The Former Agent
Disclaimer: As much as I'd love to be, I'm not a part of Remedy, and I don't own Control. But I do own this storyline and my OC, so don't sue me.
The Plan
A day passed without further events. The watch behaved normally again, and there were no more complications with the boy either.
Jesse went to the Containment Sector to check up on the boy.
"Hey there. How are you today?" Jesse asked warmly as she entered his unit.
"Oh, I'm good, Jesse. They're treating me well. Food's nice." The boy said.
"Good. Can you remember anything? No pressure, though." Jesse asked, as delicately as she could.
The boy stayed silent for a while, looking down.
"Hey, it's okay if you can't." Jesse offered.
"… Ren." The boy stated.
"Huh?" Jesse didn't catch it well.
"I remember others calling me Ren. It's all I can remember." He said, softly.
"Okay Ren. Good Job." Jesse smiled encouragingly. Ren smiled slightly too.
"I'm going to go talk to the doctors, okay? I'll be back." Jesse said, before leaving. She went straight to Emily, who was right outside Ren's cell.
"Ren, huh?" Emily said. "Well his readings are as unusual as ever."
"How about the watch?" Jesse asked.
"The watch isn't acting up anymore, but it's frequency is now almost the exact same as the boy. I don't know how an Altered Item could be made to do that, understanding it might be the key to controlling Altered Items, turning them into Objects of Power." Emily said.
Jesse nodded, making sense of it all in her head. Altered Items were paranormally affected objects that were too volatile to control. It their energies could be manipulated, like that watch had been, it could be what they need to control so many of the Altered Items they had in there.
"Well, keep monitoring them, and let me know if something changes." Jesse said.
"Will do, Director Faden!" Emily said with a chuckle.
"Emily, please." Jesse sighed, laughing slightly.
Jesse walked around the Bureau, making her rounds. Soon, she was near the Executive sector, and was passing by the Department of Nostalgia. She remembered the incredibly unsettling atmosphere of the Hiss infected Astral Plane. How it felt, to be so close to it, having just enough protection for it to not enter her head.
Thank you for being with me, she thought, and sure enough, she could feel a reply from her mental friend, Polaris.
What do you think of the boy? Why can I feel him sometimes in my head? Jesse asked Polaris, but her lack of an answer could be felt strongly in her mind.
It's okay. We'll get to the bottom of this. Together. Jesse thought.
The Nostalgia Department was now shut off, the Oldest House protecting itself and it's residents, they'd surmised. The architecture never once shifted back to the original, the entrance hallway of the Nostalgia department remaining as twisted and inaccessible as ever. Not that anyone cared. They were more than happy to forget the place.
"Jesse!" Emily's voice crackled through her radio.
"Emily, what is it?" Jesse replied, suddenly on guard.
"It's Ren! He's seizing up!" Emily near yelled.
"I'm on my way!" Jesse said, running to the nearest Control Point and quickly teleporting to the Panopticon.
"Hurry!" Langston yelled as Jesse rushed through, not bothering with the elevators as she flew up level by level to the 4th. Emily was standing behind several Rangers with their weapons trained on the cell. Through the window, Jesse could see Ren, floating in mid air, violently shaking. His eyes were rolled back, and the air around him shimmered.
"Emily?" Jesse looked to her Head of Research for answers.
"I don't know what this is. His energy readings are off the charts! He suddenly floated up like that." Emily said.
Suddenly, Ren dropped down from the air, landing on his feet. Jesse pulled out her Service Weapon, just in case, as the Rangers began slowly walking towards the cell. Then they stopped, as Ren calmly walked up to the window. "Hey Jesse. Can we talk?"
"He's not supposed to be able to see through that glass." Emily said.
"Is she saying something along the lines of this being a one way pane? I can feel you nearby, Jesse. Please, I mean none of you any harm." Ren said, his voice calm and reassuring.
"I have to see what's going on." Jesse told Emily and began walking to the cell door. "Rangers stay here and protect Emily."
As she entered the cell, Jesse noticed that Ren looked much more confident and comfortable than before.
"I remember. I remember most of my past, and I remember why I'm here." Ren said. "I don't to hurt or fight any of you, or anyone on this world. I just want to help."
"What do you mean? Why are you here?" Jesse asked.
"To help save you from the Board." Ren replied. Jesse let out a breath, still eyeing Ren warily.
"How do you mean?" Jesse asked.
"You know, don't you? That the Board can't be trusted. That they're hiding something. That they have an ulterior goal." Ren asked Jesse back.
"Yeah… do you? Know what they want?" Jesse asked.
"I do. If you gather your Department heads, we can confer and I'll explain everything. I promise." Ren said, raising his hands a little in mock surrender.
"Okay. Come on. But if you try anything…" Jesse started.
"Your Service Weapon is a force to be reckoned with, and so are you." Ren smiled.
& #_&?!#
Some time later, Jesse and her heads sat in the Board Room in Central Executive, with Ren. Emily, Arish, even Langston was present. Jesse spoke, "Okay, we're here. Now, you owe us an explanation."
"Indeed I do. I'll start at the beginning. My name is Ren. Don't bother with a last name, because I'm not from around here. I'm from another dimension." Ren began.
"What? As in a parallel dimension?!" Emily asked, gaping at Ren with excitement.
"Yes, exactly. So my identity won't exist here. Now, I was recruited and sent by a mutual friend of ours." He said, throwing a picture he grabbed from an Investigation board outside onto the table. "Former."
"Wait, him? The thing that possessed the Fridge and you had to fight?" Langston spoke.
Jesse waved a hand at Langston and spoke, "And why did Former send you?"
"I can understand his language the same way you can understand the Board. He wanted me to convey his message to you, and to help you. The Board isn't your ally. They're using you to get what they want." Ren continued.
"What does the Board want?" Simon spoke now.
"Buckled up." Ren sighed. "The Board is simply a very powerful parasite. They infiltrate and leech off of a world's energy, draining it until they've had enough, then conquer it and add it to their collection. Like an alien overlord from a comic book, if you have those here."
"Darkseid?" Emily asked with a snort.
"Something like that." Ren said.
"Oh… I was kidding." Emily said.
"Back up, the Board is leeching energy from our world?" Simon asked.
"Yes. But it's slow, very slow, like decades slow. But they're nearing the completion of their process. Then, bye bye world." Ren gestured an explosion.
"Back up, you said worlds. Plural. They've done this before?" Emily asked.
"They're from the Astral Plane, a place linked to every parallel dimension. Yes, they've done this before. But they can't physically step into our plane, or any plane. Going outside the Astral Plane saps their strength, and life force. They'd die within hours here. So, they have to infect the world with enough of their energy, so they can step in without much hindrance. However, this Earth has this Bureau. Not every world does. So, that is slowing them down much further. Bad news is, slowly they learned some new tricks, which includes latching onto a person. Right now, you're one of the people they're trying to possess."
"What?!" Jesse asked, startled.
"Relax. It's not gonna happen now. Takes decades, centuries even. Like I said, their methods are very slow, which gives us time. But all directors have been a target for the Board. Northmoor, Trench, you." Ren sighed again, taking a breath. "Invading a mind without causing severe damage to it, or muddling its contents is a delicate task. So, no worries. But, we do have to stop the Board, here. Since this Earth has this Bureau, this is the best chance to stop them. Then they'll starve and die. Questions, this far?" Ren asked.
"Explain, feed on our energy." Langston asked.
"Think literally. Potential, kinetic, thermal. Everything. Every last ounce of energy in this universe is what they're coming for." Ren answered.
"Shit." Langston sighed.
"Why is Former helping us?" Jesse asked. "If he was a member of the Board, why did he give it up? And isn't he dying without our energy?"
"Valid questions. Former… was a part of the Board, yes, but he didn't enjoy taking the energy of all those universes, killing them in the process. So he searched for other ways to sustain their lives. And he found one. Unfortunately, while it would keep them alive, it would cut their power down to 25%. The Board obviously didn't want to part with their precious power."
"25%?" Jesse asked.
"Yup. The Former you fought? Imagine 4 times the power. That would be bad, wouldn't it?" Ren said.
"It would." Jesse said.
"I know this isn't particularly important, but how did you get here? Other than just… appearing beside an Altered Television?" Emily asked. Jesse looked at her with an amused look, seeing her friend excited.
"The Oceanview Motel." Ren shrugged. "You know about it being the nexus of doors between parallel dimensions, right?"
"Yes, but we've never been able to open a door that wasn't leading to our world." Emily said.
"Yeah there's that, and that's where the TV came in. You need a conduit, something that houses Astral energy, which facilitates a shift in natural frequencies. As you know, all dimensions vibrate at their own natural frequencies. Now these frequencies are far apart for each dimension, so visitors don't accidentally step into the Motel and into another dimension. Having a conduit to dampen the difference between those frequencies is what allows interdimensional travel. You noticed my frequency was different the first day, didn't you?" Ren smirked.
Emily's jaw was hanging a mile low. She suddenly sputtered a bit, before speaking stutteringly, "Um… yes… wow all this new information. Interdimensional travel is possible! And I was right about it involving frequencies… holy shit!"
"Emily! Relax." Jesse said, jerking her back to reality.
"Right, sorry." Emily said, clearing her throat.
"Well, Jesse won't have much to worry, since not only is she newer, so there would be time if she didn't already have an extradimensional entity bonded with her. But she does. Polaris." Ren smiled. "Polaris is protecting you. It's why the Bureau is a little bit more delicate with you than they were with others. You're a new subject for them to poke and prod and figure out."
Jesse smiled. You're always protecting me aren't you? I don't know what I'd do without you, she thought to her friend, and immediately was reassured of her friend's promise to always be there. "So they can't possess me, and Trench and Northmoor are dead, right? So there's no one for them to control anymore."
"Whoever said Northmoor was dead?" Ren asked.
"Huh?" Emily sat up. Everyone did. What Ren was saying was huge.
"Northmoor isn't dead? It's been years since he's been last seen. Not to mention he was already old all those decades ago when he disappeared." Langston said.
"Yes and No. He didn't die. But he's no longer a normal human being anymore. He's also important to our plan, so… he's inside the Atlas." Ren just said quickly.
Simon and Emily's jaws dropped. Langston just sighed and reclined back in his chair with a 'Of course' look. Jesse was confused. "The Atlas?" she spoke. "As in the powerhouse of this place Atlas? The reactor?"
"The same. Northmoor's energy readings became uncontrollable in his old age. So he was trapped in that place as a cage. However, the Bureau members saw that the energy he was still producing could be harnessed, so the Atlas reactor was built around his containment. His energy was that much self sustaining, that he's still powering everything inside the Oldest House."
Everyone was shocked. Ren was giving them more and more information they never had.
"The older heads knew. Darling, Trench, Marshall, even Salvador knew about Northmoor. That's why there's no Date of Death on Northmoor's file. He didn't die at all." Ren finished, sipping some water from a glass on the table. "I know, it's a lot. Lots of things you didn't know. Lots of things the old heads hid from you. But you're not like that. You can work together, and with my help we can defeat the Board."
"We just need a minute. First you tell us the Board is evil, then you virtually teach us how travel between dimensions, then you tell us that Broderick Northmoor is alive." Emily said.
"I understand. Take your time." Ren sighed, sitting down in his chair.
"So, how do you plan on stopping the Board?" Jesse said finally.
"The Nail. Beneath the Oldest House in the Foundation. We have to free it from the Board's control." Ren said.
"The Nail? The pillar that keeps the Astral Plane from totally leaking onto ours?" Emily asked.
"Yes. But it's under the Board's control. They're using the Nail as their personal joystick to keep the Oldest House under their control." Ren said.
"What?" Jesse said, stunned yet again. Ren was an information overload at this point.
"You know Marshall tried to destroy it, right? And the Board sent an Astral Spike to kill her, which ended up damaging her HRA, letting her fall to the Hiss. She and Trench figured out that the Board was controlling them. That's why Marshall tried to blow it up. But she didn't fully understand it, and blowing it only caused the Astral Plane to spiral into ours uncontrollably. Currently it's under the Board's control, but if we cleanse it properly, so it's not controlled by anyone. It should simply stop the Astral Plane from leaking into ours without being a damn Wii remote for the Board."
"So how do we go forward?" Simon now spoke.
"First, we have to ensure Jesse can't be messed with by the Board. Sever the connection between her and them, and of course, attempt to do the same with the Service Weapon. We'll need that thing on our side. I have a plan, which I'll explain, but I'm gonna need to see the TV and the Watch you have here. In the Panopticon." Ren said.
"Okay, I'll ask the obvious question." Langston shrugged. "How do we know you're not lying? How do we know we can trust you?"
"You know an awful lot about us for someone not from this world even. Us, our predecessors, the Board, the Bureau, even things we didn't know, the past of the Bureau. How do you know all that?"
"You know what I said about the Board rings true to you all." Ren said, sighing. "My knowledge of you all… I actually don't know. It's like the information has been implanted into my head from some… external source. I don't know if it was Former or some other entity or force, or God himself. But I do know it, and I know it's true." He turned to Jesse. "You can feel it, can't you? You can hear Polaris telling you. I'm not your enemy."
Jesse looked down. It was true, Polaris was convinced he wasn't an enemy. But she couldn't tell Jesse why, and from the looks of it, Ren didn't know either. The reason behind their connection, why he knew so much that even they didn't know. But she'd come to know over all these weeks at the Bureau that the Board can't be trusted, and here was this boy, apparently from another dimension, telling her the Board was downright evil, 'about to destroy the world' evil.
"Okay, we'll see what we can do. In the meantime, I hope you won't mind us taking a few precautions with you." Jesse said.
"Of course I do, but it's going to have to be on the move. I need to do some research. Many things, one of them, you." Ren smirked, nodding at Jesse.
"Me?" Jesse asked.
"Your energy readings and stuff. I have an idea to sever the Board's grasp on you, but I need data for calculations. And yes, Ms. Pope, I'll do it in front of you so can assist and watch." Ren spoke.
Emily suddenly perked up. It wasn't just the boy's physical and paranormal tests that would reveal information, his mind had a tremendous store as well, as she'd surmised. She looked at Jesse with wide eyes as Jesse sighed. "Okay, Emily help him and work with him on whatever it is you need. Simon, I want a ranger on them and on the Lab they work in at all times."
"You got it." Arish nodded.
"This is exciting!" Emily practically giggled.
Jesse sighed as Ren walked around the table, joining Emily as they were going off to the labs. "Might as well have fun in the face of world destruction, right?" he smirked at Jesse before leaving with Emily and their appointed Ranger detail.
"Well," Langston said as he got up, "there goes our weekend."
& #+!?%
Well this chapter probably was an information overload. Sorry. But this is how I'm framing the Board's ulterior motives.
I'm going to need some new characters and some more points, but overall, I'm happy with where this is going. Only thing I'm not happy about is my speed. I'm so sorry I keep being late.
If you're still here, see y'all in the next chapter and thanks for reading! Constructive criticism is welcome, as always, Peace!
