chAPTER 10

I wandered around the sewers for about an hour before deciding it was safe to go back up. Luckily, the grate I chose was to an alley far from where I had gone in. There were a few less savory characters in the alley, but they were more focused on keeping out of sight from the military, and not worrying about me. I moved forward, keeping out of sight from searching eyes, and eventually got to the warehouse.

I immediately went to Heller, expecting a chewing out for the vortex I sent to the military. Instead, I saw him, Mendoza, Nix, and a few DARPA agents staring at a flat screen on the wall. An old man dressed in a military uniform stared back at all of us. "Citizens of the United States of America," he began, "my name is General Albert Heller."

I turned to Heller, who was staring at the screen intently. "Friend of yours?" I asked. He held his hand up, motioning for me to be quiet. I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to the screen.

"Over the past two months, we have had numerous devastations in our country," General Heller continued. "Entire cities have been destroyed. People have lost their homes, their families, their lives. We have identified the culprits responsible for these attacks." The screen changed, showing a picture of me in New Marais fighting a swamp monster. "They call themselves Conduits, we call them what they really are: bio-terrorists. Ordinary human beings on first glance, but with enough power to destroy the country a hundred times over. They can control numerous different forms of matter, making them very strong, and very dangerous."

The screen changed back to the general. "These monstrosities must be brought to justice. As such, I have formed a new branch of the military designated the Department of Unified Protection. They will be in Washington, D.C., hunting down the bio-terrorists here before extending to the rest of the country and either capturing or exterminating the rest of them. We are going to show them that this is our land, and we will not surrender it without a fight. Any bio-terrorist activity is to be reported to the nearest DUP officer. Do your part for your people. God bless America."

The video started again, showing a loop. Mendoza sighed. "That's been playing for the last thirty minutes," she said.

Nix clenched her fists, and that's when I noticed the change in her appearance. The war paint she had on her face was gone, leaving her dark skin open and clear. The untidy bundles of hair she'd had in New Marais were straightened out and pulled into a simple ponytail. She still had the same outfit as New Marais, but the claws she wore on her right hand now hung from a chain on her neck. "It ain't right," she said angrily. "It ain't right to hunt people down like this."

Heller appeared to agree. "We can't do anything about it right now," he replied. "We'll just have to stay out of their way until we deal with the Beast."

"That's gonna be easier said than done," I said. "Those guys are out there in force."

Heller shook his head, clearly flustered about something. "Just keep to the plan and get people on our side," he said. Then he sniffed the air, scrunching his face. "What the hell is that smell?"

"Uh, me," I replied sheepishly. "I kinda had to duck into the sewers to get away from those DUP guys."

"Jesus, MacGrath. Go take a shower first," he said before storming away.

I frowned and turned to Mendoza. "What's eating him?" I asked.

Mendoza sighed. "General Heller is his grandfather. They're... not on the best of terms. It's not easy being in a military family."

"Voice of experience?"

She looked away, a look of shame on her face. "You could say that," she muttered before turning back to me. "You should take that shower and get some rest. It's late." The she turned and left as well, leaving me dumbfounded at the mood swings of the two agents.

After the shower I went to the bunks in the warehouse. They weren't exactly comfortable, but they were enough to sleep on. For the first time since being in Empire City, I fully fell asleep.

I held on to her hand, desperately trying to pull her up, to save her. I almost made it, but just as she was reaching the ledge, my grip on her hand was gone and she fell, screaming my name.

I woke up from the nightmare, groaning at the clock on the wall showing that I only slept for an hour. I stood up, knowing full well that I wasn't going back to sleep, and went out to the main area of the warehouse. Heller was looking over his computer screen, an intent look on his face. I walked over to him and sat down across from him. "Guess I'm not the only one who can't sleep," I commented.

"It's something you get used to in our line of work," Heller replied.

I nodded. Though I wasn't from DARPA, I did understand the concept of being worries into sleepless nights. I thought about the recording, which was probably still playing a loop. "So. Your grandfather, huh?"

Heller sighed and looked up from his laptop. "Yes," he replied. "My grandfather. One of the few to come back from the US's worst Vietnam battle. He's been a military man his whole life. Got my dad to enlist right out of high school. He got killed in Desert Storm."

"And then there's you. The spy."

Heller smiled a little from the comment. "He was so pissed when I said I was going to the Pentagon and not to Iraq. Called it un-American. If it was up to him, I would've been put on trial for treason. Last time we talked, he said 'You're nothing more than a disappointing shell of a man'."

"Yeah," I replied, looking away. "I know the feeling of disappointing people. Been doing it my whole damn life. College drop-out, broke as all hell all the time... couldn't even afford to get my ex-girlfriend a ring to propose to her with." I sighed and shook my head. "Kinda why all this happened in the first place, I guess. If I'd just stayed in college, I could've been a doctor, or a lawyer, or... or anything. Then I wouldn't have opened that package. Then none of this would've happened."

"Maybe it would have," Heller replied. "Maybe it just would've happened a different way."

"Yeah," I said, standing to leave. "Maybe."

I glanced around the building, looking to see if anyone else was up, but they were all asleep. Sighing, I decided to run outside for a bit and clear my head. Maybe I'd be able to find a way to turn this around, with Humanity on one side trying to kill me and the newly-introduced DUP on the other.

Definitely could've used a bit of luck right about that time.