Tales from the Borderlands

Chapter Twenty

~Chase's POV~

I pass through the trapdoor while Rhys opens it.

"Look at you. You made it!" Jack appeared and leaned against his desk.

"I've always dreamed of being up here." Rhys looked around the office in amazement and silence.

"Guys, focus. Where is the Gortys beacon?" I ask.

"Ah, it's gotta be over there somewhere. It's where all the corporate warfare fallout is. Tons of Atlas crap," Jack told me as he sat in his desk chair.

"Soak it in, kid. Enjoy yourself," Jack said to Rhys. Rhys and I walked over to the shelf with all the junk on it.

"Welcome to my trophy case. Got a couple of killer relics. Few artifacts...." Jack said.

"Junk," I added.

"Heh, cute. Oh, there's a stock certificate signifying that I own Atlas. That's pretty frickin' cool. Nothing feels better than crushing a company's value to the point where you can buy all their shares with pocket change. It's delish." Jack finally finished speaking.

"Lovely.....Rhys, call Gortys," I said. Rhys held out his cybernetic arm and contacted Gortys.

"Hi!" She greeted.

"Uh, hi! Okay, uhh, so we're gonna show you the pieces now. You let us know which one it is, all right?" Rhys said.

"Okey dokey!" She replied. Rhys nodded to me and I scanned the stuff on the shelves. What caught my attention was something that resembles a 'U' and had a strange sphere in the center. I showed it Gortys.

"That's it!" She shouted.

"Wow, you got it on the first try," Rhys told me and grinned.

"We'll be right down Gortys," I said and Rhys disconnected her. Jack fazed back to his desk.

"Sit in the chair. That's how the trapdoor is activated." Jack crossed his arms. I felt like somethings bad was happening. I grabbed Rhys' sleeve by instinct. He quickly turned to me with a shocked expression.

"What's wrong, Chase?" He asked with a hint of worry.

"Just...just think about something before you decided between two things. I have a feeling Jack is behind something," I whispered.

"I promise," he said and covered my hand with his. I gently let go of him and he heads to Jack's chair. Rhys sits in it and relaxes. I didn't even move from my spot. Jack and Rhys stared to talk to each other. Something that Jack said caught my attention.

"What would you do if you ruled Hyperion? Hypothetically speaking, of course," Jack asked Rhys. I quickly turned and stared at Rhys.

"I would want to settle down and not get shot at every eight seconds," Rhys replied.

"You could get that in the first forty-eight hours. Okay, what if you and I could rule Hyperion right now?" Jack questioned. Rhys looked pass Jack and stared at me.

"Rhys...." I mutter. I felt like he was going to say yes to Jack. When Rhys kept staring, I shook my head. I don't want him to end up like Jack. Rhys smiled at me and looked back at Jack.

"Hell no! You're a psychopath!" Rhys raised his voice. Relief washed over me after he said that. Of course, Jack wasn't taking it too well.

"After all the times I've offered to help you and now you throw all your dreams away!" Jack yelled.

"Kiss my ass! You died alone! No friends! No family! I am not gonna be you!" Rhys yelled.

"You don't deserve to be me, you piece of shit!" Jack shouted back.

"I'm done talking. I'm using the trapdoor."

I was watching the whole scene with a smile. Then, Jack did the unexpected. He took control of Rhys' cybernetic arm and forced him to sit in the chair. I turned into my human body.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I shout at Jack as I run to Rhys. Jack plugs something into Rhys' ECHO-eye and disappears. I try to pull it out, but Rhys' cybernetic arm hits me and I hit the wall.

"Chase!" Rhys yells. I hear static and Fiona's voice. I was hurting everywhere and couldn't reply. Jack took over Rhys' speech and told her we were fine and she hung up.

"God, it's good to be out! WOO! Well, that shit's done. I'm everywhere in the system now. Not to mention my sweet new body," Jack's voice was heard all around us.

"You're a maniac," Rhys said. Then, Jack's face appeared on the window behind Rhys.

"No, I am Handsome goddamned Jack!"