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“Oh, you sure?” Anton snarls. “Because someone helped Ingram escape the Enclave after I shot him. I’m guessing it was the two of you. Fuck off. You’re getting what you deserve.”
Howling, Colette pulls Jamison tight to her body. He rubs her back, his lips trembling as tears wet his cheeks. He shakes his head.
“Please, disable the chips,” he says. “We’ll get through to Ingram, I promise.”
“No, you won’t,” Anton replies. “His mind is made up, and you know it.”
He’s not wrong. Anton has to pay for what he’s done. I won’t bend on this. I’ll let all the Masters die if that’s the cost of stopping him. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing I can do.
I grab Anton and punch him hard in the stomach. He doubles over, a hollow gasp escaping his lips.
“Disable the implants,” I say. “Now.”
He laughs.
“Make me.”
I take his hand and bend back his pinkie until I feel it snap. Anton screams.
“Say it.”
“No.”
His ring finger breaks with an audible crack. He howls.
“Say it!”
Anton cackles, shaking his head.
“Not a chance.”
I punch him in his already bruised face.
“I will make your death very fucking painful, Anton.”
“You’re going to do that anyway, aren’t you?” he replies.
Sneering, I pound his kidneys until his eyes water.
“Are you… keeping track… of the time?” he asks.
I turn to Jamison and Colette. They hug, whispering in each other’s ears. Both shed tears. Jamison smiles sadly, and I can read the word okay on his lips.
Jamison has no doubt known the end was near for him, once Anton implanted that chip. He’s had time to make peace. For decades he enjoyed a life few could even imagine, with the love of his life at his side. We should all be so lucky.
“I’m sorry, Jamison,” I say. “I wanted to help you. But Anton has to die.”
He flicks his eyes to me, a fury in them asking for retribution. However, he doesn’t speak, his last words reserved for Colette’s ears only.
“I love you,” she says to him. “I love you, I love you, I-”
Then it happens.
Some of the Masters slump over, foaming at the mouth. A few necks rupture, like Sidney Traves’ did, spraying blood everywhere. In the distance, Lewis Croft collapses. I watch Jamison, hoping Anton gave him a painless death. However, nothing happens to him. He stands there, waiting. He watches, confused, as his colleagues die — then Colette’s feet give out from under her, and she nearly falls out of his grasp.
“No!” Jamison says, pulling her back up. “No, no no!”
He shakes her as if it could wake her up, but her limp body doesn’t respond.
