Look upon the incalculable masses below you that will suffer endlessly, never being told why exactly they do, or what they’ve done to deserve this torture. Over nine billion of these people arrived here by your hand, unwillingly and unknowingly. Now you ask upon them for a favor? To prolong their misery and fear, just so you can pretend to be something you are no longer?
You have come here not to save them, but rather this one girl, who truly does deserve to exist and be punished in this realm. Are you truly prepared to let everyone’s suffering continue, simply for that girl?
|… I.. I don’t know..|
Right, Seymour. You don’t know. Even you suffer unknowingly like the ones below you, simply because of that girl. But at least you know the source of your suffering, and you can let go of it.
There are still people who need you back where you belong. So forget your confusion, return to where you are needed, and finish your task.
Nyx’s vehement words pierce Seymour’s resolve like knives, but he refuses to be swayed, and declares forcefully –
|… No. I will not leave without Elena.|
With an irritated scowl, Nyx forcefully throws Seymour back into the gear room; he slams hard against the sapphire glass wall, sending deep cracks along its beautiful, iridescent surface. With little consciousness left, he looks up at Elena’s gaunt, tear-streaked face through misted vision, anger and hopelessness rising in him like boiling water, when he feels a light breeze pass by him. His focus fading fast, he watches helplessly as Nyx picks up Elena’s motionless body in her scarred arms, carries her to the open window facing him, and holds her out above the twisted, screaming abyss far below.
If that is your choice. I will make you understand that your actions have consequences, Seymour.
Nyx lets Elena slide through her arms with a derisive grimace, and Elena falls. As though a bright light has been flicked on inside his head, the world around Seymour comes back into full focus, and his mind is cleared of all thought. He scrambles to his feet, shoves Nyx aside and leaps from the tower in Elena’s wake without hesitation. Summoning every scrap of concentration left within, Seymour focuses on Elena’s lifeless, plummeting body, willing himself to fall more quickly. Just as the sight of each individual haunted eye watching him intently meets his gaze, Seymour manages to catch up to Elena, grabs her limp arm, and moves her hand over his brand. Instantly, she opens her eyes, and unbeknownst to her, stares straight into Seymour’s blackened ones. He pulls her in close to his distorted body, wraps his arms tightly around her, shuts his eyes, and waits for the crash.
The extreme shock of crashing into the ground completely disconnects Seymour from Paradox, startling his heart back into life. The force of the violent mortal transition smashes out every window behind Solari’s desk, showering the office with a gleaming crystalline downpour. Stricken with agony, Seymour forcefully staggers backward into the wall of Solari’s office, his forearms bleeding, black-tinged, and swollen, and slumps against it, trying desperately not to black out from exhaustion, as his eyes slowly recede back into their normal colorless state. Gripping his head laboriously, he wearily looks to the clock on the wall of the office. Only one minute has passed since his deathly excursion. As he stares at the clock in disbelief, a small chime resounds throughout the room, the elevator doors slide open, and Trace, Sakura, and Gordon step out into the office, guns in hand and stained with blood.
“Ahhh… Nothin’ like a bloodbath to get ya goin’, right? Hey, bad news, kid. Solari got away again.. And uh, hey.. Are you okay?!”
Trace runs over to Seymour worriedly, and kneels down to his level. Seymour nods sluggishly, his eyes half-closed, unable to gather enough energy to respond verbally. Trace looks over his shoulder to find Elena sitting upright against the wall, rubbing her chest painfully; a confused, bleary-eyed look is on her ghostly pale face.
“Hey! You’re alive!”
Elena looks around the room in dazed astonishment, then shifts her bleary gaze to her shaking hands disbelievingly.
“… I.. I am.”
“Well fuck, how’d you do that?! I saw it! You were dead! And believe me, I’ve seen a lot of dead people, and you were definitely dead!”
“I... was dead?”
Behind Trace, Seymour leans away from the wall, puts a hand on Trace’s shoulder and forcefully pushes him out of the way to look at Elena with a relieved smile.
“… Don’t listen to him, Elena. You.. weren’t dead. You’ve just been… preoccupied.”
“With what..?”
“That doesn’t matter.. What matters… is that you’re here.. with us.. right now.”
“O-oh..”
Upon hearing her terribly familiar voice, Gordon forcefully pushes past Trace, who has just started to regain his feet after Seymour’s shove, and stares disbelievingly at Elena, ignoring Trace’s irate grumblings.
“Y-you’re… alive..”
“… So I’ve heard.”
“Y-you guys weren’t lying…”
Gordon approaches Elena, and tightly embraces her with his one arm for the first time, while tears of mingled joy and grief slide down his face.
“… This is real. You really are alive.. W-where have you been?”
Elena looks over Gordon’s shoulder to Seymour, who looks back with eyes full of weariness and shame.
“… That doesn’t matter, Gordon. What matters is that I’m here, right now, thanks to Seymour.”
~Santuc TerraDome: eXo PRIME Military Headquarters (Liberty)~
An hour or so later, his energy restored enough to refocus on the task at hand, Seymour tries to hack into Solari’s computer, with Trace at his shoulder, while Elena and Gordon converse in hushed tones away from the others, and Sakura guards the doorway from the other side, her wounded arm mended with what remained of the Seraph Tears. While Seymour works, Trace curiously looks over at Elena and Gordon in the shadows of Solari’s office.
“What do you think they’re talkin’ about?”
“I don’t know. Just leave them alone. It’s been a while since they’ve been able to talk to each other, y’know, since he thought she was dead..”
“… Hm…”
Trace watches Seymour type on the keyboard for a moment, the bright glare of the screen reflecting in his shadowed, unblinking eyes, and after looking around to make sure nobody is listening, he leans in close to Seymour and whispers –
“So… How’d you do it?”
“.. Do what?”
“Y’know.. Bring her back to life?”
His fingers hovering just over the keyboard, Seymour asks baldly –
“… Why are you so certain I had a hand in it?”
“Well, you were in the room when she died, and you were there when she came back, looking like you’d been to Hell and back. I’m not senile, kid. I can put two and two together, y’know.”
“.. Well, it’s not important.”
“Sure it is, kid. C’mon.. If it’s a secret, I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
Irately slamming his hands down on the keyboard, Seymour exclaims forcefully –
“… Alright, alright! Look, I don’t know for sure, but I think i-it was a.. a shock to the heart.”
“Huh? A shock to the heart? I don’t see any defib units around..”
“No, not that kind of shock… Look, my head is pounding. I’m trying my best not to pass out from exhaustion, and I’m still trying to concentrate. Can’t we talk about this later?”
“.. I guess so.. So, what are you doin’ again?”
“I told you. Solari’s computer should have a direct uplink to the radio wave amplifier you told me about. If I can get into his computer, then I can access the amplifier, and find Sam and Adrian before it’s too late.”
“Ahh, okay.. I get it.. sorta.”
Seymour sighs impatiently, still exhausted and aching down to his very last nerve, but continues to hack raptly into Solari’s computer, when he is confronted by a password system, barring acc
ess to his applications.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“Solari put a password up for each of his applications.”
“… So?”
Trace shrinks away slightly at the sight of Seymour’s exhausted, angered glare as he spells it out patently –
“That means that we can’t access the amplifier until we find the password.”
“Oh, I know, it’s probably, ‘I’m a stupid prick and nobody likes me’.”
“I highly doubt it.”
Rubbing his eyes edgily, Seymour tenses up irritably while Trace shouts enthusiastically over his shoulder –
“Well, c’mon! You know Solari better than anyone! You should know his password!”
“Huhhh.. Alright.. Just give me a minute to think, okay?”
“Alright.”
Seymour scrutinizes the password screen, looking for some hidden clue to the password beneath the pixels, while Trace rummages through Solari’s desk drawers. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Trace pulls out a sheet of paper with condensed, miniscule writing, and shows it to Seymour with a delighted smile.
“What’s this?”
“The answer to your prayers.”
“Huh?”
Seymour scans the sheet, and finds it to be a list of passwords for every computer within Santuc. However, instead of being pleased, his anger is renewed as he impatiently squints at the tiny text.
“There’re thousands of passwords here, Trace. It could be any one of these. It’ll take forever to sift through and test them all.”
“No it won’t, kid! Let’s just find the passwords that best fit a prick like Solari.”
“… Well.. I guess there’s not much choice.”
Scanning through the list of passwords together, and entering passwords that seem plausible, Seymour and Trace try over a hundred different passwords, but not a single one unlocks the applications.
“Well fuck, Trace, that was a huge waste of time!”
“Calm down, kid! Just try some more!”
“We don’t have time for that!”
“Well, maybe if you’d shut up, you could spend more time lookin’!”
“Maybe if you’d stop being such an asshole, I could concentrate harder!”
“What are you two yelling about?”
From the shadows, Gordon abandons his conversation with Elena, approaches the two questioningly, and examines the computer screen carefully.
“Tch.. We’re tryin’ to figure out the fuckin’ password for this damn thing. But you staring at the screen isn’t gonna help much, kid.”
With his hand resting on his chin, Gordon remains fixated on the screen for a few moments; the light of the display reflects brightly in his cracked glasses as he declares succinctly –
“… The password is eXoPRIME-Solari-44237.”
“Huh?! How do you know that?!”
“Do you know how many times I hacked into his files while I was in the FoL? Besides, Solari’s too much of a dumbass to change his password. It’s been the same one for years.”
“B-b-but, that password isn’t on the page!”
“Why would he need to put his own password on a list of stolen ones?”
“Uhhh… well.. hm.”
“Exactly.”
Seymour quickly types the password in, and the application opens up. Seymour turns to Gordon with an impressed smile, while Trace scoffs in annoyance behind their backs.
“Tch.. I could’ve figured that out if you’d just let me try..”
“No, you couldn’t have. But anyway, thanks, Gordon.”
Gordon glares at Seymour out of the corner of his eye, and after a tense, awkward moment, he says in a low voice –
“… If we’re going to work together, you call me Data, alright?”
“Wait.. Work together? You mean.. you know?”
“Yeah. Elena told me everything. Can’t say I support what you’ve done, but she is certain that you do what you do for a good cause. And I know she wouldn’t lie to me. So, I’ll help in whatever way I can, though it seems weird that you’d choose me to install your magnetic thing, since I’m slightly lacking in appendages.”
“Yeah, why can’t I do it for ya, Seymour? I’ve still got both my arms!”
“Sorry, Trace, but I don’t think your body could take the strain.”
“Bullshit! I can kick ass no matter how old I get!”
“I’d rather not risk having your assessment of yourself be wrong, Trace. I’ll find a way to compensate for you, Data. You’ll be fine.”
“Alright, I guess..”
Hearing the bleak, disparaging tone in Data’s voice, Seymour sighs quietly and says passively –
“… Listen.. If it’s any consolation, despite what you may believe, I’ve never once killed out of hate. It’s true that my actions are unforgivable, but everyone dies eventually. Sometimes, the harshest actions are for the best causes… even if it is interpreted in different ways.”
Data scratches his head in a non-committal sort of way, and utters in a prosaic tone –
“Hm.. I suppose there’s nothing I can do to stop you, even if I wanted to.”
“That’s not true. I admit it was unfair of me to try and control you. I should’ve just asked you directly. So, you can leave if you choose to do so.”
“And then what? I’d rather be on the front line than sit and wait to die like everyone else. If all you’re doing is simply accelerating the inevitable, what would I gain from not helping you?”
Trace smiles at Seymour after Data’s admission, and exclaims happily, showing all of his yellowed teeth –
“… I like this kid, Seymour.”
“… Alright, Data.. If that’s how you feel.”
“Great! So now, we’re one big happy family, right?”
“If we are, we are one fucked up family…”
“Mm, yeah..”
Seymour plugs his tracer into the USB port, configures and calibrates all the information, and begins the scan, as a slight, high-pitched noise permeates the air.
“It’ll probably take a little while to perform a whole world scan.”
“Meh. We’re not in too big a hurry, right?”
Suddenly, Sakura barges through the doors loudly and comes running into the office, her face white with shock.
“What’s wrong, Sakura?”
“They’re coming! More soldiers! Solari must’ve alerted them! They’re heading this way! There’re hundreds of them!”
“Shit..”
“Goddamit.. Never a moment of peace… A-alright, you guys gather all the weapons you can and keep ‘em busy while I finish up here! Quickly!”
“Right! Oh ho, this is gonna be fun!”
Trace runs off to the elevator, and enthusiastically and eagerly jabs the DOWN button with his finger, but Elena holds him back exasperatedly.
“Where are you going?!”
“Down to the armory! I’ll be back up in a couple minutes!”
“Alright, but hurry!”
“Roger that!”
Trace steps into the elevator, and waves goodbye with a smile as the doors shut and his jovial face disappears. Seymour gathers the others together, preps their weapons, and barricades the door with the various pieces of Solari’s furniture. Handing everyone a weapon, Seymour explains their plan while the soldiers on the other side of the door try to smash their way in.
“Okay, this is what we’re gonna do. Elena and I will stay here and fight the soldiers with Trace when they break through the doors. Data and Sakura, you guys go up to the roof and prepare a helicopter for us.”
“Huh? Why?”
“So we can get away after the scan is complete?”
“Oh, right..”
“Got it, everyone?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes..”
“Yep.”
“Good. Let’s get ready.”
As the soldiers repeatedly crash against the door, it begins to
splinter at the center, when a small chime resonates through the office, signaling the elevator car’s arrival, and Trace steps out, loaded down with gun bags of all sizes, the smile on his face wider than ever.
“Gun delivery service.”
Opening the bags with zeal, he pulls out guns and weapons of all shapes, sizes, and strength. Each grabs his or her share of weapons, and now, fully-equipped to deal with the PRIME onslaught, Data and Sakura hurry off to the rooftop to secure a helicopter, while Seymour, Elena and Trace wait with tense anticipation, their weapons primed, as the soldiers continue to break their way through the doors. Finally, the soldiers smash through the doors, and instantly begin to fire, while Seymour and the others do the same. In seconds, blood is stained upon the walls of Solari’s immaculate office, bullet casings litter the floor, and fallen bodies lie in heaps upon the sea of blood-stained blue carpet.
Once the flow of soldiers through the door dwindles, and a momentary calm returns to Solari’s now-ruined office, Elena swiftly shuts the battered doors, panting, and soaked in blood, while Seymour hastily reloads his weapons, and prepares for another wave of troops, as the combined footsteps of another battalion echo loudly down the hallway. He quickly retreats to Solari’s computer, and checks the progress of the scan: 50% complete.
“Damn, this thing is slow.. We have to make sure this thing isn’t hit, or it’ll stop the scan..”
“Oh, come on! Fuck the scan! This is great! Don’t tell me you’re not havin’ fun, kid!”
“Shut it, Trace. Killing shouldn’t be fun.”
“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, spare me the morality lectures until we’re done, blondie.”
Paradox: The Last Day - Seymour's Story Page 23
