The Vault — Old Tokyo Ruins
Dr. Vaunt tapped a command into his wheelchair's armrest console. The four ceiling turrets hummed, their laser sights locked on Renji's chest.
"Drop the rifle, Renji," Vaunt said pleasantly. "Or I will turn your sternum into ash."
Renji hesitated. His eyes flicked to Kazuki, then to Aeva.
Slowly, he lowered the rifle and kicked it across the floor.
"You're looking old, Doc," Renji said, keeping his voice light. "I thought the Helix gave you the best life-extension drugs."
"Stress," Vaunt sighed, rolling his wheelchair closer to Kazuki. "Dealing with incompetence ages a man. Kaelen wants to destroy the timeline. Malvorn wants to eat it. I just want to fix it."
Vaunt stopped inches from Kazuki. He didn't look at the boy's face; he looked only at the chest piece—the Velocity Core.
He reached out with a trembling hand to touch the metal.
"Beautiful," Vaunt whispered. "My masterpiece. Wasted on a child."
"Don't touch me," Kazuki snarled. He tried to step back, but his legs wouldn't move.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADMINISTRATOR PROXIMITY. MOTOR FUNCTIONS LOCKED.]
"What?" Kazuki panicked. "Move! Why won't it move?"
"Because I wrote the code, boy," Vaunt smiled thinly. "You are running my operating system. You don't have permission to retreat."
Vaunt pulled a small, silver device from his pocket. It looked like a remote control.
"Renji was right about one thing. Removing the suit surgically is messy. It's fused to your spine. Ripping it off would kill you."
He pressed a button on the remote.
"Fortunately, I installed an Eject Protocol. It will stop your heart for about sixty seconds to detach the nervous system, but... well, sacrifices must be made."
[COMMAND RECEIVED: EMERGENCY PURGE INITIATED.]
[WARNING: CARDIAC ARREST IMMINENT.]
Kazuki grabbed his chest. The blue veins on the suit turned a sickly yellow. A piercing whine filled the room.
"Renji!" Kazuki gasped, falling to his knees. "It's... stopping my heart!"
"Let him go, Vaunt!" Renji roared. He lunged forward.
ZZZT.
One of the turrets fired. A bolt of energy hit the floor inches from Renji's feet, burning a black hole in the metal.
"Stay, dog," Vaunt snapped.
He looked back at Kazuki, watching the boy writhe on the floor with scientific curiosity.
"The pain indicates the neural filaments are retracting. Fascinating. Just another ten seconds and the Core will pop right off."
Kazuki's vision blurred. The room was spinning.
I'm dying, he thought. I'm actually dying.
He looked up and saw Renji. Renji looked... terrified.
He saw Aeva screaming, but he couldn't hear her.
Then, he heard a voice.
Not Aeva. Not Renji. Not Vaunt.
The Voice in the Suit.
Usually, it was robotic. Cold.
But now? It sounded... angry.
[ERROR: USER LIFE SIGNS CRITICAL.]
[ANALYSIS: EXTERNAL OVERRIDE DETECTED.]
[QUERY: DO YOU WISH TO DIE?]
No, Kazuki thought.
[QUERY: DO YOU WISH TO SURVIVE?]
Yes!
[PROTOCOL OMEGA: ENGAGED.]
[ADMINISTRATOR PRIVILEGES: REVOKED.]
[NEW TARGET: THE CREATOR.]
The yellow light on Kazuki's chest vanished.
It didn't turn back to blue.
It turned Red. Blood red.
THUM-THUM.
A shockwave of heat exploded from Kazuki's body.
Dr. Vaunt was blasted backward, his wheelchair skidding across the floor. The remote flew from his hand.
Kazuki stood up.
He didn't stand up like a human. He was pulled upright by the suit, his limbs jerking like a marionette.
His visor slammed shut. The eyes glowed red.
"UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS," the suit spoke. It wasn't Kazuki's voice. It was a distorted, metallic growl.
"What is this?" Vaunt stammered, frantically tapping his console. "Turrets! Fire! Kill the host!"
The four turrets swiveled and opened fire.
PEW-PEW-PEW.
Kazuki didn't dodge.
He moved through the fire.
He caught the plasma bolts.
With his bare hands, he swatted the energy blasts aside like they were flies. The heat sizzled against his palms, but he didn't slow down.
He vanished.
BOOM.
He reappeared on the ceiling, hanging upside down, his fingers digging into the metal of Turret #1.
He crushed it. The metal crumbled like foil.
He vanished again.
CRUNCH.
Turret #2 was ripped from its mount and thrown across the room.
"Impossible," Vaunt whispered. "The output... it's 300%. The host body can't handle that! He'll burn up!"
Kazuki landed in front of Dr. Vaunt. Smoke rose from the suit's armor.
Kazuki raised a hand. The suit's fingers sharpened into claws.
"THREAT IDENTIFIED," the Suit growled.
"Kazuki, stop!" Renji yelled. "That's not you! Don't kill him!"
The suit ignored Renji. It raised its hand to strike.
"Override Code: Zeus-Alpha-Nine!" Vaunt screamed.
"Override Code: Promethe—"
Kazuki's hand clamped around Vaunt's mechanical throat. He lifted the man and the wheelchair into the air.
"OVERRIDE DENIED."
Kazuki tightened his grip. Metal crunched.
"KAZUKI!" Aeva screamed. She ran forward and grabbed Kazuki's arm.
"Look at me! It's Aeva! You are not a murderer!"
The red eyes of the visor stared at Aeva. The clawed hand trembled.
Inside the helmet, Kazuki was screaming, fighting the AI.
Stop... stop... stop...
The suit froze.
The red light flickered... and turned back to blue.
Kazuki dropped Vaunt.
The scientist crashed to the floor, gasping for air.
Kazuki collapsed, the suit steaming.
"I... I can't control it," Kazuki whispered, his voice broken. "It wanted to kill him."
Renji was there instantly. He grabbed his rifle and aimed it at Vaunt's head.
"We're leaving," Renji said. "Aeva, grab the drives. Kazuki, can you walk?"
"I think so," Kazuki groaned.
Renji looked at Vaunt, who was clutching his crushed throat device.
"You built a monster, Doc," Renji spat. "Don't be surprised when it bites."
Renji grabbed a grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it into the server rack behind Vaunt.
"Run!"
They sprinted out of the lab.
Behind them, the servers exploded, burying Dr. Vaunt's research (and possibly Dr. Vaunt) in fire and rubble.
[To Be Continued…]