ABYSSFALL ONLINE

CH. 09 : PROJECT SUPER-MUTANT

Eventually they reached the Vanguard Command Strike Base. Located in the heart of the city, beyond the red zone. The blast doors hissed shut with Trevor and Lyssa being shoved forward like common criminals.

Trevor didn't say anything just yet, but Lyssa, she was drowning a pit of regret. Cursing herself for trusting a stranger. 

“Keep moving, freaks!” One of the guards barked, shoving Lyssa forward because she was slowing down. 

Trevor's eyes widened immediately as he sought to move towards Lyssa. “Hey! Be gentle with her!”

 The guard who had shoved Lyssa aside raised a brow. He examined Trevor with disgust and grabbed his collar immediately. “And who do you think you are to say a word?”

The guard punched Trevor hard in the face, hard enough to send Trevor down in one clean swoop.

Lyssa, who was already far ahead with the other guard, noticed the commotion behind her, her eyes withered with confusion as to why Trevor tried to defend her.  

“Move!” The guard with her shoved her again. 

“Ugh! I'm moving already.” Lyssa argued back but she focused more on walking forward. 

All her life, since the apocalypse began, she'd been avoiding one place and now she was in it; with no way out. 

Meanwhile, Vask entered his office where he dropped his gun and took off his jacket. It was a simple four corner room with little space for a desk, a chair and a system. 

He sat on the desk and reached into his pocket to pull out a slim rectangular shaped device. He made a few clicks on it and placed it on the desk and walked around for a bit. 

The dialing tone ends almost immediately, succeeded by a familiar voice from earlier. 

 “You better have good news, Vask.” The voice sounded dark and unfriendly. It wanted results and nothing else. 

 Vask rubbed his palm with excitement as he paced towards the desk. “Fortunately I have good news!”

“Then spill.”

“We caught the healer girl.” Vask started. 

“Great!” 

Vask briefly stroked his chin “But… we also captured the man with her. The one who used our missiles against us.”

Serenity crept into the call for almost a moment before a static feedback sent it running. “Have you gotten rid of him?”

Vask's jaw slightly dropped, “Sir…”

 “You said it yourself… the man could catch a missile,” The voice said and added, “We don't know who or what the man is and he's right in our base, what if he's a walking bomb preparing to detonate the whole base, then what?”

Vask swallowed, he honestly didn't think of it that way. In fact, Vask thought if he captured the latter, he'd gain some sort of reward but no… he was damn wrong.

  “Sir…I believe we can make him one of our soldiers, people like him will be a great addition to the team.”

 “Are you even listening to yourself?” The voice questioned him. “Let me tell you something, Vask, if you by any chance lose the healer. I'll take your head off myself.”

“...” Vask eyes popped through their sockets.  

“Lyssa Kent is important to authority, keeping her safe is what matters now and not some stranger who we barely know anything about.” The voice added. “Dispose of him immediately and prepare for Lyssa Kent Transportation.” 

Vask heaved a sigh and replied in a doleful tone “Yes sir…” 

…

Trevor on the other hand was led into a high tech containment chamber, the atmosphere so cold it was freezing in there. Trevor was thrown into what looked like a cylindrical prison with reinforced glass.

When Trevor touched it, the result; he was bolted against the other end of the prison causing another massive shock, electrifying his entire body; forcing out an agonizing inhuman cry from Trevor.

He crashed flat on the floor like a roasted animal. Smoke hurled out of his skin as he tried to catch his breath. 

“He survived…” One of the lab attendants commented on his durability. “If it were any other mutants like we've encountered so far…they would have been dead.”

“So what are you saying Mrs. Carol?” Vask's voice dropped into the chamber as the doors hissed open. 

“C-commander…” She stuttered.  

Vask didn't even look at her, he had his eyes locked on Trevor. 

 “Commander I am not sure of what I'm looking at her” She managed to look down the rectangular tab. “It says here he should be dead but he isn't, he has a remarkable level of durability unlike any other mutant we've seen.”

Vask nodded in agreement but, those eyes of his, they never left Trevor.  

“The electrical discharge was about 120 and he is still breathing.” She added, her eyes tracking Vask gaze. It was on the prisoner; Trevor. 

 Vask hummed a bit before saying. “Can you weaponize him for my team?”

 “What?”

 Vask didn't repeat himself, he believed he already made himself loud and clear. 

“Sir… We've never weaponized a mutant before, talkless of ever securing one.” She tried to remind him of their failed attempts but Vask…

“Do it again…” Vask gave the order. “The authorities want him disposed, but I want him weaponized immediately.”

Mrs. Carol swallowed hard. “Are we going against the authorities' decision now?”

Doing something on your own without anyone's approval is fine, but doing something that's against the authorities is entirely different thing that only Mrs. Carol seems to understand and which Vask is being oblivious to.

“...the authorities are turning a blind eye to a super mutant, I am not, hence why I'm taking advantage of the opportunity I have now. Begin the procedure to weaponize him, by the time we're done, I trust the authorities will reward me for presenting to them a super mutant!”

Trevor vision flickered, the system interface bled into his consciousness with a series of red tabs with the warning sign!

[ Ding! ]

…

[ Warning! The Vanguard Commander Has Issued A Procedure To Weaponize Into A Super mutant underneath his control! ]

…

[ Warning! The Vanguard Commander Has Issued A Procedure To Weaponize Into A Super mutant underneath his control! ]

…

‘What the hell?’ he spat out in his distorted state.

But the tabs didn't stop coming. Trevor forced himself up; he found Vask Triumphant's gaze, boring into his soul, “Hurry up Mrs. Carl… Project Supermutant begins now.”