Chapter 48: A Tale of Two Brothers


Once upon a time, Somewhere in Nevada, there stood a small farm surrounded by a lush forest. The wolves had been chased away long ago, lining the rivers with deer. Sprouts of every variety burst from the furrowed, black loam; the weather had been generous, and it had been a bountiful season.

The two young boys of the family played among the stalks of corn, chasing each other through what seemed like an endless maze. Their giggling was overridden by the call of their mother, trained to carry across the distances that her children put between themselves and the house.

"Justin! Zachary!"

The stalks wilted in the distance as they ran towards the window of the only house in miles. They were used to Mother's voice, but what they could never get enough of was her special treat.

Cookies.

"Hey, hey!" Mother protested, as her sons wolfed down four of the freshly-made biscuits. She pulled the plate away as their little hands scrambled over the windowsill. The two children persisted, however, standing on their tippy-toes, their eyes just barely peeping over the windowsill.

"You two need to save your appetite for dinner," She said, trying her hardest to appear stern. "You were only supposed to share one for now. Two apiece is more than enough."

The brothers watched as their mother slid the cookies into a jar, capped with a shining, brass lock. Justin, the younger of the two, pouted as he watched it.

"Dinner's so far away…" He whined.

Zachary, the older brother, watched his mother stow the cookies away. But unlike Justin, he was making a plan.

"Let's go get some right now, then!" He whispered conspiratorially to his brother, grinning.

"How?" The younger brother asked.

Zachary fished a golden key from his pocket. Justin's eyes grew wide.

"You… you found..."

"Shh! Quiet!" Zachary whispered, covering his brother's mouth with his hands. "You want the cookies, right? We can get some right now!"

Justin pulled down his brother's hands, whispering back, "Mom's gonna be so mad…"

"Let's not get caught, then."

Zachary leaned in close.

"She teased us with her cooking, Justin. It's her fault, so let's get what we want! C'mon, it's not like we haven't done it before!"

Justin looked at the ground - his mother would be mad, but Zachary was right; this wasn't the first time they took cookies from the jar, which was why the lock was on the jar in the first place. More importantly, Justin wanted nothing more than to see the admiration in his brother's eyes as they both feasted on cookies, proud and victorious.

Justin made his choice. It seemed obvious. Because his brother was counting on him.


There was no natural light this far underground, wrapped in the Earth's embrace. When the light switch flicked off, the darkness here was genuine: pitch black and introspective.

Aaron found himself staring into this darkness.

He was familiar with his room, now. There was a desk over there, three paces to the right. The door was outlined by the coldly fluorescent hallway lights.

And, five paces to the left, across the room… an empty bed, and under it, unopened storage trunks.

There was nothing to do here, not now. Sleep was an impossibility. Aaron sat up in his bed and swung his legs down onto the concrete floor. He stretched out a probing hand, carefully finding the smooth wood of the nightstand and the cold polymer of a handgun.

Today.

He was doing this today. This was his best chance.

Command had given him a few weeks off while searching for a replacement partner. He knew they just wanted to monitor his mental state. The mandatory shrink meetings every afternoon since Gunner's death made it too obvious.

That was a crucial mistake, thinking he had been broken. His mind had never been clearer.

Their other mistake was not properly checking his belongings. They skimped on protocol when he crawled back into the base, barely alive. If they had done the standard pat-down, they would have easily felt the outline of a USB drive, stitched into his pant leg.

Aaron pulled it out of his pocket and shone it under the few rays of light squeezing through the doorframe. He was ready to kill anyone, just to keep this piece of metal in his possession. Yet it would become useless after tonight, once the deed was done.

They thought he was still recovering from malnutrition or exhaustion. They thought he was blankly staring at passers-by, in shock. They were partially right; Aaron's body had not yet fully recovered. They didn't know, however, that Aaron had purposely skipped his meals and his sleep. The sooner he appeared healthy, the sooner he would be pressed into service once again.

Aaron didn't want to kill anyone if he didn't have to, so he planned for everything, down to the smallest detail. He monitored the people who passed by his door, the people who entered the elevator. He memorized their schedules as he composed his alibis and backup plans. He stayed up at night, thinking, pricking himself with a pin every time sleepiness threatened to close his eyes.

This was 574's fault. This was the Anti-AAHW's fault. Not his.


The two brothers sat in the living room, playing with their toys. From the corners of their eyes, they watched Mother cutting freshly picked vegetables.

"Maddie? You there?" Father's boots clomped across the wooden floorboards.

"Just a second!" Mother replied, quickly washing and drying her hands.

"Maddie, can you give me a hand?"

She gave her sons a quick glance before she left the kitchen, her footsteps receding as she moved further away from the house.

"Now! Hurry, hurry!" Zachary whispered as they scurried into the kitchen.

They didn't know how much time they had before Mother would return. All that mattered was not getting caught.

There would be no more chances after getting caught.


He would infiltrate at 5 PM.

It was when the two official engineers of the facility, Darius and Shane, went for their dinner break. For the sake of having some human presence to deter any attempt of espionage by intruders, they left the only unofficial engineer, Recko, to man their post. Naturally, they wouldn't just leave their critical systems open for the ex-prisoner to meddle with, so all of the computers and their digital networks were locked down during their absence.

Aaron stood by a corner in the hallway, keeping a low profile. In the few visits he'd made to the engineering post under the pretense that he wanted to talk to Shane during his recovery to pass the time, he had inspected every square inch of it. Unsurprisingly, cameras were stationed all around to ensure that even Recko would not take advantage of the unguarded computers. Most importantly, he confirmed the location of a convenient USB port inside.

5:30 PM.

Recko quickly exited her post. Prior trial runs revealed she headed to the bathroom at this time, a fact most likely oblivious to Shane and Darius.

"Of course they stuck the bloody latrines on an entirely different floor, ugh…" Aaron heard her mutter as she headed off, completely missing him. Aaron had grown used to standing in near nonexistent shadows, getting overlooked by those who walked by. He had become quite good at it.

Aaron stuck his foot in the doorway before it fully closed. Sensing the interference, the automatic door slid back up for a split second; just enough time for Aaron to slip inside. A quick check of his surroundings confirmed he was alone.

Mother and Father weren't watching… for now.


"Come on, hurry up!" Justin insisted, anxiously watching for their parents.

Zachary stood atop a chair, fiddling with the jar lock. "I'm trying! I dunno how this lock works!"

With a click, the jar finally gave in. The older brother beamed, his impatient little hands grabbing and stuffing a cookie into his mouth.

"Me too! Me too! Gimme one!" Justin pleaded.

Zachary passed two more to his younger brother, who did the same. They divulged in their greed, praising themselves for how clever they were.

… But only for a brief moment.

"So who took Mommy's key?"

The children paused mid-chew as Mother's shadow loomed over them.


Aaron plugged the drive into one of the ports. Getting through the security measures and the cameras wasn't the hardest part; the virus in the USB would handle that.

The screens came to life and shivered, while the lights of the cameras in the room shut off. Like magic, the computer typed the password to its own database right before him. A few seconds later, all the files were out before him with privileges not even Shane himself had. He was in.

Perhaps this was how Felix snuck in. Maybe he had struck here first, disabling the alarms and hacking the BOTs. Felix's actions had almost killed the entire Madness Combat Squad. He could well have ended the entire resistance in one, fell swoop.

Aaron realized the power he held at his fingertips, and it scared him.

He pushed the thoughts from his head. He had to stay focused. Shane and Darius could be back any minute, and Aaron did not intend to be caught red-handed.

There! That's it!

Aaron triple-clicked on the file. Names of operatives grouped together under the list before him; their locations, tasks, mission times. Everything. But the only relevant thing was a button at the very top of the list:

[GENERATE NEW MISSION]

Another click created a blank file from the command. Team members, mission objectives, destinations, estimated duration of mission, and so on; there was an overwhelming quantity of empty boxes waiting to be filled.

Aaron filled out the names portion and added "hostile elimination" under the objective. He blindly chose geographic coordinates and a name from a dropdown list of leaders that would normally have to first approve of these missions. Hopefully it wouldn't have to matter in the long run.

[SUBMIT]

Click.

Aaron closed the mission menu and every other window he had activated during his search. The deed was done. Now all he had to do was wait for the USB to clean up the rest of his tracks, and-

The door to the room flew up.

"-Two floors down just to take a piss and two floors back up for slave work. Not even fun slave work, either."


They sat on the couch, Zachary sulking while tears rolled down Justin's reddened face, as Mother glared at them with crossed arms. Whatever was left of the cookies in the brothers' mouths tasted awful.

The door to the house inevitably opened and slammed shut. Father was home, his figure visible to his children as he washed the dirt stuck between his fingernails under the sink.

Father stopped the water and let out a deep sigh. Then, he turned around, his expression just as grim as Mother's.

"Zachary, Justin," Father said as he walked towards his sons, "We thought we raised you better than this. Stealing from family is one of the worst things a man can do."

The younger brother pointed at the older. "Zach came up with the idea, not-!"

Father's glare focused in on Justin. "Blaming others for your own faults is another one of the worst things, Justin. It doesn't matter who came up with the idea. You had the choice to follow and disrespect your mother, or stay. You made that decision, Justin."

He faced the other sibling. "As for you, Zachary, you are Justin's older brother. What lessons are you teaching him doing this? How did you take that key from your mother?"

Zachary buried his face in his arms, mumbling.

"What?" Father asked.

"I said, it was on the table, so I took it."

Father narrowed his eyes. "Tell the truth, Zachary. Don't lie again."

"I'm not lying! And I don't lie!" Zachary insisted.

Father's face turned dark. "Have it your way." He turned his head sideways to address his wife. "Madeleine, until Zachary tells us how he got the key, he won't be eating dinner tonight! "

"Fine!" Zachary said, jumping off the couch. "I don't care! You never believe me! I hate the farm and I hate you!"

He ran off up the stairs and to his room before Father or Mother could say anything. Justin followed him.

"Zach! Wait!" He cried.


Aaron yanked the USB out of the port, sending all the monitors of the computers into blue screens. Before the door even shut behind Recko, he managed to get behind a wall of one of the cubicles in the room. The intruder held his breath the best he could, calming his heartrate down as if this was just another infiltration mission with Gunner.

He cursed inwardly; the bitch was back three minutes ahead of her usual time.

"Oh fuck, what the Devil's happened?!" Recko's voice rose as she broke into a run for one of the control panels.

While the magnitude of his actions scared him, a small hint of relief washed over Aaron knowing that he hadn't been seen… yet. Aaron realized his hand had been edging towards the knife tucked under his jacket. He quickly shoved his errant appendage back in his pocket.

The malfunction he caused would serve as a good enough distraction. Aaron bent his knees and prepared to make a run for it.

The door to the room flew up again. Two more pairs of footsteps echoed off the floor.

"Recko, how are the… Christ, what happened?"

"Wow. I couldn't fuck up that hard even if I tried. Well done."

Aaron recognized Shane and Darius's voices, respectively. He heard a chair skittering backwards and saw Shane hurriedly brush past his colleagues.

"Recko! What happened while we were gone?!"

Her face turned a slight shade of pink. "I actually don't know."

"These systems were supposed to be locked down! How did you manage to access them?!"

"I didn't! Bloody things just crashed while you two were out for brunch! Stupid thing's probably runnin' on processors from the Stone Age!" She half-lied.

The three engineers were totally invested in the situation at hand, but their positioning was all wrong for Aaron. Darius was still standing by the only way out of the room; considering the current circumstances, there was no chance he'd be able to explain his way out of this if he got spotted. Darius had to move, if he had any hope of getting out undetected.

Recko's gaze passed over the cubicles, and for the briefest instant, Aaron thought she had made eye contact. His breath hitched in his chest. Once again, his fingers wrapped around the knife handle.

"If you're just going to blame the engineering department for this, then you're better off keeping your mouth shut!" Shane's voice rose in anger as he attempted damage control on the system. "How did you access this database?!"

Recko turned her attention back towards Shane. Aaron quietly exhaled.

"I didn't! I'm not lying, I swear on my grave!"

"Play it your way, then. Darius, get some operatives in here! We'll put her back in her cell until she's willing to tell-"

Smack!

Aaron couldn't believe what he saw. Recko kept her palm extended, her green eyes twinkling in anger. Shane gently touched his own cheek in disbelief.

"Did you just-?"

Recko seized Shane's collar, stopping him mid-sentence a second time.

"Lissen here, you Yankee mutt! When I say I didn't do something, I fucking mean it! If I wanted to blow this place ta smithereens, I would have done it ages ago! Don't you call me a liar just because your tech is a heap of garbage, you fucking twat!"

She shoved him away and stormed out of the room. Darius dodged out of her way, then turned back to Shane, who sat on the floor, looking dazed.

"That was harsh," Darius quipped.

Shane got up as he rubbed at his face. "Ugh. Pushy bitch. She'll get what's coming."

"I'm not just talking about her, you know."

"You're kidding, right? You seriously think she had nothing to do with this mess?"

"No. Maybe. I hate her guts, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying though we shouldn't blame her for something we have no evidence on. People react strangely when they're interrogated about things they don't know about, right?"

Shane stared at Darius, his shock slowly melting away. He turned back to the monitors, doing his best to save face.

"Okay then. You want proof? I'll get you it once we fix these systems. Cameras should have recorded everything before it all went dark."

"You're not acting like yourself, Shane."

"I wonder why? Hurry up and get your ass over here."

Darius moved away from the door and towards the control panel beside Shane. Aaron felt his muscles tensing. Just two more steps, and then...

Now!

Aaron swiftly crept his way towards the exit. He slipped through the door as soon as it opened.

Shane turned around, just as the door closed.

"What's the matter?" Darius asked. "Seeing ghosts?"

Shane shook his head, putting his focus back on the work in front of him.

"Nothing. Forget it."


The children's footsteps and voices grew faint, as Mother and Father were left alone in the living room. Father let out another deep sigh, sinking into the recliner in the living room. Mother wrapped her arms around him.

"Honey. I think you were a bit too harsh on the kids this time around," Mother said.

"No, Maddie. The world's becoming a crueler place by the day and it's not going to take this… tomfoolery they're pulling off."

"They're just kids, Harris. They'll grow up. We have to be there for them."

"They don't have time like we used to!" Father exclaimed, straightening out his back and away from her grip. His back slowly fell back onto the cushion behind him, his face buried into his hands. "They don't have the time."

Mother walked in front of him, kneeling down. She pulled his hands away from Father's face, his tired eyes becoming clearer.

"Is this about… them?" She asked.

Father lowered his hands, winding his fingers into Mother's. "They're getting tired of waiting, Madeleine. They already made clear they're not gonna take 'no' for an answer."

"Can't the law help us, Harris?"

"They are the law."

"But… but this is your land!" Mother stammered, "This was your family's home ever since they came to this nation! What happened to our right to property?!"

Father's voice wavered. "I'm afraid that's just old news now, Maddy…"

"Lord! What has happened to this country? Harris, we can't just leave! We don't even know where to go! Harris?"

"I know!" Father's voice rose again. "But we don't have a choice. I've been hearing rumors, Maddy. Terrible things about these men. They don't care what happens to you or anyone else you love. I don't even know if they're human anymore. They only care about whether or not we're willing to listen. And right now, we ain't listening."

"But what about the boys?" Mother whispered.

"I'm doing this because of the boys, Maddy. I ain't going to fight and let them see me get thrown to jail. You said so yourself, we gotta be there for them. They still need time to grow up. I've got a plan. We'll make it out of here, Maddy, I promise."

Tears built up in Father's eyes. Mother hugged him, her eyes turning wet too. The two brothers watched it all unfold from the staircase, stock-silent. Justin wanted to run up and hug his father, but Zachary pulled him back.

"Maddie… Maddie, I love those boys and you, you know that, right?"

"Yes, dear," Mother whispered back as she still hugged him. "I know."

The bittersweet moment was cut off with a ring from the front door. Father pulled away from Mother, looking out the window. A lone, black car stood in the middle of the road, alien to the rest of nature around it.

"Speak of the Devil," Father whispered. He turned to Mother.

"Keep the kids upstairs. Make sure they're okay."

Mother nodded. Justin and Zachary ran up to their room before she could notice them. Father opened the door and tried his best to appear stoic.

A lone figure emerged from the sleek vehicle. He took a glance at his surroundings before jogging to farmhouse.

"Marcus," Father said, a grin of relief gracing his face. "Thank Jebus."

"God damnit, Harris."

Marcus made a hurried glance towards the car.

"I warned you about this," Marcus continued, hushed. "Why are you still here?"

"A Lee always finds a way."

"Alright, alright. Fine. I don't have much time. The others are expecting the negotiations to go quickly and smoothly. You know how they'll deal with you if anything happens. Have you at least packed up yet?"

"Marcus, I've asked many favors out of you. You've risked your life for us several times over now, and we all really appreciate it. I just need to ask one more favor. One last thing, and then we're even, and you'll never have to cover for us again."

"It better be quick."

"I just need to make a call."

"To?"

"To people who'll help us get somewhere safe."

Marcus' face twisted into a grimace.

"The Antithesis."

"Those terrorists? I would never do such a thing."

"Don't lie to me, Harris. This whole time, you've been contacting the Antithesis, haven't you? And I thought you were someone I could trust."

Harris clasped his hands on Marcus' shoulders. "I just need their help to get out of the country. Nothing more."

"What about me, Harris?"

Marcus brushed off Harris' hands.

"Once they find out, I'll be branded a dissenter. Maybe your terrorist friends are going to come by the farmhouse any second, guns blazing. Was that your plan?"

"It isn't. Marcus, just-"

"My safety was always a secondary concern of yours," Marcus said, his face a barely-contained rictus of anger. "Is this how you treat the people who help you?"

"Marcus, don't do anything rash. Remember your promise."


As soon as he made it back into his room, Aaron let out all the air he kept stored in his lungs. Pure relief kicked in, his muscles unwinding. Everything was set in place now. All that was left to do was… well, there was still much to do.

He slid against the door, knees pulled close to the chest. Christ… the mere thought of it made him want to throw up. Thoughts beyond the ramifications of getting caught. He hated himself for reaching for the knife, that he could well have murdered those people- people who trusted him.

The back of Aaron's skull pressed against the door, and his mouth yawned half-open as he stared at the ceiling. The position he was sitting in brought bad memories. Aside from when he got tired during 574's training sessions, the last time he could recall laying back like this was when he was a child. And it wasn't from exhaustion.

That day…


"There's someone at the front of the door," one of the men in black shades said to his equally dressed partner.

"Hostile?" The other asked.

"Don't believe so. He's dressed like one of the locals. Not visibly armed, either. Maybe a friendly neighbor helping with the move?"

"I find that hard to believe…"

A device chimed from inside their vehicle.

"The phone's being used inside," the first man said.

"Intercept that call. Figure out who's on the other end of the line."

The first man did so. Father's voice spoke first, shaky.

"This is… the Anti-AAHW, right?"

"You have the wrong number." The other voice replied.

"They're here. The AAHW. I've heard what they do to children. You have to save them."

"Who is this?"

"Harris. Harrison Lee."

A momentary pause. Then, the other voice continued.

"How many?"

"Two. Look, I don't want a turf war right in front of my property, just give my family an escort out of this area. We'll find our own way out of the state."

"Help will be there. ETA twenty minutes."

"They're only giving us ten to leave!"

"Mister Lee, I'm already breaking the rules sending operatives to help you out. We are not first responders. You'll have to stall them for ten more minutes. Good luck."

Once the call ended abruptly, the first man in shades turned to his partner.

"Antithesis."

"Did you get their location?"

"No. Their encryption blocked our trace."

"A shame. What about the collaborators?

"You know the protocol."

They walked towards the house, the palms of their hands brushing against the holsters of their pistols. At the front of the door stood Marcus.

"Step aside," one of the men ordered.

"Sirs. The Lees wanted some privacy while they take care of their stuff."

"Step aside," the other repeated.

Marcus frowned. "Sirs, with all due respect, you allowed these people seven more minutes to-"

One quick swing of the first man's left arm sent Marcus to the ground. A direct hit to the jaw during his most vulnerable moment.

Two strong kicks and the door gave in. In the living room, Father dropped the supplies he was carrying.

"This property has been requisitioned by the Agency Against Human Warfare. Any resistance, verbal or otherwise, will be dealt with by overwhelming force."

The guns were pointed straight at Father's head. He turned his gaze to the floor and raised his hands in surrender.


7 PM.

Aaron strode briskly towards the Medbay. In about an hour, the sun and all of its light would retire from the Nevadan sky. The ten hours that would come afterwards would decide the way he lived the rest of his life.

Hank.

Hank hadn't done anything wrong to him. Compared to every other soul in the facility, Hank was the least guilty of them all. Hank was the one who had stood by him when the Black Snake Squadron pinned him in the lockers. Hank had been the one who came up with the brilliant last-second strategy, leading to their victory in the Holo-Chamber. Hank hadn't even been at the 030 Massacre. There was no way that he could have been responsible for Ryder's capture.

Even though Hank was the one who deserved this the least, the reality was, none of those feelings really mattered. What he thought was right and wrong were irrelevant. Those rights and wrongs were all just part of one big, overly optimistic lie his parents, Mikhail, and the rest of the Agency tried spoon-feeding him. Their views of the world all boiled down to one Neanderthalic mindset:

Maintain the norm, because we are right and they are wrong!

Horseshit.

On the straight path to success, there exist roadblocks, things such as compassion, or morals, or honor. The people who realized that first always won the race; they simply circumvented these barriers, instead of hurdling them one by one. It was why Ryder was always so bitter; he had grown up much faster than any other in the squad.

It was also why Ryder deserved to live, more than anyone else.

Aaron walked into the Medbay. As he expected, Hank was sitting by Nikolai's bedside. Nikolai was already sitting up, looking much healthier than he did before. If Nikolai could recuperate from the brink of death, then Aaron wouldn't have much of an excuse to stay in recovery. Someone would get suspicious.

"Hey, Hank."

Hank sat slightly straighter and turned to face him.

"Hey, Aaron. What's up?"

"Oh, not much," Aaron said. "Need to talk to you about something, though."

"Sure, what is it?"

Aaron looked at Nikolai, who stared at him silently. He looked back to Hank.

"... In private. Sorry, but it's a personal thing."

Hank turned to Nikolai for confirmation. Nikolai rolled his eyes, waving his partner off.

"Do I look like your mom, Shithead? Get out of my face."


Justin and Zachary waited just outside the room their parents were dragged into by the men in shades. The gray walls surrounding them offered no comfort.

Justin hiccuped; he had been bawling a few minutes ago, which had diminished into sobs.

"Did you stop crying?" Zachary asked.

Justin rubbed at his eyes, giving no answer. He hiccuped some more.

"Shut up," Zachary said.

Hearing this from his older brother, and Justin felt the tears blur his eyes again. Then, the door to the room Mother and Father went in opened. A man wearing a labcoat stepped into the hallway and knelt by the boys.

"Hello. You're Justin," Labcoat Man said, pointing towards Justin. He then pointed towards Zachary, "And you must be Zachary, yes?"

Zachary kept his arms crossed. Justin sniffled, staring at the Labcoat Man with wide, wet eyes.

"Don't be afraid, children. I just want to help."

Labcoat Man's voice was warm, like Mother's, when she used to kneel by their bedside and pray when she thought they had fallen asleep.

"Where are Mama and Papa?" Justin asked, his voice hoarse.

"Right now, we just need to talk to them, because they got very hurt. Don't worry. Did I get your names right before?" Labcoat Man asked.

Zachary didn't look at the man, while Justin nodded.

"Thank you, Justin. Those are lovely names."

"When will we see Mama and Papa?" Justin asked again.

"Soon, I promise," Labcoat Man said, standing up. "But first, I need you both to follow me, okay?"

"Where are we going?"

"The place where you will meet with your parents. My, aren't you the curious one!" Labcoat Man ruffled his hair gently, like Father always used to. "Cherish it, Justin. Curious minds make the world go round."

Justin smiled. Zachary watched silently. Labcoat Man pulled his hand away.

"Now then, let's go."

Justin got up from his seat, grabbing onto Labcoat Man's left hand. Labcoat Man outstretched his right hand towards Zachary, who remained motionless.

"Zachary? Is something the matter?" Labcoat Man asked.

"I'm not leaving," Zachary said.

"I understand you're a little confused or upset. Trust me a little, Zachary, and let me help you and your family."

Justin looked at Zachary, eyes still filled with wonderment. Zachary remained stubborn.

"I'm not moving."

Something flickered across Labcoat Man's eyes. It was a hint of something Zachary couldn't recognize, so he took no heed of it.

"Zachary. If you don't come with us now, nobody else in the building will take you in. You will sleep tonight on the cold, dark streets of Nevada, alone, while your brother will get his own room and bed. And you will not see your parents afterward too. Do you want that?"

Justin tugged at his brother's arm. Even to another child, the look of desperation on Justin's face was too clear to ignore.

"Zach, please," Justin begged, his face still covered with the streaks of his tears, "I wanna see Mama and Papa again."

Zachary felt the sick feeling in his stomach grow sicker. He pursed his lips, confused and angry and afraid of something he couldn't see or understand.

"Fine."

Zachary grabbed onto Labcoat Man's right hand, his little brother's beaming face easing him only slightly. Labcoat Man smiled.

"Okay, let's go, Uncle…"

Justin looked up at Labcoat Man, struggling to fill in the missing piece. Labcoat Man looked back down.

"Ah, no need to call me 'uncle,' Justin. I'm sure your brother here knows well enough I am in no way a part of your family. You can just call me…"

Labcoat Man donned an unfamiliar grin.

"... Professor."


"It's been a year now, Hank."

"... Oh."

"You know what I'm talking about, then."

"I'm sorry, Aaron."

"Don't apologize. You weren't even there."

"That's why I'm apologizing. If I was stronger, or maybe if I convinced 574, or… I don't know. I should have done something aside from sitting in a hospital bed. I could've snuck out or something. I could have fought. Maybe I could've even made a difference… stopped all those people from dying."

"574 would never have let you out of the Medbay. He couldn't let anyone screw up his little plan. You're right, you might've changed the outcome. That's exactly why he forced you to stay put. Don't blame yourself. Blame him."

"You really hate 574, don't you?"

"You don't understand the promises he broke."

"I don't."

"I know. But that isn't what I came here to talk about. I've got a score to settle, and what better day to do it than the day of The Massacre?"

"And what exactly do you plan to do?"

"It's an anniversary party, and you're invited. I've picked out a great spot, there's going to be plenty of AAHW in attendance. How about we go have a little celebration with them?"

"I'm not sure about that. I think I should talk to Nikolai about it first."

"It's best if you don't. You know how he's gonna react."

Hank stared down at the ground, eyes distant. Nikolai had told him to blaze his own trail. Was this what he meant? Hank had never gone for the cookie jar like this.

"... On second thought, maybe I shouldn't tell him."

Justin leaned in close.

"They took away our brother, Hank. It's their fault, so let's give them what they deserve. I wouldn't trust anyone more than you for this."

His comrade stayed silent for a couple more seconds.

"Alright. You and me. For Ryder."

"For Ryder," Aaron agreed.

"Let's gear up, then."

Hank led the way, and Aaron followed. His eyes were no longer focused on the ground. His heart and mind were clear of worry. He knew what he had to do.


A/N: Surprise, surprise. A chapter in almost a month's time. Didn't expect that, did you? Low expectations, baby. Hoo-hah.

Nah, but seriously, I'm glad to get this chapter out really soon. I'm hoping I could get back to uploading chapters on a two-week basis, though it'll probably be near impossible unless I can set up a dynamic for myself. Right now though it just might work; summer break has really helped clear up my mind from all the other irrelevant things messing with my creative flow.

Before I carry on, let's get some credits down before anything else, shall we?


Reviewers' Credits:

Sanderson: Nah man, we still here and fire. Don't let the slow updates fool ya, haha.

Thanks for sticking around and reviewing man!


One Eye Demon: Haha, clever. :P

Glad you enjoyed the unique angle we decided to take with Chapter 47. We wanted to be a bit more experimental with the way we presented a core character of the Legacy story, given only one chapter.

This is what we came up with, so again, it's nice to still see positive reception regardless of the change (although it's probably not going to be common that we'll use first-person unless deemed absolutely necessary for this/any future story).

Thanks for the continued support!


Now for the OC Credits…


OC Credits:

Agent 574/Mikhail Nikitin by Sacrom574

Shane Augustine by DodgeStreaker

Nikolai Khruschev (birthed by Nikolai247, adopted by Alias-Maxima)

Recko R. Sunbur by SamuraiDancer


And that's a wrap for the credits! Now then, updates on my end:

As I said earlier, summer break's here guys! Thank God, because I was nearly ready to go jump off a building from college. Pro tip for those of you who're getting to that point; don't procrastinate. And if you do, then you better learn how to stop fast. Not fun heading to school on half an hour of sleep, let me tell you.

The Hank's Legacy manga project is still ongoing for those of you who are wondering, alongside the Final Salvation rewrite. I'm hoping the rewrite can be up sometime this fall, though I'm not keeping any promises based on my track record, lol.

As for the manga, our artist (ButterLux) is doing as much as she can while juggling around her own daily demons. Shit's rough out there, I tell ya.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'm honestly pretty happy with how it turned out, but you guys be the judge of that! As you can tell, Season III is finally coming to a conclusion. What will be of our wounded soldiers?

As always, thank you all for reading! We hope you've enjoyed this chapter of Hank's Legacy; see you in the next! :D

~Spirit

That's that. Ciao.

~Alias Maxima