Chapter 3: The Transfer

"Incoming!" Shouts from the hallway. John and Aaron, along with other personnel, immediately duck down. A single bullet pierces from behind Dr. Avaline and grazes his dark, grey hair. He's unfazed, his body stands still, and his eyes focus on the figure in front.

"Go buy me some time, Aaron." Dr. Avaline says.

"Doctor! I know you have some issues to sort out. But now is not the time for that!" Aaron responds.

"You don't understand, Aaron. She will not come here unprepared. Whatever she's hiding will be enough to kill us all. Unless I learn what it is and how to defuse it. We will all be dead."

John hesitates no further and says: "We will do our best!"

He slams his right fist onto his chest. All other men follow suits. They quickly bow down to Dr. Avaline and return to the hallway, keeping on fighting against the assailants.

Aaron looks back one more time and says: "Good luck, Doctor!"

Dr. Avaline smirks slightly and signals Aaron to believe in him.

"You look well." Dr. Avaline says.

"You abandoned me!" The pink-haired girl shouts.

"I did."

"You betrayed our love!"

"I did."

"Stupid Doctor Avaline. For all your intelligence, you don't even ask your subordinate for a gun." Alice points the handgun at him. "How will you stop me now? How will you save them now?"

"I need no guns." Dr. Avaline says calmly. He slowly walks toward Alice with his hands stretched out, clearly showing the emptiness of his palm. His steps are solid and strong, as if there is no injury on his thigh, and they echo rhythmically, like a drum's low thud.

He did not say the full sentences. I need no guns to deal with you.

"After Santa Coloma, I was looking for you. But you were not intended to be found." Dr. Avaline continues to approach Alice.

"One more step and I will send you to god." Alice raises the barrel and aims at Dr. Avaline's head.

He immediately stands still. He knows what this girl is capable of. She will not hesitate to kill him.

"Are you still upset that I chose my work over you?" Dr. Avaline whispers. His voice is elusive like the wind.

"Upset? I loathe you, Curio Avaline. How much did I give you? My talent, my resources, my connections. But then what? Of all the things I sacrificed for you, you threw me away like trash."

"And how much did you receive in return? You were pardoned by the Congress. Despite the countless bodies you left behind. You became one of the most respected women on Earth. All those enemies that want to get rid of you. I took care of them all!" Unexpectedly, Dr. Avaline raises his voice and becomes just as enraged as Alice. It's as if she is looking at a mirror.

The tone takes her aback a little, distracting her mind. She does not notice that he discreetly continues to close the distance between them.

"I don't care about those things. I want one thing and one thing only." Emotional as she is, Alice is still able to keep a cold facade.

"And you did get it, my love. Even if it has ended." Dr. Avaline's expression turns sharp like a knife, his cold stare piercing through Alice's charade. "But that wasn't enough for you. You want me to marry you. And to abandon all of my accomplishments and friends. And to do what? To come and live with you under a wooden cabin?"

"What is wrong with that?!" Alice screams at the top of her lungs. "This world is sick. It's filled with evil and filth. Why would you even want to live in it? If you were to come with me. We could have lived a quiet, peaceful life. We wouldn't have to worry about anything. No one to chase us, no one to harm us. No one to stab us behind our backs."

Dr. Avaline stays silent. In the end, she still doesn't understand. Alice's experiences cause her to be on guard with everyone and everything. A tragic childhood, combined with a deceitful and vicious upbringing, has forged a woman that despises this world.

Her dream is to live in the middle of nowhere, without anyone to bother her. She doesn't understand that Dr. Avaline loves this filthy world. He loves to play the game and win. He's thriving in this ongoing chaos of blood and lies.

Alice, on the other hand, does not want to play. She only wants to find a small, quiet corner in the world and spend the rest of her day with her loved one, uneventfully.

They learnt about their differences, eventually. Dr. Avaline suggested that they separate in peace. Alice, however, did not take it well.

"It must end right here. You wronged me, so I will wrong you." Alice mumbles to herself. She drops her right arm slightly, the one that is holding the gun.

Rapid footsteps emit. She snaps back to reality and raises the gun in panic. Dr. Avaline is already too close, he slaps her gun to the side. His other hand opens wide and strikes a perfect straight line aimed at the groove between Alice's upper lip and nose.

She immediately falls on her butt. Blood spurts out from her nostrils, the sharp pain in the lower face causing a daze that is hard to recover quickly.

Dr. Avaline immediately settles onto her waist in a mount position, effectively pinning her.

Excessive blood flows down her throat, entering her windpipe and causing her to choke on the red liquid. She coughs out blood repeatedly. Dr. Avaline holds this position, his eyes as cold and dark as the night.

Alice lets out an unhinged laugh with all the blood mixed with her perfectly white teeth.

"As expected of… Cough… Cough… Doctor Curio Avaline. You did not hesitate to harm a woman." Alice says. "He was right about you. You don't care about anyone. You only care about yourself."

Dr. Avaline smiles and says: "He? So it is a man who sent you here."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Alice's expression turns cold.

"You don't know how to lie, my dear."

"It doesn't matter. You will die here. I have completed my mission."

"You overestimated whatever plan they prepared. You should have known better. A mere sabotage will not stop me."

"And you underestimate me." Alice turns her back, causing Dr. Avaline to fall to one side, releasing the pin he has on her.

She punches Dr. Avaline's right side abdomen, delivering damage to his liver. She connects it with a heel kick straight to the face to extend the distance between. Caught by a sucker punch to the weakness, Dr. Avaline gasps for air. Her kick was not hard, but it was enough to keep him at bay, allow her to disengage, and crawl to the gun on the floor.

Alice does not hesitate and aims the barrel toward Dr. Avaline. "The Lancaster sends their regards."

Several clicking sounds ring out, but none is a gunshot. Alice froze due to the unexpected outcome. Dr. Avaline, on the other hand, does not wait even a millisecond and uses this opportunity to close the distance. He soccer kicks her, who is still half-sitting on the floor.

She falls down on the ground, her hand still holds on tightly to the gun. Dr. Avaline steps on her wrist, causing her face to wrinkle in pain, and her hand releases the gun, allowing him to easily grab it.

A moment ago, when he slapped the gun out of her hand. He has the chance to flip the safety on. She, for all her skill and cunning, is always careless about the little details. He knew this and he exploited it well.

"We could have ruled this world together, Alice." Dr. Avaline says. He turns the safety off and aims at the miserable sight that was his former lover. "Even if you don't like the way I live, we could've been allies, even friends. I respect your wish, but why can't you understand my ambition?"

Alice looks up, her messy hair covering almost her face, only leaving the clear, beautiful eyes visible. They are looking straight through Dr. Avaline's soul. She knows this is the end of the line. She has caused too much trouble for him. She will not be spared, even for their history together.

She only wants to know one thing, and so she asks: "Have you ever loved me?"

Dr. Avaline ponders for a few seconds and then replies: "I did appreciate your warmth."

A loud bang filled the room. Dr. Avaline drops the gun down to the floor. The end of their story affects him more than he can accept. She was a good girl, innocent and sweet. But she did not respect his wish and harmed him in every way she could only to get what she wanted.

What did she expect? That I will abandon everything. She is still, to this day, too innocent for this world. And this world is not a place for the naive.

Dr. Avaline enters the vault and comes to the machine's interface. Alice has slotted in a USB drive and runs its program on top of the Assimilator originals. He puts his hand on the massive keyboard to start analysing the system.

"It seems like they really want to kill me here." Dr. Avaline says.

He has stopped the program, but almost half of the energy stored inside the machine has been fired up. There is no cancelling it. If the energy is not used up, it will cause an explosion enough to level the entire Louvre.

A simple but effective sabotage.

Aaron suddenly shows up and says: "Doctor! Our reinforcement has arrived. The situation is under control."

"That's good. But there is another problem. Come here and see."

"These monsters…" Aaron realizes the gravity of the situation. They only have a maximum of five minutes left, and they, along with two thousand souls within the parameter, will turn into dust.

"Listen, here. I will start the Assimilator and teleport myself elsewhere. I will make sure the energy will be used up enough so that everyone is safe. From now on, you are no longer my assistant. You are the new CEO of Dalamore Incorporated. I have already arranged everything. In my absence, you will hold the most shares."

"But Doctor, isn't there any other way? We can send random objects instead!"

Dr. Avaline shakes his head. "An operator is needed to stay behind and run the metrics. Even if we send an object, the possibility of an explosion will be high enough that the operator will be dead. The only possible solution to keep the operator alive…"

"...is the operator sending themselves away…" Aaron finishes Dr. Avaline's sentence. "I can do it, Doc."

"No, Aaron. You are Dalamore's future. You are its captain now.

I have taught you everything I know. I have high hopes for you, Mr. Jones. Take care of my legacy for me."

Aaron takes a deep breath. "I understand, Doc. You can trust me."

"Good. 

Remember these.

Nothing is absolute, everything is possible.

Never stand alone, always look for allies.

And finally, you are never too old to learn something new.

Now go. We don't have much time. I hope when I get back you will finally have a girlfriend."

"Doc, come on!" Aaron jokingly says. He understands that Dr. Avaline won't be dying here. But within the vast cosmos that Dr. Avaline will end up in, it is very likely that he won't end up in a habitable place. It is no different than a certified death certificate.

"You should have listened to me and trained up your strength and combat skills. Everything wouldn't have turned out this way." Aaron sighs in sorrow.

Dr. Avaline stares into nothingness. His assistant is not wrong. Even back then, he almost got killed by Alice if it wasn't for his wit. And back on the stage, he could have reacted in a different way that wouldn't have left him with so much injury. In the end, he still has much to learn.

"You are right. I was wrong. I will remember this lesson." Dr. Avaline says. "Good luck, Aaron. Au revoir."

"I will always remember you, Doc. Good luck and au revoir." Wasting no more time, Aaron darts out of the vault.

Hah, the apprentice is now becoming a wizard. The responsibility will be heavy on his shoulder. But he is fierce. He will be able to handle everything.

Dalamore will be safe for at least a couple more decades. It will leave time for me to explore the other dimensions.

That's right. The Assimilator is not only capable of sending people across space. It can also shatter the fabric of the universe and send him to a different universe. With the built-up energy, he can send himself to another Earth safely. A planet he knows for sure has a very high probability of habitability.

Of course, there is a chance for Dr. Avaline to end up in a deadly version of Earth. But between the vast nothingness of space, he prefers Earth.

There is risk in anything. The problem is if you're willing to take it. Dr. Avaline has come all this way not only with careful preparation. He takes risks often, calculated risks.

After setting up the Assimilator, the capsule opens up, white fog overflowing the room.

He makes his way inside. His body aches due to the injury. It will be a long, difficult journey up ahead. He hopes that where he ends up there will be medical care. Or else, he may be dying for sure.

Well, Dr. Curio Avaline, after inventing teleportation, sacrificed himself and saved two thousand souls, and preserving the Louvre standing, is not a bad headline. Even in death, he has won. For that, he has no regrets.

"Goodbye, my home." Curio shuts his eyes. Lightning charges cover the capsule, the entire vault shakes like if there is an earthquake.

A visible shockwave spread out, screaming from inside the vault. On the ground, a semi-transparent sphere expands. The clouds make way and create a circular empty space in the sky.

Aaron looks back, still stunned from everything that has happened. He stands there, tightening the grip on his gun. For all the flaws of Dr. Avaline, he was truly a good man. A man aims for the advancement of humankind. He will make sure whoever is responsible pays for what they've done.

"You can trust me, Doc. I will make things right." Aaron mumbles to himself.