The Fallen
The sound of howling sirens echoed through the night as an ambulance raced down the darkened city streets. Inside, the medical staff was at a complete loss on how to treat their patient. The skin on his right arm had become black and sticky, bubbling over like boiling tar.
"Whatever it is, it look like it's spreading rapidly. What should we do Dr. Harrison?"
"The only choice we have is amputation. The infection will cover his whole body before we even get him to the ER at this rate."
Dr. Harrison grabbed the surgical saw and prepared to amputate the patient's arm from the shoulder down. Just as Dr. Harrison was about to begin the amputation, the infection became even more active. Tendrils began sprouting from the infected area, wrapping themselves around Dr. Harrison's arm and the surgical saw. The rest of the medical team began slicing away at the tendrils with whatever they could find, but to no avail. By the time they cut through one, another five had already burst up in its place.
The tendrils, now covering Harrison's entire arm, began pulling on his arm, slowly forcing the surgical saw through his own chest. As the medical staff rushed to the aid of harison, the tendrils wrapped around the necks of the staff, working their way into whatever openings they could find.
The tendrils withdrew back to the infected area, and then formed together as one. The massive tendril burst through the front of the ambulance and ripped the driver out of his seat, flinging him out the back of the ambulance.
As the ambulance swerved out of control, the infection continued to rapidly consume the man's body. The ambulance came to a sudden halt as is slammed into a street light.
The story was all over the new the next morning, although its cause was still undetermined.
Claire half-listened to the news of the crash while eating breakfast. She slowly lifted a fork full of pancakes to her mouth, still half asleep. After eating, she walked to the bathroom to freshen up before work.
She put in her blue contact lenses and took a look at herself in the mirror. She quickly brushed her short, brown hair into place, making sure that a few strands fell down across her brow.
Claire grabbed her jean shorts and a tight black T-shirt from the closet and got dressed. She checked her watch on the way out as she grabbed her jacket.
"Oh no, I'm going to be late!" Claire thought as she ran out the door.
She ran to the train station and caught the 10 o'clock train to Penn Station.
"I can't believe I missed the express train. I hope I make it in on time." she throught as the train made its routine stops.
After about a half an hour of watching a disgruntled MTA employee trying to figure out a sudoku puzzle, the train finally reached Penn Station. She got off the train and bolted up the stairs. As she approached the block that the bakery she worked at was on, she noticed the entire strip of road was blocked off, and police swarmed the scene. Her boss called over to her from the street corner.
"Claire, I've been trying to call you for hours. We're not opening today for obvious reasons. Police have been investigating the scene since early this morning."
Claire looked over to see what all the commotion was about.
"Oh my God, I heard about this on the news. Do they know what caused it yet, Mr. Hibiya?"
"They aren't releasing any information other than that there were no survivors."
Claire's face turned pale as she saw something slither out from behind the ambulance. A horrid stench filled the air, making Claire feel sick. The shadowy creature rose to its feet, making stiff movements as though it were walking for the first time. Its figure was that of a man, though horribly disfigured. Its skin was black and oily, its red eyes giving Claire a soulless gaze as it shambled towards her.
"Are you alright Claire? What's wrong?"
Claire, unable to speak, pointed at the creature slowly approaching her. Mr. Hibiya scratched his head in confusion as he looked over towards the ambulence.
"There's nothing over there. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He said, feeling worried about Claire's health.
It was then that Claire came to the horrifying realization that she was the only one who could sense this monstrosity's presance. It opened its mouth, black ooze pouring forth from it, as it let out a chilling wail. The creature melted away, seeping between the cracks in the pavement.
Still shaking from what she just saw, Claire made her way back to the train station and caught the next train home. As the train departed, the same foul odor filled the air. Claire fell to the ground, struggling to breathe through the noxious odor.
"What the hell is going on?" she thought as the room began spinning around her.
As people gathered around her, she noticed a black oily patch of skin on the ankle of a young girl. Claire soon became light headed, and passed out.
Claire opened her eyes to find herself in an old genetics lab. the lights flickered on and off, briefly shedding light on the room. Power was suddenly restored to the room, the light shining brightly from above. Claire was surrounded by stasis pods housing hellishly deformed abominations, desperately clining to what little humanity they had left. The once human creatures stared at her, longing for death and an end to their suffering.
Claire curled up on the floor, crying, praying for everything to just go away. She felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. She turned around to find herself face to face with the horrid beast she had encountered earlier that day. More began shuffling out from behind the stasis pods, slowly making their way towards her.
"Go, save yourself!" a voice cried off in the distance.
Claire screamed for help, but there was no reply. The creatures were practically on top of her by then, and had Claire backed up against the wall.
"No, I can't die here, not now!" Claire screamed as the creatures grabbed hold of her. The horrid smell filled the air, and Claire began gasping for air, coughing and wheezing as it assaulted her senses. She fell to the ground, her senses beginning to dim as the creatures piled on top of her. She slipped out of consciousness.
Claire opened her eyes, still feeling weak. She was laying on a stiff bed, surrounded by medical equipment. A nurse walked into the room.
"Finally awake I see." she said as she pulled back the curtain surrounding Claire.
The nurse was a short plump woman, with grey hair tied up in a bun.
"I was startin' to worry about you. Feintin' spells usually don't last this long."
"How long was I out for?" Claire replied.
"You were out cold for a good three days now, and your heart was racin' all the while. Makes me wonder what was goin' through your head. Two men rushed you here sayin' you had collapsed on the train."
"Where is here anyway?"
"Just a local clinic on the edge of the city is all."
Claire turned to get out of bed.
"Lie back down dear, you're still to weak to be walkin' around on your own."
Claire took no heed to what the nurse said and rose to her feet. She walked to the door.
"I'm going home." Claire said as she opened the door.
"You can't do that..." the nurse began.
"I'm fine, seriously, I'll be alright."
As she walked into the hallway, she tripped and fell. The nurse ran over and helped her back to bed.
"I told you to rest. You wouldn't be able to leave the city anyway, even if you were feelin' well. The military quarantined the city."
"What? Why?"
"Not too sure of that myself. They havn't said why just yet. I'm sure they will soon though."
Claire felt ill as a horrid stench wafted into the room. A young girl was brought into the room, her left leg black and oily. The doctor accompanying her was a young man in his early thirties, most likely fresh out of medical school.
"Sophie, have you seen anything like this before?" the doctor asked, motioning towards the girl's leg.
"Not a clue what that could be. Run a full diagnostic and see if you can find anythin' with similar symptoms." Sophie replied.
"It's that girl from the train." Claire thought.
As she looked at the girl, the infection began to spread.
"You have to get that off of her, NOW!" Claire yelled as she jumped to her feet.
Her contacts dissolved, revealing her glowing gold eyes. The color of her hair faded to a dull silvery hue. As Claire charged towards the girl, a translucent blade materialized in her hands. She brushed past the doctor and sliced through the black sludge slowly consuming the girl's leg. The infection quickly dispersed into the air, desintegrating without a host to feed off of. The doctor was shocked to find the girl's leg completely intact.
Claire felt weak, her body returning to normal. Unable to hold on any longer, she slipped out of consciousness.
When she awoke, Claire was back in bed.
"What happened? The last thing I remember is seeing that little girl in here. Is she alright?" Claire asked, rubbing her head.
Sophie just gave her a fearful stare.
"What's happening to me? First I see these horrid creatures, and now I'm passing out whenever that smell appears." Claire thought.
With a loud crash, the door was kicked open and three soldiers surrounded Claire, their assault rifles aimed for her head.
"The door was open you know." Sophie said, looking over at the door hanging off one hinge.
"What the hell is going on!" Claire yelled, going into a panic.
"If you could please come with us, miss." the soldiers said as they put away their weapons.
Claire got out of bed and walked towards the soldiers. They flipped down the eye piece from in front of their helmets and led Claire through the door.
"So, where are you taking me?" Claire asked.
"We cannot disclose that information at this time." one of the soldiers replied.
The soldeirs led Claire through the streets, making their way to the center of the city. A terrible smell filled the air. The soldiers quickly formed a defensive perimiter around Claire.
"Plague levels are rising. Scanners indicate a huge threat is approaching, prepare to take evasive maneuvers!" one of the soldiers yelled.
A massive black ball of sludge crept around from behind one of the skyscrapers. It walked along on its four hands, slowly making its way towards Claire. Faces burst forth from the ball of sludge, only to be swallowed up once more.
"We are one, but many." hundreds of voices echoed from the massive being.
Two of the soldiers fired at the fiendish creature with the third grabbed Claire and ran. He opened a manhole in the middle of the road and climbed in. Claire quickly followed, fearing for her life.
"What the hell was that thing?" Claire asked, her heart still racing.
"That was a Legion Class Fallen. Most people are oblivious to the Fallen, unless they have scanners like ours..." the soldier said, pointing to his eyepiece.
"...but you on the other hand, you could see it on your own."
The solder took out a keycard as he approached a blast door in the middle of the tunnel. He swiped his card and entered a 5-digit pass code.
The door slid open, revealing a hidden research facility. The soldier led Claire down the hall until they reached a red door on their left.
"Our head researcher is in here. He should be able to clear up any questions you have about all of this." the soldier said as he opened the door.
The room was in shambles. The desk was flipped on its side, laying haphazardly across the middle of the room, books were scattered all over the floor, and the walls were covered in deep gashes.
"Get out of here now! Our main base of operations is on the corner of 23rd and 5th street. Hurry!" the soldier yelled as he pushed Claire behind him.
A huge Fallen dropped down from the cieling and landed in front of the soldier. Standing at about nine feet, it towered over him. Its long, lanky arms dragged on the ground, its scythe-like hands slicing into the floor. Its body was covered in sharp spines. It glared at the soldier with its sole red eye.
"Damnit! A Reaper Class!" the soldeir yelled as he fired his assault rifle point blank into its face.
Claire ran down the hall, looking over her shoulder to see another reaper scuttling after her on the cieling. As she neared the exit of the research facility, a trio of reapers cut her off down the hall. She made a quick left and continued down the hall. More reapers came down the hall in front of her. Claire quickly ran into one of the rooms and slammed the door behind her. The lights turned on to reveal dozens of Fallen surrounding her.
As she turned for the door, one of the reapers sliced through it and blocked off her only way of escape.
"Someone, anyone, help me!" she screamed as the fallen drew near.
Just when she thought all hope was lost, Claire was blinded by a bright light. When the light faded, she was still in the room with the Fallen. She felt something in her hand. She looked down to see she was holding a long, shining gold sword, and that her body was covered in a glowing platinum coating.
Before she knew what was happening, she found herself charging at one of the Fallen, ripping through it with her sword. It let out an earsplitting shriek as its body disolved into the ground. The rest of the fallen rushed at Claire and knocked her to the ground, pummeling her into submission.
When she came to, Claire was chained to a stone wall, her feet dangling inches above the ground. Her body had reverted back to its normal state. The room was empty, and a steel door across the room was Claire's only way out.
The door slowly creaked open and two reapers escorted a young girl into the room. She appeared to be about ten years old. Her blonde hair was tied into two pigtails that hung straight down the sides of her neck. Her eyes shone like emeralds as she gave Claire an intimidating gaze. She wore a black, mesh dress and a long black coat that dragged along the floor as she walked.
"You don't know how long it took to finally find you. You made my job so easy by coming right to me." the girl said.
"Who are you?!" Clare snarled.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know." she said with a giggle.
"What do you want with me?"
"I'm not telling."
"Why are you even siding with these things. Don't you realize people are dying out there?"
"So quick to assume I'm even human, and yourself as well. There's so much I know that you don't. Mommy should be here shortly, I'm just here to keep you company."
Claire gave the girl a puzzled look.
"What, you don't like my company?" she replied with a giggle.
"I feel like we've met before, your face seems familiar. You're the girl that was in the clinic, aren't you?"
"I was hoping those feinting spells would have wiped more of your memory, but I guess it can't be helped."
Just then, the door swung open and a tall beautiful woman walked into the room. Her long black hair hung just above the floor. She had her daughter's vibrant emerald eyes, and that same cold stare. Her black and crimson dress swirled around her as she walked.
"I see my daughter was kind enough to keep you company while I was gone." she said as she gave the girl a pat on the head.
The girl left the room, once again accompanied by the two reapers. The woman approached Claire, her expression remaining cold an emotionless. As she came near, Claire launched herself off the wall and threw a kick at the woman's head. She moved just enough to dodge, and wrapped her arm around Claire's leg.
"I'm not going to hurt you, don't worry. Now calm down before you hurt yourself even more." the woman said as she slowly repositioned Claire against the wall.
She released Claire's leg and began rolling up Claire's shirt.
"What are you doing?!" Claire yelled, starting to struggle.
The woman pinned her to the wall and ran her fingers across Claire's side, just above her left hip.
"Your wound healed better than I thought it would, it didn't even leave much of a scar." the woman said.
"A scar, from what?"
"One of my reaper's broke its claw off in your side when we finally subdued you. I took the liberty of treating your wounds."
"I don't think I ever got your name."
"That's because I never gave it. Just call me Sarah."
"So, Sarah, would you mind explaining to me whats going on? Ever since I saw that thing coming out of the ambulence a few days ago, my life has gone completely haywire."
"It would be best if you didn't know the details. The reason being is you'll be safer that way. You seem like such a nice girl, if not a bit rough around the edges, but it would still be a shame to have to kill you."
Claire started cringing in pain as her side felt like it had burst into flame.
"Oh, looks like the painkiller is wearing off. Hold still for a minute." Sara said as she took a small syringe out of her bag.
Claire winced in pain as she injected the painkiller into her side.
"It should start feeling better in a minute or so. You seem much more relaxed now. Is there anything you need, anything I can get you?"
"Would you mind letting me down from here?"
"That, I can't do. It's a precaution in case you begin to awaken again."
The door opened and the young girl poked her head inside.
"Mommy, you're needed in the clinic." she said.
"Alright, keep an eye on Claire for me, will you? I should only be a few minutes." Sarah said as she walked out the door.
"Seeing as you'll probably be here for a while, I might as well get to know you. It's been a while since I've been able to see someone from the outside." the girl said.
"There's a few things I'd like to know about you too, your name for starters."
"My name is really all I can tell you. It's Syah."
An alarm sounded in the distance. Syah opened the door and called one of the reapers to her.
"I have something to take care of. You won't be going anywhere, will you?" Syah asked sarcastically as she hopped on the reaper's back.
As Syah rode off, the door closed behind her, leaving Claire alone.
"Hey, are you okay?" a voice said.
Claire looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from.
"Up here."
Claire looked up to see someone staring at her from the vent above.
"Hold on, I'll get you out of here."
The vent loosened and fell to the ground with a crash. The soldier who had accompanied her earlier dropped down from the vent.
"You're alive! I thought you were done for when that reaper attacked you!" Claire yelled in excitement.
"Keep it down will ya? It took me forever to lose those things, I wouldn't want them finding me now, when we're so close to freedom." He said as he pulled out a keyring lined with keys.
"What's your name anyway?"
"Dave." he replied, searching through the keys to see which would unlock the chains on Claire's wrists.
After a few seconds of searching, he found the keys to the shackles. He reached up and unlocked Claire's right hand. As he was about to undo the shackle on her left wrist, the keys flew out of his hand. He turned to see the keys float right into Syah's hand.
"So, this is where you ran off to. Letting her go is a big no no. Looks like I'll have to punish you." Syah said with a giggle.
The area around Dave became distorted and blurred. He charged at Syah, but was suddenly thrown back before he even got close. Syah laughed, mocking his attempts to attack her. Her eyes narrowed to a malicious gaze as Dave drew his pistol.
"Enough toying with you." she said, cracking her knuckles as she walked towards him.
Dave opened fire, but the bullets merely fell straight to the ground a few feet away. Syah pointed to the gun, still walking towards Dave. He tried to fire his next shot, but the bullet was jammed in the shaft. He tossed the gun aside and drew his knife. With a flick of the wrist, Syah sent the knife went flying across the room. Syah's eyes began to glow as she stared into Dave's mind, a sadistic grin creeping across her face. Dave fell to his knees, holding his head in pain. With a loud horrific scream, Dave's eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground.
"What did you do to him!?" Claire screamed, trying to break free of her chains.
"Isn't it obvious?" Syah said with a grin.
Sarah walked through the door, wondering what the commotion was about.
"This doesn't look good." Sarah said, putting a hand to her mouth.
"He tried to free Claire, I had no other choice." Syah replied.
"That's not what I meant. I think you sould be going now, let mommy handle this." Sarah said.
"Alright." Syah groaned, sounding dissapointed as she left.
"Claire, you must calm down. Flailing like that might re-open your wounds."
Claire paid no attention and continued struggling to break free.
"Alright, what will it take to calm you down. I'm afraid you'll hurt yourself if you keep this up." Sarah said sternly.
"Information. I want to know what the hell is going on and why I'm so important to you that you would go as far as to kill an innocent man to keep me here."
"You're no more than a bargaining chip. We simply need you to get what we want from the military, in exchange for your safety."
"I don't believe that for a second."
"Oh really, then what do you believe?"
"If I were just a bargaining chip, why take all these precautions to keep me here? If what you say is true, there would be no need to chain me to the wall, it's not like I could just walk out of here."
"You have a point. Fine, I'll fill you in on some things, but I don't know too many specifics. Fallen are covered in a gene altering substance, and people turn into Fallen when coming in contact with this substance. The substance is called the Adam-compound. Once inside the body, the Adam-compound multiplies and spreads, similar to the behavior of a virus. As it spreads, it completely reconstructs the victim's genetic code to mimic its own."
"So why haven't you been affected?"
"I'm not sure."
"I think you do know. Syah made a point earlier, that I was assuming she was human. If you're her mother, wouldn't the same hold true for you as well?"
"You seem quite calm now, this discussion is over." Sarah said as she turned to leave.
A bright light filled the room as Claire transformed. Sarah's jaw dropped in amazement of what she was seeing. Claire pulled the chain from the wall and stared at Sarah.
"Please don't try to stop me. I don't want to hurt you." Claire pleaded.
Sarah stepped aside and let Claire walk out the door. Claire ran through the halls, having no clue where she was going, just hoping she was one step closer to freedom.
"So, you once again reveal your true form. This should be quite amusing." a familiar voice echoed through the halls.
Claire turned around to see Syah, accompanied by an army of reapers.
"Lets see how you well you can use your newfound powers, shall we?" Syah said as she ordered the reapers to attack.
Before she knew it, Claire found herself ripping through reapers left and right. She ducked one of the reaper's swipes and thrust forward, skewering three of the reapers on her sword. She quickly leaped onto the wall and launched herself across the hall, slicing through more reapers as she landed. Within seconds the entire army of reapers was reduced to nothing.
"Not bad, but it seems like your body is doing all the work and your mind is just along for the ride."
Syah's eyes began to glow as she stared at Claire.
"What!? Why aren't my powers working on you!?" Syah screamed.
Claire rushed at Syah, who was now cowering in fear.
"Why won't it stop! Why can't I stop!" Claire thought, desperately trying to gain control of her own body.
Just as Claire was about to slice through Syah, who was huddled in a ball at the end of the hallway, something stopped her blade. She turned to see a man, holding her sword by the blade.
"Daddy!" Syah yelled in excitement.
"Get out of here Syah, quickly!" the man said sternly.
Syah ran down the hall and into one of the rooms. After seeing that his daughter was safe, the man released Claire's sword.
"Just as I thought, you can't control it yet." the man said, stepping away from Claire.
"Who are you exactly?" Claire asked.
"That is none of you concern, not yet at least."
Claire turned to face him. He wore a crimson cloak which was draped over his shoulders. His silver vest shone from beneath the cloak, tucked into black dress slacks. His white hair came to a split toward the front of his head, a few strands falling across his face. His red eyes burned like fire as he looked at Claire.
"I can tell you are confused. I see it in your eyes." the man said.
"Would you care to explain a few things then?"
"Entertain me for a while, and maybe I'll consider it. I've been waiting a long time to see what you're capable of."
His hands burst apart, huge black claws appearing in their place from beneath the cloak. He rushed in at Claire and slashed at her with his claws. She rolled to the side and slashed at him, just clipping his cloak.
"Not bad for someone working entirely on instinct." he said as he continued his vicious assault.
He backed Claire up against the wall, trapping her. He lunged in at her, but she dove around him.
"Just as I expected..." he muttered.
A long, bladed tail appeared from under his cloak and slammed into Claire, knocking her back against the wall. Claire's body reverted back to normal, and she wondered what he was going to do next. She felt weak, so much so that it pained her to breathe.
The tail and claws receded back under the man's cloak as he walked over and helped Claire to her feet.
"I'm disappointed. I expected more of you." he said.
"I held up my end of the deal, now there are a few things I'd like to know."
"To be quite honest, my daughter puts up a better fight than you do. The least I can do is tell you my name. Just call me Adam."
Claire started to fall, but Adam caught her.
"I guess I went too hard on the poor girl." he said as Claire passed out in his arms.
Claire awoke in a small bed in the base's clinic. Sarah sat at Claire's side bandaging her wounds.
"You really have to stop risking your life like this. We need you alive, or did you forget that already?" Sarah said with a condescending look in her eye.
What the hell are you people?" Claire asked, still feeling weak.
"I wouldn't worry about that, just relax and let your wound heal." Sarah replied.
Sarah continued wrapping Claire's wounds, periodically applying anticeptic. The door across from them opened, and Syah walked into the room.
"It's almost time, hurry up mommy." she said impatiently.
"I'm sorry but I have to leave you for a moment. I promise I'll be back when this is all over." Sarah said as she got up and left.
"Wait, when what's all over?" Claire yelled in a panic.
Shutters on both sides of the clinic opened, revealing hundreds of stasis pods, each housing a Fallen. Claire suddenly felt a sharp pain in her arm. She looked to see a machine on her arm drawing blood. Her blood flowed through tubes leading to the stasis pods. The Fallen began convulsing wildly as Claire's blood mixed with the fluid in the pods. Their amorphous bodies began to form a hard armor around their bodies. Blood red fangs burst from their mouths, jutting out in all directions. As they stopped convulsing, a thick visor slid out in front of their eyes. They had become a hellishly twisted version of Claire's own transformation.
The device draining Claire's blood released and dropped to the floor. One of the Fallen broke free from its pod and began walking towards Claire. As it fixed its gaze on her, a bloody katana burst from its arm. Sword in hand, it loomed over Claire. Still too weak to move, Claire watched helplessly as the Fallen raised its katana, ready to strike.
"Step away from her!" a voice yelled, accompanied by an inhuman hiss.
A blast of acid covered the Fallen, eating away at its armored flesh. It stumbled back, clawing at its face trying to wipe off the acid. The acid slowly ate through the Fallen's face. Eventually, the Fallen stopped thrashing about, and fell to the ground dead. Claire looked to see Sarah standing in the doorway.
"So you aren't human." Claire said.
"Yes, your suspicions were right all along. I used to be normal, but ever since I met Adam, my body went through some changes, to say the least."
"I don't suppose you'd tell me what happened would you?"
"Actually, I think it's time I revealed something to you." Sarah said, slowly peeling dead skin off her arm.
She unzipped the side of her long dress and let it fall to the floor. A long snake-like body flowed down from beneath Sarah's blouse, its purple scales glistening in the light.
"The changes took place slowly, but most of them occured durring my pregnancy with Syah."
"Did he even tell you what was going to happen?"
"He didn't even know of it himself until a year after Syah's birth, at which point it was impossible to hide from him any longer. I was ashamed to tell him, afraid he would blame himself for all this."
"If he didn't know about it, how come you knew so much about the Adam-compound and how it functions?"
"I studied my own DNA and found some abnormalities."
"You studied your own DNA!?" Claire said in disbelief.
"Maybe I should have mentioned I have a PhD in genetics. Anyway, I compared Adam's DNA to my own, and found it was comprised entirely of the same abnormality, the Adam-compound."
"Why are you telling me all this? It was you who told my the less I knew the better!"
"Adam.... wants you disposed of." Sarah said as she took a syringe out of her bag.
"Wait, you can't do this!" Claire screamed in protest, trying to run, but her body wouldn't respond.
"Don't worry, things will work out for the best. trust me." Sarah said as she gave Claire the injection.
Claire's vision blurred as the room began to spin. She fought with all her might to stay awake, to hopefully fight off the drug.
"It will go much easier if you stop fighting it. You'll be fine." Sarah said as she soothingly ran her fingers through Claire's hair.
After the longest minute of her life, Claire could no longer resist, and her eyes fell shut. She finally accepted death.
To her surprise, Claire found herself in a dark alley when she opened her eyes, rather than in the afterlife. She looked out and noticed she was on 5th Street. Out of habit, she put her hands in her pockets as she walked, and noticed a note. She opened it up and read it over.
"As you probably realized by now, I couldn't bring myself to kill you. I already knew I wouldn't be able to, which is why I gave you a high dosage sedative instead. It was the only way I could think of to safely get you to the surface. You are the only hope I have of getting my husband back to the way he once was. Best of luck."
Claire made her way to the corner of 23rd and 5th, where the soldier had told her to go. She lifted the manhole cover and climbed inside. When she reached the bottom, a massive steel shutter loomed in front of her. The soldier standing guard greeted her with a smile.
"E.. I mean Claire, we've been expecting you. If you would please follow me." he said, opening the door for her.
Aside from a few minor differences, the base looked remarkably similar to the one she had been held prisoner in just moments before. The soldier led her into a small office, offering her a chair in front of the large cedar desk.
"Dr. Gorchev will be with you in a moment." the soldier said as he left the room.
Clair kept herself occupied by reading the titles of the medical books that lined the bookshelf against the back wall. After a few minutes of waiting, she saw the side door open as Dr. Gorchev walked into the room. He was an older man, presumably in his seventies. His grey hair was oiled back, his hairgell glinting in the light. As he looked at Claire, she saw a tear roll down his cheek.
"It's been a long time. I assume you've come to learn the truth about your past."
Claire gave him a silent nod.
First, you must disregard everything you know, all your memories of friends, family, everything up until this time last year. All of those memories were programmed into your consciousness."
"How can none of that be real? And why only up until last year?"
"I was about to get to that. It is because you weren't even alive, actually, you didn't even exist until last year. I created you here, in this very building."
"Then why don't I remember it?"
"Because we had those memories supressed. It was the only way to uphold the illusion of normalcy, the mistake I made with your predecessor."
"You aren't making any sense."
"I'll start from the beginning. Thirty years ago I began work on creating the ultimate life form. The result was Adam."
"Adam!? Why would you create something with that much destructive capability?"
"So you've met him, interesting. He wasn't always like this. Originally, he was just like any other human being, except his physical and mental capabilities had the potential to grow to over one-thousand times that of a normal man. He lived a normal life for the most part, got married. Hell, I was his best man. Eventually, word got out about his extraordinary abilities, and the military began to target him. They forced him here against his will. I'm not sure what went on behind these walls, but when they were through with him, Adam came out a different person. I later realized that Adam was capable of going through a process of forced rapid evolution, which he used in order to survive those brutal years of military testing. His genetics allow him to continue this trend of rapid evolution, doing in minutes what other species took centuries to accomplish."
"That's incredible, but where do I fit in to all of this?"
"I feared Adam would eventually seek vengance, which is why I created you as a countermeasure, just incase he got out of control."
"So why did you supress my memories? If I knew about them from the beginning..."
"You would have become just like Adam. It was because he was aware of his abilities that the military was able to target him so easily."
"So it was all for my protection."
"There is something I must show you."
Gorchev opened the side door and led Claire down the hall.
"The place I am about to show you has remained untouched since that day, the day you left here."
Gorchev opened the door at the end of the hall. Inside were hundreds of stasis pods, smashed beyond repair. He led Claire through the debris to a large stasis pod in the center of the room. Gorchev leaned over and wiped the thick dust off of the metal name plate, revealing the name Eve.
"This is where you were born, in a matter of speaking." Gorchev said.
"This is... the place from my nightmares." Claire thought.
"You can remember what happened. I can tell by the look in your eyes. It was the only thing we didn't have time to fully supress, due to the circumstances. Adam had found out about you, and attempted to destroy the only thing that could stand in his way. Luckily, he wasn't nearly as powerful as he is now, and the defense systems easily bought enough time to awaken you and get you out."
"My entire life... has been a lie..." Claire stammered.
She burst into tears, slumped over the base of Eve's stasis pod.
"I'm sure this all must come as quite a shock, but we have more important matters at hand. Am I correct in assuming you've already met Adam?"
Claire remained silent, still slumped over the stasis pod.
"Claire, I need a response. I need to know what has happened to you within the last few days." Gorchev snapped in frustration.
Claire still gave no reply, lacking the will to go on. Gorchev grabbed her arm and quickly looked it over.
"He has a sample of your blood? Our situation just went from bad to worse. Adam has everything he needs, now that a copy of your DNA is in his hands. We need to get out of here now! If we don't, he may very well succeed in killing you this time."
Claire remained silent, despair and helplessness surrounding her. Gorchev grabbed her hand and pulled Claire to her feet. Claire quickly pulled away from him and continued to stare at the stasis pod, the nightmare of her birth playing through her head over and over.
"I have no choice." Claire said solemnly.
With a bright flash, Claire transformed.
"You can't seriously be thinking of fighting Adam! You won't stand a chance! We must get out of here now, this way the military can at least provide backup." Gorchev said in a panic.
A loud crash echoed through the base, dust and smoke flooding through the door. As the smoke cleared, a familiar figure stood in the doorway.
"Why am I not surprised to see you here, Claire?" Syah called across the room.
"How did you know I was alive? The way Sarah staged my death..."
"A little mind reading goes a long way. I thought I'd handle things myself, so I didn't tell daddy about this." Syah said with a giggle.
Four fallen walked in behind her.
"I can't believe it. They succeeded in making E-Class fallen!" Gorchev said in awe and terror.
"It's been a while, doctor. I wouldn't want to hurt a friend of daddy's, not unless it was absolutely necessary. Please cooperate and subdue Claire for us." Syah said.
"The Adam I knew is dead. All that remains is a hollow shell!" Gorchev yelled.
"What a shame. I guess you'll be reunited with your former friend then."
As Claire noticed Syah's eyes begin to glow, she immediately rushed forward. The fallen flawlessly intercepted Claire, knocking her to the ground. As Syah slowly turned her hand, a loud snap echoed through the room, and Gorchev's head fell limp, his body soon to follow.
"Now that I have something to work with, killing you should be a simple task." Syah said with a laugh.
The fallen dispersed throughout the room as the stasis pods began to float in the air. Claire brandished her sword, waiting for Syah to make the first move. Claire quickly ducked to the side as one of the pods came crashing down from above. Seeing an opening, the fallen quickly rushed in and attacked. They came from all sides, using the dust and smoke from the impact for cover. A fallen burst through the smoke in front of Claire and attacked, swinging its bloodied katana at her head. As she blocked, another fallen appeared on her left. She ducked to the side and sidestepped another attack. As the dust began to clear, the fallen quickly retreated back to the shadows. Syah sent another stasis pod flying down at Claire. She sliced through it and quickly rushed at Syah. The fallen intercepted Claire, pinning her to the floor. Syah slowly walked over to Claire, her lips twisting into a sadistic grin.
"It looks like I finally have you beat. Don't worry, I'll make things as painful as possible." she whispered as she pressed a scrap of steel against Claire's cheek.
"Only ten years old and you're already a cruel and sadistic bitch. Way to start early." Claire growled.
"What did you expect? Daddy taught me everything I know."
The fallen suddenly began to stagger backward, shrieking in pain.
"What is this, some kind of trick!?" Syah yelled in a panic.
The black skin of the fallen began melting away, reverting them back to the people they once were.
"I figured something like this would happen." A voice said stoically.
Syah's face went pale as her mother slithered into the room.
"You should know by now I don't like it when you read my mind. Now let me take care of this and go home." Sarah said, lifting Syah off of Claire.
"I know you're just going to protect her again!" Syah protested.
"You know it's not wise to argue with me, now go home." Sarah said.
Syah walked out of the room, turning her head to glare at her mother as she left. As the door closed, Claire breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why are you acting like you're in the free and clear. I wasn't lying when I told Syah I'd take care of things. If you want to get out of here alive, you have to get through me first."
"What? You go through all the trouble of saving me and now you want to kill me?"
"Lets just say I'd like to test a theory I have."
"I don't want to hurt you, please don't make me do something we'll both regret."
Sarah slithered towards Claire, who hesitantly lifted her sword. Sarah lashed out at Claire with her nails, but Claire quickly blocked with her arm.
"You're not even trying. Give me your all!" Sarah shouted.
Sarah picked up a long steel shard, her hand dripping with blood as she adjusted her grip. Sarah rushed in at Claire, slashing at her with the shard. Claire blocked with her sword and hopped to the side. Sarah continued her assault, Claire constantly parrying and avoiding her strikes.
"You'll have to attack sooner or later Claire. You can't run like this, not now, not ever!"
Sarah swung at Claire, barely clipping her hand with the tip of the shard.
"You're not even using your abilities to their full potential. It's in your blood to stop Adam, to cure this city of the Adam compound."
Claire finally realized what Sarah was getting at. Blood ran down from her hand on to the blade of her sword. She swung in at Sarah relentlessly, Sarah easily parrying all of Claire's strikes.
"You finally get it now, why you are so special."
Sarah reached out and grabbed the blade of Claire's sword. As Claire's blood mixed with her own, Sarah let out an agonizing shriek as she fell to the ground. She started clawing at her tail, ripping the scales from her snake-like body in thick, bloody clumps. Snaps and pops echoed through the room as her body stiffened.
"I didn't expect this process to be so painful!" Sarah groaned in pain as her scales began to become cracked, beginning to peel.
She slowly dragged herself out of the pool of blood and scales, revealing two smooth, slender legs in place of her tail.
"Are you alright?" Claire asked.
"Better than ever, though this whole thing has left me a bit weak." Sarah replied softly.
"We need to get you to a doctor..."
"No, I'm fine. You should be more concerned with Adam. He plans to take the city by storm tonight. You haven't much time. You must stop him."
"But where can I find him? I have no idea where to even start looking."
"Trust yourself, you'll figure something out. Now go, you can't afford to waste any more time!"
Claire ran out the door and quickly made her way back to the surface. As she climbed out of the manhole, she found herself surrounded by a thick, black haze. Struggling to see ahead of her, she noticed a faint light in the distance. She noticed the haze growing darker and darker as she came closer and closer to the light. As she entered Central Park, the light went out completely. The stones around her began to slowly float a few inches off the ground.
"Damnit! Not now!" Claire thought as childish laughter filled the air.
A large stone slammed into Claire's back, knocking her to the ground.
"What's the matter, can't see in the dark?" Syah asked mockingly as another stone whizzed past Claire's face.
"Where is Adam!" Claire yelled in a furious rage.
"On the other side of the city. Why else did you think I lured you out here? Now there is no way you'll reach him in time!"
"I guess that means I'll just make him come to me." Claire muttered.
She charged at Syah, sliding her hand along the blade of her sword as she ran. Stones flew past Claire as she ran, a few managing to connect, but none were enough to slow her down.
"One cut is all I need." she kept telling herself as she ran towards Syah's giggling laughter.
Syah finally came into view. Claire made a quick slash at her arm, making a small cut across her shoulder. Syah let out a painful scream, clutching her arm. The stones around her were ground to dust and a powerful whirlwind formed around Syah as her telekinetic abilities went wild. Without warning, the wind stopped, and the gravel rained from the skies. Syah fell to her knees, out of breath and gasping for air. She stared at the tiniest grain of sand, trying to move it with her mind, but to no avail.
"No, this can't be happening!" Syah sobbed in anguish.
The haze suddenly began to clear. As a large black claw wrapped itself around Claire's throat, she found herself face to face with Adam.
"What have you done to my daughter?" he asked calmly.
Claire struggled to break free, but Adam only tightened his grip.
"What did you do?" He snarled.
"I didn't hurt her. All I did was cure her of that damned disease!"
"I finally see why Sarah was so attached to you. She even risked her life to use herself as a lab rat for her own crackpot theory. Well, I assure you that this won't work on me."
"What?"
"There is no way to change me back to the man I once was."
Adam's tail lashed out at Claire, knocking the sword from her hand. He grabbed her by the collar and lifted her into the air, glaring at her with pure rage.
"I can forgive you for tainting Sarah, because she chose it of her own free will and stupidity, but for ruining my daughter's future I must exact my vengeance!"
Adam's barbed tail loomed menacingly in front of Claire's face. She struggled in vain to escape, Adam's cold stare piercing her soul. She closed her eyes, knowing it was over, that she had failed, and hoping for a quick death.
Adam suddenly let out a loud scream of pain, dropping Claire to the ground. When she opened her eyes, Claire saw her sword embedded in Adam's side, Sarah tightly gripping the hilt.
"What are you doing!? Luckily most of the blood rubbed off in the dirt. Stop this Sarah, you don't know what you're doing!" Adam yelled.
"Yes I do. I'm getting my husband back!" Sarah retorted angrily.
Sarah went to swing the sword again, but Adam quickly knocked her aside. As he walked over to Sarah, he grabbed the sword with his tail and lifted it over his head.
"The last thing I want is for you to get hurt. Now stop interfering!" Adam yelled in frustration.
Claire quickly suck up along side Adam and pressed her bleeding hand into his wound. He let out a agonizing howl, desperately trying to knock Claire off of him. He quickly grew weak and fell to his knees.
"Sarah, stop her, or you will regret this!"
Sarah just watched as her husband flailed about in pain. He slowly stopped, now lying on the ground. His tail released the sword, which stabbed into the dirt at Claire's feet. His tail began slowly melting away, his blood dissolving as hit hit the ground. As Adam tore off his cloak, Sarah realized what she had done. The rest of Adam's body was breaking down at an alarming rate. Sarah quickly ran to Adam, kneeling at his side.
"I can help you, I can do some research..."
"It's better this way. I can finally be free from myself. I don't want to live this life of hatred any longer."
"Why didn't it work, why are you dying!?" Sarah yelled in frustration.
"You're theory was near perfect, and I expected nothing less from your brilliance, but you overlooked the obvious. I AM the Adam compound, not infected by it."
Adam started coughing up blood as his body was being eaten away.
"Sarah, I've always.... I've.... always..."
Adam fell silent, his body lying motionless as it continued to dissolve. Sarah wept bitterly, blaming herself for his death. Claire slowly walked away, trying to leave the dreadful scene behind.
"Where are you going?" Sarah asked.
Claire ignored her and continued walking.
"Claire, please, you're starting to scare me."
"I'm going where no one can find me. Without a past, I don't deserve a future."
"You don't really believe that do you? Why can't you just stay here in the city?"
"I have too many questions to answer. I need to find myself, remember who I really am."
Claire walked back into the city, back underground to the place of her birth. She wandered the desolate halls of the research facility, looking for something to help her remember. She walked back to Eve's stasis pod and climbed inside. She sealed herself inside, deep in thought, desperately hoping for her memory to return.
The city eventually recovered from the epidemic over the next few years, but without a purpose, the underground research facilities were soon forgotten. People went on with their every day lives. Claire never returned to the surface, and was forgotten by all.