POV-Bane

We're free.

Yeah, way to go Alex…

You're free.

Not me.

Not by that hungry-for-answers-stare that you kept giving me…ALL ALONG

I sat near the bonfire on the main deck, whistling a random tune waiting for dinner until it became smoky, dry and crispy.

Alex popped his head out of the hatch inside the wheel house and jumped down to join me on the deck, trailing a line wire and a grappling hook behind him. Personally, I admired his silent as a cat technique—sign of countless training—but, the suit is giving all sort of electrical signals for my snout. I could detect him even three floors away.

Bah! I shouldn't underestimate him. He's still preforming above my expectation considering his damaged power core and a cracked leaky helmet. After that stunt that saved my life down there, I'm quite willing to patch him up…as long as he asked me, nicely. I wonder what kind of military background he had until the butler called him 'Elite'. He must be one of those hush-hush spec ops top brass.

I sighed. I think the time has come for me to shed some light on him. I can't just leave him in the dark. Not forever, not for long. Besides, I…Nah, just drop that weird thought. Bane, you have made your bed, and now *sigh* you must lie on it.

Ugh, how do I get into this 20 questions situation again? Considering my size, it is ironic that I feel like a microbe under a lens of a microscope. All the eyepiece need is just the right shade of light and maybe some iodine…and then all my secrets are spilled to the world.

Alex sat beside me, casually retracting his armour plate by plate, revealing his sweaty, delicious body that glistened in the graceful shade of light from dancing flame. I secretly stared, enjoying the eye candy, pretending that everything is part of the scenery as Alex produced a handheld device recovered from the safe and turned it on. The British butler AI winked to life.

POV- Jerrod, the AI

“Memory recovered. My name is Jerrod. How might I be of service, sir?"

“I want a mission report. Everything important." Alex said.

I assumed an officious pose, extended a hand to indicate a holographic projector on Alex's gauntlet. “I think it would be beneficially good for us to use that to maintain security and confidentiality of data."

But while my avatar appeared calm and collected, my logic quickly turned towards the backup data recovered in the safe and lashed out with multiple decryption programs before my emotional-restraint algorithm could intercede.

\\>RV 43-3. AI. JERROD >> CODEX_BACKUP  <\Password?   >RAGNAROK  <\Access Granted…Decrypting  \.  \..  \...

I accessed, compiled, rearranged and streamed the data chronologically before filtering away junk data, duplicates, fragmenting errors in my main memory matrix before enslaving the process to filter subroutines in my secondary and tertiary memory. As a third generation AI, I am used to multitasking and prefer to both simultaneously operate and observe my clustered thought processors to maximise efficiency. The whole process revealed itself as a filtering matrix identical to a coin sorter machine. I watched in fascination of my own efficiency as each 'coin' drop into their own assigned 'slots'.

I noticed a bundle of attached files slowing my secondary memory and decide to analyse it using my core self.

\\DR DALA – NOTES#3286 <span class="redactor-invisible-space"> </span>\ [Entry 01] >>THIS ISLAND SEEMED TO BE AN ANOMALY, ITS MINERAL COMPOSITION IS MOSTLY INFLUENCED BY IGNEOUS ROCKS PRIMARILY EXTRUSIVE  IGNEOUS ROCKS DUE TO VOLCANIC ACTIVITY AT THE CENTER OF THE ISLAND  BUT… IT SEEMED TO BE COMING FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE. <span class="redactor-invisible-space"> \ [Entry 02] ></span>NAH, AN ISLAND CAN'T MOVE, CAN IT? I SHOULD PROBABLY CONSIDER TECTONIC PLATES <span class="redactor-invisible-space"> \ [Entry 03] ></span>||ATTACHED FILE >Rock Samples_1.img; Rock Samples_2.img….>| <span class="redactor-invisible-space"> </span>\END-OF-FILE_

I found a lot of similar files with increased usage of the word 'weird' and 'anomaly' regarding the origin of the island...and…a mysterious creature.

I opened Ben zoology labelled files and found a heap load of recently logged blurry videos, mysterious footprints…

Wait a second…

A…quite shocking feedback flashed like a lightning bolt through my thought processing cycle, a sudden realisation.

That can't be…?

I halted my entire background task directory and focused all my processing power to recheck my algorithms. All running debug routines returned null values. No error found. So…it's true…

It's Bane!

I still can't believe myself as that thought echoed through my thought processing cycles.

He is the mysterious creature inhabiting this island…and also the one who shot EMP on tight beam range towards a USAF fighter squadron… I feel my processor core warmed up as I identified him as a-

“Which port?" Alex asked.

“Uhh…number #4502, decryption key INDIGO please." My avatar responded. The whole process took only a few seconds. I took a few nanoseconds to re-stabilise my core and decide it is better for my new user, Alex to determine necessary course of action. Meanwhile, I stealthily flashed through the armament system available on this ship, powered an array of harpoon launchers mounted on a nearby hard point and devised my own pre-locked targeting algorithm…just in case.

Now, it's my time to wait and see…

POV-Alex

I hovered my hand on the display and tapped the backup file icon. A single laser line scanned my face and focused on my retina, displaying 3 Eyes-Only Clearance top secrets feeds to me and only me.

I looked at one of the feed and felt my breath caught in my throat… The visual was blurry and shaky at first before I saw… Me, inside Cobra One. Flying in a high Immelmann turn followed by a tight corkscrew dive re-engaging The Mother…before…a blue invisible false coloured beam hit me from ground-side and the plane tumbled out of the sky. I saw silhouettes of a few scientists gasping on the deck as they saw an entire USAF wing getting torn apart in front of their eyes. Whoever that's holding the spectrometer camera turned away as a few bright orange flash blurred the lens…before the spectrometer tinged everything red-purple—sign of potentially fatal radiation in the air as the stealth planes turned into fiery miniature suns.

A single ground based beam caused this…BLUE beam… Blue, false colour for electrons based energy signature. It's a directed electron pulse beam… No, correction: directed EMP (electromagnetic pulse) which explained my total (usually fatal) ejection failure.

The feed ended and was replaced with another one… It's a telemetry recording from an airborne surveillance drone, buzzing through the jungle with its three rotors. The HUD was almost similar to my helmet's flight vector display. The drone stopped near a river bank and attached itself to a tree. About 20 meters away, there's a bunker slit window wedged inside a mountain. The drone zoomed its camera and… I saw familiar faces…firing their guns at a single target. It's my squadron… three of them, fighting against… the view shifted to another figure… What the? OH MY GOD! Holy…that can't be?!!

IT'S BANE! IT'S HIM!!!...But, instead of the usual grey shark guy… This THING is different. His body is glowing red, radiating plasma…which seemed to disintegrate bullets before it even touched his skin… His spine protrudes through his bloody flesh forming lethal looking spike that is actively radiating heat and OH GOD! His face! His eyes are white soulless eyes and his mouth is wide open extending his teeth outward as he let out a horrifying near-ultrasonic roar. The roar paralysed one of my crew… Bane grabbed him and… I… I just hoped that his death was quick. The video ended when my crew used explosive to bury the entrance, the resulting shockwave destroyed the camera.

My BIO monitor registered a spike in my blood pressure as Bane approached me. I thumbed off the safety switch of my pistol.

“Alex, I…I could explain…" he said.

“Explain what?" I said through gritted teeth. I steeled my voice despite my misty eyes. The blood and gore made me want to puke.

“Sargent, now!" Jerrod gave me a hint and flashed an info about harpoon guns on my HUD.

I made a split second decision to level my gun with The Shark's head, which he swiftly blocked using his hand and launched a sharp kick from the opposite side.

He quickly stepped back, dodging my leg and took out his sawn off shotgun, ready to fire. But, before he could do that, I used my remaining momentum to spin and launched a twin 360 kicks knocking off his weapon, and knocking him off balance.

Before he could recover, three harpoons flew through the air from the starboard side of the ship, stabbed through him, and impaled him against a metal wall.

He let out a strangled yelp as his wounds start to bleed. " What...have...you.....d-done?" he muttered those words through gritted teeth, before the resulting shock and pain drove him unconscious.

"Ask yourself, you monster!" I took one last look at his limp bloodied form before sealing up my helmet, and jumping off the ship.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..............................................................................................................................................................

I ran inside the jungle at my top speed. My raging breath felt a bit cold against my reddened face as I fought off the emotional urge to burst into tears. I never thought that Bane could be such an…animal… He had such a sweet naive smile… I closed my eyes and brushed away the mental photo of him and requested a rough map of this island on my retina.

“Sir, are you okay?" Jerrod voice whispered inside my helmet. “From my position, I could sense elevated sign of stress from your body temperature, vasodilation-"

“Jerrod, shut up." I said as I pulled his cylindrical form from my belt pouch. “You're not helping… Just power down…and give me some time alone…" I sighed to myself as I threw Jerrod into my backpack. They say that time is a good healer. I wonder if time is good enough to heal a broken heart…