Insomnia

47

"So what?" Esme yelled. "I just leave them?"

They'd returned to the security office. Light from the screens cast them all in an unearthly glow.

"Yes!" Oz screamed back. "Yes, you leave them, you train, and then you come back to pick up the pieces of what's left." He bristled with anger. "If you go in now, and it takes you – destroys you completely. There won't be anyone left to save the survivors."

"We're talking a million people here," Devoe interjected. "If you don't go now, a tenth of the population is going to be tortured into madness. And whoever's left? They're never going to use Somnus again – the only infrastructure that's holding a broken world together." A heavy sigh. "If you don't go now, there won't be anyone left to save."

She nodded.

"I'm with Devoe on this one," Esme said. "Even if I can't save everyone, I can at least make it harder for the Knightmare to hurt them. And it's gotta be distracted, trying to harvest so many nightmares."

"You don't know that," Oz pled, "you can't be sure it won't take you too. Esme, your connection is hardwired into your brain. If it can hurt normal people as badly as it has, think of what it can do to you."

"I need to be there," she said. "I'm not going to be too late. Not this time."

"Not this ti – Oh damn it," Oz said, turning to the monitors. "What the hell is this?"

They gathered around the security terminal. On one screen, they could see a legion of combat bots gathered at the front door of the tower.

"It must have realized it failed, and grabbed the security forces from other buildings here," said Oz. He smirked. "Too bad. That door is so reinforced you'd need a tank to open it."

The door opened. Oz's eyes widened before turning to the terminal.

"How is it doing this?" Devoe yelled.

"It's not," declared Oz. "The network is down, it has no way of getting in." His eyes widened. "There must be someone else in the building. A human, trying to take control of the system." Determination flashed through his eyes and he flexed his fingers over the keyboard. "Like hell I'm going to let them do it."

"Don't bother," the cyborg said, "let's just get out of here."

"That door is the only exit. If you want to fight through all of those things, then give it your best shot."

"There aren't that many – " her voice trailed away as the screen's view zoomed out, displaying legions of robotic squadrons filing their way towards the lab. "...alright, what's the plan?"

"I'm going to try and get this hacker out of the system," Oz said, "and reactivate whatever security protocols you two didn't manage to destroy on your way up here."

"Makes sense," Devoe replied. "I'll make some preparations of my own. They're going to make it up here eventually. Might as well be ready when they do."

She turned to Esme, who was already lying down on the ground.

"I'm going into Somnus," she declared. "And I'm going to take on the Knightmare."

Devoe nodded.

"Stay safe," she said.

"Not sure that's possible anymore."

"Screw what's possible. Just do it."

Esme smiled.

"I'll try."

Tired as she was, Esme had no trouble falling unconscious.