“After Agent Alpha picked me up from the hospital, things got pretty blurry.” Katherine said with a chuckle. “I was whisked away to their training facility, where I stayed until I was given permission to take the Walker Gene.”
I opened my mouth to question her, when she interrupted, “Well, I say it was a stay, but it was more like me being held against my will in a nearly empty room.” She laughed uneasily, lowering her gaze to the empty plate in front of her.
“Naturally, the first question to come out of my mouth was to ask where my brother was. Imagine how hard I cried when they told me that he was dead… I… I really hated you, you know.”
I could see Hazeel’s leg tense up, but I placed a hand on her thigh to try and calm her down. “They told me that you killed him. That you corrupted him, and that he was put down because he endangered the lives of his comrades.”
“Well, that's not entirely untrue.” I replied. “Something like that did happen, it’s just the fact that saying it like that simplifies a complicated subject by nature.”
Katherine moved her gaze from her plate back to my eyes, and smiled. “I know. I figured it out later when I found his letters.”
“He left letters?” Vanessa asked incredulously. Katherine nodded, moving her gaze to her cup of tea next.
“Yeah. He grew increasingly wary of anything that Supreme General Armando did, towards the end of his life. He left all his thoughts with a nurse, with the promise that she would deliver them to me six months after I was discharged.”
I started cracking my knuckles out of reflex, causing her to flinch. “Sorry about that. So that’s how you found out about the truth?”
She nodded, and replied, “Well, that and the fact that Agent Alpha confirmed as much to me when I asked him about it directly. He was very careful to warn me about the Supreme General’s penchant for manipulating people to suit his agenda.”
I nodded, my mind flashing back to the day Vanessa and I made our escape. For the first time since landing in this world, my mind travelled back to that room, and the six people in it.
“Katherine,” the woman in question flinched at her own name, “you may not know the answer to what I’m going to ask next, and if you don’t, that’s ok. Do you understand?”
She nodded, and sat up straight. “Somehow, I think I know what you’re curious about.”
“Was it that obvious?” I turned to Dantae, who was smirking at me. “Anyway,” I cleared my throat, “I want to know what happened to Alison and Maria, since they were there during your brother’s final moments.”
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Katherine let out a deep sigh, and took a long sip of her tea. “Alison has become the Supreme General’s right hand woman, and has been serving him for the past ten years. They’ve conquered most of the world together, with underground resistances being the only form of protest.”
I sighed. “I figured as much. She seemed very bought into Christian’s cause when we were alive. Of course, it didn’t help that I also kept some secrets from her, but still…”
That is worrying. That means that I’ll have to go back and fight someone who has been honing their powers for about as long as I have. “And what about Maria?” Dantae asked.
Katherine shook her head as she replied, “She disappeared soon after the incident. No one has seen her in the years since the Supreme General began his conquest.”
“That’s problematic in itself.” I muttered. An unknown variable could make things more difficult when we return.
“Thanks. Sorry for the interruption.” Katherine smiled at my apology, and took another sip of her tea.
“Don’t worry about it. To be honest, there’s not much more to my side of the story. I was entered into an academy under Agent Alpha’s direct tutelage, and graduated at the top of my class.”
“What kind of academy?” Hazeel asked. “In our world, we have a standard academic education, and then one for combat-specialized people.”
“Huh. I guess I never experienced another system, so I didn’t really consider it before.” Katherine said. “My education was mostly general, with specialized classes in the afternoon to hone my spatial abilities. My instructor was Alison Walker.”
“Before you say anything,” She continued, “the Supreme General poured a lot of resources into specializing me. I was meant to be your counter, after all.”
“I can see it.” Dantae said. “So, what are we up against? The only thing standing between us and the general can’t be you and Alison.”
“Exactly.” Katherine stood up, walking towards the window. “The Supreme General has consolidated the remaining Temptations, the cores of the Dimension Eaters, into one being that he has locked under his base of operations. He has only released it once, when he went on a crusade to Japan to imprison Vanessa’s family.”
Anger. Sadness. Humiliation. Concern. Distress. These emotions swirled into my mind through my mental connection with Dantae, and she took my hand in her own as reassurance.
“What happened to them?” She asked through clenched teeth, her gaze boring a hole through Katherine’s back.
“Nothing.” She said back simply. “They escaped into a pocket dimension with their powers, and haven’t been heard from since. However, the general didn’t capture a single one.”
Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief, and slumped into the couch. “I wouldn’t breathe easy just yet.” Katherine commented, turning back to face us. “The monster that the Supreme General unleashed on Japan leveled the country, leaving it nothing but a barren wasteland.”
“Considering that his temper and paranoia have been reaching all time highs, I suggest that we leave as soon as possible to try and right the atrocities that Christian Armando has committed.”
She slammed her fist on the table to emphasize her point, causing Rexir and Leresa to walk back into the room. “Don’t damage the table, it isn’t yours!”
Leresa growled, making Katherine shy away from the conflict. “There’s only one problem with that, Katherine.” I said, making the young woman turn her gaze towards me. “Have you tried to leave this dimension yet?”