Chapter 25: Tragedy Begins

In the early morning, Leona snuck out quietly to look for Ferral. She took Ferral’s bike and rode it through the city, her first stop would be Clare and Buck’s apartment. When she got there, a man who worked for the building stopped her as she was walking up the steps to the front entrance. “Sorry ma’am,” He said, “But your kind isn’t allowed here.” Leona sighed and rolled her eyes, quickly grabbing the man’s face and slamming his head against the wall of the building. She let go, the man fell to the ground unconscious and she ran inside, going toward the nearest elevator. Once on the top floor, Leona sped walked out of the elevator, and knocked on their door. No one answered, so she knocked a little harder and she could hear the faint sound of a baby crying. The door slowly opened, and Clare peeked her head out and saw Leona.

“Leona?” She asked, groggy, “What’re you doing here so early?” Buck came walking over, holding Laura in his arms, trying to lull her back to sleep. “Sorry, but is Ferral in there with you guys?” Leona asked. Clare rubbed her eyes, “Ferral? No, I already told you, we haven’t seen him the last two nights.” “Damnit.” “Why? Did something happen to him?” Leona shook her head, “That’s just it, I don’t know. He hasn’t come back home in two days.” Buck walked closer, “Do you want us to help you?” He asked. “No, I’ll handle it. But if he does come by, could you call me?” The two nodded. “Okay.” “I hope he’s alright.” Leona waved them goodbye, “Yeah, me too.” She walked back toward the elevator and pushed the button to the lobby. “Shit,” She muttered, “Where are you, Ferral?”......

Ferral walked through the building, finishing his breakfast. He was going back to his room to do some training, and as he was making it to his room, Dr. Atlas came walking toward him. Ferral was going to ignore him, but Atlas quickly grabbed Ferral’s coat and pulled him away from the bridge. “What’d he say to you?” Atlas rapidly asked. Ferral pushed him off, “What?” “On the roof, what’d your father say to you?” Ferral could tell Atlas was concerned about something. “Why should I tell you?” Ferral scoffed. “This is no time to act like a child, boy. What the hell did he say to you?!” “About the plan to restart humanity.” Atlas started to sweat, “My God, then am I already too late?” “I don’t know why you’re bothered, isn’t this what you want too?” Atlas wiped the sweat from his head, “Look, boy. I might hate humanity, but not nearly as much as that maniac. I have a wife and son, there’s at least something for me.” 

“Don’t you dare talk about my father like that,” Ferral growled, “Plus, you’re not one to talk. You wanted us to be used as weapons.” “Yes, because that was going to be your original purpose. To be sold off for wars, but Victor is talking about the complete extinction of the human race.” “And that's better. Means no more wars and violence, he’s doing it for the benefit of humanity.” “Do you hear yourself, boy? I don’t know what he promised you, but it’s not the grand utopia you think it’ll be.” “And how do you know?” “Because he told me about the same plan, but the REAL version. Look, I’m bad, but Victor is completely off the deep end. He’s insane, bent on controlling everything and everyone.”

Ferral scowled, “My father wants peace.” “That man wants to be a god! He doesn’t want peace, he wants control! A society where he dictates what comes and what goes.” Ferral brushed his words off and started walking toward his room, but Atlas grabbed his left shoulder and turned back him around. “Listen to me! Open your eyes, it’s not going to be some dream world, it’ll be a dystopia.” Ferral got in Atlas’s face, “And why should I EVER listen to you?” He sneered. “I wouldn’t tell you if it wasn’t for my own benefit. Besides, do you REALLY think your little friends will go along with your plans?” “I’ll convince them.” “And if they can’t be convinced?” “Then I’ll have them reanimated.” Atlas walked a few steps back in shock, “He told you about that? Damn him, he’s thought of everything to get you on his side.” 

As the two talked, Jack came up one of the elevators behind Atlas. “Doc, what’re you doin’ out?” He asked. Atlas gulped, “Just….stretching my legs.” He said, his back still turned. “Now doc, you know you’re not supposed to be out here. You’re on probation, remember?” Ferral watched Atlas, fear plastered on his face. As Jack got closer, Atlas reached into his coat pocket and stuck out his right hand to Ferral. “Take it.” He whispered to Ferral. It was a grey hard drive. Ferral hesitated, but Atalas insisted. “PLEASE.” He begged through his teeth. Ferral agreed and quickly grabbed it, putting it in his pocket. “Alright doc, I think you’ve stretched long enough.” Jack said. Atlas sighed and turned around, “You’re absolutely right. I’ll be going back now.” He walked past Jack and toward one of the elevators, leaving Ferral alone. “So, what’d y’all talk about?” Jack asked. “Nothing,” Ferral replied, “He was spouting nonsense, and I ignored him.” Jack nodded his head, “Did he give you anything by chance? Because it looked like he did.” Ferral kept a straight face and shook his head, “No, and even if he tried to offer me anything I wouldn’t take it.” “Then it must’ve been my imagination. Enjoy your day, kid.” He turned and walked off, Ferraling doing the same and going to his room.

As Atlas went back to room EC-4, he was met with Victor standing by his desk. “Hello, Armin.” He said, “Going for a walk, are we?” “Thought I could use the exercise.” Victor chuckled, “Right. Now, what’d you say to him?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “My son, what did you say to him?” Victor’s voice became more demanding. Jack entered the room, and Atlas knew he was surrounded. “I told him the truth.” “And do you think he’ll believe you?” “He will. That boy’s not as foolish as you think, he’s smarter than both of us.” Victor sighed, shaking his head, “Oh Armin.” Jack took out his gun and pointed it at Atlas’s head. He cocked it, Atlas turning around but it was too late, and was shot in the forehead. His body fell stiff on the floor, blood running out of the bullet hole. “What did you find out?” Victor asked. “Altas handed the kid something, but I didn’t see what it was.” “It was probably a drive with the actual plans.” Victor’s whole right hand morphed into a lizard's and he dug his claws into the desk, crushing the part he gripped. “Send security to his room, and get me whatever Armin gave him. I have come TOO FAR TO HAVE EVERYTHING FALL APART!!!” He shouted, and Jack nodded. “You got it, doc.” 

Ferral paced back and forth in his room, staring at the drive. Could he really trust Atlas? He was right about one thing; why would he say something if it didn’t benefit him? Ferral made up his mind and decided to look into the drive, but not in his room. He knew someone like Jack or his father would come and see what he was doing. So Ferral shattered the window in his room and dug his right hand into the side of the building. He transformed his feet to have a better grip and started crawling up the wall, making sure to stay out of sight from the windows. He went about three stories up before leaning to his left to see if anyone was in the room. When the coast was clear, he smashed the window with his left hand and leaped inside. Ferral went to the nearest computer and put in the drive, seeing the file pop up titled PROJECT: New World. Ferral opened it, and what he saw horrified him.

Meanwhile, Jack and six security guards made their way to Ferral’s room. Jack knocked on the door no one responded. He twisted the knob and the door opened, but when they walked inside they found the room was emptied. Jack saw the shattered window and cursed. “Split up and search throughout the building, we have to find that kid. Hurry!” They all split up, going into different elevators and searching various rooms. As they searched, Ferral held his left hand over his mouth in disbelief, trying his hardest to believe what he saw wasn’t real. All the while, he heard footsteps coming toward the room, so he quickly pulled out the drive and went out the window again. This time, going all the way up to the roof.

Once he got to the top, Ferral saw Victor sitting on the ledge with his eyes closed, seemingly waiting for him. Ferral pulled himself up and started walking toward him. “Father, I need to talk to you.” Victor’s eyes opened and he noticed Ferral. “What seems to be the problem, my son?” “Dr. Atlas gave me this hard drive. It contained information about the Organization planting chips inside every experiment and using a satellite to control them. Is this true?” Victor got up, his arm crossed. “Do you really believe that man, Ferral? After what he’s done to-” “Answer the question, is this true!” Ferral demanded. Victor sighed, as he began pacing. “You sound just like your mother. I tried to keep her, Amber, and all the non-higher-ups unaware. They just wouldn’t understand.” Ferral gasped, “So….it is true?” “I told you my plan, and you agreed.” “You promised me a peaceful world.” “And it is!” “Because we’ll be robbed of our free will.” “HUMANS DON’T DESERVE FREE WILL!!!!” Victor snapped, “Free will is the reason the hate, wars, and suffering even happen. Take away that, and there will be peace.” 

“That is not the way to true peace, father! Peace is when we are in agreement by our own will, not being forced to.” “That is impossible! Humans will never collectively agree on something! Don’t you get it?! Your mother didn’t agree with me and that’s why I killed her!” Ferral could feel the world titling, “You….what?” Victor’s eyes darted, not realizing he let that slip out. “She didn’t understand my goal. She didn’t grasp the reality that mankind is flawed to the point of unfixablity. So, after she gave birth to you, I killed her and made it look like she died during childbirth. It was the only way.” Ferral’s mind raced, and the world around him started spinning. “You’re…insane. You’re a monster!” “You were on board with the idea of killing off humanity before,” Victor hissed, “How is this any different?” “I want unity; to erase all the evil in the world. You want control and dictation. They are not the same.” You’re such a naive fool! Do you really think by expelling all the evil in the world now, more won’t show up? I can get rid of evil permanently and all at a very minor cost.” Ferral clenched his fists, “Not if I stop you first.” Victor chuckled, “You’ll never get the chance.” The elevator door dinged open and Jack’s group came out, shooting tranquilizers at Ferral. He didn’t have time to dodge them and was hit twice, almost instantly knocked out. He fell to the ground, everything started going dark.

When Ferral awoke, he was strapped to a stretcher, metal binds holding him down. As he thrashed around, Victor and Jack came walking inside the room. “Oh good, you’re finally awake.” Ferral’s father said. “No matter what you do, I’ll never help you!” “That’s okay, my son. Your compliance is no longer a factor.” He pulled out a small black remote with two buttons on it. “This is a smaller version of the satellite we build and sent into the atmosphere. It’s not as powerful, but it’ll do. Now, unlike Armin who would punish you by harming you physically, I’m different. I will break your mental spirit rather than your physical one.” He lifted and remote close to Ferral’s head, a red light blinking at the top of it. “All with the push of this button.” He pressed the top button and Ferral screamed out.