Morning arrived, and I flew the Something Clever in a high circle around the city of Valontyme. The rest of our small fleet followed my flight path, which allowed a clear view of Arton and Tony. Arton explored the abandoned city without his helmet on, and Tony followed him from the abandoned high rises. The fleet watched Tony jump from building to building, and we knew the next round of the trial by combat would begin soon. Ylisaya entered the Bridge and took her place in the flight engineer’s seat.

  “The cookie dough is thawing out.”, Ylisaya reported.

  “Good, this contract needs to end. Too many opportunities for Venus turning dangerous for us.”, I said.

  “On Mars, a U.D.E. agent tried to make an arrest as soon as he saw the Captain, but now every planet can see him…How long do we have?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “Depends on several factors. As far as we can tell, there’s no single agent or team dedicated to tracking the Phantom, because they can’t build a ship that can match an Ambush-Class-Gunship, they can’t build a drive system that can jump to a quantum gate, they don’t have anything that can match deflector shields, and they can’t use our tech, but we can use theirs. The only technology categories they compete in is stealth technology, ground warfare, and smuggling. But as soon as the aspect of space anything becomes a factor we can always out maneuver and evade. But they don’t need to know that. The U.D.E. might have agents everywhere, but each have different levels of investment in their assigned missions, some of them can’t waste time chasing after us, but sometimes they feel like taking the risk. I expect the U.D.E. is still estimating which missions and efforts they can abort or just save for later.”, I said.

  “Calista! She could discover the identity of every U.D.E. agent on the planet or the entire solar system.”, Ylisaya realized.

  “Or she could impede or sabotage them…but there’s also the risk they could convert her to their cause, without ever realizing she replaced her clone. Her options are the U.D.E. or the Cooperative, and she has to keep them convinced or she’s dead. Odds are against her, but odds are in our favor they won’t trust her.”, I said.

  The communications array had an alert. Someone was trying to connect to the holographic decoy, but none of us could determine who it was. All we could see was that the call was coming from somewhere in the Cooperative. I attempted to take the call, but the system did not connect to the bridge. The call continued to look for the the decoy, and after about a micro-cycle Tony finally picked up. The image that appeared in front of him was Saressah.

  “Saressah? How did you get this device code? And how are you able to use this tech without being a cyborg?”, Tony asked.

  “I’m inside some kind of scanner thing…My attorney made the Cooperative let me.”, Saressah’s image said.

  “Well I already delivered your message, Omni Liberis is fulfilled. So why are you calling me now?”, Tony asked.

  “But you didn’t. Omni Liberis is the night before the execution. My old message is from three days ago. I now have a new message.”, Saressah’s image said.

  “Fine. What is your new message?”, Tony asked.

  “Who do you love? …That’s the message, and since it’s a question, an answer is required. You must get an answer before you can kill him.”, Saressah’s image explained.

  “But I already know his answer, well I just need a little more evidence, confirmation, and the right time to present my solution.”, Tony replied with a laugh.

  “What? How?”, Saressah’s image asked.

  “Well at first I was annoyed that Cooperative was sacrificing their credibility in favor of political agenda, but nothing I can do about that. Then my first officer asked why…Not why the Cooperative was throwing away an opportunity, but what do they gain? That’s when we figured out someone’s got a secret and Arton knows…Only problem is he isn’t talking. Seriously two days and not a peep. I first got this theory yesterday morning, just before the second round of fighting started. And as I learned more about Arton, I eventually realized who this secret is valuable to…and now here you are.”, Tony said.

  We watched Saressah’s response to Tony’s explanation, and we could see in her face that everything Tony said was true, even though his understanding was incomplete. Saressah’s image seemed shocked that she had given up another clue to deciphering the secret that Arton was trying to protect. I looked through my mirror to see Ylisaya.

  “Have you had any visions?”, I asked Ylisaya, as I wondered what method Tony had used to decipher the secret.

  “None, no new visions since Juno. Currently all my predictions are resolved. Whatever the Captain’s theory is it’s based only on whatever clues that are currently available.”, Ylisaya said.

  “I will not let my kind go extinct.”, Saressah’s image said.

  “That choice might not be up to you, or even up to me. I will give him your message, but when you see me again, I’ll only give you the answer you already expect. But under the law…Well your odds do not look good.”, Tony said.

  Saressarh’s image vanished, and Tony turned his face towards the sky.

  “Vivica, I’m in the mood for music that conveys a life changing confession, please. What do you got?”, Tony asked.

  Vivica started playing music through the broadcast, and the tone seemed highly suspenseful, as Arton seemed unaware that Tony was following him.

  “Prefect! Thank you, Vivica.”, Tony said.

  Tony wasn’t even cloaked, as he was just waiting for a time to attack. Arton seemed convinced he was alone in the abandoned city of Valontyme, but that’s when Tony dropped Arton’s Battle Axe right in his path of exploration. Arton passed between two high rise structures and looked up at the glass towers from the ground. Tony waited and watched. Arton slowly approached the dropped battle axe as before and seemed to hesitate.

  “Do you know where you are?”, Tony yelled, and made his voice echo.

  Arton looked around but Tony seemed to calculate the location where his voice would echo and not reveal his location. Tony activated his cloak, and vanished form the fleet’s scan.

  “This is the city of Valontyme. Before the Cooperative came to power, and the planet was the home of twenty million colonists, men, women, and children. This city earned the record for the most marriages performed in just one day…I know because I was here that day, getting married just like every other fool.”, Tony said from inside his cloak.

  The fleet scan detected a piece of rubble flying in the area and impacting the area around Arton. It seemed that Tony was throwing distractions to cause sound to echo through the area. Arton looked in the direction of each sound, but failed to find anything. Arton slowly slipped on his helmet, but didn’t pick up the Battle Axe.

  “When the Cooperative government formed they unleashed an entire army of enforcer mechs, but made certain to only kill the men. In a matter of months the population was dropping closer to just ten million as the families fled the planet. The justification is that if a patriarchy protects men, the Cooperative can ensure the safety of the female population, by ensuring that there is no patriarchy on the planet. I know because I was here hunting down the renegades, and the Cooperative paid well. When I found out we were just butchering colonists defending their home, we quit. But it was too late, we helped the Cooperative conquer the planet and the point of it all was to rig the elections. The population keeps falling, but at least there’s no risk of patriarchy on the planet ever again. Nobody opposed money, and nobody will ask any questions, as long as the Cooperative keeps making trades.”, Tony said.

  Tony deactivated his cloak and he was standing right next to Arton. Before Arton could even realize the danger, Tony activated his battle axe and slashed at Arton across his chest guards, and the attack melted a gash across the armor. Tony reactivated his cloak and vanished. Arton examined his damaged chest armor and reached for the battle axe. Arton activated the axe and slowly waved the handle of the axe in attempt to detect Tony.

  “In time, I came to realize that the Cooperative was correct. When the planet allowed for the exploitation of women, the money flowed. When the money flowed, it attracted pirates. If I had to choose between creating a safe place for women or handing over a planet to pirates. Everyone would choose the Cooperative. Those choices are the same as having to choose between being burned or poisoned. You can only ask which is less likely to kill you and hope for the best…But anything can go wrong.”, Tony said, while cloaked.

  Tony reappeared right behind Arton, waited, and watched. As Arton turned, to look behind, he tried to bring the battle axe around to defend, but he was too late. Tony lunged, swung his battle axe, knocked aside Arton’s defense. Tony rushed in crashing into Arton, knocking Arton off balance. Tony swung his axe handle backwards into the knee of the leg Arton balanced on, and Tony spun the axe presenting the chopping blade to threaten Arton’s neck. Tony swung short, missing Arton’s neck, and Tony vanished as he activated his cloak. Arton rushed to stand and stepped back from Tony’s last seen location.

  “For a colony to be independent they must ensure both security and prosperity. Venus almost became the first independent colony, but they were robbed of that opportunity when Mars attained both with their ammo monopoly, and Mars has the better flag in my opinion. A black flag with a gray shield, three red circles for Mars and the two moons, and a spear, a lance and a javelin crossed behind the shield. It’s an important part of the process of declaring independence.”, Tony said, while cloaked.

  “How are a spear, a lance, and a javelin different?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “One uses two hands, one is just for one hand, and one is thrown.”, I said.

  “And which one is which?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “Not sure. Ask our weapons expert when you get a chance.”, I said.

  “So what’s wrong with the Cooperative’s flag?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “Have you seen it? Can you describe it?”, I asked,

  “A pink flag…with a pair of hands lifting the symbol of a heart into the sky, beneath a rainbow with soft fluffy clouds on both ends of the rainbow…I see the problem now, and I can’t unsee it…now I regret asking.”, Ylisaya said.

  “Yeah, If I can’t fly it on a ship, it just doesn’t fly.”, I said.

  Tony reappeared directly in front of Arton. Arton swung and Tony deflected. Arton swung again, and the strike should have hit, but the axe blade his nothing. Arton only failed to hit Tony with his last attack because he was attacking the holographic decoy, which immediately vanished. I was puzzled however because Tony or at least something had been there to deflect the previous attack. The Better question was, “If what was there was a hologram, then where was Tony?”

  “Can you even trust your eyes? The ground under your feet? Before the colony on Venus, the atmosphere was so poisonous just one breath was enough to kill. You’re just a human at the edge of a civilization that can command the entire Universe. Do you have any idea whatever exists on the other end of the choices you failed to make? Do you think you’re even close to comprehending the consequences of your actions? How can you even think that your choices are anything more than a gamble with the worst odds? Can you even say you really know the situation you’re in? Is that why you say nothing? Because deep in your soul you already know that I’m right?”, Tony asked, while cloaked.

  “Is the Captain just copying how Meiyo fought Lord Zokoro on Mars?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “Seems like it, but I think Meiyo did this better.”, I said.

  Tony deactivated his cloak and his Battle-axe was folded up and carried it along his back. Tony’s War-club charged up and coiled to strike in one hand. Tony swung the War-club into Arton’s face. The strike would have been fatal for Arton without the power armor. It didn’t seem like Tony intended for this moment to be the time of execution. The slam across the Arton’s face did’t activate the repulser coil. Tony swung the opposite direction to strike the side of Arton’s head, and then I understood Tony’s strategy. These strikes were not intended to kill Arton. The method of attack implied the true target was the power armor itself. Tony was depleting Arton’s life support. The fleet scan detected the repulser coil in the War-club activate and Tony swung downward at Arton’s head. The estimated level of force would have liquified an un-armored skull. The War-club seemed to bounce off Arton’s helmet, but the force seemed to warp the crown of the helmet. Tony picked up Arton’s foot and swung Arton’s entire body over into the ground behind him. Tony released Arton, and for the very first time in three days Arton seemed afraid. Tony vanished as he activated his cloak and Arton scrambled for the Battle-axe lying on the ground.

  “You know what? I asked myself everyday for the last three days, why am I on this planet fighting you, when I should be hunting down space pirates. Most people will assume I took this job for the money, but I can’t sell this secret you keep trying to protect. You should know I figured out your secret, and you’re wasting energy fighting against the Cooperative. They have a philosophy called, “Rape by process of Statistics.” It’s flawed but suits this planet’s agenda. I only care because if I had a daughter, and she had to choose between living here or risking pirates, rape, murder, and cannibalizing her. But I’m lying, I never seen any evidence nor indicators of cannibalism.”, Tony yelled, while cloaked.

  “Is the Captain talking about Nyrella?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “Sounds exactly like Nyrella.”, I replied to Ylisaya.

  Arton stood with his back to the nearby building, and gripping his Battle-axe with both hands. I suspected that Arton believed his back would be protected by standing against a wall. Tony deactivated his cloak and stood resting at the end of the wall. Arton swung but only swung through a holographic decoy. The axe blade chopped a gnash into the building as Tony’s decoy vanished. Tony decloaked again but in a different location, and seemed to examine the damage done to the building. Tony turned his face towards the sky and pointed with his War-club at the cut in the side of the building.

  “You all saw, I didn’t do that.”, Tony yelled.

  Tony returned the War-club to the rest across his back next to the Battle-axe. Arton swung at Tony, but Tony stepped into the attack and twisted Arton’s Battle axe free from his hand. Tony stepped forward again and punched Arton, pushing him away, while robbing Arton of the Battle-Axe. Tony simply just dropped the second axe.

  “Duelist Mode.”, Tony yelled, as deflector shields activated around his arms.

  “It has occurred to me, that this is not a fair fight if you do not know the full capabilities of your power armor. The proper technique for punching isn’t plant your feet, initiate with the shoulder, and add weight for power, like it is without armor. Instead use the opposite arm as a counter-balance. Watch and learn.”, Tony said.

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  Tony dashed forward and slammed a fist into Arton. Tony threw another punch across Arton’s face. The second punch hit with enough force to lift Arton off the ground and Arton slowly stood up and resumed taking a fighting stance. The fleet scan detected Arton’s Power Armor still had substantial energy reserves, possibly enough energy to escape the fight, heal up, and fight again later, but escape from Tony was unlikely. Tony dashed forward again, and Arton attempted to punch back. Tony grabbed Arton’s fist and twisted Arton’s arm over it’s shoulder. As Arton lost balance and almost fell over, Tony threw Arton into the air but only a distance of fifteen strahds this time.

  “Stealth mode”, Tony said as he vanished.

  Arton seemed to hesitate and looked towards the dropped Battle-axe. I suspected Arton considered his odds of continuing the fight unarmed or with the only available weapon. I imagined reaching for the Axe would seem like an obvious trap to Arton. I examined the fleet scan and determined that Arton’s injuries would be fatal if his power armor failed, and causing system failure was Tony’s strategy at the moment.

  “I’ll let you decide the remainder of this fight…Armed or unarmed…So choose your weapon…”, Tony said.

  Arton slowly approached the Battle-axe and picked the weapon up. Tony deactivated his cloak, he appeared directly in front of Arton, and activated both his Battle-Axe and War-Club. Arton chopped downward at Tony, but Tony deflected the attack with a spin of the Battle-axe. Arton swung too hard and lost control of his axe. Tony directed the excess energy into the ground and stomped on the handle of Arton’s axe. Tony swung with the war club, and as the repulser coil exploded a shockwave knocked back Arton through the window of an abandoned high-rise. The fleet watched Tony wait for Arton to step out of the building. I connected to the holographic decoy, I appeared as a projection in front of Tony.

  “What’s up, Jhess?”, Tony asked.

  “I got questions. What’s this evidence you’re looking at? What evidence do you think you’re missing?”, I asked.

  “The moment we arrived on this planet, something seemed off. Smuggling, cloning, the serial murders, political plotting, election fraud, the trial, and let’s not forget the monorail crash.”, Tony said.

  I floated my projection over next to Tony so I could also watch the movements of Arton.

  “I see, but I was also there, what evidence applies to this, to him?”, I asked.

  “All of it, every single motive and situation has involved him…well maybe not the monorail.”, Tony said and I knew he lied for the sake of the audience.

  I remembered that Calista was the target, and while she was investigating Arton.

  “And what evidence is missing?”, I asked.

  “Three questions. First, who used the idea of a ‘fighting chance’ to turn the execution into a Trial-by-combat? Second, how much did the power of love give them better odds? And I admit I need to refine that question. Finally, Why wasn’t I offered a more substantial reward to fake my death in this duel? Which is an easy question.”, Tony explained.

  “That last question doesn’t even really need an answer. The hidden puppet master simply does not require Arton to survive, but we already knew that. However, if you assassinate their target, and the Cooperative pays the bill, the puppet master loses nothing. The fight was just creating any opportunity to incentivize the Cooperative. Actually I had that backwards, the Cooperative had to be incentivized to endorse a trial-by-comat.”, I said.

  “Actually the first way you said it, breaks the logic loop. We know the Cooperative doesn’t need a public trial or duel to the death at all. This is all just theatrics. But if Arton dies without anyone ever learning the truth. The Cooperative is implicated just because they are the political power left with the debt.”, Tony said.

  I rested my hand on my holographic chin. But I felt nothing, as I realized my body was still on the ship, and I was just using a holographic projection.

  “Well whoever is behind all this, has invested considerable time and energy into ensuring they don’t get caught.”, I said.

  “Shhhh…I’m not yet ready to reveal their identity, I still need to deliver a message, and I need to decipher a few more answers. The trickiest part is how to get answers out of a guy who doesn’t talk. So I can only interpret reactions. It’s so much worse than if he was just a liar.”, Tony said.

  “Is this really the planet where the sound of silence has any value?”, I asked.

  “Can you explain that to him?”, Tony argued, and almost laughed.

  “Challenge accepted.”, I declared.

  Tony started walking into the building and my projection followed matching whichever movement Tony made when he took a step or turned. When we crossed through the window we were beyond the range of the fleet scan and my viewpoint became limited to a flat image of whatever was directly in front of Tony. Through my cybernetics I detected Tony testing if the fleet could also see and hear from the viewpoint of the decoy. I could see the front image of Arton and he took an unarmed fighting stance.

  “Excuse me. Hi, my name is Jhessyreen and my boss here has a problem. You see, we’ve been hired to kill you. My captain initially refused, but because circumstances mainly including the fact that we knew someone else would have been sent and just not as good of a deal. Normally we don’t say no to easy money, but this was different. We both suspect you know something, and depending on what that secret is might attract a buyer. Now you seem like a reasonable person and I think you’re a nice guy…”, I lied.

  My view of the environment turned hazy and I slowly realized we were now outside again. The environment around me began to take form, dimension, and volume as my senses realigned with the fleet scan.

  “Why are we back outside?”, I asked Tony.

  “Are you serious? You think insulting him will get him to talk?”, Tony demanded.

  “How did I insult him?”, I asked.

  “I’m only saying this because we’ve never dealt with this situation before, and you’ve never had the experience of being an Earthling and illogical. When a human woman with human emotions says to a human guy, who is at a low point in his life, that she think he’s a nice guy…that’s not a compliment. That’s almost the same as saying you think he’s creepy, worthless, and he’s not worth your time. It’s almost as bad as telling a guy you only like him as friend. That’s not affirming, flattering, nor even true. You just made certain he will never talk to you for any reason. He might even thank me if I kill him now, because he would rather die in a heroic way, than look like he will let a woman insult him. Very unproductive.”, Tony explained.

  “There’s two problems with that. First, I was born a cyborg, so that’s not my perspective. Second, he can’t prove I’m lying.”, I said.

  “But you did lie right to his face and he knows it.”, Tony said.

  “How do you know that?”, I demanded.

  “Imagine it’s your last day to live, and an employee of the assassin sent after you, is telling you how you’re a wonderful person, if you give up the secret that means the difference between your life and death.”, Tony explained.

  “So you’re saying you think I should have lied? It kind of sounds like you’re saying this is your fault, not mine.”, I argued

  “It is my fault, that’s why we’re out here. But lying isn’t the problem, the problem is the insulting. Against me, he knows his odds of success, we all know his chances are low but honest. If he sees you, there’s no chance he’ll trust anything you say.”, Tony said.

  “Prove it.”, I demanded.

  “Okay, tell me that I’m a nice guy and three reasons you think that…Or even just one reason. Anything you can think of.”, Tony said.

  I took a moment to consider how I was supposed to say an assassin who kills for money might be a hard worker, but I remembered his nature as a combat cyborg. I then considered how I might say that a captain of a battleship focuses on fighting space pirates in a way protects the colonies, but I remembered how he became a factor in the motivating the U.D.E. to neglect their people, intentionally causing them to resort to piracy. I considered how his conduct as a ship captain was very fair to the crew, except I remembered how I was the only crew member that remained after the mutiny and his divorce. He never wanted the crew he only needed the ship. He didn’t even want a slave, and he intended to sell Ylisaya for personal gain. I tried considering how Tony made tough decisions, but I I also knew he built a reputation on striking only when the odds are in his favor, and now I knew he can sometimes predict the future but doesn’t tell anyone. I soon realized if I looked at Tony honestly, he’s only ever fulfilled whatever was necessary. None of his actions are done without incentive.

  “Okay I see your point.”, I admitted.

  “Thank you, and you’ve known me for years…But him? You just met. To be fair, he’s not talking to me either. I’m tempted to call Saressah, to just let her talk to him, and see what happens.”, Tony said and laughed at the nonsense of the situation.

  “We’re not actually gonna do that?”, I asked.

  “Never. There’s a seventy three percent chance she can send him a coded message, and there’s an eighty two percent chance that the current message contains secret code. Which reminds me, is the cookie dough thawed?”, Tony asked.

  “Started this morning…I’m returning to the ship.”, I said.

  I disconnected from the decoy, and woke up back in the Something Clever. Through the ship’s sensors, I watched Tony walk back into the window and immediately throw Arton back onto the abandoned street.

  “I had no idea talking to non-cyborgs was so complicated.”, Ylisaya said.

  “So imagine if you were the one who messed that up…Oh wait, I don’t have to, because I was there, and you could just watch me fail.”, I joked, imitating the Captain.

  “The captain did tell me to watch and learn, and that’s what I’m doing. That’s odd…Arton’s Power Armor is now only at fifteen percent of available reserves. I think the Captain used the life-drain attack.”, Ylisaya reported.

  I suspected throwing Arton into a location outside the range of the fleet scan would create the perfect opportunity to use life-drain. With so much power depleted Arton would only have limited options to take actions needed to fight back, as his armor would prioritize keeping him alive. Arton dropped to one knee and immediately slowed down in his movements until he was nearly motionless, except for deep breaths.

  “What effect would life-drain have on a non-cyborg?”, I asked Ylisaya

  “In the case of a space ship, no different than if the crew needed life support and the ship lost power. But the scan of the power armor, indicated it has an independent and a redundant power cell. These are just electrical systems. The captain only has one weapon that uses electrical power, the Gauss Rifle.”, Ylisaya said.

  Tony slowly walked up to Arton, as Arton crawled towards the Battle-axe. Tony raised his battle axe to chop down Arton. Arton picked up the other axe and raised it to deflect the strike.

  “Battle Mode!”, Tony yelled and the fleet scan detected an exponential increase in power, as deflector shields activated all around Tony’s Armor.

  Tony swung his energized Battle-axe slicing through the handle of Arton’s axe, through the metal plates of Arton’s power armor, and through Arton’s left arm between the shoulder and elbow. Tony took a step back and his posture seemed puzzled as he looked at the Battle-axe cut in half with the melted metal ends, where his blade chopped the handle. I imagined Arton’s power armor was burning through it’s last remaining power reserves to sustain him and dull the immense pain of losing a limb. Tony looked at the melted and singed metal of the broken armor. Tony slowly examined the severed limb which had once been Arton’s left arm. Tony shifted his Battle-axe into one hand, examined his free hand, and then his axe, and once more checked the left arm on the ground. I projected myself through the decoy and appeared next to Tony.

  “Is everything alright?”, I asked Tony.

  “Can’t tell, I don’t want to sound crazy. It’s a ‘Once is luck, twice is coincidence, and three times is a pattern situation.’ I know it will be important later.”, Tony said.

  I sensed the Captain wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t being completely honest either. I imagined he saw something, and it might be something that either scared or confused him. I wondered what could possibly scare him.

  “It’s probably no longer safe to stay on Venus.”, I said.

  “I understand.”, Tony said

  Arton knelt down, and I suspected he was in possible shock as his armor kept what remained of him alive, with whatever energy the armor had left. I disconnected from the decoy and reawakened in my body back on the Bridge of the Something Clever. I looked over my shoulder to look at Ylisaya, as I wondered if Tony might have just used scanner vision as a possible explanation over Tony’s odd behavior over disarming Arton.

  “Did you have a vision?”, I asked Ylisaya.

  “No. Why?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “I think the Captain saw something, just now. I suspected use of scanner vision. We’ll just worry about it later.”, I said.

  Through the ship’s sensor Tony seemed to move on to the next phase of his plan. Tony stood in front of Arton. Arton had been crippled by his depleted power armor, but it was also keeping him alive. Tony grabbed the face plate of Arton’s helmet, ripped the helmet off from Arton’s head, and dropped the helmet on the ground. Arton’s face was bruised, one eye was swollen shut, and was a clear example of the punishment inflicted over the last three days.

  “Next question, and I already know the answer…Who do you love?”, Tony asked Saressah’s question to Arton.

  “Vivica turn off the music, please.…I got something to say.”, Tony said while facing the sky.

  The music faded and Tony turned towards Arton.

  “This riddle was not easy. But it’s time to reveal your secret. I’m sorry but I’m gonna monologue for the audience, not everyone has read all the files. If anything seems wrong, please interrupt. The first clue was the method of your arrest. You evaded all the Cooperative’s efforts for months, but then you had an opportunity to fight, when you really should run. I find you standing on a Bridge not even wearing your helmet. I could have shot you right there, but then you would have won. I’ve been wondering what changed. How is the man from months ago different from the man who has been fighting for his life over the last three days? The answer to that question was revealed to me yesterday, when I tried to trap you. There was no change. I can reverse, switch out, adjust every variable, and the result will remain the same. That helped me realize you’re not fighting for your life. You’re actually just a distraction. That’s not a problem for me. I’m honestly impressed you could endure. That led me to my next critical question, how did you even manage to evade the Cooperative? And the answer is you didn’t. Or at least not by yourself.”, Tony said.

  Arton glared at Tony, and Tony examined Arton’s response. I wondered if Tony was simply referring to Saressah, but that was unlikely if either was working alone. Tony’s posture changed as he laughed and seemed to have obtained new evidence.

  “So the next question is if many people are helping you and Saressah, especially on this planet, I can only wonder why would they do that? Why help someone else who get’s to live the life you want? That’s when I thought about both times I have talked to Saressah. She’s desperate to save her child and your life because if you live, then her child might live too. It seemed to be all she would talk about whenever anybody saw her, and then I considered how difficult it is to obtain a parental license on this planet. That led me to my next answer. Saressah is not the only one. You’re no rapist…because we both know, you’re just an off market sperm donor. All those other women helped you, because they were letting you fuck them in hopes of becoming pregnant. That’s who’s helping you. That’s the only way you could evade the system like that for so long. Saressah’s just the only one who was caught.”, Tony said.

  Arton turned his face towards the ground and shut his working eye. The rest of Arton was still trapped in the depleted armor. Tony seemed to advance his theory and was preparing to strike.

  “So here’s what’s going to happen now. Turns out your secret is only valuable to the Cooperative, the names of all those traitors, in an easy and available list. But you’re not the only one who knows it. Do you see those four ships floating in the sky?…Those are gunships and they’re scanning, watching, and listening…All the Cooperative needs to do is offer Saressah a deal, if she gives up the names of all the others in your secret organization, they let her keep her baby, send her to live on some moon, asteroid, or space station under a new identity. I’m impressed she held that secret for so long, when she should have traded it for her child’s life, but I am under no such obligation. You might not be willing to talk, because you thought this secret might die with you. But Saressah is willing to talk to anyone who will listen.”, Tony said.

  “NO!”, Arton yelled, as he jumped to attack Tony with his remaining arm.

  I was shocked to see his face had changed from remorse, to rage, and back to a look of regret. Tony made no movement as Arton’s arm clawed at Tony. The weight of Arton’s depleted armor was all Tony needed to avoid the attack. Arton fell back down to his knees as the depleted armor weighed him down.

  “So you can talk?… But I thank you for that. I’m trying to promote, and it’s not a good look for me if I execute someone with qualities that makes them popular. You wanna hear the funniest part?… I was just guessing. But that little outburst of rage kind of just confirmed all my suspicions. A few years ago the human population surpassed eight billion, not counting the Rylkonians. Twenty million lived here, then ten million were no longer needed, and eight million said no thanks and left. So the last two million of the Cooperative are fighting for their freedom, and all you offer is a step backwards. That’s not the power of love. You’re trying to be a hero for the top one percent, on a planet that thinks you should be a slave. You’re no hero.”, Tony said, as he laughed.

  Tony knelt down about two steps away from Arton to face him at eye level.

  “You know underneath this armor. I’m nothing like you, and probably nothing you expect. My face is really a machine like framework and what I show people is just a hologram, held up by that frame…Now that we’re here. You’re execution isn’t easier for me. I wonder if you’ve gained fans who might cheer you, and mourn your death. I have no idea who really loves you. Or if they only love what you can give them? You were willing to die for those kids, and their secret might have died with you. All because of the power of love? I don’t believe I’m capable of that, but believe me when I say I’m going to regret killing a martyr. Because if the Rylkonians had chosen you instead of me to become a combat cyborg, they would have enjoyed sooner victory in the Parasite Wars…and I know why you did it, becoming a hero is a journey. But when I tried to return to a normal life, I failed. I realized the call to adventure from anyone besides Rylkonians, is just a lie, and now I must refuse the compulsions to be a fake hero. You’re not the first to be manipulated by this system of lies, and you won’t be the last… But that also means you must die. You’re existence puts this world in danger, because this is not the world for you. They can’t just send you away, because the conclusion of what happens to you becomes the rule. You’re dangerous, wherever you might go. That’s why the traitors are making the Cooperative pay me to eliminate you. Just one mistake will make this world vulnerable to space pirates. And the only way to fight a space pirate is to think like a space pirate.”, Tony said to Arton.

  Vivica started playing sad music, as a wailing chant played through the broadcast.

  “Great timing! Thank you, Vivica.”, Tony said towards the sky.

  Tony stood up, stepped to the side, measured his stance and held his Battle Axe to align across Arton’s neck.

  “Any last words?…I’m open to suggestions…I think a positive statement is in order…Well, I tried….Battle Axe, Executioner mode!”, Tony said.

  The Battle-axe reconfigured to a wide chopping blade, that glowed green with unstable fury. Arton looked at the blade with his remaining eye, made no other moves, and defiantly said nothing. Tony raised the axe and his body coiled for a killing strike.

  “For the Auro-Blade!”, Tony yelled, as he swung the axe at Arton's neck.

  TO BE CONTINUED