Far Cry 5: The Collapse
Chapter 20: Kneeling Peggie, Hidden Wolf
The role of an Chosen messenger was 95% boredom and 5% nervous terror. At least that was Dmitri's assessment as he learned the finer details of his role from his various tasks. Unlike what he was used to as a cult hunting party leader he was expected to be idle unless tasked with a message, this flew in the face of the usual 'Idle hands are the devils playthings' motto that was drilled so often into the members of the cult masses.
However if there was one thing he had started to learn back under John's leadership and now fully realized here. All the animals equal but some were more equal than others. Many of the specialists like Feeney's chemists or Faith's priestesses had found ways to rest and relax far more than what would have been normally allowed by the strictest interpretation of the Word of Joseph.
More than a few times he had been sent to deliver messages only to find the recipient deep within a bottle of contraband alcohol or even in the process of making their brews. Because short of a Herald or The Father no one save for a cult messenger or one of the few inquisitors would otherwise be allowed to enter their personal spaces uninvited or unannounced.
His last message he was set to deliver the night before had sent him to a far flung part of Faith's territory at the long abandoned town of Prosperity where a important priestess was over seeing the finishing touches on the building of a hidden cache of weapons and food. What he had stumbled upon was... shocking.
The cache was indeed completed but it would seem in celebration the dozen strong work crew that had been sent to do the work had brought with them a massive amount of alcohol and various home brewed variants of Bliss not approved or made by the cult's chemists. This had resulted in them falling into utter debauchery and him walking into a orgy.
He delivered his message to the priestess after waiting for her to get done 'administering' to her followers long enough for her to put on a simple lose white robe and receive it. He turned down her offer to join them in 'Blissful Pleasure' as she called it and he quickly made up an excuse to take him back to the Jessop Conservatory.
He realized what he had seen was one of the most brazen cracks in the cult's discipline. It was a sign that the stress of the war and the losses they were taking was taking its toll on both the rank and file followers and the elites that were normally held up to be above such basic desires.
On his return to the conservatory however he was reminded once more that what he had seen as brazen as it was compared to what he had come to expect of the cult, it was only a crack in the monolithic face of the cult. All around the entrance of the conservatory were the crucified bodies of those members who had sinned so severely that even they hadn't been made to submit to the Blessing of the Bliss and potentially turned into Angels or even Archangels.
And he knew that among the bulk of the cult they still adhered closely to the Word of Joseph and severely punished those that failed in that adherence. He had seen enough members being lashed for even minor transgressions to assure him of that.
He retired to the messenger's quarters, it being just a simple open room filled with comfortable enough cots each with a nightstand that had a small reading light and a copy of the Word of Joseph. Above the single door into the room serving as the only decoration was a massive painting of Joseph ever looking down at them with a stern expression of disappointment on his face. Even though no one else was in the quarters besides him the painting wouldn't allow him to fully relax.
Dawn had come and he awoke to find himself still alone save for the The Father looming over him. He dressed and grabbed a quick breakfast from the mess hall, thankfully this was a good call on his part as just as he finished one of the local guards approached him.
"Brother, Herald Faith has requested your services at once." The guard said with a smile. He likely still had the idea that the role of a messenger was one of prestige and importance.
'I wonder what you would have done walking in on a on going orgy?' He wondered within the privacy of his mind.
"Yes brother, I shall go at once." He said quickly getting out of his chair and walking quickly through the halls toward the upper floor of the administration wing of the conservatory. He stopped before the massive oaken door and steadied himself before knocking.
Even a messenger had limits even if they weren't specifically worded.
"Enter." Came a soft feminine voice and he once more entered the office of Herald Faith.
On his first visit to the office had been told to wait inside for the Herald to arrive with the message he must deliver. He of course availed himself to look through the collected history of the previous owners even if his understanding of flowers and plants was limited to what was dangerous, what was edible, and what might be viable to give to a woman on a date.
If he had more time he would have loved to look through the neat stacks of paper on the Herald's desk but considering that once more he was operating alone within the cult overextending himself was no longer even in the realm of possibility.
Today though he walked through the office only to come to a stop before Faith's desk, clicked his heels, coming to attention and then bowing slightly in respect. "My Herald, how may I serve you today?" he said humbly.
The attractive small brown haired woman dressed in her usual white dress looked at him briefly as if forgetting why he was here before holding up a large manila envelope. She had the beginnings of bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and her slow slightly fumbling movements suggested a high base level of stress.
All of this the intelligence officer took in instantly and filed it away as part of the ever running assessment of the Herald and her forces.
"I need you for a particularly dangerous delivery. These are the latest test results and recommendations for the Saint project for this week from Dr. Feeney. This is to be delivered to The Father himself with all haste at the church on his island." She said with a soft smile.
Even behind the red balaclava of the Chosen that he wore a shocked and surprised could easily be made out. "The... The Father! Of course my herald, I will not fail in this task." He stammered and bowed once more.
"Excellent! I know that I am asking a lot of you already but there is more I am afraid..." She spoke.
"My faith in The Father has prepared me for any task you wish to give to me." He spoke once more again bowing at the end to empathize his point.
She visibly relaxed seemingly happy to see someone as eager as he was for change. It spoke once more volumes of the issues beginning to infect the cult in this area. Just as it had happened in John's region.
"Once you have delivered this to Joseph go to the King's Hot Springs Hotel and await for any work to be given by Dr. Feeney. He is on the cusp of a new development and as requested the services of a messenger to be attached to him at all times so that he may pass it on to me the moment it happens. It will likely be boring and the Doctor may ask you to assist him at times, but I must ask you to carry this burden so that the work of The Father can continue at best speed." Faith said handing him the envelope.
"No burden is too great for God's faithful." He said and bowed once more before spinning on his heel smartly and leaving the office.
Faith leaned back in her chair glad to have gotten that business out of the way. She had wanted to show Joseph that they were making progress in the Saint project despite the 'setbacks' they had recently suffered. Feeney was making progress in narrowing down the type of subject that would make for a possible Saint but even at the amazing pace he was going at it still didn't feel quick enough.
'Please Joseph... please understand that we are doing everything we can to help you create a new Eden.' She silently prayed within her mind. The clock in the office then chimed with the hour and she stood up to go and teach a lesson on enduring faith to the children of the cult.
Dmitri made a quick stop in a small one toilet bathroom. It gave him enough time and privacy to take out the documents from the envelope and use a small digital camera that he been given by Marcus to allow him to easily document the various items he was tasked with carrying. His task done he moved to the conservatory's motor pool. It bothered him to no end that every vehicle that the cult had was either white from the factory or if it was any other color it was often crudely painted over in white with the right amount of cult crosses added for good measure.
It made for being stealthy next to impossible and thus made the risk of him getting killed by the increasing number of Resistance patrols ever higher. Still driving anything else toward Joseph's compound would have him shot on sight so he was damned either way.
He picked a white cult branded Mustang after all if he had to drive through at least one or two roadblocks he might as well doing so as fast as possible. He certainly wasn't going to be shooting back if he could at all help it.
He took one last glance of the compound before starting the car. The Jessop conservatory proper was a T-shaped affair pressed up against the mountains that enclosed Hope County. The entrance wing was made up of a small entrance hall attached to a far larger theater that served as the main meeting hall/ chapel for the outpost. It was easily big enough to hold every man, woman, and child in the outpost and then some. Also from what he had seen it had TV broadcast equipment similar to what was in John's Bunker.
Another wing was the main greenhouse where the latest variants of the Bliss flowers were grown and tested as the cult worked to refine the plant to their use. The last wing served a dual purpose, the lower floors held the laboratories and quarters for the cult elite including himself with the upper floors being the exclusive territory of Faith Seed holding both her office and her private quarters. These three wings were joined by the centralized mess hall.
The surrounding buildings were save for one all World War II era American Quonset huts that served as the barracks for the rest of the cult and the very garage he now sat in. The exception was called 'The Cradle' This was a crudely built apartment block that housed the 2,500 or so children and matrons that the cult had residing here so they could be taught the joys of 'The Father' and become good members of the Project.
It sickened Dmitri when he had first learned of how the cult ripped children away those that joined them, and worse still how willing the parents all too often were to do so in order to secure a place in Eden for them and their children.
He stopped himself from thinking on it further as he pulled out of the garage and turned toward the main entrance of the conservatory. He glanced into the rear view mirror and saw the one place that he hadn't entered or learned directly about.
It was a massive cavern he knew that was cut into the surrounding mountains for the purpose of storage but of what he wasn't sure. He also knew that it had another entrance apparently near the Gethsemane Greenhouse which from what little had managed to over here from the chemists at lunch was where variants of the Bliss flower were grown before being planted in one of the cults plantations.
Such information would be essential to give to Hudson as from what he had gathered from Marcus her claims of knowledge on the majority of local caves and mines was unparallelled. He could only wonder with a touch of worry of what horrors the cult likely had within those caves.
With a long tail of flying gravel from his tires he raced along the gravel road northward from the conservatory. His route to Joseph's island was mostly safe as he wouldn't enter Resistance territory until he got on to the main road near the Dire Wolf Basin one of the numerous geothermal ponds that doted the local area. The dangerous part of his route was passing the Deep Water Treatment Plant and the bridge to Joseph's island.
Before he went back undercover he had helped the Resistance setup defenses around the treatment plant and knew that anything that the watchmen stationed at the recently reclaimed Eden's Convent would be quickly passed on to the forces at the plant and in turn be passed to the roadblock at the bridge he planned on crossing.
'Multiple gun trucks at the treatment plant and five heavy machine guns at the roadblock. Plus dozens of local riflemen. Yet here I am in a unarmored sports car delivering a message to the leader of a doomsday cult in the process of falling apart. Never thought I would be doing anything like this when I was given this assignment. I almost wish I was back on prison intelligence.' He thought as he fought to control the speeding car on the gravel road.
He raced past the aptly named 'Misery' and shuddered, the Priestess who over saw the floating prison was easily one of the most cruel among her number and was naturally held in high regard by Faith. One of the most painful parts of going back into the cult was visiting places like the Misery and once more witnessing the pain and suffering the locals being held by the cult.
In turn however it was why he had volunteered to go back in, the things he learned he passed along to Marcus where he could, often as he traveled where he could be more or less assured to be alone usually. The danger that came with the work was simply the cost he had to pay for his years of idle witnessing to the cults horrors.
He came to his turn and with the cars powerful V8 roaring and his tires squealing he made the transition from gravel to pavement. He hazarded a brief glance and could see tiny figures moving rapidly at the convent.
'As expected the watchmen that Marcus and the Sheriff organized are on point this morning... damn it.' He thought grimly.
He had crossed the bridge over the small off shoot of the Henbane river when he saw a pair of Resistance gun trucks race from the water treatment plant toward him the gunners in the beds bringing about the M60's they had mounted to bear on him.
He jinked the sports car left and right hard hoping to throw off as much of their aim as possible as lines of tracer fire flew past the car and then shattered the front windshield. He was actually a little grateful for the full face balaclava he wore as he felt the shards of glass bounce off his face as he roared passed the trucks, their drivers now desperately trying to turn around while not hitting their partner vehicle or throwing their gunner out of the bed.
Dmitri glanced down at the cars instrument panel and saw numerous warning lights for low oil, overheating, and the ever generic 'Check Engine' light. He swallowed and hoped that the car would hold together just a little longer so he could at least get into cult territory.
The gun trucks had gotten turned around and bursts of tracer fire danced into the back of his car, the passenger seat sending out puffs of vaporized foam as bullets raced through it. He could only jerk the car side to side more in a desperate attempt to keep their aim as far off as possible as he reached the last obstacle on his journey.
The roadblock that watched over the bridge leading directly to Joseph's island was on full alert as the defenders turned their guns around to face in ward toward the steam and smoke spewing Mustang as it raced toward them. With the heavy guns of the roadblock ahead the tailing gun trucks pulled back so as not to get caught in the crossfire as multiple lashes of .50 cal slugs tore further into the sports car.
Dmitri could only duck his head and pressed the gas pedal even harder against the firewall as everything around him exploded in a hail of shredding plastic, leather, and sheet metal. He felt a slug pass through his coat, missing his chest by millimeters. The steering wheel he held exploded, the airbag slamming his head back into the seat nearly knocking him out right then and there as if now blocking his forward vision wasn't enough.
He could however tell from the sound of his shredded tires on the road that he had gotten past the roadblock and on to the bridge. He was almost there, he just had to last a little longer.
Suddenly the car jerked right as the shredded right front tire finally got to the point of running on the rim followed by another hard jerk to his left as the sudden movement caused the damaged left rear tire to fly off the rim and race comically ahead of him briefly before falling to wayside.
The car now was 'bonging' in a most pitiful manner as just about every warning light was flashing and calling out for his attention especially now that the air bag had deflated enough for him to look around it. He looked at the rear view mirror that was now cracked and hanging on by a single wire for whatever electronics were built into the thing and grabbed it.
He didn't need to look for long to know that the roadblock now shrinking behind him had finally stopped firing. He had done it, he had survived the Resistance's attempts to kill him for now.
He was forced to slow down as the steering wheel started to vibrate violently and he lost the last of his tires as they either shredded down to the rim or were ripped off by the movement of the car as the steering continued to fight the exhausted agent.
He pulled on to the dirt driveway that lead toward Joseph's compound and even as he fought to keep the car going he could see a incredible number of crucified bodies lining the road to Joseph's own compound. Most were judging by the clothing and the wood signs around their necks locals that must have personally turned away Joseph's word when he preached to them, but a rather surprising number were cult members even some clearly higher ranking ones at that.
'More cracks.' He thought as he neared the entrance and was approached by five of Joseph's own Chosen with guns raised as he stopped.
"State your purpose!" One of the masked men yelled with a thick British accent.
Dmitri held his hands up off of the steering wheel. "I am a messenger from Herald Faith! I bear a message for The Father himself by her order."
The men relaxed and the masked man with the accent spoke once more. "Forgive me messenger. We must be vigilant during this time of the Reaping. You will find The Father in his chapel, don't worry we will take care of your car. I doubt it is of anymore use to you anyway."
Dmitri nodded and forced the driver side door open spraying him and the area around him with bits of broken glass chips as he did. When he got out he only had to glance at the state of his car to realize just how lucky he had been. The rear of the car was a mass of mangled perforated metal from hundreds of impacts, the backseat was shredded and covered everything in white seat foam. The drivers seat only had a few holes and none that would have hit him obviously but still it made him shudder to think just how close he had come to being killed.
"God was with you brother messenger. I don't think I have ever seen anyone drive with this much damage." The Englishman commented as he looked at some of the .50 caliber damage.
"The Father protects... I will be on my way then." He said before turning on his heel toward the compound proper.
He had been here before and found that things hadn't changed much. Smoldering piles of burned books and other 'heretical materials' dotted the area beside even larger than he remembered plots of Bliss flowers and the various equipment needed to dry and prepare them for production. He could hear a group of members singing one of the cults hymn's to the sounds of someone playing a guitar elsewhere in the compound.
The whole scene sickened him and that feeling was made worse as he saw in steel cages various locals that were being guarded by snarling guard dogs and their masters as they told their captives why God had condemned them to this fate.
He kept walking right up to the chapel the and nodded to the guards that stood at either side as they opened the double doors for him.
"If there is anything that you must take away from this lesson today... let it be this. The world is trapped swirling around a drain of destruction and sin, to escape from this swirling maelstrom we must first break the cycle. But as we break the cycle in our journey to the calm waters of Eden we break up the flow of the sinners around us and they will resist us as they try to drag us back into the cycle." A bare chested Joseph spoke to a packed congregation.
Dmitri found a spot along the back wall among some of the other members. They all recoiled slightly at his presence as they realized he was a messenger. He didn't mind their reaction at all as he listened once more to Joseph speak.
"Through the chains of faith and the anchor of God's message we can resist this pull, this... 'Resistance' as we pull away and grow closer to Eden. That is why we formed the Project, each one of you isn't just pulling on the chain to Eden but you are the chain for your fellow faithful. Be strong not for your own sake but for the sake of your fellow man who is attached to you and the one attached to him and the next man and the next man. Think and pray on these things tonight." The mad preacher said and those gathered spoke in one voice.
"Thank you Father."
With that said the group broke up and exited. Dmitri hung back as the flow of people walked passed him all the while watching Joseph to make sure he didn't leave without speaking to him. Eventually the building emptied leaving surprisingly just the two men alone.
He pushed off the wall and walked down the center isle toward where Joseph was reading from his copy of his Word of Joseph. His boots echoed on the hard wood floor with every step making the tiny chapel seem absolutely cavernous as he closed. The early afternoon sunlight blazed through the stain glass window behind Joseph casting a dark eight pointed cult cross right in front of the cult leader.
"Messenger, I take it you have something for me?" Joseph asked in a warm and casual voice.
Dmitri bowed his head in reverence and to hide the flash of hate in his eyes. He could kill Joseph right now. By pistol, blade, or even with his bare hands he could end 'The Father' now... but that wasn't his mission for now at least.
"Yes Father, I come bearing a message from Herald Faith." He said as he extracted the envelope from his coat pocket.
Joseph smiled widely from behind his gold colored sunglasses as he took the offered envelope. "Ah yes! Most excellent... you have done well brother."
Dmitri nodded once more. "Thank you Father, I was merely being a strong link in the chain as you say."
The preacher regarded him a moment longer. "Do you have anymore work to be done brother? I can assume your journey wasn't easy."
"My journey was harder on my vehicle rather than me. But yes Father I do have a further task from Herald Faith once I am done... of course if you say otherwise I will do as you ask." He said nervously hopefully sounding properly awe struck at the idea of receiving a mission from The Father himself.
The Father turned from him and walked to where a well worn brown leather satchel was stashed up against the wall with the words 'J. Seed' branded on the outer flap. From it he exchanged his book for a large black cult cross necklace.
"I would have liked to have delivered this myself but with the on going resistance and the importance of Dr. Feeney's work I wouldn't want my presence to cause any undo trouble that might slow him down."
He handed the necklace to Dmitri who admired the carefully engraved blackened stainless steel cross. On each arm was a silver inlaid depiction of each Herald and The Father on the top most arm. At the junction of the arms was a masterfully done image of the Tree of Eden with three figures standing before a gathered congregation.
It was known as the 'The Father's Blessing'. It was only given to those few members whose actions and faith were essential to the success of the Project, those who were 'Blessed' became officially untouchable to all save for The Father. Even a Herald couldn't directly question the work of one of The Father's Blessed without going through The Father himself.
"This must be given to Dr. Feeney with all haste. I believe he is back at the conservatory." The Father said as he watched Dmitri securely pocket the necklace in his coat.
"He is actually at the King's Hot Springs Hotel according to Herald Faith. It is most fortuitous as that is the next thing I was tasked with." He said with a bow.
Joseph smiled once more and clasped the other man on both shoulders. "God works with us even in the smallest ways. I will summon my personal helicopter to take you to the hotel then. Go with God."
Dmitri spun on his heel and with smart and energetic steps that would have made his academy instructors proud left the chapel. After getting directions to the helipad from one of the door guards he fought the desire to sprint there.
A cult member dashed passed him and turned out to be his pilot for the day as he was quickly starting and pre-flighting the white newer styled helicopter. The pilot noticed him and halted his pre-flight long enough to open the side door for the messenger and offer him a seat in the plush interior.
Once seated the pilot returned to his seat and continued his pre-flight checks as the engine slowly began to spool up. This gave Dmitri a chance to marvel at the blatant opulence that made it clear that this was indeed Joseph's personal chopper.
'Oh how I wish I had a GPS tracker on me. We would trace your every move and the Resistance could strike against you when you least expect it.' He thought as he ran a hand over the carefully polished exotic wood trim around him. On each of the four white leather seats a silver and gold threaded cult cross was carefully embroidered into each headrest.
With barely more than a light hum the aircraft took to the skies and headed east to fly behind Raptor peak so as to avoid being seen by the Resistance forces at the treatment plant and the convent. The pilot didn't offer any idle chit chat and honestly that was fine by him, he had enough things on his mind as they swooped low over Faith's own missile bunker. Oddly enough it was venting green Bliss clouds from under the concrete blast door like some pot on a stove pushing steam from under a lid.
'A bunker designed to launch a missile full of an explosive gas. If Joseph has a missile in that silo and he launches it, he'll destroy a good chunk of the local area not to mention the risk of spread radioactive materials. There must be a way to stop it.' He thought as the chopper flew low across the river before with perfect gentleness landed in front of the hotel.
The pilot raced out and opened the door for him bowing as he did.
"I hope that you have enjoyed your flight messenger." The pilot said humbly.
"Thank you brother pilot. You have done your role perfectly now unless The Father as ordered you otherwise I suggest you get back to him, you never know when the nonbelievers will attack in this area." He cautioned before approaching the group of cultists coming out of the hotel.
"Who are you?" One man asked raising his rifle.
He gave the man a hard look as the cult marked helicopter started to take off from behind him.
Another older looking man dressed in the garb of a cult Chemist came up and slapped the mans rifle down. "Are you dense brother? Have you been drinking too much Bliss? That is a messenger for The Father's sake!"
"Correct. I bear a message from The Father himself and Herald Faith for Dr. Feeney. I need someone to take me to him at once, if he is not here then I will require his location and a vehicle to get there." He said angrily driving home the point that he was not to be stopped by anyone's further bluster.
At the mention of 'The Father' the gathered men whispered amongst themselves as the older chemist went stark cult white in shock. "U-uh... y-yes yes! Follow me messenger, I will take you to the doctor right a way! Clear the way! CLEAR THE WAY!"
The gathered men parted before him and watched briefly as he passed before they returned to their previous tasks speaking in hushed whispers of what orders or blessings The Father might be sending their way.
The two men walked briskly into the rusticity decorated hotel lobby and traveled downstairs into a dark basement made up of roughly cut river stone common to this area. The basement felt unusually warm likely because of the nearby springs but the chemist seem used to the heat as the walked through a what appeared to be a operating theater complete with a stripped woman's body on the table at the center of the room.
"Phil it looks like formula 797 isn't working... at least on the female subjects. Her body temp spiked to 110 degrees believe it or not... who's this?" The man that would be spoke as he wrote something on a clipboard before looking up at the two men.
Dr. Feeney looked rather typical among the cult. A thin built body devoid of fat and barely more muscle mass due to a typical light weight diet, a black and wild mane of shoulder length hair with matching facial hair, and save for the lab coat he wore his chest was bared to show off the many cult tattoo's he had earned.
But the man's small brown eyes told something completely different. They looked right through him and only saw another potential test subject, another mouse to run through his maze or take his injections. Any concept of remorse or care for those who happen to land on his operating table was absent.
Dmitri briefly wondered if this is what it would have been like to look at Dr. Mengele during his time in Auschwitz.
"I'm sorry doctor but this is a messenger from The Father and Herald Faith. He asked for you by name." The chemist said gesturing to Dmitri.
The doctor perked up just a bit at the mentioning of The Father but otherwise started radiating impatience. "Oh... very well. Tell me messenger what do you bring?"
"The Father regrets that he is unable to give you this blessing however he didn't wish to slow you or your work down from his presence given the current level of Resistance activity in this region." He said as he pulled out the black necklace and watched the utter mindless lust show itself on the doctor's face completely removing any boredom or annoyance that was once there.
The Chemist named Phil went right back to paling to a particular shade of cult white that the Russian didn't think was normally humanly possible for anyone still alive at least.
"The Father's Blessing..." The other man whispered.
Feeney took the necklace and held it up to one of the lights over the operating table and admired it briefly before putting it on.
"Eight years I have worked to this point. I finally have a taste of Eden made manifest... see Phil? This is what Eden looks like! We can achieve it!" The doctor spoke excitedly showing the necklace to the other Chemist.
"My other message or rather duty as given by Herald Faith is to be attached to you as she had said that you were on the cusp of a new breakthrough and wanted to have a messenger attached to you." He continued.
Feeney's eyes now turned back to him in mild confusion until he exclaimed. "Oh yes I think one of my personal side projects might help improve the Saint Project's chances of being accepted by the patients but I need to back up all my work here and take it to my home to combine everything."
Dmitri fought to keep the smile that threatened to break his control under his balaclava. If Feeney was going to his personal residence then it likely had little to no security beyond being just another simple home. Hardly a target for the Resistance to have taken notice as the cult tended to keep everyone and everything within areas it controlled and had fortified to one degree or another.
'I must get a message off to Marcus. Joey or hell even The Grey's could strike and capture Feeney... push comes to shove I could probably also do the work however it might compromise my cover.' He thought as Feeney directed him to wait in his office nearby to keep him out of the way.
Feeney was about to return to his work when he turned back. "Actually could I ask you to start the backup process? Just wake up the computer and open the 'Info Bunker Backup' icon and hit the big green 'Back up ALL to external drive' button and then just make sure it completes. That way we just need to grab the external drive and the hard copy work I'll be making here and we can proceed to my place." He said pointing over to a small office in a dark corner of the basement turn operating theater.
He nodded enthusiastically before he turned to enter the indicated office space and begun the process. When the doctor had left he took a quick moment to poke around the computer to get a taste for what he could find on the external hard drive later on. He couldn't claim to understand most of the biochemistry behind the notes but he could understand that the Saint Project was based heavily on Feeney's previous work towards sports performance enhancers.
Besides that there was a wide collection of pirated 80's action movies, porn that most certainly wasn't allowed by the cult, and most importantly years worth of emails between Feeney and various members of the cult including Joseph.
'No wonder Feeney joined the cult. Joseph offered him funding, equipment, and test subjects with virtually no strings attached beyond at least superficially following the cult's dogma. Though from some of these emails it seems that at some point he went from superficially believing to a full believer even if he doesn't practice the full list of restrictions that normal members must. Interesting nonetheless.' He thought as the process finished and he pretended to busy himself with re-reading a copy of the Word of Joseph.
He must have been there for several hours before the sounds of men shouting outside drew his and the doctors attention. One of the chemists came rushing into the basement clutching a rifle.
"Doctor! Somethings gone wrong over at the Misery! We just saw a flare in the sky calling for aid." The man gasped.
Feeney growled in frustration. "God damned sinners... ok get all the men assigned to lake patrol duty to take to their boats and see what has Sister Tabatha gotten herself involved with. I'm almost done with this test subject at least so I will take my backup and leave early."
The Chemist nodded in relief at hearing a clear plan and rushed out to carry out his orders.
"Messenger!" The doctor called to him. "I'm almost done here so I'll clean up and then we must leave with haste. While I work, pack up the external hard drive including the power and data cables and get the white Camaro outside loaded and started."
"Yes doctor!" He snapped back and quickly worked at unplugging the book sized external hard drive from the desktop computer.
He would have bet anything that the disturbance at the prison ship was Joey's work and he would take full advantage of that. If she was in the area then it would be easier to call for her to come and nab Feeney once they get to his house.
His package now in hand he raced out of the office and past the gutted cadaver that was once a local woman. He automatically filed the image way as yet another horror committed by the cult. The doctor was at a large sink washing the gore off of his hands and placing his tools into a rack to be loaded into a commercial dish washing machine.
He raced up the basement stairs and came out to the utter chaos of the hotel proper as men raced around gathering ammo and weapons before racing the short distance to the docks the cult had built in the sheltered cove close to the hotel. There a small fleet of cult gunboats and jetskis were taking on the supplies brought and soon enough many of the men bringing them, it seemed to him that most of the guards posted here at the hotel were being thrown at the Misery.
'Two dozen men, six boats, and three jetskis. I really hope that Joey has help because I doubt even Roger would be able to deal with that many hostiles at once.' He thought as he ran out the front door toward the parking lot of cult marked trucks and quickly found the lone car in the lot.
Getting in he found the keys in the ignition and started the sports car, he couldn't help but smile as the aggressive snarl came from the aftermarket exhaust. Even from the pillbox like cab of the car he could now sit and watch as the fleet of boats race from the docks toward the beached dredger, on a whim he reached over and opened the glove compartment and found a pair of small binoculars.
Availing himself of them he could now make out Joey setting up Roger's massive .50 cal rifle and one of the brightly uniformed 'Cougars' as they had taken to calling themselves readying the lone .50 cal mount. The others were taking positions where they could should the boats close into rifle range but until then only Joey and the machine gunner would be able to engage with any hope doing something useful without some master level marksmanship.
Looking further he spotted something odd in the water near the boat. 'There is a bear mauling something or rather someone in the water, I wonder who that might be? Also why does Joey have a tame bear?'
He watched with glee as the first jetski was stopped and the men riding it fell dead into the river followed rapidly by the flashing muzzle on the mounted .50 cal machine gun cutting down another jetski. But the best moment was seeing the last jetski quickly followed by several of the larger gunboats being torn apart from the sky.
He could feel his heart race with joy as three of the float planes broke off to attack something further down the river and Nick showed off his airmanship as he whipped around in the air before drawing a line of cannon fire cross the remaining cult gun boats sinking them readily in a considerable fireball.
His joy turned to utter horror as he heard the distinct sound of a rocket motor screaming nearby followed by a long white streak of smoke leading to the front of the hotel. He turned his binoculars and brought the far closer missile launcher even closer as he recognized the distinct three dimpled cover on a British Starstreak anti-air missile. He didn't notice it on his way in or when he rushed out but now he had to fight the urge to reach for his rifle and kill the operator but he couldn't risk the chance to get Feeney. Once they had him then the subject of breaking his cover could be addressed but not a moment before then, thus he had to watch the missile streak towards Nick's plane.
Thankfully the pilot had seen the missile and dove down for more speed as he raced toward one of the larger islands in the middle of the river. Dmitri held his breath as he watch the plane seemingly weave in between the trees and then dip out of sight only to have the missile explode a few fractions of a second later.
He finally exhaled loudly and even cheered a little as the yellow float plane swung about and then a stream of tracers raced uncomfortably close ending his joy. He ducked in his seat and swore in his native tongue . "I hate getting shot at by my own side!"
Just a few vehicles away from him two of the cult gun trucks exploded and he could see the defenders of the Hotel scatter in terror as a few were cut down by hail of explosive fire. Once more he focused on the launcher and its operator as he fought the launcher to load a fresh round.
At this point he started seriously wondering where Feeney was. Surely with all the explosions the man would be smart enough to hurry, there was also the fact that if Nick came back around for another run against the outpost either Nick would be shot down or one of the pilots cannon rounds would hit his car.
He turned his binoculars back to Joey and saw Marcus looking through his own binoculars and seemed to be spotting for Joey's next shot. He glanced back at the only logical target being the missile operator in time to watch the mans chest explode in a shower of gore across the area behind him.
Finally Feeney came dashing out of the hotel with a briefcase shouting to one of the remaining defenders not completely lost in panic.
"GET THESE MEN WORKING ON THESE FIRES AND MAKE SURE THE BLISS TANKS HAVEN'T BEEN COMPROMISED! MOVE DAMN YOU!" The doctor shouted as he closed in on Dmitri and got into the passenger seat.
"Drive! Drive!" He said on the cusp of panicking.
With a loud squeal of tires the spy launched the car out of its parking spot and weaved between dashing cultists as they moved to start putting out the burning trucks, then finally whipped hard on to the paved road leading east as fast as the roaring motor would allow.
With the battlefield behind them the doctor started finally relaxing and looked down at the black briefcase in his hands. "God is watching over us Brother Messenger, a few hours earlier and I wouldn't have had everything mostly ready to go. Now I just need to sit down with this and my old work files and do the mental work of seeing if my idea pans out."
"You have everything you need Doctor?" Dmitri ventured cautiously.
The cultist smiled. "Yes at least the hard copy materials, you did bring the external hard drive as I ordered yes?"
Dmitri tapped the slightly bulged pocket of his coat so the man could hear the plastic outer casing therein.
"Excellent! Then I have a complete record of everything I've done at the brewery, hotel, and conservatory's labs. I should also probably make a back up of everything at home just in case as well, if the Misery has fallen to those faithless dogs then they are within a scant mile or two away from my home." Feeney said settling into his seat.
At the doctors direction they found themselves driving once more on the dirt road past the conservatory and the brewery until he was told to pull into the dirt driveway of a simple single story red painted ranch house typical of the area with a light green metal roof. It was as he had hoped unguarded or even visibly marked with any cult iconography.
'Hiding in plain sight. Sometimes its the simplest measures that work best, I doubt anyone in the Resistance would think to search the residences at this point in the campaign against Faith.' The spy thought as Feeney got out of the car.
"Please messenger make yourself at home, I plan on working on this for as long as I can stand before calling it a night. Unless God is being truly gracious it will take me sometime tomorrow as well to finish the initial work." The cultist stated as he unlocked the door and both men entered.
Inside was as expected a very normal looking open floor plan style home with various hunting and fishing trophies with matching rustic artwork along the walls. The furniture in the home was newer looking and well taken care of and the big flat screen TV spoke towards the doctor's love of movies.
In all even if someone entered the home they wouldn't find anything suggesting that it belonged to a member of Project at Eden's Gate.
"If you need anything I'll be in the basement, in the likely case that this will take me all night the best I can offer for sleeping accommodations is the couch." The doctor spoke once more in a surprisingly friendly manner.
"Of course doctor. I have dealt with far worse before, thank you again. Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help you?" The spy asked hoping to use the developing friendliness to milk more information from the other man.
Feeney worked his jaw side to side in thought. "Actually yes, I will need you to sort and pack these hard copy documents once I process and get them into my computer. My sorting system is simple color coordination but the plastic totes I use are extremely heavy."
"Yes doctor! I can do that just allow me to use your bathroom for a moment and I will join you." He replied enthusiastically.
Pleased with the answer the doctor opened a door that led down his basement and descended as he turned and entered the small bathroom. His business done he pulled out his radio.
"Volk to Tsar." He spoke softly in his native Russian. It was risky that Feeney if he happened to hear him talking would ask who he was talking to but at least he wouldn't likely know Russian so the subject matter would be hidden for the moment.
His back up plan in that case was to claim that he had a older cousin he had grown up with that also was a messenger in the cult that wanted to know if he had survived the attack on the hotel. Feeney seemed to be quickly trusting him probably because given his new 'Blessed' status he was all but immune to punishment save from The Father himself.
This trust of course would be leveraged by the intelligence officer for everything it was worth.
His radio then softly crackled to life in reply as a older feminine voice replied. "The Tsar is out on campaign still. This is the Tsarina."
'Of course Jessica Rook would have learned Russian given her taste in firearms.' He thought a smile crossing his face.
"Rasputin has gone to his home. He is alone save for me and we should hold a dinner tonight if at all possible." He continued.
After a long pause Jessica replied. "The Tsar has just returned I will tell him of this news at once and have him send our own messenger with a invitation. Stay safe Volk, Tsarina out."
His task done he hurried out of the bathroom and down the basement stairs.
"Ah good I was worried that the cult diet had struck down another man. I swear the food they serve sometimes at the Conservatory is purpose made to plug your internals." He said before pointing at a small pile of brightly colored papers beside him at his desk.
"These are pages I have already scanned and they just need to be placed into the right matching tub behind you. Simple as can be." The doctor said before returning to his computer.
The basement was fairly small, the doctor's computer was setup beside the foot of the stairwell leading upstairs while a operating table took up a fair amount of room in the middle of the basement. On one wall a counter top filled with all matter of lab equipment and glassware sat at the ready while along another wall was dozens of clear plastic storage totes full of one color or another of reports, test results, formulas, and supply lists. He had them stacked from floor to ceiling and Dmitri hoped that he wouldn't have to try and carry them up stairs or worse try to load them into the sports car outside.
The top most totes given their less than organized nature inside were clearly the ones he was to lug off of the stacks and fill as the doctor scanned the images. One by one he sorted the sheets into each appropriate box until he caught a glance at a formula sheet that grabbed his attention.
'Bunker Bliss and Prisoner Bliss.' He read before the doctor spoke making him jump a bit.
"Ah yes two interesting but ultimately dead end Bliss blends. The so called 'Prisoner Bliss' was my attempt at developing something that would keep sinner prisoners calmer in between indoctrination and punishment sessions, but after two weeks of constant exposure the subjects become immune to most of the effects. That said it actually does a fair job calming particularly upset Angels so there that development at least. They still at least used to use it on the Misery before today."
"And the 'Bunker Bliss'? I know when The Father had me flown to the hotel earlier today that Faith's Bunker was spewing some Bliss like gas from within, what that it?" Dmitri asked.
"Correct Messenger! The 'Bunker Bliss' is a excellent defender Bliss. Its several times more effective then the more common pain deadening variant of Bliss used by some of the Chosen and our medical staff but the effects are very short lived unless one is constantly exposed. Hence why its use is mostly restricted to a enclosed environment like a bunker since not only is it enclosed but has the equipment to consistently produce the chemical." Feeney explained proudly.
"But isn't that a fire risk? I know that Bliss is highly explosive and was one of the things Herald John when I served under him would constantly warn us about especially with the Bliss enhanced fertilizer." Dmitri asked trying to milk the cultist for everything he could.
"Indeed its why Herald Faith is the only one to use the Bunker Bliss and why I stopped developing it among other reasons. Her bunker was already being prepared to produce Bliss after The Collapse so it had things like explosion proof electric motors for various systems like doors and such but the time and expense to fit those to the other bunkers wasn't seen as worthwhile. It's kind of a moot point now that we have the mountain Bliss storage behind the conservatory. You are quite knowledgeable for a messenger you know?" The doctor complemented.
He bowed slightly as he replied. "Forgive me doctor if I overstep my bounds, hard experience has taught me that its sometimes the small facts and details that sometimes are the most important. It's what led me ultimately for myself and my cousin to join The Father when we first heard of his word."
"You must tell me of your story sometime, but no matter back to work... the progress of science and the work of The Father must not be slowed." Feeney commented before returning to sorting through his papers.
Night had fallen when the two men emerged from the basement and at the doctor's insistence he made well cooked pork chops and mashed potatoes with a rich gravy to boot. At dinner it was easy to get the man to reveal more and more about the cult operations and projects that he had often times developed at the order of The Father. The man naturally loved to hear his own voice and boast about his accomplishments even more so now that he was given such a high level Blessing from Joseph.
"So that is how I figured out how to network the Bunker's Bliss controls to my home computer so I didn't have to drive up the mountain every time they wanted an adjustment to the concentration. It's getting late and tomorrow I have calculations to run. Could I ask you to take care of the dishes while I get to bed?" The weary looking cultist spoke.
He nodded and bid the man good night before gathering the dishes and washing them as instructed. He had only just dried his hands when his radio clicked three times. In the event that Marcus had to contact him it was decided that the clicks were the most subtle means of doing so lest someone recognize his voice even if he was speaking Russian.
"Volk to Tsar." He called quietly listening to any signs the doctor might be up still.
"This is Tsar. Invitation is on its way eta 1 hour. Make sure to the follow the messenger back home. Tsar out." Marcus replied on the other end before killing the line.
'Makes sense if the doctor disappears yet I still show up at the conservatory Faith herself will likely call for my head or make me an Angel. It'll be good to get out of here.' He thought while he sat in the living room watching for any signs of movement out the windows toward the front of the house.
A hour had now passed and nothing had happened. Dmitri was starting to fade slightly from the days events when he suddenly felt the distinct shape of a big bore suppressor being pressed against his head.
"What gun did Jessica Rook give you to go hunting with?" Joey whispered threateningly.
The spy smiled, Hudson was smart enough to double check that he hadn't been replaced with someone else. That and how she managed to sneak into the house without tipping him off was impressive unto it self.
"A Dragonov SVD-M. Don't know how she or rather Marcus got a hold of such a new gun in this country but he is known to be resourceful." He said calmly.
Joey let the breath she was holding out and holstered her 1911. "Ok here's what's going to happen I have to gag and cuff you so when I drag Feeney out he won't suspect you in case something goes wrong and he gets loose again."
She opened a pouch on her armor and extracted a large bandana with a another bandana tied into a large ball and handed it to him.
"Joey there is a lot of paperwork downstairs in the basement along with two external hard drives that Feeney has backed up everything he has done with the cult. We must be sure to grab those." He commented as he started to tie the bandana around his head.
The Deputy nodded knowingly. "I expected that much, I'll grab the drives and the Cougars and The Greys that are waiting for my signal to go ahead grab anything else in here of value. Oh and make sure you act like I knocked you out or at least hit you hard in the head. Don't worry your work won't be in vain."
He pulled up his balaclava enough to reveal his mouth. "I hope so Joey, this has reminded me just how much I hated being part of the cult even if I was just playing a role." He didn't wait for her to reply when he inserted the gag and tightened it before turning around and offering up his hands behind his back.
Joey took some zip cuffs out of another pouch and restrained the spy in a realistic manner before guiding him to the floor so as to make it look like he had been pinned down before being restrained. The act was her idea so that if they needed him to go back into the cult it was still a option, even Marcus was surprised he didn't think of it and gave the green light to her idea.
Now hearing how hard the experience had been on Dmitri she was having some second thoughts but had to carry on nonetheless.
With the 'Messenger' restrained she walked quietly toward the lone bedroom where it sounded like a diesel engine was running with a straight pipe exhaust the snoring was so loud.
She flipped on the light but Feeney didn't immediately stir until she punched him in the face.
The man yelled in shock as he was bodily hauled out of bed and slammed on to the floor.
'I guess now I know how Roger feels, at a certain point you can just treat people like a rag dolls. At least this will making arrests easier on me.' She thought as she brought out her steel cuffs and tightly fitted them to the dazed and weakly resisting cultist.
"Get... off of... me... you... fucking... SINNER!" Feeney managed before he got his head knocked on to the floor again for his words.
"You are so fucking lucky you are actually worth more to me alive then dead. Only Joseph can say that he is also on that list." She snarled as she gagged the man next followed by dragging him out of the room past were Dmitri was dead still maybe even asleep. "Invitation delivered, client has requested full service." She radioed, summoning the waiting Resistance forces nearby.
When she got outside four Resistance pickups pulled up and the assembled Grey's and Cougars got out to view her catch.
"You guys go grab the other peggie in the living room and bring him to my pickup, also do a quick sweep of the house I'm going to guess that most of this guys work is in the basement so start there. Any external hard drives or flash drives bring them to me immediately, any hard copy papers you guys can bring over later." She ordered the gathered men and only spared the briefest of glances as she watched them jog inside.
'I hope they aren't too rough with Dmitri.' She thought as she hoisted Feeney into the bed of the pickup she had grabbed. She set to work using some ratchet straps the previous driver had left in the cab to restrain Feeney's legs and arms to the tie down points of the bed when two of the men came dragging Dmitri who was still acting like he was out like a light bulb.
"What makes this guy so important? He's a lot heavier then the average peggie." One of the men commented.
"He's a cult messenger, a high level one by the looks of it. If he can tell us about Joseph or one of the Heralds then its worth the hassle." She explained as she handed the men more ratchet straps to lash down Dmitri.
One of the Cougars came running out of the house next holding a pair of external hard drives with their cables wrapped around them. "These were the only easy to grab drives, we will have to take the computer back to the Jail with the paperwork, and good God there is a lot of it."
She nodded in understanding and gestured for the young man to place the drives in the cab of the truck before she turned to one of the Grey's that had hung around outside on watch.
"Be sure you guys are out of here before sunrise and stay safe." She stated getting an affirmative nod from the older man.
Her task done she gave one more glance at the two restrained men in the bed of the truck before getting behind the wheel and driving off into the slightly brightening early twilight.
Word of Feeney's capture had gotten all the Resistance leadership up and out of bed aided by a few cups of the strongest coffee Jessica Rook could make. The commotion of the wall night guards served as announcement of Joey's arrival and the Rook's alongside the Sheriff, Minkler, and Tracey raced outside to meet her.
Joey fought now to control the now panicking cultist as he realized where he was now but while he could inconvenience her in a bit of irony he couldn't hope to over come the new found strength she had from her Bliss exposure.
'Frankenstein being over come by his creation. I can't wait to see how Roger works this guy over if or when he gets back on his feet.' She thought as she stopped her charge before the gathered leaders in the front yard of the Jail.
"Doctor Peter Feeney... you know how many years I have been looking for some solid proof to charge you with all of this Bliss production, now it seems I have everything I could ever want and more." The Sheriff said grimly.
Feeney finally stopped struggling for a moment. "You people will never understand the true glory of my work! Of 'The Father's' work! When 'The Collapse' passes over the faithful it will be my work, my enhancements that will help the faithful have the strength to rebuild the world! Faith will find out sooner rather than later that I have been captured and soon after that nothing will stop her from sending her forces back here to wipe you out and free me."
Joey could see the Sheriff's fist start to clinch briefly but he never fully lost that legendary cool that he had made a name for himself on. "Hudson! Lets get this drug pushing son of a bitch in a cell where he belongs. And you..." He pointed to Feeney. "Consider this dress rehearsal for what the rest of your miserable existence will be like."
With Minkler and Tracey leading the way opening the doors to the jail interior their route to the unmodified and thus still lockable jail cells took them through the medical ward where Dr. Ferguson was taking the night watch.
He stood when they entered the room and approached Feeney. "Feeney... finally I get to meet the poisoner whose work has infected this county for far too long." He spoke with a unusual for him venom in his voice.
But Feeney wasn't paying any attention to the other Doctor in fact for him literally nothing in the medical ward existed except for one thing.
The stock tank bound Deputy Rook.
"Seven years... SEVEN YEARS! Thousands of formulas! Hundreds of test subjects! Tens of thousands of man hours! And the first Saint... IS A FUCKING SINNER!" Feeney yelled absolutely beside himself in rage.
Before he could say anything else Dr. Ferguson lashed out with a hard right hook punching Feeney in the gut.
"What are you talking about you fucking excuse of a medical professional?! What is a 'Saint'?" He said before Marcus moved to gently draw the man away from the prisoner. Still it was a question now shared by everyone in the ward.
Feeney let out a gasping laugh. "What is a 'Saint' you ask? They are to be the absolute finest of the faithful. Bodies hardened against the slings and arrows of the sinner, hardened against the coming harshness of the coming 'Collapse'. They would be unblemished by physical taint allowing them to focus on purifying their souls."
He coughed as he still tried to regain his breath before continuing. "All of these years of work to reach such a goal... Bliss... Bliss is an amazing drug. Produced by nature it can with a few changes do so much and then you can breed those changes back into the flowers allowing nature to handle many of the production issues. The Saints would have all the power and hardiness of the Archangels with the same lack of mental degradation as seen by those who now have the Blessing of the Bliss. All I needed was to find some way of seeing who is strong enough to survive the process or find someway to mitigate the overheat issues subjects experience."
He chuckled despite having to stop sometimes to gasp for more air. "Oh how God works in strange and wondrous ways... when I get out of here I will be able to finally see how many faithful Saints I can now produce. How I missed something so obvious like water cooling my test subjects is beyond me."
Dr. Ferguson was shaking with anger as he spat out. "Get this fucker out of my ward!"
Joey and the Sheriff removed the cult doctor out of the ward as everyone else watched. The following silence lingered for a moment before it was broken by Roger.
"Dad?" He croaked.
Marcus hurried over to his sons side to lessen the strain on him. "What do you need son?"
Roger slowly held up a single now massive finger as he spoke. "Don't kill that guy before I get better. I want to personally beat the shit out of him."
The effort left Roger huffing and puffing as he slipped back to sleep in mere moments after speaking.
"You're asking for a lot son... but I will do my best." Marcus said softly. He went back to his wife and bided the Doctor a good night as he and Jessica left for their quarters within the jail.
The night had been fruitful for the Resistance with the capture of Feeney and shortly before dawn literal truck loads of data pulled from his residence meant that the gathered medical staff at the Jail lead mostly by Dr. Lindsay would have plenty of information into the cult's signature drug from now on.