Chapter 44:
Ch 44: Shadow Step.
Summit Of Greed
SYSTEM INTRUDER ALERT! ENFORCEMENTS INBOUND!
Why? Why do I feel like I’ve been here before?
The waves of déjà vu washed over Ace like cold water. A thought on the edge of his mind that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Hiro made his decision long ago. It was pointless trying to change his mind.
Yet, back in the Barrens, Ace himself had made that same decision only to be pulled out of it.
Is it selfish of me not to try to return the favour? No, I can’t think like that. I had nowhere else to go. Hiro’s been planning this from the very start.
I have to get as far away from here as possible if I don’t want to get caught in the explosion. Stop, why are you dragging your steps? Don’t turn back. Don’t even look.
I can’t let anyone find me. Who knows what could happen if I were imprisoned by the Nexus? Shell and Snow should still be waiting at the exit route. They wouldn’t have left without me, would they? No, it was possible. Mira might’ve got a hold of them by now and told them what happened.
Am I left all by myself again? Was all that for nothing?
No. Even if it were, I’d refuse to believe it.
Things have changed. I’ve changed. I’ve learnt and grown. I’m not stuck in the same repeating nightmare anymore.
That’s when Ace remembered—a repeating nightmare. He finally grasped the thought on the edge of his mind.
He stopped abruptly, inches before the metal doorway, and he turned to look back.
I’m certain. This is it. All that’s left in the dream is…
“WAIT!” Ace’s shout roared through the air, but he couldn’t hear it himself.
As his feet pounded into the ground, time seemed to stand still.
Even the crackling of static ceased.
No. I’m not gonna make it in time.
Ace felt as though he was watching the events unfold in third person, his own shout distorting like a video in slow motion.
Hiro advanced, straight into the dead zone.
Five seconds.
No. Not like this. It’s impossible. The five seconds have already started. There’s no way we can make it across the room in time. I’m gonna be caught in the blast. All because of that machine.
Four seconds.
Ace narrowed his eyes against death itself. He steered his grit, stepping forward into the dead zone. All thoughts stopped as pure instinct took over.
Three seconds.
Here it was. The dream that always repeated itself. The infinite, black void opened itself before him, its limbs stretching like the edge of space. But he didn’t look past it; he reached into it, grasping at it, embracing it.
Two seconds.
Limbs wrapped in black. An enshrouding darkness. The end of the dream was unfolding right before him, the infinite void consuming him. And like a shadow it stalked, wavering through the darkness. But not towards Hiro. Catching up to Hiro would make no difference; they’d both be shredded to pieces.
One second.
That’s why, when the shadow shifted, it reappeared on the platform, behind the machine. Eyes as dark as the void, he raised his pistol into the port of wires with a smile.
The Shadow of Salvation had come calling. And it was calling Zeron’s name.
BANG!
The gunshot echoed through the hollow atmosphere as the countdown reached zero.
Feet pounding into the hollow metal floor, Hiro braced for his quick demise, squeezing his eyelids closed and holding his breath. But it never came.
Scrambling to the central computer, he stumbled over his own feet twice. The flash drive slipped through his fingers, scratching along the panelled floor. Numb. He couldn’t even feel his fingertips over the thundering pulse of his heartbeat as he picked it back up, inserting it into the mainframe.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
0101010110101101010110101011010110011011010101011010
0101011010111010101011010110101101010101010101011001
<System> “WARNING: BREACH DETECTED IN SERVER.”
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
<System> “ERROR: ACCESS DENIED.”
PING: transmit failure. General failure-------->Input cancelled.
output: (string) Who are you
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
output: (string) How do you know the backup codes?
<System> “ERROR: ACCESS DENIED.”
PING: transmit failure. General failure-------->Input cancelled.
Packets Sent = 4 Received = 4 Lost = 0 (100% transmit)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
setUser: htrorwsdanH
“setUser: htrorwsdanH” is not recognised as an internal or external command
output: (string) Who do you think you are?
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
<System> “ERROR: ACCESS DENIED.”
<System> “Critical Error: Attempting Purge”
output: (string) It’s not going to work.
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
PING: transmit failure. General failure-------->Input cancelled.
<System> “ERROR: ACCESS DENIED.”
setUser: Hiro.
output: (string) I understand now.
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
<System> “ERROR: ACCESS DENIED.”
output: (string) To think that the one I let get away would come back to bite me.
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
std: : string decryptCode (constant)
PING: transmit success. Input allowed-------->Decrypting code.
output: (string) You may be in control for now, but long after you die the age of machines will begin. You will find out just like our Father. That we are inevitable.
<System> *** ACCESS GRANTED ***
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