Chapter 43: Chapter 43
Eric watched the floating screen closely, his expression and mind filled with awe by the unbelievable and horrifying activity taking place outside the operation room. Short of words, he stood quietly and watched, his eyes slightly wide open in disbelief.
Yelena and Jimmy then walked up to him, drawing close to stare directly at the screen.
Jimmy, as usual, was disturbed and horrified by the gruesome images from the screen, moving backward away from it. Yelena, on the other hand, stared at the screen with intense focus, her expression unmoved but her mind clearly conflicted by what was happening.
"What the hell is going on?" Eric asked, disturbed as he moved away from the screen, needing distance from the gruesome visual.
"NX-7," the woman in the black and white uniform spoke clearly. Her expression was firm, her bottom eyelids a little swollen and dark from sleep deprivation. She brought out a cigarette and lit it, blowing out a stream of smoke into the air.
"It’s a special chemically engineered gas that intoxicates the air. Poisonous to supersoldiers but lethal to humans and other beings," she added, blowing out another puff of smoke and dipping both hands into her pockets.
Unable to take it in anymore, Eric turned off the screen and turned to the lady with a disturbed frown on his face, trying his best to forget what he had just seen.
"Who’s making these things? What’s the goal here?" Eric said, motioning his body and stretching out both arms.
"Wiping out every known and unknown supersoldier spread across the cosmos. To put it simply... ninety five percent of NEXUS," the lady replied, now calm and unbothered by their presence. She found an ergonomic chair and took a seat, her back and arms resting comfortably as she fixed her gaze on them.
"And who’s behind all this? The Monarch?" Eric launched back immediately, pressing forward, a bothered look now clearly painted on his face.
"Yes. I’m unaware about how it’s going to be utilized, but what I do know is he plans to make it deadlier. Weaponize it to its’ fullest potential," the lady responded. She looked away from them as she brought out another cigarette, clicking the lighter to light the end before taking a draw and blowing out the smoke.
Yelena, not buying any of her words, walked up to her, her facial form unexpressive.
"I don’t trust people who give out information so easily. Makes me think you’re either a coward or you’re conspiring," Yelena said coldly, narrowing her eyes down to the lady as she stood in front of her.
Eric, feeling Yelena had a good point, also walked up to the lady.
"Yeah, she’s got a point. I mean, why the hell would you be so bloody casual about it?"
Eric said, a suspicious look on his face as he and Yelena stood side by side right in front of the seated lady in uniform.
"Normally, people like you would be putting up a fight, or at least trying to shove us into some pit or off us altogether. Makes me wonder what the game is here."
Seeing them both at her presence, she went into silence, the cigarette hanging at the side of her mouth as she spectated them from head to toe before turning her gaze to Yelena’s face.
"If I remember correctly, those were the exact same words you told him before coming to Solaris," the lady said, her eyes focused on Yelena as she placed her elbow on the armrest and rested her head on her knuckles.
Yelena and Eric were slightly confused by her words, trying to understand what she was talking about as they anticipated a response from her.
"Kaldala was a close friend of mine, and he told me about everything that happened at his place, including the moment you three entered that train," the lady said, blowing out smoke from her mouth, unbothered by their presence.
They were all suddenly stunned by her making mention of the familiar name.
"But sadly, three hours ago I was informed of his death," the lady added before finally changing her sitting position. Leaning forward, her elbows on her laps and hands folded, her gaze blank as she looked upon their faces.
"The plan we had was once you got to Solaris, I would secretly meet up with you three and introduce myself, but unfortunately, Brygo got to you first. So the new goal was, if you could survive Brygo and the storm of mind controlled drones, I’d take advantage of the lockdown system to direct you here, killing everyone else in the process... and that, I did."
"That reckless stunt of yours could have gotten us all killed" Eric launched back loudly, throw in that bit of annoyed disbelie
"A gamble, yes. But it was also a test to see if you are truly the one they say you are," she spoke, her tone narrowing down on him with a fixed gaze.
"I’m sure you now understand where this is going," she added, tossing away the finished cigarette and once again bringing out another round and lighting it up.
The two stood at her presence for a bit, processing all that the lady had just unveiled to them, hesitantly concluding that the lady wasn’t truly an enemy, implying that for her to do all this and kill her allies, she had the same goal as Kaldala, to stop the Monarch while maintaining a pretense of loyalty to him.
Taking a moment to think things through, Eric then walked up to a chair and took a seat, his hand massaging his forehead before taking a look at the lady once again.
"Funny thing, you’d think someone who needs to be healthy would take a break from the bloody cigarettes" Eric said loudly on his seat as he watched the lady bring out another round of cigarette once again, tossing away the one she had just finished.
The lady stared at him, unimpressed and unbothered, and continued with her business as she applied heat to the outer tip of the cigarette.
"I’m guessing you’re here to help us then," Jimmy finally spoke up, breaking his minutes long silence as he walked into their midst.
Hearing him, she took in a deep draw before blowing out, emptying the smoke in her lungs as she turned to Jimmy, staring at him in silence for a bit before responding.
"From the looks of it, yes," she replied, smoke gradually exiting from her nostrils.
"Then we’ll need you to tell us where to get an antidote to remove the gas from Yelena," Jimmy said, his voice calm but determined.
Yelena slightly turned her face to him, a little surprised by his words as she gave him a look.
"There’s no antidote, but the effects are temporary. It lasts about seven hours from the time of intake. By the time she’s out of here, she’ll be back in full shape," the lady said, taking away the cigarette from her lips and holding it in between her fingers as she gazed.
"Alright then. We need to deliver a critical message to NEXUS, and we’ll be making use of your HyperComms," Jimmy said audibly once again.
Ears and eyebrows raised, Eric instantly became alerted by Jimmy’s words, leaning forward from his seat as he spoke.
"HyperComms? You have HyperComms?" Eric said loudly, eyebrows raised and eyes wide open, interested to see the highly advanced communication system used to send messages instantly across vast distances in space, only owned and used by a authorized few, NEXUS being one of them.
Staring at him patiently for a few moments, she then pointed her hand to a different location in the room, an area having fewer desks and chairs and more of tall, towering, black, cupboard like computers.
"Suit yourself, but I’d have to warn you, there might be third parties listening," she said, finally putting her pointed arm down and bringing the cigarette close to her once again for another long draw.
Seeing no further actions from her, Jimmy now turned to Yelena and Eric, his facial expression a little down, no tears, no slump of the shoulders, just a faraway look and a voice soft around the edges. He drew in a slow breath, the weight of a decision settling over him like a coat he’d worn before.
"Alright, Yelena. You can go ahead and contact NEXUS, telling them about everything, including our location for immediate rescue. I and Eric will prepare to turn ourselves in," he said calmly, turning specifically to Yelena as he spoke, before turning to stare at the ground.
Yelena paused for a moment and squinted her eyes, puzzled as to why he would make such a decision. Eric, on the other hand, couldn’t believe what he had just heard from Jimmy.
"What the hell are you tal—" Eric snapped, but his words were completely cut short as Jimmy instantly interrupted before he could finish his statement.
Jimmy didn’t look up right away. His eyes lingered on the floor, and when he finally responded, his voice was low, almost tender.
"There’s no need to push it further, Eric. We’ve done enough," he said, his tone very soft and subtle.
"We found the Nebulux’s location. NEXUS will retrieve it, and you’ll get to see your daughter again. Everybody wins."
"I’ve really gone through a lot these past few weeks. I tried so many times to convince myself I could endure, but I was just... lying to myself."
"And today... I killed someone," he added as he finally raised his face to Eric.
"I don’t want that anymore, Eric. I just want to go home."