"Hack faster!" Angela snapped. For once, she had lost her typical composure. When Sasha had returned from her operation with Team Chaos and informed them that someone was hell-bent on crashing the entire city, Angela had immediately gathered her best hackers and put them on the task of regaining control.
Sasha didn't bother thinking to the logical conclusion of successfully completing this invasion. Surviving was most important right now. Unfortunately, the hackers didn't seem able to break through any of the safeguards. Heck, they didn't even know where in the network they were supposed to look.
"Angela, I can't find anything even remotely related to driving the city. Are you sure we can do this?" The hacker who spun around would take the brunt of Angela's wrath, but someone probably had to.
Of course, Angela's response was to smack him with the nearest blunt object, hard enough to knock him out.
"You're all useless!" she screamed. "If you don't succeed at this, you won't live long enough to die in the city's crash. I'll end you all myself, and I'll make it painful, so help me!"
She stomped on the unconscious hacker, beating his face until it was nearly unrecognizable. The other hackers turned back to their computers and frantically searched through the web for anything useful. Sasha shivered at Angela's wrath. Usually she left the really dirty work to someone else.
Angela ran a hand over her face, breathing to steady herself. Her mood didn't stay stable for long, though.
"Shit!" One of the hackers spun away from her computer, as each screen in turn changed to show the same image. Black writing on a red background.
"You killed her. Now pay the price."
The words stayed for a while before they flashed out and a photo appeared to cover the full screen. Sasha almost threw up at the sight.
A little girl, her head half smashed, lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Sasha knew exactly who it was. The girl who'd shot Corrosion, and would have shot the rest of them too, if she hadn't intervened.
Was it that man?
"What is this?" Angela demanded, stomping forward and smashing one of the monitors. "Fix it! Now!"
The hackers tried, but none of their inputs seemed to work. Their computers had been completely shut down. Sasha slowly sank to the floor, her hands trembling.
Nothing had truly scared her before in her life. As long as she was competent, Angela's wrath was never directed at her. But Angela was a mere tiger. Now they had poked a true dragon, and it was about to swallow them whole.
"Ready to move out?" Twin asked, hoisting the bag he'd quickly packed over his shoulder. Ferry nodded, her own pack over her shoulder.
"We bringing the girls?" she asked.
"Of course. I packed a few things for them too. I've also got their location. Move quickly."
Ferry nodded as he sent her a couple texts, then vanished. Moments later, she was back with Shell and Cold Snap.
"What's going on, Twin?" Cold Snap asked, rubbing her sore temple. "I thought you'd pick us up tomorrow."
"No time for that. Take these." He tossed them each a bag, then grabbed Ferry's hand.
"City's going down," Ferry added, looking at them anxiously. "We either grabbed you now or left you behind."
"What do you mean the city's going down? Where are Corrosion and Paris?" Snap asked, both girls looking shocked.
"The reactor was more well-guarded than we thought. Corrosion was killed, and Paris chose to go down with the ship. Some psycho down there has decided to crash the entire city of Arx Nubibus into the surface and kill us all."
"Joke's on him," Twin said coldly. "Ferry can take us to the surface. Our ancestors lived there for millennia. We'll survive just like they did. I packed plenty of tech that they wouldn't have had, so we'll be fine."
"Will we?" Shell asked anxiously. "Didn't we leave the surface for a reason?"
"Whatever it is, it's probably gone by now," Twin replied. "Or would you rather take your chances up here?"
At that, both girls silently grabbed onto Ferry's arm.
"Ready to go?" Ferry asked. "Brace yourselves. This'll be rough."
They nodded, and then Arx Nubibus vanished. Rather, it was in the sky above them. The air whipped around them and stole their breath away. Ferry gritted her teeth and jumped again, putting more distance between them.
Below them stretched a vast expanse of ocean. Ferry knew enough to look for land. As they fell, she kept jumping to the horizon, fighting the burning in her lungs and the exhaustion in her brain.
Finally, the horizon changed slightly. She warped again, and they were above something solid. A few more hops had them landing on soft ground that gave way under their feet. Ferry collapsed into it, gasping for breath as the others took the time to catch their own breath.
Twin staggered to his feet and looked out at the world in front of them. All for them. With their Miracles, nothing would stop them.
And with Arx Nubibus' destruction, his wish would come true.
A featureless void stretched out in front of her, and for a moment she forgot who, where, when, or what she was. There was no up or down, no north or south, no east or west. Only life and death, but she sensed keenly that death would not accept her.
Slowly, memories filtered back to her and a green figure appeared in the void.
"You're back," he said simply.
"Go to hell, bastard," Ida spat, glaring at him. "I really doubt you'll finally free me."
His face showed sadness and confusion, just like it always did.
"You wanted to live. And so you shall live."
"That was a long time ago!" Ida screamed before composing herself. Talking with Solitude was futile. He'd never understand humans, not truly, no matter how much he insisted that he was a foundational part of human existence. "What happened after I died? Did they get the reactor?" It was better to focus on something at least slightly fruitful.
"Sasha Silverman grabbed your gun and used it to threaten D4R1U5 and Ned. D4R1U5 then tried to wake you, but you were dead. He couldn't handle it. He blamed himself, as well as the entire human population. Sasha Silverman shot him with the gun, but missed anything vital and had no way to reload. D4R1U5 has now decided to crash the entire city into the ocean and kill everyone on it, destroying himself in the process. The children you took in tried to stop him, but he threatened to kill them as well if they tried to interfere."
Ida could barely process what Solitude told her.
"The hell kind of moronic suicide plan is that?" she screamed, kicking at nothing. The motion sent her tumbling in a circle, and she continued to swear until Solitude took her hand gently.
"Ned and D4R1U5 have figured out who you are. You are Odin. And no one else can save the city of Arx Nubibus."
"Is there time?" Ida asked, glaring at him. "How dead am I exactly?"
"Half your head was crushed. Your brain is essentially nonfunctional."
"And how long do you think it would take for me to regenerate from that?" she spat. "Months? He could have the ship down within hours if he wanted to!"
Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes. Val...
"I promised Val I'd take care of her ship! I promised." Ida collapsed, sobbing. "Val..."
"There is a way. It will lengthen your recovery time, but I'll give you a few minutes of functionality. You won't know who you are or what you must do since your frontal cortex has been so severely damaged, but your brain stem is intact enough that you can come back to life temporarily. Doing so will put an immense strain on your body, though. Regeneration will take almost twice as long."
"I don't care! I don't care what happens to me," Ida cried. "Just...save Archer's ship. I promised her I'd take care of it. I just need enough time to stop Darius. Please."
"Done. Focus on what you want to do, and your body will remember it. You may not be able to execute it perfectly, but it's your only shot."
Ida nodded, and thought back to her promise to Valeria Archer. The woman who'd saved her, protected her, and given her a reason to live. She held that promise as tightly as she could as her soul hurtled back to the world of the living.
Solitude watched her go, smiling slightly.
"Good luck, Ida Karimi. I hope this finally helps you find happiness."
