When Ava woke up, he found Sylvie huddled in his arms. He wasn't sure how she'd ended up in that position, but that wasn't what was on his mind at the moment. She wasn't moving at all. He'd never seen a body so motionless.
She was dead.
He wanted to cry but nothing happened. Of course, Serv bodies didn't have that function anymore, the ones they built millennia ago did, but now... it was an unnecessary function, so it had been taken out.
So he sat there, wallowing in his sadness. He didn't know what to think, what to do. He just stared at Sylvie's face and did nothing.
The floor was starting to flood with preservative liquid, it was already starting to harden in certain areas. Ava didn't feel like moving, he'd already made it so that any last chance of the human race surviving would be gone forever.
If he stayed here, his wish to let the Servs forge their own path and live without the curse of mankind on their back would come to pass. Let all of mankind die. What point was there in him being around anymore?
Still, there was one more thing he needed to do.
***
Aphrodite and Major were standing on the roof of the building, they could hear the alarms ringing from inside and it was rumbling as more and more of the insides were getting destroyed. The facility was in ruins and there were thousands of corpses of the mutated humans splattered down on the ground below.
The building stood high into the sky, towering above everything else, and the warmth of the setting sun bathed the empty roof in an orange glow. There was nothing there apart from the two of them, a ship for them to escape, and a teleporter that led to the inside of the building.
It was an awkward situation, Aphrodite had never really talked to The Major before, so they really just stood there in silence while waiting for Ava and Sylvie. The anxiousness was starting to build up inside of Aphrodite though, did they manage to unlock the system? Did they give control to mother like they promised?
More importantly, did they survive? Time was running out and they still hadn't made their way to the top.
Aphrodite glanced at The Major, she was looking into the distance, taking in the warmth of the setting sun. Honestly, it was a beautiful view, one that Aphrodite had seen at the sanctuary quite often, but... it was artificial. This Earth was in Jupiter, the sun was part of a solar skybox that reflected light. It wasn't what a real sunset on Earth would have looked like.
Still.
It really was beautiful.
And then the teleporter activated, Ava, carrying Sylvie's limp body, walked out.
Aphrodite stared at the two, when she realised what she was looking at, she immediately stiffened. Her eyes started to water, it couldn't be...
"N-no, Ava, don't tell me she- she's ok right? She's not..." Aphrodite started, but she trailed off as she saw a look of disdain in Ava's eyes. It wasn't just sadness, it was hate.
Either way, he completely ignored her and shuffled towards the ship. He carefully placed Sylvie's body inside and then walked back out.
He looked up at the sky.
"Ava?" asked Aphrodite again,
"Don't call me that." he muttered, "That's not who I am. And yes, she's dead."
"What?! No... no!" Aphrodite started to tremble.
Ava said no more and started to make his way back to the teleporter.
"Ava," Aphrodite cried, "where are you going?" the tears continued to flow, "what happened!?"
Ava ignored her for a while, but then he turned and faced her,
"There's a satellite on the asteroid belt isn't there? One that transmits signals to every Serv on Mars." and then faced the Major, "right?"
"That's right, but-" even the Major, with her steely demeanor, was faltering. She was having trouble processing Sylvie's death, and she too was confused about the way Ava was acting. But she was starting to clock on. She'd begun to realise that she wasn't talking to Ava. She was talking to the man behind Ava. A human.
"Ok." Ava muttered, "Take Sylvie back to Mars. I'm going to hack the teleporter and make it take me to the satellite."
Aphrodite stepped forward, she wiped the tears away and then widened her eyes,
"Why?" she asked, "why do you need to go there of all places?"
"Saori and I destroyed the network. Now I'm going to destroy all means of transmitting data to the Servs to make sure a system like this is never made again."
"Y-you what!?"
"I see," the Major added, "true independence for every Serv."
"I know you didn't order me to do that." Ava turned back to face the teleporter, "but-"
"But you don't care, do you? Because in your head you're not a Serv anymore, right?"
For a while, Ava didn't reply,
"Mother will use the network to revive mankind, and she'll undoubtedly continue to enslave the Serv with it, even if they don't know it. Saori and I decided that mankind didn't deserve another chance." he sighed, "I know that makes me a villain of sorts. But it's the choice we believed was right."
There was a silence. The warmth of the setting sun started to subside and it was beginning to get dark. The air was still, completely thin. Ava's footsteps were the only noise that was being made as he walked towards to the teleporter.
He placed his hand on the terminal and started to hack.
"Stop." said Aphrodite. She was clenching her fist, biting her lips. "Stop it Ava."
"I told you, I'm not Ava," Ava muttered lazily,
"Don't go to the satellite," Aphrodite said with a dark tone to her voice.
Ava ignored her, but he couldn't help but realise that she was acting out of character.
"What're you gonna do? Stop me? There's no guarantee that the artificial gravity or air on the asteroid will still be active. You might die." he shrugged, "follow me if you want though." he walked into the teleporter without a second thought.
And on the other side, there was nothing but an ocean of stars rotating around him. He'd instantly been taken to the massive rock that was floating through space. In the distance, he could see the silhouette of the transmission tower. It reached far into space, and was as black as coal due to the lack of light. One of the largest and most imposing structures he'd ever seen.
The teleporter itself had placed him on the roof of one of the old facilities surrounding the tower, most likely a building that was developed there back when the satellite was being made. Ava couldn't make out what it looked like, all he knew was that it was a four-story building, and the roof that he was standing on was metal.
The walk to the tower would probably be half an hour. Half an hour and then it'd be over, then he could just sit there, and think. One of the last humans alive.
He noticed the sound of the teleporter activating. Was Aphrodite really following him here? The oxygen levels of the atmosphere weren't high enough for a human to survive at all, nor was the temperature. She'd freeze to death.
Before Ava could do anything he noticed her walk out without any trouble at all. She didn't shiver, she didn't seem to be suffocating.
She was fine.
The look on her face as she stepped out was as dark as the sky itself. A look sadness that was sprinkled with deathly determination.
"What the hell are you doing here?" said Ava, "how are you surviving this!?" and why was she so desperate to stop him from destroying the tower?
"Ava. Why? Why'd you have to deviate from the plan?" tears started to form in Aphrodite's eyes once again, she pulled out what looked to be the Major's sword. "Why'd you have to make me do this?"
"Make you do what?" Ava didn't understand. How did Aphrodite manage to get a hold of the Major's sword? How was she surviving in space?
"Make me kill you. I'm going to kill you Ava." said Aphrodite.