I'm With You - Druig

Betrayal

     Ada and Druig stand by Phastos watching him work on the Unimind, not helping whatsoever. Not that she'd be able to help anyway. Technology is his specialty, not hers. Thankfully, he never asked for help. 

     Sersi runs into the room with a worried look on her face. She doesn't explain what's going on, but instead she tells Makkari to find the point of Emergence. Before she speeds off, Phastos hands her a tracker, hoping it'll aid in her search.

     Druig detaches his hand from Ada's waist and heads over to Thena to check on her. She stands alone, staring at a picture on the wall.

     "You always knew the end would come. It must be a relief," he comments.

     "That Deviant is still tracking us," Thena mentions.

     "Revenge won't bring peace for you, Thena."

     "But killing it might."

     Ikaris walks into the room wearing his suit. No one really acknowledges his presence, seeing as everyone is either focused on Phastos' work or enticed in conversation. Ada briefly glances over to see who entered the room. She's confused when she sees him wearing his suit. They aren't planning on fighting anything yet. The Uni-Mind isn't even finished.

     "I'm close to figuring it out," Phastos updates him.

     Without warning, Ikaris' eyes light up and fire a cosmic beam at Phastos' work, destroying it. Then, fires one directly at Phastos. Ada stands up and takes a threatening step forward, ready to send him flying into the wall, but Ikaris blasts her back as well. Ada's body slams into the wall behind her. She gasps in pain, trying to catch her breath. 

     "Ada!" Druig runs across the room and helps her to her feet. He then stands in front of her, shielding her from further harm.

     "Boss, what're you doing?" Kingo asks, baffled that his leader would do such a thing.

     "I've let this go on long enough."

     "Don't hurt him!" Sersi yells at Ikaris, running to Phastos' side to help him up. "He lied to us. He already knew about the Emergence," Sersi informs them.

     "No he didn't," Kingo doesn't want to accept it. He's too blinded by loyalty and trust to see through Ikaris' lies.

     "Ajak told me everything when we left Babylon," Ikaris admits.

     "What?" Kingo takes a step back and stares at Ikaris with a look of betrayal in his eyes. 

     "You were never gonna let us stop the Emergence," Phastos concludes. He doesn't need to ask because he already knows the answer.

     "No. I only wanted to protect you from the Deviants," Ikaris adds.

     "If Ajak wanted you to take her place, why did she choose me?" Sersi asks. Ikaris hesitates, not wanting to tell them. "What have you done?"

     Ada reaches into Ikaris' mind and sifts through his thoughts. A memory comes forward that she wishes she could forget. Ikaris shoves Ajak off the cliff, down to the frozen lake below. The Deviants run at her, thirsty for blood. One knocks her onto her back, pinning her to the ice. She notices a shotgun beside her. She quickly grabs it and slams the butt of the weapon into the creature's temple, distracting it long enough for her to get up and fire a shot. From behind, a bigger Deviant emerges from a cave. It's long, snake-like tentacles stab into her back, piercing her flesh. After absorbing her energy, the Deviants retreat into the cave, leaving Ajak's grey, lifeless body on the ice. That's when Ikaris floats down and scoops up her body. Ada recoils from Ikaris' mind as if it burned her, like the time she tried to snag a slice of Gilgamesh's pie without realizing it was fresh out of the oven. Her body stiffens. Tears well in her eyes and her heart drops into her stomach. The room spins around her. Ada couldn't form any words. Her mouth just hung open like a gapping fish out of water. Each time she gets close to regaining her composure, Ajak's empty, emotionless face fills her mind.