The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago The Coalition Debriefing: Russel

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Nilum

The Wanderer Returned
Benefactor
The Coalition Debriefing: Russel
(( @Axl & @Nilum ))​

Russel arrives home and watches The Old Guard soldiers file away from The Coalition’s own soldiers almost as soon as they arrived. A beaten, tired feeling permeates the air from most of The Coalition’s soldiers as the crowds make way for them to arrive at the entrance of the Bunker. There, they see Carolyn handing a wounded Jenive to a medical team. Carolyn looks at each of The Coalition’s soldiers, a look of distrust and disappointment in her eyes. It was clear from that one look alone that whatever good will they may have once had, it was long, long gone. One person in particular is singled out, as Carolyn passes by Gabriel, she mutters one word under her breath.

“Traitor.”

Once inside, they are each searched and admitted inside one by one. He reaches their turn to be debriefed, and starts walking down a few tight, small corridors. They reach the interrogation room from earlier, and... Pass it by. Instead, he reaches an elevator just beyond it, and is taken deeper into the Bunker. Past level 1, past level 2... Wait. Russel looks at the wall and realizes that they were going deeper than the elevator map’s plans showed. There was no level 5, and yet, here they were. Once they reach the bottom, they see Adrik standing there—arms crossed behind his back. “Come with me.”

Russel walks with them, down a long, dimly lit hallway. At the end was a single door, leading into a large, dark room. The door was made out of a strange metal. It reflected light, but nothing else. It was certainly not naturally made.

Inside, the area is left in darkness, though a few steps confirmed metal plating underneath his feet. Adrik stays outside and closes the door behind him. A single light hangs from the ceiling, giving just enough light to show a beautiful, ornate wooden desk. Behind it stood a man in a suit, holding an empty wine glass. Behind him, a large monitor, that was attached to a metal pole that stretched out into the darkness. There were hints of hydraulic lines on it—it could possibly be moved. The man’s face is obscured in darkness, though his distinctively smooth voice gives him away. “It’s nice to see you... Perhaps you have met me, perhaps not. I am Ryan Dufont.”

The monitor lights up suddenly, and the entire room is bathed in a dark blue light. Though it takes a moment for Russel’s eyes to recover, he is able to discern that the room is circular in construction. All around are a myriad of sensors and drones—machines serving various purposes, here and there—technologies that, even for advanced Pilots, were borderline incomprehensible. “I think it is time that your trust in our rational ways was rewarded... I think it is time for you to learn some truths. We already know what all of you have done—we were watching, from above. What I am about to tell you is classified to the highest degree. If you don’t approve of this, leave, now. The door is unlocked. If you stay, understand that if you tell anyone what you have learned here today? The empty shell we leave behind that may have once held your will and mind will say whatever we want it to... There are some fates worse than death. Understand?”
 
Russell turns to face the desk as he removes his helmet, his expression somewhat more grim than usual. He had seen Jenive's face after the mission, and he did not enjoy the expression that was now burned into his mind. The face of despair. Nevertheless, his silence didn't last long, and he answered in a gruff fashion. "I wholly understand. After what I have seen and done today, I wouldn't think of betraying the Coalition." He pauses, looking across to the man behind the desk, searching his face. "Well, then, sir. If I may, what would you have of me?"
 
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Ryan puts the empty wine glass down on the desk. As he does, he reaches into the desk and pulls out a small remote-looking device. "I only wish that you learn some truths about your enemy. Most of the Council disagreed with me on doing this, but enough is enough--I need at least some of my men educated on the threat they're facing." He flicks a switch on the device, and the monitor flickers. A few of the drones around the room move together, and about five feet away from Russell, they work together to project a holographic image. It was Evelyn, though she was wearing a lab coat. "Her full name is Evelyn Tenebris. She came to us several years ago--the specific time, I am not allowed to disclose. With a demonstration of her powers, we agreed to help her in her experiments with genetic manipulation--or, as she called it, awakening. The end result of her experiments was that we had to drop a nuclear weapon on one of our colonies to ensure that the hell she spawned did not escape... I know because I was there to witness it all, when I was just five years old."

He presses another button on the remote, and the monitor flickers once more, this time displaying a scientific document. The specifics of which were grotesquely complicated, and far beyond Russell's ability to grasp. "The truth is, we know far more about this enemy, and the old world, than we admit to the public. Mainly because, if the public ever knew how monumental an enemy they faced, they would turn on each other out of paranoia. Evelyn Tenebris is not a human being--at least, not so far as we would define her. All of her cells have been reprogrammed with a DNA recoding agent that is not found in nature, because the old world governments created it. They function at a complex level that essentially ensures that each and every individual cell is ever mutable to any task required of it. The chemical composition can be rewritten at will within the host, seemingly only limited by experience in doing so."

Ryan steps out from behind the desk and makes a simple hand gesture. The drones splice the image of Evelyn in half, displaying her interior. "There are no organs. They don't need to breath like you and I do. Their entire body is comprised of millions, sometimes billions of these cells. They can rewrite these cells to mimic muscle tissue, armour, or other materials both natural and unnatural. This allows them to perform superhuman feats, or even feats beyond that which is possible for nature--such as telepathy. All of their cells are interconnected in a complex network that makes the nervous system look like a child's science experiment, and these cells can call out and detect each other--meaning that each and every one of them can near instantly know each other at sight, even if they're disguised. Every cell is also capable of carrying memories, or even computer data if they could get a hold of it. Their only limitations are defined by their level of stress, and how many cells they have remaining which are functional.

What you are looking at is the perfect organic machine. What you are looking at... Is the end stage of mutagens. The cells located within every mutant's body, which we use to give them small powers--a pale imitation. We code them for a single purpose, these... Beings, are capable of recoding them on the fly. Their entire body is consumed by these mutagens. They don't even have blood, really. The orange liquid they seep is a reactive agent that exists purely to consume whatever organic material it touches. What you saw when chunks of the large monstrosity we destroyed hit a couple of our soldiers--they were being consumed alive and converted into mutagenic material. There is a catch, however."

He motions the drones away, and steps through the hologram as it disappears. The monitor behind him flickers, and shows more detailed specifics about the cells. "Remember what I said, about these creatures having no organs? That includes the lack of a brain-counterpart... The cell network operates both as the central nervous system, and as memory storage. Cells can be shifted to and from memory storage. This presents two interesting effects. First of all, none of these cells are their original counterparts--they are copies. Whoever Evelyn was before these cells consumed the entirety of her body, is now merely a hollow shell, perpetuated by the cloned memories. Many of which are likely fragmentary. Secondly, that it's difficult for these beings to maintain emotional and mental stability without what can only be assumed to be the proper training. If you were to disrupt the cells responsible for maintaining memory, the individual in question would either go totally mad, or inert."

He takes a few steps back, and presses a button on the remote. The monitor flickers, and shows a picture of the orange fog. "Finally, the fog is a crude form of terraforming. It's a new trick of hers. The atmosphere itself is comprised approximately 20-40% out of these organic cells. When one of her kind take injuries within this fog, they are quite literally mended by simply standing in it. Seeing as how these organic cells were once other forms of organic matter, it can only be assumed that the atmosphere in this area was once made out of the plant life there... And the animals... And the people. What you're looking at is the extinction of our species if it is allowed to spread."

With that said, Ryan steps back up to his desk, and pulls out a bottle of wine. He pops off the cork, and pours himself a glass of wine. Before he drinks it however, he glances at Russell. "Oh, and one last thing. Based on what few documents and news articles we have from the old world, we know Evelyn lived during that time. While a precise estimate of her age is nearly impossible, she must have been alive before the fall of civilization... It's very possible she even helped it along. Which, coincidentally, makes her at least one hundred and eighty years old."
 
What little colour in the soldier's face drained away as the horrifying truth of the matter was exposed to him, his eyes going wide as his mind began to race with all of the possibilities that this opened up. He takes a step back in shock, as his eyes go from the hologram of Evelyn to Ryan's face, and back again. "If this is true, then... All of those people... All of those mutants... We would be surrounded by living time-bombs..." The soldier spent a few moments in contemplative silence, as he imagined the situations where the mutant woman was allowed to succeed. He shakes his head, clearing his mind of the thoughts, however temporarily, before his gaze goes back to Ryan. "...How can we stop this from happening?"
 
"We contain them, as we have any other threat." Ryan sips his glass of wine and wrinkles his nose, apparently unsatisfied with the taste. Nonetheless, he places his bottle of wine back where it was before, stands up, and starts pacing back and forth in front of the monitor. His shadow stretches out across the desk, and occasionally he blocks the light of the monitor from Russel. "We will need a couple of weeks to prepare. When the time comes, return to the recruiting area, and ask for Adrik. He will fill you in, as he always has." The door behind Russel opens, though Ryan pauses, and glances over toward the scarred man with questioning eyes. "One thing I must ask... Why did you refuse Jenive's order to retreat with the rest, and secure the package?"
 
Russell looks past Ryan at the screen, his brow furrowing slightly. "Contain them..." He mutters absent-mindedly under his breath, his eyes studying the contents of the screen. He slowly nods as he recieves his next orders, his expression softening a bit. "Why, you ask? Good question..." He pauses for a brief moment, contemplating the question. "Looking back on it now, I could give you multiple reasons that could explain it, such as the fact that losing Jenive would be a crippling blow to the Coalition in Bunker Chicago, or that the fact she was a secondary objective, or the fact that we faced down that... Thing," He motions towards the hologram display of Evelyn Tenebris. "But... I think what it all comes down to is that even under all this technology, under my crippling sickness... I am only human. And too many people spend their lives looking out only for themselves in Bunker Chicago. I apologize for disobeying orders, but I do not regret my decision."
 
Ryan maintains a questioning look for a moment, then smirks and shakes his head as he sits back down behind his desk. "I merely wished to know. It is good that you saved her life, she is useful to the cause... You may go, now."
 
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