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Deviation Actions
Literature Text
I think I know why it's been getting colder over the past month. When the Firebreak nuke went off just beyond the coastline, all the radioactive material went up into the atmosphere and got trapped there, preventing most of the sun's light from reaching the ground and warming the Earth as it should. I know that this is eventually going to lead to a nuclear winter here in NYZ. Just merely thinking about it caused me to shiver and move faster toward my destination, both to get my biomass flowing and to speed things up a bit, for I was determined as all get out to save my sister, who was slowly becoming… well, I wasn't entirely sure what it is she'd become, but from what I've seen and from what all Gentek and Blackwatch have seen, I can venture a guess that the result will not be positive, far from it.
Greene, that monster, I should have known all along that she had done this, that she had infected my sister. Perhaps I had known, there had always been a nagging doubt in the back of my mind trying desperately to get my attention, but up until now I had ignored the little thing, and now that the spotlight had fallen on reality, it was yelling 'I told you so!' right in my face at the top of it's lungs, reveling in the fact that I was wrong and it was right. Now I had to make up for my arrogant mistakes, to prevent the Virus from dispersing a third and probably final time, as Greene had intended, and to stop this variant of Redlight from changing her into a Runner, like Greene or me. Well, now that I think about it, she wouldn't be like me, no. As I remember, there had only been female Runners for the most part, if Blackwatch was to be credited, and they were like Greene, altered and mutated from the inside out, looking visually infected. I, on the other hand, am different. I had been one of the only male Runners in the history of the Virus, and unlike the female counterparts, I look and sound completely human on the outside. So as male Runners or Infected leaders go, those that are still alive to this day for that matter, there is only me… Me and Pariah.
Pariah… as I propelled my way through the decaying skyscrapers at Times Square, my mind wandered to ponder on that very name. I knew so little about this being, but I knew he was the one and only other Male Runner in existence besides me, probably the only other there ever will be. Somewhere out there, beyond my borders, in some miscellaneous top-secret military base, was the son of Greene, a boy whose codename was the only name and key to existence and purpose he would ever know. I pitied him in the notion that he was trapped in the body of a child, for he, like me, would live an eternity as he was. What was it about being male that made us special? Was it the Y chromosome, the variants of the Virus, or the fact that we weren't human, and only looked it? While most Runners had been altered by the Virus to become walking diseased super humans, we had been created, cell-by-cell; him from an embryo, me from dying body of Alex Mercer, into perfectly molded forms of pure Viral Biomass. Sharing the same lineage, our only difference, it would seem, was that I had the memories of humanity and all it's rights and wrongs, while he, it, did not. I cannot imagine living a life of captivity under the watch of Blackwatch and scientists doing tests forever without having to one day seek escape and vengeance. Did it have the mind of a child, or a killer? I would never like to find out, because as McMullen had once said, it would be extremely bad if we met face to face. I believe the director was right, knowing some questions are better left unanswered.
I put aside these deep thoughts as I finally reacted the repaired remains of Dana's apartment and safe house, just as the first rays of morning were beginning to creep over the horizon. It was here that I had encountered the first Leader Hunter, and where it had taken her. Awful memories of that day were beginning to resurface, but I pushed them back down into the depths of my mind, somewhere next to the Web of Intrigue. The hole that the Hunter had created was now patched up, thanks to me, with thick black tarps, newspaper, and duct tape. Gotta love duct tape. The reason I did this was because I hadn't wanted wind or rain to get in and destroy Dana's work and investigation findings; she wouldn't have wanted that. I took pride in maintaining the apartment from time to time, hoping for the day she would return and thank me for this. On that day, if it ever comes, I will be happy and content for the first time in my entire messed up life.
I entered the darkened apartment and was pleasantly greeted by a wall of warm comforting air and familiar smells. It was always the perfect temperature for me in here, courtesy of the black tarps collecting rays of daylight like giant solar panels and heating the air. I learned this trick from one of the many eggheads in my web. At times like this, I am thankful that I had consumed all those scientists on my quest to find dear Karen…. "Karen," I growled, hating that name, that word, never wanting to hear it or speak it again.
I moved quickly to the table strewn with papers and folders at the far side of the room, scanning everything and anything that might be of use to Ragland. Most notes were in her handwriting, never finished. There were files with names to indicate the topic, all of which I knew, but one that stood out for me the most was a name so familiar and yet so distant, Alex Mercer. I was tempted to open it, to know what she knew before I had learned the truth of it all for myself, but I knew that time was of the essence, and so I push my file aside to reveal the ones under it, related to mine in a way. I selected and picked up the folders entitled Spread, Variants, Virus, and Elizabeth Greene. I breezed through each to make sure all the required and crucial documents were there, learning one or two new things as I read. All was there that needed to be there, and so I tucked them safely under my arm and moved my attention to the laptop. It was fully charged, thankfully, the little green light blinked enthusiastically from the charger. I moved my fingers quickly across the touchpad to see if the computer was ok. It had been neglected for so long and I was worried something might have been blocked, or a virus had gotten to it. Upon thinking this I chuckled a bit at the slight ironic term. I needed to check if the Greene files were still there. Those files were the original ones that had been on this laptop, 'my' laptop, when Dana first acquired it when I went AWOL from the Blacklight Project. The login screen was the first to pop up, making me have to search through my own memories and logic, till eventually, after educated thinking and guessing, I got the password on the first try and began to scan through the folders on the desktop, of the computer that is.
Suddenly, something out of place began to creep up slowly out of my right peripheral vision. I looked to see a bean of morning sunlight stretching it's way up the wall like a snail's trail, and since this was out of the ordinary, there were no windows, I followed it with my eyes back to the source of the intruding brightness, to a big tear in the black tarp that I had not noticed before. Immediately, I got tense and instinctively got into a defensive stance, knowing darn well that there was no way a rip like that could have been made without sufficient force and intent. The tarps were too thick and two strong for nature to act against them, so I knew that something alive had made that entry point. Without taking my eyes off the crack of light, I put the files down on the keyboard, almost jumping when it made a sticky key sound, and made my way toward the tarps, hoping that it had been some animal, a raccoon perhaps, looking for food. I kept my ears open for any noise if that was the case, it could still have been inside.
Reaching the artificial and temporary wall, I knelt down and placed my hand upon the black smooth surface, still warm after a night of cold unforgiving darkness. Slowly I traced the tear, widening it for a split second to allow the sun to blind me, unintentionally, leaving a purple hazy photographic stained in the center of my vision. It would soon fade, if I kept my eyes to the dark. Upon inspecting, it would appear that my suspicions about an animal intruder were incorrect, and that caused more alarm to rise. From what I could tell, a single sharp object had torn this, a knife maybe; all it would take was one… And that was when I saw it. As I ran my fingers down the slit the way I envisioned a knife cutting through the rubber, my hand fell onto what was supposed to be the flat wood floor. But under my fingers, I could feel a series of indents, and upon moving my hand across them like a brail reader; I looked down to view what I had felt. The glow of the dawn's light over New York casted shadows into the deeply rooted engravings I saw at my feet, engravings that had never been there before, or that I recognized in any way, shape, or form. Carved into the wood, not hastily but neat, were three distinct symbols. The first was made out of two curved lines and one straight line, and looked like some sort of flower, a lotus perhaps. The second had only two lines, one of which made me think of a lightning bolt. The third had two lines, one bent to make the bottom half of a diamond, and a small circle. What it was I could only guess it to be a demented smiley face, one of its eyes winking at me. Together, they formed… an arrow? Yes, it was an arrow, and it was pointing in the direction the light took, behind me.
Behind me…. Cautiously, I got up and turned in the indicated direction, moving to the side to allow the light beam to cascade past me and up the wall, further then it had gone before. The light caught glimpse of something I did not, something purple was glinting off the wall. I rubbed my eyes thinking that it was just the sun glare I had seen before, but it was still there when I looked back with a clean vision. I stared at this oddity for sometime, not daring to move just yet, trying to contemplate what it was exactly. From where I stood, it looked like semi-dry paint, purple paint... slowly, the Biomass in my head churned as the blocks fell into place. Purple spray paint! My chest clenched at the realization.
I don't know how I had crossed the room so quickly, or that I turned on the lamplight that had been on the desk, but I was suddenly looking at what was on the wall, the new message, the clue, that I knew ERIS had left for me, it had to be. If the choice in color or markings wasn't apparent enough, who or what else could it be? It was the map of Manhattan, the one that Dana had kept track of all the important locations on, such as Gentek, and what used to be my apartment, but now this poster sized paper map was coated with the purple paint, illustrating a weird optical effect or illusion, and demonstrating an artist's hand. I counted at least thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen lines forming a giant spiral, all ending in an arrow, and all pointing to the same location in Manhattan, some place in Harlem. I looked closer at the area, somehow it seemed familiar, and looked for any building I recognized. However, a specific place could not be identified, for I soon found that it had been cut out and replaced with a small burrowing hole that went into the wall a good five inches. The bean of light was falling right into the hole, and I could see something stuck in there. Upon trying to reach for it, I found that my fingers were too big to fit in the narrow opening. I had an idea to break the wall and get whatever it was that way, but I didn't want to mess up the place any worse then it had been by the Hunter, not for Dana. Thinking a moment, I let a small tendril of Biomass extend from the tip of my forefinger, and fish out the object, now clearly seen as a folded up piece of paper. I looked at it in the palm of my hand, then unfolded it quickly like a kid opening presents at their birthday, not wanting to feel any more suspense. Written on the paper, in the same handwriting style as the first message I had gotten from ERIS in the alley, was written two short sentences.
In one of your old haunts I'll be.
Take your time; I'm in no hurry.
I read over those words a couple of times, to memorize them, and interpret what it was ERIS was trying to tell me. My old haunts, what could she mean by that? I looked back up at the map again for reference; the hole must have been the location, somewhere in East Harlem. Something about that location pulled a string of familiarity in my mind, but I couldn't figure out why, there were so many memories that I couldn't tell mine from someone else's. Well, whatever it was that was significant to me there, all this proved one thing that was both interesting, as it was terrifying. ERIS knew more about me then I had realized, and if she knew about this apartment, this place that had so much connection to me, what other things did she know, what other connections did she make? Fear for Dana and Ragland's safety rose a bit; did ERIS know about them too? What would she do if she found them? I didn't know what to expect from this mysterious being. Finally, I assumed that only time would tell of ERIS's motives.
Speaking of time, I now felt a little pressed for it. I now had two important missions, and was torn between which to tackle first. Dana was the main priority, but I was also curious as to what ERIS wanted to do with me, and why she was trying to communicate in the most riddled of ways. I looked down at the message again, and took heart to the second sentence. "Take your time; I'm in know hurry." I eased down a bit. ERIS seemed to know that I was focusing on something else. How she had figured that out was beyond me, but if she had discovered this place, she probably knew. I had a small faith that ERIS would probably stay put if she wanted to see me as much as I suspected. I did have my doubts though; as I was not one-hundred-percent sure that ERIS might have as much patience as I could have if I wanted to, but for now I needn't look on that subject. Right now, I needed to get the information to Ragland as soon as possible. That being said, I folded up the message and put it in one of the pockets of my jacket. I then turned out the lamplight, gathered up the documents and laptop, placing one in the other, and proceeded outside. I considered patching up the tarp before I left, but that could wait, right now Dana was the main concern, and second was confronting ERIS. I wonder what I'll do once I meet her. I still had a mind to kill her, as killing and consuming her seemed the most straightforward option, but could it have consequences? I'll think about it. Opening the door, I slightly tugged my hood to shield my eyes from the sun, having a short moment to take solace in its warmth. Then, with laptop and documents in hand, I took a running jump and glided over the infected filled streets, in the direction of Ragland's morgue.
I practically threw everything at Ragland when I got to the morgue. He seemed to notice that I was in a rush, but I didn't give him a chance to ask why. After questioning him on Dana's condition, which he responded that she was the same as when I had left, I ordered him to get to work on finding the cure for her and left without another word. He shouted after me to not forget what he had asked for, and I wouldn't, but first and foremost was ERIS, and the place she had asked me to go. I must say that I was feeling a bit nervous and anxious, not knowing exactly what I was going to meet. What would she do once she showed her face and we were looking eye to eye? What would I do seemed to be the bigger question. To me, killing seemed to be the only concrete solution I could think of, one that might end badly for me, or her, but other then that, I didn't know what else to do. I had zero mind to make an alliance, as I had learned from my experience with Captain Cross, but not making one could result in a fight, and I was pretty much through with fighting up to this point. I decided to let the answer just come to me, and to prepare myself for the worst. On my way, I suddenly began to suspect that this could be some sort of elaborate trap, and my Biomass began to prickle thus, but there was no turning back now.
The prickling feeling increased as I drew closer to the location indicated on the map. Something was just dully familiar about this part of the city, ringing a small bell in the cathedral of my mind, and I couldn't remember why. At least, not until I got to the end of the trail, the big red X on the treasure map. I had been running through the streets of East Harlem, looking for some telltale sign of where I was supposed to go for this meeting, or at least another clue. The map had been a little vague in giving an exact location, so I decided to keep running and looking around until something jumped out at me. And something jumped out at me all right. Rounding a corner on a deserted street, I noticed the sheer lack of Infected, a clear sign I was getting close. When I looked to my right across a parking lot, I immediately came skidding to a halt, and just stood and stared, jaw dropped in apprehension and dread.
It was Karen Parker's hideout and secret lab; I could never forget that place. This was where that traitor had hid from me, where I had gotten my sweetest revenge of all. My mind wandered back to ERIS's message, one of my old haunts… Could this be the place of meeting? I began to approach the secret entrance of the hideout with caution, hoping silently that this wasn't it, that I was wrong. I hoped this because I never had wanted to set foot near here again. But upon reaching the door, and seeing a carving emblazon upon it, all hope faded like mist on a sunny day. The carving was different this time, looking like a female symbol with the line going half way into the circle, but the way it had been carved was the same way as the other I had seen, unmistakable.
After accepting the fact that ERIS was most likely waiting inside for me, an underlying rage began to bubble up in my chest, making me clench my fists in pure anger. Out off all the places ERIS could have chosen to reveal herself, why the Hell did it has to be here?! She had the nerve, the audacity, to tell me she knew every detail about who I was in the most prying of ways, first breaking into the sanctity of Dana's safe-house, and now these feat? I felt like I was being taunted by this currently unseen rival, and the want to destroy her increased a good twenty percent. However, it began to decrease as questions began to rise. How could she even have know all of this? And why was she going through all the trouble? In the end, I knew the only way to answer these nagging questions was to ask her myself, so I proceeded through the marked door.
I followed another hunch I had, and was once again angered and surprised when I went to the fateful elevator door. A big purple happy face was waiting for me, purple spray paint again, and it grinned at me as I stood in front of the large metal doors. This didn't seem to be a threat, I thought. This was more like a friendly message, like, "Hey, wanna play?" And yes, I did, I dared to play this game of cat and mouse. And now that cat had found the mouse's hole. Readying myself for anything, I pressed the elevator button, and watched as the numbers above the door counted down to my fate.
Four…. Three…. Two….. One…..
DING!
The doors opened and my fate was sealed.
"Hello Alex."
***
Greene, that monster, I should have known all along that she had done this, that she had infected my sister. Perhaps I had known, there had always been a nagging doubt in the back of my mind trying desperately to get my attention, but up until now I had ignored the little thing, and now that the spotlight had fallen on reality, it was yelling 'I told you so!' right in my face at the top of it's lungs, reveling in the fact that I was wrong and it was right. Now I had to make up for my arrogant mistakes, to prevent the Virus from dispersing a third and probably final time, as Greene had intended, and to stop this variant of Redlight from changing her into a Runner, like Greene or me. Well, now that I think about it, she wouldn't be like me, no. As I remember, there had only been female Runners for the most part, if Blackwatch was to be credited, and they were like Greene, altered and mutated from the inside out, looking visually infected. I, on the other hand, am different. I had been one of the only male Runners in the history of the Virus, and unlike the female counterparts, I look and sound completely human on the outside. So as male Runners or Infected leaders go, those that are still alive to this day for that matter, there is only me… Me and Pariah.
Pariah… as I propelled my way through the decaying skyscrapers at Times Square, my mind wandered to ponder on that very name. I knew so little about this being, but I knew he was the one and only other Male Runner in existence besides me, probably the only other there ever will be. Somewhere out there, beyond my borders, in some miscellaneous top-secret military base, was the son of Greene, a boy whose codename was the only name and key to existence and purpose he would ever know. I pitied him in the notion that he was trapped in the body of a child, for he, like me, would live an eternity as he was. What was it about being male that made us special? Was it the Y chromosome, the variants of the Virus, or the fact that we weren't human, and only looked it? While most Runners had been altered by the Virus to become walking diseased super humans, we had been created, cell-by-cell; him from an embryo, me from dying body of Alex Mercer, into perfectly molded forms of pure Viral Biomass. Sharing the same lineage, our only difference, it would seem, was that I had the memories of humanity and all it's rights and wrongs, while he, it, did not. I cannot imagine living a life of captivity under the watch of Blackwatch and scientists doing tests forever without having to one day seek escape and vengeance. Did it have the mind of a child, or a killer? I would never like to find out, because as McMullen had once said, it would be extremely bad if we met face to face. I believe the director was right, knowing some questions are better left unanswered.
I put aside these deep thoughts as I finally reacted the repaired remains of Dana's apartment and safe house, just as the first rays of morning were beginning to creep over the horizon. It was here that I had encountered the first Leader Hunter, and where it had taken her. Awful memories of that day were beginning to resurface, but I pushed them back down into the depths of my mind, somewhere next to the Web of Intrigue. The hole that the Hunter had created was now patched up, thanks to me, with thick black tarps, newspaper, and duct tape. Gotta love duct tape. The reason I did this was because I hadn't wanted wind or rain to get in and destroy Dana's work and investigation findings; she wouldn't have wanted that. I took pride in maintaining the apartment from time to time, hoping for the day she would return and thank me for this. On that day, if it ever comes, I will be happy and content for the first time in my entire messed up life.
I entered the darkened apartment and was pleasantly greeted by a wall of warm comforting air and familiar smells. It was always the perfect temperature for me in here, courtesy of the black tarps collecting rays of daylight like giant solar panels and heating the air. I learned this trick from one of the many eggheads in my web. At times like this, I am thankful that I had consumed all those scientists on my quest to find dear Karen…. "Karen," I growled, hating that name, that word, never wanting to hear it or speak it again.
I moved quickly to the table strewn with papers and folders at the far side of the room, scanning everything and anything that might be of use to Ragland. Most notes were in her handwriting, never finished. There were files with names to indicate the topic, all of which I knew, but one that stood out for me the most was a name so familiar and yet so distant, Alex Mercer. I was tempted to open it, to know what she knew before I had learned the truth of it all for myself, but I knew that time was of the essence, and so I push my file aside to reveal the ones under it, related to mine in a way. I selected and picked up the folders entitled Spread, Variants, Virus, and Elizabeth Greene. I breezed through each to make sure all the required and crucial documents were there, learning one or two new things as I read. All was there that needed to be there, and so I tucked them safely under my arm and moved my attention to the laptop. It was fully charged, thankfully, the little green light blinked enthusiastically from the charger. I moved my fingers quickly across the touchpad to see if the computer was ok. It had been neglected for so long and I was worried something might have been blocked, or a virus had gotten to it. Upon thinking this I chuckled a bit at the slight ironic term. I needed to check if the Greene files were still there. Those files were the original ones that had been on this laptop, 'my' laptop, when Dana first acquired it when I went AWOL from the Blacklight Project. The login screen was the first to pop up, making me have to search through my own memories and logic, till eventually, after educated thinking and guessing, I got the password on the first try and began to scan through the folders on the desktop, of the computer that is.
Suddenly, something out of place began to creep up slowly out of my right peripheral vision. I looked to see a bean of morning sunlight stretching it's way up the wall like a snail's trail, and since this was out of the ordinary, there were no windows, I followed it with my eyes back to the source of the intruding brightness, to a big tear in the black tarp that I had not noticed before. Immediately, I got tense and instinctively got into a defensive stance, knowing darn well that there was no way a rip like that could have been made without sufficient force and intent. The tarps were too thick and two strong for nature to act against them, so I knew that something alive had made that entry point. Without taking my eyes off the crack of light, I put the files down on the keyboard, almost jumping when it made a sticky key sound, and made my way toward the tarps, hoping that it had been some animal, a raccoon perhaps, looking for food. I kept my ears open for any noise if that was the case, it could still have been inside.
Reaching the artificial and temporary wall, I knelt down and placed my hand upon the black smooth surface, still warm after a night of cold unforgiving darkness. Slowly I traced the tear, widening it for a split second to allow the sun to blind me, unintentionally, leaving a purple hazy photographic stained in the center of my vision. It would soon fade, if I kept my eyes to the dark. Upon inspecting, it would appear that my suspicions about an animal intruder were incorrect, and that caused more alarm to rise. From what I could tell, a single sharp object had torn this, a knife maybe; all it would take was one… And that was when I saw it. As I ran my fingers down the slit the way I envisioned a knife cutting through the rubber, my hand fell onto what was supposed to be the flat wood floor. But under my fingers, I could feel a series of indents, and upon moving my hand across them like a brail reader; I looked down to view what I had felt. The glow of the dawn's light over New York casted shadows into the deeply rooted engravings I saw at my feet, engravings that had never been there before, or that I recognized in any way, shape, or form. Carved into the wood, not hastily but neat, were three distinct symbols. The first was made out of two curved lines and one straight line, and looked like some sort of flower, a lotus perhaps. The second had only two lines, one of which made me think of a lightning bolt. The third had two lines, one bent to make the bottom half of a diamond, and a small circle. What it was I could only guess it to be a demented smiley face, one of its eyes winking at me. Together, they formed… an arrow? Yes, it was an arrow, and it was pointing in the direction the light took, behind me.
Behind me…. Cautiously, I got up and turned in the indicated direction, moving to the side to allow the light beam to cascade past me and up the wall, further then it had gone before. The light caught glimpse of something I did not, something purple was glinting off the wall. I rubbed my eyes thinking that it was just the sun glare I had seen before, but it was still there when I looked back with a clean vision. I stared at this oddity for sometime, not daring to move just yet, trying to contemplate what it was exactly. From where I stood, it looked like semi-dry paint, purple paint... slowly, the Biomass in my head churned as the blocks fell into place. Purple spray paint! My chest clenched at the realization.
I don't know how I had crossed the room so quickly, or that I turned on the lamplight that had been on the desk, but I was suddenly looking at what was on the wall, the new message, the clue, that I knew ERIS had left for me, it had to be. If the choice in color or markings wasn't apparent enough, who or what else could it be? It was the map of Manhattan, the one that Dana had kept track of all the important locations on, such as Gentek, and what used to be my apartment, but now this poster sized paper map was coated with the purple paint, illustrating a weird optical effect or illusion, and demonstrating an artist's hand. I counted at least thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen lines forming a giant spiral, all ending in an arrow, and all pointing to the same location in Manhattan, some place in Harlem. I looked closer at the area, somehow it seemed familiar, and looked for any building I recognized. However, a specific place could not be identified, for I soon found that it had been cut out and replaced with a small burrowing hole that went into the wall a good five inches. The bean of light was falling right into the hole, and I could see something stuck in there. Upon trying to reach for it, I found that my fingers were too big to fit in the narrow opening. I had an idea to break the wall and get whatever it was that way, but I didn't want to mess up the place any worse then it had been by the Hunter, not for Dana. Thinking a moment, I let a small tendril of Biomass extend from the tip of my forefinger, and fish out the object, now clearly seen as a folded up piece of paper. I looked at it in the palm of my hand, then unfolded it quickly like a kid opening presents at their birthday, not wanting to feel any more suspense. Written on the paper, in the same handwriting style as the first message I had gotten from ERIS in the alley, was written two short sentences.
In one of your old haunts I'll be.
Take your time; I'm in no hurry.
I read over those words a couple of times, to memorize them, and interpret what it was ERIS was trying to tell me. My old haunts, what could she mean by that? I looked back up at the map again for reference; the hole must have been the location, somewhere in East Harlem. Something about that location pulled a string of familiarity in my mind, but I couldn't figure out why, there were so many memories that I couldn't tell mine from someone else's. Well, whatever it was that was significant to me there, all this proved one thing that was both interesting, as it was terrifying. ERIS knew more about me then I had realized, and if she knew about this apartment, this place that had so much connection to me, what other things did she know, what other connections did she make? Fear for Dana and Ragland's safety rose a bit; did ERIS know about them too? What would she do if she found them? I didn't know what to expect from this mysterious being. Finally, I assumed that only time would tell of ERIS's motives.
Speaking of time, I now felt a little pressed for it. I now had two important missions, and was torn between which to tackle first. Dana was the main priority, but I was also curious as to what ERIS wanted to do with me, and why she was trying to communicate in the most riddled of ways. I looked down at the message again, and took heart to the second sentence. "Take your time; I'm in know hurry." I eased down a bit. ERIS seemed to know that I was focusing on something else. How she had figured that out was beyond me, but if she had discovered this place, she probably knew. I had a small faith that ERIS would probably stay put if she wanted to see me as much as I suspected. I did have my doubts though; as I was not one-hundred-percent sure that ERIS might have as much patience as I could have if I wanted to, but for now I needn't look on that subject. Right now, I needed to get the information to Ragland as soon as possible. That being said, I folded up the message and put it in one of the pockets of my jacket. I then turned out the lamplight, gathered up the documents and laptop, placing one in the other, and proceeded outside. I considered patching up the tarp before I left, but that could wait, right now Dana was the main concern, and second was confronting ERIS. I wonder what I'll do once I meet her. I still had a mind to kill her, as killing and consuming her seemed the most straightforward option, but could it have consequences? I'll think about it. Opening the door, I slightly tugged my hood to shield my eyes from the sun, having a short moment to take solace in its warmth. Then, with laptop and documents in hand, I took a running jump and glided over the infected filled streets, in the direction of Ragland's morgue.
I practically threw everything at Ragland when I got to the morgue. He seemed to notice that I was in a rush, but I didn't give him a chance to ask why. After questioning him on Dana's condition, which he responded that she was the same as when I had left, I ordered him to get to work on finding the cure for her and left without another word. He shouted after me to not forget what he had asked for, and I wouldn't, but first and foremost was ERIS, and the place she had asked me to go. I must say that I was feeling a bit nervous and anxious, not knowing exactly what I was going to meet. What would she do once she showed her face and we were looking eye to eye? What would I do seemed to be the bigger question. To me, killing seemed to be the only concrete solution I could think of, one that might end badly for me, or her, but other then that, I didn't know what else to do. I had zero mind to make an alliance, as I had learned from my experience with Captain Cross, but not making one could result in a fight, and I was pretty much through with fighting up to this point. I decided to let the answer just come to me, and to prepare myself for the worst. On my way, I suddenly began to suspect that this could be some sort of elaborate trap, and my Biomass began to prickle thus, but there was no turning back now.
The prickling feeling increased as I drew closer to the location indicated on the map. Something was just dully familiar about this part of the city, ringing a small bell in the cathedral of my mind, and I couldn't remember why. At least, not until I got to the end of the trail, the big red X on the treasure map. I had been running through the streets of East Harlem, looking for some telltale sign of where I was supposed to go for this meeting, or at least another clue. The map had been a little vague in giving an exact location, so I decided to keep running and looking around until something jumped out at me. And something jumped out at me all right. Rounding a corner on a deserted street, I noticed the sheer lack of Infected, a clear sign I was getting close. When I looked to my right across a parking lot, I immediately came skidding to a halt, and just stood and stared, jaw dropped in apprehension and dread.
It was Karen Parker's hideout and secret lab; I could never forget that place. This was where that traitor had hid from me, where I had gotten my sweetest revenge of all. My mind wandered back to ERIS's message, one of my old haunts… Could this be the place of meeting? I began to approach the secret entrance of the hideout with caution, hoping silently that this wasn't it, that I was wrong. I hoped this because I never had wanted to set foot near here again. But upon reaching the door, and seeing a carving emblazon upon it, all hope faded like mist on a sunny day. The carving was different this time, looking like a female symbol with the line going half way into the circle, but the way it had been carved was the same way as the other I had seen, unmistakable.
After accepting the fact that ERIS was most likely waiting inside for me, an underlying rage began to bubble up in my chest, making me clench my fists in pure anger. Out off all the places ERIS could have chosen to reveal herself, why the Hell did it has to be here?! She had the nerve, the audacity, to tell me she knew every detail about who I was in the most prying of ways, first breaking into the sanctity of Dana's safe-house, and now these feat? I felt like I was being taunted by this currently unseen rival, and the want to destroy her increased a good twenty percent. However, it began to decrease as questions began to rise. How could she even have know all of this? And why was she going through all the trouble? In the end, I knew the only way to answer these nagging questions was to ask her myself, so I proceeded through the marked door.
I followed another hunch I had, and was once again angered and surprised when I went to the fateful elevator door. A big purple happy face was waiting for me, purple spray paint again, and it grinned at me as I stood in front of the large metal doors. This didn't seem to be a threat, I thought. This was more like a friendly message, like, "Hey, wanna play?" And yes, I did, I dared to play this game of cat and mouse. And now that cat had found the mouse's hole. Readying myself for anything, I pressed the elevator button, and watched as the numbers above the door counted down to my fate.
Four…. Three…. Two….. One…..
DING!
The doors opened and my fate was sealed.
"Hello Alex."
***
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Finally finished it just as Prototype 2 came out, please enjoy my longest chapter yet, over 3,000 words.
© 2012 - 2024 Molonara
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Why Cliffhanger? WHYYYY!!! I need more!!!