Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

22. The Devil on Her Shoulder

"How much longer do you plan on hanging out in this place? Because we're kind of in a hurry out there," Blue said. He had appeared on the beach in a humanoid shape that seemed to consist of nothing but blue, glowing light.

Lars had gotten to his feet, and Null had placed herself between him and the glowing entity, facing it with her arms slightly outstretched as if to protect or hide him behind her. It was rather futile, because his appearance in this place was over a head taller than hers.

"So... you're Null... and this is..." Blue asked, sounding curious, and the blue light approached them.

"Lars," he introduced himself hesitantly.

At least the man didn't seem to know everything about them, despite his presence in this place.

"You're... not organic," Blue noted. "Interesting."

"You couldn't tell before?" Null asked.

"Not based on the way you talk to each other, no. I didn't listen in on any specifics that didn't concern the bar, or Six," he explained.

"I'm sorry, Blue," Null said in a low voice. "It's our fault they're here."

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "They would have come for us eventually. And I have to say, I'm glad you kids are around to help out now that the time has come. But you need to wrap this up and head back out there. I can only give you so much time..."

"You're giving us time?" Lars asked, and he remembered how their initial conversation with Blue had only lasted a split second.

"The mind is a complex thing, time is not always linear here," Blue explained.

"Yeah, we noticed that before..." Null mumbled and cast him a glance over her shoulder.

"I can give you some time. But not forever. And once you get out there, it will get ugly. So I need you two to work it out right here and now, I need you to get back on track. You cannot fight them if you're not working together."

Lars closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm the new wave of anger that threatened to well up inside of him. He didn't want to have this conversation with Null in the presence of Blue, in fact, he didn't want to have this conversation at all. He wanted to go out there and finish what they had started and kill every single Hunter of Orion's Reach and be done with it all.

"Lars," Null spoke, and he could feel her touch on his clenched fists. As he opened his eyes, he found her looking at him.

"Don't bite back your anger. My anger. Don't bottle it all up. But don't give in to it either."

"How?" he asked, dismayed, "How am I supposed to do that? That makes no sense!"

He threw his hands up in frustration.

"What about those Hunters, hm? Do you think they control their anger? They're ruthless, Null. They kill without hesitation, without a second thought. How are we supposed to fight them if-"

"We're nothing like them, Lars," she said. "We're free. Just think about it. They just follow their orders. It's what they're taught to do, indoctrinated to do, for years. They do what they're told and they don't question it."

In her eyes, he saw a memory of himself and his captain. They had been the same, he thought, back in the day. They had followed orders. They hadn't asked questions.

"And they don't always have the luxury of a choice," she continued, "But when they're given one... remember... remember what we talked about on Aenara? When we noticed the ground personnel staying behind because of the people who wouldn't leave? We gave that man on Orbital Station Three a choice... and he did something good."