AN: This is a FLASHBACK CHAPTER , Sorry, just a notification so it's not confusing as to how this is happening and why there's a sudden change in story path
On another note, thank you so much to those who have followed and favourited this story so far, on with the chapter!
Chapter 5 - A Touch of Poison
Character Storyline - Aizen Sōsuke (K-A)
Day by day they come to pass, each face though smeared with emotion, remains empty to the cold, sharp eyes that observe.
The monitor seemed to stare back, filled with the moving portraits of the unaware. None of them knew, and that was their place that was predetermined from the second they set foot into the factory. No one was meant to know, each set of eyes covered by a thick veil of serenity and normality, though he was immune to their measures of control.
It had been a wary three years since he'd been moved to the main branch of the largest company in Karakura town, they were like puppet masters and the whole city was filled with their careless puppets, slaves to the strings that tugged them along. A slight sigh escaped as he re-adjusted his thick rimmed glasses and ran a free hand through his dark brown hair before standing and glancing up at the clock. 10:00pm. It was time to finish up the preparations.
They had been swayed so easily when he applied, a warm smile and a carefully sharpened act had placed him where he was now. Aizen Sōsuke, head of the digital security and electronics unit. He glanced around the hallway, empty, each room and desk devoid of the life that the day had given them. He had an excuse to be here so late, maintenance work. He'd been asked to stay behind to fix the air conditioner in the conference room for the important meeting the next day.
The cold, steel door to the main conference room had been carelessly left unlocked, he silently stepped in and walked slowly towards the broken device. He glanced briefly at the security cameras fitted around the room, smiling as he noticed that they were all deactivated. He set up his supplies and began taking apart the air conditioner, unscrewing the broken filter and retrieving the replacement from his supplies.
He had finally finished replacing the components of the device and re-fitted the cover, within that moment he felt the immense discomfort of eyes upon him, someone was watching. He quickly glanced up towards the door as he packed away the last of his equipment before walking over and peering into the darkness of the hallway. Nothing. But someone had definitely been watching him, the door had a smaller gap than the one he'd meticulously left when entering.
Carefully he made his way back to the office and locked the door behind him, now cautious of prying eyes that lurked within the shadows of the abandoned, dark halls. He reached behind his desk, retrieving a second supply bag and checking its contents. Nearly everything was set for the meeting tomorrow, now he just had to wait.
The next morning he arrived early, preparing the security monitors and setting a timer for exactly 8:00pm when the meeting began, the director had requested his presence so he needed to get all of his tasks for the day completed by that time. With tired, jaded eyes he set to another day of monitoring the mundane activities of the factories employees.
The clock ticked the seconds by, it's motions painfully slow before the minute and hour hands finally hit the designated time. 7:50pm. He grabbed his spare supply bag from under his desk and quickly prepared to go to the meeting, carefully locking the office door behind him before he left as an added safety measure. When he arrived he adorned himself with a fake smile as the curtain cue to his intricate play, the same one that he acted out each day for the less perceptive, and greeted each of the important spectators. When finally meeting up with the director and shaking hands firmly he took his allocated place at the far end of the table and retrieved his laptop, beginning to record the important aspects of the meeting like he was requested to do.
He continued with his work, fatigued eyes flicking to the glassy surface of his watch and glancing at the time. As the timer was four minutes from initiating he grasped with the supply bag tightly and asked the director if he could excuse himself, receiving a small sign of acknowledgement in return. Swiftly moving away from the table he headed towards the door controls, sweeping his fingers over them delicately and carefully setting the door to perma-lock as he passed by.
A frigid ambiance fell throughout the room as chills crept across his skin. The unbearable feeling of being watched again, it loomed over him as if he could feel the prying eyes slowly burning holes through his skin. His sharp eyes momentarily flicked towards the hall as a figure concealed by thick shadows disappeared around the corner, he rapidly glanced back, unable to focus in time. There was no one there, not anymore. He continued on and quickly stepped into the bathroom, checking his watch again. One minute remained before the timer was set to detonate, it was time. He unzipped the spare supply bag and pulled out a large jet black mask. A chemical gas mask.
The director placed a small silver containment chest on the table. "We will mass produce this, just like all the other branches, and with that our company will have the most deadly bio-weapon to date. We'll hold all of the power from now on." A slight beep interrupted as the crisp chill of the air-conditioning dispersed through the sealed room. He carefully lifted one of the vials from the case to display for the eyes of greed that surrounded him. He began coughing, subtle at first before suddenly becoming violent. One hand was clutching desperately at his throat, his other pressed flat to the cold glass table before he froze in place lifelessly, his eyes frigid and glassy like a frozen-over lake, the terror reflecting beneath its unbreakable surface. The unmistakeable sound of a body hitting the floor was the final sound before chaos erupted in the room, people frantically ran for the door only to find it was sealed. Their cries for help slowly fading to nothing but dull whispers and rasping begs for air.
In seconds the room was deadly silent, the slight hum of the air conditioner was the only noise that dared to break the empty silence. Aizen stepped over the lifeless corpses of the sickening people before him, their only plans to sacrifice the innocent for their own greed and wealth, for nothing more than the pursuit of twisted pleasure, while leaving nothing but destruction and corpses in their wake. That was no true plan. He swiftly sealed the silver containment chest and packed it into his supply bag before moving towards the air vent and reaching into the supply bag, retrieving a screwdriver and unscrewing the bolts.
The small click of a torchlight echoed between the looming metal walls, the soft light chasing away the approaching darkness as he checked over the map of the air circulation system and quietly moved forward, careful not to alert anyone to his presence. The sweet, cool night air acted as a guide for the last part of the ominous maze as he took off his mask and packed it away. He could see the exit now, he cautiously moved closer before a sharp pain tore through the side of his leg. He held back a cry of pain and exhaled it bitterly as he glared at the glinting sharpened steel protruding from the side of the vent.
Fighting to ignore it he felt around in the darkness for the torch he had dropped in shock, finding it he quickly retrieved the screwdriver and unscrewed the bolts to the second panel before painfully dropping down out of the vent, breathing heavily from the suppressed pain that clouded his mind. He didn't have time to refit the vent cover, instead he began limping away, the rust red drops weaving a grim trail through the pale white snow. He had to escape before they figured it out.
He began feeling faint as he heard a gunshot resound behind him, another pain stabbing into him like a set of finely sharpened knives, this time his right back exploded with burning agony in response. Someone knew, there was no way that they could have caught on this fast. That figure...they had set the trap, they were the one who had shot him. Who is it? His mind seethed as he tried to ignore the pain that rippled throughout his body.
His vision became a blur as his pace began slowing, his shoes hitting the cold crunch of fresh snow, the falling white specks landing in his eyes and only dimming his sight further. His head pounded as he began staggering, too much blood loss...
His mind slurred as his vision finally faded out. His whole world lost in a mess of colour and dizziness that made him feel sick. He felt the weightless, lightheaded feeling of falling before the tough resounding of the thud as he hit the ground hard.