Chapter 605 - 605 New Deal with a Witch (2)

"And why would I believe a word that you say? You sought me out with the intention of delivering to some crazy researcher who wanted to experiment on me. If it didn't seem to be what you are aiming for, I would have already killed you." Avery said, glaring at Delilah and making his animosity towards her perfectly clear.

"That's all true. I miscalculated your capabilities and have been forced to pay the price." Delilah said, shaking the cuffs that bound her arms so that she could not harm herself.

"However, while this is about the worst-case scenario for me, it's not going to be great for you either. Keeping me locked up in here is only going to cause problems for you in the future. Of that I can guarantee you."

Avery scoffed at this. He had expected Delilah to try and threaten him, but he figured she would try to be more diplomatic at first.

It felt desperate and sloppy compared to how she usually approached conversations and twisted them in the direction that she wanted.

"If that's all you have to say, I'll be going. I've already got a good idea of how to deal with you. I think I'll leave you on some rock far from civilization in a prison that'll keep you alive until you die of old age. That'll be a good end for someone like you."

Having said what he wanted, Avery turned to leave.

Yet, before he even took a single step, Delilah called out for him to stop.

"Wait! I was not trying to threaten you. Just informing you of what will certainly come to pass."

Avery sighed before looking back at Delilah and saying, "Is that because you've hired some goons to rescue you on the off chance that you do get captured? Because we've already accounted for that. It's not something that you can hope to base any sort of deal on. I've already had my fair share of you. If you don't have anything actually valuable to divulge, I'm out of here. And you can enjoy your stay in that cell while I look for a place to get rid of you."

"I mean. I do have some extraction teams prepared that will come for me, but that's not really the issue."

Delilah paused for a bit, appearing hesitant to say something.

Except, before Avery's patience fully waned, she spoke up.

"Fine. I'll just be honest. If I don't transmit a code to a hidden faciality I own, another version of me will be made. That is something that I want to avoid."

Now Avery was confused, and it showed on his face.

Whatever ploy he thought Delilah was going to use, it was not this.

"That's a pretty good one. If you weren't such a good liar, you might have convinced me you were telling the truth from how serious you sounded." Avery responded, chuckling as he did so.

"This is no joke. Haven't you wondered why I'm so willing to die? It's because I know that I'll be reborn even if I do. But if I don't get out of here and transmit my status, a failsafe will activate and a new me will be born. And I can assure you, the first thing that she'll do is come to make sure that I'm dead. There cannot be two of me."

His face becoming serious, Avery stared into Delilah's eyes to glean any indication that she was telling the truth.

She might have been the best liar that he had ever met, but that did not mean that everything that came out of her mouth was going to be fabrication.

Of course, he was far from believing anything she had said.

"That's certainly a fanciful tale you've put together. But if it is somehow true, why bother telling me and attempt to stop it? Wouldn't you want another version of you out there that is free?" Avery asked.

"No, I don't need a copy of myself out there. It happened once before and it did not end well. If I am dead, then it is as if I'm being reborn. However, having a second version of myself out there only leads to immense problems."

"And what could that be? You don't like sharing your bank accounts. Or maybe you just can't stand being in your own company, seeing as how you like to make yourself as insufferable as possible. No don't tell me it's because you think it splits your soul or something. I don't care what memories you might be implanting into a clone; they're still a different person."

Avery's sardonic tone clearly got under Delilah's skin, as she was trying to have a serious conversation, while he was making a joke out of her obvious distress.

"You don't seem to think that this is your problem. But it most certainly will be. How about I put this into perspective for you. Have you ever heard of the Gavoli Massacre?"

Delilah's mention of a horrific event that had taken place more than eighty years ago caught Avery by surprise.

"Yeah, I learned about it in school. A tragic event that saw the entire populations of twelve colonies dead. What does that have to do with this?" Avery asked warily.

"That was the aftermath of two versions of myself fighting it out. They're both long gone by now, but I still have the memories. I got trapped far out in space on an expedition I had joined that suffered some complications. None of my communication equipment worked, and after a certain amount of time, I was determined to be dead. So another me was born. She took over everything believing she was the only Delilah. But the lost version eventually was rescued and made it back to civilized space."

"For a time, both of me tried to work together. Back then I figured that two Delilah's could accomplish twice as much. But as you so "cleverly" pointed out earlier. We couldn't get along for long. Eventually, both versions of me realized that one had to go. I think that I've already spelled out what happened next. I'm hoping to prevent another such catastrophe from occurring again. One I can assure you that you'll be caught in the middle of."