_ _ _Claire Wyden Pov_ _ _
(This...this can't be happening...) I thought as I looked out my office window at the carnage that was slowly spreading through the city.
"W-what are we gonna do?!" My brother, Brett, asked as he paced back and forth behind me.
"Shut up..." I muttered under my breath.
"This isn't how it was supposed to go!" He said as he glanced at me, panic clear in his voice and in his facial expression.
Gritting my teeth I looked back at him and yelled. "I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
(How the hell did this happen?!) I asked myself internally.
(There should have only been four pathogen containers that survived the station explosion, so where the hell did all of this come from.) I thought as I tried to figure out what was going on.
I tried to contain the growing dread and paranoia that was beginning to fill my thoughts. (Damn it, at this rate even the military won't be able to stop them.)
This whole thing didn't add up, no one else knew about the pathogen, or how to make it for that matter, in fact all that did know about its creation method were a part of my company after all. Well, except for Kate, however she had no reason to sell the information to someone else, in fact she had even tried to destroy all of the research before she was fired. The only answer that made any sense was that someone had betrayed me, someone had sold the information behind my back to god knows who.
As my mind continued to speculate I was suddenly interrupted, as if in response to my thoughts the door to my office flung open as someone walked in without my permission. "Errm...excuse me?"
"What?! What could you possibly want?" I asked as I turned to the man in question.
Looking the individual over I immediately recognized him, he was a man that I had hired a few months back by the name of, well, Bob. He was a part of my company's R.&.D team, someone who I had hired because of his very impressive resume.
Fortunately, and somewhat unfortunately depending on how you look at it, he was really, really god damn smart, and he knew it. He had been a great asset when it came to engineering or anything mechanical, however there was a down side as well. Simply put, he was a massive bloody prick. He was irritatingly blunt, calling me, and others, out when we made decisions he found stupid or just downright idiotic. In fact he had a rather annoying talent, a talent for making those around him feel like complete and utter dumbasses as he solved major problems with ease, problems that most wouldn't even notice or remotely understand.
"Nothing much." He shrugged. "Just needed to have a word as all."
"Can't you see I have more important things to worry about right now?" I growled, visibly irritated by his nonchalance about the whole situation.
"Yeah...I just don't particularly care." He hummed, before pulling out some kind of advanced looking pistol from under his waste span.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I yelled, taking a step back.
"You're not as stupid as you look, I'm sure you can figure it out." He muttered, his voice becoming cold as his eyes narrowed.
As for my brother's reaction to the whole situation, well, he looked like he was about to piss himself. "H-hey, let's just calm down, okay? There is no need t-to do anything rash, Bob."
"Wow, I didn't think you'd actually think that was my real name." He huffed. "The names Connor." With that out of the way he shook his head before stepping towards Brett.
Brett tried to quickly say something but he was cut off. "Sorry but the adults need to talk, be a good boy and take a nap." Connor said calmly before smacking my brother in the side of the head with the blunt side of his pistol, knocking him out instantly.
(Who the fuck is this guy really?) I asked myself as I took several steps towards my desk.
"I would say it's been an honour working for you, unfortunately that would be a truly massive lie." He hummed and it was that moment that it finally clicked.
"You...you caused this, didn't you?"
"Kind of, although I can't really take all the credit, after all, I'm just the spy." He shrugged without a care.
"You won't get away with this!" I hissed as I quickly pressed a button under my desk. "Do you really believe that I'll let you get out of this building alive after all this?"
"I don't think you understand the situation you're in, however I really can't be bothered explaining so let's just skip the pleasantries shall we." He muttered as he walked towards me. "As for the security you just called for, well, they are probably somewhat preoccupied at this moment so honestly I'm not all that worried."
"W-what is that supposed to mean?"
_ _ _Else Where Pov_ _ _
A few floors down there was chaos, the remaining security that had been waiting for the signal from their bosses to begin evacuations were being hunted. They were fighting for their lives against beings they had previously believed to be only fiction, nightmarish monsters that seemed to take enjoyment in slaughtering them.
"Shoot them! Shoot those damn things already!"
"AAAAAAAAH!"
"Fuck this! I'm getting the hell ou-!"
As you can probably tell, they were being ripped apart one after the other, their bullets were having little effect and fear was quickly consuming their thoughts. Several of them did try to run but the wall in front of them collapsed as something let out a deafening screech before it charged out of the newly created opening.
The security guards only had a moment to register it before the large dark violet coloured entity slammed into them; it had tackled the retreating group in question with tremendous force. The lucky ones were able to get out of the way in time, the unlucky ones had several bones brutally break and snap apart from the impact, and the extremely unlucky ones flew through the air, their bodies soon smashing through several nearby windows before falling several stories down to the ground below. So yeah, even when they received the emergency alert from Claire they were unable to do anything as they currently had their hands full.
_ _ _Back to Claire Wyden_ _ _
"It's nothing you need to worry about right now." The bastard said with a faint smile.
(Shitshitshit!) I cursed internally.
"Oh right, before I forget." He mused. "You can consider this my resignation." That was the last thing I heard before he smacked me in the side of the head just like he had done to Brett a second before.
I don't know how long I was out for but I eventually woke up and realized I had been tied up. As for what had awoken me, well, that would be the two voices I could hear, one was the voice of that traitor and the other was a female voice I didn't recognise. As I regained awareness of my surroundings and my vision became clearer I was able to take in the sight before me, and it was quite the strange sight indeed.
There, a few feet away, Connor was looking down at a strange violet creature that looked both mechanical and organic. Its body was shaped like some kind of dinosaur that was covered in an insect-like exoskeleton, it looked familiar for some reason, I felt like I had seen it before somewhere but thanks to my current disorientation I couldn't remember where from. What was truly alarming however was the much larger creature standing close by, it looked similar to the smaller one just with a few differences.
"My queen, it's good to see you in person again." The spy said as he nodded respectfully to the strange talking creature.
"Good to see you too Connor." The small creatures spoke as something akin to a smile spread across its face.
"Where are the other two?" Connor asked as he glanced at the larger creature in confusion.
"Beta and Gamma? I left them behind to finish off the rest of the security personnel." Hearing that made me go pale.
(No wonder no one had shown up to help...) I thought as I tried to remain somewhat inconspicuous.
"Ah, got it."
"Anyway, how are things going here?" The creature asked, causing the bastard to glance around.
"Could be better." Connor mused with a shake of his head. "But everything should be ready soon."
(What are they planni-?) My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a certain someone also began to stir.
"W-what...what happened...?" Brett asked as he awoke, for a moment he just looked around only to scream when he saw the two strange creatures. "What the....what the heck are those things!"
(Shut up idiot!) I yelled in my mind.
"Oh, it seems our gracious hosts are awake." The creature muttered jokingly as it and Connor turned to look at us.
"It can talk?!" Brett yelled, trying to back away as the thing approached.
"I should have hit them harder..."
"Now Connor, no need for that."
"So, you're the Wyden siblings that I've heard so much about, nice to finally meet you I suppose, you can call me Carmen." The creature crouched down in front of us and for some reason I felt as if its gaze was mocking even though it had no eyes.
"How dare you..." I growled under my breath.
"Hummm?"
"I don't know what exactly you are, or why it is that you are here, and I don't care..." I spat, unable to contain my rage. "What matters to me right now is that you're the one who told that traitor to steal from my company, am I right? You're the one who caused the mess outside and ruined my plans?"
The newly introduced Carmen simply chuckled somewhat. "That would be correct, yes."
"Do you have any idea who I am? Who is it that you have made an enemy of?"
"Not really no, despite how long I've been here I have never looked into your background or really cared about who you are as a person." She answered matter of factly. "In the end you're nothing of interest to me in the grand scheme of things.
At that I felt a boiling wrath bubble up inside me, in fact if i wasn't tied up right now I would have probably thrown myself at this thing in a blind frenzy. A part of me just wanted to stay quiet, to say nothing in retaliation, after all I wasn't stupid, I knew I was at a major disadvantage and that I was practically helpless in this situation with no way to actually back up my words, unfortunately I couldn't do that, I couldn't stay quiet, my pride wouldn't allow it.
_ _ _Carmen Pov_ _ _
She yelled and she threatened, I didn't care, her brother tried to beg, to plead for some kind of mercy or suck up to me, I still didn't care. I just stared at the two, those words, their differing attitudes, it triggered memories, memories I really didn't want to remember.
The brother, Brett, his desire to just give up, to admit defeat and beg for salvation filled me with disgust. I get that such a reaction would be common amongst most people if they were put in a similar situation, however I couldn't help feeling this way. His words had caused memories of The Trial to surface, memories of how I had struggled, manipulated and killed, all in the hopes of surviving, all in the hopes of escape.
Yet despite my desperation at the time I had never actually begged that asshole for mercy, partly because he would have just laughed in my face and partly because I had always been rather stubborn. I hated the feeling of begging someone for help, asking for help was fine mind you, however begging for it had always deeply repulsed me for some reason.
As for Claire, well, her words reminded me of my past life, of things and people I'd had long since tried to forget. Those who had called themselves my family, those who I had abandoned because they tried to shackle and control me, and those who I didn't want to remember as the memories of them filled me with both disdain and regret. They had yelled when I had left, they had yelled and screamed just like Claire was doing now, acting as if everything was in their control when it clearly wasn't.
"Hey..." I muttered, digging my claws into their shoulders, just deeply enough to cause pain without drawing blood.
"The both of you, please be quiet..." I hummed darkly, my tone leaving no room for argument. "You're really starting to annoy me."
"Anyway, please continue Connor, how is the plan going?" I said after a second of glaring at the two. "Is everything ready and prepared?"
Seeing that my mood had shifted Connor got right to the point. "I've already taken control of the antenna remotely, I can turn off the signal whenever we need and broadcast the information as well."
"Good." I mused, nodding my head in satisfaction.
"In-information?" Brett asked, before quickly shutting his mouth when I glanced back at him.
"If I really wanted to just destroy this city I would have simply nuked it." I explained, and yes, I was fully capable of wielding nuclear missiles.
After all, if I could have some of my followers hack into one of this world's nuclear silos, it wouldn't have been difficult at all to be honest. Actually I could also have just used one of the several nuclear warheads from the Perseus, each of which were far more destructive than anything this world currently had access to.
"No, I'm going to release a little world wide broadcast for everyone to see beforehand." I continued after a second.
"What kind of broadcast...?" Claire asked, she didn't shout or demand this time, in fact the slowly, growing panic on her face made it clear that she had an idea about what I was planning.
"Oh you know, just various files containing rather damning evidence about how you intentionally caused all the death and chaos currently going on outside." I said causing both of them to freak the fuck out.
"You...you can't jus-!" Claire tried to say but I wasn't done speaking.
"Of course said files aren't just all about you, however, you're not that special after all, in fact I know lots of secrets that many people have spent a long time trying to keep under wraps."
Simply put, I was going to broadcast and send out rather incriminating information to every media outlet and personal device I possibly could. Thanks to the technological advantage that I had access to, this wouldn't be difficult, in fact once it starts there would be no way for anyone to stop it.
Additionally, it wasn't just the siblings that I was targeting either, oh no, since the moment it was possible my followers had been working overtime to get everything I needed. I had ordered some of my followers to gather information on influential people all across the world, and they had been wildly successful. From politicians, to military leaders, to governors, presidents, celebrities, and even just random but notable police officers, my followers had investigated them all through various means. They had gathered all of the dirty little secrets that these key individuals had tried to keep hidden, some of which were rather horrifying to say the least.
In the end however, this was all a test of sorts, I was going to release all this information, all this evidence along with video footage and so on to the public, all so that I could see how it would affect my rewards after this little expedition comes to an end. I needed reward points after all, a lot of reward points for my future plans and goals, and this, this was the best way I could think of to create world wide chaos.
"And when everyone realizes that all of this information had come from the antenna on top of YOUR building, who do you think they're going to blame?" I added causing Claire and Brett to turn completely pale.
Surprisingly however it wasn't Brett who spoke up first. "Let me work for you!" Claire suddenly said, it seemed her previous attitude had finally broken as her need for self preservation erupted to the surface.
"Hummm?" I tilted my head slightly to the side. "And why should I do that?"
"Because I could be useful, you definitely have big plans and I have skills that could help you achieve them."
"While I will admit that you do have some traits that could be useful, your brother on the other hand doesn't have any skills of interest, he's a bit of an imbecile to be honest." I mused.
"Who cares about this idiot?" Claire said, not at all bothered by the betrayed look Brett gave her. "Just pin everything on him and I swear I'll be useful to you."
"You'd sacrifice your own brother?" I was not at all surprised.
"Yes."
"A tempting offer, however what I can gain from revealing what the two of you have done it's far greater than what little value I could get by having you work for me." I hummed while continuing to speak, not giving her a chance to talk. "Oh, and I don't particularly like you either, you're kind of a bitch to be honest."
"Anyway, Alpha, shut them both up would you." I muttered, my kiddo being more than happy to do just that.
"God damn it wai-!" She tried to argue but Alpha grabbed Claire and Brett by the back of their heads before slamming them into the ground with enough force to easily knock them out again.
"Seeing that happen to them is surprisingly satisfying." I said, something that caused Connor to chuckle and smirk somewhat.
"I know right."