The flood of darkness that swallowed Providence's second headquarters was no obstacle for her to navigate through. Even the corners with the littlest light were undangerous to her as an unnatural human. Only prey needed to concern themselves with the threats that lurked in low visibility. Unlike her, they would have been defenseless— sitting ducks once everything went under lockdown. Humans were weak and prone to error. She was supposed to be different and that was why the majority of her soldiers were automated. They, like her, were supposed to be without flaw.
That, in and of itself, was the issue.
Perhaps she was only human after all, and of course, machines were extensions of their flawed masters.
When she'd sent her Black Pawns after Rex in the desert, she'd forgotten to impose limitations on where they were permitted to go. Unfettered, her army was given no defined boundaries to fetter their movements in pursuit of Rex as he closed in on their former, infected base. The area had been quarantined for good reason. It had been a careless oversight, but she hadn't realized it until the lights went out.
Alone in the dark, Black Knight thought about what remained of the security footage from Providence's former Nevada base. It had been a normal day, without any reason to suspect there was a predator in their midst at all. In their last moments before complete blackout, were they at ease? Did they experience the same intimidation games? She could only guess; there wasn't any available footage of what happened after all communication went dead.
The fall of boots from the hallways alerted her. Of course, she was never really alone. With a building full of technology like theirs was, there may as well have been eyes all over her. All of her own flawless soldiers, in an instant, had been converted into enemies under White's command. The automatic doors peeled themselves right open without needing her permission or authority.
"You think this is going to be as easy as when you caught your little friends unaware?" She scoffed, assembling a lethal whip onto her right arm. Although she could not see him, she knew that he was there: in the walls, behind the cameras, monitoring the building. That's the only thing he'd been good for in the last three years; his skillset had surely decayed with the time he spent as a shut-in.
Her glowing energy whip dangled to the floor, creating deep scorches into the ground. The first Pawn that barrelled its way inside was met with the full force of its lash; the robot's head was whipped clean off of its body, causing it to collapse in the hallway. But she didn't stop moving, knowing that if she hesitated, they would swarm and successfully overwhelm her. She never became such a successful soldier by pausing in her steps. She grabbed the decapitated metal skull, throwing it into the next metallic man, buying herself enough time to construct a sword around her wrists.
"There's a reason I'm still one of your betters. Even with an army at your beck and call, you don't amount to the dirt on the heel of my boot." She sneered, piercing another one of her own soldiers through the chest. He could not overpower her, even while he was using her own resources against her. She knew her weapons like she knew the back of her hand, and she knew White even better than that.
The familiar pitch of working machines assured him that he was home. Yet, even the sign that he was back at headquarters failed to bring him the comfort of safety. He narrowed his eyes. Rex reasoned that it could have simply been adrenaline lingering from the chase he had led Black Knight's pawns on. His nerves weren't settled. That was all. His body hummed with nervous energy, still sore from his fight with Bishop and alert to the slightest shifts in the air. It wasn't often when his own nanites were used against him in a fight. His own sounds, the movement of his shoes over the floor and the fabric of his clothes rustling, heightened his anxiety.
Being a weapon required the ability to shoot first and ask questions later. A gun didn't hesitate or give pause. Questions were for the professionals and suits. People like Providence agents and their dork scientists were the pencil pushers whose job it was to inquire. They were the ones scribbling the answers and observing. Even good soldiers, who many incorrectly assumed were more brawn than brains, heeded commands that required patience and good listening skills. What they all shared: the privilege of stopping and waiting. But when you were a weapon, you were not afforded the time to think. As such, Rex didn't come up with a plan of action after crashing back into headquarters. He hadn't really thought about what he'd do when he actually succeeded in breaking in, nor did he know what to expect from the overrun building.
Walking through the dim halls, his careful steps echoed off the cracking, white walls. Glass crunched beneath his heels from the broken window he'd fallen from. I would have caught hell for that, he thought fondly, examining the room. Nostalgia was making him homesick for where he already was. It disoriented him. Everything was all wrong; it shouldn't have been real. Exposed wiring spilled out of the cracks of the once bright walls. The wires climbed up the walls and ceiling like vines; they twisted themselves across the glass of the Petting Zoo window, preventing anyone from peeking inside. Out of curiosity, he did move closer, trying to part the mess of wiring so he could see through the window.
Where were the EVO bunnies? Blinky? Or even the mutated birds that would once fly through the enclosure?
When he parted the wires, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his gut. It was about as cared for as the rest of the dilapidated building. Although, one thing that kept him positive was the amount of life flourishing within the Zoo. Amidst the thick bundles of artificial cables and wires dangling from the ceiling were real vines and vibrant, green branches. That had to be a good thing, right? It meant that someone had been caring for the place– someone had made sure that it hadn't gone to hell. Someone who definitely still had to be alive.
He had to squint against the light that emitted from the zoo. If it hadn't been for the cables blocking access to the inside, Rex would bet that one of the only light sources was coming from inside. The longer he stood there, trying to find any sign of movement, the more his breath began to fog up the glass. He had no choice but to take a step back, but just as he was about to move on, a motion from within the enclosure stilled him. He pressed his nose to the window again, cupping his hands by his face so that it might improve his vision.
As he gazed into the zoo, he found the motion that had caught his eye; his breath caught in his chest. The bundles of wires suspended in the air gently swayed, rattled by something held within them. Rex began to feel sick, knowing that whatever was encased within the cables had to be alive. Or, perhaps he was deluding himself and seeing what he wanted to. That could have been very true. Either way, he wasn't going to take any chances. This was the first ray of hope he had in a very long time.
Lacking any further impulse, he rushed to the entrance of the enclosure, trying to get the automatic doors to open. Pressing a palm to the control box, he attempted to hijack it, blue light emitting from his fingers. The doors simply trembled, giving him false-hope but remaining shut; the attempt caused a dull ache in his temples. He pulled back, touching a hand to his head as the room began spinning; he had no choice but to kneel over.
Rex closed his eyes, trying to block out the invisible strings of numbers whispering through the air. He rubbed his eyes and got back to his feet to try prying the doors open manually, using his own strength. That was no good either. Hurrying to the windows again, he raised his fists –both the injured appendage and his able one– and began slamming them against the glass forcefully. But he couldn't accomplish the same destruction he had inflicted upon the outside of Providence Headquarters when bulldozing his way in. The Petting Zoo had been built with the idea of housing multiple EVOs inside. Rex didn't so much as scuff the material. He stopped beating the window, baring his teeth, hands sliding uselessly against the surface. He rested his forehead against the glass, watching the bundles of cables gently turn and spin, taunting him with how far away they were.
At once, one of the wire cocoons stopped spinning. Curious, Rex watched, unsure of what was happening. The cables began peeling back one-by-one, opening like the petals of a flower. When they had all fallen away, they revealed her…
"Doc!" Rex shouted. She didn't look at him. She didn't hear him.
Doctor Holiday stood at the center of the cables and greenery of the zoo, a parody of woodland sprites. Her lab coat was in tatters from months in captivity. Instead of her usual orange sweater, she was wearing a green wrap-shirt that had been fashioned with the vegetation of the enclosure but her skirt was the same. And she looked healthy; that was the most important part. Her face flushed with blood that proved she was among the living; she cradled a mutant bird that wasn't so lucky. Half of the body was decayed, revealing the bird's deformed, spiked skull and tail, along with its skeletal wings. Rex could not see into her eyes to determine if she was present or alert. They glowed a bright, ominous yellow, preventing him from seeing irises.
"Come on!" He snarled, smashing his hands, elbows, forehead, anything into the glass to no avail. But the distance between himself and her was the most painful sensation. He watched for a moment longer, eyes creasing with despair.
As he despondently looked on, he spotted a thin little wire stuck into the back of her neck. It disappeared down the back of her makeshift shirt and traveled up into the ceiling. From what Rex already knew, there was no questioning where it led. If he wanted to get her out of there, he'd have to find the end of that cable. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself away from the windows.
It should have been a given, but the control box to the Petting Zoo doors wasn't the only piece of equipment that was not operational. When he attempted to ride the elevator to the upper floors, he found that those doors refused to open, too. He didn't know why he even tried. Hope? He'd hoped Luck would have the elevators working for him. He hit the button several times before giving up and turning on a heel toward the stairs. Figures it wouldn't have been so easy. Throwing open the door, he stopped himself from ascending the staircase.
This was stupid , He thought, feeling like a child as he stared into the upper levels of Providence.
Rex forgot how much he hated the dark. His eyes tightened with queasiness. But it was more than just his childhood phobia that froze him in his tracks. Though he was unsure of why, he knew that something would happen if he went up. There would be no turning back then. He did not want to so much as peer up into the darkness; he was the trespasser in his own home. Providence was unfamiliar to him. It was more than the wire-vines growing to claim an abandoned structure, turning it unrecognizable. The building was unwelcoming to his presence altogether, the unharmonious whispers of the machines he knew so well protesting his appearance.
He hesitated.
With a grip on his wrist, he clutched his mangled hand to his chest, ungracefully shuffling through the darkness.
Immediately upon moving onto the first step, emergency lights flashed on and colored the base in red. The sharp change was so sudden, he jerked backward, pressing himself tightly against the wall. Sucking in a sharp breath, his fingers tightened around his wrist. It was easy to listen to instinct and remain where he was, but putting himself in danger was in his job description. He couldn't afford to lose his cool now. He'd discovered one member of his family alive, after all. He couldn't be a coward now, when it mattered the most. He had to do it for them. So, he did what he knew best, pushing away from the wall.
"I'm home!" He shouted up into the dark.
Ignoring the red tint that now colored the building, he followed the path toward the upper levels of headquarters. He held his breath, not wanting to hear a sound –even his own– until he reached the next floor. Only then did he breathe again.
He caught the motions of security cameras following his movements, coming across new ones each time he was far enough to escape one set of lenses. Other than switching on the emergency lights, his observer was passive, letting him proceed uninterrupted. Rex did not enjoy being surveilled, but even with the eyes of Providence boring holes into his back, he forced himself to crack a grin, talking mostly to comfort himself.
"Jeez, I can tell just how much I've been missed…" He commented, walking the dreadfully long trail to White Knight's public office. "The funny thing is I hated walking to your office even before you went EVO! The more things change, huh?"
Ahead of him, the door to Caesar's lab was ajar. There was no need to venture further. Were his brother inside, he would have had the lights on. However, the temptation to look remained. Seeing Holiday in the Petting Zoo made him wonder where everyone had been 'stored.' She hadn't been the only cocoon there, so it was possible there were more throughout headquarters.
Successfully baited by the prospect of finding others, he stuck his head through the doors, peering inside.
"Hello? Caesar?" He called out.
Rex shoved the doors open completely so that he could enter the lab. He was greeted with the sight of upturned tables and shattered glass. And more wild wires, too, of course. They spilled into Caesar's lab as well. No room was untouched by White's grip and need for control. When he directed his gaze upward, he could see another cocoon of cables suspended in the air, but this was different from the Petting Zoo, where Rex hadn't been permitted entry. There was only a singular swaddle of cables, and it was within reach this time.
Assembling his Boogie Pack on his back, Rex leapt up and flew toward the bundle of wires. In mid-air, once he was close enough, he assembled his sword, aiming to cut the cocoon down from the ceiling. Before his blade could even touch it, he was stilled by an unseen force. A wire he hadn't been aware of curled itself around his ankle, yanking him backward, nearly giving him whiplash. More joined it, curling around his wrists to hold him away from his target.
"Hey! Get off…" He struggled and spat, "Get off of me!"
The cocoon in front of him slowly began peeling back, revealing his brother;s face to him. Caesar's eyes reflected the same yellow glow as Holiday's did, his clothes in a similar state of tattered disarray from months of neglect. He was covered in soot and oil; it smudged his face, beneath his eyes, and fingers.
Rex's eyes darted over his form, following the cable attached to the back of his neck. Sure enough, it led somewhere up into the ceiling.
"Caesar!" He reached forward, struggling to reach him.
"You've been gone awhile." Caesar greeted in a voice that didn't belong to him. His voice was distorted by a hollow reverb; there were other voices underlying his own that sent the hairs on the back of Rex's neck standing on end. Unnatural.
Hopelessly, Rex reassembled his sword, slicing through his bindings. For every two he cut down, four were quick to replace them, drawing him further away from his brother and closer to the ground. You've been gone awhile. It echoed in Rex's skull, pounded in his chest, the words damning him. The sound grew louder and louder in his head. Because he hadn't been here to stop this. It was all his fault. He gave Not-Caesar a lost, pathetic look.
"I'm sorry !"
"What for? Don't be. It's good to have you back, Rex." Not-Caesar reassured, smirking down at him. "You were all anybody worried about. In fact, they never stopped looking. Even with the apocalypse at our doorstep and that snake Black Knight in our garden, you were still our top priority. Our cure…"
"Please, let me help you. This is all my fault. I wasn't here. I wasn't here." Rex said frantically, desperately, "But I am now. I can fix this. You're not thinking clearly, White. The nanites have clearly scrambled your brain cells. Just let me…"
Rex stretched his arm forward in desperation, hand glowing a soft blue as he strained to reach his brother.
Hissing, he dropped his arm at a sudden shock of light pain. Something sharp pricked into the back of his neck. The sting was so mild, he nearly failed to notice, but the rush to his head was so intense, he screamed. The whispered codes he'd been ignoring in the background flooded the forefront of his mind, like a ruptured vessel bursting in his brain. He gave a startled cry, digging his nails into his scalp as he was thrown into a whirlpool of information. He could no longer move, think, or feel anything but blinding, debilitating light.