Chapter 4
Alex Mercer was many things or rather he could become many things if given the opportunity. Killer. Monster. Terrorist. Hunter. He was all those things and something much more. And in Columbia, he was the False Shepard, a demon that had come to lead the Lamb astray.
"Get away!" his current target shouted as she hurled book after book at him.
But a master of tact and grace he was not.
He should have done a more delicate approach to not frighten off his target. He had consumed so many people who were expert negotiators that he could probably convince a murdering psychopath to turn over a new leaf and live a life full of rainbows and butterflies. Was he exaggerating? Yes, he was.
But he didn't bother as long as the girl comes with him. He would drag her around like a sack of potatoes if it weren't for the Luteces' instruction to not harm the girl.
The bioweapon sighed with his hands in his pockets as the volumes bounced off of his body.
Many things in his short life had hit him from conventional firearms to tanks. It also wasn't limited to regular humans like getting mauled by a Hunter, receiving a pile driver from a super soldier, and being blasted by MOTHER.
A bunch of books wasn't going to do jack shit to him.
"You done yet?" he asked her when the shelf closest to her was devoid of any ammunition for her to throw.
He decided to put his foot down when he saw the girl make a move towards the next bookshelf. He didn't have all day to be bombarded by books after all. He just wanted to get this over with so those twins could cure Dana.
Alex leaped up to the landing and landed a few feet in front of her, leaving cracks on the floor due to his weight.
"You want to get out of here or not?" he asked, blocking her path from the stacks of books that she was going to throw at him.
Elizabeth looked into his blue eyes and shivered from how unnatural they looked. This was a common reaction whenever someone gets close enough to make eye contact with him. It was as if their instincts were telling them to run from the being before them like a frightened animal.
"Are you…are you real?" she asked with a tremble in her voice as she tentatively reached her hand out to him.
He gripped the girl's wrist before it touched his face, "I'm real enough."
The gold statue of some man with a beard that had been next to them began to let out a whistling tune. Elizabeth looked downright terrified as she turned to Alex who immediately tensed as he sensed the coming foe.
"He's coming! Y-you have to go!" she whispered frantically as she tried to push him back but failed due to being heavier than he looked.
"You have to leave now! Go! Before he arrives," she said to him. A loud bestial roar resounded through the whole tower, making her look up.
"Just a minute! I'm getting dressed!" she shouted at the ceiling where Alex could sense where the threat was coming from.
Under normal circumstances, he would just kill whatever had her worked up but the girl might get hurt in the process. He couldn't afford to let that happen because she was his chance to prevent his sister from dying.
"We need to get out of here," he said as Elizabeth scrambled around the room in panic, trying to find a place to hide him.
"There's no way out, trust me. I've looked."
The sound boomed again, making her jump.
"STOP IT! YOU'RE TOO IMPATIENT. THAT'S ENOUGH!" she shouted at the ceiling again or to be more precise, whatever was coming.
"Well, there's a way out right over there," he gestured with a thumb over his shoulder at the shattered window.
"Oh…right," she replied, feeling embarrassed that she forgot about that.
"C'mon," motioned with a jerk of his head to the improvised exit before walking down the stairs with the girl following behind him.
He climbed through and offered a hand to the young woman. Elizabeth seemed to hesitate for a few minutes, trying to decide if she should trust the viral monster. Losing his patience, he grabbed her hand and unceremoniously pulled her through the window.
"Hey!" the girl incredulous snapped at him, cradling the hand that he grabbed.
"Don't be a baby."
She better be thankful that he barely used a fraction of his whole strength or he would've ripped her whole arm right out of its socket.
They ran down the stairs on the other side when the walls around them shook viciously as if something had struck the tower.
"What the hell was that?" he asked no one in particular as they picked up the pace.
"That was Songbird. It's his job to keep me locked up in here!" she answered.
"We'll see about that," he smirked as they began to backtrack on the path that he went through to reach her. The monument kept shaking.
"Who exactly are you? Why did you come here?" Elizabeth asked him as they ran.
"Now's not the right time, kid!" he replied as the tower shook again. They circumnavigated another corner when an impact nearly sent them sprawling to the ground. The metal wall of the monument ahead of him was carved into by a set of enormous talons. Those claws suspiciously looked like a bigger version of his claws.
"Shit!" he swore as he ran after Elizabeth. Another sizable cut was made into the tower, causing a support beam to collapse down onto the wooden walkway behind him.
After entering the next corridor, he slammed his hand over the button on the wall in haste, calling the elevator up yet accidentally breaking the button at the same time. He was worried that the elevator won't work anymore with the button broken but the sounds of it coming down eased his doubts.
As they waited for the lift to arrive, Elizabeth finally took notice of the one-way mirror, gasping in shock as she recognized the room beyond as her bedroom.
"What is all this?" she asked like he would know the answers, "They were watching me? All this time…why?"
"Why did they put me here? What am I? WHAT AM I!?" she cried out as she turned to face him with desperation and uncertainty in her eyes.
"Do I look like I know the answer to that?" he shrugged, not really caring about her distress.
A gigantic rock-like fist suddenly punched through the door of the elevator, making Elizabeth stumble back until she was pressed against the far wall while Alex entered a battle stance. Tendrils spun and wrapped around the giant stone-arm as it morphed into a somewhat normal looking yet still big coal black arm with luminescent red patterns on it. It withdrew and an enormous head scoured into the room with glowing red eyes.
"That does NOT look like a fucking bird to me!"
The creature resembled more like a mutated gorilla with reptilian features than a bird. It looked a lot like a Leader Hunter except its skin was a different color and it was evidently much bigger than one.
More tendrils crawled up its arms, shaping them into bigger and spikier versions of his claws. One of the eyes zeroed in on Alex as it began to force its head into the door. Its talons tore into the walls and forced the opening to become wider.
Elizabeth screamed while Alex punched the creature in the face as hard as he can, which by the way was a lot. The strength of the punch pushed its head back but not by a lot. The blow looked like more it annoyed the thing than hurt it.
A ding resounded from the elevator call button, drawing everyone's attention in the room including the giant monster. Seconds later, the elevator dropped down from above, striking the creature hard enough to dislodge it and send it crashing down.
If that thing was anything like a Leader Hunter, then it was highly doubtful that an elevator crashing down on its head killed it. So they needed to keep going before it comes back.
Alex unceremoniously scooped Elizabeth up and slung her over his shoulder, earning cries of protest from the girl. He was in too much of a hurry to be gentle.
The bioweapon leapt through the elevator shaft while carrying the young woman and landed on the other side. He then dashed up the stairs while picking up speed.
He already made it past several floors when the tower began shaking again, except this time much more violently than it had previously. Knowing that the creature just got back up, the Blacklight being pushed himself further up the steps.
"We have to hurry! He's going to tear the whole building apart!" she shouted in his ear.
"I don't see your ass running!" he yelled back as he ran past a beam that crashed through the floor above.
"No need to be rude!" she retorted sharply as they reached the top. Not bothering to twist the wheel to open the door, Alex kicked it down, sending it falling over the edge.
I'm trying to get us out of here!" he said over the sound of the wind, "My fucking social skills are not relevant at the moment!"
Alex could see why he wasn't the Luteces' first choice for this. If Dana's life wasn't at stake, he would be very tempted to just leave her skinny ass behind.
"Where do we go!?" she asked.
"Put your arms around my neck!" he ordered, setting the girl down on her feet.
"WHAT!?" she screamed, staring at him with wide eyes as if he lost his mind.
"JUST DO IT!"
She shrunk back at the murderous scowl under the hood. And for a second, she could've sworn that his eyes were glowing. Not wanting to make him angrier, she meekly got behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Hold on," was the only warning she got before he jumped over the railing with her clinging onto him.
The girl's arms gripped tighter around in his neck and would've choked him if he actually needed to breathe. He could feel her burying her face into his jacket in an attempt to hide her sights from this horrifying experience as they fell, screaming the whole way.
Rolling his eyes, he adjusted himself in the air and began to glide through the clouds in a steady and gradual flight.
"You can stop screaming now. You're giving me a headache," he said to her, putting as much distance as he could from the giant angel statue…tower…thing.
She still held on tightly to Alex, frightened about their seeming doom. After a few seconds, she slowly opens her eyes, loosening her death grip on Alex. Squinting as the light of the sun casted across her face, she gasped, taken aback by the magnificent sight.
The sky was painted in beautiful cool hues of blue and white. The rays of sunlight reflected and refracted through the clouds, projecting a stunning visual show of lights and colors on the sky.
This was truly the vision of Heaven.
Of course, a certain bioweapon just had to ruin the moment.
"If you open your mouth any wider, a bird might fly in," he nonchalantly stated, not at all moved by the glorious spectacle.
Elizabeth closed her mouth from where it had fallen open and shook her head.
"You can fly!?"
"No, but I can glide," he calmly corrected her.
"Fuck!" he cursed as a zeppelin in the air ahead of them was suddenly destroyed.
"IT'S SONGBIRD!" Elizabeth called out as the creature flew out of the wreckage of the airship.
"That still does NOT look like a fucking bird to me!"
Yet again, Alex was right in his observation. The creature was a lot bigger than he initially thought and still looked nothing like a bird except for its large feathered wings. Chimera would be a more suitable name for it because it was the combination of several animals.
"THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!"
The girl was right. Since the thing could fly, he won't be able to outfly the creature. He was going to have to think outside the box.
An idea sparked through his mind as he spotted a bridge ahead.
As they were almost within arms reach of the Songbird, Alex expulsed some of his biomass to propel himself away from the Songbird's grabbing hand. He performed a following Air Dash to do a one hundred eighty degree turn.
"So long, fucker!" Alex mockingly called out to the Songbird as he soared to the opposite direction of the creature's flight path.
Songbird looked back to see its charge and the viral abomination getting away from it. Because of its distraction, it failed to notice the bridge right in front of it and promptly crashed into it.
Having lost the Songbird (it still didn't look like a bird to Alex), Alex found a perfect spot for them to land.
The unlikely duo gently landed in a small square that held various beds of flowers with small and kitsch flowers sprayed around them. Quite a hefty bit of cafes littered the area around them and two main roads were connected to the square. One was where they had last seen Songbird crash while the other lead to the beach.
"Mr. Mercer?" Elizabeth asked, looking around, "Where are we now?"
"John Wilkes Booth Square," Alex replied, knowing the answer from the people he had consumed, "This place is near the beach."
"Ah," the girl looked around for a moment before her ears actually seemed to twitch, "I think I hear music!"
"Where do you think you're going?" Alex hastily caught her by the arm before she could run off.
"May I please go to where the music is coming from?" his charge implored, eyes wide and pouting to complete the puppy dog look, "I promise I won't be long."
Alex paused for a second as if he was really considering letting her run off. But before the girl's hope could rise, Alex began dragging her by the arm to the opposite direction of the source of the music.
"No."
Elizabeth was able to wrest her arm out of his hand.
"Hey, what's the big idea!?" she griped.
"Need I remind you that it hasn't been five minutes yet since we lost that piece of shit? And you expect me to let you wander off on your own to indulge your childish curiosity? Is that right?"
"Uum, yes?" she replied, unsure.
"No," he repeated firmly, arms crossed for emphasis.
"But this is the first time in my whole life that I'm out of my tower."
"Still no."
"Please, Mr. Mercer? Please, please, please, pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase?"
"How old are you? Five?" Alex questioned in disbelief at the young woman's babyish behavior.
"No, I'm twenty-one," Elizabeth replied, "Isn't that obvious?"
The bioweapon was tempted to tell her that he wasn't even two years old yet so he could see how she would react. But he thought better of it since his Blacklight abilities already made her wary of him and telling her that he was a sentient virus might be pushing it.
He opened his mouth to refuse the girl's request once again when something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. Without missing a beat, he turned to Elizabeth to give his answer to her.
"Alright, fine if it gets you to shut up about it," he finally acquiesced.
"Really!" her eyes lit up in excitement as she began to bounce on the balls of her feet in an attempt to hold back her bursting energy.
"Yeah, yeah, just go before I change my mind, kid," he sighed, making a shooing gesture at her.
"Thank you so much!" she ran up to him and hugged him with all her might.
Alex had to struggle to prevent his tendrils from coming out and consuming her when she hugged him. The last young woman to have hugged him betrayed him and created a parasite that nearly killed him. So his caginess to physical human contact that didn't involve killing with his fists and blades was to be expected.
"I won't be long, Mr. Mercer!" she called out as she ran off to where the music was coming from.
"But when I tell you it's time to leave, we're leaving!" he yelled before she was out of earshot.
Mercer knew that splitting up was a terrible idea but he could always find her with his hunter's pulse.
Hunter's pulse allowed Mercer to "ping" trenches, buildings, and facilities for human targets. It was capable of sending a viral sonar pulse to track down his target's bio signature and he will receive a return pulse of where his target was.
He was confident that he could easily locate the girl anywhere in Columbia since he was quite familiar with her bio-readings by now.
"I hate kids," he exhaled, taking a seat at a nearby café.
"Is this why I wasn't your first choice?" he asked the other occupants of the table that he was sitting in.
"Indeed, it is, Dr. Mercer," Robert Lutece replied before taking a sip from his cup of tea.
"We also didn't have the proper incentive to give at the time so you would not dare to consume Ms. Elizabeth," Rosalind added before she too took a sip from her tea.
"Coffee. Black. No sugar," Alex said to the waitress before she got the chance to ask him what he wanted to order.
Even though Alex Mercer was a walking virus that consumes humans, he could still eat and drink like how regular humans do. Eating and drinking doesn't replenish his biomass but it was simpler to blend in with the humans if he acquired a taste for food.
Although, he did learned that eating animal meat does replenish his biomass albeit by a miniscule amount.
"It seems that Jeremiah Fink was correct in his assumption," Rosalind said, setting her cup down.
"About what?" her twin inquired.
"Dr. Mercer is taking his coffee black these days."
Mercer didn't care if he was eating garbage or the finest cuisine. All food just ended up clogging up in his biomass. The same goes for liquids and if he was going to have to drink something, then he didn't want those overcomplicated mixes of coffee inside him.
"You didn't tell me that the girl could also open portals through space and time," he stated, straight to the point.
"Would you have believed us if we told you?" the male Lutece arched an eyebrow.
"With all the crazy shit I've seen, yes."
"At least you have an open mind compared to the others we employed," the female Lutece shrugged.
"You mean the demigod and the cyborg samurai?" he raised his hands in a mocking motion, still not entirely believing that they hired a demigod and a cyborg.
"Ninja. Cyborg ninja," she corrected, "A ninja and a samurai are two different things. Though, they are both Japanese in origin."
"Like I give a fuck. I can tell that they weren't very good since the kid isn't here with you."
"On the contrary, they all came very close," the man retorted, sharing a knowing smile with his sister.
"Whatever," Alex dismissed the man's statement, "Oh, yeah. You still haven't told me where to bring the girl once we get out of Columbia."
"Did you not get our letter?"
"What letter?"
"The letter that was nailed to the door of the lighthouse."
"Oh," the bioweapon didn't notice the letter on the door. He was in too much of a hurry to get out of the rain and breaking down the door made him miss it.
"That is why we are here," the woman said, bringing out a piece of paper that was dripping wet.
"To deliver the full message of the job," her twin continued, "And to ask for the return of the key."
"Key?" he raised an eyebrow before realizing what they meant. He dug around his biomass and took out what they were talking about, "You mean this key?"
"Yes, that key," Robert said, not making a move to take the key from him.
As Alex was about to ask what this key was for, it suddenly disappeared from his hand and reappeared in Rosalind's hand.
"This key was intended to unlock the exit in Monument Island," the woman answered his unspoken question.
"But it seemed that there was no need to provide you with one since you decided to make your own," the man added, referring to the window that Alex broke.
"And all that's left is this," the woman brought out a dripping wet piece of paper. How it remained intact was a mystery to the bioweapon.
Alex gingerly took the letter like it was about to explode as he carefully maneuvered it so he wouldn't get wet. The ink scrawled words were barely legible from the water but he was able to decipher enough of it to make sense.
He supposed to bring the girl to New York from the coordinates that had been written here. That sounds simple enough and now all he has to do was find a proper airship to take them to New York.
He then saw a huge zeppelin with a picture of some woman on the balloon. Judging from its size and the number of engines it had, that ship was the perfect one to get their asses out of here.
"That's convenient," he noted before perusing the rest of the letter's contents.
The rest said that he was also free to tell the girl anything to persuade her to come with him voluntarily.
"And I'm guessing the moment I put this down, those assholes will pull off another Houdini," he said to himself before setting the damped paper down. Lo and behold, he was right. The only evidence of their presence was the still steaming cups of tea.
"Here's your coffee, sir," the waitress returned with his drink.
He quickly took his coffee from her and gulped it down in one go despite the fact that it was still steaming hot. He paid no mind to the shocked look from the woman and placed several Silver Eagles on the table as tip.
He already survived more explosions than he could count. He was even disintegrated by a goddamn nuclear bomb so a hot drink wasn't going to do much to him.
He stood up from his chair and walked off with hands in his pockets. Unbeknownst to everyone else besides him, a ring of orange came out from him, bathing the world around him in an orange light. After a few seconds, another ring was sent back to him, reverting everything back to its original color.
"There you are," he thought as his hunter's pulse successfully located his charge.
He moved up the cobblestone road, noting the glances he got from pedestrians. He must look like a pretty shady character with his black leather jacket and hood, judging from the mistrustful looks that he got from them.
Alex could have simply disguised himself but the girl wasn't aware of his shapeshifting ability yet so he had to remain in his default form for her to recognize him.
But even his hooded façade was attracting too much notice.
Then he got an idea that was so stupid that he doubted would even work. But considering how everyone back then was undeniably gullible, it just might work.
He gripped the top of his hood and pushed it back, revealing a head of curly brown hair. Felling incredibly uncomfortable without his hood, he raised tentative fingers to his newly exposed hair.
To his surprise, taking the hood off actually worked. People no longer looked at him like he was about to grow claws or something.
They had no idea how accurate that suspicion was if Alex was really in the mood to walk around with his claws out.
He did that once. Just walk around the streets with his claws out and without a care in the world. He didn't even try to kill anyone that time until Blackwatch arrived at the scene. Seriously? Can't a viral abomination go out on a peaceful stroll without someone shooting at him?
The returned pulse led him to a pier at the end of the beach. Alex passed by several rows of people lounging on towels or chairs as they enjoyed the setting sun. He overheard some women commenting how someone should put him in a swimsuit and how he needed someone to cheer him up.
Disregarding this, he went down the pier in search of his charge. He heard the sound of music in the distance. Remembering where the girl was going, he followed the music down the dock to where he saw a bunch of couples dancing among themselves with a three men band providing the melody.
Elizabeth was dancing in the center of the group. Her long skirt was spinning along with her movements as a look of tranquility and joy filled her face. The living weapon of mass destruction paused in his steps at the sight of the girl enjoying herself. The girl truly had the look of pure happiness on her face and such purity made him waver slightly.
Shaking his head, he began to call out to her, "Hey, kid."
"Kid!" he repeated, raising his voice to be heard over the music.
Elizabeth heard him this time. She stopped dancing and turned to look at him. She stared at him for a few moments.
"Excuse me?" she asked, pointing a finger at herself to see if he was talking to her.
Realizing that she didn't recognize him without his hood, Alex pulled his hood back up with a sigh.
"Oh, Mr. Mercer!" she exclaimed, finally recognizing the viral monster.
"This is wonderful! Come dance with me!" she said as she grabbed his hands and tried to pull him forward.
"I don't dance," he gruffly huffed as he pulled his hands away, "Time's up. We have to get going now."
"Why? What could be better than this?" she asked with her arms stretched out to what was around them.
"I don't know. Paris, maybe?" he suggested, inwardly smirking.
Alex wanted to remind her about the dangers (to her, not him) that they just recently escaped from but that wasn't enough to persuade the girl earlier.
Thinking back to all the pictures of Paris that the girl had, the bioweapon formulated a simple solution to convince her to come with him. He could entice her with the thought of going to the City of Love.
After all, humans were easy to manipulate once you play to their selfishness. The girl was no exception to this.
"I don't understand…how could we even get there?" she asked, now very excited.
"That airship over there is going to Paris," he said as he pointed the airship out to her, "But since you rather stay here and enjoy yourself…"
"No! Let's go! Let's go right now!" she shouted as she ran off ahead. Seeing her enthusiasm, he grinned haughtily at how effortlessly he could trick her. Humans were such feeble minded creatures indeed.
Elizabeth kept looking at everything in amazement.
"I'm out…it's so hard to believe but it's true, isn't it?" she asked dreamily as she smelled the air, "Can you smell that? I've never smelled anything like that before, have you?"
Alex Mercer hated the beach and any place close to a large body of water due to his severe dislike of water. The original Alex Mercer was the same except he hated it for many other reasons besides water.
But he was still quite familiar with what beaches were really like from the memories that he absorbed. It still doesn't mean that he'll voluntarily go to the beach for the sake of enjoying himself.
The Blacklight incarnate remained silent. Elizabeth must have taken this as a sign that he doesn't want to talk. So the two trudged on in awkward (for Elizabeth) and pleasant (for Alex) silence.
The two of them passed through a turnstile as they entered the building ahead, which turned out to be a large gift shop filled with souvenirs all based around Comstock.
"Mr. Mercer," the bioweapon heard Elizabeth call out to him as he was contemplating setting the store on fire. He turned to his charge and saw her looking at a large poster of Comstock in front of her.
"Comstock. I've read about him. They say that he can see the future," she said as she looked over the image, "I don't like his look."
"Do you dislike the look of the Prophet? Or his gaze?" the shop owner said intensely when he overheard what she said.
"Word of advice, kid," he whispered into her ear as he gently pushed her past the man, "Keep your opinions to yourself especially when it has something to do with seeing everyone's idol in a negative light."
When he was certain that shopkeeper was out of her eyesight, he sharply pushed the man's head back, effectively snapping the neck, with one hand while he kept the other on his charge's shoulder. The body of the clerk was quickly assimilated into him and didn't leave a trace of him left. This happened right before Elizabeth looked back to see where the snap came from.
Seeing nothing, Elizabeth shrugged and blamed it on her imagination as they slipped out of the store.
"Stupid kid!" Alex mentally growled. She just had to make a comment about Comstock that aroused the suspicion of someone who could possible expose the both of them.
Because of that, he saw that it would be prudent to kill the man to maintain their cover and consuming him was the only way to leave no trace.
They made their way down a row of booths. At the end stood were two people who the bioweapon still didn't trust.
"Hello again, Dr. Mercer," Rosalind said.
"Doctor?" Elizabeth shot him a look of confusion when she heard the woman refer to him as 'Dr. Mercer'.
"Can we assume that your journey has been enlightening, Zeus?" Robert asked.
"You can 'cause it's been like…" Alex checked his internal clock, "twenty minutes since our last chat."
"Mr. Mercer, do you know these people?" Elizabeth asked, confused about the confrontation, "And why did they call you Dr. Mercer and Zeus?"
"None of your business," he scowled. He hated it when people refer to him as doctor or Zeus. Zeus made him remember the Outbreak and Blackwatch chasing after him around the country. Doctor reminded him too much of the original Alex Mercer, the man who caused the Outbreak and his creation.
"All pleasantries aside, we have a matter that needs to be handled," Rosalind said as she and her brother both pulled out red velvet pillows with jewelry boxes of the same size, shape and color sitting on them.
"A choice for the lady," her brother continued as they opened the boxes, revealing two identical pendants placed on silk chokers. The pendants bore the same symbols that had been on the key that helped them escape from the tower. One had the image of a cage while the other one had an image of a bird.
"Which will you choose?" Rosalind asked, "The bird?"
"Or the cage?" Robert finished.
"They both look so beautiful," she said as she picked up the two cases before turning to Alex and showed them to him, "Which one do you think I should choose?"
"Why the hell are you asking me?" the bioweapon inquired, wondering if this girl was for real.
The girl merely gave him an expectant look in response.
Sighing, he decided to just get it over with.
"Ini mini miny moe."
He finger landed on the pendant with the cage on it.
"The cage," he said.
"I expected the bird," Rosalind said as she and her twin bowed to them and left.
"I love it!" Elizabeth said after fixing the silk choker in place, making the viral monster take his eyes off of the twins.
"How does it look?" she asked as she touched the pendant lightly.
Alex had to acknowledge that she does look kind of cute and the pendant was certainly helping but he wasn't going to say that out loud. He's just not that kind of guy er virus.
"Meh," he just shrugged, causing the girl to frown at him.
Elizabeth's glaring was interrupted when they heard people panicking. They saw everyone staring in horror at what was left of the monument tower as it came out of the clouds.
"My god…look," Elizabeth said in a low voice with her hands clasped in front of her.
And look he did. The creature must have vast amount of strength to be able to accomplish destruction on that scale. But it paled in comparison to the damage that he caused back in Manhattan
"It was my home," she replied as more people started to gather around. Some of them were in tears while others were on their knees and in prayer from seeing the ruins of Monument Island.
"I've seen worse," he said as he lead her out of the crown and into the nearby building, which had been the station, leading to the First Lady Airship.
But the way inside the station was barricaded by a police blockade. Anyone that wanted to get through had to be thoroughly examined before they were allowed to enter.
Alex could effortlessly bypass the blockade by assuming a military disguise but he wasn't sure how he could get his burden-sorry-charge through without causing an alert.
Killing the policemen wouldn't work either because the kid might get hurt or killed. For Dana's sake rather than Elizabeth's, he didn't want that happen.
He almost didn't notice the girl go down a side hallway. He followed after her and saw another obstacle in the form of a locked door.
As Alex was about to go break the lock off the door, Elizabeth moved ahead as she reached into her hair and pulled out a pin before tinkering with the lock.
"What are you doing?" he asked, not sure what she was trying to do.
"What does it look like, you being a roguish type and all?" she replied.
He opened his mouth to resent that but he thought better of it, considering that she was right.
He heard a low clinking noise as the lock fell away from the door.
"Where did you learn how to pick locks?" he asked as they went through the opening and shut the doors behind.
"Well, being trapped in a tower with nothing but books and spare time to pick up a couple of hobbies. You'd be surprise with what I know how to do," the girl said as they went down the empty hallway.
"You would be more than surprised with what I can do," he thought in amusement. He could do pretty much anything from something menial like chores to piloting gunships like a pro. If there were something that he didn't know how to do, he would simply consume someone who does know.
They navigated the back hallways of the station. The bioweapon and his young charge were trying to find a way that would help them get to the airship. When they turned another corner, Alex saw two people that he never though he would see again. They were the same interracial couple that had been at the raffle when he had been exposed as the False Shepard.
"Hey mister, we'd like to help you," said the African woman standing next to her husband.
He didn't spare them a second glance as walked past them. He heard Elizabeth calling him as he left the room. He felt a hand on his shoulder and quickly turned around to face the owner of said appendage.
"What?" he nearly snarled.
"What was that for?" she demanded, unperturbed or unaware of his bad mood, "They just wanted to thank you for helping them. There's no need to be rude."
"I don't need or want their thanks," he brushed her statement aside.
"You're not a very nice person are you?"
"You're right about that but I'm your only chance to get you out of here."
The next room that they had entered was large and full of arcade games of all kinds and styles. Food vendors were set up here and there, selling snacks to customers as everyone enjoyed themselves.
He had to take off his hood again because some people were giving him looks like he was a pedophile. He noticed Elizabeth staring at him from the corner of his eye. She was trying and failing to be discrete.
"What?" he barked, making her realize that she was caught staring at him.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to be so…" she trailed off, a blush beginning to form on her face.
"Oookaaay? What's up with her?" he thought, completely clueless of why she had that expression on her face.
"Why don't go eat some candy or something, kid?" he suggested as he looked around for potential threats.
A second later, Elizabeth was holding a stick of cotton candy in her hand.
He gawked at her in disbelief. Where the hell did that come from?
"It's really good!" she exclaimed, "And I'm not giving you any, Mr. Mercer."
"I hate sweet stuff."
"That explains why you're so grumpy all the time."
That and because of the countless consciousness of the people that he had consumed were constantly pounding on the insides of his head.
After finishing her cotton candy, they went to another turnstile that would take them to where they needed to go.
A woman in a grey uniform had been standing in front of the turnstile on the right when they approached. She turned and gave Elizabeth a strange look.
"Annabelle?" she asked after a moment.
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asked, confused.
"Annabelle, it's me Esther! Don't you remember me?" the woman asked, thinking that she knew the younger woman.
"I'm sorry but I'm not Annabelle. My name is Elizabeth," she replied.
Esther tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at the two of them before smiling.
"Elizabeth? Well, isn't that a lovely name," she said before passing through the turnstile and walking off.
"That was odd," Elizabeth remarked while trying to wonder what that had been about as they went through the turnstile.
Alex chose to remain silent. The woman felt very suspicious if you asked him. He was almost compelled to consume this "Esther" right then and there to ease his paranoia.
"Last customer, park's closing Park's closing, everyone!" an officer by the stairs called out as he looked up at them from his spot against the wall.
"Hurry up, kid," Alex said as they moved a little faster up the steps. They entered the atrium where the ticket booth was set up for the airships. The Prototype noticed that the place had a couple of people in it that were just loitering around and speaking in hushed voices.
Numerous occasions of getting shot at made him feel that something was off so they needed to get onto that airship if they wanted to get out of Columbia.
"Two tickets for the First Lady airship," Alex said after ringing the bell.
The ticket booth operator was on the phone with his back to them as he talked to someone.
"Yeah, just a minute friend," the man replied before going back to talking with whoever was on the other end of the phone, "Yeah, I have it. How do you want to proceed?"
"Can you hurry the hell up already?" Alex said, getting annoyed and really wanting to punch something right now, "I don't have all fucking day."
"Mmmm hmmm," the man said as he kept speaking, "I got it. I'll ring you back once the matter's in hand. Send in the bird, we're ready to execute."
Alex was seriously considering starting a fight right about now. He would have done it done by now if they didn't need that damn airship to take them to New York.
"Let go of me!" he heard Elizabeth cry out. He quickly turned around to see a police officer trying to grab the girl.
"I got your tickets right here, friend!" he felt a blade stab through the back of his hand and pinned it the counter. He looked back to see the ticket booth operator grinning evilly at him.
Sighing, he pulled his hood back and casually dislodged the knife from his hand.
"You see, this," he held the hand that had been stabbed up. The blood drained out of the man's face as he witnessed the wound seal itself up, "Is why I'm so disappointed with you humans."
The man didn't have enough time to scream as a clawed hand wrapped around his skull and brought it crashing down on the counter hard enough to turn the head into mush.
After dispatching the man, the Prototype saw Elizabeth plant her knee into an officer's crotch, forcing him to release her before she turned to him. Her face changed into one of shock and horror as she saw the dead man at the counter and his claws.
Their eyes met. He could see the fear in her eyes that all humans showed when they see the real him. He could also see something else alongside the fear. It looked like…recognition?
The contact was broken as she turned around and ran out of the room. Not a moment too soon, everyone else drew a weapon and opened fire at Alex.
"I don't have time for this," he grumbled as he traded his claws for his Whipfist.
The bladed appendage extended itself as it swept across room and separated the upper bodies of soldiers from their lower.
With his normal hand, he scooped up a shotgun and began firing at any stragglers that the Whipfist missed.
"For the Prophet!" a familiar feminine voice screeched as shotgun pellets tore through his shoulder.
He spun around and fired. The man in front of Esther lost his head to the multitude of pellets. The policeman fell to the ground with only his lower jaw remaining. The bioweapon threw the spent firearm at the soldier beside Esther with enough force to send him crashing into the wall. Alex shot out his Whipfist at the woman and reeled her in towards him.
"I remember you. Esther, right?" he said to the woman as he held her up by the neck, "Well, isn't that a lovely name."
00000
Web of Intrigue- Esther Mailer
Comstock: "Do you know why you are all here, child."
Esther Mailer: "Yes, I do, Father Comstock. We trained almost all whole lives for this. All we have to do now is wait for the False Shepard and the Lamb to arrive."
Comstock: "It is also imperative that you return my beloved Elizabeth to me unharmed."
Esther: "And if she dies?"
Comstock: "Then I don't know what would become of me if that were to happen. But I do know what would become of you and your men if the Lamb is killed."
Esther: *gulps*
Comstock: "But I have faith in the Lord and in you that you won't let that come to pass."
Esther: "O-of course. I uh don't know what say. I feel like I'm not worthy enough for such a praise coming from you."
Comstock: *chuckles* "It is alright, child."
Esther: I promise you, Father Comstock, I will not fail you!"
Comstock: "I know, child. I know."
Web of Intrigue-End
00000
"Some prophet he is," Alex muttered as he broke the gate down. He walked down the corridor where his Hunter's Pulse showed him where the girl went, "He should've known that he was sending them to their deaths."
He reached the end of the station where the gondola was moored. His Hunter's Pulse told him that she was inside the gondola.
He found her struggling to work the lever but failing due to her feeble strength to push it into place. When she looked up and saw him in the doorway, she backed away from the controls and tried to put as much distance between them that the small room could allow.
Alex said nothing as he pulled the lever down.
Alex turned around and saw Elizabeth still pressed against the wall as if cornered by a dangerous predator.
"What are you?" she whispered, staring at his arms as if they were about to transform into claws at any moment.
"I'm complicated."