Chapter 98: Exit Plan

3:44 PM

September 2nd

Anthony

The day had come, I was seated with Keagan in a car worth entire years of my paycheck as it autonomously drove us towards the animal sanctuary.

I was confident that this is where Diana was being kept.

Six days ago, I visited the bustling sanctuary of farm animals and pets, an admittedly enjoyable experience if you weren’t searching for your kidnapped friend. The environment outside of the civilized cities had been in turmoil ever since The Collapse — the air frigid from the Typhoon’s slumber in the pacific. It was only thanks to an array of geothermal vents throughout the Free City that we didn't face the same barren environment of the Mid-West.

And the threats weren't just environmental, the MAL there fed on biomatter endlessly to grow their ranks. It wasn’t uncommon for entire regions to be barren of life with others swarming in vegetation. Vegetation that tried to kill you.

I stared at Keagan as he polished the gun formed from his arm, the straight man’s entire body seemed to be a weapon, but from an outward look you could assume he was a Mutant with how well his body concealed his Shardware.

“The manager here, his name is Edward Newroad.” I commented. “He was off, like his thoughts weren’t his. Normally when I speak to a person I feel some sort of link to their mind but this time… the more I delved in, the depths felt endless.”

“Understood.” Keagan didn’t bother much for a response.

“So… is it just the two of us?” I really hoped we would be getting more reinforcements.

“Yes, this is a covert mission.” Keagan’s arm slipped back into its human-like appearance, hiding away the metal.

…

Damn this! I turned my lenses onto the Net, searching for any more information regarding the sanctuary. It was hard to describe it, but my visit there felt… off. Like no one was truly human, like their sense of self was subdued and trying to merely imitate human behavior.

The very first thing I saw on the net was a news article about the Yuzhou attack from three days ago… I wasn’t stupid. Ripley had mentioned an important event happening at the end of August, and here happens one of the most notorious heists in the last few years.

Perhaps most startling was the appearance of a new Gold-Grade Mercenary. Dreadwire. I wasn’t willing to spill my assumption just yet, Diana needed Ripley for this whole conspiracy and I knew better. Even then, I'd tried to contact him again, but it was impossible to. It was like he'd disappeared

As these things often happened to be, information regarding what happened after the heist was sparse. That day was hell, more than sixteen small-scale Yuzhou oddicers were attacked by R0N1N-affiliated conspirants. The worst of them being The Bladedaughter, Muramasa's deadliest before their leader, the police were drawn too thin as their main force attacked three of Yuzhou’s most important factories. Not to mention the assassinations we'd faced... I'd always seen my grandfather and aunt treating Muramasa as the most dangerous of all the gangs in the city.

The car stopped, parking into an empty space amidst the fairly crowded lot. Exiting into the main grounds, I met the same sight I had seen before. Bustling children with joyful faces crowded around petting zoos and other wide enclosures filled with exotic animals practically extinct in the outer world. Elephants, tigers, all sorts of birds and insects had their specific enclosures.

This place required a lot of resources to run, it would be a good location to use as a smuggling ground for various items. Keagan led the way, heading straight for the location I had been most suspicious about.

The research lab.

Nervous, I took one more look at the progress ingrained in me from my consumption of the various stimulants I had consumed.

Tier II Mutations:

* [S] Soul Whisper [Energy/Cognition] [37%]

* [B] Air Spitting [Alteration/Energy] [45%]

* [I] Strengthened Body [Integrity/Metabolism] [44%]

* [I] Flawless Skin [Alteration] [43%]

* [I] Alcoholic Control [Metabolism/Cognition] [75%]

* [B] Vocal Alteration [Alteration] [16%]

I was still years of paychecks of Shardyne away before I could even think about getting to Tier III. Three stimulants had barely netted me more than 8% in any of my Mutations. Keagan began speaking to various staff members, some poor overworked workers, appearing all too human for the corporate-machine I was used to.

It wasn’t long before he somehow weaselled us into the lab’s ground-floor reception, bringing me to unfamiliar territory. It was then that I saw one figure from my last visit, a young woman in a lab coat and glasses who had approached me at a food stall on the 27th. She’d chatted me up at the cafeteria here, being suspiciously friendly.

She walked steadily, approaching both of us with a steady gait and gaze. “Oh, I remember you. You said your name is Anthony?”

“That’s right.” I submerged Warp Energy into my voice and mind, at once I drew upon the spectral auras of emotive energy radiating across each person around me. “Dr. Kaisel, if I remember?”

“That’s correct.” She answered back, and that was the moment the faintest threads snapped into place. A third eye opened in my head, a deep psychic vision into the inner thoughts of another person. Where normally I would glimpse into a world of colors and faded memories, there was only an abyssal red consuming me.

“I don’t think I properly introduced myself last time, I said my name was Anthony but it’s actually-”

”Anthony Grazhe.” She replied with a smile. “I know. I do my research, that’s practically all I do… so what’s prompted a Third-Rank Investigator to come visit a research facility on MAL Ecology? Our research is fascinating, but also incredibly coveted.”

Right, officially this place wasn’t owned by any of the Five Corporate Nations, belonging as a public institute of New California itself much like the police were. That didn’t mean there wasn’t corporate meddling involved, it was likely there were many players moving their chess pieces at a facility like this.

Especially if it was what we suspected it to be.

Keagan stepped ahead of me, pulling up his own certification in the form of a holographic badge. It was the first time I’d seen the rank, but it wasn’t unknown to me. Executive Investigator.

Those Special Investigators specially chosen or trained to work according to the demands of direct police higher-ups.

“Dr. Kaisel. Officially, you are the highest ranking doctor here, as such I request that you bring us to Dr. Theodore Gainsborough, we believe he is under the suspicion of trafficking MALformed flesh away from this facility for personal consumption.”

“Oh dear. That- that doesn’t sound like him at all. But, if it’s really happening then we must take action.” Dr. Kaisel covered her mouth in shock, and despite my mental prongings I couldn’t discern whether it was an act or not. I should be able to… but my aunt had taught me all too well that my power couldn’t work on everyone, those with psionic Mutations would be a tough nut for me to crack.

“What can you tell us about him?” I slid forward, pouring my Bronze Warp Energy into my mouth, I felt the sonic waves act as a vessel of my will, binding me deeper to that sinkhole of a mind.

She spoke like she had a throat in her lump. “Well… he’s been with us for a few years. A senior reserearcher on one of our teams. Can- can I ask something in turn?”

“Of course.” I replied. Any moment to dwell deeper was a good option.

“How did you all come to suspect him? I- I’m not doubting you but-“

“Came up in our lead on a Merc who was buying the meat, listed him as a source.” I shared a look with Keagan, our fabricated story was tight and neat.

”Anthony.” Keagan spoke up. “You wait up here. I’ll speak to her myself.”

I nodded, obeying the orders from my superior. Except this was all exactly going to plan, we’d always intended to find some sort of leading researcher to ask our questions to — and Keagan had dug up that there was a Dr. Theodore involved in some illegal dealings, but it was always a front to our real goal.

Watching as the pair of them made their way to another part of the lab, I snuck back out of the dome-like building to a secluded park bench as words flowed into my earpiece.

“We want a list of all the researchers on his team.” Keagan’s voice was calm and direct, I memorized the tone and inflection of every syllable.

Dr. Kaisel’s came next. “Of course, that much I can share…”

They exchanged a back and forth several times, Keagan making sure not to probe too deeply to end the conversation despite Dr. Kaisel’s surprising ease in giving us the info required for the case. If everyone was as willing to spill the beans as her, the police could cut it’s manpower by half.

I sent over the message to him.

I’m ready.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Then I opened my mouth, but my speech had taken another form entirely, Keagan’s voice exited my mouth — and through a microphone installed in my ear it was relayed back to him where his mechanized vocal chords played back what I was saying.

“Do you know who’s funding this project of his?” It was odd, speaking in a voice that wasn’t mine, much less knowing that it was also exiting Keagan’s mouth through an all-too-perfect act in which he’d learned how to move his lips to exactly illustrate the act in it’s perfection. All in barely an hour this morning after I brought up the idea to him.

“SynTec.” Dr. Kaisel responded back. “That’s all I can say.”

“Those damn corporates… They ever get on your nerve? Doing their job for them?” I’d learned one trick to my power, the more personal the questions, the deeper I dove into their mind.

And it was working, whatever psychic resistance I was feeling cleared up. She’d definitely known about my power and had a way to resist it, despite that there was still an overbearing scarlet singing in my head.

“Oh you have no idea. It’s a real pain in the ass, they overwork us to the bone and always force our hands into researching the most menial things..”

”Still you’re working with MALs, most people never get to see one in their lifetime.”

”Yeah, well that’s going to change in three years.” She gave a dry laugh.

”I’ve killed a few myself, nasty creatures they are. They ever freak you out?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. We’ve got a wolf chimera-variant that has a mouth running all the way down to it’s abdomen.”

”That sounds unpleasant… it isn’t dangerous, is it?”

“Oh it definitely is, but I consider the danger a perk of the job — an excitement. It’s why I delved into researching live subjects of the MALkind, my mentor was much the same, they always made me seek truths into the hidden aspects of how Warp Energy infects the organic flesh.”

“This… mentor. Who are they?”

“Goes by the name of…” I felt the resistance perk back into place, the crimson noise overwhelming me. By now I should feel some sort of emotion, but it was all discordant and false. Something was wrong here.

“Dr. Albert Guesberg.” Dr. Kaisel finished saying.

“Hmm… what can you tell me about the MAL, considering we’re fighting them in three years. Nothing that’ll break an NDA, of course.”

“Then I can’t say much. From our recent tests, targetting their core is the only way to kill them without them regenerating, finding it is trickier, but maybe taking out their sensory organs could help. Of course, also be wary for higher grade MALs that can organize them, I’ve seen them absolutely tear up… tear through cages.” I could hear the shaking in her voice, and some deeper insight in me felt it. A reluctance to say something.

”The nature of your tests here… I suppose it wouldn’t be a wild guess to say they’re to find weaknesses on the MAL and how to best combat them.”

“Oh yes… that and… other things. Implant research is big here too, a whole lot we don’t know.”

”Implants are fascinating, indeed.”

”You don’t need to tell me twice, recently received a particularly interesting one.”

I’d built up to it slowly, and I could feel my bleeding throat beg for release as Warp Energy twisted it’s way through. But now was the moment for the killing strike as I sent forth a storm of my Energy through my vocal chords. “Does this interesting asset go by the name of Diana Jones?”

”No.” Dr. Kaisel hummed, and I felt the pit of anxiety within me bubble into a falling splash of confusion and worry. Then she spoke again, her eyes slightly glazed over under my power. “Her name’s Diana Ulrich.”

———

Returning to the lab and entering a quiet office, I found Keagan holding a handcuffed Dr. Kaisel. Warp Restraints of the Silver Grade, and it wouldn’t surprise me if an Executive Investigator had the ability to gauge an Adapter’s exact grade and tier.

“You worked well.” Keagan nodded at me, to which I nodded back before taking a closer look at Dr. Kaisel. She didn’t fight it, instead she just smiled at the both of us with a leer.

“That was fascinating… it wasn’t on my records that you had the ability to change your voice.” She was too calm for being tied up.

“Stop the bullshit.” I spoke normally for now, we had her where we wanted. “Diana, where is she?”

“Oh she’s here alright.” Dr. Kaisel shook her head. “That you should know by now… I’m not sure how, but good job.”

“Where?” I sent forth a razor wind of my Energy into her, and I felt the shudder of her faded mental shield break under the restraints on her wrist.

“Behind the lab is a warehouse built atop an old MAL Swarm bunker, there’s a service elevator with a hidden access point to where its inner facilities are.” Her casual delivery made me feel like I didn’t need to use my Mutation to get that out of her, but why give up information like that so easily.

Unless… it wasn’t leaving this room?

Her eyes became bloodshot in a blink, crimson everywhere except for the blank white where her pupils were. All of a sudden all of that crimson in my head collapsed onto my head like a falling skyscraper, pummeling a throbbing pain through my skull as the connection between us shattered.

“Grazhe?” Keagan said quietly, before putting a gun to Dr. Kaisel’s head. “What did you do?”

“Oh he was connected to Kaisel alright, but not to me. I’ve worked out how to be resistant to that type of manipulation for decades!” Although Dr. Kaisel spoke, the way those sentences were delivered sent a shiver through me. That didn’t sound like her.

“That’s not Kaisel.” I whispered… before realizing something far worse. The overwhelming slam of that psionic barrier was downright assaulting rather than the simple density it had been before, her Mutations had… “Keagan! She can use her-“

Before I could say another word, her eyes caught mine and in a second I was staring at another pair of eyes. Grey like mine, she laid down on a bed as I looked at her through the thick visor of a protective suit given to me by the hospital staff so that I could be with her in these last few moments.

“Oh Anthony, how stupid I was to have you.” My mother spoke, her grey eyes cloudy despite the fact that they weren’t organic. “A curse, that’s what you are… that’s what you’ll always be. Just a god damn liability, a failure, one that’ll burden every soul you ever come across.”

“What’re you saying, mom?” My younger voice spoke from my mouth. “Wh-why would you say-?”

“I can’t die without my regrets now, can I?” She laughed without even looking at me. “Oh I see it so clearly, how you’ll bring about your own doom, how you’ll wish so damn hard to be someone you’re not. How you’ll hate being weak, because that’s what you are. Nothing but flesh and bone, no substance to it. If you ever find someone you love, just leave them in peace… you’re not worth it.”

“What?” I muttered weakly. “I don’t understand?-“

“You never will, and you’ll hate every second of this. After all, the only good thing you’ll ever do is die.” The red veins that had slowly grown over the course of this week slithered higher up to her face, making her look mad. “The Abyss waits for us all, dear. It isn’t scary, just take the leap and you’ll be at peace. I feel better than I ever have staring down the hole, it’s beautiful. The depth, the neverending depth… it means I can escape you, this life. This stupid, worthless life I built on lies. No one cares about you, not even your mother… live with that. Live knowing I won’t leave a goddamn thing for you, and know that your suffering will bring strength to the true hero of this story. That silver gleam beckons even the attention of a mind that is Eternal.”

My breath panted endlessly in the thick suit as the monitors all slowly beeped red, until a screeching hum of a singular tone screamed in my ears. My mother’s lifeless body stared up to the ceiling while my own…

My eyes opened again, tears falling out as I saw Keagan slammed against the wall, wrapped in a veil of red psionic force. I tried to reach for my weapons, but my hands felt clammed, stuck in quicksand.

Keagan’s entire body morphed into a killing machine, guns or blades forming from every limb as they blazed with heat to rip apart the veil of red holding him back. With a single shot, Dr. Kaisel’s hand was blown off with her not even flinching once. She raised her other arm, a tendril-like apparition of energy extending to whip at him.

It was sharp enough to sear right through his left arm, but with another expert shot he landed a splurt of blood into her ribs. She collapsed to the floor, heavily breathing as blood poured from her chest like from a spilled bucket, but I’d gathered enough of myself by now to notice something bad.

Her stumped hand had stopped bleeding. Flesh was wreathing to the stub and building bones anew, with Keagan taking a good look at Dr. Kaisel’s regenerative powers, his next decision came easily.

Her head shot back as a large hole exploded into existance, falling on her back in a dead splat. I heaved breath, finally able to accept that the visions I’d seen were just that, visions. Looking down on the body, I pulled myself up.

“She had an illusory Mutation…” I muttered mindlessly, wondering what was even the point. Maybe I was just excusing myself.

Keagan picked up his severed arm, and somehow it fused right back into place. “The question is how did she use her Mutations through the restraints… that was akin to a Gold Grade.”

“That’s a… good point…” I still felt breathless, but managing to turn to the door I clicked the button to open it up.

Familiar eyes stared back at me as it slid back, entirely crimson with white at their center, but the real issue was the familiar face. Because she was laying there dead right behind us.

A second Dr. Kaisel shot a blast of red at me, launching me into the debris of a broken table, Keagan’s weaponized arms were ready to retalliate when he stuttered — almost as though stuck in a trance.

He shot off anyway, hitting her shoulder which gouged a chunk of flesh off. But that had lended her enough time to wreathe another tendril-blade of crimson — this time severing both arms in one fell swoop. Dr. Kaisel, the second one, pounced onto him quickly, sticking something into his Neuroframe… then Keagan fell to the ground loosely, like his muscles had been deflated.

I finally picked up my gun, but a whoosh of scarlet knocked it away. Mustering up my lungs, I spat out a pellet of bronze-tinged wind that smacked her forehead weakly. “Stay back!” Screaming had no effect on her despite the inferno of pain spreading through my throat and head.

She laughed, but it wasn’t those light giggles I’d heard before. It was sinister, terrifying to my soul. “Cute. You could certainly give your late grandfather a run for his money in a few years, I’ll enjoy having a second Grazhe to run things.”

“What?” I pushed myself up, refusing to go down.

“Apologies, I never introduced myself. I’m who you call Soul Killer, it must be nice to put a face to the name.” Kaisel spoke, but I was left bewildered in thought. She was Soul Killer?

Then I saw other faces pour into the room, each of them wearing lab coats as workers of this lab. Their eyes soulless like Kaisel’s.

“We’re all Soul Killer.” They spoke in unison, but before I could grasp what that meant, Kaisel’s eyes sent me back to that same hospital room.

———

Diana

Killing the two Warlocks had been a challenge, one of them controlled ice and the other one fire. Still, speed and a healthy dose of flying metal had done wonders to shield me. They’d each netted me handsomely in my two remaining Energy Mutations. Freeze-Flash had gained a greater ability convert thermal energy and my Telekinesis Mutation had a wider range and another bonus to control depending on how cold the objects were.

That was about all I cared before I tore my right thumb off with a shard of metal.

Before the cuff could lock it’s Warp restraining mechanism into place — and before I could acknowledge the sheer pain of my self-mutilation — I slipped my bleeding right hand through the cuff which jangled on the floor. The left cuff activated, blocking half of my control over Warp Energy.

My remaining ability was still enough to control scrap into slashing off my left thumb and pull the cuff through the rest of my hand. Finally at ease, I set my sights on the open hole beckoning me from above.

“Now what do you think you’re doing?” Soul Killer’s voice came from the speakers, but I paid no attention to it. With a powerful kick from my legs, I launched myself high into the air, easily passing the halfway mark of the massive verticality.

Then I pulled my collection of charged metal up with me. Stormspinner had maneuvered through the air like this before, using the metal as a floating disk to fly. They clumped under my feet, giving me leverage.

But for once my massively increased body weight was a drawback to more than just my anxiety. I began sinking immediately, to which I pioneered a healthy dosage of Warp Energy through my fingertips as I grabbed the makeshift disk and coverted it’s thermal energy into electrical.

My sweat felt like tiny icicles with the sudden burst of frost. A torrent of sparks wove through the metal and the higher conductivity under the colder environment provided just enough leverage to start rising, albeit very slowly.

It was enough for me to jump again, all the way up and through the hole that had been teasing me for so long. Landing on solid ground, I wasn’t surprised to find myself in a room full of caged MALformed.

They shook at the sight of me, hungering through their confinements to tear me to shreds. Steeling my heart, I began tracking down the electrical signals when a door opened to my side, and Dr. Kaisel stepped out.

Not meeting her gaze, I prepared myself.

It was about time I made my exit.