Earth-717 Special #1: Project Origin
Chapter 5: Dark Signal
"You have one new message."
"Hey, Marshall? It's Janice. Wanted to drop you a line on how things are going up here. Heard from Bill and a couple of the others that another member of the board of directors is coming to visit in the next few days. Not sure who it is, some guy named Salyers? Anyway, not important. Point is, apparently he's here because of something Aristide did. It's all hush hush, but I think she might have taken a piss in the wrong person's cereal bowl, if you know what I mean. Don't know what this means for Origin, but I gotta feeling that some big shakedowns are on the way. Maybe Aristide will finally get what's coming to her. Either way, just wanted to give you a heads up, see how you're doing. You should get outta the damn cubicle den and come out with us some time, you know, with Iain, Bill and I. Maybe Friday? Call me back if you want in."
"You can feel it drawing you closer, can't you?"
The bleeding man moved his blood-soaked hand through his hair, all while maintaining his insidious grin.
"She wants you to know. Needs you to know. Needs you to remember . . . . remember all the time we lost. That's why you were brought here. She was calling out . . . . hoping to reach your ears. A dark signal with one purpose: to find you, and bring you down here to hell."
The bleeding man then turned away and took a moment before speaking again.
"Don't keep her waiting."
12:34 AM
As the doors closed, Natalia stood still. She felt the entire apparatus lurch before it slowly started descending along the vertical track. She was standing in the centre of the elevator, slowly and steadily breathing, when suddenly a noise came in over the internal speakers.
It was elevator music.
Natalia looked up at the upper corner, and raised an eyebrow as she listened to a strange rendition of "The Girl From Ipanema". The soothing serenade of smooth jazz slithered through her, giving the atmosphere a strangely gentle edge, as if to keep the sinister elements at bay. The calming music stood in stark contrast to the blood dripping from the circle around the button for Floor –1, which had started seeping down the elevator wall, welling into a pool on the floor.
Despite everything, Natalia couldn't help but nod her head to the tune, tapping her right foot to the rhythm. The song then abruptly cut out, and everything went dark.
Yelena and Kaminsky walked into a large floor filled with cubicles. The entire place was a mess, having been torn apart by the remains of gunfire and explosions. Yelena narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the situation, not showing any emotion on her face. Kaminsky was more visibly affected by what he saw.
"Fucking hell."
The two operatives approached the centre of the room, where a scenic display of carnage awaited them. Kaminsky's gloved hands tensed up as he took it all in. Yelena gritted her teeth without opening her mouth.
There were at least a dozen bodies in the room, all of them belonging to ArmaCham Security Force personnel. Their outfits were similar to those of police officers, with navy blue shirts, kevlar vests, and aquamarine caps with the ArmaCham logo on them. Most of the bodies were in a single, blood-drenched pile, resembling a massive stack of pancakes.
Numerous lacerations and burn marks covered the bodies, with several separated appendages adding to the atmosphere of the grisly scene. A couple of the bodies were completely charred, their skin reduced to a roasted, ashen state, the internal organs still being cooked by the heat. The worst part were the faces. They were all visible, and all of the eyes were still open.
"Guess we know what happened to the security," said Kaminsky.
Yelena tapped the com link in her ear.
"Rodney?"
"Yeah."
"We found some security guards. Looks like they were massacred. Given what I'm looking at, these mercenaries are cold."
"Sons of bitches, more like," interrupted Kaminsky.
"Alright, keep looking," said Rodney. "Too late to help the dead."
"Yes sir."
Kneeling down beside the bodies, Kaminsky took several moments to study them, clearly needing time to process what he was seeing.
"Just fucking slaughtered. I don't . . . ."
His eyes closed, Kaminsky shook his head. Yelena turned away from him, and saw a hall leading out from the other side of the room. She could see an office door at the end of the hall. There was a small plaque attached to the wall just to the side of the door.
G. Aristide.
Yelena put on the tiniest of grins as she started walking towards the hallway, pulling out her pistol.
"Come find me . . . ."
Natalia was standing on an empty road, surrounded by fog in all directions. She couldn't make out any of the nearby buildings, with them all being vague shapes that were barely visible. Breathing quickly and heavily, she then heard the faint giggling of a young girl. Turning in the direction that the noise seemed to be coming from, Natalia squinted as she thought she could see something moving through the fog.
"Hello?"
Natalia did not receive an answer. Taking a few more seconds to regulate her breathing, she then started running in that direction. For a while, the only sound she could hear were her own feet clamping against the pavement. She completely lost track of time as she ran, before finally coming to a stop and bending over to catch her breath.
Her hands on her knees, Natalia panted for a minute, feeling like her lungs were going to explode. Wiping her forehead with her left wrist, she then blinked upon hearing the sound of a church bell. The noise was very soft, but it was distinct enough that she could instantly identify it. Looking all around her, she tried to get a handle on exactly where it was coming from.
Choosing a direction, Natalia then started to move towards the bell, which kept ringing. She made sure to mind her pace, moving at a quick jog rather than a full on sprint like before. As the ringing slowly grew louder, she was then surprised by the sound under her feet changing. Looking down, she saw that she was now standing on a bridge that was made out of a kind of grated metal.
Stepping to the side, Natalia saw a sidewalk and a metal railing. Grabbing the railing with both hands, she looked over the edge. More fog was beneath the bridge, and she wondered if there was either a river or a canyon below. Shaking her head and scratching the back of her neck, she then turned back to the direction of the bell and continued her journey.
Reaching the end of the bridge, Natalia chose to stay on the sidewalk. Following the tiled path, she walked past several buildings, but they were all abandoned. Many of the windows were either smashed or boarded up, and none of them had any signs of life, clearly having been vacated for many years.
She halted herself upon one of the windows catching her eye. Turning towards it, she saw that it was the remains of a toy store, with several weathered items still on the display shelves. Placing her gloved hands on the glass, she looked over each item.
A chipped action figure, with much of the paint scraped off. An old teddy bear, with several cuts that had stuffing popping out of them. A model ship that had a handful of broken pieces.
Each one was a long dead dream.
Natalia then paused upon seeing the item furthest to the left. It was an old, wooden music box, with a name plate that had the lettering scratched off. For a couple minutes, she just stared at the music box, but she couldn't understand why. For some reason, she felt as if she had seen it before, and that it carried some sort of importance to her.
A lost relic from another life.
Natalia then felt the urge to smash the window and take the music box. As she stepped back and reached for her pistol, she then heard a scream coming from behind her. Quickly spinning around, Natalia then loudly gasped upon seeing a burning church on the other side of the street.
"Help me!"
Natalia rushed towards the building and accidentally tripped over the sidewalk. Scrambling back to her feet, she then heard the crying of a young girl coming from inside.
"Who's in there?! Hello? Can you hear me?! Hello!"
The crying continued, but no one answered her. Steeling herself, Natalia prepared to charge into the building when she saw a short figure trudge out the front door. It was a young girl in a pyjama dress, with ashes all over her skin. The girl coughed and slumped to the floor. Natalia screamed as she ran forward and cradled the girl.
"No, no, no . . . ."
Natalia choked up, tears dripping off her face and onto the girl's skin, washing away some of the ashes. Natalia brushed the girl's hair with her hand, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, rain started to pour, and the moisture filled up the air all around them. After a few minutes of silence, the girl finally spoke up.
"Why didn't you save me?"
Natalia's eyes burst open as she grabbed at her chest. She looked all around her to see that she was back in the elevator, and she realized that she had no idea how long she had been in there. Suddenly, a small streak of blue light seeped into the elevator through the miniscule crack between the doors. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before exhaling.
The doors then opened to the main laboratory. The floor was made of a metal grating, and various pieces of scientific equipment were strewn about. She then looked at the centre of the main chamber, to see a massive, blue sphere, which was was mostly full of a gyrating, glowing liquid. Over a dozen metallic tubes were connected to the top of the orb, all funnelling towards the hovering silhouette in the middle of the liquid chamber.
The silhouette was in the shape of a young girl.
Natalia quietly gasped upon seeing several mercenary commandos standing near the orb, with a larger man, obviously the leader. A woman in business attire was standing closest to the orb. Her hand was outstretched, as if she was going to touch the glass.
A voice whispered in the back of Natalia's mind.
"Help me."
Furrowing her brow, Natalia clenched her fists before sticking them both forward. One of the mercenaries turned to look at her.
"Oh, fuck!"
Natalia opened fire with her wrist gauntlets before most of the mercenaries even turned their heads. Her bullets shredded the torsos of the commandos as she charged forward, leaving a cloud of blood in the air before they collectively collapsed.
The mercenary leader shouted in anger at the ambush, pulling out a desert eagle magnum from a holster on his belt. Performing a cartwheel, Natalia dodged his first shot, which tore a large hole in the floor's grating. She didn't even get a good look at his face as he lined up and missed a second shot. He then seemed to hesitate for a moment, and Natalia seized the chance to use a spin kick to knock the magnum out of his hands.
It landed on the floor next to him, its right side facing upwards.
Pulling out her knife as she spun around again, she then plunged it straight into the man's chest as he seemed to stand still. Her eyes closed, she then pulled the knife back, spilling several splatters of blood across the metal grating. The man coughed multiple times before falling to the floor. Genevieve screamed in terror.
Natalia placed the knife back on her belt before looking down at the man.
"You . . . ."
Natalia shook her head as she listened to the voice.
"You said . . . . you w-wouldn't . . . . f-for . . . . forget m-me . . . ."
Natalia gasped.
"Lapochka," said Alexi.
"No!"
Natalia leaped down at Alexi, putting her hands on his chest as the blood from her blade wound seeped into his clothes. She was paralyzed, only able to look at her own blood-soaked hands. Genevieve watched her, completely stunned. Natalia started crying as she sat down on the floor, cradling Alexi's head in her arms.
"Oh . . . . oh n-no, no, no . . . . oh, please, no . . . . Alexi . . . ."
"Na . . . . Nat . . . . al . . . ."
Alexi sighed and went limp. The pain forced the tears out of her eyes. Looking at the magnum, she instantly knew what it was. Reaching out with one hand, she grabbed it, and turned it around to see the left side.
"Just one more, I promise."
Natalia felt herself get colder as the words played over in her mind.
"One more?"
"My personal favourite. It's special. Like you."
She cringed upon seeing exactly what she knew would be there. A red star painted on the left side of the desert eagle magnum, Alexi's favourite gun. She spent a couple of minutes just sitting there, unable to do anything but weep.
The entire time, Alma was there, staring down at her.
Yelena pulled the data drive out of Genevieve's computer after the download was complete. She unzipped a pouch affixed to her belt and placed the drive inside before zipping it back up. She then walked out of Genevieve's office and casually strolled towards the stairs. Along the way, she walked past Kaminsky's body, which was crumpled on the floor.
There were six bullet wounds in his back.
Rodney stared at his screen in disbelief. The life signs for all four team members were gone.
"Kaminsky?! Can you hear me? Yelena? Jin? Hello? Everyone's signal just went off at once! Anyone? Anyone?! Team, do you read? I repeat, do you read? Natalia? Where are you?! Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?! Hello? Hello!"
Her tear ducts drained, Natalia just sat there, completely silent, staring down at Alexi's corpse. Genevieve also sat there, completely silent, staring at Natalia. Alma stared at both of them, her gaze unbroken, even by blinking.
Natalia ran her gloved fingers through Alexi's hair, a sullen frown adorning her face. She had already closed his eyes for him. After a long while, the sounds of someone walking out of the darkness could be heard. Before Natalia could do anything about it, she could then feel Alma's gaze in her mind, and within moments she passed out, her head falling onto Alexi's chest.
The bleeding man slowly clapped, as "The Girl From Ipanema" played from an unseen speaker in the darkness.
"Well done, my dear."