"When we hunt, we kill! No one is safe, nothing is sacred; we are Blackwatch! We are the last line of defense! We will burn our own to hold the Red Line, it is the last line to ever hold!"

I spoke this verse perfectly, never faltering, my voice raised high as I chanted it in the soldier line. This motto was one of the first memories I had ever gained; yet I can't quite say who was the owner of it anymore. My Web of Intrigue is now a dense forest, with thousands upon thousands of memory neurons connecting and interconnecting to form a mesh of vines, or at least that is how I picture it in my head; so many memories, so many people, their screams forever echoing in the vast caverns of my tortured mind, haunting me. About ten percent were people whom I had meant to kill, who truly deserved to die for the truth, my truth. I lament the many innocent lives I smashed, stabbed, and swiped away, the futures I stole from this cruel world of mine.

Most of the time, I don't like to think about this, about what horrible inhuman things I've done in my past and will do in the future, but then again, I'm not human. I'm a virus infecting everything that isn't strong enough to get out of my way. Why should I even care about the deaths of a couple of humans? This philosophy can obscure my judgment, making me this the most horrible of things, but then, at that moment, I think of Dana in her coma, and kind Dr. Ragland taking care of her, and somehow, in that moment, I find another piece of humanity left in my rotting heart to cling to.

After the Blackwatch motto was uttered a couple times, just to get it drilled into our heads some more, I sat simultaneously with the other Blackwatch personal. We were in a well-lit room, four walls adorned with motivational posters with the Blackwatch symbols scattered here and there, no windows, only a door left unguarded to escape from if things were to get ugly for unknown reasons. Normally, I would have sat in the back to avoid any unwanted attention, which is always the smartest thing to do. Today however, I sat closer to the front instead, just in case they started talking about it. And since people in the back were seldom called, I obtained a practical position to be sure I could ask some enlightening questions, as well as hear clearly all they had to say about it and other interesting things I could use to my advantage against them in the future.

The meeting then began with a high-ranking officer, who had a variety of medals and badges displayed on his uniform, walking up to the podium in the front of the room. He tapped the microphone to see if it was working. A high-pitched whine hit the air, hurting my ears, but not as bad as some other sounds I'd heard recently. The man adjusted the mic and cleared his throat.

"I'd like to start off the meeting," he began, "with an update on the Infection. We have seen a significant shortage in their numbers along the eastern side of the city. Our next stage of attack will be to seize the weakened sectors and box the Infection in." I rolled my eyes unseen under the fake mask. I'm not really sure why Blackwatch tries to contain the Infection. Like a snarling rabid creature, it can't be held in a cage forever. One thing that caught my attention was that the region of sectors the person had mentioned included Sector Seventeen, which is where I had seen it.

The man then began rambling on about some new development called Blacknet, which I found ridiculous, but he just wouldn't shut up about it. Blah, blah, blah, this was getting boring! When was this buffoon going to talk about what I wanted to hear, what I could I guess everyone wanted to hear?! Should we be worried about it?! I had a sudden urge to just rip out this man's throat, and take the information I so deserved for myself, watch the memories I needed and be on my way, but I quickly calmed myself, taking in a deep quiet breath, and focused my mind on the words coming from the high commander at the podium. If I am going to get the info I've been looking for, I told myself, I would have to be patient. Even if it means sitting pointlessly in a room when I could just get this guy's memories later.

"Now," the man announced in a semi-dramatic way, "I would like to turn your attention to our new battle suit design."

The man gestured to his right and everyone's heads turned to see a sight, whether for sore eyes or not, I can't say, yet it was one to behold in a sense of question. Modeled on a common Blackwatch soldier was in this suit I couldn't make up my mind about. Its style screamed Blackwatch, due to its signature black coloring and gas mask with built in night-vision goggles that were blue in color and asymmetrical, but there were some menacing new features to take into effect. It had this thick armor that looked like it would be tough to crack and complementing it was this turtle-neck-hood feature. I couldn't tell if they got this idea in design from me for protection, or if they had somewhat idolized me with it, but I could still tell they had me in mind when they were stitching this up.

The announcer then went on with another boring monologue, explaining all the qualities of the features I had just observed for myself. I paid this no mind, and just waited for him to change topics. Besides, no matter how impressive and impervious they though this suit was, or anything else was for that matter, I'll find a way to break it. Like the cockroaches that scurry around the dark corners of the city's dankest places, I'll always find a way to adapt, to survive.

"Are there any questions?" the announcer asked when he had finished his long rant. His eyes traveled around the audience, looking for some soul to ask a question. I was tempted to ask the weaknesses of the suit, but I held my tongue. Finally, he pointed to someone in the far back row, "Yes you, Corporal Rooks."

I turned my head to see a tough-skinned thin-looking soldier, who seemed to have an air of temerity about him, stand up. His face looked war-logged, a trait a new recruit gets after a few days in the intense streets of Manhattan, and there was a congratulatory rank on his shoulder, suggesting he had fought in some other battles. However, he seemed to be a newbie to the Blackwatch Compound.

"When will these suits be ready for the field?" Rooks asked, his gruff voice filled with authority. I was surprised by this for a number of reasons, for example, his attitude toward his superiors. I had never seen a newbie stand up to a higher-ranking officer before. Then there was the question itself; most new recruits aren't looking for action their first time around on the island, hearing how bad the infection is from the surviving Blackwatch who actually made it back from one day on the outside. Why was this soldier so eager to get out there, out numbered ten thousand to one? What unseen purpose or motive could possibly be his? I could only guess he had a family he wanted to see again, and that he wanted to kill the Infection to get off the island. That's how most soldiers thought.

"We are still working out the kinks in the suit," the announcer answered, "What you see before you is the prototype. It's unsure when the final version will be ready." Corporal Rooks nodded thoughtfully, and sat back down. Well, that was some good news for me. At least I didn't have to worry about Blackwatch upgrading their arsenal just yet. It'll still be same old, same old, for a while.

"And now," the announcer said not as enthusiastically as I'd hoped, "about the new threat, Codename ERIS."

My hand immediately shot up. Finally! They are going to talk about it or in this case Codename ERIS. Strange name, though it kind of made sense, goddess of chaos and all; my life's been a bit hectic ever since it showed up. The commander seemed to take forever to find my hand. At last, he found it, regarded my fake name, and I stood up.

"What do we know about Codename ERIS, sir?" I asked with a little more respect then the Rooks character.

The commentator shuffled a stack of papers on his podium, as if he were looking for the answer. I began to get worried; didn't they know anything about it? Or should I say, Codename ERIS. It would take a while for that name to stick. "Well," the man finally replied, "Not as much as we'd like to I'm afraid."

I was somewhat taken aback by this, were they really clueless? "What do you mean, 'Not much'?" I asked, hoping that this stupid organization really did know something about ERIS, and just didn't name it on a whim. If they had given it a codename, they must have found something to go on.

"That's the thing," the podium man replied, "Unlike ZEUS, also know as Alex Mercer," Oh great, here comes the criticism, "We do not have any background information about ERIS. Of course, ZEUS was well known in our field of research well before he became such a prominent threat, as where ERIS might have come from off the streets," Excuses, excuses, I thought, so you find something or not Sherlock? "We were able to find a series fingerprints on the Gunships of the lost Strike Team that went down over Sector Seventeen. Moment of silence for them," Aha! So they did find something! "We ran the evidence through a number of databases worldwide. You all may not know this, but each government has information on all its citizens." Wow, talk about major conspiracy, "Unfortunately, no database on the planet came up with an exact match. It would seem that whoever this new threat is, she's a Jane Doe, or in other words, doesn't exist."

The gravity of what this man said seemed to sink in deep. It would seem I had come here for nothing really. Doesn't exist? How could this thing, Codename ERIS, never have existed until now? Unless… it was a new breed or strand of the Infection, a strand that had taken the form of something new, without a template host… but that didn't make any sense. The Infection as I knew it, even a new strand like or unlike me, would need a host to make a human looking copy. It couldn't just create something out of thin air, could it? Of course, I always need to have an open mind about how the Infection works. From what I'd seen, perhaps the Virus had combined a multitude of things, animals perhaps, to create one being, which would explain the fingerprints. Or that this was something that Blackwatch, Gentek, or even the shadowy New Templars, (who I, or someone else, had read about in some documents), had found or created that they didn't want anyone to know about, and it had somehow gotten loose. The word PARIAH flashed in my mind for a brief second, but I quickly let it go. ERIS was a female, not male. Dumbfounded, I realized I was still standing and getting some looks from people, so I quickly sat back down.

"Thank you, Commander Charles," the commentator said somewhat annoyed, "Now," the room got dim, then dark, and a slideshow started to play, it's projector light visible from a faint wisp of Bloodtox in the air. The blurry pictures displayed were from the Infection Detectors the night that ERIS had attacked the Strike Team's Gunships. I could almost smell the shock and fear in the air as the frozen clips began to role in order. My helicopter was seen faintly in one or two of the pictures, but I'm sure no one noticed it. They were too focused on the terror in front of their faces. "We understand that ERIS," the man at the podium narrated, "has the power of flight," a blur above one of the helicopters, "and has strength to rival ZUES," a shadowy figure holding on to the tail of a Gunship, with the back propeller in mid tear. At this point I couldn't help thinking, yeah right, this thing may be strong, but I'm the strongest thing on this island. Normally I wouldn't be this cocky, but come on, I need a little more self-confidence once in a while in this hell of a life I have, "Most disturbing, we have observed that ERIS has a ability to break down an object with a supersonic sound," A shaky cell-phone video began to play, looking up at the sky from the streets. At first there was nothing, then the helicopter came into view, barely visible in the poor lighting. Then it happened, just as I'd seen. I heard a couple gasps from the audience. Watching the video, I started to get worried. How long was this video? Would it show the falling the pilots? The last thing I needed was for Blackwatch to rope me in with this ERIS thing. My question was then answered as the chopper exploded, the cameraman was attack by what I could guess was a Hunter or some form of Infected and the footage ended there. What surprised me the most about this was that there was someone still alive long enough to make a film; funny really, I thought everyone was dead. Note to self, find survivors and… I stopped myself from continuing that thought. I've killed too many as it is. "We are unsure how this feat is possible, or if it could destroy things other then helicopters, so until that is found out, I suggest strong caution to all field teams." Very reassuring Sherlock, I thought.

So now I knew exactly how that helicopter shattered like that. I also knew if that thing came after me, I'd be pretty much screwed. But from what I'd experienced, I don't think I'm ERIS's target, so I can relax on that notion for now. The power that this thing possesses was unlike anything I'd seen. I mean, sure, I too had a way to create a devastating sonic boom or pulse, but I couldn't break down things into sear nothing. Like all of Blackwatch, I'm stumped. And if this creature could break down helicopters, I'm sure it could demolish people too, especially me for that matter. And what about whole buildings? My mind suddenly wandered to an imagined vision of the entire city rippling that unearthly blue, and then disappearing forever into the dust. No, no I could not let this creature run wild through Manhattan, it needs to be put back in it's cage, or better yet, destroyed completely before havoc rains even worse then it has already.

I got up and left the room as the commentator began to talk about the Red Line, but I didn't need to hear it, and further more, I didn't care. I got what I needed, and I'll be putting it to good use. I'm sure ERIS has more powers, powers I could use to my advantage, to become more powerful then before. I couldn't wait to find her. Her… it's not a her, it's an it, and its powers are mine, all mine.

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