17 - THE END

Ryan hacked into the US military signal so as to communicate with the President, "Mr. President! Can you hear me?"

"Is this Ryan? Yes, I can hear you." Said the President.

"I need you to do something for me," Ryan spoke.

"Tell me! I'll do it right away!" The President replied.

"Get the fighters and the military to stand guard! General Maekun is the one controlling this machine and based on my calculations, he should be situated in the chest! I'm going to blow his chest open and by the time I do that, the fighters have to launch their missiles into the hole I created in the machine! That's the only way to end this battle!" Ryan spoke.

"Then, what should the army do?" Bob asked.

"The army should find the body of General Maekun! If they do not find his body or his remains, you need to conclude that he is alive, and that he wouldn't stop trying to take over the US by creating techs that goes against our very nature!" Ryan answered.

The President informed the military and the fighters about Ryan's plans to end General Maekun and they all agreed immediately. The question was how was he going to make a hole in the machine, it seemed almost impenetrable!

Ryan moved with accuracy and precision, avoiding all the attacks thrown at him by Maekun. Then, he attached himself on Maekun's chest side. The red bar appeared on his head and the following options were listed – Minor, Medium, Mega and The Supreme. This time Ryan selected the supreme option.

By choosing the Supreme option, you will immediately expire and all your lives would be consumed in the process. You have sixty-eight lives left. Do you still want to proceed?

"Sixty-eight? I thought I had over ninety-two!" Ryan exclaimed.

Your lives were used to heal you especially when you suddenly exploded to avoid being killed by Omega 7. 

"Just do as you wish!" Ryan replied as Maekun tried his best to remove him from his chest.

Goodbye, Ryan Bonnier. Ryan exploded and a loud bang could be heard! It almost deafened the soldiers present at the scene. The wind blew heavily lifting up the dust and bringing them up into the air. The fighters didn't wait for the dust to clear out before they charged towards the machine. Even with the powerful explosion that happened on its chest, Ryan was only able to create a small hole. The fighters fired all their missiles into the hole and hoped that this attack ended the battle, after all, this was their only plan.

The missiles all fitted into its chest before exploding. The blast severed the machine's chest point from the rest of the body. The President and his subordinates all jumped in jubilation; finally, the threat had been eliminated. After the machine fell, the army quickly zoomed into action, but they couldn't find Maekun. He was never in the chest of the machine; therefore, Ryan's calculations were incorrect. The clever Maekun actually built his control room in the leg of the machine!

The soldiers caught him alive and fed him some sleeping pills before taking him back with them to base. They're were all grateful to Ryan – if not for his sacrifice, they might have never tasted victory.

"Peace would finally return, but it would only be for a while. The Terrorists aren't gone yet; they're still out there and their leader is still alive. Maekun Hitla was just a subsidiary, and he was just one of them. The TerrorLord still had many subsidiaries – one of which would rise to replace Maekun Hitla, and by the time he did, the fight would continue." A voice similar to that of Ryan narrated.

"Mr. President!" A soldier ran inside the room inhabited by the President. "Your family is alive!"

The President's eyes widened as he stared at the soldier, "But how? The plane…it was blown up!"

Falafel stepped into the room along with the President's wife and their children. "Dad!" The room was filled up with love, and smiles, and tears – all converging into the emotion called happiness.

"But how? I saw the plane explode!" The President said to Falafel.

"We were never in the plane," Falafel replied. "I flew the plane, left it on autopilot, then jumped out of it. We got into one of the fighters. Flying at a low altitude, we were able to avoid being spotted by the enemy."

The President pulled Falafel into a tight hug. "Thank you, Falafel."

Lynnette sat in a corner, crying over the death of Ryan. Although she hadn't known him for a long time, the time they had spent together definitely meant something to her. Ryan Bonnier was a man she was never going to forget. She wiped the tears off her eyes and wore a weak smile. She might have lost a friend, but she still had her family – her family was all she needed.

MONTHS LATER.

Katelyn went back to the States and took some time off her work; she needed to rest. After the death of her husband's similar, she was pained inside. It felt like her actual husband had just died. As she walked through the vast field of beautiful greens, her mind wandered back to the incident that occurred at the RCA facility.

FLASHBACK.

"Bonnier? As in, Ryan Bonnier?" Lynnette moved her gaze from the woman beside her to the hibernating machine in the cylinder.

"Ryan Bonnier was my husband," Katelyn replied.

"The bomb – his name is also Ryan Bonnier!" Lynnette replied.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Katelyn chuckled as more tears gathered in her eyes.

"What exactly happened to your husband?" Lynnette was quite curious.

"Three years ago, I develop a very strange contagious illness caused by a virus of unknown origin. The doctors had no idea what the virus was and so, they couldn't find a cure. Once they found out that it was contagious, they left me to die. But my husband didn't, he was also a doctor and he was determined to save his wife.

"He researched day and night without food nor rest. Looking at him, I advised him to stop but he didn't listen to me. He continued his research on this virus until he finally got infected." Katelyn cried, "One day, he walked into my room with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes – Honey, I've found the cure! My love for him had grown even more, and I was happy it had. After we both got better, I would spend the rest of my days by his side."

"But that didn't happen, did it?" 

"He died. He told me that he only had one dose of the cure and it would take him about a month to make another. I told him to do it, but he said that he didn't have that much time…" Katelyn's tears poured out of her eyes. Lynnette decided to leave, she had to give the woman some space to let out all her tears.

After Lynnette had gone, the Ryan's AI came online. Katelyn Dells, your husband is well and alive. Do you want to see him? If you do, touch this glass.

Katelyn hesitated before placing her hand on the glass. When she did this, she saw Ryan's memories. She knew that these memories did not belong to her Ryan, but still, she was fueled with happiness. Seeing his face again heightened her emotions. After seeing some of his memories, she opened her eyes and found herself in an unknown space; totally white.

"Katelyn," Ryan called out and they hugged each other. "I'm not your husband."

"I know, I saw your memories. How did you get here?" She asked.

"Well, I kinda killed myself," Ryan laughed. "Listen, your husband was a good man. He died knowing you would live… I'm pretty sure he would have been very happy before he left this world. I have nothing much to say to you, but listen, you have got to keep on living. Find yourself another man, get married, bang each other, produce babies – that's what I would have wanted if I were him."

"I will – I will never forget Ryan, but like you've said, I should go on. I will go on. I will find myself a loving husband and we will produce a lot of babies. I will not let Ryan down, neither will I let you down. Thank you, Ryan Bonnier!" Katelyn replied with a grin, then everything slowly dissolves into darkness.

END OF FLASHBACK

Katelyn continued walking in the fields. She spotted a man sitting on a bench by the corner. Studying the man's facial features, she discovered that he looked very similar to Ryan, her late husband. She was shocked, but at the same time she was also thrilled. Salty waters came running down her cheeks.

"Hello there!" The man turned to face her after noticing that she had been staring at him for quite some time. Seeing her wiping her tears, he asked, "Are you okay, Miss?"

"I'm fine," Katelyn replied with a warm smile, "Do you mind if I join you?

"Of course not!" The man smiled back. His smile seemed to have pulled away the shackles of pain and guilt around her heart. "My name is Ryando, what's yours?"

EPILOGUE.

A figure could be seen laughing on his throne. An evil smile laid on his face and a scary gun by his side. "So, Maekun has been captured?"

"Yes, TerrorLord." A Terrorist replied, "Should we rescue him?"

"That would be very foolish." The TerrorLord replied.

"Then what should we do?"

"Let them enjoy their peace for now. We will rise up when the time comes."

• • •

Ryan's eyes opened up and he was quite shocked when he found himself in the presence of a ticking nuclear bomb. He had been taken back to the time before he died. He had been given another chance to keep his life. He stared at the red wire and frowned, "I can't believe I cut the wrong wire. I'll cut the right wire this time, and I will not die here."

That's what my husband said before he died. Ryan remembered Katelyn's words and shook his head, focusing his attention on the bomb.

He gazed at the wire one by one – from the green wire to the pink wire, from the pink wire to the purple wire then the black wire, orange wire, yellow wire etc. The green wire should be the right one. The color green represents good, or perhaps it might be the white wire; which represents goodness and life. Well, white also represents light and light is equal to fire and fire is equal to boom. I'm cutting it anyway!

BOOM!

"Oh! C'mon!" Ryan cried out as the fire consumed his very soul.

* * *

Back in the other world, Ryan's machine-body could be seen lying in a glass container when his eyes suddenly opened up.

Welcome back! Mr. Bonnier!