Truth or Lies?

Author's Note : So I went around internet sites discussing the Iceborne DLC, and was kind of confused as to why some people called Velkhana (the new elder dragon in the reveal trailer) a bootleg Alatreon. Not sure why; I bet they just want the likes of Shagaru or Valphalk to make a comeback. I believe it'd be better if monsters from MH Frontier got put in Iceborne, don't you think?

-X-X-X-X-X-

"Tell me that you're still breathing, Soldier."

That voice again! Adam struggled to maintain his attention towards it. It had been some time since the Voice whispered in his mind, and he'd like to know if it's telling the truth or not.

"Remember about that last message, about how you have an important mission and no one is allowed to know?"

Adam mentally nodded. He remembered it when he first woke up before being ambushed by the monsters. Was the Voice about to say the truth? About the monsters?

"Yes, the monsters. The draconic forces which sealed themselves away long time ago. They claimed the Earth was theirs, but it was foolish. Do not ever forget, Soldier; Earth belonged to humanity and it'll always be ours forever. Our civilization may have crumbled and long gone, but humanity and its interests must always come first. That is your mission; destroy all the dragons, for they are enemies of the state... enemies of all mankind. You are designed specifically for this task. Do not allow absolutely anyone to interfere. If they do, kill them."

Why?! The Voice seemed to intentionally left vital information unsaid. Why should Adam reject assistance from humans? Why should the task be given to him?

"You are a tool to fulfill a purpose. Your job is not to question orders."

Why? Why? Why?

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Done talking in your dreams yet?"

Adam jolted awake for the third time, or was it the fourth? He no longer able to tell, what with the dungeon's dark and claustrophobic atmosphere. For all he knew, dawn never came and he's stuck in an endless nightmare. Shifting his ugly body to a slightly more comfortable position, he could see two dark figures standing outside his cell, both were vaguely reptilian looking with scaly wings on their backs.

What the hell were they?

Oh wait. They must be one of those freaks which assaulted him.

"Are you indulging it in small talks, Darkhelm?"

"Let it have some. Leave it in silence for too long and we'll have a mad monster trying to claw its way out."

"Fine."

The two creatures communicated in a strange language, or so Adam thought. Their weirdly pitched growling and hissing didn't resemble any language that he could recall, though Adam was sure the creatures weren't respecting him in any way. Vividly, Adam swore he remembered some of those... things talking in English, but fatigue and confusion prevented him from comprehending his situation.

"Right. So the Godfather spoke to us, saying that he got a number of cryptic answers from you, and yet the historical occurences from your time appear to corellate with the dragons' return to the world," the one with the long neck said.

Now that was interesting. One of the winged beasts talked in English albeit in a smug manner.

"What are you... talking about?" Adam groaned. His throat felt really dry.

"What?! Do you not understand what I'm talking about? Were you not alive when it happened? The time when we made our comeback to the world known?" The long-necked one responded in abject surprise. "I mean, really, do you think your makers, the humans, were that clever to conjure stories about dragons and other monsters out of thin air? How did you think the Eastern people came up with their Tianlong legends? How did you think the Western people came up with Hydra, Basilisk, and other beasts like that? The Godfather and his allies kept special records you know, archives detailing encounters between our forefathers and your makers' forefathers. Well, not all of us elders, obviously. By all means, mankind and all their creations are supposed to be GONE! Like, vanished off the face of the world without a trace!"

"You're lying... I was created... to safeguard my nation... against enemies of our state... and mad scientists... and their abnormal pets..."

A small jet of flame came from the snout of the sharp-horned one. That creature seemed to be impatient, Adam thought.

"It doesn't know the full story, Nightwing. Can we indulge it in it?"

"Sure. But if it persistently denies your story, don't bother continuing."

There they were again, speaking with that guttural language. Were they really dragons, elder dragons whatever it meant? Things began to look insane at this point. Adam was left dumbstruck as to why he was communicating with nonexistent being, with himself as a monster too.

The two dragons turned their attention at him again. "Right, yes. You did tell us about crazy humans and their dangerous forage into unknown sciences. You talked about yourself being constructed by a nation as a protector... against what, other Equal Dragon Soldiers made by rival nations?" The long necked one asked.

"Yes..." Adam hissed.

"It sounded like some contrived coincidence to us. Now tell me; where, when, and how did the makers collected enough materials to construct you? Why did they go to such extreme lengths to model YOU after an elder dragon if we do not actually exist? Furthermore... This war you mentioned days before, what if it wasn't a war between your nation of origin versus its rivals... but a war between humanity and the re-emerging dragons? I could go on a long tirade to tell how wrong and stupid your creators were, but there's a difference between what you think you know and what truly took place back then."

The sharp-horned dragon stared at him expectantly as if waiting for Adam to challenge or evade the question. Even Adam himself was at loss for an answer. Back in his time, he was roughly no more than a mere assistant. All important details Adam wished to know were kept in classified locations, guarded by people with stoic faces that he couldn't remember anymore. Was he really transformed into a half-dragon monstrosity against his will, or was his predicament nothing but hallucination? Something in his mind urged him to forget it all, to stop looking for the truth and pretend like nothing happened.

The dragons outside his cell were losing patience rather quickly. The sharp-horned one was ready to lash out when a deep howl reverberated through the worn-down dungeon. "The Godfather's calling. You go first; I'll keep this beast busy with more questions," the sharp-horned one barked.

"It won't be necessary. I could use some fresh air too."

And with that, both of them left Adam alone in the musty cell. Again.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Hours passed as Adam slowly rotated between drowning in abstract nightmares and regaining awareness.

"Are you still able to perform duties, Adam?"

It couldn't possibly be months since he was captured. A week was a plausible guess, but he couldn't help but speculate that two weeks had gone by.

"Do you still have usefulness, Adam?"

He would stay awake for two hours, maybe a few minutes less, hoping to find signs of weakness on the cold walls imprisoning him. Some cracked spots along the stone walls indicated that Adam could break through it... if only he had the strength to do so. He also didn't miss the twisted, worn-down metal bars at the corners of his cell door and spots where the ground was soft... soft enough to dig. Both were candidates for his escape attempts.

But it's no use. No enough stamina to work on escape routes. Not when dark whispers in his mind threatened to drown him in despair.

"Would you rather have us to end it quickly, Adam?"

"How come I get to bear this responsibility, you nameless bastard? Let me guess; you want me to deal with the rest of the world's fauna too? Bring extinction wherever I go?"

"They were all collateral damage, brought into existence thanks to the multitude of nuclear, chemical, and biological weaponry that we unleashed in our war against these elder dragons. They are not important at all. They'll probably draw more of the elder dragons closer to you."

The beast got up on his feet, shaking the imagined voices away in a fit of anger as silence filled his mind once more. Adam was just about to try and bend the metal bars when he heard the familiar booming footsteps coming his way. The two black dragons were back. Adam hated them. They relentlessly used dehumanizing monikers to indirectly addressed him whenever he's not listening. Then again, he was not exactly in his human form.

Adam moved his heavy body to the corner of the dungeon cell, pretending to be asleep. The footsteps were getting closer. He smelled something weird in the air, a scent of dead animal, just as the two dragons came into view. One of them was carrying something red in its snout. A dead prey perhaps? Or maybe a piece of leftover meat from their lunch?

"There. Go eat it. We're not done interrogating you yet, so you better not die of starvation." The dragon threw the meat into the cell right at Adam's feet.

"Nightwing, use its language. It probably thought that meat was poisoned by the hunters."

The sharp-horned one hffed indignantly at the admonishment. The long-necked one shook its head and spoke in English, "Pardon. My companion here," it nudged the sharp-horned dragon in dismay, "refuse to talk using your language. He considers it as showing compassion to the enemy."

Adam sniffed the hunk of meat. There seemed to be a slightly sweet aroma of blood on it, as well as burn marks. Some poor creature this thing was if the two dragons had to burn and mutilate it for food. Probably the meat was whatever left of the prey animal's tail. Even Adam himself didn't know if he could swallow it without vomitting. Really, at this point, even a tasteless porridge would be preferable to whatever the hell that meat was.

Screw it, he thought furiously. If he wanted to break out of this castle, he'd need every nourishment he could find.

"There, it's not so bad, is it?" The long-necked one jeered after Adam swallowed the piece of meat in one gulp. "Let's resume our enlightening conversation shall we? I'd like to know about everything you can remember. What kind of science your makers intended to unlock? What motivated them so badly as to allow the creation of beings like you? Were they even aware of the returning dragons in their era... and if they do, did the humans bothered to leave the dragons alone? You know we don't take these issues lightly, as they are tied closely to our survival as a species."

"Are... you... serious?!" Adam growled. SInce when did dragons express interest in human sciences?

"Do I look like I'm requesting entertainment?" Long-neck gave a sinister remark. "We have creative ways to make you talk, beast, and if we don't receive appropriate answers to our inquiries..." unspoken by it was a threat of more pain, more torture.

"Fine..." Adam growled, moving to sit on his hind limbs.

This would be a long day.