Location: Velstand Industrial District, Food Processing Plant
Time: 3:28 PM, 2/14/2108
So maybe I told a bit of a lie to Allison. Despite what I told her, I was pretty much positive I knew who was responsible for killing all of the humans here. The thing is, I could tell one of them was still alive. I wanted to try and handle things on my own.
As I had been expecting, the interior of that place was covered in the remains of its occupants. Any normal person would have probably been disturbed with how hungry it was making me feel, but I was never one to be bothered by things like that.
Following the trail of snacks to my target didn’t take long.
“Hey, Lucy, you better have a good explanation for this.”
She was standing with her bloody claws extended toward the lone survivor. I wish showing up to this scene would have been more surprising. It was pretty much guaranteed though. Of course I would show up at the climax.
“Oh, Henry? Did Ellie send you to help me? Sorry, but I already finished most of them off. I guess I’ll let you have this guy if you want.”
She gestured toward the bloody guy standing a few meters from her.
“I don’t work for her. Why are you doing this? What is Elodie thinking?”
Elodie and I have our differences, but I knew her well enough to say she wasn’t the type to kill innocent people for no reason. There were always loads of rumors about her; I can’t imagine her actually causing something like this though.
“Ah, yeah, I understand. Ellie is too softhearted to kill people like this. But Henry, this is different. These people were criminals, terrorists. They were going to get the death penalty, whether Ellie got involved or not. I’m killing with government approval. These were bad people, you know?”
“Hey, is that true?”
I was asking the lone survivor. I didn’t think Lucy was lying, but it was possible that she was being misled.
“It is.” What? Why was he giving such an honest answer? Who was that guy? “This was a base for the terrorist group W. Police are advised to kill on sight.”
“Ah, listen, are you an idiot?”
I’m not trying to be a hero, but if he’d said anything else, I probably would have saved his life. That wasn’t the case though. There was no reason for me to bother helping someone who had actually earned their fate.
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“Probably. I have no reason to lie to you. The people here were criminals, and at this point, I’m a criminal too. But just because something is illegal doesn’t make it wrong. I won’t give up on justice.”
Yup, he was crazy. Maybe the blood loss was making him delirious. Rules needed to be followed.
“Alright, Lucy, whatever. I’ll look the other way with what’s happening here, but I need to talk to you about something else. What is Elodie doing with the kids in the ATC? She wouldn’t have made me join if she wasn’t planning something, and now Allison’s life is in danger? What’s going on?”
“Mmh. I’m not sure how much you’re supposed to know. Can you wait for me to kill this guy? Then I’ll call Ellie, and we can talk.”
Would that work? While I still don’t know what she’s planning for Allison, talking to Elodie directly might be the worst option. I’m sure I’d get roped up into something ridiculous if I stayed involved.
“Jax! How have you been? Still getting tossed around, huh? It seems like everything is going to work out because of you.”
I didn’t need to turn around to recognize who was speaking. It was Vier. As Ms. Kaldsen’s Number he made frequent appearances at the ATC.
“Henry, did you bring him? This guy is bad news!”
I didn’t! At least, not on purpose. He might have been here for Allison. And she didn’t have to tell me he was bad news. Every Augmented or Aberration in this city knew not to cross this Number.
Elodie must have burned that idea into Lucy’s head, because she was watching him like he was her arch nemesis.
“Exactly, among other things, I’m here to pick up Vampy here. Now, I actually like dogs, so I think I’ll give you a piece of advice. You should finish off your opponents when you have the chance. And you definitely shouldn’t take your eyes off of someone like Jax. You might be confident in your nose, but think about where we are. There’s more than enough heavily scented food here he could use to throw off his trail.”
“Huh?”
Lucy’s full body turned to face the empty space that the lone survivor was standing in.
“Oh no! He was the one that I was definitely supposed to make sure I killed! I’ve got to go!”
Lucy ran off in the direction she thought her target fled in. I’m not sure if it was the right direction. I lost track of him when Vier showed up.
“Well, Vampy, are you ready to leave? You’re the last one I needed to pick up.”
“You were serious when you said you were here for me?”
“Of course. I don’t have any reason to lie to that mutt.”
“Then I hate to break it to you, but I’ve got no interest in going anywhere with you.”
I came here for answers, but getting involved with Vier at this point was going to be nothing but trouble.
“I figured. I must be a total disaster for someone who wants to avoid attention. You’ll still come with me though.”
“Is that a threat?”
If it was, there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
“No, I’m not here as your enemy. I’m just here to pick you up. Lex wants you to work with her, and you’ll want to work with her.”
“What makes you so certain of that? I’ve turned down more important people than her.”
“Listen, it’s not my job to convince you, you’ll have to talk to her about that. I don’t mind one way or the other. I will say this though, Lex’s goal is to fix the world. No more fate, and of course, no more heroes. Just a normal, boring world.”
I couldn’t ignore that bait. I knew that joining up with them was exactly the kind of thing I should avoid, but what choice did I have? Clearly my attempts to live a normal life weren’t working, so I had to take action myself. This was the moment I’d always look back on, wondering what would have happened if I said no. Unfortunately, even at the end, this was still an epilogue on flashbacks.