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Chapter 19
A thick black fog seemed to have settled all over him. Wade blinked twice and slowly sat up, absently he wiping a cool liquid from his lips with the back of one hand.
Blood?
He groaned as a flood of images swept abruptly through his mind. Allan's final moments...the fight...O'Nassi's...
'Why the hell am I still....?' Wade's thought trailed off. It felt like the gears in his mind weren't properly aligned, causing his brain to skip from time to time.
'Why aren't we already gone?' he thought.
We?
Kylan!
His pulse raced, and he looked around. The room seemed oddly familiar. The strained, sterile layout, the strange interplay of light and shadow, the black lining with a large box near the roof...? Wade paused for a moment before it all came jostling back to him.
Unity's room?
"Kylan!" he called, as he finally saw the other man's body collapsed on the floor on the far side of the room.
Slowly and painstakingly, Wade gathered himself up to his full height only to fall back halfway. Standing up once more, he leaned on a nearby counter-top for support. The room was sparsely decorated, but luckily he was near to a console of some sort. His legs were shaky, however the wounds from earlier were nearly gone; only the dried blood remained like a slow, and stupid, echo from his fight with Allan.
"Kylan," Wade called again, as he slowly made his way over to the other man. With each step, he felt some of his strength and coordination returning, but it was a slow process. For some reason, Allan wasn't stirring at his voice.
Was he still out?
Finally, Wade stopped and knelt beside the other man. "Ky,..' he began but his voice was hoarse. "Kylan, we have to get out of here."
Still nothing. Kylan's eyes were closed and his clothes were badly torn. Wade, on the other hand, was only wearing the small, tight fitting swimsuit from the training tank. The room was unusually chilly, making his teeth chatter and his lips to turn a darker shade of purple, nearly blue, as he checked for Kylan's pulse.
Why hadn't he noticed the cold before now?
"Good," he sighed, able to feel a pulse.
Wade grasped the other man's shoulders and tried to shake him. "Kylan!" he called louder this time, "Kylan! I need help here." He let the crown of his head rest against Kylan's chest, his voice dropping to a whisper. "....I...I need you."
Suddenly, and without warning, Kylan's body began to shake and shiver all on its own. Wade looked up, his eyes moist and shaken, "Kylan!" he repeated time and again, yet nothing but tremors answered his call.
His eyes widened in terror and his age-old dream came to fruition-playing out like a musician tearing at his long dead heartstrings for kicks. Lines of sickening black and silver began to slowly etch through Kylan's skin; racing along like some kind of infectious blight. Kylan's eyes opened a crack, only to begin leaking tears in long, thin streamers.
"KYLAN!!" he screamed, holding onto the other man's shoulders so hard his knuckles turned white.
Despite the terror and the horror in front of him, Wade noticed immediately when the faint hissing noise began. He pulled his hands off of the other man as if he had been scalded. Simultaneously, tears from both of his eyes welled up and traced down his cheeks, as the place where he had been holding onto Kylan only moments before slowly stopped blistering. The skin on his shoulders looked burned and tattered.
"Now look what you've done," a familiar voice spoke from behind him, making him to look around sharply.
"Ch....Chuck?" he asked, recoiling as if struck.
Charles Jameson smiled a broad, white, perfect smile as he got up from leaning on the silver floating sphere in the center of the room. "He was almost perfect," he said looking over at Kylan with a small broken smile, "and now look what you did."
"You....." Wade said, trying to stand up. "I....I won't let you take him." He placed himself in front of Charles with his back towards Kylan, who was still writhing on the floor.
Charles sighed, "I suppose that I'll have to fix him now, won't I?" he brought up both his hands in exasperation and slowly shook his head.
"The hell you are," Wade tried to move forward but his legs betrayed him by visibly shaking.
Charles lowered his head and smirked, his eyes were slivers of hatred and darkness as he spoke. "What makes you think you have a choice?..... Betrayers."
Before Wade could react, much less even blink, Chuck was in front of him. His unblinking eyes were black and yellow, and seemed to look into Wade's very soul. "...Shi..." Wade tried to say, but the word was shoved back in his face; Charles raised one hand up high and brought it down and across Wade's jaw sending him sprawling quickly across the room.
When he hit the side of the glass-like room, once more he heard something crack. Lolling on the ground in pain, he looked up to see that the window was undamaged, too bad that he couldn't say the same thing. He groaned.
It took Wade several moments to roll back over. His eyes once more felt like a dark fog had settled into the room ,and he could swear that he saw little pinpricks of light. It was then that he looked out through the glass, to the pocket dimensions that existed below Unity's chamber. The entire building was nestled in a blanket of darkness. It was as if nothing existed outside of this very room-nothing but darkness.
Wade swallowed hard.
Finally, he staggered to his feet, with one hand clutched painfully at his side. He looked back across the room, "Get....the fuck....away...fr...from him," he said, trying to regain his wind. Wade's dark hair was plastered over his eyes, making him look both tired and menacing.
Charles was now draped over Kylan's back, as Kylan stood at attention, unmoving and unresponsive, like nothing more than a life-size puppet. His shoulders were once again whole and somehow his clothes were repaired and altered slightly, making him look more refined, if still devoid of life.
Charles smiled, "You know the thing about me and orders? Things have changed. I don't take orders," he slowly turned his face towards the side of Kylan's cheek and licked up his cheek before playfully nipping once at his ear. "I give them."
Wade struggled to retain his footing, leaving one arm against the glass to steady himself. "I was right then," he said as Charles nipped once more at Kylan's ear lobe.
"Oh?" the other man asked, one slim eyebrow raised. "About what?"
"That Unity and the Infection are one and the same."
Charles let one hand roam slowly and languidly over Kylan's partly exposed chest. "Well, I wouldn't say that you're right...Not exactly."
Wade gritted his teeth. "The hell-?"
"Well," Charles smiled again, "Technically speaking both of them are gone now."
Wade's breathing was starting to return to normal, his chest no longer burning. As he stood there, face to face with the remnants of a man he once barely knew he tried not to show any signs of his recovery.
"You mean you're all that's left."
Chuck's grin reached up to his ears in an almost Cheshire Cat worthy expression. His eyes looked both luminous and completely insane, "I see you're not as useless as you first appeared." He turned back to Kylan's emotionless face and once more let his fingers trace the strong jaw before he spoke. "You're right. I'm all that remains of my worthless predecessors. But it wasn't always this way," his voice trailed off.
Wade glared at the other man. No, that wasn't right. Charles Jameson was no longer a man at all; he was something less, something worse.
"A few years ago," Charles began, "the original Infection attacked this planet. I probably should have told you all about it on the tour. That is, if you hadn't destroyed half this room," Chuck's eyes flared as he spoke. "Nevertheless, it was a glorious battle. But in the end Unity prevailed, as of course it would. After all, Unity was by far the superior creature."
Wade looked over at Kylan. By now, the infection had spread throughout his entire body. For some reason, the black and silver lines were still etched into his flesh-which was something that he had only ever seen in his dreams.
'Why hadn't the other people kept the lines?' Wade wondered, trying to tune Jameson's inane prattlings out entirely.
No luck.
"When Unity consumed the lesser being," Charles rambled on, "It gained little satellite creatures, in the form of the nearby Infection already free of this planet."
Wade's eyes gleamed as he spoke. "That way, Unity managed to circumvent the requirement that it remain anchored to its home planet. It could control the infection from here."
Chuck looked pleased with himself. "Now do you see the brilliance?" His eyes were also gleaming, but there was a seething darkness hidden not far below.
"So the change in color from gold to silver..?" Wade said, almost to himself.
Charles laughed. "You see?" He was all but glowing now, looking flushed and excited. "Unity had to make improvements to the design of the primitive Infection. The pitiful creature already worked as a type of nano-based construct." He paused, giving Wade a pitying look. "That's extremely tiny machines, for the unwashed and uneducated masses," he smirked at Wade.
"Gee thanks, Chuck," his eyes narrowed. "I'm touched."
"There was only one small problem," Charles said, cupping Kylan's face as he spoke. "At the exact instance of the upgrade a small hiccup occurred."
Wade's eyes grew wide.
"You see?" Charles nodded. "I knew somehow you'd understand."
"The injection," Wade unconsciously touched the scar on his shoulder.
Charles nodded again. "The last vestige of my competition," he spoke as if talking to an errant child. "The last hiding place of the betrayers. The few who refused to join the many."
"It resisted the change," Wade responded quietly. It took several moments for the words to sink in. All his misgivings, all the insanity... "That's why I didn't turn into a machine like the others? That's why I was never infected?"
Charles glared at him. "You sound almost proud," he spat. "I wouldn't be so hasty, if I were you." He waved a finger at Wade, "Technically speaking, you were already infected. But with something of a different sort. You see, the cowards hid inside a meat sack to avoid detection from everyone, including this planet's pitiful detection technology. Obviously the betrayers were afraid of Unity's superiority."
Wade looked down for a moment, his matted hair shielded his features, "This can't be real."
"Oh, but it can," Chuck's massive grin returned. "Oh, but it is, Wade."
Wade's back straightened, "What the hell are you waiting for then" he asked slowly.
"What?"
Wade looked up, his eyes filled with a fire he didn't think he had left. "If you're so sure you've won, what the fuck are you waiting for?"
Charles cocked his head to the side and let his hands roam slowly down Kylan's body, stopping just past his navel. "Can you not appreciate art?" He asked, licking the side of Kylan's face and leaving a glistening trail of saliva. "Or are you some kind of philistine?"
"Excuse me?"
Charles' smile reached all the way up to his eyes. "I intend to enjoy this," he stated simply.
Wade took a step back.
"I watched you flaunt yourself, parading around in front of him," Charles said, his eyes once more growing dark and brooding. Deep shadows hid his eyes, making him appear more empty and decayed all at once.
"Kylan?"
"You know full well!" Charles spat. He turned and looked at the shell of a man that Kylan had become, bringing his fingers slowly up the taut body once more. "But...Perhaps he isn't to your liking anymore?"
"What?" Wade growled, taking a step forward. "What the hell are you-?"
"Maybe...you're still thinking of someone else?" Charles said, looking back at him. "Perhaps you want the best of both worlds?"
Wade's heart was hammering in his chest, "Get away from him!" he yelled, racing forward.
Once more, Charles simply backhanded him across the room. Wade cried out as he hit the wall again. This time a warm, numbing feeling blossomed out around his back and chest.
"Know your place," Charles said, his voice as soft as newly spun silk. "I merely want to make a small upgrade, of sorts."
Wade rolled over and tried not to groan. As he looked up, he watched Kylan's features begin to shift.
"Hmm, this should about do it." Charles turned to him. "What do you think?" Kylan's jaw and eyes had shifted slightly, becoming at once more familiar, and more painful. "It's a nice balance between the two, don't you think?" he smiled, "Your precious Allan and my darling Kylan. They were so similar, I don't know how to tell them apart."
"How?" Wade asked, struggling to get back to his feet.
'It's really quite easy," Charles began. "You see with th-"
"No," Wade shook his head, using the side of the wall to brace himself. His lip bled freely, and the warm, tight feeling in his chest was spreading.
"No?"
Wade struggled for breath. He had to stall for time. "Why you? Why did you be-"
Charles laughed as he clung onto Kylan's unmoving body. He laughed full and loud. When he finally calmed down, his hair shimmered back into place on it's own. "You amuse me. The answer's obvious, isn't it? Unity needed a perfect vessel to complete the bridging process."
Wade let an obvious biting comment die on his lips. Now wasn't the time. "A bridge?"
"The elements of the infection were present on this planet before hand. But Unity had to be careful to keep enough of a presence outside of the planet to circumvent the requirement that it never leave the planet. And to avoid detection by the locals."
Charles forged on, warming to the sound of his own voice. "I received dreams sent to me by Unity itself, for weeks before that fateful mission," he smiled. "I made sure that I was taken by Unity, but that foolish woman creature crushed my body, making my ascension slightly delayed until all of you were already gone."
"So when you were assimilated you became the main focus of Unity, getting around the tenant of the programming, and allowing you to move around at will."
Charles nodded. "I see that you're beginning to recognize my greatness. But it will do you no good. I will relish ripping you apart, time and time again."
"But what of the other tenants?"
"What about them?"
"Well," Wade stopped, considering. "What of the requirement that Unity act in the best interests of the planet?"
Charles smiled. "As you can see, I am no longer Unity so I am not bound by the original programming. I have truly transcended. I am now a god."
"Still," Wade pressed on, his eyes darting back and forth while he thought desperately, "Unity was acting as a fake infection for all this time. How did it manage such a remarkable feat?"
The expression of glee on the other man's face was very disconcerting to Wade. "Every great society in the history of humanity needed something to unite them,"
"That's not true -" Wade replied, but Charles kept on speaking, as if not hearing his words.
"Every society needs something to struggle against. Something to unite against. Be it in fear, in hatred, or quite simply in terror," he smirked, this time letting his hands snake around to fondle the front of Kylan's pants.
Wade gritted his teeth until his entire torso was shaking. He leaned hard against the glass, his eyes looking both hard and tired all at once. "You know something, Chuck? For all your imagined superiority, you're still just a pathetic, washed up loser riding on coat tails."
Chuck's eyes snapped forward, and his roaming hands stopped momentarily. "Watch yourself you speck of shit," he growled.
"You couldn't win any other way, could you?" Wade asked, his eyes sparked as he spoke.
"Are you blind, or just stupid, boy?" Charles asked, sweeping his right arm around in a wide arc he spoke. "I've won! What more is there?"
Wade shook his head, it was now his turn to smirk. "You couldn't win your precious Kylan by any other means than turning him into this," Wade sneered, gesturing at Kylan's unmoving form. "A soulless little doll. Is this what you lusted over, while laying awake at night, all alone?"
Charles' hands shook ever so slightly as he glared at the other man in unbridled anger. "Why you..." he began. On the sides of his face, little bits of blood began to collect and stream down.
"It seems that for all your divinity, your little meeting with a brick wall left some damage behind after all," Wade said, relishing every word.
As quickly as it began, the blood stopped flowing. Charles wiped it from his face with one hand, leaving his features clean and crisp-near perfect. "Nice try," he gloated. "But I won't be as easy as the others."
Wade tensed up and the little hairs on the back of his neck began to bristle. If only he had pressed a little harder!
"I think we've come to the end of our little chat, don't you agree?" He reached over to the side of Kylan's face and spoke softly. "Take care of him, won't you, love?"
Wade's eyes widened and his pulse raced as Kylan turned to face his master.
"Yes," he said simply, stepping forward.
"Mmm," Chuck purred, running a hand gingerly over Kylan's right, bulging bicep. "Why not kill him with this?"
Seemingly out of nowhere a shimmering lance of silver started to manifest in the air around Kylan's right hand. It shook the air as it formed, almost as if it was made out of steam. In mere seconds it had grown to the length of Kylan's arm. An instant later it shifted, growing a handle of intricate design. As if drawn by an invisible string, the sword leaped into Kylan's waiting grasp.
Charles turned his attention back to Wade. "I wonder..." he smiled. "You managed to kill your old lover. But will you have the balls to kill this one too?"
Wade took a step back.
"Or will he kill you?" he asked, as if to himself.
Wade swallowed hard as Kylan took an almost mechanical step forward, the thin blade tracing a sparking path along the floor as he walked. The sound of grating metal rang in Wade's ears with each and every step.
"Tell me something, Chuck," he said, with more bravado than he felt. "Why is it that Kylan here has these black and silver lines? I haven't seen them on any of your other puppets before now."
An expression that Wade didn'trecognize flashed over Chuck's features. "It's my own personal touch. I thought it a fitting stamp of my divinity."
Kylan was halfway across the room toward him by now.
"Strange," Wade replied, once more moving backwards, "I didn't see anything like that on O'Nassi, or Allan. Why just Kylan, I wonder?"
Charles narrowed his eyes and, for once, remained silent.
"Could it be that you need him on a tighter leash? Could he really reject...a god?"
Charles laughed, "A touching theory. But, regardless, you die. Here and now."
Kylan was by now nearly on top of Wade, the long blade coming ever closer.
Wade raised his arms and tried to ready himself, but he felt slowed and weighted down.
He could still remember Allan's dying breath. He felt sick, and once more the strings of his heart felt tight and sickened.
Wade's back bumped up against the back wall. "Kylan," he said finally as the other man stood, towering over him with sword in hand. "Kylan listen to me. I...."
The soulless puppet that had once been the man he had known and trained with, the man that he had looked up to, had looked forward to seeing every morning, now grasped the sword with both hands.
"Kylan...I..." Wade began as he stepped forward, away from the wall, arms held out as if imploring the other man. He cried out in a strangled gurgle, as the blade sank deep into his chest, his eyes looking down, disbelieving, shocked at the attack.
Three thin streamers of blood escaped his lower lip and red blossomed around the blade as Charles Jameson leaned back with a triumphant sneer on his face. Wade coughed and with a shaky hand reached down to grasp the blade.
While Kylan stood there unblinking, the blade lodged deep inside him, he reached down with his other hand.
"What the hell-?" Charles muttered, his sneer fading to be replaced by a look of suspicious anger.
Inch by agonizing inch, Wade pulled himself forward on the blade while blood collected in heavy droplets on the floor. He coughed against, and tried to swallow back the blood, but small flecks sprayed from his lips, decorating Kylan as he inched himself closer.
With what strength he had left, Wade pulled himself forward one last time and wrapped his arms around the other man. "...I....love..." Wade paused, gasping for breath, and words that simply would not come.
Charles laughed incredulously. "This is pathetic," he spat. "Die, damn you!"
As his vision clouded over, Wade struggled, slowlysearching for Kylan's warmth with shaky fingers. He could feel Kylan's presence near to him as he reached up, pressing his lips against the cold, unmoving lips of the other man as the world spun away in a sea of darkness.
************************************************************************ Author's Notes
Again many thanks to Kane for some great editing!
We're nearing the end! Stay tuned.
-Gene
Comments or Concerns are always welcome: corporeal09@yahoo.com