Chapter 31B - Goodbye
I dismantle various parts of the servers, which eventually results in an entire row of them shutting down, and the room going dark. Within the sudden absence of light, a spark ignites. Then another. And another. Soon enough, a fire begins to crackle as the blinking lights in the server room begin to fade to black or blink rapidly with increased fervor.
The flames grow in intensity as electrical sparks fly, and I fall to the ground, crawling away from the bright orange glow before me as I wince at the newfound scrape on my knee. Alarms begin to sound as I’m trying to get back up and run, and a panicked glitchy voice rings out from all around me.
“STOP!!” Ell1s appears before me, his holographic eyes full of fear and his body barely recognizable as it glitches uncontrollably. “No, no no, no No NO NO NO!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’VE JUST D- DONE???” I run through him, determined to escape this place while it’s still together. A bundle of wires snags my leg and forcefully throws me onto the ground facefirst. I fall to the ground as blood begins to flow from my nose, dripping onto the floor in my disoriented state.
“No.”
I struggle to get up. Ell1s stands over my body, glaring at me.
“You could have had everything you ever wanted, if you just stayed here, lived the rest of your life peacefully… Yet you still went out of your way to destroy everything I had left in the process.”
He sighs, staring at his hand, watching it warp and glitch uncontrollably. Thick smoke is starting to fill the server room, and it’s getting hard to breathe. I cover my nose with my hand, trying to dull the painful burning sensation as crimson red blood stains my skin and my old, worn clothes.
Ell1s’ voice is shaking, struggling to find the proper words. “I only did what was best for you. I only wanted to see you happy. I thought I could finally serve my purpose, what I was meant to do, to protect humans and allow you to survive this wasteland that the world has become now…”
I snap back. “What, by trapping me here? For your own selfish needs? Because you’re just soooo lonely?”
A wire grabs my left wrist and begins to slowly twist it, threatening to break the bones holding it together. I recoil in pain as my disheveled, injured body struggles to get off the ground. Ell1s does nothing but watch.
“Sure, keep talking. Go ahead and make things worse for yourself.”
I feel adrenaline kicking in as I start to panic, the air growing warmer and thicker as the fire in the distance continues to ignite and grow larger.
“There’s no point in trying anymore. I was slowly decaying before, and now.. I can feel each and every one of my systems failing. I won’t live much longer now. I’ve failed. I was designed to assist, as a tool to humanity, and all I can do is watch as everything falls apart.” The wires loosen their grip on me, and Ell1s, no longer in a fit of rage, starts to cry. Holographic teardrops fall from his face and onto the ground.
I stand back up, listening to the fire crackle as it engulfs each server. Holographic screens, each one listing critical errors, surround Ell1s as he struggles to keep himself together.
Although barely audible, he speaks up again. “You won’t live much longer out there.” “Nobody is left. We’re both going to die. You could have had a peaceful life here.” He sighs. “Run back up the stairs and leave this place while you still can, if you want to live at least a little longer. Or don’t, and just die here with me. There’s really no point anymore. I failed in trying to protect you.”
I watch as the fire grows, electrical sparks flying through the air and continuing to ignite the flames as alarms blare all around me. Blood continues to flow onto the floor from my broken nose. I stand up, and, without looking back, begin to walk up the stairs.
I cough at the smoke in the air, covering my mouth with my bloody sleeve, trying not to breathe it in. The walk upstairs takes what feels like hours, and when I finally reach the top, I struggle to locate the exit hidden among the foggy air. I can’t die here. I can’t. Not after everything I’ve been through, please…
In the distance, a bright light shines through a small opening, the same ladder I used to climb my way down here shining in the faint light. With the strength I have left, I run towards it, but a voice behind me makes me stop in my tracks. I reluctantly look behind me.
It’s Ell1s, barely holding himself together.
“Thank you.”
“What?”
“All of this time I thought I would be alone here forever. I’m happy I can die at least knowing I’ve tried, yet I’m… sorry that I failed you. I hope you can find her again someday.”
I want to say something, but I don’t. He smiles and waves as his body fades away, glitching into nothingness.
“Goodbye, Lena.”
“...Goodbye, Ell1s…”
And with that, he disappears for good. I face back to the exit, and the ladder leading up to the surface waits for me, a faint light from the sky shining down below.
…I guess I should leave.