The two omegas hold each other as the light grows brighter and brighter. And just when she thinks they might get swallowed by its power, the force dims. It turns off.
Rae glances at the top of the towering machine. Standing at the edge is Cassian, scepter on his hip, her children sleeping soundly against his chest. He gazes down at her like a God, but she knows he’s the real devil.
He made her. And now he’ll own her soul forever.
Behind her appears two faces she has been waiting to see since she left. “Vash! Killian!” she shouts.
They both raise their heads, eyes widening with true adoration.
Lucas comes from behind. Ruby rests in his arms. That’s when she snaps out of it and realizes everything is all wrong.
Lucas gasps. “Rae… you’re alive?!”
She breathes rapidly. She can’t seem to calm down. “Ruby,” she says, glaring at Cassian. “What happened to her, you sick fuck!”
Cautiously, Cassian leads the alphas down the machine until they step inside the cavernous city.
Vash shouts, “Don’t trust Lucas. He stabbed us in the back.”
She’s knocked back from the news. “Lucas, is it true?”
Lucas looks away from her. Tears run down his cheeks. “Cassian said you were dead,” he mutters. “He showed me your corpse. I was tricked into following him.”
The young omega runs to hide.
Cassian cocks his head. “Do not lie. You were intrigued by my offer,” he says. “All of you were.”
The wind from the accelerator brushes Lucas’ hair away from his eyes. He’s beautiful. He’s her alpha in all the ways he could be. He’s curious, resilient, and sometimes, self destructive. She loves all of his qualities. But right now, her heart feels like it’s about to explode.
She knows what Cassian is like. He’s more convincing than any other alpha on the planet.
Vash and Killian inch toward her, but Cassian cuts them off. “Ruby is dying, but she’s not a part of the equation. I’m sure mother explained to you my plans.”
Rae shields the tank baby with her arms. She knows she doesn’t contain the extinction gene. She won’t have to go through synthesis, but the child somehow still means something to her.
And Cassian… she won’t be able to kill him. He is extinction. If he dies, they all die.
They would destroy the entire omegaverse, themselves included. The vaults of time would cease to exist. Worst of all, her children would never get a chance to experience happiness and freedom. This is all they’d know of their world.
Cassian spins, triumphantly raising his arms into the air. “The slaves that built the Alpha-Omega Machine are all dead. My army is dead. But one truth remains. “I am the God particle, the alpha who refuses to abide by the constraints of life, avoiding death in the process. I am all beings, good and bad.”
He turns, eyes wide and mad. “Brothers, we have come to a turning point in civilization. Governments have failed us. More and more alphas have become sterile, and the omegas are nearly extinct. Don’t you ever sit and wonder what’s next?”
Killian growls. “Not a lot of time for that, these days,” he says.
“Get on with it,” Vash scowls. “What is the machine?”
Cassian tells them about the cryo units. “From synthesis to complete and total consciousness-transfer. The ability to live in multiple places at once. First, I created universes just like ours. When I got the conditions right, I learned how to divide the mind from body. I have built a multiverse called the Omegaverse. It is mine. All mine,” he says.
Though Rae already knew of his discoveries, it hits her hard. She runs to Ruby, holds her, but doesn’t know what to say.
“Thank you, sis,” Ruby whispers.
“Thank me when I save your life,” Rae cries.
Vash raises his locked wrists to his forehead. “What will happen to this world?”
“The alphas will war. The crops will rot. Resources will dwindle. And all life will eventually die off,” Cassian replies. “And when that happens, this world will become my storage unit, a place where I can rest and rule over the omegaverse for an eternity.”