Ex Vivo (#2 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 28

It was difficult to make the most helpful decision in that moment as Akoma stood watching his saviour at the mercy of beastly Stallion. Who was she to intervene and risk being killed off in less than a second? There was no weapon within her reach, and it was going to be difficult for her to try anything dangerous especially with the injury on her thigh. It hurt her a lot to stand there watching the scene with tears in her eyes and her heart racing in anguish. There had to be a way to keep Stallion from killing Poku, but Akoma's mind was so blank to think of anything except the usual.

"Stallion, stop!" Akoma cried out. "Stop it! Don't kill him!"

Stallion looked up at Akoma and cocked his head. "And why shouldn't I?" he asked.

Akoma blinked and stared at Poku. He looked paralyzed and had not recovered from the terror of having his chest open before his very eyes. The heart in his chest started to slow down and his muscles tensed even more. A visible vein on his forehead throbbed dangerously. Stallion ignored Akoma's plea and clenched a fist, aiming right at the beating heart with intent to crush it in one blow. Akoma cried out to stop him but it seemed the beast was just programmed to do just what he was about to do.

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Felix watched the scene from Stallion and Poku's points of view on the monitors in silence as he sipped a glass of ice water. It did not surprise him to know that Poku had gone rogue and had tried to save Akoma, because he had already suspected Poku to have that tendency right from the moment when he established first contact with Akoma. In view of that, he had kept his contingency on standby mode only to be activated when that possibility occurred. Despite proclaiming that Poku was by far his most advanced creation in the premium version of the Ex Vivo program, he had only secretly used him as yet another trial for an ultimate version whose construction was undergoing its final phase. He wheeled himself in the swivel chair to the monitor displaying the construction progress and rubbed his palms nervously.

He had more than 48 hours to wait for the process to complete, and the advantage was that it had entered the point of no return. Nothing could stop him this time; neither power outage nor human interruption. He sighed, leaned back in his chair and phoned Dr. Alberta Anane.

"Very soon, the assault on Ex Vivo should reach the public as the final foul play from Ex Gratia," he told her. "Kindly do all the media talks and be sure to present a convincingly humble, peaceful and humanitarian company with no intention to retaliate but to only seek justice, all right? There shall be no trace of any evidence that could break our cover. That will be taken care of. I will upload altered footage and details for the public. Report back to me as soon as possible."

"Right away, Sir," she replied and went offline.

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Akoma's heart leapt when she saw Poku's heart slowing down. Stallion looked surprised and stared for a moment with his fist still up and ready to strike. Slowly, Poku's eyes turned pale and his heart stopped beating. He did not move again. Akoma could not believe her eyes. Was he dead, hibernating or something? She clenched a trembling fist by her side and scowled at Stallion with intense hatred. It was obvious that she could do nothing humanly possible to fight this guy, but in the light of Poku's sacrifice, she felt she had to surrender to death at last. Stallion snorted and rose to his feet, and without any announcement, he turned his head sharply at Akoma and started marching at her briskly. Akoma did not move. She just stood there breathing fast and glaring at him as he drew closer. She slowly shut her eyes and bowed her head in anticipation for that strike that would end her life at last. She imagined herself running to embrace Mama as a warm welcome to the land of the dead and smiled. Stallion's footsteps did not sound intimidating to her anymore. It felt like the joy of seeing her mother in her imagination had successfully clouded her fears and was likely to turn a rather gruesome death into euthanasia.