Battle of the Jasons

:Major Tom, activate the new data you input into Jason III."

It was as if the AI sighed. "As you wish."

Activation took two second. Before Free's eyes, everything changed. Jason III and Jason II stopped simultaneously. Their eyes left Free and went to each other. They were no longer identical. One of them had inside him additional DNA; DNA he recognized as familiar. And while that did not breed familial unity, it made him different from the other Jason. Different enough that now they both wanted to battle the strongest being in the vicinity. And the strongest on this moon was the other Jason.

Jason II was three meters to the left of Free, and Jason III three meters to the right of him. Carefully and slowly Free backed away, leaving just the two of them in what was like a virtual ring.

Suddenly, number two lunged. A split second later number three leapt toward him. Free couldn't believe this. It was all he had hoped for and more. They were attacking each other. Free knew full well that neither daddy had made the move to save his son. This was pure murderous rage at work.

With the honed instinct of an A-1 predator, Jason II had that machete lifted above his head. But he wasn't quite fast enough. Jason II ducked out of the way and plowed into the other's legs, knocking him off his feet.

The two killer giants wrestled on the ground, fists pounding, hands choking, the machete struggling to find a mark, and when it did it stabbed number three in the back.

Free was amazed to see that that did not slow number three down at all.

The two beings leapt to their feet, facing off like hockey players, the machete between them like a hockey stick. Free could not tear his eyes away.

Jason II had the machete, but number three had the advantage of being all that Jason II was, and then some. Number two swung the machete again. This time number three caught his opponent's wrist in the air. He bashed the arm against the skull of number two and the machete went flying into the air. Now they were hand-to-hand, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

To Free's eyes, they were two deranged entities battling it out. Each anticipated the other's moves. Jason III punched Jason II in the face and at the same time two kicked three hard in the stomach. Both went flying in opposite directions. Their speed was not a normal human's speed, but the pace of something or someone superhuman.

Free got the sense, somehow, that Jason II knew number three for the superior creation that it was, possibly the most powerful being in the vicinity, and that's why he waited for it.

Free knew that they both realized that he and Skye weren't going anywhere. Both Jasons were convinced they could get at them any time. It must be like a macabre game to them, Free thought. A very simple game: you exist, I kill you. But I kill the strongest first. Then I kill you two. It was a game Jason never really lost. And now there were two of them playing at it.

As the two got into the fight more heavily, Free used the opportunity to dart past them, heading toward the Lab.

	Jason X: To the Third Power - Pages 388-390

"We need that elevator!" Free screamed. How the hell could they get the elevator down without the help of Major Tom? Or maybe, Free thought gloomily, it didn't matter anymore.

"MT!"

"At your service."

"Are you still controlling Jason III?"

"Jason III is no more."

Free and Skye looked at one another.

"So... Jason II won the fight?"

"He did not."

"What are you saying? Both of them are dead?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

	Jason X: To the Third Power - Page 391

Just as they rounded the corner of the store, Skye held him back: Jason stood in the clearing at the center of the cam, machete in his hand, standing amidst the bodies.

"Forget the supplies," she whispered.

Free just stared. "Jason still exists, doesn't he?"

"Yes," MT said.

"Which one?"

"Both."

As he and Skye turned and raced back toward the descending elevator, Free demanded, "Explain!"

"Quite simply, they battled. The survivor, who was as you called him, Jason III, absorbed all that was Jason II. Now there is one. You've done a remarkable job. I commend you."

Free couldn't believe it. Jason was alive and well and headed in their direction. No need to even confirm it. He could sense that Jason had sensed them. They were the last two human beings who would die on Elysium.

"You told us they died!" Skye gas[ed. staggering along, every bone in her body exhausted, her voice filled with hopelessness like a child that had discovered she'd been lied to.

"I believe I said they died in a manner of speaking. There is no 'they', simply 'he'."

"The one I made? He's the new Jason? The strongest Jason ever?" Her voice lowered, as if she had given up all remaining hope.

"That is correct," MT said. "And my mission and my programming are virtually complete, if you will excuse the pun."

	Jason X: To the Third Power - Pages 393-394