Andrew's POV:
The clambering of our steps echoed throughout the short hallway. I feel a need to be quiet, even though we were clearly the only living things in the vicinity.
The locked door we entered through had us descend a small set of steps that led up to an elevator. From what I could tell from first glance, it used to be polished and cleanly kept, now painted in the ichor of any previous victims.
My eyes followed a blood-stained trail, leading from one of the closed elevator doors to a dimly-lit control panel. I stepped forward and ran my fingers carefully along the rough keys.
I scanned each button, realizing that it was once again in the foreign language we noticed from the documents.
"Fuck..." I curse softly to myself. I feel the air shift beside me and Libitina steps next to me.
"What's wrong? Do these open the door?" She asks, carefully hovering her hand over the console.
"Yeah..." I mumble, half distracted by focusing on minor images on each button. "...it seems to be in another language, though."
I notice a key that has a familiar symbol of arrows flowing outwards and press it. A hiss of machinery fills the air and the elevator doors open, giving us access to a rather small compartment.
"Well, guess I found the way in." I mutter, gesturing the girls to follow.
I could sense the others' hesitation and realize that none of them have probably never been in an elevator before.
The girls huddle up in a corner of the compartment, looking like stray kittens. Luckily, the control panel for the elevator itself was one, large, faintly amber-glowing button. I hit it with my closed fist and the doors struggle to a close.
Gears cried overhead at the current demand to carry us down and the girls looked mortified.
I take a deep breath and try to calm their fears.
"I'm sure this has been in better condition, but we'll be downstairs shortly." I force a half smile while subtly holding on to a handrail behind me.
The girls just keep their eyes on me like if they blinked, they'd be done for.
After a few moments, the elevator not-so-eloquently landed in place, opening its doors for us to exit.
The girls reluctantly follow me out the doors, sticking close to me.
I took a deep breath and tried my best to understand my surroundings.
Clearly Yuri has been here before. Much like the rest of the facility, the once orderly, polished facility was now basked in carnage, lack of luminescence and of course, the blood from previous individuals.
In between the flickering of the dying lights, I could make out that this place was clearly designed to be a top-secret section. Small, emerald lighting was imbedded in the walls, lining the surface. Given how much crimson was painted on the walls, the lack of its source sent shivers down my spine. Almost like something carved its own path and cleaned up the bodies in the process.
There seems to be several pathways to take from the entrance, but up ahead was a set of double doors with circular windows.
I felt a hand grip my arm.
"That must be the...Lazarus Labs." She says slowly, as if remembering the detail.
"Yeah, it must be. This could lead us to the speaker, I assume."
I approach the door and carefully peer through it. I gasp softly and examine the room.
From the window, it seemed like a large chamber of sorts. There were three extremely large tubes, easily ten or fifteen feet tall, on either side of the room, each filled to the brim with contents. On one side of the room, Emerald, the other Crimson. Beside and in front of the colored tubes were smaller, more human sized tubes. These ones had a transparent substance inside, followed by humanoid subjects. Conveyor belts seemed to connect each side of the room, transferring test tubes of either liquids to a collection point.
There were several individuals garbed in white coats pacing around the room, equipped with clipboards, test tubes, and carrying samples in boxes.
"Well, I think we found where they get those syringes." I mutter.
"What the hell are they doing to those people?" Libitina says, horrified.
I hear Allison whimper softly behind me.
"I don't...I don't know, but it looks like our only way to the end of this place is through this room."
I point my finger at against the glass, softly tapping its surface, bringing Libitina's attention to another set of doors across the chamber.
I placed one hand against the door and the other on the grip of my weapon, turning my head to the others.
"Lets stick close and try not to make any noise. I don't see anyone armed but it would be safe to assume there's trouble nearby."
Wordlessly, they all nod.
I hold my breath and slowly push the door open. Fortunately, the door makes no sound.
Once inside, it was easier to duck behind structures without being heard. The few figures in the room seemed too distracted with their own work to care about outside sources.
From behind a large set of containers, I poke my head around see if we had an opening.
Before moving, I held my hand out to still the girls.
"H-hold on.." I mutter.
"What is it?" Libitina carefully whispers to me.
I open my mouth the speak but no words came out. Instead, I was fixated on the doctors in front of me.
I small hatch opens and out came a girl, no older than sixteen. She was whimpering and crying from what I could tell, but put up no fight. A doctor grabbed her by one of her hands and dragged her to a nearby medical chair, strapping her down by her limbs.
He glances at a clipboard, makes a few notes, and ponders to a steel table. Placing down the clipboard, he picks up green syringe.
Returning to the girl, he forcefully exposing the nape of her neck, ignoring her pleas. He injected the green substance into her, causing her to visibly shake violently in place.
He reached for what looked like an empty syringe, forcefully grabbing one of her wrists. I could barely make out a faint red glow along her veins, almost like she had a lightbulb flowing through her body. As he impales her with the object, he retrieves a glowing, red liquid. His mission accomplished, he places the newly-filled vial to the table.
"They're...extracting something from them, from us!" Libitina says next to me, horror seething into her voice.
I turn wide-eyed back to the spectacle in front of me. The doctor was approached from another, exchanging some sort of information. The man nods and hands him the newly-filled syringe. The first doctor returns the strapped-down girl who, by now, has stopped spazzing and laid still, almost lifeless.
He leans down and says something inaudible to the young girl.
"What is he..." I start to say to myself.
Before I could register anything, the man pulls out a small weapon and places the barrel to the girl. Without hesitating, he fires. The upper half of her head is blown off, its contents spilling on the ground next to her.
"No!" Libitina screams.
The man whips his attention to us, clearly taken by surprise.
Without hesitation, I step up and shoulder my weapon, firing a few shots into his chest. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and take aim at another few doctors who became aware of situation. Not giving them any time to react, I laid them to waste.
Quickly sweeping my surrounding, I see we are once again alone.
Libitina runs up to the newly deceased girl, pounding her fists on the nearby table.
"Goddamnit! Those bastards!" She screams, her voice filled with anger. "So this is what they've been doing. Fucking extracting something from us."
She turns her attention to a nearby tray of red syringes. She takes hold of the tray and throws it on the floor, the vials breaking and the liquid staining the floor, steaming into the air.
I walk to her and grab her arm. She jerks in my grasp, trying to break free.
"Libitina..." I sternly say.
She ignores my and continues to hum in anger, clawing at my hand to let go.
"Libitina!" I sternly call out to her.
She jerks her head to me. Her eyesbrows were furrowed and her once-blue eyes were swirling with a soft red hue. She was breathing heavily, and her eyes darted around animalistically.
"Libitina..." I say once more, more calm and collected.
Her eyes shakily meet mine and I can see the red slowly dissipating, her stare beginning to soften.
"We're almost there. All of this..." I faintly turn my head to the surround chamber. "...It won't be for nothing. We'll finish this. For you, for us, for them."
She takes a shaky breath and softly grips my arm.
"They better. This is...inhumane. It's...evil."
I nod my head slowly in agreement.
"I know. I know it is. We have to press on if we're to stop this."
"But...what about everyone else?" I hear Ilia say.
I turn to see her up against one of the smaller containers. She had her hands against the glass, palming against it as if to reach for the individual confined in it.
"Hopefully we'll find a way to save these guys, to get rid of all this...shit." I look around, staring at all the glowing machinery and extracted essence in the room.
Silence fell around us, just the sounds of the room's working machines filling the void.
I step toward a rack on a nearby table and grab on of the red syringes. I turned it over in my hand, scanning the contents.
A label was printed along the container, but it was once again in the same language I did not understand. The contents glowed a bright red, basking my skin in a red, ethereal glow.
I carefully pocket the device and turn to the girls.
"We should keep going. The less time we waste, the better."
They softly nod their heads and follow me to the exit.
I slowly open the door and poke my head out. The halls on either side suggest that this room sits in the middle of two halls, like a giant square. Ahead of us was a small hall leading up to a singular, steel door.
We slowly walk across the hall, pondering the walls. For some unknown reason, this small section seemed untouched. No blood, no debris.
The walls were covered with what I assumed were research papers and topics, undoubtably what was probably breakthroughs for the facility.
When we approached the door, it hissed and slowly opened, like an automatic glass door.
"Are we ready?" I ponder softly.
Head nods were my response and I took a deep breath, entering the room.
Libitina's POV:
The door hissed and closed behind us, sealing our fate in the room. To say I was stunned at the room I entered would be an understatement.
It seemed like a cathedral mixed with a weird futuristic-science fiction environment. This was the best lit area I've been in….well, my entire life as far as I could tell.
The floor was like a white granite, extremely polished and very reflective. The walls were a plain white, with an occasional marble pillar rising from the base to the ceiling.
The floor was unoccupied, with similar awards and framed documents neatly placed in specific spots along the walls.
Across the spacious room was a set of steps leading up to a desk. Multiple screens could be seen, along with a similar rack of tubes from the labs. Behind the desk was a luxurious, black leather chair. Its back was to us, making my anxiety sky rocket.
I swallowed hard and looked to Andrew.
He gave a slow nod and we slowly pushed onward.
Each step made my heartbeat echo in my ears. My eyes darted around hungrily, trying to ascertain the most of my surroundings.
*Clap….Clap….Clap*
My heart skipped in my chest as we all halted from the sudden sound.
The slow, deliberate claps continued on as the leather chair slowly turned on its swivel. An individual slowly stood us, slowly pacing around his desk as his claps got louder.
*Clap….Clap….Clap*
The mysterious man stopped, standing at the top of his stairs, staring down at us. His hands were pressed together, the last clap resonating throughout the room.
His features were hard to make out. He has a jet-black cloak on that hung to his ankles, with a hood over-shadowing his face. His polished black shoes glinted in the brightly lit room.
"Welcome, Libitina." The man's voice boomed. "I have been expecting you, though I'm sure you have known that by now."
His low voice flowed through my chest.
I clenched my fists together, swallowing my anxiety.
"So….you're the speaker?" I coarsely ask.
Instead of answering, the man lays his head back and laughs. A booming roar, shaking each of us to our core.
"Well, we all already know that, aren't I right?"The man says.
I internally berate myself.
"You've come all this way, survived so much. If I'm to say anything right now, it's that I'm rather impressed."
He places his hands behind his back, pacing along the top step.
"This place, it creates life, it harnesses demons, it….." He pauses for a moment, turning his hooded-face towards us. "….creates the best version of yourself."
I grit my teeth. I am so over hearing that stupid, over-used line.
"The best version of myself?" I say, taking a step forward, eliciting a gasp from Ilia. "Do you have any idea what this shit does to all of us? For God's sake, it's a fucking prison!"
The man chuckles, resuming his pacing.
"Ah, a clashing of mere perceptions, I see. To one, this place gives you the gifts of transcending yourself. To another, an imaginary hellscape."
"How can you say that when you literally kill some of us? How can we be the 'Best version of us' when the version we become is fucking dead?" I answer back.
It was getting easier and easier for me to stand my ground, whether it be my instincts taking over or pure stupidity.
"The ones we have set free are all for good reason, I assure you. When one has exhausted their life energy, they become without use. We simply take back what was given and grant them the serenity of an afterlife."
He stops once more, centered at the top step.
"Ah, we could converse for hours about this whole operation, but this is not what you are here for."
"Where's Yuri? Where's….my sister?" I sternly ask.
He chuckles to himself once more, glancing upwards as if in thought.
"Yuri, my most prized pupil? Yuri, my goddess of darkness? Why, dear child, She has been keeping busy, preparing for her journey."
"A journey? For what?" Andrew speaks up from next to me.
The man's head turns as if to fixate, halting on Andrew.
"Ah, the hero himself. Andrew Simmons, one who has surpassed such daunting tasks with courage. I must say, you have been an extreme interest to me for some time now."
I see Andrew shift uncomfortably in place out of my peripherals.
"Placed into a world unknown, accompanying our biggest weapon to her destiny. I don't think she could have chosen a better companion to take on the new age."
"Uh….a new age?" Andrew says, confusion in his voice.
One hand whips around from his back, a finger wagging in the air as he paces the step once more.
"You see, this facility has a mission. A mission to provide a better future for the world we live in. A dying world that needs true evolution, a dying world that needs guidance to become an everlasting beacon of human accomplishment."
His footsteps echo into the room, creating a bass for his words.
"Over the years, we have created such exquisite individuals. Males that exceed expectations, females that absolutely transcended themselves. Once, long ago, our most prized pupil overshined all her fellow peers, and as I kept close watch over her I knew she would blossom to be our future savior."
"You're talking about Yuri." I state flatly.
His finger points at me, as if to wordlessly say 'bingo!'.
"We both knew that answer already, yes? We could feel it together, am I wrong? As you are her younger sister, your potential has been rising as well."
I falter slightly at his comment. I would never act out in any sort of mission he wants.
"If Yuri is your rising star, tell me why she escaped. Why she came back to save us." I spit out at him.
Instead of answering, he cackles his booming laugh.
"Why, I thought that would be obvious to you. As Yuri progressed beyond expectations, she began to mentally block herself. She was too much for our appraised workers to handle. So, I gave her a choice. A…push, rather. A push to use her newfound gifts to their fullest, to leave this place and grow herself."
I shifted in place, processing his words.
"You….encouraged her to break out? To create all the carnage she has wrought?"
The hooded man nods.
"She excelled far beyond anything we could have imagined. To just set her free was something this facility was simply not designed to do. However, if she could escape, that was a different task on its own."
"So what? You had her grow up as a demon only to come back and destroy the rest of the place?"
"She was to harness her power. She could already sense that there was no heir apparent in the immediate facility. As she controlled and transcended with her gifts, she found a rightly male figure to fill in the role of her companion."
He slowed and brough out a single hand, a gesture towards Andrew.
"M-me? Her companion?" Andrew sputters out.
"With her chosen mate, she returned. Upon that, it was merely a selection process of finding peers to lead onwards."
"Lead onwards?" I cry out. "Everyone is fucking dying! How the hell is there going to be leading if there is no one to lead?"
The man chuckles once more, never faulting in his elegant jaunt.
"My dear, only the strongest and most noble can stand beside our dear leader. I assure you, she has procured many to stand by her."
My mind was racing. This was all…planned?
The Speaker laughs, jarring me out of my thoughts.
"I can sense you finally understanding the events. Your sister was never here to save you, to free you from your….what did you call it? A prison? No, she has return, in all her glory and power, to create herself an organization that will storm this weak world, to bring humanity to a new level."
My mind blanked. That's impossible! Yuri wouldn't….she wouldn't do this to us!
"What about me then? I'm not some sick creation from this place. How the fuck do I fill in the role of some king to Yuri?" Andrew says with frustration.
"I do not blame you for not understanding. Yuri will be by your side during your transformation."
"Transformation…?" I heard Andrew mutter, fear In his voice."
"As for the rest of you…" The man gestures towards Ilia and Allison. "…You've come much farther than should allow."
The man centers himself once more, raising his hands upward. Inside the hood, a shimmering, red light protruded. His fists clenched and an invisible shock wave blew through us, knocking us each to the ground.
I rolled several times, landing on stomach. I prop myself up on my elbows, forcing my eyes up to the Speaker's podium.
"My time comes to a close. May the world prosper and may Yuri carry us to a new salvation."
The Speaker drops to his knees, hands still in the air. He begins to laugh, his booming sound resonating throughout the bright room.
As he laughed, his body began to shudder, gurgles entering his crazed chortle. His skin began to fade and a strange, dark essence began to cloud from his being.
"What the fuck…" Andrew says from across the room.
The essence began to lift up in a cloud, dropping the empty robes to the floor. The black-purple energy began to travel behind us toward the exit.
I turn in time to see someone standing, hand extended to the skies. The energy met with her hand and dissipated, absorbing into the body.
With all of the energy, the being began to laugh. A piercing, erratic laugh that hurt my ears.
I heard Andrew gasp as I came to the realization that I recognized the long, blood-stained purple hair that flowed around the girl.
"Welcome to my new age, Libitina."