Jayden and his team sat down in the kitchen area, opening up and reading the documents multiple times to formulate a new plan. Hank stood still, constantly rubbing where he rammed the barrel of his gun into. Dameo looked over every document multiple times, trying to understand the spirit a bit more. Gorgie, in his infinite wisdom, drank nearly half a bottle of bourbon to cope with what he went through while he browsed the internet to calm his nerves. Jayden was proactive, getting everything he can and using his laptop to program command prompts into a keyboard and a mod he made for the game.
‘So, what are you going to do?’ Gorgie said as he turned to Jayden, to Jayden’s surprise Gorgie could hold his liquor. ‘Have any idea how to beat it?’
Jayden lowered his voice, unsure if he had a proper answer to begin with. ‘No, I just hope it works out in the end.’
‘By placing your bets on modding the game?’ Hank chimed in. ‘Didn’t you say it might cause problems? How do you know this will even work?’
‘I don’t… I really don’t know.’ Jayden admitted.
Even if he wouldn’t admit it, Hank could tell Jayden was terrified and doubtful of himself. Hank faced threats that seemed to be impossible to overcome. He knew the risks when he joined the Disposal Unit, he knew he would fight unimaginable horrors. Yet the most dangerous enemy to humanity was not the jaws of terror, but losing hope of a better future. ‘Well… I think you understand what you are doing. If anything, you look like you have a better understanding out of anyone.’
Jayden raised a brow, ‘why do you think that?’
‘You were quick on your feet. You managed to talk the spirit down and even if you like it or not; you saved my life. We also have you to thank for getting the most vital information on how we can stop that thing.’ Hank walked over and picked up a file which contained the notes of the previous people who tried to defeat the spirit. ‘And even if we die here, the people after us will have a chance.’
‘Yeah, I fucking love the idea of dying!’ Dameo mocked, ‘really motivating. To know we fail to succeed in our mission, to die and have our bodies discarded like we are nothing. We are part of the Legion now. We won’t be remembered, we never will be.’
Hank turned to Dameo and placed the file down by the kitchen counter. ‘The point of the Legion is to not be remembered.’ He growled. ‘Our new purpose is to ensure the people of tomorrow forget the horrors of now, our purpose is to provide a better future without fear. When we die, they will use our bones to pave the roads so the ignorant can walk on them, they will smile without knowing what evils that hid under their beds.’ Hank took a knee so he could be levelled with Dameo. ‘Our deaths will have a purpose because we fight against horrors who desire our destruction. And even if we die, we will pass down our knowledge so future generations have a chance to achieve what we fail to do.’
Hank walked away from Dameo, forcing him to consider what was said. ‘Remember, we won before. We killed the last vampire, we butchered every Draugr, and slew the Kishi. There is a reason the Order Horrifica was considered being disbanded, and there is a reason the Order I served under became the most under-funded and under-staffed. It was because we won! We ended the age of horrors since the 60s, only cleaning up the remaining stragglers along the way who are stupid enough to pop their heads out of hiding. But we won! And because we won, no one will remember the sacrifices we made or the men, women, and any brave soul who died defending humanity. If we won before, we can win again.’
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Dameo frowned, unconvinced by what Hank said despite the passion that rang in his voice. ‘Even if we lack the means to win?’
‘We never had the means to begin with,’ Hank replied. ‘We always had to fight with scraps, to battle against impossible odds. Yet, despite what the world throws at us, no matter how weak our flesh is or how behind our knowledge will be. We will win! Because if defeat is never an option, we might as well fight like hell.’
As Hank walked away to sit down, Dameo paused and looked away, unable to think of a reasonable response. Deep down, they all knew Hank was correct. Humanity has won against horrors, they have rendered millions of species of horrifica extinct and created a world of relative peace. It took centuries, countless deaths, and an unimaginable amount of sacrifices. Yet humanity was victorious. The Cascade brought about a change, forcing the Order Horrifica in its weakened state to awaken once more to fight again, but they held onto the knowledge that there was a chance, a moment in time when humanity could live without fearing the horrors hiding behind every shadow. It was that knowledge and reason the Order didn’t buckle or gave up. It was hope that gave them the drive to push forward, and the anger to kill the horrors who challenged humanity’s age of peace and indomitable spirit to live on a planet they called home.
‘Guys!’ Gorgie waved everyone to come to him. ‘We have a problem.’
Everyone huddled around Gorgie to look at what’s on screen. ‘What’s wrong?’ Jayden asked.
‘The spirit got on the internet. Someone has the version of the game on their PC with our save files.’ Gorgie opened up Reddit and showed everyone the post on the Fallout forums where the victim complained how their game they were given by their friend through Steam already had save files and how he couldn’t start a new game.
‘Jesus,’ Hank mumbled, his face pale and his breath cold. He knew the creature had broken containment and had made its way through the web. It didn’t have the potential to threaten humanity, it now had the capabilities to render the human race extinct.
Jayden’s blood boiled, he clenched his fist because he knew there was only one option left for them. Failure was not acceptable, nor did he have permission to die. It was then he had to do everything in his power to defeat the spirit. ‘I’ll deal with the Cover Up protocols before I get everything ready for tomorrow.’