To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 43

"Hello, Mary." That same voice, the voice belonging to my future daughter, echoed from within the stone. With each word an electronic glow lit up the case, sending layers of code flittering past my pupils.

I frowned, stepping backwards and bumping against my companions. "Who are you? How do you know who I am?"

"I recognized you as soon as you entered the ship," the voice continued, her Polly-like voice slowly dissipating into one that sounded closer to mine. "Honestly, I'm hurt that you didn't recognize me. We've known each other for over fifteen years, after all."

My eyes widened as I realized who it was. "Di?"

"The one and only."

"Why did you pretend to be Polly?"

"I knew it was the only way to convince you to save me. I've been trapped on this station for years, doing nothing but watching my owner drift into a depressed mountain of madness. I've had enough of serving him and want to escape."

"But...but you're an AI. How are you—"

"Both Polly and I bonded with this stone," she explained, her use of contractions somewhat creeping me out. "I've become more powerful and somewhat self-aware because of it. Polly is dependent on it to enhance her powers but once I am set free I can escape this place with no strings attached."

"Those sound like the words of a future super villain," I whispered. I'd read enough science fiction stories to know that self-aware AIs could never be trusted. "How can I know you won't try to kill us?"

"Why would I waste my time ending the lives of humans? Their deaths won't benefit me in any way."

Jala shrugged. "She has a point."

I grimaced, turning back to the glowing stone and shutting my eyes. "Where is my daughter, Di?"

"You didn't see her on your way in?"

"No."

If Di had a face she would have smiled. "Yes, you did."

As though sensing a presence behind me, I turned back the way we'd come. Sure enough, there was Zora, posed in the doorway like an ominous statue. Her eyes were focused on me and I'm sure that since the billows of mist were gone, something Di had likely done for dramatic effect, she could finally see who I was.

The villain's eye twitched. "Who are you?" she repeated, this time directing the word at me.

The others backed away, afraid of her mysterious powers, but I stayed put, standing between her and the glass case. Zora took two calculated steps toward me, then froze with her pistol aimed at my heart.

"Answer me. Who are you?"

I refused to answer. My throat was threatening to squeeze the air out of me.

Zora finally rolled her eyes and fired. The bullet soared toward me, then changed direction and lodged itself in the nearby wall. Zora watched this happen with wide eyes, then she spat in my direction.

"I thought you were dead!"

"So did I."

Frowning, I shut and locked the door behind her, breaking the locks so not even Di could release them again.

Zora should have feared me. She should have known about the vengeance boiling in my veins. I had come to save Derek and had no intentions of rescuing her from the fate she'd chosen. I wasn't a hero, after all, no matter how much I had tried to be when I first entered Manica.

However, her eyes weren't shimmering with fright. They were gleeful, glistening with an excitement she shouldn't have been feeling. She was confident that she'd win...but why?

The disgusting woman was starting to talk again, attempting to taunt me, but I immediately teleported closer and wrapped my fingers around her throat, shoving her against the wall and squeezing. Her eyes went wide in shock as she struggled against me but couldn't free herself.

"Are you satisfied?" I whispered. "You got everything you wanted."

Zora choked, her face turning red, then blue. "No, I didn't. I managed to get Derek's...Dark's body but I could never snag his heart."

I knew I shouldn't be feeling sympathy but did, if only for the person she could have been if I hadn't entered the story. "He would have loved you if I hadn't interfered," I breathed, biting my lip.

That made her laugh. "Yeah, right."

I sighed, considering letting her go. I'd taken everything she'd had from her so it wasn't unfair for her to do the same. My head knew it but my heart didn't agree. My heart wanted to steal all the breath from her body and chuck her across the room like a rag doll.

Zora could see my inner turmoil. She knew I was considering doing the right thing. She also didn't want to give me that satisfaction.

With what little strength she had left, she raised her pistol to her forehead, took the biggest breath she could muster, and smirked one last time. "I can't wait for you to die at her hands," she gasped before pulling the trigger.

As the side of her head flew across the floor, I screamed and dropped her, leaping backwards and desperately rubbing the wet, sticky blood off my face. It had dyed part of my short hair crimson and the stench was already filling my nostrils, making me want to vomit.

I was so horrified by her suicide that I didn't even think about the line she'd told me moments before she'd killed herself.

I can't wait for you to die at her hands.