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etherealvoidechoes · 13 days ago

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[Prototype] AU - Torn Apart - Chapter 2: Reconnaissance - Searching for Clues

Alex returns to Manhattan to find his sister and investigate what Blackwatch is currently up to.

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“Times Square.”

The major commercial intersection was bustling with life. People walked to and fro, chatted, yelled, and laughed. The cacophony of cars driving by and horns blaring added to the ordered chaos. Billboards lined just about every building, spectacularly illuminated even under the sun, all displaying an assortment of advertisements. It was like the Redlight infection had never hit it a year ago. Almost.

“Never thought I’d come back here.”

Alex Mercer was taking in the sights. Taking in part of his work. Barely any traces remained of the hellscape that terrorized the city for weeks, which was followed by a few months-long recovery. He could vividly remember the ever-shifting war zones that consumed the various parts of the city.

With each breath of relatively clean air he took in, savoring the myriad of urban scents to a pinpoint degree that would drive a normal human mad, there were brief flashes of that horrid past. Thick, choking smoke-filled air that was constantly tinged with the smell of rot, burning flesh, and overly metallic blood. So much of that red flesh sprawled across the streets, creeping and consuming everything it touched. Buildings became the breeding grounds to produce more infected, especially those Hunters. A chaotic branching network of massive tendrils dug deep, cracking and tearing up asphalt and concrete buildings like it was the most flimsy paper in existence.

And now, there was none of that.

“Wonder how much was spent fixing up this mess? Taxpayer dollars down the drain…” He chuckled to himself as strolled along, taking in the sights. “Hm?” But something caught his eye.

Flying high above the roofline was one of those UAVs, or viral detection drones. Lights shining green, the drone sauntered through the area several times before disappearing over some buildings. Then his eyes caught faint, shimmering glints on a rooftop. A viral detector. And not just one. There were several strategically placed throughout the area.

“Huh. Have those things running all day and night.” Just how many of those things did he disable or destroy when he had to snoop around those military bases? “Smart. I see that they still have some “good” brains running in the “Green Zones” He tapped his chin, taking note of each one.

He had been back in the city for about a week. Slowly scoping things out, seeing if Blackwatch was still around. They were. In a more ‘discreet’ manner — he’d be paying one of their outposts a visit soon to see what they had been up to. It seemed like the organization had taken permanent residence in the city to monitor all traces of the outbreak. He had a feeling it was their way of continuing their usual bioweapon research and development nonsense, besides keeping tabs on any lingering patches of Redlight that refused to die. He had detected a few as he moved about. Dormant spots waiting for the right time to spring forth and establish a new leader for the hive mind. He took care of the ones he felt had been festering for too long and a prime opportunity to sample what had changed. New mutations and genetic lines were to be expected, but nothing he couldn’t overcome. He even picked up faint traces of antibodies used to fight Bloodtox. Something new for his body to memorize and prepare itself for, just in case Blackwatch the newest formulas would affect him again.

“A little dangerous to let those little hives fester… unless?” His mind delved back into memories, many not of his own, dealing with Carnival projects. He pursed his lips before laughing at the insane thoughts crossing his mind. “No, that’s too dangerous to let a “natural” test happen. That’s asking for the virus to spread to the other islands and the world. But… but… we humans can be rather dumb.”

Humans can be idiotic, short-sighted creatures. We are much smarter than that. Much better. More than human. A faint voice in the back of his mind scolded him. It did and didn’t sound like his. There was a faint hiss that trailed the words. A slight pitch change, shifting lower every other word, before realigning to how it should sound. He ignored it. He had been ignoring it for a long time after some events months ago. Just a part of the viral self he didn’t want to acknowledge.

Continuing his walk, he passed by a building with a viral detector installed just by the edge of the roof. Tuning in his ears, and watching from the corner of his eyes, he watched it as he slowed his stroll. One second. Two. Four. Ten. He grinned. Those lights stayed a nice and solid green. He picked up his pace.

“Still not picking me up. Good. Must be tuned only for Redlight.” He mused. He had been gone for a long time and maybe they thought he was dead after taking care of the nuke. Reflexively, his body shuttered remembering that. That hurt… piecing myself back together and finding my other remains… but not as much as that parasite. He would take a nuke again rather than deal with that cancer of a parasite eating him alive.

Just ask his thoughts were slowly spiraling down that painful time, the hum of another drone buzzing by caught his attention. His eyes quickly found it. He grinned again. “Remember, those weeks you lingered around as the last of the infection was being burned out, you evolved to a point where you could suppress your viral signature. At this point, I may be able to fully mask it. I’ll have to test that later.”

Alex was back in New York for a reason. His sister. His creator’s sister… Ever since he left once Blackwatch and the military had a handle on things, there was always a heavyweight in his heart that he had a hard time ignoring. Guilt. He should have waited for her to wake up from that coma. But there were so many things racing through his mind. So many thoughts and memories — many that weren’t his. He needed to leave once his work was done and do some soul-searching to figure out what he was now and what he was going to do. And now he was back.

A few days into his return, he visited the last place he had left Dana. New York Hospital and Medical College. And searched for the person he asked to care for her after rescuing her from Greene. Dr. Bradley Ragland.

It didn’t surprise him that the doctor was long gone. Retired is what one of the workers there told him. After all the chaos, and Blackwatch was still around, Alex didn’t blame the doctor for leaving. He just hoped the retirement was by the doctor’s hand and not Blackwatch’s. He faintly remembered they were keeping an eye on the good doctor. Thankfully, he was a ‘low-priority’ risk, despite Dr. McMullen’s thinly veiled threats. He hoped he still was.

To his surprise, the doctor left something behind for him. A hidden contingency of sorts. It was about Dana. A hefty folder containing her health record. He wondered how much trouble the doctor had to go through to keep this out of Blackwatch’s hands.

As Alex read them, a few of those shackles in his heart lifted. Dana had recovered and was fine. No signs of infection from any of the Redlight strains. Yet that detail bothered Alex. Why didn’t Greene infect her when she had the chance? Before his mind spiraled off into several theories that maybe she had been infected with a strain that hid itself well, one note from the doctor caught his eye.

“Possible natural resistance or immunity to Redlight may explain the lack of infection. Note: Reference her ‘brother’ Alexander J. Mercer and Blacklight. Possibly the genetic structures are at play?” Relief washed over him. Yet, it made him curious once more.

As he read the documents further, he learned a few days after Dana awoke from her coma, she bolted from the doctor’s care shortly after he told her what happened and some words Alex wanted him to pass onto her. And just in time, as Blackwatch came around shortly after she left. And there was another note.

“Blackwatch is looking for her. Godspeed, Alex.”

“And now I’m searching for her.” Alex tapped at his lip, thinking back to the documents. So far, visiting familiar areas and old stomping grounds of his sister’s led to nothing. She was gone like the wind. He had a feeling she hadn’t left the city.

“You’re somewhere here. Being a journalist. Breaking stories under a few pennames. Not your style to leave things alone. Hope you have some allies…” He chuckled. He was thinking of a news report he saw not too long ago. The “origins” of the infection.

“That’s still hotly ‘debated’ on who’s truly responsible. Shadowy government organizations, illegal pharmaceutical trials, a rogue agent… Yet…” His voice trailed off as he slowed his walk until he stopped in front of an opaque window. He looked at his reflection. At one of the many faces, he wore to pass through the city undisturbed. Today, it was an unassuming middle-aged man with some salt and pepper hair wearing an overly cozy black turtleneck sweater and plain jeans. He chuckled, adjusting the glasses on his face before he continued walking again.

“They still put the blame on Dr. Alexander J. Mercer. A sociopathic and paranoid scientist.” He could agree to that. “The man had ‘a mental breakdown and tried taking the city with him’.”

Though most of the memories of his creator continued to be forever distant, and he felt he would truly never regain them, he didn’t deny how the news described him. From what he recalled, from what he absorbed from former co-workers, it was true. The man knew how to mask those unsavory personality ticks to appear “normal” most days. A man who was “positive and full of life”, but every once in a while, he would slip. But he did have the capacity to love. His ex-girlfriend, Karen Parker. His eyes narrowed just thinking about her. But his features softened as he thought of Mercer’s other love. His sister, Dana.

Don’t think of the former. She failed him by getting arrested. She betrayed your trust by working with Blackwatch. That faint voice in the back of his mind hissed. He ignored it.

He refocused on Dana. Dana. There were times he questioned his creator’s memories of dealing with her. Did he ever truly care for her? Or was she a means to an end?

There were faint glimpses of their childhood, he could recall. An absentee father. A drunken mother. He shielded her many times from their mother when they were in her care. How he much preferred those foster homes over her, but whenever she was out of jail, the system always put them back with their mother. Despite their 9-year age gap, the brother and sister were close until Alex couldn’t take the constant abuse and sought a way out through his one passion, science. Selfishly sought a way out, but was there any other way? As soon as he could, he went off to college. Their contact was sparse. Eventually, he graduated and worked for various corporations before being headhunted by Gentek and ended up in New York. Some years later, in her own desperate bid to get a fresh start and reconnect with him, Dana moved to New York as soon as she was accepted into NYU.

Their conversations were tentative and in-person meetings were few, and she desperately wanted more. Over time, and through her sheer stubbornness, it seemed like something was slowly budding when he genuinely apologized for leaving her behind so suddenly. He even provided her with some support for her studies. Just when it seemed like they were truly reconnecting, communications went dark for some months. Whenever she tried to strike up a conversation, he would just tell her he was busy with work and had no time. Then he contacted her.

The bastard roped her into this mess. She could have been killed with all the snooping she did. She’s a good journalist, but he did not need to drag her in. And then… then… what he did at his end. He could see the Penn Station incident play clearly in his mind. Feel every bullet hit his creator before he dropped on top of the shattered vial and the final vestiges of life faded from his pathetic corpse.

That action to throw the vial made him call into question his love for his sister. Did he truly care for her?

She could become something better. Something like you. That voice whispered. Something was pulling at his mind, bringing back up what those medical documents theorized. He ignored it. All of it, shoving those files back into the depths.

“She nearly became a statistic… several times.” He mumbled.

That lingering guilt reverberated through every cell of his being. Before he grew a semblance of consciousness, he was using her just like his creator had. He had the excuse of “amnesia” when in truth he was the virus piloting a corpse, so he used her to help fill the gaps and point him in the right direction for more answers. It wasn’t right.

His mind was diving down that dark pit until another drone buzzed by.

“Focus, Alex.” He mumbled to himself. “You’ve got work to do. A sister to find.” He watched the latest drone fly by and disappear in between some buildings. “Hm… Think I’ll scout an outpost or base tonight. See how they work and put some of my new abilities to use. See what Blackwatch has gathered with their hunt.”

Finding a fairly secluded place to sit, he raised his hand to his face like he was going to adjust his glasses again; instead, he looked at his palm. The flesh in the center of it quivered and shifted as a yellow about the size of a golf ball rose to the surface. As it reached halfway, several dark red to black tendrils slowly crept out around its base. A second later, the flesh around his wrist rippled like the water before several small bulges rose and fell. It continued to do with the bulges working their way up his hand and around the cyst until several centipede-like creatures broke through his flesh. They squirmed about, snapping their tiny mandibles. He grinned.

“Both can be invasive, but considerably less lethal than my usual methods. With a faint risk of infection.” With a mere thought, the creatures and cyst merged back into his flesh, causing it to look normal once more. He finished the motion of adjusting his glasses. “And nicer for my brain. Fewer headaches from all that screaming in those memories of death.” He had grown tired of those. It had taken him forever to sort out the memories of all those he consumed and lock them away.

He got back to his feet and continued his stroll. “Just a little more sightseeing. Still haven’t seen all the changes to the city and need to keep in touch with my ‘human side’.” He hummed to himself. “And maybe I’ll spot some Blackwatch-affiliated buildings and checkpoints. Think I’ve seen some of those new mobile communication vehicles they’ve been fielding around the city. May try hitting one of those. A little less security and those buildings may have detectors that may catch me. And that Bloodtox. Ugh.” He knew he would eventually have to test his immunity to that poison sooner than later. He didn’t want to find out the hard way if he was deep within a base that only had one way of getting out.

A flock of pigeons passing by caught his eye. A twinkle of excitement filled them.

“Hm, think I can infect the local animals and have them do some snooping for me.”

———————————

As he continued his sightseeing, Alex put his abilities to work to aid his reconnaissance. With a few cysts here and some centipedes there, he infected some of the birds and local rats to create a small hive mind network to track Blackwatch movements and to see if more eyes could find any traces of his sister. He had more luck with the former compared to the latter. His sister was still a ghost in the wind. His hope lay with Blackwatch, if they were having any luck tracking her.

Eventually, day turned to night. Alex found himself returning to a familiar Lower Manhattan location—a hub of Blackwatch activity.

——————————

“Huh, would have thought they would have torn down this building after everything. But knowing Blackwatch and the government…”

Alex’s eyes were transfixed towering spire responsible for part of his birth. Gentek. Many memories flowed through his mind; his own, fragmented pieces of his creators, and so many others. Compared to how it looked during all the chaos a year ago, it barely showed any damage. It looked like Blackwatch had done a deep clean, routed out every inch of infection, and reinforced the building and surrounding blocks.

“And looks like Blackwatch took over a few blocks. Massive outpost and research facility setup from the looks of it. A solid fortress. Don’t want a repeat of something escaping. Smart. The bastards”

Currently, he was perched high on a rooftop a good distance away. Through a set of binoculars, he was carefully surveying the outpost and streets below, taking note of the automated security, drones, viral detectors, guard patrols, and vehicle traffic. The compound was fairly active as he watched various heavy-duty container trucks come and go, offloading what he could only assume was gathered biomass into one of the buildings.

“Wonder if that came from an underground nest? My little ‘drones’ stumbled across one Blackwatch was actively clearing some hours ago.” He lingered on the sight for a little longer before he turned his attention back to the base as a whole. “Don’t think about it for now. Need to borrow a brain to see what the setup is here. Going in blind and they could have a few detectors that may pick up me.” That was a risk he didn’t want to take. He was currently enjoying the fact Blackwatch had no clue he was back in the city and wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.

“Busy as ever…” His voice trailed off into a tuneless whistle as he continued to search. His gaze seemed to wander around aimlessly, subconsciously taking in information, until he suddenly locked onto a target. A grin crept across his face. “But I think I found the brain I’m going to borrow. Possibly brains. Follow them, snag ‘em, and come back if needed.”

He spotted a set of Blackwatch soldiers and Gentek scientists decked out in PPE loading up into a small convoy of heavily armored vehicles.

“New threads for their soldiers.” He mumbled as he watched them. Their new uniforms ditched the old black for a dark blue. While still form-fitting, now included pauldrons and a hood, a new mask with blue lenses for the googles, and then there was what could best be interpreted to be a knife-like blade attached to one forearm. They also looked a tad bulkier.

“Interesting design. Like the old black better. Question the changes, but who knows to what extent the remaining infection I haven’t encountered has evolved.” His mind drifted off to that Supreme Hunter. His whole body undulated in disgust, partially breaking his human disguise as his face rippled and contorted into a mess of shapes before falling back to his default form. He was glad no one else was on the rooftop.

I still wonder when that thing consumed Cross… played me like a damn fiddle, but it still lost in the end. Sometimes his mind would wander back to his precarious alliance with Captain Robert Cross. Did the man truly have an ounce of moral compass questioning his superiors’ “last resort” if they couldn’t halt the spread of the virus? Or was it all a carefully crafted ploy to pull on Alex’s need for answers and vengeance, waiting for the right moment to strike and lay him low?

Either way… we would have had to kill each other once the deed was done. Part of me feels some sympathy for the man. Made sure to find that Hunter’s corpse and burned it. And burned everything Blackwatch had gathered from the USS Ronald Reagan once I put myself back together. It took him some time to track down all the leads to find it, but once he did, there were no survivors.

It was a smart thing. You should have consumed it like its MOTHER once we beheaded it. That voice deep in his mind whispered. But we had a nuke to worry about. It sighed before it transitioned to a dark chuckle. Took some time for all the pieces to come back together, but we did clean up that mess and so much more. Heh. So much more.

Alex ignored the whisper. Or tried his best to ignore it. Another wave of disgust coursed through him, twisting the flesh of one leg into jagged, hardened, segmented silver and black shapes akin to his armored form. He could feel another wave coming, one he had to bring his mind back into focus to bring his disguise back in order. Focus.

He wasn’t sure why that subject was bothering him more than usual. There was a strange feeling to it, one he just couldn’t put his finger on. Focus.

That convoy was just about finished loading up and ready to go. He slowly got up from his perch as he watched one vehicle after the other roll out of the compound.

“I wonder if you’re going to that nest one of my bugs found in the sewers?” He watched the direction they were heading. “And you’re bringing along one of those communication vehicles. Perfect. If that’s connected to your entire database, that’s less infiltration I have to do that may blow my cover.”

Stashing his binoculars away into himself, he took a few steps back. His feet dug into the concrete of the roof, causing several cracks to spread out, as his biomass shifted and stored kinetic energy. He then broke out into a blinding sprint, the first few steps tearing up a few chunks of the roof before he took one last spring of a step off the edge of the roof and soared.

——————————

Alex followed the convoy as they headed towards Lower Manhattan, making sure to steer clear of any UAV drones buzzing about.

A cordoned-off block, swiftly evolving into a “temporary” quarantine zone according to a few plastered signs.

Alex found a roof not too far away he could perch on. He brought out his binoculars again and scoped out the sight.

“This must be new or has recently grown into a bigger problem.” He took note of the growing security as a few viral detectors were being set up while another group was inspecting the ladders and ropes set up on the enlarged sewer entrance. There was another group of armed soldiers head down an alleyway. He assumed they had made another entrance to go underground there.

“Ugh… Bloodtox. This must be bad.” He spotted an all too familiar modified US Military M270 MLRS that was now a Bloodtox Pumper. “I may just find out tonight if I’m still immune or not.”

He continued to scan the area.

“Think I can slip in if I act fast enough. Seen the new uniform enough times to mimic it, still need to grab a fresh one to copy it just right and get my hands on a radio. Let’s look like one of the grunts. Less questions.”

As his sight bounced from one soldier to another, with barely a thought, his body effortlessly shifted and twisted to look like one of the Blackwatch soldiers.

“Hope they don’t ask questions with me missing a weapon…” He took one last look at the site. “Hm, think I know who to grab. The new officer uniform lacks a hood.” He spotted what he assumed was an Officer by one of the communication trucks relaying information over to another Officer who was barking out orders as the soldiers and scientists were about to go down.

With carefully plotted paths and dashes, he slyly made his way closer to the quarantined block, making sure to time his inhuman movements in such a way he wouldn’t catch the eye of any patrols on the rooftop or a stray drone buzzing by. He found himself on a rooftop adjacent to the alleyway he saw some soldiers go down earlier. Another entrance had been made. A few soldiers stood guard. Steam and a faint shimmering haze exited the hole.

“Distraction… Hm… yes. This may draw more attention, but should be enough. And have a few linger back so they can ‘sweep up’ the mess.” He didn’t have to raise a hand. Shifting his boot to the edge of the roof, a horde of his centipedes emerged from his flesh and skittered down the building, with a few falling into the trash piles below.

The soldiers were oblivious to the small horde skittering towards them in the dim alleyway. It wasn’t until a few of them were about halfway up the pants of one did they finally reacted. The soldiers had enough sense to not shoot — themselves — and quickly knocked off the bugs as they swiftly backed up. With some distance made, they shot off a few rounds. Several bugs splattered into a spray of giblets before a tidal wave of more gushed forth, sweeping up the fallen.

“We’ve got a breach!” One soldier barked as they let loose a volley of shots.

Like moths to a flame, more soldiers came charging down the alley, taking aimed shots at the swarm. With a few signals, Alex had his centipedes strike at the soldiers a few times, mainly glancing bites, before having the mass back off as it “grew smaller” with each volley of bullets. The swarm broke into three before each darted down other alleyways. A round of curses sounded off from the soldiers, followed by reports of the breaches as they separated into groups and gave chase.

Waiting for the right moment, Alex stepped off the rooftop with a faint leap, before shifting all his mass downward, causing him to drop like a boulder. A blur slipped right past the last set of soldiers running by — like they would have noticed with them chasing down their skittering foes.

Slipping through the opening, just before he hit the sewer floor, Alex quickly shifted his mass, evenly distributing it through his body before releasing a burst of energy to change his trajectory, thrusting himself forward. He repeated the shift once more to adjust his angle and speed until his boots hit the ground and he came to a skidding halt.

He straightened himself up and tapped his boots against the ground before shaking his hands. “Been a while since I’ve had to do that. Missed it.” He let out a hushed laugh.

Head whipping back and forth to survey his surroundings, he sent a few signals to the centipedes on the run to scatter and go underground to meet back up with him as soon as possible. He sent out one last signal to the ones that were hidden to clean up all traces of Blacklight before returning to him.

So far, he saw no signs of infection in this part of the tunnel. His vision and senses shifted, muffling most of the world as it all turned red. A faint viral trail unraveled before him. He followed it.

Hm. His body trembled, taking in all shifting the information. Like old times. He could sense a large mass nestled deep underground. Sense that there was something large moving. He didn’t like that. Those cautious footsteps picked up in pace.

Shifting his senses back to “normal” he heard screeching, gunfire, and those all too familiar military barks. It sounded dire.

Alex came to the edge of the tunnel opening and pressed against a wall before peering in. Glowing red and yellow pustules lined the ceiling and walls of some old substation, all filled with malformed forms of infected, all encompassed by an ever-pulsating mass of red, glistening flesh and gore.

No Hunters yet, good. He thought as he examined the area. Or so he thought.

An inhuman screech of a roar followed by the harsh sounds of concrete being torn up and flesh tearing. The pained cries of a soldier had his eyes quickly following the source. He caught sight of the poor, bleeding soldier flying through the air towards his direction before crashing into the ground in a broken heap; their weapon clattered on a few feet ahead of them. Another roar had him find the source.

“Fall back! Fall back! Back to the main entrance! Team Alpha is deploying the Bloodtox and fans!”

There was a Hunter, more malformed than what Alex remembered a year ago, with several cancerous growths misaligning its spine, hounding the task force now down three men as those massive rending claws struck another slow soldier, sending them flying. Their body twisted around a broken generator.

“That’s not good.” He didn’t like the sight and didn’t want to test his Bloodtox immunity this soon. A few of his centipedes had come back and rejoined his mass. He sent out a signal to the others to find their way back topside, but to stay close. Best to keep them away from the gas. “But I may be able to use this chaos to my advantage.”

Hearing a faint groan and noticing some infected shifted from the mass, chasing the retreating soldiers down the tunnel. They were heading to that one soldier the Hunter had thrown earlier was still alive, if barely. Perfect.

Before the horde could finish the job, Alex dashed from his cover. Breaking out into a slide, he snatched the fallen soldier’s gun and made quick work of the infected who were closing in with precision shots. With them taken care of, he headed over to the soldier, grabbed their collar, and dragged them behind some debris.

The soldier grabbed his arm, their grip was shaky but somehow still strong. “T-t-thanks. Get me back on my fu—”

A foot to the throat silenced him. “Sorry, it broke your skin.” Shifting his head ever so slightly, Alex saw some tears in the soldier’s armor. It was several layers thick, with vital areas reinforced, but even that didn’t stop the three angry slash wounds wrapping around their side. Blood was pouring from them, pooling around the soldier. It was miracle they weren’t deeper. With a shift of his vision, he could pick up the faintest traces of Redlight seeping into his wounds.”You’re infected.”

“Impo—”

Before the soldier could react, Alex shifted his mass just enough to smash their neck like it was a grape before they could even make a gargled gasp. Blood sprayed out. Several tendrils burst forth from his leg and made quick work, breaking down and integrating the soldier and their gear into him. He shuttered as a wave of memories hit him. Another bastard. They haven’t changed much. And it was better safe killing him with that hint of infection eating through their boosters. They assuaged the guilt.

As his body integrated the gear, he quickly tuned into the radio to check the situation. The team was down another man, but they were nearly at the entrance. Alpha team had made it back and had their own horde and Hunter problem, but the Bloodtox had been deployed.

“Guess I’ll find out soon. Let’s see how good my acting skills are.”

Fighting off a few infected, he checked his rifle, reloaded it, pilfered what he could from the other dead soldier, and headed to the action.

It didn’t take long for him to find that thick cloud of poison. His stride slowed down for just a moment before pushing forward. Every cell of his body shuttered as he passed through the curtain. He could feel it eating at him, flesh dying and necrotizing for just a few seconds before his body remembered what it had experienced and what it had newly learned before it quickly adapted to the formula and shunted it out.

Good. Good. Must be close to the original batch. But still need to be careful in the future. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. His vision split between Infrared and Infected, and his mind quickly separated the infected from the soldiers. A majority of the horde had slowed down once they had hit the cloud of death with most of the ground. The stronger variants trudged through it like the rabid animals they were looking to kill and spread.

They’re going to need some help with those Hunters. The Bloodtox is slowing them down, but it’s not enough. Alex picked up the pace and began to fire aimed shots at the beasts.

“Hey! Watch your fire! Watch your fire!” Voice perfectly mimicking the dead, Alex barked as several bullets whizzed past him, with a few clipping him.

“Imp?” The Officer sounded bewildered. “The fuck you still alive?”

Alex faked a few pained sounds and coughs. “Some broken ribs won’t put me down and I want to cave that damn freak’s skull in!” He let out a few more curses as he dodged around a few of the infected.

“Got him in my sights, sir.” Another soldier said. They saw their “fallen” friend moving towards them with a limp in his step, quickly gunning down any infected that came close. “Fuckin’ Impulsive!” They laughed.

“We survive this fucking mess and those boosters hold, I’m buying you a few rounds tonight.” The Officer said.

Alex laughed. “You’re on!”

As the last of the Walkers dropped, they all concentrated fire on their Hunter; the other team seemed to be fairing fine with their problem as someone brought along some heavy weaponry to cripple the beast.

Following squad tactics, and living up to the callsign of the man he was impersonating, Alex assisted the team in putting down the Hunter. It was a chaotic dance of letting loose a wall of bullets whilst dodging mad charges and rending claws. Alex even took a “hit” meant for a teammate but rolled out of the claw swipe just enough to make his continued survival believable. The other team swung around and with their heavy weaponry, they put down the Hunter.

“Vector! Take your squad and sweep that substation clean. Burn it. My teams thinned, taking the injured up, and will be back with fresh bodies.” The Officer barked to the other Officer. They acknowledged and ordered his men down the tunnel. The one with the flamethrower let off a few blasts.

The Officer went over to Alex, who was being assisted to his feet by another soldier. “Son of a gun.” He looked the man up and down, taking note of his appearance. Blood and other viscera caked him from head to toe. Several parts of his uniform and gear were tattered. And then those claw marks. The layers of reinforced armor ripped through like butter, revealing three searing angry wounds. The flesh still looked healthy, even with the blood still seeping blood. With a firm hand, he smacked Alex’s shoulder. Alex gave a pained grunt. “I’m still writing your bone-head up for breaking cohesion charging the damn thing.”

Alex let out a pained laugh. “It killed Striker, sir. Had to.” Shifting his rifle to one hand, he drew back and punched the Officer just around the collarbone, just enough to mask the pain of him injecting one of his centipedes. The Officer cursed and gave him a hard gut punch making Alex double over, “vomiting” in his mask.

“You’re still getting your beers minus two rounds, idiot. But good work.” The Officer said, rolling their shoulder. “Get him topside and to the doctors for a quick check-over. Same with you.” He ordered.

While they headed topside, he lingered around a little longer, waiting for a few fresh soldiers and scientists to come down to secure the area. He watched the scientists grab their samples and take readings before they were escorted back topside.

The Officer cursed under their breath as they rubbed the spot Alex had punched earlier, swearing they would beat Impulse if he fractured his collarbone with that brick hand of his. That centipede was slowly making its way towards the Officer’s spine, causing some irritation along the way. Once along the spine, it attached itself with several tendrils and began to tap into the nervous system and its synaptic pathways.

Let’s see what you know. Alex felt the centipede send him a signal it was burrowed deep and ready to trigger. He had to balance his signals carefully to not break his human mask as he let the medics and scientists examine him. With a mere thought, he had the centipede dig deeper and subtly take control of the Officer. They already had reports on their mind and he just guided them to that communications truck. Alex made sure to take note of his credentials and passwords used to log onto //BLACKNET for the future. He let the Officer send in a field report and a request for additional men before he subtly began to direct him to do some searches for Dana.

At first, the searches brought up information he already knew until he found a connecting link. ATHENA. An alias of an individual who was a minor thorn in Blackwatch’s side concerning everything that happened last year and was still happening. The alias was swiftly associated with Dana Mercer, but Blackwatch was not 100% sure it was just her and not a collective as Alex noticed several names of people they were keeping tabs on or seeking to silence. He quickly memorized them before refocusing on his sister. She was on that silence list. All the information he read explained the walls he had been hitting trying to find her. It seemed Dana had been jumping islands every few months when Blackwatch would close in on her. Smart. But it looked like they were closing in on her again. Her last known location was somewhere in the heart of Brooklyn. Then he finally saw a picture of her.

Dana… Still the same, but somehow looking a little more put together. More… mature.

Alright, got the information. Delete these searches, go back to the reports and finish those up, log out, and loosen control for now. Alex thought as he let the centipede work before he loosened his control. He was still going through the motions of letting the medics work on him, carefully adjusting his nature to allow them to remove his gear and “respond” positively to the boosters they were giving to him to fight off the Redlight that lingered. Part of his brain was guiding those other lingering bugs in the area back into the sewers and through the Bloodtox to possess some of the fallen infected. The other part of his brain was processing the new information concerning his sister and the dangerous game she was playing. He knew he needed to find her fast before Blackwatch did or before she jumped islands again.

Hm… Not enough necrosis has eaten through the Walkers and those Hunter bodies are hardy as ever, even if malformed. We should give them a show? Don’t you agree? That whispered spoke. At first, he didn’t pay attention to it. It was just background noise he had to live it. But he felt a shift. Two larger minds connected to him.

Alex’s eyes widened. Wait what—

Two thunderous roars caused the very ground underneath them to shake. The bark of gunfire erupted from the sewer entrance before it suddenly went dead silent. Several soldiers, guns at the ready, rushed to the entrance. A second later, the severed halves of a soldier flew out of the hole. Then a gnarled clawed hand emerged before slamming down into the pavement, tearing into it before a Hunter heaved itself up and out. The soldiers let loose, quickly backing up as the thing seemed undeterred by the gunfire. Several shambling Walkers emerged from the hole, bodies falling apart due to their extended time in the Bloodtox, and threw themselves at the soldiers, throwing the cohesion into chaos.

An Officer began barking out orders to protect the samples and kill the infected.

And he needs to shut up. The voice chuckled darkly. There was another shift within himself that made Alex freeze. Before he could react, he felt a part of him order that centipede within the Officer to strike.

In between barking orders and returning fire, the Officer went stock-still, rifle clattering to the ground, before they dropped into a heap. Their body began to twist into shapes that standard bones and ligaments couldn’t support as they violently convulsed. Another other Hunter soon pulled itself up and attacked the Bloodtox machine, knocking it aside and over and rupturing several tanks. Red, hateful clouds rolled out, spreading throughout the area.

What the hell? I didn’t do that. Before Alex had a moment to process the chaos, the first Hunter tore into the tent where he was being treated. Bodies and equipment scattered.

This will hurt just a bit, but will clear us from suspicion. Play into it and concentrate. The worms will scatter once we’re gone. The voice whispered. He felt more shifts within against his will making his body more “solid.”

“Oh fu—”

A meaty claw swiftly wrapped around his bare chest, rending his back with deep gouges. Alex let out a pained grunt as he slammed a fist against the brick wall of an arm. It pulled him in close, roaring into his face before an unimaginable force caved his chest in with one hard squeeze. Alex gasped before all the air left his lungs. A horrendous pain radiated through his body. He had to use all his will to keep his disguise. His mind linked with the Hunter for just a second, allowing him to prepare for the second strike. Another squeeze and hard flick of its claw and it “snapped” his spine. He went limp — he was partially knocked out but held his form. The Hunter roared again before it pulled back and pitched his corpse far and high before turning its attention to the rest. More bodies to rend. More chaos to spread.

The fight didn’t last long once that other voice determined Alex was far enough from the fray. The centipedes made their exit and quickly disappeared to rejoin their host.

——————————

Alex was out for several hours, but some part of his body, whether it be instinct or something else, had picked himself up and reconstructed itself before continuing on his mission. He hunted down a few more communication trucks across Manhattan for a few hours to do some more data digging — and somebody snatching — before the fallen Officer’s credentials were frozen.

With some more careful digging before the network was locked down, he found some more details concerning recent sightings of his sister and allies, narrowing it down to five potential apartments, ranging in habitability. The net was cast far and wide. He needed a way to narrow it down or else he would be searching for her all month. With that information, he started a new hunt before heading for Brooklynn. The names of those allies. Ones that had fresh kill orders.

#prototype #[prototype]#Alex Mercer #prototype 2 #[prototype] 2 #writings #fic writings #prototype fic #[prototype] fic

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