I'm going to use this post to vote and answer your questions.
"Tell Elizabeth about Milo and work out a plan with her.
I just have a feeling that if we don't tell her and she finds out later that he knew and didn't tell her, that there is going to be some unforseen consequences.
1) favorite character?
This is tough. I feel like Ethan might be like the reader within the voyager's. By that I mean he knows just as much as we do about them and we are learning with him. Within Onyx and those affiliated with them it would probably be one of the character's I submitted, but we haven't seen to much of them yet.
2) And your least favorite?
None really.
3) Who is a character you want to see more of?
Maybe some more Richardson's and Dumont's might be intriguing for us readers.
4) What is a theme you want to see more of?
I kind of want to see more of the villains and those characters affiliated with them. They are also more background with them we should be learning about.
5) Where do you believe the main story is going for the Voyagers?
The voyager's are going to end up warring with Onyx.
6) Where do you believe the main story for the Onyx Organization is going?
The same as the previous answer.
7) Are there any plot points you believe I neglected that you would like to see covered?
I wouldn't say it was neglected, but I want to see more of Elizabeth and Marshal's undercover and infiltration work.
8) Is there any speculation you’d like to provide on the next time segment?
Both sides might began preparation for the eventual confrontation between both sides.
2.1
After fifty-seven years, the Voyagers as a group had reached the happiest Cyrus had seen them.
Sickness and tragedy had crossed ea… morech of them multiple times and never left a few of them, but they each had the strength to smile and laugh like nothing was wrong. It was an admirable quality that Cyrus himself had taught Elizabeth and she had also taught that quality to others.
The effort that each person had put into the group was an effort stronger than life, with most people working themselves to exhaustion. It had been the same in the past when the Voyagers were made up of a complete different set of people.
Thinking that there was a time where that was such a thing always managed to get a chuckle out of Cyrus. The people that made up the group now were the people Cyrus considered family, more so than previous group members had.
After Milo’s disappearance, Cyrus taught Elizabeth how to fend for herself, knowing that she was … [view original content]
2.1
After fifty-seven years, the Voyagers as a group had reached the happiest Cyrus had seen them.
Sickness and tragedy had crossed ea… morech of them multiple times and never left a few of them, but they each had the strength to smile and laugh like nothing was wrong. It was an admirable quality that Cyrus himself had taught Elizabeth and she had also taught that quality to others.
The effort that each person had put into the group was an effort stronger than life, with most people working themselves to exhaustion. It had been the same in the past when the Voyagers were made up of a complete different set of people.
Thinking that there was a time where that was such a thing always managed to get a chuckle out of Cyrus. The people that made up the group now were the people Cyrus considered family, more so than previous group members had.
After Milo’s disappearance, Cyrus taught Elizabeth how to fend for herself, knowing that she was … [view original content]
Alright, so, it's been a few since I've updated this, however, I had a question for you guys.
It is a bit early to be thinking about this… more, but I actually have a majority of the chapters planned out. Except for chapters three and four.
Now, without admitting too much about the order, the options I will leave up to you guys.
Please keep in mind that this is currently for chapter three, and whichever is most regarded will be chapter three and the other will be chapter four.
That being said, your options are Eris or Marshal.
The next piece actually hasn't even been started, but I can say that it will resume the much beloved Onyx Organization POV. Until then!
After the weddings had officially ended and Isaac had spoken to the attendees, thanking them for coming and saying they could leave whenever they felt like it, Alyssa and Milo stayed around for a bit, waiting for Luke and Amanda before they left the venue.
Alyssa's job outside of the headquarters entailed watching over Milo and listening to whatever he said very carefully in case he said anything related to the Voyagers. She had gotten used to his radio silence but also his blatant lies to throw her off. Alyssa already knew that Milo's word couldn't be trusted, but was also told to take most of what he said seriously.
She only found out about his lies when she started working with him and when she asked him about how many Voyagers there were. He responded with zero and was unlucky that Luke overheard it.
Alyssa had lost herself in thought until she heard Milo finally speak. "You know, I never really believed that weddings were a place for betrayal."
She didn't know who he was talking to because he refused to look at any members of the Onyx Organization, but she assumed he was talking to her. "What do you mean by that?"
"Why do you care? You want me to expose my friends because you don't like our way of life and if that's not the most barbaric thing I've ever had to believe, then I don't know what is."
Alyssa didn't have a chance to respond before Luke and Amanda showed up to the table, Luke looking pretty mad compared to his usual disinterested look. "Let me tell you barbaric, Neil, barbaric is your little group of friends leaving you like this. They don't care about you so you have no reason to keep protecting them. Barbaric is also what they've done to become withdrawn from our current way of life, like it or not, none of them are as clean as you would like to believe."
Milo usually stepped down whenever Luke spoke against him and in some cases, he would apologize and take his words back, but this wasn't any typical time. "They're withdrawn because they see the real freaks behind the curtains. If you seriously believe that they're not clean then you shouldn't look into records of former Onyx Organization leaders because they're worse than any resistence member. For this alleged society to function, you guys kill people who don't believe in your ways or you torture them until they give up answers that you want, whether they're true or not and that's how things have been since the beginning, how is that good? How can you people stand by what you do with a good conscience? None of you are helping anybody but yourselves."
Amanda took a hesitant step back as Luke scanned the venue, noting that most civilians had left or they weren't paying attention. He turned his eyes back to Milo and then pulled him up by the front of his shirt, refusing to let go. "You're testing my patience, do you understand that? I'm the only reason you're still alive, be grateful and work with me before you run out of time. I don't care who or what you believe in, if you don't start talking soon then there will be consequences."
"I think you've already done a decent job of ruining my life. My own mother doesn't remember me, my sister is missing, and as far as I know, you've killed my dad. Need I remind you, I deal with this same act every single day that I don't talk, there's nothing you can do to make me talk because I have no reason to."
"Luke, let him go, people are going to become suspicious." Amanda chimed in from Luke's side, looking around the venue.
Alyssa had been told plenty of times to not interfere with situations like this, whether she liked them or not. "What if he doesn't know anything?" Alyssa spoke up, trying to give Luke a reason to let Milo go. "He's been through a lot these past two years and if he wasn't lying about his identity then he probably would have said something already."
Amanda saw what Alyssa was doing and only thought it was right to back her up. "I’ve been told that he's unresponsive to treatment, maybe he's immune because the Voyagers used him. That's the only reason they haven't shown up for him, don't you think?"
"He obviously remembers some things. Nobody knows if Elizabeth Neil is dead or missing, but he just admitted that she's missing. That tells me that she's just as involved with the group as he was."
As Luke spoke, Milo seemed to grow uneasy as he pieced together Milo's words. "You're going to believe me that easily? Wow, then I've got lots to tell you. Elizabeth is definitely with the Voyagers. Remember Kyle Kennedy? The guy who worked Alyssa's job before her? His son is also with the Voyagers. Oh and you're just never going to believe this, but there's a green horse that leads the group, a lady who lost her kid and her husband because of you people, just a wide range of people, they're all different. There's tons of them, it was a total lie when I said zero, get it? Because I'm untrustworthy, a liar!"
Amanda looked a little confused and shaken up as Milo continued on. "What is he talking about?"
Alyssa watched Luke's grip on Milo's shirt tighten as he started to look angrier, his eyes gleaming red. She decided it was best that she stayed out of it at this point. She actually hated what she was watching, despite it being part of her job. She could never get used to this part.
"You're not going to get answers from him if you strangle him, Luke." Alyssa felt a sense of relief as someone else spoke up. It was Steven, but Sara wasn't with him. "Just let him go and back up a little."
Milo jerked his attention to Steven, quickly gaining a defensive tone compared to how he spoke with Luke. "I don't need your help and I don't want it, thanks anyways."
Steven ignored Milo, his attention staying focused on Luke. "You know fully well that this isn't supposed to happen. Just because your partner isn't around doesn't mean you can't face consequences. You've got a lot to risk and I don't want to see you lose that. You know Sara doesn't want to see you lose it either, so if you can't do it for yourself then do it for her."
Luke let out a deep sigh that rang with regret as he let Milo go, a slight shove as he did so. "Alyssa, you handle him appropriately, I don't want to have to remind you of your job again."
Luke and Amanda left the table, leaving Alyssa, Milo, and Steven. Alyssa looked over Steven, noticing that he looked slightly uncomfortable. She couldn't blame him, the whole scene made her uncomfortable but powerless. "Thank you, I'm not really supposed to intervene, so I didn't know what to do."
Milo took his seat again, only looking to Steven for a few seconds. " I guess I should thank you as well."
"Don't worry about it. I sometimes think Luke doesn't know his own strength. That, or he doesn't realise the weakness in other people." Alyssa noticed Milo's face radiated shame at this point. "You won't have to worry about it much longer, though, you have my word on that." Before Alyssa could question him, Steven started talking again. "Listen, I've gotta go, I told Sara it would only be a few minutes and she's going to be on my case if she talks to Luke or if I spend any extra time here, so I should go. I'll see you guys later."
Alyssa looked around the near-empty venue after Steven left, debating with herself on whether they should leave or not. "Are you ready to go?" Milo didn't respond, only rising from his seat. Alyssa quickly left her own seat and started walking as Milo did. "I'm not going to question you on the Voyagers tonight, I think you've been through enough of that for today."
"Why do you do this job?" Alyssa could tell that Milo seemed hurt by the tone of his voice. "I'm sure you're aware of what the organization does, but you're so kind-hearted. It doesn't make sense."
Despite having to live in the same apartment, Alyssa and Milo rarely had conversations. The reasoning for that being simple. Milo seemed to be made of lies and that was one thing Alyssa couldn't stand. "Because it's a job, I don't know what you want me to say. I was recruited for a reason."
"I'm sure you had the option to say no." Milo didn't seem to be satisfied with her answer. "I mean really, you understand that you're a pawn now, right? I don't understand how you can willingly give away your life like that."
Something in Alyssa kicked in, rather suddenly, making her want to protect the organization. "And you have any right to talk? Didn't you do the same thing for the Voyagers?"
Milo simply snickered, ignoring her tone. "You can't compare the Onyx Organization and the Voyagers, I'm sorry. They're two completely different groups." Alyssa and Milo went up the staircase leading to the second floor worker apartments. "No, by the way, I didn't give up my life for the Voyagers. Nobody gave their life to the Voyagers because we're not the extremists that you guys make us out to be."
"Yeah, because recent Voyager activity really backs that statement up." Alyssa stopped in front of a door, pulling a key from her pocket and unlocking it, allowing herself and Milo inside.
"I'm not involved in that so you can't take it out on me." Milo shut the door behind him as he came in. "A lot can change in two years, I know just about as much as you guys at this point."
Alyssa put the key back in her pocket, seemingly growing tired of the conversation. "You should have told Luke that earlier, but I'm not questioning you so you can give the act a rest."
"I'm surely the one leading an act, you're totally right. Say, speaking of acts, what do you think Steven meant when he said you wouldn't have to worry long?"
Milo took his place on the couch, which is where he was supposed to stay until it reached ten, then he was locked in his bedroom. What he did until then, Alyssa really didn't care as long as she was getting her work done. "Maybe Steven's going to say something to Luke in private, maybe he'll go to Isaac, I don't know."
"If he's who I think he is then that's not the case, but alright, I asked what you thought and I got an answer." Milo grabbed a book from the table next to the couch and cracked it open, stopping his conversation with Alyssa.
She always found him to be suspicious, but was always told to be grateful. She was only put in charge of him after he got out Kyle Kennedy's care by pure force. Isaac and Luke had previously been considering killing Milo since he wasn't reacting to any medicines and he wasn't giving up any information. His escape only further influenced them to consider it until Alyssa pointed out that Kyle wasn't in his prime age or condition to chase Milo down and he wasn't strong enough to fend him off anymore, opting to take care of Milo herself.
Alyssa had been told that she was lucky. According to Kyle, Milo had attempted escapes plenty of times in the two years he was in his care, but he was also extremely defiant and rude. He had never attempted to leave or strike Alyssa, making her believe that it was just Kyle that he didn't like, but she couldn't blame him for that. One issue with Milo was that he was quick to get snappy, but Alyssa was usually quick to retaliate or she would just ignore him.
Whether Milo knew that they were considering ending his life or not, she didn't know. He never really showed any knowledge of what went on in the Onyx Organization, even regarding himself. Alyssa knew that he had been told some things just as a fair warning, but he was never particularly interested.
There was only one condition regarding Milo being in Alyssa's care and it was one that typically changed her work days. Milo wasn't allowed to be on the fourth floor at all unless he was summoned by Isaac or Luke. Alyssa was told that it was because he knew a fair amount of people there and they didn't want to risk him starting trouble. Usually, Milo would remain in the lobby while Alyssa worked. There was never an issue with it because he knew better than to try and make an escape at the headquarters or interfere with other people’s work, knowing it could easily cost him his life.
Cyrus will advise Marshal to talk with Elizabeth about Milo.
That’s done and done, I actually have no idea when the next part will be out because I drive myself to a stand still by having multiple votes open.
It’s unlikely to be today because I have some blood tests to be done, so I’ll likely just be taking some time off from my usual activities, but they will resume shortly!
Cyrus crossed his arms, tapping his foot for a minute before pulling up a chair next to Filip. "Tell him to make a plan with Elizabeth. She's going to get upset, but if we're all considering what's best for Milo then it needs to be done."
Filip began typing away, Cyrus noticing that there were some symbols in what he was typing. Filip spoke before Cyrus could ask about it. "I had no idea you actually cared about Milo. I actually didn't think anybody but Elizabeth did."
"You really don't pay attention to your surroundings, do you?" Cyrus scoffed. "I'm thinking of the better of the entire group. If we don't help Milo, who knows what he'll have to go through. If Marshal, you, or myself don't tell Elizabeth that we knew, we're screwed."
"What do you mean we're screwed? She wouldn't do anything to hurt us." Filip continued typing, his voice sounding unsure.
"You would think that." Cyrus stopped the conversation, not knowing where it was going from the start.
Filip stopped typing and backed away from the computer. "I had a question for you."
Cyrus noted how Filip wouldn't look at him but he seemed a little shaken up. "What would that be?"
"How do we get supplies that keep up going? Why can't Eris and I go into the city?"
"Two questions, but they're good ones." Cyrus thought of the easiest way to address his questions. "We get supplies from the city because most of us are considered undercover agents. Your other question, Eris can't go because she''s too sick and you can't go because we need someone responsible to stay with her."
Filip didn't seem to buy it but he shrugged it off. "I get it. Marshal says he'll talk to Elizabeth when she wakes up but he's unsure of how to bring it up to her."
"I wouldn't recommend it when she first wakes up, but surely before something has the chance to upset her." Filip started typing as Cyrus spoke, waiting for more. "The best I can say is bring it up as a quick topic. By the way, Filip, it's about time you head to bed."
He stayed focused on his task, not looking around or to Cyrus. "I can't. I have to watch the monitors."
"I may not understand how to use the computer, but I can watch the cameras myself, don't worry about that."
Filip gained a defeated look in his eyes before he finished what he was typing and got out fo his chair, backing away from the computer. "If you're sure about this, then I'll go."
"I'm sure about it. Just make sure you finish your conversation with Marshal beforehand."
Marshal Kennedy
Filip had ended their conversation after telling him that Cyrus had advised that he tell Elizabeth in a prompt manner but didn't say how to break the news to her.
Marshal and Elizabeth talked a little about the day and they each had dinner before they had gone to bed, Elizabeth somehow finding sleep easier than Marshal could. He started doing the math in his head and came to the conclusion that Elizabeth should be waking up sometime soon and it would be best if he were to stay awake and talk with her while she was still in a good mood.
However, it would quickly prove to not be how the situation would work out as Marshal eventually fell asleep.
When he woke again, the sun had already rose and the bedside clock shined the numbers '9:18' in red bold. He expected Elizabeth to have left the bedroom, but he was proven wrong once again the second he turned over. "Elizabeth, are you okay?"
She had been looking to the ceiling at first, seeming to be pulled out of a trance by Marshal's words. "What? Yeah, I'm fine."
"When did you wake up?"
She took a quick look to the clock herself, then returned to her spot. "Like eight or something close to it. Did I wake you? I'm sorry."
"You didn't wake me up, don't worry about it." Marshal sighed, turning away from the window. "Just give me a few more minutes, I'll get up."
Elizabeth took that as her permission to leave without disturbing him.
As she reached the door, Marshal took notice that she had kept the ring from the day before on. The ring had actually belonged to his own mother before Marshal joined the Voyagers. She gave it to him a few days before they left as to convince them both to move on. It was actually the last thing she'd given him, so it was naturally important in his mind.
He got up and dressed a few minutes after Elizabeth left the room and prepped himself to talk to her about Milo, knowing that it probably wasn't going to end up working out.
Leaving the room, he met with Elizabeth in the living room and took a seat across from her. "I need to talk with you. It's pretty important, so please listen." She seemed a little concerned, but didn't speak to allow him to continue. "When we were at the weddings yesterday, Luke and I went around and introduced ourselves, you were already told of this. You know Alyssa Kowalska, right? Well, she's been put on fourth floor work, however, she is apparently guarding a high-risk Voyager."
"Marshal, get to the point, please." Her concern was replaced with a look of obvious anxiety.
"The high-risk Voyager she's guarding is Milo. I was told to talk to you about what to do, but whatever we do, we need to do it today." Elizabeth didn't answer, but Marshal could tell she was about to lose it. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to have Alyssa meet us somewhere and I need you to work with me on this, I need you to disconnect her chip. It'll be better for all of us if she's with us, don't you agree?"
"Yeah.. I guess. Eris needs a doctor and Alyssa's a doctor. It’s only right that we help her out." Elizabeth paused, a giant smile crossing her face and the forming tears in her eyes being replaced with a hopeful look. "And we'll get Milo back!"
“We’ll get Milo back, you’re right. If Milo knows anything about it, we might also get closer to finding out what happened to Morgan.” Marshal offered a kind smile before the ring crossed his mind again. “Luke’s going to be around at eleven, so I’ll stop by headquarters and talk to her after we meet with him.”
He looked at her hand again, the ring still in his view. He wanted to say something about it, but Elizabeth seemed happier now than she had been in some time. Before long, Elizabeth noticed he had been looking at the ring and she began twisting it off. “I actually forgot I was wearing it, I’m sorry.”
She pulled it off and held it out to offer it to him.
Note: Alright, I’m really sorry for the double post and I normally wouldn’t do make a ‘.5’ to any part because I typically handle what I want to in a part and then I most on, however, I realized earlier today that I missed an entire POV while working on that last part. It’s actually too short to become an entire part itself, therefore making it a .5 (and hopefully the only one.) I’m also doing this as an add-on because I want to avoid any confusion that editing the post itself might cause after being up for some number of hours. That being said, it’ll head straight to 2.4 after this part, but I’ll stop rambling.
2.3.5Ethan Rikard
It didn’t take a genius to realize that the bunker was pretty much empty. Filip was sleeping, Cyrus was working, Lecia and Eris were minding themselves, and Joseph was doing whatever he normally did, which Ethan still didn’t know what that was.
Ethan actually knew the least of Joseph and that could easily be because Joseph never went out of his way to talk to Ethan and whenever he did talk to him, it was brief and he seemed disconnected from it. Filip had told him that it would take a bit for Joseph and Lecia to warm up to him but it wasn’t anything that he was doing wrong, it was just the way they were.
Now that he thought about it Joseph didn’t seem to care about the group nearly as much as others, despite being the leader. He had given Elizabeth freedom to do what seemed like whatever she pleased, but got upset with her whenever a threat was introduced, rather than when she did whatever brought that threat along. Well, that was just what he knew. Things might have been different before he was around and that was probably the case.
Ethan eventually wandered into the secret room behind the pantry, finding himself at the ladder again. He looked around the room and noted a lack of cameras, telling himself he could outright leave if he wanted to.
Even though the group was barely standing and the people involved were far less stable than the group itself, they welcomed him with open arms. If he were to leave, it wouldn’t be forever. It wouldn’t even be for over an hour. He would leave to look around the area, which he admittedly knew little about.
He stood at the foot of the ladder, looking up at the hatch. The same hatch and ladder that brought him into the group.
Ethan knew that leaving the bunker wasn’t recommended, but he also wanted to know what the nearby area held.
He put his left hand on the ladder, getting ready to pull himself up before he made his final decision.
[Look around outside the bunker.] [Stay put, maybe another time.]
Note: Alright, I’m really sorry for the double post and I normally wouldn’t do make a ‘.5’ to any part because I typically handle what I wan… moret to in a part and then I most on, however, I realized earlier today that I missed an entire POV while working on that last part. It’s actually too short to become an entire part itself, therefore making it a .5 (and hopefully the only one.) I’m also doing this as an add-on because I want to avoid any confusion that editing the post itself might cause after being up for some number of hours. That being said, it’ll head straight to 2.4 after this part, but I’ll stop rambling.
2.3.5 Ethan Rikard
It didn’t take a genius to realize that the bunker was pretty much empty. Filip was sleeping, Cyrus was working, Lecia and Eris were minding themselves, and Joseph was doing whatever he normally did, which Ethan still didn’t know what that was.
Ethan actually knew the least of Joseph and that could easily b… [view original content]
Note: Alright, I’m really sorry for the double post and I normally wouldn’t do make a ‘.5’ to any part because I typically handle what I wan… moret to in a part and then I most on, however, I realized earlier today that I missed an entire POV while working on that last part. It’s actually too short to become an entire part itself, therefore making it a .5 (and hopefully the only one.) I’m also doing this as an add-on because I want to avoid any confusion that editing the post itself might cause after being up for some number of hours. That being said, it’ll head straight to 2.4 after this part, but I’ll stop rambling.
2.3.5 Ethan Rikard
It didn’t take a genius to realize that the bunker was pretty much empty. Filip was sleeping, Cyrus was working, Lecia and Eris were minding themselves, and Joseph was doing whatever he normally did, which Ethan still didn’t know what that was.
Ethan actually knew the least of Joseph and that could easily b… [view original content]
Marshal will let Elizabeth keep the ring. Ethan will explore outside the bunker.
Now, I've been wanting to do a lot with this next part and by that I mean stretching out the POVs in terms of location, I guess. There has been no direct location that I can recall, but that's not such a bad thing. I've figured out how exactly the resistance groups and the organization works and the full details can be expected in the upcoming part, but I can say that France is a very important thing coming up, please keep that in mind.
I actually have a lot to note before this next part, I didn't realize that until now. This vote was Marshal's final choice for the chapter and it wasn't necessarily important alone, but it plays with Chapter One's final choice and it was more-so just to put an end to Marshal and Elizabeth's little arc for the chapter and allow me to figure out the nature of their relationship myself. The results will be in the next part as well as a POV from Luke, and likely one from Alyssa. The chose itself has consequences that are definitely not limited to Elizabeth and Marshal and it's actually been hinted at someone else it'll greatly effect but I'll move on before I say too much.
So far there are two POVs, but it could easily make it to five, if I'm honest. It can be expected to be the lengthiest part to date. (And this the lengthiest update.)
Now that the good news is out of the way, let's touch on some bad news. I don't know when the part will be expected and I know whenever I say that the part is out within the next 48 hours, but I'm afraid that won't be the case. I've been home sick all week and it's actually likely that I'll be home again tomorrow. Prime time to work, right? Well, maybe not so much. My courses are online and I've been dealing with doctor visits, getting blood drawn, and getting back to work on my courses, so I haven't had much time to work. I don't have work tonight, but I do Sunday and I have a visit to the local college on Friday as well as plans for the evening. October is just a good month to get sick and go outside, there's my main excuse, I love October weather. Yeah, a lot of things to handle, but I'll eventually get the part out.
In the meantime, I'll be working on cleaning up and organizing the main post so there might be changes there, in fact I already know of one I can make after this post. That means good news for you guys, there's time to get caught up on this or other stories and submit any characters you might have left out. However, in getting caught up, I would recommend checking out the Google Docs that are linked in the main post because they're a lot cleaner than the rushed posts that I leave here.
The Diamond Organization was the strongest that there was and the first country organization to be founded. Other organizations were having difficulties with resistances, but the Diamond Organization ruled Norway without any problems.
Jade Organization rarely reported problems with resistance movements, but everybody knew that they had them. Their resistance members worked in silence and often planned heavy attacks at one moment, rather than multiple attacks. Members of the Jade Organization were told to always stay on guard since they never knew when they were plotting an attack.
Despite the Diamond, Jade, and Onyx Organizations each having a fair amount of power, there were other places that had bigger problems with resistance movements.
The Aquamarine Organization, located in France, was in a terrible condition. Their citizens believed in revolution more than they did civility, causing the revolution to overthrow the organization faster than reinforcements could arrive. While the organization itself had crumbled, the country seemed to be doing fine without it. Other organizations covered up what happened to the Aquamarine Organization in fear of inspiring a revolution in their own organization territory.
Besides Aquamarine and Ammolite, the rest of the organization leaders kept in contact fairly well, having a monthly gathering to discuss the state of the organizations and any updates on their revolutionary movements. Most organizations kept a careful eye on their movements and tended to think one step ahead of their revolutionary group.
The same could be said about the revolutionary groups themselves.
They were stationed each in a country and had been tasked with their own jobs with their own members, they were checked on their status, but they only met twice a year due to the risk it was to have the higher-ups in the same location at the same time for too long.
It was often a question of how the Crusaders managed to turn over their organization, but never a question as to why their leader was recognized as the overall resistance member.
Nobody knew his real name, but he always explained that he had chosen the name Pierre for himself because it translated to stone and nobody could really argue that he was weak or easy to break.
Pierre had visited the Voyagers himself a few times, mainly because he figured they were in the most need of help. They had the fewest numbers and the least effect on their organization, however, there were times where they refused to cooperate with Pierre, making him wonder where their faith really belonged.
Each time he had visited, there was an unspoken hostility between him and a few of the members who were present. Over the course of his visits, he noticed that each time he was there, only three members were constantly accounted for. He never asked those three where the others were, but the next time he saw one of the four current members who was usually gone, he confronted him about it.
If he was remembering correctly, the man he confronted was named Cyrus. When confronted about it, Cyrus admitted that there were three scouts and another member who was constantly on the move, but most of the other scouts that Pierre knew had either passed on or were captured.
It wasn’t difficult for Pierre to travel by plane since he assumed the identity of the Aquamarine Organization’s leader after their takeover. Nobody really knew who Pierre was or what happened to the previous leader because nobody knew anything had happened except the organization leaders who weren’t usually around airports, giving Pierre a chance to get to where he was going before the leaders were notified.
This time Pierre went to the Voyagers, there was someone new. He had been the one to let Pierre into the bunker, but he didn’t seem like he knew who he was. Afterwards, he disappeared, leaving Pierre to roam at his free will.
He went through the bunker, noticing how quiet it was until he went into the common room where the leader’s wife and her friend were. He believed their names to be Eris and Lecia, but the names would never instantly hit him. They seemed a little shocked to see him, but the leader’s wife quickly took to her feet, whispering something to her friend. Her friend quickly left the room and Pierre’s view as Eris approached Pierre. “Pierre, it’s been awhile, how have you been? Actually, what brings you here? That’s a more important question.”
Pierre scanned the room before answering anything. “Your group has neglected to send an update once again, I’m here to talk with Joseph and see why that is.”
A man’s voice spoke up from behind Pierre, causing him to jerk his head to see who was speaking. “There hasn’t been much of a change to report. We’ve had the same seven people since you were last here.”
“Joseph, that’s false. I was let inside by a new man who ran off today, who is he?”
Pierre had a monotone, nearly robotic tone of voice that not many people could listen to for long, making Pierre develop a direct way of talking. “A new man?” Joseph looked to his side, Filip on his left and Cyrus on his right. Lecia had gone to the kitchen after she retrieved the men and Eriss was a few feet in front of Pierre. “Are you talking about Ethan?” Joseph quickly leaned over to Cyrus and lowered his voice. “Go find him.”
Cyrus left the group, causing Pierre to look at the remaining two with suspicion but his tone remained confrontational. “Where are all of your people, Joseph?”
Eris knew better than to get involved with Pierre’s conversations. The entire group knew that Pierre only came around to speak with Joseph and occasionally Elizabeth, but even she wouldn’t talk to him for long.
Joseph looked to Filip and sighed. “The man you met is named Ethan Rikard, he’s our newest member who’s still getting used to the bunker and the group. Elizabeth Neil and Marshal Kennedy are in the city right now and Cyrus Capello just went to look for Ethan.”
When Joseph gave last names to Pierre, it was an act of submission and was meant to tell Pierre that the people he named were the only ones Pierre could mess with. “And your wife’s friend? Where did she run off to?”
“Lecia Albero went to the kitchen to make lunch.”
“Out of the five names that you just gave me, you could only give me the exact location of one of them. I know for certain that Ethan left this bunker right after he let me in, which can only make me assume that Cyrus is outside of the bunker as well.” Pierre paused, his face growing red. “And having two people based in the city at once? We’ve instructed every group against doing such dangerous things countless times! Four of your members could be in extreme danger right now and you’re not out there yourself. That’s what I’m getting from our little chat right now, am I correct?”
“With all due respect, Filip was in contact with one of the two in the city. They’re based together and they’re both safe.”
Eris took her seat again with a quick sigh. “It was a distress call from Elizabeth that made Marshal go, she was the only one out at first.”
Pierre took mental note of what she said but kept his vision set on Joseph. “If it’s true that Filip spoke to one of them then he knows how to use the computers. Elizabeth explained that much to me last time we spoke and she mentioned a tracker.” Pierre focused on Filip. “You’re going to take Joseph and myself to that computer and give us the coordinates. We’ll head into the city and get them back ourselves.”
Filip sighed, seeing no real choice. He led the men to the lab and watched the monitors for a moment. He put in Cyrus’ coordinates instead of Marshal’s, causing the map to glide to where Cyrus was located. He considered leading Pierre to Cyrus, but knew that Ethan would be at risk if he did so.
’If I send them to the city, they’ll be caught, for sure. Elizabeth and Marshal will probably be caught too.’ Filip looked at the dot on the monitor. ’Cyrus might actually need help right now. I’ll go with them to protect whoever they go after. I can tell him that they left the city and they might actually need help considering the location is far from the city and a fair distance from the bunker. What are the chances it’s my location, though? What about MIlo’s tracker? Nobody ever found that.’
“Pierre seemed to be growing impatient. “Filip, the coordinates, now.”
Marshal took the ring from Elizabeth, holding out his other hand as she retracted her own. She looked a little confused. “What are you asking me for here?”
“One of your hands, preferably your left.”
She put her left hand in his open hand, still looking confused. “Okay, now what?” Her look of confusion traded for a look of shock when he put the ring back on her. “It’s yours, though, I don’t want to take it from you if you want it.”
Marshal quickly took his own hands away, not giving Elizabeth the chance to give it back. “I don’t need it. I was told to give it to someone who made me happy in hopes that it would make them happier in return and you’ve lightened up a lot since yesterday, so I can only assume it played a part in that happiness, right?”
She nodded slightly, looking at the ring, a small smile forming on her face. “Right.”
“I don’t want to take it away from you.” Marshal took to his feet, leaving the living room for the kitchen. “If you’re up for it, we can check out that envelope that Isaac gave us.”
Elizabeth took after him, only responding when she took a seat at the kitchen table. “What do you think is in it?”
“I’ve got no idea. I stuck to my word that I wouldn’t look at it before you.” Marshal pulled an envelope out of a drawer and took a seat next to Elizabeth, setting the envelope between the two of them. “I’ll let you open it.”
“I’m just going to assume it’s because you’re too scared to do it yourself.” Elizabeth opened the envelope without pulling out the contents.
“I’d say it’s more nervousness than being scared.” Marshal took the envelope, pulling two notes and a picture from it. He gave one note to her and looked over the other one himself, the picture remaining face down on the table. “He’s personally thanking us for watching over the venue yesterday and being so polite to the guests.”
“Go us.” Elizabeth added sarcastically with a snicker following. She read over the note she had, trying to think of how to summarize it. “I think they were supposed to be read as one. He’s wishing us congratulations and whatnot. The usual things you say to a newlywed couple.”
They put the notes back in the envelope, Marshal forgetting about the picture for a split second until Elizabeth flipped it over, taking a look at it. He didn’t pay too much attention to it until he realized she went silent, causing him to look over it a bit more. It was a picture of their ceremony, one where they both seemed happy. “You should wear your hair down more.”
“Why do you say that?” Elizabeth had a habit of messing with her own hair when she got nervous. Most days she would have to braid her hair first thing in the morning to keep from getting distracted.
“It’s only my opinion, but you look absolutely radiant in the picture. Your entire look pairs so well with the dress, I just don’t know how you pull it off so well.”
“Ask any geneticist and they’ll tell you it’s good genes.” Elizabeth smiled as she continued to look over the picture.
“I don’t know, Milo has those same genes and there’s no way he would be able to pull any of that off.”
Elizabeth leaned closer, looking like she was getting ready to point something out in the picture. “I can’t help but enjoy this picture. There are plenty of pictures in the bunker, but I feel like we’re both happier in this one.”
“I thought the same thing, actually, but I don’t know about any pictures in the bunker. I’ll just act like I didn’t hear that and distrust you a little bit more.”
“Not cool.” Elizabeth turned her attention from the picture to Marshal. “You’ve got some major thinking to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re turning thirty in thirteen days and instead of taking some time to yourself, like I know you’ve been recommended to do, you’re in the most dangerous location possible trying to help me get my brother back. You didn’t have to do that and you have every right to tell me to leave and not get involved.”
Marshal chuckled before propping his elbow up and resting his chin on his hand. “You do understand that on a technicality you are my wife, correct? I didn’t have to do that either. I didn’t have to respond to your distress call, let you stay the night here, and then marry you the next day. Just remember that.”
“You’re right about the other stuff but you said the marriage was my choice, I’m going to disagree with you on that one.” Elizabeth was trying to start a distraction, which was clear to tell by the blush that took over her face.
“You can disagree all you want, but don’t just look at a situation and think you have it all figured out, that’s probably the worst thing you can do for yourself. Anyways, whether you’re my wife, my best friend’s sister, my own friend, or just a fellow Voyager, I’m not sending you away that easily.”
Elizabeth sighed, a small smile crossing her face. “We’re going to have to address that title issue you’re having sometime, aren’t we?”
“Preferably sooner rather than later, for the better of us both.”
Luke Lowell
Luke had left the Onyx Organization headquarters close to ten and took to walking the city, scanning each alley he passed and each person he passed as well.
The reason he had chosen to walk and scan was simple. Isaac knew that by bringing Milo to the weddings there was going to be attention from the Voyagers and the chance that they would attempt to get Milo back was a high one.
They had only kept Milo alive for one true reason and it wasn’t information anymore. It was a chance to bait any unlucky Voyager into ending up in the hands of the organization.
Luke’s walking had led him to the top floor of an abandoned skyscraper that resided in a rundown part of the city, which was once said to be home of the organization’s most famed donors. The skyscraper belonged to a “Hunt Enterprise”, a company older than Luke himself that had disappeared over the years. Luke didn’t know what they did in the first place, so it didn’t really bother him.
The view of the rundown neighborhood was one that could entrance anybody for days. The skyscraper easily took the best view, the morning sky gathering a bundle of pastel colors. A quick glance down would show nothing but a gray, bleak sight. Torn down buildings that were once either houses or businesses. Luke would consider it metaphorical if he didn’t know any better.
He left the skyscraper a quarter before he was expected at Steven and Sara’s apartment. He had told the agents that he would help them with any moving Sara needed to do, which she had told them wasn’t much, but it wasn’t something she and Steven could do alone.
There was something about the two agents together that Luke couldn’t figure out. Was it a bond? He didn’t know.
He knew Sara fairly well on her own and considered her to be a very well known acquaintance, but how she acted around Steven made Luke really reconsider the well known part. It always led to Luke questioning if he actually knew her at all. She seemed to pass every scan, being true to herself and others, but there was always something about her that Steven almost mirrored, something Luke could never figure out. However, he wouldn’t think too much of it since neither of the two were around often and he knew better than to spend his time accusing people he should be recruiting.
Luke was pulled out of his own mind when he ended up in front of the apartment. He took a look at this watch and adjusted his beanie. ‘Snap out of it, Luke, it isn’t important.’
He knocked and waited for a few seconds before someone taller than him opened the door, Luke immediately being able to tell who it was based on their height alone. “Good morning, Steven.”
Steven stepped aside and opened the door to allow Luke in, which Luke took as a signal that Sara wasn’t ready to leave yet. “And a good morning to you as well.”
Luke and Steven didn’t talk often, in fact he only knew Steven through Sara. He did know that Seven wasn’t the one to go out far out of his comfort zone or his way to make conversation happen. It was something Luke could respect and something he wished Sara would pick up from the both of them.
Luke did a quick reading on Steven, picking up on a negative aura once he entered the apartment. “Why exactly are you nervous? I can understand her being nervous, but I didn’t expect you to be nervous in the slightest.”
Nervous, tense, and concerned were the three current feelings running Steven, being more prominent than any positive emotion he had. “I’m just busy and on a tight schedule, I’m sure you’ve been in the same place before.”
“I figured you didn’t know anybody around here, what could possibly be keeping you busy besides Sara?”
Steven snickered. “I don’t know many people, you’re right about that, but you’re also right that she’s mainly what’s keeping me busy. She’s all over the place and I’m trying my best to keep up with her.”
“If you aren’t used to it now, you’ll never to be. That’s what I’ve learned through working with her.”
The bedroom door opened and Sara left, heading straight for the open front door. “If you guys think I’m hard to keep up with now, just wait until I clean up the apartment when someone points out the clutter.”
Luke and Steven followed Sara out, leaving the door open. “Are you sure it’s smart to leave the door open while we’re downstairs?”
Steven shrugged, continuing to walk. “You’d have to do some major looking to find anything important and since you and I will be going back and forth, I’m not too worried about it.”
The trio went downstairs in silence, Sara only talking after she unlocked the door to her old apartment. “Luke, thank you so much for helping. It’s unlikely that Steven will admit it but we’re extremely grateful you decided to help.”
Sara excused herself from the living room and went into the bedroom, Luke assumed it was to pack whatever she left in there. Luke and Steven started off by moving lighter things from the kitchen deciding to work their way up.
It wasn’t until they were carrying a table upstairs that Luke decided to make some conversation, noting that Steven’s nervousness had eased away while they were working. “How’s the first day been treating you two?”
Luke was carrying the top half of the table and Steven the bottom, which Luke thought in retrospect, it should have been switched. “It’s been pretty well, I guess. I’m just glad I knew her beforehand, otherwise it would have been unspeakably awkward.”
“I hear you there. Has Hampton talked to either of you about the child laws for agents?” Luke noticed there was a spike of anxiety in Steven when he said child.
Steven focused on getting the table through the door without breaking something, waiting until it had touched the ground to answer. “Nope, nobody has talked to us about that, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea for Sara and I.”
The two left the apartment again, Luke waiting until they had to bring something else upstairs before he asked anything else.
They went up again carrying some boxes that Sara had left in the living room after they left with the table. “Why exactly wouldn’t it be a good idea?”
The anxiety that had subsided after they went back to Sara’s apartment returned once again. “I have no idea what the child law states, because I’ve had no interest in having a child and I still have no interest in doing so, but I don’t think it’s morally right for Sara and I to have a kid when we’re away from home for months at a time and when we’re here, it’s only for three days.”
“You’ve had the chance to leave on-the-field work for a better job in headquarters, I know you’ve been offered plenty of times and chose not to do it. I presume it’s because you don’t enjoy staying in one place for too long, correct me if I’m wrong.”
The two put the boxes in their hands in the bedroom to keep them from prying eyes, then went back on their way. “You’re right about that.”
“Then it’s best you don’t have a kid. Any agent responsible for a child is pulled from their line of work and reassigned within the city as soon as headquarters finds out.”
They continued going back and forth with idle chats as they did so until Sara left the bedroom and began putting away things from the bathroom and the living room, going back and forth herself.
At some point she decided to take a break on the couch that Luke and Steven had to move. Steven tried convincing her to move so they could finish moving the heavier objects before he or Luke got too tired to commit to moving the couch. “I’ll move and get back to work if you’ll make lunch.”
“Right now?” Steven checked his watch before turning his attention back to her. “Sara, it’s not even noon yet.”
“I’m used to an early lunch, earlier than noon at least.”
Steven realized that in order to finish the current task, he’d have to agree. “If I make lunch, I’m not coming back to help move, I’ll go to headquarters afterwards instead, deal?”
Sara seemed to think it over for a moment before taking to her feet with a smile. “Only if Luke agrees.” She took that as her answer to lunch, giving Steven a kiss on the cheek before returning to packing.
Steven waited until they got the couch upstairs without either of them getting hurt before he consulted Luke about the plan. “Are you going to be alright if I work on lunch and then go to headquarters?”
He thought for a moment before nodding. “I’m sure we got most of the stuff we needed to either way, we should be fine.”
“I don’t know if you want anything, but I’m just going to go ahead and make some for you as well. If I’m not back before Sara comes up, do me a favor and make sure she doesn’t eat alone.” Steven didn’t wait for an answer before going into the kitchen, leaving Luke to go downstairs.
Luke went back to Sara’s apartment to find her in the near-empty living room, packing away some books from her bookshelf. He joined her in front of the bookshelf and started clearing out another shelf into a box separate from hers.
The two worked in silence until she turned to him with a smile on her face. “Luke, I really can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done for us.” Performing a quick scan on Sara, Luke could tell that she seemed overwhelmed with happiness. There didn’t seem to be a negative feeling that she had in the current moment. “You really have to scan me to see if I’m being sincere, huh?”
Sara and Amanda were the only two who could always tell if Luke was scanning them, mainly because they knew what to look for. “You’ve had your fair share of dishonesties, it’s best I test my eyes and see if you’re being truthful.”
“Says the one who isn’t being scanned.”
The two sat in front of the bookcase for a bit, sometimes stopping just to have a talk about whatever they felt like talking about.
They stayed around packing until noon, which was when they decided to call it quits and go to lunch. Taking what they already had they went upstairs and put the boxes where they needed to be, heading into the kitchen.
Alyssa Kowalska
Alyssa was required to spend her break and lunch in the lobby with Milo, which wasn’t that bad considering he knew better than to start any problems in a building where he was on everyone’s list.
She ate her lunch then cracked open a book, which would often cause the time to fly. Despite that, she would always watch the clock to make sure she wasn’t late back to work.
The two normally sat in the far corner of the lobby in order to stay out of everybody’s way and keep Milo from talking to anybody. Alyssa didn’t mind the quiet, though, she rather enjoyed the time to observe the lobby and read.
The lobby was normally quiet either way, with very few people coming through just to talk to the woman at the front desk. She seemed to like the quiet just as much as Alyssa did.
There were some days, particularly rainy days where the sun didn’t provide enough light to read, that Alyssa and Milo would have a conversation together, with the woman at the front desk, or with someone passing through.
Alyssa lost herself in thought until someone took a seat across from her. She jerked her attention from her thoughts, to pinpointing Milo’s location, to the person across from her. “Good afternoon, Steven, how can I help you?”
“I know your lunch is about to end, so I’ll make it quick, don’t worry. Sara and I were talking last night and we know you’re extremely busy and you’re likely very stressed out considering you’ve been here for such a short amount of time and you’re already tasked with the most important job on the fourth floor.” He gave her a moment to think, before continuing on. “We were wondering if you’d like to go to dinner tonight just to get out of the house.”
Alyssa thought for a moment before turning to Milo, who immediately looked offended. “Do you really think I’m dull enough to try anything when he alone could take me? I may be taller but the agents go through some really tough training, there’s no way I’d fight one of them.”
“I didn’t say anything to you, you’re just making assumptions.” Alyssa turned back to Steven, addressing Milo once more. “But it’s good to know that you know how to act in public.”
“That’s called having manners, thank you very much.” Milo went back to what he was reading, allowing the two to continue their conversation.
“Are you sure Sara would be okay with it? I mean, you guys just got married, I’m sure she wants to spend some time with you alone.”
Steven smiled slightly. “She’s actually the one who had the idea to invite you to come along, so of course she’s fine with it.”
“And she knows that Milo would have to go as well?”
“I’m sure that’s a given.”
Alyssa paused for a moment, thinking about her options, knowing she only had two.
[Agree; Go to dinner after work.] [Rain check; Go home after work.]
Naomi Dumont-Richardson
Naomi had spent the rest of the day before with her family, talking with her mother and Veronica about how their lives as wives were different from before. She took the information they gave her and tried to apply it to herself, knowing her new life would take some adjusting to.
She had also spoken to Anthony’s mother a lot the day before and taken some time to get to know his sister before they left the venue the night before.
Anthony had to work today, despite it being a Saturday. Most people did in order to make up for any progress lost because of the day before. It was an option for people who had married, but many of them chose to return to work the next day. Naomi had been told of a few people that stayed home that day, since Anthony was normally the first to find out who was going to work and who wasn’t.
Naomi and Anthony themselves had plans to go to dinner later that evening and have some people from the organization move whatever Naomi had packed up into the house that she now shared with Anthony.
She ended up leaving the house after a while, deciding to go on a walk. During her walk she decided to visit Sara, knowing that the two of them were going through the same exact situation and she would pose some sort of help to Naomi.
The worker’s apartments were right across the street from the Onyx Organization headquarters, which was a smart move on their part. Nobody who lived in the worker’s apartments were late and they were often more willing to work extra hours since there was no worry about travel time home.
Even though they were so close to Anthony’s work, Naomi had never known anybody who lived there herself and she never visited anyone there before, so she admittedly knew very little about the layout of the apartments and the residents of them.
Naomi got lucky enough to run into someone leaving an apartment. She asked them if they knew where Sara lived and they pointed to an apartment before heading on their way.
She went to the door of the apartment that the worker had pointed out and found the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open before cautiously heading into the apartment herself.
It was empty, leading Naomi to believe that it was Sara’s old apartment and she was in the wrong place.
As she turned to leave, she ran into somebody standing behind her, causing her to panic. “You’re not supposed to be in here. What can I do for you?” The person speaking was man, but Naomi had yet to see his face in her panic.
She took a moment to recollect herself, hoping she didn’t seem too in a hurry. “I’m sorry, I think I was directed to the wrong place. I’m looking for Sara Jacobson.”
Naomi realized after she spoke that the man she was talking to was a co-worker of Anthony’s that she had spoken to once or twice before, Luke Lowell. “Yeah, you got the wrong directions. Third floor, fourth door to the right.” Luke didn’t leave the doorway, causing Naomi to look at him with suspicion. “I have to wait for you to leave so I can lock up and return the key to headquarters so feel free to leave.”
Naomi took her cue to leave the apartment and went upstairs as Luke locked up the apartment she was in before. She went to the third floor and hoped she was counting the right way as she stopped in front of the fourth door. She knocked and wondered if she was in the right place at all until the door opened and Sara greeted her with a smile. “Naomi, it’s so nice to see you, what can I help you with?”
“Oh, I just needed someone to talk to, are you busy?”
Sara stepped aside, allowing Naomi in before closing the door behind her. “Of course not, welcome.”
Naomi looked around, noticing quite a number of boxes lying around. “Are you sure you’re not busy? You seem to have a lot of unpacking to do.”
“Steven and I agreed to unpack together later since he knew he wasn’t going to be around for lunch today.” Sara took a seat on a couch that looked like it was recently moved into the apartment. “I wasn’t expecting a guest, I’m sorry, I have absolutely no topics ready.”
Naomi chuckled, taking a seat next to her. “At least you’re honest enough to admit that. I wanted to talk to you and see how you’re taking to things recently.”
“By recently, I can only assume you mean since yesterday, right?” Naomi nodded. “Well, things are different, that’s for sure. I learned things about Steven that a lot of people would miss about him when they first met him and I’ve learned a lot about my own patience levels, which haven’t really been pushed far. What about you?”
“I’m still kind of in shock over it, honestly, I didn’t expect to get married for at least a month, but a few days after we finally set our own wedding? Yeah, it totally threw me for a loop. Anthony has been really kind and he understands that I need some time to adjust, but his sister is already talking about a family vacation and it just blows my mind how active their family is compared to my own. We talk to each other but there’s never been a time where one of my siblings had just up and said ‘let’s go do something’ right after something huge in the family happened. It was two months after Benjamin was born that someone in the family mentioned going to visit him.” Naomi couldn’t help but laugh about it.
“I’ve been there before. My brother used to be the most active person I knew, always wanting to get out and do things and try any new thing he could get his hands on. It drove me crazy, but I never thought I would miss it.”
“Are you and your brother not talking or something?”
Sara shrugged, a smile still on her face. “We’re just distant. I already know if I were to go to him and tell him that I got married, he’d be furious that he wasn’t invited. That’s my only regret with the wedding, if you want the truth. Steven and I were approached at the venue, so we had no time on our own beforehand.”
“This is why I’m glad I talked to you.” Sara looked a little confused a Naomi continued. “You’re the only person I know that would actually have an issue with all that went on yesterday. My parents and Anthony’s parents were so excited about it, but I really wasn’t comfortable with being told when I to get married.”
“Steven and I feel the same way. We talked about it earlier and we’re happy together, but we just didn’t like the timing.” She seemed a little upset now. “We especially didn’t like how we were put on the spot by Isaac.”
Naomi could tell that Sara needed someone to vent her frustrations to, just as she needed herself. “Where is Steven anyways?”
“He had something to handle in headquarters.” Sara took a look at the clock next to the kitchen door, seeming to become a little worried. “But that was an hour ago, it shouldn’t have taken an hour.”
“Would you like to walk over there and see if everything’s okay?” Naomi quickly thought of an excuse as to why she would need to go to headquarters. “I should probably check in with Anthony either way.”
Sara quickly took to her feet, waiting for Naomi to join her by the front door. “We might as well go together.”
Ethan Rikard
Ethan had snuck out of the bunker a few hours back, only intending to look around the immediate area before he ended up lost.
If there was one thing he could credit the Voyagers for, it was for their very well hidden base. Hidden to the point where one of their own couldn’t even find it.
After wandering for a few hours, Ethan ended up close to a road.
He was about to go across the road until someone grabbed his shoulder from behind, covering his mouth as they pulled him away from the road.
Ethan pulled away from the person, remembering when he first met Filip and Marshal. He threw his elbow back, hoping to hit whoever it was. The shot didn't hit anybody and it didn't stop the person from pulling him farther into the woods.
The person eventually stopped and hushed Ethan, pointing to the barely visible road ahead. Four people walked the road. Ethan couldn’t tell who they were or their purpose, but he could rightfully assume he knew the person holding him back.
As the four people walking the road went on, the person uncovered Ethan’s mouth and took a few steps back. Ethan looked behind him to see that it was Cyrus who kept him from going ahead. “You could have just told me to stop.”
“It’s doubtful that would have worked. Let’s go, we don’t have time to waste, we’re not safe here.” Cyrus walked on, not stopping to make sure Ethan was with him.
Ethan followed Cyrus, despite being a bit curious as to what he meant when he said it wasn’t safe. It was apparently safe enough to allow three people, occasionally four out of the bunker at once, so what made it unsafe now? “Cyrus, could you explain to me what makes this place unsafe?” Cyrus hushed him and continued walking in response. “Really? So you’re not going to explain this to me? I feel I have every right to know what’s going on around here.”
“You don’t understand what shush means, do you? That’s the only reason I can think of why you’re still going on.”
“Very funny, but I seriously need answers.”
Cyrus stopped in his tracks, holding out his arm to signal Ethan to stop as well. “Get down, don’t move, and for the sake of your own life, don’t say anything from this moment forward.”
Ethan followed his orders, taking cover behind a nearby bush.He didn’t understand why Cyrus told him to take cover or why he wasn’t taking cover himself until the four men who were walking on the road approached Cyrus. “Sir, it’s getting late, why are you all the way out here?”
“I was just going for a walk and I lost my way. I’m not in the best state of mind, so could you be kind enough to direct me back to the city?”
The man who spoke before didn’t seem to buy the story and continued to push. “Really? You got lost from a giant city? I don’t believe it. Why are you really out here?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, I have no reason to be out here other than what I’ve told you.”
The other three men seemed to form a semicircle around Cyrus, not looking like they had any intention to let him get away. “This is our territory and we have every right to take you in and in fact, that’s what we’re going to do. Let’s go start walking.” Cyrus didn’t move, prompting the man to get more upset. “I said let’s go, this is your last warning.”
'This is my chance.' Ethan started. 'I can run back and get help. If I can find the way.'
I’ve found a way to work around the votes and I intend to put it to work later this afternoon. Why does it matter? Well, because it is a monologue and it’s naturally going to be a test, but I do have hopes that it’ll work out with practice.
(Just wanted to make it known before some part in all italics shows up and causes major confusion.)
I don’t really want to do anything today. Or any day for that matter. It's funny that I set up a whole system to do my job for me but it’s too “dangerous” to operate, absolutely hilarious.
Nobody said anything until it was an inconvenience, but nobody also knew it was working until it became an inconvenience, so I guess I’ll take their side on this. Elizabeth, that’s dangerous and you’re not thinking of the entire group when you act, you’re thinking of yourself. Well, yeah, that’s human nature, what else can be expected from me? Oh, I know! Actually doing my job!
This isn’t at all what I asked for, neither is it who I asked for. I can’t get comfortable, I’m not supposed to be attached to people. Where is she? Where is the real Elizabeth Valerie Neil? The one who was made to help others and protect the ones closer to her? Wait a second, made? It’s the harsh truth. I am nothing but some lab experiment with a twisted conscience.
But what if I’m not? Should I believe the majority that raised me or trust the minority that I know? Neither, I need to find the opinion of the middle man.
Looking around me, I can tell a lot of people question as to what side I’m playing for. I can’t really tell anyone, but I promise I’m good. I wish they’d trust me a little more considering they’ve known me for around twenty-three years, but I can’t change their opinion, I should just be happy that I know I’m in their minds, even in a negative way. Kind of like a parasite, right?
Stop that. Stop thinking about yourself like that, you’re not as bad as they say you are and you’re not giving yourself enough credit. You’re going to make it through this. Whew, thanks to myself, I needed that!
Perhaps I should one day face my imperfections and embrace them instead of allowing others to break me down because of them and become more self aware, possibly take better care of myself, maybe allow other people to get close to me without feeling that I’m letting them down? No, I’m problematic enough by pushing my imperfections away and I’m doing just fine on my own. Am I really? What is companionship?
Companionship is described as the feeling of fellowship or friendship. Either I have no idea what I’m talking about or Marshal has no idea what he’s talking about. Scary part is neither of those are new. Oh, nevermind, affection was the word he used, it’s me who has no idea what she’s talking about, surprise!
Elizabeth, you are tearing yourself apart over one word, just look up the definition and get it over with. It cannot be as bad as you’re making it out to be. Yes, it can and it’s awful! Correction, it’s probably not bad enough to warrant an argument with myself..
So companionship is like friendship, affection is a gentle feeling of fondness or liking. That doesn’t sound like it fits the way he used it. Or maybe it does, I don’t think I was listening well enough to hear the words I already knew. Affection is also a physical expression of affection. That doesn’t help at all.
Synonyms… fondness, liking, care. Care, really? This has got to be some sort of scheme, I do not allow people to care.
The joke’s totally on me.
Two can joke, but I would be wise when joking with someone who has complete control over the area where you live, it’s not the best choice and it's one you'll probably regret in no time.
Milo would totally freak out if he knew. Wait, if he knew what? I think we're all a little confused about what happened after he disappeared. Maybe I should just ask?
Nope, that is probably the worst idea I've ever had. I cannot go up to my brother's best friend and ask about some fling that was two years ago. It's obvious there's nothing going on because nothing has happened between us in two years, over seven-hundred days. Wait, I'm wrong, aren't I?
End Monologue One
Here's how I think the inner monologues are going to work. There's likely going to be one in the chapter finales run by the character that led the previous chapter. It's very unlikely there will be an inner monologue outside of a finale, besides this one. It's clear this one is run by Elizabeth and the next one will be run by Cyrus, so on and so forth. The contents of it will definitely vary depending on the character and the situation they end up in during their respective finale.
I don't really have much to say this time around except for I put myself in a good position to take a few days off from writing, I'm not going to say any amount of hours because I was wrong about that last time.
Hey sorry, I didn't know you updated. The story wasn't on my feed anymore, so I couldn't easily check using my feed. Anyways, I choose.....
[Cyrus's coordinates] [Agree, go to dinner] [Intervene]
The reason to pick Cyrus's coordinates would be so they could rescue him and Ethan. Also, they wouldn't want to accidently expose Marshal and Elizabeth to the organization. If Alyssa agrees, maybe Elizabeth and Marshal could figure out some way to rescue Milo. Ethan should intervene to give Cyrus a better chance of fighting them off, and I think if Ethan tries to go back, he would get lost and they would have to find him.
I don’t really want to do anything today. Or any day for that matter. It's funny that I set up a whole system to do my job for me but it’s t… moreoo “dangerous” to operate, absolutely hilarious.
Nobody said anything until it was an inconvenience, but nobody also knew it was working until it became an inconvenience, so I guess I’ll take their side on this. Elizabeth, that’s dangerous and you’re not thinking of the entire group when you act, you’re thinking of yourself. Well, yeah, that’s human nature, what else can be expected from me? Oh, I know! Actually doing my job!
This isn’t at all what I asked for, neither is it who I asked for. I can’t get comfortable, I’m not supposed to be attached to people. Where is she? Where is the real Elizabeth Valerie Neil? The one who was made to help others and protect the ones closer to her? Wait a second, made? It’s the harsh truth. I am nothing but some lab experiment with a twisted conscience.
But wha… [view original content]
Welcome back! Don't worry too much about it, I know the feed can be tricky and to be honest, I've lost this story myself at least four times, so I promise you, there's no judgement in losing this story
Hey sorry, I didn't know you updated. The story wasn't on my feed anymore, so I couldn't easily check using my feed. Anyways, I choose.....
… more
[Cyrus's coordinates] [Agree, go to dinner] [Intervene]
The reason to pick Cyrus's coordinates would be so they could rescue him and Ethan. Also, they wouldn't want to accidently expose Marshal and Elizabeth to the organization. If Alyssa agrees, maybe Elizabeth and Marshal could figure out some way to rescue Milo. Ethan should intervene to give Cyrus a better chance of fighting them off, and I think if Ethan tries to go back, he would get lost and they would have to find him.
2.4
The Diamond Organization was the strongest that there was and the first country organization to be founded. Other organizations were … morehaving difficulties with resistances, but the Diamond Organization ruled Norway without any problems.
Jade Organization rarely reported problems with resistance movements, but everybody knew that they had them. Their resistance members worked in silence and often planned heavy attacks at one moment, rather than multiple attacks. Members of the Jade Organization were told to always stay on guard since they never knew when they were plotting an attack.
Despite the Diamond, Jade, and Onyx Organizations each having a fair amount of power, there were other places that had bigger problems with resistance movements.
The Aquamarine Organization, located in France, was in a terrible condition. Their citizens believed in revolution more than they did civility, causing the revolution to overthrow the organi… [view original content]
2.4
The Diamond Organization was the strongest that there was and the first country organization to be founded. Other organizations were … morehaving difficulties with resistances, but the Diamond Organization ruled Norway without any problems.
Jade Organization rarely reported problems with resistance movements, but everybody knew that they had them. Their resistance members worked in silence and often planned heavy attacks at one moment, rather than multiple attacks. Members of the Jade Organization were told to always stay on guard since they never knew when they were plotting an attack.
Despite the Diamond, Jade, and Onyx Organizations each having a fair amount of power, there were other places that had bigger problems with resistance movements.
The Aquamarine Organization, located in France, was in a terrible condition. Their citizens believed in revolution more than they did civility, causing the revolution to overthrow the organi… [view original content]
Welcome back! Don't worry too much about it, I know the feed can be tricky and to be honest, I've lost this story myself at least four times, so I promise you, there's no judgement in losing this story
First of all, happy 100, I want to welcome you all back and close two of the three votes.
Ethan will intervene. Filip will give Cyrus's coordinates.
Now, Alyssa's vote will remain open for a few days while this upcoming part is also open.
I can't really say much right now about how your choices are being made, but I really like this next part, I'll be honest. I can say that I'm going to go back to having split POVs instead of trying to get a POV for each group into one part and I'm going to do this because I'm also starting POVs in different places so to get more, I'll mainly be doing multiple POVs in the finales.
Long before the bunker and the current Voyagers, there was an abandoned hotel where a mother and her son had stayed for nearly the boy’s entire life.
He was a scrappy young boy who hadn’t owned a nice pair of shoes or clothes without holes his entire life. His mother was a fugitive, though he never learned that until he was old enough to understand the true nature of the world.
She had always told him that if he left his room, he would be easy to catch and when the bad people caught him, they would try to turn him against her and tell him who he was made to be.
Out of his worry for her, he followed her every word. He never disobeyed her and always apologized when she seemed upset, whether he had anything to do with it or not.
As the boy grew older and his mother weaker, he took to devoting himself to protect her. While she was weaker, she had not intention of slowing down, causing her to always be on the run and her son ten feet behind her at most.
He took care of her alone until his twenties, the thought of meeting people outside the hotel was a thought that he had left in the lost past.
There was only one regret he had in all he had done in his life.
The boy wasn’t a boy anymore, but a man at the age of twenty-six when his mother was approaching her sixties.
Despite her age, she always wanted to roam and didn’t seem as cautious of the outside world as she had always been before, constantly making her son worry for her.
She often got out of his sight but would remain in the hotel, so he wouldn’t have to worry much before he found her again. Though, every time she disappeared was a new experience in emotions for him.
On a September day, she had left his sight and eventually the hotel, wandering the direct area. Her son looked through the hotel before finding out she had gone outside.
He had heard people yelling the second he stepped out of the hotel’s front doors. They weren’t yelling at him, though, they were yelling at her and they were yelling warnings that she wasn’t understanding.
As her son could only look on from afar, the woman began to panic without answers from the people she was confronted with.
In a split second, the yelling stopped and there was a loud pop in the air, a sound the son would later learn to be a gunshot. He watched her collapse, the world around him going dark and quiet.
It remained dark, quiet, and lonely for five years before he met anybody new.
A young couple had stumbled upon the hotel while looking for a place to hide. They had told the man about their situation in the city and begged him to let them stay. He agreed, on the condition that it wasn’t a permanent solution for them.
While the couple stayed there, the man had gotten in contact with a man named Pierre who had told him more of what his mother had told him when he was younger, inviting him to join the movement that his own mother was part of.
He told the couple of what Pierre had to say and consulted them, since it seemed to be a permanent move for them after three years at the hotel. They said it seemed like a good idea and he should join the movement, even offering to join in themselves.
The three joined the movement and had other people from the cause coming and going from the hotel for the next year until the man had heard about a situation he needed to take care of, causing three new permanent residents.
He had helped a mother and her two children out of the city and convinced her to join the movement and influence her children as they grew older, to which she agreed and said she already knew some information about the group.
The residents had stayed the same for two years before the mother, Leah, decided she wanted to leave to find her husband. She knew it would upset her children, but she figured and hoped that her son would understand and try to help his sister. She had confided in Cyrus that she wasn’t entirely sure things would work out with her children after she left and she asked him to look after them and take care of them while she was gone.
He promised her before she left that he would care for them and that’s what he did.
He took care of the two children through seven-year-old Milo’s allergies, asthma, and self esteem problems and five-year-old Elizabeth’s sudden attitude change, tantrums, and sick days, which often had the potential to get bad. He had to be extra observant after the two had reached their teenage years as they found it easier for the other to get on their nerves and would fight at any given time if nobody eased the situation.
Milo had always had problems after Leah left, most of them had stemmed from a lack of self esteem. He constantly blamed himself for his mother’s choice, belittled himself in his abilities, and often tried to drive a wedge between himself and his younger sister in order to get away from reminders of his problems. He soon learned that regardless of what he felt, Cyrus would be there for him and he needed to take advantage of whatever he could.
Cyrus often worried for Elizabeth, even before Leah left. She never seemed to be quick on her wits and never seemed to have the usual spunk of a toddler. Had he known that her timid nature would be replaced with a completely different personality as she grew up, he would have handled how he took care of her differently for her own sake.
He took care of the two children’s personal needs and allowed Eris to handle their teachings, which she seemed to be good at, so he wasn’t concerned about it.
Five years after Leah left, another kid came into the mix, this one allegedly an orphan or at least abandoned by his father.
Cyrus felt sympathy for the boy, having watched his own mother go in a similar manner, he knew there would likely be trouble regarding him.
To his surprise, Milo and the boy became quick friends and soon confided in each other more than they did anyone else. It took Elizabeth a bit longer to warm up to him, but eventually the three began their own little group, becoming almost inseparable.
He took care of Milo, Elizabeth, and Marshal each while they all got used to their new lives. Though, he always told them as they grew older that he was just helping them and that it was really Joseph and Eris who had raised Milo and Elizabeth, but he remained completely honest with Marshal, knowing the boy was old enough to see through any lie he tried to deliver.
They stayed in the rundown hotel for nearly ten years after Marshal came along, eventually being joined by a man, his wife, and their young daughter.
The man always seemed nervous and the wife was always as kind as she could be, becoming quick friends with Joseph and Eris.
After the city began expanding into closer areas, a suggested idea became reality when Joseph advised Cyrus, Jonas, Milo, and Marshal to find a more suitable location to stay.
The bunker was discovered after a few months of searching and Elizabeth was eventually brought into their plans to monitor the security and set up a program to enter their chances, which she did in the next year. In that year, the group was found out by an agent, who had to be handled. Cyrus and Marshal took orders from Elizabeth on how to handle the agent and he was caught and monitored for months before something happened and Elizabeth encouraged the two to make it seem like the agent was normal.
Here he found himself, after the death of Jonas and the disappearances of Milo and Morgan, trying to distance himself from the group again because of all the bad happenings that seemed to surround each member, but then again he was face to face with four men, each capable of taking him down themselves, for a man he hardly knew.
He thought he would be taking the fall until the man standing directly in front of him raised his gun, making him look directly into the barrel. He wanted to flinch right there, try to get the gun out of his face, send a distress call, but that would only get the others into trouble.
“You have thirty seconds to start moving before I pull the trigger. Let’s go.” The man motioned Cyrus forward, expecting him to move to which he didn’t.
One of the men in the group pointed towards where Ethan was hidden, drawing the rest of their attention to the area. “Whoever’s over there, come out with your hands showing before one of us has to come get you.”
Cyrus saw figures moving around behind the men, then another come up from the side. The one who approached was Ethan, looking ready to start a fight but with his hands out like the man had asked. “You don’t know what you guys are getting yourselves into. There are people stronger than you out here and there’s going to be a bigger problem if you don’t let that man go.”
The man who had drawn his gun looked away from Cyrus for a split second, allowing him to react.
While the man’s attention was on Ethan, Cyrus moved quick to redirect the man’s arm, knowing it would also alter where his gun was aimed. As he forced the man’s arm away, a shot rang out, causing both of them to stumble back. The other three men tried to determine between grabbing Cyrus, Ethan, or helping their friend, eventually not reacting fast enough before Cyrus started running, grabbing Ethan by the arm as he passed him.
Cyrus took a quick glance at his own watch, noticing someone else with an altered watch, likely Filip, was in their direct area, taking a sharp turn that would lead them to whoever it was.
He pulled Ethan along until they nearly collided with the group of three that was Filip, Pierre, and Joseph. Filip seemed worried, telling Cyrus that he knew about the distress call. “What happened? Are you guy okay?”
Cyrus looked behind them, to make sure they weren’t being followed before letting go of Ethan and backing himself against a tree to catch his breath. “We need to leave, they’re going to send reinforcements to look around and we’ll be caught if we don’t get out of here.”
Pierre seemed angrier than Joseph had ever been, causing Ethan to feel a little uneasy and Cyrus nervous, knowing they would both be in for trouble when they got to safety. Pierre was going to say something until Joseph spoke first, trying to prevent Pierre from saying anything too harsh. “We do need to go back to the bunker immediately, there’s no doubt about that. We can talk about this when the group is all together again, because I need to address some things with you all.”
Cyrus could tell what Joseph was doing and that was trying to stall. He did want to get to the bunker, but he didn’t want Pierre to handle his people because he knew that everyone in the group had their own set of reactions, some more extreme than the others, and that some of the were more capable of retaliation than others.
He took a step away from the tree, taking a drawn out breath before looking to Filip. “We don’t have time for this, retrace your steps.”
Ethan couldn’t tell if there was actually a problem with the men they had run into or if the biggest problem was with Pierre, because both seemed to be influencing factors in Cyrus and Joseph.
They followed Filip, nobody saying a word until they reached the bunker again, Lecia greeting them with concern. “Did something happen?”
Joseph looked around before looking to Lecia. “Where is Eris?”
She took that as a command to not talk about what happened and focus on her tasks around the bunker. The concern in her face turned to her usual disinterested look before she turned on her heel and began to walk away. “The common room was the last place I saw her.”
Joseph left the four to head to the common room with Filip quickly dismissing himself to go to the lab, leaving Ethan and Cyrus with Pierre.
They remained in the secret room with an awkward silence lingering before Pierre sighed out of frustration, his face seeming sadder than how he looked earlier. “I want to apologize to you two, but I would also like to request that you stay in the bunker for the time being.”
“For the time being? This was the only time Ethan’s been out and I’m sure it’ll be his last time.” Cyrus was quick to defend Ethan, but not himself.
“Yes, for the time being. I’m going to be moving some people around from your group and my own to try and better your chances here. Please, do not cause trouble until I’m finished here because I want to go home and tell my people that you guys are doing fine and this switch is for a good reason and not because you people have no self control.” Pierre left the room, giving no indication of where he was going.
Ethan looked over to Cyrus, noticing a hopeless look on his face. “He’s not allowed to do that, right?”
“Of course he can, that’s the issue.” He looked hopeless, but sounded frustrated. “The worst part is nobody can stop him. Joseph won’t stand up to him and Elizabeth doesn’t have the authority to stop his plans, so we have to follow whatever his orders are.”
A voice came over the intercom in the room, Filip’s voice. “You guys might think that, but Elizabeth has a lot of dirt on not only all of us, but Pierre as well. I don’t have access to the file, but I know it’s around because she once snapped on me for looking into things I shouldn’t have.”
Cyrus crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “We’re better than resorting to gossip in order to get what we want. We need to work through this with Pierre, not against him.”
“There’s something weird about the files she has that I’m allowed to see, come to the lab and I’ll show you.”
Filip abruptly cut off the conversation, a click to signal the transmission to the intercom had ended. Cyrus shook his head, leaving the room. “Just another day.” Ethan didn’t end up following him to the lab, figuring it was something he had no business in, which Cyrus was grateful for. He got to the lab and noticed that someone else had been there to talk to Filip before he did. “What do you have?”
Filip waited until Cyrus shut the door before speaking, his voice hushed and somber. “It’s more of those files that I was poking into that I shouldn’t have been, but you need to keep this on the downlow. You can’t even let Elizabeth herself know that you know.” He motioned towards one of the monitors. “Cyrus, Joseph, and Eris, the only three names on this list. This list was the last update that Pierre got, meaning that according to Pierre’s official records, you three are the only legitimate Voyagers and he has no right to move the rest of us around.”
“Is that supposed to be a good thing?”
“No, not at all. A deeper look into the rules will show you he can’t rearrange but he can disband if he feels the need to, meaning we’d have to go back into the city.”
“But since you guys aren’t Voyagers, he can’t do that to the rest of you, only the three of us.”
Filip nodded. “There’s been some talk as to how the city wants to get their hands on Voyagers. Before Milo and Morgan went missing, they were willing to accept people like Milo, Elizabeth, Marshal, and Morgan, because they were brought in as children and had no control over their joining, perhaps even the same would go for you. There’s no denying that they would kill Eris and Joseph, though.” Before Cyrus got the chance to respond, Filip spoke again, his eyes devoid of any emotion. “I have a question for you, though. Did you know that I was an agent before this?”
The question threw Cyrus off, along with the sudden negative aura of the room. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said.” Filip rose from the chair and approached Cyrus, who took a few steps back. “See? You’re scared of me because I know now, right? You’re afraid that I’m suddenly going to turn against you guys, right?” He scoffed. “I have every right to, considering you guys basically abducted me.”
’He’s trying to trick me. I just need to talk him through this.’ Cyrus forced the nervous feeling rising inside him away and put on his best poker face. “We can’t talk about this right now and it’s not me you should be talking to, it’s her.”
“Cyrus, do you know why she’s always gone? Do you think she’s playing you guys and that’s why she hasn’t sent any updated records to Pierre? Do you think that’s the reason she saved me?” Cyrus figured it was best to let Filip go on, no matter what he said. “She’s not the nicest person, I mean she’s been lying to me for years about myself, that’s crazy. She’s got Marshal hooked and not even he knows her motives, so what’s to say she’s being truthful with the rest of you?”
’He’s going to go insane if I just let this happen, but he said it himself, it’s the files that he’s not supposed to have access to.’
“Nothing to say? Really?” Filip sounded disappointed, but not in his right mind.
“The way I see it, you have a death wish.” Filip looked on with curiosity but remained silent, allowing Cyrus to talk. “You went through confidential records that you’ve been told not to go through before and you’re talking about it in a room laced with cameras. If nobody tells her, she’ll find out herself. You should already know that while she may have saved your life back then, she’s capable of ending it now, just like the rest of us.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Not from me.” Cyrus paused. “Her allegiance is clear based on her past deeds for this group, but I have no idea if those are documented. Stop going through the files while you have the chance.”
Filip lost the curious look he had, returning to the emotionless look from before. “I’m certain it’s undocumented, just like the members of the group. Tell me, Cyrus, what do you think Pierre would say if he knew that it was Elizabeth, not Joseph, at fault for the failed documentation and even forgery that goes one here?”
“It doesn’t matter because he’s not going to know. What happened to you, Filip? Not even a week ago you were one of the deciding votes in keeping her here and now you’re against her?”
“You were one of the votes to send her away, so why are you defending her? It’s a job that anyone with a brain can do with practice.” Filip seemed to be growing uneasy as he went on. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just her, you and Marshal should watch yourselves too, the files have a lot more on you than you would think.”
[Tell Filip to leave the lab, tell Elizabeth later on.] [Tell Filip to leave the lab, don’t tell Elizabeth.] [Let Filip stay, tell Elizabeth later on.] [Let Filip stay, don’t tell Elizabeth.]
2.5
Long before the bunker and the current Voyagers, there was an abandoned hotel where a mother and her son had stayed for nearly the bo… morey’s entire life.
He was a scrappy young boy who hadn’t owned a nice pair of shoes or clothes without holes his entire life. His mother was a fugitive, though he never learned that until he was old enough to understand the true nature of the world.
She had always told him that if he left his room, he would be easy to catch and when the bad people caught him, they would try to turn him against her and tell him who he was made to be.
Out of his worry for her, he followed her every word. He never disobeyed her and always apologized when she seemed upset, whether he had anything to do with it or not.
As the boy grew older and his mother weaker, he took to devoting himself to protect her. While she was weaker, she had not intention of slowing down, causing her to always be on the run and her son ten… [view original content]
I’ve been thinking about how I’ll handle the main post and character submission, which might be a little complicated, but I think I’ve got it worked out with some help.
The layout will be different starting the next part.
2.5
Long before the bunker and the current Voyagers, there was an abandoned hotel where a mother and her son had stayed for nearly the bo… morey’s entire life.
He was a scrappy young boy who hadn’t owned a nice pair of shoes or clothes without holes his entire life. His mother was a fugitive, though he never learned that until he was old enough to understand the true nature of the world.
She had always told him that if he left his room, he would be easy to catch and when the bad people caught him, they would try to turn him against her and tell him who he was made to be.
Out of his worry for her, he followed her every word. He never disobeyed her and always apologized when she seemed upset, whether he had anything to do with it or not.
As the boy grew older and his mother weaker, he took to devoting himself to protect her. While she was weaker, she had not intention of slowing down, causing her to always be on the run and her son ten… [view original content]
[Tell Filip to leave the lab, tell Elizabeth later on.]
Oh, btw @imighthavebrokenit, wanted to let you know that I've read your PM and will be answering it later today. I'm really sorry for taking so long, this week it's been really busy for me, but it seems that I'll finally catch a long-waited break soon xD.
On a side note, I just wanted to let it be known that this new update to the forums is total BS.
That sounds perfectly fine to me, feel free to take your time. That's good news that you'll be catching a break, it sounds like you really need one.
The update, oh goodness, I've really only enjoyed the update for one reason and that is the PM system. The activity feed has been humorous at times but at the end of the day I am really not a fan of this update and it's proving to be a little problematic for stories in general.
[Tell Filip to leave the lab, tell Elizabeth later on.]
Oh, btw @imighthavebrokenit, wanted to let you know that I've read your PM and will… more be answering it later today. I'm really sorry for taking so long, this week it's been really busy for me, but it seems that I'll finally catch a long-waited break soon xD.
On a side note, I just wanted to let it be known that this new update to the forums is total BS.
Some things will be changing with how I handle things with the update and they won’t be too bad, however they might seem really silly to you guys.
When it comes to voting, I’m going to put something like this:
[Choice A]: Someone does something
[Choice B]: Someone does something different.
Obviously not exactly like that. I’m going to be giving you guys a different kind of voting to avoid any accidental spoilers. If there’s more than just an a or b, then I’ll include further letters.
Character submission with be altered a bit, as will the layout of the parts themselves. Thankfully, there will be no dramatic change to the parts themselves.
Now that that’s out of the way, I’m happy to be able to share that there will be a second Act focusing on the Dumont family. The actions chosen in later chapters and characters that go on will determine a lot of the second out but it will not change the fact that it’ll definitely happen.
The latest part has been under the works for a bit and my main focus right now is fixing the layout. I have no idea when it’ll be out. (Yes, I’m trying to jinx myself by saying that.)
EDIT: I realize now that it might be difficult with multiple votes open so I am going to try and keep one vote open, however this is what’s going to become troublesome and I am deeply sorry.
If there’s more than one part with votes open, I would appreciate it if you would specify which part it belongs to (ex. 2.11: [Choice A]) and if there are multiple votes per chapter, that can be worked around with more letters, after all there are 26 of them.
(!) Voting is closed! Alyssa will agree to go to dinner with Sara and Steven.
Why did I wait until now to close that vote? Because I wanted to wait until the very last moment, though the other vote remains open.
2.6
Alyssa looked to Milo, expecting him to protest only to be greeted with silence. She took it as his okay. She turned to Steven with a quick smile. “Sure, I don’t see why not. What time were you guys thinking?”
Steven answered without hesitation, making Alyssa more confident in the idea that he and Sara had already talked it over before now. “We were thinking of meeting you guys outside the apartments around seven and going from there, is that okay with you?”
Alyssa nodded before taking to her feet. “Sounds great, we’ll see you guys then.” She turned to Milo. “My break’s over, do not move an inch.”
Milo could tell there was something Marshal wanted to say to him, but something was keeping him silent. “I’ll see you later.” Milo watched him get up and leave in a hurry.
He sighed and looked over the back of the couch at the secretary. “You saw that too, right? They totally ignored me.”
“Oh no, you’re the ugly girl now? I’m so sorry.” The secretary shook her head. “They weren’t ignoring you. If anything, you were ignoring them.”
“Of course you’ll take your coworkers side.” Milo faced the front once again, taking back to his book.
The secretary chuckled at her desk, a chuckle that sounded tired but lovely at the same time. “Are you gonna tell them I was ignoring you too?”
“You can count on it.”
Milo had a friendly relationship with a few workers in headquarters, most of the ones who weren’t chipped and Alyssa. He figured they got along because they were in their right mind and he was in his.
There were times that the secretary would allow Milo to get up and do things because she believed it was better for the heart and mind to be active.
The only problem with his friendships is that he didn’t know if they were who they said they were, Marshal taught him that it was easy to fake an identity.
Elizabeth Neil
She and Naomi had gone to headquarters, only deciding they would split up soon. Naomi knew Anthony would be in his office in the sixth floor, but Elizabeth was admittedly pretty confused as to where Marshal could be. She was going to follow her second best guess only because her first best guess wasn’t near headquarters.
Elizabeth dismissed herself from the elevator on the fourth floor, freezing for a moment outside the doors until someone put their hand on her shoulder. She turned back to face them, finding it was still Naomi with a smile on her face. “Thanks for hanging out with me.” Naomi pulled her hand away, letting the elevator doors close.
There was a feeling of nervousness that grew as she walked through the fourth floor, knowing she didn’t know exactly what to expect.
Going through the halls, she saw plenty of people that she used to know. They looked at her like she was a criminal, though they weren’t entirely wrong.
While she was walking and looking around, she ended up walking into someone ahead of her. She pulled back a few steps to see who she ran into and got ready to apologize when they looked to her.
A woman with dark brown hair turned around, seeming a little upset. “Proper etiquette is to apologize when you’re in the wrong.”
Elizabeth knew the woman from pictures, but she didn’t remember most of her time with her. She knew the face and the hair color all too well. She felt pressure building up in her chest as she took a few more steps back, keeping her vision focused on the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
The woman didn’t say anything back, making Elizabeth think she had just left. When she looked up, she found the woman was closer than she was before. “Look me in the eyes when you’re talking to me, do you understand?” She huffed in frustration. “I swear, none of you people are raised with an ounce of decency in you. You should be ashamed and your mother should be ashamed of how she raised you.”
Elizabeth looked to the ground once again, now fighting tears. “I don’t have a mother, I’m sorry.
Someone put their hands on Elizabeth’s shoulders, turning her the other way and pushing her along. She didn’t look up until they were in the elevator, tears streaming down her face. “Milo, why is she here?! She’s not supposed to be here!”
“The better question is why are you here? Are you seriously stupid enough to be in headquarters by yourself?” Milo looked slightly annoyed but Elizabeth couldn’t tell if that was his only defense now or if it was just how she was perceiving him. “Where did Marshal go?”
“I came here to look for him, what do you mean where did he go? You should know.” Elizabeth had put herself against the wall in an attempt to regain her control and calm down.
Milo’s look of annoyance was traded for one of concern. The elevator stopped on the lobby floor and Milo was the first to step out. “He’s not here so please leave before you get us both in trouble.”
Elizabeth regained herself before she cleared her throat and left the elevator, a feeling of embarrassment following her as she left headquarters.
Her search took her to a bar that was only open to workers of the organization. She was worried that her hunch would lead her here, only because she knew Marshal was supposed to be recovering.
She knew very well that everyone in the bunker had their flaws and some of them continued to indulge in their problems. Joseph was a violent man when the group first got together but he eased up after getting to know his new companions and trust them more. Eris was much more of a gossip than she was now. Lecia was less likely to take blame for what she did and often got aggressive in matters regarding Morgan.
Elizabeth and Milo didn’t find out about Marshal’s problem until he admitted it to them a few years back. They weren’t much help to the cause, but they eventually got Cyrus involved, only to find he knew exactly what he was doing.
Why he was the most helpful in recovery, Elizabeth still didn’t know. The two never had much of a personal relationship, only a professional one.
She decided to stop stalling and go into the bar. Not many people were there because it was a work day, but she quickly recognized most of the people there from the day before. She spotted Marshal, sighing as she walked to the bar with false confidence.
He looked at her, quickly spotting the look of disappointment on her face. “Why are you here?”
“I could ask you the same thing but I know you’re going to lie about it.” She turned her attention to the bartender who stood across the counter from them now, speaking before he could offer her a drink. “How much does he owe?”
The bartender looked around the bar, seeming to count glasses. “He’s been paying while he drank.” The bartender stopped looking, then redirected his eyes back to Elizabeth. “But I can tell you that his pockets are empty now.” He finished talking with a sleazy smirk before looking over Elizabeth again, his smirk not fading. “He can’t, but could I offer the lady a drink on the house?”
Elizabeth saw Marshal look up, seeming a bit annoyed with the bartender. Her false confidence hardly lasted her to the bar but now she had no show to put on. “No, I don’t drink.”
The bartender leaned on the counter, getting closer to her. “Why would you come to a bar if you had no intention of drinking?” He cupped his own hands, obviously prying. “Is it just to get a look at the pretty faces of rich men?” He motioned to Marshal. “If a broke man’s your taste then you must be pretty desperate.”
Marshal got out of his own seat, tapping Elizabeth on the shoulder. She figured it was him telling her that it was time to leave so she got out of her seat and started for the door. She only stopped when she realized that Marshal was still talking to the bartender. “I get it, you’re upset that you’ve been reduced to trying to pick up women in a bar that you work at, probably making less than I do and I’m supposedly broke. You do understand that the only reason your bar hasn’t been shut down is because it’s only serving organization workers, right? Put two and two together and realize that you, a bartender, have no right to criticize me or my wife for any reason.”
The bartender looked on as if he was being amused. He stayed leaning over the counter, though his eyes were now on Marshal. “I must have missed the law that gave you the right to treat me this way after I’ve served you. Say, do you treat her this way at home?”
Observing the situation a little bit more, Elizabeth realized that Marshal wasn’t drunk in the slightest bit, not even tipsy, he was normal for himself and he surely wasn’t acting like Steven, even though there wasn’t much of a difference. “Don’t reference her again, you’re talking to me, not her.”
She looked around the bar, noticing that not many people were batting an eye, making her believe that they weren’t paying attention because they didn’t want to be placed in a bar, knowing what prohibition laws stated. She shook her head before looking back to the situation, catching the bartender’s eyes again, immediately making her uneasy. “All you gotta do is say if he’s beating you, you don’t have to stay a victim.”
“I’m not a-” Before Elizabeth could defend anybody, Marshal ended up punching the bartender, obviously as hard as he could, sending him straight to the floor behind the counter with a loud thud as he hit the ground.
Marshal left the bar before Elizabeth, knowing she would follow behind. She eventually joined him on the sidewalk, panic all over her face. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Her voice was just as panicked as her face let off, if not more. “What happened to you? What’s going on? You’re acting like a completely different person.”
“I’m not acting like anything. We’ve never been put into that situation before so you have absolutely no idea what it would be like up until this point.” She had to admit, he was right about that. “And what’s wrong with me? That can’t be an actual question.” He stopped, Elizabeth stopping in front of him. “You can understand how he was treating you was wrong, right? I was talking with another man in there and I was the one to pay for his drinks, I didn’t drink anything, while we were talking the bartender was listening the whole time and when he decided to talk to us he was talking about how long it had been since he was with a woman. He was trying to use you by lying to you and insulting me until you saw his way.”
“Do I really seem that easy to you? What part of me seems like an idiot who would fall for any of it? What he said and what you’re telling me right now don’t correlate.”
Marshal rolled his eyes with a frustrated sigh. “Look at that, it doesn’t correlate because he was lying to you. If you don’t believe me then I’ll comply to whatever tedious activity you want to prove that I’m telling the truth. You went to the bar because you figured I would have relapsed, right? Did you even consider the fact that I know people in the city and I had plans to talk to someone?”
“No, I didn’t…” Elizabeth crossed her arms, accepting the fact that she was in the wrong. “Whatever, I’m sorry, okay? What did Alyssa say?”
Marshal started walking again, Elizabeth following him. “I can really tell that you’re sorry, I have to commend your attitude.” Elizabeth found it odd that Marshal could joke around after what he had just done but she wasn’t going to let it phase her. “Alyssa and Milo are going to meet us in front of the apartments.”
Milo Neil
The two were getting ready to leave the lobby when Milo stopped, his book still in hand. He waited until Alyssa faced him before he said anything. “I know I’m not supposed to ask you this, but can you take me to the fourth floor? It’s going to sound ridiculous, but I want to see my mother again.”
Alyssa glared at him with suspicion but faced him either way. “Why is that? You know she doesn’t know you anymore.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I remember her and she’s the only family I have left.” Milo could feel pressure building up in his chest as he pleaded to Alyssa. “I need to see her again, please.”
Her suspicion changed to a look of pity as she checked her watch and started a walk to the far wall. “You’ve got five minutes to get up there and get back down here and you can’t tell anyone that I let you go.”
Milo took off to the elevator, heading up to the fourth floor immediately. He knew the layout of it fairly well, so he knew who was in what room. His search took him to an unmarked room that everyone knew belonged to his mother.
He knocked, waiting until she gave him permission to enter. When he went into the room, he was greeted by the smell of alcohol and a cold glare from his mother. “You again, what is it?”
Leah was never a drinker, she’d never smoked, and rarely swore in front of her children but now when Milo looked at her, he saw a different person. Regardless, he put on a brave face and held back the emotions inside him that made him feel like collapsing on the floor. “The stranger from the lobby again, yeah. You don’t remember me and that’s okay, I just wanted to tell you that you’re going to be so proud of Elizabeth one day for what she’s done.”
A frown crossed her face. “Who is Elizabeth?”
She had long since given up on trying to get Milo to tell her who he really was, considering he’d always given her the same answer. “You saw her today, your daughter but I won’t tell her you said that.”
She shook her head in response and pointed to the door behind Milo. “You know you’re not supposed to be here so get out.”
There were tons of things that Milo wanted to say to Leah, lots of things that he wanted to say to his father, but they were both long gone, one mentally and the other physically. He may have told Alyssa that Leah was all he had, but in truth Elizabeth was all he had and probably all he would ever have.
He left the room and stood outside the door for a moment, gathering himself once again before he went back to the lobby.
Alyssa looked at him with a bit of concern before she scrunched up her nose and regained her normal emotionless face. Milo knew the nose scrunching and the twitching she sometimes did was an effect of the chip and that whoever was watching saw something that they didn’t like and they delivered a shock to her.
They left headquarters and quickly crossed the street to the worker’s apartments where Marshal and Elizabeth, or as Alyssa knew them, Steven and Sara, were waiting for the two just as they had said they would.
Milo looked over the two for a moment, noticing Elizabeth still looked upset from their earlier encounter but she was trying to put it off. Marshal, however, didn’t seem upset in the way she did, but he seemed a bit irritated.
They started a walk, Alyssa starting a conversation before either of them could. “When are you guys planning to go back out there?”
“After dinner, actually.” Milo could tell that Elizabeth had a dramatic change in the two years based on her attitude in their conversation earlier and how she was acting now. He knew she was upset but that she wasn’t going to show it easily. One thing the Milo knew would stay the same is her choice in clothing. She wasn’t a fan of dresses because they lacked pockets, so it would take a lot to convince her to wear one.
Alyssa seemed to react with shock, which surprised Milo since nothing seemed to phase her often. “So soon? You guys must not like it here then.”
“I’d be lying if I said I adored it.” Elizabeth chuckled softly before putting her hands in her pockets. “As nice as it is here, you can’t really count on the junior agents out there. Most of them are very quick to react in a harsh manner, which will get us nowhere near what our goal is.”
They continued a walk to the diner, Elizabeth and Alyssa doing all of the talking. Milo couldn’t help but find a rift between himself and Marshal that wasn’t there earlier or the day before.
He could tell Elizabeth didn’t notice whatever change had occurred until after they all sat down at a table together, to which she finally acknowledged the silence of Milo and Marshal. She whispered to Marshal, but knew exactly why Milo was being quiet.
Milo and Marshal had known each other fairly well since they met so it was easy for him to tell that Marshal was annoyed with someone, but Milo didn’t know who it was. He didn’t think there was a problem with Alyssa or himself but he seemed to be okay with Elizabeth, which was what was confusing Milo the most.
Eventually Marshal put his arm around Elizabeth, finally breaking his silence. “You tire me out, you know that, right?”
She responded with a quick smirk. “I’ve been told that same statement many times.”
Alyssa and Marshal started talking with each other, Elizabeth seeming to zone out over the course of the meal.
They ate in peace, which threw Milo off but also confirmed his suspicion that they were following Marshal’s plan, giving him a little more hope in whatever it was.
On the walk back to the worker’s apartments, Milo noticed Elizabeth messing with her watch. He didn’t know if she purposely took Alyssa the way she did, but they were all following her at this point.
Elizabeth looked up from her watch and at the buildings around, looking for people or cameras. She then looked to Alyssa before giving off a kindhearted smile. “Forgive us for what we have to do.”
Before Alyssa could question her, Elizabeth rushed to cover her mouth. Marshal waited until she gave him the okay before he did anything and MIlo knew better than to get in the way.
It took Milo a minute to realize that they were forcing her chip off of her. Despite her pushing away, Marshal disconnected the chip and Elizabeth smashed it. Alyssa collapsed into Elizabeth’s arms the second the chip disconnected.
Elizabeth had Marshal pick Alyssa up before turning to Milo, a look of concern in her eye. “We need to go.”
Alyssa Kowalska
Alyssa had regained the feeling in her body before she was able to open her eyes.
Feeling a terrible headache, she wondered what all had happened the night before. She recalled having one drink, but knew that wasn’t enough for her to be feeling this way the next day.
She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. The room she was in was pitch black and cold, not like any room in her apartment or in headquarters. She knew she was in a bed but raised her hand to her neck, feeling gauze wrapped around it.
There was a moment of panic before the door opened and three people entered.
One of them turned on a lamp to allow the room some light before realizing Alyssa was awake. The people that had come into the room she already knew as Milo, Sara, and Steven.
“I’m very sorry we had to do that.” Sara spoke in a manner different from what Alyssa normally knew. “I want to introduce my real self. My name is Elizabeth Neil, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
’Finally meet? We’ve already met. Unless she means her “real self”’ Alyssa observed her for a moment before looking to the man next to her, once known as Steven. “And I assume you’re someone else as well?”
He nodded. “Yes, Marshal Kennedy.”
“I’ve heard about you both before.” Alyssa gave off a soft smile, trying her best not to panic as much as she wanted to. “Milo talked about you both a lot, in a good way, of course.” She directed her eyes to Marshal. “Your dad had a lot to say about you.” Alyssa looked over to Milo, noticing he was quieter than she would have expected. “Milo, you’re finally home now, right? This is your base?”
“I’m surprised you remember anything but we’ll talk about that later. It’s most of our base, there is someone around who isn’t normally here.” Elizabeth had her eyes fixed on the door for some reason unknown to Alyssa. “You’ll surely know him if you meet him, just don’t worry too much about what he says.”
“You shouldn’t worry about that right now, though, you should focus on getting better while you’re around.” Marshal spoke up, dropping Elizabeth’s topic and Alyssa’s from earlier. “You’re probably going to feel pretty bad for the next day to come, at least that’s what Elizabeth has said, but you’re going to get better.”
Milo gave a genuine smile to Alyssa when their eyes met. “They’re going to take care of you and I’m going to help since I kind of owe you.”
Elizabeth went to Alyssa’s bedside, crouching to get on eye-level with her. “It’s okay to be scared, confused, or even mad, but know that your talents are going to be put to use here more than they ever would have at the organization. You won’t be under any chip control and you don’t have to worry about impressing any superiors.” Alyssa felt like Elizabeth was getting a reading off of her while she was there but her words oddly calmed her a bit. “I remember you mentioned at the wedding that you don’t like liars, so we wanted to apologize to you for lying about who we were and tell you that from now on, we’ll be one hundred percent honest with you.”
She couldn’t help but be taken aback by the entire situation she was in. She knew fully well that it would take her some time to get used to it and understand what exactly she went through at the organization with the few memories of it she had remaining, but she had the feeling that the three people in the room would support her through it and try to help her as well. “How do you know the Organization won’t find us?”
“I blocked the transmission from your chip pretty early into the evening and even did it again after dinner just to make sure we were in the clear before we disconnected you and broke it. We checked Milo for any chips when we got back and found nothing, surprisingly.”
Alyssa looked to Marshal, Elizabeth still at her bedside. “What can you say about the safety of this place?”
“Elizabeth’s in charge of security and she puts her all into it. Ask anyone else and they’ll call her a workaholic, but I can tell you she’s just working to get it over with now so she doesn’t have to do it later. We’re in a pretty safe place and the location is currently unknown to the organization and far beyond planned expansions.”
Alyssa closed her eyes, trying to ease her headache. “There was a man that went missing recently. Ethan Rikard, was it? Is he here?”
“He is and he’s actually offered to help you get used to this place since we know this place better than anything and sometimes we can get ahead of ourselves.” Elizabeth’s voice sounded farther away than she was before but Alyssa didn’t want to open her eyes, knowing the light would only further spur her headache.
“Unless you need anything right now, we want to let you reset. You won’t be able to tell, but it’s very late in the night and it seems that something’s really irritating you right now.” Marshal spoke soon after Elizabeth, having the same distance as before. “There’s a glass of water on your nightstand if you need it. Oh, and something else that we’ve been told you might like to have back.”
Alyssa heard the door on the other side of the room open and the switch on the lamp click, she figured the three were on their way out and the lights were off. “Thank you all.”
(!) Voting is closed! Alyssa will agree to go to dinner with Sara and Steven.
Why did I wait until now to close that vote? Because I want… moreed to wait until the very last moment, though the other vote remains open.
2.6
Alyssa looked to Milo, expecting him to protest only to be greeted with silence. She took it as his okay. She turned to Steven with a quick smile. “Sure, I don’t see why not. What time were you guys thinking?”
Steven answered without hesitation, making Alyssa more confident in the idea that he and Sara had already talked it over before now. “We were thinking of meeting you guys outside the apartments around seven and going from there, is that okay with you?”
Alyssa nodded before taking to her feet. “Sounds great, we’ll see you guys then.” She turned to Milo. “My break’s over, do not move an inch.”
Milo could tell there was something Marshal wanted to say to him, but something was keeping him silent. “I’ll see you… [view original content]
This was a really interesting part. So, I guess now that Alyssa is unchipped that she is no longer loyal to the organization. I'm excited to see what happens next. I'm really excited for the second Act.
(!) Voting is closed! Alyssa will agree to go to dinner with Sara and Steven.
Why did I wait until now to close that vote? Because I want… moreed to wait until the very last moment, though the other vote remains open.
2.6
Alyssa looked to Milo, expecting him to protest only to be greeted with silence. She took it as his okay. She turned to Steven with a quick smile. “Sure, I don’t see why not. What time were you guys thinking?”
Steven answered without hesitation, making Alyssa more confident in the idea that he and Sara had already talked it over before now. “We were thinking of meeting you guys outside the apartments around seven and going from there, is that okay with you?”
Alyssa nodded before taking to her feet. “Sounds great, we’ll see you guys then.” She turned to Milo. “My break’s over, do not move an inch.”
Milo could tell there was something Marshal wanted to say to him, but something was keeping him silent. “I’ll see you… [view original content]
Ok, ok I'm here. Finally joining the Voyagers readership/fandom. I have high hopes and will support this story and its awesome writer till the bitter end. Without further Ado, let us begin.
This was a good introduction and it has all the steps of good world building. Few characters, environment interaction and strong dialogue and development. We can already tell a lot about this 'world' and how it seems to work and you did it in a way that its still very mysterious but we have enough information to the point were interested. But now onto the center of the part itself, the characters.
So first we have the little girl whose name i believe is Morgan. She works great here and i already care about her even though she barely showed her starting development. I don't know maybe it's because you cleverly made the reader's own questions flow through her, maybe its the fact that she's so curious or maybe I'm just a sucker for kid characters (If she dies, you broke me.)
Next is Elizabeth who is already pretty interesting and once again if feel myself attaching to. She seems to be the most powerful, but by the same token very powerless. It helps that you made her very well known yet only hinted her past. It also helps that you basically made her deal with an awful person right of the bat, which of course leads me too:
You know, i thought i was the only one who wrote awful, rude, delusional people in the intro part. I mean there was an assassin in the beginning of FOT and he actually came off as pretty decent. However after the first few sentences i was already using the Marlone voice to read the Mom's lines. She is so incredibly unlikable. First she scares her own daughter then she insults, threatens and refuses to sympathize with Elizabeth. Its gotten so bad that I'm actually going to start calling her Momlone until her name is revealed and maybe even after that. Well to be honest that's kinda not fair since Kevan became more comically over the top and cartoonish as Prime went on sort of leaving his delusional jerk past when he would spend a POV ranting about how Emma was a dumb blonde prostitute. This lady is just rude and i fully expected her to start screaming at her kid as she shakes her violently.
Anyway incredible start, great characters, already looking forward to this. Great job .
Voyagers of the Storm - Prologue 1
"Mom, what's outside that door?"
"A world that's too dangerous for you to understand. Why are you a… moresking?"
"I've heard Mrs. Eris talking about it before. She thinks it's a good idea to move, but she's worried because nobody new has been out for so long." The young girl turned to her mother with a bright smile on her face. "But I'm not worried about it. We can do anything, can't we?"
The girl's mother simply sighed and shook her head. "It's not that easy. There are bad people out there who will stop at nothing to hurt us. I know you think we can do anything, but there's a reason that only five people are allowed outside." She watched her daughter's hopeful smile fade away and turn into a look of worry. "Until she opens the door to anyone, we can only assume it's not safe to leave."
"What can we do to make her open the door?" The girl turned her view towards the door that stood in between her an… [view original content]
As far back as Marshal could remember, his mother was the most active parent he had. While both of his parents worked, she was usually the only one concerned about spending time with her son.
Days without his father around were completely normal, causing him to learn more about staying quiet and working with his mother instead of fighting her on things that wouldn’t matter in the next ten minutes.
There would be days that she would rant to him while they were working on finishing his homework. He knew it wasn’t because she didn’t love his dad but it was because she was frustrated with his work life.
“I do hope you don’t turn out like your father. You’re not supposed to work every moment of your life, especially when you have a wife and a child at home.” She worked as a waitress for a local diner while Marshal was at school. In the way she split her time, she had no time for herself. “You aren’t afraid to talk to me about some things, are you? I know I’m not a man but that doesn’t change that I’m your mother.”
Her questions were usually just to check up on him and make sure that they were still on a good standing. Marshal could tell she was insecure about matters regarding himself and his dad. “No, mom, I just don’t have anything going on today.”
She would ask a lot of questions on a normal basis, some as his mother, some as a friend, and some that she was asking for his dad. He could normally decipher which was which based on how she asked. “So… are there any girls that you’re interested in?”
It was immediately recognized as a question from his dad. His mother knew that he wasn’t particularly interested in talking about girls, but his dad wasn’t around enough to know that. “No, like I normally don’t.” Knowing his father, that wouldn’t be enough to satisfy his question and he would have to give more details on it. “I have better things to do right now than worry about girls.”
His mother simply smiled and pinched his cheek before saying anything. “You’ll have to say it more often and louder to convince yourself before you can convince anyone else.”
“If saying I’m interested in some girl will give me a break from homework then I’m willing to agree to it.”
His mother knew his sense of humor pretty well and that he didn’t mean anything bad with the comment. She knew he was actually making a joke on himself about his social standing, which was relatively low. There wasn’t anything wrong with him, he always said he never had time for friends because he didn’t have time for attitude and other people’s problems. “I’d rather you not lie and just say you want a break instead of trying to appeal to your father to get out of homework.”
“Then I won’t lie. I have no interest in any girl right now and I want a break.”
She rolled her eyes before leaving the kitchen table to go do something else. “Thank you for not lying once during this conversation. You’d better be working on your homework after dinner.”
That was his mother’s sense of humor. Marshal normally never lied to her, just as he never fought with her.
Marshal remembered that as their last normal conversation with each other. He remembered the fight she had with his father that same night where she threatened to leave him for better opportunities and he threatened to leave her to continue working.
The next morning she seemed to be uneasy, trying to get things done quickly and get out of the house.
When they left for school, Marshal hardly noticed they passed the school because she was trying to keep his mind busy and out of focus for some reason.
They stopped close to the edge of town and started walking, her pace quicker and her tone more authoritative than usual. They met up with a man named Cyrus who told them about his group and offered to have Marshal and his mother join.
She accepted his offer and they started walking farther out of the city.
Marshal knew she was trying to be cautious of something and he never learned the whole story for years to come.
While they were walking, they were having a talk about the people in the group. Marshal didn’t really talk to Cyrus, causing a disapproving look from his mother with a scowl. “You’ll learn to love someone for what’s on the inside.”
Cyrus had no idea what she meant, but Marshal himself knew exactly what she was talking about. She knew how quick to judge her son could be just from appearances alone.
That was moments before she shoved her son to the ground, a loud crash in the air that sent her to the ground as well. Cyrus grabbed the boy, pulled him off the ground, and took off before another shot could be fired.
Sixteen years later, the two were close friends with Cyrus playing a more influential role in Marshal’s life than his own father did.
Marshal constantly reminded himself of his mother’s last words and Cyrus held him to a higher standard than he did Elizabeth or Milo.
The day after Marshal and Elizabeth had returned from their latest trip to the city, Marshal was quick to confide in Cyrus about his feelings towards Elizabeth but the confusion of having Milo back. He expressed plenty of concerns over Ethan and Alyssa before ultimately recollecting a straight face and telling himself it wasn’t his business.
Cyrus didn’t have to say anything to Marshal because he knew he’d talk himself through it if someone else would listen.
Pierre called a meeting as soon as he found out Elizabeth was back, saying some things needed to be said immediately for the sake of the group.
With four new people around, there weren’t many seats. Cyrus, Marshal, Filip, and Joseph stood to allow the women, Pierre, and the new people to sit.
Pierre was quick to start talking as soon as everyone was situated. “I want you all to understand that there are going to be major changes happening to the group after this talk and I am going to conduct those changes on my own. I will be giving this group one last chance to work with me before I disband it entirely.” He looked to Ethan and Alyssa. “I feel pity for you two, I do, but at this point it is beyond personal feelings and it is about what those around you have neglected to do.”
“I think you’re talking about Elizabeth not sending updated files, right?” Filip chimed in from the wall he and Cyrus stood at.
Pierre nodded, sparking a response from Elizabeth. “It’s called a loophole, Pierre, you should know about it. My choice is preventing you from disbanding this group, therefore I’m doing my job of monitoring security. Nobody here would be safe if you disbanded the group and do you know why? Because we can’t protect ourselves out there, especially with no weaponry.”
“You are not doing good with your job considering it is to monitor the safety of these people. Tell me, Ms. Neil, when was the last time you were in the lab yourself?”
“Last night, immediately after we returned from the city. I was working on getting Alyssa and Milo recognized as members in the system that runs the bunker.”
Pierre gained a quick look of surprise before regaining his posture. “Then this place is being run by a computer, not a human?”
Elizabeth shrugged and looked away. “I guess you could say that.”
“Do me a favor and look me in the eyes when I talk to you next time.” Pierre turned his attention to Joseph. “And what do you have to say about any of this? I never saw you address Ethan’s leave yesterday or the new people when they showed up.”
“To be fair, Milo’s not new, he’s only returned.” Lecia would normally never get involved with a conversation that wasn’t hers, but she had good intentions with protecting Milo. “We’ve known the Neil siblings for twenty-one long years and if we made a big deal every time someone came into the bunker, we’d be less productive than we already are.”
Elizabeth seemed shocked that Lecia defended Milo, though she had an idea as to why she did it. “Filip, if you know that I was supposed to send the files then you also know that I’ve been looking into finding Morgan, right?” Filip nodded, allowing Elizabeth to go on. “Pierre, I don’t know if you’ve met Morgan but she’s been missing as long as Milo has and right now my goal is to find her and get her back.”
“And what about the other people taken by the organization? Are you going to leave them there because they are not relevant to you anymore?”
“No, of course not. From what I’ve been able to collect, Morgan isn’t in the hands of the organization at all. She’s with a separate group and I can’t find anything out about the group because whoever they have protecting their people is better than me.” Elizabeth was quick to defend herself with an accusation that she thought nobody knew the legitimacy of.
“She’s right, the organization doesn’t have her. I’m not proud of it, but if it brings closure then I’ll admit it. I used to work in the fourth floor for the organization, that’s where they keep captured Voyagers, and I don’t remember a little girl being there.” Alyssa spoke, expecting Milo to backup her claims.
Pierre leaned on the table, closing his eyes for a moment. “The girl has been missing for how long? Two years? What are the chances of her being alive at all?”
Elizabeth looked to the three scouts who normally went out to search, expecting one of them to say something. “It’s a pretty high chance. We haven’t seen any indication that she’s dead so we’re not going to stop looking.” Cyrus saw a desperate look in Lecia’s eyes as the conversation kept going. She was the one who needed answers, not just wanting them like the rest of the group did.
“How often is someone out there looking for that girl?”
“We make it a point to go out at least once a week and after a major storm to look.” Marshal could tell Pierre was getting ready to question him about the end of what he said. “A storm turns up more than you would think. It makes it easier for us to try and track whatever was around.”
One look at Pierre’s face could show that he was certainly disappointed. The group was making no progress and had all of their efforts focusing on a missing child. “What is it that you all want?”
Joseph and the scouts remained silent, looking to Elizabeth. She froze but quickly regained herself. “One more year to find Morgan. After that we’ll give up and work on the organization.”
“And will you start sending updated files when you are required to?”
She froze again, looking to her hands before correcting herself and looking Pierre in the eyes. “Yes. If you agree to the year, I’ll send the records as soon as this meeting is over.”
“Ms. Neil, do you understand that once you’ve completed your cause here that you’ll be removed from the Voyagers and sent to a different group?”
“Yes, I understand.” Cyrus picked up on a hint of sadness in her voice but admittedly knew nothing about what they were talking about. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to work on the records.”
Elizabeth left the room in a hurry, allowing Filip to take her seat. Alyssa noticed everybody in the room look confused to some degree and figured it was what she was confused about as well. “What do you mean she’ll be removed?”
“Not every group has a programmer capable of what she does so when she became an official resistance member, she was required to sign a contract stating that once the Voyagers gain the upper hand against the Onyx Organization, she would be sent to the group that needed her most.”
“What if we lose the upper hand? She’s been working the hardest to achieve every goal we have, we need her to continue to function.” Lecia caught most of the room off guard, defending Elizabeth before anybody else could. “I don’t care for her personally, but I know that if you remove Elizabeth from the group, you’ll get the worst out of Milo, Marshal, and Cyrus because they’re the closest to her. It’s not possible to continue as a group because that would only leave one scout, no programmer, a leader who’ll continue to his normal act, and a cook. Nobody will be interested in continuing their usual act and the group will likely disband themselves.”
“I can only agree.” Eris finally broke her silence. “Elizabeth has been keeping this group mended by herself. She knows that some people aren’t too fond of her here but she doesn’t actively try to change their opinion and this surely isn’t her first time to be threatened with expulsion from the group.”
“It is not a threat, it is business.” Pierre looked around the room, catching disapproving glares. “Be grateful I chose not to go through with my original plan. It would have seen most of you in the hands of the Onyx Organization.”
Alyssa was quick to question him. “How is that a plan? You’re knowingly throwing your own people to the enemy. That’s not a plan, but neither is taking away what makes a machine function.”
Cyrus nodded, crossing his arms. “I’ll go ahead and say it now, if she’s removed or leaves then I’m not staying.”
“If you stand for yourself then you’ll get nowhere, Pierre. It’s generally agreed that she does more for the group. She was involved with my induction to the group and she already planned to be part of Alyssa’s recovery.” Ethan spoke up, feeling his voice was empty in the heated room. “The organization is willing to take most of the group back without punishment because they didn’t join by their own free will.”
Alyssa scoffed, covering her mouth. “That would be a twist, wouldn’t it?”
Cyrus turned to Marshal, pointing to the door. “Don’t let her finish the records.” Marshal left the room, Pierre regaining his look of shock. “You only have control over three of us as long as those records don’t get finished. Milo, Marshal, Alyssa, Morgan, Elizabeth, and myself have the opportunity to go without punishment and as long as the others give themselves up peacefully and are willing to work with the organization, they’ll be taken without protest as well.”
“Let the year go by before you continue to demur, I might change my mind again.” It was obvious that Pierre only said that to stop the conversation. “I will head home in the morning after Joseph addresses all of this himself.”
Joseph sighed, knowing it had to be done. “We’re going to use the year to our advantage, believe me. The second Morgan is found, our progress with the organization will resume. Ethan, Alyssa, and Milo, I’d like to have a word with you three by myself.”
One by one, the group started to dismiss themselves once they realized the conversation was over.
Cyrus went to the lab after he left, Milo having to remain with Joseph afterwards. He knocked on the door, not knowing what to expect when he went in. He went in, seeing Marshal trying to console a sobbing Elizabeth.
He was faced with a quick choice. He could leave before Elizabeth noticed him or he could try to help.
[Choice A]: Console Elizabeth [Choice B]: Leave it to Marshal
(!) Voting is closed! Filip will remain in the lab and Cyrus will tell Elizabeth about what he said.
2.7.5
Cyrus woke that day, confident in himself that he would tell Elizabeth everything the Filip had said.
The bunker was empty when he left his room, an eerie silence following him through the hall. He looked into the common room, not finding anyone as he went through.
He went to the lab, figuring Elizabeth would be there. He tried to open the door but something blocked it from the inside, forcing him to push it open.
When he went in the room, he found the monitors had all been smashed and wires torn from various places. Looking a little harder, he found a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
The woman he had raised and trained himself, the same woman he treated like his own daughter. Strangled to death with her own equipment.
Cyrus rushed into the room, straight to her body which sat against the farther wall. No matter what part of her body he touched, she was ice cold and showed no response. He quickly untangled the wires wrapped around her neck, hoping beyond hope that she would suddenly bounce back. Once the wires were released from around her neck, her body fell to the ground, giving no response and taking whatever hope Cyrus had with it.
He quickly jumped to his feet, looking around the lab for something to help. He spotted something behind the door, likely whatever was blocking it earlier.
Cyrus shut the door to the lab before he realized it was someone slumped over. He pleaded to himself that they suffered a fate different from Elizabeth and had only been injured.
He lifted the person’s head up to find that it was Milo. He tested some reactions on Milo before looking for a pulse. His eyes started wandering but stopped at the sight of a handle to a knife sticking out of Milo’s chest.
Cyrus could feel every ounce of hope he might have had draining as he looked on at Milo’s body, powerless to do anything. He looked at his hands, seeing the blood glisten over them, just as it had done when Jonas had died.
He looked back to Elizabeth’s body, still wishing it was some sick joke that the two were playing on him, but he knew it would be too good to be true.
Examining the body, Cyrus could see that Elizabeth had tried to fight back and pull the wires away from her own neck, resulting in cuts on her hands and inconsistent marks on her neck. Taking a look at Milo, he found no other obvious marks on his body but determined he had died after Elizabeth.
Cyrus moved the bodies to lie on the floor away from the door, fighting back tears as he moved the two. He bandaged the cuts on Elizabeth’s hands and took the knife out of Milo’s wound, wrapping over that as well.
He took one last look at the siblings, tears streaming down his face. “Who did this to you two?” He heard his own voice for the first time, weak and empty.
He removed the sheets from the cot in the lab that was normally used by whoever was watching over it and covered the bodies with them, quickly leaving the lab afterwards.
Who would have done it? The only way it made sense to Cyrus was thinking that Milo was the culprit. Elizabeth couldn’t strangle herself and fight against herself at the same time, but Milo would never do anything to harm her.
Cyrus walked through the halls of the bunker that were nearly empty until he reached the kitchen.
There he found Lecia on the ground, blood and glass surrounding her with a pan laying next to her, blood coating the pan itself.
Looking across the kitchen, he saw a young girl in a white dress with a smile on her face. She opened her eyes, her smile remaining. “Now you’ll know what happened to me.”
“Morgan, what’s going on here?”
The girl disappeared after Cyrus asked his question, but her voice continued. “Milo and Elizabeth, just like what happened to their parents. My mom like she did to a woman who betrayed her. Marshal like his own mother. Joseph and Pierre like the people they’ve wronged. Filip like the last Voyager he met. My own fate similar to one of the Neil’s.”
Milo, Elizabeth, and Lecia were dead, which pushed Cyrus to believe that the rest of the people Morgan had listed to be dead as well. “What about Ethan, Eris, and Alyssa? Where are they?”
“May the five innocent find safety and security away from those blackened.”
Cyrus walked through the bunker once more to look for the other supposed dead, Morgan trailing behind him as he walked through. “What do you mean five?”
“The two children are among the most innocent, their souls cherished for their purity.”
They left the bunker, being greeted by an apocalyptic view. The sky was fiery red, the trees seemed to be burned down.
The door slammed behind him as he pulled himself out of the bunker, giving him no choice but to go forward.
He found Joseph and Pierre’s bodies hanging from a tree. Execution, like they had to people against their cause.
Wandering a little deeper into the trees, his vision got foggier but he eventually found Filip. He had suffered a gunshot to the chest, similar to what happened to Jonas.
Cyrus took himself to the street, walking towards the city. Onyx Organization agents passed him by without even glancing his way.
Upon reaching the city expansion grounds, he found Marshal’s body. A gunshot wound to the stomach, like his mother had suffered. There was no secret that Kyle Kennedy was behind his wife’s murder. Nobody wanted her to suffer more than he did, that being the reason he shot her where he did.
She would have had to bleed out and watch her son leave her behind. She could have lived if it wasn’t for Kyle.
“He had to watch his children get taken away.”
Morgan’s voice jerked Cyrus out of his trance, causing him to look back to her. Her white dress was now black, her eyes lifeless and her smile gone. “He doesn’t have any kids, what are you talking about?”
“Maybe not in your time, but in the future he’ll have two.” She seemed to have a bitter look on her face. “He left his wife for the children and for that reason, he faced justice for his choices.”
Cyrus now faced Morgan, trying to force all off his emotions down. “Who killed who?”
“I did. I wanted to give the children a fair chance so I let him get this far.” Morgan looked up, her face now covered in burns and her eyes still arid. “I have always been told that children are the most pure beings in this hateful world and they didn’t deserve the kind of treatment they were subjected to by their parents. They deserve to be free, Cyrus.”
A shot rang out in the air, Cyrus collapsing to the ground. ‘Cyrus gone, just like his mother.’ His vision quickly faded, Morgan’s words being the last thing he heard.
…
…
…
Cyrus jerked up, finding himself in his own bed. He quickly got up, shaking and sweating as he left the room.
He ran to the common room, finding Eris, Ethan, and Milo talking about books they’d read. He went to the kitchen, finding Lecia, Filip, and Alyssa having a conversation of their own while Lecia worked on breakfast. He found Pierre and Joseph in the dining room, talking over their plans.
Cyrus took himself to the lab, bracing himself for a gruesome scene. Pushing open the door, he found nothing inside.
“Cyrus, is everything okay?” Eris had followed him from the common room throughout the bunker.
He looked around before addressing her, trying to ease his shaking. “Have you seen Marshal or Elizabeth today?”
She shook her head before pointing to the kitchen. “Lecia mentioned talking to Marshal this morning.”
Cyrus broke into a sprint for the kitchen again, only stopping when he reached his destination. “Lecia, have you talked to Marshal today?”
“Yeah, we talked about lunch today.” She was focused on her current task, but listening to everyone around her that spoke.
“Where is he?” Alyssa and Filip has stopped talking to allow Cyrus to have an actual conversation with Lecia instead of talking over them.
“He went back to sleep after we talked, so he’s probably in his room.”
Cyrus quickly dismissed himself, heading to the rooms. He knocked on Marshal’s door with a sense of urgency, getting a response in a matter of seconds.
He felt an immediate sense of relief just seeing Marshal awake, giving him a hug before saying anything. “You don’t understand how thankful I am that you’re alive right now.”
Marshal looked tired, but confused with the statement. “Why wouldn’t I be alive?”
“Accidents happen on a daily basis.” Cyrus paused for a moment before realizing he still had no idea where Elizabeth was. “Is Elizabeth with you?” Marshal nodded, stepping aside to allow Cyrus to confirm that she was still in bed. “Keep her safe for when Milo and I can’t.”
Cyrus left the hall, going to the hatch and letting himself out. He looked at the area outside. The sky had the same blue tint it had on almost every occasion and the trees had the same life as they normally did, the leaves blowing gently in the wind.
It was only after Cyrus confirmed it was just a nightmare he’d had that he would let himself even think about relaxing again.
Note: I know I said there wouldn’t be another .5, but would a chapter really be complete without a gruesome nightmare sequence or a .5? Probably, but I wanted to do this part either way. Take what you want from this part, be afraid of every choice from now on or don’t worry about any choice because the consequences typically aren’t subtle. 2.7’s vote is still open, but I really just wanted to test my hand at nightmare sequences, to be honest.
2.7
As far back as Marshal could remember, his mother was the most active parent he had. While both of his parents worked, she was usuall… morey the only one concerned about spending time with her son.
Days without his father around were completely normal, causing him to learn more about staying quiet and working with his mother instead of fighting her on things that wouldn’t matter in the next ten minutes.
There would be days that she would rant to him while they were working on finishing his homework. He knew it wasn’t because she didn’t love his dad but it was because she was frustrated with his work life.
“I do hope you don’t turn out like your father. You’re not supposed to work every moment of your life, especially when you have a wife and a child at home.” She worked as a waitress for a local diner while Marshal was at school. In the way she split her time, she had no time for herself. “You aren’t afraid to talk to me about some … [view original content]
2.7
As far back as Marshal could remember, his mother was the most active parent he had. While both of his parents worked, she was usuall… morey the only one concerned about spending time with her son.
Days without his father around were completely normal, causing him to learn more about staying quiet and working with his mother instead of fighting her on things that wouldn’t matter in the next ten minutes.
There would be days that she would rant to him while they were working on finishing his homework. He knew it wasn’t because she didn’t love his dad but it was because she was frustrated with his work life.
“I do hope you don’t turn out like your father. You’re not supposed to work every moment of your life, especially when you have a wife and a child at home.” She worked as a waitress for a local diner while Marshal was at school. In the way she split her time, she had no time for herself. “You aren’t afraid to talk to me about some … [view original content]
(!) Voting is closed! Coin flip decides that Cyrus will leave Elizabeth to Marshal.
2.8
It was during lunch that Cyrus saw Marshal or Elizabeth again, though he’d neglected to explain a thing to anybody. He was quick to notice the concerned looks he’d been getting from Lecia and Marshal after he managed to startle them earlier in the day.
After lunch, most of the group went their separate ways but Marshal and Lecia remained in the dining room with Cyrus, both looking ready for answers. “Listen, guys, I didn’t mean to get you guys worked up because I couldn’t find someone.”
“That doesn’t matter, why were you so freaked out this morning?” Lecia was the first to respond, seeming like she was actually concerned about him.
Marshal didn’t speak but Cyrus could tell he was interested in what managed to set Cyrus of all people off. “Alright, but this stays with you two. Yesterday was a strange day and I had some things to handle when I woke up today, just like everybody else. I needed to talk to Elizabeth and when I went into the lab, she and Milo…” He got chills by even talking about it. “They were dead. Everyone was, except for Eris, Alyssa, and Ethan and even then, they were missing. It felt so real until Morgan showed up. She said she did it all and that everyone who died because they had done something wrong.” Cyrus quickly reminded himself of what else Morgan had said. “Marshal, I’d recommend being cautious if I were you. She said you got a particularly bad fate and two children.”
He could tell his wording just barely made enough sense based on the look of confusion he got back from Marshal. Lecia now looked as if she was in shock. “You don’t believe that she would try to hurt the group if she’s ever found, do you?”
“There’s no if but when she’s found, I don’t think she’d try to hurt anyone or even be capable of it.” Despite looking like he was about to faint, Marshal chose to ease Lecia’s worries before his own.
Cyrus knew exactly why Marshal originally wanted nothing to do with Elizabeth or children and that was because of Kyle. It was normal for a father to leave a lasting impression on his son, but it wasn’t difficult to see that Kyle left an awful one. He also knew that the idea of children was what was bothering Marshal right now. “I think he’s right. It was just a dream. There’s no way Morgan would be physically able to overtake any of us.”
Milo had done the dishes for Lecia when she mentioned she wanted to talk to Cyrus, though Cyrus was grateful when he returned because he knew Milo would talk to Marshal and he could talk to Elizabeth about the day before. All he had to do was sneak by Pierre, Joseph, and Eris without gaining acknowledgement from any of them.
Cyrus waited until Milo, Marshal, and Lecia were each talking before he left the dining room, trying to think of a way to the lab that would avoid the common room, coming up with nothing.
He realized he’d failed to a certain level when Pierre waved to him, which was relatively passive considering Pierre’s latest statement. Thinking back, it was actually Pierre showing kindness before he left.
When he reached the lab, Cyrus let himself in. Even though he knew it was a nightmare that he’d had the night before, he felt relieved seeing Elizabeth and the lab in one piece. “Do you have some free time?” She didn’t face him, but nodded. “Good. I wanted to talk to you about Filip, it’s extremely important.”
She pushed her chair out and turned to face him, giving him all of her attention. “I can’t really do anything about that, but go ahead.”
He figured that her response had something to do with her contract with Pierre, but he wasn’t going to question it right now. “Filip knows that he was a member of the organization and he’s furious with you. He seems like he’s going off the edge now that he knows and I’m worried he’s going to do something to hurt himself, you, or the group in a whole. We’re lucky he didn’t tell Pierre yesterday.”
Cyrus could tell there was something wrong with Elizabeth by the fact that she smiled in response to everything he had just said. He knew that if he told Elizabeth before she had gone to the city, she would have lost her mind. “It’s already in the records that were sent to Pierre, so he already knows. Don’t worry, though, there’s nothing he can do to hurt me that I can’t do right back.”
Looking to the far wall, Cyrus saw the wires that had been used to kill Elizabeth in the nightmare. “Is that so?” He walked to the far wall, taking the wires in his hand and pulling as hard as he could. “How do you know your own equipment won’t be used against you?”
After pulling for a bit, Cyrus realized the wires weren’t coming loose any time soon because of a metal plate welded to the wall. He turned back to see a smirk on Elizabeth’s face. “You, Marshal, and Milo are super weird. Milo had an issue with those wires years ago and freaked out about them but never got the chance to do anything about it. Marshal only recently helped me out with getting the wires themselves out of the way.”
“I had no idea Marshal knew how to weld, but at least somebody here can.”
Cyrus looked to the monitors, noticing a graph on one of them. Elizabeth’s eyes must have followed because she seemed to grow more serious. She rose from her chair, standing next to Cyrus. They looked over the statistics from previous years that had been recorded. The only place the line seemed to be going was down. “We're not in this for the long run and we're lucky to have held on this long. The Organization knows too much about the people involved with the group so they know who to expect. They don't know about you and that's all we have going for us.”
Cyrus could already tell that she had an idea but was waiting for the right time to admit it. “What are you thinking?”
“I want to send you, Filip, and Marshal back into the city. There’s some valuable information that was left behind in Alyssa’s apartment and we might be able to get closer to our goal if we can recover it before the organization does, which isn’t a very long time from now.” She turned to face him now. “If you guys are going to do this then you need to act quickly.”
“Have you talked to Marshal or Filip about this?”
She looked away, making it clear that she hadn’t talked to anyone about it. “Not really, I wasn’t thinking about it until now.”
He actually had no idea if she was in her right mind. He was still left in the dark about what happened the day before because he never talked to Marshal about it. “Elizabeth, what happened yesterday? You weren’t acting normal and you’re still not acting normal.”
“Nothing happened, I just needed a break.” She froze, looking to the ground before she sighed. “Okay, it was more than a break. I kind of lost it after Pierre mentioned our contract, expected to be called a traitor, and left before that could happen.”
He crossed his arms, obviously not buying what she was saying. “Kind of lost it? When I came into the lab you were at your worst. You were crying to the one person who is the least in touch with his own emotions and then you just disappear for the entire night without a second word. Why were you upset?”
“I wasn’t.” She seemed to grow nervous and look around the room for an excuse to change the topic. “Who said Marshal is out of touch with his emotions? That’s just insulting.”
“To be fair, you’re both extremely out of touch with your emotions. He’s under expressive and you’re too expressive, how’s that for insulting?”
“It’s surely not nice.” She seemed to pour for a moment before she regained her usual smile. “When Milo first went missing, I was vulnerable and stupid and I made a bad choice. The consequences of that bad choice was a series of bad choices that put me where I am right now.”
Cyrus rolled his eyes, knowing her game all too well at this point. “Could you be any more vague?”
“Of course I can, but I’ll take that as a hint that I need to be more in detail.” Cyrus nodded. “After I spent two weeks out there looking for Milo and Morgan, I felt weak, like everything that had happened up until that point was my fault. I didn’t really know if anybody could understand because Milo was as hostile to some people as he was so I went to Marshal. He was having a tough time with it and neither of us knew what to do at that point, we spent some time together and we talked it through and we somehow ended up together that night, I’m not really sure, it’s been some time.”
While Elizabeth’s face continued to grow red, Cyrus knew at this point he could only try to talk her through it. He had no idea what they had talked about the night before and with how vague she tried to be, there was a limited number of answers he could get. “Whatever happened was two years ago, why are you still letting it mess with you?”
“It wasn’t affecting me until we were in the city but even then, I think I’m just confused.”
“That’s your problem, Elizabeth. You don’t understand any emotions other than the basics because you weren’t allowed to express yourself growing up, you had to work all the time and if you weren’t working then you were wasting time.” He paused. “I don’t think anyone in this bunker has proper control over their emotions, you’re just a little on the extreme.”
“Like usual.” She sighed, putting her hands in her pockets. “Now that Milo’s back, there’s no reason for Marshal and I to even talk.”
“Aren’t you still having to sleep in his bed because of Joseph’s little law?”
Elizabeth chuckled, finally cracking a smile. “Yeah, I do.” She looked up for the first time during their conversation, the small smile she had remaining. “I’m going to guess he already told you what happened in the city, didn’t he?”
“He told me tons of things when you guys came back so it’s very possible he did, it just depends on what you’re willing to pay to find out.” Cyrus could tell she actually wanted to know what was talked about, but he wasn’t so sure he could reveal all of it. “I know what happened in the city, the story behind the ring, and what happened two years ago. I’m sure you’ve got some work to do so I’ll leave you with a little piece of information. You’re not the only one who’s missing what you and Marshal had.”
She seemed to be thrown off but nodded, heading to the door. “I see… I have somewhere to be, but I enjoyed our talk.”
The two left the lab, going their separate ways. Cyrus went to the common room where Eris sat on her own, Pierre and Joseph having left, though it also told him that Lecia was still with Milo and Marshal.
She acknowledged him with her usual welcoming smile and a sigh, closing her book as he approached her. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked, which is kind of surprising considering the close quarters we’re required to live in. How’ve you been?”
“The same as usual, thankfully.” Cyrus knew exactly what she meant by that, but it also reminded him that he needed to talk to Alyssa sometime. Eris’ condition had been worsening in recent months to the point where the ‘same as usual’ was surprising, but extremely welcome for anyone. “How about yourself, stranger?”
“As busy as ever. You know, prior to Pierre mentioning our lack of progress, I actually thought we were making a lot of progress and actually getting somewhere closer to our goal.” Eris was normally the one Cyrus would vent his frustrations to. He knew Joseph wouldn’t really care to listen, he never told Marshal and Elizabeth a lot of things because their reactions varied heavily, he was never particularly close to Lecia, there were some things he couldn’t tell Filip or Milo, and he hardly knew if he could trust Ethan or Alyssa yet, that only left Eris.
“I think Pierre was exaggerating a bit at the meeting, don’t you agree? If we were really in danger then we would know and we wouldn’t have gotten new members.” Eris seemed to be contemplating on if she should continue or drop it. “Elizabeth has a disaster plan set up for if we’re ever in more danger than we can fight off and she monitors all of that by herself. I’ve been told that if something were to happen outside of the bunker, the system would send itself into lockdown.”
Eris normally took Elizabeth’s side just because she felt Elizabeth’s actions were hardly defended, but Cyrus could tell that this time she was defending her because she believed in her and the system she had set up. “Do you know what the lockdown function does?”
She shook her head, looking towards the lab. “No, but she’s mentioned that if a lockdown ever seemed imminent then we’d be in serious trouble but we’d be more likely to leave before it happened.” Eris shrugged. “It’s extremely confusing to me and she’s not the best at explaining things so that gives us a double negative. You could probably check into the files at the lab for details on it.”
“The plain sight rule.” Cyrus groaned. “I think there’s more likely to be a lockdown than to find details on one with the mess she has.”
“You could have the program sort through the files for you.”
The two couldn’t help but laugh before Cyrus answered. “Considering that program has the ability to end lives, I’m going to make the justified decision of not touching it.”
Eris smiled before reopening her book. “I don’t blame you.”
Before Cyrus could leave the common room, most of the group rejoined. Ethan had been showing Alyssa around and they eventually ended up in the common room, with Joseph coming back to spend time with Eris. Cyrus couldn’t help but be concerned that Filip was the only one that hadn’t been seen that entire day, but he knew he needed to stay alert while Joseph was around the new people.
Eris welcomed Alyssa just as she had welcomed everyone before her and then went back to her book. Alyssa herself looked to be scanning the whole area, not leaving any area unseen. “This place is really fortified, definitely beyond expectations.”
Ethan chuckled, looking around the room and then nodding. “That’s the work of the entire group. From what I’ve been told, the scouts worked on getting this place as secure as they could before they handed it off to Elizabeth. What you have here is the final product.”
Cyrus looked over to Joseph, noticing a spark in his eyes. They had both noticed the same thing, but Joseph was going to be the one to say something. “Ethan, what do you know about Final Product Four?”
“Final what?” Ethan seemed legitimately confused, which many people were when confronted with a question about Final Product Four because nobody knew anything major about it. “I don’t know anything about that.”
Joseph stood, walking away from Eris and closer to Ethan and Alyssa. “Is there anything to prove that?”
Cyrus could see Ethan grow a bit nervous but remain in place while Alyssa took a few steps back. “There’s nothing to prove that because I don’t know anything about it.” Ethan looked over to Cyrus, as if to ask for help. “What is he talking about?”
“Final Product Four is something Elizabeth made that she’s particularly secretive of.” Cyrus knew better than to approach Joseph right now.
Eris left the room, heading towards the kitchen. While paying attention to his surroundings, Ethan now stood face to face with Joseph, who looked just about ready to handle Ethan himself until someone pushed Joseph back, putting herself between the two. “That’s enough.”
While Joseph seemed shocked for a slight second, he didn’t step away. “You have no right to order anyone in this bunker around, it’ll only make us more wary of you.”
Alyssa now had no choice but to face Joseph and she had no intention of backing down. “But you have the right to throw accusations around? He said he didn’t know about it time and time again before Cyrus said Final Product Four was a secret. The point of a secret is that not everyone knows the details of it.”
“Can we take a moment to calm down? I’m worried somebody’s about to get hurt and it’s not going to be Alyssa or Ethan.” A voice drew their attention to the hallway that connected the common room to the kitchen. Eris had gone to get somebody to help and now that help had a gun drawn on her husband. “Joseph, you already know I’m not going to pull the trigger but don’t abuse that knowledge, please just back up.”
Ethan looked to who Eris brought while Alyssa kept her eyes on Joseph. “Every action you do convinces me less and less that you’re considered the smartest person here.”
“Unnecessarily rude, but this is actually a loophole.” Elizabeth cleared her throat before looking to Joseph again. “I’m not going to tell you to back up again, Joseph, don’t make me do it.”
Joseph took a few steps back, obviously livid, before turning to Elizabeth. “How is pulling a gun on somebody a loophole?”
Elizabeth pointed the gun to the ground before passing it back to the owner, who would turn out to be Marshal, then entered the room with Milo, Marshal, Eris, and Lecia. “It’s a loophole because according to my contract with Pierre, I’m not allowed to intervene with something unless it’s really bad. You don’t assume something is really bad unless a gun is involved, but it never said who had to be holding the gun.”
Alyssa stepped away to give Ethan some space before she thought about what Elizabeth said. “Do you even know how to shoot?” Elizabeth shook her head in response, making Alyssa speak before she could. “You’re lucky you didn’t have to use it then, it would have broken your arm.”
Cyrus could tell Alyssa was trying to draw attention away from the previous situation and she needed help to do it. “She’s got a point, though I’m glad we’ll have a way to know if you turn out to be a culprit.”
Elizabeth scoffed, catching onto their plan pretty quick. “Am I still considered a culprit if there’s a hitman involved?”
Eris quickly looked to Marshal and Milo, seemingly unaware that Elizabeth was joking. “She’ll still be the culprit but please don’t carry out killing orders, it’ll only make you both culprits as well.”
Marshal looked to Elizabeth, then shrugged. “Sorry, she’s got more authority than you do, don’t come to me with any hits.”
“That’s fine, you traitors.” While Elizabeth was trying to keep busy, Cyrus could tell she was still a little nervous by the look in her eyes. He was watching as her smile turned to a frown and her nervousness was replaced by pure anger.
Cyrus had to look around to find out what made her angry, but he didn’t have to look long until he found out that a Filip decided to make an appearance.
The room went silent until Elizabeth feigned a smile as if to excuse herself from the group, then grabbed Filip’s arm, leading him towards the lab.
Alyssa looked over the group, noticing nobody seemed shocked besides Ethan and herself. She ultimately decided not to say anything about it, excusing herself from the group, Ethan going with her.
One by one, the rest of the group had resumed their previous activities.
Cyrus stopped Marshal before he went anywhere, having a few different topics for him. “Did Elizabeth talk to you about her latest plan?”
He nodded. “She came around while Milo and I were talking with Lecia. Lecia suggested it might be better to take Milo with us because of how Filip’s been acting lately. I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you have any idea what’s wrong with him?”
“I do, but I think it’s best we don’t talk about it here, I’ll tell you whenever I can.”
“I was supposed to talk to Milo yesterday, but I haven’t been able to get him alone and I really don’t feel like telling the entire group.” Marshal glances Milo’s direction, then looked back to Cyrus. “I should probably do that while he’s free.”
Cyrus looked over the remaining members of the group, looking Lecia’s direction just in time to see a look of panic rise in her eyes. She looked around before seeing Cyrus was already looking at her. She pointed down the hall in a panic and mouthed the words. ‘Go quickly, do not alert the others.’
He moved as quick as he could, making no attempt at stirring up trouble with the group. Once he turned down the hall, he saw the problem and completely understood why Lecia said not to alert the rest of the group.
Filip wasn’t taking well to whatever Elizabeth had said to him and he was done listening to reason, while she had nothing but reason.
Cyrus left the hallway with Lecia following closely behind.
Just one look at Filip could show that he was furious, but one look at Elizabeth would tell that Filip had the upper hand. Her face was red with embarrassment, his was red with anger.
Filip knew he had the upper hand and he was using it to his advantage, backing Elizabeth into the wall. Cyrus could only wonder what he did to earn the upper hand, considering she seemed pretty upset earlier.
Cyrus looked around, noticing a nightstand had been broken and one of the legs taken off of it. The leg couldn’t be seen anywhere, which made Cyrus believe that Filip had it and that was how he gained the upper hand.
With every step closer to Elizabeth Filip took, Cyrus took two closer to him, trying to remain quiet and not get hit with the leg of the nightstand.
When he got close enough, he realized that Elizabeth had already been hit. Cyrus turned back to Filip, grabbing him from behind and pulling him away while trying to avoid getting hit himself.
“Lecia, grab one of his arms and hold on. He won’t hit you, it’s me he’s mad at.” Elizabeth waited until Lecia took her order before she did anything. She froze with some minor shaking, until Cyrus stopped moving, grabbing Filip’s right arm while Lecia had his left. “You had a choice, Filip, and you chose to abuse my trust and try to blackmail me.” Cyrus noticed Elizabeth’s grip was tight enough to cut off feeling to Filip’s arm, but he didn’t know why until he noticed Elizabeth had a syringe that she was going to use on Filip. She administered the shot before letting go of his arm and looking up at him. “I would have gladly talked to you about it and I tried to, but you pushed my patience for far too long.”
Lecia let go of Filip’s other arm and pulled out a chair behind Cyrus, letting him set Filip down. Cyrus took the nightstand leg before he collected the rest of the nightstand to hide from the rest of the group. It was bad enough that Lecia knew now.
Cyrus left the room, Lecia and Elizabeth looking over a now unconscious Filip. “What do you give him?”
“Nothing he hasn’t had before. He won’t remember the past two days, but I will.” Elizabeth seemed spiteful with her tone.
Lecia looked over Elizabeth before she called her attention to a cut on her left cheek. “You need to go see Alyssa.”
“It’ll only be a bruise, it’s fine.” Elizabeth had a high pain tolerance, unlike Milo, so most times she couldn’t even tell she’d been hurt.
“Elizabeth, you’re bleeding, that’s more than a bruise already.” Lecia took a step closer, lifting Elizabeth’s chin to see the cut better. “It’s pretty deep too. If you don’t go find Alyssa, I’ll have to find her myself.”
Elizabeth crossed her arms, looking away from Lecia. “It’s not important, I need to get back to work to fix the damage he caused.”
“I don’t understand you. You’ve changed since Morgan disappeared, but you’re on the same self destructive path. You seemed pretty happy earlier while we were talking with Milo and Marshal and I can understand that getting hit by anything would ruin a person’s day, but most people wouldn’t hesitate to get checked up on after being hit, especially when it’s bleeding.” Lecia went to the kitchen, grabbing a washcloth and dousing it in water before returning to Elizabeth. “It looks like we’re going to have to do this my way.”
Lecia covered the cut with the cloth and started walking, expecting Elizabeth to follow until she noticed the lack of balance Elizabeth had. She fixed it by holding the cloth with one hand and holding onto Elizabeth’s waist with her other hand, having visible trouble holding her up.
When they went through the common room, Lecia noticed all of the conversation stopped. “Milo, I need you to go in the dining room and watch over Filip. Marshal, pick Elizabeth up before she falls.” The two took their orders and Lecia now led Marshal through the halls. “There has to be more than one cut.”
“It’s possible, but you know how when Milo gets a cut it’s no big deal, right? That’s because he bleeds pretty lightly, she’s the complete opposite. That being said, I’d recommend putting more pressure on the cloth.”
Lecia put more pressure on it, which clearly bothered Elizabeth even though she looked completely out of her own head at this point. “Do you know where Alyssa went?”
“I’m thinking she went back to her room, but I have no idea.”
Lecia ran ahead, knocking on Alyssa’s door before going back down the hall. “She can’t do anything without supplies, so I need to go get the kit, just stay with her.”
As Lecia turned the corner, Alyssa looked around the doorframe, her eyes widening as she rushed over. “What happened?” She ushered Marshal into the room, shutting the door behind them. “Put her down, I’ll see what I can do.”
He put Elizabeth down and backed away, letting Alyssa look around the cut. “Lecia is getting you some supplies to work with. She knows what happened, so please just wait until she gets here.”
Alyssa shook her head, looking a little frustrated. “I can’t wait until she gets here, I don’t have the time to wait.” Alyssa took the cloth, wiping some blood away before it was quickly replaced with more blood. “I think that proves my point, I need you to go get her now.” Marshal left, leaving Alyssa with Elizabeth, who was barely conscious and looked like she was about to start a mindless tantrum at any minute. “Elizabeth, can you hear me?” She nodded. “What happened?”
“Can’t say.”
Alyssa looked around the room for something to use before Marshal and Lecia returned, both of them looking nervous. “There’s another cut.”
Lecia handed Alyssa a box before stepping to the side. “Where’s the other cut?”
Alyssa only noticed some blood gathered on Marshal’s shirt when he got closer. He lifted the left side of Elizabeth’s shirt exposing a deeper wound that couldn’t even be classified as cut. “How did nobody notice this until now?”
“She didn’t notice because she has a huge tolerance to pain, Lecia didn’t notice because there was no blood gathering on her stomach but on her side, and I didn’t notice because her left side was facing my body.” Marshal was quick to defend those involved, knowing there would be trouble if nobody gave an actual reason.
Alyssa looked over Elizabeth, noticing her skin had gone pale and had turned cold, despite her sweating. “Lecia, keep pressure on her cheek, I need to fix this right now.” Lecia moved to hold the washcloth on Elizabeth’s cheek again while Alyssa started to dig through the box, pulling out a needle and surgical thread, as well as some other supplies. “Marshal, you need to keep her calm. There’s nothing I can use to numb her and she can’t move an inch or it’s going to risk everything.”
There was a knock at the door while Alyssa was threading the needle, leaving her unresponsive to the door. The person let themselves in, that person being Cyrus. “Milo’s still watching Filip.” He looked to Alyssa while trying to keep himself from looking at Elizabeth. “Do you have a plan?”
“I did until we found the real problem, but I’ll have a plan once we all get situated. Can I ask why you’re here?” Alyssa kept her eyes focused on her current task of threading the needle, tying the end of it.
“To keep Joseph from being here. You’re supposed to have someone with some authority here, which is either Joseph, Elizabeth, or myself and I hate to say it, but Elizabeth isn’t really in the condition to monitor right now.”
Alyssa hushed the room, putting a pair of gloves on and taking a deep breath. This had to be done and it had to be done fast.
Many members of the Onyx Organization had been called to a meeting regarding the now missing Alyssa Kowalska.
As her superior, Luke was catching a lot of the blame regarding the whole situation, despite not working that day.
“Mr. Hampton, what was your plan with the weddings?” A man at the table questioned.
Isaac looked furious, at Luke, at the other members of the organization. “My plan was that a Voyager would be found around the venue during or sometime afterwards.”
Amanda Richardson sat close by, finding a new fault in the design of the chips. “There was likely a use of excessive force if the chip was removed, which it was.”
“And why haven’t we looked into the last activities of the chip?” A man questioned.
“Because it was shattered.” Amanda had more to explain. “It can’t be pieced back together and the earlier evening activities can’t be identified because something blocked the transmission from the chip early on in the evening.”
Amanda’s mother, Lyla, looked as if she had figured something out. “We only know of one Voyager that’s efficient in technology, right?”
Luke knew she was asking him. “That’s right, VE. It seems we came to the same conclusion. VE was one of the ones involved.”
“How many do you think were involved, Mr. Lowell?” Isaac rejoined the conversation, folding his hands in front of him.
“There’s no way to know because of how little we actually know about the members themselves. It could have been just VE and Milo could have worked against Alyssa, or it could have been VE and multiple Voyagers, we have no way to know because of how early the chip was disconnected.”
Lyla crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat. “Luke, you said Milo mentioned his sister and Kyle’s son at the venue, what are the chances that he was telling the truth because he knew you weren’t going to take him seriously?”
“I’m not going to say it’s impossible or even unlikely, why?”
“I have reason to believe that she has a stronger connection to VE than we know of, however it can’t really be proven and it’s unlikely to be proven without Milo’s cooperation, which we weren’t even getting before.”
Isaac spoke before anyone else could, but nobody really cared to argue with him. “I want to send Kyle to Alyssa’s apartment. There may be answers there and if Milo is involved in any way, Kyle would be able to find out almost immediately.”
“Is that a good idea, sir? Kyle’s not in his prime anymore and Milo was already able to overpower him once, there’s always the chance that he can do it again and if he’s reconnected with the Voyagers, there’s the possibility that he won’t be alone and that he won’t spare Kyle.” Bradly Richardson spoke up, having thought about the idea on his own before.
The other attendees were shocked that Bradly would say anything against Isaac’s word, but they were all open to hear what Bradly had to say. “And on the off chance that Milo is alone, if we send any more than Kyle then we’ll get no answers and we’ll get more trouble with the Voyagers. If we want them to stay in one place then we want them to think they have a plan that we won’t be able to figure out.”
Amanda cupped her hands, looking down at the table. “So by having even one of them show up, we’re getting something done about them, right?”
“That’s correct. By having VE make an appearance, we’re gaining more information about who’s involved and their weaknesses. We have a stronger chance of figuring out who VE is and their weakness now, but we also have a stronger chance of outing their companions and forcing them to give up.” Isaac leaned forward, a sign the people around the table took as an end to the meeting. “Kyle is going to Alyssa’s apartment to collect whatever information he can get on his own.”
They each left their seats, most of them returning to their stations. Luke could tell Kyle was nervous, but he didn’t particularly care since he and Kyle were never close.
Cyrus Capello
Following a previous order of Elizabeth’s, Cyrus had taken Milo and Marshal back to the edges of the city in order to look through Alyssa’s apartment.
It was clear that they were all worried over what had happened to Elizabeth, only Milo not knowing who had stabbed his sister. In fact, he didn’t even know his sister had been stabbed, as he’d only seen the cut on her face before they left.
Nobody had spoken most of the way there, making Cyrus feel the need to start conversation. He didn’t know about what, though. “You guys understand why we’re going into the city, right?”
“I get the reasoning, but I’m still not sure it’s a good idea to take me with you guys.” Milo sat in the backseat, Cyrus and Marshal in their usual spots.
“Why not? They already know you’re gone and they likely already know that you’re with the Voyagers, I highly doubt they’re going to be looking for you in the city.” Cyrus knew what Milo meant when he voiced his concerns, but he also knew he needed both Marshal and Milo with him. “It’s a pretty bad idea to take the both of you. It’s really an inconvenience, if anything. Even taking Marshal is a risk because it hasn’t even been three days since he’s been in the city, so it’s a risk for both of you.” They continued the drive in silence, only speaking when they reached the edge of the city. Cyrus sighed, getting ready to address his two companions. “You two can't go far into the city this early, but watch your surroundings and take no chances. If you guys get into trouble that you can't fight off then leave, okay? Don't wait for me.”
He left the truck and started walking towards the city, only stopping when he heard the two doors open and close. “You’ve gotta be pretty stupid to think we’d actually let you go there on you own.” Marshal was the first to talk once Cyrus looked back at the two.
Milo was quick to join the conversation. “Besides, you don’t know the way to the apartment.”
Cyrus waited for the two to catch up to him before he let Milo take the lead. “You two are going to get yourselves in trouble.”
“Why exactly would we get in trouble? We haven’t done anything wrong yet.” Marshal did the talking while Milo took them to the apartment.
“Because you’re here with a man who was allegedly kidnapped, his caretaker is missing, and your wife isn’t with you.”
Milo chuckled ahead. “Didn’t you punch a bartender while you were last here?”
“I don’t think I’m going to get in trouble for punching a bartender who deserved to be punched or for not having Alyssa or my ‘wife’ by my side the entire time. There’s no proof I even know Alyssa.” Cyrus knew Marshal was just messing around with Milo by referring to Elizabeth as his wife.
“You just keep saying that, maybe they’ll believe you.”
“If his dad doesn’t recognize him first.” Milo knew a way to respond to Marshal’s personal jokes were to be personal right back. While Milo hated any comment regarding Elizabeth, he had known for a long time that Marshal hated comments about his father. “Marshal, why are we friends? Like, I feel like I should hate you as a person for lots of reasons.”
“The feeling is mutual. I really don’t understand why we’re friends because I wouldn’t want to be involved with me in the slightest.”
“Maybe that’s the faulty gene that Alyssa’s looking for.” Milo continued the conversation while looking around and keeping close to the walls. “I’m just kidding, don’t tell Elizabeth that I said anything rude about you, she’ll get mad at me.”
Cyrus found it odd how close the two still seemed to be. He knew Marshal had gotten closer to Filip and Elizabeth while Milo was gone, but he was acting like they were never separated. The same could be said for Milo.
He kept to himself while the two continued to joke around. They stopped talking when they reached the apartment, Milo opening the unlocked door.
The three of them split up, taking different rooms of the apartment. What they were looking for was a Onyx Organization employee handbook that would detail as much information as the Organization had on current issues. There was no doubt that Alyssa had one, the question was where she’d left it.
Milo had started collecting some personal items of hers and his own to bring back to the bunker to offer them both a sense of closure.
Kyle Kennedy
Kyle had gone to the apartment after work like he’d been ordered to. He had been digging through what was left in the apartment to try and find ties to the Voyagers, which there seemed to be none besides Milo himself.
No matter what room he searched, they all came up with no results.
He didn’t realize the passing time until he heard the apartment door open. He figured it was someone coming to take over for him so he left the room that once belonged to Milo to go debrief them and leave.
The last movement he heard was someone going into Alyssa’s room, so that’s where he went.
Upon pushing the door open, Kyle quickly realized whoever was going through Alyssa’s belongings wasn’t an employee of the Onyx Organization, but an intruder.
He paused for a moment, trying to think of his best options. He felt his holstered gun and got ready to pull it out of the holster.
Choice A: [Confront the intruder.] Choice B: [Sneak up on the intruder.]
Note: I'm totally not taking a break, changed my mind on that. I do want to finish this chapter and start the next one sometime before November 15th, which shouldn't be too difficult to do. This chapter will be another one with 11 parts, 12 if you're counting the two .5 as a whole, and there will also be a vote before the finale to make things easier on next chapter's alternate choices (You'll see what I mean when this chapter finishes). I've worked on getting the Google Docs cleaned up and prepared for the end of the chapter, as well as putting together the alternate choices so that it's less of a cluster whenever the chapter does end. I'll probably close this vote on Monday, so I wish you all the best until then.
2.9
Many members of the Onyx Organization had been called to a meeting regarding the now missing Alyssa Kowalska.
As her superior, Luk… moree was catching a lot of the blame regarding the whole situation, despite not working that day.
“Mr. Hampton, what was your plan with the weddings?” A man at the table questioned.
Isaac looked furious, at Luke, at the other members of the organization. “My plan was that a Voyager would be found around the venue during or sometime afterwards.”
Amanda Richardson sat close by, finding a new fault in the design of the chips. “There was likely a use of excessive force if the chip was removed, which it was.”
“And why haven’t we looked into the last activities of the chip?” A man questioned.
“Because it was shattered.” Amanda had more to explain. “It can’t be pieced back together and the earlier evening activities can’t be identified because something blocked the transmission from the chip early on… [view original content]
2.9
Many members of the Onyx Organization had been called to a meeting regarding the now missing Alyssa Kowalska.
As her superior, Luk… moree was catching a lot of the blame regarding the whole situation, despite not working that day.
“Mr. Hampton, what was your plan with the weddings?” A man at the table questioned.
Isaac looked furious, at Luke, at the other members of the organization. “My plan was that a Voyager would be found around the venue during or sometime afterwards.”
Amanda Richardson sat close by, finding a new fault in the design of the chips. “There was likely a use of excessive force if the chip was removed, which it was.”
“And why haven’t we looked into the last activities of the chip?” A man questioned.
“Because it was shattered.” Amanda had more to explain. “It can’t be pieced back together and the earlier evening activities can’t be identified because something blocked the transmission from the chip early on… [view original content]
(!) Voting is closed! Kyle will confront the intruder.
I can’t really say much about this choice, except for the obvious fact that it’s going to change the character of Kyle completely, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing or a good thing unless further choices overturn that change or support it.
The next part has been under works for a bit, along with the start of the finale, but the next part can be expected sometime this weekend!
Comments
I'm going to use this post to vote and answer your questions.
"Tell Elizabeth about Milo and work out a plan with her.
I just have a feeling that if we don't tell her and she finds out later that he knew and didn't tell her, that there is going to be some unforseen consequences.
1) favorite character?
This is tough. I feel like Ethan might be like the reader within the voyager's. By that I mean he knows just as much as we do about them and we are learning with him. Within Onyx and those affiliated with them it would probably be one of the character's I submitted, but we haven't seen to much of them yet.
2) And your least favorite?
None really.
3) Who is a character you want to see more of?
Maybe some more Richardson's and Dumont's might be intriguing for us readers.
4) What is a theme you want to see more of?
I kind of want to see more of the villains and those characters affiliated with them. They are also more background with them we should be learning about.
5) Where do you believe the main story is going for the Voyagers?
The voyager's are going to end up warring with Onyx.
6) Where do you believe the main story for the Onyx Organization is going?
The same as the previous answer.
7) Are there any plot points you believe I neglected that you would like to see covered?
I wouldn't say it was neglected, but I want to see more of Elizabeth and Marshal's undercover and infiltration work.
8) Is there any speculation you’d like to provide on the next time segment?
Both sides might began preparation for the eventual confrontation between both sides.
9) Lastly, do you have any questions of your own?
Not right now.
Ps: I sent you a pm.
[Agree to the idea and risk changes with the Voyager's and Milo.]
”Tell Elizabeth about Milo and work out a plan with her”
Alright, so, it's been a few since I've updated this, however, I had a question for you guys.
It is a bit early to be thinking about this, but I actually have a majority of the chapters planned out. Except for chapters three and four.
Now, without admitting too much about the order, the options I will leave up to you guys.
Please keep in mind that this is currently for chapter three, and whichever is most regarded will be chapter three and the other will be chapter four.
That being said, your options are Eris or Marshal.
The next piece actually hasn't even been started, but I can say that it will resume the much beloved Onyx Organization POV. Until then!
Eris mostly because I'm very curious about the character.
2.2
After the weddings had officially ended and Isaac had spoken to the attendees, thanking them for coming and saying they could leave whenever they felt like it, Alyssa and Milo stayed around for a bit, waiting for Luke and Amanda before they left the venue.
Alyssa's job outside of the headquarters entailed watching over Milo and listening to whatever he said very carefully in case he said anything related to the Voyagers. She had gotten used to his radio silence but also his blatant lies to throw her off. Alyssa already knew that Milo's word couldn't be trusted, but was also told to take most of what he said seriously.
She only found out about his lies when she started working with him and when she asked him about how many Voyagers there were. He responded with zero and was unlucky that Luke overheard it.
Alyssa had lost herself in thought until she heard Milo finally speak. "You know, I never really believed that weddings were a place for betrayal."
She didn't know who he was talking to because he refused to look at any members of the Onyx Organization, but she assumed he was talking to her. "What do you mean by that?"
"Why do you care? You want me to expose my friends because you don't like our way of life and if that's not the most barbaric thing I've ever had to believe, then I don't know what is."
Alyssa didn't have a chance to respond before Luke and Amanda showed up to the table, Luke looking pretty mad compared to his usual disinterested look. "Let me tell you barbaric, Neil, barbaric is your little group of friends leaving you like this. They don't care about you so you have no reason to keep protecting them. Barbaric is also what they've done to become withdrawn from our current way of life, like it or not, none of them are as clean as you would like to believe."
Milo usually stepped down whenever Luke spoke against him and in some cases, he would apologize and take his words back, but this wasn't any typical time. "They're withdrawn because they see the real freaks behind the curtains. If you seriously believe that they're not clean then you shouldn't look into records of former Onyx Organization leaders because they're worse than any resistence member. For this alleged society to function, you guys kill people who don't believe in your ways or you torture them until they give up answers that you want, whether they're true or not and that's how things have been since the beginning, how is that good? How can you people stand by what you do with a good conscience? None of you are helping anybody but yourselves."
Amanda took a hesitant step back as Luke scanned the venue, noting that most civilians had left or they weren't paying attention. He turned his eyes back to Milo and then pulled him up by the front of his shirt, refusing to let go. "You're testing my patience, do you understand that? I'm the only reason you're still alive, be grateful and work with me before you run out of time. I don't care who or what you believe in, if you don't start talking soon then there will be consequences."
"I think you've already done a decent job of ruining my life. My own mother doesn't remember me, my sister is missing, and as far as I know, you've killed my dad. Need I remind you, I deal with this same act every single day that I don't talk, there's nothing you can do to make me talk because I have no reason to."
"Luke, let him go, people are going to become suspicious." Amanda chimed in from Luke's side, looking around the venue.
Alyssa had been told plenty of times to not interfere with situations like this, whether she liked them or not. "What if he doesn't know anything?" Alyssa spoke up, trying to give Luke a reason to let Milo go. "He's been through a lot these past two years and if he wasn't lying about his identity then he probably would have said something already."
Amanda saw what Alyssa was doing and only thought it was right to back her up. "I’ve been told that he's unresponsive to treatment, maybe he's immune because the Voyagers used him. That's the only reason they haven't shown up for him, don't you think?"
"He obviously remembers some things. Nobody knows if Elizabeth Neil is dead or missing, but he just admitted that she's missing. That tells me that she's just as involved with the group as he was."
As Luke spoke, Milo seemed to grow uneasy as he pieced together Milo's words. "You're going to believe me that easily? Wow, then I've got lots to tell you. Elizabeth is definitely with the Voyagers. Remember Kyle Kennedy? The guy who worked Alyssa's job before her? His son is also with the Voyagers. Oh and you're just never going to believe this, but there's a green horse that leads the group, a lady who lost her kid and her husband because of you people, just a wide range of people, they're all different. There's tons of them, it was a total lie when I said zero, get it? Because I'm untrustworthy, a liar!"
Amanda looked a little confused and shaken up as Milo continued on. "What is he talking about?"
Alyssa watched Luke's grip on Milo's shirt tighten as he started to look angrier, his eyes gleaming red. She decided it was best that she stayed out of it at this point. She actually hated what she was watching, despite it being part of her job. She could never get used to this part.
"You're not going to get answers from him if you strangle him, Luke." Alyssa felt a sense of relief as someone else spoke up. It was Steven, but Sara wasn't with him. "Just let him go and back up a little."
Milo jerked his attention to Steven, quickly gaining a defensive tone compared to how he spoke with Luke. "I don't need your help and I don't want it, thanks anyways."
Steven ignored Milo, his attention staying focused on Luke. "You know fully well that this isn't supposed to happen. Just because your partner isn't around doesn't mean you can't face consequences. You've got a lot to risk and I don't want to see you lose that. You know Sara doesn't want to see you lose it either, so if you can't do it for yourself then do it for her."
Luke let out a deep sigh that rang with regret as he let Milo go, a slight shove as he did so. "Alyssa, you handle him appropriately, I don't want to have to remind you of your job again."
Luke and Amanda left the table, leaving Alyssa, Milo, and Steven. Alyssa looked over Steven, noticing that he looked slightly uncomfortable. She couldn't blame him, the whole scene made her uncomfortable but powerless. "Thank you, I'm not really supposed to intervene, so I didn't know what to do."
Milo took his seat again, only looking to Steven for a few seconds. " I guess I should thank you as well."
"Don't worry about it. I sometimes think Luke doesn't know his own strength. That, or he doesn't realise the weakness in other people." Alyssa noticed Milo's face radiated shame at this point. "You won't have to worry about it much longer, though, you have my word on that." Before Alyssa could question him, Steven started talking again. "Listen, I've gotta go, I told Sara it would only be a few minutes and she's going to be on my case if she talks to Luke or if I spend any extra time here, so I should go. I'll see you guys later."
Alyssa looked around the near-empty venue after Steven left, debating with herself on whether they should leave or not. "Are you ready to go?" Milo didn't respond, only rising from his seat. Alyssa quickly left her own seat and started walking as Milo did. "I'm not going to question you on the Voyagers tonight, I think you've been through enough of that for today."
"Why do you do this job?" Alyssa could tell that Milo seemed hurt by the tone of his voice. "I'm sure you're aware of what the organization does, but you're so kind-hearted. It doesn't make sense."
Despite having to live in the same apartment, Alyssa and Milo rarely had conversations. The reasoning for that being simple. Milo seemed to be made of lies and that was one thing Alyssa couldn't stand. "Because it's a job, I don't know what you want me to say. I was recruited for a reason."
"I'm sure you had the option to say no." Milo didn't seem to be satisfied with her answer. "I mean really, you understand that you're a pawn now, right? I don't understand how you can willingly give away your life like that."
Something in Alyssa kicked in, rather suddenly, making her want to protect the organization. "And you have any right to talk? Didn't you do the same thing for the Voyagers?"
Milo simply snickered, ignoring her tone. "You can't compare the Onyx Organization and the Voyagers, I'm sorry. They're two completely different groups." Alyssa and Milo went up the staircase leading to the second floor worker apartments. "No, by the way, I didn't give up my life for the Voyagers. Nobody gave their life to the Voyagers because we're not the extremists that you guys make us out to be."
"Yeah, because recent Voyager activity really backs that statement up." Alyssa stopped in front of a door, pulling a key from her pocket and unlocking it, allowing herself and Milo inside.
"I'm not involved in that so you can't take it out on me." Milo shut the door behind him as he came in. "A lot can change in two years, I know just about as much as you guys at this point."
Alyssa put the key back in her pocket, seemingly growing tired of the conversation. "You should have told Luke that earlier, but I'm not questioning you so you can give the act a rest."
"I'm surely the one leading an act, you're totally right. Say, speaking of acts, what do you think Steven meant when he said you wouldn't have to worry long?"
Milo took his place on the couch, which is where he was supposed to stay until it reached ten, then he was locked in his bedroom. What he did until then, Alyssa really didn't care as long as she was getting her work done. "Maybe Steven's going to say something to Luke in private, maybe he'll go to Isaac, I don't know."
"If he's who I think he is then that's not the case, but alright, I asked what you thought and I got an answer." Milo grabbed a book from the table next to the couch and cracked it open, stopping his conversation with Alyssa.
She always found him to be suspicious, but was always told to be grateful. She was only put in charge of him after he got out Kyle Kennedy's care by pure force. Isaac and Luke had previously been considering killing Milo since he wasn't reacting to any medicines and he wasn't giving up any information. His escape only further influenced them to consider it until Alyssa pointed out that Kyle wasn't in his prime age or condition to chase Milo down and he wasn't strong enough to fend him off anymore, opting to take care of Milo herself.
Alyssa had been told that she was lucky. According to Kyle, Milo had attempted escapes plenty of times in the two years he was in his care, but he was also extremely defiant and rude. He had never attempted to leave or strike Alyssa, making her believe that it was just Kyle that he didn't like, but she couldn't blame him for that. One issue with Milo was that he was quick to get snappy, but Alyssa was usually quick to retaliate or she would just ignore him.
Whether Milo knew that they were considering ending his life or not, she didn't know. He never really showed any knowledge of what went on in the Onyx Organization, even regarding himself. Alyssa knew that he had been told some things just as a fair warning, but he was never particularly interested.
There was only one condition regarding Milo being in Alyssa's care and it was one that typically changed her work days. Milo wasn't allowed to be on the fourth floor at all unless he was summoned by Isaac or Luke. Alyssa was told that it was because he knew a fair amount of people there and they didn't want to risk him starting trouble. Usually, Milo would remain in the lobby while Alyssa worked. There was never an issue with it because he knew better than to try and make an escape at the headquarters or interfere with other people’s work, knowing it could easily cost him his life.
Ba da da dum! Greetings, hello, bonjour!
Speaking of multiples, I’m closing two votes!
Elizabeth will agree to Isaac’s plan.
Cyrus will advise Marshal to talk with Elizabeth about Milo.
That’s done and done, I actually have no idea when the next part will be out because I drive myself to a stand still by having multiple votes open.
It’s unlikely to be today because I have some blood tests to be done, so I’ll likely just be taking some time off from my usual activities, but they will resume shortly!
Until then, enjoy yourselves!
2.3
Cyrus crossed his arms, tapping his foot for a minute before pulling up a chair next to Filip. "Tell him to make a plan with Elizabeth. She's going to get upset, but if we're all considering what's best for Milo then it needs to be done."
Filip began typing away, Cyrus noticing that there were some symbols in what he was typing. Filip spoke before Cyrus could ask about it. "I had no idea you actually cared about Milo. I actually didn't think anybody but Elizabeth did."
"You really don't pay attention to your surroundings, do you?" Cyrus scoffed. "I'm thinking of the better of the entire group. If we don't help Milo, who knows what he'll have to go through. If Marshal, you, or myself don't tell Elizabeth that we knew, we're screwed."
"What do you mean we're screwed? She wouldn't do anything to hurt us." Filip continued typing, his voice sounding unsure.
"You would think that." Cyrus stopped the conversation, not knowing where it was going from the start.
Filip stopped typing and backed away from the computer. "I had a question for you."
Cyrus noted how Filip wouldn't look at him but he seemed a little shaken up. "What would that be?"
"How do we get supplies that keep up going? Why can't Eris and I go into the city?"
"Two questions, but they're good ones." Cyrus thought of the easiest way to address his questions. "We get supplies from the city because most of us are considered undercover agents. Your other question, Eris can't go because she''s too sick and you can't go because we need someone responsible to stay with her."
Filip didn't seem to buy it but he shrugged it off. "I get it. Marshal says he'll talk to Elizabeth when she wakes up but he's unsure of how to bring it up to her."
"I wouldn't recommend it when she first wakes up, but surely before something has the chance to upset her." Filip started typing as Cyrus spoke, waiting for more. "The best I can say is bring it up as a quick topic. By the way, Filip, it's about time you head to bed."
He stayed focused on his task, not looking around or to Cyrus. "I can't. I have to watch the monitors."
"I may not understand how to use the computer, but I can watch the cameras myself, don't worry about that."
Filip gained a defeated look in his eyes before he finished what he was typing and got out fo his chair, backing away from the computer. "If you're sure about this, then I'll go."
"I'm sure about it. Just make sure you finish your conversation with Marshal beforehand."
Marshal Kennedy
Filip had ended their conversation after telling him that Cyrus had advised that he tell Elizabeth in a prompt manner but didn't say how to break the news to her.
Marshal and Elizabeth talked a little about the day and they each had dinner before they had gone to bed, Elizabeth somehow finding sleep easier than Marshal could. He started doing the math in his head and came to the conclusion that Elizabeth should be waking up sometime soon and it would be best if he were to stay awake and talk with her while she was still in a good mood.
However, it would quickly prove to not be how the situation would work out as Marshal eventually fell asleep.
When he woke again, the sun had already rose and the bedside clock shined the numbers '9:18' in red bold. He expected Elizabeth to have left the bedroom, but he was proven wrong once again the second he turned over. "Elizabeth, are you okay?"
She had been looking to the ceiling at first, seeming to be pulled out of a trance by Marshal's words. "What? Yeah, I'm fine."
"When did you wake up?"
She took a quick look to the clock herself, then returned to her spot. "Like eight or something close to it. Did I wake you? I'm sorry."
"You didn't wake me up, don't worry about it." Marshal sighed, turning away from the window. "Just give me a few more minutes, I'll get up."
Elizabeth took that as her permission to leave without disturbing him.
As she reached the door, Marshal took notice that she had kept the ring from the day before on. The ring had actually belonged to his own mother before Marshal joined the Voyagers. She gave it to him a few days before they left as to convince them both to move on. It was actually the last thing she'd given him, so it was naturally important in his mind.
He got up and dressed a few minutes after Elizabeth left the room and prepped himself to talk to her about Milo, knowing that it probably wasn't going to end up working out.
Leaving the room, he met with Elizabeth in the living room and took a seat across from her. "I need to talk with you. It's pretty important, so please listen." She seemed a little concerned, but didn't speak to allow him to continue. "When we were at the weddings yesterday, Luke and I went around and introduced ourselves, you were already told of this. You know Alyssa Kowalska, right? Well, she's been put on fourth floor work, however, she is apparently guarding a high-risk Voyager."
"Marshal, get to the point, please." Her concern was replaced with a look of obvious anxiety.
"The high-risk Voyager she's guarding is Milo. I was told to talk to you about what to do, but whatever we do, we need to do it today." Elizabeth didn't answer, but Marshal could tell she was about to lose it. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to have Alyssa meet us somewhere and I need you to work with me on this, I need you to disconnect her chip. It'll be better for all of us if she's with us, don't you agree?"
"Yeah.. I guess. Eris needs a doctor and Alyssa's a doctor. It’s only right that we help her out." Elizabeth paused, a giant smile crossing her face and the forming tears in her eyes being replaced with a hopeful look. "And we'll get Milo back!"
“We’ll get Milo back, you’re right. If Milo knows anything about it, we might also get closer to finding out what happened to Morgan.” Marshal offered a kind smile before the ring crossed his mind again. “Luke’s going to be around at eleven, so I’ll stop by headquarters and talk to her after we meet with him.”
He looked at her hand again, the ring still in his view. He wanted to say something about it, but Elizabeth seemed happier now than she had been in some time. Before long, Elizabeth noticed he had been looking at the ring and she began twisting it off. “I actually forgot I was wearing it, I’m sorry.”
She pulled it off and held it out to offer it to him.
[Allow her to keep it.]
[Take it back.]
Note: Alright, I’m really sorry for the double post and I normally wouldn’t do make a ‘.5’ to any part because I typically handle what I want to in a part and then I most on, however, I realized earlier today that I missed an entire POV while working on that last part. It’s actually too short to become an entire part itself, therefore making it a .5 (and hopefully the only one.) I’m also doing this as an add-on because I want to avoid any confusion that editing the post itself might cause after being up for some number of hours. That being said, it’ll head straight to 2.4 after this part, but I’ll stop rambling.
2.3.5 Ethan Rikard
It didn’t take a genius to realize that the bunker was pretty much empty. Filip was sleeping, Cyrus was working, Lecia and Eris were minding themselves, and Joseph was doing whatever he normally did, which Ethan still didn’t know what that was.
Ethan actually knew the least of Joseph and that could easily be because Joseph never went out of his way to talk to Ethan and whenever he did talk to him, it was brief and he seemed disconnected from it. Filip had told him that it would take a bit for Joseph and Lecia to warm up to him but it wasn’t anything that he was doing wrong, it was just the way they were.
Now that he thought about it Joseph didn’t seem to care about the group nearly as much as others, despite being the leader. He had given Elizabeth freedom to do what seemed like whatever she pleased, but got upset with her whenever a threat was introduced, rather than when she did whatever brought that threat along. Well, that was just what he knew. Things might have been different before he was around and that was probably the case.
Ethan eventually wandered into the secret room behind the pantry, finding himself at the ladder again. He looked around the room and noted a lack of cameras, telling himself he could outright leave if he wanted to.
Even though the group was barely standing and the people involved were far less stable than the group itself, they welcomed him with open arms. If he were to leave, it wouldn’t be forever. It wouldn’t even be for over an hour. He would leave to look around the area, which he admittedly knew little about.
He stood at the foot of the ladder, looking up at the hatch. The same hatch and ladder that brought him into the group.
Ethan knew that leaving the bunker wasn’t recommended, but he also wanted to know what the nearby area held.
He put his left hand on the ladder, getting ready to pull himself up before he made his final decision.
[Look around outside the bunker.]
[Stay put, maybe another time.]
[Allow her to keep it]
[Look around outside the bunker.]
[Allow her to keep it]
[Look around outside the bunker.]
(!) Both votes are closed! and some news! Wow!
Marshal will let Elizabeth keep the ring.
Ethan will explore outside the bunker.
Now, I've been wanting to do a lot with this next part and by that I mean stretching out the POVs in terms of location, I guess. There has been no direct location that I can recall, but that's not such a bad thing. I've figured out how exactly the resistance groups and the organization works and the full details can be expected in the upcoming part, but I can say that France is a very important thing coming up, please keep that in mind.
I actually have a lot to note before this next part, I didn't realize that until now. This vote was Marshal's final choice for the chapter and it wasn't necessarily important alone, but it plays with Chapter One's final choice and it was more-so just to put an end to Marshal and Elizabeth's little arc for the chapter and allow me to figure out the nature of their relationship myself. The results will be in the next part as well as a POV from Luke, and likely one from Alyssa. The chose itself has consequences that are definitely not limited to Elizabeth and Marshal and it's actually been hinted at someone else it'll greatly effect but I'll move on before I say too much.
So far there are two POVs, but it could easily make it to five, if I'm honest. It can be expected to be the lengthiest part to date. (And this the lengthiest update.)
Now that the good news is out of the way, let's touch on some bad news. I don't know when the part will be expected and I know whenever I say that the part is out within the next 48 hours, but I'm afraid that won't be the case. I've been home sick all week and it's actually likely that I'll be home again tomorrow. Prime time to work, right? Well, maybe not so much. My courses are online and I've been dealing with doctor visits, getting blood drawn, and getting back to work on my courses, so I haven't had much time to work. I don't have work tonight, but I do Sunday and I have a visit to the local college on Friday as well as plans for the evening. October is just a good month to get sick and go outside, there's my main excuse, I love October weather. Yeah, a lot of things to handle, but I'll eventually get the part out.
In the meantime, I'll be working on cleaning up and organizing the main post so there might be changes there, in fact I already know of one I can make after this post. That means good news for you guys, there's time to get caught up on this or other stories and submit any characters you might have left out. However, in getting caught up, I would recommend checking out the Google Docs that are linked in the main post because they're a lot cleaner than the rushed posts that I leave here.
Until then, enjoy yourselves, au revoir!
2.4
The Diamond Organization was the strongest that there was and the first country organization to be founded. Other organizations were having difficulties with resistances, but the Diamond Organization ruled Norway without any problems.
Jade Organization rarely reported problems with resistance movements, but everybody knew that they had them. Their resistance members worked in silence and often planned heavy attacks at one moment, rather than multiple attacks. Members of the Jade Organization were told to always stay on guard since they never knew when they were plotting an attack.
Despite the Diamond, Jade, and Onyx Organizations each having a fair amount of power, there were other places that had bigger problems with resistance movements.
The Aquamarine Organization, located in France, was in a terrible condition. Their citizens believed in revolution more than they did civility, causing the revolution to overthrow the organization faster than reinforcements could arrive. While the organization itself had crumbled, the country seemed to be doing fine without it. Other organizations covered up what happened to the Aquamarine Organization in fear of inspiring a revolution in their own organization territory.
Besides Aquamarine and Ammolite, the rest of the organization leaders kept in contact fairly well, having a monthly gathering to discuss the state of the organizations and any updates on their revolutionary movements. Most organizations kept a careful eye on their movements and tended to think one step ahead of their revolutionary group.
The same could be said about the revolutionary groups themselves.
They were stationed each in a country and had been tasked with their own jobs with their own members, they were checked on their status, but they only met twice a year due to the risk it was to have the higher-ups in the same location at the same time for too long.
It was often a question of how the Crusaders managed to turn over their organization, but never a question as to why their leader was recognized as the overall resistance member.
Nobody knew his real name, but he always explained that he had chosen the name Pierre for himself because it translated to stone and nobody could really argue that he was weak or easy to break.
Pierre had visited the Voyagers himself a few times, mainly because he figured they were in the most need of help. They had the fewest numbers and the least effect on their organization, however, there were times where they refused to cooperate with Pierre, making him wonder where their faith really belonged.
Each time he had visited, there was an unspoken hostility between him and a few of the members who were present. Over the course of his visits, he noticed that each time he was there, only three members were constantly accounted for. He never asked those three where the others were, but the next time he saw one of the four current members who was usually gone, he confronted him about it.
If he was remembering correctly, the man he confronted was named Cyrus. When confronted about it, Cyrus admitted that there were three scouts and another member who was constantly on the move, but most of the other scouts that Pierre knew had either passed on or were captured.
It wasn’t difficult for Pierre to travel by plane since he assumed the identity of the Aquamarine Organization’s leader after their takeover. Nobody really knew who Pierre was or what happened to the previous leader because nobody knew anything had happened except the organization leaders who weren’t usually around airports, giving Pierre a chance to get to where he was going before the leaders were notified.
This time Pierre went to the Voyagers, there was someone new. He had been the one to let Pierre into the bunker, but he didn’t seem like he knew who he was. Afterwards, he disappeared, leaving Pierre to roam at his free will.
He went through the bunker, noticing how quiet it was until he went into the common room where the leader’s wife and her friend were. He believed their names to be Eris and Lecia, but the names would never instantly hit him. They seemed a little shocked to see him, but the leader’s wife quickly took to her feet, whispering something to her friend. Her friend quickly left the room and Pierre’s view as Eris approached Pierre. “Pierre, it’s been awhile, how have you been? Actually, what brings you here? That’s a more important question.”
Pierre scanned the room before answering anything. “Your group has neglected to send an update once again, I’m here to talk with Joseph and see why that is.”
A man’s voice spoke up from behind Pierre, causing him to jerk his head to see who was speaking. “There hasn’t been much of a change to report. We’ve had the same seven people since you were last here.”
“Joseph, that’s false. I was let inside by a new man who ran off today, who is he?”
Pierre had a monotone, nearly robotic tone of voice that not many people could listen to for long, making Pierre develop a direct way of talking. “A new man?” Joseph looked to his side, Filip on his left and Cyrus on his right. Lecia had gone to the kitchen after she retrieved the men and Eriss was a few feet in front of Pierre. “Are you talking about Ethan?” Joseph quickly leaned over to Cyrus and lowered his voice. “Go find him.”
Cyrus left the group, causing Pierre to look at the remaining two with suspicion but his tone remained confrontational. “Where are all of your people, Joseph?”
Eris knew better than to get involved with Pierre’s conversations. The entire group knew that Pierre only came around to speak with Joseph and occasionally Elizabeth, but even she wouldn’t talk to him for long.
Joseph looked to Filip and sighed. “The man you met is named Ethan Rikard, he’s our newest member who’s still getting used to the bunker and the group. Elizabeth Neil and Marshal Kennedy are in the city right now and Cyrus Capello just went to look for Ethan.”
When Joseph gave last names to Pierre, it was an act of submission and was meant to tell Pierre that the people he named were the only ones Pierre could mess with. “And your wife’s friend? Where did she run off to?”
“Lecia Albero went to the kitchen to make lunch.”
“Out of the five names that you just gave me, you could only give me the exact location of one of them. I know for certain that Ethan left this bunker right after he let me in, which can only make me assume that Cyrus is outside of the bunker as well.” Pierre paused, his face growing red. “And having two people based in the city at once? We’ve instructed every group against doing such dangerous things countless times! Four of your members could be in extreme danger right now and you’re not out there yourself. That’s what I’m getting from our little chat right now, am I correct?”
“With all due respect, Filip was in contact with one of the two in the city. They’re based together and they’re both safe.”
Eris took her seat again with a quick sigh. “It was a distress call from Elizabeth that made Marshal go, she was the only one out at first.”
Pierre took mental note of what she said but kept his vision set on Joseph. “If it’s true that Filip spoke to one of them then he knows how to use the computers. Elizabeth explained that much to me last time we spoke and she mentioned a tracker.” Pierre focused on Filip. “You’re going to take Joseph and myself to that computer and give us the coordinates. We’ll head into the city and get them back ourselves.”
Filip sighed, seeing no real choice. He led the men to the lab and watched the monitors for a moment. He put in Cyrus’ coordinates instead of Marshal’s, causing the map to glide to where Cyrus was located. He considered leading Pierre to Cyrus, but knew that Ethan would be at risk if he did so.
’If I send them to the city, they’ll be caught, for sure. Elizabeth and Marshal will probably be caught too.’ Filip looked at the dot on the monitor. ’Cyrus might actually need help right now. I’ll go with them to protect whoever they go after. I can tell him that they left the city and they might actually need help considering the location is far from the city and a fair distance from the bunker. What are the chances it’s my location, though? What about MIlo’s tracker? Nobody ever found that.’
“Pierre seemed to be growing impatient. “Filip, the coordinates, now.”
[Give Cyrus’ coordinates.]
[Give Marshal’s coordinates]
Marshal Kennedy
Marshal took the ring from Elizabeth, holding out his other hand as she retracted her own. She looked a little confused. “What are you asking me for here?”
“One of your hands, preferably your left.”
She put her left hand in his open hand, still looking confused. “Okay, now what?” Her look of confusion traded for a look of shock when he put the ring back on her. “It’s yours, though, I don’t want to take it from you if you want it.”
Marshal quickly took his own hands away, not giving Elizabeth the chance to give it back. “I don’t need it. I was told to give it to someone who made me happy in hopes that it would make them happier in return and you’ve lightened up a lot since yesterday, so I can only assume it played a part in that happiness, right?”
She nodded slightly, looking at the ring, a small smile forming on her face. “Right.”
“I don’t want to take it away from you.” Marshal took to his feet, leaving the living room for the kitchen. “If you’re up for it, we can check out that envelope that Isaac gave us.”
Elizabeth took after him, only responding when she took a seat at the kitchen table. “What do you think is in it?”
“I’ve got no idea. I stuck to my word that I wouldn’t look at it before you.” Marshal pulled an envelope out of a drawer and took a seat next to Elizabeth, setting the envelope between the two of them. “I’ll let you open it.”
“I’m just going to assume it’s because you’re too scared to do it yourself.” Elizabeth opened the envelope without pulling out the contents.
“I’d say it’s more nervousness than being scared.” Marshal took the envelope, pulling two notes and a picture from it. He gave one note to her and looked over the other one himself, the picture remaining face down on the table. “He’s personally thanking us for watching over the venue yesterday and being so polite to the guests.”
“Go us.” Elizabeth added sarcastically with a snicker following. She read over the note she had, trying to think of how to summarize it. “I think they were supposed to be read as one. He’s wishing us congratulations and whatnot. The usual things you say to a newlywed couple.”
They put the notes back in the envelope, Marshal forgetting about the picture for a split second until Elizabeth flipped it over, taking a look at it. He didn’t pay too much attention to it until he realized she went silent, causing him to look over it a bit more. It was a picture of their ceremony, one where they both seemed happy. “You should wear your hair down more.”
“Why do you say that?” Elizabeth had a habit of messing with her own hair when she got nervous. Most days she would have to braid her hair first thing in the morning to keep from getting distracted.
“It’s only my opinion, but you look absolutely radiant in the picture. Your entire look pairs so well with the dress, I just don’t know how you pull it off so well.”
“Ask any geneticist and they’ll tell you it’s good genes.” Elizabeth smiled as she continued to look over the picture.
“I don’t know, Milo has those same genes and there’s no way he would be able to pull any of that off.”
Elizabeth leaned closer, looking like she was getting ready to point something out in the picture. “I can’t help but enjoy this picture. There are plenty of pictures in the bunker, but I feel like we’re both happier in this one.”
“I thought the same thing, actually, but I don’t know about any pictures in the bunker. I’ll just act like I didn’t hear that and distrust you a little bit more.”
“Not cool.” Elizabeth turned her attention from the picture to Marshal. “You’ve got some major thinking to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re turning thirty in thirteen days and instead of taking some time to yourself, like I know you’ve been recommended to do, you’re in the most dangerous location possible trying to help me get my brother back. You didn’t have to do that and you have every right to tell me to leave and not get involved.”
Marshal chuckled before propping his elbow up and resting his chin on his hand. “You do understand that on a technicality you are my wife, correct? I didn’t have to do that either. I didn’t have to respond to your distress call, let you stay the night here, and then marry you the next day. Just remember that.”
“You’re right about the other stuff but you said the marriage was my choice, I’m going to disagree with you on that one.” Elizabeth was trying to start a distraction, which was clear to tell by the blush that took over her face.
“You can disagree all you want, but don’t just look at a situation and think you have it all figured out, that’s probably the worst thing you can do for yourself. Anyways, whether you’re my wife, my best friend’s sister, my own friend, or just a fellow Voyager, I’m not sending you away that easily.”
Elizabeth sighed, a small smile crossing her face. “We’re going to have to address that title issue you’re having sometime, aren’t we?”
“Preferably sooner rather than later, for the better of us both.”
Luke Lowell
Luke had left the Onyx Organization headquarters close to ten and took to walking the city, scanning each alley he passed and each person he passed as well.
The reason he had chosen to walk and scan was simple. Isaac knew that by bringing Milo to the weddings there was going to be attention from the Voyagers and the chance that they would attempt to get Milo back was a high one.
They had only kept Milo alive for one true reason and it wasn’t information anymore. It was a chance to bait any unlucky Voyager into ending up in the hands of the organization.
Luke’s walking had led him to the top floor of an abandoned skyscraper that resided in a rundown part of the city, which was once said to be home of the organization’s most famed donors. The skyscraper belonged to a “Hunt Enterprise”, a company older than Luke himself that had disappeared over the years. Luke didn’t know what they did in the first place, so it didn’t really bother him.
The view of the rundown neighborhood was one that could entrance anybody for days. The skyscraper easily took the best view, the morning sky gathering a bundle of pastel colors. A quick glance down would show nothing but a gray, bleak sight. Torn down buildings that were once either houses or businesses. Luke would consider it metaphorical if he didn’t know any better.
He left the skyscraper a quarter before he was expected at Steven and Sara’s apartment. He had told the agents that he would help them with any moving Sara needed to do, which she had told them wasn’t much, but it wasn’t something she and Steven could do alone.
There was something about the two agents together that Luke couldn’t figure out. Was it a bond? He didn’t know.
He knew Sara fairly well on her own and considered her to be a very well known acquaintance, but how she acted around Steven made Luke really reconsider the well known part. It always led to Luke questioning if he actually knew her at all. She seemed to pass every scan, being true to herself and others, but there was always something about her that Steven almost mirrored, something Luke could never figure out. However, he wouldn’t think too much of it since neither of the two were around often and he knew better than to spend his time accusing people he should be recruiting.
Luke was pulled out of his own mind when he ended up in front of the apartment. He took a look at this watch and adjusted his beanie. ‘Snap out of it, Luke, it isn’t important.’
He knocked and waited for a few seconds before someone taller than him opened the door, Luke immediately being able to tell who it was based on their height alone. “Good morning, Steven.”
Steven stepped aside and opened the door to allow Luke in, which Luke took as a signal that Sara wasn’t ready to leave yet. “And a good morning to you as well.”
Luke and Steven didn’t talk often, in fact he only knew Steven through Sara. He did know that Seven wasn’t the one to go out far out of his comfort zone or his way to make conversation happen. It was something Luke could respect and something he wished Sara would pick up from the both of them.
Luke did a quick reading on Steven, picking up on a negative aura once he entered the apartment. “Why exactly are you nervous? I can understand her being nervous, but I didn’t expect you to be nervous in the slightest.”
Nervous, tense, and concerned were the three current feelings running Steven, being more prominent than any positive emotion he had. “I’m just busy and on a tight schedule, I’m sure you’ve been in the same place before.”
“I figured you didn’t know anybody around here, what could possibly be keeping you busy besides Sara?”
Steven snickered. “I don’t know many people, you’re right about that, but you’re also right that she’s mainly what’s keeping me busy. She’s all over the place and I’m trying my best to keep up with her.”
“If you aren’t used to it now, you’ll never to be. That’s what I’ve learned through working with her.”
The bedroom door opened and Sara left, heading straight for the open front door. “If you guys think I’m hard to keep up with now, just wait until I clean up the apartment when someone points out the clutter.”
Luke and Steven followed Sara out, leaving the door open. “Are you sure it’s smart to leave the door open while we’re downstairs?”
Steven shrugged, continuing to walk. “You’d have to do some major looking to find anything important and since you and I will be going back and forth, I’m not too worried about it.”
The trio went downstairs in silence, Sara only talking after she unlocked the door to her old apartment. “Luke, thank you so much for helping. It’s unlikely that Steven will admit it but we’re extremely grateful you decided to help.”
Sara excused herself from the living room and went into the bedroom, Luke assumed it was to pack whatever she left in there. Luke and Steven started off by moving lighter things from the kitchen deciding to work their way up.
It wasn’t until they were carrying a table upstairs that Luke decided to make some conversation, noting that Steven’s nervousness had eased away while they were working. “How’s the first day been treating you two?”
Luke was carrying the top half of the table and Steven the bottom, which Luke thought in retrospect, it should have been switched. “It’s been pretty well, I guess. I’m just glad I knew her beforehand, otherwise it would have been unspeakably awkward.”
“I hear you there. Has Hampton talked to either of you about the child laws for agents?” Luke noticed there was a spike of anxiety in Steven when he said child.
Steven focused on getting the table through the door without breaking something, waiting until it had touched the ground to answer. “Nope, nobody has talked to us about that, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea for Sara and I.”
The two left the apartment again, Luke waiting until they had to bring something else upstairs before he asked anything else.
They went up again carrying some boxes that Sara had left in the living room after they left with the table. “Why exactly wouldn’t it be a good idea?”
The anxiety that had subsided after they went back to Sara’s apartment returned once again. “I have no idea what the child law states, because I’ve had no interest in having a child and I still have no interest in doing so, but I don’t think it’s morally right for Sara and I to have a kid when we’re away from home for months at a time and when we’re here, it’s only for three days.”
“You’ve had the chance to leave on-the-field work for a better job in headquarters, I know you’ve been offered plenty of times and chose not to do it. I presume it’s because you don’t enjoy staying in one place for too long, correct me if I’m wrong.”
The two put the boxes in their hands in the bedroom to keep them from prying eyes, then went back on their way. “You’re right about that.”
“Then it’s best you don’t have a kid. Any agent responsible for a child is pulled from their line of work and reassigned within the city as soon as headquarters finds out.”
They continued going back and forth with idle chats as they did so until Sara left the bedroom and began putting away things from the bathroom and the living room, going back and forth herself.
At some point she decided to take a break on the couch that Luke and Steven had to move. Steven tried convincing her to move so they could finish moving the heavier objects before he or Luke got too tired to commit to moving the couch. “I’ll move and get back to work if you’ll make lunch.”
“Right now?” Steven checked his watch before turning his attention back to her. “Sara, it’s not even noon yet.”
“I’m used to an early lunch, earlier than noon at least.”
Steven realized that in order to finish the current task, he’d have to agree. “If I make lunch, I’m not coming back to help move, I’ll go to headquarters afterwards instead, deal?”
Sara seemed to think it over for a moment before taking to her feet with a smile. “Only if Luke agrees.” She took that as her answer to lunch, giving Steven a kiss on the cheek before returning to packing.
Steven waited until they got the couch upstairs without either of them getting hurt before he consulted Luke about the plan. “Are you going to be alright if I work on lunch and then go to headquarters?”
He thought for a moment before nodding. “I’m sure we got most of the stuff we needed to either way, we should be fine.”
“I don’t know if you want anything, but I’m just going to go ahead and make some for you as well. If I’m not back before Sara comes up, do me a favor and make sure she doesn’t eat alone.” Steven didn’t wait for an answer before going into the kitchen, leaving Luke to go downstairs.
Luke went back to Sara’s apartment to find her in the near-empty living room, packing away some books from her bookshelf. He joined her in front of the bookshelf and started clearing out another shelf into a box separate from hers.
The two worked in silence until she turned to him with a smile on her face. “Luke, I really can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done for us.” Performing a quick scan on Sara, Luke could tell that she seemed overwhelmed with happiness. There didn’t seem to be a negative feeling that she had in the current moment. “You really have to scan me to see if I’m being sincere, huh?”
Sara and Amanda were the only two who could always tell if Luke was scanning them, mainly because they knew what to look for. “You’ve had your fair share of dishonesties, it’s best I test my eyes and see if you’re being truthful.”
“Says the one who isn’t being scanned.”
The two sat in front of the bookcase for a bit, sometimes stopping just to have a talk about whatever they felt like talking about.
They stayed around packing until noon, which was when they decided to call it quits and go to lunch. Taking what they already had they went upstairs and put the boxes where they needed to be, heading into the kitchen.
Alyssa Kowalska
Alyssa was required to spend her break and lunch in the lobby with Milo, which wasn’t that bad considering he knew better than to start any problems in a building where he was on everyone’s list.
She ate her lunch then cracked open a book, which would often cause the time to fly. Despite that, she would always watch the clock to make sure she wasn’t late back to work.
The two normally sat in the far corner of the lobby in order to stay out of everybody’s way and keep Milo from talking to anybody. Alyssa didn’t mind the quiet, though, she rather enjoyed the time to observe the lobby and read.
The lobby was normally quiet either way, with very few people coming through just to talk to the woman at the front desk. She seemed to like the quiet just as much as Alyssa did.
There were some days, particularly rainy days where the sun didn’t provide enough light to read, that Alyssa and Milo would have a conversation together, with the woman at the front desk, or with someone passing through.
Alyssa lost herself in thought until someone took a seat across from her. She jerked her attention from her thoughts, to pinpointing Milo’s location, to the person across from her. “Good afternoon, Steven, how can I help you?”
“I know your lunch is about to end, so I’ll make it quick, don’t worry. Sara and I were talking last night and we know you’re extremely busy and you’re likely very stressed out considering you’ve been here for such a short amount of time and you’re already tasked with the most important job on the fourth floor.” He gave her a moment to think, before continuing on. “We were wondering if you’d like to go to dinner tonight just to get out of the house.”
Alyssa thought for a moment before turning to Milo, who immediately looked offended. “Do you really think I’m dull enough to try anything when he alone could take me? I may be taller but the agents go through some really tough training, there’s no way I’d fight one of them.”
“I didn’t say anything to you, you’re just making assumptions.” Alyssa turned back to Steven, addressing Milo once more. “But it’s good to know that you know how to act in public.”
“That’s called having manners, thank you very much.” Milo went back to what he was reading, allowing the two to continue their conversation.
“Are you sure Sara would be okay with it? I mean, you guys just got married, I’m sure she wants to spend some time with you alone.”
Steven smiled slightly. “She’s actually the one who had the idea to invite you to come along, so of course she’s fine with it.”
“And she knows that Milo would have to go as well?”
“I’m sure that’s a given.”
Alyssa paused for a moment, thinking about her options, knowing she only had two.
[Agree; Go to dinner after work.]
[Rain check; Go home after work.]
Naomi Dumont-Richardson
Naomi had spent the rest of the day before with her family, talking with her mother and Veronica about how their lives as wives were different from before. She took the information they gave her and tried to apply it to herself, knowing her new life would take some adjusting to.
She had also spoken to Anthony’s mother a lot the day before and taken some time to get to know his sister before they left the venue the night before.
Anthony had to work today, despite it being a Saturday. Most people did in order to make up for any progress lost because of the day before. It was an option for people who had married, but many of them chose to return to work the next day. Naomi had been told of a few people that stayed home that day, since Anthony was normally the first to find out who was going to work and who wasn’t.
Naomi and Anthony themselves had plans to go to dinner later that evening and have some people from the organization move whatever Naomi had packed up into the house that she now shared with Anthony.
She ended up leaving the house after a while, deciding to go on a walk. During her walk she decided to visit Sara, knowing that the two of them were going through the same exact situation and she would pose some sort of help to Naomi.
The worker’s apartments were right across the street from the Onyx Organization headquarters, which was a smart move on their part. Nobody who lived in the worker’s apartments were late and they were often more willing to work extra hours since there was no worry about travel time home.
Even though they were so close to Anthony’s work, Naomi had never known anybody who lived there herself and she never visited anyone there before, so she admittedly knew very little about the layout of the apartments and the residents of them.
Naomi got lucky enough to run into someone leaving an apartment. She asked them if they knew where Sara lived and they pointed to an apartment before heading on their way.
She went to the door of the apartment that the worker had pointed out and found the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open before cautiously heading into the apartment herself.
It was empty, leading Naomi to believe that it was Sara’s old apartment and she was in the wrong place.
As she turned to leave, she ran into somebody standing behind her, causing her to panic. “You’re not supposed to be in here. What can I do for you?” The person speaking was man, but Naomi had yet to see his face in her panic.
She took a moment to recollect herself, hoping she didn’t seem too in a hurry. “I’m sorry, I think I was directed to the wrong place. I’m looking for Sara Jacobson.”
Naomi realized after she spoke that the man she was talking to was a co-worker of Anthony’s that she had spoken to once or twice before, Luke Lowell. “Yeah, you got the wrong directions. Third floor, fourth door to the right.” Luke didn’t leave the doorway, causing Naomi to look at him with suspicion. “I have to wait for you to leave so I can lock up and return the key to headquarters so feel free to leave.”
Naomi took her cue to leave the apartment and went upstairs as Luke locked up the apartment she was in before. She went to the third floor and hoped she was counting the right way as she stopped in front of the fourth door. She knocked and wondered if she was in the right place at all until the door opened and Sara greeted her with a smile. “Naomi, it’s so nice to see you, what can I help you with?”
“Oh, I just needed someone to talk to, are you busy?”
Sara stepped aside, allowing Naomi in before closing the door behind her. “Of course not, welcome.”
Naomi looked around, noticing quite a number of boxes lying around. “Are you sure you’re not busy? You seem to have a lot of unpacking to do.”
“Steven and I agreed to unpack together later since he knew he wasn’t going to be around for lunch today.” Sara took a seat on a couch that looked like it was recently moved into the apartment. “I wasn’t expecting a guest, I’m sorry, I have absolutely no topics ready.”
Naomi chuckled, taking a seat next to her. “At least you’re honest enough to admit that. I wanted to talk to you and see how you’re taking to things recently.”
“By recently, I can only assume you mean since yesterday, right?” Naomi nodded. “Well, things are different, that’s for sure. I learned things about Steven that a lot of people would miss about him when they first met him and I’ve learned a lot about my own patience levels, which haven’t really been pushed far. What about you?”
“I’m still kind of in shock over it, honestly, I didn’t expect to get married for at least a month, but a few days after we finally set our own wedding? Yeah, it totally threw me for a loop. Anthony has been really kind and he understands that I need some time to adjust, but his sister is already talking about a family vacation and it just blows my mind how active their family is compared to my own. We talk to each other but there’s never been a time where one of my siblings had just up and said ‘let’s go do something’ right after something huge in the family happened. It was two months after Benjamin was born that someone in the family mentioned going to visit him.” Naomi couldn’t help but laugh about it.
“I’ve been there before. My brother used to be the most active person I knew, always wanting to get out and do things and try any new thing he could get his hands on. It drove me crazy, but I never thought I would miss it.”
“Are you and your brother not talking or something?”
Sara shrugged, a smile still on her face. “We’re just distant. I already know if I were to go to him and tell him that I got married, he’d be furious that he wasn’t invited. That’s my only regret with the wedding, if you want the truth. Steven and I were approached at the venue, so we had no time on our own beforehand.”
“This is why I’m glad I talked to you.” Sara looked a little confused a Naomi continued. “You’re the only person I know that would actually have an issue with all that went on yesterday. My parents and Anthony’s parents were so excited about it, but I really wasn’t comfortable with being told when I to get married.”
“Steven and I feel the same way. We talked about it earlier and we’re happy together, but we just didn’t like the timing.” She seemed a little upset now. “We especially didn’t like how we were put on the spot by Isaac.”
Naomi could tell that Sara needed someone to vent her frustrations to, just as she needed herself. “Where is Steven anyways?”
“He had something to handle in headquarters.” Sara took a look at the clock next to the kitchen door, seeming to become a little worried. “But that was an hour ago, it shouldn’t have taken an hour.”
“Would you like to walk over there and see if everything’s okay?” Naomi quickly thought of an excuse as to why she would need to go to headquarters. “I should probably check in with Anthony either way.”
Sara quickly took to her feet, waiting for Naomi to join her by the front door. “We might as well go together.”
Ethan Rikard
Ethan had snuck out of the bunker a few hours back, only intending to look around the immediate area before he ended up lost.
If there was one thing he could credit the Voyagers for, it was for their very well hidden base. Hidden to the point where one of their own couldn’t even find it.
After wandering for a few hours, Ethan ended up close to a road.
He was about to go across the road until someone grabbed his shoulder from behind, covering his mouth as they pulled him away from the road.
Ethan pulled away from the person, remembering when he first met Filip and Marshal. He threw his elbow back, hoping to hit whoever it was. The shot didn't hit anybody and it didn't stop the person from pulling him farther into the woods.
The person eventually stopped and hushed Ethan, pointing to the barely visible road ahead. Four people walked the road. Ethan couldn’t tell who they were or their purpose, but he could rightfully assume he knew the person holding him back.
As the four people walking the road went on, the person uncovered Ethan’s mouth and took a few steps back. Ethan looked behind him to see that it was Cyrus who kept him from going ahead. “You could have just told me to stop.”
“It’s doubtful that would have worked. Let’s go, we don’t have time to waste, we’re not safe here.” Cyrus walked on, not stopping to make sure Ethan was with him.
Ethan followed Cyrus, despite being a bit curious as to what he meant when he said it wasn’t safe. It was apparently safe enough to allow three people, occasionally four out of the bunker at once, so what made it unsafe now? “Cyrus, could you explain to me what makes this place unsafe?” Cyrus hushed him and continued walking in response. “Really? So you’re not going to explain this to me? I feel I have every right to know what’s going on around here.”
“You don’t understand what shush means, do you? That’s the only reason I can think of why you’re still going on.”
“Very funny, but I seriously need answers.”
Cyrus stopped in his tracks, holding out his arm to signal Ethan to stop as well. “Get down, don’t move, and for the sake of your own life, don’t say anything from this moment forward.”
Ethan followed his orders, taking cover behind a nearby bush.He didn’t understand why Cyrus told him to take cover or why he wasn’t taking cover himself until the four men who were walking on the road approached Cyrus. “Sir, it’s getting late, why are you all the way out here?”
“I was just going for a walk and I lost my way. I’m not in the best state of mind, so could you be kind enough to direct me back to the city?”
The man who spoke before didn’t seem to buy the story and continued to push. “Really? You got lost from a giant city? I don’t believe it. Why are you really out here?”
“I don’t know what you want me to say, I have no reason to be out here other than what I’ve told you.”
The other three men seemed to form a semicircle around Cyrus, not looking like they had any intention to let him get away. “This is our territory and we have every right to take you in and in fact, that’s what we’re going to do. Let’s go start walking.” Cyrus didn’t move, prompting the man to get more upset. “I said let’s go, this is your last warning.”
'This is my chance.' Ethan started. 'I can run back and get help. If I can find the way.'
[Intervene]
[Run away]
I’ve found a way to work around the votes and I intend to put it to work later this afternoon. Why does it matter? Well, because it is a monologue and it’s naturally going to be a test, but I do have hopes that it’ll work out with practice.
(Just wanted to make it known before some part in all italics shows up and causes major confusion.)
I don’t really want to do anything today. Or any day for that matter. It's funny that I set up a whole system to do my job for me but it’s too “dangerous” to operate, absolutely hilarious.
Nobody said anything until it was an inconvenience, but nobody also knew it was working until it became an inconvenience, so I guess I’ll take their side on this. Elizabeth, that’s dangerous and you’re not thinking of the entire group when you act, you’re thinking of yourself. Well, yeah, that’s human nature, what else can be expected from me? Oh, I know! Actually doing my job!
This isn’t at all what I asked for, neither is it who I asked for. I can’t get comfortable, I’m not supposed to be attached to people. Where is she? Where is the real Elizabeth Valerie Neil? The one who was made to help others and protect the ones closer to her? Wait a second, made? It’s the harsh truth. I am nothing but some lab experiment with a twisted conscience.
But what if I’m not? Should I believe the majority that raised me or trust the minority that I know? Neither, I need to find the opinion of the middle man.
Looking around me, I can tell a lot of people question as to what side I’m playing for. I can’t really tell anyone, but I promise I’m good. I wish they’d trust me a little more considering they’ve known me for around twenty-three years, but I can’t change their opinion, I should just be happy that I know I’m in their minds, even in a negative way. Kind of like a parasite, right?
Stop that. Stop thinking about yourself like that, you’re not as bad as they say you are and you’re not giving yourself enough credit. You’re going to make it through this. Whew, thanks to myself, I needed that!
Perhaps I should one day face my imperfections and embrace them instead of allowing others to break me down because of them and become more self aware, possibly take better care of myself, maybe allow other people to get close to me without feeling that I’m letting them down? No, I’m problematic enough by pushing my imperfections away and I’m doing just fine on my own. Am I really? What is companionship?
Companionship is described as the feeling of fellowship or friendship. Either I have no idea what I’m talking about or Marshal has no idea what he’s talking about. Scary part is neither of those are new. Oh, nevermind, affection was the word he used, it’s me who has no idea what she’s talking about, surprise!
Elizabeth, you are tearing yourself apart over one word, just look up the definition and get it over with. It cannot be as bad as you’re making it out to be. Yes, it can and it’s awful! Correction, it’s probably not bad enough to warrant an argument with myself..
So companionship is like friendship, affection is a gentle feeling of fondness or liking. That doesn’t sound like it fits the way he used it. Or maybe it does, I don’t think I was listening well enough to hear the words I already knew. Affection is also a physical expression of affection. That doesn’t help at all.
Synonyms… fondness, liking, care. Care, really? This has got to be some sort of scheme, I do not allow people to care.
The joke’s totally on me.
Two can joke, but I would be wise when joking with someone who has complete control over the area where you live, it’s not the best choice and it's one you'll probably regret in no time.
Milo would totally freak out if he knew. Wait, if he knew what? I think we're all a little confused about what happened after he disappeared. Maybe I should just ask?
Nope, that is probably the worst idea I've ever had. I cannot go up to my brother's best friend and ask about some fling that was two years ago. It's obvious there's nothing going on because nothing has happened between us in two years, over seven-hundred days. Wait, I'm wrong, aren't I?
End Monologue One
Here's how I think the inner monologues are going to work. There's likely going to be one in the chapter finales run by the character that led the previous chapter. It's very unlikely there will be an inner monologue outside of a finale, besides this one. It's clear this one is run by Elizabeth and the next one will be run by Cyrus, so on and so forth. The contents of it will definitely vary depending on the character and the situation they end up in during their respective finale.
I don't really have much to say this time around except for I put myself in a good position to take a few days off from writing, I'm not going to say any amount of hours because I was wrong about that last time.
Hey sorry, I didn't know you updated. The story wasn't on my feed anymore, so I couldn't easily check using my feed. Anyways, I choose.....
[Cyrus's coordinates] [Agree, go to dinner] [Intervene]
The reason to pick Cyrus's coordinates would be so they could rescue him and Ethan. Also, they wouldn't want to accidently expose Marshal and Elizabeth to the organization. If Alyssa agrees, maybe Elizabeth and Marshal could figure out some way to rescue Milo. Ethan should intervene to give Cyrus a better chance of fighting them off, and I think if Ethan tries to go back, he would get lost and they would have to find him.
Welcome back! Don't worry too much about it, I know the feed can be tricky and to be honest, I've lost this story myself at least four times, so I promise you, there's no judgement in losing this story
[Give Cyrus’ coordinates.]
[Agree; Go to dinner after work.]
[Intervene]
Man, its good to finally get time to read the stories on the forum after a really hectic week
[Give Cyrus’ coordinates.]
[Rain check; Go home after work.]
[Intervene]
Hey, I sent you a pm.
First of all, happy 100, I want to welcome you all back and close two of the three votes.
Ethan will intervene.
Filip will give Cyrus's coordinates.
Now, Alyssa's vote will remain open for a few days while this upcoming part is also open.
I can't really say much right now about how your choices are being made, but I really like this next part, I'll be honest. I can say that I'm going to go back to having split POVs instead of trying to get a POV for each group into one part and I'm going to do this because I'm also starting POVs in different places so to get more, I'll mainly be doing multiple POVs in the finales.
2.5
Long before the bunker and the current Voyagers, there was an abandoned hotel where a mother and her son had stayed for nearly the boy’s entire life.
He was a scrappy young boy who hadn’t owned a nice pair of shoes or clothes without holes his entire life. His mother was a fugitive, though he never learned that until he was old enough to understand the true nature of the world.
She had always told him that if he left his room, he would be easy to catch and when the bad people caught him, they would try to turn him against her and tell him who he was made to be.
Out of his worry for her, he followed her every word. He never disobeyed her and always apologized when she seemed upset, whether he had anything to do with it or not.
As the boy grew older and his mother weaker, he took to devoting himself to protect her. While she was weaker, she had not intention of slowing down, causing her to always be on the run and her son ten feet behind her at most.
He took care of her alone until his twenties, the thought of meeting people outside the hotel was a thought that he had left in the lost past.
There was only one regret he had in all he had done in his life.
The boy wasn’t a boy anymore, but a man at the age of twenty-six when his mother was approaching her sixties.
Despite her age, she always wanted to roam and didn’t seem as cautious of the outside world as she had always been before, constantly making her son worry for her.
She often got out of his sight but would remain in the hotel, so he wouldn’t have to worry much before he found her again. Though, every time she disappeared was a new experience in emotions for him.
On a September day, she had left his sight and eventually the hotel, wandering the direct area. Her son looked through the hotel before finding out she had gone outside.
He had heard people yelling the second he stepped out of the hotel’s front doors. They weren’t yelling at him, though, they were yelling at her and they were yelling warnings that she wasn’t understanding.
As her son could only look on from afar, the woman began to panic without answers from the people she was confronted with.
In a split second, the yelling stopped and there was a loud pop in the air, a sound the son would later learn to be a gunshot. He watched her collapse, the world around him going dark and quiet.
It remained dark, quiet, and lonely for five years before he met anybody new.
A young couple had stumbled upon the hotel while looking for a place to hide. They had told the man about their situation in the city and begged him to let them stay. He agreed, on the condition that it wasn’t a permanent solution for them.
While the couple stayed there, the man had gotten in contact with a man named Pierre who had told him more of what his mother had told him when he was younger, inviting him to join the movement that his own mother was part of.
He told the couple of what Pierre had to say and consulted them, since it seemed to be a permanent move for them after three years at the hotel. They said it seemed like a good idea and he should join the movement, even offering to join in themselves.
The three joined the movement and had other people from the cause coming and going from the hotel for the next year until the man had heard about a situation he needed to take care of, causing three new permanent residents.
He had helped a mother and her two children out of the city and convinced her to join the movement and influence her children as they grew older, to which she agreed and said she already knew some information about the group.
The residents had stayed the same for two years before the mother, Leah, decided she wanted to leave to find her husband. She knew it would upset her children, but she figured and hoped that her son would understand and try to help his sister. She had confided in Cyrus that she wasn’t entirely sure things would work out with her children after she left and she asked him to look after them and take care of them while she was gone.
He promised her before she left that he would care for them and that’s what he did.
He took care of the two children through seven-year-old Milo’s allergies, asthma, and self esteem problems and five-year-old Elizabeth’s sudden attitude change, tantrums, and sick days, which often had the potential to get bad. He had to be extra observant after the two had reached their teenage years as they found it easier for the other to get on their nerves and would fight at any given time if nobody eased the situation.
Milo had always had problems after Leah left, most of them had stemmed from a lack of self esteem. He constantly blamed himself for his mother’s choice, belittled himself in his abilities, and often tried to drive a wedge between himself and his younger sister in order to get away from reminders of his problems. He soon learned that regardless of what he felt, Cyrus would be there for him and he needed to take advantage of whatever he could.
Cyrus often worried for Elizabeth, even before Leah left. She never seemed to be quick on her wits and never seemed to have the usual spunk of a toddler. Had he known that her timid nature would be replaced with a completely different personality as she grew up, he would have handled how he took care of her differently for her own sake.
He took care of the two children’s personal needs and allowed Eris to handle their teachings, which she seemed to be good at, so he wasn’t concerned about it.
Five years after Leah left, another kid came into the mix, this one allegedly an orphan or at least abandoned by his father.
Cyrus felt sympathy for the boy, having watched his own mother go in a similar manner, he knew there would likely be trouble regarding him.
To his surprise, Milo and the boy became quick friends and soon confided in each other more than they did anyone else. It took Elizabeth a bit longer to warm up to him, but eventually the three began their own little group, becoming almost inseparable.
He took care of Milo, Elizabeth, and Marshal each while they all got used to their new lives. Though, he always told them as they grew older that he was just helping them and that it was really Joseph and Eris who had raised Milo and Elizabeth, but he remained completely honest with Marshal, knowing the boy was old enough to see through any lie he tried to deliver.
They stayed in the rundown hotel for nearly ten years after Marshal came along, eventually being joined by a man, his wife, and their young daughter.
The man always seemed nervous and the wife was always as kind as she could be, becoming quick friends with Joseph and Eris.
After the city began expanding into closer areas, a suggested idea became reality when Joseph advised Cyrus, Jonas, Milo, and Marshal to find a more suitable location to stay.
The bunker was discovered after a few months of searching and Elizabeth was eventually brought into their plans to monitor the security and set up a program to enter their chances, which she did in the next year. In that year, the group was found out by an agent, who had to be handled. Cyrus and Marshal took orders from Elizabeth on how to handle the agent and he was caught and monitored for months before something happened and Elizabeth encouraged the two to make it seem like the agent was normal.
Here he found himself, after the death of Jonas and the disappearances of Milo and Morgan, trying to distance himself from the group again because of all the bad happenings that seemed to surround each member, but then again he was face to face with four men, each capable of taking him down themselves, for a man he hardly knew.
He thought he would be taking the fall until the man standing directly in front of him raised his gun, making him look directly into the barrel. He wanted to flinch right there, try to get the gun out of his face, send a distress call, but that would only get the others into trouble.
“You have thirty seconds to start moving before I pull the trigger. Let’s go.” The man motioned Cyrus forward, expecting him to move to which he didn’t.
One of the men in the group pointed towards where Ethan was hidden, drawing the rest of their attention to the area. “Whoever’s over there, come out with your hands showing before one of us has to come get you.”
Cyrus saw figures moving around behind the men, then another come up from the side. The one who approached was Ethan, looking ready to start a fight but with his hands out like the man had asked. “You don’t know what you guys are getting yourselves into. There are people stronger than you out here and there’s going to be a bigger problem if you don’t let that man go.”
The man who had drawn his gun looked away from Cyrus for a split second, allowing him to react.
While the man’s attention was on Ethan, Cyrus moved quick to redirect the man’s arm, knowing it would also alter where his gun was aimed. As he forced the man’s arm away, a shot rang out, causing both of them to stumble back. The other three men tried to determine between grabbing Cyrus, Ethan, or helping their friend, eventually not reacting fast enough before Cyrus started running, grabbing Ethan by the arm as he passed him.
Cyrus took a quick glance at his own watch, noticing someone else with an altered watch, likely Filip, was in their direct area, taking a sharp turn that would lead them to whoever it was.
He pulled Ethan along until they nearly collided with the group of three that was Filip, Pierre, and Joseph. Filip seemed worried, telling Cyrus that he knew about the distress call. “What happened? Are you guy okay?”
Cyrus looked behind them, to make sure they weren’t being followed before letting go of Ethan and backing himself against a tree to catch his breath. “We need to leave, they’re going to send reinforcements to look around and we’ll be caught if we don’t get out of here.”
Pierre seemed angrier than Joseph had ever been, causing Ethan to feel a little uneasy and Cyrus nervous, knowing they would both be in for trouble when they got to safety. Pierre was going to say something until Joseph spoke first, trying to prevent Pierre from saying anything too harsh. “We do need to go back to the bunker immediately, there’s no doubt about that. We can talk about this when the group is all together again, because I need to address some things with you all.”
Cyrus could tell what Joseph was doing and that was trying to stall. He did want to get to the bunker, but he didn’t want Pierre to handle his people because he knew that everyone in the group had their own set of reactions, some more extreme than the others, and that some of the were more capable of retaliation than others.
He took a step away from the tree, taking a drawn out breath before looking to Filip. “We don’t have time for this, retrace your steps.”
Ethan couldn’t tell if there was actually a problem with the men they had run into or if the biggest problem was with Pierre, because both seemed to be influencing factors in Cyrus and Joseph.
They followed Filip, nobody saying a word until they reached the bunker again, Lecia greeting them with concern. “Did something happen?”
Joseph looked around before looking to Lecia. “Where is Eris?”
She took that as a command to not talk about what happened and focus on her tasks around the bunker. The concern in her face turned to her usual disinterested look before she turned on her heel and began to walk away. “The common room was the last place I saw her.”
Joseph left the four to head to the common room with Filip quickly dismissing himself to go to the lab, leaving Ethan and Cyrus with Pierre.
They remained in the secret room with an awkward silence lingering before Pierre sighed out of frustration, his face seeming sadder than how he looked earlier. “I want to apologize to you two, but I would also like to request that you stay in the bunker for the time being.”
“For the time being? This was the only time Ethan’s been out and I’m sure it’ll be his last time.” Cyrus was quick to defend Ethan, but not himself.
“Yes, for the time being. I’m going to be moving some people around from your group and my own to try and better your chances here. Please, do not cause trouble until I’m finished here because I want to go home and tell my people that you guys are doing fine and this switch is for a good reason and not because you people have no self control.” Pierre left the room, giving no indication of where he was going.
Ethan looked over to Cyrus, noticing a hopeless look on his face. “He’s not allowed to do that, right?”
“Of course he can, that’s the issue.” He looked hopeless, but sounded frustrated. “The worst part is nobody can stop him. Joseph won’t stand up to him and Elizabeth doesn’t have the authority to stop his plans, so we have to follow whatever his orders are.”
A voice came over the intercom in the room, Filip’s voice. “You guys might think that, but Elizabeth has a lot of dirt on not only all of us, but Pierre as well. I don’t have access to the file, but I know it’s around because she once snapped on me for looking into things I shouldn’t have.”
Cyrus crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “We’re better than resorting to gossip in order to get what we want. We need to work through this with Pierre, not against him.”
“There’s something weird about the files she has that I’m allowed to see, come to the lab and I’ll show you.”
Filip abruptly cut off the conversation, a click to signal the transmission to the intercom had ended. Cyrus shook his head, leaving the room. “Just another day.” Ethan didn’t end up following him to the lab, figuring it was something he had no business in, which Cyrus was grateful for. He got to the lab and noticed that someone else had been there to talk to Filip before he did. “What do you have?”
Filip waited until Cyrus shut the door before speaking, his voice hushed and somber. “It’s more of those files that I was poking into that I shouldn’t have been, but you need to keep this on the downlow. You can’t even let Elizabeth herself know that you know.” He motioned towards one of the monitors. “Cyrus, Joseph, and Eris, the only three names on this list. This list was the last update that Pierre got, meaning that according to Pierre’s official records, you three are the only legitimate Voyagers and he has no right to move the rest of us around.”
“Is that supposed to be a good thing?”
“No, not at all. A deeper look into the rules will show you he can’t rearrange but he can disband if he feels the need to, meaning we’d have to go back into the city.”
“But since you guys aren’t Voyagers, he can’t do that to the rest of you, only the three of us.”
Filip nodded. “There’s been some talk as to how the city wants to get their hands on Voyagers. Before Milo and Morgan went missing, they were willing to accept people like Milo, Elizabeth, Marshal, and Morgan, because they were brought in as children and had no control over their joining, perhaps even the same would go for you. There’s no denying that they would kill Eris and Joseph, though.” Before Cyrus got the chance to respond, Filip spoke again, his eyes devoid of any emotion. “I have a question for you, though. Did you know that I was an agent before this?”
The question threw Cyrus off, along with the sudden negative aura of the room. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said.” Filip rose from the chair and approached Cyrus, who took a few steps back. “See? You’re scared of me because I know now, right? You’re afraid that I’m suddenly going to turn against you guys, right?” He scoffed. “I have every right to, considering you guys basically abducted me.”
’He’s trying to trick me. I just need to talk him through this.’ Cyrus forced the nervous feeling rising inside him away and put on his best poker face. “We can’t talk about this right now and it’s not me you should be talking to, it’s her.”
“Cyrus, do you know why she’s always gone? Do you think she’s playing you guys and that’s why she hasn’t sent any updated records to Pierre? Do you think that’s the reason she saved me?” Cyrus figured it was best to let Filip go on, no matter what he said. “She’s not the nicest person, I mean she’s been lying to me for years about myself, that’s crazy. She’s got Marshal hooked and not even he knows her motives, so what’s to say she’s being truthful with the rest of you?”
’He’s going to go insane if I just let this happen, but he said it himself, it’s the files that he’s not supposed to have access to.’
“Nothing to say? Really?” Filip sounded disappointed, but not in his right mind.
“The way I see it, you have a death wish.” Filip looked on with curiosity but remained silent, allowing Cyrus to talk. “You went through confidential records that you’ve been told not to go through before and you’re talking about it in a room laced with cameras. If nobody tells her, she’ll find out herself. You should already know that while she may have saved your life back then, she’s capable of ending it now, just like the rest of us.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Not from me.” Cyrus paused. “Her allegiance is clear based on her past deeds for this group, but I have no idea if those are documented. Stop going through the files while you have the chance.”
Filip lost the curious look he had, returning to the emotionless look from before. “I’m certain it’s undocumented, just like the members of the group. Tell me, Cyrus, what do you think Pierre would say if he knew that it was Elizabeth, not Joseph, at fault for the failed documentation and even forgery that goes one here?”
“It doesn’t matter because he’s not going to know. What happened to you, Filip? Not even a week ago you were one of the deciding votes in keeping her here and now you’re against her?”
“You were one of the votes to send her away, so why are you defending her? It’s a job that anyone with a brain can do with practice.” Filip seemed to be growing uneasy as he went on. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just her, you and Marshal should watch yourselves too, the files have a lot more on you than you would think.”
[Tell Filip to leave the lab, tell Elizabeth later on.]
[Tell Filip to leave the lab, don’t tell Elizabeth.]
[Let Filip stay, tell Elizabeth later on.]
[Let Filip stay, don’t tell Elizabeth.]
[Let Filip stay, tell Elizabeth later on.]
Well, this surely was an update.
I’ve been thinking about how I’ll handle the main post and character submission, which might be a little complicated, but I think I’ve got it worked out with some help.
The layout will be different starting the next part.
[Let Filip stay, tell Elizabeth later on.]
[Tell Filip to leave the lab, tell Elizabeth later on.]
Oh, btw @imighthavebrokenit, wanted to let you know that I've read your PM and will be answering it later today. I'm really sorry for taking so long, this week it's been really busy for me, but it seems that I'll finally catch a long-waited break soon xD.
On a side note, I just wanted to let it be known that this new update to the forums is total BS.
@Javier Raviolli
That sounds perfectly fine to me, feel free to take your time.
That's good news that you'll be catching a break, it sounds like you really need one.
The update, oh goodness, I've really only enjoyed the update for one reason and that is the PM system. The activity feed has been humorous at times but at the end of the day I am really not a fan of this update and it's proving to be a little problematic for stories in general.
I wanted to post a quick update.
Some things will be changing with how I handle things with the update and they won’t be too bad, however they might seem really silly to you guys.
When it comes to voting, I’m going to put something like this:
[Choice A]: Someone does something
[Choice B]: Someone does something different.
Obviously not exactly like that. I’m going to be giving you guys a different kind of voting to avoid any accidental spoilers. If there’s more than just an a or b, then I’ll include further letters.
Character submission with be altered a bit, as will the layout of the parts themselves. Thankfully, there will be no dramatic change to the parts themselves.
Now that that’s out of the way, I’m happy to be able to share that there will be a second Act focusing on the Dumont family. The actions chosen in later chapters and characters that go on will determine a lot of the second out but it will not change the fact that it’ll definitely happen.
The latest part has been under the works for a bit and my main focus right now is fixing the layout. I have no idea when it’ll be out. (Yes, I’m trying to jinx myself by saying that.)
EDIT: I realize now that it might be difficult with multiple votes open so I am going to try and keep one vote open, however this is what’s going to become troublesome and I am deeply sorry.
If there’s more than one part with votes open, I would appreciate it if you would specify which part it belongs to (ex. 2.11: [Choice A]) and if there are multiple votes per chapter, that can be worked around with more letters, after all there are 26 of them.
(!) Voting is closed! Alyssa will agree to go to dinner with Sara and Steven.
Why did I wait until now to close that vote? Because I wanted to wait until the very last moment, though the other vote remains open.
2.6
Alyssa looked to Milo, expecting him to protest only to be greeted with silence. She took it as his okay. She turned to Steven with a quick smile. “Sure, I don’t see why not. What time were you guys thinking?”
Steven answered without hesitation, making Alyssa more confident in the idea that he and Sara had already talked it over before now. “We were thinking of meeting you guys outside the apartments around seven and going from there, is that okay with you?”
Alyssa nodded before taking to her feet. “Sounds great, we’ll see you guys then.” She turned to Milo. “My break’s over, do not move an inch.”
Milo could tell there was something Marshal wanted to say to him, but something was keeping him silent. “I’ll see you later.” Milo watched him get up and leave in a hurry.
He sighed and looked over the back of the couch at the secretary. “You saw that too, right? They totally ignored me.”
“Oh no, you’re the ugly girl now? I’m so sorry.” The secretary shook her head. “They weren’t ignoring you. If anything, you were ignoring them.”
“Of course you’ll take your coworkers side.” Milo faced the front once again, taking back to his book.
The secretary chuckled at her desk, a chuckle that sounded tired but lovely at the same time. “Are you gonna tell them I was ignoring you too?”
“You can count on it.”
Milo had a friendly relationship with a few workers in headquarters, most of the ones who weren’t chipped and Alyssa. He figured they got along because they were in their right mind and he was in his.
There were times that the secretary would allow Milo to get up and do things because she believed it was better for the heart and mind to be active.
The only problem with his friendships is that he didn’t know if they were who they said they were, Marshal taught him that it was easy to fake an identity.
Elizabeth Neil
She and Naomi had gone to headquarters, only deciding they would split up soon. Naomi knew Anthony would be in his office in the sixth floor, but Elizabeth was admittedly pretty confused as to where Marshal could be. She was going to follow her second best guess only because her first best guess wasn’t near headquarters.
Elizabeth dismissed herself from the elevator on the fourth floor, freezing for a moment outside the doors until someone put their hand on her shoulder. She turned back to face them, finding it was still Naomi with a smile on her face. “Thanks for hanging out with me.” Naomi pulled her hand away, letting the elevator doors close.
There was a feeling of nervousness that grew as she walked through the fourth floor, knowing she didn’t know exactly what to expect.
Going through the halls, she saw plenty of people that she used to know. They looked at her like she was a criminal, though they weren’t entirely wrong.
While she was walking and looking around, she ended up walking into someone ahead of her. She pulled back a few steps to see who she ran into and got ready to apologize when they looked to her.
A woman with dark brown hair turned around, seeming a little upset. “Proper etiquette is to apologize when you’re in the wrong.”
Elizabeth knew the woman from pictures, but she didn’t remember most of her time with her. She knew the face and the hair color all too well. She felt pressure building up in her chest as she took a few more steps back, keeping her vision focused on the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
The woman didn’t say anything back, making Elizabeth think she had just left. When she looked up, she found the woman was closer than she was before. “Look me in the eyes when you’re talking to me, do you understand?” She huffed in frustration. “I swear, none of you people are raised with an ounce of decency in you. You should be ashamed and your mother should be ashamed of how she raised you.”
Elizabeth looked to the ground once again, now fighting tears. “I don’t have a mother, I’m sorry.
Someone put their hands on Elizabeth’s shoulders, turning her the other way and pushing her along. She didn’t look up until they were in the elevator, tears streaming down her face. “Milo, why is she here?! She’s not supposed to be here!”
“The better question is why are you here? Are you seriously stupid enough to be in headquarters by yourself?” Milo looked slightly annoyed but Elizabeth couldn’t tell if that was his only defense now or if it was just how she was perceiving him. “Where did Marshal go?”
“I came here to look for him, what do you mean where did he go? You should know.” Elizabeth had put herself against the wall in an attempt to regain her control and calm down.
Milo’s look of annoyance was traded for one of concern. The elevator stopped on the lobby floor and Milo was the first to step out. “He’s not here so please leave before you get us both in trouble.”
Elizabeth regained herself before she cleared her throat and left the elevator, a feeling of embarrassment following her as she left headquarters.
Her search took her to a bar that was only open to workers of the organization. She was worried that her hunch would lead her here, only because she knew Marshal was supposed to be recovering.
She knew very well that everyone in the bunker had their flaws and some of them continued to indulge in their problems. Joseph was a violent man when the group first got together but he eased up after getting to know his new companions and trust them more. Eris was much more of a gossip than she was now. Lecia was less likely to take blame for what she did and often got aggressive in matters regarding Morgan.
Elizabeth and Milo didn’t find out about Marshal’s problem until he admitted it to them a few years back. They weren’t much help to the cause, but they eventually got Cyrus involved, only to find he knew exactly what he was doing.
Why he was the most helpful in recovery, Elizabeth still didn’t know. The two never had much of a personal relationship, only a professional one.
She decided to stop stalling and go into the bar. Not many people were there because it was a work day, but she quickly recognized most of the people there from the day before. She spotted Marshal, sighing as she walked to the bar with false confidence.
He looked at her, quickly spotting the look of disappointment on her face. “Why are you here?”
“I could ask you the same thing but I know you’re going to lie about it.” She turned her attention to the bartender who stood across the counter from them now, speaking before he could offer her a drink. “How much does he owe?”
The bartender looked around the bar, seeming to count glasses. “He’s been paying while he drank.” The bartender stopped looking, then redirected his eyes back to Elizabeth. “But I can tell you that his pockets are empty now.” He finished talking with a sleazy smirk before looking over Elizabeth again, his smirk not fading. “He can’t, but could I offer the lady a drink on the house?”
Elizabeth saw Marshal look up, seeming a bit annoyed with the bartender. Her false confidence hardly lasted her to the bar but now she had no show to put on. “No, I don’t drink.”
The bartender leaned on the counter, getting closer to her. “Why would you come to a bar if you had no intention of drinking?” He cupped his own hands, obviously prying. “Is it just to get a look at the pretty faces of rich men?” He motioned to Marshal. “If a broke man’s your taste then you must be pretty desperate.”
Marshal got out of his own seat, tapping Elizabeth on the shoulder. She figured it was him telling her that it was time to leave so she got out of her seat and started for the door. She only stopped when she realized that Marshal was still talking to the bartender. “I get it, you’re upset that you’ve been reduced to trying to pick up women in a bar that you work at, probably making less than I do and I’m supposedly broke. You do understand that the only reason your bar hasn’t been shut down is because it’s only serving organization workers, right? Put two and two together and realize that you, a bartender, have no right to criticize me or my wife for any reason.”
The bartender looked on as if he was being amused. He stayed leaning over the counter, though his eyes were now on Marshal. “I must have missed the law that gave you the right to treat me this way after I’ve served you. Say, do you treat her this way at home?”
Observing the situation a little bit more, Elizabeth realized that Marshal wasn’t drunk in the slightest bit, not even tipsy, he was normal for himself and he surely wasn’t acting like Steven, even though there wasn’t much of a difference. “Don’t reference her again, you’re talking to me, not her.”
She looked around the bar, noticing that not many people were batting an eye, making her believe that they weren’t paying attention because they didn’t want to be placed in a bar, knowing what prohibition laws stated. She shook her head before looking back to the situation, catching the bartender’s eyes again, immediately making her uneasy. “All you gotta do is say if he’s beating you, you don’t have to stay a victim.”
“I’m not a-” Before Elizabeth could defend anybody, Marshal ended up punching the bartender, obviously as hard as he could, sending him straight to the floor behind the counter with a loud thud as he hit the ground.
Marshal left the bar before Elizabeth, knowing she would follow behind. She eventually joined him on the sidewalk, panic all over her face. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Her voice was just as panicked as her face let off, if not more. “What happened to you? What’s going on? You’re acting like a completely different person.”
“I’m not acting like anything. We’ve never been put into that situation before so you have absolutely no idea what it would be like up until this point.” She had to admit, he was right about that. “And what’s wrong with me? That can’t be an actual question.” He stopped, Elizabeth stopping in front of him. “You can understand how he was treating you was wrong, right? I was talking with another man in there and I was the one to pay for his drinks, I didn’t drink anything, while we were talking the bartender was listening the whole time and when he decided to talk to us he was talking about how long it had been since he was with a woman. He was trying to use you by lying to you and insulting me until you saw his way.”
“Do I really seem that easy to you? What part of me seems like an idiot who would fall for any of it? What he said and what you’re telling me right now don’t correlate.”
Marshal rolled his eyes with a frustrated sigh. “Look at that, it doesn’t correlate because he was lying to you. If you don’t believe me then I’ll comply to whatever tedious activity you want to prove that I’m telling the truth. You went to the bar because you figured I would have relapsed, right? Did you even consider the fact that I know people in the city and I had plans to talk to someone?”
“No, I didn’t…” Elizabeth crossed her arms, accepting the fact that she was in the wrong. “Whatever, I’m sorry, okay? What did Alyssa say?”
Marshal started walking again, Elizabeth following him. “I can really tell that you’re sorry, I have to commend your attitude.” Elizabeth found it odd that Marshal could joke around after what he had just done but she wasn’t going to let it phase her. “Alyssa and Milo are going to meet us in front of the apartments.”
Milo Neil
The two were getting ready to leave the lobby when Milo stopped, his book still in hand. He waited until Alyssa faced him before he said anything. “I know I’m not supposed to ask you this, but can you take me to the fourth floor? It’s going to sound ridiculous, but I want to see my mother again.”
Alyssa glared at him with suspicion but faced him either way. “Why is that? You know she doesn’t know you anymore.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I remember her and she’s the only family I have left.” Milo could feel pressure building up in his chest as he pleaded to Alyssa. “I need to see her again, please.”
Her suspicion changed to a look of pity as she checked her watch and started a walk to the far wall. “You’ve got five minutes to get up there and get back down here and you can’t tell anyone that I let you go.”
Milo took off to the elevator, heading up to the fourth floor immediately. He knew the layout of it fairly well, so he knew who was in what room. His search took him to an unmarked room that everyone knew belonged to his mother.
He knocked, waiting until she gave him permission to enter. When he went into the room, he was greeted by the smell of alcohol and a cold glare from his mother. “You again, what is it?”
Leah was never a drinker, she’d never smoked, and rarely swore in front of her children but now when Milo looked at her, he saw a different person. Regardless, he put on a brave face and held back the emotions inside him that made him feel like collapsing on the floor. “The stranger from the lobby again, yeah. You don’t remember me and that’s okay, I just wanted to tell you that you’re going to be so proud of Elizabeth one day for what she’s done.”
A frown crossed her face. “Who is Elizabeth?”
She had long since given up on trying to get Milo to tell her who he really was, considering he’d always given her the same answer. “You saw her today, your daughter but I won’t tell her you said that.”
She shook her head in response and pointed to the door behind Milo. “You know you’re not supposed to be here so get out.”
There were tons of things that Milo wanted to say to Leah, lots of things that he wanted to say to his father, but they were both long gone, one mentally and the other physically. He may have told Alyssa that Leah was all he had, but in truth Elizabeth was all he had and probably all he would ever have.
He left the room and stood outside the door for a moment, gathering himself once again before he went back to the lobby.
Alyssa looked at him with a bit of concern before she scrunched up her nose and regained her normal emotionless face. Milo knew the nose scrunching and the twitching she sometimes did was an effect of the chip and that whoever was watching saw something that they didn’t like and they delivered a shock to her.
They left headquarters and quickly crossed the street to the worker’s apartments where Marshal and Elizabeth, or as Alyssa knew them, Steven and Sara, were waiting for the two just as they had said they would.
Milo looked over the two for a moment, noticing Elizabeth still looked upset from their earlier encounter but she was trying to put it off. Marshal, however, didn’t seem upset in the way she did, but he seemed a bit irritated.
They started a walk, Alyssa starting a conversation before either of them could. “When are you guys planning to go back out there?”
“After dinner, actually.” Milo could tell that Elizabeth had a dramatic change in the two years based on her attitude in their conversation earlier and how she was acting now. He knew she was upset but that she wasn’t going to show it easily. One thing the Milo knew would stay the same is her choice in clothing. She wasn’t a fan of dresses because they lacked pockets, so it would take a lot to convince her to wear one.
Alyssa seemed to react with shock, which surprised Milo since nothing seemed to phase her often. “So soon? You guys must not like it here then.”
“I’d be lying if I said I adored it.” Elizabeth chuckled softly before putting her hands in her pockets. “As nice as it is here, you can’t really count on the junior agents out there. Most of them are very quick to react in a harsh manner, which will get us nowhere near what our goal is.”
They continued a walk to the diner, Elizabeth and Alyssa doing all of the talking. Milo couldn’t help but find a rift between himself and Marshal that wasn’t there earlier or the day before.
He could tell Elizabeth didn’t notice whatever change had occurred until after they all sat down at a table together, to which she finally acknowledged the silence of Milo and Marshal. She whispered to Marshal, but knew exactly why Milo was being quiet.
Milo and Marshal had known each other fairly well since they met so it was easy for him to tell that Marshal was annoyed with someone, but Milo didn’t know who it was. He didn’t think there was a problem with Alyssa or himself but he seemed to be okay with Elizabeth, which was what was confusing Milo the most.
Eventually Marshal put his arm around Elizabeth, finally breaking his silence. “You tire me out, you know that, right?”
She responded with a quick smirk. “I’ve been told that same statement many times.”
Alyssa and Marshal started talking with each other, Elizabeth seeming to zone out over the course of the meal.
They ate in peace, which threw Milo off but also confirmed his suspicion that they were following Marshal’s plan, giving him a little more hope in whatever it was.
On the walk back to the worker’s apartments, Milo noticed Elizabeth messing with her watch. He didn’t know if she purposely took Alyssa the way she did, but they were all following her at this point.
Elizabeth looked up from her watch and at the buildings around, looking for people or cameras. She then looked to Alyssa before giving off a kindhearted smile. “Forgive us for what we have to do.”
Before Alyssa could question her, Elizabeth rushed to cover her mouth. Marshal waited until she gave him the okay before he did anything and MIlo knew better than to get in the way.
It took Milo a minute to realize that they were forcing her chip off of her. Despite her pushing away, Marshal disconnected the chip and Elizabeth smashed it. Alyssa collapsed into Elizabeth’s arms the second the chip disconnected.
Elizabeth had Marshal pick Alyssa up before turning to Milo, a look of concern in her eye. “We need to go.”
Alyssa Kowalska
Alyssa had regained the feeling in her body before she was able to open her eyes.
Feeling a terrible headache, she wondered what all had happened the night before. She recalled having one drink, but knew that wasn’t enough for her to be feeling this way the next day.
She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. The room she was in was pitch black and cold, not like any room in her apartment or in headquarters. She knew she was in a bed but raised her hand to her neck, feeling gauze wrapped around it.
There was a moment of panic before the door opened and three people entered.
One of them turned on a lamp to allow the room some light before realizing Alyssa was awake. The people that had come into the room she already knew as Milo, Sara, and Steven.
“I’m very sorry we had to do that.” Sara spoke in a manner different from what Alyssa normally knew. “I want to introduce my real self. My name is Elizabeth Neil, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
’Finally meet? We’ve already met. Unless she means her “real self”’ Alyssa observed her for a moment before looking to the man next to her, once known as Steven. “And I assume you’re someone else as well?”
He nodded. “Yes, Marshal Kennedy.”
“I’ve heard about you both before.” Alyssa gave off a soft smile, trying her best not to panic as much as she wanted to. “Milo talked about you both a lot, in a good way, of course.” She directed her eyes to Marshal. “Your dad had a lot to say about you.” Alyssa looked over to Milo, noticing he was quieter than she would have expected. “Milo, you’re finally home now, right? This is your base?”
“I’m surprised you remember anything but we’ll talk about that later. It’s most of our base, there is someone around who isn’t normally here.” Elizabeth had her eyes fixed on the door for some reason unknown to Alyssa. “You’ll surely know him if you meet him, just don’t worry too much about what he says.”
“You shouldn’t worry about that right now, though, you should focus on getting better while you’re around.” Marshal spoke up, dropping Elizabeth’s topic and Alyssa’s from earlier. “You’re probably going to feel pretty bad for the next day to come, at least that’s what Elizabeth has said, but you’re going to get better.”
Milo gave a genuine smile to Alyssa when their eyes met. “They’re going to take care of you and I’m going to help since I kind of owe you.”
Elizabeth went to Alyssa’s bedside, crouching to get on eye-level with her. “It’s okay to be scared, confused, or even mad, but know that your talents are going to be put to use here more than they ever would have at the organization. You won’t be under any chip control and you don’t have to worry about impressing any superiors.” Alyssa felt like Elizabeth was getting a reading off of her while she was there but her words oddly calmed her a bit. “I remember you mentioned at the wedding that you don’t like liars, so we wanted to apologize to you for lying about who we were and tell you that from now on, we’ll be one hundred percent honest with you.”
She couldn’t help but be taken aback by the entire situation she was in. She knew fully well that it would take her some time to get used to it and understand what exactly she went through at the organization with the few memories of it she had remaining, but she had the feeling that the three people in the room would support her through it and try to help her as well. “How do you know the Organization won’t find us?”
“I blocked the transmission from your chip pretty early into the evening and even did it again after dinner just to make sure we were in the clear before we disconnected you and broke it. We checked Milo for any chips when we got back and found nothing, surprisingly.”
Alyssa looked to Marshal, Elizabeth still at her bedside. “What can you say about the safety of this place?”
“Elizabeth’s in charge of security and she puts her all into it. Ask anyone else and they’ll call her a workaholic, but I can tell you she’s just working to get it over with now so she doesn’t have to do it later. We’re in a pretty safe place and the location is currently unknown to the organization and far beyond planned expansions.”
Alyssa closed her eyes, trying to ease her headache. “There was a man that went missing recently. Ethan Rikard, was it? Is he here?”
“He is and he’s actually offered to help you get used to this place since we know this place better than anything and sometimes we can get ahead of ourselves.” Elizabeth’s voice sounded farther away than she was before but Alyssa didn’t want to open her eyes, knowing the light would only further spur her headache.
“Unless you need anything right now, we want to let you reset. You won’t be able to tell, but it’s very late in the night and it seems that something’s really irritating you right now.” Marshal spoke soon after Elizabeth, having the same distance as before. “There’s a glass of water on your nightstand if you need it. Oh, and something else that we’ve been told you might like to have back.”
Alyssa heard the door on the other side of the room open and the switch on the lamp click, she figured the three were on their way out and the lights were off. “Thank you all.”
Important links
* Character Submission
* Prologue
* Chapter One
* Chapter Two
Alyssa finally un-chipped. That was really nice to read.
This was a really interesting part. So, I guess now that Alyssa is unchipped that she is no longer loyal to the organization. I'm excited to see what happens next. I'm really excited for the second Act.
Ok, ok I'm here. Finally joining the Voyagers readership/fandom. I have high hopes and will support this story and its awesome writer till the bitter end. Without further Ado, let us begin.
This was a good introduction and it has all the steps of good world building. Few characters, environment interaction and strong dialogue and development. We can already tell a lot about this 'world' and how it seems to work and you did it in a way that its still very mysterious but we have enough information to the point were interested. But now onto the center of the part itself, the characters.
So first we have the little girl whose name i believe is Morgan. She works great here and i already care about her even though she barely showed her starting development. I don't know maybe it's because you cleverly made the reader's own questions flow through her, maybe its the fact that she's so curious or maybe I'm just a sucker for kid characters (If she dies, you broke me.)
Next is Elizabeth who is already pretty interesting and once again if feel myself attaching to. She seems to be the most powerful, but by the same token very powerless. It helps that you made her very well known yet only hinted her past. It also helps that you basically made her deal with an awful person right of the bat, which of course leads me too:
You know, i thought i was the only one who wrote awful, rude, delusional people in the intro part. I mean there was an assassin in the beginning of FOT and he actually came off as pretty decent. However after the first few sentences i was already using the Marlone voice to read the Mom's lines. She is so incredibly unlikable. First she scares her own daughter then she insults, threatens and refuses to sympathize with Elizabeth. Its gotten so bad that I'm actually going to start calling her Momlone until her name is revealed and maybe even after that. Well to be honest that's kinda not fair since Kevan became more comically over the top and cartoonish as Prime went on sort of leaving his delusional jerk past when he would spend a POV ranting about how Emma was a dumb blonde prostitute. This lady is just rude and i fully expected her to start screaming at her kid as she shakes her violently.
Anyway incredible start, great characters, already looking forward to this. Great job
.
2.7
As far back as Marshal could remember, his mother was the most active parent he had. While both of his parents worked, she was usually the only one concerned about spending time with her son.
Days without his father around were completely normal, causing him to learn more about staying quiet and working with his mother instead of fighting her on things that wouldn’t matter in the next ten minutes.
There would be days that she would rant to him while they were working on finishing his homework. He knew it wasn’t because she didn’t love his dad but it was because she was frustrated with his work life.
“I do hope you don’t turn out like your father. You’re not supposed to work every moment of your life, especially when you have a wife and a child at home.” She worked as a waitress for a local diner while Marshal was at school. In the way she split her time, she had no time for herself. “You aren’t afraid to talk to me about some things, are you? I know I’m not a man but that doesn’t change that I’m your mother.”
Her questions were usually just to check up on him and make sure that they were still on a good standing. Marshal could tell she was insecure about matters regarding himself and his dad. “No, mom, I just don’t have anything going on today.”
She would ask a lot of questions on a normal basis, some as his mother, some as a friend, and some that she was asking for his dad. He could normally decipher which was which based on how she asked. “So… are there any girls that you’re interested in?”
It was immediately recognized as a question from his dad. His mother knew that he wasn’t particularly interested in talking about girls, but his dad wasn’t around enough to know that. “No, like I normally don’t.” Knowing his father, that wouldn’t be enough to satisfy his question and he would have to give more details on it. “I have better things to do right now than worry about girls.”
His mother simply smiled and pinched his cheek before saying anything. “You’ll have to say it more often and louder to convince yourself before you can convince anyone else.”
“If saying I’m interested in some girl will give me a break from homework then I’m willing to agree to it.”
His mother knew his sense of humor pretty well and that he didn’t mean anything bad with the comment. She knew he was actually making a joke on himself about his social standing, which was relatively low. There wasn’t anything wrong with him, he always said he never had time for friends because he didn’t have time for attitude and other people’s problems. “I’d rather you not lie and just say you want a break instead of trying to appeal to your father to get out of homework.”
“Then I won’t lie. I have no interest in any girl right now and I want a break.”
She rolled her eyes before leaving the kitchen table to go do something else. “Thank you for not lying once during this conversation. You’d better be working on your homework after dinner.”
That was his mother’s sense of humor. Marshal normally never lied to her, just as he never fought with her.
Marshal remembered that as their last normal conversation with each other. He remembered the fight she had with his father that same night where she threatened to leave him for better opportunities and he threatened to leave her to continue working.
The next morning she seemed to be uneasy, trying to get things done quickly and get out of the house.
When they left for school, Marshal hardly noticed they passed the school because she was trying to keep his mind busy and out of focus for some reason.
They stopped close to the edge of town and started walking, her pace quicker and her tone more authoritative than usual. They met up with a man named Cyrus who told them about his group and offered to have Marshal and his mother join.
She accepted his offer and they started walking farther out of the city.
Marshal knew she was trying to be cautious of something and he never learned the whole story for years to come.
While they were walking, they were having a talk about the people in the group. Marshal didn’t really talk to Cyrus, causing a disapproving look from his mother with a scowl. “You’ll learn to love someone for what’s on the inside.”
Cyrus had no idea what she meant, but Marshal himself knew exactly what she was talking about. She knew how quick to judge her son could be just from appearances alone.
That was moments before she shoved her son to the ground, a loud crash in the air that sent her to the ground as well. Cyrus grabbed the boy, pulled him off the ground, and took off before another shot could be fired.
Sixteen years later, the two were close friends with Cyrus playing a more influential role in Marshal’s life than his own father did.
Marshal constantly reminded himself of his mother’s last words and Cyrus held him to a higher standard than he did Elizabeth or Milo.
The day after Marshal and Elizabeth had returned from their latest trip to the city, Marshal was quick to confide in Cyrus about his feelings towards Elizabeth but the confusion of having Milo back. He expressed plenty of concerns over Ethan and Alyssa before ultimately recollecting a straight face and telling himself it wasn’t his business.
Cyrus didn’t have to say anything to Marshal because he knew he’d talk himself through it if someone else would listen.
Pierre called a meeting as soon as he found out Elizabeth was back, saying some things needed to be said immediately for the sake of the group.
With four new people around, there weren’t many seats. Cyrus, Marshal, Filip, and Joseph stood to allow the women, Pierre, and the new people to sit.
Pierre was quick to start talking as soon as everyone was situated. “I want you all to understand that there are going to be major changes happening to the group after this talk and I am going to conduct those changes on my own. I will be giving this group one last chance to work with me before I disband it entirely.” He looked to Ethan and Alyssa. “I feel pity for you two, I do, but at this point it is beyond personal feelings and it is about what those around you have neglected to do.”
“I think you’re talking about Elizabeth not sending updated files, right?” Filip chimed in from the wall he and Cyrus stood at.
Pierre nodded, sparking a response from Elizabeth. “It’s called a loophole, Pierre, you should know about it. My choice is preventing you from disbanding this group, therefore I’m doing my job of monitoring security. Nobody here would be safe if you disbanded the group and do you know why? Because we can’t protect ourselves out there, especially with no weaponry.”
“You are not doing good with your job considering it is to monitor the safety of these people. Tell me, Ms. Neil, when was the last time you were in the lab yourself?”
“Last night, immediately after we returned from the city. I was working on getting Alyssa and Milo recognized as members in the system that runs the bunker.”
Pierre gained a quick look of surprise before regaining his posture. “Then this place is being run by a computer, not a human?”
Elizabeth shrugged and looked away. “I guess you could say that.”
“Do me a favor and look me in the eyes when I talk to you next time.” Pierre turned his attention to Joseph. “And what do you have to say about any of this? I never saw you address Ethan’s leave yesterday or the new people when they showed up.”
“To be fair, Milo’s not new, he’s only returned.” Lecia would normally never get involved with a conversation that wasn’t hers, but she had good intentions with protecting Milo. “We’ve known the Neil siblings for twenty-one long years and if we made a big deal every time someone came into the bunker, we’d be less productive than we already are.”
Elizabeth seemed shocked that Lecia defended Milo, though she had an idea as to why she did it. “Filip, if you know that I was supposed to send the files then you also know that I’ve been looking into finding Morgan, right?” Filip nodded, allowing Elizabeth to go on. “Pierre, I don’t know if you’ve met Morgan but she’s been missing as long as Milo has and right now my goal is to find her and get her back.”
“And what about the other people taken by the organization? Are you going to leave them there because they are not relevant to you anymore?”
“No, of course not. From what I’ve been able to collect, Morgan isn’t in the hands of the organization at all. She’s with a separate group and I can’t find anything out about the group because whoever they have protecting their people is better than me.” Elizabeth was quick to defend herself with an accusation that she thought nobody knew the legitimacy of.
“She’s right, the organization doesn’t have her. I’m not proud of it, but if it brings closure then I’ll admit it. I used to work in the fourth floor for the organization, that’s where they keep captured Voyagers, and I don’t remember a little girl being there.” Alyssa spoke, expecting Milo to backup her claims.
Pierre leaned on the table, closing his eyes for a moment. “The girl has been missing for how long? Two years? What are the chances of her being alive at all?”
Elizabeth looked to the three scouts who normally went out to search, expecting one of them to say something. “It’s a pretty high chance. We haven’t seen any indication that she’s dead so we’re not going to stop looking.” Cyrus saw a desperate look in Lecia’s eyes as the conversation kept going. She was the one who needed answers, not just wanting them like the rest of the group did.
“How often is someone out there looking for that girl?”
“We make it a point to go out at least once a week and after a major storm to look.” Marshal could tell Pierre was getting ready to question him about the end of what he said. “A storm turns up more than you would think. It makes it easier for us to try and track whatever was around.”
One look at Pierre’s face could show that he was certainly disappointed. The group was making no progress and had all of their efforts focusing on a missing child. “What is it that you all want?”
Joseph and the scouts remained silent, looking to Elizabeth. She froze but quickly regained herself. “One more year to find Morgan. After that we’ll give up and work on the organization.”
“And will you start sending updated files when you are required to?”
She froze again, looking to her hands before correcting herself and looking Pierre in the eyes. “Yes. If you agree to the year, I’ll send the records as soon as this meeting is over.”
“Ms. Neil, do you understand that once you’ve completed your cause here that you’ll be removed from the Voyagers and sent to a different group?”
“Yes, I understand.” Cyrus picked up on a hint of sadness in her voice but admittedly knew nothing about what they were talking about. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to work on the records.”
Elizabeth left the room in a hurry, allowing Filip to take her seat. Alyssa noticed everybody in the room look confused to some degree and figured it was what she was confused about as well. “What do you mean she’ll be removed?”
“Not every group has a programmer capable of what she does so when she became an official resistance member, she was required to sign a contract stating that once the Voyagers gain the upper hand against the Onyx Organization, she would be sent to the group that needed her most.”
“What if we lose the upper hand? She’s been working the hardest to achieve every goal we have, we need her to continue to function.” Lecia caught most of the room off guard, defending Elizabeth before anybody else could. “I don’t care for her personally, but I know that if you remove Elizabeth from the group, you’ll get the worst out of Milo, Marshal, and Cyrus because they’re the closest to her. It’s not possible to continue as a group because that would only leave one scout, no programmer, a leader who’ll continue to his normal act, and a cook. Nobody will be interested in continuing their usual act and the group will likely disband themselves.”
“I can only agree.” Eris finally broke her silence. “Elizabeth has been keeping this group mended by herself. She knows that some people aren’t too fond of her here but she doesn’t actively try to change their opinion and this surely isn’t her first time to be threatened with expulsion from the group.”
“It is not a threat, it is business.” Pierre looked around the room, catching disapproving glares. “Be grateful I chose not to go through with my original plan. It would have seen most of you in the hands of the Onyx Organization.”
Alyssa was quick to question him. “How is that a plan? You’re knowingly throwing your own people to the enemy. That’s not a plan, but neither is taking away what makes a machine function.”
Cyrus nodded, crossing his arms. “I’ll go ahead and say it now, if she’s removed or leaves then I’m not staying.”
“If you stand for yourself then you’ll get nowhere, Pierre. It’s generally agreed that she does more for the group. She was involved with my induction to the group and she already planned to be part of Alyssa’s recovery.” Ethan spoke up, feeling his voice was empty in the heated room. “The organization is willing to take most of the group back without punishment because they didn’t join by their own free will.”
Alyssa scoffed, covering her mouth. “That would be a twist, wouldn’t it?”
Cyrus turned to Marshal, pointing to the door. “Don’t let her finish the records.” Marshal left the room, Pierre regaining his look of shock. “You only have control over three of us as long as those records don’t get finished. Milo, Marshal, Alyssa, Morgan, Elizabeth, and myself have the opportunity to go without punishment and as long as the others give themselves up peacefully and are willing to work with the organization, they’ll be taken without protest as well.”
“Let the year go by before you continue to demur, I might change my mind again.” It was obvious that Pierre only said that to stop the conversation. “I will head home in the morning after Joseph addresses all of this himself.”
Joseph sighed, knowing it had to be done. “We’re going to use the year to our advantage, believe me. The second Morgan is found, our progress with the organization will resume. Ethan, Alyssa, and Milo, I’d like to have a word with you three by myself.”
One by one, the group started to dismiss themselves once they realized the conversation was over.
Cyrus went to the lab after he left, Milo having to remain with Joseph afterwards. He knocked on the door, not knowing what to expect when he went in. He went in, seeing Marshal trying to console a sobbing Elizabeth.
He was faced with a quick choice. He could leave before Elizabeth noticed him or he could try to help.
[Choice A]: Console Elizabeth
[Choice B]: Leave it to Marshal
(!) Voting is closed! Filip will remain in the lab and Cyrus will tell Elizabeth about what he said.
2.7.5
Cyrus woke that day, confident in himself that he would tell Elizabeth everything the Filip had said.
The bunker was empty when he left his room, an eerie silence following him through the hall. He looked into the common room, not finding anyone as he went through.
He went to the lab, figuring Elizabeth would be there. He tried to open the door but something blocked it from the inside, forcing him to push it open.
When he went in the room, he found the monitors had all been smashed and wires torn from various places. Looking a little harder, he found a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
The woman he had raised and trained himself, the same woman he treated like his own daughter. Strangled to death with her own equipment.
Cyrus rushed into the room, straight to her body which sat against the farther wall. No matter what part of her body he touched, she was ice cold and showed no response. He quickly untangled the wires wrapped around her neck, hoping beyond hope that she would suddenly bounce back. Once the wires were released from around her neck, her body fell to the ground, giving no response and taking whatever hope Cyrus had with it.
He quickly jumped to his feet, looking around the lab for something to help. He spotted something behind the door, likely whatever was blocking it earlier.
Cyrus shut the door to the lab before he realized it was someone slumped over. He pleaded to himself that they suffered a fate different from Elizabeth and had only been injured.
He lifted the person’s head up to find that it was Milo. He tested some reactions on Milo before looking for a pulse. His eyes started wandering but stopped at the sight of a handle to a knife sticking out of Milo’s chest.
Cyrus could feel every ounce of hope he might have had draining as he looked on at Milo’s body, powerless to do anything. He looked at his hands, seeing the blood glisten over them, just as it had done when Jonas had died.
He looked back to Elizabeth’s body, still wishing it was some sick joke that the two were playing on him, but he knew it would be too good to be true.
Examining the body, Cyrus could see that Elizabeth had tried to fight back and pull the wires away from her own neck, resulting in cuts on her hands and inconsistent marks on her neck. Taking a look at Milo, he found no other obvious marks on his body but determined he had died after Elizabeth.
Cyrus moved the bodies to lie on the floor away from the door, fighting back tears as he moved the two. He bandaged the cuts on Elizabeth’s hands and took the knife out of Milo’s wound, wrapping over that as well.
He took one last look at the siblings, tears streaming down his face. “Who did this to you two?” He heard his own voice for the first time, weak and empty.
He removed the sheets from the cot in the lab that was normally used by whoever was watching over it and covered the bodies with them, quickly leaving the lab afterwards.
Who would have done it? The only way it made sense to Cyrus was thinking that Milo was the culprit. Elizabeth couldn’t strangle herself and fight against herself at the same time, but Milo would never do anything to harm her.
Cyrus walked through the halls of the bunker that were nearly empty until he reached the kitchen.
There he found Lecia on the ground, blood and glass surrounding her with a pan laying next to her, blood coating the pan itself.
Looking across the kitchen, he saw a young girl in a white dress with a smile on her face. She opened her eyes, her smile remaining. “Now you’ll know what happened to me.”
“Morgan, what’s going on here?”
The girl disappeared after Cyrus asked his question, but her voice continued. “Milo and Elizabeth, just like what happened to their parents. My mom like she did to a woman who betrayed her. Marshal like his own mother. Joseph and Pierre like the people they’ve wronged. Filip like the last Voyager he met. My own fate similar to one of the Neil’s.”
Milo, Elizabeth, and Lecia were dead, which pushed Cyrus to believe that the rest of the people Morgan had listed to be dead as well. “What about Ethan, Eris, and Alyssa? Where are they?”
“May the five innocent find safety and security away from those blackened.”
Cyrus walked through the bunker once more to look for the other supposed dead, Morgan trailing behind him as he walked through. “What do you mean five?”
“The two children are among the most innocent, their souls cherished for their purity.”
They left the bunker, being greeted by an apocalyptic view. The sky was fiery red, the trees seemed to be burned down.
The door slammed behind him as he pulled himself out of the bunker, giving him no choice but to go forward.
He found Joseph and Pierre’s bodies hanging from a tree. Execution, like they had to people against their cause.
Wandering a little deeper into the trees, his vision got foggier but he eventually found Filip. He had suffered a gunshot to the chest, similar to what happened to Jonas.
Cyrus took himself to the street, walking towards the city. Onyx Organization agents passed him by without even glancing his way.
Upon reaching the city expansion grounds, he found Marshal’s body. A gunshot wound to the stomach, like his mother had suffered. There was no secret that Kyle Kennedy was behind his wife’s murder. Nobody wanted her to suffer more than he did, that being the reason he shot her where he did.
She would have had to bleed out and watch her son leave her behind. She could have lived if it wasn’t for Kyle.
“He had to watch his children get taken away.”
Morgan’s voice jerked Cyrus out of his trance, causing him to look back to her. Her white dress was now black, her eyes lifeless and her smile gone. “He doesn’t have any kids, what are you talking about?”
“Maybe not in your time, but in the future he’ll have two.” She seemed to have a bitter look on her face. “He left his wife for the children and for that reason, he faced justice for his choices.”
Cyrus now faced Morgan, trying to force all off his emotions down. “Who killed who?”
“I did. I wanted to give the children a fair chance so I let him get this far.” Morgan looked up, her face now covered in burns and her eyes still arid. “I have always been told that children are the most pure beings in this hateful world and they didn’t deserve the kind of treatment they were subjected to by their parents. They deserve to be free, Cyrus.”
A shot rang out in the air, Cyrus collapsing to the ground. ‘Cyrus gone, just like his mother.’ His vision quickly faded, Morgan’s words being the last thing he heard.
…
…
…
Cyrus jerked up, finding himself in his own bed. He quickly got up, shaking and sweating as he left the room.
He ran to the common room, finding Eris, Ethan, and Milo talking about books they’d read. He went to the kitchen, finding Lecia, Filip, and Alyssa having a conversation of their own while Lecia worked on breakfast. He found Pierre and Joseph in the dining room, talking over their plans.
Cyrus took himself to the lab, bracing himself for a gruesome scene. Pushing open the door, he found nothing inside.
“Cyrus, is everything okay?” Eris had followed him from the common room throughout the bunker.
He looked around before addressing her, trying to ease his shaking. “Have you seen Marshal or Elizabeth today?”
She shook her head before pointing to the kitchen. “Lecia mentioned talking to Marshal this morning.”
Cyrus broke into a sprint for the kitchen again, only stopping when he reached his destination. “Lecia, have you talked to Marshal today?”
“Yeah, we talked about lunch today.” She was focused on her current task, but listening to everyone around her that spoke.
“Where is he?” Alyssa and Filip has stopped talking to allow Cyrus to have an actual conversation with Lecia instead of talking over them.
“He went back to sleep after we talked, so he’s probably in his room.”
Cyrus quickly dismissed himself, heading to the rooms. He knocked on Marshal’s door with a sense of urgency, getting a response in a matter of seconds.
He felt an immediate sense of relief just seeing Marshal awake, giving him a hug before saying anything. “You don’t understand how thankful I am that you’re alive right now.”
Marshal looked tired, but confused with the statement. “Why wouldn’t I be alive?”
“Accidents happen on a daily basis.” Cyrus paused for a moment before realizing he still had no idea where Elizabeth was. “Is Elizabeth with you?” Marshal nodded, stepping aside to allow Cyrus to confirm that she was still in bed. “Keep her safe for when Milo and I can’t.”
Cyrus left the hall, going to the hatch and letting himself out. He looked at the area outside. The sky had the same blue tint it had on almost every occasion and the trees had the same life as they normally did, the leaves blowing gently in the wind.
It was only after Cyrus confirmed it was just a nightmare he’d had that he would let himself even think about relaxing again.
Note: I know I said there wouldn’t be another .5, but would a chapter really be complete without a gruesome nightmare sequence or a .5? Probably, but I wanted to do this part either way. Take what you want from this part, be afraid of every choice from now on or don’t worry about any choice because the consequences typically aren’t subtle. 2.7’s vote is still open, but I really just wanted to test my hand at nightmare sequences, to be honest.
Choice A
[Choice B]
Marshal has been working undercover with Elizabeth for a while. He may know the best way to console her.
(!) Voting is closed! Coin flip decides that Cyrus will leave Elizabeth to Marshal.
2.8
It was during lunch that Cyrus saw Marshal or Elizabeth again, though he’d neglected to explain a thing to anybody. He was quick to notice the concerned looks he’d been getting from Lecia and Marshal after he managed to startle them earlier in the day.
After lunch, most of the group went their separate ways but Marshal and Lecia remained in the dining room with Cyrus, both looking ready for answers. “Listen, guys, I didn’t mean to get you guys worked up because I couldn’t find someone.”
“That doesn’t matter, why were you so freaked out this morning?” Lecia was the first to respond, seeming like she was actually concerned about him.
Marshal didn’t speak but Cyrus could tell he was interested in what managed to set Cyrus of all people off. “Alright, but this stays with you two. Yesterday was a strange day and I had some things to handle when I woke up today, just like everybody else. I needed to talk to Elizabeth and when I went into the lab, she and Milo…” He got chills by even talking about it. “They were dead. Everyone was, except for Eris, Alyssa, and Ethan and even then, they were missing. It felt so real until Morgan showed up. She said she did it all and that everyone who died because they had done something wrong.” Cyrus quickly reminded himself of what else Morgan had said. “Marshal, I’d recommend being cautious if I were you. She said you got a particularly bad fate and two children.”
He could tell his wording just barely made enough sense based on the look of confusion he got back from Marshal. Lecia now looked as if she was in shock. “You don’t believe that she would try to hurt the group if she’s ever found, do you?”
“There’s no if but when she’s found, I don’t think she’d try to hurt anyone or even be capable of it.” Despite looking like he was about to faint, Marshal chose to ease Lecia’s worries before his own.
Cyrus knew exactly why Marshal originally wanted nothing to do with Elizabeth or children and that was because of Kyle. It was normal for a father to leave a lasting impression on his son, but it wasn’t difficult to see that Kyle left an awful one. He also knew that the idea of children was what was bothering Marshal right now. “I think he’s right. It was just a dream. There’s no way Morgan would be physically able to overtake any of us.”
Milo had done the dishes for Lecia when she mentioned she wanted to talk to Cyrus, though Cyrus was grateful when he returned because he knew Milo would talk to Marshal and he could talk to Elizabeth about the day before. All he had to do was sneak by Pierre, Joseph, and Eris without gaining acknowledgement from any of them.
Cyrus waited until Milo, Marshal, and Lecia were each talking before he left the dining room, trying to think of a way to the lab that would avoid the common room, coming up with nothing.
He realized he’d failed to a certain level when Pierre waved to him, which was relatively passive considering Pierre’s latest statement. Thinking back, it was actually Pierre showing kindness before he left.
When he reached the lab, Cyrus let himself in. Even though he knew it was a nightmare that he’d had the night before, he felt relieved seeing Elizabeth and the lab in one piece. “Do you have some free time?” She didn’t face him, but nodded. “Good. I wanted to talk to you about Filip, it’s extremely important.”
She pushed her chair out and turned to face him, giving him all of her attention. “I can’t really do anything about that, but go ahead.”
He figured that her response had something to do with her contract with Pierre, but he wasn’t going to question it right now. “Filip knows that he was a member of the organization and he’s furious with you. He seems like he’s going off the edge now that he knows and I’m worried he’s going to do something to hurt himself, you, or the group in a whole. We’re lucky he didn’t tell Pierre yesterday.”
Cyrus could tell there was something wrong with Elizabeth by the fact that she smiled in response to everything he had just said. He knew that if he told Elizabeth before she had gone to the city, she would have lost her mind. “It’s already in the records that were sent to Pierre, so he already knows. Don’t worry, though, there’s nothing he can do to hurt me that I can’t do right back.”
Looking to the far wall, Cyrus saw the wires that had been used to kill Elizabeth in the nightmare. “Is that so?” He walked to the far wall, taking the wires in his hand and pulling as hard as he could. “How do you know your own equipment won’t be used against you?”
After pulling for a bit, Cyrus realized the wires weren’t coming loose any time soon because of a metal plate welded to the wall. He turned back to see a smirk on Elizabeth’s face. “You, Marshal, and Milo are super weird. Milo had an issue with those wires years ago and freaked out about them but never got the chance to do anything about it. Marshal only recently helped me out with getting the wires themselves out of the way.”
“I had no idea Marshal knew how to weld, but at least somebody here can.”
Cyrus looked to the monitors, noticing a graph on one of them. Elizabeth’s eyes must have followed because she seemed to grow more serious. She rose from her chair, standing next to Cyrus. They looked over the statistics from previous years that had been recorded. The only place the line seemed to be going was down. “We're not in this for the long run and we're lucky to have held on this long. The Organization knows too much about the people involved with the group so they know who to expect. They don't know about you and that's all we have going for us.”
Cyrus could already tell that she had an idea but was waiting for the right time to admit it. “What are you thinking?”
“I want to send you, Filip, and Marshal back into the city. There’s some valuable information that was left behind in Alyssa’s apartment and we might be able to get closer to our goal if we can recover it before the organization does, which isn’t a very long time from now.” She turned to face him now. “If you guys are going to do this then you need to act quickly.”
“Have you talked to Marshal or Filip about this?”
She looked away, making it clear that she hadn’t talked to anyone about it. “Not really, I wasn’t thinking about it until now.”
He actually had no idea if she was in her right mind. He was still left in the dark about what happened the day before because he never talked to Marshal about it. “Elizabeth, what happened yesterday? You weren’t acting normal and you’re still not acting normal.”
“Nothing happened, I just needed a break.” She froze, looking to the ground before she sighed. “Okay, it was more than a break. I kind of lost it after Pierre mentioned our contract, expected to be called a traitor, and left before that could happen.”
He crossed his arms, obviously not buying what she was saying. “Kind of lost it? When I came into the lab you were at your worst. You were crying to the one person who is the least in touch with his own emotions and then you just disappear for the entire night without a second word. Why were you upset?”
“I wasn’t.” She seemed to grow nervous and look around the room for an excuse to change the topic. “Who said Marshal is out of touch with his emotions? That’s just insulting.”
“To be fair, you’re both extremely out of touch with your emotions. He’s under expressive and you’re too expressive, how’s that for insulting?”
“It’s surely not nice.” She seemed to pour for a moment before she regained her usual smile. “When Milo first went missing, I was vulnerable and stupid and I made a bad choice. The consequences of that bad choice was a series of bad choices that put me where I am right now.”
Cyrus rolled his eyes, knowing her game all too well at this point. “Could you be any more vague?”
“Of course I can, but I’ll take that as a hint that I need to be more in detail.” Cyrus nodded. “After I spent two weeks out there looking for Milo and Morgan, I felt weak, like everything that had happened up until that point was my fault. I didn’t really know if anybody could understand because Milo was as hostile to some people as he was so I went to Marshal. He was having a tough time with it and neither of us knew what to do at that point, we spent some time together and we talked it through and we somehow ended up together that night, I’m not really sure, it’s been some time.”
While Elizabeth’s face continued to grow red, Cyrus knew at this point he could only try to talk her through it. He had no idea what they had talked about the night before and with how vague she tried to be, there was a limited number of answers he could get. “Whatever happened was two years ago, why are you still letting it mess with you?”
“It wasn’t affecting me until we were in the city but even then, I think I’m just confused.”
“That’s your problem, Elizabeth. You don’t understand any emotions other than the basics because you weren’t allowed to express yourself growing up, you had to work all the time and if you weren’t working then you were wasting time.” He paused. “I don’t think anyone in this bunker has proper control over their emotions, you’re just a little on the extreme.”
“Like usual.” She sighed, putting her hands in her pockets. “Now that Milo’s back, there’s no reason for Marshal and I to even talk.”
“Aren’t you still having to sleep in his bed because of Joseph’s little law?”
Elizabeth chuckled, finally cracking a smile. “Yeah, I do.” She looked up for the first time during their conversation, the small smile she had remaining. “I’m going to guess he already told you what happened in the city, didn’t he?”
“He told me tons of things when you guys came back so it’s very possible he did, it just depends on what you’re willing to pay to find out.” Cyrus could tell she actually wanted to know what was talked about, but he wasn’t so sure he could reveal all of it. “I know what happened in the city, the story behind the ring, and what happened two years ago. I’m sure you’ve got some work to do so I’ll leave you with a little piece of information. You’re not the only one who’s missing what you and Marshal had.”
She seemed to be thrown off but nodded, heading to the door. “I see… I have somewhere to be, but I enjoyed our talk.”
The two left the lab, going their separate ways. Cyrus went to the common room where Eris sat on her own, Pierre and Joseph having left, though it also told him that Lecia was still with Milo and Marshal.
She acknowledged him with her usual welcoming smile and a sigh, closing her book as he approached her. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked, which is kind of surprising considering the close quarters we’re required to live in. How’ve you been?”
“The same as usual, thankfully.” Cyrus knew exactly what she meant by that, but it also reminded him that he needed to talk to Alyssa sometime. Eris’ condition had been worsening in recent months to the point where the ‘same as usual’ was surprising, but extremely welcome for anyone. “How about yourself, stranger?”
“As busy as ever. You know, prior to Pierre mentioning our lack of progress, I actually thought we were making a lot of progress and actually getting somewhere closer to our goal.” Eris was normally the one Cyrus would vent his frustrations to. He knew Joseph wouldn’t really care to listen, he never told Marshal and Elizabeth a lot of things because their reactions varied heavily, he was never particularly close to Lecia, there were some things he couldn’t tell Filip or Milo, and he hardly knew if he could trust Ethan or Alyssa yet, that only left Eris.
“I think Pierre was exaggerating a bit at the meeting, don’t you agree? If we were really in danger then we would know and we wouldn’t have gotten new members.” Eris seemed to be contemplating on if she should continue or drop it. “Elizabeth has a disaster plan set up for if we’re ever in more danger than we can fight off and she monitors all of that by herself. I’ve been told that if something were to happen outside of the bunker, the system would send itself into lockdown.”
Eris normally took Elizabeth’s side just because she felt Elizabeth’s actions were hardly defended, but Cyrus could tell that this time she was defending her because she believed in her and the system she had set up. “Do you know what the lockdown function does?”
She shook her head, looking towards the lab. “No, but she’s mentioned that if a lockdown ever seemed imminent then we’d be in serious trouble but we’d be more likely to leave before it happened.” Eris shrugged. “It’s extremely confusing to me and she’s not the best at explaining things so that gives us a double negative. You could probably check into the files at the lab for details on it.”
“The plain sight rule.” Cyrus groaned. “I think there’s more likely to be a lockdown than to find details on one with the mess she has.”
“You could have the program sort through the files for you.”
The two couldn’t help but laugh before Cyrus answered. “Considering that program has the ability to end lives, I’m going to make the justified decision of not touching it.”
Eris smiled before reopening her book. “I don’t blame you.”
Before Cyrus could leave the common room, most of the group rejoined. Ethan had been showing Alyssa around and they eventually ended up in the common room, with Joseph coming back to spend time with Eris. Cyrus couldn’t help but be concerned that Filip was the only one that hadn’t been seen that entire day, but he knew he needed to stay alert while Joseph was around the new people.
Eris welcomed Alyssa just as she had welcomed everyone before her and then went back to her book. Alyssa herself looked to be scanning the whole area, not leaving any area unseen. “This place is really fortified, definitely beyond expectations.”
Ethan chuckled, looking around the room and then nodding. “That’s the work of the entire group. From what I’ve been told, the scouts worked on getting this place as secure as they could before they handed it off to Elizabeth. What you have here is the final product.”
Cyrus looked over to Joseph, noticing a spark in his eyes. They had both noticed the same thing, but Joseph was going to be the one to say something. “Ethan, what do you know about Final Product Four?”
“Final what?” Ethan seemed legitimately confused, which many people were when confronted with a question about Final Product Four because nobody knew anything major about it. “I don’t know anything about that.”
Joseph stood, walking away from Eris and closer to Ethan and Alyssa. “Is there anything to prove that?”
Cyrus could see Ethan grow a bit nervous but remain in place while Alyssa took a few steps back. “There’s nothing to prove that because I don’t know anything about it.” Ethan looked over to Cyrus, as if to ask for help. “What is he talking about?”
“Final Product Four is something Elizabeth made that she’s particularly secretive of.” Cyrus knew better than to approach Joseph right now.
Eris left the room, heading towards the kitchen. While paying attention to his surroundings, Ethan now stood face to face with Joseph, who looked just about ready to handle Ethan himself until someone pushed Joseph back, putting herself between the two. “That’s enough.”
While Joseph seemed shocked for a slight second, he didn’t step away. “You have no right to order anyone in this bunker around, it’ll only make us more wary of you.”
Alyssa now had no choice but to face Joseph and she had no intention of backing down. “But you have the right to throw accusations around? He said he didn’t know about it time and time again before Cyrus said Final Product Four was a secret. The point of a secret is that not everyone knows the details of it.”
“Can we take a moment to calm down? I’m worried somebody’s about to get hurt and it’s not going to be Alyssa or Ethan.” A voice drew their attention to the hallway that connected the common room to the kitchen. Eris had gone to get somebody to help and now that help had a gun drawn on her husband. “Joseph, you already know I’m not going to pull the trigger but don’t abuse that knowledge, please just back up.”
Ethan looked to who Eris brought while Alyssa kept her eyes on Joseph. “Every action you do convinces me less and less that you’re considered the smartest person here.”
“Unnecessarily rude, but this is actually a loophole.” Elizabeth cleared her throat before looking to Joseph again. “I’m not going to tell you to back up again, Joseph, don’t make me do it.”
Joseph took a few steps back, obviously livid, before turning to Elizabeth. “How is pulling a gun on somebody a loophole?”
Elizabeth pointed the gun to the ground before passing it back to the owner, who would turn out to be Marshal, then entered the room with Milo, Marshal, Eris, and Lecia. “It’s a loophole because according to my contract with Pierre, I’m not allowed to intervene with something unless it’s really bad. You don’t assume something is really bad unless a gun is involved, but it never said who had to be holding the gun.”
Alyssa stepped away to give Ethan some space before she thought about what Elizabeth said. “Do you even know how to shoot?” Elizabeth shook her head in response, making Alyssa speak before she could. “You’re lucky you didn’t have to use it then, it would have broken your arm.”
Cyrus could tell Alyssa was trying to draw attention away from the previous situation and she needed help to do it. “She’s got a point, though I’m glad we’ll have a way to know if you turn out to be a culprit.”
Elizabeth scoffed, catching onto their plan pretty quick. “Am I still considered a culprit if there’s a hitman involved?”
Eris quickly looked to Marshal and Milo, seemingly unaware that Elizabeth was joking. “She’ll still be the culprit but please don’t carry out killing orders, it’ll only make you both culprits as well.”
Marshal looked to Elizabeth, then shrugged. “Sorry, she’s got more authority than you do, don’t come to me with any hits.”
“That’s fine, you traitors.” While Elizabeth was trying to keep busy, Cyrus could tell she was still a little nervous by the look in her eyes. He was watching as her smile turned to a frown and her nervousness was replaced by pure anger.
Cyrus had to look around to find out what made her angry, but he didn’t have to look long until he found out that a Filip decided to make an appearance.
The room went silent until Elizabeth feigned a smile as if to excuse herself from the group, then grabbed Filip’s arm, leading him towards the lab.
Alyssa looked over the group, noticing nobody seemed shocked besides Ethan and herself. She ultimately decided not to say anything about it, excusing herself from the group, Ethan going with her.
One by one, the rest of the group had resumed their previous activities.
Cyrus stopped Marshal before he went anywhere, having a few different topics for him. “Did Elizabeth talk to you about her latest plan?”
He nodded. “She came around while Milo and I were talking with Lecia. Lecia suggested it might be better to take Milo with us because of how Filip’s been acting lately. I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you have any idea what’s wrong with him?”
“I do, but I think it’s best we don’t talk about it here, I’ll tell you whenever I can.”
“I was supposed to talk to Milo yesterday, but I haven’t been able to get him alone and I really don’t feel like telling the entire group.” Marshal glances Milo’s direction, then looked back to Cyrus. “I should probably do that while he’s free.”
Cyrus looked over the remaining members of the group, looking Lecia’s direction just in time to see a look of panic rise in her eyes. She looked around before seeing Cyrus was already looking at her. She pointed down the hall in a panic and mouthed the words. ‘Go quickly, do not alert the others.’
He moved as quick as he could, making no attempt at stirring up trouble with the group. Once he turned down the hall, he saw the problem and completely understood why Lecia said not to alert the rest of the group.
Filip wasn’t taking well to whatever Elizabeth had said to him and he was done listening to reason, while she had nothing but reason.
Cyrus left the hallway with Lecia following closely behind.
Just one look at Filip could show that he was furious, but one look at Elizabeth would tell that Filip had the upper hand. Her face was red with embarrassment, his was red with anger.
Filip knew he had the upper hand and he was using it to his advantage, backing Elizabeth into the wall. Cyrus could only wonder what he did to earn the upper hand, considering she seemed pretty upset earlier.
Cyrus looked around, noticing a nightstand had been broken and one of the legs taken off of it. The leg couldn’t be seen anywhere, which made Cyrus believe that Filip had it and that was how he gained the upper hand.
With every step closer to Elizabeth Filip took, Cyrus took two closer to him, trying to remain quiet and not get hit with the leg of the nightstand.
When he got close enough, he realized that Elizabeth had already been hit. Cyrus turned back to Filip, grabbing him from behind and pulling him away while trying to avoid getting hit himself.
“Lecia, grab one of his arms and hold on. He won’t hit you, it’s me he’s mad at.” Elizabeth waited until Lecia took her order before she did anything. She froze with some minor shaking, until Cyrus stopped moving, grabbing Filip’s right arm while Lecia had his left. “You had a choice, Filip, and you chose to abuse my trust and try to blackmail me.” Cyrus noticed Elizabeth’s grip was tight enough to cut off feeling to Filip’s arm, but he didn’t know why until he noticed Elizabeth had a syringe that she was going to use on Filip. She administered the shot before letting go of his arm and looking up at him. “I would have gladly talked to you about it and I tried to, but you pushed my patience for far too long.”
Lecia let go of Filip’s other arm and pulled out a chair behind Cyrus, letting him set Filip down. Cyrus took the nightstand leg before he collected the rest of the nightstand to hide from the rest of the group. It was bad enough that Lecia knew now.
Cyrus left the room, Lecia and Elizabeth looking over a now unconscious Filip. “What do you give him?”
“Nothing he hasn’t had before. He won’t remember the past two days, but I will.” Elizabeth seemed spiteful with her tone.
Lecia looked over Elizabeth before she called her attention to a cut on her left cheek. “You need to go see Alyssa.”
“It’ll only be a bruise, it’s fine.” Elizabeth had a high pain tolerance, unlike Milo, so most times she couldn’t even tell she’d been hurt.
“Elizabeth, you’re bleeding, that’s more than a bruise already.” Lecia took a step closer, lifting Elizabeth’s chin to see the cut better. “It’s pretty deep too. If you don’t go find Alyssa, I’ll have to find her myself.”
Elizabeth crossed her arms, looking away from Lecia. “It’s not important, I need to get back to work to fix the damage he caused.”
“I don’t understand you. You’ve changed since Morgan disappeared, but you’re on the same self destructive path. You seemed pretty happy earlier while we were talking with Milo and Marshal and I can understand that getting hit by anything would ruin a person’s day, but most people wouldn’t hesitate to get checked up on after being hit, especially when it’s bleeding.” Lecia went to the kitchen, grabbing a washcloth and dousing it in water before returning to Elizabeth. “It looks like we’re going to have to do this my way.”
Lecia covered the cut with the cloth and started walking, expecting Elizabeth to follow until she noticed the lack of balance Elizabeth had. She fixed it by holding the cloth with one hand and holding onto Elizabeth’s waist with her other hand, having visible trouble holding her up.
When they went through the common room, Lecia noticed all of the conversation stopped. “Milo, I need you to go in the dining room and watch over Filip. Marshal, pick Elizabeth up before she falls.” The two took their orders and Lecia now led Marshal through the halls. “There has to be more than one cut.”
“It’s possible, but you know how when Milo gets a cut it’s no big deal, right? That’s because he bleeds pretty lightly, she’s the complete opposite. That being said, I’d recommend putting more pressure on the cloth.”
Lecia put more pressure on it, which clearly bothered Elizabeth even though she looked completely out of her own head at this point. “Do you know where Alyssa went?”
“I’m thinking she went back to her room, but I have no idea.”
Lecia ran ahead, knocking on Alyssa’s door before going back down the hall. “She can’t do anything without supplies, so I need to go get the kit, just stay with her.”
As Lecia turned the corner, Alyssa looked around the doorframe, her eyes widening as she rushed over. “What happened?” She ushered Marshal into the room, shutting the door behind them. “Put her down, I’ll see what I can do.”
He put Elizabeth down and backed away, letting Alyssa look around the cut. “Lecia is getting you some supplies to work with. She knows what happened, so please just wait until she gets here.”
Alyssa shook her head, looking a little frustrated. “I can’t wait until she gets here, I don’t have the time to wait.” Alyssa took the cloth, wiping some blood away before it was quickly replaced with more blood. “I think that proves my point, I need you to go get her now.” Marshal left, leaving Alyssa with Elizabeth, who was barely conscious and looked like she was about to start a mindless tantrum at any minute. “Elizabeth, can you hear me?” She nodded. “What happened?”
“Can’t say.”
Alyssa looked around the room for something to use before Marshal and Lecia returned, both of them looking nervous. “There’s another cut.”
Lecia handed Alyssa a box before stepping to the side. “Where’s the other cut?”
Alyssa only noticed some blood gathered on Marshal’s shirt when he got closer. He lifted the left side of Elizabeth’s shirt exposing a deeper wound that couldn’t even be classified as cut. “How did nobody notice this until now?”
“She didn’t notice because she has a huge tolerance to pain, Lecia didn’t notice because there was no blood gathering on her stomach but on her side, and I didn’t notice because her left side was facing my body.” Marshal was quick to defend those involved, knowing there would be trouble if nobody gave an actual reason.
Alyssa looked over Elizabeth, noticing her skin had gone pale and had turned cold, despite her sweating. “Lecia, keep pressure on her cheek, I need to fix this right now.” Lecia moved to hold the washcloth on Elizabeth’s cheek again while Alyssa started to dig through the box, pulling out a needle and surgical thread, as well as some other supplies. “Marshal, you need to keep her calm. There’s nothing I can use to numb her and she can’t move an inch or it’s going to risk everything.”
There was a knock at the door while Alyssa was threading the needle, leaving her unresponsive to the door. The person let themselves in, that person being Cyrus. “Milo’s still watching Filip.” He looked to Alyssa while trying to keep himself from looking at Elizabeth. “Do you have a plan?”
“I did until we found the real problem, but I’ll have a plan once we all get situated. Can I ask why you’re here?” Alyssa kept her eyes focused on her current task of threading the needle, tying the end of it.
“To keep Joseph from being here. You’re supposed to have someone with some authority here, which is either Joseph, Elizabeth, or myself and I hate to say it, but Elizabeth isn’t really in the condition to monitor right now.”
Alyssa hushed the room, putting a pair of gloves on and taking a deep breath. This had to be done and it had to be done fast.
2.9
Many members of the Onyx Organization had been called to a meeting regarding the now missing Alyssa Kowalska.
As her superior, Luke was catching a lot of the blame regarding the whole situation, despite not working that day.
“Mr. Hampton, what was your plan with the weddings?” A man at the table questioned.
Isaac looked furious, at Luke, at the other members of the organization. “My plan was that a Voyager would be found around the venue during or sometime afterwards.”
Amanda Richardson sat close by, finding a new fault in the design of the chips. “There was likely a use of excessive force if the chip was removed, which it was.”
“And why haven’t we looked into the last activities of the chip?” A man questioned.
“Because it was shattered.” Amanda had more to explain. “It can’t be pieced back together and the earlier evening activities can’t be identified because something blocked the transmission from the chip early on in the evening.”
Amanda’s mother, Lyla, looked as if she had figured something out. “We only know of one Voyager that’s efficient in technology, right?”
Luke knew she was asking him. “That’s right, VE. It seems we came to the same conclusion. VE was one of the ones involved.”
“How many do you think were involved, Mr. Lowell?” Isaac rejoined the conversation, folding his hands in front of him.
“There’s no way to know because of how little we actually know about the members themselves. It could have been just VE and Milo could have worked against Alyssa, or it could have been VE and multiple Voyagers, we have no way to know because of how early the chip was disconnected.”
Lyla crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat. “Luke, you said Milo mentioned his sister and Kyle’s son at the venue, what are the chances that he was telling the truth because he knew you weren’t going to take him seriously?”
“I’m not going to say it’s impossible or even unlikely, why?”
“I have reason to believe that she has a stronger connection to VE than we know of, however it can’t really be proven and it’s unlikely to be proven without Milo’s cooperation, which we weren’t even getting before.”
Isaac spoke before anyone else could, but nobody really cared to argue with him. “I want to send Kyle to Alyssa’s apartment. There may be answers there and if Milo is involved in any way, Kyle would be able to find out almost immediately.”
“Is that a good idea, sir? Kyle’s not in his prime anymore and Milo was already able to overpower him once, there’s always the chance that he can do it again and if he’s reconnected with the Voyagers, there’s the possibility that he won’t be alone and that he won’t spare Kyle.” Bradly Richardson spoke up, having thought about the idea on his own before.
The other attendees were shocked that Bradly would say anything against Isaac’s word, but they were all open to hear what Bradly had to say. “And on the off chance that Milo is alone, if we send any more than Kyle then we’ll get no answers and we’ll get more trouble with the Voyagers. If we want them to stay in one place then we want them to think they have a plan that we won’t be able to figure out.”
Amanda cupped her hands, looking down at the table. “So by having even one of them show up, we’re getting something done about them, right?”
“That’s correct. By having VE make an appearance, we’re gaining more information about who’s involved and their weaknesses. We have a stronger chance of figuring out who VE is and their weakness now, but we also have a stronger chance of outing their companions and forcing them to give up.” Isaac leaned forward, a sign the people around the table took as an end to the meeting. “Kyle is going to Alyssa’s apartment to collect whatever information he can get on his own.”
They each left their seats, most of them returning to their stations. Luke could tell Kyle was nervous, but he didn’t particularly care since he and Kyle were never close.
Cyrus Capello
Following a previous order of Elizabeth’s, Cyrus had taken Milo and Marshal back to the edges of the city in order to look through Alyssa’s apartment.
It was clear that they were all worried over what had happened to Elizabeth, only Milo not knowing who had stabbed his sister. In fact, he didn’t even know his sister had been stabbed, as he’d only seen the cut on her face before they left.
Nobody had spoken most of the way there, making Cyrus feel the need to start conversation. He didn’t know about what, though. “You guys understand why we’re going into the city, right?”
“I get the reasoning, but I’m still not sure it’s a good idea to take me with you guys.” Milo sat in the backseat, Cyrus and Marshal in their usual spots.
“Why not? They already know you’re gone and they likely already know that you’re with the Voyagers, I highly doubt they’re going to be looking for you in the city.” Cyrus knew what Milo meant when he voiced his concerns, but he also knew he needed both Marshal and Milo with him. “It’s a pretty bad idea to take the both of you. It’s really an inconvenience, if anything. Even taking Marshal is a risk because it hasn’t even been three days since he’s been in the city, so it’s a risk for both of you.” They continued the drive in silence, only speaking when they reached the edge of the city. Cyrus sighed, getting ready to address his two companions. “You two can't go far into the city this early, but watch your surroundings and take no chances. If you guys get into trouble that you can't fight off then leave, okay? Don't wait for me.”
He left the truck and started walking towards the city, only stopping when he heard the two doors open and close. “You’ve gotta be pretty stupid to think we’d actually let you go there on you own.” Marshal was the first to talk once Cyrus looked back at the two.
Milo was quick to join the conversation. “Besides, you don’t know the way to the apartment.”
Cyrus waited for the two to catch up to him before he let Milo take the lead. “You two are going to get yourselves in trouble.”
“Why exactly would we get in trouble? We haven’t done anything wrong yet.” Marshal did the talking while Milo took them to the apartment.
“Because you’re here with a man who was allegedly kidnapped, his caretaker is missing, and your wife isn’t with you.”
Milo chuckled ahead. “Didn’t you punch a bartender while you were last here?”
“I don’t think I’m going to get in trouble for punching a bartender who deserved to be punched or for not having Alyssa or my ‘wife’ by my side the entire time. There’s no proof I even know Alyssa.” Cyrus knew Marshal was just messing around with Milo by referring to Elizabeth as his wife.
“You just keep saying that, maybe they’ll believe you.”
“If his dad doesn’t recognize him first.” Milo knew a way to respond to Marshal’s personal jokes were to be personal right back. While Milo hated any comment regarding Elizabeth, he had known for a long time that Marshal hated comments about his father. “Marshal, why are we friends? Like, I feel like I should hate you as a person for lots of reasons.”
“The feeling is mutual. I really don’t understand why we’re friends because I wouldn’t want to be involved with me in the slightest.”
“Maybe that’s the faulty gene that Alyssa’s looking for.” Milo continued the conversation while looking around and keeping close to the walls. “I’m just kidding, don’t tell Elizabeth that I said anything rude about you, she’ll get mad at me.”
Cyrus found it odd how close the two still seemed to be. He knew Marshal had gotten closer to Filip and Elizabeth while Milo was gone, but he was acting like they were never separated. The same could be said for Milo.
He kept to himself while the two continued to joke around. They stopped talking when they reached the apartment, Milo opening the unlocked door.
The three of them split up, taking different rooms of the apartment. What they were looking for was a Onyx Organization employee handbook that would detail as much information as the Organization had on current issues. There was no doubt that Alyssa had one, the question was where she’d left it.
Milo had started collecting some personal items of hers and his own to bring back to the bunker to offer them both a sense of closure.
Kyle Kennedy
Kyle had gone to the apartment after work like he’d been ordered to. He had been digging through what was left in the apartment to try and find ties to the Voyagers, which there seemed to be none besides Milo himself.
No matter what room he searched, they all came up with no results.
He didn’t realize the passing time until he heard the apartment door open. He figured it was someone coming to take over for him so he left the room that once belonged to Milo to go debrief them and leave.
The last movement he heard was someone going into Alyssa’s room, so that’s where he went.
Upon pushing the door open, Kyle quickly realized whoever was going through Alyssa’s belongings wasn’t an employee of the Onyx Organization, but an intruder.
He paused for a moment, trying to think of his best options. He felt his holstered gun and got ready to pull it out of the holster.
Choice A: [Confront the intruder.]
Choice B: [Sneak up on the intruder.]
Note: I'm totally not taking a break, changed my mind on that. I do want to finish this chapter and start the next one sometime before November 15th, which shouldn't be too difficult to do. This chapter will be another one with 11 parts, 12 if you're counting the two .5 as a whole, and there will also be a vote before the finale to make things easier on next chapter's alternate choices (You'll see what I mean when this chapter finishes). I've worked on getting the Google Docs cleaned up and prepared for the end of the chapter, as well as putting together the alternate choices so that it's less of a cluster whenever the chapter does end. I'll probably close this vote on Monday, so I wish you all the best until then.
[Choice A]
They have a better chance of dealing with him, if he doesn't sneak up on them.
Choice A
(!) Voting is closed! Kyle will confront the intruder.
I can’t really say much about this choice, except for the obvious fact that it’s going to change the character of Kyle completely, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing or a good thing unless further choices overturn that change or support it.
The next part has been under works for a bit, along with the start of the finale, but the next part can be expected sometime this weekend!