Chapter 17: The Decision

Upon exiting, the scene was terrifying. The air smelled of metal and gunpowder, charged with the tension of the moment. Hundreds of soldiers, aligned like shadows of an inevitable fate, awaited him with weapons ready. Their grey visors gleamed under the light of the watchtowers, hiding any trace of humanity behind the cold technology. Some wore thick armor, others reinforced suits to increase their strength. They were a unified war machine, an unstoppable wave of destruction.

But Neo didn't see enemies. He saw lives not yet lost, destinies that could still be saved. He remembered Scott's words, his mentor, his guide in times of doubt:

"You must be the line between salvation and destruction, but never the first option for death. That's what will make you different from the rest."

He took a deep breath and rose gracefully. His voice resonated with firmness and plea at the same time, expanding across the battlefield like an echo of hope.

"This is your final warning. I do not want to destroy you. I do not wish to end you. You still have a chance: lay down your weapons and reclaim your destiny. Do not let ambition consume you. You can choose life… or condemn yourselves to death. Make your decision."

The wind blew hard, raising ashes and dust into the air. It was as if the whole world held its breath. Some soldiers exchanged fleeting glances, a flicker of doubt in their eyes. Their fingers trembled on the triggers. A young soldier, his face marked by uncertainty, lowered his weapon just a few centimeters. Neo's voice awakened something within him, something that had been dormant for too long.

But hope shattered in an instant. His comrade, a robust soldier with a cold gaze, pushed him forcefully.

"Don't listen to that machine!" a deeply scarred commander roared, his voice full of contempt and hatred. "We are the dominant force! No one will tell us what to do!"

Another soldier, with a cruel smile on his face, raised his rifle with mockery and defiance.

"If we destroy him, the power will be ours! We'll have control of everything!"

The chaos grew like a wave ready to sweep everything away. Voices rose, first in murmurs, then in shouts of uncontrolled ambition. They didn't want to listen to reason. They clung to the promise of absolute power, no matter the cost.

Neo watched them sadly. His eyes reflected a deep melancholy. He knew many of them would not see the sunrise again.

"Is your desire for power worth more than your own lives?" he asked in a solemn voice. "Think, there is still time. You don't have to follow this path. You can be more than mere tools of war. You can be free. Please… choose to live."

The silence lasted barely a second before the answer came like thunder.

"FIRE!"

The roar of gunfire ripped through the air.

Neo closed his eyes for an instant. His heart, if there was still anything in him that could be called that, trembled with the certainty that there was nothing more to do.

They had made their decision.

Then, he moved.

His speed was a blur in the shadows, a ghost gliding between shots with surgical precision. The first projectiles impacted the ground he left behind, kicking up burning shrapnel that illuminated his silhouette. Neo's weapons deployed with a vibrant hum, his hands transforming into cannons of pure energy. An incandescent blue stream cut through the first rows, knocking down three soldiers who didn't even have time to scream.

"FIRE AT WILL!" a commander shouted.

The troops unleashed their full fury on Neo. A rain of tracer bullets lit up the night like deadly fireworks. Neo spun, dodged, and blocked with a plasma shield that vibrated with every impact, but the volleys were endless. A particularly powerful shot from an anti-material rifle grazed his left shoulder, tearing away part of the protective alloy, exposing sizzling wires.

Neo gritted his teeth, ignoring the damage.

"I don't want to do this…" he whispered, more to himself than to them.

With a jump propelled by his thrusters, he landed in the middle of an enemy platoon. The shockwave threw the soldiers like rag dolls. One tried to strike him with an electrically charged bayonet; Neo caught the weapon with his bare hand and broke it in two, before throwing the soldier against an armored vehicle.

But the resistance was fierce.

A heavy squad, in combat exoskeletons, advanced in formation. Missile launchers deployed on their shoulders, and a dozen smart rockets traced deadly arcs towards Neo. Without time to react, he activated an energy barrier around himself. The explosion engulfed him in flames and smoke.

"We got him!" a soldier shouted.

But then, from the smoke, a staggering figure emerged… still standing. Neo's armor was burned and cracked in several places, an artificial eye flickered with interference, and his right arm crackled with destabilized energy. Still, he kept advancing, more lethal than ever.

"Don't you understand…?" his voice resonated like metallic thunder as his hand charged with a sphere of red plasma. "Life is worth more than this!"

The sphere exploded forward like a lightning bolt, vaporizing an entire line of light tanks.

The soldiers hesitated, but fear was soon replaced by desperation. A final elite battalion surrounded Neo, launching a coordinated assault from all flanks. Neo dodged, blocked, and counterattacked, but this time the bullets hit more frequently: a projectile pierced his right thigh, slowing his movement. An energy blade grazed his back, leaving a bright scar on his chassis.

Neo dropped to his knees for an instant, his system showing red alerts on his internal visor.

[Structural integrity level: 37%]

[Priority: Avoid critical core damage]

With a mechanical roar, he propelled himself upwards with all his might, knocking down the last attackers with a spinning sweep. An unnatural silence covered the battlefield.

The few survivors tried to flee, throwing their weapons to the ground in surrender. But it was too late. The fate they had chosen trapped them without escape.

Neo, his body smoking and parts of his armor hanging like burned rags, stopped in the middle of the devastated field. The ground was covered with craters and ashes. A faint blue glow emanated from his core, flickering, like a flame refusing to die out.

He clenched his fist.

With slow but determined steps, Neo began to walk towards the base. His sensors still showed erratic data, but he couldn't stop. Not now. Not when Scott needed him.

[Objective: Locate Creator and neutralize primary threat: Magnus]

He activated his thrusters, and with a dull roar, his figure rose into the air, leaving behind the battlefield turned into a smoking graveyard. Through the smoke and flames, his silhouette advanced like an unstoppable shadow…

He was heading straight for the base. This time, not just as a symbol of mercy…

But as the silent fury of someone who will protect what they love, no matter the cost.

──•─•──•✦•──•─•──

Scott watched him with an unsettling calm, a spark of hope shining in his tired eyes.

"You can still choose, Magnus…" he said in a serene voice, almost a whisper. "It's not too late to stop destroying… and be something more than what they made you."

Magnus turned sharply towards him, his eyes wide, burning with anger and fear.

"Shut up!" he snapped, his voice broken, though deep down, a part of him knew Scott's words spoke to that small crack in his armor of hatred.

On the screen, Neo slowly raised his head, his blue gaze like a beacon in the midst of devastation. He looked damaged: electrical sparks jumped from his right shoulder, and deep cracks furrowed his metallic torso. But there were no signs of surrender in his posture. Every step he had taken, every obstacle he had destroyed, was a living—or rather, mechanical—reminder that he was no ordinary machine.

Magnus took a step back, feeling a shiver run down his spine.

"No…" he whispered, almost to himself. "This can't be happening…"

A deep hum filled the room as a red alert flickered on the console:

[ALERT: PROTOTYPE APPROACHING BASE]

The line took a few seconds to connect, a chilling silence that felt like an eternity. Then, Charlie's voice emerged on the other side, calm and almost bored.

"Magnus… What a pleasant surprise."

"Charlie!" Magnus exclaimed, clutching the device as if his life depended on it. "The situation is out of control. Neo… Neo is coming straight here. I need immediate support!"

Charlie let out a sigh, the sound laden with forced patience.

"Don't worry about the android. I'll take care of him personally." He laughed, but his laugh was hollow, mocking.

Magnus frowned, a knot of distrust forming in his stomach.

"Where are you right now?"

There was a brief silence, just long enough for the air in the room to feel denser.

"Far from there," Charlie finally replied, with an unsettling calm. "There was no point in getting trapped in a place that's already doomed."

Magnus gritted his teeth. His voice became a growl, charged with a mixture of anger and fear.

"What about me, Charlie?"

From the other end of the line, a bitter, almost amused laugh, cut through him like a dagger.

"You spoke of victory too soon, Magnus. You thought you could handle everything, but now look at you. Buried in your own failures."

The communicator crackled with the pressure of his grip.

"What are you talking about?" Magnus demanded. His voice trembled not just with rage… but with something darker.

Charlie sighed, enjoying it.

"You were always a tool, Magnus. A means to an end. I made you believe you were in control, that everything depended on you… but the truth is, you were never more than a step on my path."

The silence lingered.

"And now that you've failed… I don't need you anymore."

The air in the bunker grew dense. Magnus's pulse raced. A cold, unfamiliar sensation ran down his spine.

"You can't do this to me…" he whispered. His voice broke.

Charlie took his time responding. When he did, his tone was almost a whisper.

"I'm sorry, Magnus… but our game is over."

The sound of the call ending was worse than a gunshot.

Magnus stood motionless. The cold settled in his chest. His breathing, once furious, was now unstable, erratic. He couldn't move. He couldn't think.

A dull thud jolted him from his trance.

[ALERT: INTRUSION DETECTED. PROTOTYPE HAS ENTERED PERIMETER.]

The bunker door burst open.

The flickering light of the corridor cast a tall shadow at the entrance.

Neo entered with a determined stride, his presence filling everything with an impossible-to-ignore force.

Magnus tried to feign control, but his body betrayed him. It was a second, a blink, but he knew everything was about to collapse.

Neo didn't respond. He just advanced, each step echoing like a hammer in Magnus's mind.

Scott, still with the chains dangling from his wrists, looked him directly in the eyes. His voice rose, serene yet firm, like a last chance:

"Magnus… you don't have to follow this path. End this now. Come with us. We can stop this madness before it's too late."

For an instant, Magnus was silent. His breathing was heavy, his hands trembled… but in his eyes there was no surrender, only a sickly gleam of certainty.

His laugh returned, stronger, more confident, as if destiny itself still answered to his will.

"End this?" he repeated with a mocking tone. "No, Scott… you don't understand. I already won."

He stepped towards the control panel, his back straight and his voice filled with an almost divine pride.

"Do you think that because you destroyed my troops and got here, you've changed the course of this game? All of this… it was always mine. And it still is."

His smile widened, cold, filled with a power that seemed impossible to break.

"You've done nothing but dance to my tune. And now… I decide how it ends."

With a sharp thud, he pressed the large red button.

The entire base roared.

Alarms exploded in a deafening blare. Red lights flickered in all directions.

Neo was about to propel himself into the ventilation duct when he stopped dead.

His sensors detected an active transmission from the still-operational security cameras. With an almost imperceptible gesture, he projected the real-time image onto the console.

On the cracked screens, Magnus ran down a corridor bathed in red lights, panting, his breath ragged. He stumbled every few meters, his silhouette outlined against the frantic flickering of the alarms as he rushed towards the bunker's last exit.

Scott saw him. The cold sweat on his forehead wasn't from the heat of the collapse, but from the question hanging in the air like a guillotine blade.

Neo remained motionless; his blue eyes fixed on Magnus's trembling figure on the screen. The alarms continued to blare, the bunker roared like a dying animal… but in that instant, everything seemed to stop.

Scott understood. No words were needed. There were no commands, no questions. Just a moment of absolute silence between the creator and his creation.

The air was so dense that it seemed even the sparks from the wires floated in slow motion.

Scott looked down, pressed his lips together… and finally nodded.

"He's made his decision…" he murmured, more to himself than to Neo.

In the reflection of the broken glass in front of him, Scott barely managed to see Neo's eyes glow with a more intense flash, like a blue flame that understood and accepted.

Without losing another second, the android returned his hands to the console. His metallic fingers flew across the keyboard, linking his internal system with the security network.

Door after door began to close in the corridor where Magnus was desperately running. The metallic echo of the closures reverberated like an unappealable verdict.

On the screen, Magnus stopped dead when the last gate descended in front of him, blocking the exit.

His eyes widened, first with disbelief, then with a fury that erupted into a scream.

"No…!" he roared, hitting the door with all his might. His knuckles collided against the steel again and again until his skin broke, but the structure did not yield.

Scott watched him from the control room with a mixture of sadness and resolution.

"You chose this end yourself… no one else."

Magnus's breathing became erratic. Every breath felt like blades in his throat. His hands clawed at the surface of the door, his nails sliding uselessly against the steel.

His legs finally gave way. He fell to his knees with a dull thud. A trembling fist hammered the ground as burning tears streamed down his face. They weren't just from fear… but from something much worse: humiliation.

He wasn't the unstoppable leader he imagined. He wasn't the conqueror the world would remember.

He was just a broken man.

The emergency lights flickered. The sound of alarms and distant explosions echoed like a monster approaching, devouring inch by inch. In the distorted reflection on the door's surface, Magnus saw his face:

Deep dark circles.

Trembling lips.

The empty gaze of a man who had lost everything.

"What I always saw as power… was just the flames of my hatred and ambition… opening the doors to my perdition…" he murmured, his voice so alien it didn't even sound like his own.

His hands, which had once controlled entire armies, now trembled like those of a dying old man.

The structure groaned above his head. A rumble ran through the walls, getting closer and closer. The fire advanced, hungry, claiming every corner of the base.

A shiver ran through him, not from the cold… but from understanding.

The truth hit him with the force of an icy dagger:

Magnus looked up. And then, the truth hit him like an icy dagger:

I governed everything… except my own life.

His lips moved, searching for a last word… but the words died before they were born.

He closed his eyes and let out one last tear.

The explosion enveloped him in a whirlwind of fire and debris.

──•─•──•✦•──•─•──•

Neo took Scott by the arm and, with a final push, both escaped just as the entire bunker exploded in a series of detonations.

The night was illuminated with a blinding light, as if the sun had descended to earth.

From a distance, the entire nation witnessed the explosion. Silent at first, their hearts caught between awe and fear.

Then, streaking across the sky like two swift flashes, two figures emerged from the flames.

Neo and Scott were returning home.

The silence broke into an outburst of jubilation. People shouted, hugged. A cry of victory filled the streets.

And in every heart, hope was reborn.

Shining brighter than ever.

──•─•──•✦•──•─•──

Hours later, in the workshop, the sizzle of tools broke the dense silence of the room. The air was thick with oil and hot metal, leaving its strong scent in every corner. Scott worked with trembling hands, soldering and adjusting each piece with a mix of urgency and fear.

Neo had emerged from the last battle with visible damage. His metal structure showed cracks and burns, some pieces still sizzling with remnants of accumulated energy. Scott gritted his teeth, noticing the internal flaws. He knew the android felt no pain, but that didn't make his duty any less important.

On the workbench, Neo's metallic body lay motionless. His structure reflected the bluish light of the holographic panels, a cold, artificial glow that contrasted with the pulsating warmth of the workshop.

Scott ran his hand over the cold metal, as if with that simple gesture he could transmit something more than electricity. His eyes, reddened by exhaustion and contained emotion, reflected a whirlwind of mixed feelings.

"Neo…" he whispered, his voice broken by the weight of memories. "You remind me so much of Thomas…"

The android tilted his head slightly. His eyes shone with an intense blue light, analyzing Scott's words with mathematical precision.

"Who is Thomas?" he asked. His tone was cold, almost mechanical, but the question was not merely a data protocol.

Scott felt a lump in his throat. He swallowed and closed his eyes for an instant before answering.

"He was my son…" his voice broke into a mere whisper. "I lost Thomas a long time ago. And every time I see you…" he paused, clenching his fists on the table, trying to hold back tears, "I feel that a part of him is still here."

Silence settled between the two. Only the distant hum of the generators filled the void between unspoken words.

Neo remained motionless. His circuits did not understand the concept of loss in the same way a human would, but something in Scott's voice altered his analysis.

"I am not him," he finally replied. His tone remained uniform, but a slight inflection, a fluctuation in his voice not due to his programming, filtered into his artificial structure.

Scott forced a weak smile, though his eyes remained clouded with pain.

"I know…" he admitted with a sigh. "But in you, I see the possibility of a better future. You are not just a weapon, Neo. You were not created for war…"

Neo observed him intently. For an instant, his eyes reflected a different glow, something that seemed to go beyond simple calculations.

"Creator, a question." His voice resonated with a gravity Scott did not expect. "On multiple occasions, you spoke to me of considering destruction as a last resort… and I did so." His eyes fixed on him. "But you designed me to fight, to be the first line of defense against any threat. So… if I have been created to fight… why did you teach me to question it?"

Scott looked at him in surprise. That question did not come from an algorithm processing data. It was deeper.

He took a deep breath before answering.

"Because I wanted you to be more than a weapon," he confessed, his voice laden with emotion. "Yes, I designed you to defend us… but true defense is not in destroying, but in understanding. I didn't want you to be a war machine… I wanted you to be proof that even an android made of wires and metal, created to fight, can learn to value humanity's life… and learn to love it…"

Neo looked down. Something in his circuits seemed to conflict, as if a silent battle was being waged within him between what he was… and what he could become.

Scott watched that moment in silence, his heart pounding. Because, in that precise moment, he understood that his creation had achieved what he had always desired deep in his heart.

For the first time in years, Scott felt he could rest.

It didn't matter how much time he had left in this world. Because now, he knew his purpose was fulfilled.

And with that certainty in his heart, he closed his eyes for an instant… letting peace envelop him.