A deep, oppressive darkness enveloped Natalya. There was no sound, no smell or even a touch. A strange sensation of being dead and alive. Her mind was in a haze, unable to recall how she ended up in such a strange place. But as the fog in her mind began to clear up, memories flood back into her mind like a tidal wave. The creature that chased after her, Gustav fighting to rescue her, and how he died after being attacked by that same creature.
She wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. That sensation was by far the most terrible she had ever experienced in her short life. Natalya struggled to get her bearings, to feel something. To stop floating in a sea of nothingness.
About to give, Natalya gave one last struggle. A light arose from her chest illuminating the darkness. It was faint, but it was enough to bring a little peace of mind.
"Well, you keep surprising me." A voice from beyond the darkness said.
"Who said that?" Natalya replied.
For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence. Then the voice spoke again.
"I'm the one that brought you into this world, child."
Before Natalya could reply, she felt a hand grabbing her by the arm and pulled her upward.
A bright light overwhelmed her for a few seconds. She was cold, like she had just taken a dip into a tub full of ice water. In the distance, she could hear the sounds of machines and chains.
When her eyes finally grew accustomed to the light, Natalya was shocked to find herself sitting on a large metal table in a seemingly empty room. They tied her hands and ankles with golden chains. A precaution to keep her from running away. On the black tile floor, there was a circle with strange engravings in white, which Natalya what they were for. There was so much she didn't know.
Being a recently born artificial human being, or homunculi. Her experience of the world was at best limited. However, something in the back of her mind warned her that someone did not inscribe there those symbols for her own good.
Standing at the threshold of the door was a man in a hood. A white mask hid his face without eyes and mouth.
"W... Who are you?" Natalya asked.
"The one who brought you into this world," the man replied. There was a tinge of pride in his voice. "You can even call me 'father' if you like."
"What does that mean?" Natalya tried to break free, but the chains hurt every time she moved.
"I suggest that you stop moving around," the man advised. "Those hurt a lot."
The man grabbed her by the chin and examined her delicate features. "And we don't want you to get hurt."
Natalya glared at the man and tried to free herself. But it only amused the mysterious man.
"Your stay in the outside world has tainted you," the man lamented under his breath. "I'll have to cleanse you."
Cleanse? Natalya didn't know what the man was talking about. However, she knew it wouldn't be good for her, feeling sick to her stomach just thinking about what was in store for her.
"Why do you want to cleanse me? What do you want from me?" Natalya asked the masked man, trying to appeal to his humanity, if he had any.
It was time to uncover the purpose of her creation. While she was in suspended animation back at the facility, she had only heard whispers of what her true purpose was. To bring enlightenment was what she remembered. Probably, they were unaware that she was partially awake as they experimented on her.
The masked man sighed. "You'll soon learn the truth about why you're here. Of how important you are."
Then he turned his back on her. "I'll come back later," the masked man with heavy steps headed to the door. "You better behave."
Natalya found herself alone again in that empty room. She looked at the chains holding her in place and lamented the rash decision that had landed her in such a precarious situation.
"Father..." she whispered mournfully.
**
Rosya stared as Ansem had the nurse in a choke hold. She was both relieved and astonished at what was playing before her eyes. They had sent a nurse to do what to Gustav? And why did this mysterious man try to help him? She would get her answers now.
"If you're going to stare, then you'll leave me no choice." Ansem's index finger shone with a purple flame and traced a shape like an arrow on the nurse's forehead.
The nurse tried to scream, but Ansem covered his mouth, and Rosya was about to draw her gun on Ansem when she noticed that the nurse's skin had begun to crack. Faint cracking noises reached her ears as the nurse began to crumble like a salt statue.
Ansem released the nurse as it crumbled into a fine dust. He smiled when he noticed that Rosya was paralyzed by the strange spectacle she'd just witnessed. He took this opportunity to ruffle inside the nurse's clothes and with his, picked up a worm-like creature. It writhed and squirmed as it pointlessly tried to escape. With a whisper, the worm began to burn until nothing remained.
It was then when Rosya snapped out of her stupor.
"What the hell just happened?" She drew out her gun and aimed at Ansem.
"Would you put that down?" Ansem scoffed. "I told you I'm here to help."
Rosya looked down at the floor and saw the dust that once had been a nurse. Or something that looked like a nurse.
So many strange things had been happening that she quite couldn't get her thoughts straight. But the slow beeping of the EKG monitor at the side of Gustav's bed brought her back to her senses.
"So you're here to help," Rosya finally said. "How do I know I can trust you?"
Ansem grimaced at her. "If I wanted to harm Gustav, I would already have done so. If we can save the questions for later, before the send more. They're relentless like that."
"Who's they? You're not making any sense."
Ansem drew out a syringe and injected the content into Gustav's I.V. Turning the serum a faint neon-blue.
"It's done. Now let's get him out of here."
"What the hell did you just do?" Rosya watched as Ansem disconnected the strange machine and the EKG that was hooked up to Gustav. The EKG gave out the flat-line beep that would sure draw more attention. That meant it was time to get out of there.
Ansem pushed Gustav's hospital bed, with Rosya following close behind, wondering what she was doing. She was clearly breaking several laws, but the entire hospital was strange and perhaps opening an investigation when Gustav was back on his feet again. But where would they take him? She was clearly breaking several laws while Gustav was still severely injured and that mysterious substance Ansem had injected into his I.V. drip was uncertain if it would actually help at all.
"Where are we going?" She finally asked.
"Questions later, detective." Ansem replied.
Rosya couldn't explain, but she felt that something was hot on their heels.She had expected the hospital's guards and nurses to chase after them. After all, what they did was very reckless. Despite she couldn't see it, Rosya felt its intent. However, what was chasing them was invisible. She couldn't see it, but could feel its intent. That alone was enough to send shivers down her spine.
At the end of the long hallway, there was a dead-end with a strange symbol painted on it. Rosya watched as Ansem picked up the pace and run into the wall.
"Wait. What are you doing?" Rosya exclaimed.
Ansem grabbed her by the hand. "We're almost there!"
The wall drew closer, and Rosya closed her eyes, expecting to crash into the concrete wall. However, a whooshing sound reached her ears. When she opened her eyes, she was in a living room. It was clearly a living room in a man's apartment. Spartan in design. There were a few pieces of furniture, a small coffee table and a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall.
"Where..." Rosya began, but stopped when she saw a photo hanged on the wall.
It was a group photo. Among the sea of uniformed youths, she noticed a younger looking Gustav.
Ansem had transported them into Gustav's apartment. Rosya couldn't believe what was happening.
"We're finally safe," Ansem commented. "Now we can relax."
"Hey! What the hell is happening? How did we end up here!" Rosya snapped at Ansem, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "And who are you, anyway?"
"I just did what had to be done to keep him safe," Ansem calmly replied.
"What you did was reckless! And you got me involved in it."
"Rosya..."
Rosya was about to continue berating Ansem when she heard a voice calling out to her.
"Can you keep it down?" Gustav said as he rose up from the bed.