Before the Mushroom War
Sudden Stop
And just like that, Simon was already long gone… Now I have to remember to write down the dinner invitation on somewhere before I forget it. Knowing my memory, it was probably inevitable... I still wonder about what kind of artifact Simon had found in Scandinavia. It must have been really something incredible if Simon is touting it as his 'biggest discovery' yet. But then again, Simon was always easily impressed... I guess we'll just have to find out soon enough... Eventually after realizing that I was still standing in the middle of the empty courtyard like a total idiot, I finally walked back to the doorway where Hannah was currently waiting.
"Simon and Betty invited us for dinner at their house." I promptly told her before we went back inside the house, but for some reason, she didn't respond to me. The whole time, Hannah just kept glaring angrily at me, making me extremely nervous by those piercing hazel eyes of her. "Why did you have to say stuff like that about my cooking? I've been making you food for all these years and now you tell me you never liked it?" She exclaimed angrily. Oh... I couldn't help but chuckle ever so slightly when I finally know what was actually wrong with her.
"Oh, you don't remember? I thought I already told you the truth about your cooking a long time ago." I said softly as I slowly pulled her closer and hugged her gently, hopefully calming her down a bit. "No, you didn't..." She pouted sulkily as she looked away from me. "Let me see here? It was the night after our wedding, we were standing under the moonlight sky as I stared deeply into your eyes." I whispered softly into her ear. "They were so brightly enchanting; I could've sworn that it was actually one of the glistening stars hanging above in the veiled night sky. It was at that moment, I swore to you that you're the love of my life and I would be by your side at all times…" She smiled softly as I finished, her anger seemingly dissipated completely.
"EXCEPT the kitchen!" I quickly added with a sarcastic smirk, to which she immediately responded by elbowing me in the stomach. Well, sometimes I have bad ideas that I don't really think through. She chuckled at the sight of me clutching onto my stomach out of numbing pain. And that's why I should never ever make fun of a former martial arts expert. Well, I don't really mind it all... I'm just happy to see her smile again after her father's-… She didn't show it at all to Simon and I had to admit that she was pretty good at hiding it, but I could still tell that she was… unhappy…
"You're lucky I still love you, Louis or I might have broken your arm right there." She said in a creepily cheerful manner. "That wouldn't be good for the baby… if the mother started doing somersaults or some fancy martial arts move again." I said weakly, still a bit sore in the stomach. "Who knows? It could be great training for the baby." She exclaimed jokingly. I mustered up a weak laugh before I saw that Hannah suddenly reared herself in pain. "What's wrong?" I shouted urgently. "It's nothing… It's… It's just the baby has been kicking a lot recently." She reassured me as she gently caressed her baby bump. "I guess the baby is more like her mother than I realize." I smiled meekly as I slowly embrace her. "But just be careful, alright? You're making me really worried about two people here…" "Yeah, yeah… Whatever…" She said nonchalantly, seemingly ignoring what I just said. I was about to lecture her even further but she suddenly edged closer to my face and gently kissed me on the lips, much to my pleasant surprise. Well, that was certainly unexpected… I forgot what I was trying to say…
The sudden sound of a doorbell ringing interrupted the moment, much to my sheer annoyance. Not another visitor… What is it with them? Yesterday was a pretty lazy day and no one came to visit us then. I wonder who could it be this time? For all I know, maybe it's Simon again and he probably forgot about something. I gently let go of Hannah and promptly went outside of the house. I tried to peer behind the metal gate from the doorway to see who could it possibly be and to my surprise, saw a different vehicle entirely. It's certainly not Simon, that's for sure… The vehicle was partially concealed behind the metal gate but judging from the top half of the vehicle, I could tell that it was a military jeep. Oh God, not those guys again… I'm really not in the mood to deal with them. I can't believe they still didn't understand me…
The deafening sound of the doorbell rang throughout the entire house yet again, much to my annoyance. I really have no choice, do I? "Well who is it, Louis?" Hannah cried out impatiently from the inside. "It's… It's just some old friends from the army." I answered as I quickly pressed the button besides the front door. The metallic gate slowly swung open and the imposing military jeep immediately drove right on inside. I stared on seriously as the jeep pulled to a stop right in front of me. The metal doors of the jeep quickly opened revealing a grizzled man with a short chinstrap. He was wearing a military uniform adorned with all kinds of medals and a high-ranking military insignia. "Colonel Henry…" I said as I glared seriously at him. He's the last person I ever expected to see again. He looked so different since the last time I seen him… I could actually see strands of grey hair at the edges of his hair. He seemed much older and... very tired but I guess that always happens in this kind of job…
"Professor Louis…" He made his greeting as he stared directly into me with his weary and baggy eyes. I simply nodded at him in a courteous manner as he urgently approached the doorway of the house. "Mrs. Mertens…" He greeted Hannah whom I didn't realize was already standing right behind me. "Oh, Henry… It's nice to see you again. What brings you all the way over here?" She said nicely, putting on her best 'happy' face again. Ugh... Wow, I can't believe I still feel kind of embarrassed when people call me and Hannah by my last name... Maybe that's why I sometimes try to use my middle name to refer myself instead, in rare occasions. Xanders... Louis Xanders... Louis X. Mertens... At least that sounds a little bit- I don't know... But! But- Uh- I didn't mean any disrespect by the way, Papa, if you happen to be listening...
"I know this might be sudden, but I really need to talk to you, Louis." He said in a strangely urgent demeanor. "Privately…" He quickly added before he slightly glanced at Hannah. "Well, alright then. I'm going to go upstairs and do… whatever." Hannah exclaimed cheerfully, understanding the gesture Henry was making. Hannah approached the staircase and started to slowly climb up. "Be careful with those stairs, honey." I warned her in a worried tone. "I'm pregnant, Louis. Not disabled..." She quickly snapped back at me in a surprisingly annoyed tone. Ah… Hannah… She never changes at all. But now then, back to business... "Why don't we talk privately in my workshop instead?" I said to Henry as I gestured my hand towards the staircase leading upstairs to the workshop. He simply nodded as he quietly and urgently followed me all the way to the workshop. What in the world could he possibly want this time?
As we finally arrived to the workshop, I immediately grabbed for the wheeled office chair that I found from under one of the tables and promptly sat on it. I rolled over to the table where the B-MO unit was resting neatly on. I didn't notice that Henry was observing and surveying the entire room. "So… This is what you're going to do now?" He said inquisitively. "What do you want, Henry?" I replied coldly as I picked up the B-MO unit. "They're finally proceeding along with your plan, Louis…" "Even when I specifically explained to them that it would not work in the end." I stated as I opened the green template revealing the entire electrical wiring inside the unit. "What did you expect?" He stifled a weak laugh. "They're getting desperate. We all are..." He muttered quietly. "That still doesn't explain why you're here, Henry. Unless… you're just a courier this time." I said while I carefully searched around the tables for the Omni-Tool. I can't believe I lost it again. Maybe I should do what Hannah said and string it around my neck or something.
"I came here to tell you that the situations getting worse... Not only here but in other countries too, and everyone's scraping at the bottom of the barrel for options." He explained as he walked towards the window. "And why are you telling me this?" I asked as I finally found the Omni-Tool. It turns out it was inside one of my pockets all along. I pulled out the small black metallic rod and with the press of a button, a pair of orange holographic pliers materialized from the rod. I still need to adjust the voice box of the unit, just a little bit… "I'm telling you this because they had hoped that you could do something about it." He said which kind of interrupted my train of thought. I did not realize it at first but his voice slowly grew more annoyed. I didn't answer immediately as I was too busy with all of the wiring work that everything else was a blur to me. It was quite a while before I realize that I have to finally answer. "I... uh... I've told you before that I want nothing to do with whatever they're planning." I exclaimed, too distracted with my work. The words 'Program Objective' lit up on the unit's screen. I deftly encoded the special programming I had made for the little console. I was feeling all kinds of satisfied gladness when the words 'Finn/Fionna' brightly lit up under the objective. There! It's finally finished! B-MO is all done! Now I just have to-
"Goddamn it, Louis! At least look at me when I'm talking to you!" I heard a loud smashing sound from somewhere behind me. I quickly turned around and saw Henry lunging forward and suddenly pulling me away from the chair, making me accidentally drop the Omni-Tool and the B-MO unit to the ground. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and just dangled me in mid-air. Glad to see he didn't change in the slightest... "There could be a goddamn War anytime soon!" He yelled at my face as loudly as he could. "And you're just sitting up here in the hills in the middle of FUCKING nowhere, wasting your time making useless crap and pretending that everything's fine with the whole god damn world! Well, here's a news flash for you! A bloody War is coming! We can't stop it no matter what we do and it's going to kill EVERYONE!" He kept shouting and shouting directly into my face non-stop. I tried my best to at least keep a straight face through it all...
After he was finished, Henry angrily threw me to the ground like it was nothing. He stepped away from me, leaving me slumped all over the floor. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you or what in the world were you thinking, Louis! If only you had just finished Atlas-" "Atlas was a mistake!" I finally drew the line and decided to fight back. "NO! If only you had finished Atlas, then maybe we could have used it to minimize casualties or-" "Minimize casualties? That bloody thing is a walking behemoth!" I shouted back as I struggled to stand back up. "It will do more damage and destruction rather than helping with anything else! I was right to stop it when I could!" I kept pressuring him, hoping that he would stop sometime soon. I was never one for a confrontation, be it social or physical.
"And maybe you should stop relying everything on my help and do something about it on your own! I'm not a miracle worker, Henry! I can't just clap my hands right now and magically fix everything for you…" When I finally finished, Henry immediately grunted loudly out of frustration and punched the wall behind me, narrowly missing my face by mere inches. He turned away from me and started to pace around the room impatiently while clasping at his forehead. "Okay… Okay... Listen…" He said, seemingly calming himself down. "They wanted me to come here so that I could give this to you…" He said as he forcefully handed me a white piece of paper with some tiny words on it. "What is it?" I said slightly panting, trying to regain my breath after all the crazy shouting I just did. "It's a VIP pass… for Beautopia…"
"Beautopia?" I said confusingly. "I know we may have our differences... But for now, you have to think about your family and get them to safety." He explained it to me, which actually does makes a lot of sense. If there's really a War as Henry said and if it's really happening soon, I need to make sure Hannah and the baby would be safe above all else. "Tell me Henry, is it true what the rumors said? About the bunkers having cryo-stasis pods?" He didn't answer me but he just slightly nodded at me. So the cryo-stasis pods were true after all.. Do they really think that the War, if it ever happens, would stretch that far in the end? "So what about you, Henry? Do you already have a pass for Beautopia?" I asked him in a rather inquisitive manner as I slowly try to regain my bearings. "How about you and Hannah get ready before you start asking more questions?" He replied coldly, obviously getting annoyed by my questions, as he slowly approached the doorway to leave the workshop. Why would he be so defensive about it? Why would they even bother to give me a pass to Beautopia after what happened? Unless... "There's something inside Beautopia, isn't it? Something that they needed me for?" I quickly asked him before he could leave. Without turning around, Henry paused for a while at the doorway like he was unsure of what to say next.
"Just shut up... and get ready, Louis… I'll be waiting at the jeep." That was all he said before proceeding to leave me all alone in the workshop. I sighed softly before glancing at the Pass... So it's supposed to be for VIPs, eh? I wonder what difference would that make in the end if the War supposedly broke out. I guess I should go to Hannah and I don't know? Start packing all of our stuff or something... Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the B-MO unit lying on the ground. I walked towards the tables and thoroughly searched for it under the table. I thought I last saw it falling under here when Henry rudely grabbed me by the collar... Ah! There it is! And the Omni-Tool was right beside to it too. How lucky of me... It really saves me time to search for it later. I picked up the Omni-Tool, which was already turned back off from the drop, and placed it back into my pocket. I proceeded to pick up the B-MO unit from the ground and did a quick inspection of it.
Thankfully, it wasn't damaged in the slightest from the drop. Besides the power source, I guess the unit was practically finished with all the upgrades, but just to be safe… I put the template back on the unit and firmly closed it tightly. I walked over to the small metallic base that was the Holographic-television and promptly slid it aside with my leg. There was a hidden compartment with a safe under the base of the television where I keep all of my inventions that are finished or near completion. Hannah used to always call me paranoid but I still remember the times when some unsavory people tried to steal all of my work. After making sure that no one could see me, I opened the compartment revealing the metal safe. I carefully opened the safe and placed the B-MO unit neatly inside it. The safe was pretty much empty which kind of reminded me that I never finished on what I started. The B-MO unit is probably the first thing that I have completely finished.
I firmly closed the safe and the compartment following suit. Now that it was safe, I could go and start packing already. Maybe I could bring the B-MO unit along but I have to see if it's okay with Hannah first. It was when I reached the doorway did I finally realize that the B-MO unit's voice box was still incomplete. Damn it! I just remembered that I was in the middle of adjusting it when Henry threw his tantrum. So now I have no idea how it will sound like… It could probably sound like a burly Scottish man for all I know. Okay, I give up… How can I know how to create robotic machinery and fusion-based technology when I can't even remember the simplest of things that happened to me mere seconds ago…
I moaned in frustration before leaving the workshop behind me. I guess I have to finish the unit later considering if I could convince Hannah to bring it along with us to Beautopia. I slowly proceeded to the master bedroom while going through of what I should say to Hannah in my head. But when I finally arrived at the doorway, I still couldn't come up with anything. Looks like I have to resort to dropping down on my knees and beg again. That's strange… The door was already open albeit slightly ajar. I carefully pushed the door open revealing the bedroom, but it was strangely very dark inside. Was she taking a nap or something? "Hannah!" I called out for her but there was no response. For some reason, I suddenly got a really bad feeling inside me… I tried to suppress it as best I could when I slowly but carefully crept inside the dark room.
"Hannah!" I called out for her again and yet again, there was still no response. "LOUIS!" A voice suddenly came out of nowhere from behind me. Out of sheer shock, I made this rather weird yelp of horror and immediately leapt forward landing onto the ground. Before I could realize what just happened, I heard loud nonsensical laughter from behind me. I turned and saw Hannah standing at the doorway laughing loudly at the sight of me on the ground. "Hannah!" I exclaimed happily. I was just glad that she was alright after all. I guess I really am that paranoid... "You should have seen your face just now!" She snorted with laughter. "And that sound? What in God's name was that? It sounded like a sick cat screeching." "But... But where did you come from?" I asked, still confused at what just happened. "Well, you don't expect me to just lie down and do nothing all day, do you?" She smiled wryly. "So... What did you actually do then?" I asked as I slowly stood back up. "I heard what happened in there." Her smile quickly disappeared as she changed the subject. "What Henry said... Do we really have to leave?" I didn't know what to say... I can't just ask her to leave our only home behind but... "Yes, it's true... Henry said there could be a War-"
"Don't say stuff like that!" She interrupted me angrily. "But if what Henry said is really true, then I need you and the baby to be somewhere safe... Somewhere like Beautopia..." I explained it to her even though she wanted to hear none of it. She sighed sadly as she slowly went outside onto the bedroom's balcony. I followed her outside and gently held her body close to mine as we gazed towards the enveloping hills. Her body was shaking... "Don't worry about it, Hannah. Maybe everything will be fine in the end and we could come back home. All of us..." I didn't know what to say but I tried to comfort her in any way I could. "Maybe you're right, Louis..." She admitted sadly. "You know, I had hoped that the baby would be able to grow up somewhere safe and clean but... I guess that's just not possible anymore..." She mumbled softly. Moments passed as we just stood there gazing onto the clear skies and the lush hills in the distance. For a short while, I actually thought that everything... That everything was all right with the world. Now I know how Simon must have felt when he gazed into the skies...
"We should start getting ready to leave before Henry blow another casket..." said Hannah to which I immediately nodded in a agreeing manner and quickly went back inside. I approached our closet and pulled out a large suitcase from inside before placing it on the bed. "Did you know that you talk very loudly when you're thinking to yourself, Louis?"Hannah jokingly exclaimed from the outside. "I know... It's a nasty habit that I can't seem to get rid of..." I slightly smiled as I quickly opened the suitcase. We better get this whole thing over and done with already... "Yeah, it sure makes you such an easy person to scare."
"I guess it's a little part of my charm..." I exclaimed sarcastically as I packed Hannah's outfits first. She almost burst out laughing from my admittedly lame remark. "Please, Louis... Don't go fooling yourself with that! The very last thing you are-" I heard her suddenly gasping painfully. "What's the matter, Hannah?" I asked urgently as soon as I heard her voice beginning to change, my eyes lit up with sheer shock. "It's just the baby, Louis... He's just-" She was immediately interrupted by her sudden screams of pain. My heart immediately sank deep as I simply dropped whatever I was holding and quickly rushed towards the balcony.
As soon as I had arrived, the horrifying sight of Hannah lying on the ground greeted me, much to my overwhelming horror. Seeing her on the ground, I was almost beside myself with hysteria... "Oh my God! Hannah!" I rushed to her side before helplessly dropping down onto my knees next to her. She... She was bleeding… Oh God, there's blood everywhere! On her dress and all across the floors! "Oh God... Oh, God, what... What happened?" I stuttered the words out of my mouth with panic, gently clutching onto her entire body. My hands were shaking uncontrollably... "Louis…" She muttered weakly to me as she gritted her teeth from all of the pain. Her hands were tightly gripping onto my shoulder and shaking hands as she tries to bear the overwhelming pain. "Oh God…Oh God…" I was so shocked and stunned that I didn't know what to do. I was so pathetic…
It was literally seconds before I could finally snapped out of my terrified trance. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! HELP!" I kept yelling and yelling as loudly as I could from the balcony. The insides of my head were being torn apart with panic and confusion as my eyes darted to and fro, trying to figure out what the hell I should do next. I didn't figure out anything... Thankfully, it wasn't long before Henry suddenly burst through the doorway of the bedroom. "What the hell is go- Oh my God…" His sentence was shockingly interrupted as soon as he saw the sight of Hannah's bleeding body. "Henry!" I yelled at him. "Get the Ambulance! NOW!" Henry quickly nodded at me in agreement and immediately rushed out of the room, without a moment too soon.
"Help is coming, Hannah. Just- Just hold on… Hold on..." I silently whispered to her as she just lied there on the ground. "Louis..." She said weakly as it was getting more and more obvious that she was slowly losing grip of her consciousness and my hands. Oh God... No, no, no... I should have paid more attention! I should have paid more attention to her… This is my fault... I should have paid more attention to her... I gently rested my head against hers as tears unknowingly rolled down through my eyes...
"You're going to be alright, Hannah. Just- Just hang in there, please... Everything's going to be alright… Everything's going to be okay..."