Chương 73: Epilogue

"No!" Nori screamed out. The melodian holding her down was too strong, no matter how she tried to struggle out of his grasp, he felt like a rock, her struggles barely registering with him. She could hardly see, her eyes filling with tears as she watched her closest friend taken into the assembler, the blue lights on the visor entrapping her in Artemis's network. Nori fell to her knees, pleading with him.

"Please, please let her go, whatever you want, I can help you with whatever you want, just please let her go" she said as she tried to blink away her tears. Artemis suddenly pulled her back, dragging her away from Tess as a gravity board fell from the vent in the ceiling. Like a robot, Tess reached out, grabbing it in its center and catching it without needing to look at it.

"Tess!" Nori screamed out again. But Tess ignored her, quickly making her way to the exit as she leapt up, jumping on the board and turning down the hill. Artemis finally let her go, letting Nori stand up as she ran up to the windows to find Tess careening down the forest path toward the center of the ship. The melodians toward the center, also under the effects of the assembler simply stood to the side, creating a path for Tess to follow as she barrelled toward the center of the ship, gaining speed along its side.

"What are you doing to her?!" Nori yelled, not taking her eyes off of Tess as she became a small dot at the very edge of her vision. Artemis responding, suddenly standing next to her.

"I'm showing her the truth, Nori," he said. Nori's heart was pounding, her blood pulsing through her ears as she tried to make sense of everything. It was all happening at once. They were preparing for another round of the gravity games. Flint wanted to go to earth. He said he only wanted the sound makers, but she knew better, she knew he wanted to talk to Tess. It all felt so obvious. Artemis had every intention of bringing Tess back with him.

He sent Flint because he knew he'd be the thing to convince her to join. Nori grabbed the railing, squeezing it as she clasped her beak. The other mechara were still frantically trying to gain control of the situation as they hit the various buttons on the control panel, yelling out to each other as they tried to gain access over the ship. But Artemis had fooled them. He fooled everyone. He had more control over the ship than he had said. He'd just been waiting for the right moment to make it happen.

He simply allowed the mechara to believe they were in control so he could blindside them when they were least expecting it.

"Have you always been this manipulative?" she asked pointedly.

"Yes" he said, responding so quickly he almost cut her off. She wanted to punch him, but there was no point, she would only be hurting the melodian underneath.

"Where are you taking her?" she asked.

"You'll see rather shortly Nori, but I'm sorry, I have an old friend I need to catch up with," he said as he stepped away from the window. Nori continued watching as Artemis left her at the window alone. Tess was slowly gaining speed, eventually catching up to the rotation of the central ring as she transferred over. Nori leaned in, trying to see what was happening, but as the tiny dot entered the central ring it promptly disappeared.

It took her a few moments to realize, but the place she entered was right next to the large bank of windows, next to the center of the Artemis network. A chill went down Nori's spine. It was happening again. The spinning ring, the fire, the screaming, all the memories of that horrifying moment on Lifeboat seven flooding back as she remembered seeing the melodian meticulously destroying the Artemis network one piece at a time until it all blew up. It was happening again. Artemis had tricked them.

He tricked everyone. He tricked Tess. She turned to see Artemis and Rosa speaking. Rosa was crying, but he looked calm, collected. She shook her head, there was nothing she could say to Artemis to make him stop, she had to reach out to Tess, she had to speak to her somehow. Nori ran to the closest terminal, getting down next to the frantic mechara at his desk who was trying to take control of Sloan's ship. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Give me the Artemis control room" Nori said as she grabbed his shoulder.

"W-what?!" he asked, panicked.

"The Artemis control room. We have cameras in there, I need you to patch me in" she said, trying to sound as calm and authoritative as she could despite feeling an overwhelming fear for what might happen. The mechara reached forward, hitting a few buttons as the interface changed to a security camera view. He took a few centirots to find the feeds he was looking for, but he managed to pull up a set of cameras, all showing the Artemis control room.

Just as the cameras were in view, Tess was entering the room, the gravity board crashing into the wall near the outer control panel as she leapt forward, tumbling onto the catwalk and springing up on her feet. Her eyes were glowing bright underneath the visor, still under the control of Artemis.

The sound of the engines on the transporter changed, drawing Nori's attention for a brief moment as she looked up to see it was starting to move down for a landing, slowly starting to match its movement with the inner ring, coming down just over the Artemis control room.

"Tess!" Nori screamed out, but Tess didn't react. Despite the rush to get Tess to the control room, she was left standing perfectly still for at least a full centirot before the visor suddenly turned off, leaving Tess blinking, looking confused for a moment before her attention was brought forward.

"Tess!" Nori yelled again. Tess ignored her, reaching up for the visor and taking it off to place it next to a large panel of buttons. She shook her head, coming out of a daze as she grabbed the panel of switches in front of her.

"Tess! Please! You have to stop! You have to get out of there!" she screamed as she looked out the window once more to see the transporter had almost landed. Tess blinked, looking around the room for a moment before she looked up, her eyes locking onto the camera in front of her.

"Tess! Please! You have to run!" Nori screamed, her voice shaking. Tess shook her head, "Nori… I'm sorry, I have to do this," she said as she brought her attention back to the panel.

"Tess! No listen! Sloan is here, she'll be landing any moment! If she catches you she'll kill you!" Nori pleaded, reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes as she tried to focus on Tess. Tess continued pressing buttons, her eyes leaving the camera as she responded.

"She'd never hurt me Nori" she said calmly.

"What?! What are you saying?! She tried to kill you every chance she got! She's been hunting you since she first found out about you!" Nori yelled out.

"Nori, you don't underst-" Tess began to speak, but Nori wasn't having it.

"Tess please! What did he do to you? Whatever it was, he tricked you, just like he tricked all of us! Artemis lied to you! You need to get out of there!" she screamed.

"Nori, please you don't-" Tess tried to say.

"She thought it was me down there with her" came a voice from behind. Rosa was standing in the same spot she was before, looking down at the floor as she yelled again, "I was the one she was after."

"No! Shut up! You're in danger! You need to get out! Please! Tess! Listen to me! If she catches you she'll kill you! Please! You-" Nori was screaming as she was cut off by a loud beep. She blinked, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes as she tried to focus on the screen in front of her. Tess had stepped away from the panel, her eyes looking into the camera as her hand was pressed to the administrated access panel behind her. It was green. Tess had the key to the Artemis network.

Something that had been missing since the destruction of Lifeboat seven. For megarots they'd tried finding someone with the key but to no avail. Melodians, mechara, leaders, shop owners, janitors. Everyone on board the ship had tried, but not a single person had access, not even Tess. At least, she didn't before.

"What…" she asked under her breath.

"Nori, I'm sorry, there's… Too much. I can't tell you everything right now. Please just believe me when I say there's a lot you haven't been told" she said as she made her way back to the control panel, the access pad behind her remaining green as the other side was still red. Out of the corner of her eye, Nori could see the ship landing on the central ring as two figures climbed out, making their way out and down the stairwell.

"But… Tess… Please…" Nori continued to plead. Tess sighed, reaching up and hitting a button near the camera, causing a 'mute' icon to appear on the screen.

"No! Tess! Please!" Nori yelled out, knowing Tess could no longer hear her. Whatever Artemis had shown her, it wasn't worth the risk. She had to get out. Sloan had tried to kill her in the past, there was no reason to think she'd stop. She leaned forward as she heard footsteps approaching from the entrance.

"Tess…" Nori whispered under her breath. A chill fell over her as she realized she was about to watch her best friend get murdered by the monster from Lifeboat seven.

"Please…" she pleaded as a figure entered the room. The melodian stepped through the door, her left half white, her right half black, a gun in her hand as she stepped forward, walking into the room as the familiar voice rang out.

"Step back or I shoot!" she yelled out as she stepped out onto the catwalk. Tess stood still, taking a deep breath, looking incredibly calm as she simply stood there, clasping her hands in front of herself as she stood her ground. Nori couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, knowing that at any moment she'd watch her friend get taken from her. The moment dragged on, as if time stopped.

The alarms were still going off, the screaming from the mechara around her, the loud whirring of the ship as it spun, but the two melodians in the network room were quiet, still, unmoving, until the gun fell from Sloan's hand. Nori took her first breath in a long time as she looked up to see a stunned look on Sloan's face, her mouth gaping open as she looked like she froze, unable to move, unable to think as she looked at Tess.

Tess smiled, taking a deep breath, her eyes looking at Sloan up and down before she eventually uttered two words Nori never could have expected.

"Hi mom."