Rex was sitting across the media control room from him, drinking a cup of tea that he was offered- no, commanded to take. Something to soothe the child's nerves. A lying little child, but nonetheless, a child.
Donation center? Please.
It was almost funny if it wasn't so sad how gullible Rex thought he was. The whole story about how he'd achieved his mission by traveling to a local blood bank and stealing a sample was pathetic. It was unfortunate that Rex had gone to unsavory places to extract a strange woman and abused her, but he didn't have to lie about it. Who was he trying to impress? It's not as if someone like the King of Abysus, known serial killer, would have had much moral judgment on such a matter.
But then again, he forgot emotions such as guilt existed. It had been so long since he felt such a thing, he supposed he projected its absence onto others when it didn't make sense to.
"How should I punish you, hmm?" the man asked, invoking a fearful expression on Rex's face. "Your face is on the news for assaulting that woman, but you should know the real problem is trying to be deceptive. Especially with me."
Rex's face paled, and he partially hid his face behind the cup. "Are you going to... kill me?"
A voice so soft, yet it made the man's blood boil. Fortunately, he was adept at masking his especially strong emotions.
"Should I, Rex?" he asked, annoyance apparent his voice. "Should I, after healing you and assisting you in your own tasks, lose all my work in a moment of insanity and kill you? What a lovely idea."
The boy said nothing, but his fingers curled tightly around the cup.
"I'm sure it fits your image of me just fine," he continued. "The lunatic who would throw everything away because my emotions are unstable and erratic, and I cannot control myself after something has went wrong. Perhaps some comment about my hair as well. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"
Rex's grimaced. "You don't need to be so sarcastic. I get it."
"And yet you're still deathly afraid of me. Put the cup down before you break it, and don't ever ask me that again unless I'm holding a knife to your throat."
The teen stared at him for a moment, but obeyed, but shot his controller a glare. "You'd think you'd want me to be afraid of you."
"I do, but not if it makes you sound like a broken record. I'll figure out your punishment later, but right now, I want you to watch something."
"I don't even like tea anyway..."
The man switched on a screen at the front of the room, pulling up NYC footage that made the guilt in Rex's stomach drop down like a bowling ball. His face was mostly unidentifiable thanks to the darkness the assault took place in, but who could miss such a bright orange jacket?
"The attacker appeared to wear clothing that highly resembled that of a public figure known as Rex," a familiar reporter known as Diane Farrah explained. "However, authorities are unable to identify the individual dressed in a costume of the deceased Providence asset. This is likely due to the relatively low quality of the video taken of the assault."
Rex's eyes widened. "Wait. They think I'm dead? Who told them that?"
Van Kleiss smirked. "Providence exploded. You were one of them, and haven't been seen for months. The idea of you being a rotting corpse is the mainstream consensus."
"But they didn't even find my body!"
"They didn't get a personal identification of the thousands of soldiers that were found dead in the explosion either. It doesn't mean they don't believe most people who were registered as on base at the time were dead, considering how widespread the explosion was."
The teen stared down at his tea for a moment, then shook his head. "But I wasn't on base at the time. I watched the explosion from a hill I used as a hangout."
The man shrugged. "I don't doubt that, but from what I've observed as an asset to my previous attacks on Providence, when certain individuals leave base for a while, their actions are placed into a log. The only reason I can think of as to why you weren't registered was if you had a habit of running off grid by your own volition."
"I... oh. Yeah. I did that a lot."
"Apparently even when you worked for that branch, you still couldn't stand being around them. Interesting."
Rex shot him a pointed look, then turned back to the screen. Farrah had continued to elaborate the professional analysis of the shaky video, describing what little she could of the assailant.
"You know, if I came back from the dead to the public, I could be like... the EVO Jesus." The younger EVO wondered aloud. "How cool is that?"
The king rolled his eyes, then switched to another news station. The sight of Providence greeted the two, shocking the boy by how clean it was. Not a corpse was in sight, most of the rubble had been cleared, and investigators were perusing the area as if it was perfectly safe.
Rex shot out of his seat. "No way."
"Fascinating, isn't it?" Van Kleiss asked, admiring the scene. "The perfect little scene where everyone plays their part."
"B-but that doesn't make sense!" the child sputtered. "We were just there like two days ago! They're faking the entire place... it's a greenscreen or something!"
"Exactly. This isn't new, either. They've been showing this particular scene on the news even before you'd woken up from your coma."
Rex stared at the screen, appalled by how dishonest the newscast was. "I don't get it- why are they showing a place that doesn't exist? If they can't go to the actual Base for some reason, why not just say that?"
"Mmm, that would be... propaganda," the king murmured. "There's obviously an agenda here. It's almost as if they're attempting to hide what happened to your old home."
"Why hide it? They reported that it exploded, so why not just show it? What's the agenda?"
"It's only my guess, don't treat me as if I have all the answers. The rest is up to you. However, if you look closely, you'll notice something quite intriguing..."
The boy watched as his controller typed in a few words, suddenly observing an article popping up on screen. Charts and statistics popped up onto the white background, causing him to lean forward to scan them. After he finished, he was even more confused than he was to begin with.
"This is crazy," he whispered fiercely. "How are EVO rates in towns near Providence going down? We were what kept EVOs at bay in the first place! Without us, they should be appearing in dangerously high levels... and whole cities should be evacuating!"
"Ask yourself, Rex- do you believe these statistics are real?"
The boy gave it some thought, finally sitting back in his chair. "Nah. They're just as fake as the stupid crime scene they made from CGI or whatever. More media lies."
"Unfortunately for you, you're incorrect."
"You're pulling my leg. That's impossible. I've seen what happens to areas where Providence doesn't keep good watch over."
"Yes, well, you're going to have to reevaluate your position," Van Kleiss replied. "I was skeptical myself back when the trend of lessening EVO activity first started, and I stationed Breach and Biowulf in one of these towns to investigate. Surprisingly enough, EVO levels were actually decreasing just as these reports are saying."
Rex dragged his hands down his face, pulling at his lower eyelids. "The world is officially upside down. TV is lying to us for some reason. Statistics are the opposite of what they should be. And I have no clue why."
The king nodded, amused. "It's entertaining to watch you dive deeper into this rabbit hole."
"Well I'm glad you think I'm your little puppet clown or whatever, but that still doesn't solve my problems," the younger EVO snapped. "All I dig up are questions, not answers."
"Have patience. And as punishment, you won't be allowed to investigate for your personal mission for the next three days."
"WHAT?!"
By nightfall, Rex had lost hope in arguing for his time back. It was cruel to give him such curiosity for the outside world and the fate of Providence itself, only to yank it away for having told a simple lie, but such was the style of an evil dictator. The boy writhed underneath his sheets, trying to find comfort. Why hadn't the man told him all of this sooner? Was it an elaborate ploy to get into his mind? To make him trust a madman? What was real anymore? He couldn't quite tell.
Ever since he first began living in Abysus, life felt like walking through a house of mirrors- you know knew of you were facing an illusion, perhaps not until it was too late.
As he pondered over Van Kleiss's true intentions, he noticed an familiar pair of eyes peeking at him through the doorway from the darkness just behind.
Rex nearly jumped out of his skin. "Breach! What are you-"
His words cut off as she raised a finger to her lips.
"I'm not supposed to be here," she whispered, her thin fingers curling over the edge of the door. "I have to go back soon. But I wanted to tell you something."
The boy stared at her.
"I'm still under punishment for lighting up the castle," she went on, her voice slightly wavering. "Listen. There are ears in places you don't think they are. Hands in places where they don't belong. Mouths sewn shut. And they're out for your blood."
Rex retracted his legs under the covers, not in the mindset to deal with this normally. The darkness made everything ten times more spooky, including the girl's riddle saturated speech.
Why couldn't she ever speak normally?
"I heard you talk about Jesus earlier, you know," she murmured, tapping the door. "But if you want to be a Messiah, you're going to have to fight a cult that's going to hunt you down. And... you might get crucified."
Rex frowned, holding his sheets a little tighter.
Breach closed the door, but not before uttering a few last chilling words.
"But if you die a second time, you won't wake up."
