Narration: Fei
I enter the code given to me by the thug and open the door revealing a group of men and women both young and old locked inside. They look like they have been stuck here for days considering how haggard they looked. I look at one of the abducted. She's a girl in her early 20s, she looked starved and severely beaten. I stare at her for just a moment. The chains she had around her wrists. The scars and bruises on her skin. The look of fear and helplessness in her eyes. In another time.....I knew it well.
Should I feel rage towards her captors? Sadness for her going through such trauma? Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time I saw such things, and I know it won't be the last. It's not prudent to let such sights guide my feelings, since those feelings could guide my actions. And those actions would result in mistakes I can't afford to make again. I just have to do what the job only allows. While there is catharsis in punishing the wicked, I find more solace in comforting the survivors.
As I approach the group, they seem scared to come close to me due to my appearance. However, the young woman slowly crawls towards my feet. I crouch down and gesture Finn to throw me a canteen of water he has with him. I catch the canteen he tossed, uncap it, and offer it to the woman. She slowly drinks from it and shows gratitude by hugging me. The others crawl or limp towards us crying and thanking us for rescuing them from this horrible ordeal. It was not necessary, but it was a bit of a welcome change from earlier. The most I can gain from these moments is that even after all that has happened, we at least came in time to save them from a worse fate. I smile to them, but deep inside, I just...wish...someone tried to save me when....I......nevermind....that was long ago. Besides, at least they didn't end up like me.
Finn helps those too weak to walk by helping them up. We slowly but surely helped everyone out of the basement.
Dawn rises over Cebu as a special task force consisting of medical workers and police aware of the secret world, compliments from AGON, treated the abducted. The human thugs and the aswang gang members are taken into custody, though I am curious how the authorities will treat them afterwards. I can only trust what AGON is gonna do with the perpetrators. The gangs have a lot to answer for, but I know the heart of the evil behind these things is always from the demand. You can only do so much to cut off the supply. Makes me wonder if the behavior of those here on Earth has to change.
I notice the witch has survived but is in intensive care. It eases my guilt a bit, but I remember the survivors. Maybe an RPG to the face is warranted after all. Finn and I watch an image of Yazmin speak to us through a screen. She wears her hjiab that is woven in holographic silk alongside a plain sweater and sweatpants. Her brown hair is normally concealed when she's at work. She also looks irritated. A sign that I made her work more difficult, since I did cause a mess.
“So let’s go over this. Let’s talk about last night first. You got the manifest. And you also got attacked by cyborg zombies?”
I scratch the back of my head. “Well, I am not sure how to describe them any other way. I know they shot lasers at me.”
Yazmin replies sardonically. “Great. As if this whole mission wasn’t complicated enough. Romero zombies, fine. 28 Days Later Ragers, okay but pushing it. Zombies that can shoot lasers? That is definitely not the work of a virus or some stupid necromantic curse.”
Finn muses for a moment. “I don’t understand what the aswang’s end goal is. They usually target certain types of people in small quantities for specific reasons. Now they are doing it with reckless abandon. Seems to me they are quite the chancers going about it this way.”
I look at Yazmin, “I asked the captives if they overheard anything after we released them. But they told me they were going to be sent to the harbor last night.”
“Til’ you decided to crash the party.” Seems Finn is not the only one to chastise me for my decision.
I try to explain myself, “Well...I wouldn’t say that is a bad thing. I gave you time to send the task force here.”
Yazmin only looks more agitated. “I had to cover your ass with the higher-ups. I had to explain why you didn’t wait for us before we made a move. AGON is already trying to help the local government sort out the NDAs and settling with the victims and their families to make sure word doesn’t get out that fucking monsters and ghouls exist. We really don’t need more complications.”
“You have to admit…” Finn puts his hand on my shoulder. “...she made the right call. It bought us time.”
I smiled at Finn’s comment, but remained silent on the details regarding my strange encounter with the American, if he was American.
I could see Yazmin rubbing her temples. She still looks annoyed with me. “Fei, could you have just snuck into their basement and phased all the captives out without having to alert their entire group? Could have made this whole operation much more orderly.”
I shrug, “Sorry, Yaz. But they warded the exterior of their lair just like back in the warehouse. They would have found out what I was up to and that would have put the captives in danger. I had to make a decision quickly.”
Yazmin scoffs, “Sure. Sure. I guess. Anyway, I heard from the higher-ups that Pinnacle, the company in charge of the developmental construction plan in the Philippines, is very concerned about what is going on in Cebu. Sinulog is still in full swing with its processions and parades. Something that will be ripe for the aswang to go abducting people.”
I reply, “And we can’t let that happen. They should cancel or at least postpone the event.”
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Finn adds, “That won’t happen. The news mentioned the local government doesn’t want to cave into fear by altering the event. They say doing so will demoralize the city. They might just add heavy security.”
Yazmin thinks for a moment, “I have a feeling there is more to this. Fei, plug in the USB drive. We need to know what Manifest 64 is.”
I look at Finn and then plug in the USB drive in the port indicating the connection with a click. The screen split into two revealing to Yazmin what seems to be a schematic of a bomb.
“Typical. Bombs? Really? Oh shit, this design is pretty elaborate. Would be a pain in the ass to disarm.”
I am quick to show my concerns. “I thought they were kidnapping people for ransom. Bombing the city would be against that plan.”
Yazmin says, “Or they were kidnapping them to drink their blood as they are known to do. Though I am not sure bombing people is conducive to that approach.”
Finn chimes in, “Do the aswang even have tech to create these devices?”
Yazmin replies, “Not at all. Someone HAS to be backing them up.”
I made a speculation then, “What about that Pinnacle company?”
Yazmin shoots that down quickly. “Would make absolutely no sense. Why would they risk relations with the Philippines by working with what is currently the cause of a lot of strife in the country? The huge majority of people CANNOT afford to know this.”
Finn asks, “Fei, you were attacked by ghouls, right? You said they were cyborgs?”
I nod, “Yeah.”
Finn replies, “Describe what they looked like exactly.”
I start to elaborate more on the undead that attacked me. I also mention the sniper involved. Yazmin makes notes, while Finn already seems to have an inkling that the cyber undead may not necessarily be part of the aswang. This means there could be another faction at play in this plot.
Narration: Ate Dalisay
A thug bursts through the door and runs over to me, while I am taking a smoke. He would see me with my purplish skin, bat wings, long clawed hands, and a detachable jaw. Half of my lower body is missing beneath my waist with intestines hanging out. My lower body is walking over to reattach itself to my upper body after patrolling the interior of the warehouse. Funny. If it was any earlier time, my lower half wouldn’t be able to move at all after detaching myself. A combination of a spell from a local bruha, as well as an implant to allow my legs proper sense of awareness and movement does much to do more than any other manananggal could do by their own means. The price, however, took my ability to shapeshift back to human form. As a result, my appearance is going to always be a monster. But looks never mattered to me. Only results.
The thug frantically yells out to me. “Ate, we were attacked by—”
I glare back. “Tanga, abi nimog wala ko kabalo?”
He cowers, “Pasaylo-a ko. Dili man siya tawo. Makalusot-lusot siya sa mga makina na murag-”
“Ungo? That bitch. Kana ang nagbungkag sa bodega. Gi pusil jud unta to nako sa ulo.” Seems the little troublemaker from last night that broke into the warehouse we claimed decided to undermine one of our other operations, which means she is not just some thief for a one time job.
“Mu-padayun pa gihapon ta sa plano, Ate? Pwede nako adtoon ang uban para-” Ah shit. Have to be quick. I grabbed the thug by his shirt collar and threw him behind me just before a large maw in the shadows would have gnashed him to pieces with its teeth.
The thug reeling from the throw regains his senses. He sees that I saved him just in time. His eyes widen as he sees a monster far more twisted than I am. Herodotus, an anthropophagus, is a creature that had no head save a large eyeball on the stump of its neck and its grotesque face on its chest. Surrounding him are his cyber-ghoul thralls, who had implants and collars on them, completely subservient to his will. The sounds of flesh, gums, and teeth can be heard from Herodotus as he breathes in a grotesque way.
I saved my own this time. I quickly glanced at him. “Pahawa.””
The terrified thug nods and runs away. But I glare back at Herodotus. All I know about him is that my superiors sent him as outside help for the operations here. I don’t know why we need him. He is not trustworthy. A mercenary, a trafficker, and a necromancer, he has no sense of loyalty to anyone. His minions are nothing more than mindless slaves. At least, I have some regard for those under me, aswang or even humans.
“You should have let me rend that fool to pieces for his failure,” he said in his guttural speech.
I point at him. “You may be in charge of this operation, but it is NOT your call to devour my men.”
He jeers back, “No wonder your kind needs outside help. Your mercy invites weakness to your...organization.”
“Says the beast that only uses mindless thralls to do his bidding.”
“Nothing wrong with that. Most creatures are thralls by design, humans or otherwise.”
I quirk a brow. “Do you want to get shit done or not?”
Herodotus pauses for a moment, while petting one of his ghouls. He then grabs one and devours the ghoul whole in front of me. His backside convulses to have some tumor like growth appear before reasserting itself back to normal. Green energy flashes around him while his flesh ripples around his body.
I am not very impressed. “Is that supposed to be a statement?”
“No. Personal nourishment. Are the bombs ready yet?”
I whistle for a group of Aswang to deliver one of the bombs to me. They carry it to me and set it down. I set a code on a keypad while green energy swirls within. The tech looks familiar. Dangerously familiar. No...got to stay the course for now.
“Looks like they are all primed and ready.”
“Set the bombs at the coordinates provided before the parade on Sunday. I can guarantee you that all of Cebu will be a domain for your kind.”
“And this is what my bosses planned?”
He nods. “Yes. And the amount of people caught in the radii will be enough for me to be swarmed by offers by necromancers all over the world. The zombie trafficking trade will reach its apex.”
“Sure. I already sent you enough bodies from abductions and grave robbings, but I am getting too much heat from the locals and now international authorities.”
“What you sent me is enough, the bombs will take care of the rest. As for those seeking to stop us,” he twists his sideways mouth into a smile, “I’ll take care of them.”
Hmph, he will be useful for now. All I can hope is that my kind can carve out a new home after all that has happened. Perhaps, also for revenge on the government for pushing us too far. Still, Herodotus’ plan will kill and damn so many. Excessive? Definitely. But it’s either us or them. Hesitation would make everything we worked for all for nothing. Nevertheless, something in the back of mind tells me this: Is it going to be worth it in the end? I walk away as I hear the buzzing of flies far above the rafters.
Narration: Riz
I look at my phone with the images of those known as Ate and Herodotus. Special thanks to a robotic fly my uncle made. Some say he’s a mechanic but he can also engineer some cool stuff. His tinkering days go way back to before even the Industrial Revolution. He’s that old. A tikbalang that mentored many a babalyan. These days, however, he prefers to stay low-key and play around with his cars and tech.
I listened to what was said. Great, I am going to need some help.
I took out a picture of a pale woman that I spied on when she was infiltrating one of their warehouses in the industrial zone. Time to see if she could be useful.