Chapter 44: Lion's Den

Location: Unknown

Evening...

"You're a member of Humanity First!?"

"NO! I am Humanity First," Mendenhall stated, "Our likeminded contempt for your kind has brought many men and women to the banner of my organization."

"You'll achieve nothing by killing me," she warned, "You'll only cause an international incident."

"You needn't concern yourself, you're far more useful to us alive," he stated dismissively, "Come with me, Princess, I've got much to show you."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Sally said defiantly, but that only resulted in one of the Troopers to march forward, seizing her by the arm and hurled her forward.

"That wasn't a request, Princess," the General said as he headed in the direction of the door.

Led into a brightly lit hallway,

Sally immediately felt her sinuses began to burn from the smell of cleaning chemicals that lingered in the air. Following behind were the two troopers who took up the rear, pleading silently for her to try and make a break for it. Undoubtedly, they would put a bullet in her back for any attempt, which she wasn't eager to be the recipient of. Continuing forward for several more minutes, they passed by several others before reaching a large view window that peered into an equally large chamber.

"Take a look," he ordered.

Sally hesitated before peering through the window, discovering that it was a laboratory of some kind. Numerous technicians were focused on their duties, but it was the liquid-filled chambers that drew her attention. There were well over a dozen chambers, each one containing the unclothed body of a Terran. Regardless of the gender, each one of them was being subjected to the same, barbaric procedure. It was a horrifying sight, and she was forced to turn away, not wishing to be subjected to it any longer.

"What are you doing to them!?" Sally demanded, sickened.

"Neural Resocialization," he explained, "Each one of these men and women are being conscripted into Cauley's Cerberus Program."

"Resocialization?" Sally asked.

"It's a medical procedure that involves the reprogramming of a person's brain, wiping away their memories and making them completely obedient," he explained, "The process is used on the most violent of our criminal population; the rapists and the murders, and then conscripted into military service."

"You're a monster," Sally said.

"Oh please. The Confederacy used this method, and the Republic still uses it today," the General stated with a smirk, "Of course, Carmichael made numerous unsuccessful attempts at abolishing the practice."

Turning her attention back to the laboratory, Sally could only hope that Prime Minister Carmichael was genuine in his attempts. This seemingly went unnoticed by Mendenhall, who was content to continue with his monologuing.

"Unfortunately, the procedure has the side-effect of wiping away the person's unique talents and expertises. There was a program that served as an alternative to Neural Resocialization, but those individuals have proven themselves to be too...troublesome. I prefer soldiers that are willing to walk into a hail of bullets when they're ordered to."

"You're a monster," Sally repeated.

"Perhaps. But I do this only for the good of Humanity," Mendenhall stated.

"You're creating yourself an army," Sally said, stating fact, "You're planning on overthrowing the government and expelling the Mobians."

"Oh, it's much more elaborate than that," he replied, "And you're an integral part of it."

"I'll never help you," she roared, punching the General in the ribs and took off sprinting down the hallway.

The Cerberus Troopers raised their weapon intent on gunning her down, but Mendenhall had them hold their fire and watched as she disappeared down the hall.

"You can run, Princess, but you'll quickly discover that you've got nowhere to go."

Running, the Princess of the Kingdom of Acorn turned down random hallways hoping to throw off her pursuers. She didn't know how long she had been running and frankly she didn't care, all that mattered was to escape and warn the Prime Minister of Mendenhall's treachery. Despite her leg muscles burning from the exertion, she continued to run until she saw a single door located at the far end of the hallway. Throwing the full weight of her body against the door caused it to give way, causing her to slam into a metal railing that caused her ribs and shoulder to cry out in protest. She suddenly realized that she was trapped aboard a Liquid Vespene Drilling Platform with a hundred-foot drop to the water below. She grabbed the door and slammed it shut, the pain in her injured hand flaring up as she did so. They hadn't confiscated her Ring Blades, which she immediately activated and proceeded to melt part of the door into the frame. She hoped it would buy her enough time to locate a means of escape, but that was short lived as the door was suddenly torn free of its hinges and crashed into the railing. She watched as both were sent tumbling into the water below, catching sight of a boot-shaped indentation as the door hurtled past. Had she not moved out of the way mere seconds earlier, she would've been knocked over the edge.

"Going somewhere, Princess?"

Sally whirled around to see General Mendenhall in the doorway behind her, leaning his body up against the doorframe.

"I swear to god I'll jump," she threatened.

"No, you won't," the General said, "It's highly unlikely you'll survive hitting the water and if some miracle you do survive, you'd be caught by the surrounding whirlpools."

Sally hadn't been listening, her attention focused solely on the ladder that extended its way up to a higher level of the drilling platform. She dashed forward and leapt atop the railing, launching herself towards the ladder in a desperate attempt at escape. The Chipmunk felt something snare her body as she was airborne and immediately turned to discover Mendenhall with his right arm extended, his body crackling with energy with purple-blue energy. With a jerk of his arm, Sally was thrown backwards, her body colliding with the railing next to the General. As she came to a rest on the metal floor, she groaned in agony as pain reverberating throughout her body. A pair of Cerberus Troopers appeared in the doorway, awaiting their orders from General Mendenhall.

"Take her to Dr. Burgess' laboratory," he ordered, "It's time to see if Cauley's experiment really works as he claims."

The two soldiers marched forward, seizing her by the arms and dragging her back into interior of the drilling platform.