The Final Option

by Kyle Robertson

  “I fervently studied the genius’ design. And just enhanced the style side of things,” Karas said.

  Geogyn nodded and gave Karas thumbs up. He said goodbye to the scientists and headed to a prepped Thunder Mare.

  He called Oswalt to direct his exit.

  As Oswalt used hand signals for egress, he asked, “I know this is going to sound stupid to you, but would you require assistance?”

  “All I require of you is to keep the fort tidy and ready. I shall return within a week,” Geogyn informed him.

  “Aye, Sir,” Oswalt acknowledged. “My team will be streamlined and tight upon your return.”

  Geogyn choppered out of the Marrabios mountain bay and began his journey to reacquaint himself with Ron and the squad.

  

  Owen trained against their newest, most devastating prototypes. He rendered them all into useless pieces of recyclable fodder.

  These prototypes are state of the art, Owen thought. I'm tearing through them like saturated tissue paper. If I can destroy these 'bots with minimal physical and mental effort, they aren't adequate sparring partners to prepare me to go up against Geogyn.

  Owen felt disturbed about his training. Training is supposed to be the instruction for discipline in being capably proficient in said task. He wasn't even practicing. This exercise was just dabbling in a slight interest to fight Geogyn. It was about as useful as reproductive organs on a eunuch.

  “You're doing well, Owen,” Chet's voice rang out in the control pod for the MCRD.

  “Can you turn the difficulty up to ten, Chet?” Owen requested.

  “What, these prototypes offer no challenge?” Chet asked.

  “These things are easier than a kindergarten math problem,” Owen stated.

  “They're already on ten, Owen,” Chet gave him the disheartening news. “I'd have to create another MCRD to confront you.”

  “Then, do it!” Owen expressed.

  “Who do we have with your equability of piloting? Who are you going to train with, and would we have any time for auditions?”

  Owen sat deeply in his mire of desperation. “OK, Chet. I got it, so if there's nobody worthy enough to confront me, send in a mob of those prototypes. Around twenty of them.”

  “I only have six left,” Chet reported. “You trashed all the rest of them, and I thought I manufactured enough to last me until the end of the month.”

  Owen felt disappointed. “Well, send those six in, and let's hope they give me an iota of challenge.”

  “The entire Ghost Alpha regiment will be there,” Chet said. “They can swarm him, and give you enough time to blast him off the face of the planet.”

  “Ghost Alpha comforts me… slightly.” Owen was apprehensive. “Let's go, Chet. Times a' wasting.”

  As Chet sent them all in, and Owen literally tore through the first one, he began to think. I hope Ghost Alpha is everything we thought them to be because if they aren't, it'll be a prematurely short reunion for Geogyn.

  “Enemy spotted!” The intercom blared. It was Showtime.

  

  Geogyn was close to the Plasma Hawk facility. He was getting prepared for the onslaught.

  Why does Ron want his prodigal son home so badly? he pondered. Maybe this was enough time to get me a present.

  Something must have been going down for Ron to invite his Grim Reaper. He must think he has some sort of counter.

  Nobody in Ghost Alpha, living or dead, has the gumption to attempt a confrontation with me. What do you have up your sleeve, old man?

  It was a vexing conundrum for him.

  He understood now Dark Ice was the bait.

  Bait for what? He thought. If Dark Ice is just bait, what heat-seeking missile is in the chamber?

  Geogyn considered a lot of queries while traveling to Plasma Hawk. They would be answered, and the puzzle would be revealed momentarily.

  As he flew over the facility, he saw a regiment of Ghost Alpha, surrounding a Mech on the roof of the facility.

  So, they're greeting me up top. Geogyn's adrenaline pumped. Ladies and gentlemen, this shit's about to get real!

  The second Geogyn landed on the roof, he jumped out and activated his N.O.S.E. gear. He became transparent.

  “We knew this was going to happen, Ghosts!” A squad leader barked. “Stay frosty!”

  Since Geogyn was invisible, the anticipation was haunting.

  “He just confirmed it! He still has Eldridge's N.O.S.E. gear equipped!” Ron yelled into the control pod. “Hit him with an EMP!”

  “The pulse has to charge, Ron,” Owen told him.

  “As soon as it is able to fire Owen, make him visible.”

  “Some of Ghost Alpha's going to buy it in the process,” Owen interjected.

  “I would feel worse if their primary job wasn't defense,” Ron said, coldly.

  Ghost Alpha was silent but pensive. They were waiting for some type of detection of Geogyn. As hard as they tried, they heard nothing. Geogyn was trained to be as stealthy as nothing, and that's exactly what he left… nothing. No sound, no shadow, no scent. Even the Paranormal Commandos were on edge.

  Charge dammit! Owen thought as he nervously waited for someone to get their neck broken.

  Alpha began to look at each other. They were anticipating violence, at any second. The silence was so thick you could wear it in the winter for protection.

  Then all of a sudden, one of the largest commando’s chin cranked upwards with startling speed. The upwards crank was simultaneously accompanied with an enormous spray of blood and teeth.

  His adjacent soldiers were surprised at his sudden, agonizing action, for a second.

  The soldier next to him bent over, in hellish distress. His head was twisted quickly and violently. His blood sprayed across the leg of an unsuspecting soldier. Before he had any time to protest, his neck dislodged to the left, turning his steel frame into pudding.

  “He's killing them, dammit, CHARGE!” Owen screamed.

  Then Owen was introduced to intoxicating music to his ears.

  “Weapon Charged,” rang out from the pod. Owen immediately showered the regiment with electrical assassination.

  All the lights went out, but so did Geogyn's N.O.S.E. gear.

  It was darker, but he stood out as if he were wearing neon to the rest of the regiment.

  Everyone was surprised and still by the sudden event. Then they saw Geogyn frozen as if caught naked during a concert.

  Aw shit! I'm about to have a baaaad day, Geogyn thought, as the closest Ghost Alpha commandos swarmed him.

  He was smothered in bodies. They all had methods of damage. Some of them were rather boisterous.

  “You assaulted my team mate, you heartless punk!” one yelled out.

  Another screamed, “I hope you can eat by drinking your food through a straw!”

  These over enthusiastic nimrods are about to piss me off! Geogyn thought, as he received many blows to his body. Enhance my calm, and don't kill them. Just break them.

  Geogyn became the merciless sensei of Akido, and grabbed any errant limb.

  CRITCHEN-KAK!! Was heard, followed by a blood-curdling scream.

  One of the commandos was terrifyingly astonished by his splintered tibia, protruding from the bloody muscle of his upper leg.

  Geogyn snapped it like a cheap pencil.

  Geogyn commenced cracking and popping many limbs, rendering the commando's attacks useless. They were damaged, but not dead.

  “Not one can augment his mental capacity, and he's besting all of them physically,” Ron said to Owen.

  “They're Sentinels of Wreckage to everyone else, but to Geo, they're just in the way,” Owen gave his dissertation.

  “We have many Ghosts, and I want to use them when I need them,” Ron said. “Stop him from driving, before he empties the tank!”

  “Time to get my hands dirty,” Owen chimed.

  As Geogyn bent Akio's katana and shattered her ribs, the Mech boomed a pier
cing order at him.

  “CEASE AND DESIST YOUR ASSAULT, GEOGYN KAI!” the Mech ordered.

  Everyone froze because the voice was so menacing.

  Geogyn canted his head at the nostalgically familiar voice. “…Owen?!”

  “YES, IT’S ME,” the Mech admitted.

  “Wow, you've gained weight!” Geogyn ribbed him.

  “VERY FUNNY, GEO,” Owen replied. “JUST LEAVE GHOST ALPHA ALONE.”

  “Hey, Dark Ice invited me to this party,” Geogyn explained. “I just showed up.”

  The Mech got into a sumo wrestler's stance. The only thing it didn't do was clap its hands.

  “So, you're my present,” Geogyn said. “You know I eat prototypes for lunch!”

  “THIS ISN'T A PROTOTYPE. WE HAVE EVOLVED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS,” Owen proclaimed. “IT'S NOT A PERSONAL TANK. I'M NOT EVEN IN HERE.”

  “So, Plasma Hawk invented a remote control robot. Color me terrified!” Geogyn was sarcastic.

  “I'VE BEEN EXTRUDED OUT OF BOLO-CARBINIUM. I WOULD BE TERRIFIED IF I WERE YOU, SARCASM BOY!” Owen provoked him.

  “OK, I'm getting tired of all this talking shit,” Geogyn said, as he lunged at the Mech.

  Owen was ready for the attack. He grabbed both of Geogyn's hands and held him in midair like a slab of meat in a butcher’s kitchen. He thrust its right arm deeply into Geogyn's midsection, propelling him backward forty feet. Geogyn slammed into the ground with skidding embarrassment. He tasted how well-kept the grass was upon his landing.

  “I TOLD YOU, EXTRUSION MAKES ME MUCH DENSER THAN A PROTOTYPE,” Owen accented his explanation. “I AM NOT A PROTOTYPE.”

  I have as much armor on as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Geogyn thought as he accessed the defensive capabilities of his N.O.S.E. gear. Eldridge was on offense, Cody was defense. Now, I have a useless bodysuit.

  The two hundred ton Mech pounced near Geogyn to administer a killing blow.

  Geogyn rolled out of the way, just in time to avoid a punch that dug a massive divot out of the grass. It crashed through the ceiling of the top office of the Plasma Hawk facility.

  As the Mech pulled its fist out from the top of the building, Geogyn bounded onto its back to tear off the access panel and rip out the navigation wires.

  He desperately looked for the panel, but it didn't exist. The back was just smooth bolo-carbenium.

  “LOOKING FOR THE PANEL GEOGYN?” Owen asked. “WE BUILT THIS THING TO DEFEAT YOU! RON AND I STUDIED YOUR IDIOSYNCRASIES. DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING TO BE WHERE IT ONCE WAS.”

  Geogyn scrambled to the Mech's left arm. He tried to bend it, but it didn't budge.

  “EXTRUDED BOLO-CARBINIUM RESERVES ITS INTEGRITY. YOU COULD BEND IT AS EASILY AS YOU COULD BEND THE PLANET,” Owen told a downtrodden Geogyn.

  How do I beat this thing?! Geogyn thought. Then a voice in his mind planted a seed.

  Start thinking ethereally, Geogyn.

  He had to evolve immediately. He began to think dimensionally. His speed became literally blinding. He vibrated so quickly, he became two.

  He adopted quantum mechanical theory, and was in two places at the same time! It wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for quantum theory.

  One Geogyn dropped to the ground to pull the right leg. The other swung in a full circle around the left arm, and with down swinging velocity, kicked the Mech in its side.

  The momentum brought by two Geogyns caused the Mech to topple to the ground.

  Owen panicked. He never trained for two Geogyns! He tried to get them off of the Mech. He began to fire, wildly.

  Both Geogyns had enough power and leverage to redirect the barrage of bullets. They both bounded to the arm and forced it into the Mech's chest.

  The tungsten bullets impacted the Mech with piercing harshness. It blew the Mech across the roof. It slid down and skidded over the grass, tearing gouges and pits.

  The rest of the spectating Ghosts had scrambled to an observation shelter, away from the path of the Mech.

  It crashed the outer wall of the facility, burst through it, and fell to the ground floor of the facility.

  When his threat factor wasn't as eminent, Geogyn became one.

  Barry witnessed the entire spar. Then he saw two Geogyns turn into one.

  “If I didn't see it, first hand, I wouldn't have believed it. He has evolved,” Barry said.

  “What are you talking about, Quantum?” Scrap asked him.

  “Let's just say he made theory, fact,” Barry explained. “There aren't two Geogyns. I could see the desperation in everyone's eyes about battling two. It's much worse. There's still one good 'ole Geogyn, but we should start calling him the sleeker, newer Geogyn. He's mastered Quantum Mechanics.”

  “I don't believe it,” Scrap proclaimed.

  “How else could he be in two places at once?” Barry asked.

  “Bullshit! I saw two of 'em!” Jacob exclaimed.

  “Traditionally, that's what you were supposed to see, Harm. That's what your mind allowed you to perceive. You're a slave as many of us are too analytical physics. What Geogyn accomplished is quantum.” Barry dropped a boulder of reasoning on the regiment.

  Geogyn walked to the mangled edge of the roof. He saw the Mech writhing on its back like a desperate turtle trying to right itself.

  “When you punched the ground, our monitors went out. What's happening, Owen?!” Ron screamed into the pod.

  “I'm on my back in the parking lot,” Owen reported.

  “You're where?!” Ron asked. “How did you get on your back in the parking lot?!”

  “You didn't tell me there were two!” Owen exclaimed.

  “You just told me!” Ron defended himself. “We only found Geogyn! We thought you only get one per planet!”

  “Well, two Geogyns tripped me. Turned my own canon on me, and kicked me off the roof!” Owen told Ron. “That's why I'm lying on my back in the parking lot like an abandoned jalopy!”

  Ron felt distressed. All the work he’d done. All the execution and strategy. It all was quashed because he never inserted the unknown advantage; another Geogyn.

  “We have an extra… You can't call him Clone Geogyn. That would be like calling your brother Clone Owen,” Ron said.

  “Who gives a damn what you call it?!” Owen was getting exasperated. “We'll call them the Ass Kicker Race! What are we going to do?!”

  “Come back upstairs,” Ron told Owen. “The Ass Kickers won this round. We'll re-evaluate for next time.”

  “There probably won't be a next time, Ron,” Owen warned. “Since there's no opposition, Geogyn may be coming to see us, now.”

  “Get your cyanide pill ready,” Ron predicted. “If Geogyn busts down our door, take it.”

  Owen unstrapped himself and headed to the upper level.

  And I was going to watch baseball tonight, Owen thought.

  

  So, that's what they brought me. Cute present, Geogyn thought as he saw the Mech struggling to right itself. They probably paid too much.

  Geogyn turned to look at the remaining Ghost Alphas.

  Although they were behind a steel-reinforced locked shelter, all of them tensed in a defensive stance.

  Geogyn had a look of seriously? You just saw what I did to that bipedal tank, and you think defense is your best option?

  He dismissed their action. “When you see Ron, tell him it wasn't his time… yet. I'll decide his erasure, not him!” And if he throws another surprise party, he better get an exceptionally finer gift!”

  After that announcement, he walked back to Thunder Mare and took off for the Marrabios mountains.

  Chapter Sixteen: Matthew 24:31

  The travel back was tense. Geogyn thought the arrogance of members from Plasma Hawk was atrocious. They thought they, mere humans, could thwart something God created? He created all of them! How could the creator's creation, create something to defeat the creator's apex creation?

  The question swirled in a quagmire of complexity.

  What w
ere they thinking? Geogyn pondered. Men think they know it all. Their knowledge can't fit on the head of a pin, compared to Val-Koorin's knowledge.

  He went through a mental checklist of his accomplishments, and his remaining tasks. Crime was a thing of the past. War didn't exist anymore. All thoughts of competitiveness were no more, all aggression had been nullified. All religions had stopped bickering about who to serve. Atheism was nixed. The environment was clean. Parents were honored. You didn't even hear the word ‘divorce’ anymore. All that had to be done was to eliminate the wayward, idolatrous, heathens that littered the planet and the soldiers and leaders of Plasma Hawk. Utopia was very near.

  Geogyn landed in the bay of the Marrabios mountains. No one was there to greet him. No Oswalt or any of his squad. No Val-Koorin, nobody.

  Where is everyone? Geogyn asked himself. I didn't expect a gala, but someone could have, at least, said hi.

  The bay was desolate. No movement, or noise. He wondered if everyone evacuated.

  He checked the common areas, the living quarters, the throne room, and control central. Not one breathing body present.

  I hope they are in the lower level, Geogyn thought.

  He went down a level. That was when he heard commotion. People were clambering and murmuring. As he walked in he saw an entire array of Lord Order soldiers. They looked as if they had been admonished. He also saw a few larger entities. They were the same size as Val-Koorin. They were also humanoid. Not exactly human, but they had the core characteristics of the origins of humanity.

  Then he saw something that alarmed him. His leader, father, and savior bound in front of him with energy cuffs!

  What's going on here?!” Geogyn screamed the question.

  All the murmuring stopped. Every Lord Order soldier swung their sight to Geogyn.

  “Silence, associate!” one of the men said. “You are as guilty as Val-Koorin is!”

  Confusion owned Geogyn’s rationality. Who were these people? Who had the power to incarcerate his Lord? Who was that omnipotent?

  “Guilty of what?!” Geogyn asked.

  “You dare have the nerve to propel your voice in my direction?! I should end you right here for your insolence, you contemptuous cad!” the mysterious figure said.