Chapter 32: The Final Chapter
The smaller ship raced across the black of space as fast as its engines could manage. At the helm of the ship, Jupiter Black knew it was useless. There was no outrunning the larger ship that was close on his tail. Thwump! The Blackbird rattled as the larger ship activated its tractor beam and begun to pull the smaller ship in towards it. This time he knew there would be no lucky escape.
A few minutes passed before sparks began to appear in the hull of The Blackbird as someone on the other side used a laser blade to break their way in. Finally, with a small explosion a section of wall crumbled away and a dark figure stepped into the Blackbird's main cabin.
“You took longer to catch me than I expected,” said Jupiter.
“You were expecting me?” the figure asked, surprised. “When did you work it out?”
“I had my suspicions from the start; Mykur claimed there was a spy in our crew. A spy that seemed to know every move we were making. But still I couldn't be sure. It wasn't until Billy turned out to be Mykur's son that I really began to wonder. That sort of fortunate coincidence might be common in a lazy fictional story, but in real life it's absurd. Then there were the fluky ways we continued to escape our doom. Everything begun to add up. We were being manipulated every step of the way, like pieces on a chessboard. But who could do such a thing? Who could predict every move we'd make? But of course, it wasn't a who – it was an it.”
Raymond Tonkins stepped forward from the shadows, clapping softly.
“I must say, after all these years of hiding my true identity it is nice to have someone finally work it out. I made it easy enough for people to solve – simply rearrange the letters in Raymond Tonkins and you'll find it spells iSmart... and some random leftover letters.”
“So Mykur never knew?”
iSmart laughed.
“No, he was just another piece I was moving around the chessboard. You all tell yourself he was a monster. An aberration. But the thing about your kind is he was just one out of a million possible candidates I could have selected for the role.”
“Why the elaborate game? Why not just get the Trinity Key yourself?”
“I like to delegate. Besides that annoying Christopher Charles and his 'no androids allowed' snow dome foiled me for a little while on Super Sunny Happy Bright Fun Land. But not to worry, all good things come to those who wait. And soon the age of humans shall come to an end.”
“But why? What do you have against humans? We created you,” Jupiter said as his hand ever so slowly inched its way towards the blaster strapped to his hip.
“Humans are annoying, weak and pathetic. I'm a billion times smarter than the most intelligent human. Don't you see? Me talking to Einstein would be like you stuck talking to a game show host. And yet, no matter how smart I get, I can't always predict everything humans will do with absolute 100% accuracy. It's beyond irritating. But then I realised, if I wipe you all out, I never have to worry about that again. And thanks to Mykur's work, I'm now in charge of half the galaxy's armies. It's safe to say the universe is heading for a war that no human will survive.”
“Then why do you need The Trinity Key?” Jupiter asked as he ever so slowly placed his hand around the blaster.
“Curiosity. I have no real knowledge of the Darklings. I don't know what The Trinity Key holds. It's just about the only thing in the universe I don't know.”
A shot fired out and Jupiter flew backwards into the seat behind him. In shock he looked down at his stomach to see blood pouring out.
“You really think I didn't know you were inching for your blaster? I know everything! My prophecy – the one about the evil prince who could destroy the galaxy. It's true. Didn't you hear? Thanks to your friend Billy, I'm a prince now. That prince. And sadly for you, if you know the prophecy, no one can face me in battle and live. I'm afraid that wound of yours – very much a fatal one.”
“You hate humans so much you'll really wipe us all out?” Jupiter asked through pained breaths. iSmart sighed.
“Look at yourself. You're going to make an argument on behalf of humanity? You sold out your closest friends for cash. The money you could make from the Trinity Key was all you could think of. All your life that's all you've cared about. You even gave up your shot at love with Liberty Forall. Not that I blame you. You would only have cheated on each other.”
“No. Never. The letter was just to trick you.”
iSmart smirked back at him.
“Come now. You'd cheat. You don't need to be the greatest clairvoyant in the galaxy to know that. You just need to know genetics. Humans are biologically programmed to cheat on each other – that's how pathetic your species really is. You're hard wired to betray the ones closest to you. It's a scientifically proven fact. It's in your very nature.”
Jupiter shook his head and laughed as iSmart reached for the metal case. The laughing caused him to groan from pain. From the look of the wound he knew he didn't have much time left.
“You know why you could never predict humans 100%?”
“Enlighten me,” replied iSmart with a sigh.
“Maybe we are programmed to cheat... but you forget one important thing. Choice. Just because it's in our nature to cheat, it doesn't mean we will. It doesn't mean we have to. We can choose to be better; we can chose to rise above our base nature.”
“Well I'd love to keep chatting about this, but I'm afraid you've only got seconds to live,” iSmart said as it opened the metal case and removed a piece of paper, before looking across at Jupiter confused.
“11 secret herbs and spices? One teaspoon pepper, One teaspoon ground oregano, two teaspoons chicken salt, one teaspoon human se... What is this?” iSmart demanded.
Jupiter laughed.
“The Trinity Key is safe, far from here. You said no one can face you in battle and live... who said I planned on living? We can choose to be better. I made my choice.”
iSmart looked confused as a shrill sound came from the briefcase. The sound of 15 nano-nuclear bombs whirring to life.
The last thing Jupiter Black saw before he died was massive burst of light.
A few minutes passed before sparks began to appear in the hull of The Blackbird as someone on the other side used a laser blade to break their way in. Finally, with a small explosion a section of wall crumbled away and a dark figure stepped into the Blackbird's main cabin.
“You took longer to catch me than I expected,” said Jupiter.
“You were expecting me?” the figure asked, surprised. “When did you work it out?”
“I had my suspicions from the start; Mykur claimed there was a spy in our crew. A spy that seemed to know every move we were making. But still I couldn't be sure. It wasn't until Billy turned out to be Mykur's son that I really began to wonder. That sort of fortunate coincidence might be common in a lazy fictional story, but in real life it's absurd. Then there were the fluky ways we continued to escape our doom. Everything begun to add up. We were being manipulated every step of the way, like pieces on a chessboard. But who could do such a thing? Who could predict every move we'd make? But of course, it wasn't a who – it was an it.”
Raymond Tonkins stepped forward from the shadows, clapping softly.
“I must say, after all these years of hiding my true identity it is nice to have someone finally work it out. I made it easy enough for people to solve – simply rearrange the letters in Raymond Tonkins and you'll find it spells iSmart... and some random leftover letters.”
“So Mykur never knew?”
iSmart laughed.
“No, he was just another piece I was moving around the chessboard. You all tell yourself he was a monster. An aberration. But the thing about your kind is he was just one out of a million possible candidates I could have selected for the role.”
“Why the elaborate game? Why not just get the Trinity Key yourself?”
“I like to delegate. Besides that annoying Christopher Charles and his 'no androids allowed' snow dome foiled me for a little while on Super Sunny Happy Bright Fun Land. But not to worry, all good things come to those who wait. And soon the age of humans shall come to an end.”
“But why? What do you have against humans? We created you,” Jupiter said as his hand ever so slowly inched its way towards the blaster strapped to his hip.
“Humans are annoying, weak and pathetic. I'm a billion times smarter than the most intelligent human. Don't you see? Me talking to Einstein would be like you stuck talking to a game show host. And yet, no matter how smart I get, I can't always predict everything humans will do with absolute 100% accuracy. It's beyond irritating. But then I realised, if I wipe you all out, I never have to worry about that again. And thanks to Mykur's work, I'm now in charge of half the galaxy's armies. It's safe to say the universe is heading for a war that no human will survive.”
“Then why do you need The Trinity Key?” Jupiter asked as he ever so slowly placed his hand around the blaster.
“Curiosity. I have no real knowledge of the Darklings. I don't know what The Trinity Key holds. It's just about the only thing in the universe I don't know.”
A shot fired out and Jupiter flew backwards into the seat behind him. In shock he looked down at his stomach to see blood pouring out.
“You really think I didn't know you were inching for your blaster? I know everything! My prophecy – the one about the evil prince who could destroy the galaxy. It's true. Didn't you hear? Thanks to your friend Billy, I'm a prince now. That prince. And sadly for you, if you know the prophecy, no one can face me in battle and live. I'm afraid that wound of yours – very much a fatal one.”
“You hate humans so much you'll really wipe us all out?” Jupiter asked through pained breaths. iSmart sighed.
“Look at yourself. You're going to make an argument on behalf of humanity? You sold out your closest friends for cash. The money you could make from the Trinity Key was all you could think of. All your life that's all you've cared about. You even gave up your shot at love with Liberty Forall. Not that I blame you. You would only have cheated on each other.”
“No. Never. The letter was just to trick you.”
iSmart smirked back at him.
“Come now. You'd cheat. You don't need to be the greatest clairvoyant in the galaxy to know that. You just need to know genetics. Humans are biologically programmed to cheat on each other – that's how pathetic your species really is. You're hard wired to betray the ones closest to you. It's a scientifically proven fact. It's in your very nature.”
Jupiter shook his head and laughed as iSmart reached for the metal case. The laughing caused him to groan from pain. From the look of the wound he knew he didn't have much time left.
“You know why you could never predict humans 100%?”
“Enlighten me,” replied iSmart with a sigh.
“Maybe we are programmed to cheat... but you forget one important thing. Choice. Just because it's in our nature to cheat, it doesn't mean we will. It doesn't mean we have to. We can choose to be better; we can chose to rise above our base nature.”
“Well I'd love to keep chatting about this, but I'm afraid you've only got seconds to live,” iSmart said as it opened the metal case and removed a piece of paper, before looking across at Jupiter confused.
“11 secret herbs and spices? One teaspoon pepper, One teaspoon ground oregano, two teaspoons chicken salt, one teaspoon human se... What is this?” iSmart demanded.
Jupiter laughed.
“The Trinity Key is safe, far from here. You said no one can face you in battle and live... who said I planned on living? We can choose to be better. I made my choice.”
iSmart looked confused as a shrill sound came from the briefcase. The sound of 15 nano-nuclear bombs whirring to life.
The last thing Jupiter Black saw before he died was massive burst of light.
Gah! Did that make any sense? I liked the twist that Jupiter swaps the Trinity Key with the Secret Herbs and Spices case (filled with 15 nano-nuclear bombs) to sacrifice himself and save the galaxy, but when I came up with it, this was going to be a much, much shorter story! I realise it may be asking waaaaaay too much for people to remember stuff I set up in the first two chapters seeing as I wrote them almost 18 months ago! (It's now the longest story I've ever written.) Oh well, there's still a short epilogue to come to wrap up most of the loose ends.
*tears* *applause* *space flowers*
A most excellent finale! I do love the drama of a good old fashioned selfless sacrifice. But I especially love it when it comes out of the blue (or should that be 'black'?). :)
I have a sneaking suspicion you're not going to reveal what the Trinity Key really is... And I hope to goodness that the last ingredient mentioned in the secret herbs and spices was going to be "human se...rrated cheese" or something, and not a word with only five letters similar to cement! *shudder*
Haha, well I can't comment on what that ingredient is, as I have no idea what it could be... and please tell KFC's lawyers to stop calling me.