The Edge of the World: Chapter 16
A/N: So I totally meant to get this posted sooner, but this is one of three chapters that will end this part of the series and move on to the next . A lot of things will be happening at once, so I had to at least get a good start on making sure everything’s in place.
Summary: Eros has caught up to the gang, and Rowan has unfinished business…
Sometime earlier . . .
“Intruders! Shipments- trap!” The signal was garbled, fragments of words coming in and out between bursts of static, but the message came through all the same. “Requesting backup – compromised! Mousavi-!”
Dexter had heard enough and pressed a button on the console, cutting off the radio’s signal, then stepped back to think about what he’d just heard. “So that’s what happened.”
After the fallout from earlier, Cecile had left to mobilize the rest of her guards to surround the control room and block their path, while Harley’s body was taken away to be repaired and rebooted. Knowing that gave him little time, Dexter had slipped away In the midst of the confusion to investigate this latest development.
The cargo ship that was meant to transport Eros’ captives had been compromised. And by none other than Khaan Mousavi – the same man Cecile and Rowan were searching for all this time. The same man for whose whereabouts they’d resorted to hurting people. And judging by everything that had happened so far, neither of them knew about this. The irony of the situation was laughable, but Dexter was not laughing.
Because there was definitely more to this than what the ship’s distress signal implied. From what he’d heard from Cecile, Khaan was very important for Rowan’s plans for Project Siren and he’d been impossible to find so far. Now after weeks of being on the run, he was suddenly sailing right into Eros’ docks? No sensible man would do that. Not unless he had help.
At the same time, the image on another screen caught his attention – Harley. He was lying on a table, surrounded by guards, all manner of wires hooked to him; his arm reaching out.
“Father, there’s something you should know.”
Realization dawned on him and he just shook his head. Dexter had known what he was risking when he’d turned on Harley and protected Maya. But surprisingly, the dread he’d expected to feel wasn’t there. He would’ve certainly preferred a quieter approach to everything, but he’d abandoned that thought a long time ago.
No, now he was too busy amusing himself with the fact that if Cecile hadn’t been in hot water already, she sure was now. The ship to collect the prisoners was delayed and she still hadn’t learned the cause. She’d failed to realize that Khaan Mousavi was about to wreak havoc right under her nose and now two more Matches had turned against Eros. It wouldn’t be long before Cecile would seek a last resort to save face.
Dexter glanced at the taser in his hand and a smirk spread across his face. At the moment, the docks were likely manned with guards unprepared for this change of plans. He turned swiftly and headed out the door with purpose. “Well since we’re already gearing up . . .”
—————
Present moment . . .
Damien’s eyes were trained on Harley, as was his taser. He studied his body language, seeking out a weakness he could exploit; anything to throw this smug bastard off his game.
As soon as those few guards had shown up near the control room, everyone had engaged with them, but only Damien had caught sight of Harley sneaking up on Maya – and only her. That was when he’d realized that this was Cecile’s last resort.
With Hayden, Steve, and Dames fighting alongside them now, they were evenly matched with the guards and had a better shot at escaping. Especially with whatever was delaying that ship that was supposed to take them. Cecile was most focused on taking back Maya, Rowan’s prize hostage, even if it meant temporarily losing everyone else.
Not this time. No one’s getting their hands on her again.
“Out of my way, Harley.” He snarled. “Or Dexter tasing you will feel good compared to what I’m going to do.”
“No can do, pal. You can have her back after Father’s had his talk with her.”
Damien furrowed his brow, feeling his face tighten. “That’s not up to you!” he barked. “This is your last chance-”
“By the way, how are you holding up?” Harley sneered. “Surely being shocked is no fun. Thanks to Dexter, I can speak from experience. But I feel just fine! Can you say the same?”
“You’d be surprised what I can do when I’m this eager to see someone reduced to scrap metal.”
Harley just shrugged. “All right. Have it your way.” Then he pulled the trigger.
Damien dodged the electrified wires shooting his way, then shot with his own taser. As the Match avoided the hit, Damien took advantage of the distraction to charge forward shoulder-first, slamming Harley into the wall of a nearby cargo container.
Harley tried to grab for Damien’s taser, only to be met with a powerful blow to the jaw. He kneed Damien in the chest, forcing him away and then throwing out punches himself.
Maya was watching them nervously, ready to jump in if this fight was going to be a mismatched one.
“Fascinating isn’t it?” Rowan’s cold voice cut into her thoughts and she faced him again. “They can fight just as well as humans, if not better, thanks to my enhancements.” He stepped forward, eyeing Harley; his expression betrayed nothing. “In fact, I’d like to think if someone hadn’t taken it upon themselves to tase him earlier, this fight would be over a lot sooner.”
She picked up on that implication and glanced back at the Match. And sure enough, Harley’s pace was slower compared to earlier when he’d fought Dexter. Or even before that when he’d chased after her in the forest. As a Match, he was still clearly stronger than Damien. But this time, his reflexes weren’t as effective nor was the strength behind his attacks.
“At least we can be sure Mr. Nazario will get a fair fight.”
Maya swallowed hard. That didn’t make her feel any better about this. This wasn’t a controlled setting like an interrogation, which had already been bad enough – this was a full on fight. There would be no limiting Harley’s cruelty. And she didn’t think she could take watching Damien get hurt again.
“Rowan, this is between us.” She said through clenched teeth, flinching when Damien narrowly deflected a twist that would’ve likely broken his arm. “Tell Harley to stand down. No one else needs to get hurt!”
“A fair request, but I can’t say that Mr. Nazario would agree.” Rowan tilted his head meaningfully towards them. “He seems rather persistent. As are you.” He slowly circled around her, never breaking eye contact, until he was almost obstructing her view of Damien and Harley. “I must say I’m very impressed that you’ve made it this far, Miss Park.”
Maya backed up instinctively. “Are you going to keep monologuing like a Bond villain or are we gonna settle this?!” She snapped. “I’m sick of your twisted games!”
He just chuckled and shook his head. “Not games, my dear. Tests.”
“Tests?!” Maya looked at him incredulously. “You use Matches and humans like lab rats, mess with their emotions, use their loved ones against them, and all you have to say is ‘it’s a test’?”
“Everything is a test.” He was calm and composed, as if he were teaching a class. “If you really think about it, everyone alive is being tested. One’s environment and circumstances, life experiences . . . all of those things decide what we become. Explain to me why that is better than conducting the same experiment in a controlled environment.”
“Wha-?” Maya didn’t even know how to process that. Controlled?! What they did to us today was hardly ‘controlled’! “That’s how life is!” She retorted. “But this isn’t something you get to calculate and force on people! What you’re doing is unnatural!”
“As I’ve said before, any data we can get about human emotion is paramount to advancing our research. Learning what makes people feel, what it takes to cross their limits? And it’s possible, too.”
“Is it now?” As she studied Rowan, Maya couldn’t help noticing how completely unperturbed he was by everything going on around him now. Her outrage at everything that she’d been through so far didn’t even seem to vex him. Clearly this wasn’t the first time someone had disagreed with his methods and he’d shut them down. In fact, he was used to it.
“We certainly learned what it can take to break you.”
“You haven’t broken us, yet.” She said defiantly.
A loud yell distracted her and she looked past Rowan just in time to see Damien on the ground. Harley pounced, attempting to slam his elbow down. But Damien rolled aside in the nick of time and the Match landed on the pavement with a sickening crack! coming from the concrete.
“Haven’t we?” Rowan had walked up to within mere inches from her. He leaned forward, scrutinizing her with interest.
Maya had pressed her hands to her mouth to stifle her gasp. She wanted to scream, call for a time-out, anything. But she didn’t dare, knowing that would only distract Damien and get him injured.
Harley stood, lightly rubbing his arm as if it’d just been scratched. “That was me using . . . maybe thirty percent of my strength?”
“And that’s the best you-” Damien caught Harley’s punch coming at him and spun him around attempting to lock his arms, but the Match threw his head back and Damien promptly let go, sidestepping the blow – though not before landing a solid kick to Harley’s back, knocking him down.
Harley quickly jumped back to his feet. “You’re all so pathetic,” he scoffed. “You’re meddling in matters out of your league, ’cause you think you’re saving the world or something-”
“Like you’re any better!” Damien shot back. “I’ve heard you folks plan to ‘heal’ humanity? Guess the god complex runs in the family!”
Harley’s eyes darkened at the insult and he attacked again. “Not bad, Damien.” He said as they continued to exchange blows. “But I suppose anyone could pull off a decent move with their girlfriend watching.”
Refusing to take the bait, Damien just responded with another uppercut. But Harley caught his fist, wrenched it aside, then used his free arm to elbow him. Damien staggered back, momentarily dazed. But just as he shook himself out of it, Harley charged forward and rammed both of them into the wall.
“Always gotta play the hero,” Harley taunted. “How’s that working for you, by the way?”
Damien spat some of the blood that trickled from his lip. “Better than being the soulless sycophant you are,” He grunted. “How’s getting tased working for you?” He grasped at his shoulders, trying to extract Harley’s hands off his collar, but his attempts to breathe slowed him down. Harley just pulled back, then surged forward, throwing Damien into the wall again.
“No!” Maya cried out and she burst forward, but Rowan seized her arm and whirled her around to face him. “You son of a- let me go, dammit!” She squirmed and pried at his fingers, but they didn’t even budge, which puzzled her. It was like trying to bend iron.
“In all fairness, I do believe Harley went too far before.” Rowan just kept talking, unfazed. “The threat of harming Mr. Nazario is clearly more than enough.” Maya bristled at him mentioning Damien like that and she lashed out to punch him, which he caught. “For what it’s worth, you ought to be applauded for your courage.” His smile was appreciative, but his tone was far from it. “You were willing to put yourself in harm’s way to protect the man you love.”
“Heartless rogues like you don’t know the meaning of love.” She spat. “Don’t you dare cheapen the word by using it with your filthy-”
Rowan’s previous calm immediately shifted to malice. “As I’ve reiterated several times,” He tightened his painful hold on her, causing her to gasp. “If my Arctic facility were still around, you could’ve had a more humane experience.” Then his lips curled back into a smug grin. “Fortunately, the next one should do just as well. You’ve been an incredible asset to this project so far, Miss Park. And with time, you will come to understand our mission.”
Maya tried to draw back, but he held strong. Too strong. “And what makes you think that?”
Rowan was about to reply, but then caught himself. “If I told you everything now, I really would be a Bond villain, wouldn’t I?”
The man’s cryptic answers only frustrated her more and she began to struggle harder. “Ugh, would you make sense, already?!”
“I’m afraid I can’t say more, my dear,” Rowan said condescendingly, pointing to his head. “Not enough memory space.”
Memory space. Her stomach dropped. “What?!” Maya’s eyes immediately went to his hand – gripping her so hard it was forming a bruise, yet hardly any effort showed in his features. “You- you’re-” She swallowed hard.
“Oh come now Miss Park,” Rowan – or whoever this was – gloated. “As much as I enjoyed our earlier talk, I am still CEO of a major corporation. You didn’t really think I’d stay for long in a filthy place like this?”
CHK- CHK- CHK-!
There was a flash of light and Maya was released so abruptly that she stumbled back, shielding her eyes momentarily. When she looked up, her heart soared with relief.
“Well hello, ‘Father’. Fancy seeing you here.”
‘Rowan’ was shaking off his hand, grimacing from the sting of the taser as he turned to face the newcomer. “Dexter,” he said simply. “I wish I could say the same.” He leveled an icy stare at him, a touch of rage simmering within. “Truly, I do.”