Being that he was more of the target for the attack, Vreta did not exactly have time to move to the side. Fortunately, he was equipped as well as he had been on the last mission. Instead of stopping, or even turning, Vreta kept up his trajectory straight at the grey wall, then leaped into the air at full strength. Rhia, meanwhile, powered his suit’s anti-grav thrusters for a second to make sure he could clear the wave. 

On the other side of the wave, Vreta ducked and rolled once he hit the ground, moving briefly into cover behind one of the pillars. He might have kept up his aggression, but it was Rhia that asked him to move into cover. He could hear her thoughts within his mind, [i]speaking[/i] more urgently than she ever had before. [i]”I can get us out of this, Vreta, but you have to trust me. There are things I can’t do with our current arrangement. I need to take control, fully, and you have to authorize me to do that.”[/i]

The situation was getting more and more dire with every second that passed. The builder was halting their escape here, and by the shouts he heard, Freyr and Girard needed help as well. He could see Agent 595 rushing to assist, but they still could not afford to make this a protracted battle. It had to end. Now. [i]”Okay…do it.”[/i] He replied. 

Vreta’s permission was all Rhia needed for his implants to grant her unrestricted control over his brain. Just as before, Rhia could “move” parts of his cognitive processes to allow her to place parts of herself in the sections of his mind controlling cognition, sensory input, and motor functions. With how fluidly her consciousness could flow between implants and an organic brain, she truly could take over his body. However, there was an aspect of this process that she had not explained to Vreta. If he had reached full affinity with his synthetic implants, then his consciousness could exist within his implants just like Rhia’s could. However, he was still far from being able to accomplish that feat, and there was not room enough for both of their consciousnesses within one brain. Therefore, to take control of his body, Rhia had to push away Vreta’s consciousness and store it within memory. For as long as she was in control, Vreta would be unconscious. Unaware. Powerless to anything Rhia may have wanted to do.

Immediately, Rhia dashed out from behind the pillar in a thruster-assisted sprint straight at the position of the builder and remaining soldier. Even just in running, her technique was more refined than Vreta’s, allowing her to stay low and keep evasive while maintaining speed. She closed on them like a cheetah in full sprint, intent on ending this quickly and decisively. She kept up suppressing fire on the soldier’s position, even more accurately than before, but the builder was her priority target. She did not know what these droids behind them would be able to accomplish, but even if they could just be a distraction, she would cut off the head of the snake herself. She was aware of the threat of the builder’s spear, but she had ideas in mind to deal with that.