Ok, everyone. This is the chapter that you've been waiting for. I'm not going to brag or anything like that. But I will say, it was very exciting doing this chapter in particular. Hopefully I did a good enough job.

=)

F.E.A.R.

FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON

INTERVAL 10 - REVELATION

THE VAULT

The "Point Man"
The lift was finally reaching its stop as I was now approaching an extremely large area. What I saw was amazing. There was some kind of enormous sphere placed into the middle, attached by several pillars all throughout the area holding it up. A yellow light was emitting from the center of this thing, but hard to tell what it was for. The entire sphere was consumed with some type of energy field, with the field rotating all across the object. I could feel something inside of that thing, my gut telling me what it was for... It was Alma's coffin.

"Release sequence initiated." was said by a robotic female voice coming from a control room to the upper-right of this place. I could see Harlan Wade standing by a glass window in the room as he was just staring at the large sphere. Just what is he planning?

There was a small ledge near some double doors that just opened I can take. There was also another ledge across from here with a small lift that I could take up. If I go that way, then I can reach Harlan and stop him doing whatever it is he intends. As I was moving through the next hallway, I could see about 3 Replica Elites with Repeating Cannons rushing off down another hall beyond some windows. I guess I'm going to have another epic fight on my hands. Moving on through, I saw a trail of blood leading off down the next room. What I saw horrified me.

Paxton Fettel was crouching down over a lone body on the floor. Blood was splattered everywhere as from here I tried to make out what he was doing. Then I saw Alice Wade's body laid out on the floor as her face was stuck in an horrified expression. That bastard was fucking eating her! And this time I knew it was not an hallucination. This time she was really dead. I failed her...

A flash of white came before my eyes for a second. I wasn't sure what was happening, but something... powerful, was coming. The 8 year-old girl - the child form of Alma - walked through the wall near Fettel. She was walking towards him, whispering something to him. At the same time, I felt like she was also whispering to me as well. Fettel turned to look at her as my sight was once again consumed by light. The last thing I could make out was what Alma had said.

"Kill them all."

I was no longer back at the facility. Instead, I was surrounded by intense fires spread out as my only source of light while consumed in almost complete darkness. I looked at myself to see that all of my weapons were gone. All my explosives, my rifle, everything. Everything, except for my AT-14 handgun. Pulling it out, I braced myself for whatever could possibly attack me in this place. Fettel's voice rang clear into my head.

"You still don't know, do you? What you are. Why you are here."

What on earth does he mean by that? I looked around to finally see him standing amongst the fire. With fresh blood covering his mouth and chest, he was staring at me with those blank eyes. Even though it was hard to see here due to the smoke, I could make across that horrific grin on his face. I know what he's trying to do. He's trying to psyche me out for he knows I'm going to kill him. I brought my pistol to his chest and planned on ending this fucking madness. Everything turned to white again.

Fettel was now gone, and I was still in this place. From where he was standing, two of those "Nightmares" I had encountered before were floating towards me. Like before, these things would kill me if they got closer. I fired only two shots from my gun to each of the two monstrosities as they withered away from the bullets making contact. My chest was racing, my breathing heavy, my heart pounding louder and louder. My arms were shaking, my eyes burning, my feet frozen in place. I have never before felt like this. I looked around to spot Fettel once again standing by the fire. Before I raised my weapon to him again, he spoke to me. Hearing what he said made my mind freeze.

"What's the first thing you remember? What's your given name? Where were you born? You have no history."

I know who I am! I'm a member of F.E.A.R., First Encounter Assault Recon! I've been working with the military my whole life! I have plenty of friends... Jin, Spencer, Betters, and Holiday... The reason I'm on this damn mission was to kill Paxton Fettel. It's all because of him that my nightmares haunt me during the day! It was cause of him all of this happened! I know who I am! My name is...

My name...

...

...

...What is my name?

I don't know. I can't remember my birth town. I can't recall my age. All of my memories involving my childhood were gone. When I think of parents, there are no faces. No happy times, no adult figure watching over me. No one to tell me right from wrong. No memories of school or relationships. No friends or teachers to guide me. There was nothing. Nothing at all... Then who am I?

This has to be a trick! Fettel is using his powers to mess with my mind! He is sending these monsters towards me as a way to lose my train of thought. He won't stop me. He doesn't know anything! I don't need an identity to kill him! Or do I...? My head hurts... My chest is in pain... My limbs are cold... Is this real? Do I exist...? Is what I'm feeling true? Could Fettel be right...? I... I...

Two more of those Nightmares were coming towards me. My body reacted on its own, firing a few more bullets over to where they were coming from. Fettel had disappeared again. Where is he...?

Looking around this place, I saw him far away from where I was standing. I need answers... I need fucking answers! Who is he! Why is this happening! I walked closer to him, seeing that damn smile spread across his face. He opened his mouth... 9 words... All he said was 9 words. Those 9 words were what finally made me realize my involvement of everything that is happening.

"You and I were born from the same mother."

Mother...? Then that must mean...

Alma is my mother.

That little girl I've been seeing all day is the form of my mother when she was a child. That explains it. Why she came to me, to see me, to say those cryptic clues... She was trying to talk to her son. I'm her son. And if Fettel is her child too, then we're...

Brothers.

That's what it was. We're brothers. Bound by blood from a woman with limitless psychic potential. When Betters had told me about two prototypes created from that Origin project, and how Fettel was the 2nd one... that meant I am the first prototype. That's why I can see all these strange things. Why I'm still alive from Alma's powers and why I still live. She wanted to let me know who I am. I'm her son...

More of those Nightmares were advancing towards me. They were going to kill me unless I did something. I fired several more bullets to them as they too were destroyed. Fettel was once again gone. I saw him again through the fire. Instead of aiming my weapon at him, I walked slowly to where he was. His smile was gone. He looked at me with a serious face as he spoke once again.

"You must have sensed it. She cannot see in your mind, but perhaps you can see into hers. A life of waking from one nightmare, only to find herself deep in another."

That was what those places were. They weren't just rooms she made up to intimidate me. Those places... the place with the baby screaming... they were from her memories. Then the baby must've been me. I was looking into the dark portions of her mind to when she gave birth to me... It hit me. These heightened reflexes I have, which make me faster than everyone else... Was it because I received them due to Alma's psychic influence? Is that why I feel different from everyone else? Could it be...?

Looking back at Fettel, he still held his serious demeanor. The fresh blood over his body finally made me realize why it was he ate people. As a psychic, he would have no need for nourishment over the flesh of people. Instead, he obtains their memories of their lives. That was why he attacked Armacham. To consume the knowledge of their terrible actions to find out where Alma was. He wants to release her, to spare her the pain of being trapped in some dark container to where she is neither living nor dead.

Another flash of light consumed us both. We were no longer back at the darkness covered in flames.

Fettel has now brought me into some kind of small room. He was kneeling down in the middle, as he stared me down with those soulless eyes. We were in some kind of cell, with a lone bed placed along the wall behind him. Fire was outside his windows and also behind the door to this place. Could this place be where he was locked up before...? I looked back at my "brother" as he said one last thing before he went to silence.

"I will set her free."

I know what he wants. He wants me to help him do it. He wants us to be there to release Alma. And for a simple moment in my life... I wanted to. I wanted to help my mother by ending her pain. I wanted to have a real connection with her, not something that I will ever forget. I want a life that is not stuck in confusion to where I can't tell the difference between reality or an illusion. But...

She will kill everyone. She wants revenge on Armacham for what they've done, and I do not blame her. But I know deep down, she won't stop there. If she is released, she will murder every single human being nearby, to let out her anger on innocent people. After seeing her bloody, cold-hearted murder of my previous Delta squads members, my friend Jankowski, and God knows how many people by the Replica soldiers by telling Fettel to activate them... I can't do that. I won't allow myself to let her continue her path of vengeance by taking away lives. And I know that Fettel will support her every step of the way, to be there for our abandoned mother. They won't stop... which is why I have to kill them.

My family must die for the world to live.

I raised the gun to Fettel's head. He did nothing to stop me. Only stare at me. If I could guess what was going on his mind, he probably thinks I won't do it. After everything that's been said and done, he still expects me to be with him. To help him and Alma continue their destruction. I... I...

Can I do it? Can I kill my own brother? My younger brother? He's killed so many people today. Habegger, Moody, Hives, scientists and employees, people who didn't deserve such a fate. He's killed Alice... the woman who I swore to myself I would protect but failed.

My body was hollow. There were no emotions in my next action. My mind did not nothing to propel my finger to pull the trigger. Blood splatters across my face.

Paxton Fettel is now dead. His body limped back over near where Alice's body was laid out. This time it was real. It was not another illusion cast on me to deceive my actions. My brother is now finally dead, his eyes still open. Even in death, his face still haunted me. I killed him. I stopped this madness with the Replica's. I stopped him from releasing Alma and yet... I felt nothing. No anger, no sadness, no joy. Nothing. Except for one thing...

Guilt.

How much of his actions were his own or how much of it was from our mother, I will never know. There were still more things I have to do here. Whatever Harlan is up to, I know that it will not lead to anything good. He probably plans on using Alma as a catalyst to continue where Armacham left off. Maybe he wants to restart "Origin" again. I have to reach him before it is too late.

I would've thought that walking away from the bodies of both Alice and Fettel would make it easier. Instead, I still felt nothing. Before this mission exploded into something I couldn't understand, everything seemed to be simpler. I would talk with Spen and Jin and figure out what we plan to do afterwords. Maybe chat with Betters and tell him I plan to do something else with my life. But not this. I didn't want things to turn out like this. Now, I don't know which life will be more worth it. The one I can no longer remember, or the one to where I found out what I really am... A monster.

Walking through the area, I stopped to see three of those Replica Elites near some steps. I almost brought my pistol out, except they weren't doing anything. They were just standing there, their heads looking down at the ground. Were they dead? Did killing Fettel take away their programming?
I walked up to one of them to see that he was still breathing, but that was it. With no psychic to give them further orders, their minds were no longer their own. I guess that it means the Replica Army is no longer a threat. Just to make sure, I pushed the first one in front of me to see if he would do anything. He simply fell to the floor, releasing his grip on the MP-50 Cannon. Doing the same to the other two, they did nothing as well to defend themselves as their bodies fell to the ground. This was just weird.

Well, at least that's one crisis averted. Their weapons would just be too big for me to take, and its not like I'm going to be fighting them anymore. Passing through the area, I stopped to see a black laptop on a desk nearby. There was a video message left behind by Harlan. I clicked the "play" option to see what he had to say. From this recording, it doesn't seem like that long ago to when he made this. He seemed to be talking about Alma, describing some early portions of her life. He was standing in some kind of office, pacing back and forth.

"She was a very disturbed child. Terrible, debilitating nightmares. Hallucinations, hysteria... She never had a chance at a normal life."

I don't know if this message might be for me or someone else, but at this point Harlan might not have cared to who it was for. Maybe it was his way of a "confession" for what he and ATC have done. To think that my... "mother" had such a hard life growing up. All those bastards wanted was just to experiment on her, like some freaking guinea pig. Harlan still continued on about Alma.

"It was Disler who realized she was telepathic. He speculated that she was extremely sensitive to the negative emotions of people around her."

That meant Disler had more influence in this operation then I originally thought. I'm not sure what became of him, but considering how everyone else is dead, he might be too. As for Alma's emotions, I guess I can understand to where her anger and depression came from. All those scientists working on her body to force her to make two children for the sake of psychic potential would be hard to face every single day of her life. She didn't deserve all this. Harlan sat down on a chair as he brought his down, his fingers rubbing his forehead. Did he feel regret about all this?

"We removed her from that chamber only twice. She was fifteen when the first prototype was born... She was supposed to be comatose, but she started screaming when we induced labor and didn't stop until the liquid filled her lungs."

Oh my God... She wasn't even an adult when I was born. Maybe the pain of releasing me from her womb was too much for her to bear, probably because of her powers. Fettel was right. She literally was going towards one nightmare and getting deeper into another. Harlan was now shown to be putting his arm up by the wall with his back turned towards the camera.

"There are plausible scientific explanations for everything that followed, but I think it was really just a question of hatred."

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to sympathize for either Wade or Alma. Each one has down horrible things. Harlan for creating us, and Alma for exacting her revenge on anyone possible. However, for my mother, it was easy for my empathy to be attached towards Alma for everything that has happened to her. I guess I can understand why her sadness and despair has grown to hate and wrath. Harlan looked over to the side and began to walk over to something. The last thing he said before leaving left me shocked.

"It is the way of men to make monsters... and it is the nature of monsters to destroy their makers."

Wait, what does he mean by that? He's not seriously planning on releasing her, is he! Oh shit, I've got to stop him! He has no idea the damage caused by Alma would be beyond our imaginations!

I ran forward through the next corner to where I ended up in the lift I saw earlier. I pressed "activate" on the switch as the device started to ascend. I could hear the automated female computer say "System analysis commencing." as a arm-like mechanism went towards the top of the gigantic sphere. When I reached the top, I ran over towards the door nearby to see Harlan working on a computer in the center. It looked like he was activating the release mechanism for Alma's "coffin." He must've noticed I was standing there, for he began to speak to me.

"They want to destroy her, but I think she's suffered enough."

I tried to open the door as best I could, but to no avail. That bastard locked it from the other side. Punching the glass did no good, for it was heavily reinforced. I saw the mechanism pull out a human-sized tube from the containment sphere. I couldn't see Alma inside, for the smoke emitting from the pod completely covered it. I kept on pushing harder and harder to break into the room, with my efforts in vain. He has to stop now, or else everyone is going to die! Wade kept ignoring my actions as he spoke to me once again.

"We put her in there two days before her eighth birthday..."

He was saying all this with an almost dead tone in his voice. Does he not realize what he is trying to accomplish? Does he not understand that his very daughter has been killed? That everything going on will be caused because of him! Dammit, this is so messed up!

The pod was being brought on over towards the roof of this place. As it made its way over here, the computer voice said "Error. No life signs detected." That was a fucking lie. I could feel something powerful inside of there. Something full of anger and hate. Something dark... Harlan spoke again, still rambling about Alma some more.

"She died six days after we pulled the plug."

The pod was now entering into the chamber along the corner of the wall. The computer then said "Release sequence complete." I wasn't sure how, but I could feel the magnitude of Alma's powers suddenly burst through from the next room. I was too late to stop this. Alma would be released, and there is nothing I can do. As the chamber doors inside the room were beginning to open, Harlan looked into it as he said one last thing to me.

"This is how it ends."

The chambers opened up as smoke came out of the pod. Harlan stepped back as he looked on in wonder. His last words before he started to scream and his flesh disintegrating were that of the person who would take away his life.

"Alma..."

She was leaving the chamber. She was free. My "mother" walked towards where Harlan's withering body was as blood splattered all across the window in front of me. My sight flashed white.

"Kill them."

She was walking towards me. We were back at that building. I was now on the ground, my body frozen in place. Her adult form was slowly approaching me. She had no clothes on, the majority of her skin filthy and dead. It was literally like watching a corpse coming over to kill me. The light inside was flickering back and forth uncontrollably. Alma reverted back and forth from her child appearance to her naked, adult form.

"Kill them all."

She wants me to help her with her pain. My mother wants me to kill everyone. I... I can't...

Alma then crouched down suddenly to the floor, crawling over as fast as possible to me like a spider.

I was back at the facility. The door opened up on its own as I saw the carnage Alma left in her wake. Harlan Wade's remains were all that was left of what happened. The entire room was dark, making it difficult to see. Footsteps covered in blood trailed off towards the exit of this room, with only one person I can think of who did this.

I failed to stop this. I don't know how it can be possible for my entire life to turn around in not even 10 minutes of what has happened. Fettel, Alice, and Harlan are now dead. The walking corpse of Alma was now free to do whatever she pleased. What is it that I can do now...?

I then remembered what it was Norton Mapes had told me before I entered the Vault. He said something about destroying the reactor cells in this place. If I do that, then the entire facility will be destroyed. If this place is gone, then maybe Alma can still be contained in here as the entire base explodes. Screw exposing ATC for their evil deeds, this entire place has to be destroyed. No ifs, ands, or buts.

I exited this bloody room to figure out how it is I plan to blow those reactor cells up. My explosives were gone, and the only weapon I had available was my gun. I guess once I get to that part, I'll have to improvise. As I went through another door past the turning hallway, I was now in some kind of laboratory. To the far right, I saw the adult form of Alma walk slowly away from where I was. I'm not sure if she realizes what I intend to do or not. But I do have to stop her from leaving this place. Or at least get rid of this entire facility.

Slowly, I walked over to where I last saw her. She was now gone, but I could still feel something strong in the air. Before I could make sense of it, I was now somewhere else.

I was back at the area full of darkness and flames. The screams of monsters caught my attention as I looked behind me. The Nightmares were slowly converging to my position. Despite how many bullets I fired, more and more kept spawning off from the nothingness of this realm. Unlike last time, I quickly went back to where I was before.

I don't know what it was that keeps switching me back and forth between the multiple "realms" of Alma's thoughts and the real world. But right now, that had to be put on hold. Glass broke next to me by a cabinet with the air becoming thicker. There were black spots "opening" several feet in front of me as I could feel something was coming.

5 of those Nightmares were slowly coming towards me. My God, these things were now coming over into reality! Alma is now able to bring in her apparitions from the darkest portions of her mind!

Quickly, I fired several bullets towards each of them before they could get any closer. They each took one bullet as their bodies dispersed into nothing. All it would take is one strike from them touching me to kill me. If Alma is seriously able to make these things come to life, then who knows what else she can produce from her mind. Exiting the room with an electrical door along the back wall, Continuing further in this place past some supplies and carriers, I stopped when I was just about to pass a wall with some thick glass. Four more of those black holes opened up in room ahead of me as multiple Nightmares were approaching me. I emptied all the bullets out of my pistol as I managed to fend off these monsters.

Moving on, I walked slowly through some small rooms and halls until I found another entrance to a much bigger room. Sure enough, multiple holes surfaced into the air as seven more of the Nightmares came into existence. I fired some more bullets towards the freakish creatures until none were left. As long as I can keep my distance from these things, then shooting them from a distance is fine with me. However, I only had two more magazines left after this one to reload my pistol. Unless I find another weapon, I'm not going to have anything left to counter these creations of Alma's psychic powers.

Entering the next room, I turned left past some crates down the next hall. When I reached the next area, I knew where I was at. There were four humongous reactors placed along the ceiling of this gigantic area. Several feet underneath the reactors were small conductors with some energy flowing through them. If I can open up the underside of each of these reactors, the power cells will be exposed. And from here, I can blast them enough times with my weapon for them to be destroyed. Hopefully, doing so will destroy this place completely. Hopefully...

I walked along the railings here and circled the area until I saw a lift in the back corner of this place. Going up, I passed through hallway after hallway, with multiple barrels and supercomputers laid out all over the place. By the time to where I got near a control panel, I saw a spare RPL machine gun placed along top a white crate. At least I'll have some spare bullets here. Standing in front of the activation switch, I pressed it to see the giant reactors raise up further towards the ceiling. After they did so, each of them ejected four round cylinders with red lines underneath them all. Already figuring what I have to do, I opened fire with my SMG into one of them as it soon exploded. Doing the same to the other three, they were soon destroyed as all the power in this place went off. Did it work?

Suddenly, the entire facility shook up as a huge outburst of energy flew out from the bottom of this shaft. Whatever I did, I'm not sure what happens next I do not want to be at. If Mapes is right, it will cause a chain reaction to where I will have enough time to leave this place. An alarm system went off as the entire place got dark. The sirens flashed red and yellow back and forth as emergency power went on to the door behind me. If I follow this path, hopefully it will lead me to an exit.

I ran as fast as my legs could take, trying to keep my balance from the frequent shaking of this place. Rushing over to a round metal walkway, there was a path along the right at the next corridor I could take. Before I did, more of those floating "people" came out from nowhere as they blocked off my exit. Several more were coming from a wall along the right of me, leaving me trapped. I fired multiple rounds of my SMG towards the creatures until none were left.

With the path available once again, I quickly sprinted through room after room, being extra careful that no more Nightmares were spawning nearby. As I turned around the next corner to another walkway, I saw someone walking away slowly from the next corridor. It was Alma. Is she trying to leave this place too? Carefully, I walked over to where I last saw here to find that she was no longer this way. Instead, the path before me led me towards a huge cargo lift. It looked almost the same kind I used to come down here, which probably means it was for another entry point in the facility. Wherever this thing takes me, it's better than here.

As I sprinted over there, I saw an energy surge suddenly manifest itself far below the shaft near the railing under the lift. I'm guessing that after I destroyed the reactor cells that the power is just randomly bursting from different parts of the facility, finding ways to get out on its own. When I reached the lift, I pressed the switch on the panel nearby with the large elevator now ascending upwards. As I made it to the tops, the doors opened up similar to that of the Vault. There was only path on the balcony in this huge shaft I could take towards some reinforced doors. If I can open those, I can leave this place...

...But easier said than done. Before I reached there, more black holes opened up several feet in front of me. Wave after wave of Nightmares were coming to life to stop me from leaving this hellish place. Opening fire at the creatures, the bullets pierced through their flesh easily as they all eventually withered into smoke. After they were gone, I ran over to the doors as they began to open up. There was another elevator placed here that if I go up, it will take me away from this ungodly place.

Just as I got on it, I looked behind me to see some more holes in reality torn apart as it looked like more Nightmares would come here. As I was about to raise my weapon, the reinforced doors then closed in front of me. With the elevator now going up, I was pretty sure that this things will definitely not be able to "float" through the walls. Looking up, I saw that it would be a minute or so until I reach wherever this thing takes me.

Now, it was time for this "monster" to leave the ghosts of its past behind... for good.

And that... is that. I hope I managed to not disappoint. 2 more chapters to go!