Summary: Mental obscurities and slipping into unconsciousness Zhang's best friend for the time being.
Oh, great.
The flanging chatter of ADVENT soldiers slowly replaced the once serene chorus of birds chirping away. Heavy footsteps closed in. Leaves rustled. Twigs snapped underfoot.
The group had come so far and now this?
They all did their best to stay together. Keeping a line of trees and heavy foliage between them and their pursuers as they observed ADVENT's movements.
"Just follow Jackal's… movements… Don't exit the… Shroud." Helios whispered.
Fighting his body's urges, its cries of pain, for him to just pass out once more, Chilong wanted to be awake for whatever would happen next. Even if he couldn't do much physically, perhaps he could make some suggestions? Use his psionics? It was risky with how clouded his mind felt besides the weakness in his body.
Face tensing from the clamminess of his skin touching Ty's, he peeled himself back and away to get a better view of their pursuers.
ADVENT as far as his eyes could see. One Captain leading the party. Several Troopers. And many, many Stun Lancers. Far too many of them.
"I see they want us alive." He mumbled. "Not sure if that's a good omen or not." A sharp pain in his back quickly silenced him, causing him to fall back into that loathsome embrace of warm, thick scales. His mind stewed, weighing all possibilities. "Rather take a bullet to the head."
Rustling leaves above made his ears twitch. Looking up, it was Jackal, high up in the trees. Prowling. Carefully moving from branch to branch. From tree to tree. Carefully guiding them through and away from the ADVENT hunting party.
As he watched, mind desperately searching through the fog to recall ADVENT tactics he could relay to the others, a thought crossed his mind. A concerning one.
Even though he was half lucid, his body riddled with an exceptional amount of pain, something felt off to him. The group had quickly silenced itself, he assumed, and put the obscuring foliage between them and ADVENT. They should have been spotted by now.
He roughly remembered before he passed out what he could assume as days ago, there were many people at their former camp. And this Ty he was on was a large person — all attempts of hunching over still had her and him poking over the foliage here and there. No matter how closely they stuck together and tried to stay silent and out of mind, they would eventually be found. Those AI-assisted visors the Troopers wore, especially the Captain's visor, should have picked them up. There were too many cracks, too variables, and that damn had to crack sooner or later.
A wave of pain rippling across his skull and spine made his eyes close tight. Just how?
He did his best not to grumble as tried to think of an answer. Something's not right.ADVENT is close. Mere feet away, yet they don't see nor hear us? See us? His mind rambled, searching for the logic. Slowly, an answer pushed its way through the fog. Shroud… Helios mentioned that He still wasn't sure what that was. Possibly psionics? The most logical conclusion for him. It was an ability he had witnessed in the past and had learned himself. I'm not feeling any psionic usage.
The Captain raised her hand, causing the Troopers and Stun Lancers to stop.
"››Disturbances…‹‹"
She kneeled near a bush. Her hands went some brush her visor had picked up an abnormality among the broken branches. An additional scan picked DNA scans. Altered Human DNA. She stood back up and gave signals for them to move again.
"››Expand the search this way! Southwest! Widen the sweep!‹‹"
"Shit, they're coming this way!" Skiv hissed
Chilong's eyes flew open in an instant. Oh, no. He could only assume those visors had found something.
Encroaching slowly to where they currently were was the Captain again. As her Troopers spread out, she kneeled again after receiving another notification on her visor. More broken twigs, crushed leaves, and disturbed soil. Her hand traced a faint outline of some sort of print. Could have been a foot, a paw, or a shoe. But it meant their quarry was close.
"››Hmm.‹‹" Her head shifted as they followed the trail.
Getting back up, she followed it, only to stop a few steps in. There was something off. There was something about the air. A faint shimmer to it. "››Hold.‹‹" Raising a hand, the hunting party came to a stop once more. Hands steady on her rifle, she carefully inched towards the anomaly.
"Shit." Someone whispered.
"We may have to fight." Another whispered.
"Then we give them a fight." Skiv hissed.
"Shhh… Do not… break the Shroud… Wait for Jackal's signal if we must… fight." Helios hushed them.
"Shroud?" Chilong mumbled. His mind tried to recall what it was but it was, just drawing blank after blank. Break theShroud. What does he mean? As he tried to make sense of Helios' words, he observed the Captain's cautious movements before they suddenly stopped just before the cluster of foliage they were behind. Pursing her lips, she looked puzzled. Odd. That was strange. Just what was she seeing? What was the visor showing her?
The Captain ordered someone to cover her before she lowered her rifle. Freeing a hand, she cautiously raised it and reached out to the shrub before her. Instead, her hand met resistance. The very air rippled like the surface of water disturbed by rain.
Her hand quickly retracted and found her rifle once more. She was already backing away. "››Caution. Stay alert.‹‹"
What… Chilong watched the air ripple a few seconds more before it swiftly stabilized and the anomaly disappeared. Not psionics. What is it? What is— ah… I recall now. A faint memory finally clicked in his mind. Like a switch flipped for his vision and ears, what was originally invisible to him became as plain as day. That faint chittering greeted his ears. That other haze that follows Jackal and cloaks us all. He remembered catching a glimpse of it before he passed out several days ago.
"››Scanners blocked. Signs of those insects. They're here. Lancers prepare to pierce and strike.‹‹" The Captain gestured for the others to come over.
Orders received, the Stun Lancers lips twisted into a grin. The air crackled with electricity as they primed their weapons.
"››The Jackal's cloak obscures our vision. Caution as we breech. Targets unknown. Assume all are dangerous!‹‹" The Captain spat out more orders.
Not good. Have to risk it. Chilong closed his eyes and tried to center his mind to block out the pain.
"Don't like this…" Someone whispered.
"Looking like a fight will happen now." Skiv hissed. Her crystals creaked and cracked with agitation.
"Skiv…" Helios slipped into a hiss. "Don't ac—"
"Stop." A calm, yet weak voice broke the tension.
"Huh?" Several voiced their confusion.
"What the hell is he doing?" Skiv noticed the problem.
It was Chilong.
"Stop." He repeated.
Nearly all eyes in the group were focused on the fevering man, who was more alert than ever. Though barely lucid, his left arm, shaking with great tremors, was stretched out towards the Captain. His gaze locked, heavily focused on them.
Skiv let out a disgruntled growl "What the hell is he trying to–"
"Hush! Wait… Watch…" Helios silenced her.
Chilong kept his eyes locked on the Captain as they followed closely behind the Lancers.The tips of those lances were pressing against Shroud which in turn let out a more audible insectoid-like chitter of pain.
Come on. Come on. How long had it been since he had used his psionics to this degree? The memories were too distant.
Closing his eyes again, he took in a deep, shaky breath. He could feel that power still deep within him. Dormant. Waiting to come out. Waiting bite. "I said…" His eyes opened, bathed in that familiar purple glow. It just took a little prodding. "Stop."
That ethereal energy coiled down his arm to his hand. A second later, a spark shot off toward the Captain just as the Lancers were about to break through. As it touched her, she recoiled back.
"››Agh. Halt! Halt!‹‹ "She hissed, raising a hand to her head. A faint purple glow encircled their head. Her visor was already throwing out psionic interference warnings.
The Stun Lancers stopped their advance.
"Stop." Chilong repeated. "There's nothing here. False alarm. Readings are incorrect."
"››There's nothing–ngh–Here… ‹‹" She shook their head. "››The re-readings from the Network are incorrect.‹‹"
"Yes." He whispered. Close enough. "Leave. Order everyone to leave. North. Your targets are heading Northeast."
"››Step back.‹‹" The Captain raised her hand and beckoned the Stun Lancers to back off. They did so. "››Hold. New or-o-ngh— orders incoming.‹‹"
Shit. Chilong cursed in his mind. He could feel the Captain resisting him and that Psionic Network was picking up the continued disruption to the Captain's connection. "Leave." He said more firmly. Pushing just a bit more of his power to plant enough of a seed to keep the Captain brainwashed long enough to lead her cohort away from them.
The Captain grunted and shook her head. "››Readings are–ngh — readings are.No.‹‹" It wasn't enough. For a moment, she wavered back and forth before another Trooper quickly stabilized her. "››Elders… voices… disrupted… Nngh, n-N-n-NO! Lancer st-stri-stri—‹‹"
Strong mind. And that damn Network. Chilong grimaced, feeling a potential feedback back growing from the Network to push him out. He needed to work quickly before it quickly shunted him out, or worse.
Increasing the output of his psionics, the shaking in his arm increased. The coils around this arm grew more vibrant.
"But not strong enough." A devious grin crept across his face as all too familiar intoxicating feelings flooded his mind. Time to tear you apart. But he didn't care. He needed that dark influence to boost him.
The once faint ring around the Captain's head became more visible. As it did, she let out a cry of pain, dropping her gun as she grabbed at their head.
"››Captain Orxon!‹‹" The Trooper near her cried out.
Chilong grunted as he tightened his grip on the Captain's mind. He felt something slip from it and jump into the nearby Trooper. Before he could contemplate, he could feel another flow of information jump from the Captain to the Trooper once more.
The Trooper snapped too, barring its teeth towards the stream of psionic energy. ››Move! Move! Find the Psion!‹‹" The Network was quick to find a way around his meddling. It gave new orders.
With no hesitation, the Stun Lancers ignited their lancers again and sprung forward, pressing back into the Shroud. The Troopers followed close behind them.,
The red-hot crackling tips of those lances struck the Shroud causing it to let out more pained chittering. Bit by bit, gaps in the group's protection became noticeable.
››Subjects spotted! Prized subjects are to be captured alive!‹‹"
"Urgh. That's it" A deep growl came from Skiv as she began to rise. Her crystals creaked and cracked as her claws flexed repeatedly. "This idiot is going to get us ki—mm!" Suddenly, she found her throat still as a log, nor could she move her mouth an inch.
"Husb" Helios's eyes were glowing purple. "Watch. He's not done."
Just before the Shroud was fully dissipated, several shrieks of pain rang out one after the other from each ADVENT soldier.
"What can I glean from your minds before I put you all into a coma?" Chilong said darkly.
As the chorus of pain echoed through the forest, weapons hit the ground, followed by each soldier dropping to their knees as they grabbed their heads.
Faint psionic halos appeared around each soldier as well as a faint sprawling web of energy. One string after the other connected each Trooper and Lancer together, with it all leading back to the Captain and Chilong.
Yes. Even with a growing pain at the base of his skull, Chilong couldn't help but grin like a madman, seeing he still had it. But a sharp pain pierced his mind that made him hiss. "Aah…" He bit his tongue.
Feedback and that Network fighting back. He was pushing too far and too fast; the Network wasn't happy with the intrusion now affecting the entire pod. That didn't matter. He needed to do this.
Clinching his fist and gritting his teeth, he dove into that Captain's mind and peered into the ever-dense and shifting information network.
"Where have you been? Where will you be heading? Outposts? Blind spots? What vile creatures may be about?"
Despite the Captain's best efforts to block him out, she let out a wail of pain as he brute forced his way through her mind searching for all she knew and any information in the Network.
It was a mess of information and endless data. A mess of things that made no sense to him. Just as he felt like it was best to just snap the Captain's mind, and the same with the others, he found something that could be useful.
Location. Movement. Other pods skulking about.
As he was gleaning the last bits of information, he could sense a growing presence. Something on the other side was racing to strike him down for his intrusion.
Security. Time to break this. He clenched his fist, raising it higher and higher into the air as he increased his power. More cries of pain came from the ADVENT soldiers.
"Now sleep. Permanently, if so lucky.." Opening his hand, the tether to the Captain shimmered and wavered for a few seconds before harshly snapping.
The Captain let out a choked gasp as she froze, before dropping to the ground with a hard thud. That same snap hit the others and in the blink of an eye, the others dropped like flies.
The forest was quiet once more.
"How the hell did he do that?" Someone asked.
"Remember, he's a powerful psionic… Even in his… continually diminished state." Helios stated.
Murmurs in the group started. Just who was this man?
"We need to… move." Chilong shakily gasped as his body went limp. His face crashed against Ty's back.
"Hey now." Ty felt him slipping off their back. "Don't move." She quickly readjusted their grip on him and double-checked the sashes holding him.
"They're down, but the Network is sending out Dropships… in response… Nnghh." He grunted, fighting away tiredness. He had too much to say before it could take him. "We can keep with this trajectory, but once we hit the river, we need to head downriver, then west. Avoid the roads… avoid bridges… lots of checkpoints." Each one of his breaths grew heavier.
Skiv let out a distorted shriek as she finally wrestled control away from Helios so she could speak again. She was ready to pounce on the man, but several blocked her. "Rrrgh. Can we even trust what he says?"
"He is no enemy… Skiv." Helios narrowed his eyes.
"He just took out that hunting party. The entire hunting party." Ty said. "I trust him."
"Stay clear of any towns by the lakes… nests of insects… traps for those looking for… shelter." Chilong added.
"Those damn chittering bugs?" Someone asked.
He weakly nodded. "Heavily infested…"
"Hate those things."
"Well, Helios? What do we do?" Skiv half scoffed. "Or do we listen to Jackal since the others aren't here?" Skiv asked,
Chilong weakly looked up. That Jackal was still perked high in the trees. Their gazes meet, locking for a few moments. Uneasiness permeated the air. Then Jackal's gaze shifted over to Helios. All was silent.
"Jackal… trusts him. Says for us… to keep moving." Helios told the group.
"Rrrgh… fine!" Skiv hiss.
"Well, let's loot some equipment from ADVENT first!" Someone said enthusiastically. "Better to have something than nothing."
"True… Make it… quick. Dropships will be here… before we… know it." Helios couldn't argue with that. They were short on supplies.
Several from the group quickly stripped ADVENT of all their gear and weapons, especially any medical supplies they spotted. Technically, the weapons would be useless to all but the Freed ADVENT in their group due to the genetic locks, but it was better to have extras just in case.
With everything gathered, the group quickly left the area before those Dropships arrived.
Chilong still had the faintest of grips of conciseness. He was partially fighting it, just in case they had any more surprises that needed fending out. Yet, he was so sure he would be able to expend as much power as he had done earlier. He was feeling burnt out besides, a nauseating heat was throbbing through his body.
Savoring however long he was still conscious, his mind sorted through the information he pulled from the Captain. "North America…" He muttered. A place he never thought he would wind up in again.
His body violently shuddered as he slumped more and more against Ty's back. The warmth was oddly soothing now despite the fact he was burning up.
"Huh?" Ty glanced over her shoulder, hearing him mutter.
"North America…" He let out a chuckle as his vision slowly slipped away. "To believe I'm nearly back in the States… well, what's left of… it." His mind was losing the fight to stay awake. "Overdid… the psionics."
"Strange one you are, Chilong." Ty commented. She readjusted their grip on him as he went fully limp.
As he finally passed out, Chilong's mind wandered again. Wandering back to memories of the past. Back to XCOM once more. A memory he could never forget.
Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Marin had hunted him down to drag him down to the Psionic Labs for some tests.
Tests that would, once again, his life would change.
—————————————
"Hm."
Zhang's mind wandered as he blocked out the commotion native to many of the labs of XCOM. Machinery buzzing. Scanners humming. Back-and-forth chatter from the doctors, scientists, and their assistants. And then the prodding. Oh, that prodding for a "simple" checkup or test could be beyond testing. And he had gone through more than his fair share of examinations and tests in the past 72 hours.
And I'll have to endure more… Sometimes wondered how he, and the others, didn't go mad whenever Dr. Vahlen requested their presence for whatever machinations were on her mind for that week. But this, this time, was different. All because of what they found in me. And his mind was still having a hard time comprehending it.
"Commander, he has potential." That familiar voice of Vahlen drew him back to the world. She was trying her best to contain her excitement.
Opening his eyes, he cast them towards a room adjacent to the one he was in. In there was Dr. Vahlen, Dr. Marin, and Commander Reeves. The Commander had only just arrived before being assaulted by an onslaught of information about the latest discovery by Vahlen, only for Marin to barely reign her in so Reeves could even process what she said before repeating those words that shook him the day before.
Potential… That word wouldn't leave his mind. Vahlen's and Marin's sudden absconding him away from assisting in some training of some newly Gene Modded soldiers to run some extensive, if not exhaustive, tests. He was mostly in the dark, but from the science talk he deciphered, a majority of them dealt with examining his "synaptic connections" and several other things to compare them against the psi-gifted soldiers.
The doctors' excitement as those repeated tests showed something promising, and then he showed up. Did they even call for him? He found it strange one of XCOM's most promising psions showed up towards the end of all the testing. Geist. He barely interacted with the young man, as their paths rarely crossed. Yet, he found him to be an odd man whenever they sparsely interacted.
Only responds to his callsign. It has become his "true" name. He never caught his real name. Strangely, he noticed it seemed like just about everyone who knew Geist before his psionics were drawn out forgot what it was too. Maybe it's just an odd quirk with these psions and people want to respect it to avoid trouble. Some gossip he heard around the base. Some were weary of the psions as they now wielding the same powers the aliens had used against them. Others were jealous they had failed. There was no potential in them.
Through the gossip and asking those Zhang could consider friends on the base, he learned some things about the odd psion. Geist was one of XCOM's earliest volunteers for the initial tests to bring out humanity's latent psionic ability before. Enduring many painful and excessive examinations and tests for nearly a month. But it bore fruit. Now, he was one of the top Psi Operatives for the organization and gave his input to the Commander and the doctors on how to venture deeper into humanity's true psionic potential.
And now I'm being prepped to go through the refined procedure. They say the alien DNA within me should cause no incompatibility. Zhang's eyes shifted to the assistants around him.
"This may sting more than usual." Dr. Zhao said. Zhao Huiwen. He was relatively new to the Main HQ being a fresh transfer over from their Asian sister branch. He quickly found his place with the Genetics team and helped further refine current and future gene mods for the soldiers.
Zhang barely flinched as he felt that cool liquid enter his veins. But could feel faint sensations dance across his skin, across his nerves. That miracle gold was already tampering with those synaptic connections and pathways and reinforcing other parts of his body. How would things go? Would he stay the same or change?
"Dr. Vahlen…" Commander Reeves let out an annoyed sigh. Hearing her voice, Zhang looked back at them and listened in. Those enhanced eyes zoomed in to catch the faintest changes in expression to better gauge how the conversation would go.
Now with a tablet in hand as she felt like should wouldn't be able to process another barrage of words from Vahlen, Reeves was going over all the data and notes they had made from their unauthorized testing on Zhang. It was all so promising. She had her reservations.
"First," her eyes narrowed at Vahlen, "we're going to have a talk about this again." Vahlen only shyly smiled. Reeves then looked at Marin. "And I expect better from you, too. You both know for these sorts of tests you must run them by me. Especially for him. You bothunderstand?"
"Yes, Commander." Vahlen nodded. But it would probably happen again. Science didn't always wait for permission.
"S-s-sorry, Commander. It won't happen again." Marin somewhat avoided her glare by looking at his tablet. He was dreading that talk, but he did know better. But that excitement was so intoxicating and gave them hope.
"Now," she paused again, her posture relaxing as she looked at the information again before meeting their eyes once more, "from what I can understand from this… are you two sure? And isn't it enough that we have spliced him? Can his body even handle more of these… experiments?"
The health of her soldiers was always at the forefront of her mind when these discussions would happen. She saw the numerous addendums that the Gene Modded soldiers that went through the awakening and were a success were experiencing no conflicts with their newfound powers. But for Zhang, she was hesitant.
His gene modded months ago was a success, though a few more tweaks needed to be made. Either way, the man was putting in double time outpacing some of the younger soldiers. But there was always a faint worry in her mind concerning his age and how his handler would react to this.
"We are positive. One hundred percent positive that he has this potential in him." Vahlen said. She was just beaming with excitement.
"Beyond one hundred percent, really." Marin added, keeping a soft tone to not sound prideful. "Still wonder how Geist just knew. Seems to have a knack for sensing viable candidates."
"Right, Geist. I see I need to talk to him next." Reeves mumbled to herself.
"And there's no need to worry, as this procedure is less invasive." She said. "Physically, that is." She quickly corrected herself.
"Mentally?" Reeves made a "go on" gesture.
"Mentally, it will be a test of his will as he will be semi-conscious in the sarcophagus for a week as he's bathed in the psionic 'gases' we've been able to harness from our reverse engineering of the aliens' psionic enhancing cybernetics and devices."
"Hm." Reeves looked back at the tablet. Her fingers tapped away as she looked at other notes from their other candidates in the past months.
The soldiers' descriptions of what happened during their time in the sarcophagi were always vague, as they said they would go into a deep sleep, slipping into a trance shortly after entering, and their minds would wander to things they couldn't recall. But there was one constant. It felt like they were reaching out to a power, a vast network native to the Earth and it was reaching back, digging into them. Testing them in some capacity as if they would be worthy to wield such a power.
"I have to ask again, are you sure the gene modding will cause no complications?" Reeves asked.
"Positive." Vahlen nodded.
"As you would have seen in the notes," Malin gestured to her tablet, "Lieutenant Naomi experienced no complications with this procedure."
"Right, her." Another psion who was quickly growing into her power and mastering it. "She's shown an impressive amount of control over her newfound abilities, besides developing a concerning attitude as of late…"
Zhang tuned out of their conversation for a moment at the mention of that operative. She was friendly and didn't think much of his past from the rumors she heard. He had been on a few missions with her from time to time and their gene mods complimented each other, allowing the team to be more efficient. Then she was benched for a week to unlock her potential and she was one of the lucky ones. It was a while before they were fielding again, but this time he would witness the true awe-inspiring and terrifying power of psionics XCOM's psions could wield.
Naomi and Raziel. Frightening that day. Raziel was another psion to be placed on the mission. He was one of the earliest awakened psions and his power showed it. It made the VIP protection mission a trivial matter.
Both gave the aliens a taste of their own medicine. He could remember the confusion, and sheer terror, the two swiftly spread through a group of Mutons.
Wills were tested and utterly shattered, causing the aliens to turn against each other. And then her. Naomi's ability was frightening.
A Sectoid Commander had snuck in from a side door and had dominated the mind of their Sniper leading to one VIP taking a searing blast to their neck and the rest of them scrambled for cover. It didn't take long for Naomi to find it. E Eyes burning a vibrant purple, she reached out and subsumed the mind of that Sectoid. She laughed. Cackling like a mad witch as she gained control. Then she mocked it and its masters before puppeteering it, twisting its will to use its abilities against its comrades before frying its brain.
"Frightening work. Saved Dean. Saved us all." He muttered. That day left a mark on him. Such a versatile yet dangerous power. He understood why some were growing apprehensive towards the budding psion soldiers division. It was like there was another side of them, a darker side of them they could unleash on their foes. And now, he could develop such an ability? He didn't blame the Commander for being so cautious.
"— continue to keep tabs on those developments for the other psions. Especially if, Zhang is a successful candidate." Reeves said.
Hearing his name, Zhang refocused on the conversation.
The three were wrapping up part of the conversation regarding Naomi and the other psions would sometimes develop these "dark" malicious tendencies when using their powers. It seemed to only come out when they were trying to disrupt their enemies' minds or take them over. It was a concern, and Commander Reeves didn't want there to be more tension around the base. She couldn't wait until those psi dampeners were in a working state to ease the minds of those worried about the base.
"Now, Zhang." This time, Reeves looked over to where it was. The preparations he was going through. Again unauthorized. She shook her head. But this War wouldn't wait for authorizations. Their psions had been a great boon on the battlefield and testing every viable soldier wasn't a bad thing.
"Hm." She wasn't surprised to see he was looking at them. He didn't break his gaze to pretend he wasn't listening in. Who could blame him? He was still on a tight leash with her. A leash that was slowly loosening.
Her mind drifted back to Naomi and the other psionic soldiers. How their personalities would flip like a tossed coin when ravaging the aliens' minds to pay them in kind for what they had done to humanity. Would that happen to him? You won't know until we come to it. Just another risk to take.
"Though you already started preparing him before my authorization…" Her eyes lingered on the man for a little while longer. There was clear annoyance in her voice, lips pulled back into a frown, and a grin peeked through as she nodded at him before turning her attention back to the doctors. A brow was raised in turn; that surprised him. "You may go through with the procedure. Just keep an eye on him. Don't need him developing an attitude like the others."
The doctors nodded. "Understood, Commander."
"Keep me posted. I'll be heading down to the Cybernetics lab. Some promising developments for our MEC troopers and robots. May be replacing the SHIVs with something more mobile in the coming months."
"We will." Vahlen said.
"Ah! I heard about that!" Marin said. Though cybernetics and robotics weren't his expertise, he was always interested in what the other divisions were working on. "I wonder how the development of that AI he's been working on has been going."
"Fairly good. He's been getting some help from some outside contacts. We may be having some more scientists joining us soon."
After that, Commander Reeves made her leave.
Vahlen and Marin went over a few things before making their way over to Zhang. They checked in with the other workers. The preparations were nearly done.
"As you probably heard," Marin chuckled, only to get an eye roll from Zhang, "you're fully approved to go into the 'tank'."
Zhang nodded.
"How are you feeling?" Vahlen asked.
Feeling? Feeling? Zhang wasn't sure how to answer that. There were a myriad of thoughts racing through his mind. A maelstrom he was struggling to regain control of. He was about to go through another life-changing event. Something that would test his very core. How could one feel about that?
He tapped his fingers together as his eyes drifted back and forth. "Truthfully, doctor?" Pausing, he looked at her before looking over at the glass that separated them from the chamber below. Those pale purple lights and faint gases wafted around the sarcophagi. "I am nervous."
The two doctors glanced at each other, both holding back a chuckle. A crack in the man's mask.
"Understandable." Vahlen said. "Hopefully, the feeling will pass for you. You have a strong will."
"Just hope you're not claustrophobic. You'll be in there for about a week and some days." Marin said.
Zhang wanted to say something, but he held his tongue. He too hoped the feeling would pass.
"Now," Vahlen looked at Marin, "Marin, you and Zhao go over the readings for his synaptic connections once more before he's placed in the sarcophagus. I have other subjects to check on."
"I believe Zhao's already on that. I'll make sure the final Meld injects are tuned correctly." Marin said.
Zhao pipped up. "Already working on that Marin."
"Ah, good, good." Vahlen smiled. "Everything is going smoothly." Just the way she liked her teams to be run.
Within the hour, Zhang was ready. They lead him down to the chamber and to the sarcophagus that would be his home for the week. Once it opened, they placed him in and set the restraints. All bid him good luck before the sarcophagus began to tilt back, its metal panels closed once more until almost all light disappeared. Just a faint glow from that gas vented into the coffin faintly illuminated the inside.
It didn't take long for that deep sleep to take Zhang, causing his mind to slip away into a trance. His mind would wander for seven days(or more). But during that time he could feel something touch his mind. Like with his gene mods, he could feel growing changes to his mind and body, new pathways being built and old ones being reinforced.
Again, he would awaken a new man.
————————————
"Nngh…" A pained hissed slipped from Chilong's lips.
There was something cold and wet touching his head. It stung for a moment as it touched an old wound before it became soothing to that fire burning across his forehead. It lasted for a while before disappearing all too quickly.
His eyes fluttered open. Where did it go? Where was he?
He saw the night sky above. A beautiful unobstructed view of stars so far away. Then the faint sounds of a crackling fire ticked his ears, as well as the soft rustle of leaves.
"Where…?" Mind still partially in a fog, he threw caution to the wind as he tried to lift himself.
"No, no, no!" A young female voice blurted out. A set of hands on his chest quickly pushed him back down. "You are in no shape to be getting up."
He grunted, closing his eyes from the forceful push. He took in several tense breaths to shake off the pain in his chest. His fingers dug into the grass and soil. "Where…?" He repeated himself.
"Somewhere safe. Found some old cabins." She hummed cheerily. That cool cloth touched his head again. His breathing hitched for a moment. Clumps of soil fell from his hands as his fingers slowly relaxed. His back slumped back against the ground. "Now, just stay still and take it easy. You tuckered yourself out from your brief show earlier."
Show? He loathed his clouded mind. How he couldn't wait till this fever and weakness left him. If he lived long enough for that to happen. "Show…?"
"Your psionics? Taking out that group of ADVENT? Remember…?"
"ADVENT…" His mind searched for the memory. It took a minute for a faint memory of the events to play in his mind. His body reflexively shuddered. The effects still lingered, stubbornly clinging to his being. "Right… I remember now."
"Yep! You did a great job!"
The cloth disappeared again. His head almost chased it before another colder one replaced it. Perfect. He gave his thanks. It was a mild reprieve compared to the pain and numbness that radiated through the rest of his body.
As more and more of his mind cleared, he opened his eyes. This time he saw his carer. Illuminated by the moonlight was the face of a pale girl. Fairly young. Fairly human-looking. Cheery emerald eyes looked over him as she hummed to herself.
He wasn't sure why, but he felt an uneasy pit form in his stomach as he watched her. Something about her appearance bothered him.
"How old are you?" He wasn't sure why he asked that question.
"Hmm?" She looked at him. "What was that?"
"How old are you?"
She paused for a moment, tilting her head back and forth. She shrugged. "No clue really."
"No clue?"
"Yeah." She shrugged again. "A teen I guess? That's what everyone else says."
"Teen?" He knew why he felt uneasy. It was something he had seen before during the Old War and in ADVENT facilities. Sheer cruelty. "You've been in that facility since… you were a young child."
She didn't respond as she continued to dab his face. Her eyes dimmed as her countenance fell. "Yeah…" The words uttered were full of sadness and pain. But as soon as that came upon her, she shook it off, replacing sadness with a smile. "But the past is the past!"
He opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly closed it, biting down hard on his tongue. It was best not to open old wounds. Both her's and his. The things he saw back then during the Old War, and then over the years even now. What was done to so many young and old. No one was safe from the Elders' grasp. He closed his eyes and returned to his thoughts and clear the fog.
He didn't hear the footsteps treading on the soft ground nor the rattling of items in a container and metal tinging against metal as something else sloshed about.
"How's he… doing, Clara?" That familiar stilted voice of Helios broke the silence. Chilong took a quick peek to see if it was him. It was. Looked like he was carrying medical supplies and a bowl.
"Actually, awake now!" Clara said. That cheery tone was back in full force. "His fever has gone down by a lot since you docs treated him with meds and new meds."
"Good… good." Helios nodded before he sat down beside her. He carefully set down what he carried. "Glad that hunting party… had medical supplies… glad Arkham… had the foresight to… loot them. Then the other raids… have gone well."
"Arkham's always thinking about the future!" She laughed.
"Yes… that survivalist mind of his." He nodded.
He opened the box and began to rifle through it. There were more tings and clacking as he searched. He mumbled, I no more or so, rambled under his breath about someone having gone through his cache as some items were missing.
Clara offered to go get what he was missing and quickly left before he could even answer.
"Overly… eager to help." He shook his head. But he was happy for her help.
He organized what he had, pulling out what he would be using shortly. Some minutes later, Clara came back with two containers in her arms. Helios thanked her before shooing her off, telling her to go get some food. She would not want to see the possible treatments he would have to administer to Chilong.
At first, she didn't go, as she wanted to help as Helios had tirelessly helped out at every waking moment, but she could sense a change in his movements. A slight tenseness to his movements as he adjusted his medical supplies. A terseness in his voice soon matched the movements. She soon found herself hungry and left.
With her gone, Helios continued to organize his supplies. Chilong paid him no mind. What he said made sense. He remembers his wounds. How torn up his chest was. He wondered if they looked better or worse with the fever he was fighting.
Time drifted by. Chilong closed his eyes but kept his ear out for anything. Helios rambled to himself, creating a list of supplies that needed to be replaced or found. More scavenging. Future planning for raids. But raiding brought trouble, and they needed to draw less attention to themselves.
Nothing much happened. Chilong was slowly drifting off to sleep. Until…
"Ack!" He gagged.
Hands were pressing down on his stomach, followed by a strange probing pull that radiated outward from those hands that tickled his nerves and other pathways. The feeling felt strangely familiar. His eyes flew open, quickly searching for Helios. Another press made him hiss, his throat hitched as he felt a burning bile creep up his throat.
"Heli…os…" Chilong managed to spit out before swallowing hard to force the bile back.
Helios glanced at him for a moment before looking back at what he was doing. "Sorry… apologies." The pressing slowly grew lighter, but that probing feeling remained. "How are… you feeling?"
"How are… you feeling?"
Chilong snorted. The temptation to be snarky was strong. "Less pain from my last bout of conciseness. Less delirious, but the fever has my mind in a haze."
"Mhm." Helios nodded. "Good… good. The medicine is working… And seems like some latent healing abilities… is kicking in… your system."
Latent healing ability? He found that statement to be odd. What did he mean by that? A quick search through his own mind slowly drew forth a memory of his time in XCOM and his gene modding. He couldn't remember the exact name of the "lesser" version he acquired, but there was no chance the aliens let that and his other mods stay a part of his system during his imprisonment.
The statement left him curious. Terribly curious. Why would he say such a thing? Yes, he had damaged injection ports vaguely similar to the ones on most test subjects and ADVENT Hybrids, but he shouldn't know the details of that. Was it a slip of the tongue? He was no longer paying attention to the other statements Helios was making about his health as he dwelled on the statement. Should I prob? Test where he acquired this knowledge, though I risk revealing myself. That curiosity was getting the best of him.
"Helios." He said, with a stern voice to catch his attention.
"Hm?" Helios looked at him, cocking his head to the side. "Yes?"
"What did you meme by 'latent healing abilities'?"
Helios hemmed and hawed as he cocked his head back from side to side before looking back at what he was doing. "I know the… average human body. I know many… variations of hybrids and… chimeras. I can sense some… 'anomalies'… in your being… For a… human."
Chilong carefully gauged the words he heard. He only had more questions. He was about to speak again until he felt that probing sensation in his guts spike in intensity for a second, rushing through his nerves before suddenly dissipating, almost receding back and upwards towards those hands of Helios. The feeling just felt so familiar.
What is it? What is it? He searched and searched his mind for an answer, a frame of reference for the fleeting familiarity. Then he saw it, a twinkle in Helios' eyes. A faint purple twinkle. It all clicked.
"You're a psion." Chilong said, quietly.
"Mhm." Helios nodded. "And then… I'm a… living… computer… Many things… many things… crammed into my skull and augmentations. Data banks… data banks…"
Chilong mentally questioned why the Elders would even turn a human into a living computer. How efficient would that be? But then he remembered, from the Old War and surviving afterward, in those UFOs they had downed parts of the computer that ran the things that were organic. A literal brain in sense and shape. Autopsies revealed they were made from a conglomeration of different aliens. Humans were just another on the experimental chopping block.
He stopped his question for now. Even with the fog slowly lifting, that fever burning less, he could tell he was broaching an uncomfortable subject.
There was mostly silence, minus Helios' occasional comments as he treated wounds. Comments on how fast he was healing and wondered what was done to his genetic structure to do so. Comments he needed to get a journal and pen to jot everything important down before he would be out of commission.
Old stitches could come out, as the areas were fully healed. A few needed to be redone to clean out a festering infection. Salve was applied followed by fresh bandages. Once done, Helios helped Chilong sit up. After a quick check of his back, the same routine was repeated until he was done.
Helios then handed a bowl, that bowl he had been carrying when he first arrived. It was a soup of some kind. From what Helios could recall, it was made from some fish caught from the nearby river, scavenged herbs and other edible plants, and whatever still edible food they found in the cabins and scavenged from abandoned houses on their journey.
Spoon in hand, Chilong took a bit. Lukewarm. Nothing special. Truthfully, he could barely taste a thing. It was better than nothing as he felt his stomach twist and contract, begging for more sustenance.
As he ate, his eyes drifted around to get a better sense of where he was and what the camp was like. It was another familiar site like the first time he regained consciousness when Helios was treating him. People working to set up tents, others huddled up by fires, some moving the wounded around, and several other sights one would see from those living in the wilds, avoiding the eyes of ADVENT.
This makes me miss the old base. The rescue parties we would form to find any of those scattered Havens, wanderers, anyone willing to join us and come back to somewhere ADVENT could barely pierce. I hope they're doing well. Hope they're still alive. Chilong nearly muttered his thoughts. It troubled him that he couldn't recall any memories of the last time he had contact with them before everything went south for him. They were distant, refusing to be called, as if deep down, he himself didn't want to recall them and see the truth.
His eyes drifted back to Helios as he heard the man smack his lips several times. Hunched over, Helios had his eyes transfixed on the ground, watching the blades of grass shiver in the subtle winds. A finger was tapping away at his bottom lip, as he mumbled away about his next shift in the cabin, and then the future arrival of others that split from the group should be arriving soon. He seemed to be stuck in an odd loop of continuous muttering, wishing he had "sub minds" or "mental partitions" like the first four of something. The last bit sounded like gibberish to Chilong.
Poor man. Seems he knows no rest. Those thoughts crossed his mind. He wondered if there was any way to help him. Maybe talking could distract him from whatever recursion he had trapped himself in.
"Helios." He said. Helios suddenly snapped to attention. Like a bolt of lightning struck his spine, his scaled neck mane puffed up before he straightened his posture and looked at him. "Thank you for your continued care. I owe you my life. If I still live as the days pass."
"Hm?" Helios tilted his head back and forth as if he was processing the words. "Ah," his eyes brightened, shimmering from blue to purple for a second, "welcome… welcome. It was not just… my hands that worked… on you." He bristled at his grim words for a moment as concern came over his face, but the fain grin made him relax. "Gallows… humor.
"With how you have… fixated… on me, seems like you were the only one that treated me." He chuckled. So there were others with skilled hands and medical knowledge. How fortunate for the group. "Do give them my thanks. A habit of mine."
Helios nodded. "I just have… more knowledge… for alien and odd biology." A subtle purple shimmered in his blue eyes again. "And I… recently recalled some… old files from that facility. They helped… greatly."
"Mhm. Right." He wondered what he picked up from his psionic probing. The mention of old files made his fingers tighten around his bowl.
Old files? Was he plugged into that hellhole? He wasn't sure if he should comment, poke at, or entice him to divulge what he meant by files. It would be a dumb, foolish assumption that the facility didn't have files on him, didn't record every hour, every second of the torture he suffered, and what they did to keep him alive.
Don't think about it. There was a faint rustle in the deep recesses of his mind. Old memories, vicious ones, were tapping against a lock and calling out to him. They wanted to worm their way out and further cloud his already foggy mind. One tap became several. Several became a knock. And the knock began to bang against that old, tired lock.
No, no, no. Of all times for his mind to dig that up. His still hazy mind became focused. He resisted the call and pushed back. That just made the calls stronger. He didn't want to think about it. He did not want to give those memories a chance to inflict phantom pains across his body once more. That urge to scream like a wounded animal. Remembering old meditation techniques he used when training his psionics, he stilled his breathing, stilled his mind, to force the memories back. The bangs died down to knocks, which quickly died back down to tapping.
Do not come back. Not now. Not ever. Deep down, he knew he couldn't avoid them forever, but he would delay the inevitable as long as he could.
"— really interesting information… in those old files. So much… speculation. So many… unanswered questions." Helios talking away.
Chilong didn't notice he missed that the man began to prattle on about these old files. It was a loose, disjointed mess dealing with test subjects, terminated projects, and the Elder in charge of the place growing impatience with the progress of some prisoners. Seemed like there was nothing on him or he missed that part. He would have to probe later.
Just as he relinquished his death grip on his bowl and brought it to his lips to finish off the last spoonfuls of soap, the next set of words out of Helios' mouth made him pause, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
"And then I recalled… something on you… Mr. Chilong…. Mr. Zhang."
Mid swallow, he wanted to spit out his meal but fought the urge, forcing it down, enduring the burning from what slipped past his lungs to keep himself from making a scene.
"Mr. Shaojie Zhang…" Helios cocked his head to the side as he uttered the man's full name. The scales in his mane softly clicked against one another. "Your file… was special. Many locks… A great deal of security… You earned the ire of Elder Ga'rox."
Once every last drop slipped down his throat, Chilong, Zhang, eyes narrowed into a glare. His throat rumbled as he tried to clear it, to force the burning away, and to force himself to speak. His mouth opened. "How—" Only to quickly close it as it was so hoarse and he felt another feeling thump at his chest as it worked its way up his throat. He couldn't find his voice.
"And XCOM." Helios continued, but paused once more. Like he was gauging his reactions. Studying the emotional turmoil he was subjecting the man to. "A former Triad… turned solider."
Zhang beat at his chest and let out a low guttural growl as he cleared his throat. It barely forced the overwhelming typhoon of feelings consuming his body and mind. Almost snuffing out that fever that was plaguing him. How long has he known this? To test me? One of the few coherent thoughts he was able to force through the sea of confusion and anger flooding his mind.
"How," he finally found his voice, "how do you know—" Helios wasn't done.
"What do you know… of that befallen… organization that was once… a thorn in the Elders side? Disrupting their 'grand test'… on humanity."