Dr. Alexander J. Mercer. The monster that decided to release the virus in New York when he was cornered in Penn Station. What a prick. Amazingly enough though, that wasn't what caused the outbreak. It was the release of Elizabeth Green that did it. No, instead the Blacklight virus killed the occupants of Penn Station so fast that it didn't have time to spread. The only person in that subway that came out of it was Mercer, but even still it wasn't the same Alex Mercer that brought it there in the first place.
He didn't go into great detail about everything, just covering the fact that Gentek was responsible for infecting Greene, that she was released into the public when Mercer made the mistake of thinking she was somebody that needed saving, and could be of use to him. Instead she was hell bent on spreading her infection and so the real outbreak happened. Fucking 80% of the city was infected. Luckily, due to Mercer's equally preternatural drive to rid the city of as many hives as possible, and eventually killing Greene, caused that number to drop drastically. Those that were in the early stages of infection had a chance to fight it off, though it was more likely they'd still die and turn into walkers, while the late stages, hunters, and walkers, became aimless. No direction given they'd still spread the virus here and there, but mostly just react to Blackwatch forces and Mercer himself. Once Mercer saved the city from that nuke, he spent the next week clearing out the rest of the hives and hunting any infected down to end them, preventing further spread.
A few weeks later the outbreak was determined as cleansed from the city, and the quarantine was lifted. He proceeded to leave the city, which he found a bit difficult seeing as how Blackwatch and the Military were still actively working for him, not to mention water seemed to be a problem for our kind. But he made it. And then he ended up here.
The one thing he did go into though, was his existence. The truth about his nature. Neither Dr. Alex Mercer, or the virus that Human Mercer was working on, but a new version of Blacklight that formed when merging with his body and reanimating it. He seemed to want to make clear that Mercer died, and thus, when this Viral Mercer woke up, he had none of the previous Mercer's memories. Alex spent a lot of his time figuring out who and what he was during the events of the outbreak, only to be told by the head of Gentek that he's just the virus. Mercer is dead. This has lead us to believe that I may be the real Derek Warner, just changed because I was turned before fully dying. If he had resuscitated me, I probably would have lived, granted I'd have to survive the overdosing on whatever fucking drugs they gave me. But still, better then being filled with bullets. Since I was having an out of body experience, Alex is convinced that my brain was still functioning and that is why my memories remained in tact.
I'm not sure, but so far, everything I remember about being me seems to still be true, save for my new powers and preternatural control over my body. My focus is sharper, and I'm not getting overly emotional about my new existence. I don't now what to make of that. Even if I technically am the Derek Warner from before, the virus changed me, so I could still be considered someone, or something different.
My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a groan from the back of the van. I was going to turn my head around, but decided to try forming eyes in the back of my head instead in order to peak at the bastards that had attempted to kill me. It worked, and it felt strange to have more than just two eyes. It's like double vision, or better yet, split screen in a first person shooter game. Despite it being strange, it wasn't disorienting in the slightest bit. That's really cool.
Anyway, The bastards in the back were waking up. Nursing their heads and trying to take in their surroundings, which prompted me to disguise myself as Georgie, getting rid of the extra eyes and falling into character. God damn it this was so easy it kind of scared me. Even scarrier even was my glee in being able to do it. There was this predatory sense of enthusiasm at my ability to hunt my prey with in their own ranks, and even though I was somewhat relishing it, I was being mindful not to get lost in it.
"Fucking finally. Sleeping on the job doesn't look good boys. Good to see you're awake though. I was gettin' tired o' singing these tunes on my own." I had the radio on, set to a classic rock station. Currently, Cult of Personality by Living Colour was playing. Because of course it would be.
Everything down to Georgies voice, tone, inflections, was natural to me. I don't know how else to stress this to anybody that's never experienced this but I. WAS. HIM. I had become Georgie Giordano in that moment, like flipping a switch. His memories, his emotions. All of it was at my disposal, and I wasn't slave to how he was either. If I wanted to change his tune about something, I could make it believable. He understood the people around him, could connect. Knew how people ticked. So manipulation was a strong suit of his. That was the most important skill I picked up from him. It only got better as time went on as well.
Security Nightmare aside, what happened to Mercer? You kind of glossed over his story and where he ended up.
Right. Sorry doc. So, after Mercer and I finished loading up the sleeping beauties, he finished up his tale and gave me a piece of himself to consume. This piece gave me access to a power he thought I should have just in case. I already was able to use the tentacle arm thing he did when getting me to consume Georgie. I think when he merged that part of himself with me, my cells were reading his and figuring out how to use that ability.
That is phenomenal. Truly, you and your kind are a marvel to behold.
Don't go creaming your pants doc. I can agree that a lot of what we can do is interesting, cool, even down right bad ass. But, and this is a very important but for you to understand, we are walking nightmares. Being like this isn't a walk in a park, even if you can run from one end of Manhattan Island to the other in 3 Minutes. Being hunted for what you are. No longer able to feel the warm embrace during sex, without risking infection. The shit I mentioned about having all the memories of everybody you've consumed.
Yes, so you've reminded us many times. Let's move on from that, shall we? Please, continue your tale.
Right well, they were waking up, and I had planned on getting in close to Estacado. I knew that Georgie had given my info to the bastard, just to check where my family lived. Luckily, I'm not from Ontario.
I was well on my way to figuring out who else is involved with Estacado and just how many people I'd need to kill in order to wipe him and his organization off the map. Otherwise, I know they'd continue to hunt me and harm people to do it. I couldn't let that stand.
Mercer agreed to watch from afar, kind of like a coach or mentor, sticking around to give advice and support if needed, which I appreciated. He claimed he wasn't going to get involved however, stating that I needed to figure out how to navigate this world with my powers on my own. I knew this was a test. He was probably wanting all of that and to see if I'd abuse this power or act responsibly with it. Given that there could be a real danger to my loved ones here, I imagined that he was alright with my intent on killing Estacado as well as anybody else that got in my way.
"Shit... Georgie what happened-ah my fucking head." Paul Lorenzo, one of the three that assisted Georgie in my murder, was the first to speak up.
"You're telling me Pauly. Feel like my head was put in a vice and cranked to max..." I tuned out Larry, Paul's brother. He tended to ramble a bit too much.
"Did we get jumped Georgie? What happened to that emo fuck?" An outside hire that became loyal to the family, Marcus Wright, had a weird sense of what an emo was. I mean since when does wearing a hoodie and a leather jacket make you emo? Not to mention the loafers. If Alex had way more zippers and chains on his jacket, with a slimmer fit, maybe, but if anything it looked like he matched his motorcycle jacket with his business casual wear and threw a hoodie in for good measure. Thinking about it, that makes total sense for the doctor who knew nothing about being inconspicuous. A scientist out of his element. That's actually kind of funny.
Resisting the urge to laugh I shake my head as Georgie addresses their ever growing questions.
"Yeah, we got jumped. Fucker was fast. Knocked you guys out first, but I put a few holes in him. Since we had already drowned that punk Warner, I decided to find some heavy rocks, tie them to the hooded fucks feat and sink him." While finishing my little tale, I looked in the rear view mirror to gauge their reactions to my story and I was slightly startled.
Even though I knew I was wearing Georgie's face I still wasn't expecting to have it looking back at me in the mirror. He was around my age, with light brown hair, blue eyes, and clean shaven. His face was more angular than mine, and it gave him this pretty boy look. The thing that really shook me is that given that I'm playing a part, and my body knows how to look like him at all times, I'm glaring at myself in the mirror. He has this distinct judgmental, calculating look about him. Whenever you catch him looking at you, it's like a predator stalking prey.
In fact, serial killer isn't far from the truth. If it hadn't been for his uncle's business and place in said business, he probably would have become just that. Even with the hockey angle he was going for, trying to get his aggression out on the ice, it was only a matter of time before he started killing people. Sal knows it to. Georgie is his little Dexter. The rabid animal on a short leash that he sicks on those he wants put away for good. Actually, rabid animal isn't accurate. He was too calculated for that. Normally he kept his composure, but guys like this, they'd fly off the handle for no apparent reason, and you never know when they are so far gone that all attempts at concealing their true self is forgone and they just start killing. When it came to working for his uncle, every so often the guy would torture and kill his victims in a plastic room and dump the bodies somewhere discrete, which is what he prefers. They only decided to drown me because they needed to send a message. Lucky me. If it wasn't for that, Mercer would have never found me.
And you weren't disturbed by this revelation?
Uh, no. Why would I?
According to you, you and those like you obtain the memories of those who's cells you assimilate into your own. Yo u watched his whole life play before you after consuming him. Unless you have similar sociopathic tendencies or have witnessed such horrors before.
Oh, I see. Well, since I was mostly focused on his actions in relation to me, I didn't allow myself to focus on those memories. I knew they were there, and I saw them, but it was like I was disassociating, because I wasn't the one who committed them, but they were real, and not just fantasy or intrusive thoughts, they were his actions. I became him. So they were my memories now as much as they were Georgie's. I glossed over the uneasy feeling I had when thinking about them because I got over it really quickly.
It seems like your new existence at the time had already changed how you emotionally and logically rationalized certain stimuli and events, even coping with them more effectively. Although, with what you stated about Mercer and his reaction to such memories, that probably shouldn't be the case.
Well, it could be that he was basically a scared new born when he started running around and eating people, and I was a living person on Death's door who came back. I had 30 years of lived and earned experience, he had a few minutes before getting the short life experience he took from the first person he consumed. They 0-7 is the time in a child's life where they are most like a sponge, and I don't think his "maturity" so to speak was accelerated by consuming an adult and gaining their life experiences. If anything, it just added to the fucked up growth he was and I suppose still is going through.
Take me for example. I had 30 years experience of being a human being already. Then, I became this, and started gaining the experiences of those I consumed. I have centuries if not thousands of years experience under my belt, stolen from others, but that rate of consumption of other experiences haven't "matured" me into thinking like an immortal being that's actually been around for that long. I don't know how to explain it. It's like I'm still just me, and living my life, and all the lives I've taken, I can look back on them as if they were mine, remembering how each individual felt in those situations and feel as if I was the one there but... still able to disassociate from it. Because it wasn't me. If I was less mentally stable, I often wonder if I would have ended up making alters out of those I consumed or something worse even.
Alters?
Yeah, like D.I.D, except I know that basically only manifests in children, and most media doesn't portray it correctly, but what I'm suggesting isn't specifically that mental condition, rather something new entirely. Considering the way I am now doesn't really chart on anything known to man in the general sense.
Interesting. I'd assume that despite the fact you are referred to as "infected" that you have been in a way, perfected, or more accurately, improved upon. You may be incapable of developing such traits. Has there been any other instances of this that you know about?
No, and careful doc, we aren't perfect. We may be something more than human, but we are something less all the same. When it comes to Mercer and myself, there are other differences as well. He consumed a sadistic Blackwatch soldier on duty, and I consumed a mobster with sociopathic tendencies. When we compared notes about our first victims, Mercer declared that his was more a soldier that enjoyed inflicting pain, but it was for the sake of cruelty due to a hard life growing up, and that he hadn't killed as many people as Georgie had. Where as we determined Georgie was just unnatural, and would have probably been a nightmare had Mercer decided somebody like him should have the powers that we do.
Jesus.
Yeah, when you realize what kind of people are out there, and what they would do if they had my abilities, you come to appreciate that I'm sitting here calmly, talking to you as I am, instead of walking around as one of you, eating your babies for shits and giggles and devouring everything one by one. Imagine if somebody like Dahmer could do what I do.
I assure you, I already have. It's what we do here. Prepare.
So I've seen. But there's nothing you can truly do to prepare for us. Quite frankly, it's an exercise in recognizing what you can control and what you can't. The more you try to hold on, the more it slips through your fingers. All my power, and I couldn't stop what happened next.
The crew believed my story, and I ended up dropping them off at the warehouse the Giovanni used for shipments. Sal was there, waiting for me. The man was getting a little fat, and his black hair was already greying. His age and exploits were catching up to him. At 48, the man looked closer to 60. His forehead was wrinkled, his cheeks sagged and he had grey eyes... you know I could just show you.
I see. He's somewhat taller than you to.
Yeah he's about 6'2. Weighed a little over 30lbs more than me. Well, before I became a walking flesh cage. My weight fluctuates now. Anyway, Salvator Estacado, the man that demanded I die for punishing his wiseguys. It was enough to almost cause me to rip him apart then and there. The only reason I didn't is because he had people here who cook for him, and some of his prostitutes did double duty. Some were young. Real young. He was lucky there weren't any minors working for him.
Sal was standing by an Audi. He had one of his boys, Charlie, driving for us. We loaded into the car after a quick hug and sat in silence for a few minutes as we pulled away from the warehouse. I was about to speak up, and ask him about what he had found on my family, but he began to cough up a lung.
"You sick, Uncle Sal? I won't catch it will I?" Georgie hated getting sick, whenever somebody coughed he'd try to avoid them at all costs. As a result I actually had to shrink away from Sal. Gotta say, when it came to lying, I was sub par. Maybe better at it then I thought but I never knew how well I was doing when I had to. Full blown acting like I am now, would be impossible, if it wasn't for Georgie. The mental case studied all forms of lying, acting, you name it, as to blend into the rest of 'normal' society as much as possible.
As a result, faking his reaction was so much easier for me. When you think about it, the memories of his reactions and how he genuinely felt during moments like these are there, but my ability to replicate emotion would still be limited to what I could pretend to feel. I was shit at that kind of thing before. One sociopathic mobster devoured later and I know the intricacies of human anatomy and how to pretend to be somebody I'm not. To this day, I'm thankful this asshole was the one sent after me. One of the most useful skill sets I've absorbed. Probably top five.
How blaze of you.
Shut up.
Sal's coughing fit ended and he lit a cigar. I wanted to laugh. He was dying alright. Cigar or not, unless he put a bullet in his head, I was going to end his life. After taking a few puffs he turned to me and began to speak.
"You'll be fine. It's probably the smoking." I raised my brow at him as I nodded towards his cigar and pulled out a cigarette of my own. "Go a head kid. I'll be fine. More likely to die because of this job anyway." Oh the irony.
"If you say so Boss." Putting the cigarette between my lips, I lit it and took a few puffs as Sal continued.
Wait a minute. I just thought of something.
What is it?
Did you develop his habits?
You mean his smoking habits?
Any habits. If you consume an alcoholic or a drug addict, do you suddenly crave a fix? I'd imagine the answer is no, but I'm curious.
Actually, kind of, yes. It's not so much that I want to go out and do heroin or coke after consuming somebody with the addiction, even if they had just taken the drugs in question, but I know what it's like to live with it. The constant need to fill that hole. Shit, I almost went down that path myself in life, but I quit when I recognized it happening. It was alcohol specifically. Had to. Didn't want to end up like my aunt, or my dad. Let alone the countless addicts I've met in my life. But yeah, I just know what that urge feels like. Same goes for people like Georgie, who had the urge to kill, or sex addicts, or gambling addicts, etc. Though I could feel that nagging at the back of my mind when delving into their memories, it didn't control me like it controlled them.
Fascinating. Forgive the interruption. Please, continue.
No problem. I understand the curiosity.
"So. How did everything go? Any complications?" I shook my head as I blew the smoke out of my mouth. I had told the others that we wouldn't report the minor interruption to anybody as to avoid future lack of confidence. Considering Marcus, Larry, and Pauly were worried about getting in trouble for letting Mercer get the drop on them, they vehemently agreed and decided to leave lying to Sal up to me. They made it too easy.
"You know it did."
"Ha. Oh yeah? How do you figure?"
"It's me, Sal. You know what I'm capable of." Sal gave me a hard look. I could see a tinge of fear in his eyes, recognizing that another skill I picked up from Georgie was the ability to read people like books. And he always knew Sal was afraid of him. He theorized it was because the thought that his own nephew would whack him one day to take his place. Georgie has had to remind him of how that wouldn't work and why he prefers his current position in the family business. Ever since that last conversation though, Sal has seen one of Georgie's murder rooms, before the body, or rather it's pieces, were fully disposed. That changed everything.
But I didn't care.
"Yeah, Georgie. Yeah I do." Silence falls over us again. I'm eager to ask him about my family but I have to ask about that cough first.
"So you really aren't sick?" Sal gives out a small cough this time, not as bad, before answering.
"I don't know. Maybe I am. Could be cancer for all I know. Like I said, the smoking." I nodded my head in response to his statement. Visibly relaxing in my seat.
"You get anything on the family." Sal side eyed me for a second before taking another puff from his cigar.
"No, not yet. Got an outside guy working on it. Worked with him before. He's good at this kind of thing." Great.
It was at this point that I realized I should kill Sal sooner than later. I needed to know what he knew without having to go through hoops for it. I was hoping that I could be a little more clever about this rather than using brute force, but if he already had somebody hunting for my family, I couldn't waste anytime.
I felt my form shift as I revealed myself to Sal. I was going to say some stupid one liner, or try to appear menacing, but I didn't need to. His was already screaming bloody terror. As he did I reached for him, but the driver served the car and I heard a horn come from behind me. I formed eyes in the back of my head just in time to see a city bus heading right for us.
The bus T-boned the car, sending us flying. The impact hit my side of the car square on so I took a good brunt of it since my back was to it. I remember noting that it hurt a little but was more like getting hit with a hand held object in the back rather than getting hit full on by a bus. Regardless, I wasn't wearing my seat belt, and since I hadn't eaten scores of people like Mercer had by that point, I was still light enough to get tossed around in that car.
Here's the cool thing I learned from being inside that car as it was sent flying down the road. First, my equilibrium was one of the things I could say about my kind that is perfected without a doubt. Even though up was down and left was right, I knew exactly where I was and how to orient myself accordingly. I bounced only twice because I wasn't expecting the hit but after the second bounce I just rammed my right hand into the roof of the car, and my left clench the front seat. I didn't even need to use my legs to keep my self from whipping around or losing grip, which gave me this euphoric. My powers were so cool, I almost forgot why I was in that car in the first place.
I had ended up facing the front as the car flipped, and saw that Charlie was dead. Poor bastard must have freaked out when he saw what Sal was screaming about. One minute, a guy you know is sitting in the back, talking with your boss, and the next, that guy is gone, and the dude that was supposed to be dead is sitting next to the man that ordered his death. I think anybody would have lost control and focus of whatever they are doing in a time like, that, and our car ended up in front of a bus.
We tumbled quite a few times before the car landed on it's roof and slid a few feet. I removed my hands from where they were purchased and took a military crawl position. I turned towards Sal and my heart sunk.
His head was crushed. More than that, it was mangled. The roof had caved in and crumpled him, and the subsequent tossing around had his head smash against the window and I suppose the pavement every time we were angled for such a thing. I couldn't recognize him at all, and even though I should have been happy he was dead, I was pissed because his brain was undoubtedly beyond repair.
Wait, what do you mean.
... Look, I'm only telling you this to defend yourselves from Mercer. If you want to keep information from us, your brain has to be fucked up. The Founder and Head Researcher of Gentek, Dr. Raymon McMullen, was the only guy to come face to face with Alex Mercer, the Blacklight Virus, and not be consumed. To not have his identity and memories stolen.
How?
He shot himself in the head.
Of course. You need the brain intact to be able to-
Don't jump ahead here. Different parts of the brain do different things. If all I can get access to is the hippocampus, then it's likely I can watch the memories like a TV show, but not get the emotional and physical memories of the events of that persons life. So if there was any physical learning going on, for like muscle memory for example, then it would be useless to me for anything other than having the equivalent of a DIY video on the internet of how to do something, and would need to practice it myself. Same would go for emotional responses and unconscious ticks and mannerisms that one would incorporate into day to day life. Like an accent or a habit.
Of course. You may have a memory that was initially a good memory, but after given context of something that sours it for you that was going on in the background, you may change your feelings on that. You hippocampus doesn't release serotonin, dopamine, or the like. Which means...
Yeah, in that 11 seconds or less I mentioned earlier, my cells force the responses a person would have to all sorts of stimuli, so that I can understand how they truly would act, feel, think, about any given situation old or new, and replicate it.
It's like cloning, but the original is getting consumed and you aren't just a clone.
I compare it to two things. Taking save files from one hard drive and transferring it over to a server. Or if you want to go the more fantasy-horror route, I'm basically a perfect doppelganger.
So, Salvatore Estacado and his driver were dead, and there were no memories that I would be able to glean from them. The only use they had to me now was as biomass to be consumed. That hit, though it barely hurt, did cause some structual damage to my body. I had enough of Georgie left over to replace said damage but I wanted some extra just in case. With either hand I grab the two mobsters and the black feelers begin to rise from my body and crawl along my form, some even shooting out in arcs as they dig into the carcasses of the dead mobsters. They move so quickly that in a manner two seconds they cover most of the surface area of each body and are pumping the virus into every dying cell, and forcing the body to split and break down. These dark limbs were my digestive system now, and they always worked in overdrive.
I was equal parts revolted, and fascinated by the process. I didn't really focus on it to much last time, but it was actively tearing the bodies apart and absorbing them into my form as the largest parts of their mass was dragged towards my form and just merged and condensed into one being.Until all that remained as me.
I kicked the door off the car, a little too hard, sending it sliding across the pavement a couple of feet. I pulled back quite a bit but I was pissed about how Sal just died and escaped my wrath, not to mention losing his memories to a fucking car accident. It wasn't until I saw the door fly off it's hinges that I realized I needed to play it more cool. Than I was.
We had gotten about 15 minutes away from the warehouse, not far at all. Crawling out, I could see people gathering to take videos and pictures, with a few actually taking the time to ask me if I was alright rather than act like useless bystanders. Luckily, none of them were screaming in horror, which meant none of them saw me just eat two dead people. The bus driver ran up to me and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me from the car.
"I'm so sorry! The car is on fire! We need to get away!" I turn to look and see the vehicle is indeed lighting up now and I am concerned that I didn't get everything out of it before crawling out. I logged it as a lesson learned at that point that even if I eat most of the evidence, there can still be other materials left behind to incriminate me, and it didn't help there were witnesses taking recordings of the whole mess.
I followed the driver, letting him drag me away. Once we got far enough away though I realized I needed to get out of here before first responders showed up and started asking questions. I was already somewhat boned with how many people were recording and taking pictures. Not to mention the bus driver got a close up on my face.
It was then I realized how fucked I was. Technically, the bus driver was evidence. I kicked that door off the car and crawled out unscathed. Not only that, but the door was in the back of the car, and I didn't pat down every corner of the thing before crawling out. I can almost hear Georgie in the back of my head, laughing while simultaneously criticizing how sloppy I was. As if everything I had learned from him was wasted.
Too many people were watching me, so eating the driver wasn't really possible, not that I really wanted to do it anyway. The guy seemed genuinely upset that he nearly killed me. He seemed a little confused as well, probably had seen Charlie in the driver's seat. Charlie had short blonde hair and I had long black hair. We weren't wearing remotely the same clothes, and if the driver wasn't so shook from the situation, it probably would have been harder to convince him that I was in the front and just tossed around into the back. The man was a man of faith, and thanked Allah that I came out unscathed. Claiming it was a miracle, given how mangled the car was.
Not wanting to destroy the guys spirits I told him that I didn't care about the car, and that since nobody was injured, there was nothing to worry about. He was in tears, and I gave him a hug to try and ease his turmoil over nearly killing me. His livelihood was dependent on his driving. It wasn't his fault, but mine, which was absolutely true, and I told him as much. Hopefully, he wouldn't develop a fear of driving from this. He kept asking me "Are you sure you're okay?" And I kept telling him yes. Eventually, I broke away from the guy, having a crowd gathering closer and closer to me to check on me. A woman even calling out that she was a nurse.
I pulled up my hood and started moving through the crowd. Most people would move out of the way, others were less cordial, so I would push them aside. When I had a clear path, I took off into a sprint. Unlike with the door, I was careful not to go full tilt, because Mercer warned me that it would not look natural. We are extremely fast. Mercer stated that by the end of the outbreak, he could outrun AH-64 Apache helicopters. Last I checked those things could fly almost 300MPH. Given how our weight can change drastically depending on how much biomass we've consumed, and how adaptable we are, that speed can vary like anything else about us. See as how I was just starting out and coming into my powers, I was probably going to be closer to just being able to outrun land vehicles and almost keep up with helicopters.
So, keeping myself from tearing up concrete with every footfall, I started running. Not wanting to get spotted by authorities on the way out, I ducked down an alley and decided to test out something. Seeing as how I was able to keep myself oriented in that car, I wondered if my balance, speed, and strength, were good enough to run up walls. I figured the worst that would happen is I'd put my foot through a wall and get stuck, or I'd fall on my ass. So, looking around, no homeless dumpster diving, and no unwanted voyeurs in the alley or looking into the alley, so I look up at the nearest office building, and start running up the side.
When I planted my foot on the wall for the first time and kicked up, I felt excitement well in my stomach. I continued my trek up the wall, one foot after another, clearing the roof of the other building on the opposite side of the alley. I nearly cried honestly. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted super powers. As childish as it might sound, even as an adult I always wanted the power to have more control over my circumstances and the ability to help those in need. That, and the ability to do cool shit like run up walls, web swing, and even fly. I dreamt about all kinds of powers, but this was something else.
Of course. This was real life. Not some child's superhero fantasy. There was a horror to this power. A blood toll to be paid for them. I could enjoy what I could from them while they last, but the reality of my situation made me realize I couldn't take what I was capable of lightly. At the moment however, I decided to just let go of those concerns and enjoy my new found abilities as approached the edge of the roof.
Deciding avoid too much attention, I didn't launch myself into the air like I wanted to, and just performed a front flip over the side, and landed perfectly on my feet. I looked around and didn't see anybody that could have witnessed what I had just did, and sighed in relief.
"That was all too close."
"That was reckless." I nearly jumped out of my skin and yelped as Mercer's voice came from behind me.
"Holy shit!" I spun on my heel while simultaneously back pedalling. I was understandably surprised, because other then my physical capabilities, my senses were also enhanced. I should have been able to hear him running up the wall behind me, but I hear no such thing until he spoke.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." His response was morose, and he took a few steps towards me. Georgie's ability to read people as well as he did told me Mercer was not happy about what I just did.
"How did I not hear you?"
"I didn't run up the wall like you did in broad daylight."
"Then how-"
"I flew." I was beside myself at his response. He could fly? I wanted to fly. And I remember wanting my next question to be how I would achieve such a thing. Instead...
"Yeah, like a dude flying up the side of a building is less supernatural than a guy running up the side." He scowled at me.
"I didn't fly as Alex Mercer. I changed into a crow before ascending." It was at that moment that I realized that I wasn't even scratching the surface of what we were capable of.
"Oh, I'm looking for a bird immediately."
"No you're not." I stopped in my tracks as I had turned to look around for a crow, raven, or hell even a pigeon until I could find something better.
"Really? You want to hog the ability to fly?" In a flash he closed the gap between us and his hand grabbed my jacket pulling me up to his face.
"Idiot. Think!" In the short time I've known him, Mercer didn't express himself very much. Usually it was mild concern, mild amusement, or just complete stoicism. This was a bit frightening, especially since I wondered if he was going to kill me. The thought only lasted a moment though because my new preternatural instincts were still telling me he had no ill intent for me. He definitely looked disappointed and frustrated however.
"Look, I'm not having a good day already, and you shouting in my face isn't doing anything to help my mood. Sal's dead, Alex. And not the way I wanted him to die." Mercer growled under his breath before releasing my jacket.
"What do you mean."
"I mean his head was crushed to bits when we were flipped by that bus. I only got his appearance out of that death. None of his knowledge, or skills, or anything. I was going to steal all his money from him, leave enough for his youngest kids, and then give the rest to all the innocent, or relatively so, people he's ever hurt." Mercer slapped me across the face, and it was so hard that it actually messed up my facial structure. I could feel my nose on my temple and my eyes had popped. My mouth had lost all it's teeth and my tongue was split, never mind my cheek and jaw. Speaking of, my cheek bone had launched itself through my face and out the other side, barely hanging on by a thread. The pain was much worse than the bus hitting me in the back. I reformed myself pretty quickly and refrained from shouting at the fucker. I was so pissed off, but knew from that slap he could end me whenever he liked.
"Though I appreciate your altruistic nature, you are naive and foolish. Because of your supposed noble intentions, you've lost your lead on the bastards that are looking for your family, and you ended up making enough of a scene that could possibly draw Blackwatch and Gentek's attention to this city. If they catch wind of anything that may be related to me is up here, they will lock down the city and reduce it to rubble in order to find and kill me. Let alone take my tissue samples to experiment with." Alex wasn't afraid of them, at least not afraid of what they would try to do to him. He was too strong for them. However, he knew the city could get fucked over by our actions if we weren't careful, and I felt really shitty for it.
"I'm sorry. I should have been more careful, and more decisive. Lesson learned." Alex's tense posture remained for seconds that felt like hours. He was intense, and imposing. I don't think he needed to try very hard to be intimidating. The unnatural awareness he seemed to observe you with, it made my skin crawl. Though I suppose my skin literally did that now.
Eventually, he relaxed, and put his hands back in his pockets. He turned away from me and walked to the edge of the building, as sirens got louder as first responders passed us, and faded in the distance. I had run quite far to get away from the scene.
"We need to leave the city immediately." Mercer seems to be watching the street intently.
"I can't." He turns his head slowly towards me, glowering at my response.
"I mean it Warner. Sticking around is just going to make it worse for us." I shake my head, deciding to stand my ground.
"I'll deal with the consequences. This is my mess."
"This isn't just going to be a mere sweep under the rug Warner. You need to liste-"
"I'm not letting my family be targeted by these assholes!" Mercer narrowed his eyes at me after I shouted at him. He wasn't having any of it.
"You had your chance, the best option you have now is to go to them and stand watch. Wait for the enemy to show and-"
"My family is too big for that. I can't be everywhere at once. If I had one sibling to worry about, or maybe just parents, then fine, but that's not my situation. I have to stop this here. I'm going to find out who Sal hired to hunt them. Even if I have to eat every last member of the Giovanni family." I had stepped into Alex's bubble at this point, and realized I was playing it very dangerous with him. If he thought I was a liability at all he could just consume me and be done with it, or so I assumed. I was lucky that wasn't his go to move back then.
He looked conflicted. On the one hand, I made a mess and things were definitely going to get heated very soon. Something I understood. I just walked away from what should have been a fatal car crash, and if anybody mentions seeing anybody else in the car, I'm hooped. It doesn't help anything that if you run the plates, you know that car belongs to Salvatore Estacado, and if anybody testifies, they will report that Sal, Georgie, and Charlie were all seen getting in the car and leaving the warehouse together. I might get lucky and have nobody testify to that however, since they're the types to never snitch. Since none of their men were spotted at the scene of the accident, it might get written off as I had stolen the vehicle. Which gave me an idea.
"I actually have a plan."