Cerberus HQ, Barracks: 936, November 3rd, Saturday, 2:00 PM.
Not long after a quick break from training in her room, Claire firmly strode across the busy hallways of the barracks at HQ. Many officers glanced her way as she walked towards the exit at the end of the long hallway, many dressed in vermillion red, and others in Cobalt blue. She would reach her destination with no fights breaking out however, placing one hand in the double door crafted from a strong oak—coated with a clear varnish that darkened its color.
The bright outdoors blinded Claire as she stepped outside, raising one hand near her forehead to block the rays of the sun—recognizing the voice of a young man somewhere nearby. She took a quick glance in its direction, spotting a familiar blonde speaking with a refined looking redhead wearing a black office suit—Tori’s mother and CEO of Chimera, Sara Endel.
“I’m glad to hear my daughter’s been doing well,” the redhead woman expressed with a nod. “However, I am still not confident about your presence in headquarters.” She told the noble while fixing her glasses. “This zone is highly restricted to anyone who does not work for Chimera, Hydra or Cerberus, and if I recall correctly… you have not been officially hired by Arwen.”
“I was allowed to provide my aid to Bloodhound,” the noble calmly retorted. “My stay here is a result of that agreement.”
“An unaccredited agreement that has no place with an authentic organization such as ours. You don’t belong here and—"
“Eric?” Claire interrupted their argument, stepping next to the noble before nodding at the woman. “Mrs. Sara.”
“Good afternoon, lieutenant.” Replied Chimera’s CEO.
“Is there a problem?” Eric asked with a raised eyebrow, unaware of Claire’s presence. “If you are here for the cards w-Foley forgot in your room, then I had nothing to do with it.”
“What?” the lieutenant’s brows scrunched down, rapidly shaking her head to move away from the subject for the time being. “I’ll deal with that later,” she said, taking one last glance at the stoic noble before turning to look at Sara. “You believe Eric doesn’t belong in headquarters?”
A serious nod was Sara’s reply, followed by the buzzing sound of her phone vibrating inside the pocket of her black vest. “I do,” she replied while grabbing the device—raising it close to her ear. “The protection of our borders is a matter I take very seriously, if Arwen wishes to recruit the noble of a distant continent...” her attention diverted to the phone before finishing her sentence, raising the other hand to push up her glasses up. “I see… I’ll be there in a moment.”
“Anything important?” Eric casually asked while crossing his arms, keeping his mouth and brows in a straight line.
“Nothing that should concern you,” she said before nodding to both the lieutenant and the noble. “I must make my leave now, but I insist that you follow the example of your butler and leave HQ immediately. Think about what would happen if the son of duke Albury were to die under our watch, lieutenant.”
With a final warning towards Claire and Eric, the busy redhead strode away from the pair with hasty yet elegant steps. The noble couldn’t help but scoff while averting his gaze from the lieutenant, pressing his teeth with an unusual bothered expression—which did not go unnoticed by his companion.
“Don’t let it get to you,” she told him. “You are just as important to Bloodhound as I am,” the lieutenant smiled at the noble, placing her hand on the man’s shoulder before giving him a quick shake.
“…”
“Eric?”
“It’s nothing…”
“Sure,” said Claire with pronounced sarcasm while crossing her arms. “Tell me what’s on your mind, that’s what I’m here for.”
“I said it’s nothing… isn’t there anything else you should be doing?”
His cold reply caused the lieutenant to squint her eyes slightly while titling her head, keeping a fixed glare on the pouting noble. She lowered her arms while stepping in front of him, refusing to leave without an answer. “You know I don’t just leave things as they are,” she claimed. “Remember the first time we met at the manor? Tell me.”
“…”
Stolen story; please report.
“Eric.”
“You know what they’ve done just as well I,” the noble met the sharp gaze of the lieutenant with one of his own. “These people have been attacking my home for years, but deny everything with a straight face. This is what I talked to you about when you arrived at the manor.” Despite not raising his voice, his angry was plainly obvious to the lieutenant as she listened to his complain. “We both saw what they do to people, why is Cerberus working with them now?”
“I… I don’t know…” expressed Claire with furrowed brows. “Listen, I’m sure there’s a reason for all of this.”
Silence followed her words, as Eric peered into her amber eyes with curved down eyebrows. “The empire still supports you, but how long will that last? Only reason we’ve done nothing about your continent is because nobody wants to deal with the Deadlands.”
“…”
“I told you about Gaspard leaving Hemel to help the emperor, didn’t I?” continued the noble. “He convinced me to join your team back at home… when you asked for my assistance.”
“You forced yourself in.”
“Now he is gone, and this place seems to be going to hell anyway.” Eric stated his doubts firmly. “I think… I think you should be leaving too.”
“What are you saying?” Claire flinched slightly at the man’s suggestion.
“That gear of yours gives you an edge, why would you need Cerberus or anyone here to operate in humanities best interests?”
“Eric, I am not betraying S—the boss.”
The noble scoffed at her reply, placing one hand on his hips before speaking. “I knew you would say that, but if you ask me… they are the ones betraying you.” Eric confidently claimed with a straight face. “I plan to stay in headquarters regardless of what they tell me, but only because I’m not sure how you’d manage without me.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“You are welcome,” nodded the noble as his lips curved into a friendly smile.
A quick chuckle escaped Claire as she covered her mouth with one hand, smiling back at Eric. “Thank you, Eric.”
“It’s nothing, but I would keep an eye on them if I were you. I know you won’t leave, but that doesn’t mean you have to listen to everything they tell you.”
Cerberus HQ, Jacob’s Laboratory: 936, November 3rd, Saturday, 2:30 PM.
In a small bright room, filled with gray metallic tables, chairs, whiteboards and technological equipment organized all around. One man wearing a mask, face shield, and a long coat—as white as the walls of the room, meticulously observed a compact ball of steel with smiling eyes. He ran his fingers across the special device, which exhibited a tiny window that allowed view into a strange black liquid flowing inside—radiating a faint glow similar to molten lava in open air.
“Hah…” Arwen chuckled silently at the red and yellow light emanating from inside, carefully holding the object in both hands—covered with a pair of thick protective gloves. “I can make my own weapons too…” he whispered to himself. “But it’s not ready yet… I need more serum… Hydra’s superhuman soldiers must have some. I just have to—”
“Boss?” the voice of a woman suddenly snapped the man out of his own thoughts—making him flinch while rapidly placing the metallic sphere inside a recipient from the same material as the item. “You have an important meeting in about thirty minutes... boss?”
“Ivanna…” Arwen sighed with relief, placing one hand in his chest as he spotted the black-haired woman carrying an electronic tablet in hand. “I know… I was just finishing a new project in the lab.”
“Oh, sorry to interrupt.” She looked around the place with furrowed brows. “This is where you develop Sovereign’s medicine, isn’t it? I haven’t seen him in a while, is he doing alright?”
“Yes, perfectly fine.” Smiled Arwen, taking off his gloves off as he began to approach Ivanna. “Ivanna… have you seen Boris by any chance?”
While not taken off guard by his question, Ivanna tilted her head with a curious gaze as she half opened her mouth. “Uh?”
“I’ll be needing some of his troops for a new operation I’ve been working on,” the head of Cerberus rubbed his hands together with a bright smile. “Nothing too crazy, but I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear it.”
“I-I can make a call,” Ivanna responded—unlocking her tablet to make the appointment. “Should I say something specific? This kind of came out of nowhere too…”
“I’m interested in his superhuman experiment,” Arwen told the girl with quivering hands as he kept rubbing them together—savoring a strange feeling of excitement he’s never known before. “Tell him that I want to test Bloodhound against his units… a friendly performance evaluation, of course. Ask him to come to my office after the meeting, I’m sure he’ll be interested to hear it.”
Ivanna frowned at the man’s eager tone, swallowing hard before she started to write the message to Hydra’s CEO. “Well… alright, I can do that.” she said, turning towards the exit before striding away towards a white door coated in sturdy metal. “I have to check on Bloodhound, but don’t be late for the meeting!” she reminded him before making her exit.
“Thank you!” Arwen happily expressed, keeping a joyful gaze on the woman’s back.
His eyes rapidly turned towards the spherical device once Ivanna disappeared through the hallway, walking his way back to the table. Arwen picked up the item with his bare hands, forgetting about the gloves he just took off. A painful scream escaped him, hearing the hissing sound of his flesh melting on touch with the sphere—which he released immediately.
“Ngh… I forgot…” he grunted while quickly putting his gloves back on. “But this might just work…” he huffed a chuckle, crouching down to open a heavy and sturdy steel safe hiding underneath the table—concealing the object inside. “Now all I need is to test it in a real operation hah… no one will dare try to take headquarters from me. I’m doing well now, Sovereign… Yeon.”
A buzz in the pocket of his pants broke the man’s monologue, making him flinch with a startled cry as his phone rang with a call.
END OF CHAPTER