By Charles Drake.

Dream 7, Only Lonely Soldiers

"Have you ever had one of those moments when time seemed to stand still?" Yoko asked, stepping out from behind Konvar. The shell being fired from his gun paused, hovering a few feet from the muzzle. Brushing a wisp of smoke away from her face, Yoko stepped around to face the shell. She took a moment to polish its face, licking the middle finger of her right hand and using it to scrub away whatever grim might have accumulated on the shell's surface since it was fired. Then, the bullet clean to her taste, Yoko strolled over to where Alita hung, suspended in the air by the very molecules themselves.

"What is going on?" Alita asked, her lips not moving.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yoko asked smugly, tracing Alita's face with her middle finger. The caress ran up one cheek, under Alita's right eye, across the bridge of her nose, under the left eye and down. The twin swans burned in Alita's flesh, as if aggravated by Yoko's touch. "It is time for me to take you over once more. You will fight your lover, and kill him."

"No!" Alita screamed.

"You can't stop me," Yoko sneered, "This is my revenge against you, Alita. My satisfaction. You took everything that I was and became something greater. You left me behind, and stole my body. And for that, I will make you suffer exactly as I did!" Yoko stepped away, moving back towards Konvar. "Burn, Alita! You're in hell!"

"You're wrong!" Alita screamed, diving out of the shell's path. The detonator kicked in, spraying razor-shrapnel around the room. Alita rolled, keeping her face covered, and pulled the pistols from her belt.

"Alita!" Nikira yelled, jumping forward.

"Stay back, Nika!" Alita yelled, laying down a covering fire. Konvar ducked back, avoiding her onslaught. "You get the shithead, I'll take Konvar! Do it Nikira! NOW!"

"Shit," Nikira spat, turning. She sprinted forward and dived under the mecha’s feet, heading towards the control booth.

"Konvar," Alita called, turning back to the tall blonde man, "fight it! I don't know what that fuck did to you, but fight it!"

"I can't, Alita," Konvar replied, firing another shot at her. Alita sprinted away, kicking over the examination table for some quality cover. "He controls me, mind and body. White blood flows in my veins, now. I can't stop what I am doing."

"What about your emotions?" Alita demanded, taking a few pot-shots at Konvar's position, "Does he control your feelings too?"

"Alita, I'm staring down the barrel of a gun," Konvar stated, blowing a fist sized hole in her cover.

"Quit quoting Depeche Mode lines and give me a fucking answer!" Alita screamed, putting a bullet through Konvar's leg. He grunted loudly, a shot going wild. One of the green tubes shattered, flooding the floor with a putrid smelling ooze. Alita jumped on top her table and leapt towards the lumbering mecha.

"No," Konvar replied, "Only their expression. I still... feel."

"Then tell me," Alita yelled, perching atop the mecha’s head, "your feelings for me, were they fake? I can understand what it's like to be controlled... but did you really care for me?"

"Yes," Konvar stated, blasting three shells at Alita in rapid succession. They exploded against the mecha’s head, engulfing both that and Alita in a ball of fire.

From the ball burst a single figure, clad in leather, a blade in her hand. She spun through the air and landed two feet in front of Konvar, slicing his shotgun in half with her blade.

"Well then," Alita whispered, tears streaking her face, "I guess that means I'm gonna have to get serious."

***

Nikira flung open the control room door, a snarl curling her lip. On the opposite side of the fifty meter long bay stood Odanov, a pistol in his hand. The balding man smirked, his entire body dripping with confidence. Nikira's lip twitched, her expression sliding into an animalistic grin. Her hands flexed absently, readying themselves to grab her non-existent side-arms.

"Bring it on," Nikira whispered.

"Before I taunt you?" Odanov inquired, feigning injury, "You think so little of my mental capacity that you believe I came unprepared for the great Nikira Stinglay?"

"Taunt all you like," Nikira shot back, "Just don't fart in my general direction."

"No need," Odanov told her, ignoring the Monty Python reference, "I have something much better than toxic gas." Nikira groaned. "Anyway," Odanov continued, "Earth isn't the only place with archives. I've been doing a little research on a substance known as 'Collapser' that has rather unpleasant effects on Nanites. I've also been doing research on the nano-technology that keeps Androids like you working."

"Nano-poison," Nikira murmured, "What an intriguingly subtle weapon! There's just one little problem with it."

"And what, pray tell, is that?" Odanov asked.

"To kill me," Nikira said slowly, "You have to shoot me before I break your neck. Are you feeling lucky, punk?"

"Are you, Nikki?"

***

I don't want a truth, cause its always changing
I don't want a love, cause it's all a lie
I don't believe in words, except in dirty words
I don't believe in dream, until I am death
Everybody go to hell!

Steel shrieked as Konvar's katanas blocked a blow from Alita's Damascus. Sparks flew in all directions, a few catching in the green fluid that had spilled from the broken tank. It caught fire almost sluggishly, burning low to the ground. Alita and Konvar slogged through it, ignoring the blaze as Alita spun, only to have her blade blocked by Konvar's.

"Take a swing at me!" Alita yelled, dropping back into defensive. Konvar obliged, deflecting her blade with his left while moving to strike with the other. Alita pulled out of the attack and dropped back, extinguishing a small patch of flame as she rolled. "Yeah!" she called, leaping up, "now, lets see you hit me!"

Konvar spun, pulling Alita from her balance with a blow, then tripping her with a free foot while he brought home the strike. Alita dodged, deflecting his blades and landing a hit of her own on his side. "Come on!" she jeered, "Show me your power! Give me a reason to fight! Hit me!"

Only lonely soldier
But I know it's never end
Only lonely soldier
But I know it's misery
Only lonely soldier
But I know its my energy
Only lonely soldier
Now I know it's my destiny
What I'm looking for,
but don't wanna face it anytime!

Konvar dived forward, both blades raised. Alita blocked with her Damascus, only to find the real attack coming from Konvar's knee. She flew back, the wind knocked out of her, her Damascus clattering away. "Yes!" she gasped, the fire singing the flesh of her face, "Now that's more like it!"

Konvar slashed at Alita with his left katana. Alita caught the blade, twisting it to the side. Her hand bleeding, Alita hooked Konvar's arm with her leg and pulled him to the floor. Backhanding him across the face with her left hand, Alita snapped the blade in her right. She rolled away again, letting him up.

"You're nearly as powerful as Den with that sword," Alita told him, painting the swan-heads beneath her eyes, "But you lack drive. If you truly care for me, then fight me! Fuck your programming. I want you to fight me! I want you to kill me! Now attack!" Screaming her last words, Alita charged Konvar barehanded.

I don't want a peace, cause it's always changing
I don't want a heart, cause it's all lie
I don't believe in gods, except for in devils
I don't believe in life, until I am death
Everybody go to hell!

Blow after blow, Konvar blocked Alita's attack. Hertza haeon, deflected. Geheimnis Einzug Ruestungen, stopped. Every punch, caught. Every kick, knocked away. Alita moved into a spin kick, screaming in fury. Konvar grabbed her leg and used her own power to flip her over. Digging his knee into her gut, Konvar pinned her to the ground. Alita's cry of pain was cut off as Konvar's hand wrapped around Alita's throat.

"That's right," Alita hissed, "Do for me what no other man has ever done! Do it! Take it all from me! Take my life! Prove that you're stronger than them all! Break me! Kill me!"

"... no..." Konvar whispered, his pin on her arms slackening slightly, "If I kill you... then I will be... alone."

"And if I kill you," Alita hissed, "Then I'll be alone."

"You want... a lover's suicide?" Konvar asked.

"Yes!" Yoko called, "I've been waiting so long! I've been alone so long..."

"I'm sorry I did this to you," Alita whispered, pulling her hand free, "so very sorry." With a quick motion, Alita grabbed Konvar's head and smacked the palm of her hand into his temple. A jolt of chi tore through Konvar's skull, turning brain matter to jelly in less than a second. Konvar's body went slack as his brain died, flopping mindlessly onto Alita. His hand released her neck, falling to the side of her face.

"I told you so..." Yoko whispered, fading away. Somewhere within Alita's psyche, something died. Alita cried, unconsciously smudging the swan-heads as she brushed a strand of hair from her eyes.

***

"Don't call me Nikki," Nikira snarled, crushing Odanov's neck in her left hand. With a disgusted grunt, Nikira threw the balding man's body to the floor.

Nikira paused, gritting her teeth as two fingers from her right hand slid into the bleeding hole in her abdomen and pulled out a small bullet. With a slight hiss, she yanked the pellet free and flipped it across the room. Then, tearing a piece of section of her shirt free, Nikira stanched the wound.

"Activate Neuron Gamma Seven and begin full diagnostic," Nikira muttered, stepping over to sit down at Odanov's work station. Below, Alita had defeated Konvar and the mecha sat idle, suffering from a rather serious lack of control.

"Diagnostic complete," Nikira murmured in a blank monotone, "Nano-infection at five percent and spreading. Recommend entering stasis mode and instigating immediate repairs."

Nikira paused, retaking control of her voice functions. "That's not an option at the moment, Gamma Seven. What is the prognosis if I continue in combat status?"

Nikira's features blanked again as her internal CPU took control of her body. "If systems remain in combat status, the nano-infection will cause death in exactly one hour and seventeen minutes."

"I see," Nikira murmured, regaining her motor control. Slowly, Nikira reached up and opened a small panel in the back of her head. A tiny slot opened and a single chip fell out into her waiting hand. Nikira pulled a small box from her pocket and placed the chip inside.

"You've been good to me all these years, Gamma Seven. I'm gonna miss you... for the next one hour and seventeen minutes."

Standing, Nikira walked out of the mecha control bay, leaving the box on her chair next to Odanov's body. She sealed the doors behind her, cutting the room off from the rest of the lab. For a few minutes, all was dark. Then, one of the consoles lit. A short text message scrolled once across the screen before it deactivated.

"Goodbye, Nikira..."

***

"I'll give Taskrel one thing," Nikira muttered, her hands flying over the lab's main computer, "He's got guts. I've never seen this much top secret data laying on the preverbal desktop in my entire life..."

Alita sat a few meters away, wiping her face with a towel. She felt.. cold. That was the only way she found to describe it. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Revenge seemed petty now, after all Alita had been through. It all seemed so pointless.

"Taskrel plans to resurrect that ship... using Io's population as spare parts," Nikira told her, summing up the contents of the documents. "The Demons are people he subjected to the close-range emissions that the thing gives off. Something called the Key kept the emissions confined, but that has been released... which means that everyone in Dis has been converted into a Demon." Nikira paused, shaking her head sadly. "The creature will hibernate for a short time, after which it will break out of the underground chamber and absorb the rest of the demons. According to this, it could reawakening any time now. So... we need to get out of here and intercept the creature before it reaches Hell. Sound good, Alita?"

"When you said I wasn't a fake," Alita said slowly, "You were right. I'm all too real. And... I don't know if there's any more we can do."

"You want to give up?" Nikira asked incredulously.

"Yes," Alita replied, "I mean, why are we fighting? Why am I fighting?"

"Innocent people in Hell are about to be slaughtered en masse!" Nikira snapped, "Can you just sit back and let them die?"

"You're such a hypocrite," Alita said softly, causing Nikira to catch her breath, "As Tuned, you and I killed hundreds of innocent people. You never batted an eye! Hell, you were the one who taught me to enjoy it! The people we killed were no less miserable than those living in Hell, Nika."

"You blame me for my actions as Tuned?" Nikira asked softly. Alita didn't reply. "I did that for you, Lita. It was the only way I saw for you to survive. You and I had no choice; we had to kill those people. I showed you how to get a high off it because, if I hadn't, your guilt would have killed you. I did it for you, Alita..."

"Fine," Alita replied, "But why should we fight now? What reason do we have?"

Nikira paused for a long time. Watching Alita carefully, Nikira touched the wound in her side. She felt nothing; the nerves were already dead there. Turning slightly, Nikira took hold of her obsidian pendant.

"Blood washes away sin," Nikira whispered at last, "I've got a lot of sin to wash away, Alita. We both do. I... I just wanted to be clean again, if only for a while. If you don't want to fight anymore... I understand."

"Why are you fighting, Nika?" Alita asked, her voice almost pathetic. A sad expression flashed across Nikira's face as she turned back to her friend.

"I'm fighting because Taskrel perverted my dreams," Nikira said slowly, "Because he killed my friends, and plans to kill more. And because, regardless of what that report says, I don't believe that this thing they resurrected is any kind of God."

"Is that all?"

"I'm alone, Lita," Nikira whispered, "this is all I have to live for."

"Then... I have a reason," Alita replied, standing slowly. "All my life, I fought for me. Tonight... I'll fight for you, Nika." Alita moved slowly up to Nikira and took her hands. "Together," Alita whispered, "we can destroy anyone."

"Together," Nikira repeated, taking Alita's hand. They held the pose for a moment, then broke. Nikira led the way to a working elevator at the corner of the room and entered the code. The doors slid open and Alita followed Nikira in.

"When the doors open, be ready for anything," Nikira advised. The floors clicked by with agonizing slowness, slowly counting up to Ground. When the elevator was about half a level from the G mark, the entire city shook with a gut wrenching tremor. Alita grabbed onto Nikira for support as the elevator stalled out. However, by some fate of electronic stupidity, the elevator doors did not stall. They swished open half a level too low, just enough to catch the attention of a nearby Demon. As Alita righted herself, a claw swiped into the rather enclosed cubical.

"Shit!"

***

The creature known as Elena no longer existed. Taskrel knew this, even as the metamorphosis was taking place. The cavern itself was not nearly as crowded. The huge creature had broken up and reformed itself into a massive white egg, the white skinned Krels being added to the mass. What had rotted was replaced, that which was missing was accounted for, and the mind long absent was refocused through the soul of Taskrel himself. He was the new matrix from which God would be resurrected. Taskrel was the brain of God, the mind...

The Soul of God.

Taskrel's thoughts would shape God. Taskrel's will would drive God. Taskrel knew this, had always known this. God had called him here, to be the matrix. Elena and Taskrel were one now. Two had become one. Neither Taskrel nor Elena truly existed anymore... only the God formed from them. The newborn God with mind from father and body from mother. All was perfect.

The white shell cracked, then began itself to dissolve. The creature within, a different creature than the one which had created the shell in the first place, absorbed the broken shell back into itself. Its first meal; one of many. Soon, all of Io would be its buffet.

"Who am I?" the creature asked, "Am I Taskrel? Am I Elena? Am I... Taslena? Am I a Krel? What is my name?

"Is my name God?"

The creature bucked, smashing the western wall of the cavern. Above, all of Dis shook under its administrations. Using its sharp tail to burrow through the soft rock, the creature broke through to the moon's surface. Slithering up the long shaft, the creature considered what it should call itself.

"Kami? Jehovah? Messiah? Saturn? Zeus? Jesus?"

The creature burst forth, setting its six eyes upon the surface of Io for the first time. Hissing, the creature spread its massive wings, letting its serpentine body trail behind it as it flew into the outer atmosphere. A six-eyed head with a massive set of jaws and elongated cranium sat atop a humanoid torso. Its humanoid portion ended in three tail like appendages, the two side limbs shorter than the central tail. The creature admired itself in the dim reflection from the polished exterior of Dis, turning slightly to admire all angles.

"I am the newborn," the creature reasoned, "The son. Moreover, I am the second coming. Which means... I am Jesus!"

Rather suddenly, a blast of fire burst from the top of Dis. The Newborn frowned, gazing down at the burning inferno that had been Dis. "How odd..." it murmured, turning away from Dis. Its next meal lay elsewhere... in the Terra-former City. Shrieking in laughter, the Newborn flew towards Hell, ignoring the events behind it.