Earth-717 Special #1: Project Origin
Chapter 3: Escalation
"You have one new message."
"Genevieve? It's Carson Salyers. Why aren't you answering your fucking phone?! I know that Origin has gone dark. Hell, soon the whole damn city will know. Given that you conveniently seem to have disappeared, I'm going to assume this is your fault. I'm allocating resources to investigate the nature of the threat, and if this is what I think it is, so help me God, by the time I'm done with you your next of kin won't be able to recognize you! I let you on this board of directors because you said you could get the job done. Instead, I now have calls coming in from Washington asking if we should evacuate all of Multnomah County! You had better get back to me and tell me what's really going on, because the way I see it, by tomorrow morning, we could end up having a shitstorm on our hands that will make Watergate look like a fucking back alley cockfight!"
"You've seen him again. I remember him. I remember him quite well."
The bleeding man licked his lips, sucking some of his own blood into his mouth.
"We all knew who you were. That scared little girl, plucked straight from birth. You would never know what was waiting for you . . . . on the other side."
A few drops of blood seemed to fall from the non-existent ceiling, dribbling onto her toes.
"You're getting closer now. I can feel the awakening. It's coming quite soon."
The bleeding man laughed.
"Yes. One, big family reunion."
11:31 PM
Yelena entered the lobby first, followed by Jin and Kaminsky. There were a handful of ceiling lights on, providing uneven illumination across the lobby floor. The main desk had plenty of papers and materials strewn about it, but was abandoned. A large logo for the ArmaCham Technology Corporation was plastered in metal lettering on a wooden wall behind the desk. There was no movement.
Yelena exhaled and stood still as she surveyed the room.
"Sun-Kwon," she said. "Check the desk."
"Yes ma'am," replied Jin.
Kaminsky looked at the entrance doors. There were several glass panes at the entrance, all intact. Several of the faded lights from the police cruisers could be seen, their light refracted by the glass panes.
Jin walked up behind the main desk, and immediately took a step back.
"Ugh."
Yelena sharply turned her head towards Jin.
"What is it?"
"See for yourself."
Yelena and Kaminsky approached Jin, and looked around the back of the desk. There was a steaming puddle of blood covering both the floor and the chair, and a roasted skeleton lying in it.
"Oh, shit," said Kaminsky.
The skeleton was heavily damaged; there were burn marks across many of the bones, indicating that it had been seared with intense heat. No flesh or clothing was left.
"The hell did this?" asked Kaminsky.
"No clue," replied Jin.
"That was not from gunshots," said Yelena. "Sun-Kwon, start analysis. See if you can find out what killed this poor bastard."
"It's a girl," said Jin. "Look at the pelvis. Wider than a man's. Also, the skull has the finer mastoid process of a woman. Quick estimate, I'd say no older than twenty five. Probably just the secretary."
"Alright," replied Yelena. "Get started. I want to know what we're dealing with here."
"Yes ma'am."
Yelena crouched next to the skeleton and pulled out her forensics kit. As Jin worked, Kaminsky looked up, to see that there was no direct ceiling; rather, you could see each of the upper floors, which all had balconies overlooking the lobby. As he scanned his eyes across the various balconies, he saw the outline of a small girl with black hair in what looked like a red dress.
"Huh?"
He then heard a soft giggle coming from behind him. Quickly turning his head, he saw nothing. He then looked back up at the balcony, but the girl was not there.
"Kaminsky!"
Kaminsky looked over at Yelena, who had a raised eyebrow.
"You alright?"
Kaminsky silently looked back up at the balcony for a moment before shaking his head and facing Yelena.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."
"This is gonna take some time," said Jin, as she took several photos of the skeleton. "You better go on ahead, I'll hold the fort here."
"Alright," said Yelena. "Radio in when you've got some answers. Kaminsky, you're with me. Let's go."
Kaminsky nodded and followed Yelena towards the stairs. He was silent now, with several tingles running down his spine. He couldn't help but wonder whether or not he had just imagined the little girl.
On one of the balconies overlooking the lobby, the same girl from before look back down at Kaminsky from behind. She giggled and ran away, leaving bloodied footprints as she went.
Wielding her MP5 again, Natalia worked her way through more of the lower offices. Nothing was in disarray except for the lack of people. Natalia poured over the contents of several of the offices, noting that almost nothing was out of place; there were no signs of any kind of struggle. It felt like there hadn't been any sort of disturbance at all.
The com link in her ear flicked on.
"Natalia," said Rodney. "How's it going? You find anyone yet?"
"No."
"Shit."
"I've searched two floors. So far, no activity."
"Place sounds like a fucking ghost town, but how is that possible? Alright, keep looking. Let me know if anything changes."
One of the overhead lights flickered for a brief moment.
"Understood. Has Yelena's squad reported anything yet?"
"Yeah. Sun-Kwon found a body in the lobby. Apparently she said it was some nasty shit. So someone has been killing somebody in here, but now the whole place has gone dark, and there's no one around? Something's not right with this. Maybe has to do with the mutant, I dunno. Keep your guard up."
"Yes sir."
Walking down another flight of stairs, she took aim down the hallway and raised an eyebrow upon seeing what was in front of her. The expected office hallway in fact had no features, aside from a set of cyan painted double doors at the far end. The rest of the hallway was completely barren, with no other entrances or exits.
Natalia took a moment to consider whether or not she had turned the wrong way. Quickly retracing her steps, she found that this was the only staircase leading down from the previous floor. Shaking her head, she again returned to the new hallway, knowing that this was not standard building design.
She proceeded to walk down the hallway anyway, keeping her MP5 aimed forward the entire time. Keeping track of her breathing, she found that with each step she took, the pace of her breath seemed to heighten ever so slightly. The double doors seemed to be glowing, drawing her towards them, but she knew that was impossible.
Then she heard a faint gasp, no louder than a whisper. It seemed to be coming from within her own ears.
Natalia instantly turned around, aiming her gun down the opposite direction. There was nothing behind her. She then aimed up, to the left, to the right, and every direction in between, but nothing had changed.
Nothing was there. Nothing was wrong.
Natalia lowered her gun, taking a moment to close her eyes and breathe. Returning to her senses, she then turned around again and faced the double doors. They had not moved or changed in any way. Swallowing, she then continued her approach. Her steps were slower now, each one fully deliberate in how they pressed against the tiled floor.
Then she heard something she was not expecting.
"I'm sorry . . . ."
Natalia knew that the thought was not hers. It was a male voice, but did not seem to come from any outside source.
"I didn't know . . . ."
Fixed to the spot, Natalia heard nothing but her own breathing, which started coming from her mouth. Her lips hung slightly agape, the air flowing in and out over her moisture-laden tongue. She blinked, and heard the voice again, but this time, she knew it was coming from behind her.
"It wasn't my fault . . . ."
Natalia spun around and looked at the corner of the stairwell, and could see the pale, bloodied form of a man peeking around the corner. He had no eyes; they had been carved out, and the sockets were bleeding out and down his cheeks. She screamed and fired a burst of fire from her submachine gun. The bullets caused the man to explode into little flecks of dust. At the same time, the voice was heard again in the back of her mind.
"We should have stopped."
Sweat dripping down both of her temples, Natalia ran back down the hall, to the corner. She looked up the stairs, at the floor and at the walls, but could see no trace of the man. Nothing but dust was on the floor, and she couldn't remember if it had already been there. She bent down, and swiped at the dust with her left index finger.
Looking at the grey specks on her black, gloved hand for a few seconds, she realized that it really was just dust. Wiping her hand off, she shook her head and rubbed the top of her hairline. As she stood up, she began to turn back down the hallway before a startling realization dawned on her.
There were no bullet holes in the wall.
She crouched down again, and started to meticulously look over the entire segment of the wall that she could have shot at. The entire wall was devoid of any markings that would indicate being struck by any object, much less a bullet. She knew that her burst of fire was composed of four shots, but they had completely vanished along with the man.
Standing up, she took a moment to consider a new possibility, one that she was not comfortable doing. Still, she had to know. Swallowing again, she then unlatched the clip from her MP5, and took a look inside.
No bullets were missing.
She felt the blood drain from her face as she looked at the topped off clip. She then felt compelled to look over her shoulder, and when she did so, she gasped upon seeing that the double doors were mere inches from her face. They then burst open, and a large wave of blood, almost two metres tall, rushed to envelop her.
A bathroom on the fourth floor was vacant. Only one of the lights was on, with the overall room being quite dim. The small splashes of light massaged the smooth glass of the mirrors over the sink. Nothing moved inside the room. Then, a nearly imperceptible crying could be heard, if anyone had been there. It was the soft sobbing of a young girl, but there was no one in the room from who it could be coming from.
The voice of the girl then abruptly screamed, and the glass of all the mirrors cracked, the light rushing to fill in the newly formed grooves.
"Watch this."
Natalia and the well built man were standing in a Siberian forest, with no other people for miles in all directions. Their poly-cotton canvas tent, painted a dull blue, was a couple metres away from them, lodged next to a pile of supply and weapon crates. Natalia watched as he, still in his casual clothes, fired a shot from his rifle. It destroyed the target, a couple hundred metres away. The man grinned at her.
"What do you think?"
"I think you've asked for my opinion on about seven guns now, Alexi, and I'm getting worn out."
Alexi heartily laughed, placing the rifle on the back of his shoulder. Natalia's eye was drawn to the silver band on his left ring finger. It matched the one she was also wearing.
"Now you know how I feel when you ask me how I like your ballet routines over and over. I'm an enthusiast."
"So I see."
Alexi walked over to the weapon crates and undid the latches on the largest one before putting the rifle inside. He then looked over at one of the smaller crates.
"Just one more, I promise."
Natalia folded her arms, and gave Alexi a stern glare.
"One more?"
"My personal favourite. It's special. Like you."
Alexi reached for the crate, grabbing it with both hands.
Natalia's eyes burst open, the sound of her panting breath filling the air around her. She immediately jumped up from the floor and got into a battle ready pose, holding a combat knife in front of her, with a pistol in her other hand.
"Natalia!" called Rodney through her com link. "Natalia, do you read?"
"I'm here."
"Lost your signal for a few seconds. Looked kinda hazy. You okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Huh. Maybe the equipment's acting up. What's your status?"
"Still searching."
"Alright. I'll leave you to it."
Rodney switched off the com link. Natalia took a few moments to absorb her surroundings and check the pouches on her belt to make sure she still had all of her materials. She was inside of a cubicle floor, mostly intact but completely devoid of life. Circle strafing around the room, she found no other movement. She also had no idea how she had gotten there.
Breathing heavier than she should have, Natalia closed her eyes for a moment before lowering her arms. She thought back to the hallway, and the double doors that opened to a sea of blood. What happened after that? Thinking about it caused a painful wave of static to clog up her mind.
A light then appeared and flashed on her from behind.
"Contact!"
Natalia nearly snapped her neck to look over her shoulder, seeing four heavily armed commandos entering the room from behind her. They were wielding FAMAS assault rifles, with flashlights attached to the underbellies of their guns. Wearing gas masks and helmets, their faces were completely enshrouded.
"Hey! You!"
Responding at full speed, Natalia performed a sideways flip to get out of the line of sight. Landing on her right hand, she held out her pistol with her left and fired two bullets at the closest commando, both of which landed in his neck.
"Argh!"
Gobs of blood spurted from the commando's throat, and his remaining allies started firing their assault rifles in Natalia's direction. Having already taken cover behind one of the cubicles, she started crouch walking in a zigzag pattern amongst the various short walls.
"Spread out!" yelled one of the commandos. "Find her! You! Call it in!"
"Yes sir! Delta Team! Echo Team! Come in! We have an unknown hostile at my location! Send backup!"
Ducking under a desk, Natalia concentrated on controlling her lungs, slowing her breathing to a halt. One of the patrolling commandos walked past the desk she was under, and she silently moved out from under it and pounced on him, stuffing her combat knife into his right temple. She let him fall to the floor, but held up his shoulders just before they made contact with the carpet, gently letting him down to avoid making noise.
Sneaking off to another location, Natalia didn't have to wait long for one of the commandos to find his fallen comrade.
"She got Lewis!"
"Fuck!"
The commando crouched next to Lewis and saw that his head was bleeding profusely. He then shined his flashlight up to the ceiling, but saw no one there.
"Where the fuck are you?"
Crouching on the overhead rafters, Natalia again reverted to her completely still state. Her hands were clinging to the beam she was on, and her feet were flat next to them, her knees bending at a sharp angle, leaving her in a perched position. She watched as two more squads of commandos entered from the side entrance to the room. She now counted ten commandos in total. Furrowing her brow, she placed her body horizontally along the beam and started slinking along it towards a new position.
"What happened?"
"Some crazy bitch was in here! Shot Tom, and stabbed Lewis in the fucking head!"
"Shit."
"What'd she look like?"
"Some fucking redhead whore in a leather suit. Didn't get a good look before she went fucking nuts."
"Alright, two by two formation! No one goes anywhere alone! Stirling, you're with me. Everyone else, I want this place sweeped. I don't care if you find a fucking mouse, I want it reported, you understand?"
"Yes sir!"
As the main group of commandos broke up into smaller, two man teams, they started to cover the entire area, looking in all of the hiding places they could think of. Waiting motionless on the rafters, Natalia put all of her focus on maintaining her balance and steadying her breathing. Her body was suspended by her legs and hands, with all four of her extremities resting on the rafter in a straight line. The position of her contorted body would have caused extreme pain in a matter of moments for any normal person; it was merely par for the course for a master ballerina and gymnast.
Noticing that one of the teams was getting close, and that they were pointing their flashlights upwards, Natalia took in a deep breath before putting all of her weight on her left hand. Holding up her entire body as a vertical line, she managed to stay in the darkness as one of the light beams moved over part of where her body was when she was horizontal. After it passed, she got back into her previous position.
"Start checking the other rooms! You two, sweep this area again."
Natalia looked down for a moment before returning her eye to the rafter she was on. Raising an eyebrow, she saw that a tiny white mouse was crawling towards her. Sniffing the metal beam in front of it, the mouse then looked up at Natalia, seemingly with curiosity. It tilted its head to the side, before opening its mouth ever so slightly as if to squeak.
Before it could make a noise, Natalia sharply brought down her knife, skewering the mouse's skull. She was careful to not bring down the knife hard enough that the tip would scrape the metal of the rafter. The mouse's leg muscles flopped about for a few seconds before going limp. Gently lowering the mouse's corpse, Natalia's eyes then widened as she saw that a few drops of blood dribbled from the skull wound and fell off the edge of the rafter.
The droplets landed on the shoulder pad of the one of the commandos.
"The hell?"
The commando jerked his head to look up at Natalia.
"She's up there!"
Natalia wordlessly leaped off the rafter as the commandos fired up at her. As she tore through the air in a backwards somersault, she unloaded several shots from her wrist gauntlets into the two commandos, ripping through their body armour.
She landed in a wide spread pose, and heard the rest of the commandos rushing back to the room. She quickly pulled out her knife and pistol, preparing herself for close quarters combat.
"She's in here!"
Performing a fouetté turn as she approached one of the doors, her outstretched leg kicked an incoming commando in the stomach, which stunned him before she swung out with her knife arm, slashing the man's throat. Using her right hand to place her pistol's barrel on the other commando's face before pulling the trigger, she then saw that the rest of the commandos were approaching her from the other side of the room, wildly firing their weapons. She detached a small, silver orb from her belt and tossed it towards them, and the orb then split apart into several cluster grenades.
"Grenade!"
"Shit!"
The cluster grenades exploded, creating a massive wall of fire. Natalia was temporarily blinded by the light and heat, wincing in pain. When she did look back, she saw that the fire was creating a corridor, and in the centre was the shadowy silhouette of a young girl with black hair and a red dress. Natalia looked directly into the girl's eyes in terror. She had no pupils: just empty, orange eyes, filled with nothing but scorn and rage.
"I know who you are."
Natalia was then lifted off the ground by an unseen force. She screamed as she was flung backwards, crashing through one of the windows of the office building, dozens of metres above the ground.
"I didn't know that she would be here."
The bleeding man broke out into a hysterical laugh. His teeth were coated with red fluid, some of it gushing out from within his lips.
"Remarkable, isn't it? How things all come together? Just as they were. Just as they should have always been."
He turned away, taking a step into the darkness.
"Never presume to know everything, my dear. For you never know what might become the thing you dread."