it with him and, later, figure out how to get it to Rigel. He moved away from the Totem and went to the Mother Auriga. While he held the gun with one hand, with the other, he took out of his pocket the magnetic card the Detective had given him and inserted it into the console’s electronic slot. This time, it was not only the machine that came to life when it started working, but the entire room got filled with sounds and tiny lights. Holographic screens appeared around the artifact, tracing charts and three-dimensional maps that cut the shadows with their fluorescence.
Juzo, who had memorized the exact coordinates of where he wanted to go, entered them into the computer, EDCC-09-JN-55. A legend on one of the glass screens announced KAPPA POINT ACTIVE, and a red circle was drawn that said MAIN SWITCH. He touched it; and the machine, as silent as the operation of its processors, revealed electrodes that began to charge the door-like frame with energy, weaving a glowing sheet within it. That halo was the manifestation of a quantum prism, the phenomenon that altered the invisible flow of Kappa radiation in which they were standing at that moment, creating a conduit that would take them to another similar flow but far away. A scientific marvel that completely escaped Juzo, being in as dire a situation as he was.
Next to the console board was a transparent drawer with ten pairs of objects in it: black chrome rectangles, each with its charger. With the same magnetic card, Juzo accessed the drawer, took three pairs, and put them in his backpack; one for Malin, one for himself, and the third he would give to his brother. He loaded the backpack onto his back, and then, hoping he was doing the right thing, and this time fully aware of his actions, he pointed the gun at the drawer, pulled the trigger, and blew up the remaining pairs so no one else would have access to them. With another microchip, he activated a virus in the Mother Auriga’s central computer so that the systems would crash as soon as he finished using it; that way, he would buy some time.
That was when he heard Malin’s groan, and turning, found Broga hitting her with a strong backhand, then pushing her to the floor like old junk. His breathing quickened; his lungs swelled. That his friend was injured, or worse, dead, filled him with anger. His eyes were on fire. He shot the Cyclops with the gun; one, two, three times. But lasers meant nothing to the enemy, who dissolved light just with backhands. Even so, he kept shooting. Until, finally, Broga took the weapon out of his hand with a magnetic blast, hurling it into the shadows.
Well, if that’s the way it would be…
Juzo balled his hands into fists, unleashing the energy vibrating in them into a mass of lightning bolts, and with adrenaline pumping from within, he charged at his opponent. Moving quickly, he slammed a punch of flashing power into the android’s stomach, knocking him back.
There were many things that Juzo despised, the implants in his wrists and the chemical serum that ran through his veins, being one of them. They were always his last resort as he considered them a gift from the Empire’s fascists, but facing Broga without them would have been suicide; and if there was one thing he had learned throughout his almost thirty years of life, it was to survive, sometimes doing things he didn’t like.
He didn’t wait for the A60 to straighten up and plunged another hook into him wrapped in electrical charges. He was seething with the desire to avenge Malin’s defeat; however, his real intention was to knock his enemy out of Level 5, and he had already driven him back with his blows. Drenched in perspiration, puffing out his chest with rapid breathing, red-eyed, and showing his teeth as if he were a wild animal, he glared at his prey, considered the best angle to attack it, then stepped in and punched it right in the face, in that cold and empty face. One punch with the left, one with the right, then another with the left, and another with the right. At that moment he didn’t register any pain, later he would—That his fists were wrapped in Photias, thus enhancing the force of his blows, didn’t change the fact that he was pounding on a chrome metal casing with his bare knuckles.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Click! something sounded, and the red crystal that formed the android’s open eye sprang up. And with the next punch, Crack! The right half of that expressionless face fell slightly from the head and lay swaying like the open lid of a box.
Juzo’s eyes widened. His heart was pounding so hard it had taken his breath away.
“Broga, right?” he asked, as if to make sure.
“Broga,” the enemy stated in that robotic voice that threatened to falter, probably due to the damage received around the face. Then he moved closer to Juzo, so close that they both nearly bumped their heads against each other. “Surrender and return what you took from the Totem. The Project must be finished,” he ordered.
“Look at you. You’re in no position to demand anything,” Juzo retorted and pushed him back.
But the Cyclops hadn’t come this far to be defeated, not after being victorious against the Grenadiers. Still dripping with oil and sparking from his limbs with a backhand, Broga unleashed electrical discharges that spread through the air and formed a force field that kept Juzo away from him. Then, he adjusted the detached part of his face, joining it to the rest of his head as if it were the missing piece of a magnetic puzzle; picked up the almond-shaped visor glass that represented his eye and put it back in its place. There was an electric hiss, and the loose pieces became part of that silver head once again. “Surrender, and I promise you won’t suffer,” he insisted.
On the other side of that wall of energy, Juzo went from here to there, trying to find a gap to slip through. When he didn’t find it, he grabbed one of the many deactivated Cyclops that were in the corner and shoved it at Broga. The automaton, dead as a mannequin, contacted the force field and its metal face shattered and its silicone arms melted. Juzo tossed another one and another one; they all ended up in pieces on the ground.
“You wanna finish the damn project?!” he challenged the enemy. “Come and get me!”
The Mother Auriga let out a whistle. The machine’s electrodes had gone back into hiding, leaving the door-like frame covered in a glow. The lights on the crystalline console had changed from yellow to red, and the generator whistled, announcing that its generators’ revolutions had reached their maximum.
Fifteen Seconds! Juzo startled. The machine would keep the quantum prism active for no more than fifteen seconds. That was the time he had to take his friend and cross the space-time barrier through the invisible Kappa Point.
Malin leaped back to her feet, catching even Juzo himself off guard. When the Cyclops spotted her getting back into action, it was late; Malin had dug her arms into the force field, pushing on it from within to dissolve it. She had plunged her fists into the living energy, enduring the punishment of such a discharge, like a thousand needles jabbing her skin, just to achieve her goal. She had to avenge the fallen soldiers in that barracks, even though she no longer belonged to their side, even though they were technically part of the enemy now. She had to protect Juzo so that he could fulfill his mission.
Malin pushed her power to the extreme, and the enemy’s shield exploded in a shower of sparks. Without waiting, she wrapped her hands with energy, the same way her partner had done a few seconds before, she grabbed the Cyclops by the arms, and little by little, she broke his wrists. Pieces of solid silicone jump through the air along with splinters of metal. Unfortunately, those arms had a mechanical drive that was hard to beat, and she knew it; she wasn’t going to hold them back for long.
“Do it now!” she shouted at Juzo; gods know how much it took her to open her mouth. But her partner was standing still, worrying about what might happen to her. “Juzo, go!”
The glow on the Mother Auriga’s frame began to wane. The transistor lights went off along with the holographic screens. The generator’s thermal regulators, which had reached their critical point, dropped. A beep announced that the machine would soon drift back into its sleep, and Juzo knew that if that happened before he crossed the glow, thanks to the virus he had inserted into the commands, there would be no way out of there alive.
“What are you waiting for?! Damn it!” Malin was about to fall. “Do it!”
With thousands of fatalistic sensations pounding his heart, Juzo stepped back. He didn’t want to leave Malin; he wasn’t going to lose her. But he looked at the glowing frame and knew it was now or never. They had gone too far. Broga had gone too far.
He watched his friend for the last time and thought about the things he’d always wanted to say to her, but he’d always kept them to himself. There was no time to express feelings, only time to act. He took a deep breath and filled himself with courage. He took Malin by the waist and pulled her away from Broga; tossed a Photia to keep the enemy away from them, grabbed the backpack by the shoulder strap, and closing his eyes, trusting that their hearts would withstand the crossing, he flung himself with her toward the gate of light.
Juzo and Malin fell under the heat of a violent electrical crack, and a second later, nothing.