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Chapter Specific Warning(s):
Danger noodle(s), mythological creatures
Opening Notes:
Another extended delay due to a busy second half of summer. Nevertheless, my commitment to this project and its sizable cast of characters remains unchanged. Thank you for your continued patience and be sure to...
Enjoy!
XVI: Of Men and Monsters
Terminus: Containment Labs
Oct-19th, 2034, 11:45
The Doctor
Adrian was lost.
Lost in the stream of his subconsciousness, which replayed the events of the previous hour over and over again.
He relived his initial conversation with Hoffman, which led to the truth behind Rose's episodes, which led to the truth about Vahlen's departure, and then finally to Hoffman's proposal to rectify the fallout of last night's events through the use of what he could only describe as a bastardized psionic network.
The idea itself was madness and likely born out of Hoffman's inability to cope with the fallout of his own departure from Advent. Despite his ever-blooming hatred for the Elders, Adrian wanted no part in harnessing the same fire that forged the horde of malevolent miscreants and monsters that had regrettably made his name commonplace within Advent's Intraspecies division. And after having witnessed firsthand the damage that it wrought while under their employ, all he wanted to do was bury his head in the sand and forget about the pain that he'd succumbed to over the past three years.
Yet here he was, continuing down an ever-narrowing section of tunnels after agreeing to a demo that he now wanted no part in and ultimately sought to escape from. Though Hoffman had offered him a chance to start anew, he was beginning to believe that such an opportunity would surely turn into ashes in his mouth.
And escape to where exactly?
While Rooker proved to be a hammer incapable of discerning anything outside of a nail, Hoffman was a scalpel sharpened by years of pent-up resentment for a woman who had apparently left him out to dry. Indeed, Vahlen had likely betrayed them all, and in doing so, unraveled the very fabric that held Terminus together, at least the darker secrets that lay within these containment labs. Furthermore, as it became ever clearer that the human resistance carried its own monsters within the shadows, all of it only served to remind him of his past.
Yet while he wanted to escape from familiarity, he also sought safety. Unfortunately, it seemed like every hour that he spent in Terminus, worsened the internal struggle that continued to rampage through his mind.
The man attempted to reshuffle his thoughts, but to his mounting horror, they only drifted back to his final recollections within Hoffman's office, forcing him to lift a shaky hand through the turbulent air to feel a set of incorporeal grooves, which danced across his fingertips and allowed the mourning refrain of the phonograph to take hold once more.
His songbird.
His amaryllis.
His sanctuary.
But red soon bled blue, washing away until only a set of reptilian slits remained. Adrian's anxiety then kicked into overdrive and his breathing followed suit, leaving the man submerged in a sea of black that had come to rule over his life. His tremors returned and the horrors that plagued him permeated his brain at an increased rate, however, a muffled voice and cold hand quickly pulled him back into the confines of a dimly light hallway.
"…Dr. Fairchild!"
Adrian pivoted his body to register the hand's owner, who came to tower above him in a lanky fashion. A pair of dirty spectacles failed to hide a pair of hardened emeralds, which matched his own and came to shine against the overhead glow. The man's piercing eyes, pale complexion, and a patchwork of dusty shag that fell against the collar of a tattered lab coat completed the spectral impression.
"Huh?"
"The westernmost area of the containment labs is this way, Dr. Fairchild." The other doctor paused to tilt his head to the side. "Is something the matter? You've been staring at that old mural for quite some time now."
Adrian turned back, finding his hand rested on the feathered body of a massive eagle, which stood proud against a backdrop of conventional armaments. Within one of its sharp talons lay a human soldier, complete with a set of old-world insignias that had come to pit west versus east. In the other, a blackened serpent well within its death throes. A weathered 'don't let them out of your grasp; we will persevere!' was etched against the bottom of the mural, though the rest remained largely illegible.
"I…" A sudden realization dawned on him as he managed to get ahold of himself. "I'm just surprised to find something like this down here, given the humanitarian origins of this place."
The other doctor's crooked teeth morphed into a shallow smile. "Is that what the captain told you last night?" The smile then fell. "No, I'm afraid that such war relics suggest far, far darker origins. Though, I do not fault her for neglecting to shine a light on the more unsettling corners of this place, even more so given current events."
Adrian removed his hand from the dusty mural and took a step back, acknowledging the wayward lights above their heads before gazing across the long hallway and back to the other man, who he'd also met the night prior. Indeed, after his departure, Hoffman made sure that he was left in the hands of his 'most capable assistant,' Dr. Harper.
Thankfully, Adrian managed to recover from his untimely episode just moments before Harper barged back into his life. Because despite the other man's friendly nature, he remained far too energetic about the entire situation, blathering about the intricacies of alien genomes with words far removed from the human vernacular. To his credit, Harper knew his stuff, it was just as their conversation droned on and they continued their way towards the far end of the facility, he was only further reminded of himself.
Before Terminus.
Before Advent.
Before her.
The tremors returned, but Adrian quickly regained control and forced them back underneath the surface, using the worn hearts embedded within his wooden sanctuary as additional leverage against the rising tide. While it was now lighter than when he'd first left New Providence, and he'd since been relieved of his bargaining chip, the man forcible reminded himself that he was at least safe and out of harm's way, especially from that monster in the tower.
And though the dark memory would still remain, at least he managed to enact some form of revenge before officially parting ways with his employer. Hopefully, it would prove to be enough.
"Unsettling indeed," he finally answered, making sure to move the wooden box out of view.
Nevertheless, the white sun above him beat down and opened his mouth to pass judgment.
"I'd ask that you'd forgive my persistence, Dr. Fairchild, but again you've failed to answer my question."
Adrian thought back to their earlier conversation, which had mostly centered around his research and time spent in New Providence, something that Harper was all too quick to gush over despite his best attempts to divert the conversation away from such matters. After all, it was best to just leave the past dead and buried.
"Oh, and which one would that be?" he answered honestly.
Despite adopting a momentary frown, Harper failed to hide the increasing excitement in his voice. "Out of all the alien templates that you worked with while employed under the Elders, which ended up being your favorite?"
"My favorite?"
The question caught Adrian completely off guard. While his initial role saw him as the primary caretaker for a single alien race that he'd largely grown to distrust, his final role saw him work more readily with the other races, much to his discomfort.
Nevertheless, chryssalids and faceless had to be his least favorite by far; they were manipulated to be terror units for a reason. Also, there was little brainpower left over for a personality worth mentioning or attempting to form a meaningful connection with, especially when one considered that the former operated under a sort of hive mind, with the associated queens being a particularly testy bunch.
As for sectoids, the injection of human DNA pushed them well past the point of being creepy and uncanny—mostly due to their overt, skeletal features and oversized eyes. And though they remained obedient in their service to the Elders, their general fragileness prevented the implementation of more extreme adaptations. Furthermore, their single-minded and otherwise dry personalities left much to be desired. Also, he'd long since become leery of anything imbued with psionics.
As for mutons, the brutes mostly acted like they looked, though Adrian couldn't fault them since they were manipulated to respond as such, and he wasn't lying to Rose when he said that he didn't feel comfortable around anything that was bigger than him, which regrettably for the small doctor, was pretty much any muton that he had the great misfortune of crossing paths with.
Regardless, the same could be said about the viper race, which—the dark memory attempted to resurface, but Adrian was surprised to find that his brain instead enacted to dredge forth a happier one, involving one of his first interactions with Marmalade and her apparent, irrational fear of steam radiators. He failed to suppress a smile at the sight of a nine-foot-tall, heavily armed alien, who also happened to be comprised of a mountain of scales and tightly packed muscle, momentarily forgetting her station and cowering behind her 'small doctor,' due to what she later coined as 'funny, banging noises.' Naturally, Marmalade made sure to add in sweeping hand gestures and whooshing noises to convince him that the threat level was critical.
He would later come to comfort the tower of a woman, receiving his first official hug from an extraterrestrial after the ravenous radiator was promptly put out of commission. Of course, Sprout became quite jealous over the fact, destroying the one in her room as a show of strength and luring him into her domain, though her definition of a hug resulted in far less comfort and much more bruising on his end. And while she eventually learned the limits as to what his human body could handle, her reign of terror only continued from there.
Jara would later come along and put the others to shame with her increased size, at least for a time. And as of yesterday, Rose added yet another dimension to the race of giant serpents that he'd ultimately come to fear. However, each viper's undiluted personality was distinct and provided a strange sense of humanness in an otherwise vapid landscape, devoid of creation once the Elders' demands were set in motion.
Humanness.
Indeed, while the dark memory persisted, and the constant push and pull to be the largest and strongest female always put their diminutive caretaker at a disadvantage, he had many more suppressed memories that served to put a warm smile on his face.
"Vipers…" he answered, letting the results of his internal analysis slip through at its conclusion.
The man above him harrumphed. "I guess that I shouldn't be surprised, given where you started and chose to focus much of your efforts, even after you became an Artificer."
Adrian raised an eyebrow, surprised by both of their answers but unwilling to fold to the other scientist. "You disapprove of my answer? Also, I didn't realize that you were aware of the inner workings of Advent's science division?"
Harper shrugged. "Over the years, Hoffman has constantly reminded me of his previous position within Advent and how such experiences have led him to works of greatness while marooned inside the walls of City-23. The general hierarchy of Advent's all too coveted science division has come up more than a handful of times, and your status within Advent wasn't necessarily shrouded from the Resistance."
"He laments ever leaving?"
Harper sighed, pausing as if to find the right words. "Though proud of his achievements, he's never fully stated to me the rationale behind his departure. However, like many here, he was likely never given a choice, and Terminus was only a means to escape persecution from the roving death squads."
Adrian thought about the matter further. "Admittedly, I don't recall Hoffman's name ever passing through the lips of my superiors or being attached to any organizational database that I had access to, which ended up being most of them."
"That's…because it was probably scrubbed from the records or he assumed another identity, which isn't uncommon for those who chose to flee to the relative safety of Terminus."
Adrian remembered the false identification papers that Rooker had secured them as they attempted to escape to the outer reaches of New Providence. He ran a hand across the back of his head, noting the bandages that covered his newfound scars, thanks to the removal of his own chip. Nevertheless, the first name transcribed on the document matched that of the man in front of him.
"Eugene, was it? I thought that name to be rather peculiar once I came into contact with the Resistance's extraction team. If you don't mind me asking, what ultimately led you to Terminus in the first place?"
Once again, the man before him paused, looking down the dim hallway before adjusting the collar on his lab coat and allowing his lips to cut through the silence. "I used to run a small clinic; family owned and ultimately passed down through multiple generations. We…handled just about anything and thrived despite everything." Harper's voice took on a noticeable edge as he suddenly balled his fists. "However, as you can probably imagine, all of that came to an abrupt end once the world split in two and Advent assumed control of its city centers." He then allowed the built-up tension to leave his body.
"After that, I turned to the Resistance for aid, hoping to cast a wider net through my research. Eventually, my work got me noticed and I was placed into direct contact with a certain Moira Vahlen, whom I initially looked up to in the hopes of fixing a world that had fallen to pieces."
Adrian's eyes widened at the mention of Dr. Vahlen. "Which made her departure sting even more," he surmised. Though, the other man neglected to add another word, so Adrian opened his mouth in an attempt to fill the void. "Fair enough, but you've yet to answer as to why you hold vipers in such low regard."
The frown returned to Harper's face as the other scientist removed his spectacles in an effort to clean them. "I needn't remind you of the situation that we faced within these labs just before your arrival to Terminus, which has only served to cement my opinion on their kind. As for the viper responsible, I've long since warned the others that Subject Delta couldn't be trusted, much like her impetuous handler."
Adrian ignored the mention of Rooker and instead focused on Rose. "Based on my experience, it's not that she can't be trusted, it's just that she's losing control of her body. And it certainly didn't help matters that you went after another tissue sample without properly accounting for your patient's condition."
"You don't know Delta, doctor. At this point, I'd wager that she'd do anything to escape that cell, even pretend to be something she's not."
"And what's that, doctor?" Adrian answered, his voice taking on its own edge.
Harper briefly looked up. "Human. Besides, the early red flags of such a condition were readily apparent if one cared enough to look for them, but those involved were much too proud to admit that their golden goose wasn't what she seemed."
Adrian sighed, acknowledging the unspoken friction that still permeated throughout the labs. "Maybe. You'll have to forgive my bluntness, Harper, but you don't seem too keen on Hoffman's handling of the matter. Also, if you don't mind me asking, where were you in all of this?"
Harper returned his attention to Adrian momentarily, giving the doctor a short appraisal before resuming his work on the worn pair of glasses.
"That tends to happen when you're left to hopelessly watch a colleague die and struggle to keep the other alive despite a myriad of burns doing their utmost to prove you a liar and a fool. And I don't mind, because during the attack and after Vahlen's betrayal, I was tending to what remained of my research."
Adrian acknowledged the implications of Harper's claim, now willing to press the matter further. "Hoffman said that she managed to clean the labs out of anything related to the test subjects that she departed with, my past research included."
Harper's previous anger resurfaced.
"Vahlen threatened to ruin everything and chose to make off with our most promising prospect! Beta was so close to being ready…" He then placed a hand on the nearby wall for support, eyeing the serpent still trapped in the eagle's talons, "…and everything just cascaded from there." After a brief pause, the other man righted himself and looked back at Adrian. "While I've come to detest that snake and the one that I was forced to administer the sweet kiss of death, I wish to erase such events from my memory and move on. Also, I'm not foolhardy enough to go against Hoffman's wishes."
Adrian's thoughts momentarily drifted to the deceased viper suspended in Hoffman's office. "You worked closely with Subject Sigma as well?"
Harper nodded. "As I said, for a time, but only to the extent that Hoffman would allow, and despite him owing much of said advances to my research."
"And you also chose to keep her existence a secret from Vahlen?" he asked.
The other man shrugged. "As she kept secrets from us, and I was never given a choice in the matter. If the events of the last few days are anything to go by, doctor—everyone lies."
Adrian frowned at the notion. "So, despite your persistence to discern your research from Hoffman's, he ultimately controls everything inside these labs?"
Harper offered his own sigh before repositioning the spectacles onto his face and looking Adrian straight in the eyes. "I suspect that you've gathered as much during your first interaction with him. Even before Vahlen's betrayal and him assuming her role, at the end of the day, what's his was his, and what's mine…was his."
Adrian allowed his own disappointment to show through but chose to continue his line of questioning. "Then why not attempt to seek greener pastures or take your grievances straight to the major?"
Harper offered up a smile. "And go where exactly?" He motioned to the heavily reinforced door at the end of the hallway. "In case you haven't noticed, doctor, we're already standing at the edge of the world. As for the major, I'm sure you've already witnessed his stubborn sentiments with regard to such topics." Harper then looked towards the mural, his previous excitement returning once more.
"Regardless, I've long since determined that the best place to pursue my talents is here. And despite Vahlen's best efforts to prevent us from carrying forward, we still stand at the precipice of a major scientific breakthrough, and I won't allow years of research to be for naught thanks to the actions of a few bad actors. Also, I now stand before the very man that served as inspiration."
While Adrian felt a sense of pride initially well up inside of him, it quickly dried up as the consequences of his past took hold. "You should have little reason to celebrate my work, Harper. After all, I'm only human and…just looking to forget the past and hopefully start over."
Harper's radiant smile darkened and he raised an eyebrow. "You truly regret your time spent working with such creatures?"
Adrian turned his attention back to the dying serpent, whose foreign blood remained splattered across the talons of the proud eagle. "I've come to regret a lot of things, doctor…" He then shifted his gaze to meet the pair of emeralds hovering overhead. "But enough about me. Hoffman practically demanded my attendance at a demonstration of your improvised network, so let's see what you have for me."
[—]
The Pilot
[ Hold still. ]
"I'm trying, girl. It's just that—"
A hand the size of his torso moved to block his view of the viper above him, who had since lost access to her jet-black undergarment, which had admittedly done a poor job of covering up her upper torso in the first place. And despite his continued protests that she shouldn't look down on herself in such a light, her timid nature dictated that he wouldn't be allowed to directly address the monolithic serpent behind him.
Rose had also chosen to defer them updating her uhm…measurements, because it would evidently give her caretaker another reason to leave her enclosure. Though, she'd also forgone the use of her favorite, rosebud blanket once they were situated outside of her home, which he found rather odd but neglected to press the matter further.
Being pulled back into the present, Rooker grunted as his wide foundation suddenly shifted and a sharp talon moved to gently pivot his head ninety degrees.
[ For the last time, eyes forward and no peeking! Otherwise, - be forced to - additional measures. ]
Rooker grumbled at her persistence but offered no additional protests, choosing instead to straddle the section of coils that Rose typically lined with her favorite stuffed animals before bedtime—another childhood habit that persisted into adulthood and set her at ease.
Seemingly satisfied at his renewed silence, Rose lowered the human on her tail back into the shallow depths of what had come to be his organic prison, which was used to conduct invasive cleaning operations on his body. Though it was Rose who ultimately used the dreaded, four-letter word once the stench of the surface reached her tongue, much to his chagrin, he was the one who had originally egged her on.
Bath, with a 'time' attached to the end of it and specifically designated for him.
The man sighed and looked down into the murky waters, noting the tight swim trunks that Rose happened to pick out for him amongst her own hidden stash, which she neglected to shed additional light on, outside of claiming that they were used as inspiration for her latest artwork, whatever that meant. Naturally, her favorite ended up being the one covered in 80s floral, which also made him look like a complete dip. Though, he didn't have the heart to tell her no once she began to bounce up and down out of giddy excitement for his selected attire.
Rooker sighed once more, placing both of his hands on the heated surface for additional leverage. Though he wasn't allowed to look directly at the serpent herself, she refused to permit him to bathe without the aid of her tail, which was feeling more and more like a crimson school bus meant to keep him on the straight and narrow.
Funny enough, back when Rose was small, bath time was meant to be a joyous occasion, at least for the red and white serpent, who seemed more duck than snake and couldn't help but constantly direct dirty water into the eyes of her disgruntled human as she played with her specially designated bath toys, which also included an array of Advent Burger meal figurines. Silvester the Sectoid was probably her favorite, though Chrissy the Chryssalid wasn't too far behind.
While it took several months of scavenging within Advent-controlled sectors to complete her collection, the happy trills stemming from the little ball of scales made the hazardous trips worth the effort, especially after Katarina pulled him into her office and forced him into providing evidence to the fruits of his labor. Without getting into the messy details, the woman was less than thrilled to make the acquaintance of Murry the Muton, and he spent the remainder of the night in a cold cell. Though, Kat was never cruel enough to destroy or confiscate any of the viper's future toys.
Rooker smiled at the memory but shook his head and refocused his efforts on the problem at hand—imminent escape from his perilous position.
After several failed attempts to assist Rose with tidying up her room, he was officially placed in a holding pattern atop what they'd long designated as the 'talk rock' while she went about her business. Thankfully, he was rescued from his designated timeout and then safely returned to the observation wing once the large serpent was satisfied and assured that he wasn't able to scurry off in an effort to retrieve Adrian. Of course, Rose achieved this by requesting that they hold hands the entire way, with his being swallowed up by a protective barrier of scales.
Upon arrival to the observation wing, Rooker quickly determined that the strange doctor had chosen to unload a fifty caliber round into his only bathtub, destroying the functionality of its showerhead in the process. Fortunately, any water damage was contained and nothing of notable value was lost. Though he was still lost as to the rationale behind such an asinine decision, Adrian's misstep effectively left him without an excuse to hurl Rose's way. The viper also made sure to squeeze as much of herself through the front entryway as possible to assess the situation, blocking a straightforward departure on his end before offering the damning suggestion that the water basin would be more than sufficient to enact such invasive procedures.
Matters were only made worse once Rose got her armored hips stuck in the doorway, warping the frame and dislodging the door entirely after her caretaker was forced to come to her rescue, which involved a healthy mix of elbow (and actual) grease. However, despite a fresh round of heartfelt apologies stemming from the thoroughly embarrassed serpent, she remained steadfast in her endeavor to 'make it up to' and 'take care of' him as well.
So here he was, shirtless, old scars exposed to the world, and trapped within another loose coil of crimson scales, which pretty much served as an inflatable pool and guarded any possibility of escape while their reptilian owner proceeded to empty an entire bottle of shampoo onto his head and mash it between a colossal pair of hands. Bless her heart though, the big girl was trying her best to make him feel comfortable.
However, the continued rebukes about his inability to sit still had finally gotten the better of him. "I'm trying not to move, but you keep getting shampoo in my eyes!" he complained and then chanced another glance backwards, earning an endearing yelp from the red and white viper, who made sure to slap him across the face with the tip of her tail.
"Ow. What was that for?!"
[ I warned you what - happen, so stop being - whiny neonate. ]
"I'm not being a whiny neonate, you're just…" He paused to clear his clouded vision with a free hand before dipping it back into the water out of exasperation. "Your signs are hard to understand from this position. Also, I look like a complete and utter fool in these undersized swim trunks."
[ Nonsense, you look fine; that pair complements your figure rather nicely. ]
Rooker froze, looking down at his posterior. While Kat had made off-hand comments about the size of his ass in the past, he never actually acknowledged the claim or asked for Rose's opinion on the matter. After all, she had reservations about the size of her own hips, which had worked against her just fifteen minutes prior.
But Rose couldn't have seriously just complimented him on it? He looked back down as if to start a second appraisal but caught himself in the process.
No. She was just trying to cheer him up and didn't actually mean it.
Nevertheless, now feeling more than a little self-conscious, the man shifted his attention to the viper situated immediately behind him.
"I-I don't see what the big deal is if I just turn around every so often?"
His final question earned him another gentle slap from the giant alien, whose tail once again refocused his attention away from her after he caught wind of the tightening scales across her muzzle.
[ Because I'm naked, Rooker. And…embarrassed about - aspects of my body. ]
Rooker frowned, failing to hide his growing frustration with the stubborn viper, who continued with another round of carefully placed head pats meant to work in the shampoo and compress him further against her body, though the warmth that propagated from the oversized hand did feel somewhat comforting. She then dipped both hands into the basin, proceeding to dunk the human in another torrent of water that forced him to latch on to a thick appendage out of fear of being washed away. After recovering, he reshuffled himself against the crimson barrier, which largely block his view of the outside world, and tensed even further as a result of his exposed backside rubbing against her reinforced hide.
"Rose, at this point, I'm pretty sure that even a Greek goddess would be hopelessly outmatched by that body of yours."
The viper above him huffed in disagreement.
[ That's not the point, Rooker. I've read the magazines, and none of them included a…scaled giant with a tail and an oversized hood. ]
His frown deepened at her continued reliance on dirty magazines to complete the picture of what a woman ought to look and act like. At some point, he was also going to get to the bottom of who was supplying her with such inaccurate sources of information.
"Trust me, you have everything that they have and more. And so what if you can bench-press a man by barely lifting your finger, have sharp claws, fangs, venom glands, and a tail to boot? Those are the marks of a powerful yet gentle woman if I've ever seen one."
[ Or one who's destined to be alone. I'm just too…exotic. ]
The man pivoted his body to face her, causing his foundation to shake and the bashful serpent to cover herself once more while also looking towards the pebbled ground that lay at the base of her tail. She also made sure to lean further against a nearby cliffside, which groaned under the added weight. The thick coils around him tightened even further out of apprehension as their owner released another downtrodden whine, which was drowned out by the veins of water flowing against her opposite hand.
"So, then you're exotic. Pardon my French, but I don't give a crap about what a 'woman' should look like to begin with. Because any man worth his salt should be able to look you straight in the eyes and see the value that you bring to this world, baggage and all."
Rose shifted her attention from the tip of her tail back to him and offered up the smallest of smiles, hesitantly releasing her hand from her chest in order to address him, though his blue eyes remained locked with her red ones.
[ While your words are always appreciated, Rooker. It's just becoming harder and harder to accept who I am, especially after all the damage that I've done and…the lives that I've ruined in the process. My last interaction with Adrian was just another painful mark in a growing list of mistakes, and I fear that my next one will end another life. ]
All the while, she made sure to find solace in the ground as the wind fell from her sail and her petals wilted alongside it.
[ I didn't ask to be this way and wish that I was just an ordinary human—a colorless rose in a mundane world far removed from this place, and without the tail or additional sets of baggage, as you've rightfully stated. ]
Rooker sighed, knowing full well that her internal struggle would continue to hold her back, even if she were to be granted access to the rest of Terminus. "We all make mistakes, Rose; that's just how life works."
Despite his best efforts, the serpent failed to respond, instead dipping a five-fingered hand back into the basin and watching the streams of water pass over the gradient of her natural armor.
The man allowed his own gaze to drift downward, skirting the crimson scales covering her shoulder blades and prominent neckline until he found the alien symbols painted across a wide, segmented abdominal section, which flexed as a result of her shortening breaths. Though her origins were disconcerting and her brands marked her as anything but human, he'd long since dropped the distinction and only saw her for who she was on the inside.
"Every rose has its thorn, girl. But one would be foolish to dismiss the innate beauty that sets each apart—I need you to look at me."
The viper slowly shifted her eyes back to him, a sense of hopelessness welling up inside of them. She had been through so much in so little time, and he figured that their struggles were far from over. However, Rose deserved a momentary reprieve from the hardships that had come to plague her existence.
"What's it going to take for you to realize that you're worth more than all of those women combined?"
[ I…don't know. And the stress of trying to become one of them has only been amplified these past couple of years. I just hate being a continued disappointment while also confined to this cell and…being alone. ]
"So don't."
Rose raised a scaly eye-ridge at his two-word response.
[ Pardon me? ]
Rooker paused their conversation in order to grab hold of one of the great coils floating next to him, though, after repeated struggles and some assistance from the serpent herself, he finally managed to be hoisted to higher ground, turning back to the tail's owner who continued to look on in confusion.
"Don't try to be like them and instead be yourself."
The viper looked on in disbelief.
[ And how exactly am I supposed to do that? ]
Rooker thought for a moment, then crouched to support himself on the edge of Rose's tail, motioning for her to come closer with an opposite hand. Though understandably hesitant, the giant serpent covered herself and shifted to loom over him, casting a dark shadow thanks to her sizable hood, which fluttered in anticipation. Eventually, she managed to lower herself enough to reach Rooker's level, maintaining a raised eye ridge that opened the floor to him.
Rose's caretaker failed to hide a smirk as he closed the remaining distance and whispered into her closest ear-hole, pushing past the petals lining her hood. "By channeling a little of that 'crimson dragoness' from your past, taking a chance, and…living a little."
With little hope of dunking her sizable head outright, the man instead leaned over his organic buoy to cup a handful of water, directing it towards the unsuspected viper, who reeled back in surprise as it harmlessly splashed against her muzzle. While a happy coo soon followed, Rooker had no intention of sticking around for Rose to enact her revenge, jumping straight for a secondary set of coils and clambering his way to the opposite end of the basin.
Turning around, Rooker looked on as Rose exhaled through the slits in her muzzle as if to release a puff of smoke. She then adopted a regal stance with her prominent petals flared outward and proceeded to glare down at the human trespasser.
[ Thee dare interrupt the basking of a crimson dragoness and tarnish her pristine scales with thy dirty hands, tiny mortal. What say thee in thy defense? ]
Though she still moved to cover herself after the damning set of accusations, Rooker's plan was officially set in motion, allowing him to clear his throat and address the towering reptile on the opposite bank.
"Twas meant to be a remedy for having read the forbidden scrolls, O fair and magnificent dragoness. However, I fear that there's much to be done in these foreign lands, so I, Sir Rooker of House Onions, beseech thee, scaly deviant, to confess the name of the one who supplied thee with such moral decadence."
[ Scaly deviant? Onions? ]
The crimson dragoness blushed heavily, clasped her hands behind her back, and lightly swayed her armored hips at his selected word choice but soon recovered and stuck out her forked tongue in utter contempt for the man before her.
[ Nay, smelly knight. Such a name shalt escape my scaly lips, for it is thee, a witless lambkin in this sacred basin, who must atone for thy tiny sins. ]
"Smelly, witless, tiny?!" Rooker feigned his own disgust, pumping out his chest as a show of strength. "Bah! Thee are but a hatchling whence compared to thy ancestors, and I've wrestled rock giants of far greater renown!"
Rose leaned forward in order to appraise the tiny knight, drinking in a set of determined eyes before stopping at his chest, which remained devoid of any armor that could've saved him from her burning gaze. While he was far from Mr. Olympia in terms of muscle definition, years of scavenging on the surface and trying to keep up with an adolescent viper had kept him in shape, and had also earned him more than a few scars, which the viper in question gradually followed down to his belly-button, biting the underside of her lip in the process. Naturally, such a prominent feature proved to be endless fun for the little neonate, who eventually twisted his arm into joining her during her profound water expeditions.
However, now many times that size, Rose looked on with the same fascination before deliberately tracing the contours of his waist once more. Though, as the seconds continued to tick by, an air of awkwardness set in and Rooker moved to clear his throat.
"Uhm…"
The crimson dragoness quickly shifted her eyes back to him, giving the knight a sharp meep and a worried expression before recovering and adopting another noble stance.
[ The insignias on thy quaint set of breeches tell of a very different tale, onion knight. Are thee perhaps instead a court jester, or were thee mugged in the streets while begging for bread and coin? ]
Rooker looked down at his flowery pants, giving them a hasty adjustment before addressing his reptilian accuser on the opposite end of the basin. "Nay, these were given to me by the fair Maiden of Roses, and to leave for battle without them would besmirch her honor and bear the full wrath of the gods."
Again, Rose's proud stance softened at the mention of such a maiden, causing her attention to shift towards the observation wing in the distance. However, the moment was fleeting as she stretched herself to full height and puffed out her hood in a full display of supremacy.
[ More lies. For no rose maiden would ever reserve herself to a lowly onion knight. And as for thy gods, you'll already bear the full weight of their judgment by choosing to give in to carnal desire and lay with an unsuspected, flowered dragoness. ]
"I'll have—wait, what now?"
The scaled colossus offered him an anxious smile, but her red eyes also took on a noticeable shine as she removed a shaky hand from her chest. She then steadied herself to the best of her ability, striking a sideways pose and allowing gravity to draw his attention to the curvature of her figure, which she made sure to accentuate with a roll of her hips. Surprisingly, Rose appeared to have taken his earlier descriptor to heart and was now running with it.
[ Of course, tiny mortal. Why else bathe within this water basin, point out my, uhm…obvious beauty, and repeatedly attempt to gaze upon my naked form? ]
"Oh, I uhhhhhh...a name," Rooker managed to squeak out in an attempt to circle back, turning a shade of red far removed from that of an onion.
Rose had officially put him on the back foot as a result of the lewd insinuation, making it impossible to hide the genuine unsteadiness in his own voice. And unfortunately for him, her hand gestures lacked the playful inflections that would've usually tipped him off to her less than deviant intentions, though her widening smile and sudden spike in confidence, matched by an increase in tongue flicks definitely came across as a bad omen, at least for him. Nevertheless, he wasn't one to be bested by such antics.
"Thy deviant tricks will not work on me, amorous beast. For it is only a name that I require from thee, and the maiden I seek remains confined within her castle."
His attempt to deflect her blow only served to cement the fanged grin on her face.
[ Names aren't given freely, onion knight. Though boredom has stirred a fire deep within my bosom, and I sincerely doubt that thy frilly, human maiden can compete with the likes of dragoness. ]
Rose turned back to him, leaning forward in order to allow him to gaze down the canyon of her exposed cleavage, which had reached the point to soundly settle a mere mortal, such as himself, within its comforting grasp. Maybe it was the light or the lower position that he currently found himself in, but as the heavy orbs continued to be pulled towards the earth as a result of her light tremors, he was left to stand before her like a slack-jawed idiot.
Her heavy breaths were also doing him no favors, driving the celestial bodies to the bounds of the universe and linking him directly to her waist, which carried prominent peaks that refused to stand idle alongside the rest of the viper, drawing further attention to the voluptuous valley that lay between.
For he was now the one acknowledging the other's contours, and while Rose lacked the definite teats of a human woman, the softer scales covering her chest and sturdy knolls that defined her thighs paid homage to the human DNA that had been spliced into her genetic code. Though, it was ultimately the unfamiliar, alien side of her body that piqued his interest the most.
Rose was exotic, the Elders saw to this themselves, but she was also beautiful in every sense of the word, and only a limp-dick fool would state otherwise. However, this fact was coupled with a growing problem that stemmed from deep within him, and one that he earnestly hoped to avoid.
[ …so I offer thee a friendly wager. ]
And to his growing horror, a similar kind of fire stirred within his heart, causing him to hesitate further, a reaction that the dragoness immediately picked up on and earned the knight a diminishing smile alongside a self-pacifying gesture. However, Rooker swiftly shook off the dangerous thought and offered a comforting smile to the disheartened serpent. He then reminded himself that it was all just a game, one that they had played countless times in the past. Rose had filled out significantly since then, but she was still his Rose, and he refused to treat her as anything less or let her fall back into the darkest depths of her shell.
After reining in his unhealthy curiosities, the poorly-equipped knight resumed his role, massaging his ebony beard in thought. "Hmm…a friendly wager? Though I expect all manner of trickery from the likes of thy kind, I come only with noble intentions and also wish to avoid bloodshed between our respected races. Very well, I fear naught from an overstuffed kobold."
The dragoness huffed, straightening herself in order to push up her snout and gaze down upon him.
[ Thy overconfidence is thy weakness, tiny knight. ]
"And thy faith in such scrolls is yours, giant beast."
Her reptilian eyes moved to acknowledge his claim, eventually shifting to a winding appendage, which would make short work of the human trespasser should she decide to use it. Rose took an additional couple of moments to bask at their size discrepancy, biting her lower lip a second time with an extended fang as an idea appeared to formulate inside of her head.
[ Mmmh. Very well, human. If thee can best me through a show of strength, the name that thee so desperately seek shall be yours. ]
"Great, now if you'd just—wait, a show of what now?"
Rose made sure to flaunt the muscles in her body, which rippled against the overhead light and may as well have been chiseled out of stone. She then clasped her hands together and cast her sinuous shadow over him once more.
[ Thee claimed to hast wrestled with the likes of giants, I'm now curious how you'll doth against this one. And when I prevail, you'll be putting those cute, human hands to work, to alleviate…some undesired back pain. ]
However, despite Rose's best efforts to continue the role, the accidental mention of the word 'cute' sent her scales into a frenzy and worked against her as the display of confidence faltered. The self-pacifying gesture returned in full force and Rose soon turned her back to him, suddenly unsure of herself despite the powerful muscles that tensed along her backside.
Rooker couldn't help but release a boisterous laugh, which drew a concerned set of eyes back to him. "So, it's ultimately a concubine that thee seek, scaly deviant. Shall I also come to paint thy talons and powder thy snout?" He paused to allow the heavy formation of a blush to spread across the very same snout. The dragoness also made sure to close her eyes and clasp her hands behind her waist, waiting for certain damnation from her human prosecutor. "Hmmm…very well. When I prevail, I shall also show thee the error of thy ways, bringing thee closer to the faith."
[ A-another vassal would be more appropriate, and only a back massage would suffice, at least for now. ]
Rose's hands then steadied, the sly expression returned to the striped maw, and her reptilian eyes shined once more, compelling the hybrid to gaze towards a pair of stuffed cobras, who quietly sat on an elevated ledge and continued to watch over them from a respectable distance. She then turned back, enacting to bounce up and down like an unloaded spring as the lightbulb flickered on once more inside of her head. The water between them acknowledged her powerful quakes, sending additional currents his way.
[ Oh! Other vassals under my wing have caught wind that the legendary Burgers of Advent are traveling by carriage through these lands. When thee are officially bested, these delicious burgers must finally be brought to me. ]
The knight offered another laugh. "And allow thee to grow even larger? I fear that I would then require the assistance of a mage to contain thy slithering form."
Rooker paused to look at the injection sites on her arm. Despite the countless injections that she'd had over the years, the big girl still hated needles, which had to be steadily increased alongside her. Even this morning, Rose put up a fuss about receiving her latest growth inhibitor, even going as far as to say that she didn't require them anymore. However, they both knew that her unique mutations would just result in her ballooning in size at an uncontrollable rate. Though, he didn't blame her for taking extra precautions by putting him in a secure place afterwards, in case she experienced similar blowback like yesterday.
As for the mage, it was difficult enough to get Adrian to even look at Rose at her current size. Though it sounded like Rose was able to speak to Adrian in private, he was sure that an even larger Rose would eventually prove too much for the comparatively tiny doctor.
[ And if I were to best thee and become an even larger dragoness, one that could potentially outgrow this entire forest. Would thee still remain by my side? ]
Rooker looked back up into a worried set of eyes. Despite convincing himself that this was just another one of their games, he knew full well that Rose would take his next response to heart, as it could very well directly impact her life moving forward, should they fail to find a solution in time.
"Thee could grow to the point where thy tail wraps around the entirety of Earth, and I would still honor our pact. I'd be thy tiny onion knight, and protect thy name with my dying breath."
The dragoness failed to suppress a series of quakes along her jawline and even allowed for a solitary tear to streak down her striped muzzle, however, it soon evaporated and Rose's former confidence returned. She even offered him a wink as the clawed hands raised once more.
[ Thy honeyed words are soothing to my ears. When thee prove thy worth, additional passageways may be opened to thee. ]
While Rose's second insinuation proved to direct additional heat to his face, Rooker coughed and stuck out his chest. He refused to allow her to see him in such a weakened state.
"Nevertheless, I too hast heard the tales of such burgers; however, you'll be brought to the faith lengthy before such delicacies kiss thy scaly lips. And once all scrolls hast been extinguished from these lands, the dragoness before me shall also be free from such wicked temptation."
Rose raised an eye ridge and let out a distasteful hiss, sticking out a good portion of her tongue in the process.
[ We shall see, onion knight. But thee must first prove thy worth through a show of strength. ]
Rooker smirked. "But a show of strength through wrestling? Wouldn't I meet an untimely end at the base of thy tail? After all, tavern bards sing of such a tale, one involving a certain, slithering dragoness and her disgruntled, two-legged companion."
The secondary reminder ignited a flash of dread across Rose's maw, causing her mask of composure to evaporate in an instant, and she almost looked ready to abort their game entirely. However, she instead stopped to acknowledge the knight's claim with another undulation of her hips and an endearing whine. The troubled dragoness then shifted her gaze down to him.
[ Such tales are cause for concern, tiny knight. And a vassal in the shape of a pancake would prove most unproductive when it came time to add thee to my hoard and…collect on that massage. ]
"Fully acknowledging my worth? And only after an offering of honey within a whirlwind of banter," he cut in, earning himself another shy smile as Rose briefly looked away, homing back in on the pair of red and white serpents sitting in the distance. Though David was no longer with them, she appeared to draw additional confidence from her remaining brothers.
[ This dragoness is just concerned about protecting her investment, however… ]
Her smile then grew, and she further lifted her hands to frame the knight with her clawed fingers.
[ …fun-sized he may be. ]
Rooker furrowed his brow. He was far from 'fun-sized' and definitely not cute, as she had stated earlier. "Hmpf. It matters not the size of the man, but rather the sword that he carries along his belt. Also, I'll have thee know that I'm of average height for a human male!"
[ But the knight before me carries no sword, unless... ]
Rose hesitated but then suddenly broke out into an uncharacteristic string of husky chortles, evidently far more amused by the double entendre than himself, which only served to add further coloration to his face. However, the man brought ruination upon himself with his poor word choice. And unfortunately for him, the lightbulb inside Rose's head burned even brighter once her happy titters died down, a conceited expression formed across her striped maw, and the clawed hands raised once again.
[ So, thee're saying thy prick is of only average merit? A shame. I now feel for thy captured maiden, who surely awaits disappointment within her bedchamber upon thy return. Though, I suspect that she's even tinier than yourself. ]
The stench of Rose's smugness had since made it downwind to him. Indeed, the scaly dragoness was quite pleased with herself for having twisted his words to her benefit, even completing the same little dance on her tail that had been so commonplace when she was a bright-eyed neonate. Though, he was now more than happy to fight fire with fire.
"Bigger actually, though thee're far outside of her weight class and will prove rather…troublesome to bring into submission. Nevertheless, it'll be I who has the last laugh once thee feel the cold, hard sting of my sword!"
His uncalculated response only widened the expression on her maw.
[ I look forward to witnessing such an attempt, onion knight. But given thy…diminutive size, I propose another challenge, one that will prove which race is truly the most cunning. ]
"Cunning? Huh, I'm not sure that I entirely follow…"
Rose's eyes suddenly collapsed into slits, and the look that she gave him turned downright deadly, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end as the giant serpent crouched towards the earth, unable to control the persistent tail wiggles, which gathered a sizable mound of pebbles at her base.
[ The first to avoid capture or being submerged in the water basin shall be declared the winner! ]
Rose's torso lowered even further until it fully skimmed the surface, with the rest of her sinuous body coiled in anticipation alongside a forked tongue that rapidly lapped at the pheromones in the air. Despite the continued lewd insinuations, she had fully assumed her role and looked the happiest that he'd seen her in months. Unfortunately, the mountain of a woman was also directing her full attention his way, with a newfound hunger in her eyes, which now appeared far removed from that of delicious burgers.
"Capture? What in the world are you…" The man ran a hand through his hair, which remained damp thanks to Rose's earlier efforts to play caretaker. While she had ultimately done well, and he was now far from the 'smelly knight' that she depicted during their earlier banter, he was also reminded of the wounds that continued to hamper his response times and had yet to be redressed by his slithering doctor.
"…Oh."
Rooker's eyes grew as wide as saucers as a final realization dawned on him. Rose was now intending to bring back another childhood game that she was always fond of, and unfortunately for him, such a game involved excessive amounts of cardio on his end.
The caretaker hastily looked down at his feet, acknowledging his lack of proper footwear and the fact that his favorite pair currently sat on the opposite end of the water basin, closest to the communicator that Katarina had left in his care and the giant serpent who had prepared herself for an impending strike.
He shifted his attention towards the stone archway leading to the pseudo-rainforest that would likely serve as his best cover and then pivoted back up into a set of predacious eyes, guarded by waves of throaty coos and a further increase in giddy tail wiggles, which would've been cute, had it not been attached to an eighteen-foot tall serpent intending to use it for his capture.
Adrian had not fared well in terms of keeping pace with Rose yesterday, and Rooker knew full well that he would struggle in a similar fashion. For it was another David versus Goliath scenario, and Goliath in this case happened to be a genetically engineered serpent, who had obsessed over the power dynamic between mythological creatures and their human counterparts as a budding adolescent, which in hindsight, could very well have come back to bite him in the proverbial ass.
The pilot glanced down at his flowery posterior with the viper quickly following suit.
Well…actual ass if his scaly predator was to eventually have her way with him.
"Rose, I think that it's maybe best if we wait until I've—"
[ This is the part where you run, Rooker. And please make sure to struggle a bit while you're at it. That only makes it more fun for both of us! ]
Her.
She meant that it made things a lot more fun for herself.
Rose's caretaker sighed. Who was he to deny her another happy moment? And…she remembered to sign the magic word like he'd taught her all those years ago. Rooker took one final breath before fully accepting his fate. Hopefully, the cameras surrounding her enclosure were still on the fritz and no one would barge in on them during their game, otherwise, he'd have a lot more explaining to do.
Regardless, they were already up shit's creek, so why not make things a bit more interesting? He just had to remember what he said in the past to kick things off.
Though, it didn't take long for the memories to come flooding back, causing Rose's prey to offer her a wide grin that was only outshined by her own.
Rooker then cleared his throat and adopted his best battle stance.
"Have at you, you oversized, pulchritudinous lizard!"
[—]
The Doctor
"Right this way, doctor. We've all but one more door to pass through before we've reached their cells."
Adrian felt his way through the elongated hallway, which somehow proved to be even darker than the ones that he'd just left. Thankfully, the rods in his eyes were finally beginning to adjust to the low ambient light. However, he was still left to fumble in the dark behind Dr. Harper, whose emeralds occasionally glanced back to make sure that he hadn't strayed too far off the beaten path.
"I feel like you've said that a couple of times now," Adrian answered.
Harper offered up a quick laugh. "Terminus is truly a city within the depths of an even larger one." His expression then darkened. "Though it's a shame that our research was relegated to this far corner of the labs, nearest that decrepit hydroelectric station, while Rooker and his viper continued to lay claim to the more accessible, forward containment cell."
Adrian paused. Given the way Rooker went after Harper the night prior, he knew full well that the two didn't see eye-to-eye, much like Hoffman, but he was still curious as to the other man's thoughts. "Something tells me that you don't necessarily approve of the man?"
"What's not to like?" Harper replied, his voice dripping with cynicism. "He's bad-tempered, overprotective, and an all-around brutish bastard every time he's around his own kind, but I'm sure that you've gathered as much by being stuck with the man for the last week or so."
In truth, Adrian still didn't much care for the hot-headed pilot. But the way in which Rooker acted earlier around Rose and during his crimson confessions had spelled out a very different man. "Rooker…has definitely got his rough patches, but when he's around that red viper, he's somewhat less of an insufferable oaf."
His response earned him another curt laugh from the lanky doctor. "Only marginally less, I suppose." Harper's expression shifted once more as he turned to intercept the last blast door between them and the final containment lab. "But enough of the hound and that overzealous snake of his. There are more important matters to attend to at this time, and you're now free of both miscreants."
While Adrian could live without the likes of Rooker meddling in his affairs, the better half of him kept replaying his final moments inside Rose's enclosure, before Hoffman ultimately stepped in and rescued him. It showed him a creature of immense size and power, one meant to maim, poison, and crush anything in its path. It showed him something that may as well have spawned from the gates of hell, considering the way in which it slithered across the earth. And it showed him the same species that he'd forced himself to hate indiscriminately and without remorse.
Because he had repeatedly told himself that life was easier that way. He was safer, more secure, and would have an easier time letting go of the thoughts that would come to haunt him nearly every night of his life, or at least that's what he had desperately clung to for so long.
Throughout that time, he'd become a rather anxious man, and it was all thanks to them.
However, the events of this morning showed him that Rose wasn't what he thought she'd be. And there was a certain calming aura about her when he looked directly into her gentle eyes, one that seemed to chain the dark memory and subdue the tremors that he was forced to wrestle with almost continuously. In fact, the man had only found such peace in the eyes of one other person in his life, which—the memory resurfaced, but Adrian was quick to seek refuge in his wooden sanctuary and ride out the waves, which ceased soon after and relinquished control over his body. Thoroughly shaken and at continued war with himself, Adrian hastily shifted his attention back up into a pair of emeralds, which still awaited a response.
"A-apologies, doctor. I've dealt with countless monsters in my time, and all of this excitement must've served to jumpstart a recollection from the past." He felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face as Harper raised an eyebrow at his open response.
"Human or otherwise?"
The other man's eyes traced their way down to his wooden box, which Adrian had failed to obscure in time, though, he made sure to correct his mistake immediately before directly addressing the question.
"Both."
Harper offered up a soft chuckle. "Then I suppose you'll feel right at home within City-23 after all."
With that, Harper walked towards a keypad on the side of the door, punching in an eight-digit code before reaching for a palm scanner, which flickered green and compelled the heavy pylons blocking the entrance to fall away. The metal door then swung inwards, revealing an elevated walkway illuminated by rotating beacons, which staved off an almost impenetrable shroud that covered the rest of the containment cell.
The man in front of him then set off down the grated walkway, only making it a dozen or so feet before turning back to address his counterpart.
"Come, Doctor Fairchild. I'm eager to show you the fruits of our labor, alongside the would-be monsters, that is if you'd allow the influences of certain, ignorant individuals to cloud your opinion of their kind."
"Our labor?"
Harper's unkempt teeth shifted into a smile. "Unlike Hoffman, I'm not nearly pigheaded enough to hide the fact that said research is the culmination of a triad of brilliant minds—my own, Simons, and yours, of course."
"Simons...you're referring to Dr. Simons, correct?" Adrian replied, placing himself onto the uneven walkway and using its guardrail for added support. He noted how the entirety of the platform was encased in overlapping rebar and crudely welded plates, a cage within a cage that he was still unable to fully make out. "The man that—"
"Died at the hands of Rooker's viper. You're once again correct, and it was partially due to a monumental slip up on his part," Harper finished before ushering Adrian to stand next to him inside what appeared to be a service elevator, which was barely large enough for the both of them to fit inside comfortably. Despite being leery of enclosed spaces, the smaller doctor did as he was asked, finding another wire-screen gate fall to his feet and a mass of pulleys taking over as the elevator began its slow descent towards the cavern below. All the while, both scientists looked through the tightly-wound rebar guarding its flank and down into the laboratory, whose dimply lit corners now offered some semblance of its scale.
At first glance, the cavern was positively massive, and the laboratory itself appeared to have been built upon the remains of an underground fissure, whose gnarled scar carved deep within the earth and continued even further through the persistent darkness. While all other lab spaces and accompanied enclosures seemed to include a unique and carefully curated biome, likely brought about through the funds of a long-since deceased populace, this one seemed to have been created after the fall of City-23 and with an out-of-sight, out-of-mind justification.
Twin semi-circular platforms, which were bridged at the center and held in place by the cold bedrock, offered a large enough surface to conduct scientific research. Indeed, all of the hallmark silhouettes of equipment dredge forth from defunct clinics were scattered throughout the area, though the more he surveyed the area, the more he was able to discern custom-built apparatuses meant to further the doctors' research. Also, each platform carried with it a primary housing structure with secondary structures dotted around it.
"By failing to properly sedate his patient," Adrian responded, finally addressing Harper's accusation against the late Dr. Simons.
The other scientist turned back, however, both of his hands continued to grip the elevator's railing, much in the same way Rooker had done the night before, prior to their entry into the observation wing, and prior to—Adrian took a cautionary step away on instinct, only to find his back strike the wire mesh behind him. His would-be attacker only offered him a weary sigh.
"By failing to heed my warnings and allowing his emotions to get the better of him. The man was brilliant, far too brilliant for his own good at times. And I owe much of the creation of this laboratory to his ingenuity, even in the face of those too blind to see the good that would eventually come out of it." Harper lifted his head and then gazed down at Adrian, a genuine sadness in his eyes. "However, in the end, his unflinching stubbornness and inability to come to terms with Vahlen's betrayal proved to be his downfall, and…I was ultimately unable to save him from the thing he'd come to hate most."
The smaller doctor looked away. It didn't take a genius to figure out what or rather whom Harper was referring to, but Adrian's better half wouldn't allow him to reach a consolidated consensus. After all, Rose's in-person demeanor proved to be the very antithesis of the thoughts projected by the other scientists. Considering the outside politics that seemed to persist throughout these labs, he was again reminded of his time with Advent, which continued to paint an unfavorable outlook in his mind.
"Simons had no love for the viper either," he appended.
The other man nodded. "He saw Delta as a reasonable scapegoat, especially since she remained Hoffman's favorite, who wanted and still wants to utilize the 'much more promising' viper template, in spite of the advances made on our end with the mutonic one, which Simons heralded as the vehicle for which to one day bring equilibrium back to this divided world. It's a shame that the two of you never got the chance to meet, because he championed your research every chance he got, much to Vahlen and the major's annoyance."
Adrian avoided scolding Harper a second time over his personal research, mostly out of respect for his fallen colleague. Instead, he enacted to gaze straight ahead as the service elevator slowed and the wire-screen gate opened, granting them full access to the lab space, which was littered in a similar fashion to the ones he entered yesterday.
"I'm…sorry for your loss."
Harper gave off a compunctious laugh. "Don't be. In our line of work, it happens all the time. I've slowly learned to accept such an inevitably. Though, I'm lucky to have walked out of that cell with my own life." He then shifted his attention from the bandages wrapped around Adrian's head to the pocket that contained his wooden box. "And is a notion that I suspect you're no stranger to, Dr. Fairchild."
Adrian dipped his head. "Having witnessed and studied the effects of rampancy in its various stages firsthand, I can solemnly state that things never ended well…for both parties." He immediately sought out the worn hearts lining his sanctuary. "The genetic patterns often proved too muddled, too complex, and too difficult to isolate without physically harming the subject involved, which only snowballed the process and resulted in a swifter demise, one that played out similarly to those suffering from the later stages of psionic shock. Nevertheless, the Ethereals were determined to find a solution, disregarding sanity in the hopes of 'achieving salvation,' or at least that's what we were told."
The man thought back to the bestiary that Rooker had stowed away in the observation wing. "You've read my papers, doctor. Those outlined within that succumbed to the disease didn't last long and…made sure to cause as much havoc and destruction before they breathed their very last. To this day, the advanced stages of rampancy remain incurable and only result in a specimen that is impossible to control and unable to comprehend anything outside of blind rage."
"Until now."
The happy smile returned to Harper's face and he set off towards the dark belly of the laboratory, pointing to a line of tall, cylindrical silhouettes along the closest housing structure.
"We've wasted enough time, doctor. Wait for me over there while I reset the generators for the floodlights. The lower ambiance has worked wonders in calming Alphi and Epsi while the resonators idle at their lowest setting."
Adrian raised an eyebrow at the odd nicknames for what was no doubt Harper's remaining berserkers, though the bad habit of naming his own test subjects at the start of his tenure with Advent never officially went away. He felt his way through the darkness and did his best to dodge the myriad of tables stacked with various equipment, drawings, and lab manuals.
"You'll have to forgive the clutter, Dr. Fairchild. I'm afraid that Simons wasn't the most organized of individuals, though the banshee masquerading in a lab coat also saw to it that no stone was left unturned before her departure," Harper called out from a distance.
Finally maneuvering his way through the labyrinth of tables and making it to their point of intended rendezvous, Adrian appraised the line of cylindrical canisters, each standing over twice his height and producing a subtle hum that mirrored the one he heard from the device in Hoffman's office. A yellow hue propagating through the various slits in the device also cued him in on the deposits housed within.
"Hoffman stated earlier that Vahlen left for the arctic with the scientists most loyal to her and several test subjects at her back. Why leave all of this behind when the Resistance was so close to a major breakthrough?"
He made out an audible scoff from afar. "Though I originally looked up to Vahlen and her pivotal role in the XCOM Project, the collective surrender of the council nations to the alien invaders proved too much for the scientist to handle, and decades of time spent dwelling over such failures and loss eventually came to corrupt the person who was in many ways the best and brightest among us. By the time of her departure, Vahlen only saw the world in black and white, yet the world had long since fallen to grey, and our survival as a species dictated that the Resistance should adapt to the changing of times."
"So, she willingly chose to live in the past," Adrian finished, stretching out his hand in order to run it across the alien symbols lining the outer edge of the nearest containment vessel. "While you began to look for other means of combating the Elders, specifically the technology used to create and control the husks that wandered the streets above, eventually finding success and branching out to other organisms, namely berserkers and vipers, which is where my research ultimately came in. At least, that was my takeaway from my earlier conversation with Hoffman in his office."
"Yes and no. Vahlen also recognized the need to turn the Elders' technology against them, but initially wouldn't even sanction our research, which had to be conducted on the side and under the consolidated guidance of Hoffman, who had Vahlen's ear up until the end. However, her stance on the matter suddenly changed a little over two years ago, about the same time that her obsession over that crimson viper reached its peak. Within a matter of months, our research was getting the attention that it rightfully deserved, and we even managed to establish contact with a man living within the heart of Advent, who willing drip-fed us his research along with the schematics to the devices that we'd soon come to rely on."
A heavy clang sounded in the distance and the string of floodlights slowly flickered on above Adrian's head, lifting the immediate darkness surrounding the platform. He removed his hand from the containment vessel, now observing a mass of cables stemming from the device and zigzagging their way across the floor, towards a metal pen of inordinate proportions. His curiosity got the better of him and he began to make his way toward it.
"But what was originally sent wasn't enough. Vahlen wanted everything that I had with regards to genetic tampering, mass transfer and manipulation, even extraneous items that made little sense at the time," Adrian added, his thoughts momentarily drifting to the collection of documents related to frozen embryos.
"Vahlen…became obsessed with implementing the same methods employed by Advent, demanding that we utilize your research as a means to find a stable solution to the demons that kept her up at night. However, progress came to a grinding halt once we were forced to create methods to directly combat the effects of rampancy, which is where most of my research came in after we took what was learned from the Lost. Naturally, certain 'specimens' were off limits due to Vahlen's rampant favoritism. Despite the internal politics, a couple of unfortunate losses, and a successful escape, Simons and I managed to get there in the end."
"An escape? Was the major ever made aware of this?" Adrian asked. By this point, he had fully made his way to the housing structure, which stretched a good portion of the semi-circular platform's length and whose flank was drilled deep into the supporting rockface. Additional workbenches lay scattered against its walls, compelling the man to approach the nearest one in an attempt to quell his heightened nerves.
"No more than he needed to be, but such came to be the expectation while working under Vahlen."
The smaller doctor sighed. "You're not painting a promising picture here, Harper. No wonder everything fell apart prior to my arrival," he muttered to himself.
Indeed, the more Harper spoke, the worse Adrian felt. He truly thought that things would be different once he left New Providence and officially severed ties with his own horde of miscreants. But so far, he only saw the same shades of resentment, hostility, and tension from a human host who intended to put him through hell. Funny enough, the only notable, positive interaction in the last twenty-four hours may as well have come from Rose, who was supposed to be the very thing that he hoped to escape.
Adrian's eyes then traced a baseball-sized object on the table before him, one that at first glance closely matched the prototype that Hoffman had used inside Rose's cave. Adrian picked it up and held it at eye level, finding a loose patchwork of exposed wiring and trailing threads cut into its surface. His thoughts then drifted to his wooden sanctuary, or rather what used to be contained within it.
"It still doesn't make sense to me. Vahlen's final demand before she would secure me safe passage to Terminus was for me to escape with the latest generation of psionic chip in hand, one reserved for Advent's Chosen and other elite units. And I was nearly killed trying to recover said chip. Why go to such lengths to have someone else retrieve something if you're only going to disappear before they arrive? I figure that something must've set her off to want to leave before she could collect on what was owed."
"I've been toiling with the same question myself. Though, I suspect that the answer we seek may yet lie within this laboratory," Harper replied, his voice growing closer now that the situation with the lighting had been fully rectified.
Adrian opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a line of liquid, which splattered across the matte sphere in his hand. He immediately shifted his attention towards the darkened cavern above him, only to receive the same treatment and temporary blindness.
"What in the hell…"
The doctor wiped the cold fluid from his face, recovering his vision but this time noting the thick piping that stretched from above towards a junction on the side of the structure. With his curiosity once again ignited, Adrian maneuvered his way to the intersection of piping, eventually standing before an array of color-coded levers, all of which remained an enigma to him. Nevertheless, he placed his free hand on the nearest one in an effort to appraise it further.
"Don't pull that lever!" a desperate cry suddenly rang out, rebounding off the metal structure and echoing throughout the entirety of the cave.
"Huh?"
A spindly hand entered his field of view and carefully wrenched his arm away from the lever, pulling Adrian in turn and nearly causing him to faceplant into the ground. Recovering, he turned to face his aggressor, which turned out to be an agitated Dr. Harper, who regarded him with nothing less than furious intent.
"Are you trying to get us both killed? Pulling that lever would've emptied the entire reservoir after the pumps stopped and brought countless gallons of damnation onto our heads. What were you thinking!?"
Adrian glanced back at the lever, finding another upsurge of anxiousness flood his system as the excessive shouting further reminded him of his time with Advent. And while the memory remained beneath the surface thanks to his wooden refuge, the man came out of the short exchange rattled all the same.
"Apologies, Dr. Harper. I-I didn't know and allowed my curiosity to overpower my better judgment. Though, I never intended to—"
"Enough!"
Harper appeared to have more to say on the matter but quickly cooled off after realizing that his words were doing more harm than good. He then adjusted an upturned collar.
"You're right, Dr. Fairchild. You didn't know, and I'm sorry for the outburst. The stress of this entire situation…may have finally gotten the better of me."
"I understand the sentiment," Adrian replied with a sigh, his own nerves slowly dying down as well.
The lanky doctor matched the gesture, turning his attention to the sphere still situated in Adrian's hand. "I see that you've managed to locate the device, prototype as it were." He then held out his own hand. "I'd ask that you return the device to me. It's quite fragile in its current state, and I'd hate to lose months of research due to an unintentional spout of clumsiness."
Adrian nodded his head, allowing Harper to relieve him of the device. "How does this sphere differ from the one in Hoffman's office?"
Harper smiled at the question. "It'll accomplish what we originally sought out to do, so let's—"
The grating beneath them abruptly shook as a prevailing rumble reverberated inside the metal structure, drawing their attention and causing Harper's smile to wither away. "Damn it. My shouting must've set them on edge." He then shifted his emeralds back to Adrian. "I suppose a proper demonstration is in order, doctor. Please follow me, and do be sure to keep your hands to yourself and your voice down until I've rightfully tended to the matter."
With that, Harper skirted the edge of the structure with Adrian in tow, back in the direction that they originally came and towards its entrance, which was guarded by another heavily reinforced door and keypad. The taller scientist then punched in another code, differing slightly from the one that first granted entry into the laboratory. The door then collapsed inward, allowing safe passage into the structure, which featured an elevated viewing platform that looked on into the final oblong enclosure some thirty feet below.
Both Harper and Adrian made their way to the platform's edge, the former removing a silver chain from his neck and moving its key into a center console, whose lights immediately sprang to life alongside the overhead lighting that dotted the edge of the area below. All the while, Adrian was left to gape upon a colossal pair of opaque walls, comprised of ballistic glass supported within the rear rockface, which serve as a final barrier for what was likely the berserkers' cells. As for their viewing platform, a mismatch of steel plates and overlapping rebar protected them from foreign debris, should it be unceremoniously hurled their way. Though, a large access point still existed, which allowed for a gradient of scaffolding to connect the separate levels.
The same cabling and heavy piping that he observed from outside spewed forth from every recess and alcove, along with another scattered grouping of specialized lab equipment, leaving little in the way of actual living space for the alien denizens, though he knew from experience that such experiments were never meant to leave their subjects in a state of relative comfort. Nevertheless, cylindrical vats filled with a viscous paste were left in the furthest corner and likely used to stave off an influential hunger.
It didn't take long for another rumble to shake the very foundation of the rightmost cell, though Harper chose instead to focus his attention on the left, turning a set of dials, which increased the intensity of the distinctive hum that saturated the area. Thankfully, the foreign protests soon diminished into languid silence.
"You'll have to excuse Alphi, doctor. I'm afraid that she's become the more cantankerous of the two. Though, a subtle nudge here and there usually proves sufficient in quelling her bellyaches," Harper stated, making his way towards the hastily construed scaffolding that led to the enclosure below. "Please follow me, as I'd rather you meet Epsi first since she came to be the baseline for much of these experiments and has a heart of gold."
Adrian raised an eyebrow at Harper's final statement. After all, such words used in association with a berserker were unheard of back in Advent. Though he figured that many within the human resistance would scoff at his own parallels with Marmalade, or Sprout, or perhaps even—Adrian forcefully shut out the additional memory in favor of the worn hearts that decorated his wooden box.
"We'll be going inside their enclosure?"
It was Harper's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Of course, you've done as much with Delta, and she's far more dangerous than the creatures under my care."
"History would state otherwise."
"History is often far removed from the truth, doctor."
"Personal history would state otherwise," Adrian stressed.
Harper glared at the other man's persistence. "I will not shout over extended distances any more than I have to while around Subjects Alpha and Epsilon. They were without a caretaker due to last night's events and need to be reassured that we mean them no harm, so you'll remain by my side if you wish to see either of them in action."
Adrian matched the tightened gesture. "With all due respect, Harper. I believe it's the smaller human that requires reassurance as to the larger creature's intentions."
The lanky doctor's frown deepened. "As long as they remain tethered to the devices and their chips remain active, neither will harm you."
Adrian thought about protesting the matter further but came to only sigh in the end. "So, they're plugged into your localized network as we speak?"
The edges of Harper's mouth slowly shifted into a smile. "That is correct. Their Advent chips were altered after capture once a solution was determined. Though the current range is restricted and the subjects' neural pathways fluctuate from time to time, we've managed to adequately contain them within these walls."
"For a time, maybe, but only a select few have ever survived past the later stages of rampancy, and controlling them proved next to impossible, so you'll forgive me if I remain skeptical until I've been proven otherwise," Adrian responded. "So please, feel free to enlighten me, doctor."
The smile on Harper's face widened. "Gladly." He then proceeded down the ramp towards the leftmost cell, stopping soon after in front of the sealed entryway, which shielded its sole occupant from view, though the shutters within were slowly opened with the aid of a mechanical linkage, coming to reveal 'Epsi' in all of her glory.
Though his head remained level with a steel-clad hip, Adrian's attention fell to a pair of broad feet, which were tipped in jagged, black claws and spread to support the immense amount of muscle and organic plating infused into the berserker's body. He then glanced up the lobster-like armor until his eyes met her riveted skull, which capped a horned set of mandibles and tubular scar tissue left in place of where her eyes should've been.
In truth, all berserkers were blind, but they made up for this fact with their powerful pheromones and heightened ability to sense the tremors beneath them. After all, the axiom of treading lightly while in the company of a berserker had an added measure of truth to it. Also, his continued use of the word 'her' could be applied to all berserkers, whose muton origins tended to outsize their male counterparts, though in a far less pronounced manner when compared to vipers.
Nevertheless, Epsi appeared to be a particularly large specimen, standing around ten feet in height, despite her slouched posture and the lighter coloration on her hide, which hinted at her younger age. Though, as Harper stated earlier, she remained largely unremarkable due to evidently being held as a control variable throughout the experiments.
In fact, the moment the shutters opened and their presence was fully registered by the alien, Epsi's mandibles shifted as if to produce a menacing growl, but what came out was more of a toothless threat, in spite of the four rows of incisors lining her maw.
"You see, Dr. Fairchild, docile as a lamb."
"She's afraid," Adrian acknowledged in surprise. "Despite her rampancy demanding that she should attack us based on our pheromones alone."
"Indeed."
Harper punched in a final code using a keypad along the edge of the cell, causing its ballistic casing to slide into the earth and opening them up to a forward attack, however, such a reaction never came. Instead, Epsi shifted her weight with an enormous foot, causing a wave of tremors to travel throughout the enclosure as she turned her back to them in a submissive posture. Her spinal column pushed against leathery skin, revealing further injection sites that transformed her into the red and white behemoth that she now was. Given her origins, the subservient behavior was odd, though as the berserker continued to turn away from them, a line of heavy claw marks marred her checkered flank and appeared far larger than her own.
Not a single Advent scientist would willingly place themselves within the same cage as a berserker, at least if they ever intended to leave it outside of a body bag. However, the man before him actively chose to take an initial step, then another, and then several more after that until he stood before the oversized, territorial brute, who dipped her head so that he could place a frigid hand onto her skull. The heavy pheromones that she gave off thickened the air but were a response that he'd grown accustomed to while working with her kind. Though again, none of that time was spent directly operating within their domain.
Adrian's thoughts were cut off by a series of guttural whines stemming from the creature, who shifted her massive head towards him and then took a step forward, easily closing the distance between her and Harper, who was pushed against a plated abdominal section as a muscular arm also came to stand between the two humans, almost in a display of recognition and fervent protection for a man that was currently supposed to be beneath her heel.
"Shhh…it's alright, Epsi." Harper ran a comforting hand down her closest mandible, even going as far as to give its black horn a gentle tug, which the berserker acknowledged with a soft murmur. "It's just another man—that screaming banshee is long gone and can't hurt you anymore."
Epsi seemed to disagree with the proclamation but yielded to the human's request with a rapid huff, retracing her step with an echoing thud but still staying within arm's reach of her designated caretaker.
It simply wasn't possible. Even before the effects of rampancy took hold, the very process of creating a berserker didn't allow for such personality, which was supposed to have suffocated to the thoughtless monster that was unleashed upon those unfortunate enough to be caught in their path. However, to the Elders, such experiments served an additional purpose, one that he failed to fully comprehend before he escaped from New Providence.
"H-how…" Adrian finally rattled off, looking down at the device in Harper's hands, its once flickering red light had now turned to a steady green.
Harper offered up another smile before touching the heavy scar tissue that had robbed Epsi of her vision. Though she responded out of initial discomfort, the berserker made no move to retaliate, instead crouching in a relaxed posture as the human continued to support her head, which he turned to reveal another long scar, one that Adrian was all too familiar with.
"The mind is a beautiful thing, doctor. Though you may drive it into submission, the intricacies of that which was contained within will continue to live on as memories of the very sapient you sought to extinguish. And should you push hard enough, that sapience may yet reach out through the darkness." The lanky scientist turned back. "The Epsi that you now know has lied dormant for years, only just resurfacing thanks to psionic and acoustic intervention, which was originally only meant to subdue the heightened impulses of her amygdala." A radiant expression then formed on his face. "It was through our initial attempts to control her that we eventually fumbled upon her, the real her, before she became what we now associate as a Berserker."
Epsi released a low-pitched whimper that still came across as a guttural growl, however, she then followed it up with a content moan, shifting her weight and allowing her heavy rear to kiss the earth with a violent crash. Additional quakes were felt as the berserker maneuvered her thick legs around Harper and leaned her back against the wall for support.
"And her chip?" Adrian questioned, giving the washboard-sized feet a wide berth as they were casually pushed in front of him. "The psionic network is well known for grinding down Advent's soldiers over the long term, especially once a unit's psionic synapses dwindle with age. Based on her physical appearance, Epsi remains quite young, and the effectiveness of your methods could very well tapper off with time."
Harper shook his head. "All variables that we've already considered with Beta prior to her untimely departure at the hands of the woman she despised most. And unlike the Elders' influence, our methods would serve to slow the degenerative decay that has plagued Advent's forces, should it be used for such a—Woah!"
Epsi suddenly shifted her legs together, effectively forcing Harper into her expansive lap and against a plated chest. A deep rumble then propagated from her core, eliciting soft pants that made her look more like an overgrown dog who was starved for attention.
"Dang it, Epsi. Not in front of our guest!" Harper groaned, pushing against Epsi's massive form in a feebled attempt to find leverage on her muscular thighs, which bounced him around as though he were a toy. Their game continued for some time until Harper finally accepted his fate and was pulled deeper into the berserker's hold. After an exasperated sigh, he shifted his attention back to Adrian. "Apologies, doctor. I'm afraid that Epsi carries a strong maternal instinct and treats me more as a lost duckling whenever I'm gone for too long."
Epsi made sure to offer her own incoherent comments on the matter before giving the man in her lap another bounce and placing him within the nook of her arm and chest, a display of affection that made even Adrian crack a smile. She looked happy, content, and satisfied with her place in the world.
"It's as though…her rampancy doesn't even exist," he admitted.
While Harper offered a consoling smile to Epsi, its glow diminished once it caught Adrian's gaze, and an incessant whine from below cut through the tranquil hum. Harper then lifted up the sphere and both men noted how its light slowly waned against the darkened cell.
"Sadly, the disease still remains at the forefront of my mind and continues to plague her own. And though we've found and pulled Epsi from the depths, the psionic tethers that we've built for her are far from perennial and require her to remain within this enclosure unless fully sedated. Make no mistake, doctor, that unquenchable rage still lies beneath the waves, waiting to resurface and take hold of anything in reach, should our psionic resonators fail to suppress its call."
The berserker released another grunt, one blemished with the fleeting source of life. Indeed, the waning green light now turned to a steady red, and her muscles tightened as her clawed feet curled in a desperate attempt to hold on. The powerful pheromones that once distinguished her as Epsi then evaporated and the giant fell silent, staring off into wistless nonexistence as though she were nothing more than a vegetable.
Harper exhaled, his breath catching her cold hide as he propped himself up with the same thigh that once held him in place. "And just like that, she's gone." He gave the berserker's arm a gentle pat and then transferred himself to the ground. "Come, doctor. She's done her job and is now deserving of some rest."
Adrian watched Harper push past him in an effort to leave the cell without looking back. He quickly followed suit, witnessing the ballistic casing enclose its silent occupant soon after.
"What will happen to her now? I assume that it's those devices outside that are keeping her in such a state?"
Harper nodded, looking down at the sphere in his hands. "She'll get another chance at life once the elerium shards have recharged. Time away from these labs hasn't given me a chance to do just that, and this interaction proved shorter than most. For now, her rampancy will be suppressed using the immobile containment vessels, which take turns administering the command signal to her chip."
Adrian opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a stomach-churning growl, far deeper than those produced by Epsi. Afterwards, the rightmost cage immediately next to them shook violently alongside a steady cadence of incalculable thuds.
"Damn it, I thought that the adjusted signal would be strong enough," Harper complained, retreating briskly up the gradient towards the entrance of the structure. "Stay there, doctor. I need to make some additional adjustments in order to properly sedate her."
"I…" Adrian trailed off as the other man made it to the control console above, appearing to manipulate another set of dials that served to change the frequency and intensity of its characteristic hum. It didn't take long for the inhuman wails to die down and Harper to find his way back to him.
"Apologies, as you can no doubt postulate, at this point, we have a much easier time manipulating things on a smaller scale. The larger they get, the more we have to boost the command signal to compensate. Though, this comes at the cost of putting additional strain on the others."
Adrian furrowed his brow. "How large?"
Harper gestured for him to follow, and they soon found themselves in front of another wall of ballistic glass covered in similar shutters, though these sets were reinforced with welded plates. After a quick adjustment of a mechanical linkage, they soon folded inwards and the other berserker was revealed.
However, instead of a gilded hip, Adrian found his gaze immediately level with the midsection of the berserker's thigh, which bulged to support a pillar of muscle far taller than even Epsi. In fact, everything about the creature had been dialed up to the extreme, noting the monstrous hands and feet matched with gnarled, unkempt talons, which stood at the ready to slice through a human like a warm knife through butter. Her coloration also surprised him, being a deeper red that reminded him of—a palm belonging to a five-fingered appendage the size of his entire body came to impact the ballistic glass, its owner slouching significantly due to the limitations of her cell.
"Alphi, quit it!" Harper responded out of frustration, shifting his attention back to Adrian. "I'm afraid that it takes some time for a new equilibrium state to be reached."
Though the berserker's protests diminished once more, 'Alphi' failed to remain in a similar suspended state as Epsi, stalking the pair of humans with what little space remained available to her. Each of her footfalls caused a colossal thud and compelled him to seek refuge within his wooden box.
"H-how large, Harper?" he requested in another fretful display.
"A fifty-percent increase over a normal berserker, which would now place her at about sixteen feet in height, though she's still growing much like her donor."
"Her donor?"
Adrian's eyes once again traced the crimson armor, following it up past an array of weeping injection sites until he ran right into a patchwork of prominent extensions, which rested flat across the berserker's skull as though they were petals of a tainted flower. Her once leathery skin was also covered in sparse patches of scales.
"Rose…" He shifted to face the other man as his heart continued to race. "Dr. Harper, there's no sensible reason as to why you would willingly inject your patient with the DNA of a highly unstable, dangerous—"
"It wasn't my choice!" Harper interjected with an air of repugnance, which he directed towards the mutated hybrid. "As I stated earlier, Vahlen lost herself in the pursuit of scientific gains, demanding that we pump the genetic material extracted from Subject Delta into the other test subjects as well, with Alpha receiving the brunt of it." The man then looked down, balling his unoccupied fist. "The original Alpha died shortly after, painfully and without remorse; Vahlen didn't care in the slightest, for she proved to be a poor caretaker and mother. Six months later, another descended into rampancy but…somehow managed to escape to the surface, with some claiming to have spotted her large form roving around the city to this day."
Harper shifted his gaze back to the berserker before them. "As for Alphi, let's just say that she had a very different personality before she was forced to...become that what you now see before you."
Adrian managed to get ahold of himself, trying to block out the alien's inhuman wails as he recognized the other man's confession with a nod of his head. "You mean to say that you were outvoted?"
Harper gave off a rueful laugh. "More like outgunned." He then gestured towards the crimson berserker, who opened her maw and then gave another forceful push against the reinforced glass. "Ultimately, Vahlen hoped to find a stable solution, one that would be larger, stronger, and a more capable being that would one day be able to be replicated on a grander scale. What we got instead was an abomination who continues to suffer at an increased rate, one to match her ever-growing size."
Adrian paused, trying to maintain his own composure and avoid directly looking at the mutated berserker. "Then why not put the beast out of its misery?"
Harper's frustrated emeralds looked back at him. "Because there's still a chance to save her, and the lessons learned through Alpha can be used to save other berserkers as well." His features then softened. "You saw it yourself with Epsilon, doctor. These alien beings that we were told to hate are prisoners of this war just like we are, and this knowledge doesn't just stop at rampancy, it also works to alleviate the symptoms brought about by psionic shock."
Adrian reached into his pocket and brushed his fingers across the burnt A&A lettering on the back of his jewelry box.
No.
Her jewelry box.
"So, you're ultimately looking for a cure?"
Harper nodded his head before turning back to the berserker. "Contain, control, command…" he noted where Adrian's hand was currently hovering, "…so why not cure? It's only the next logical progression in a decision tree that was created to establish an outward semblance of peace on this earth, and we may only be one dataset away from finding a stable solution." The man then gazed at the sphere in his hands. "Imagine such a device adapted to the confines of a single, augmented chip..."
"But is a cure really in sight?" Adrian briefly looked straight into the dead gaze of the crimson berserker, trying his best to dismiss her tremors and the ones that haunted him for the past three years. His thoughts then drifted to Rose, a serpent who would soon follow this very same path. Though half of his heart ached for her, he promised himself that he would never involve himself in such matters again. "While I admire your optimism, after being dragged through hell, I fear that I've grown rather cynical in faith and the scientific process. And Alphi seems rather content with her fate, so why not you?"
Harper turned to him as a colleague; his expression lined with the harshest of criticism. "Because I'm her caretaker, doctor. It's my job to look after her, whatever the cost."
Adrian sighed. "Harper, one of these days you're going to learn that it's better to cut your losses and simply move on. After all, you can't possibly hope to save everybody. Sometimes…it pays to be a little selfish, and some monsters aren't worth investing in, let alone worthy of redemption."
He pulled his eyes off the berserker and looked up into a set of hardened emeralds, which regarded him with a newfound uncertainty. "You have changed, Dr. Fairchild. What in the world did Advent do to—"
An earsplitting cry stopped both men in their tracks and forced their attention back up to the mutated berserker, who now held both of her hands against a striped skull. A chorus of protests soon formed thanks to the muffled howls of the berserker housed within the leftmost cell. All the while, the rampant hum within the enclosure began to increase exponentially, driving a stake into Adrian's eardrums and compelling him to claw at his own head.
"No…no-no-no-no."
Adrian pivoted his body to face a frantic Harper, who appeared just as surprised by the rapidly changing atmosphere. However, the initial shock soon wore off and the other man was filled with renewed purpose, hastily pointing towards the leftmost cell.
"Do me a favor and get those shutters back open so that we can check on Epsi! The resonators have destabilized and their elerium deposits are at risk of causing their containment vessels to fall in tune with their natural frequencies. I'll run up to the control console and attempt to determine a solution before it's too late!"
Adrian had little chance to object as Harper retreated to the observation platform above in another attempt to rectify the situation, though his attention was drawn back to the behemoth in the rightmost cell, who was now attempting to force her way through the ballistic glass with fists the size of his entire body. All the while, Alpha regarded the small doctor with nothing less than malicious intent, giving off a fresh wave of pheromones that seeped into the spidering cracks of her cage.
The dark memory resurfaced and the tremors returned, though a familiar voice quickly brought him back to reality.
"Now, doctor!"
Adrian regarded Harper with an anxious nod, clutching his wife's old jewelry box for support as he frantically made his way to the leftmost cell, where the lever responsible for operating the linkage to the metal shutters currently sat. However, as he placed an unsteady hand on its tapered surface, the digital display above the keypad to Epsilon's cell flickered from its standby logo to one covered in alien symbols, ones belonging to an all too familiar organization. Adrian tried his best to commit the symbols to memory and then noted the display flicker one last time, acknowledging the same entry passcode that he had witnessed earlier.
The doctor's blood ran cold as the cell's ballistic shield fell away, offering the berserker unrestricted access to the rest of the enclosure. However, the once gentle Epsi now postured herself in a very different manner, opening a razor-sharp maw, stretching her height to its very limit, and then releasing a powerful roar alongside a pungent mix of pheromones that perceived him only as a threat meant to be stamped out of existence.
Epsi then threw all of her weight into her first step, rocking the very core of the enclosure and her prey along with it, who proceeded to slowly back his way towards the scaffolding leading to the upper level. While Adrian initially perceived the human shouts stemming from behind him, his focus was now squarely on the monster in front of him, which took several additional steps, each adding an additional foot to the yawing shadow that had come to tower above him.
To his horror, the dark memory came screaming back to life, paralyzing the man as he gaped into the inhuman gaze of his pursuer. In an attempt to regain control, he frantically moved to reposition his thumb within the heart-shaped valleys of his wooden refuge, but the tremors proved too much and his last tether to the woman of his life slipped through unsteady fingers and kissed the earth between them.
It didn't take long for a washboard-sized foot to hover overhead, blackening the sky and removing any chance of saving the very thing that made his life livable for the last three years. Adrian made sure to close his eyes as the foot descended, splintering his sanctuary in one fell swoop and destroying any hope for the man to escape his demons, which pulled him to the earth in equal measure as his heart gave out in turn.
Though his tremors continued, they were outmatched by the ones produced by the berserker, who moved to reposition her foot against his skull. An overwhelming pressure then began to build against the bandages that Rose had administered to him during an earlier spell of weakness.
Weak.
That's what Adrian had been his entire life and he'd now be remembered for it, that is if he'd be remembered at all. If his final conversation proved anything, it was that life was but a fleeting memory, easily snuffed out by a world that had long since betrayed him. In the end, all his efforts were for naught, and fate would finally get the better of him.
Accepting his position beneath a monster that he no doubt had a hand in creating, the man opened a set of watery eyes and gazed into the vacancy that had come to define both of their lives.
Then his thoughts went to her.
And he couldn't help but smile as the pain ceased.
His songbird.
His amaryllis.
His Adeline.
"I'm coming home…"
[—]
Closing Notes:
Thanks again for your continued patience. Hopefully, this chapter ended up being worth the extended wait.
Looking into the future, expect further shenanigans as well as another dive into the past. There are still lots of ideas and events left to unfold!
As always, constructive feedback is welcomed!