"Shattered Truth"

[Reeves]

- - - - SECURE LOG PLAYBACK - - - -

Audio and Visual log of Test Number : 2

It was pitch black, nothing but occasional eerie streaks of blue were visible and distant growls from the anomaly.
It was probably a miracle Avery could even land in conditions like this.
In the cargobay, Kingston sat against the wall, his mind thinking solely on Elisa. He'd occasionally pick at the cuffs on his wrists, looking for a way to take them off. All attempts were futile.
The cargo-bay abruptly opened, Kingston's back rest now gone, causing him to roll out. The first thing he would probably notice were the squadron of armed guards in a circle around him.

He looked up at the guards, holding his hands up in defense. "Woah.. woah... easy.."
"Avery..?"
"Where is he..?" He looks around for Avery.

He gives him a pat on the shoulder to show he's behind him.

He turned his head, a feeling of sadness cast over him. "Hey.. there you are.."

"Standard containment procedures." He said in reply.
The guards grabbed hold of Kingston upon hearing that, dragging him off with them.

"Containment for what..?"
"Hey, hey! Containment for what!"

The Guards slowly tossed Kingston in a rather dull room, it was tiny and had only a bed inside it, overlooked by a darkened panel of glass, it felt like you were being watched inside the cell, even when there was nobody to see through the metallic walls.
Alex looked around, frightened, but not for himself. He saw the panel of glass, and knocked, hearing no answer.

He sat on the bed, resting his head on his hands. "Happy birthday indeed..."

"::State your name and rank for the record, please::"

"Huh.. oh.. um.." He clears his throat. "Commander Alexander Samuel Kingston.."

The voice sounded like it came from all around him, modulated and void of identifying factors like gender or emotion.
"::Do you know where you are?::"

"I, uh.. thought I heard the name Radford.."
"Virginia..?"

"::Do you know why you're here?::"

"No.."
"All I know is that.. Frak, man. I'm in the dark here.."
"This can't be about the op... can it..?"

"::Were you exposed to nomadic organisms?::"

"N-no.. If I was, they'd have found it.."
"Both Cambridge and Willard checked me thoroughly.."

"::Is your wife's real name Elisa Cellier?::"

He stopped, and looked towards the ground. Hearing her name only brought memories of her, which only made him leak tears.
"Yes.."

"::Are you a religious man?::"

"Not.. really, no.."

"::Please remain calm.::"

"I'm.. sorry.. I just miss my wife.."

There's several clicking noises and then a continual hiss as the room floods with an alien looking gas.

"Huh..?"
"Hey.. woah... wh-what is this stuff..?"

"::Remain seated and calm.::"

"It's not.. gonna hurt me.. is it?"

"::We do not know.::"

He sits on the bed, breathing erratically. "Eli.. please.."
The gas being a pure concentration of Azurite would lure out the incubi and possible infestation inside Alex if there was one. It would force the Incubi into a false state of security, thinking it was in the presence of allies and its 'home'.
Alex continues to remain seated, nervously looking around as if he was in a room filled with bees.
Nothing comes out of him, except the hastened breaths he drew in and out.

"Neural scans so far were normal sir."

"Either he's not infected or the incubi's smarter." Avery said in reply to the scientist just beside him.

He whispers to himself. "Please... please, please, please..." It was as if he was having a mild panic attack.
The gas slowly drained itself out of the room after ten minutes.

Alex looked around, still breathing erratically. His arms were covered in goosebumps, and he was practically shivering inside himself.
"Sir...what now?"

"There's never a set way to deal with these cases, the anomaly always manifests itself differently, the key is the trigger."

"::Have you been experiencing any pain lately?::"

"The... b-back of my head.."

"::Describe the pain.::"

"Th-throbbing... like a .. r-really bad.. nn-headache.."

"::When did this pain start?::"

"Not.. long after I got... r-released from w-w-Willard.." He rubs his hands against his arms, trying to calm himself down.

"::Have you been able to identify any triggers for this pain?::"

"N-n-no..."

"::You are here because of possible infection.::"

"Wh-w-what..?"
"Oh.. good god.."
"No.."
"Please.. tell me I'm clean."
"For the love of god, tell me I'm clean!"

"::You will remain in quarantine until infection can be determined.::"

"Can.. can I speak.. with someone..?"
"Through.. maybe a comm or.."
"Please.."

"::You are a danger to the external populace until determined clean.::"

"I.. just want to talk with.. Avery.."

"::You are.::"

"Over the.. s-spe-- wh.."
"Avery.."

"Right here."

"Hey.."
"Listen.. the things I said.."

"Were justified, but I would never hurt her."

"Please.. take care of her.. until they prove I'm clean.."

"I promise."

"Thank you.." Several more tears begin to form in his eyes.

"::Remain calm.::" There's several clicking noises again but a sucking noise this time.

"::Azurite dampeners active.::"

"We're trying to either draw out or kill potential incubi, stay calm." There's an audible rumble as the noise grows louder.

He's too lost in thought to listen, his mind focused on Elisa.

"You need to fight this."

"Fight what..?"
"I'm not.."
"I was cleared.."
"Seventeen tests said so.."
"I just want to be with my wife.."

"::We cannot risk the safety of others without obtaining clear determination::"

"I know.."
"I'm not infected.."
He lets out a long sigh, before lying down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"Check his scans again."

"Cross referencing with a recent anomalous detection."

He whispers to himself bits of gibberish he's said over the years of his service.
"Damn jelly pricks.."
"Stupid goddamned war.."
"'Old grudge'..."
"Hmph.."

"You're going to make this through this..."
"So help me God I'll come in there and pull it out myself if I have to."

"Pull what out, Avery.."
"I'm not infected.."

"Back at the estate...your eyes..."

"I'd know if I was.."

"No you wouldn't, infectees never know they are."

"Frak me.."

He covers his eyes with his hands, and then lets them fall off the side of the bed. "I'm royally screwed, aren't I?"

"Only if you give up."

"What choice do I have, Avery?"
"It's either stay here and pray there's not a bug inside me, or wait it out and let it kill me as a final nail.."

"Fight. With all the strength of mind and body you have."

"Frak... just.. frak them.."
"Aliens.. infectees.. all of 'em.."
"Just.. frak them all.."
He thinks back about a minute. "Wait.."
"My eyes..?"
"What happened to my eyes?"

"Have you seen an infectee before?"

"Kind of.."
"They were pictures recovered from Heaven's Gate.."

"They were purple, from end to end, just a split second , but I saw it because I was looking right at you."
"My H.U.D snapped a picture of it and alerted me...that's why I shot at you all of a sudden."

"Damn.."
A tile on the wall in front of Kingston comes to life, displaying the picture in question.
He leans his head up, looking at the picture. His eyes were clearly glowing purple, but very faintly, and nothing quite as extreme as the standard infectees.
"It's.. faint.."
"But.. it's there.."
"Jesus Christ.."

"::Correct::"

"I don't... feel anything though.."
"Maybe I'm not supposed to.."
"Agh! Frak these damn bugs!" He slams his head down on the bed in anger, his fists clenching and his eyes staring up at the ceiling.

"::Remain calm::"

"I'm trying... you try and stay calm when there could be some.. frakking alien swimming inside you.."
"See how you can deal with it.." He un-clenches his fists and turns on his side. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small bit of paper, looking at it with a light smile.

"::We are attempting to rid the infection. Rather than take standard procedure::"
He keeps looking at the bit of paper, pulling it to his lips, and putting it back into his jacket pocket.
He turns back onto his back, looking up at the ceiling.

"I'm.. not infected, but.. how are you gonna do it..?"

"::The Commander has over-ruled standard protocol, we will try any measures that can rectify this situation::"

"Just.. please, make sure that I get home to Eli.."
"Be it.. by myself, or.."

"::Standard procedure is termination, current procedure is non-standard::"

"Well.. Thank you.. Avery, I guess.."
"But.. how do we even know I'm..?"
"Are you for certain..?"

"::Certainty in these cases is difficult::"
"::Nomadic infestation is near impossible to detect, even the infected individual does not know::"

"'Near-Impossible'?" He puts his hand to the back of his head again, the spot from before having evolved into a strange bump. He twitches, the bump bringing along pain.

"::Fifty six pending cases, but only seven confirmed infectees::"
"::You are not the only quarantined individual here::"

"I figured as much.."

"::Admirals of the secondary fleet, officers many of the same field. All with tactical importance are kept alive in hopes of drawing out or eradication infectation, there has been no success in removal of infection post-exposure::"
"::All infected subjects that were confirmed have thus far been terminated::"

"That's.. n-not.. very reassuring.."

"::The current hope is in the law of probability::"
"::That one case out of the many will form an exception to the general rules and shed light on the workings of such cases::"

"Glad to know the probability of my life being saved is a statistic..." He clenches his fist again, the pain from the back of his head growing again.
"Nghh..." He kept groaning and muttered "Gah... dammit..."
The voice of those observing go silent, more focused on watching his current reaction.
He sits himself up, siding his feet off the side of the bed. He yells somewhat loudly, the pain in the back of his head spiking.
The armed guards standing outside the door of his cell grow somewhat tense, keeping their rifles raised.
Kingston suddenly stops yelling, sitting almost limp for a few seconds.
After several seconds, a large blue mass erupts from his mouth, sending him backwards across the bed. The blue mass begins to shriek and claws at the darkened glass.
Alex falls off the side of the bed, unconscious.
A guard kicks the door open, tossing a net over the blue mass and shocking it into silence.
"Containing incubi."
The other guard makes sure Kingston is secure, checking him multiple times.
"Take that thing into maximum containment, I want every test possible run on it."
Alex lies there, motionless. The lump on the back of his head is gone, but still feels rather tender.
"Incubi secure." The guard drops it into a rather large but transparent box, made out of a material similar to the observation glass.
The creature shrieks as high as it can go. It looked very unreal, resembling a bluish octopus with a longer arm with a mouth on the end.
"Marshals."
"Yes, sir?" Both the guards respond
"Good work...and thank you."
They nod in response, one of them carrying Alex to the medbay and the other taking the incubi to maximum containment.

- - - - PLAYBACK COMPLETE - - - -

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On indefinite hiatus because the current state of gameplay sucks - ping me over discord if replies are needed