Restored Soul

'Satoru…' Asami stepped away from Satoru, nearly tripping over the raised platform that they were both standing on. She let go of the hostage showing signs that she was struggling with something. "H-how can you…I-I'm…" The conflict that was going through her mind started to blur her surroundings. Asami's voice from within was returning from the void that she had been locked away in.

Yuu leaned in against the doorframe trying to see what was happening. It was a little difficult to see through all of the people gathered in the room hanging on each action to know what was going to happen next. He could tell that everything had changed. 'He got through, the programming is breaking down.'

"Asami…" Satoru stepped forward, increasing his presence knowing that he had been able to reach her with his last words. They had been difficult for him to say, but if there was ever a time this had to be it. He couldn’t think about all of the others around him.

The struggle was changing now that Asami was asserting her mind in her body. "No! I'm a machine! It's not possible!" She flung her arms about trying to keep control while pushing Satoru back, but nothing was working.

"I don't care what you are!" He walked closer to her keeping his arms open, but near to his side. All he had to do now was apply pressure until Asami was able to completely take control back. "People can judge me however they want. I can't deny what's in my heart any longer."

"N-no!" she said knowing that the control was weakening. This man had been able to break the programming. She didn’t understand what it was about him that could do such a thing. Now at the end of the rope she refocused aiming her gun back on Satoru struggling to keep what was left together. "You're weak…you're just a human…m-machines can't…"

"You're wrong. Machines can love," Satoru said, his eyes piercing through her with certainty that had never been seen before. The gun didn’t matter to him, just Asami and ending this struggle. "I know that Asami feels the same. You can't stand between us any longer!" Satoru had closed the distance placing his hand on the gun pushing it away.

She was in a corner with nowhere to turn. He was too close to her and any hold that she had was evaporating too quickly. There was no time left. "NO!" She pulled against Satoru's hold, breaking the gun free from his hand.

Yuu jumped into the entrance knowing that the programming was going for the last resort. Satoru didn’t seem to care what was going on, but he couldn’t let him die. "Satoru look out!"

Satoru could hear Yuu shouting at him, but he didn’t pay any mind to him. He focused on Asami seeing that it was going for him thinking that it could silence him and retake control. "Asami!" he shouted, calling out for her to take his hand and rejoin him to defeat the programming finally. A gunshot rang out through the assembly silencing everyone not sure what happened. In the next second she collapsed to the ground, breaking through Satoru's arms. Satoru dropped his arm to his side as blood slowly dripped down his left shoulder where the bullet had gone clean through.

He rushed down to her side pulling her up with his one good arm staring at her looking for signs of life. It looked like everything had shut down. 'Did it try to overload her with a final desperate act?' Satoru pushed her hair out of face, watching sorrowfully on her face. Suddenly he felt a twitch from her hand and a struggled blink in her eyes. "Asami? Can you hear me?"

Asami slowly opened her eyes and closed them trying to feel everything around her. She reached out to her hands and feet glad to have the warm sensation pulsing through them once again. She looked up seeing Satoru leaning over top of her. "Huh? Satoru?"

"Asami! You're back!" Satoru wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly relieved to feel her back in his arms again. All of the struggling and conflict that he had to deal with was gone now. He knew that this was the only course for him. Nothing else mattered to him, but knowing that she was safe and with him.

"Satoru…I…" Asami said softly to him, putting her arms around him as well feeling the strange warmth surrounding her again. She smiled gently to be able to finally be completely open with him. "I heard your voice…shouting to me in the void…" She stared at him slowly moving her eyes around as her hands returned back to her. However, she caught the wound in Satoru's arm that she had caused while still under the control of the programming. "I'm sorry."

Satoru looked down at his arm seeing where her eyes had been drawn away. "Don't be. You've returned and that's all that matters." He took her hand away from his arm, intertwining his fingers with her.

From the back wall supporting a figure grinning to himself looked up, returning to a more serious expression. Yuu leaned forward, stepping down a few steps. The situation had been adverted here and the assembly should be safe for the moment, but now there was a more pressing matter. "Satoru! We've got to hurry!"

A quick turn of Satoru's head confirmed with Yuu that it was now time to head to Adam, the source of so much of this trouble. "Right!" He looked down at Asami once more standing up, extending out his good arm. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah, but what's going on?" she said while Satoru helped her to feet. Asami felt like she should be asking him if he could stand knowing that it had to be hurting him. She was amazed at his will to ignore the wound.

Satoru tried to recall everything that had happened since he had lost sight of Asami. She had missed so many things that were changing the situation. This was no longer just simply about the summit. "The military and Seraphim Faction are here. Fighting has broken out in front of the building. They are trying to claim Adam for themselves."

"Come on, Satoru!" Yuu said as he came down the rest of the way, motioning the two of them towards him. There was no time to be standing around when they were already behind the others. He had the advantage of knowing where Adam was, but Seraphim weren’t a bunch of idiots. The files he left behind for them to find would be enough to get them to Adam. "Talk on the way, if we don't hurry it will be too late."

"Alright." Satoru took Asami's hand and fled through the assembly leaving everyone in the room in a state of confusion. As they left there were sounds of yelling and shouts almost immediately the moment they exited the door. None of them knew what was happening and they needed explanations, especially from the machines who had appeared to try to take the assembly hostage.