A New Leader

Part Twenty Three : To Bits

I nearly bolted out of the lab, Rhys seemed hesitant to follow but evidently ended up following regardless of his own two sense. As I ran through the halls I saw my face looking down on the crowd, they had already got a snap shot of me for the Hyperion promotional bill boards and and holographic promotion boards.

"The new and mysterious face of Hyperion."

If that wasn't a clear indicator of my success as the president then I don't know what else could prove it further, I wonder when they're going to put up the posters even though everything is electronic now.

"Hey, can ya' wait up." I heard Rhys yell from nearly twenty feet behind me.

I stopped dead in my tracks as my sneakers skidded across the corrugated floor, Rhys nearly running into me as he was surprised that I actually listened. I turned and looked up at him, my hood had fallen off in the process which wasn't really a big deal anymore seeing as how my face was all over Pandora now.

"You're insane, first of all." He stated, sticking his finger up to critique me, "and second of all, there's no way that the brain modular is just ten steps to the left, I mean it's taken you how long to find it?"

"True...Then again in was looking for you in the process, give me a break." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Listen, we just need a car, I'll drive and you man the map."

"Alright, I trust you." We shook hands once again and ran towards another loading dock. "This is president Birde, I request a ride please and thank you." I spoke into the stations microphone.

Moments later we were deployed a Hyperion issued car and we got in quickly, slamming the doors and driving off in the direction of the beacon. I perched the map on the dashboard as we drove closer and closer to the Helios crash site, the grass was growing quickly and it seemed the skags have taken a liking to their new home. Rhys stopped the car, looking at the map then back at me.

"I don't think it's near here anymore." He stated, tapping on the map as it expanded further.

We were by the small town of Overlook and the device seemed to be broadcasting its signal all the way in The Dust. It wouldn't take us forever to get there but it would definitely take us a while, I looked over at him nervously as we had the same thought on our minds.

"Bandits?" I questioned.

"There might be bandits there... aren't you armed at all times?"

"Yes, of course I am..."

"And you are a pretty good shot." He spoke, trying to cheer up the situation.

"When I'm a sniper or I'm about to press the barrel to their skull, sure as shit I am."

"What do you have on you now?"

"A revolver." I sighed.

"Well let's just hope that we don't run into any bandits." He kicked the car back into drive as we headed towards the dust.

The ride there was quiet, we didn't have much to talk about since I told him my life story. He seemed very secretive about his past, either that or he just didn't trust me to know about his past. I wouldn't expect him to be too proud about it either since he did work for Hyperion at the wrong time, yeah it's kinda corrupt now because I killed the previous president but that doesn't mean anything. If anything I fixed the stigma surround Hyperion.

"What was he like?" I finally asked.

"W-What do you mean?" He stuttered.

"Jack, what was he like?"

"Well, he was... overwhelming I guess, he made a lot of brash decisions and was obviously a trickster... tried to kill me multiple times." He continued to talk as he gripped the steering wheel.

"Jeez, you still sound angry about it."

"Yeah, well I do like living you know," he dipped his head to the side, "plus it kinda sucks when your hero tries to kill you after worshiping him for years."

"I never worshiped him, but I did look up to him as a hero... it made me president of Hyperion."

"I was too, remember?" He replied almost annoyed.

"Under whose authority? It was still my company despite you and Jack being in my office and overriding my Hyperion networks."

He didn't say anything and just continued to drive with his hands gripping the steering wheel, dust and dirt flying up as we made our way closer and closer to the beacon. I watched as it got closer towards us as well, my body seemingly shaking as I was so excited. The car stopped.

"You know what I don't understand?" Rhys turned and looked at me.

"Uh... no I-"

"After all the shitty things Jack has done like lie, have his loved ones killed, kill Pandora, and lead on an innocent bandit so she thinks they're in love, I think you'd understand exactly why you shouldn't do this."

"I-I..." I was at a loss for words, he made my brain confused and my thought process stop.

"After all the good things you've done for this planet and the people on it, you're just going to bring back the man who destroyed it?"

I couldn't speak, he seemed to steal all the words from my mouth and crush them with his. I felt my hands begin to shake and my arms begin to glow, it didn't stop him from ranting.

"This man... This man was a fascist jerk who was in love with eridium, power, and his own damn face!"

He slammed his hand down on the steering wheel, honking the horn and making me jump. I held onto the door of the car and felt it move underneath my touch, the door flying past us and skidding up more dust. He looked at me, an angry expression still on his face, but fear in his eyes. I felt the same fear but acted physically to it, I defensively brought up my shield... smashing the car to bits.

Rhys landed on the ground, ash and dirt covering his face as he sat there in disbelief. My shield went down quickly as the dust subside back towards the ground, he looked over at me and then back at his hands. I pulled my legs into my chest as best as I could and let the dust fall onto my shoulders.