Night Without End

[Valodya Bassarov]

Bassarov slashes at him with his sickle.

"Did Red Infinity send you!"

[Zephyr]

Zephyr grabs her armed hand and knocks the blade out of it. He then grabs her and simply shakes her violently, his eyes seethe with hate.

'Look what you have done to me! Look!'

He then stops and lets her go, dropping to his knees. He could not change fate. He could not control her. He could not do anything to save mankind. He could not do anything to save himself. It was all meaningless. His whole life amounted to nothing but shame and sin. Nothing he could do would atone for any single act he did. There was no justification. There was no redemption. There was nothing. He was doomed to fade away... He lived in a world where he had failed to adapt. Neither human nor machine, somewhere in between. He felt a longing for death... for the ultimate end to swallow him in the deepest, darkest pits of simple oblivion. Maybe then, he could find true happiness.

[Valodya Bassarov]

Bassarov sees him fall to the ground in agony.
He offers his hand, which is covered in red marker with the rest of Bassarov.

"You seem troubled, who are you?"

[Kaieka]

Bassarov helps Zephyr up. It looks like the fight is over. My mouth is still bleeding. I wipe at it with my hand as I look at the two of them. No, don't tell me... are they going to become friends now. This is too much. Here I thought that Bassarov was coming to rip this guy apart, and now he's trying to help him get over his troubles. Sheesh.

[Valodya Bassarov]

"Kaieka...why did he attack you?"

Bassarov is confused. He has no clue about the identity of the stranger.

[Kaieka]

Oh, here it comes. "Bassarov, this is Zephyr. He is some sort of machine/man... I don't really understand it... and the reason that he is attacking me is because I wouldn't, I couldn't love him... I was coming to speak to you when he attacked me."

[Zephyr]

Zephyr notices the trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth. Good. As for this Bassarov, Zephyr did not exactly feel like he could be on any better terms with him than hostility. Zephyr was angry and confused... what was he supposed to do? All he could do was fade away, and pretend like this never happened at all. Forget her. Forget him. Let all things go into dark oblivion. He began to walk away, not ever looking back. They deserved each other...

[Valodya Bassarov]

Bassarov watched him walk off. He felt angry once again, but he was determined to remain calm.
"Well, that is pleasant. I think I will go back inside now. It was nice to meet you, Zephyr..."

Bassarov walked toward Kaieka, slightly pale and with a manic look on his face.
He wanted so much to fight and kill him, but had to maintain some civility.

"A cyborg or something...you cheated on me with a machine.....a machine...not even human....how very interesting..."

Bassarov walks, zombie like, to his room.

[Kaieka]

They both walk away from me, in opposite directions. I sink to my knees when they are gone. This was not the end that I had hoped for. I realize how ridiculous it must seem that I did make love with someone that was not quite man. But I am not fully woman... I lost my humanity long ago.

I get up from the ground and walk toward the villa. I see people on the roof, but I don't pay them any mind. I hurt, physically and emotionally. I walk past Bassarov's room... what used to be our room. The door is open a crack and I glance inside. The walls are covered in red. I curiously move closer to the door. Bassarov lies on his bed, and there are papers everywhere, and everything is covered with red scribblings.

"Bassarov..."

[Valodya Bassarov]

"I was writing and writing. You should have seen me...for a moment in time I was a genius. I knew the secrets of the universe."

Bassarov lays on his bed, emotionally drained.

[Kaieka]

I step through the door into his room filled with political pictures and ramblings. I sit on the bed next to him and look down at him. He looks so tired.

"I can only say I'm sorry for what I did. I have treated you poorly... I realize that now."

[Valodya Bassarov]

Bassarov's eyes are wet with hurt which he can longer deny....but he tries to.
"I doesn't matter..I told you before...I am above such things.." his voice is shakey and uncertain.

He turns away from her.

[Kaieka]

I reach down and touch his arm. "You are a strong man, Bassarov, but you are still a man, plagued by the same emotions and hurts that attach themselves to everyone else. You don't deserve how I've treated you. You've only ever been kind and patient with me... I wish I could undo some of the things that I have said and done."

[Valodya Bassarov]

Bassarov says nothing. There is no neat ideological solution. Marx should have written a dating guide.

"I'm fine. Just fine. There is no logical reason for me to dwell on this....so all is forgiven I assure you."

He pauses again with second thoughts.

"Why?"

[Zephyr]

Zephyr stormed into the hotel, with full intent to destroy all that the world was. He would break free from this world. He would break the world free from him. This would be his stand against humanity. This would be his stand against everything unimportant. It wasn't about your country, or your government. It was about what was inside of you. It was about your soul. It was about what Zephyr lacked. He would taste freedom, and it would taste like blood and tears. It would taste like suffering. It would taste like pain. He wrapped his hand around the throat of a Red Infinity guard and crushed his trachea, Zephyr watched in bittersweet pleasure as he suffocated, trying to gasp for air in little gurgles of fluid. He felt inclined to laugh. He waited for the rest of the red dogs to show their faces. It was over... he gave in. All he was, was an outdated piece of hardware. No soul inside... only the remnants of his science project brain and body. He would ascend... he would become more than that. He would take the world, and make it his own.