#xcom zhang | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

witharsenicsauce · 5 years ago

Text

Chosen Stories From the War #26: The House That Death Forgot, Part 2

(Content Warning: This chapter contains descriptions of broken bones/gore)

“This is Taymallat. I am alive-”

“I am alive-”

Annette hit the stop button on the recording, sighing as she did. “I was hoping no one would hear it.”

“Then why did you send it?” Gur-Rai crossed his arms and began to lean back against the wall, but stopped himself.. They were back in the hidden room, the door only partially closed as they weren’t sure they’d ever get it open if they shut it all the way. Dhar-Mon had cleared away some of the cobwebs, but it was still dark and airless, not a window in sight.

“Because I had just arrived here.” Annette looked exhausted. “I didn’t know.”

“About the girl?” Kon-Mai asked. “How much of a threat does she pose?”

“More than you could realize.” Annette didn’t look at the Chosen when she spoke to them. Though Zhang had explained to her that these aliens were on their side, she still seemed wary. “I arrived here on the 18th of August in 2038. If it is indeed 2040 as you say…” Annette swallowed, her throat dry, and looked at her hands. “Then I have been here nearly 2 years.”

“Why didn’t you just leave?” Bryni asked. “Sure that gate’s a bit rusty, but from what I hear, there’s a back way.”

Annette shook her head. “ You really should not have come.” She hissed. “I know about the back garden. I know about the sewers, and vents. I even scaled the gate, and the walls themselves. And each time, I would turn around and be right back where I started, as though the world had inverted itself. There is no leaving this place.”

In the silence that hung in the air, Kon-Mai stood. “There must be a way.” She declared. “If there is escape from the Elders, then there is certainly escape from this Hell.”

“Escaping the Elders nearly took our deaths.” Dhar-Mon mentioned as he stood up. “I would not be so flippant with this.”

“Either way, we won’t get anything done sitting in this box.” Gur-Rai slid the door open, poked his head out, and nodded. “Coast is clear. Taymallat, did you do any exploring in the two years you were here?”

“As much as I could while fleeing a psychotic woman with a shotgun.” With her finger and began drawing in the dust on the ground. “The house is technically four stories. We are on the second floor, you’ve seen the first with the foyer.” She drew a roof. “But there is an attic, here under the roof, and down this way is the basement. I believe there may be a fifth level under that as well.”

“What makes you believe so?” Kon-Mai asked as she leaned in close.

“Once while I was hiding in the wine cellar, I found a large door hidden behind shelves and barricaded with strong wood.” Annette answered. “I couldn’t get it open though, even with my power…”

Gur-Rai chuckled. “What do you think, Brother? Can you rip a door off its hinges?”

Dhar-Mon sighed. “You insult me, Brother, to insinuate I am only useful for my brawn.”

“Oh hey now, I never said that.” Gur-Rai walked over and wrapped his arms around Dhar-Mon from behind, resting his chin on top of his big brother’s head. “You’re also the best cook I’ve ever known.”

Annette looked between the three Chosen. “You three are related?”

“Yes.” Kon-Mai raised a brow. “What revealed it, our coloring?”

“I should have guessed.” Annette looked closer. “Same nose. Same eyes. And you two.” She pointed between Kon-Mai and Gur-Rai. “You have the same chin.”

“No mention of cheekbones?” Gur-Rai chuckled. “They’re our best feature if I do say so myself.”

Annette got to her feet, approaching Zhang who stood with his back against the wall, seemingly not bothered by the dust. “...Do you trust them?” She whispered.

Zhang raised a brow.

“I do not like working with aliens, even if they look so human.” She gave Gur-Rai a side eye glance, and he smirked at her. “But if you trust them, I’ll bite my tongue.”

Zhang looked over at Kon-Mai, who had to remain crouched because she was taller than the ceiling.

“Do you trust them, Chilong?” Annette asked. “Can I trust them?”

Zhang swallowed the dry lump in his throat. “...Yes.” He said quietly. “The Commander herself selected them.”

Annette’s eyebrows shot up, and then she chuckled. “Oh Sunny, qu'est-ce que tu fais?” She turned to the Chosen and nodded. “You are right, we should not stay here. If she finds us we are sitting ducks..”

“Shame. This was such a good hiding spot.” Gur-Rai quipped as they fileb back out into the hall. “What’s our plan, Colonel?”

Zhang sighed, gazing around the house, the familiar walls, that used to be covered in pictures of them. “...Basement.” He said. “We’re going to get that door open.”

The basement was dark, damp, and smelled of rot. Dhar-Mon could see more spiders in the corners, and Gur-Rai had to flick away a cockroach skittering up his leg. The stone walls held the dirt at bay, but they could see roots growing through the cracks in the rocks. The wine cellar, perhaps once a thing of beauty that held a collection of the finest wine, was overgrown with moss and dust, hiding the bottles in a layer of grime.

“It’s behind there.” Annette pointed to one of the shelves decorated with bottles. “I managed to move the shelf, but the door behind it is stuck tight.”

Dhar-Mon stepped closer and...staggered. As he drew within range of the entrance, the smell of rotting eggs and metal hit him full force, making him feel deeply sick.

Gur-Rai jumped forward and caught his brother by the arm. “Woah, easy there. You okay?”

Dhar-Mon nodded, but the world was still spinning. “...The air in this place is old.” He said. “I am...simply breathless.”

Kon-Mai stepped up, took the shelf by the edge, and hauled it to one side. It slid part of the way, unblocking a corner of the door. She looked up at the others, a brow raised, and Zhang came over to help her. Taking hold of the other side, he shoved it in tandem with her, and the doorway cleared.

Doorway was a loose term. The “door” was made of thick stone, and looked like it might have had a handle once, but that was long gone. As the shelf was pulled away, the smell of rot grew stronger, and Dhar-Mon fought the urge to double over.

“This is where I got stuck.” Annette said. “I couldn't get through the door on my own.”

“It’s barely a door.” Bryni said, knocking on the stone. “Amontillado! Ya in there?” She chuckled.

“If I shoot it it might come down.” Gur-Rai reached for his gun.

“It might also bring the ceiling down on top of us.” Kon-Mai replied. “Brothers. Colonel Zhang. Let us join our power.”

Zhang looked at her skeptically.

“That is how we opened the door to rescue you.” She explained, putting her hand on the stone. “Perhaps alone we are not strong enough, but together…”

“I’ve never been a good psion, but it’s worth a shot.” Gur-Rai stepped up beside his sister. “You coming, Brother?”

Dhar-Mon hesitated: every cell in his body was screaming at him to turn around, run, run away from this cursed place, and do not open that door, but he still put his hand on the stone beside them and closed his eyes. Behind him, he felt Malinalli’s touch on his back, and all of a sudden felt a bit more at ease.

The door jolted, then slowly slid open. The Shrinemaiden stepped back, letting Gur-Rai peek his head inside. Dhar-Mon almost stumbled back against Malinalli, the stench of sulfur suddenly engulfing him. His ears were ringing and under the screeching, he heard a rising growl.

Gur-Rai drew his gun, undoubtedly feeling the surge of psionic energy as he took one step inside the pitch black room. “...Hello?”

Nothing. For a moment, it seemed as though they had imagined it.

Then a growl came from the darkness, and four weathered, clawed hands dragged their way into the light. Kon-Mai stumbled backwards into Zhang, her heart pounding.

From behind them, a scream. Annette drew her gun whirled around, pointing it at the girl in the blue skirt, who had come up behind them silently. She was slightly dirty and her shirt was torn but, for falling such a way, there were no injuries anyone could see. She cocked her own shotgun, pointing it not at them, but past them into the black room.

“Ano ang ginawa mo?!” She screamed. “Pinakawalan mo siya!”

“What is she saying?” Kon-Mai demanded, drawing her blade.

“I don’t know!” Annette snapped as she removed the safety on her gun. But before the three could lunge at each other, a rumbling groan shook the very foundation of the house.

“She said…” Zhang cried as he stumbled “...We released ‘him’.”

It was then that Gur-Rai let out a scream, and Dhar-Mon dove in and grabbed his brother by the arm. One of the gnarled limbs had taken Gur-Rai by the leg and was attempting to drag him into the darkness. He fired a shot at the unseen enemy, but it’s grip did not even falter, and it’s hold on him grew even tighter.

Kon-Mai sprang into action, letting out a catlike hiss as she dove forward and sliced off the limb that was attached to her brother’s leg. The creature cried out in agony, and as the limp arm dropped, purple ichor seeped into the floor. From the darkness, a pair of lilac eyes opened and glared at them.

“What the fuck is that?!” Gur-Rai spate as he scrambled back to safety, not sure if he should aim at the girl who had a gun pointed at him, or the monster that was trying to drag him to Hell.

The other three hands sprang forth, searching wildly for something—or someone—to grab onto. Zhang barely managed to duck out of the way of it’s grasp, leading it to clutch the edges of the door frame. With all it’s dormant strength, the creature pulled itself forward, growling as it emerged into the light.

Perhaps growling was the wrong word: the creature had no mouth, and the noises it made could rather be heard deep in the souls of all who stood close. Tattered robes hung off it’s emaciated body, and rather than walk, it hovered toward them like a ghost.

“It can’t be…” Bryni gasped. “That’s…”

“An Elder.” Dhar-Mon was as pale as the moon, his eyes wide with total abject horror. Kon-Mai stumbled backward, her breathing quickening against her will and her body shaking like a leaf in a storm. As he was perhaps the only one still with his faculties, Gur-Rai got to his feet and grabbed his siblings by their arms.

“RUN!”

They did not need to be told twice.

Bryni, Annette, Malinalli, all three Chosen, and Colonel Zhang all took off up the stairs. Zhang looked around, searching for the girl in the blue skirt, but she had already disappeared like the wind.

Behind them, they heard the walls of the basement crumble, and a plume of dust erupted as the Elder, barely more than a mummified corpse, burst out from the rubble and used it’s bent limbs to drag it’s body through the wooden hallways, crawling almost as fast as the group ran. Annette ducked into a small room to their left and Bryni and Zhang followed, but the Chosen and Malinalli seemed to not notice, focusing only on sprinting as fast as they could.

The Chosen were fast; with their long legs and superhuman strength, speed had never been an issue for them. But now that this thing was scuttling towards them like a spider out of hell, they just could not seem to make their legs move fast enough. Dhar-Mon scooped Malinalli into his arms, her short stature meaning she’d been falling behind, and Kon-Mai began to slow, her tired body still trembling.

“Don’t you dare!” Gur-Rai grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “Keep fucking going!”

The hallway ended in an open door, light pouring through it like the pearly gates of paradise, and they all made a mad dash for it. The Elder was close on their heels, screaming at them in garbled Etheric. One clawed hand reached out and closed around Kon-Mai’s leg, sending her falling and splaying across the floor, her leg bending in a way it was never meant to bend.

Gur-Rai turned and aimed his gun at the monster and unloaded a shot right into the Elder’s purple eye. While it did next to nothing to actually hurt it, the wound did make it loosen its grip on Kon-Mai long enough for her to crawl away towards her brother, who looped his arm under hers and pulled her along into the sanctuary of the open door.

Dhar-Mon put Malinalli down and slammed the door closed, taking his hammer off his back and sticking it under the handle. Malinalli rushed over to Kon-Mai, who Gur-Rai was helping down into a seated position.

He took a look at her leg and turned white as a sheet. “Oh.”

“It’s alright.” Kon-Mai tried to assure him. “I am fine, it doesn’t hurt.” She chuckled, perhaps to try and calm her own nerves. “It cannot be that bad.”

“Konnie.” Malinalli dropped beside her. “Don’t look now, but it definitely is that bad.”

Despite the warning, Kon-Mai looked. At first, it looked like she’d been impaled with something sharp, like a pipe. Then she saw that the object was red, and white, and…

It was her bone. She had a compound fracture. But that...didn’t make sense. She’d had broken bones before, much worse than this. And this felt nothing like it.

“It does not hurt.” Kon-Mai insisted. “At all.”

“Well, that’s good at least.” Gur-Rai patted her shoulder.

“Unless you’re in shock.” Malinalli pulled on some Nitrile gloves. “Dhar-Mon, is that door blocked?”

“Yes.” He assured her. “But I hear the...creature stalking the hall on the other side.”

“You know if that thing wanted to, it could break down the door.” Gur-Rai said, sliding down to sit beside his sister. “I can’t believe we found an Elder in the basement…”

“Perhaps it is weak. It may not pose as much of a threat as we believe.” Kon-Mai suggested. “Did you recognize it, Brother?”

“I was a bit too busy running for my life to ask if it was our long lost uncle.” Gur-Rai grimaced.

Dhar-Mon turned from the door. “...It’s aura was not one that I recognized.” He replied to her. “I did not know there were others besides those we knew; those who created us.”

“Weren’t there a few Elders that XCOM killed in the Early War?” Malinalli asked as she began fussing with trying to set the bone back in place. “Maybe that was one of them.”

“It’s very possible.” Dhar-Mon said. “But why is it here? In this place?”

“I have a more pressing question.” Gur-Rai stood up.

“More pressing than the Elder trying to kill us?” Malinalli raised a brow.

“Absolutely. Where the fuck is Zhang?”

Zhang hauled Bryni to her feet, and she waved him away. “I’m fine.” She insisted. “I’m fine. Just kinda winded.”

“La baise qui était?” Annette spat, panting as she leaned against the wall. “Was that...it can’t be a…”

“That was an Ethereal.” Zhang growled. “An Ethereal. In the basement, locked away like a demon.”

“Looked kinda scraggly for an Ethereal.” Bryni said. “Ain’t they supposed to be all godly-like?”

“They are mortal, Firebrand, just like us.” Zhang pulled his pistol from his belt and cocked it. “I need to find Malinalli. She is definitely in danger.”

“She’s in danger?!” Annette looked at him like he was insane. “WE are in danger, Chilong!”

“I promised Senuna I’d protect her.” Zhang glared at Annette. “We cannot be split up for long, that thing will go after someone, and if it goes after them…” He couldn’t finish that sentence. “Sunny would never forgive me.”

“She is not yours to worry about, Chilong.” Annette insisted. “We will be lucky if any of us get out of here alive!”

“Thanks, that’s helpful.” Bryni said, one hand on her hip. “I’m with ol’ Chilong here. Molly’s my pal, and bless her heart she couldn’t hit a standing target if it picked up the gun and shot itself.” She pulled her gun off her back. “If it comes at her and she ain’t got the others to carry her off, that demon’ll drag her right on down to Hell.”

Annette rubbed her hands over her face in utter exasperation. “Do you even know where to look?”

“I think I saw her and the Blue Man Group take off down the hall.”

“Then we must follow the hallway.” Zhang looked at Annette. “Will you stay here or come?”

Annette squeezed her eyes shut. “I never should have sent for help.” She drew her own, worn out pistol. “Let's find them, Chilong.”

“Righty-ho!” Bryni flung the door open and screamed.

The girl in the blue skirt, her eyes wild with fury, shoved Bryni inside and pointed her shotgun right in her face. “Walang hiya ka, punyeta!” She spat, Bryni backing away.

“What is she saying?!” Bryni let out a yelp, stumbling and falling and continuing to try and crawl away. The girl took her shot, missed as Bryni rolled off to the side, and Annette pointed her gun at the girl.

“Wait!” Zhang raised his hands. “Don’t shoot!”

“Nakulong siya!” The girl looked up at them, her eyes glowing purple and her black hair floating around her shoulders. “Sino ka?! Bakit ka napunta?!”

“We don’t speak Tagalog!” Annette spat. She pointed at the shotgun in the girl's hands. “Gun! Down!”

The girl instead put up her middle finger and pointed her gun at Annette.

“Bulan.” Zhang’s voice was calm as he stepped between the two women, looking at the girl with the blue skirt right in her glowing eyes. “Mangyaring huwag saktan kami.”

Annette and Bryni looked up at Zhang in disbelief, Annette moreso, but neither of them could match the horror that appeared on the girl’s face as he said her name.

“...Shaojie?” She stammered, her voice weak and cracked.

He nodded, his hands still raised. “Narito ako upang matulungan, Bulan.”

Bulan’s look of disbelief morphed on her face into a look so full of hate it sent chills down Zhang’s spine. “Ang iyong "tulong" ay pinatay sa atin.” She cocked her shotgun and pointed it in Zhang’s face. He took a step backward, closing his eyes as he prepared for his end...and the sound of a pistol going off sent his ear ringing.

Bulan collapsed to the ground unceremoniously, her body crumpled like a sheet.

Annette shook her pistol, which was smoking. Turning on her, Zhang snapped. “Why did you do that?”

“Why…?” Annette looked at him in disbelief. “Chilong, she had a gun pointed at your face!”

“What’d you call her, Colonel?” Bryni asked as she scrambled to her feet. “What’s that word? Bu-lahn?”

“Bulan…” He stared down at the body of the girl, blood staining her white shirt. “Her name is...was Bulan Kepa.”

“And how do you know that, Chilong?” Annette asked. “She’s a teenage girl, I doubt you were friends before the war.”

“I know.” He almost whispered. “I don’t know how to explain this.”

“Well, start at the beginnin’.” Bryni continued to pry.

“When I was part of the Triad, our client was a Filipino man who owed us almost 2 million dollars.” He whispered. “They...we kidnapped his children. All of them. I was only 18, and the oldest girl was no more than two years younger.”

Bryni looked down at Bulan’s body. “...Heavens to Betsy…” She looked up at Zhang. “...And that’s her, is it?”

“She knew me.” He muttered. “She recognized me. Said my help was what doomed them to begin with.”

Annette grabbed his hand. “Chilong, now is no time to dwell on this. Did you just say we need to find the child?”

“Yes.” He looked to Annette. “And she’s not a child anymore.”

“Old habits.” She pulled him out of the room, gesturing for Bryni to follow.

As they closed the door, Bulan’s arm twitched violently.

Malinalli wrapped the gauze tightly around Kon-Mai’s leg. “That’s the best I can do for now.”

“That is fine.” Kon-Mai insisted. “I told you, it does not hurt.”

“It should hurt.” Dhar-Mon insisted, laying glowing hands over his sister’s leg. “Are you dizzy? Cold?”

She shook her head. “My leg is slightly numb. Other than that, it does not feel broken in the slightest.” She looked down at her leg. “How can you tell it’s healing?”

“I...can feel it.” He sighed. “That is a lie, I cannot feel it. In fact at the moment, I cannot feel anything but turmoil and unrest.”

“Probably because of the monster that’s traipsing around outside.” Gur-Rai said, his ear pressed to the door. “I can hear him muttering.”

“Could we speak to it?” Kon-Mai asked. “Perhaps it shall cease it’s attacks.”

“That sounds like a bad idea.” Malinalli said as she looked to Dhar-Mon. “...But we might at least find out what it’s doing here.”

Dhar-Mon looked away from Kon-Mai. “Brother, will you guard the door?”

“Sure thing.” Gur-Rai gave him a thumbs up.

“Malinalli, I ask that you take my hand.” He said. “An Elder’s mind is strong and terrible, and two minds stand a better chance than one alone.”

“Of course.” She took Dhar-Mon’s hands and sat across from him. She felt a click, their minds linking like they had so many times before. This time, the two reached out with their collective consciousness, looking for other signals.

As they settled into their trance, Kon-Mai got to her feet, testing her leg. There was no pain. It was stiff, but she still had most of the feeling in it. It didn’t feel broken.

“Something is quite wrong here.” She said.

“Oh really?” Gur-Rai crossed his arms and leaned his back against the door. “What tipped you off?”

Kon-Mai sighed. “Beyond the Elder in the basement.”

“I feel like that’s a pretty big development, Sister.” He looked behind him, as though he were waiting for something to slam against the door. Thankfully, nothing came.

Kon-Mai began to sift through the papers adorning the tables and desks. The room was too small to be a library, but the array of books gave it the impression it was at least used as a study.

“These photos are quite faded.” She held one up. “The color has washed away. It’s monochrome now.”

“Give it here.” Gur-Rai held his hand out, and Kon-Mai brought the photo into his waiting hand. He only took a glance at it before laughing. “Oh Sister, are you that naive?”

“What?” She growled.

“This is a black and white photograph.” He waggled it toward her. “Humans didn’t always have digital scanning technology, you know. God, you would have died in the film days.”

“I knew that.” Kon-Mai crossed her arms and Gur-Rai could see in her face that she, in fact, did not know that. “Why do you think it is here?”

“Who knows? Could be an old photo.” He examined it in more detail. “Maybe an old family…hm.” He looked closer. “Hey, Kon-Mai, remember the girl who attacked us?”

“I could not forget her if I tried.” She said.

He turned the photo around. “Is it just me, or does that look like her?”

“The quality is such that it doesn’t look like much of anything.” Kon-Mai took the photo back and squinted at it again.

It was indeed a family photo, and a large family at that. An older man and a woman stood on either side of the group, the man wearing a business suit and looking very proper and the woman dressed in what was almost a ball gown, with high padded shoulders and a fan in her hand. Between them, five children of varying ages stood, the youngest being an infant that was held by one of the other children. Smack in the middle, the tallest girl stood, as though she were connecting it all.

Kon-Mai brought it closer. “If it is her, she is younger here.”

“Why’s it in black and white then?” Gur-Rai held up his fingers. “For one thing, if that was taken before the invasion, and I’ll bet you it was, everyone had color photography by 2015. Why would they be using shitty film?”

“Perhaps it is niche?” Kon-Mai reasoned.

“Okay, but also consider.” Gur-Rai held up a second finger. “The invasion happened 25 years ago. That girl was barely older than a teenager.”

“Perhaps she looks young for her age.” Kon-Mai said. “Malinalli is 26 and she looks incredibly young.”

“She’d be at least forty, now.”

“There are forty year olds that look young.”

“Okay, guard the door for me for a second.” He pulled away from his spot, and Kon-Mai leaned against it, watching as her brother began to rifle through the papers on the table.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Well Sister. I have one last question for you.” He held up the photo again. “This looks like the same family, yes?” He held it up to a Philippine newspaper, folded neatly and covered in dust.

The glossy photo in his hand, while not a direct match, greatly resembled the photo of the family plastered across the front page, under boldly printed letters Kon-Mai couldn’t decipher.

“...It appears so.”

“Okay. So answer this.” He held it up and pointed to the date on the paper. “So why is this newspaper dated back to 1960?”

Zhang and Bryni poked their heads out into the hall, Bryni holding her breath. Annette guarded them from behind, her eyes darting around wildly. “Mon Dieu.” She whimpered. “I can feel him in my head. I can’t tell if he’s right behind us or on the other side of the property.”

“His psionic field is overpowering.” Zhang agreed.

“Y’all managed to kill these fuckers before, right?!” Bryni hissed. “How’d you do that?”

“We shot at them until they exploded.” Zhang grumbled.

“Ah.”

Zhang gestured for them to move, and the three crept along the hallway.

“Where ya think they ran off to?” Annette asked.

“I don’t know.” Zhang looked around them. “...This was the Father’s wing.”

“He had a wing?” Annette asked.

“He was quite wealthy.” Zhang replied. “We are near the study.”

“Maybe they went-” Annette broke off. “...I hear him.”

“The Ethereal?” Bryni gasped. “What’s he saying.”

Annette grimaced in pain, clutching her head. “I...I don’t know. He’s speaking but I can’t understand!”

“The three speak Etheric!” Bryni said. “I’ll be you they could-”

“It’s not Etheric!” Annette shook her head violently. “It’s all turned around...I hear French, Russian, Etheric and Chinese, it’s like his mind is...it’s a soup, a mosh pit of stimuli.”

“Don’t try to reach out.” Zhang knelt beside her, his hand on her shoulder. “Block him out. You can do it.”

“He’s too strong.”

“No he’s not. You are stronger, Taymallat.” He insisted. “I have seen you kill these things before.”

“That was different.” She looked up, tears in her eyes. “I wasn’t so scared back then.”

“Courage is not the absence of fear.” Zhang said. “Courage is remaining steadfast even when fear consumes you.”

Annette took a deep breath, gripping his arms as she did. “You’re right.”

“I know.” He helped her to her feet, looking around. He, too, could feel the Ethereal’s forceful tug. Anyone with a glimmer of psionic attitude could probably feel it. Cautiously, Zhang reached out.

Annette was right. The Ethereal’s mind was a mess of words and sounds and feelings. If Zhang had been less experienced it would have sent him reeling, and even now he was having trouble keeping himself from slipping into the chaos that was this creature’s mind.

He lingered a moment longer, looking for...something. He wasn’t sure what, but within the mass of images, he saw a group of weathered Ethereals standing in a circle. Most were purple. One had pale white skin and eyes that were more green than blue. One glimmered with gold light.

He pulled free, nearly collapsing beside Annette, his head still swimming from the madness. But now, at least, he could hear his voice, and he heard it clearly.

“Masha. Shamash. Coming. Come. Take me home. Take me home. Take me home.”

It felt as though something was interfering with their attempts, trying to stop Malinalli and Dhar-Mon from reaching out to connect to whatever it was. Perhaps pushing forward was unwise.

They did it anyway.

Malinalli found herself soaring through the dark and damp hallways, moving as though she was flying. Purple energy surrounded her. Her arm hurt but…

Not her arm. Humans had two arms but when she looked down, she had four, all long and gangly. She squeezed Dhar-Mon’s hands, just to keep herself grounded in reality.

The creature...the Elder...didn’t know she was there. She assumed it couldn’t feel her over the static already coursing through it’s synapses.

“Stay with me, little phantom.” With Dhar-Mon’s words she was pulled away, her perspective changing so she was now outside the Ethereal, looking toward it. She had not seen many Ethereals, only the Elders, and that had been through Dhar-Mon’s own lens.

But she could tell this one was in bad, bad shape. It’s robes (they looked different from the robes the Elders wore) were ragged, half torn and slightly burnt. There seemed to be holes in it’s grey skin, exposing green bits of rotting tissue and muscle. It could barely fly anymore: instead of gliding gracefully, it’s already bent feet dragged along the wooden ground, scraping off even more skin and leaving droplets of glowing blood..

She looked to the hand Kon-Mai had cut off. The hand that had hurt. Grey flesh, though rotten and crusted, encased an entirely new digit, like an embryo.

“It can heal itself.” She thought.

“Impossible.” She heard Dhar-Mon almost beside her, but it felt more within her. “Their power is great and nearly limitless, but even the Elders cannot regrow limbs.”

But it wasn’t impossible. They saw it, right there. Malinalli reached forward with the hand she wasn’t sure was there but she hoped was. She felt Dhar-Mon pulling back for a moment, before he followed her movement, extending their reach, grasping outward…

The Ethereal reeled back. It had seen them, and now they could hear—they could see—within its mind, or rather it’s mess of a mind. Words, some in Etheric, some complete gibberish, and a few Malinalli understood, came at them like a wave of alphabet soup. Malinalli almost broke under the immense pressure, but she calmed her breath, stood her ground, and held.

The Ethereal saw them now, it’s purple, sunken eyes breaking through them like hot coals. It threw words at them like rocks. “Who? Who? Who dares? Ethereal? Alaukika? Alaukika?”

Ethereal. It thought they, or at least Dhar-Mon, was one of its own kind.

“Yes.” Malinalli said, hoping to pacify it. “Ethereals. That’s us.”

Instead of calming, the Ethereal’s power flared, like she had thrown gasoline on a fire. “Aus Alaukika.” It lifted it’s four arms. “Not Ethereal. Mortal. Mortal.”

She felt Dhar-Mon press in front her her, his more powerful mind blocking the psionic assault that was aimed at her. “Xyuas tousal.”

The Ethereal’s own power seemed to draw back, almost in confusion.

“Identify yourself.” Dhar-Mon said again, and this time she could understand him.

The Ethereal’s mind was a blank slate, but through the maze of confusion and pain, one word emerged.

“Ya’uq.” It said.

She could tell Dhar-Mon did not recognize that name. “How did you come to be here?” He asked.

More silence. Then, a ship, great and black and…like the Temple but different. It felt younger. A menacing fifty Ethereals stood in a circle, most grey with purple eyes save for the two who stood at the front. One shimmered with golden light. The other, green and blue, and as she gazed into the pale white face of that Ethereal, Malinalli felt her chest tighten, as though a painful memory had been dug from her psyche.

“Shamash.” Ya’uq focused his purple light on the one that was glowing gold. “Where is Shamash? They shall come. They shall save me. They promised.”

Dhar-Mon’s fear was palpable as he spoke. “...There is no Shamash.” He said. “I know only Bhandasura, and Camazotz...and Abyzou.”

“Abyzou.” The Ethereal said the name gently. “...Child.”

“Child?”

“Daughter of Shamash. Child of the Sun. Child.” He sounded sad. “Only a child.”

Dhar-Mon growled. “She is no child. She is a monster.”

“Dhar-Mon.” Malinalli said quietly. “Don’t.”

Ya’uq did not seem to respond at first, so Dhar-Mon continued. “Who brought you here? Who are you?”

Another moment of silence before they were bombarded with words: “Hammon. Ilah. Jabal. Lugal. Wadd. Suwa. Tamtu. Shamash…”

The names began to blend into each other, and Dhar-Mon recognized none of them. Each Ethereal had a face, a name, an identifying feature and yet, he could not say he’d ever seen them before. He knew there had been other Ethereals who had come before, who had died long before his birth in the Early War, but he did not hear the names of Reue or Imdugud, or those he rarely spoke to like Xezbeth or Tiyanak, or even the names of his mother and fathers.

But at the end, there was one name. One name he knew, a name that made Malinalli shriek loud enough to sever the connection.

“Senuna.”

Gur-Rai caught Malinalli as she stumbled backward, holding her head. “Woah there, I’m no matador and you’re no bull, so quit charging.” He led her to the table and she leaned over it, feeling like she was about to vomit. “Well? What did you find?”

“There were others.” Dhar-Mon said. He was still on the floor, and Kon-Mai had abandoned the door to kneel beside him and help him. “The Ethereal that stalks these halls is called Ya’uq. He came to this place with a cohort of forty-nine others.”

“Fifty in total? Mom always said there were only about twenty Ethereals when they came.” Gur-Rai puzzled.

“He does not know the Elders. Our Elders.” Dhar-Mon shook his head, his eyes still closed as though the light hurt his eyes. “He knew Abyzou, but…”

“It seems like he knew her as a kid…” Malinalli finally choked out. “He called her a child.”

“Well she definitely acts like a child.” Kon-Mai muttered.

“He called her the daughter of Shamash.” Dhar-Mon added. “And then, it named Shamash as one of the Ethereals who led them here. Their eyes were gold.”

Kon-Mai and Gur-Rai looked at each other in confusion. “I don’t remember a gold ethereal.” Gur-Rai said.

“He knows Senuna.” Malinalli finally added, sinking back to the floor.

The silence that followed was uncertain. Kon-Mai spoke up first. “She is the Commander. He would know her if he fought-”

“No.” Malinalli turned to face her. “He knew her because she came here with him.”

“Came here...what?” Gur-Rai looked thoroughly confused.

“He named the Ethereals he came here with. Named every single one.” She clasped her hands. “And he said Senuna. I heard it clear as day.”

A light tapping on the door knocked the three of them from their stupors, and Kon-Mai drew her blade again. “Is it him?”

“I don't care to know.” Gur-Rai said as he pointed his gun at the door.

The tapping came again, rhythmically, almost like knocking. Dhar-Mon stood, and Malinalli stepped towards the door.

“Should we open it?”

“No.” Kon-Mai asserted.

“What if it’s the others?”

“What if it is not?”

The knocking grew into a loud banging. “HEY! Y’ALL ALIVE IN THERE?!”

“It is them!” Dhar-Mon took his hammer away from the door and opened it, moving out of the way as Bryni stumbled in, followed closely by Zhang as he pulled Annette along by the hand.

“Xièxiè tiāntáng, nǐ hái hǎo.” Zhang cried as he saw Malinalli. “...You look troubled, young one. What happened?”

Malinalli and Dhar-Mon looked at each other with unease.

Zhang knelt in front of her, horror in his eyes. “What did you see?”

The moon would be full that night, as it always was. She drew her power from that moon.

The door to the attic creaked as it opened. Bulan Kepa stumbled inside, her clothes soaked in her own blood. But the wound on her neck was healed, pink skin covering the scar that would fade with the dawn.

She could not worry about herself though. Not right now. She looked around at the four beds, the ones that needed her the most.

The first one she checked on was the baby. Marikit always had trouble sleeping, and that was true tonight: her baby sister stared up at her as she wheezed, her wrinkled skin pulled tight over bones. Bulan lifted her from the crib, trying to bounce her to comfort her, and the infant’s skin blistered under her touch.

Laarni was next to check on: the baby before the baby. She at least was sleeping through the undoubtedly incredible pain. The second eldest of the girls, Diwata, followed Bulan around the room with glazed eyes, her lips pulled taut against yellow teeth.

Bulan could hear Ali and Isanagi rising into sitting positions. She went to their beds, pushing them back down, crooning at them to “Sleep, sleep, please sleep.”

But her siblings did not sleep. Instead, each one sat up and stared at her with open eyes.

Bulan sat in the center of their beds, facing the attic window that looked out to the glowing flowers in the garden. With her corpse-like sister in her arms and tears brimming in her eyes, Bulan began to sing.

“Ili-ili tulog anay,

Wala diri imong nanay.

Kadto tienda bakal papay.

Ili-ili tulog anay.”

Summery: The chapter begins with Annette replaying the message she sent to XCOM, and lamenting that she sent it without knowing the full severity of the situation. The house is apparently impossible to escape, as every time she has tried, she has wound up back in the house. With few other options, the group agrees to check the basement, where Annette had found a sealed off room. Using their combined psionics, they are able to get the door open, only to reveal that a near-death Ethereal had been sealed behind the wall, much to the shock of the house’s resident. After being chased through the halls, the group is separated in two, and Kon-Mai suffers a compound fracture in her leg while escaping. Mysteriously, the injury does not hurt her at all. After treating Kon-Mai’s wound, Malinalli and Dhar-Mon attempt to make contact with the Ethereal, to perhaps convince it to let them leave. Zhang, Bryni and Annette, having been separated from the other group, opt to go looking for them before they are confronted by the girl in the blue skirt, whom Zhang knows and is able to speak to. While she is hostile and the confrontation leads to her being shot by Annette, Zhang reveals that in his youth as a Triad member, the girl—Bulan Kepa—was among one of the kidnapping victims. While they resolve to find the others, Malinalli and Dhar-Mon establish contact with the Ethereal, Ya’uq, who reveals that he has never met most of the Ethereals from the Early War, but came here with a coalition of fifty Ethereals, one of whom seems to have been Senuna.

(Like I said in my little announcement, this was supposed to only be two chapters, but I am a terrible procrastinator, and I also feel like I have too much planned for this finale to have crammed it all into one chapter. That being said, this is so fun to finally get out there, and this one off spooky story is giving us some real insight into the lore~)

Archive

#xcom #xcom 2 #xcom 2 war of the chosen #xcom zhang #chosen assassin #chosen hunter #chosen warlock #haunted house

8 notes · View notes

etherealvoidechoes · 1 year ago

Text

An Unlikely Bond - Pt. 3 of 3

Parts: 1||2||3(You are here) - Links will be updated as the chapters are posted. Currently in the queue.

May be posted on Ao3 and FF.net later.

Content warnings for the usual language. Mental invasion. Violence via memories which includes murder(and faked suicide(it's more murder.)

Approx. 8.2k.

------------------

Moments later, they reappeared with another ping outside the Isolation Room to the Psionics Training Grounds.

Zhang roughly cleared his throat as he fought off the dizzying effects of teleportation. Something he strongly detested despite how useful the skill was. Just something about it his body did not like.

“Quickly, follow.” Geist was already beside the door to the Isolation Room. Raising his hand to the door, a bolt of purple energy leaped from his palm and struck the door. The next second, several circular patterns appeared on the door before several locks clicked and turned before it finally opened. Heavy purple mists tumbled and rolled out of the doorway, followed by streams of psionic energy.

Zhang’s nose wrinkled at the heavy metallic smell of Elerium and other alien metals that were psionic sensitive. He thought he would have been used to them by now, but he wasn’t.

Once both were inside, the door shut and locked itself.

“Sit there. Collar off. Don’t lower your defenses until I tell you to.” Geist gestured to the spot beside himself. A thick mat covered the cool metallic flooring.

Zhang simply nodded, sat down, and took his collar off. He shuddered, feeling his psioncis reach out and mingle concentrated psionic energy once it was freed from the collar. For a moment, it was intoxicating, just like when he awoke from his time in the sarcophagus to awaken his powers before it all subsided. So much power.

He kept his eyes trained on Geist and watched the man make sweeping motions with his hands, shortly followed by streams of psionic energy. The energy permeating the room swirled around them.

He could feel the subtle changes in the air, both physically and mentally. Priming the room with more psionic energy for the mental bridging that would take place, reinforcing the barriers in the Isolation Room, and he could only assume several more precautions were being set.

“Okay.” Geist returned his hands to his lap. He took in several deep breaths before he raised a hand and brought it towards Zhang’s head. “Lower your defenses. Open yourself to me.”

Zhang took in a breath before letting out a sharp exhale and closed his eyes. It took him a moment to still himself and lower his barriers. “Done.”

As soon as the word left Zhang’s mouth, he felt Geist enter his mind. He did several quick sweeps before he started to dive deeper into Zhang’s mind. He carefully sifted through the patterns and connections of his psionic signature. Purposefully pressing and testing the parts of his mind and powers the Elders had damaged. Even with the lowered defensive, Zhang’s psionics reflexively bite back in defense. He couldn’t find Their touch, nor any of Their creations. Nothing felt out of place.

Geist refocused his efforts to find that connection that had spontaneously formed between the two earlier. In a little time, he located it. It was faint, barely humming with any energy. He probed it, lighting it up energy before severing it and forcing a connection again. He did this a few times, much to Zhang’s growing discomfort, but with the last closure of the connection, Geist couldn’t find a source for this issue.

Geist did a little more probing before he began to recall his psionics. The patterns swirling in the air grew calm.

“This is… escaping me.” He let out a heavy sigh. He opened his eyes and looked at Zhang. “I’m not finding anything out of place. No touch of the Elders of their thralls.”

“Hm.” Not the news Zhang wanted to hear, but was expecting it. The only good news was the Elders were not involved. “Seems we may have to—HEY!” He felt a sudden surge of energy run up his spine.

“Hm!?” So did Geist.

The next second, both felt a strong series of tugs on their respective minds, ones that slowly pulled their powers loose from their body before a connection was suddenly established.

The surrounding energy wisps and orbs in the air seemed to jitter and jolt, sensing the sudden reconnection between the two.

“What are you doing now?” Zhang spat, but not at him, but towards the pain coursing down his spine and synapses.

“N-n-nothing!” Geist struggled to catch his breath as he too was caught off guard by the sudden pain. “This isn’t me.”

Before either could say another word, another surge of energy silenced both.

“Aaah…” Geist hissed. Raising his hands, his fingers fluttered around, catching control of the errant energies around them. “D-don’t… d-don’t do anything. Let me fix this.” He didn’t want to risk Zhang’s psionics becoming damaged once more from this strange phenomenon.

It took some time to stabilize the psionics around them, which alleviated some of the pain and pressure thumping against their skulls. But that sudden connection was holding strong. What was the cause of that?

“This may… this may cause more pain.” Geist warned before he delved back into Zhang’s mind since he could feel a majority of that pull was coming from there.

Barely scratching the surface, he found the source. A maelstrom of energy of swirling energy in a partially ordered structure of Zhang’s mind. Strands were erratically reaching out before collapsing back around the connection. The source of their pain.

“Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see.” He carefully weaved his psionics around it to figure out what was going on and find the right spot to sever it. As he came closer, he hissed as he felt a sudden pull once more and reach deeper into him. It reminded him too much of a Sectoid trying to claw its way into his mind.

Instinctively increasing his defenses, the pull only grew worse. That made no sense. It should have decreased.

He was beginning to regret his decision to keep this matter private. He should have pulled aside another top-tier psion, like Vixen. There was no time to find one now and it would be dangerous to leave this room with the state both of them were in. He would figure out this mess hopefully before it some sort of feedback would fry their minds.

Keeping his defenses high, Geist went back to examining this connection. The erratic nature of the strands and how they collapsed back into the connection between the two. How they were trying to break down his barrier. Why? Why? Why?

Hundreds of theories were running through his mind. What was it?

“Wait…” He felt something. Noticed something different. He noticed a pattern in the strands. It wasn’t entirely erratic, and they weren’t collapsing, per se. They were searching and attempting to weave something. “Wait… wait…” Weave.

His mind drifted back to what he was doing earlier, before all of this. Something he had been delving more and more into for the past month since its discovery had been noted in some of the psions interspersed with him delving deeper to better understand the Earth’s psionics and this Void, it all called back to.

“Could this be…?” His eyes fluttered open with excitement. A Psionic Bond forming? It’s quite different from the reports, but with Zhang’s current condition could explain the volatility. More thoughts race through his mind. Could it be? Should I? He was tempted to lower his defenses completely and let things take their natural course. But there were risks.

“Zhang.” Geist spoke calmly. “I’m going to try something. Don’t alter your defenses. Don’t react. Stay calm. Let the psionics flow.” He was decided. It was worth the risk.

Zhang just let out a grunt of pain.

It took him a few moments to still himself and let himself drop his guard. The barrier lowered tick by tick. They felt a surge of energy ripple across the connection several times before it finally hit its crescendo and calmed down.

Moments later, he felt most of the pain burning his nerves and pounding against his skull wash away. Now, it was just faint tingles as he felt an occasional pulse coming from the connection. It was slow, but progressing from Zhang’s side.

Better. He could faintly pick up Zhang was no longer in pain. Perhaps opening myself up more can help? It was another risk, but he was willing to take it. Void guide me.

A brief moment of concentration before he felt the concentrated energy of the room wash over and through him. As that happened, he felt his psionic power reach out towards Zhang and strengthen the growing weave. He could feel something growing. Something changing. Hm, yes, yes yes.

“Geist.” Zhang finally spoke. “What is—”

“Shh.” Raising a hand, he hushed him. “Wait.”

The two sat in silence. Geist kept a close watch on the growing weave.

As it inched closer and closer, he could feel the energies shift around and within them. It felt familiar to a growing mind meld, yet simultaneously different.

Slowly, he could sense Zhang’s growing confusion mixed with the irritation of being left in the dark. The sensations running through the man’s body and those synapses reworking themselves to accommodate this change. And then he picked up on his thoughts. “There’s always something with psionics. This damn cu— wait…”

“You sense me, don’t you? But deeper than before, yes?” Geist said. The excited smile he was wearing. Yes! Yes! This is unorthodox, but this is a bond forming!

Zhang didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. Geist could sense and hear it all. Thoughts and emotions were nearly unfiltered. His bewilderment and more annoyance. Was he purposefully being cryptic and how he could even reply to that? And then it clicked. Zhang was beginning to sense Geist’s growing excitement, which only confused him more.

“Dig a little, and you’ll soon figure it out.” Geist told him.

Still no reply from the man, but he did as he was instructed and only grew more confused. He could sense more of Geist’s emotions unfiltered and was beginning to pick up on the intricacies of the man’s unique psionic signature. And then he finally heard his thoughts. “Figured it out yet? Not exactly how I thought I would forge another psionic bond.”

Psionic bond…

Zhang’s shoulders slumped. “Seriously…?” Why? “You have got to be kidding me…” Throwing his head back, an exasperated sigh came out. Why!? Why Geist of all people? He knew there was always a chance of him developing such a bond with another psion, but Geist? The man was irritating enough. Just his luck for him to be his lucky partner. “We can’t stop this… can we?”

Geist shook his head. “No. Let it take its course. We can reestablish boundaries once it is done.” The man closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths before letting himself slip into a deeper meditative trance.

Zhang cursed under his breath. But what could he do? Nothing. Now, was just thinking of the boundaries he was going to reinforce with the man.

He soon followed the same actions as Geist and entered a deeper trance.

Time ticked by as the bond between the two continued to form and weave their psionic signatures together. As painful as it all began, it all washed away, leaving beaming curiosity on Geist’s end and an eerie unease on Zhang’s.

Braid after braid, more and more of their emotions became plain to each other, as so did their thoughts. Their innermost thoughts. Ones that psions took great care to hide from others.

Raising a hand to his face, Geist stifled a chuckle as he felt a wave of embarrassment trickle over from Zhang’s mind as he saw the many thoughts, some colorful, on how he viewed him and his mannerisms. It was nothing new. He had heard it many times from others and would hear it many times more. Just a fair trade in kind for unlocking his true self.

Again, he felt that embarrassment shift between unease and shame as Zhang detected Geist’s thoughts on him. There was barely a negative thought about the man minus he needed to stop being so cagey and cold at times when he interacted with others, but he stood why. That checked past of his. But he found what Zhang did, turning on his bosses, to be a noble thing. He could have followed their orders or, hell, thrown his lot in with the aliens. A weaker man would have done that, and he was anything but that.

As the connection weaved deeper, memories began to flow.

It first began with more current events. It was fragmented and didn’t flow in any particular order. Debriefings. Training sessions and weapons tests. Chatting with friends. And a few on-the-field operations.

Then they slowly began to shift further down the line. Months to many years back. Just to the beginning of the world going to hell as the aliens began their invasion and then times before, most of the Earth was unaware there was intelligent, yet sadly, hostile life beyond our Solar System. The pure ignorance of bliss when their lives were less complicated.

But just as these memories were about to flow, Geist felt a sudden block.

“Hm?” Carefully, he reached out only to find a fierce wall holding back the tide of fragmented memories that wanted to flow toward him. There was a mixture of anger, shame, guilt, and frustration. “Zhang?”

“No.” Zhang spoke through his teeth. There was some anger, but not fully directed at Geist.

Oh dear, what now? He opened his eyes and turned to face Zhang. It didn’t surprise him to see a fierce expression fixed on him like a set of daggers. He just studied the expression. Why? His mouth began to open.

“No, Geist.” Zhang spoke curtly before a word could slip out.

Geist raised a brow. “You’re only making things more difficult by stopping this weave. It has to continue. It will continue despite your efforts. The memories must flow.”

“No. Not these memories.” Zhang said through his teeth.

“Not these memories?” Geist questioned, which only made Zhang’s hostile expression increase. He felt some of that anger be shifted to him and sensed one of his surface thoughts.

“Mùtourén. Idiot. He can’t be that daft.”

Geist only raised his brows more, lips pulling back as he bit his bottom lip out to keep himself from replying out of sheer offense. What has him more twisted up than usual? Just as he was going to dwell on the thought, he felt something slip through Zhang’s mental grasp that his own psionics were all too happy to snatch up.

“No, no, no!” He could feel Zhang desperately try to catch it, claw it back, and bury it. But it evaded him. Geist’s psionics refused to relinquish it.

He could sense why he was so desperate. Grief, pain, and betrayal radiated off to if.

As it zoomed through their connection over to his side, he shuttered. More of those emotions came crashing through. They were heavy. And then he could feel a certain set of thoughts, thoughts Zhang was attempting to force back coming forth.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.” Zhang’s thoughts repeated and repeated, no matter how hard the man tried to stop them.

With the memory firmly within his psionics, Geist began to process it. Unfold the memory and all it held within.

Zhang physically shifted, lunging at Geist only for a surge of energy to paralyze him. “Stop!” He raised his voice. One last desperate plea for his privacy. Geist, more or so his psionics wanting this bond to continue, did not head it.

Another wave of emotions hit Geist, shutting out Zhang’s attempts to stop him.

He froze. “Oh.” He understood why.

It was an old memory. Many years after, Zhang was comfortable in his fairly high position in his Triad clan. He was given an opportunity to check on an old member of the clan who was an old friend of his. Kit was his name. A nickname as he had an affinity for an American treat by the same name. He had “retired” some years ago after a retaliation from a rival clan his family in the crossfire. Somehow, he transitioned himself into a more simple life and kept sparse contact with the Triad. But, someone heard down the grapevine they were a rat.

Zhang didn’t want to believe it. The man was loyal through and through. He never spilled his guts when he was accosted by some police after he and Zhang crossed paths one day and caught a bite to eat. He quickly offered to get the job done and his bosses were more than pleased to give it to him, as he would be thorough. He was always thorough. Reliable.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

Within a day, Zhang called Kit. Just a quick little chat to see how he was doing, to gauge if he sounded off or paranoid. Nothing sounded off, besides him sounding tired, which made sense for his age. Working that silver tongue, he invited himself over with the promise of bringing his favorite drink and the candy he loved.

One would think the cursory call would tip Kit off, hinting that they were onto him. For Zhang, it was another part of the test. Though it had been some time since he had been to the man’s place, it wasn’t the first time he had been to the home of someone colluding with the cops. Something would have been out-of-place inside or outside the home.

Days later, Zhang arrived at Kit’s residence. A fairly nice apartment block. He examined his surroundings first. Nothing looked off and checks beforehand by other members noted they only saw the occasional patrol roll through the streets.

With his surroundings checked, he headed to the level Kit called home and knocked.

Genuine pleasantries were greetings were exchanged when he saw his old friend. He did miss him. Much to his surprise, two other people were there. Kit introduced his new girlfriend — in his opinion was too young for him — and her brother, who was crashing with them due to falling on hard times but was pulling his weight. Much to Zhang’s relief, the two were leaving to do a grocery store run. But he kept it in the back of his mind both could have been undercover agents.

As the two left, and before he knew it, Kit snatched the drink from Zhang’s hands and ushered him to a more private room so they could catch up. As they entered, Zhang checked around, pretending like he was checking out the bookcase or admiring some artwork on the wall to see if any bugs or wires were around, and taking care to leave little to no fingerprints. Everything looked clear.

Booze pouring and cigarettes lit, the two began to catch up on life and how things had been changing in China. Just simply things and annoyances such as Kit’s neighbor’s kids kept knocking over his plant pots in the back. The man was trying hard to grow some herbs.

But as they discussed things, Zhang noticed the man would occasionally ask him how things were doing with the old gang in a roundabout way. Mainly he pointed at a new scar on Zhang’s hand asking how it got that or asked how someone in the clan they knew was doing, and if “so and so” was still alive or did their bullheadedness finally landed them in the grave. Zhang found that odd.

Ever since that gang war went sour, Kit detested any mention of his old life when possible and always tried to distance himself from any of those conversations. Zhang respected that and that was one reason why he kept sparse contact with him.

That was an immediate red flag for Zhang. He felt a part of his heart sink. Now he had to press more, but cautiously. He had to fake his “slip-ups” to see if that would make Kit ask more questions. As he did so, his eyes methodically scanned the room once more to see if anything was out of place. Again, everything looked normal.

Geist felt a flood of negative emotions strike him as Zhang plays this plot. It worked. Kit slowly started asking more questions.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

Out of precaution, Zhang continued to keep his answers vague to avoid potential problems and incrimination if there was a recorder he couldn’t find. Their chat kept going and going on until Kit mentioned a smuggling bust that caught three Triad clans. Except this bust hadn’t reached the news yet.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

That was it. That was all Zhang needed to hear. His demeanor turned cold and distant.

As Kit turned to refill his cup with more alcohol and he turned back, he froze, nearly dropping his glass. A stone-cold expression had replaced the once warm, jovial face of a friend. And then he felt it. Glancing down against his chest was the tip of a knife. All the color drained from his face.

Zhang only spoke two words to his friend. If he could call him that anymore. “How long?”

Kit stammered and stammered before it all spilled out of his mouth like an avalanche. Survivors from that other clan had found him again. Threatened him and his new life. He was afraid. He didn’t want to return to his old life for protection, so he went to the police. He told them bits and pieces, which slowly became more and more information over the months.

Zhang couldn’t believe his ears. The rumors were true. How could a man so loyal fall so low? He demanded details about what was told and who his police contacts were. Kit hesitated. Zhang pressed again.

“No! I’ll be a dead man!” Kit pleaded.

That knife shifted to his neck and pressed hard. “You’re already a dead man.”

Hearing those words, Kit knew he was done.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

The two soon struggle over the knife.

Another wave of negative emotions and energy struck Geist, causing him to double over in pain. They grew in intensity as the two struggled.

The coffee table flipped over. Papers and that good alcohol went flying. And so did that knife. Now the two were on the floor, each struggling to pin the other to gain the upper hand and get that knife.

Though Kit knew it was most likely over for him, he still pleaded with his friend for mercy to just forget everything they talked about. There was only silence(minus grunts) from Zhang. His mind was settled. He had a task to complete.

The silence only made Kit more frantic. A swift knee to the guts caused Zhang to cry out and lose his grip. He curled inwards as Kit stumbled to his legs like a wobbling goat to get the knife. By the time he got it and turned, he froze once more.

Zhang always kept a gun on him. His trusty FN Five-Seven. This time with a suppressor. It was firm in his hands and his finger was already tugging at the trigger.

Seeing that suppressor, Kit’s throat trembled as he closed his eyes for a moment. Even if he told the truth after Zhang figured him out, he was going to kill him? Wasn’t he? His grip tightened on the knife. Opening his eyes, determination filled them. A fearful one. He charged forward.

Four shots rang out.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.”

One missed but the others hit. Two to the chest and one to the head. Blood spray painted the ceiling. Kit staggered before hitting the floor dead. The knife clattered across the floor.

“It had to be done. He was a liability. It had to be done. He was a liability.” That maddened mantra only grew louder.

“Bèndàn. Bèndàn!” Zhang didn’t have time to contemplate what had just transpired. He quickly got to his feet and retrieved the bullet casings, his knife, and that bottle before leaving the property. He was quick to call his bosses concerning the matter. The job was completed, but not to his preferred standard. A place needed to be ransacked and torched ASAP. Two people needed to be intimidated, to be kept silent or disappear. And they needed their moles to keep the heat off of him and damage some intel. Also, they needed to scramble all their current activities, as they could be compromised. He would fill them in the details later.

Zhang went into hiding for a few weeks as the clan took care of what they could and the homicide case went cold. By the time he was nearly ready to be active again, he had two final loose ends to clean up. Collateral damage he was hoping to avoid.

The initial intimidations to keep Kit’s girlfriend and her brother silent were beginning to break. He had to fix that. They knew his face and perhaps knew too much if Kit had loose lips as he did with the cops. A little more murder would fix that. With the help of a few other clan members, they made it look like suicide for both of them. The girlfriend couldn’t live without him and hanged herself and her brother had nowhere to go next, drunk himself to death by stepping off a bridge into a watery grave.

“It had to be done.” The mantra finally came to an end.

As the memory came to an end, Geist gasped for air. How suffocating all the emotions were. He could still tell Zhang was still angry and sad about that day. And he could feel he was more guarded than ever.

He looked at him again. Looked like the sudden paralysis was gone and the man moved back to his seat. He studied that face. It was still laced with anger, and this time his lips twisted into a grimace as he barred his teeth. But he noticed a faint twinkle, faint trickles running down the sides of his face.

“See?” Zhang nearly growled.

Geist simply nodded. “I… I think I understand.” He paused, knowing he had to carefully choose his next words. “I’m going to take a shot in the dark and ask, are you afraid if I saw these memories of your past life, it would change my perception of you?”

“No.” He was short. “I don’t care what you or anyone here thinks of me. I rather keep those dealings private.”

“Zhang…” Geist let out a disappointed sigh. Despite how harsh his voice was, he could sense the truth underlying it. It was a half lie. “I do tend to look past your background, but I strongly believe viewing these memories will barely shift how I perceive you now.” He spoke truthfully. “Have you done distasteful things? I can only assume so with whatever trusted ranking you had in the Triad, but even some bad people can be good deep down.”

Zhang only narrowed his eyes. Geist could sense he wasn’t buying what he was saying. But he also sensed a subtle murmur. A part of him that believed.

Geist raised his hand to his face and tapped at his chin. How to make the man admit it? How to make him believe him and reopen himself? Those barriers needed to come down to let the memories flow and let this bond be established before it would force it. Did he have any of his own memories that he could share? Well, nothing to the disturbing degree of Zhang’s. He had no criminal record. He snorted. Mostly none. He had his fair share of trouble-making in his youth.

“Hm.” He tapped away at his chin. Maybe something from his early life. An intimate memory with family and friends? Or Maybe something from his army days before joining XCOM?

Maybe… maybe.. yes. That’s it. A particular one came to mind. One he guarded near and dear to his core and hadn’t shared with another he had bonded with.

“Zhang,” Geist looked at him again, “it may not be to the same degree as that memory I witnessed, but I share this with you.” As he spoke, he gestured a psionically imbued hand towards him. As he did so, a memory flowed down the connection to Zhang.

Zhang didn’t have much say in stopping it as his own psionics greedily latched onto it and began to unfurl the memory. As he did so, a stream of Geist’s emotions flooded into his mind.

Excitement, hesitation, fear, pain. A great deal of fear. It was suffocating. He gasped for air.

As his psionics picked through the sea of emotions, the memory became more clear.

It was one of the Labs. Within the room was a sealed chamber. There were two cold metal tables. On one slab was the dissected corpse of a Sectoid and on the other was one that looked modified like it was a stepping stone to that more troublesome Commander variant. Both of their skulls were cracked open revealing their massive brains and many implants the Elders placed within.

Sitting in some jury-rigged but high-tech-looking chair between the two slabs was Geist. A massive mess of cables ran from the chair to both of the alien corpses, connecting into various parts of their bodies and those implants. Additionally, a mass of cables were attached to Geist, most being on the head via a cap that was all running back into the chair.

Nearby, in PPE gear, Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Marin were giving instructions to their assistants for the experiment. Some were connecting recovered alien containers that held a psionically enriched elerium gas as they were beginning to pump into the chamber. Others were monitoring stations, watching the faint psionic activity in the Sectoids’ brains and waiting for the orders to stimulate them. Others were watching the machines that were administering a steady flow of pre-programmed Meld into Geist.

It took Zhang a moment to make sense of the memory so far, but he was able to quickly deduce this must have been one of the many experiments Dr. Vahlen and her team tabled with as they studied psionics. It looked so strange, almost barbaric to what they did now.

As the memory continued to play out, he could feel that fear in Geist grow more as that elerium gas flowed into the chamber. It spiked when he heard Vahlen give the orders to stimulate the Sectoids.

“Here we go.” Past Geist mumbled to himself as he closed his eyes, preparing himself for another round of pain.

The moment he inhaled that metal-tainted gas, pain ripped through his body. Zhang felt it too. Geist’s brain; his nerves felt like they were being set on fire as the powers of the Sectoids’ and their lingering thoughts sputtered to life and flowed into him. The intensity only grew as that elerium gas continued to fill the chamber and rolled over the corpses.

Purple whips and pops of psionic energy crackled through the air and around him.

Minutes passed for the experiment, and the pain only grew worse. It had barely reached the 10-minute mark when Vahlen was about to pull the plug as she noticed Geist’s heart rate was becoming irregular.

“Keep… k-k-keep going.” Geist spat out between waves of pain.

“Are you sure?” Vahlen was hesitant to listen. Your heart is—”

“Keep going.” There was determination in his voice. “Th-t-this feeeeeels different. I-i-in-ncrease the power!”

Vahlen was hesitant, but told them to raise the power. Slowly.

As the memory continued, Zhang could sense there was more fear in Geist that this venture would finally kill him, but another sensation was flooding his system. What was it? He was hesitant to dig until he felt several pushes from Geist’s connection. Curiosity.

He could feel that sensation bubbling deep within as something was shifting inside of Geist. That power was on the cusp of being released within him. Power that the Earth, that something from beyond the veil, was ready to let him in.

The psionic energy within the chamber began to grow. The air filled with wisps, sparks, and crackles. Warning notifications and Warning klaxons suddenly went off. Shouts from those handling the Sectoids mentioned their systems were being overloaded. Before they could react, their systems were overwhelmed. The equipment fried, sending out plumes of smoke and sparks. The same happened back in the sealed chamber. Sparks shot off and smoke rose from the skulls of the Sectoids as their implants were overloaded. The same began to happen to Geist’s chair as the man let out a scream of pain before going dead silent. His vitals dropped.

Vahlen immediately pulled the plug and ordered for the chamber to be cleared of gas and opened now.

Geist didn’t hear anything of this. He was somewhere else.

For a second, Zhang felt like he was Geist. Temporarily pulled from this world and into another. A free-floating void.

He could feel Earth’s natural psionic energy wipe away and replace what had been pulled from the Sectoids. A once-tainted power was made pure.

Then he felt something else. Several if not hundreds of presences. They felt… benevolent.

You are worthy.

A chorus of voices spoke. At first, he thought it was the Elders, but they didn’t sound like those bastards nor feel like them.

“What the hell.” He muttered as he became more engrossed by this memory. He never experienced this as his psionics were unlocked, from what he could recall. Nor did he hear stories from the other psions of something like this happening.

Just as he was becoming engrossed by this oddity, he felt something else reach out to Geist. This one felt closer to Earth. Closer to the Base. It was more gentle as it probed over Geist. A moment later, a stream of energy entered him. Geist’s lungs sputtered back to life.

Just in time. What a risk taken, but this experiment has finally borne fruit. This is a good sign for us. The next step in humanity’s evolution. Now to refine it to be less dangerous.

He could hear this being’s thoughts. There was a faint echo to it.

Hm. And another potential Host with how your synaptic connections are growing and resonating. Time to plant a seed.

He felt that presence flow more energy into Geist before it left as suddenly as it appeared.

The next moment, Geist just felt something click within his being and he was back in the labs like he had never flatlined.

Half of the gas had barely vacated the chamber by the time Vahlen and her cohorts had entered. They were checking his vitals, shocked to see how they had suddenly bounced back, as they were undoing his restraints to free him from the chair.

“Si— ! Si— ! Are you there? Are you okay?” Vahlen was doing her best to stay calm.

“I’m… ngh,” Geist paused, voice wavering. A wave of energy shifted inside of him making his head throb. “I’m… okay. Fine, really. More than fine.”

As the last of the restraints and cables were undone and that cap was removed from his head, Geist told them to stand back as he shifted to his feet.

His movement was unstable as he raised himself up. The world was spinning. Just as he took a step forward, he felt a surge of energy rip through him, causing all his nerves to fire off. His eyes ignited a bright purple. A gasp escaped as he fell to his knees. Someone moved to assist him but quickly backed off as psionic energy began to swirl around him.

“Wait… wait… Yes.” Geist muttered. He tapped his fingers against the metal floors before pressing his palm against it. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Confidence flooding his system, he lifted himself back up. He looked around, paying no attention to the awe-stricken faces as he studied the energy flowing around him. He raised his left hand, and with a mere thought, he formed an orb of bristling energy. He raised the other hand, with a mere thought, the surrounding energy swirled around it and into another orb.

“My God…” Dr. Marin was the first the break the silence.

Vahlen dropped her tablet. Her jaw was slack before a wide, excited smile formed. She was bouncing with excitement. “We’ve done it! We’ve finally done it!”

The others soon matched her excitement.

Zhang watched as Geist tested his newfound powers as the Science team worked to clean up the area. “So he was one of the first, if not the first?” He noticed Vahlen’s “finally” comment. But that could have been how quickly Geist was showing his capabilities. Either way, watching this memory was…. amazing. He didn’t know what to think, what to say. Geist nearly lost his life, unlocking his potential.

“How are you feeling, Si— ?” Vahlen spoke.

Wait. Zhang felt something was off with her words.

“How are you feeling, Si— ?”

Before he knew it, that part of the memory replayed, putting more emphasis on the partial blank.

Geist softly laughed, which only made Zhang look at him. Why was he laughing? “You missed this the first time.” Geist explained. “But were probably more engrossed by my near death and unlocked potential to notice Vahlen calling out my name.”

He studied his words. “Vahlem calling out my name.” Name… Zhang’s eyes widen. He can’t be showing that to me. “Wait… are you?”

Geist nodding. He raised his hand and with a wave of two fingers; the moment repeated.

“How are you feeling, Silas?” Vahlen said.

Silas. That was his real name?

“I share a great secret of mine with you. Geist said.

Zhang stared blankly at him. He had no reply, he just let his and Geist’s psionics take over to continue the memory.

Vahlen walked around Geist, waiting for an answer. She watched as the man spawned several psionic orbs and effortlessly rolled them through his fingers before letting them all disappear into faint wisps of smoke.

“I’m,” Geist paused as he tilted his head back and forth as he rocked on his heels, “feeling fine. Better than fine.” He smiled. One so familiar to Zhang. “And please, don’t call me that anymore. It’s just not…” He let out a long hm as he tapped his chin. “It’s just not fitting anymore. That old man is dead, buried under the sea.” Seemed like that philosophical side of him was already appearing.

Vahlen raised a brow before she looked at Marin, who was equally confused. She was already making notes for a physiological evaluation. “Okaaay. Then what shall we call you?”

Geist let out another long hm as he paced back and forth. What to choose for his psionic baptism? As he paced and paced around the good doctors, he took glances at their tablets to see what they were writing about the successful experiment and him. Then he saw it. His name, full name. Silas R. Leland. And then that callsign. Geist. Geist. Yes, that feels right.

He stopped his pacing in front of the doctors and cracked his signature smile. “Geist. That shall do. I have been reborn anew.”

“Well,” Marin paused as he snorted, “that’s an easy switch.”

“Geist it is.” Vahlen simply nodded.

The memory came to an end.

The two sat in silence.

Zhang was still digesting all he saw. What was revealed to him. The pain and near death Geist went through, whatever his otherworldly encounter was, and then his name. His real name.

“Why show me this?” Zhang broke the silence.

Geist let out a snort. “Do I even need to answer?” A little sarcasm came through his voice. “Do what you will with the information.”

Zhang wrinkled his nose for a moment before relenting. This memory didn’t match his own memory that slipped through the gaps, but it didn’t take a genius to realize Geist shared something he kept guarded. Faintly, he could sense what transpired deeply affected him and changed him in more ways than one. Those encounters. What was that? He was faintly familiar with the theories Geist had lodged in the database about this Void being connected to Psionics, but couldn’t recall anything about him making note of possibly being contacted by other beings.

Did Dr. Vahlen and Dr. Marin know? Did Commander Reeves know? If not, there had to be a reason why he was keeping them in the dark.

“You are… very trusting.” Zhang said, nearly mumbling under his best.

There was more silence between the two. Like Geist could sense he wasn’t done.

Zhang let out a gruff sigh as he shifted uncomfortably. He knew what he needed to do but was still hesitant. Yet, he found himself slowly relinquishing his death grip on his memories and letting them trickle through that connection once more. “And maybe, so should I.”

Geist only nodded in return. He felt words would ruin the moment. He could feel the flow between the two of them flow uninterrupted once more.

More moments and more intimate memories flowed between the two until their psionics were satisfied and gradually shifted back to them, feeling each other’s emotions. But it was different this time. They were entering an odd resonance of sorts, as they pushed and pulled on their senses and they became more in tune with each other.

It continued for some more time before it all naturally faded away. There was no more pain. No flow of errant emotions. No more rushing energy. There was still a connection. Faint, but still there. A connection that had deeply changed the two.

“Is it finally over?” Zhang broke the silence.

“I believe so.” Geist said.

“Do all psionic bonds form like this?” He was curious.

“No, buuuuut…” Geist bit his tongue for a moment. How to explain why this went so strangely. “I believe the circumstances of your still healing psioncis cause this bond to form in a much more unorthodox way.”

Zhang snorted at that. He felt that was an understatement.

“I’m been studying this phenomenon for some time and it seems to be a more gradual development as one psionics will naturally find another they resonate with.” Geist. did his best to put it in simple terms. Then he started to laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Seems like yours wanted to skip several steps and mine was more than happy to help with that!”

“Just my luck.” He shook his head. “So, where does this put us?”

Geist was silent for some time. His eyes shifted all around the room as he tapped at his chin. “Most likely we’ll be fielded together more often. Relations wise as I sense that’s what you mean, hopefully, we can still be acquaintances.”

Zhang’s throat trembled as he took down a hard swallow and mumbled under his breath. Lovely, just lovely. My life is changing again. “New things to adjust to. Again.” He tried his best not to be annoyed. As Geist sensed within him, he meant something else. He could sense there was something behind acquaintances. “And maybe… Just maybe.” He paused as he dug deeper into that meaning. Tapping at their newfound connection.

Geist raised a brow, feeling the dig.

“Eventually friends.” Zhang’s face was plain.

Geist’s eyes lit up with surprise. Was he hearing things? Especially with all those negative thoughts the man had about him since this began and up till now?

The next moment, cracks of an evil grin crept across Zhang’s face. “I’d hate to have to kill you for what you’ve seen. Don’t think the Commander would like that.”

It took a moment for Geist as he was still processing the friend comment and then had to process the next set of sentences. But once he did, he couldn’t help but laugh and roll his eyes.

“Nor do I think the Commander would like your brain fried so I can keep my secrets.” He made his own little threat.

The two laughed.

“Speaking of Commander.” Geist’s posture began to relax as he leaned back on one of his arms. “Does Reeves know what your handler has been calling her under her breath?” He caught a glimpse of a memory of one of the private meetings Zhang would be called to from time to time. At first, he couldn’t make sense of the Mandarin until something clicked, and the language became clear to the racist slurs that the handler was calling Commander Reeves shocked him.

Zhang bristled for a moment, remembering those words all too well. “She already knows. Has known for a long, long time.”

“Really?”

Zhang nodded. “She’s waiting for just the right moment to say something in Mandarin to her.”

“Oh, ho, ho!” Geist laughed. “To be a fly on the wall when that happens.”

“Now, If I may ask…” Zhang paused. Should he ask? He barely had a second before he felt a few tugs on that psionic connection; almost like Geist knew what he wanted to say. “Why the name change?”

“Ah, that.” He had been waiting for the question. “It’s hard to explain but, I don’t feel like Silas Raphael Leland anymore.” He nonchalantly waved his hand. “In a way, that man died for Geist to be born. But there is a sliver of him is still alive,” he paused, tapping at the center of his chest with his free hand, “deep within.”

“Hm.” Zhang listened intently. He wasn’t sure he fully understood him, but felt he could grasp the concept to some extent. So far he wasn’t feeling like to himself. Somewhat. Ever since he went through the gene mod procedure, he felt differently about himself. And then unlocking his psionics only amplified that feeling but not to the extent he rejected his identity. “I’ll make sure to keep it a secret.”

“Thank you.”

The conversation continued, shifting back to how they would handle their newfound bond and the boundaries they would set. Zhang gave him friendly, but stern warnings for Geist not to overstep them, especially when it came to training, and Geist promised he would do his best to respect that.

As they began to wrap up their discussions, Geist informed him we would have to inform the Psionics team and Commander Reeves of what happened. He was free to join him or go on his way.

Zhang thought about it for a moment. Better to bite the bullet now and be there when Geist told all, instead of being called to a meeting at another time. He joined him.

“Wait.” Zhang grabbed his shoulder just before they were about to leave the chamber. “Back when you flatlined and visited that place. You were visited by something.” To think he had nearly forgotten about that. “What was there?”

“Wondered when you were going to ask about that.” Geist turned to face him. “The Void. At least a part of it. I don’t know how to explain it. It wasn’t the Elders. Some sort of ‘higher beings’? I can only presume that are connected to that place. I believe they faintly had something to do with my psionics being unlocked and the rest was the Earth’s natural energies finally resonating in my being.” He tried his best to explain. “Except for the other being that touched me. That one was much closer to home.”

Zhang listened intently. More concerning and confusing nonsense. There were more aliens out there with psionic power that most likely dwarfed their own. At least they seemed nice. “Closer to home?” He questioned that statement.

“Just think of what I mentioned some time ago when we had a chance meeting with the Commander.”

Zhang furrowed his brow. Why did the man always have a roundabout way of telling him these things? It always seemed like he wanted him to work his brain. He searched for his thoughts for the last time they crossed paths with Commander Reeves. His eyes dropped to the floor, bouncing from tile to tile as he processed information until his eyes abruptly went wide, nearly bugging out of their sockets. “That being you sensed within the Commander.”

Geist grinned. “Bingo.”

“When are you going to talk to her, I guess, them, about that?” Zhang said. He could only imagine the revelations that would unfold once that happened.

“In due time. I’ll just know when the time is right. There’s a reason why she or he hasn’t revealed itself to us, especially once the Psionics Division was truly established.” Geist could wait. He didn’t want to push his hand or luck.

As they left the Isolation Room and Psionic Training Grounds, Geist said he would leave out some key details of how it all began, so Zhang didn’t look irrational. Zhang thanked him.

Little did Zhang know that day going forward, he and Geist would become close friends.

#writings #Xcom #Xcom 2 #Xcom wotc #Fic: Wandering Souls #Shaojie Zhang #XCOM Zhang #xcom geist

2 notes · View notes