The REPLICATOR sits at the heart of the factory, a sick and swollen beast, pulsating with hellish red life. All around it snarl and twist cables, parts, arms, production lines.

ALPHA pursues MISTER GRANT toward this final battleground. His rifle clicks, empty. He throws it aside. MISTER GRANT climbs atop the machine and spreads his arms, an invitation that ALPHA accepts. They clash. At first the fight seems ridiculously one-sided; ALPHA's fists are soon coated with blood and MISTER GRANT is bruised, bleeding. But GRANT just laughs.

"Nothing to gamble, nothing to lose."

He flexes his arm and his skin bursts apart! Beneath the bruised flesh emerges a sleek black monster machine - MISTER GRANT's true form - OMEGA. With a horrid smile and burning pink eyes, OMEGA lunges! He grabs ALPHA by the arm and hurls him so hard by it that the arm disconnects at the shoulder, and Alpha goes spinning to crash against a welding mechanism. He rises, and returns to the fight. Metal fists crunch in opposition. Bodyblows and kneeblows throw sparks in all directions.

*

JACKSON finally rises from the ruin of the KILROY clone, pulling off her head and hurling it away from himself. He is beaten and tired, clothes torn. He turns and stumbles back the way he came. But he is not retreating. He goes to the first terminal he can find. With an exhausted sigh he begins to type in a long, complex series of commands. After a brief battle with the computer, numbers appear on the screen and a voice begins to countdown overhead. JACKSON looks up the hall. "Get yourself out." Then he pushes his wounded body to escape.

*

The countdown is at 45 seconds. ALPHA and OMEGA continue to trade blows and taunts. OMEGA's voice booms. "The wonder of science is that we can make anything with it, my boy. We can make friends out of enemies. Life out of metal. Science makes us gods. This machine makes us immortals."

ALPHA is aware of the countdown. There is no more time. But the Replicator is burning white hot, a heart about to burst. All he has to do is keep OMEGA busy a few more seconds. He grabs hold of Omega's shoulders and forces him back, back against the heaving ends of the Replicator.

"Fuck your science," he grits, a second before the facility explodes.

*

JACKSON is leaning against the sedan on a nearby hill, shakily lighting up a smoke, leaning against the sedan as he sees the entirety of OMNITek crumble. His life's work and his father's too, gone in flames, but at least the worst is over now. The machines are dead. He stares at the smouldering ruins until the firefighters start to arrive. Then he gets into the sedan, starts the ignition and begins to drive away. There are other facilities. Other copies of the programs. They too have to be destroyed before humanity is safe.

And in one of them, a deep voice laughs with smug amusement.

"Nothing to gamble, nothing to lose."

END