I blinked back to floor 50 with a shout. I thrashed in my chair, trying to get my hands up. I needed to wipe the blood off. I needed to get it all off. There was a ‘beep’ and my restraints clicked open. I slid down to my knees, shaking. She was here. She wanted to kill me. I wasn’t safe here. I wasn’t safe anywhere. My mind was racing. I couldn’t slow it down. There were voices in my mind, telling me to run. Telling me to give in. Telling me to fight. I didn’t know what to do. There was nothing I could do. I did the only thing I could think of to get it all to stop. I shut down.
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I felt someone grab my shoulder. I untucked my chin from my chest, looking up slowly with tired eyes. “Back on the chair,” Eliet growled at me. I sluggishly stood up and slunk back to the chair. I was done. This was the third time Eliet put my mind somewhere else. Every single time, it started perfectly and descended into demonic insanity. And I was done. I had no fight left in me. “Are you here for the rebels or the Elite?” Eliet asked me, shoving my shoulders back. I grunted against the blunt force. I couldn’t give up on Mariah, or T.R.I.B.A.U.M. I’d thrown the Elite off a bit, for now. But they would kill me if I admitted to anything. They might also kill me if I didn’t. With my strength quickly fading, I muttered, “You can kill me if you want. I don’t care anymore. You can kill me with the knowledge that you killed your Reaper. So go ahead. Do it. Kill Reaper.”
“Elias, I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to do here. Either that, or you know something you aren’t telling me.” Eliet reached into his robes and took out a remote labelled 2750-EIR. The remote that controlled Reaper. Except, Reaper was already dead. Eliet had no way of knowing that. Yet. He clicked a button on the remote. I stayed in control of my mind. I was still myself. “I will ask one last time, Elias. Are you here for the rebels or the Elite?”
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I smiled slightly. “I think we both know the real answer to that, Eliet.” He clicked another few buttons, frantically trying to get the answer he wanted. “So, you do care about the rebels and are only here to sabotage the Elite. Aren’t you?” he questioned, looking up from the remote. “Again, I think you already know the answer to that,” I said calmly. “H… how?” Eliet spluttered, tossing the remote onto a table. “You don’t think I’m actually going to answer that, do you?” I asked. Red and white sparks flew through my mind and Eleit’s hand connected with my cheek. My hand flew to my face, rubbing where Eliet’s gloved hand had smacked me. “You aren’t Reaper anymore. That means the Elite owe you nothing. We owe you no mercy and have no use for you anymore. I might just kill you,” Eliet seethed, pointing a finger at me. “True. You might kill me. I have no doubt you could. I do doubt, though, whether you actually would if presented the opportunity.” I was on a roll now.
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“See, in the time I’ve known you, I’ve seen you as a demented leader, a ringmaster for a circus of death and destruction, a false sense of hope, and a hidden figurehead for a society plagued by mindless hunting machines. But never have I deemed you as a murderer. You condone violence, and killing, of course. But no one’s blood has ever been directly on your hands. You can always find a way to twist the blame, or argue your way out of it because you’re part of the Elite. The most powerful Elite, if what I have observed is true. You have the power to do anything you want and get away with it. But not anymore. Now, your power is being taken by the rebels. And you don’t know how to deal with life when you don’t have all the power. So you make claims, and you threaten, to provide the illusion of power to yourself. And that, that, Eliet, is why I know you won’t kill me. You need me, and you know it. You need me to provide that illusion of power. To kill me would be to kill your source of power. And you need your power. You’re a very fragile man, I think. And if you disrupt your way of life, you might never recover.”
“Enough!” he roared. “You think you know everything. You think you have everything figured out. You think you’re so smart. You’re not. You’re just another piece in my game, a piece I’d be more than willing to sacrifice if it means I can win. Because when I win, I’ll have the power. That’s what all of this has always been about. Power. Who has it, who wants it, who needs it, and who actually has the knowledge needed to wield it properly. No one can be all four. But soon, very soon, I’ll be the first. And everyone who wronged me will beg for mercy. Everyone inside Salef will be at my disposal. Just you wait, Elias. Just you-”230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqDuZPxtFv
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He was cut off when the door to the room we were in opened, revealing a woman in a white lab coat. It was mom. Nope, it still sounds weird. It was Jasmine, wearing a white lab coat. “I’ve got a phone call for a… Elias Barnet,” she said. Eliet stepped away from me, still staring into my skull while straightening his robes. “Fine. Elias, go take the call. But if you try to run…” He picked up the remote, waving it threateningly. I hurried out of the room. Once we were away from Eleit, Jasmine said, “You need to listen very carefully, because I only have time to say this once. You have about three minutes before Eliet starts to get suspicious. In those three minutes, you are going to get as far away from floor fifty as you can. I’m sorry I can’t do more for you. I’ll explain everything as best I can later. Be careful, though. Once those three minutes are up, everything will-” Jasmine was cut off when she faded away. So she was a projection. I started running through the halls, counting in my head. I had less than 180 seconds to get off floor fifty.230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCmO70WVNc
