New Elysium: Breakout

Commander of Brothels Part 38

Red watched as Lars sat down at the console in his chair. Ember had connected in her chamber and he'd brought the strange woman he now knew housed his formerly dead friend to the pilot's chamber.

Watching her sit in his place was a strange sensation. He couldn't leave his own body and do what Lars was proposing. Or could he? The idea didn't exactly thrill him, and he wondered about the man who was desperate enough to try it just to escape death. But watching someone else do it didn't sit well with him either. Not when Ember was at stake. 

He knew she could hold Adam back, but the former Vesper still caused her pain. Pain that he was currently powerless to stop. 

Escaping death. There was a time he and Lars discussed this endlessly, but in truth, Red hadn't considered the possibility of death until he'd lost everything. Even with his strong desire to explore he'd not once considered what it could mean, or what would happen to him when he died. 

After being stripped of everything and before Helion he'd longed for an end to things, an end to his meaningless existence.

The man he'd been had turned into a reckless vigilante of sorts. Death would have greeted him like an old friend with a sigh, "It's about time you showed up instead of sending other people my way."

But now, he contemplated the man who was desperate enough to avoid death by hiding inside their vessel, existing as nothing more than a sentient program. 

"You awake back there?" It was Null speaking to him. 

Red pulled both hands through his hair in irritation, hitting the staples Ember had put in the back of his head. He winced and crossed his arms in front of his chest again. Null still bothered him. She was unpredictable and he couldn't help the feeling that she might snap at any given moment. It bothered him more because his scans of her revealed very little. She hid much from his detection and he couldn't predict what her next move would be if they ever got into a fight. Not that he wanted to if Lars was in there...

"I'm fine." He moved away from her and sat down on the cot, grunting at his own headache. He watched as she placed her hands on the console.

"How does it work?"

"Can't give away trade secrets," she replied looking back at him with a mischevious smile. The smile melted and she sat up straighter in the chair blinking.

"Captain--"

"Red," he snapped, and then remembering it was Lars, "Sorry."

"Red," it sounded awkward coming out of the woman's mouth but Red recognized Lars now when he spoke. "It works because I can disconnect from this body and come back."

"Just like that."

"That's the simplified version Cap-- Red."

Red turned it over in his mind. "Risk?"

Larsson's body shifted again and it was Null who responded, with a scowl on her face. "It will be risky, especially if this Adam doesn't want to come out. I'm not going to risk Lars if I can't get him back."

"Is it worth it?" Red was thinking of Ember. "Wouldn't a systems purge be easier?"

The whole chair swiveled as Null turned to him. "Wouldn't that be just like the purge? Wiping away people you didn't find convenient."

"Maybe," Red snapped. "But I don't have an issue with saving my friends if they need it." He was surprised at her sudden passion for the AI in the system. And for a moment they had a bit of a standoff.