“… Heh.. Nice desk, Solari. Think you might be overcompensating a bit?”
“Yes, yes, laugh it up while you can, Gordon. Good to waste the last breaths you’ll have mocking my taste in furniture.”
“It’s Data, you prick. And what do you want?”
Solari fiddles curiously with the blindfold in his hand, and declares without looking up –
“Oh, just to discipline you naughty children.”
“I’m not a child, dumbass. I’m twenty-two.”
“You’re not the only child I speak of.”
It takes a moment for Data to fully grasp the gravity of Solari’s remark, but when he does, he feels the nervous knot in his chest tighten as he asks anxiously –
“… You mean that Sakura kid? Where is she?”
“Yes.. Sergeant Yuki. She’s being held in the detention centre on the lowest basement level. I know for a fact that the Sergeant was forced into helping Moreau, so her execution shall be swift, painless, and honorable. But you.. I wanted to talk to you personally before your execution, since you were the only member of the FoL to escape the eXo PRIME’s clutches the day we gave you what you deserved.”
“… I wasn’t the only one. Gaunt escaped too. Not in the best condition, but he survived...”
“Gaunt? .. You mean Adrian Moreau? Yes, I’ve had the misfortune to run into him.. He’s the freak with the generator, right?”
“He’s not a freak. I mean, he’s kind of an ass, but he’s a good guy for the most part..”
Solari’s satisfied smirk extends while he keeps his eyes averted from Data’s, but beyond that, he fails to respond. He instead stares at the crimson numbers ticking by on his clock inquisitively, and a long while passes between the two in silence. Finally, unable to take it anyone, Data yells furiously –
“Look, what are you doing?! Aren’t you gonna kill me?!”
“Patience. There’s just something I need you to tell me.”
“And that is?”
Solari doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he gets up from his desk and starts to pace back and forth behind Data. After about a minute of silence, Solari says forcefully –
“Why were you working for Seymour Moreau?”
Data twitches in shock at Solari’s question, and says nervously –
“W-what are you talking about? .. I don’t work for that lunatic..”
“Oh really? You were sighted and identified as one of the terrorists at DIV. 1.
The official report was that you were working with Miss Yuki, your sister Elena, and Seymour Moreau.”
Feeling incensed that Solari is so brazenly teasing him, Data exclaims forcefully –
“What the hell are you on? First of all, I’d never work with anybody from the PRIME. Second, my sister is dead. And third, Seymour tried to kill me! So why would I ever work for him?”
“Well, though I can’t understand the way your screwed-up mind works, I can tell you that your sister is very much alive.”
Solari’s words hit him like a brick wall, nearly knocking the skepticism right out of him, and he has to force himself not to believe what he says, not wanting to get his hopes up, though he is severely tempted to.
“A-are.. Are you being serious?”
“I am always serious, Lias. Yes, indeed, she trashed the DIV. 1 and 4 facilities, killed many of our soldiers, eluded eXo PRIME authorities from a PRIME-run police station in Serengeti District after freeing Miss Yuki from her incarceration, and locked me inside a drunk tank. It took an entire day for my troops to find me.. That was all over a week ago, and it was all alongside Seymour.”
“But… I heard her die! I don’t believe you!”
“Believe it. She appears to be quite close to him. I think she loves him.”
“Love HIM?!”
Despite himself, Data bursts out laughing, further irking Solari, and it takes him a few moments to regain his composure before he says breathlessly –
“Yeah, right! You know him? He’s a fucking mental patient!”
“… I do know him. Much better than you do. And though he may seem crazy, I assure you that he is quite sane. But he’s cunning. And clever. And also very deceptive. I am familiar of the methods with which he used to control you, but that does not make your crimes any less punishable.”
“Control us? What the hell do you mean, control us?”
“Never you mind. Ah, but, I must remind myself that all of this is epitaphic, since Moreau should be long-gone now. He’ll never outshine and humiliate me again. Oh, and don’t worry, Gordon. You’ll be joining him shortly.”
Solari turns Data’s chair around, pulls a pistol out of the holster in his suit, and shoves it into the side of Data’s head. Just as he is about to pull the trigger, a massive tremor suddenly rocks the office, upsetting the entire building, and Solari’s radio erupts in high-pitched cries. Frustrated at being robbed of his kill, but inclined to do his duty, he begrudgingly grabs the radio from his hip, and answers the anguished calls in an irritated manner.
“This is General Solari. Tell me what happened.”
S-sir! The base is under attack!
“What? By who?!”
W-we’re not sure.. But h-he’s got white hair! O-oh God, it’s-!
Solari stares wide-eyed as the radio transmission dies, his face growing pale with shock, when the lights in the office abruptly shut down, swathing the room in a thick veil of darkness. He looks to Data through the shadows, grabs his shoulder tightly, and with a rage-filled glare, whispers –
“… You’re my bait.”
~Santuc TerraDome: Liberty District~
Seymour, Trace, and Elena arrive at the perimeter of the enormous eXo PRIME military headquarters, to find the entire facility completely fortified and barricaded from all angles, barring any chance of entrance, save for through the courtyard entryway, though it too is being heavily guarded. Trace brings the car to a stop a few blocks down from the headquarters’ courtyard entryway, and all three discuss their breaching methods.
“How ‘bout we just bust on in?”
“Oh right, great idea, old man. Did you see how many soldiers were guarding the building? They’d shoot us if we even breathed on the place. No doubt now that Gordon and Sakura are here.”
“You’re right. We need some kind of a plan..”
With a frustrated growl, Trace leans out of the door’s open window, and resolutely fixes his eyes on the tires, trying to come up with a plan. Suddenly, his eyes light up with fervor, then he hurriedly climbs out of the car, forces the trunk open and grins at the sight of an old, battered gas can lying innocently within. Trace seizes the can, then orders Seymour and Elena to get out of the car. They look at eachother in confusion, but oblige without a word as Trace empties the gasoline onto the tires with a satisfied grin. He then hurries back into the driver’s seat, guns the engine, but keeps his foot on the brake as well; the car remains stationary, its wheels spinning round and round in the puddle of gasoline, throwing copious amounts of foul-smelling white smoke into the air. After a tense minute passes of Trace burning the gasoline-soaked wheels out, while Seymour and Elena look on in complete disillusionment, they suddenly burst into flames. As soon as they catch flame, Trace takes his foot off of the brake, speeds backward down the street, and smashes right through the gated ID terminal barricade, mowing down the shocked line of guards. Just as he nears the wall of the main building, Trace leaps from the car seconds before it crashes. Colliding with the wall, the car explodes in a blazing fireball, sending a massive tremor throughout the entire complex, and shattering some of the windows on the lower levels. Attracted by the explosion, every soldier in the vicinity begins to anxiously converge at the site of the crash. Slipping through the now-emptied terminal, Seymour and Elena cautiously blend into the disoriented mass of soldiers scrambling into the courtyard, and rejoin Trace, who cracks his neck with a yellow-toothed smile, and showily dusts himself off.
“Ahh.. Haven’t jumped from a mov
ing vehicle in a long time… Heheh, let’s see those PRIME bitches ignore THAT!”
“Oh yeah, great plan, genius! Now the entire building is in an uproar, they’re heading our way, and we have no weapons! Awesome.”
“Listen, blondie! I know this place better than you, alright? This isn’t the main entrance. It’s the courtyard on the complete opposite side of the main entrance. If we divert the soldiers to this isolated side of the complex, then we can take ‘em all out, and sneak in through the main entrance and raise some hell!”
“But we can’t raise hell if we don’t have any weapons, Trace!”
“Don’t sweat that, kid. Let’s just get into the building. The armory is inside on the lowest level. If we can gain access to the elevator, we can travel straight to it.”
“Great.”
“… Fine.”
The PRIME soldiers pour en masse into the burning courtyard, their weapons trained and primed to fire at the first sight of their targets, when suddenly, the lights illuminating the entire span of Liberty District shut down, sinking the entire complex into a sea of total darkness. As the soldiers cry out in bewilderment, crashing into one another as they desperately search for a source of light, Elena tries to activate her MFI, preparing herself for a fight in the dark, but it still won’t turn on. Thinking quickly, Trace spots a flicker of bright red light emanating through the shadows off in the distance. He slips away from Seymour and Elena unnoticed, and runs off toward the light. As he gets closer to the brightly dancing light, he finds its source to be a soldier brandishing a flare, and whispering angrily to himself.
“… Damn lights had to shut off, just as we’re under attack? Fucking great…”
Trace approaches the soldier quietly from behind, and taps him on the shoulder. Unable to see Trace’s face, the soldier mistakes him for a comrade.
“Hey, soldier. Do you have any more flares? I forgot to stock up.”
“… Uh, sure. Here’s a couple.”
“Thanks.”
The soldier hands Trace a packet of flares without looking at him, and Trace pulls one, illuminating his face in a warm red glow. Trace smiles at the soldier through the red light of the flares, grabs his shoulders, and knees him in the stomach. As the soldier falls to the ground, gasping for air, Trace grabs his fallen shotgun, and pumps a lethal slug into the young soldier’s chest. Making his way through the pitch-black courtyard with flare in hand, Trace snuffs the light of the flare as he sneaks up behind Elena, and with a childish snigger, cries out in mock fright. Shocked, Elena whirls around, and, in self-defense, punches Trace in the face. Staggering a little, but his smile unwavering, he straightens himself, and looks at Elena with a grin, which shines through the flickering crimson light.
“Ahhh.. You’ve got a good punch! I’ll give you that, blondie.”
“What is your problem, Trace?! That’s not funny!”
“Well, while two you were standing around like dumbasses, I took the liberty of getting us a weapon and some flares, so we can see our way around this dump. For successful ideas, that’s me: two. You: zero.”
“Alright, alright! I get it, okay? Let’s just get out of here, in case the lights turn back on..”
While the trio hurry along the crowded courtyard in the warm scarlet light of their flares, Trace explains through sharp intakes of breath –
“Right. Now, judging from where we are, we need to go west, then north to get to the main entrance. You know, these PRIME people are real shitheads.. If they really wanted to hinder us, they should’ve left the power on. Their security systems should all be disabled, so nothing will stop us from just walking through the front door, heheh…”
“Yeah. They’re not very good at developing backup plans…”
“Right then, kid. Let’s get out of here. Oh, and if you need more flares, just kill some soldiers and take theirs, got it?”
Using their brightly flashing flares to guide them through the heavy shroud of darkness, the trio soon makes its way to the unguarded, unsecured main entrance to the eXo PRIME military headquarters, and cautiously enters its darkened depths, preparing themselves for what they know will be a veritable bloodbath.
~Santuc TerraDome: eXo PRIME Military Headquarters (Liberty)~
The interior foyer of the military headquarters is completely devoid of soldiers. The only discernible object in the pitch-black vestibule is a single flare flickering near the elevator door. The trio cautiously walk along the seemingly deserted atrium, cross to the elevator, which is illuminated in the light of the flare, and Trace jams his finger into the DOWN button. However, nothing happens as the flare by their feet dies, sinking the atrium into now absolute darkness.
“Oh right.. I forgot. There’s no power.”
“Well, duh.”
Trace frowns through the darkness at Elena’s condescending tone, and impatiently inquires –
“Can’t you just, like, rip the door off with your magnet thingy?”
“It still won’t work.. Let’s just take the stairs.”
“Oh yeah..”
They make to walk down the adjacent stairwell, when a bullet suddenly streaks from out of the shadows, narrowly missing Elena’s head.
“What the hell was that?!”
Her question is answered when at least a hundred soldiers emerge from the shadows, each pulling a flare, illuminating the entire area in bright crimson light.
“… Oh shit..”
The tightly-knit soldiers slowly close in on the trio, their guns raised and primed to fire. Elena grabs Seymour’s arm in fright, but he simply shakes it loose and steps forward, into the mass of soldiers bearing down menacingly upon them. He spreads his arms wide and holds his scarred hands high in surrender, his pale eyes shining intensely in the harsh scarlet light.
“… Good job, men. You caught us. Take me to your superior officer. I’m sure he’ll want to do away with me personally.”
The troops look at eachother in confusion, while Trace and Elena do the same behind Seymour. However, despite the fact that his mind is still muddled from the poison, Seymour boldly carries on.
“… Though, not so long ago, it was I who was your superior officer. And honestly, has much changed? You all must remember my time of sovereignty, before I was branded a criminal by your new leaders; the people who claim to want what is best for you. Rank makes the man, or so the PRIME taught us. But really, the man who makes the rank will always have the quality of that rank, even if it is stripped away from him through harsh hands and bitter words. If you believe what I say, then you will see this, not as a request, but as an order. I am Commander Seymour Moreau of the eXo PRIME Armed Forces. I am the highest authority in this military institution, and my order will always be absolute. So I order you all to lay down your weapons, and let us proceed without hindrance. Is that clear?”
The soldiers murmur in hesitant bewilderment, but nonetheless lay down their weapons as ordered, and step away from the trio without a defiant word. Seymour cautiously steps forward, his hands still raised, grabs a few rifles from the ground at the soldiers’ feet, and tosses them to Trace and Elena. After arming himself, he nods to the soldiers, dashes off down the stairwell, and out of sight. Mystified and shocked, Elena and Trace follow suit, leaving behind the perplexed soldiers in the silent dark. Once a safe distance away from the entrance hall, Trace breaks their awkward silence with a gruff, jovial laugh, and punches Seymour lightly in the arm.
“Ahahaha! Oh, kid.. You’ve definitely got a way with words!”
“Yes, well.. I’m a little surprised myself.. I was mostly just winging it… Good thing they listened though..”
“… But what if they hadn’t listened to you?”
“Oh, come on, blondie! Can’t you have a little fun?”
“Well, it was reckless.”
Elena seizes Seymour’s arm tightly, her eyes burning in the darkness, and says in a voice of deadly calm –
“You promised me you weren’t going to do anything r
eckless anymore, Seymour.”
“Well, think of it this way, Elena. If I hadn’t risked my life, we wouldn’t be here discussing the fact that I shouldn’t have risked my life.”
“But-”
Cutting Elena off, Trace forcefully shoves her out of the way, and inquires loudly –
“So! What’s the plan, Mr. Commander?”
“Oh yeah… Let’s see… You two go downstairs and find the CMCI unit. It should be in the contraband vault. At least, that’s where it said it was sent on that page. I’ll go find the antivenom, then we’ll all meet up, find Sakura and Gordon, use the radio wave amplifier you were telling me about to locate Sam and Adrian, and then get the hell out of here. Got it?”
Paradox: The Last Day - Seymour's Story Page 18
