Ali

For the first time since traveling to 2117, Ali cried.

He could practically feel Victor's smugness as he crouched beside a tree, shoulders shaking, wiping away his tears.

What have I gotten myself into?

For what must be the tenth time since Alistair had embarked upon this adventure, recklessly, thoughtlessly, arrogantly--God, they were right, he was every bit the arrogant bastard they thought he was--he wished he could go back. He wished he would have acted like any sane person and rejected Victor's offer when he'd had the chance.

Ali remembered the first time regret had seized him. The first time he realized what he had done.

"You didn't say they would die--you said they'd be rendered useless. I thought you meant temporarily! Not whatever gore that was!"

Alistair, there is no backing out now. You chose this.

"I chose this, I chose this," he murmured to himself, ripping his glasses off his face and rubbing his eyes vigorously. Ali choked back a sob and shook his head to rid himself of those self-pitying thoughts. He had chosen this path, and now he had to follow through. Otherwise Victor would do it for him.

A small, rebellious whisper made its way to the corner of his brain: You still have time.

"I can hear you," Victor said suddenly, and Ali turned around, heart thumping, to find it sitting next to him, leaning against the tree. It smirked at Ali. "Do you really think that you still have time? You surrendered yourself to me a long time ago."

Ali swallowed and nodded, tilting his head back to rest against the smooth bark of the tree. "I know."

"And yet," Victor whispered, its hand emerging to grasp--almost caress--Ali's face, "you still think those terrible things about me."

Ali tried hard not to flinch away when Victor pressed its lips against his in a hesitant kiss. They were surprisingly soft and molded fluidly to Ali's own; he found himself leaning into it, his body moving of its own accord. The world seemed to sway around him, he opened his mouth, absolute adoration filling his mind in the place of disgust--

Victor pulled away. "That's enough."

Ali was breathing hard, his hand grabbing at anything real, substantial--but the dead leaves littering the ground smoldered away between his fingers, and the sky was static, and the world was static. Victor seemed indifferent to what had just happened, although he--no, it, he's an it, Ali, don't get yourself confused--was gazing at Ali in a sort of quiet triumph. "Did you like that?"

Ali opened his mouth to speak, to say no, never ever do that again, and what came out was "I loved it."

He raised his trembling hands to his face, trying to wipe away tears that wouldn't flow, Victor staring at him and smirking ever so slightly. "Good."

Andromeda

"There. Caltech." Andromeda pointed down at the field of rubble beneath them, her GPS system alerting her that she had reached her destination. "She was going to her friend's house, but I don't know where that is. This is the last place I saw her."

Jack nodded, swooping over the area in the helicopter. "Well, if she was anywhere near here, she's dead."

Andromeda shook her head. "She can't be. Just...just land, and at least let me look for her."

"Couldn't you just look up the address of her friend's house?" Ophelia muttered from the back of the plane.

"I will, once I make sure she's not here," Andromeda shot back, glaring at Ophelia. "I don't want to miss anything."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Ophelia, give her a break." He lowered the chopper over a fairly flat area, flicked a switch for auto-stabilization, and unbuckled his seat belt as they slowly settled onto the ground. "I'll go with Anne. You go scout for any survivors."

Ophelia slunk out of the chopper without a word, and Jack turned his attention to Andromeda. "You make any move to escape, and I will not hesitate to permanently damage one or more of your systems. Understand?"

Andromeda nodded, and Jack beamed at her. "Good. Let's go."

She turned and leapt out of the door of the helicopter, a cloud of dust rising as she landed. Andromeda turned in a slow circle to scan the area for any Polaris-esque figures, slight disappointment rising in her throat when she found the horizon empty but for a few ambulances. She headed toward them, picking her way over piles of rubble. Jack was at her heels with every step.

"Andromeda!" a voice cried, and Andromeda spun around, thinking it was Polaris for one fleeting, beautiful moment--but it was a familiar, hoodie-wearing figure with neon-red hair waving at her from afar, and a smile lit up her face, masking her initial disappointment.

"Ali! You're okay!" She ran toward him, tackling Ali into a hug, relief filling her in waves, because at the very least, Alistair was alive. And Alistair was here. His arms encircled her back and pulled her in comfortingly before stepping back and grinning at her.

"Who's this with you?" Ali asked, nodding toward Jack, who smiled at him.

"Name's Jack. And I take it you're not the cyborg in distress?" he asked.

"Oh...Polaris?" Ali seemed to deflate, casting a sideways glance at Andromeda. "You were looking for her?"

"Have you seen her?" Andromeda asked, her eyes wide.

"She's...Andromeda, I thought you were dead. Did you manage to get out before the second wave hit?" Ali murmured, furrowing his brows.

"I--what?"

"The second wave. They send one spurt of ionizing radiation for the big structures, like buildings, and a second one for more specialized equipment, which is generally made of way different materials," Jack explained, staring at Ali bemusedly. "That's why we get all the cyborgs out before the second wave. We try not to kill them."

"Wait, so that means--" Andromeda's vents hitched, and she blinked a few times, soaking in this new information.

"Polaris is dead," Ali said, looking Andromeda in the eye. "If someone didn't rescue her, that is. But you would've known, right? Since apparently someone rescued you." Upon catching Jack's eye, Ali smiled sheepishly. "My cousin is part of the Rebels. Sorry for leaking all your secrets."

Jack's face broke into a wide grin. "Ah, it's fine. I was wondering how you knew so much about our procedures. But--" he turned to Andromeda "--only Polaris's mechanical body parts will be affected, so she still has hope, right?"

Andromeda shook her head, looking down at her feet.

"She's as cyborg as you can get. Ali is right..." Andromeda choked on her breath, her vision blurring. "Unless one of the Rebels rescued her..."

The next words hung, unspoken, in the air.

Polaris is dead.

Ali

Ali convinced Jack that he wanted to be a part of the Rebel Alliance within a few minutes. "We'll have to do a routine scan once we get to the chopper," Jack warned him, but Ali could tell that he was desperate for more members. That must be why they were resorting to the daunting task of rescuing so many cyborgs. As they boarded the helicopter, he glimpsed another girl called Ophelia, who reported that there were no other survivors.

Regret oozed in Ali's guts as he gazed at Andromeda next to him, whose face was pale, fingers fidgeting with the edge of the seat. She would be fine, of course. Despite the...modifications that Ali had placed when designing her, Andromeda was still a resilient android.

He looped an arm around her shoulder, watching as her eyes fluttered closed wearily. If only he could somehow reassure her that the other android was alive...Ali didn't know where Polaris was, but Victor wouldn't have allowed her to be killed, and even if that had happened, Ali would be notified immediately about the change in plans.

His stomach lurched at this thought. The plans. They would take away the two people closest to him, even if they weren't really people.

Ali was filled with a sudden sense of resolve; he wouldn't let Victor overtake him. He swore it.

Nothing could make him kill Andromeda.

***

[A/N] Hope you guys liked this chapter! I'm finally done with the overall outline of the story, so I'm hoping I can write more often now that I have the whole plot actually written out. Vote, comment, and follow, as always! xx