Marcus nodded. "I've been wondering when you'd tell me." He said, looking away from the window and towards Paul.
Paul sighed. "Do you know what a possessed person is?" He asked seriously, his eyes focused on the outstretched road before them.
Marcus nodded. "I know the basics, it's when a person has a natural core within them." He Answered. "From what I understand, unlike the implants, the organization gives, which either kills you or gives you abilities. A natural core could kill you or take over your body, right?"
Paul nodded. "Smart lad." He said with a brief finger point to Marcus. "So, since you know what a possessed person is, it's time to discuss that situation."
"You see, our group managed to get their hands on a rank-four anomaly." Paul explained, "It was a fairly powerful little bugger, capable of some crazy shit."
Marcus nodded, "so what was the point of stealing it from us?" He asked.
Paul smirked. "We stole it because we wanted to test some of Ether Incineration weaponry."
Marcus smirked. "The same weapons you use to kill officers." He then crossed his arms, "but since a possessed person managed to pop up from this, I'm assuming something went wrong."
Paul nodded. "yep, one of our scientists decided she wanted to grow a heart, and attempted to release it." Paul's expression turned irritable. "Took less than a minute before the anomaly spat its core down her throat. We managed to kill the anomaly itself, but…" Paul paused for a moment, his expression growing frustrated. "That scientist, she quickly became a force to be reckoned with. Killed almost everyone within the room with her."
Marcus sighed as he uncrossed his arms. Something wasn't adding up. "I thought if you killed an anomaly, the possessed person would die as well."
Paul shook his head. "No, from what I know, as long as either host has a functioning portion of the core, the anomaly can jump between them," Paul explained. "Essentially you'd have to kill both hosts for the anomaly to die."
Marcus felt slightly uncomfortable, his mind instantly went back to his shared core with Luna. If she had died, could she just…. Take his body?
That was a scary thought.
From the looks of things now, Marcus was certain Luna wouldn't actually do something like that, but what ruffled his feathers was the fact that she could.
"Has there ever been a case of someone retaining their identity with an anomaly's core inside them?" Marcus asked.
Paul shook his head. "I doubt it, but I assume that if someone could retain their identity or consciousness, then the core inside them wouldn't be a problem."
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. "So back on topic, where's the scientist now?"
"She's still in that lab," Paul said with a smirk. "We were going to kill her, but orders from up top said to capture her. But you see that leaves us in a pinch, we cannot capture her, she kills anything that enters that damn lab."
Marcus nodded, finally understanding the bigger picture. "I see, so that's where I come in." He said with a smirk, "Should be easy enough, I'm a rank-three officer after all."
Paul's smirk grew. "Glad you're confident lad, because once we slip you into that lab, there is no coming back, either you die, or she gets put to sleep" he laughed. "Because no one is coming to save you."
Marcus laughed as well. "As if I need help, I took out a rank-three anomaly with my previous partner, it's challenging but not difficult."
Paul only shook his head as he pressed down on the gas. "May god have mercy on your soul, because Susan sure as hell won't."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. There was a slight sense of doubt creeping in the back of his mind. Paul seemed confident that Marcus couldn't handle it, almost to a sympathetic degree.
But Marcus quickly pushed those doubts aside, there's no way in hell Paul wasn't just trying to scare him.
— — —
Paul continued to drive for hours. They had left the city behind and were now surrounded by the English countryside.
"Where exactly is this lab?" Marcus asked, breaking the silence.
"It's not far now," Paul said as he pointed towards the glove box. "Open that."
Marcus shrugged his shoulders and obliged, opening the glovebox before him. Upon opening it, he was greeted book, papers, and a small black box.
"What am I getting?" Marcus asked.
"A black box." Paul answered, "Should be about the size of my forearm." He clarified.
Marcus sighed as he grabbed the box. Pulling it out, Marcus noticed that its weight was negligible. Almost as if it was filled with air. "Now what?"
"Open it, inside should be a blindfold, earplugs, and pill," Paul explained.
Marcus gave Paul a hesitant side-eye, before slowly opening the box. Inside of it, was exactly what Paul described.
"I'm not using this," Marcus said bluntly.
Paul smirked. "Not into the kinky stuff huh?" He teased, "Relax lad, it's just a precaution." Paul explained. "You might be working with us now, but we're still enemies, remember?"
Marcus frowned. "I get that, but–"
"I'm not interested in your opinion," Paul said coldly, his playful demeanor leaving entirely. "Take that pill, plug your ears, and cover your eyes."
Marcus frowned. "And if I don't?" He asked challengingly.
"Try me," Paul replied with a passionless tone.
Marcus unknowingly smirked. Something told him Paul had an ace up his sleeve. "Fine," Marcus said with a shrug.
Marcus first grabbed the black and white capsule and swallowed it. The pill went down smoothly. Marcus then grabbed the earplugs and placed them in his ears. They were small and white, yet once they settled in Marcus's ear, he could hear nothing but his own heartbeat. Lastly, Marcus grabbed the blindfold and tied it around his head as tightly as possible.
Paul waited until Marcus was finished. He then reached into the compartment underneath the armrest. Inside was a gun and an image of Kinsley.
Paul pulled out the picture and showed it to Marcus. "This your girl right?" Paul asked curiously. Waving the picture in Marcus's face.
Marcus remained silent. He leaned back in his seat crossing his arms as he sighed.
"I have two guys monitoring her every move." Paul continued. "They watch her every move, we know her routine and her close friends." Paul then smirked, "We also caught a glimpse of what you two love birds were doing yesterday, huddled up in her room, getting her to touch your chest."
Marcus remained silent. He felt slightly drowsy, his mind growing with an all-encompassing fog. He yawned softly as she shifted in his seat.
Paul smiled softly, before placing the picture back into the compartment. "I'm just fucking with ya." He said with a laugh. "Well, I did see that thing you did with your girlfriend, but everything else was a lie."
Marcus snored softly in response.
Paul shook his head in amusement.
Just then, Paul received a call from none other than Marisa herself. Paul quickly answered the phone as he turned off the street and onto a dirt path.
"What's your ETA with the boy?" She asked impatiently.
"I'm here now, get those cameras in the lab-ready, and send up a few guys to help me carry this kid."
"On it," Marisa said urgently, hanging up the phone as Paul pulled up on a rundown farmhouse.
Paul parked his car slightly off the road and turned it off. He watched as two armed guards emerged from the farmhouse, and began jogging over to his car.
Paul looked over to the sleeping Marcus. "Hope you're ready kid, because you're about to face a real monster."
The mercenaries reached Paul's car, and he unlocked the door for them. Paul stepped out of his car and gestured towards the passenger seat.
The mercenaries wordlessly nodded, opening the passenger door. The larger male mercenary pulled Marcus out of the car and held him in a princess carry.
The small female mercenary smiled wryly. "I don't know why Ms. Marisa even sent me here." She joked.
Paul chuckled as he closed his door. "Don't worry, you carry me if you want." He teased.
The mercenary chuckled. "I'll have to decline sir." She replied with a smile.
Paul shrugged as he made his way towards the farmhouse. Inside was a dimly lit interior that smelled of old wood and stale air.
The group walked deep into the home until they eventually came across an open hatch that led into a brightly lit, white room.
There was a short ladder that led down into the room. Paul was the first to take it, followed by the female mercenary.
The male mercenary knelt down and called out to his comrade. "Lily, now's your chance." He joked, his voice deep yet friendly.
Lily, the female mercenary chuckled, standing at the bottom of the ladder with her arms outstretched. "Lower him down." She called out.
The man obliged and slowly lowered the limp Marcus into Lily's arms. Due to the height difference, it looked as if Lily was hanging onto him rather than holding him.
With Marcus secured in Lily's grasp, the other mercenary began to descend the ladder, closing the hatch behind himself.
With everyone in the room, Paul appeared to seal double doors. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a keycard. Swiping it, the doors hissed open, revealing a set of stairs that led deeper into the facility.
As they descended down the stairs. Lily adjusted her grasp of Marcus, putting him into a princess carry, with his arms dangling over her shoulders.
"You want me to take him?" Her comrade asked.
Lily shook her head. "No it's fine, the kid isn't that heavy, he's just tall." She joked with a laugh.
"That lad is at least ninety kilograms." Paul commented, "You sure he isn't heavy?"
Lily nodded. "I'm sure."
It wasn't long before Paul and the two mercenaries were navigating through a long corridor guarded by two guards at the end, standing before a closed door.
Noticing Paul approaching, they opened the door. Revealing a small room that held various equipment and weapons. Standing inside the center of the room was Marisa. Her arms crossed, studying a large screen that showed various camera views.
Noticing Paul, Marisa looked over with a frustrated expression. "Took you long enough." She commented.
Paul smirked, looking around the room he noticed CJ standing in the corner of the room with her arms crossed. A rifle by her side. "Sup Paul." She said with a quick wave.
"Looking good, love." He replied.
Paul then turned his attention to Lily, "Place Marcus on that cot over there." He said, gesturing toward a cot on the back wall. Beside a generator set. The small, black boxes are stacked up four high in two columns.
CJ looked over to Marcus, a curious expression playing on her face. "So it's true, he did find you."
Paul nodded. "People tend to do that when you give them clues." He joked.
CJ smirked. "I'm glad, hopefully, he'll see we are better than that godless organization."
"Mhmm," Paul said with a head nod. "Keep killing his comrades and I'm sure he'll see us as saviors."
CJ frowned as she fell silent.
Paul focused his attention on the cameras Marisa was watching.
On the cameras were various viewing angles of a woman dressed in a tattered lab coat. She had short black hair and deep red eyes. There were black veins bulging all over her body.
She wandered around the ruined lab, her body twitching and twisted. "You can't keep me in here!" She said loudly, smirking with a laugh. "I know you're watching….." she teased as her head twitched.
Paul frowned as he crossed his arms. "Sometimes I wonder if we're the bad guys." He said to himself.
"This mess isn't our fault, Susan was told not to touch the anomaly," CJ said reassuringly.
Paul nodded. "Still, instead of filling her with lead and putting her outta her misery, they want to capture the bloody thing."
"Well, there's no point in holding off," Marisa said as she approached the right wall. "I'll grab the smelling salts."
Paul nodded as he looked over at Marcus, who lay peacefully on the cot. Lily had removed his blindfold and earplugs.
Marisa grabbed the smelling salts and approached Marcus with them in hand. Leaning over him, she cracked them open and waved them under his nose.
Marcus immediately stirred awake. His body fighting off the lingering effects of the sleeping pill. His eyes snapped open as he sat up to cough. "W-what the hell was that?" He said between coughs, looking around the small cluttered room with a confused expression.