Finishing the call, Sarah clenched her teeth to prevent the flow of uncontrollable curses toward the general she had just spoken to. The thoughts about the idiot with military rank, the correctness of the decision to save the Facility, and the whole situation that she needed to report to her boss were chaotically floating in her mind, pressing her with responsibility.

“Are you ready to get the information, ma’am? Sir?” Asking with caution after noticing the signs of emotions on previously cold face, the guard attempted to hand her over a tablet.

“Yes, just a second,” Nodding, Sarah glanced at her smartphone and got a noticeable crack on the screen before inwardly sighing and finally returning the main object she had in this place – to interrogate the potential villain. Pocketing the phone and thanking for the device, she quickly dived into a relatively short profile. The guard was already repeating information aloud.

“I will explain everything to your… colleague, while we are getting to the subject’s cell. The lift can’t move faster – the safety precaution to give enough time for us to react in case of an attempt to escape,” he apologized, getting a weak smile from the Truthful Eyes as if the signal to proceed.

“We haven’t got much from the past three days, but still there are some details. The subject, code name – Golem, is potentially class three Brute type. Calm, not hostile, asked for the underpants right away, but warned that he didn’t need any nutrition at all. Otherwise, he just mediated sitting on the bed,” the guard was interrupted by the super, who surprisingly couldn’t hide his curiosity.

“Golem?”

“It wasn’t me who named him like that,” the man hastily defended himself before diving into explanations, “according to the data that we gathered through multiple scanners, the subject consists of metal, having no organic matter at all. There is a darker sphere-like spot in his heart area, but the scanners can’t pierce deep enough to see. Further tests showed that Golem indeed behaves like a living metal. There was no reaction to the cold or heat, while his body simply adjusted to the surrounding’s temperature, keeping the corresponding number. The lack of oxygen, when we started to suck out it slowly had the same effect – no reaction. You know about the food and water already... Therefore, the Golem – an artificial being, made from inorganic matter.”

“Hmm… So, there were no attempts to speak with someone about his situation, apart from a single request?” Sarah asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Well, ma’am, he directly told me that he is ready to speak whenever CSA finds a time for him. Otherwise, nothing. The scanners are recording that he is doing something inside his body, but we can’t track anything in detail. Still, just from the observation and the provided video the subject is at least class three with a potential being higher. His already confirmed abilities are enhanced strength, toughness, and self-sustainment, but we can’t be sure that there is nothing else… and another thing – his weight might be changed on will. In his current mediative state, it’s around 3200 kilograms (around 7000 lbs.), but the analysis of records points that at some point it was much lower,” the man finished, not knowing what to tell while the lift was still moving. Luckily, the pause lasted less than ten seconds, when they finally reached the level needed.

“Anything else worth mentioning?” The super asked, glancing around and noting five different armored doors that were located around the lift in a star-like manner.

“Nothing comes to mind, but you can check the profile for more details. This way, please,” pointing at one of the doors, the guard proceeded with a short check-up. Quite the well-known procedure was over, opening a view on the prisoner with such an odd codename.

“The microphones will be on in ten seconds. You can speak freely, and he will hear you,” the guard commented the final thing before stepping to the far corner and putting his hands on the automatic rifle that hung on the sling. Overall, a more relaxed posture that Sarah was accustomed to was quite a telling sign about the prisoner’s behavior. Turning her attention to the motionless figure, which was sitting in a parody of a cross-legged position facing the opposite wall, she coughed.

“Hello,” it seemed the greetings immediately broke his concentration as if it was just a play, or the man was expecting guests. Unfortunately, the answer would be known only during the conversation. Meanwhile, Sarah got an opportunity to get a clear picture of the man with dusty albino skin.

Taller than average, Golem was still a bit shorter than herself, reaching somewhere around 190 centimeters (around 6’3”). Quite muscular, he had similarities with a typical brute, albeit with a smaller size. At least in Sarah’s eyes. Bald with rough facial features and the absence of any hair that made him not ugly, but more unattractive, he had surprisingly captivating eyes. Dark green, with heavy piercing gaze, they were speaking about the experience, while not trying to threaten anyone. It was more like an overwhelming confidence was radiating from them. Still, there was something primal about them, hidden deep inside under the wide and slightly artificial smile, that the man sent them after noticing their presence.

“My greetings, Agent Bell, Truthful Eyes,” slightly bowing to them, the man continued, not giving time to answer, “My name is Robert Flop… And if you do, I will ask you to start checking my words from the beginning, so I don’t need to repeat myself – will save time.”

“Okay…,” Confirming the suggestion, Sarah nodded to the super, who immediately closed his eyes and focused on his ability, raising a single figure. And it seemed Golem knew about the powers of the particular superhero, as only after noticing it, did he start to talk.

“Let’s start with the first topic then. I didn’t have, nor do I have any intentions to appear in the Facility, and was brought by your scientists, who conducted the experiment at the wrong time. Mr. Green Junior, the man who showed you the Facility, even asked you to join him… and if you agreed, you would be my witness. I didn’t have any accomplice, knowing absolutely no one at the moment when I appeared in that portal. I didn’t take anything from the whole place, and after understanding the situation, directly went to surrender to avoid being labeled as a criminal. During this period I haven’t harmed anyone. I have no connection to the villain who attacked the place. I wasn’t sent by anyone, and got inside by accident…,” Golem wanted to continue, but Sarah had to interrupt him. Especially after seeing that the super signaled that everything was true.

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“Please, wait, Mr. Flop. I do understand that you want to leave this place as quickly as possible, but I still need to clarify everything properly. We’ll start from the beginning so as not to miss any details. Are good with it?”

“Yeah… You are very distrustful, but I get that it’s a result of your position... and responsibility. Ask away,” As if giving up, Golem sat on the bed, making a tired expression.

“Good. Let’s start with…,” The following questioning took fifteen minutes before Sarah was sure that there were no loopholes in the wording, and that the man was indeed telling the truth. Or at least he believed in it, as in her experience, even the supernatural power to distinguish the lies couldn’t work on someone with a mental disorder or personality split, who actually believed in the information in his head, no matter how unrealistic it was.

“Now, to the thing that bothers me in your story – you told me that you didn’t know anyone in the Facility and headed directly to exit to surrender. How do you know the name of the scientist with whom I met earlier that day? Or our names?”

“That’s the hard part, Agent Bell… And maybe my fourth attempt to explain… So, as you know, you couldn’t find any information about me at this point, as if I never existed. That’s because I am not from this world, and specifically your experiment brought me here. Unfortunately, something happened, and I got stuck in the time loop, and saw how Demonologist would go insane and raze the city to the ground before getting killed by nuclear missiles. I can’t imagine how many will die, but it’s a lot. And I want to warn you about it, so you can prevent it…,” the man continued to speak, but Sarah lost her attention, meeting the eyes with her colleague who despite confirming the truth, had exactly the same thought – another psycho.

“Hey, I know that look. Please, just listen to me… It’s not about me, but about others…”.

“Do you know how many predictions of apocalypse CSA gets each day? It’s…”

“Three. Yeah, I know… and I also know about your personal relationships with Demonologist that you both tried to hide. The man is just too protective about you, and always uses a personal name instead of any formal address,” getting a surprised long look from Truthful Eyes, Sarah barely held her annoyance about the reveal, instead deciding to take the initiative.

“So, when will it happen? What will happen? Mind to share some details, Mr. Flop?”

“I don’t know the exact time as I spent most of the time in the cell until the alarm, and the guards here don’t want to give me a clock… But Demonologist turned into some kind of a huge demonic dragon… Yes, I know that he doesn’t have this form, but, Agent Bell, you can ask him personally about his transformations… And he just went on rampage, until the military came as nobody could stop him. Nothing else as I was too far to see everything in detail…”

“But if you are in the time loop, why didn’t you try to find more information by getting closer?” Sarah asked, squinting her eyes.

“Because I will die? Like it’s a nuclear strike that brought him down… I can’t survive that… And I don’t reset everything by dying if you are assuming it. My death will be final,” the man explained, catching their doubts. He still carried the same confidence in his own strength, but uncertainty was added on top. Or even the feeling of being lost. As if, despite all inner power, the man couldn’t completely avoid having other emotions, like hesitation and even desperation. Sarah couldn’t be sure, noticing only small signs of potential inner torments.

“How convenient… Okay, I can ask Demonologist, when I see him at the next regular meeting with defenders of the city,” Doing her best to stress about her formal relationships with the superhero, Sarah spoke, “You haven’t provided a lot… Meanwhile, let’s start with the final question – are you a villain, Mr. Flop? Have you killed anyone?”

By the end of the conversation, Sarah’s opinion about the man was set in stone. Thanking for the answers, she calmly walked out of the prison cell, wearing her usual cold mask. Only when the lift started to move down, did the senior agent speak to the guard.

“Raise Golem’s danger level to class five. Don’t treat him as if he is sane and harmless. Judging from his own words, he escaped from the cell to see the fight against the dragon… and to do it, he must have enough power to break through the force shield and get to the roof through the metal partitions,” getting a nod from the guard, who noted the change in the tablet, she went silent. However, Truthful Eyes couldn’t keep his surprise.

“Do you believe him? He sounds like a typical madman after failing to adjust to omicron particles.”

“Obviously, I am 99% sure he is the one. Despite his human-like appearance, he is a living metal, thus the physical change was too huge for him to handle. He believes in what he says, but so what? You know how the last prophet about the end of the world with a confirmed ability to predict things made us waste a huge sum in preparation for an alien invasion that never happened… And only because his twisted mind thought it was true, and he couldn’t distinguish his imagination from the work of his powers. Moreover, what we can do in this case? Just to be sure I’ll ask Demonologist about the dragon form. Maybe we can run some deep tests to see if he isn’t influenced by anything. That’s all. I don’t have anything to work with,” Sarah shared her thoughts.

“Still, he pointed out that it was a single attacker… Knew about your meeting with the scientist, and your refusal to observe the experiment. We can’t ignore those facts,” after short pondering, the super mentioned.

“Yes, but again – what can I do with it?... And about those facts. He can easily have a split personality. The first version used a Gray Lion’s leak of the future attack to break in with an unknown agenda. He could do what he wanted, and manually push control on the second personality. Some remnants of information might be left in his head, but I know that you can only confirm what the subject truly believes deep inside. His second personality might be simply crazy, but with leftovers of memories from the first, it can produce a twisted story to believe. We can’t completely check everything – EMP destroyed part of the servers from surveillance cameras, and the collapse of the level wiped the rest. Can this fit his words? Yes. Can it be true? We don’t know,” Sarag shook her head before agreeing, “but he is permanently changed super that already decreases his credibility.”

“Plus, he is a villain with blood on his hands… even if it’s only in his imagination,” the superadded, agreeing with the evaluation of the situation.

“Exactly. We’ll wait three months to be sure before returning to him again… Forbid any interactions with him during this period,” Sarah concluded, “Still, our work in CSA is to make sure that any threat to supers and ordinary civilians is eliminated.”

This thought lingered in her head during the whole day, emerging again and again together with images of Golem’s confident eyes and his following struggles to keep emotions in check. Too confident and too sincere to be ignored. Considering responsibility, she just couldn’t do it as any mistake would lead to unimaginable consequences, even if it did sound like pure nonsense. The noticeable part of supers was already not very from exploding, according to the latest polls, secretly made by CSA without notifying the government. Pressed by society, the supers wanted equality and fair treatment, whispering the demands between each other. Those voices were quiet, but it wouldn’t last long before reaching a boiling point.

At this time, any huge event might ruin the fragile state of balance. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do much without more information. Still, she did the only thing she could come up with was to prepare the Broom. Only this experimental weapon from the Facility had a chance to stop Demonologist with his insane rate of generation if the situation came to reality. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be needed, and this warning would be just another mad bubbling of the psycho.