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Subject 217/ The Conduit, Eden Research Center-
"
HOLD, I SAID HOLD YOUR FUCKING FIRE!" The force leader bellowed as his men wasted their shots killing one of the binded creatures, there wasn't much left of it any more as the hail of gunfire shredded it's face and torso leaving only a smear on the gurney, "
The Parnex is trying to spook us. Probably one of those one programmed to spread terror and confusion amongst the enemy."
The remaining three squad members nodded their heads as they fumbled to reload their weapons, none of them wanted to point out that the Parnex viewed them as the enemy now. Only the heavy sound of breathing and the occasional sound of blood dripping could be heard now, the power was still out for now... the alarms were silenced as were the captured scientists, they huddled together in fright caught between psychotic guards who were hell bent on finding the ones responsible and this rogue Parnex.
"
You." The man hissed grabbing the woman who originally was tending to her injured colleague by the hair, dragging her away from the group. Jabbing his pistol into her stomach he gave a spiteful command, "
You're going to be the bait now for the Parnex. You are going to check those gurneys and tables to make sure that thing isn't waiting to ambush us. If you're lucky you'll die in the crossfire, if not.... I'm sure we'll hear you scream. Now move." He didn't have to say anything about what would happen to her colleagues if she didn't comply.
One of the guards took off his flashlight and pushed it into the woman's trembling hands, shoving her in the general direction of where they last saw their target. The remaining scientists spat out curses towards their captors but were quickly and brutally silenced.
"
T-this part is clear." The woman said tearfully in a tight voice as she checked the first row of tables, every passing second grew tenser as she advanced, weapons were trained on her position.
"
As soon as you see the bastard, fire at will."
The sound of scraping drew the attention of the guards... it sounded close... The Parnex had altered position when they had panicked, their torches rapidly scanned the area around them, their light illuminated messy tables, frightened scientists, their nervous leader, their squad mate who died earlier now propped up looking at them-
The hail of gunfire was deafening but 217 finally moved to attack again, in his hands dark energies flared to life as he unleashed his anger upon the frightened guards. The first was hit by the shockwave square in the chest, sending him crashing into the table behind him while another's face was pulverized by the other concussive blast before 217 dove for cover as the squad leader and his last man fired.
Both security guards hurried to finish off the one responsible to the deaths of their comrades but instead they found 217 about to fire another wave of void energy, the leader was lucky enough to push his man into it preventing his own death at the cost of his underling. The guard had a brief moment to empty his lungs in an ear piercing scream as he was torn apart by the vengeful and malefic souls.
"
I’m going to make you p-“ The man spat as he tried to get up but 217 stood above him, arms crossed as his dreadful face was hidden in the shadows. In his hands was the firearm the squad leader had used, now disarmed the man could only spit out words of anger, "
You think I’ll talk? Ha. I-”
The chains began to wrap around his head, even as the man frantically tried to pull them away, instead he found his fingers caught between the links and as the chains tightened his fingers were broken before being pulled off. His muffled screams began to fill the air as his body was lifted from the floor, blood now coated the man’s face as his head was slowly being wrung like a wet towel until the skull finally gave in. Bone, brain and blood erupted from between the chains before the limp body was dropped to the floor as Subject 217 turned to the huddled group of scientists. The braver ones stood in front trying to convince the others to run of it while they held the monstrosity back but words alone would no longer move them.
"
D-don’t move.... o-or I’ll shoot.” Came the shaky voice, the woman held a blood soaked pistol in her hands, even in the dim light 217 could see she was noticeably trembling. Without speaking he began to advance on her position, "
D-don’t come any closer! I-I” She squeezed the trigger again and again, *
click, click, click. Click.* in the dark and in her panic she hadn’t realized the original owner already had wasted all its ammunition. Fear gripped her heart as she slowly sank dejectedly against the table behind her, even as 217 walked closer to her, tears rolled down her cheeks freely now even as she continued to pull the trigger hoping that by some miracle it was kill this abomination. Something red and wet was dropped onto her lap as 217 stopped in front of her. She lowered her head not wanting to see how the monster would kill her.
But the death blow never came.
“
We recommend that you treat your colleague and leave within 45 minutes. Get as far away as possible... we must send out a message... one that shall shake the very world... To let them know that we declare war upon them.” Came the multiple voices as the bloody figure moved away from the scientists. “
Understand. Our path must remain clear. Now go.” 217 left the scientists to fate’s hands, only leaving a trail of blood behind him while the scientists tried to understand what had just happened.
Minutes passed as Subject 217 walked the corridors, those who tried to block his path were mercilessly torn asunder by his powers, the wails of those trapped within his body filled his mind but their cries did little to deter him or the Conclave from their goal. Finally they reached their destination; The main reactor core. Over the last hundred years all the energy that was siphoned out of their host was placed inside the core, to be used to ‘further’ research the possibilities found by using such a mysterious power source.
The pulsing sound akin to a heartbeat rattled the walls as Subject 217 slowly made his way to the very centre of the facility, they could feel the energy, they could hear it calling out to be released. The Conclave began to whisper their instructions to their host as he walked towards the source that once held the facility high... now it would serve a new purpose.
217 raised his gloved hand and placed it on the container, the strangely cold metal seemed to hold a living force captive for it twisted and turned to his touch, the voices deep inside of him told him to mould the substance within the core. Somehow it felt as if the substance was a part of him... in some distinct way it answered his calls and commands, even without having to see it the Conclave was able to direct their host to set forth a set piece that the Empire could not turn away from. The whispered instructions grew louder and louder with every passing second, images twisted inside his mind until the directive had been accomplished.
Warning sirens began to sound, they warned that the core was becoming unstable and that it was advised to evacuate the facility. The core itself began to groan as its contents began to heat up, it began to seek away out, to release its energy and fulfil the role it had been given. 217 slowly began to walk to the elevators as the power was slowly being restored to the facility.
Senior scientists would try to remotely shut down the core but they found their equipment was none responsive. A spike of energy shot forth from the core frying the lights in the corridor that lead to the chamber, these spikes would grew with every passing minute until the very air was heavy with electricity.
Outside the facility panicked workers found that they could see dark purple bursts of lightening spark from the beneath the ground, some were so violent that it appeared as if shot towards the heavens, others arched towards metallic objects. Those caught in the arcs suffered burns or more frequent their body was liquefied and left smouldering while onlookers stared petrified by the results.
Nearly 40 minutes after the core was destabilized the ground began to rumble and split, without warning a burst of lightening lanced through the entire building and scorched the very sky even as windows were blown out by the surge of power as the core neared total meltdown.
After 46 minutes the core containment shell could no longer hold the vast energies building inside of it. With a thunderous
detonationcountless years of void energies was released in a single moment. The magnitude of the explosion caused a shockwave that actually caused seismic activity as the ground was heaved upwards. Loose objects, cars, stones and people were lifted off the earth as if gravity no longer played a role in their lives, they floated in the air for perhaps two seconds before they crashed back onto the ground. Those who survived the ordeal watched as the grounds around the Eden Research Center began to
collapse in on itself, whilst dust choked the air and covered the survivors.
When the tremor subsided and the dust settled down, the people could see that the after effects had not only destroyed the Center but had also appeared to have scarred the sky. The clouds that hung over the center were dark as purple lightening constantly flared across the sky. Those brave enough and who had been lucky enough to escape with relatively minor injuries walked closer to the edge of the newly formed sink, dozens of corpses were partially buried beneath the rubble but that wasn’t what drew their attention. At the very centre of the sink lay a pool of boiling plasma, it’s color reflected its void-based nature for it was an unworldly black mixed with purple. Observers could see that at the heart of the plasma field the air was electrified, arcs of energy constantly danced between the rubble.
Beyond the facilities grounds the city lay in chaos, windows were shattered, cars were wrecked along the road and there would be countless injured. Those who worked for the facility could no longer try to hide the fact something had gone terribly wrong... Fearfully they began to re-establish contact with the command structure... they requested aid from all nearby units that belonged to the De’Larin Empire to assist in collecting data and the interrogation of suspects. There message was distorted by heavy static but one fact remained clear. The Eden Research Center... the one of the greatest facilities that aided in the advancement of the Parnex Program now lay in ruins.
None would realize that the culprit had simply walked away from the chaos, vanishing into the surrounding area. None would realize this until it was too late.
The creature that was now only recorded as being Subject 217 disappeared into the corrupted forest, inside of him The Conclave were pleased with the results caused by the detonation of the Void Generator. Now the world would know that they had been freed and that their path to vengeance had only begun. Yet as they continued to scheme, they could feel their host question their ethics. How many innocent had been injured by this act?
A fact the Conclave cared little for.
