"Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating!" Dr. Henry Lawson dashed from console to console as he periodically sent targeted jolts of electricity into the tank containing O-2391191, then watching the various sensors. "You can see how the body absorbs the energy and begins to catalyze it into Dark Energy, but not where it goes!"
Dr. Eva Core tried her best to ignore the rambling fat man. "Her physiological development is farther along than I expected."
Dr. Lawson absently waved at her and the tank. "Bah! We've seen abnormal growth rates before. If it causes problems we'll just purge this specimen and start fresh." He absently tweaked some controls, and adjusted his wireless glasses. "I already have some ideas for improvements. Now let's see what happens if I..."
Another jolt went into the floating baby, who immediately began glowing. Eva's eyes lit up at the reaction. "Interesting. Do that again."
Dr. Lawson activated the controls again, this time watching the tank as the glow increased. He looked to the various monitors. "Very interesting; O-2391191 is storing the energy until it bleeds off. Let's see that one more time; maybe I can discern how the energy is being catalyzed!"
Eve pursed her lips. "Let's hold off a moment and let the energy dissipate some."
"Nonsense!" Henry readied the controls. "It will just shunt the power to wherever again; I need to monitor it while power density is high so our sensors can pick up on the process." He pressed the button.
There was a short jolt into the floating form. The glow stopped suddenly, and both Eva and Henry stared for a moment. "Oh well... I guess that was it's lim-"
The tank exploded and green electricity arced around the room for several seconds.
Both Dr. Core and Dr. Lawson picked themselves off the damp floor and looked around; ignoring the yellow stains left by the Amniotic fluid on their Assassin's suit and their Lab coat respectively.
"My equipment!" Henry rushed around, desperately trying to get something to reactivate, while Eva walked over to the tank's remains.
There in the bottom was a small shivering form. She hesitantly reached for it, only for an arc of Emerald energy to jolt her. The infant immediately began wailing to Eva's annoyance, "It seems our granddaughter was impatient to join the world." Eva remarked; before she reached out again and grabbed the child around the middle.
Henry stormed over and glared at the child. "All my data was lost! Get it into another suspension tank while I get the replacement equipment from Jack." He noticed Eva's hesitence. "Unless you're feeling broody? Nurse it maybe? Change it's diapers?" He asked as sarcasm and malice dripped from his voice.
Eva's face twisted into a scowl of disgust; and she held O-2391191 at arms length until she arrived at a back-up suspension tank. Making babies was fine, enjoyable even if you went about it the old fashioned way; but child rearing was a menial task she had neither the patience nor the time for.
"In you go you little zygote." She locked the container down and called up a Hunter to carry it to storage until Henry got his lab back in order. "I'll see if there's any way to reinforce those tubes." She looked down at her skin-tight assassin's garb covered in synthetic amniotic fluid. "Disgusting. How could people have ever thought childbirth was a blessing." She stalked off and left Henry to his wrecked lab.
Ayita paused and tilted her head, frowning heavily.
She wasn't sure but she thought she heard an almost… primal call for help; not a coherent cry, more like whenever she had interacted with Wolf pups and they called for their mothers.
Shaking it off, thinking that she had imagined it, Ayita returned her attention to more important matters at hand. That being, Ayita had no clue as to what was going through this Vortal's mind; or more importantly what it's plan was.
The Vortal and his companion had led them all through the winding paths of the City, and the deeper they all went the more Zombies the Platoon began to run into.
They'd already had several close calls with head crabs latching onto people; and the people were only saved by Ulysses, Ayita, or Cato electrocuting the headcrabs before they could start burrowing into the peoples skulls.
Liara had quite the scare when only her instincts had stopped the crab from jumping on her head; quickly using her biotics to stop it centimeters from enveloping her head. And even then, it really strained to break into her skull; it's very rarely seen beak stabbing downward in anger as it tried to latch onto its target.
Only Wrex shooting the thing and Tali clamping Liara's mouth shut with her hand stopped the Asari from screaming bloody murder.
Ayita grimaced, pulling out her Winfield and attaching the sword like bayonet.
"Cato, it would be best if we did not display our Vortal abilities; I don't know how these people will react to it. I can tell the Vortal doesn't understand the full extent of his powers; and probably is interpreting them in a religious sense. I'm afraid he'll see us as… well I don't know; but you understand my reasoning right?" She asked as she took out five rounds and opened the bolt; loading in the .30-06 Springfield Cartridges and bringing her reservoir to its full twelve bullets.
"Yes…" Cato agreed, albeit reluctantly as he pulled out his Combine SMG.
Ayita couldn't help but give him a light smile, "Is that jealousy I sense Cato?" She asked jokingly.
Her smile widened as his face grew a little purple, and he frowned heavily; "No… maybe…" He admitted, "You got a gun that's almost a hundred years old; and is a superior sniper rifle, no, a superior Battle rifle than anything the Council races have. And above all else, you have a sword that can attach to the end of it. Do you have any idea how awesome that thing looks and sounds right now?" He demanded, much to her amusement.
A Roar caused the platoon to immediately cluster into a loose circle.
"Fast Zombies!" a rebel barked out.
Ayita tipped her head, listening closely as she heard the loud thuds and the rattling of the metal gutters of the houses as the Fast Zombies began to climb and run along towards the Platoon.
"Reposition! To the church!" Anderson bellowed, and everyone began jogging toward the massive Church; whose bells had long since stopped ringing.
As they turned the corner, everyone stopped and stared in horror at what they saw.
It was a bonfire, or more accurately, it was a burning at the stake; at least a dozen zombies, all having been impaled but left alive, were stuck in the bonfire as it raged in front of the church. The Zombies and their parasitic masters screamed in pain and agony; before the headcrabs eventually burned to death, allowing their long suffering hosts to finally die with them.
The doors to the church swung open, and a handsome young man strode out; dressed in a black collared shirt, black pants, black boots, and a brown leather jacket.
His left hand sparked with Energy, while his right held a rifle of some kind.
"Welcome brothers and sisters, though I wish we had met under better circumstances and conditions." The man shouted.
Ulysses stumped forward with his cane, as a Fast Zombie screamed and jumped from a nearby roof.
Crack! Ayita shot the Zombie right in the head; using The Moment to properly align her sights on it. Working the bolt, another Fast Zombie roared as it jumped down behind her.
Boom! The Zombie staggered but kept running even though Tali had blown its arm off with her shotgun.
Ayita snarled as the Zombie jumped at her face, and she stabbed her bayonet right into its chest; before flipping it over her shoulder and slamming it into the ground. The Zombie screamed in frustration as Ayita planted her foot onto its chest, yanked the blade out; and stabbed it again in the head, killing the crab and the host.
She panted and looked up, and saw most of the platoon staring at her in concern and in some cases fear.
But the man at the entrance merely waved; "Come, come… we have much to discuss. There are more demons on the way brothers and sisters; and it would be best if we were to catch our breaths before continuing."
Ulysses nodded beneath his cloak, "The Kaidan Alenko is correct; come everyone, let us talk some more."
Everyone looked at each other, then turned their guns outward as the sounds of more Fast Zombies approaching became louder and louder.
Reluctantly, the group walked as one around the massive bonfire; walking into the church, and into the unknown as the doors closed behind them.
Cato looked around the inside of the Church. The interior was almost entirely white, lit by lanterns. Light from the bonfire shone through to tall, multi-colored glass windows depicting a strange story involving a tortured figure affixed to a cross. Combined with the sounds of zombies outside, the effect was very unsettling.
Despite Ayita's warning, he was already drawing on his Energy in preparation for a fight. As much as he buried it, he was genuinely afraid that they were going to end up dealing with another Jack; Ayita seemed to feel the same, as she had subtly aimed her Rifle towards the human male.
Footsteps towards what appeared to be an altar drew his attention, and he saw the female from earlier emerge from a doorway beside it. Anderson and Zaeed shared a look, while Ulysses simply watched the two humans closely.
"Grieggs, Harlen, each of you take a squad and secure the church; don't let any Zombies get close." Anderson ordered, not looking away from the two human survivors.
"Yes sir!"
"On it!"
All the Volunteers quickly rushed off to different parts of the church, clearly eager to get away from these people. The Aliens stayed put, alternating between Admiring the church, keeping a wary eye on the door, and keeping an eye on the humans.
After a long moment, Anderson asked; "What are your names?"
He asked the question with a slight undertone of concern; almost like he was trying to soothe the two humans and keep them calm.
"Il messaggero non è importante!" The woman declared while gesturing strangely with her hand. "Though if it puts you at ease, you may call me Sister Ashley. This is Brother Kaiden." She gestured to the man next to her.
He was wearing an ankle length long sleeve gown buttoned from the waist to his collar. His black pants, shoes, and wide brimmed hat gave him a sinister air. He tipped his hat in greeting, though it only shadowed his face even more. "We are but the humble servants of the Almighty Lord, granted solace on the eve of Demon's Fall to do his righteous work." He turned to face the altar. "Non nobis domine, sed Nomine tua da Gloriam." Both bowed their heads. "Amen."
Cato glanced at Ayita, and she seemed to be similarly unnerved by the two humans.
"How… how have you survived this long?" Zaeed asked slowly, glancing at Wrex as the big Krogan kept his giant Pulse SAW at the ready.
The male turned back to the group and smiled. "As God provided for the Isrealites during the 40 years," he spread his hands as green electricity arched over his head, "so too has the Lord provided us the tools of our salvation."
Liara edged behind Wrex, while Miranda did the same with Kelly; Tali was clutching her shotgun so hard that her hands were beginning to turn white, while Mordin nervously typed into his omnitool.
Garrus and Nihlus kept their eyes on the giant wooden doors; but both were extremely tense, even more so than usual at least.
Cato unconsciously took a step back, this was far worse than dealing with Jack; because at least with Jack, they knew that she was crazy. These two? Anything went as far as the rules and everyone else was concerned.
Ulysses stepped forward, "The Hidden Lord's followers know the safest course for this group to take, correct?"
Ashley bowed, "Correct."
"Then would they be so kind as to escort us to safety; where we may bring you more Soldiers that follow his word? And pacify this scourge on this planet?" Ulysses asked.
Kaiden grinned widely, and bowed as well; "It would be our honor, fallen Angel; follow us please?"
Ayita swept her rifle across the roof to make sure there were no Fast Zombies that had made it up; keeping her body inside the exit of the bell tower to the roof.
Cautiously, she edged out of the doorway and subtly charged her palms in case a Zombie surprised her; but nothing attacked her. Cato followed behind her, his palms glowing as he held his Pulse SMG; a grimace on his face as he surveyed the area.
Kaiden and Ashley bulled their way topside; wide smiles on their faces as they surveyed the moonlit city skyline.
"Come now brother and sister, let us escort your friends out of this forsaken place." Kaiden proclaimed, walking across some wooden planks to a set of buildings roofs; Ashley followed closely behind him as she loaded her rifle.
Ayita grimaced behind her hood, reluctantly walking across the wooden planks to the buildings that lined the other side of the street; Cato followed her as he tried to not look down.
"You… don't like heights?" She asked, coughing as she usually did when she spoke.
He chuffed a nervous laugh. "Yeah. Where I grew up, everything has handholds and tie-down points. If you fell inside, it could kill you or worse, cripple you and damage the ship. If you were outside and fell," he looked around the town and open sky, "you never stopped."
Ayita nodded. "If you fall, I will... catch you." She noticed him blushing at that. "Is that such a... problem?" She gave a puckish grin. "Are you embarrassed at the... idea of me catching you?"
"No," he said matter of factly, "at least, not in the 'I don't want to fall to my doom' sense. It's," he frowned for a moment. "Until I came to this world, I had never touched my own sister with my bare skin. We're trapped in those suits, in our own bodies because of generations of shipboard life."
He saw Ayita was beginning to understand, but also to pull away slightly. He took a deep breath and reached out and took her hand. "To touch someone, skin to skin is a deeply personal matter for my people."
He felt like his Sehni was going to inflate with the heat coming off his face. He glanced at Ayita and saw she had all but folded the shadows into her own hood, but she didn't let go of his hand.
"If you two love-birds are done canoodling up there, we'd really like to get the hell out of Zombieland today." Wrex shouted up towards them.
Ayita and Cato immediately jumped away from each other, and Cato suddenly wished he knew how to manipulate the shadows like Ayita could; especially with the look Tali was giving him.
"Right, let's go!" Cato shouted back, grateful that he was able to keep his voice from wavering in embarrassment.
Ayita for her part made sure she kept away from Cato so they weren't touching or anything like that; after what Wrex had just shouted, she was not interested in getting called out like that again. Then a thought came to her, and she stumbled slightly. "Cato… when I hugged you earlier… what would that have… been the equivalent of?" She asked slowly.
While she was getting better at speaking physically; she still slowed down when stressed, confused, or in this case embarrassed. Cato for his part was doing his best to disappear into his Sehni, as he mumbled something in reply.
"Cato." she said, more demanding as she wanted an answer; still making sure her Winfeild was pointed outward and away from friendlies.
"Er… I-" He started to say, then his eyes widened; and he drew his SMG and fired.
Ayita ducked instinctively, as a Fast Zombie swiped at her head.
The Zombie staggered as the Pulse rounds slammed into its chest; and Ayita quickly capitalized on its weakness by slashing it in the waist with her bayonet, bisecting the zombie. The Vile creature immediately tried crawling towards her, which she put a stop to by stabbing her bayonet into its head.
More screams echoed throughout the city, and already Ayita and Cato could hear gunshots below; and the laughter of Ash and Kaidan as they shot the Fast Zombies that crawled onto the rooftops, or Zombies that were in the upper floors of buildings.
Two more fast Zombies came at the fast, with a particularly deformed Zombie shambling behind them; at least five headcrabs hanging onto it.
Crack! Ayita shot the first Zombie in the head, and ducked under the second as it lunged for her.
The Zombie went sailing off the roof; while Cato frantically fired at the new deforemed zombie that had somehow climbed up onto the roof. "I can't kill this one! It's tougher than the others!" He exclaimed, the two of them backing up as they did so.
Ayita looked down into the street, and realized that they were getting left behind; the platoon was tearing through anything that got in their way, and they were double timing it to get out of the city.
"Run!" She barked, and took his hand and yanked him forward.
She didn't even notice that she didn't let go as they ran, or as they jumped from building to building. She did notice when a Fast Zombie blindsided her and smacked Ayita into a nearby brick chimney.
"OOF!" She grunted, rolling as the Zombie threw itself at her again; the Zombie tumbling off the building and into the street below as it missed her with its claws by inches.
"Ayita!" Cato shouted, rushing up to her and helping her up.
"Keep Running!" She snapped, holding her side; ignoring the slight throbbing pain coming from it.
A tingle in the back of her mind told her that the PCV she was wearing was now running empty; but she ignored it and kept moving. Or rather she tried to, until another Zombie hit her in the side again; and Ayita felt herself fly through the air, free falling, as she knew she was tumbling towards the street below.
"NO!" Cato roared, and drew on his power.
Ayita hit something, much to her back and sides anger; as she felt the Antlion cut on her back finally reopen after all the punishment she had endured over the past few days.
Ignoring it, she quickly stood up and looked down; realizing that Cato had telekinetically pulled several dozen loose bricks and a mattress and formed a platform for her to land on. Looking up, she saw Cato was visibly straining to hold it up and pull the platform back towards him; he was sweating like crazy despite the bitter cold that gripped the area.
There also several regular Zombies and the deformed hunchback from earlier closing on him.
Bringing her Winfeild to bear; she shot the one that had been about to slash him in the head, dropping the Zombie instantly. Working the bolt, she began picking the Zombies off as Cato lifted her platform and brought her closer to his rooftop.
After only a minute, all that was left was the hunchbacked Zombie; and Ayita took aim and pulled the trigger, but was dismayed to only hear a loud click!
With the hunchbacked Zombie practically on top of Cato, Ayita did the first thing that came to her mind; she telekinetically threw her bayonet into the controlling headcrab.
As unorthodox a solution it was, it worked.
Ayita was now close enough to the roof that she jumped to it; and Cato dropped the platform he had made and collapsed to his knees in exhaustion.
"Cato!" She shouted, running over to him as she frantically loaded in twelve more rounds into her Winfield.
"I'm fine" he rasped, waving her off while reaching over and yanking her bayonet out of the dead Zombie's head. He gave a cheeky grin as he handed it to her, "Looks like I had to save you from falling."
Ayita just huffed, reattaching the blade to the end of her rifle.
She had just finished doing so when Cato grabbed her and pulled her into a hug while spinning around. Her confusion and odd feeling of happiness turned to horror as another Fast Zombie slashed Cato across the back; leaving three bloody cuts across it.
Cato arched his back and screamed in pain; but he wasn't the only one screaming.
Ayita roared in fury, and the Zombies on the roof stopped in their tracks as they were lifted at least ten feet up; then turned on their heads, and shot straight down like missiles, killing them instantly.
Ayita grabbed Cato and slung his arm over her shoulder; carrying him as she tried to run.
"C'mon! We. Have. To. Leave!"
Cato tried to focus through the pain. He could almost feel the Vortessence tingling against his injury; if he could just focus, he could direct it.
If he could focus...
That was difficult with the jarring pace Ayita was setting. Her own Vortal power swirled around them both, carrying with it her emotions and memories. Some he had seen, like her time in Cumberland or with Jack. Others were unfamiliar; he saw a woman who bore a close resemblance to Ayita playing with her, and training with Anderson and Massani.
The swirl of memories and emotions was soon joined by another; calmer, but colder and less forgiving. He saw the church filled with people and song, humans in black and white robes. He saw a pair of adolescents huddling inside, clutching a brass bound book while the world ended.
"Sister Ashley said you were in need of aid." Ayita's swirl of emotions screeched to a halt along with her flight. "I see she was right. Should we perform a laying on of hands?"
"I…" Ayita hesitated, so Cato told her "Ayita just do it! It-Kheelah! It hurts!"
"Okay! Okay!" She exclaimed, quickly laying him down onto the floor of the roof; making sure he was stomach down.
Cato had his eyes squeezed shut to stop himself from crying in pain; it felt like his back was on fire, and it was growing worse and worse by the second. He couldn't see what was happening around him, but he could hear the Zombies closing in from all around them; and he could hear the gunfire of the rest of the Platoon beginning to taper off as the distance between them began to grow.
"Protect us sister; I shall heal him." Was all Cato heard before the pain in his back was replaced by an itch that seemed to radiate across his body.
Cato arched his back and had to fight down a scream as the itch wormed its way through his back; slowly working its way through the gashes on his back, and eventually blossoming onto his skin.
And just as quickly as it had begun, the itching sensation stopped; and so had the pain, though his jacket and uniform was mostly in tatters in the back. He shivered as a burst of cold air blew against his exposed skin, but he didn't have time to think about it.
"Cato!" Ayita shouted, stabbing a Zombie with her gun-sword; while Kaiden casually lifted several loose bricks, and sent them into the Zombies, driving them back.
"I'm okay! Let's get out of here."
It had been a long battle, but eventually Kaiden, Ayita, and Cato had managed to catch up with the rest of the platoon as they reached the gap in the mountain that led out of the City and the Appalachian valleys; and into the flat plains and forests of the Maryland Peninsula.
As the Platoon reached the peak of the mountain, Ayita and Cato turned to look back at the city.
So many people were dead; yet so many more had finally been freed from their tortured existence that was life as a headcrab zombie.
"Well then brothers and sisters, it is here that we must leave you." Kaiden said suddenly, startling everyone into silence and causing them to stop in place.
Wrex was the first to recover, "You got a death wish Pyjack?' He asked, though Ayita had been around the Krogan long enough to know that he was more relieved than anything else; probably because like everyone else he was very unnerved by these two survivors.
"Not at all, but Shepherds must not leave their flock unattended; especially when they have grown… unruly." Ashley replied.
Everyone shared a look, and Anderson stepped forward; handing them something. "Here… if you ever need help, or if you need to talk; use this, it's a communicator linked to nearby South Mountain." He explained.
The two survivors looked at each other, then nodded and looked back at Anderson; "We thank you brother, safe travels… and may God grant you the best of luck in your future endeavours." Kaiden said, tipping his hat to the platoon; before the two of them turned and walked off into the darkness.
Anderson, Chambers, Ayita, and Cato watched them go.
Everyone else turned and began walking the final stretch to South Mountain; all of them thankful for the two odd humans' help, but nonetheless relieved at their leaving so suddenly.
After a minute, Cato and Ayita joined the platoon and walked away; Ayita shivered from her memories, which stopped when Cato took her hand.
Anderson watched them and smiled, before turning his attention back to where the two survivors had gone off to. Anderson watched after where they had walked off for a moment longer, before turning and leaving; saying, "Good God… we need to get some shrinks for those two; they look like they're in their twenties at the oldest, so they were probably around ten when the city was shelled."
"I agree, what they witnessed… they were only kept somewhat sane by reinterpreting it through the lens of it being the literal apocalypse. I only wish I had more time to help them." Dr. Chambers said, giving a sad look over her shoulder.
"Aye, but I think you have your hands full at the moment Doctor; with Ms. Miranda I mean." Anderson noted, giving her a warm smile; "How does it feel? To get a second chance?"
Kelly smiled and closed her eyes, ignoring the harsh winds and the snow kicked up from the ground; "It's a gift from God… if he does in fact exist. I may not be a fighter David, but I'll be damned if I'm not letting this opportunity slip through my fingers."
David just laughed, "Why do you think I let you come besides the fact that you're a skilled doctor?" then he grew somber and looked back at Cumberland just as they started down the mountain, "If only Ayashe and Adrian had gotten that chance…"
Kelly looked out at the two Vortals still holding hands, "Well I think they'd be proud of what she's done and accomplished; though from what you told me about Adrian, he'd certainly be sore at missing the opportunity to scare Cato straight." She laughed.
Anderson laughed as well, "Yeah… Yeah he would…"
Pilot A/N: We're getting close to the end of Act one, only four more chapters left to go.
I certainly hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter; as I certainly had some fun writing this one. If you didn't like the religious imagery, well then you're in luck in that this chapter is the last one (as of this writing anyway) that we have written that overtly invokes it.
I Personally thought it was a nice balancing act, explaining the existence of the Vortessence while not outright dismissing God's existence.
In any case, our intrepid hero's make it out of Cumberland battered and bruised; but not broken, at least as far as we know. And Cato and Ayita finally begin to admit that they see something with each other; along with O-2391191 developing faster than anticipated, and being "Born" for lack of a better term.
What do you think Ian?
Ian A/N: The chapter opens with both the worst of humanity and the best hope all in one scene. You only get one chance to guess who's in the tank.
Ash and Kaiden represent an evolution of the fight against the Combine. Kaiden has managed to evolve the limits of the powers we are familiar with into something unique, while Ash is fueled solely by righteous fury... right?
Now that Anderson's team are past the No-Man's-Land of Cumberland, we can move into Cold Mountain and prepare for the End-Game.
Stay tuned to see how the story evolves.
Pilot: Well then, Hope you all enjoyed today's chapter; and check my profile for the link to the discord.
Please leave a review and let us know what you guys all think; the feedback helps immensely.
A TV Tropes page would be loved and appreciated.
And We will see ya when we see ya.