New Elysium: Breakout

Cause Part 51

Once again, I have taivaan_sininen making a guest appearance in this chapter for the inner workings of the mind of Null and Lars. I've only edited a small portion for purposes of continuity. If anyone has any questions on the relationship between Null and Lars, I suggest you head over and read "Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story" to really grasp why they are the way they are. 

Also, shout out to Ashabellanar4life for all the shred work! 

Red struck the training droid down with the gun, something moving in his right caught his attention and he pulled the trigger by instinct, not thinking, letting the new augments work for him. The thud told him, he'd hit the target. 

Elation filled him, and he felt a smile tugging at his lips.  

Wham!

The droid slammed him from behind knocking him flat.

"Dis-engage!" Lars voice called from above him. 

The droids immediately froze in place. Captain Scott hit the ground with a frustrated fist, groaning as he pushed himself to his feet. 

"Captain that was an incredible display, you've gotten further than anyone else with these same augments. It's impressive."

"It's not enough," he argued back. "I will still get taken down by any AI, I'm just not thinking like one."

Lars was silent, he clasped his hands behind his body. "You let your emotions show when you have a victory, it takes seconds away from your reaction time."

Captain Scott stared at Lars for a moment, his expression thoughtful. Perhaps the only way to beat a machine was to become one. He was halfway there already. "So, don't smile."

Lars threw his arms up. "You are beating yourself against the wall Captain. You are human, you have limits."

Captain Scott shrugged. "Time to push against that wall Lars. Again." He ignored the pain in his shoulder, his augments working overtime to deaden the sensation. 

Lars had started to raise his hands, his way of expressing disagreement and then let them fall. 

"Re-engage." 

With just the two of them in the room Red's focus sharpened on the elder Dawson. He'd promised himself he would kill this man, responsible for so much death ever since he'd spotted him when they'd escaped Helion 7.

He pushed away any thoughts that would slow him down. This was not Ember's father, this was the one responsible for this entire debacle, the purge all of it.  Red let all those feelings go. None of them would serve him here. 

It needed to be him, alone, and the next move.

He stopped circling and simply waited. He didn't even bother to look at the man walking steadily towards him, his sensors ranged out picking up every movement, every shift in his body, every breath, every twitch.

He had to assume that Darius was more than capable of the same feats. Darius was more than elite Neo-Tokyan, if the reigns of power could easily be held by what they'd referred to as pure humans perhaps this would be an easy fight. But the Red glow in Darius's eyes only confirmed to Red what he'd guessed earlier.

He was a hypocrite. His craving for power pushed even his own ideals to the side.

It made Red feel sick inside, knowing he once served these people faithfully. He pushed that aside too.