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“The transfer is complete,” the doctor said, looking tentatively between Victoria and Jaime. He was relieved in the moment that while Jaime looked like hell, he hadn’t died during the transfer, but now he was afraid of what Victoria would do to him.
De La Cruz handed Victoria the device with all of the Scarab code on it, and she was grinning from ear-to-ear. She barked Carapax’s name, and then her phone went off and she stepped away from De La Cruz to answer it, paying no mind to him nor Jaime.
Jaime felt completely drained, each breath a painful wheeze as the collar around his neck pressed into his windpipe, but he was too weak to hold his head up and get his throat away from it. Sweat dripped into his eyes and his vision was blurred and spotty, but he caught the doctor’s gaze.
“Help,” he gasped weakly, but the frightened man in front of him just stared back sympathetically. Jaime couldn’t even blame him, really. If he stepped out of line, surely Victoria would kill him without a second thought. He hadn’t even been able to tell her his real name.
“WHAT?” Victoria’s voice suddenly echoed through the room. She muttered angrily into the phone, too quietly for Jaime to hear, before turning it off and spinning around. “Sanchez, we need to move. Carapax, take care of Mr. Reyes for me, please. And any other Reyes you can find!” She marched out of the room without even glancing at Jaime, who’s heart dropped.
Somehow finding his voice, he cried out: “Other Reyes? Is my family here?”
Carapax lumbered across the room toward him and fear clutched his throat like a cold vice.
“Please, don’t hurt them!” Jaime pleaded.
Carapax’s only reply was to turn the end of his gauntlet into a sharp blade. Before Jaime could even finish wondering if it would pierce his armor, he got his answer via the sound of the blade plunging into the center of his chest, followed by the sickening sound of blood spattering on the floor as it was pulled back out. At first, he was too stunned to even feel the pain, but it didn’t take long for the agony to hit him like a freight train. He couldn’t help but cry out, a horrible gurgling scream that he couldn’t even believe he was making. Somehow, though his vision was blurred with tears, he caught sight of the doctor again, who looked like he was about to throw up. De La Cruz did something on the computer and then scurried away after Carapax.
Jaime was alone.
“Khaji Da?” He tried one more time, though the Scarab had been silent the entire time he’d been in this ring. He wondered if something in this contraption had disabled her, or if she was damaged from the transfer process. He also marveled at how much he wished she were there in his head with him, so he wouldn’t die alone here, terrified both for himself and his family.
The room was so quiet without his tormentors and the whir of the machine. Jaime was shaking uncontrollably now, and every breath felt more painful than the last. He closed his eyes to concentrate more on breathing, though he wasn’t sure why - without Khaji, he would never survive an injury like this, even if someone were to find him. He would never see his family again, and if they were really here searching for him, there was nothing he could do to protect them. That hurt more than the actual hole in his chest.
All he could hear was his blood dripping continuously on the floor, and the sound of his heart pounding in his ears, but that was beginning to slow, slow… and finally stop.
Rudy ran into Milagro and Jenny in the tunnels - nearly literally.
“We found the OMACs and set off the bombs. But it only knocked out power in half the fortress,” Jenny beckoned at the lights that were still on in the tunnel. “We have to find Jaime and get out of here in case things start collapsing. There was a lab on the blueprints this way, follow me!”
Jenny jogged down the tunnels, Rudy and Milagro in hot pursuit. It wasn’t long before they found the lab, and to Jenny’s surprise, there was a small rock keeping the door cracked, almost as if someone left it there on purpose. The trio exchanged glances, all very aware that they didn’t know what was behind the door, or what kind of fire power they may encounter. Milagro enabled the Bug Shield and Rudy burst through the door, but almost immediately stopped in his tracks, unable to comprehend the sight before him - Jaime, strapped in a ring-shaped contraption, completely limp, extremely pale, and covered in more blood than Rudy had ever seen in his life.
“JAIME!” He shouted, dashing across the room to get to his nephew. With shaking hands, he took Jaime’s face in his hands, pushing it back from the collar that he thought might be choking him. But he quickly realized Jaime wasn’t breathing at all, and he searched frantically for a pulse at Jaime’s neck to no avail. “No, no, no, Jaime - please, we can’t lose you too. Please, cabezón,” Rudy cried, tears filling his eyes.
In a daze of shock, Milagro made her way close to the ring-shaped machine before stopping a few feet away, leaning on the wall with one hand while the other covered her mouth as she cried.
Meanwhile, Jenny blinked back the tears and ran to the computer, desperate to find something - anything - to fix this. She knew her aunt had done this and if she couldn’t find a way to save Jaime, she didn’t know what she would do or how she would live with the guilt. In a way, she did this to him. Choking back a sob and the stifling guilt, Jenny looked around the computer, which had been left unlocked. Toward the bottom left corner, there was a notepad document with a message: MACHINE DISABLES THE SCARAB. GET HIM OUT OF IT!
There were two more screens open, one that controlled the machine, and one with several lines of code that had been translated from the Scarab - the words “healing factor” made Jenny’s heart jump. She remembered that Jaime’s cuts and bruises from his first encounter with Carapax had suddenly gone away… but could Khaji Da fix this?
“Rudy! Catch him!” She shouted before furiously typing the commands to release the restraints on the machine, beginning with the collar. Jaime’s body fell into Rudy’s arms as the restraints released, and Rudy gently laid him on the ground, not knowing what to do next. He thought about trying CPR, but the suit covering Jaime’s chest would not allow enough give to actually do compressions. His mind was racing with thoughts ranging from hoping this was a bad dream he could wake up from, to despairing at the thought of telling Rocio and Nana. All he could do was gently wipe the sweat, tears, and blood from Jaime’s face and look up at Jenny helplessly.
“Khaji Da!” Jenny cried, “please, if you can hear me, please help us.”
Please let us not be too late, she thought to herself.
His father had told him it wasn’t his time. Jaime found that hard to believe, but didn’t have the heart to tell his father what had happened to him. Maybe he already knew - his father had always been wise, but that quality had felt amplified here. How could he do anything but trust his papí in this moment?
He took off running and jumped toward the suit, as soon as he touched it, pain coursed through his body, and everything was dark.
“Jaime,” Khaji’s familiar voice rang out clearly in his head, and he’d never felt so relieved. “Todo va a estar bien,” her words echoed those of his father and he felt comforted despite the pain he was in. He felt his body gasp in a breath, then another one - each felt like a hundred tiny knives stabbing him.
“I am sorry, Jaime. The damage is extensive. Please trust that I am prioritizing appropriately.”
“Thanks, Khaji,” Jaime thought but could not say, and that was all he needed to do for her to understand him.
“Jaime! Oh my god, he’s breathing!” A voice outside of his head said.
Jaime opened his eyes, blinking blearily, just able to make out Rudy’s face. He’d never seen him look so distressed. Vaguely, he could feel someone else holding his hand tightly, he couldn’t lift his head, but he glanced around until he found Milagro’s tear-stained face. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t get any words out. Instead, he gave her hand a weak squeeze and hoped that would give her some reassurance. He instinctively moved his free hand to the searing pain in his chest, discovering that he was bleeding again - or still?
Jaime heard his uncle make a concerned noise and put pressure on the wound, causing another wave of pain to overwhelm him. Khaji had asked him to trust her, so he let the darkness take over for a moment.
When he came to, the pain was finally beginning to lessen, and he felt like he could breathe without the stabbing pain in his lungs. Blinking, he was surprised to see three faces hovering around him, all with fresh tears.
“Jaime! We thought you were dying… again,” Milagro’s voice broke on the last word.
“Hey,” Jaime’s voice was hoarse, but he was grateful to be able to get words out. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You did, though,” Milagro said grimly, not returning the smile that Jaime was attempting to give her.
Jaime squeezed her hand, much more strength in his grip this time. “I’m sorry, Mili.”
He could feel the hole in his chest filling, healing, coming back together. It was a strange sensation. His pulse was regulating, and he wasn’t shaking or feeling faint anymore. Giving a silent thank you to Khaji, he moved to sit up a bit, and Rudy helped support him.
“What pinche pendejo did this to you?” Rudy demanded, “I’ll fucking kill them myself!”
Jaime did not answer - the last thing he wanted was for his uncle to go after Carapax, especially now that he was juiced up on Khaji’s code…
“Victoria has all of Khaji Da’s code,” he said urgently, “we have to stop her.”
Jenny face tightened in determination, and she leaned forward and took Jaime’s hand. “I’m glad you’re okay, Jaime,” she said softly, giving his hand a squeeze before standing up.
“Hey now, you’re not doing this alone,” Jaime protested.
Khaji? Can we do this? Jaime thought.
Yes. All systems are online and your vitals are within 80% of baseline. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you before, but I can now.
Jaime got to his feet, the suit glowing blue. “Let’s go!”