Chapter 40 - New Developments
"Riley… please tell me you have some GOOD news for once…"
If there was one thing which Riley, as he entered the Blackwatch Commander's office, had thought he didn't like, and there were a LOT of things he didn't like it would be seeing the utterly exhausted face of his commander who, at the moment of Riley's entry, looked like he wanted to just blow up the entirety of NYZ right then and there…. something which the man could truly understand since he sometimes shared the same sentiment. This DIDN'T originate from the whole virus outbreak that they were dealing with, although currently, they could only use containment methods, but also the various 'pranks' being pulled on their asses.
He would have LOVED to get his hands on the perpetrators so he could give them the same kind of hell they gave them.
Though, it wasn't like he didn't understand why Rooks felt this way, as he distracted himself from the worrisome thoughts on the last few matters that had sent him on more rants than he had gone into for a while. Riley himself had waited for the moment where he got his hands on the ones responsible for the many outrageous humiliations that had befallen him and Rooks.
How did all this happen? It almost felt like they were paying for some sort of mistake they'd made…
For context (and any who skipped the multitude of chapters to get here), it had been about 2 weeks since their Hydra testing operation, Project LONG SHADOW, had ended in complete failure, although back then only a few of their ranks had any idea of their possible future infected testing operations throughout the yellow Zone meeting similar fates. However, none of them would have been able to predict the methods of which would be used to foil such plans, as in the copious amounts of small to large scale operations being foiled no matter how many times they tried to get data.
How were they being foiled, one might ask? Whelp, simple: the emergence of some new infected that they had never seen before… not in the Green Zone or even the Red Zone.
From just their images alone in the video footage and the battle reports, it had become clear to any who viewed them that these newer infected creatures looked like they were pretty much ENGINEERED to rip apart those who tried to fight back against them. Not to mention that someone must have had some sick sense of irony and humor considering a lot of them resembled beasts from Roman mythology, and everyone in their ranks knew how Romans got along with the Greeks…
The first kind of infected creature they had encountered had appeared about 4 days after LONG SHADOW's designated failure: A creature which had the appearance of a serpent, a dark green colored serpent with scales that could deflect tank rounds from their person like they were nothing more than bug bites. If that wasn't bad enough, their eyes, as black as the void, seem to have the ability to petrify those who look into its gaze, something which their scientists weren't able to figure out how it did that since they hadn't been able to capture one for study yet. Finally, the creature's massive fangs could not only chomp through a freaking TANK without issue, but they also possessed a rather potent venom that reduces both armor AND flesh to a pile of mush within seconds. They had appropriately named this beast: the Basilisk. Fortunately for Blackwatch, it seemed that Gunship missiles still had some effect of driving them off, though, and they didn't like fire for some reason.
At the time, Blackwatch had learned from their past mistakes and remained on alert, keeping caution as a primary focus for any new infected attacks that might have followed… though it still hadn't prepared them for what happened next.
For the second infected type that had emerged about a week ago, it had resembled a Cape Buffalo… without any hair. Its flesh remained blacker than the abyss with faint, dark green muscle fibers similar to the Brawlers. Furthermore, out of the tailbone were 3 long Tails which had\resembed a scorpion's, though its tip resembled a blade rather than a stinger. This creature had strength going for it the most, for it would usually attack by charging into things like raging bulls or strike away at its surroundings with its Tails, Tails which somehow could extend an unknown amount of meters to cover a wider surface area. Still, with them being slow, it was easy to pick them off from a distance, they just had to destroy its Tails first since they had been it's biggest defense. They called it a 'Catoblepas' since that was what it looked like the most.
Finally, the third type of infected Creature, and this time it seemed to take after man's best friend since it had the form of a canine with a black dog-like snout, but with dark green fur that could have belonged to a wolf covering the area around its head like some kind of mane. Lean built, it became clear from first glance that this beast was the exact opposite of the Catoblepas. In that, it had been designed for speed, and it showed cause the thing could outrun not only full-grown men with ease, but it also sported amazing agility for there were reports of it dodging gunfire from rifles, missiles and tank shells at close range. Aside from its claws and sharp fangs, the beast sported the ability to fire arrow-like projectiles from within its mane, ones which didn't do well against Tanks and Gunships but they tore through flesh with ease. As such, they had designated it as a 'Crocotta'.
Combined with the fact that these beasts had been attacking their operations whenever they conducted them, this had ended up raising many speculations throughout the ranks, with some pointing their fingers at foreign powers sneaking in and stirring up trouble with their machinations, with some more intellectual members of their ranks theorizing that it was to do with James Heller and the escaped test subjects. Rooks believed this to be the case due to having noticed how, throughout the few reports of activity he had on the one called KRONOS, his Tendril color resembled that of the beasts that they had encountered… meaning that this guy may be becoming another Mercer the longer he was allowed to remain outside the laboratory.
He SO hoped that wasn't the case though since he didn't want to have to deal with another Mercer.
"I have both good news AND bad news sir," Riley replied solemnly, frowning as he looked down at the papers in his hand. To save time so he could continue with his duties, Riley continued whilst making to flip through them. "Which one would you like to-"
"The bad news first, you idiot!"
However, Rooks had little patience right now due to his stressed-out mind, hence why he had yelled at Riley to get to the point. Thus, the man continued like he was talking about the weather forecast. "Seems as though our last 4 operations have been destroyed, sir. Various Projects will have to be designated as failures with 40% of being continued due to collateral damages." Riley explained, frowning in disappointment and anger. One particular project had involved the testing of human interactions with the Juggernaut, something which had been reported to act as the Leader Hunters had done in the first outbreak. It had been more humanoid like the Walkers, but a very FAT ass Infected that hardly looked like it could move very fast, what with the two stumps it had for legs. Though it had decent strength since it managed to pick up and toss large pieces of concrete like they were stone pebbles.
Still, that project had met its end when a bunch of those newer infected types launched an attack on the facility that the project was being worked on in. They'd appeared seemingly without warning, like a sudden shift in the weather by mother nature's will, to which every Blackwatch member on sight had gotten caught with their pants down. As a result, it had been one massive slaughter-fest by the time reinforcements had arrived, with nothing but blood, guts, and body parts sprawled out everywhere. To the point where the base's walls were almost completely red like someone had dropped a bunch of paint over them. Furthermore, one of those infected types, a Basilisk he remembered it being, had managed to bulldoze its way inside the facility, immobilize the Juggernaut within it's holding pen before it could react and then crush it into a paste-like its namesake. By the time reinforcements had arrived, aside from the crimson painted walls only the base's ruins had remained with there being no sign of the civilians they'd brought in. Riley simply assumed the beast had eaten them for a dessert or something, he didn't care too much about them since there were a lot of potential subjects in the Yellow Zone.
On his side of things, Rooks suppressed the urge to bang his head onto his desk hard enough to dent it. He had been afraid of that one, since with the emergence of these new infected types it would only serve to make Blackwatchs' lives harder, with the few reasons why they still even maintained the dominion they still had over the Yellow Zone being that they largely relied on the American Marines to soak up the losses. However, even he knew that excuses wouldn't last forever with them, and he didn't want that stupid General Neller on his case any more than necessary since things with him had gotten strained thanks to that woman being infected. 'Well, considering their relation it's not much of a surprise…' the man thought to himself, before looking back up at his lieutenant whilst a hand placed itself on his forehead. "Okay then, smarty pants. What's the GOOD news?"
"Whilst the number of projects has been forced to be canceled sir, we've been making excellent progress on one specific Project sir," Riley replied, and this time the man had a small smirk on his lips as he handed the Blackwatch commander for NYZ some papers he was holding. Rooks looked them over, wishing that he didn't have to do anything else, but then when he read the report his eyes shot open wide.
'This… This is…' the man thought as he read the report, before looking back up to the smirking Riley. "Riley… tell me you're not making this shit up," he told him seriously, eyes narrowing like a beast ready to go on a rampage if he didn't hear what he wanted to hear. "Cause if you are…" The man trailed off, his unsaid threat hanging in the air. Like the thickening tension in the atmosphere didn't already do that.
In response to this, Riley shook his head as he began to explain. "Based on what we were able to gather from the strange incidents in the Sewers, we were able to extract a sizable amount of DNA from what seems to have been remnants of a big battle, although our drones didn't have the chance to see it in person. However, what we were able to gather, our lab boys say will be enough to speed up what projects we do happen to have currently running, especially THIS one. We keep this up, and we will also be able to have an excuse to bring in more 'advanced' weaponry from outside NYZ."
What Riley had meant by this, was that not long before Project LOST SHADOW failed, some of their soldiers had reported hearing some strange noises underground, which at first had been dismissed as just them being delusional. However, it hadn't been long before more reports of these sounds came in prompting them to spare a few robotic Drones, similar to the ones which they used to check for anyone infected with the Mercer Virus but outfitted for scouting purposes, into the Sewers. What they'd come back with was intel about whole lumps of what remained of various infected types, which had sounded too interesting for Gentek to ignore.
Thus, one thing led to another and things began happening there. It helped that only a select few people who Rooks personally trusted were aware of these projects since they had been classified beyond top secret by the man himself.
They couldn't allow these Projects to fail, nope, no way. MAXIMUM discretion was needed.
"And what of the 'other' matter I mentioned? How is progress on that front?"
"We're well underway sir, won't be long now before we can crack down on some renegades."
The sound of the ground being crumbled under his boots filled his ears as James Heller, codename POSEIDON, returned to Adam's main lair where the kid currently resided. The man had just finished another meeting with the Priest Guerra over at his place, the man had invited him over with the offer being extended to his companions. During that meeting, he'd discovered that Guerra had been doing quite well with his usual Church duties, and the people whom they had rescued had been quite… active, though in a manner that Guerra hadn't elaborated on. Still, seeing the man have such a bright fire in his eyes was something which the man preferred to see when compared to the broken mess of a man that he had met shortly after becoming this way thanks to Mercer.
Although, for the life of him James couldn't help but have a sneaking suspicion that the man had ulterior motives behind inviting him over which potentially had connections to a certain kid, something which he wouldn't be surprised about if it were indeed the case. After all, whilst he may not have looked it under all those fancy robes, but that Priest was more of a shrewd guy than he gave him credit for. The man DID have a bit of a violent upbringing after all, so someone who could survive all that as well as become a terrorist against a group like Blackwatch HAD to have both balls as well as a major level of intelligence.
Even a musclehead like himself could see it.
Though, as James had anticipated Adam had declined the offer whilst looking like a traumatized patient from an insane asylum. He looked like he wanted to do something else at the time too, but he just wouldn't take the plunge that was necessary for him to do said action. At this point, James began to wonder when the kid would start growing a pair and just confront the man already, cause at this point it was just getting pathetically annoying. James wouldn't sugarcoat it, he wasn't the kind of man who would beat around the bush, he'd been similar in the past to since, in his eyes, even if the truth hurts or it wasn't something that one wanted to hear, they still had to keep moving forwards. If they didn't and tried to hide away from their problems like cowards, then they weren't truly living and they were denying themselves the chance to grow.
Right now, the kid was being just that: a coward, and one who would use any excuse not to go see just one man…
And it pissed the bald Prototype off.
As for their other companion, that bitch Sophie had declined the offer as well though for different reasons compared to their resident childish Bioweapon. She had more of a desire to finish up the last of her species developing since, out of the three of them, KRONOS had been the one to finish developing his Brood first… though perhaps finish wasn't technically the right word to use in this situation since, according to Prόta, the task of constantly developing one's brood was like an eternal set of building blocks. There were countless possible variables to consider, many formulas to plan as well as countless scenarios that one would be expected to tackle, not something that a military man like himself could comprehend even with the advanced intelligence boost the Virus in his system gave him.
Still, regarding their Broods and their respective themes, things with James himself were the slowest since he didn't put all that much effort into developing new Brood strains (aside from outwitting that bitch in making their first infected monster strains much to her dismay), putting more time and energy into training his powers first. James wasn't a man who could be described as a natural leader type, he was a purebred soldier no matter if he were an ex-Marine or not, thus he had decided to try and mostly create new strains and consume them, see if he could unlock something new. His Lair may as well be a hub of new genetic Blacklight Strains after all with all the potential it could possess, as whilst everything it had been previously doing had been somehow taken, it remained a Lair that primarily functioned as a pseudo research area, so James kept it doing mostly it's primary purpose rather than remake it into a full-on militia base as Sophie had.
Currently, James walked through the corridor and into the Lair's main area, where he saw a single large offshoot shaped somewhat like a tree made from Tendrils that protruded out from the ground. They formed a makeshift 'trunk' whereas the top looked more like a massive bird's nest but instead of branches, Tendrils replaced them with Adam sitting in the middle of it in a cross-legged position. Judging from what he could see from his spot down below, James assumed that the kid was thinking of what to do next, considering how goal-oriented he was. "Penny for your thoughts, kid?" James shouted out to announce his arrival, although he instinctively felt like he didn't need to since the lad could just use his senses to tell his position anyways, thanks to their shared Hivemind link.
Something which got proven when Adam didn't react one bit like someone who would jump when someone tried to catch them by surprise. Instead, he just opened his eyes whilst lowering his hands to his lap, all before turning his head to look down at the older man. Upon seeing him, however, Adam's eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights, a matching smile on his face as he stood up and hopped off his makeshift 'tree', landing before his fellow Prototype. "Hey there, Heller! How're things going with you?" he replied, grinning happily in a way which reminded the man of… of a time when someone else gave him a similar smile whenever he came back home. He didn't show the pang of pain he felt inside though, as Adam continued his response. "As for me, I'm wondering when it would be time to launch one island-wide offensive against Blackwatch now. I mean, we have the numbers with us, as well as the element of surprise and all, but I'm torn on initiating the assault or not."
The moment he heard that James INSTANTLY shot the idea down, having MORE than a few choice words about that kind of plan. "I'd say that's a fucking stupid idea, Adam." James then stated, much to the boy's surprise as he then began to elaborate. "Let me explain it simply so you can get it through your skull. First, we may have the numbers and the virus on our side, but attacking with that mindset is too much like a narrow-thinker. You're only focusing on the 'now' which isn't what someone in your shoes should do, heck as much as I hate admitting it Mercer has you beat in terms of planning if you keep thinking like this. Second, if we kill off all of Blackwatch in the Yellow Zone, things will be better for us initially, but what about afterward? Those fuckers tried to launch a nuclear warhead at NYZ way back when, so what's to stop them from launching similar attacks on us? We may survive, but what of everyone else? Pretty sure Guerra wouldn't…"
THAT hit the nail in a coffin which still had to be closed for Adam, as the boy's eyes widened in realization, understanding and horror whilst this new thought process brought forth no small amount of… let's just say 'unfavorable' scenarios. Even as simple-minded as he was, James' words still made a brutal kind of sense, especially since they were supported with facts coming from previous Blackwatch engagements. It kind of felt like a punch to the skull, one that was meant to wake someone who had been trying to escape into their little self-insert fantasy up to the ugliness of reality. Both James AND Adam knew for a fact that Blackwatch would pull some extreme measures to contain the Blacklight Virus, it was like they always tell their soldiers (something which they knew from their memories): nothing crosses the red line. As such, they'd SURELY go to extreme lengths to combat it, and worse? They're somewhat understandable because Blacklight was just THAT terrifying. If a Virus could take over something as big as NYZ like it had, what would have happened if it had been released on the mainland? North or South America? The CENTRAL CONTINENTS? Chaos and a large portion of humanity would have been lost, quickly too. "...Yeah, I'll hold off on the full-scale assault, then."
James nodded his head, thankful that he had managed to get his point across decently. "As long as we're on the same page," he stated, before glancing around and noticing that, to his surprise and confusion, their sole female member wasn't present to annoy him with her antics. He'd half expected to have had to get on all fours to dodge a flying kick to his face or to jump upwards to avoid a smack to his ballsack or something equally absurd. " In any case, I don't see that bitch around, you know where she scampered off to? What, she fell into a pit of spikes and died?" he questioned, chuckling darkly at the thought.
'Heller and big sis dislike each other, don't they…?' Adam thought to himself, sweat dropping as he decided not to ponder too much on the strange… relationship, his fellow Prototypes had. Adults were strange, he had long since decided, but since he had indeed asked about her in his way Adam felt it necessary to inform him of her actions. "Big sis is still in her Lair, doing her own thing, she's been doing so for quite a while and, according to Prόta, her Brood's been scouring the Sewers mainly, hunting down any renegade Infected from the Lairs that we missed," he explained, humming thoughtfully. Ever since the civil war had ended, Sophie had felt it… necessary, to keep an eye on the Sewers in case any infected which they'd missed surfaced. Also, he had once heard through Prόta that Sophie had been intending to 'make real' the whole alligators in the sewers myth that was somehow a thing. Humans were weird. "Though I'll admit, I'm honestly surprised that she's been so… so docile about her tasks, if that's the right word to describe her. Would have thought she'd try to go and piss off some Blackwatch forces or something. But no, she's been letting my Brood do most of the, in her words, 'fun stuff' whilst she stays underground. Wonder what's up with that…"
Hearing this, James also frowned at the information Adam had explained to him. That indeed sounded strange, but he wasn't going to question the actions of a crazy woman like Sophie Neller since that would just invoke way too many headaches for his liking. That woman was like a bag full of cats, one could just SMELL the crazy on her so James honestly preferred it if she weren't here right now. "Heh, well let's just be glad for the peaceful moments here, then. We don't get to experience them too often, considering." James stated, to which Adam had to nod his head in agreement.
Oh, on that the two men could BOTH agree, quite easily in fact. This was one of the few times that they had been able to meet up, since the two had been so busy with either managing their Lairs, talking through the Hivemind, visiting Guerra and training their powers, so these meetings would have to be just as memorable and enjoyable whilst they came around. Thus, in the spirit of enjoying the moment, Adam decided to ask James something which had been on his mind for… a while, now. "Hey, Heller? I have a question for you…"
"What is it?"
"...Why do you dislike Computers so much?"
"Pft!" A loud, annoying scoff escaped the older man's lips at the mention of the devices that he detested with a passion. "Exchange 'dislike' for outright 'wish they would all just fuck right off', and you're closer to the amount of hate I have for those things. Never liked Computers, always preferred the more simplistic, old-fashioned things as you kids would say. May have been a hassle at times, but it's much easier to get than a bunch of keys with weird letters and stupid fucking squiggly lines on them. Gives me a fucking headache just damn thinking about it." James explained… though Adam had to figure this to be what he had said through more than a few cusses and insults than he'd care to mention. He had guessed that there was some big reason why James didn't like computers, something which he had always been curious about but never got to ask him why. Now, it turned out that instead, it was just that James Heller was just a simplistic kind of guy, one who didn't do well in overly complex scenarios and situations.
If he were honest… he preferred this to be the case since it fits in line with what he had assumed about the man in question. "I see…"
"Why do you ask?"
"Nothing much just wanted to know more about you, I guess. Even though me, you and big sis have fought together a few times, we hardly know squat about one another." Adam explained, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Honestly, it's been making me want to just have us all sit down and talk about ourselves, but considering the circumstances, I was worried that neither of you would approve…" he admitted, a rather shy expression on his face before he took his hand off his head and scratched the side of his jaw.
…
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…
…
… So, THIS was what Adam was truly like when his walls were lowered, huh? James had to think this as he regarded the teen before him. Thinking back to their past conversations, James realized that they had been few and far in between compared to him and that bitch. Perhaps due to him and her developing that familial bond or something, but the boy couldn't be considered as nearly as close to him as he was to her, mostly due to him wanting to get to the bottom of all this shit so he… so he knew where to point his fangs at. Even now, whilst he remained a part of the boy's life, he still wasn't sure about it all. That didn't take into account how he didn't think the boy had been entirely trustworthy as he tended to dodge questions revolving around specific issues, like his relation to Guerra or how he generally acted. One of the things that kept him from leaving the boy was how he had strong capabilities as an ally, a good head on his shoulders despite his issues and childish nature, as well as the fact that there was a sense of… kinship, one could say, between them since they were of the same kind now.
Still felt weird, saying something like that considering what Viruses were meant to do.
However, that talk they'd had back before the whole civil war had happened must have changed a LOT between them… especially when the kid explained his side of things to them at last regarding how he had known about Mercer on such a level. That talk must have done wonders for the boy's impression of him, it seemed since, unlike before there wasn't as much tension in his movements as before, besides he had this 'light' in his eyes that switched on when he had seen James coming. A light not that different compared to the one he'd have around that bitch, which said a lot to the bald man. Not only that but perhaps it had been a refreshing change to hear someone be as honest with himself to James instead of being mostly vague and having their hidden intentions. Almost an entire lifetime of serving in a rough, perilous position in the Military may have resulted in him missing the earnest honesty people were capable of. Maybe being around him might prove to be a better influence on him than he'd thought, James internally mused… "I guess I can see that, yeah." he began to say. "But you've got a point, you're not wrong about us not exactly being too cozy with sharing our life stories like we were all a bunch of fucking naive best buds in some sort of fucking slumber party."
At this, Adam merely chuckled a bit, even at the whole cussing thing that James had gone down pat. Now that he thought about it, adults tended to swear a lot, didn't they? James and his big sister did it often, but those that Adam had consumed throughout the Outbreak had also swore like it was a daily occurrence. Was it so commonplace, then? He had heard from his mother (he tried to ignore the pangs of pain that escaped his chest at the mention of his dead mother) that swearing was bad and not to be done, but she never really enforced this upon him, maybe this was why? The male wasn't too sure about that, though he did notice that if he even TRIED to swear in front of his big sis he would get this… look, which told him that something bad would happen if he did so… needless to say, Adam wisely chose not to in her presence.
Just then, everyone's thoughts got interrupted when he caught sight of something large moving over to their position at a speed similar to a jog. Before the bald Prototype could say anything about it though, nor even DO anything like form a weapon to try and shred the thing apart, the man saw it barrel into a slightly surprised Adam before the sounds of laughter filled his ears, laughter which came from the said boy whilst he affectionately 'played' with the thing. That thing… James soon realized it to be the Scorporilla which he had seen the results of its effectiveness in battle during that time he'd been looking for a fresh meal of Gentek Scientists.
"Hahahaha, hey there buddy, been a while huh? Been playing nice with the others…?" Adam mused, grinning as he playfully patted the big monster on its head whilst the monstrosity crooned, nuzzling its head into his hands happily. One could just FEEL the joy it expressed with its actions alone, which only made the sight of a young lad playing with an oversized gorilla-like they were two brothers having some good old fisticuffs all the more surreal.
At least, that's what James had felt like when he'd witnessed this spectacle. Still, since it wasn't anything like an attacker or anything of that sort, he calmed himself down and felt the virus in him settle down. The faint sound of rippling Tendrils over his arms faded away too as he looked back to the playing duo, clearing his throat after a few seconds. "Yo, mind uh, filling me in on what's this all about?" he questioned, having never seen such a… playful nature coming from something like a monster born from a virus. It just threw him out for a complete loop. No other Blacklight creature had expressed this nature, so he wanted to know what the fuck was going on.
"Ah, my Scorporilla here, he's been quite an attention whore recently," Adam replied once he managed to get himself on his own two feet, having to lightly push his Infected creation off him to do so whilst paying attention to not be too rough with him. "I guess it comes from how he's been taking to adapting and evolving from what I've given him more than I thought. Turned out that he's become like a puppy craving affection from me, if I were to describe his personality, and the fact that he's developing one by himself is also known to me." Adam explained like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Though, that was NOT what James had thought of the situation taking place before him if the look of shock and alarm was any indication. "Y...You're kidding, right?" He questioned, looking at the Scorporilla with his shock whilst it regarded him curiously like an animal trying to identify something it had never seen before. Looked weird as all hell, but that wasn't the issue here. "You mean this thing growing its sense of SELF?!" James shouted though he had reason to be concerned. A creature from Blacklight, more importantly, one from ADAM's highly evolved strain, had started showing signs of becoming more than just a killing machine meant for chaos and destruction? MAN that sounded like… like a big can of worms ready to be opened, or a literal bomb about to explode in his face. This could go in all sorts of ways, more than James could even BEGIN to comprehend. On one hand, it could lead to the birth of a creature akin to an infected, but one with the intelligence to match its brawn and high evolutionary capability, something which would prove to be even more nightmarish than an Infected monster made through Viral Fusion. But on another hand, and this was something James preferred to happen if anything, was that this creature would become smart enough to remain their ally in the future instead of betraying them further down the line, something that sounded entirely plausible to him considering the potential fuck up this situation could evolve into.
"Hey, no need to scare Scorpy here, he's still a young'un so he doesn't properly understand what's happening around him beyond wanting to 'please' me." Seeing his state of being and how it caused his Scorporilla to act a bit nervous yet a little agitated too, Adam opted to diffuse the situation by frowning at James whilst stroking his 'true' first-ever creation under its chin, something which it seemed to prefer quite a bit considering how the creature soon calmed itself down at his touch. It even let out hums of approval as it pushed its chin further into his hand, prompting a small smile from the male.
Even so, James just couldn't get over what had just happened nor the potential complications. Still, he decided to address a more simple issue at hand here: the name which Adam had just used. "...Scorpy? That something you cooked up, Adam?" he questioned dryly with half-open eyes as he questioned about the… the ridiculous name was given to the Scorporilla. Even if the creature in question aimed what could only be described as a POUT at the man which he honestly found even MORE unsettling than going to the Red Zone buck ass naked and shouting for the infected to 'COME AT ME, BRO!'
… which said a lot, honestly.
Hearing his words, Adam dared to look like he didn't fully believe it himself, his eyes glancing away from the bald man in awkwardness. "Yeah, not my idea this time. It came from big sis when she first found out. Though she only found out by accident, a few days ago, and she's been calling him that ever since. He likes it though, so there's nothing that I can do about it, PLUS Prόta had given her approval to the idea… and can YOU tell me you could compete with the two of them working together on an issue?" Adam replied, giving him a look that looked similar to someone trying to unload some stress after a hard day's work.
Something which James winced at since he could VERY well picture that kind of scenario coming, not to mention he could see that bitch Neller coming up with something as stupid as that for a nickname. The name itself was bad enough, but now the nickname made it all the worse, in addition to how it made it practically impossible to take the creature seriously… when it wasn't bashing skulls in like the beasts it was modeled after, by the way. Furthermore, he could SO imagine the two of them teaming up on poor Adam to get their way, with Prόta being the mother hen whose stern looks could convince even the rowdiest of children to fall in line. SOPHIE… well, enough had already been shown and said about her temperament, so in the end, the two teaming up on Adam with regards to the Scorporilla's nickname wasn't too unimaginable.
Poor sod never even stood a chance.
"...Point taken. Anyways, just… try to be careful, you never know what kind of path this might end up taking. I'll bet on it going south and it biting us in the ass in the end." James remarked, looking at the Scorporilla warily whilst inside, he dreaded the thought of him being right. Although, the said creature didn't look like it could be bothered with the two male's conversation as it started to… dance, for lack of a better word. Like it was trying to get rid of some excess energy or something, or perhaps it was trying to emulate the various dances Adam and the bitch had been forcing the helpless Blackwatch soldiers to do for their prank videos… the sight of which made James want to burn it out of his memories and yet not at the same time. Still, since the Scorporilla would hopefully still be following the kid's orders like it should considering its' status within the Hivemind hierarchy, James believed that this wouldn't hinder its combat effectiveness… hopefully. "By the way, I'm curious: have you thought of what to name these guys you've made? I mean our whole collective by the way. You said you would think of a name so we can distinguish ourselves from those damn Infected." he questioned.
Neither of them bothered to comment about how a certain creature they all knew had considered those infected as 'fakers'.
Still, upon hearing his question Adam furrowed his brows, his eyes forming a complex expression as he looked awkwardly to the side. Upon being prodded to by James's stare though, he eventually sighed and began to respond reluctantly. "Well, I have been brainstorming some names, but I'm not sure on what to pick. I didn't go for the first thing that entered my mind like when I named my Scorporilla since you guys say I have bad naming sense…" In the end, Adam dared to pout in James's direction for that comment about his naming sense, since he didn't see anything wrong with it. Although, James on the other hand remained unmoved by this since he, like all men, had a stubbornness and he would NOT budge on his stance regarding that matter. Just like Adam did whenever he was asked (sometimes told to by the bitch known as Sophie) to change its name to something better. It didn't help that the Scorporilla liked its current name too, and would go on a rampage if they tried to make him change it. Sometimes, these creations Adam made somewhat reflected his childish mentality. "But anyway, I got the following names for our group of creatures: Protomorphs, the Collective, the Enlightened, the Unitatis which is Roman for Unity, Missam which is Greek for 'Mass', I think you can get where I'm going there…" Adam explained, holding a hand and pulling down one finger for each name that he'd been coming up with.
'... Well, this could be worse, I guess…' James mused internally, wincing at a few of those names since they sounded a bit cringy whilst others had some potential. Perhaps he could eventually add in some names himself, since whilst he didn't give a fuck about what they were called, the bitch and Adam did and he was only one person, one person against two people just as superpowered as himself. He would likely lose that argument, not to mention that even though he didn't care, he could still see the logic behind naming their force after something other than the 'Infected'. 'Best bring the bitch in on this though, so we can properly decide on a name instead of letting the kid take charge…'
RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING-RING!
Before they could continue, the sound of James's phone rang, prompting the man to bring it out whilst Adam listened in. He saw the Caller ID as Guerra, so he put the call through. "Father Guerra, you there?" he questioned, wondering what was going on with the man for him to call at a time like this.
"James! Listen!"
However, he soon got the idea that it hadn't been good, as did Adam in the distance since he heard the kid's 'breathing' escalate slightly. On James' side, he saw how frantic and movement-filled Guerra was on the camera, which suggested that he was quickly trying to get something done. "Father, what's wrong?" he questioned urgently, his gaze and tone matching the urgency of the situation. If that bitch were here, she'd be showing her concern in her own way.
"No time! Listen! Blackwatch's coming! They must have figured out I was talking to you!"
THIS caused both Adan and James to become as pale as sheets, their skin color abruptly leaving their bodies as the horror of that situation sunk into them. This was bad, this was REALLY bad! Both of them were aware of Guerra's past history with Blackwatch and how they had cracked down on the man back then. Back then he'd been reduced to a SHELL of a man which James had to rejuvenate with his actions against that damn group. Perhaps it was due to their past experiences with him that these guys had managed to catch Guerra in his act once more, the Priest must have known something like this might have happened given his cautious nature, but even so, he could have only done so much. Thus, if the man were to be captured by them AGAIN, neither of them thought he would be let off easy, worst case scenario he would become one of their many test subjects for the infected. One second passed but it felt more like an eternity to them, to which they'd thought all manner of things before James finally managed to formulate a reply. "Shit. I'll be there as soon as I can!"
"What? No, no! They're coming in from every direction! I'm telling you this so you'll stay away!"
However, just when he heard this Guerra quickly refuted that notion, his flustered face mixed with one of anger and concern for their safety. Just from looking at him one could tell his thought process, compared to him they had a much better chance of getting back at Blackwatch considering what they were, so if they were somehow captured (in his mind, anyway) then there would really be no hope left for not just the yellow zone, but for the entirety of NYZ. Thus, if either one of them were to be captured, Guerra seemed to think that it would be best if he were the one to do so.
Not something James agreed with, however, given his next response. "And let you get killed for helping me? Screw that!" He shouted, closing the call once more before the man could reply. 'Shit, fuck! Guerra's just a normal human, he won't be able to last for long against Blackwatch if they're going as far as I think they are. I'll have to head on over now before they overwhelm him!' he thought, glancing back at Adam to see him standing there with his face torn. He didn't need to be a scientist to know what ran through his mind right now, so in a moment of frustration and anger, James bit out the following words. "Look, kid, I don't know what went on between you and the father, but I don't care. He's in danger right now because he's been helping us, and we BOTH know what Blackwatch would do to him if they get their grubby mitts on him so get your act together and go help him! Got it?! I'll be going even without your help anyway...!"
With those scathing words, James left the Lair and proceeded to quickly rush towards the Church.