Chapter 178: Fortress Meltdown
The psychic scream of the breaking link filled the silent chamber. The two Gemini stumbled back, their matched movements completely broken. For the first time in their lives, they were alone in their own heads.
The Gemini on the right held his head in his hands. His blank eyes were now wide with a strange and terrible feeling - confusion. The Gemini on the left simply stared down at his hands, as if they were new things to him. Their flawless, shared battle mind had just been turned off.
Jonah did not give them a moment to recover.
This was his chance. The opening he had gambled everything to create.
"Now!" he yelled, pouring the last of his energy into his power. "Maul! Nyx!"
His Progeny answered the call.
Maul appeared with an angry, ground-breaking sound, his eyes burning with protective rage. At the same time Nyx suddenly appeared above him.
The two Gemini looked up, their faces showing confused fear. Their soulless Progeny had vanished the moment their own concentration broke. They were defenseless. They had been a two-bodied predator. Now, they were just two scared boys facing a real monster.
Maul did not hesitate. He yelled with triumph and charged. He was not a soulless tool following a program. He was a beast fighting for his creator, and his anger was a scary sight.
The duel was over before it truly began. With their psychic link broken, the Gemini had no strategy, no coordination. They were just individuals, and they had never learned how to be stand on their own. Maul struck them with the power of a fast train, and the fight ended.
The room became silent. The only sounds were Maul’s heavy breathing and the chiming aura of Sylva, who stood peacefully beside Jonah, the small white flower still blooming at her feet.
Jonah dismissed his Progeny with a grateful thought. They faded away into glowing bits of light, their purpose was fulfilled.
He and Vanessa stood next to each other, their shoulders almost touching. They were both breathing hard, but in a relieved way. They then looked at the last person who was left in the room.
Dr. Aris Thorne stood behind his transparent energy shield, slowly lowering his datapad. He was not angry. He was not even scared. He was... smiling.
"Interesting," Thorne said, his voice calm and thoughtful. "An emotional variable. So wasteful. But..." He tapped a finger against his chin. "Effective. I must admit, it was surprisingly effective."
Jonah took a step forward, his hands made into fists. A cold anger began to burned in his chest. "It’s over, Thorne. Your weapons are destroyed. Your experiment is a failure."
"Failure?" Thorne chuckled. "My dear boy, you misunderstand. This wasn’t an experiment to see if I could win. This entire facility, this entire battle... it was a clinical trial. And the goal of a trial is not to win. It is to gather data."
He held up his datapad, and the screen glowed with complex graphs and long, scrolling streams of information.
"And you," he said, his eyes glowing with a scary light, "have just given me all the data I could ever need. The exact frequency of your emotional resonance, the power output of a true symbiotic bond, the tactical application of a non-combat Progeny... it’s all here."
Vanessa’s face went pale. "What... what are you talking about?"
"I am talking about progress, my dear," Thorne said. "True progress."
Just as Jonah was about to demand what he meant, the world exploded.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion, far bigger than the Siege Cannon’s blast, went off deep within the fortress. The entire Chamber shook violently. The ground moved, and cracks spread across the walls. Dust and small pieces of the roof dropped on them
A series of bright, red lights suddenly turned on, filling the white room with a scary red glow. A very loud alarm started to scream through the entire place.
"What happened?" Jonah shouted over the loud, wailing noise. He was trying hard to keep his balance on the shaking floor.
"That," Thorne spoke, and he was still smiling, "would be the facility’s main reactor beginning its meltdown sequence. A... required safety measure, you understand. "
A loud burst of static crackled from the small communicator on Jonah’s belt. He fumbled to activate it.
"...nah! Jonah, can you... me?"
It was Seraph’s voice, strained and full of static.
"Seraph! We can hear you!" Jonah shouted into the small device. "What’s happening?"
Her voice came back, clearer now, but it was full of a new and urgent need. "The reactor is critical! We planted the charges, but it triggered a failsafe! A complete meltdown! It’s going to take the whole mountain with it!"
Another deep RUMBLE shook the entire fortress. A big piece of the ceiling fell to the floor only a few feet from them, breaking into a cloud of dust.
"We bought you your opening!" Seraph’s voice crackled, full of pain and determination. "Now get out of there! Get out of there right now! That’s an order, Jonah!"
The comm line went dead, replaced by a loud static.
Jonah looked at Vanessa, his heart beating fast. He looked at the room falling apart, at the flashing red lights, at the way back to the exit, which was likely already hidden under many rock.
They had defeated the Gemini. They had cornered the mad doctor.
But their victory over the Gemini twins had been a trap.
Thorne had never cared about winning this fight. He had been leading them on. He had been keeping them busy, while the real, terrible endgame was happening all around them.
Jonah looked at the doctor again. The doctor was still calm behind his shield, watching them with a quiet smile.
The victory felt like ash in his mouth. It wasn’t a triumph. It was a trade. They had won the battle, but in doing so, they had lit the fuse on a bomb big enough to bury them all.