New Elysium: Breakout

Lars Part 37

"What the fuck? Lars?"

Red backed away from the strange woman. His senses had gone to high alert, he felt his adrenaline rush through him as he vacillated between puking and wanting to throw a heavy object at her. He kept backing away until he hit the wall. At that point he sank to the floor, still staring eyes wide, his breath coming in gasps as he pointed at her. 

"You're sick."

"Red?" Ember started to go to him and then hesitated moving between them instead. She only vaguely knew about Lars. Red's reaction was more than a little shocking, considering how often he'd run into danger head-on. She looked over at the woman who had come on board as Commander Larsson and was now claiming to be Lars. "Prove it."

"That is NOT Lars," Red snapped, his fists clenched as he stared at the 5'3" woman in front of him. "They used an EMP on him. I saw him die. And then... and..." He stopped and sank to the floor, shaking his head as he looked away. "You are really trying hard to get me to snap aren't you?"

"No Captain." The woman said, she raised her hands and sank down into a crouched position studying him intently for a moment. "I can see we've both changed over the years."

"It's been over seven years," Ember responded when Red said nothing. She backed up and sat next to Red pulling an arm around his shoulder. His lips moved as he struggled to maintain his composure.

"The man I knew as Captain would never have been out of the regulation cut, quite so... badly. But you never know... Maybe she's right. Maybe you aren't him." Larsson looked over Red's hair and piercings.

"That man died with his friend," Red looked at the floor. He glanced up and met the gray and black stare of the Commander. "My second was murdered, they stripped everything from me, everything I cared about. So I changed. And then they decided that wasn't enough, they had to purge everyone, and so I ended up in Helion 7 Prison complex for seven years." He reached up and grabbed Ember's hand like a lifeline. "We escaped together."

"I see." Larsson shifted and cocked her head to the side. "No, you've done enough damage, I will maintain control, for now, this is my old friend, you've goaded him enough. I know he doesn't even look like the one from my memories! It's him!" She looked back up at Red. "I apologize, Captain. We are sharing this body together, we've been doing so for quite some time as you can see. My other half trusts very few, and I tend to err on the side of optimism." 

"Who is usually right?" Ember smiled, if this truly was Lars, she liked him already. 

"Sadly, she is," Lars straightened as he looked at them. "My Captain was very much a loner. He eyed Ember. I see that is no longer the case. We had so many talks about everything. I too, thought you were dead, Sir. This Red, we weren't sure what to make of him. If you've been in prison how did you orchestrate your own escape?"

"Seriously?" Red looked up at the Commander and then away. His grip on Ember's hand tightened. 

The face shifted again, once again crouching and studying him as if he were a mouse.

"I am very interested, we've been escaping in and out of places like that, we'd like to get in and get people out. We've been busy orchestrating similar heists."

"You're the other half." Red's brain was reminding him he'd not slept all night.

She lifted an eyebrow. "And you are perceptive. I might decide not to kill you after all." 

She went back to a straighter posture. "That is not going to happen. I mean it, I would never forgive that."

They paused and Red wondered if there was an argument going on in their minds as she sat there, simply listening. And then she looked his way again, and Red was certain it was Lars in control this time.

"I apologize Captain. She really does trust very few. But she also wants to pick your brains about your escape."

Red snorted as he studied them. He was starting to understand that even if it wasn't Lars in there, there was certainly more than one person inside. Maybe more.

"You never came to Helion 7."

"That place was different." The voice changed becoming slightly higher and her posture shifted. The woman was back to being a predator again. Red found he could look at her without feeling the urge to flinch. "Helion 7 was considered an impenetrable fortress. Much higher security than anything we'd ever encountered. Not to mention there is literally nothing to hack, everything is old school there. Primitive tech. So, yeah I'm curious as to how you did it. Might come in useful later."

Red stared at her. "You are?"

She stared at him, her mouth working, again the internal argument and then reluctantly, "My name is Null. I'd prefer if you called us Amy Larsson. That's how most people know us. Not even my droid crew knows Lars is in here. They just think I'm really good at what I do."

Her posture shifted, straightened again. "We are good at what we do though, Null." Lars sounded pleased with the introduction. Lars glanced back at Red, "Forgive me Captain--"

"It's just Red now."

"But--"

"It really is just Red now. Nothing else, I don't go by any other name," Red snapped.

"Red," Lars mumbled over the name studying his former superior. Red lifted an eyebrow and Lars relaxed. At least they didn't want to kill him now.

"Red!" Ember gasped next to him doubling over. Only her connecting cable to the ship kept her upright as it shifted to keep her from hitting the floor. "He's pushing me out again." Her hands grasped her temples as she fought to keep his presence at bay.

Red felt his exhaustion mounting, but his concern for Ember's welfare dwarfed every other problem he had. Including the discovery of his old friend. He felt a hand clamp down on his arm and looked up to see Larsson, wearing Lars' concern. "Is this place plug-in or interface?" He asked.

"It's both, why?" 

"We can help," Lars said. "Get us to access point, I can go in and get him out."

"I can go in and get rid of him."

"Red," Ember gasped pushing herself to her feet. "You can't kill him, he's lost, he needs help."

"If he needs help, he needs to stop hurting you," Red snapped back. 

"I agree with the Vesper," Larsson said apologetically to Red. "We can help. I can pull out of this body and--"

Red held up a hand. "We'll go to the pilot's chambers and Ember will plug in. There's a full interface there on the console."

Ember cried out again as Adam renewed his assault on her.