Part 14: Forgotten Heiress
She was scared. More afraid than she'd ever felt in her entire thirteen years of life. Looking down from the window inside the Oval Office in the most heavily guarded building in history... yet feeling helpless and vulnerable. The masses gathered outside were far too numerous for even the president's Secret Service to stop. The siege was attempting to pound down the doors that served as the primary entrance to the building. She could see one man standing in front of the others, speaking with his arms wide, but she was too far away to hear him.
"Mr. President, a team is being dispatched to get you out of here." One of the Secret Service agents informed the gray-haired man sitting behind his desk, as if it was just another day.
"I told you, we don't need to evacuate. Once the National Guard arrives, this will all be cleared up." He replied simply.
"Sir, there are too many outbreaks across the country to get enough of a force here in time, and the mob is close to breaking in." The agent told him.
"Relax." The president replied with an insanely serene smile. "We can do what we want remember?" He leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. "Nobody can stop us." Madison stared at him. She didn't know what happened, perhaps he'd contracted some brain disease... perhaps he was growing senile in his old age... perhaps he'd been insane all along and she'd just never realized it until now.
Madison pushed away from the window and marched up to him. "Daddy, please, let's get out of here!" She grabbed his hand desperately. "I'm scared..." She told him. His eyes fixed on hers, growing regretful for a moment before he smiled and patted her hands.
"Relax Madison, what are they going to do?" The president asked. Suddenly the sound of the White House doors slamming open startled everyone in the room. The President blinked, and all of the secret service agents whirled toward the door and drew their weapons. "What was that sound!?"
"Sir, the protestors have broken through the front door!" One of his agents reported. "We must get you into hiding!"
"I'm not hiding from these lunatics!" The president insisted. "We're staying here, where the most powerful men in the world belong!" The President insisted irritably. The Secret Service agent glared at him, but couldn't do anything. He couldn't forcefully move the president of the United States, no matter what the situation. He turned his gaze to Madison, who'd walked back to the window to watch the crowds swarm over a blonde girl in a tight red uniform.
"They're... they're coming in!" Madison whirled around, gulping in fear. The agent growled and clenched his fists, then grabbed Madison's wrist and ran toward the door, pulling her along.
"I'm evacuating Madison, you stay with the President." The agent ordered his subordinates. They nodded.
"You leave me daughter alone! Hey!" The president protested, but the agent had already pulled Madison out into the hall and was making his way through it. He stopped when heavy footsteps ran down the hall toward them. He darted into a nearby room, yanking Madison in with him and ducking behind the door, pulling the teenage girl up against his chest and covering her mouth with one hand.
The footsteps passed right by the room, but several stopped and burst into the room, brandishing shotguns as they looked for any targets to take down. The Secret Service agent drew his weapon and fired two shots, straight into the spines of both men. The silencer let only a small 'thwip' escape the barrel as the men collapsed to the floor, barely even able to scream.
"Come on, we've got the president! Time to evacuate!" A familiar female voice shouted form the hall as a small group of footsteps ran past the room they were hiding in. The Secret Service Agent held Madison close to him, listening for anybody in pursuit of the others, but heard none.
He gestured for Madison to remain silent and ran out of the room, pulling her behind him. Madison followed, her heart beating like a drum as they made their way down toward the bottom floor. They stopped when several more lunatics passed by the stairs they were coming down, but paid them no mind. They charged out the back door, where it looked like a huge crowd was gathering.
"Hurry, we can slip past them!" The agent pulled Madison along, sneaking out the back door and creeping along the wall while the crowd stood still, watching something in the center. Madison's eyes went wide when she saw a huge axe lifted above the crowd, its shine muted by the ponderous rain that drenched everyone. As quickly as it appeared, the axe vanished again into the throng.
The crowd cheered and rushed forward in exhilaration, but Madison watched in horror. She knew what they'd been after... if they were sounding so happy, that axe could have only had one target... "D... daddy..." She muttered with a trembling voice.
"Madison, come with me!" The agent pulled her away form the scene, slipping away in the rain and mud as the shards of a fallen government lay behind them. Madison was numb, from both the horror of what she knew had just happened and the biting sting of the cold rain on her flesh. The world had changed forever on that day... but in the midst of it all, her world in particular had been completely and utterly destroyed.
"Captain." Alison's eyes flashed open at the sound of one of her troops' voices above her. "We're approaching Moscow." He told her.
"Good." Alison sat up and stretched after resting for a while on one of the helicopter seats. It had been a long, tiring mission to one of the last cold places on the planet after global warming had reduced most of the planet to searing hot desert. But, they had been successful, as the boxes full of Faustium bottles were tied down to the floor in front of her. She stared at them with a victorious smile on her face.
How long had it been now since the day she'd fled from the White House under the guardianship of Agent Smith? Seven... ten years? And she'd spent a vast majority of them in hiding, sitting on top of this liquid gold mine and unable to do a damn thing about it because any missing Faustium would've alerted the Reverend to her presence there. And being the daughter of the man who drove the world into a pit of chaos and oppression... she would not have been treated very kindly by those outside the Imperium. She was an outcast from absolutely everybody.
So she'd been forced to take a new name. Only Agent Smith had known who she really was, until he was taken by the Attitude Correction Corp on suspicion of harboring anti-government activists. Alison often wondered if they'd actually gotten wind of the fact that the former president's daughter was there, or if it had just been a lucky guess on their part. They'd never even glanced in her direction during his apprehension, so she assumed they just got lucky.
Her mind turned, as it often did, to the fate of the man who'd saved her life. What had happened to Agent Smith? Perhaps he was still alive and kicking out there somewhere, giving their enemies a good black eye. Perhaps he had been killed in one of the ACC's facilities. As sad as it was, she almost hoped for that. Having to live through one of those damnable facilities was the worst fate she could wish on someone.
She looked up when the helicopter lowered toward the ground. Outside the window, she could see Moscow sprawling out in front of her. Her eyes went wide at the sheer number of troops that now scurried about the base. In only a week it looked like the base's troop count had almost tripled from where it had been before.
As the chopper touched ground, she spotted Pam standing just off of the helipad. She had a wide smile on her face, of the kind Alison had never seen on her since joining WOOHP in the fight against the Zardexians, after the Reverend had been killed and it was safer for her to be out and about.
The helicopter door opened and she stepped out, surprised to be wrapped up in a tight hug by her commanding officer.
"I knew you wouldn't let me down Alison." Pam told her with an excited grin. "It's good to see your safe return."
"There were no difficulties..." Alison looked nervously around at the large numbers of soldiers milling about the base they'd made on this side of the city. "What happened while I was gone?"
"We won." Pam pulled back so she could give her a broad grin. "We defeated an entire squad of Zardexians... we repelled an attack." Alison blinked in surprise. "And now, humanity is pouring into this base to take back our world, and drive those scum off of our planet."
"That's wonderful news, General." Alison grinned back, elated for the first time since she'd heard about the Reverend's death. And before that... she couldn't remember ever being really happy. "And I have more good news." Alison pulled away from her commander and turned to pull one of the boxes out of the helicopter. She turned back to Pam and opened the box.
"The Faustium..." Pam reached into the box and pulled out one of the bottles to examine it.
"It took us a while to bottle it and prep it for transport." Alison explained. "We would've been back faster if it wasn't for that."
"Don't worry about it... we might not need them anyway, but it's good to have them just in case." Pam carefully placed the bottle back in the box and closed the lid. Alison handed the box to a nearby soldier, who rushed off to take it to the storage area they'd picked out before. "Frankly, I'm more relieved to have my second in command back."
"Oh...?" Alison cocked one eyebrow. Pam looked around at the other soldiers who were watching them curiously.
"Dismissed!" Pam shouted. The soldiers all saluted at once and scurried away from the helicopter, leaving the two women alone. Pam looked at Alison again and walked up to her, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll be brief... I've become attached to you." Alison watched her curiously. "And I would like your support. The more troops we get... it seems like... the lonelier I become." Pam shook her head. "Stupid, I know..."
"No." Alison replied. "Life near the top is always the loneliest... trust me, I know..." She said.
"Yes, that's true... and that's one reason I think I can depend on you." Pam told her. "Madison..."
"My name's Alison..." Alison replied quickly. It was Pam's turn to look curious. "Madison was the daughter of a psycho who drove the planet into a downward spiral and opened us up to takeover by the worst menace mankind has ever known. I am Alison, second in command of your army." Pam stared at her for a few moments, then nodded solemnly.
"I understand, Alison." Pam said. "Come, you've had a long mission, you deserve a little rest and relaxation." She turned to lead the purple-haired woman away from the transport helicopter, toward the building Alison had come to think of as her temporary home in the short time since they'd established this base. She walked inside to find that it looked exactly the same as before.
"The fight is going well..." Alison muttered.
"Yes, it is." Pam replied. "It's only a matter of time now before we overcome the Zardexian threat... it won't be easy, but I won't accept any other outcome."
"As you shouldn't." Alison nodded in appreciation. Pam walked toward the couch, but before either of them could think of relaxing one of the other soldiers pushed the door open and rushed inside.
"General, more troops have arrived to join our cause." He exclaimed. Pam sighed and turned back toward him.
"I'll be along to test and question them in a moment." Pam told him. The soldier saluted and left, leaving the two women alone again. Pam let out a sigh and shook her head, walking up to Alison.
"Things seem to have changed around here... you're taking in new recruits?" Alison asked.
"A necessary step... but they're all well-tested to make sure there are no moles." Pam replied. "Come with me... I want you at my side when I test these newcomers."
"Yes General." Alison nodded as Pam marched past her, out across the city. The purple-haired woman followed behind her, glancing around at the growing base around them. It had been relatively small when she'd left, but now it looked like it was bustling, with more and more people coming. Maybe Pam could do what no leader in history could... unite the human race.
They approached the outskirts of the city and found several squadrons of soldiers standing at attention with armed guards around them. One woman who seemed to be the leader stood in front of the others. She had fiery red hair down past her waist with emerald green eyes watching them piercingly. She looked familiar for some reason... but Alison couldn't place her.
"Wow... Sam..." Pam approached the red-haired woman with a curious look on her face. "I was wondering if you'd ever return to the cause you abandoned." She smirked. The redhead called Sam remained stone-faced. "I suppose the Zardexian toxin claimed Alex..."
"We're here to help you fight... so just test us any way you want and get it over with." Sam smoothly avoided the question. The blonde on her right and the brunette on her left smirked and snickered to themselves.
Pam reached down and pulled her gun, holding it up in front of the redhead. Sam stared at it fearfully. "You're lucky we can't afford to test the sure way... we need everyone in fighting condition from the start." Pam stated. She lowered the gun and raised her other arm, which now had a hypodermic needle in it. "Raise your arm, now."
Sam raised her arm in front of her, displaying her wrist. Pam punched the needle into her forearm and withdrew a small amount of blood... glittering crimson blood. Pam nodded and withdrew the needle, looking up at Sam. "Proceed inside, and wait for us to test the others."
"Fine." Sam turned to walk into the city, where more guards were waiting. Pam turned her attention to the raven-haired woman with strangely deep violet eyes.
"You must be Alex's replacement." Pam smirked slightly and looked over at the blonde beside them. "I disapprove, Alex was much friendlier." The blonde growled, but the purple-eyed woman didn't respond. "Are you ready for your test, replacement of Alex?" Pam grabbed a different syringe and held it up in front of her.
"Victoria..." The woman raised her arm in front of her. "And yes... I am." Pam lowered the needle toward her arm. Alison noted that the blonde was watching intently, her eyes a mask of nervousness and fear. Now that Alison paid attention, she looked rather pale. That was a lot of nervousness just at a simple blood test... something was wrong with these ones.
The needle plunged into Victoria's arm. Both Victoria and the blonde woman at her side stared intently at the syringe as it slowly began to lift. Red liquid poured into it... human blood. Both women looked visibly relieved, though they quickly tried to hide it when Pam looked up at them.
"Head into the base. They'll take care of you in there." Pam told her.
"Yes ma'am." Victoria nodded and walked around her toward the base. Alison kept her gaze locked on the violet-eyed woman as she made her way into the city itself. There was something about her... they were far too nervous of a simple blood test. Could Pam have been right before? Had the Zardexians found a way to fake human blood?
Alison looked around, and when she saw nobody looking her way, she slipped away from the crowd and followed Victoria inside the city. She kept a safe distance between them, but never let the woman out of her sight. The suspicious woman entered the city and made her way toward the recruitment counter, where Sam was busy dealing with one of the record-keepers behind the desk.
Alison stopped and watched Victoria approach the redheaded former leader of WOOHP. Sam looked surprised to see her, and they spoke in a hurried manner, but Alison was too far away to hear what they were saying. She kept watching, but other than their somewhat furtive glances around they did nothing suspicious.
"Is something wrong with my friends?" A voice demanded. Alison turned to see the blonde woman from before standing right behind her with her arms crossed over her chest. She had a vicious look in her eye.
"Possibly." Alison replied simply. The blonde woman growled deep in her throat. "Remember that fraternizing with the enemy is punishable in the same manner as BEING the enemy..." The second-in-command glared back coolly. "And protecting the enemy... is even worse."
"There are no enemies around here. We're all here for the same reason, regardless of other circumstances." She growled softly. Alison narrowed her eyes suspiciously, keeping them locked onto those sky-blue orbs. "So just leave her alone... she's no threat to you or anyone else."
"We'll see about that..." Alison replied coldly. "Tell your friend to watch her step... if I discover that she has a secret there won't be a trial or a hearing."
"Murder on suspicion? Are we really going to start learning from the Imperium of Christ?" The blonde asked. Alison's eyes narrowed dangerously, but she didn't respond before turning to walk back toward her General, who was still helping to test the new recruits. Desperate times called for desperate measures... and risks had to be kept to a minimum. That Victoria girl looked like she might be a risk... so Alison would just have to keep a very close eye on her.
TO BE CONTINUED
She was scared. More afraid than she'd ever felt in her entire thirteen years of life. Looking down from the window inside the Oval Office in the most heavily guarded building in history... yet feeling helpless and vulnerable. The masses gathered outside were far too numerous for even the president's Secret Service to stop. The siege was attempting to pound down the doors that served as the primary entrance to the building. She could see one man standing in front of the others, speaking with his arms wide, but she was too far away to hear him.
"Mr. President, a team is being dispatched to get you out of here." One of the Secret Service agents informed the gray-haired man sitting behind his desk, as if it was just another day.
"I told you, we don't need to evacuate. Once the National Guard arrives, this will all be cleared up." He replied simply.
"Sir, there are too many outbreaks across the country to get enough of a force here in time, and the mob is close to breaking in." The agent told him.
"Relax." The president replied with an insanely serene smile. "We can do what we want remember?" He leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. "Nobody can stop us." Madison stared at him. She didn't know what happened, perhaps he'd contracted some brain disease... perhaps he was growing senile in his old age... perhaps he'd been insane all along and she'd just never realized it until now.
Madison pushed away from the window and marched up to him. "Daddy, please, let's get out of here!" She grabbed his hand desperately. "I'm scared..." She told him. His eyes fixed on hers, growing regretful for a moment before he smiled and patted her hands.
"Relax Madison, what are they going to do?" The president asked. Suddenly the sound of the White House doors slamming open startled everyone in the room. The President blinked, and all of the secret service agents whirled toward the door and drew their weapons. "What was that sound!?"
"Sir, the protestors have broken through the front door!" One of his agents reported. "We must get you into hiding!"
"I'm not hiding from these lunatics!" The president insisted. "We're staying here, where the most powerful men in the world belong!" The President insisted irritably. The Secret Service agent glared at him, but couldn't do anything. He couldn't forcefully move the president of the United States, no matter what the situation. He turned his gaze to Madison, who'd walked back to the window to watch the crowds swarm over a blonde girl in a tight red uniform.
"They're... they're coming in!" Madison whirled around, gulping in fear. The agent growled and clenched his fists, then grabbed Madison's wrist and ran toward the door, pulling her along.
"I'm evacuating Madison, you stay with the President." The agent ordered his subordinates. They nodded.
"You leave me daughter alone! Hey!" The president protested, but the agent had already pulled Madison out into the hall and was making his way through it. He stopped when heavy footsteps ran down the hall toward them. He darted into a nearby room, yanking Madison in with him and ducking behind the door, pulling the teenage girl up against his chest and covering her mouth with one hand.
The footsteps passed right by the room, but several stopped and burst into the room, brandishing shotguns as they looked for any targets to take down. The Secret Service agent drew his weapon and fired two shots, straight into the spines of both men. The silencer let only a small 'thwip' escape the barrel as the men collapsed to the floor, barely even able to scream.
"Come on, we've got the president! Time to evacuate!" A familiar female voice shouted form the hall as a small group of footsteps ran past the room they were hiding in. The Secret Service Agent held Madison close to him, listening for anybody in pursuit of the others, but heard none.
He gestured for Madison to remain silent and ran out of the room, pulling her behind him. Madison followed, her heart beating like a drum as they made their way down toward the bottom floor. They stopped when several more lunatics passed by the stairs they were coming down, but paid them no mind. They charged out the back door, where it looked like a huge crowd was gathering.
"Hurry, we can slip past them!" The agent pulled Madison along, sneaking out the back door and creeping along the wall while the crowd stood still, watching something in the center. Madison's eyes went wide when she saw a huge axe lifted above the crowd, its shine muted by the ponderous rain that drenched everyone. As quickly as it appeared, the axe vanished again into the throng.
The crowd cheered and rushed forward in exhilaration, but Madison watched in horror. She knew what they'd been after... if they were sounding so happy, that axe could have only had one target... "D... daddy..." She muttered with a trembling voice.
"Madison, come with me!" The agent pulled her away form the scene, slipping away in the rain and mud as the shards of a fallen government lay behind them. Madison was numb, from both the horror of what she knew had just happened and the biting sting of the cold rain on her flesh. The world had changed forever on that day... but in the midst of it all, her world in particular had been completely and utterly destroyed.
"Captain." Alison's eyes flashed open at the sound of one of her troops' voices above her. "We're approaching Moscow." He told her.
"Good." Alison sat up and stretched after resting for a while on one of the helicopter seats. It had been a long, tiring mission to one of the last cold places on the planet after global warming had reduced most of the planet to searing hot desert. But, they had been successful, as the boxes full of Faustium bottles were tied down to the floor in front of her. She stared at them with a victorious smile on her face.
How long had it been now since the day she'd fled from the White House under the guardianship of Agent Smith? Seven... ten years? And she'd spent a vast majority of them in hiding, sitting on top of this liquid gold mine and unable to do a damn thing about it because any missing Faustium would've alerted the Reverend to her presence there. And being the daughter of the man who drove the world into a pit of chaos and oppression... she would not have been treated very kindly by those outside the Imperium. She was an outcast from absolutely everybody.
So she'd been forced to take a new name. Only Agent Smith had known who she really was, until he was taken by the Attitude Correction Corp on suspicion of harboring anti-government activists. Alison often wondered if they'd actually gotten wind of the fact that the former president's daughter was there, or if it had just been a lucky guess on their part. They'd never even glanced in her direction during his apprehension, so she assumed they just got lucky.
Her mind turned, as it often did, to the fate of the man who'd saved her life. What had happened to Agent Smith? Perhaps he was still alive and kicking out there somewhere, giving their enemies a good black eye. Perhaps he had been killed in one of the ACC's facilities. As sad as it was, she almost hoped for that. Having to live through one of those damnable facilities was the worst fate she could wish on someone.
She looked up when the helicopter lowered toward the ground. Outside the window, she could see Moscow sprawling out in front of her. Her eyes went wide at the sheer number of troops that now scurried about the base. In only a week it looked like the base's troop count had almost tripled from where it had been before.
As the chopper touched ground, she spotted Pam standing just off of the helipad. She had a wide smile on her face, of the kind Alison had never seen on her since joining WOOHP in the fight against the Zardexians, after the Reverend had been killed and it was safer for her to be out and about.
The helicopter door opened and she stepped out, surprised to be wrapped up in a tight hug by her commanding officer.
"I knew you wouldn't let me down Alison." Pam told her with an excited grin. "It's good to see your safe return."
"There were no difficulties..." Alison looked nervously around at the large numbers of soldiers milling about the base they'd made on this side of the city. "What happened while I was gone?"
"We won." Pam pulled back so she could give her a broad grin. "We defeated an entire squad of Zardexians... we repelled an attack." Alison blinked in surprise. "And now, humanity is pouring into this base to take back our world, and drive those scum off of our planet."
"That's wonderful news, General." Alison grinned back, elated for the first time since she'd heard about the Reverend's death. And before that... she couldn't remember ever being really happy. "And I have more good news." Alison pulled away from her commander and turned to pull one of the boxes out of the helicopter. She turned back to Pam and opened the box.
"The Faustium..." Pam reached into the box and pulled out one of the bottles to examine it.
"It took us a while to bottle it and prep it for transport." Alison explained. "We would've been back faster if it wasn't for that."
"Don't worry about it... we might not need them anyway, but it's good to have them just in case." Pam carefully placed the bottle back in the box and closed the lid. Alison handed the box to a nearby soldier, who rushed off to take it to the storage area they'd picked out before. "Frankly, I'm more relieved to have my second in command back."
"Oh...?" Alison cocked one eyebrow. Pam looked around at the other soldiers who were watching them curiously.
"Dismissed!" Pam shouted. The soldiers all saluted at once and scurried away from the helicopter, leaving the two women alone. Pam looked at Alison again and walked up to her, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll be brief... I've become attached to you." Alison watched her curiously. "And I would like your support. The more troops we get... it seems like... the lonelier I become." Pam shook her head. "Stupid, I know..."
"No." Alison replied. "Life near the top is always the loneliest... trust me, I know..." She said.
"Yes, that's true... and that's one reason I think I can depend on you." Pam told her. "Madison..."
"My name's Alison..." Alison replied quickly. It was Pam's turn to look curious. "Madison was the daughter of a psycho who drove the planet into a downward spiral and opened us up to takeover by the worst menace mankind has ever known. I am Alison, second in command of your army." Pam stared at her for a few moments, then nodded solemnly.
"I understand, Alison." Pam said. "Come, you've had a long mission, you deserve a little rest and relaxation." She turned to lead the purple-haired woman away from the transport helicopter, toward the building Alison had come to think of as her temporary home in the short time since they'd established this base. She walked inside to find that it looked exactly the same as before.
"The fight is going well..." Alison muttered.
"Yes, it is." Pam replied. "It's only a matter of time now before we overcome the Zardexian threat... it won't be easy, but I won't accept any other outcome."
"As you shouldn't." Alison nodded in appreciation. Pam walked toward the couch, but before either of them could think of relaxing one of the other soldiers pushed the door open and rushed inside.
"General, more troops have arrived to join our cause." He exclaimed. Pam sighed and turned back toward him.
"I'll be along to test and question them in a moment." Pam told him. The soldier saluted and left, leaving the two women alone again. Pam let out a sigh and shook her head, walking up to Alison.
"Things seem to have changed around here... you're taking in new recruits?" Alison asked.
"A necessary step... but they're all well-tested to make sure there are no moles." Pam replied. "Come with me... I want you at my side when I test these newcomers."
"Yes General." Alison nodded as Pam marched past her, out across the city. The purple-haired woman followed behind her, glancing around at the growing base around them. It had been relatively small when she'd left, but now it looked like it was bustling, with more and more people coming. Maybe Pam could do what no leader in history could... unite the human race.
They approached the outskirts of the city and found several squadrons of soldiers standing at attention with armed guards around them. One woman who seemed to be the leader stood in front of the others. She had fiery red hair down past her waist with emerald green eyes watching them piercingly. She looked familiar for some reason... but Alison couldn't place her.
"Wow... Sam..." Pam approached the red-haired woman with a curious look on her face. "I was wondering if you'd ever return to the cause you abandoned." She smirked. The redhead called Sam remained stone-faced. "I suppose the Zardexian toxin claimed Alex..."
"We're here to help you fight... so just test us any way you want and get it over with." Sam smoothly avoided the question. The blonde on her right and the brunette on her left smirked and snickered to themselves.
Pam reached down and pulled her gun, holding it up in front of the redhead. Sam stared at it fearfully. "You're lucky we can't afford to test the sure way... we need everyone in fighting condition from the start." Pam stated. She lowered the gun and raised her other arm, which now had a hypodermic needle in it. "Raise your arm, now."
Sam raised her arm in front of her, displaying her wrist. Pam punched the needle into her forearm and withdrew a small amount of blood... glittering crimson blood. Pam nodded and withdrew the needle, looking up at Sam. "Proceed inside, and wait for us to test the others."
"Fine." Sam turned to walk into the city, where more guards were waiting. Pam turned her attention to the raven-haired woman with strangely deep violet eyes.
"You must be Alex's replacement." Pam smirked slightly and looked over at the blonde beside them. "I disapprove, Alex was much friendlier." The blonde growled, but the purple-eyed woman didn't respond. "Are you ready for your test, replacement of Alex?" Pam grabbed a different syringe and held it up in front of her.
"Victoria..." The woman raised her arm in front of her. "And yes... I am." Pam lowered the needle toward her arm. Alison noted that the blonde was watching intently, her eyes a mask of nervousness and fear. Now that Alison paid attention, she looked rather pale. That was a lot of nervousness just at a simple blood test... something was wrong with these ones.
The needle plunged into Victoria's arm. Both Victoria and the blonde woman at her side stared intently at the syringe as it slowly began to lift. Red liquid poured into it... human blood. Both women looked visibly relieved, though they quickly tried to hide it when Pam looked up at them.
"Head into the base. They'll take care of you in there." Pam told her.
"Yes ma'am." Victoria nodded and walked around her toward the base. Alison kept her gaze locked on the violet-eyed woman as she made her way into the city itself. There was something about her... they were far too nervous of a simple blood test. Could Pam have been right before? Had the Zardexians found a way to fake human blood?
Alison looked around, and when she saw nobody looking her way, she slipped away from the crowd and followed Victoria inside the city. She kept a safe distance between them, but never let the woman out of her sight. The suspicious woman entered the city and made her way toward the recruitment counter, where Sam was busy dealing with one of the record-keepers behind the desk.
Alison stopped and watched Victoria approach the redheaded former leader of WOOHP. Sam looked surprised to see her, and they spoke in a hurried manner, but Alison was too far away to hear what they were saying. She kept watching, but other than their somewhat furtive glances around they did nothing suspicious.
"Is something wrong with my friends?" A voice demanded. Alison turned to see the blonde woman from before standing right behind her with her arms crossed over her chest. She had a vicious look in her eye.
"Possibly." Alison replied simply. The blonde woman growled deep in her throat. "Remember that fraternizing with the enemy is punishable in the same manner as BEING the enemy..." The second-in-command glared back coolly. "And protecting the enemy... is even worse."
"There are no enemies around here. We're all here for the same reason, regardless of other circumstances." She growled softly. Alison narrowed her eyes suspiciously, keeping them locked onto those sky-blue orbs. "So just leave her alone... she's no threat to you or anyone else."
"We'll see about that..." Alison replied coldly. "Tell your friend to watch her step... if I discover that she has a secret there won't be a trial or a hearing."
"Murder on suspicion? Are we really going to start learning from the Imperium of Christ?" The blonde asked. Alison's eyes narrowed dangerously, but she didn't respond before turning to walk back toward her General, who was still helping to test the new recruits. Desperate times called for desperate measures... and risks had to be kept to a minimum. That Victoria girl looked like she might be a risk... so Alison would just have to keep a very close eye on her.
TO BE CONTINUED