Paradigm Shift

Chapter 11

Her world flashed in the eyes of the beast, a short flash of death, but before her heart was impaled, it's claws were ripped off. As the dust blew away, it gave way to Artemis holding its pinchers to the side, battling with the scorpion.

A fail swoop of its stinger aimed at Artemis before it punctured the lively skin, but it missed, and as the scorpion retracted its tail, Artemis pulled out his knife and stabbed the damn thing, once, twice, three times—all the while he stayed silent as he watched the soul of the animal whither away with each jab of his knife—his eyes full of hatred. . .and burning emotion. . .

When the legs failed, and the scorpion crunched onto the ground, Artemis stabbed one last time into the abdomen and raked the knife across its scaly body to the tip of its head, creating deep lacerations and cutting off its pedipalps.

He looked up, expecting to see his father ecstatic and praise his son, and he did, Peter Watson looked happy and proud.

Behind Artemis, a beautiful angel grew her wings and sailed with the constellations into the sky where she and the scorpion would reside happily ever after together in peace, overlooking the universe with bright and determined eyes.

"I did it!" Doctor Watson said, praising himself. He bent down to the black dead remains of the scorpion and said, "you've served me well, son, you've slain the human beast she was."

Artemis's eyes burned with anger and sadness: he had never felt betrayal like this before.

"What. . .did. . .you. . .say?" His voice box sounded rough and low, and his eyebrows turned downward, menacingly.

"Arty, my boy," Peter said cautiously, "you know I loved you," Watson began to back up, slowly, "you know how much I've cared for you," Doctor Watson tripped over his own footing as he was shadowed by Artemis, "I'm your father!" The doctor gasped as his life oozed out of him with every ounce of blood that escaped through the hole in his heart.

"All you ever were to me was my master."

The frail old man muttered over and over again, "but I loved him, I loved him, I truly did."

Artemis turned to the pile of dead bodies surrounding him and recited:

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Work, ye Mighty, and despair!" He chuckled at the irony, mocking his father's lack of achievements.

—-

As the two searched for a perfect rock to mark the graves, they found George Smith crushed by a fallen bolder.

"The thing he loved most was what ended up killing him in the end." Taylor shook his head in remorse, and covered the head with Artemis' jacket.

. . .

"Samuel," Artemis slowly asked. Together, Taylor and Artemis stood above the two graves of Celene and Doctor Peter Watson.

"Yes?"

"You still have those blueprints of me?" Artemis looked to Taylor.

"I do," Taylor turned about, rotating his hip from side to side. "Why?" He curiously, thus inevitably dangerously, asked.

Artemis paused, turned back to the graves; "I want you to disassemble me."

"Why?"

"I think it's for the best. . .I'll help you start the ship on our way back home, but, I want to feel the same feeling I did when father put me to sleep, except, with out the dreams. . ."

"Of course: whatever pleases you."

Artemis turned to Taylor as Taylor turned to Artemis, "there's just one thing I wish to do first."

—-

Before Artemis was disassembled, Taylor recoded him to be his innocent self, wiping everything that was in his memory and anything tied to his emotions. Yet, before the android was turned off, Artemis helped Taylor into a cryogenic tube, and was put to sleep indefinitely.

"Goodnight, Samuel, sweet dreams." Artemis muttered before he wiped the last of his memory and unscrewed each screw until he was just a pile of body parts, and with the last of his remaining power, Artemis positioned his so when he fell, his switch would be flipped, and he powered down.

The whirring fan slowed until it stopped; the sound echoing in the room before all went silent,