AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Wrong. You don't control me, you need me. The Brain doesn't work without me, does it? That's why you needed to use magics to get me here."
A furrow forms just above Sefton's nose, like he doesn't understand what I just said. I'm sure he does. It's more likely that he refuses to accept it.
"You don't have the thought capacity to understand," he says. "Soon, you will be entangled with the machine, and you won't care about petty concerns any longer."
"Why don't you just tell me your evil plan and get it over with?" I'm getting sick of listening to his insults and arrogance. From what I've heard, the real Sefton behaved the same way. So I guess this version of him inherited all the characteristics of his whackjob original.
Entangled Sefton only matters to me because he seems to have control over my body. Once I find a way to break free, I'll scatter his quantum ass into the galactic void. I have no idea if such a thing exists, but I don't care. Screw the scientific terminology. I refuse to become the human puppet of a mad man's ghost.
But I am his puppet right now. Not for long, though.
Sarah and I used our shared Echo power to do a lot of things, like reading the hidden messages in the journal and teleporting our backpacks to us. She managed to teleport both of us and Aldith too. If I can tap into that shared power, maybe I can break free of the machine.
Or at least control it.
Sefton glances at my body and winces. "I wish the machine would allow you to be covered. I dislike seeing unclothed humans."
"You'd be cool with unclothed Echo creatures, then, eh?"
He scowls. "No."
I wonder if the real Sefton had a hang-up about nudity, but that's not important right now. "Go on, tell me your evil plan. I know you're dying to share."
"There is no 'evil' plan. I intend to fulfill Sefton's wishes. He orchestrated the entire plan to create the Echo and initiate the apocalypse, but Dax and Allison circumvented the final chapter. Now that I have the energy provided by your flesh and mind, I may restart the terminal phase."
"You mean the alchemy of souls."
"How does a brute like you know about that? It's beyond the scope of your puny mind to understand it."
Yeah, I can see why Dax snapped his brother's neck. Even the quantum shadow of Sefton is damn annoying and arrogant as hell. Of course, Dax didn't kill his brother for that reason. He did it because Sefton murdered Allison. Thank goodness that girl Willow was able to bring her back. If anything like that happened to Sarah…
I'd rip the throats out of every Echo creature in this room, then I'd find a way to destroy quantum Sefton—and make it hurt like hell.
The only reason I'm listening to him is so I can figure out what he intends to do and how I can stop him.
"Don't you want to tell me all about your grand plan?" I ask. "You know, so I can be awed by your genius."
"Be as sarcastic as you like. It won't save you."
"I'm serious about wanting to hear your plan. If I'm a part of it, I'd like to know what to expect." I try to push against my bindings, but I can't move even one millimeter. "See? I can't escape. Might as well share your ideas. Not like I can tell anybody about it."
"Surprisingly, you've made a good point. Perhaps I will share my plans with you. Saying it out loud is a fine way to hash out a plan."
I didn't really expect him to agree with me, so yeah, I'm feeling proud of myself for tricking him that way. But since I'm still glued to a machine, maybe I shouldn't congratulate myself yet.
Sefton freezes, like a computer that just got unplugged. He doesn't breathe, doesn't move, doesn't blink. Then he abruptly comes back to life. "I am afraid I can't explain right now. I need to deal with another issue first."
He vanishes.
The creatures positioned around the perimeter of the room remain perfectly still, though not as immobile as Sefton had been a moment ago. They make tiny movements, like blinking or minutely twitching a finger, while Sefton seemed as immobile as a statue. That suggests to me that he isn't a living being, but some sort of magical construct designed to act out the desires of the Brain and its machine. Is the Brain separate from the machine? I wish Sarah were here to talk about this with me. I think better when she's beside me.
Yeah, we're a good team. More than a team, actually. We fit together like we were designed for each other. Or maybe destined. I never used to believe in that shit, but now I know it's true.
I wonder if I could summon Sarah here.
No, I won't do that, even if I knew how. She's safer in the normal world than here in the Echo. I'd rather die strapped to this fucking machine than endanger her. But I've still got magics, right? I need to figure out a way to use that to stop the machine.
The creatures begin to moan and grunt, but they still don't move.
