Chapter 190 The struggle

Chapter 190 The struggle
Anya's POV
The chamber doors burst open, and Helson crawled out, smoking and burned, but absolutely alive.
Victor pulled a weapon from beneath his coat.
"You've ruined everything," he snarled.
"Yes," I replied.
He raised the weapon to kill me, but Helson moved faster. He tackled Victor, and the two of them crashed into the destroyed chamber.
Victor was already weak from his illness. He was no match for Helson, even without the conditioning to hold him back.
But as I watched Helson's hands close around Victor's throat, as I watched the light fade from Victor's eyes, I realized something was wrong.
Helson's face was changing, not physically, but in his expression. Something in him was shifting, fracturing, like two consciousnesses were fighting for control of the same body.
"Helson?" I called out.
He turned to look at me, and for just a moment, I didn't recognize the person staring back at me.
"Hello, Anya," he said, and his voice was layered with multiple tones. "It's nice to meet you properly."
And then I understood, the consciousness transfer hadn't failed, it had succeeded and Victor was still alive, but now living inside Helson's body.
I stumbled backward as Helson, or the thing wearing Helson's body took a step toward me.
"What did you do?" I whispered.
"I survived," Victor said, speaking from Helson's mouth. His hand came up and touched Helson's face like he was discovering it for the first time. "After all those years, after everything, I finally achieved it. I'm immortal."
"No," I said. "Helson was supposed to override the transfer, he was supposed to refuse."
Victor smiled with Helson's lips, and it was the most obscene thing I'd ever seen.
"Oh, he tried," Victor replied, his voice layered with something that sounded almost like amusement. "He fought harder than any consciousness I've ever tried to merge with in the past, and I needed that, because the others died for being too weak, leaving the fact that the machine had left much to be desired in the past. But in the end, he was just one person against a will that's been refined for years. I absorbed him, Anya. I consumed him, and now, I have his body, his strength, his power. Everything."
He looked down at his new hands, flexing them experimentally.
"This is extraordinary," Victor continued. "Do you know what I can feel? Every enhanced nerve ending. Every genetic modification I made. It's like being reborn as something perfect, you should be celebrating with me Helson."
I was backing toward the door, but Victor moved faster. In one swift glide, he was beside me. He grabbed my wrist. I felt Helson's strength, but Victor's cruelty behind the grip.
"Where are you going?" he asked softly. "We have unfinished business, you and I."
"Helson," I called out desperately. "Helson, if you can hear me, fight back. Please."
For a moment, Victor's expression flickered. His grip loosened slightly.
"He's still in here," Victor said, and there was something almost like satisfaction in his voice. "Trapped and watching, but unable to do anything but witness what I do with his body. That's the real genius of the consciousness merge. He gets to experience everything, every moment and sensation. He just can't control any of it."
He pulled me closer, and I could smell Helson's scent mixed with his madness.
"I'm going to use this body," Victor continued, his voice dropping lower, "to do things I could never do before. I'm going to walk out of this facility without any restrictions. I'm going to rebuild my empire, and I'm going to use you to do it."
He pushed me against the wall, his body—Helson's body—pressing against mine.
"You like him, don't you?" Victor asked, tracing a finger down my cheek. "You love him. That's going to make this so much more interesting."
"Stop," I gasped. "Please."
"Why?" Victor asked. "He can feel it all, Anya. He's going to remember this forever, and he's powerless to stop it."
He pulled me toward the destroyed consciousness transfer chamber, toward the ruined equipment that was still smoking from the overload.
"Get on your knees," he commanded.
I didn't move, so he grabbed my hair and forced me down. The ground was hard beneath my knees, and his—Helson's—hand was rough in my hair.
"This is what power looks like," Victor said. "This is what it means to truly own someone."
But as he was speaking, a tremor ran through his body. His grip loosened for just a fraction of a second.
"No," Victor snarled. "No, you don't. Stay down. Stay under control."
It was as if there was a war happening inside Helson's body. A fight between two consciousnesses for dominance over the same flesh.
"Helson," I called out, my voice stronger now. "I know you're in there. I know you're fighting. Don't give up, please don't give up."
Victor's hand tightened in my hair, but it was unstable now, jerking and spasming.
"Shut up," he snarled. "Shut up shut up shut up."
His other hand was shaking. Helson's face was contorting, muscles pulling in directions that shouldn't have been possible.
"I can hear him," I whispered. "I can feel him fighting you."
"He's not strong enough," Victor gasped, but his voice was less certain now. There was pain and desperation in it.
Helson's body collapsed to his knees beside me, both of us on the ground now. His eyes were rolling back, his entire form convulsing.
"Helson," I reached for him. "Helson, come back to me."
"Can't..." a voice that was almost Helson's but not quite emerged from his throat. "He's... too strong... I can't..."
"Yes, you can," I said, pulling him against me. "You're stronger than him, you have to be. Fight for us."
Helson's body went rigid, and for a moment, I thought Victor had regained full control. But then his eyes opened, a flicker of recognition, a moment of clarity.
"Anya," he gasped, and it was Helson's voice. Really Helson. "He's showing me... all the things he wants to do... I can feel it... his intentions... his hunger..."
"Don't listen," I said, holding him tighter. "Don't let him in."
"It's not about letting him in," Helson choked out. "He's already here. He's woven into every neural pathway. Every thought, I can't separate myself from him anymore."
Victor's consciousness surged forward again, and Helson's body convulsed, his hand suddenly gripping my throat with inhuman force.
"Enough," Victor snarled through Helson's mouth. "Enough of this pathetic resistance."
But even as he was squeezing, I felt the grip weakening. Helson was fighting back. Helson was actually fighting back against Victor's control.
I clawed at Helson's hand, gasping for air, but I wasn't trying to escape. I was trying to reach him, trying to show him that I was here, that I believed he could win.
Helson's hand released my throat, and I fell forward, coughing, gasping for breath.
"I love you," I whispered. "No matter what happens. No matter how fractured you become. I love you."
Helson's entire body went still, then, slowly, he lifted his head, and when his eyes met mine, I saw both of them there. Both consciousnesses were fighting for control of the same gaze.
"I'm losing," Helson said, and his voice was split between his own and Victor's. "He's merging with me completely. In a few minutes, he'll have complete control, and there won't be anything left of me but echoes."
"No," I said. "There has to be a way."
"There is," Helson replied, and now his voice was almost entirely Victor's, though still carrying an undercurrent of Helson beneath. "There's only one way. You have to destroy this body, you have to kill us both."
"I can't do that," I said.
"You have to," Helson insisted, and for a moment, he was completely in control of his own voice again. "Because if you don't, he's going to use this body to hurt everyone. He's going to use me to destroy the Darklord. He's going to use me to take over the stronghold, and he's going to use me to make you watch while he does it."
Victor laughed, and it was a horrible sound coming from Helson's mouth.
"See how he tries to manipulate you?" Victor said. "Even now, he's trying to control the situation. He's trying to make you feel like you have agency. But you don't, none of you do. I've already won."