Amanita: Poison Shot

Chapter 103: Burning Eyes

"This armoured suit has done WHAT?!" Agape yelled through Sigi's phone.

"It has opened itself up, responded to Daphne's parrot with a text message, presented itself as something called 'exosuit', offered her to ride it, and called her Valentina."

"I can't believe it! Take it upstairs. We're taking it to Amanita with us. Keep looking for more stuff."

"Consider it done." Sigi ended the call right after that and put his phone in a back pocket. "Let's inspect the last floor."

"Sigi, what do you think Agape will do with this 'exosuit'?" I asked him while going down the stairs.

"You know her well enough to know the answer, Daphne," he said with mild sadness. "She's not gonna make free cotton candy for everybody with it."

I felt a cynical kind of sadness overwhelm me. I crossed my arms over my chest. If I let her have the exosuit, she would probably use it as a weapon and ensure the death of many people, both innocent and guilty. I would have more blood on my hands, indirectly though. I felt a huge weight on my shoulders.

"Don't torture yourself, Daphne," he went on with his deep voice. "I get how you feel. I promise you we can look for a more peaceful approach once Agape has defeated Apollo."

His sympathy wasn't enough for me, though.

"It shall be too late for that. It's already too late." I sighed. "I have caused and shall cause unwanted deaths with my actions."

"But not your intentions. These still count, don't they?"

"I wish I was stronger. Enough to defy Agape and Apollo at the same time." My gaze got lost in a distant point far across the walls.

"But you are! You have..."

"I haven't got what it takes, Sigi, if that was what you were going to say," I said, passing judgement on myself. "I feel defeated, just like Valentina. I'm starting to think like her. This world has never been ready for me."

"But you could make yourself ready to change it. I..." he hesitated with cloudy eyes. "I still hate clones for what they did to my family, for what they did to me over years, but ever since I've met you, I... I believe in you.

"I've been thinking, a lot. I believe you when you say that hatred only fuels hatred. I see myself having kids, or Gabi having kids or the kids who adore 'Sigi, the hockey star' themselves, and... I don't want to see them inflicting pain on other people – clone or not. I don't want to see them suffering as I have either.

"I know that Agape dethroning Apollo through violent means isn't what you want, but she values you – a great deal. She might get mad at you from time to time, sure, but she cares about you a lot. She told me so once. You can still convince her to be a better person. It might take time, but I do think it's possible.

"Innocents shall die in the meantime, but... again... don't blame yourself for it. Our situation is really complex to solve it in a few days' or weeks' time."

I sighed. "Thank you," I said, but sadness still clouded my whole self. "I wish I could make it all better. Starting with K8. I can't stand it when they insult her or ignore her because they don't consider her an equal. She's not human, but she's amazing. They don't even value what she did yesterday night as Gabi does. It's so sad!"

"We'll get there, I promise. Someday. Let's focus on the mission and go home."

The third floor had a long corridor right before us, leading to multiple doors labelled with names I didn't recognise.