World of Advent Chapter Two

It had been a few weeks since Cipher had last seen Neige. Normally that wouldn't bother him, as h knew she had many cases to report on, but every time she called to check up on him, she sounded harried and harassed. Cipher could even have sworn he heard a voice in the background shouting "Hold him down!" over the sounds of vicious snarls.

At first, Cipher wondered if they were trying to capture a rabid forest bear, but something as trivial as that would not have made Neige so worried. He could hear it in her voice every time she called on him to see if everything was okay, something she was doing more and more often recently.

All this, coupled with the fact that Tom, his boss and Head of the family, had decided to get terribly sick left him a very stressed manager of the workhouse.

"Charles," Cipher said to the nearest of his siblings, "make sure the others don't tear this place apart. I'm going for a ride."

Charles nodded absentmindedly, fumbling with a broken Slider a client had sent in the other day. "Sure thing, Ci."

Cipher rolled his C-Slider out to rest in the sun, relishing the feel of natural light on his skin. The past few weeks had been very stressful for him; at times he wondered how his boss managed to oversee everything so smoothly.

It took Cipher a minute before realizing where he wanted to go. It had been a long time since he had last visited his closest male friend, Harley. Harley was often even busier than Cipher, being the Head of his family. This decision was made after the previous Head of his family had passed away of a mysterious illness, leaving Harley the Head of his large family of Advents.

You see, Harley, like all his siblings, was an Umbrian. Every single one of them had Umera Umbria's DNA in them. Sometimes Cipher wondered how his friend managed to keep up with so many siblings when he just had to keep up with around fifty.

Coaxing the bike to life, Cipher made his way to one of the most impoverished areas of Neo Arcadia, where he knew the Umbrians claimed their space in one of the large abandoned complexes in the area.

Gangs often haunted certain parts of the town, but they knew better to bother Cipher as he strode through the war-torn buildings. There were certain advantages to having the Head of the Umbrian family as your friend.

Cipher parked his Slider at the base of the largest building, a dilapidated hotel resort, looking up at the condition of the building.

Harley had done his best to make sure his family lived as best they could, but there was a limit to what you could do when you had three hundred twelve mouths to feed, not counting yourself. The complex still had scars from the Maverick Wars and an entire block was reduced to rubble from Ragnarok's impending blast all those years ago. All the same, there was a slightly homier appearance to it when Cipher entered the building. Flowers decorated the grimy windows, brightening up the decor of the place. A rug had been placed in the doorway. Some of the floor tiles had been replaced. All in all, it was looking much better than when Cipher had last been there.

"Hello Cipher," one of Harley's siblings greeted him. "Are you looking for Harley?"

"Yeah," Cipher said, locking up his Slider. "Where is he?"

"He's downstairs," Harley's sister told him. "He's making sure some of the younger kids enjoy themselves in Hotel Ruin."

Cipher grinned as the girl gave the nickname for the Umbrian's infamous headquarters. It truly was a place of ruin, but it was looking better every day.

"Thanks." Cipher took the stairs to the lower level, not trusting the elevators to do their job safely.

Harley was in the middle of a group of kids ranging from five to eight years old, looking as if a paint bomb had exploded all over him. It appeared that he was teaching some of his younger brothers and sisters how to finger paint, and the walls were suffering for it.

"Having fun?" Cipher greeted his friend.

"Loads," Harley said with a laugh. "If only these guys would learn to paint the walls instead of their big brother."

Cipher smiled. The rest of the world may look down on the Umbrians, fearing them to turn out just like their father, but these kids looked as happy and carefree as any other.

"So what's been going on with you," Cipher asked. "Had any trouble with keeping the family together?"

"A little," Harley admitted."Some of the gang wars in the area have gotten a little too close for comfort, so I had to go remind them why it's a bad idea to mess with this side of town."

Cipher shivered a little. Though Harley was barely a month older than him, he was strong enough to hold his entire family together, by fear and respect. Whatever power he had possessed from his father had manifested themselves in full strength in the eldest of the Umbrians, making a fearsome fighter. Cipher could remember only one time when he had seen Harley fight, but that was enough to make him wish he never had to face him in combat.

"And you?" Harley turned his attention to Cipher, giving a mischievous looking boy with a fistful of red paint to splatter the side of Harley's head, giving him the appearance that he had recently been wounded.

"Same old, same old," Cipher said offhandedly. "The boss got sick and left me with his work load, so I can't say I've been very lax recently."

"A little bit of work never killed anyone," Harley said with a smirk. He always found it amusing when Cipher came, complaining about his work load.

"I know," Cipher said, sitting down on a moth eaten couch. "It's just that I've had a lot on my mind recently."

"Did Neige come by to visit?"

Cipher blinked in surprise. "How did you know?"

Harley shrugged. "She came by so the kids could see their "Auntie Neige. She seemed to think she found something about who your parents are."

"Something like that," Cipher said.

"So why don't you take it," Harley pressed. "It's easy to do a blood test these days. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I just don't want to find out that I'm, you know..."

"Like me?" Harley asked.

"Well," Cipher mumbled, "sort of. I've always wanted a family that I could call my own, you know."

"We are a family," Harley informed his friend. "Even though we were never asked to have been born, we carry the bonds of blood just as strongly as any other family. If you do end up being an Umbrian, you'd be welcomed into the family."

Cipher smiled at his friend. "Thanks."

"Although," Harley said, "most of us have dark hair. I'd be really surprised if a blondie like yourself managed to be a part of our crazy genomes. That, coupled with your eyes make quite the anomaly. A few centuries ago and you could have been enlisted a Hitler youth."

"Very funny," Cipher said. "So what else did Neige say about me?"

"Not much," Harley said. "She was talking about a case that looked promising in the astern Regions, but didn't go into much depth about it."

"The Eastern Regions, huh? Aren't there supposed to be pantheons around there?"

"Among other relics," Harley said. "Most of Weil's army has been destroyed, so I wouldn't worry about it. There was one thing that she said that worried me though."

"What's that?"

"She said that a lot of reploids have gotten sick recently. Something must be in the air or something."

"Some disease if it manages to affect a reploid," Cipher remarked.

"I know," Harley said. "That's what's got me worried."

"I don't think it would be that," Cipher said. "We stamped it out years ago, remember?"

"Yeah..." Harley said, but didn't sound convinced. "Well, I've got to make sure these munchkins know the difference between a canvas and a living person, so see you around. I'll call you later."

"See you around," said Cipher. "Good luck with the munchkins."

Not long after Cipher had left Hotel Ruin, a message appeared on his comm. link.

"Come back now. Urgent" Cipher read from the message. Could something have gone wrong at the workhouse?

Cipher made to move toward his C-Slider, scattering a group that was giving it shifty looks. Within five minutes, he was back at the workhouse.

"What's going on?" Cipher demanded as he opened the thick metal gate. "Charles, I thought I told you to keep everything under control."

Charles, like everyone else, was backed against the wall. "I tried, but... Just listen. It's coming from the boss's door."

"What's coming from Tom's room?"

"Noises," another one of Cipher's siblings said. "Bad ones."

Sure enough, the iron cast door that separated Tom from the rest of the family buckled, and snarls could be heard from the other side of the room. Within seconds, the door buckled again, unhinging one of the bolts.

"I want everyone out of here NOW," Cipher commanded. "I'll deal with whatever it is."

There was no reason to tell them twice. Within seconds, the rest of them had fled, shutting the door behind them, sealing Cipher in with whatever lay past Tom's door.

Cipher crept along the station, grabbing a rustic bike chain and a wrench for protection. What could be coming from the other side of that door?

Another snarled ripped through the air followed by the last and greatest buckle the door had experienced thus far. The door was ripped fro its hinges, and out came...

Tom. Only it wasn't him. Cipher could recognize the brown hair and green armor that encompassed the bossy reploid; what he didn't recognize was the inhuman look in his eye and the foam dripping from his mouth, black oil dripping in foamy quantities.

"GROAAH!" Tom roared, springing at Cipher In an instinct, almost as if by instinct, Cipher dodged the blow, whacking his boss on the head with the wrench. Tom got back up, completely unfazed.

"This isn't about that Slider is it," Cipher asked nervously. "I told you I'd fix it."

Tom roared in response, springing at Cipher once more. This time, claws protruded from his hands, catching Cipher in the arm.

Cipher gasped in unexpected pain. It was times like these that he wished he had awoken the reploid half of him to fight. Cipher stared at the white oval that protruded from his left wrist hopefully, but to his disappointment, nothing showed up. Arming himself with the wrench once more, Cipher prepared for the next lunge.

Tom rushed forward once more, swiping at Cipher with razor sharp claws. Cipher deflected one of the claws with the wrench, wrapping the other with a chain link, attaching it to the broken Slider Charles had been working on before. Praying against all hope that it worked this time, Cipher jammed the accelerator. To his surprise, and great delight, the Slider moved unrestrained speed, taking Tom with it until it crashed against the other side of the room.

"Well, that's that," Cipher said hopefully.

Out of nowhere, the Slider seemed to explode, showering Cipher with stray parts. Tom now had an absolutely feral look in his eye as he advanced toward Cipher. Now without a chain, Cipher prepared for the next round. In the corner of his eye, Cipher caught sight of a fuse welder. Making a dash towards it, he grabbed the fuse, turning it on to its full extent. White-blue flames erupted from the end, causing tom to back away.

"I don't want to hurt you," Cipher said slowly. "Calm down."

But Tom was over his fear of the flame, growling even louder than before. Just as Cipher planned for the next assault, something that involved fusing Tom's armor together, the door flew open, and suddenly the room was filled with the law keepers of Arcadia, the Enforcers.

"Fire!" the captain of the squad ordered. Within seconds, Tom was fully tranquilized. The captain made a motion to secure the body, finally turning to address Cipher.

"Son, are you okay?"

Cipher stood there, stunned. Somehow the involvement of the Enforcers shocked him more than the present condition of his Head did. "Yeah, I think so."

"That scratch," the captain said, "is it from the reploid?"

"You mean Tom? Yeah," Cipher said. "It is."

The captain turned to one of his squad-mates with a grave look on his face. "Is it contagious within half humans?"

The other shook his head. "Reports indicate that Advents are immune."

The captain breathed a sigh of relief. "All the same..." The captain took out a needle. "This'll only hurt for a second."

Cipher learned three things that day. One, if your boss is having a sick day, leave him be. Two, he didn't like needles. And finally, the captain lied. It hurt. A lot.

"Ack," Cipher said as the captain injected him with the unknown serum before he could protest. "What was that for?"

"It's an antivirus," the captain explained. "Just a precaution."

"To what?" Cipher asked. "What virus? Reploids don't get rabies."

To this the captain did not respond. "Has your friend, Tom, had any contact with other reploids recently? IS there a close friend, perhaps, that would have visited him?"

"Tom didn't really have any friends," Cipher told him. "I'm his second in command though. He fell sick then just became a recluse. I'm not really sure if he's had any contact with anyone, really."

"Good." The captain gave a signal to the rest of his team. "I'll have some follow up questions for you later. Until then, keep this quiet, will you? We don't want the public concerned over something that could be nothing."

"What could be nothing," Cipher pressed. "What the hell is going on?"

The captain ignored him. "I'll be leaving now. Don't tell anyone what you've just seen."

Cipher watched the Enforcers leave on their government issued Sliders before debating on the Enforcer's advice to stay quiet about the whole thing.

In the end, it was a phone call that made his mind up for him. Harley called, sounding urgent. "Cipher? Neige is here. We need to talk."

The entire ride to Hotel Ruin was filled with questions for Cipher. What had Tom fallen ill to? Where were the Enforcers taking him? What on earth could this secret virus be? A small voice whispered at the back of his mind, but he shoved it away. It couldn't be that. Surely not.

"Oh good," Neige said as she saw Cipher roll up to Hotel Ruin. "We thought you might not be coming."

"Why's that?" Cipher asked. "I thought this was urgent."

"It is," Harley assured him. "We thought the Enforcers in the area wouldn't let you leave. They're quarantining parts of the city that have been hit."

Cipher was getting frustrated now. "How did you know I was being questioned? Do you guys have any idea what just happened?"

Harley nodded grimly, pointing at the news. The headline read Tom Berkens, reploid mechanic and Head of Advent Lower Class family declared dead. Details later." The report continued to air for two more minutes before being replaced by static.

"All the major news stations have been shut down," Neige said. "They're afraid word will get out."

"Tom dead? What?" Cipher asked in shock. "Word will get out of what?" Cipher asked. "Just what is going on here?"

Neige gave Cipher a worried look. "The Maverick Virus is alive once more."