Factory Reset

Chapter Thirty-Three: Bleak Future

Catalyst sat, frozen in shock besides Ion, staring at the once great B-Series Captain before them.

"You... You want to what?" Ion asked, a small quiver in his voice. Cypher stood guard, her eyes fixated on the captain to such a degree that she barely registered anything else. She felt his threatening aura, even more so, that aura directed at Ion.

B-04 sneered, turning his head up. He hated that about Ion, all talk but no actual bite. It wouldn't be the first time he had to threaten him to get along with something B-01 has ordered, even if he had to fight that robotic assistant thing.

"B-01 has ordered the use of The Vortex. I assume that it will not be a problem for you to get the machine up and running?" B-04's voice might have sounded genuine to his teammates, but Catalyst and Ion have been through this enough times to see the thinly veiled threat.

And they had no choice. Even if The Council had decided to stop him, B-01 would just override it and activate it anyway, while threatening Ion still. Catalyst did feel resentment towards the waste of life he called B-04.

"The Vortex is only used in a last chance scenario. Surely we aren't being beaten by that planet so badly, because that would put you in the hot seat, wouldn't it?" Catalyst turned his head to B-04, a sort of antagonistic expression on his visor.

"My leadership is not the issue. The planet has had the most anomalies out of any we have seen, even beyond Exodus-1, and their technology in the realm of reality is far superior. That, my friend would put Ion there, in that hot spot."

If Ion had any lips, they would be pursed. But he had to comply, lest anything happen to his underlings, "Of course. It would take me several hours, but I would be able to get the machine running."

"Good. Now, however much I hate to ask this of you, might I ask what you are planning on doing with those specimens?" B-04 asked, and before Ion could give an explanation, he continued, "And why are you keeping that traitor."

"B-01 himself gave me clearing to reprogram him. You, of all people, should know how long that takes." Ion gave a pointed response, a slight trickle of electricity rustling against his claws. B-04 chuckled at that threat.

"That would be right. And I trust you know how that feels, so you'd better get started before I do another Surgery." B-04 turned around with the flash of his gold-rose cape, and exited the room, his guards in tow.

"Damn it." Catalyst pronounced, digging his claws against his skull as he paced around Ion. Normally he was rather eloquent when he was around Ion, who was somewhat sensitive with words, but at that moment neither cared enough.

Ion sighed and turned to Catalyst, seeing that a single needle out of his chest was no longer there, "I assume you brought the others to the Eon-Gate?" Catalyst nodded without stopping.

"We have very little time now. With him subtracting troops from the planet, B-01 is serious right now." Ion said, pronouncing his thoughts. Catalyst never stopped pacing, but he did give his two cents in.

"They aren't ready. We can't possibly, in any definitive way, beat the B-Series, even with B-02 on our side. How long can you postpone turning it on?"

"Four hours, at the most. Maybe I can intentionally mess up, but that would probably get me terminated." Ion looked around the ever expanding room, looking at the countless inventions that he has created.

"We can reactivate The Leviathans, maybe even blink back Pearly Gates before they get blown to high hell, whatever's left of them anyways." Ion paused for a moment, eyeing a canister of something underneath his main table.