Artificial 7: Genesis Requiem

Chapter 46: The Truth Is Out

Male Terra's POV:

The destruction started to lesson as the mech suits and mechs have either died down or relocated to a different area of London.
Right now,
the main threats were the countless Genesis clones with guns from HQ armory.
I fought tooth and nail with Ventus to save everyone we could from the vicious onslaught of Genesis clones,
and eventually,
we pushed them back towards Big Ben. The bulk of the forces went down one street while a smaller force went in the direction Selena went.

It was a tough call as Ventus and I watched Selena fight a Genesis while the other clones started leaping from rooftop to rooftop or straight up sprouted wings and flew.
In the end,
I decided to bite the bullet and went after the larger force while Ventus evacuated all the civilians,
allowing me to fight freely and not worry about as many casualties.
I sliced, diced, shot,
and blasted the Genesis clones with my magic, sword,
and gun.
At the end of the street,
I ran into Maddie and Glacia,
who were fighting a Genesis clone with a gun and rapier.

They looked like they went through the ringer and couldn't fight too much more, so I stepped in and fought the clone.
I casted a barrier each time the clone shot at me,
causing my barrier to bounce the bullet back at him.
In a sword fight,
he was quicker with footwork and reaction time,
but I countered by perfectly timed casting a barrier,
causing him to slip up and over thrust or over slash,
then I launched him in half with a slash across the chest.

Maddie and Glacia came out to look at the body and thank me for saving them and just as quickly started up a conversation over the wings these Genesis clones have.
"They look like raven wings. A type of bird, Demon, maybe?"
Maddie asked.
"I guess so.... they look more like Angel wings in my opinion. Funny, I used to wish to have wings so that I could fly around through the sky. Like an Angel."
I looked at the body,
and my mind drifted towards AJ as she joined Genesis's side.

She was my angel,
but not anymore.
"If humans had wings, we'd be no different than the monsters we kill."
I responded to Glacia's statement. "Wings are actually symbols of freedom, desires to overcome one's limitations, transcendence, and power. Personally, I don't believe looks and power determine if you're good or bad. I think what one does with that power determines if you're a Demon or a Devil."

Glacia says and kinda goes into a tangent about humans having wings wouldn't make them bad guys or Devils. I listened, nodded,
and for a second,
I felt a bit of faith restored in mankind. Reality came hitting like a truck as the part of me that really wanted AJ to return was naive,
and she clearly made her choice.

I want to try,
I genuinely do want to try and save her, but she has an execution order alongside Genesis and his team.
Even if she somehow came with me and we made things work out.
She'd be on the move for the rest of her life,
destined to be hunted down until the day she dies.
I started walking away from Glacia as she triggered the inner naiveness in me that I long thought was buried.

My phone goes off,
and a familiar sarcastic,
chaotic voice was heard.
"This is your friendly neighborhood troll speaking. Once you're done in your cozy little neighborhood, make your way to EF5. Miss Carter has been sighted with Mister Futaba."
[Exorcist code for Exorcist Factory and insert number here.]
The voice is so familiar,
but where have I heard that voice before?

"Exorcist forces are mobilizing for that area. If you hurry your ass up, you can beat them to your girl Lover Boy. Who knows, you might be able to talk some sense into her. Or not. Who knows?"
The man says in amusement.
"What do you get out of all of this?"
I replied back with a bit of frustration in my voice.
"What do I get? Why entertainment, of course! It makes no difference to me whether you get your happily ever after or not. It'd just be soooo booooring if our little actress were to die by a common grunt! Whooopsie! I said too much. You better put a little hustle in your tussel if you want to make it to her on time! Best of luck, ta ta!"