Signs of Humanity: Chapter 9 Sign 3
Down the darkened hallways ran two figures after an arbitrary amount of time the 2 slowed to a jog, then a walk, finally stopping, panting and catching their breath in the reassurance that their pursuer was no longer on their tail.
Gasping in between breaths Lilith managed to get out "Sir what was that thing?".
Jericho took some time to acknowledge what Lilith had asked, his attention was more focused on any sounds coming from the hallway behind them. Hearing only some creaking of the structure and water dripping into a puddle off in the distance he breathed a relaxed breath, there were no more heavy footsteps.
"Sir!?" Lilith cut in again, louder this time to grab Jericho's attention.
"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't following us," said Jericho.
"What was that thing? A talking Bear? And when I shot it light burst from the bullet wound! You talk to it you knew what it was! What is happening?" Asked Lilith trying to understand everything that had just happened.
‘Damn it’ thought Jericho, ‘I hoped she would keep thinking Golem was just a bear, now I've got to think up something she'll believe.’ Jericho thought for a second but knew Lilith expected an answer soon.
"That... That thing is a part of what I and my team were sent here to investigate" Jericho started, "We received intelligence that the enemy has been creating advance robotic animals that they are using to spy on our squads." Said Jericho slowly as the lie formed in his head.
"Robotics? That thing was a robot? But why did it scream when I shot it and how could it talk?" Asked Lilith confused at the revelation.
"As for the speaking, my guess would be that it was whoever was controlling the robot remotely. The scream on the other hand I think might be meant to be an automatic reaction when the robot takes damage to make the attacker think it’s a real animal. With the way it sounded however I think they still have a way to go before they perfect the model". Jericho said with more confidence now that he had built a somewhat solid story to sell the lie on.
"And the lights? Also, what's The Tree?” Continued Lilith.
"If I knew what made the light's I'd tell you. But The Tree, it’s the organisation that the enemy contracted to build the robots. I have been told to extend amnesty to them to have them join our side in order to have The Tree build robots for us". Jericho said.
"I see..." Pondered Lilith, while the story seemed outrageous it did add up with what she saw, the bear did look sickly and if it was a fake bear then it's odd appearance made sense. While Lilith thought for a second, she felt a tugging sensation in her mind which was the chip in her head rewriting her memory of the fight to coincide with Jericho's story.
This process made her wince in pain for a moment, something Jericho noticed and filled him with shame. He didn't like how easy it was to lie to Lilith and to see that it caused her pain made him feel even worse. Even though she was all but a stranger to him he couldn't help but see himself in her place they were both experiments of Seon and both carried the results of its medaling.
"Lilith, there is a lot I wish I could tell you, a lot I want to tell you but at this stage, I can't. I'm sorry just believe me that when I say I can't tell you, know it's not my choice". Jericho said this time no hint of a lie in his words.
Lilith took in his words for a moment and nodded "Right, I understand Jericho... I mean Sir".
Jericho laughed to himself "You can just call me Jericho; I have never been one for formalities".
"Oh, I'm glad you said so," said Lilith.
"Why's that?" asked Jericho.
"Your attention to proper military communications is horrible and clumsy, I didn't want to say so earlier, I thought it be rude". Answered Lilith.
Jericho's smile collapsed to an expression of annoyance "It's still rude now".
"I know, but you said you don't care for formalities" joke Lilith.
"Yeah, I guess that was a bad move on my part". The two relaxed after they finished their little verbal play. "Right let's keep going I think we a close to where we need to be." Said Jericho.
"Right, lead the way". Lilith cheerfully replied.
As the two continued to walk down the dark hallways they eventually came across a non-descript door with the words "Server Access Office" written in faded red.
"This looks like the place," said Jericho.
"So weird, why is there a doorway carved into the wall of a cave? I guess it's good for secrecy no one would stumble upon it by accident, especially if the place is guarded by a robot bear. But still, this would have taken weeks to build". Commented Lilith.
Jericho just nodded and said "I agree" at this point, he was just rolling with whatever Lilith said about the world around him like it was a bad improvise performance. "Well, I will go in, to get what we came for, keep an eye out while I check and make sure the room is empty," Jericho said.
"Right," Lilith said as she drew up the pistol Jericho had given her, then hesitated "Wait, why did you make me use your gun back there? In the heat of the moment, I didn't stop to think why". Lilith asked Jericho.
This took Jericho by surprise, he stopped to think of something convincing but nothing came to mind in the end he decided to end on a half-truth and hope for the best. "Lilith, this is one of those things I can't tell you even though I wish I could." It was clear from the look on her face that she wasn't pleased with this answer she was expecting more. "But, thank you for trusting me and using my gun over yours, it means more than you know that I have someone that I can rely on." Continued Jericho. This wasn't a lie however, after leaving Lisa's he has more or less been operating by himself, taking advantage of others, never really trusting them, but Lilith was the first he knew he could trust.
Lilith is still not convinced with the gun matter but she puts it aside for now. "Ok but promise me you will tell me when you can, I don't like being in the dark. And for what it's worth I trust you too, not just because you're my superior but because... I don't know what it is but there is something about you I trust. I think it's because you have been more real with me than most people. Dr Sam is nice but sometimes it feels like he is handling me with kid gloves you know? And most of the villagers don't even speak English so yeah... like I said I have your back".
Jericho smiled "Thanks, now keep an eye out while I check the room." Said Jericho. He then proceeded to put his hand on the door handle as Lilith took up a defensive position and began scanning the Hallways for any signs of movement.
As Jericho peered into the empty room, what laid before him was a room bathed in the green light coming off the exit sign above the door. It was a smallish room filled with three long tables with two rows of computers facing outwards from the middle of each desk. There was also a line of filing cabinets along the walls with mismanaged stacks of papers peppering the tops of the cabinets. The room was in pretty good condition besides the inch of dust on everything and the looming quilt of spider webs hanging from the roof like everyone just left after work one day and never came back. Jericho noticed a light switch on the wall and flicked it on. A slight buzzing came from the lights above him like they were building up power to function for the first time. With a pop and a clicking the fluorescent lights came on, some refused to start some continued to flicker, while others burst from the sudden influx of power and shattered in their case, but for the most part, the room was now lit, "Well at least there is power here" Jericho said to himself.
Lillith peered into the room "wow what the hell?" She started looking around the room.
"What is it?" Jericho asked.
"This room looks like it's abandoned you sure this is the place, all the dust on the computers looks like no one has been here in years." She said.
"Wait you can see this?" Jericho said without thinking, cursing himself.
Lilith frowned at him like he was being stupid "of course I have eyes don't eye?" She retorted annoyed.
"Right, never mind. This place is abandoned but that doesn't matter more importantly it can access the information we are after, you, see?" Jericho said to his relief. "I'll check the computers; you keep an eye out from the doorway just in case our furry friend comes back."
Lilith went back to stand guard at the door while Jericho walked around the room looking for a functional computer. Most computers wouldn't even turn on, some did but wouldn't post, others would blue screen and crash after the OS booted, just as Jericho was about to give up one finally booted and got to the login page. Breathing a sigh of relief, he typed the login credentials that Sam had told him, after a few moments he was logged in as a Dr Marry Crouch. Navigating to the Database's search bar Jericho typed in "All Cure" and hoped for the best.
The computer spat out a couple of different results some were the experiments that went into creating it, a document on the ethics of its production and documents about the chemical structure on how to make it, all seemed important but without a way of making a copy of the information, it was all useless. Finally, towards the bottom the was a stock take list with the "All Cure" referenced. 'Finally,' thought Jericho, he opened it and began to scan the document it was a manifesto of all the equipment and medical stocks that Helix Towers had. Jericho, reading through the document looked for an entry for "All Cure" found a single entry. One batch remained with the note "Stock needs to be replaced ASAP", both excited and nervous that there could be none left, he decided it's better to be optimistic there was at least one on base and that was all he needed.
About to get up and leave he stopped for a second and stared at the screen, he looked over to Lilith still standing in the doorway looking out into the Hall. "How are we looking?" he asked. Lilith without turning around, "All good here, how much longer are you going to be?".
"Almost done I Just need to find one more thing" he responded. Jericho took a deep breath and typed into the search bar Subject 24. The computer stopped for a second and took some time to load, a lot longer than when he searched for the All Cure. Finally, all the results loaded and there were pages and pages of different documents, experiment logs, research papers and updates. All up there were over a thousand documents relating to Jericho.
Rather than read all about every little thing that they did to him and causing himself undue dread Jericho decided on looking up the first and last entry on himself. Starting with the latest entry it was an escape and recapture document with recapture set as pending. "Good luck with that guys," he said to himself, the report described his escape from Hill Cape and his last known location, Helix Towers. There was nothing noted between Hill Cape and the Helix Towers which meant they didn't know about Lisa and the kids that put him up for a while. "Looks like Johnny told them, oh well I thought he might" reading more of the entry showed that his recapture had also been deprioritised and lethal forces had been approved. "I guess they have given up on me," Jericho said to himself.
Next was the first entry on him, most of it was just capture report information something Jericho didn't want to relive he skipped of a couple of files which seemed to be different groups of researchers vying to be the ones to experiment on him, like he was anew piece of lab equipment. It left a stale taste in his mouth, finally, he found the entry "Subject 24 First Experiment Approved" it was a document that outlined the research and goals of the experiment they decided on for Jericho. Hesitantly he opened the document and began reading.
Document 0005650:
Approved Experiment for Subject 24, named "Combination"
Foreword from Lead Researcher: Dr Harbinger.
I am so excited that my proposal was excepted, I think it was the possibility to either turn Subject 24 into an unrivalled weapon or the fact that it will give us some insight into the "Cursed Combining" that many believe will be our ultimate doom. We couldn't have asked for a better test subject either, a Shifter and his relation to the donor subject is perfect. The elasticity of his body coupled with the genetic match of the donor should provide us with a stable result unlike our failed tests so far.
Experiment proposal and expected results:
In an attempt to understand more about the Cursed Combining (Combining) and its possible results we propose to create a lab-controlled specimen of what we believe will be the resulting creature of the Combining. With attempts to indoctrinate the specimen once it becomes viable to make it into a weapon to act on behalf of Seon.
For new researchers and assistants that may not be aware of the Combining as it is a possible theory, we don't want many in Seon to become aware of it because of the dread and hopelessness it would inspire, here is a short description of what the Cursed Combining is.
The Cursed Combining is a nightmare scenario where Brutes and Psychics begin to produce offspring that have hybrid or dual abilities of both Mutations. This is of great concern to the human race as it would mean that Brutes and Psychics would no longer be divided and would come together to overpower Humanity. No longer will the Rule of Thirds work as it will only be Mutants against humans, two against one and it would lead to our eradication. At first, we thought this could be medicated with propaganda campaigns to keep Brutes and Psychics from forming family bonds however new research shows that in rare cases a family of Brutes can give birth to Psychic offspring and vice versa it is only a matter of time now before a hybrid is born. Feel free to do your research when you have time, having access to this file means you now have access to the Cursed Combining files.
To have a greater understanding of the threat we propose to artificially create a hybrid subject in lab conditions. Previously we tried combining engineered sperm and egg cells, however, no offspring would survive to a point that they would develop abilities. This experiment will aim instead to create a hybrid using fully formed subjects.
We plan to achieve this by using Subject 24, a Brute Shape Shifter in his Mid 20's and grey matter from a Psychic donor reclaimed from one of the corpses from our Cleansing of Sapphire Village...
Upon reading this Jericho's stomach sunk through the floor, Sapphire Village was his hometown, long before he was captured by Seon he lived there with his family. That was until one day when Seon attacked his Village, during the attack he lost both his parents, causing him to flee with his little brother. All of this was a lifetime ago and it felt disturbing to have it dragged up again. Pushing all the horrible memories aside he sat for some time thinking 'I don't want to read anymore; this is all things I want to forget. Mum... Dad... Michael... Whose brain did they carve out? Was it someone I knew? Should I read and see if they say? Do I want to know? What did they do with the brain? Damn it I have to know; I came this far already'. Resolved he continued to read, needing to know exactly what happened to him.
The use of grey matter is important as we believe we have identified the area of the brain that allows Psychics to control their abilities as well as house their Affinity. Thanks to the elasticity of a Shape Shifters body and how easily it can rewrite its own DNA to adapt to new situations it will make the perfect subject to create a hybrid. Coupled that with the fact the donor is the mother of Subject 24 chances of rejection should be relatively low.
Breathing heavily now Jericho was struggling to control his emotions, an unstoppable flood of rage, sorrow and fear was clawing at his mind, whipping his logical thought away, but still, he held himself back. "My mother, you sick fucks used her for your experiments," Jericho muttered under his breath. There was still more to read Jericho had an idea of where things were going, but he crushed those thoughts because there was no way Seon could be that sick, but still, he had to know for sure what had happened.
We believe that by transplanting the Donors grey matter into the brain of Subject 24 we will produce the hybrid Mutant we believe the Combining will create.
Jericho shot up from the chair slamming his hands onto the desk, reading the last sentence of the proposal broke him, tears began falling down his face. He gripped the back of his head and doubled over as he realised what had happened to him and the things it explained. Lately, all his dreams had been filled with memories of the day his mother died, but things felt wrong, they were always from his mother's perspective and would end with him looking at himself as he died... his mother died. These were his mother's memories he was seeing, the sudden sparks of understanding he was having when looking at machinery now had a source. But this didn't matter to Jericho at the moment the knowledge that a piece of his mother's brain was in his head was crippling.
After the sadness and fear began to subside the real beast was raising its head. To a Brute, rage was like a different person living inside you, if you weren't careful, it could consume you, most Brutes spend years mastering their control over it, as had Jericho, but this time he couldn't, he didn't want to. He burst forth crushing the tables, screaming, destroying the computers, throwing chairs and doing any destructive act he could to let that anger burn out.
"Hey stop it." Jericho heard a disembodied voice whispering from outside the red of his vision. "Bang" the sound of a gunshot rang out snapping his attention to a figure standing in the doorway. It was Lilith, she had been yelling at Jericho since he started destroying the room, she fired a shot into the room to get his attention. It worked, as Jericho return to himself, he looked down at his hands, trembling with rage, how could he let this happen, for a Brute it is beyond shameful to lash out like this. As he mastered his rage again the sorrow returned greater than before, but this too he must control. Pulling himself up, with tears in his eyes he began walking towards Lilith and the doorway.
"I'm sorry... I know where we need to go next" Jericho said rather coldly to Lilith as he passed her on the way out.
"No, you don't get to do that, you can't just upturn a room and act like it's normal, for God's sake you're still crying what did you find?" Lilith grabbed Jericho's shoulder and spun him around forcing him to look at her.
"It's not..." Jericho started.
"What? It's nothing my ass, or is this one of those things you can't tell me? Don't even start with that shit, you're telling me right now." Lilith cut in.
"No... it's not that it's... Look I can't tell you, nor do I want to talk about it!" Jericho turned to walk away.
Lilith grabbed him again, "No we aren’t going anywhere until you tell me something at least".
"They carved out her brain!" Jericho barked at her.
Lilith stopped, the scowl on her face dropped to a horrified face at the realisation of what Jericho was grappling with. "Who?" The words came without thinking, not out of a sick curiosity but out of genuine empathetical concern for Jericho.
"My mother..." Jericho muttered just saying the words obliterated his resolve, the sorrow he had pent up overcame him as he collapsed to the ground in a sobbing mess. Lilith didn't hesitate she followed him to the ground, placing a hand on his back to reassure Jericho that he wasn't alone, the two sat there for a long time not saying a word, there they would remain for as long as it would take for Jericho to let the tears flow.