It was dawn. Olivia woke up to find herself lying on top of Caleb. At this point, she was still used to waking up at the inn near town, but upon looking around, she had remembered that she had slept with Caleb and that they had sex. Still fully naked, she walked out of the 'room', used the bathroom and washed herself with Caleb's sponge and wash bucket. As she finished up, she found in the corner of her eye another opening in the floor. Enticed by her curiosity, she got dressed and made her way inside the opening.
She went down the makeshift stairs and found that this room, unlike the Killing Floors, was much smaller and was almost empty. Almost. She looked and saw running along the walls and floor were different colored strands of wires that started out separate but they all bunched together near a small hole on the wall near the floor that the wires continued to run through.
Olivia looked and saw a trunk near the corner. She opened it and looked inside to find a pile of remotes on top of a neatly stacked pile of papers. She looked and saw that the papers and remotes were all different colors, but that the colors on the remotes appeared to match the colors on the papers and the wires, almost as if they were color-coded.
"Just what are you up to, Caleb?" She said to herself.
Olivia then looked at one of the papers and saw that it was a map: A section of the city of North Paris was shown with crudely drawn red Xs in various points. She pulled out another paper and it had the same thing, only it was a different section of the city. She kept looking through the maps and saw more and more sections of the city with red Xs in various places. At the very bottom of the pile, after looking through all the maps, she found a black piece of paper that wasn't a map, but instead had the following words:
TO BE USED WHEN THE REVOLUTION IS COMPLETE
She saw that the paper had its own remote, colored black like the paper, and she saw a thick black wire running along side the middle of the floor and leading out to where the other wires intersect. She was about to walk out when she saw Caleb standing by her.
"How much did you see?" He asked.
"Not enough to know what all this is." Olivia said. "So what is all of this?"
"You remember that bomb attack yesterday at the funeral procession?"
"Yes."
"Well, this is the nerve center of it." Caleb said. "These wires lead to series of bombs planted under various points in the city. When I press a detonator of a certain color, a signal is sent across the wire of a same color and detonates the series of bombs at the particular area, represented by the map of the same color."
"How long have you had this?"
"Since I first came to the city." Caleb said.
"And where does the black wire lead to?" Olivia asked.
"Good things come to those who wait." Caleb said.
"So for four years, you've somehow been able to plant bombs under the city in almost every convenient location without being detected."
"It's not hard." Caleb said. "They can't see you if you're underground."
Olivia said nothing.
"Oh, you remember what today is?" Caleb asked. Olivia thought for a moment.
"That's right, it's Victory Day." Olivia said. "But how can I get past the guards? Security's tight during these events and if they found out I was in the South, I could be detained."
"They just had a public execution and the Wall Guards are busy cleaning up the mess, you should make it undetected." Caleb said. "The parade should be starting soon, you should make your way to the city."
"Right." Olivia said. "I'll be back shortly."
She then exited the room and made her way over The Wall and towards the city in the north.
"Godspeed, Olivia." Caleb said.
Meanwhile, in the city center, festivities were going on as the entire nation has gathered around to witness what is the biggest celebration in the city including a parade showing off the city's military and weapons. On the balcony of Zanbato Tower, Mackie walked up and made an announcement.
"Citizens of North Paris!" He said. The crowd went quiet. "It is with great pleasure that I announce the inauguration of our new leader: William Dunbar V."
The crowd just booed as he approached the balcony and waved to the crowd.
"Ah, my adoring public." Will said ignoring the jeers. "Today marks a new day, my people! With the ascension of our former leader, the Eternal Leader Will IV, to the afterlife with his father, Eternal Patriarch Will III, I will now take the reigns of this city as Exalted Guardian Will V."
The crowd booed some more as Will walked off and met with Theo and Mackie.
"Excellent work, my liege." Mackie said.
"Of course." Will said. "No do me a favor and kneel."
"Um, yes, my liege." Mackie said. Will pulled out his sword and pointed it towards him.
"In the name of the Eternal Patriarch and Eternal Leader, I hereby appoint you as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. You may rise."
"Seriously?" Mackie said. "I…I don't know what to say."
"Congratulations, Admiral." Will said as he put away his sword. He then met up with his brother and Carolyn.
"Theo." He said. "I just want to say I'm sorry about Jonah. He was my family too, and I'm willing to do anything to avenge him."
"So now you decide to show some integrity." Theo said. "About time, too."
Carolyn then turned to him.
"Promise me that justice will come." Carolyn said. "Put this horrible man in his place so that I and the rest of the city can sleep soundly at night knowing that little Jonah and all those who were killed can rest in peace."
She turned to Theo and cried in his shoulder as Theo hugged her back.
"Whatever it takes it, will be done." Will said.
"Well, it looks like I'd better go looking for a new admiral." Theo said.
"Oh, that won't be necessary." Will said.
"What do you mean?" Theo asked.
"I already appointed Mr. Jolivet as our new admiral."
"You what?" Theo said shocked. "No. You can't appoint a commanding officer without a unanimous vote from the inner circle."
"Yeah, it's a bit of an inconvenience." Will said. "That's why I disbanded the inner circle."
"Disbanded the-ARE YOU CRAZY?" Theo exclaimed. "How can you even do that?"
"The Grand Army." Will said. "Duh."
"And just what do you plan to do with the disbanded members?"
"Oh, definitely execution." Will said. "Reformatting for those who were most defiant."
"And what about Hannibal?" Theo said.
"What about him?" Will asked. "The old man's in the hospital, he can't make any decisions."
"And besides." Theo said. "Appointing officers is my job."
"As Supreme Leader, I outrank you. Therefore, I don't need your permission for anything." Will said. "Now if you excuse me, I'm watching the rest of the parade."
Theo just sighed and sat down. He knew arguing with his brother was now pointless.
Meanwhile, Olivia had just made her way to the city center and had approached the front door of Zanbato Tower where she was met by two guards.
"Can I help you, Madame?" One of them asked.
"Oh, umm…"
"Why aren't you at the parade with the others?" He asked. "Victory Day parade attendance is mandatory for all citizens."
"Hey, isn't that the liege's fiancée?" The second guard said.
"So it is." He said. "My apologies, Miss. You may proceed."
"Thank you." She said. As she went inside the building, the guard pulled out a communicator.
"Sir, she's here."
Olivia then made her way inside the building. Knowing the building inside and out, she had a clear idea of where Will's computer is normally kept, in his office, and where it was located. She made her away across the lobby and paused briefly and ducked behind a fountain when she saw three officers walk by. When they passed, Olivia carefully got up and walked away. However, something didn't seem right. When she used the side of the fountain to help herself up, she could've sworn she felt it move; it's almost as if it weren't fixed to the ground. Curious, Olivia pushed the fountain away some more and found a large staircase underneath it.
Olivia was definitely curious now. She climbed down the stairway, hoping to see where it goes. The staircase seemed to go on forever, but eventually, she found its end at the end of a dimly lit hallway. As she made her way across the hallway, she could've sworn she heard a faint screaming at the end. When she reached the end, all she found was a heavy, steel door. She opened the door and was shocked at what she saw: Stretching three stories tall was a multitude of prison cells filled to the brim with wailing, crying prisoners, begging for mercy. Olivia slowly walked down the hall as she looked in the cells and saw them filled with people of all types and ages, from the eldest of citizens to children no older than ten, even mothers with their infant children were locked up. Just then, she was pulled away and towards one of the cells by a locked-up prisoner.
"You got to help us!" He shouted looking at her with panicked, tear-stained eyes. "They're doing horrible things to us! It's only a matter of time before-"
Just then, he let her go and fell to the ground, clutching his head.
"No…No…" He said. "What have I done?"
"Prisoner 525-098." A voice from a nearby loudspeaker said. "You are in violation of your standby and are hereby subject to immediate reformatting."
The cell door then opened and two Grand Army soldiers and grabbed him by the arms.
"No, please don't!" He shouted as he was being dragged.
Olivia, for whatever reason, decided to follow them and see what was going to happen next. At the end of the hall was another door; she followed the soldiers and prisoner inside and couldn't believe what she was seeing: It was an immense laboratory with many rooms. She looked and saw that one room had a prisoner being branded with a hot iron and slowly having his burnt skin peeled off while he was screaming in pain. She looked and saw the words 'Torture Room' written above the door. Another room had a prisoner surrounded by doctors as they put syringes all over his body and injected him with who knows what was in them. She looked and saw that this was the 'Experiment Room'. Another room, the 'Arms Room', showed the testing of incredibly powerful weapons, similar to the ones used by the Grand Army during the executions.
At the other end of the lab, where the prisoner was being taken, there was a large, wooden platform, sitting upright with a doctor standing beside it. Olivia ducked behind a table as the prisoner was brought before the doctor.
"Is the subject ready?" He asked.
"Yes." One of the soldiers said.
They then placed the screaming prisoner onto the platform and chained him down by the ankles, wrists and neck. The doctor then placed a series of electrodes on his forehead and temples and tilted back the platform so that it was lying flat on the ground.
"Any last words?" The doctor asked.
The prisoner began to open his mouth but was unable to say anything as the doctor hit the switch. Olivia watched in horror as the prisoner writhed in agony when a visible electric charge emerged from the electrodes and enveloped his body. When he finally stopped struggling, the doctor hit the switch again. The platform leaned back to its upright position and the prisoner was unchained.
"Unit 0623. Activate." One of the solders said. The prisoner then sprung to life.
"Unit 0623 ready for outfitting." He said in the same tone as the Grand Army soldiers.
"Excellent." The doctor said rolling out a cart containing armor similar to the armor worn by the Grand Army soldiers. The four then left the room.
Olivia then got up as soon as the coast was clear, still shocked at what she just saw.
'That's how Will creates his soldiers?' She thought to herself. 'By turning prisoners into his own personal slave army? This can't go on.'
She was about to leave until she saw something on the table from the corner of her eye: Will's wrist computer.
'Bingo.' She thought.
She then grabbed it and turned it on. She looked on the screen and saw many files that seemed to go on for eternity. Anyone of those could be Zoltan's files, but she had to try. As she looked through them, she saw one folder that caught her eye: Written in bold print were the words: TOP SECRET. Enticed, she tapped on the folder and found that it was password-protected. Thankfully, she had spent enough time around Will to know how to access his info. She entered the password and opened the folder. Inside contained another folder labeled with only two words:
PROJECT: APOCALYPSE
Olivia opened the folder and saw it was filled with several files. As she viewed each file, she grew more and more tense. It talked all about XANA, Scipio, Zoltan and his plans for what to do with them. Olivia was scared; she never knew Will was planning to do anything at this scale.
"I have to warn Caleb." She said as she got up and ran out. Before she could leave however, the door closed in front of her and she was met with a familiar face when she turned around.
"I've been waiting for you."
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