Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 2 Chapter 23: Mortem
Hospital Room - Day 10, 11:05AM
Two dragons resided in a second floor hospital room. An earth dragon, Chief Bryce, occupied its bed. A runner, Officer Sebastian, sat beside him. The unexpected happened, and now he was alone. Alone with his own thoughts.
"I still can't believe he's just... gone." Sebastian was the first to escape his own head. Turbulence was clearly evident in every part of him. His boss was severely injured from that explosion, and the Ambassador was dead.
"I'm sorry, Bryce. It should be me in that bed right now. But instead..." The runner put himself down. His mind was past the point of lucidity as he kept running through scenarios.
"Is this even real?" Sebastian asked, praying this whole thing was just a nightmare.
"Please just be a nightmare..."
Alex's Old Apartment - ?
"Zoe?" Alex was stunned. How was his late fiance even alive? Come to think of it, how did he even end up back in Terra? The last thing he remembered was being at the farmhouse, about to infiltrate. Then he opened the door...
"I wish we didn't have to meet again under these circumstances, Alex." The equine said somberly. "But I'm glad you're here regardless."
"What do you mean? I'm supposed to be hunting Reza down. What am I doing back in my old apartment?" The human grew frustrated and urgent.
"I know you can put two and two together. Think back to what happened." Zoe encouraged him. Her gentle demeanor calmed her lover down, but not by much.
"I was at the farmhouse he was hiding in. Bryce and Sebastian were around each corner, waiting on me. Then I opened the door and ended up here with... you..." Everything clicked in that moment. Of course he wouldn't see Zoe under any other circumstance.
"Yeah... You're dead, Alex. But it won't be much longer from the look of it." Zoe motioned to her love's wrist. He brought it up to see what she meant, noticing a glowing fluid being pumped into his blood vessels through his watch.
"I can't believe her. Guess I should say any good-." Alex was cut off by Zoe wrapping herself around him tightly. He really didn't want to leave either, but...
"Don't." Her grip was almost vice-like compared to his. "You know how much I hate those." The human only hugged her tighter. He hadn't seen her in so long, and here he was about to be left again.
"See you later, then?" He offered what tiny bit of comfort he could. At least he could see her smile again before everything started fading out.
"See you later. I love you..."
Two dragons stood inspecting yet another casualty of Reza Izquierdo. One of the orphanage's employees lay with two bullet wounds to their head. One pierced through their muzzle, and the other was in the top. It was a slightly grotesque sight for the duo having to deal with this.
"Geez. What even did this?" The first, a flier in his early thirties, spoke quietly. His voice held just a hint of fear and worry.
"The police are working on that one. But for now, I'd be more worried about our 'esteemed guest' across the room." The other, an older anthro glanced back to a wall covered with metal drawers. The lower lighting gave it an eerie feel.
"Right. You saw that weird thing with his arm, right? What would make it glow like that?" The younger asked with great curiosity.
"Not sure. Whatever it is, it's completely fascinating. I already took a blood sample for analysis." The older one spoke back with more, well, fascination than anything.
"I don't know. What if it's something that- Aah!" A loud, metallic bang echoed throughout the room, terrifying them both. Three more made a drawer fly open. The shelf inside pulled itself out to reveal a mutilated, but still very alive man pulling himself from its surface with a soft groan. The two looked at each other and screamed bloody murder before scrambling for the exit.
"ZOMBIE!" Was the word that echoed profoundly through the expansive hallway as they bolted. Several others gave them funny looks during their exit-stage-right.
"Do I really look that bad?" Pulling out his phone, Alex took a good look into the front camera. Whatever happened at that farmhouse really messed him up. That augment Mongoose slipped into his watch did its job, sure, but at the cost of his appearance. Then there was the topic of his clothes. They were torn to shreds from a presumed... explosion...
"I should've known. But I'd best save that for Reza. Everyone probably thinks I'm dead. Might as well go spread the message after I take care of this crap." With that, Alex took a moment to lick his wounds before finding an exit...
Sebastian stood in the flower shop, glazing over what he could get for his boss when his radio went off. Pulling it from his cap, he expertly flipped it on.
"Come again, Naomi?" He queried.
"Sebastian, we have a problem." His friend came through on the receiver. "People are reporting a 'zombie' roaming the hospital. It sounds like it's coming for the lobby."
"Hahah. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out... for..." Sebastian trailed off. His eyes met with the literal walking corpse of Alex Thompson, leaning on a door frame. His body was clad in little more than a series of bloody bandages and ragged jeans. The runner let out a blood-curdling shriek before dropping the radio and running for an elevator.
"Sebastian? Sebastian! Report, dammit! What's going on out there?!" Naomi bellowed. A cough on the line assured her that someone was there.
"Naomi, it's Alex. Sebastian just saw my... condition."
"What the heck? He reported you dead an hour ago!" The dragon yelled to a cringing man.
"A lot can change in that time." Alex glanced toward the elevator, which just opened to allow Sebastian inside. "Hang on." Alex walked over to his escort, whose mashing a button within turned to frantic clambering at the door, then him collapsing to the floor. The poor thing apparently panicked so badly that he fainted. The human just propped him up against a wall and waited for the doors to close. Second floor, going up...
"Ugh... I think I cracked my-" Sebastian woke up to an unsightly human standing in front of him. An uninterested stare painted his features as his eyes bore into the runner's soul.
"Please tell me you aren't going to faint again." Alex spoke simply.
"Aagh! Get away from me!" The small officer scrambled as far away as he could get, not that the elevator allowed much space.
"Would you please just shut up and let me explain?" With that, a briefing of the resurrection augment was given.
"That makes absolutely zero sense. How can a watchraise you from the dead? It's a watch! It tells ti- eep!" Sebastian yelped as a bright blue disc expelling itself from Alex's watch nearly caught him in the teeth.
"I'm afraid it's much more. But tell me, is Bryce okay after everything?" Alex pleaded calmly...
"There he is. He was hurt real bad in that explosion. Been unconscious ever since." Sebastian opened a door, revealing Bryce in a pitiful state. The right side of his face was blotched with a large bruise, and several visible parts of his body were wrapped in thick layers of gauze. Alex rushed over, consumed with worry.
"Oh god... Bryce?" He knelt by his dragon. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I should never have opened that stupid door." His hand couldn't help itself but to slip over the paw laying atop Bryce's stomach.
"I'll go ahead and give you some space. Just meet me at the production facility in an hour or two, okay?" The runner was given a barely registerable nod before taking his leave. Now there was just one more issue he had to take care of...
Production Facility - Day 10, 2:34PM
Alex was thankfully given some time to grieve before his phone buzzed with orders to head to Anna's lab. Sebastian was waiting there with a bloodied bandage. As they came upon her lab room, they could hear a string of expletives directed toward the police coming from the scientist herself. The officer hung back in case she felt like violence.
"What- oh, it's you. What do you need?" Anna questioned with much irritation. Not like Alex could blame her. Whatever it was that happened, she was probably right to be angry.
"To drop something off, but now I want to know why you're so pissed." The human pried, much to his companion's dismay. The hidden runner began to wonder what his goal was in this.
"Those fucking bastards you're working with raided my home! Took my lab equipment while they were at it! If I see another one of their fucking faces again..." She trailed off, making a strangling motion with her hands.
"Best you try not to incriminate yourself. I'd rather not have to stop one of them from coming over here." Alex chastised tiredly. Anna, however, didn't take that so lightly.
"Jesus H. Christ, whose side are you on?" She cursed to a somewhat surprised human.
"Where did you even learn that swear from?" The man cast a suspicious glare toward his current source of frustration. He had a feeling in his gut he knew exactly who.
"Reza. Now answer my question or stop wasting my time." Anna's flame of anger returned in full, leaving her with an intimidating visage.
"In this: nobody's. In Reza's investigation, I'm with anybody who wants him brought to justice. Now, are you on my side, or his?" Alex held out the bandage as he gave his ultimatum. She rubbed the bridge of her nose before snatching it out of his hand.
"Get my stuff back ASAP or I won't be useful to anyone." With that, the runner slammed her lab door shut. Alex dialed Bryce's number as he and Sebastian left for their next destinations.
"I think you should go tell the others to give her equipment back. I'll meet you at the station..."
City Library - 3:40PM
Alex crept past countless aisles of bookshelves, PDA in hand. His target would hopefully be either Remy or Emera. Sadly, neither of them seemed present.
"Pardon me, but do you know where the audio section is? I'm looking for some sheet music." A stone beige dragon came up to him.
"Sorry, I don't work here. I'm actually wondering where the librarian is myself." He had to decline again. He'd help look, but he had an objective or three to complete.
"Ah. Don't worry about it, then. I'm sure the staff are all hiding somewhere. Anyway, you take it easy now." With that, the assumed musician waved him off and disappeared just as quickly as they came. He gave a short sigh and made for Remy's office.
"Either I'm seeing a ghost, or the police lied about you being dead earlier. I like your new shirt, by the way." Emera addressed Alex's arrival into the archivist's office in a rather mundane manner. He was used to it by now, having been presumed KIA a few times before.
"They weren't. I just find it hard to stay dead. Is Remy around? I need to drop off this PDA." Alex flashed the device, which now had a dent from an assumed drop caused by that explosion.
"Apparently, he's had other engagements for the last couple days. He's likely at his home in Zirconia Court if you need him." The minister dismissed. He was getting real sick of being brushed off by her. If she wasn't careful, she'd get a visit from someone else.
"Fine. By the way, I found out about Bryce. Good job losing all my trust." Alex growled. What he just said piqued the minister's interest. Needless to say; she was wholly expecting him to flip out or something.
"That's it? What a relief. I thought you'd take Reza's route or something." The female breathed a little too calmly. That was completely erased when he drew a short rifle on her.
"Do not tempt me. I'm already angry enough." With that, Alex backed out of the room and made for Remy's place...
710 Zirconia Ct. - 4:03PM
Remy lay on his sofa, trying to focus on a book. His blurry vision made that nigh impossible. But thankfully, two light knocks came to his rescue. He wiped his vision as clear as he could and pulled the door open.
"Oh, Ambassador Alex. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He greeted in an ever-formal tone. Alex, of course, didn't exactly find that natural.
"Just Alex is fine, R- is something the matter? You look like you've been crying." The human bothered. Remy's normally clear blue eyes were reddened by tears. That much was crystal clear.
"Ah. It's fine, really. I just got something in them before you knocked. That's all." Remy tried to brush it off to no avail. His company's expression immediately shifted to one of deadpan.
"Remy, I have a teenage daughter. I can tell the difference between tears and irritation. Now what's been bothering you?" Alex asked gently...
"I'd really rather not talk about it..." To which the dragon deflected. Alex had a feeling he wouldn't. Why would he? Neither knew much of anything about each other, and that was kind of sad. He clearly had something bothering him.
"Fair enough. Just know that you can talk to me any time. I'll lend an ear should you need it. In the meantime, I've got something for you." The smaller male flashed Reza's stolen device.
"Oh, it's one of the PDAs. This will certainly be fun to look at." Remy's attitude took an uptick as soon as he lay eyes on that piece of bliss. He grabbed it out of Alex's hands and strided over to the sofa.
"All the knowledge at your... claw... tips? I really need to figure out the euphemism for that." Alex thought aloud.
"Either way, you have no clue how much I've been looking forward to this. I'm checking this out as soon as possible, work be damned." The archivist felt so much better. He wasn't glowing, mind you, but his sadness was alleviated rather quickly.
"Fuck work and fuck Emera." The human fired back, earning himself a little chuckle in return.
"That was so dirty. You should leave that to Chief Bryce." Remy commented playfully. Alex's smidgen of a smile turned to realization, then an angry glower within seconds.
"That reminds me, I need to get going. You have fun with your new friend. I hope you'll consider my offer." With that, Alex headed out to finish up his work.
Chief's Office - 5:01PM
Alex trudged into Bryce's office with little energy. The summer heat sapped what little was left from his husk of a body. At least Sebastian was comfortable in Bryce's chair, supposedly napping away in its leathery clutches.
"Comfy?" Alex grumbled as he flopped into an opposite seat. It tipped back a little in surprise at the weight that was just thrown into it.
"Jeez, you scared the heck out of me. You get everything done?" The runner asked simply after recovering from his initial surprise.
"The PDA and bandage are with their respective parties. Did any more errands come up while I was away?" The human shot back with a question of his own.
"Not that I know of. Thanks for the help. We'll hopefully have something from the analysis later, assuming Anna has her lab stuff back by now. I'll get whatever tasks that are left taken care of. I'm sure you have other things to do besides help our sorry asses all the time. That, and rise from the dead." The officer made a wise crack at his mimicry of Jesus Christ. His company decided to ignore that for the sake of their friendship. Or rather, what little of one there was.
"Forget about it. Reza stepped far out of line. It's only fair I help you guys bring him to justice. Now I'd best be going. There was something I needed to do later tonight." Alex bid him farewell and left for his final 'errand'...
