As my sight got cut off by the impact with the roof of the vehicle, my mind felt like it did when I first landed in the Fallout world. The memories of my new life were slammed into me before reforming in an instant, mostly thanks to [High Specs] sorting them in less than a second. Taking the next second to sift through them, I come to a few realizations. Like how this version of me, and isn't that a realization, had broken under Augustine's torture and had turned me into a sort of sleeper agent. There was also a massive change that instantly caught my attention.
'Why is there a new island there!?' I internally screamed, seeing the plans to use what was now an island focused on infrastructure and power as a conduit testing lab. The island in question was placed in the center of the river separating the two pieces of land that the game takes place in. It was further divided into five sections by the DUP so they could test different powers there. The first I noticed was called, "The Wire Field", where they would further test the viability of using MY power for a group of 'special forces' units. It's specifically set up for me, her special strike team, and Delsin now that I think about it, to train in our power usage in moving around.
The second area was focused on a different power, Glass, the runner up for being used over concrete. She would use and weaponize the power here, mainly due to the fact that this area is where she makes those power relays. Yeah, glass is the power that makes those things. Its name was "The Power Hub", also very original. The area next to it was going to be an experiment, and an insane one at that. Its name, "The Shadow Grid", and it was both the area that companies and gangs use for staying under the radar. The companies come here to make deals where no one can see it happen, and the gangs use it for completing deals with said companies. The power being used here? Darkness. They're going to give the gangs the same tech that they use to wield concrete, but this time it would be focused on darkness.
The next area would be called "The Firewall", and no, there are no fire related conduits here. The exact opposite actually, Plants, and they would make a literal wall around the next area. They'd use their manipulation of plants to build a living wall that could be used as an offensive defense, shooting out massive explosive seeds, sleep/paralysis inducing pollen, and steel like plant whips to attack those who get too close. The place they were protecting? It was called "The Core", and it was too. It was the literal core of the experiments that would be led there.
Augustine may have been intending to send me there as an experimental subject, but in The Core, that's where the main experimental subject will be housed. He doesn't have a name, he's someone who was trapped inside himself by his power. His power? Space, and he's not someone with telekinesis, no he has control over all space in his range. But that power has a cost, a massive tax on his mind, and he couldn't adapt fast enough to his power to keep his mind intact. That isn't to say he isn't still conscious, no he's still in there, his mind just can't act outside of sending signals of his senses to the monitors he'd be hooked up to. I know Augustine wants his power, but it's too unstable, though I never found out what she wanted it for.
Bringing the review of my memories to an end, I look up to see Hank glancing at the guards and the other two in the back of the vehicle with us, Eugene and Fetch. He started working his throat, coughing up a paper clip. 'Wait! He used an actual paper clip!? I thought that was just a metaphor for a makeshift key!' I mentally shouted, watching him use his mouth to pick the locks on our power suppression cuffs. He was quick too, only taking a few seconds before completing it and moving on to Fetch, Eugene, then me. He smirked and brought a finger up to his lips in a 'shhh' motion, before sitting back in his seat. I wondered why, until those memories came back to me as well.
Flashback — Prisoner loading bay — Curdan Cay
"Pssst, hey, you wanna get outta here?" Hank asked, whispering it under his breath when the guards were away. The me back then already knew he would ask that, I had been told to go along with it by Augustine so she could prove the DUP's necessity to the government and the public, along with an excuse to start her takeover of Seattle.
"Do you blink? YES! I want to get out of here!" I replied in a whisper shout, watching as Hank quickly looked around in panic before looking back.
"Alright alright, stupid question, I get it." Hank said, raising his cuffed hands slightly before continuing, "I need you to go along with my plan, I'll be busting us out during the ride over, you in?" he asked, showing what he thought was a winning smile. I pretended to look at him skeptically, before shrugging and responding with the prepared response.
"Fine, if it means a chance at getting out of this place, I'll take it." I said, watching his smile grow a bit bigger. Before he started to explain his plan.
Flashback end
We all sat in place, waiting for the moment when the least amount of vehicles would be with us, done so purposefully of course. It was supposed to look like the DUP treating us like safe prisoners, like we didn't warrant the use of multiple vehicles. The plan was for me to use my powers to stop the vehicle and force it to start smoking, allowing Hank to recharge and busting open the back door quickly. We'd move through the town and continue recharging our powers on the way to Seattle before we split up and vanish. Though, the plan Augustine had for me was to be captured on the way, to make it look like I was sacrificing myself so they could get away.
But I'm not going to follow that plan, I'm going along with the others. I'm gonna change as much as possible, and change the outcomes I hated while playing the game. Those drug dealers shouldn't have been let off as easily as they did, they were human traffickers for fuck sake! The gang that kidnapped all those conduits, the Akurans, they were running around the city with guns and NO ONE CARED! Hey, did you know that most conduits can't use their powers to much of any extent, and that most are no different from normal people. I'm willing to bet that most of those 'conduits' they grabbed were just normal people that they wanted to get rid of and used the excuse of them being conduits to do it.
Now that I think about it, most of those people were the ones that were against the DUP occupation and treatment of conduits, I actually remember that from Augustine's plans. That was a part of her and Celia's plan, Celia would kill the highest level supporters to cause chaos in the common people, and then I'd make contact with the Akurans to have them take lists of people after I found them. I'd follow them through the currents of the wires and mark them down. 'Fuck! There's Celia as well!' I think, trying to find a way to get Celia to betray Augustine with me. 'She's been with Augustine before there WAS a DUP …fuck it, I'll deal with it when it slaps me in the face!' I finish, feeling fed up with trying to think of plans while having the migraine to end all migraines, AGAIN!
Starting the plan, I stood up and extended my hands, watching as the guards started to notice our lack of cuffs. They were in on the plan too, though Hank would go a bit too far in getting out, but not this time.
*SKRREEEECH—SHRRRRRIP—GNNNKK!*
Ripping the wires from the vehicle I wrapped the guards up, grabbing the wheel and forcing it to the side. Why? Because I still need Hank to give Delsin his powers and get caught by Augustine, so she won't get suspicious too fast. I can just use the excuse of Hank getting hurt in the crash and us not having time to grab him. Saying I needed to keep them going the same way as what was planned. It's a weak excuse, but it'll work for at least a week at most. Everything should mostly follow the same line of events…should. Unless my migraine is making me forget things.
The vehicle finally starts to tilt, my thoughts slowing enough for me to continue with the plan. Conveniently' forgetting to fully cover the others enough to completely protect them. The crash happened and came out how it did in the game, Hank still ending up under the door through careful manipulation of the crash. I grabbed Eugene and motioned for Fetch to follow, climbing out of the back and past Hank. Looking around, I saw Reggie and Delsin, both looking dumbfounded by the sight of a crashed prisoner transport. Locking eyes with Delsin I get everything I need to know about him. 'White jacket? So it's obvious what direction this Delsin is going down then.' I think, having some of my plans shift and others be completely thrown out or reinforced.
Breaking my gaze away, I pull Eugene a bit before letting go and starting to run. He hesitated for a moment, but started to run after seeing that both me and Fetch actually were leaving Hank behind.
"H-Hey, are we really leaving Hank?" Eugene asked, not knowing if he should have gone back to help him or not.
"He'll be fine, so long as he isn't an idiot he can still reach Seattle in time." I say, trying to keep a certain pace for long distance running. Having to adjust to the lower physical capabilities without the full usage of [One-Eyed Ghoul] helping to strengthen me. Yes, [One-Eyed Ghoul] isn't actually on, it's just a pin to hold the other things in place. It lets me use the wires as [Rinkaku] tentacles, and [Claws] helps me make them sharper. They don't do much but it's something.
"One more thing!" I shouted, wanting to make sure the other two actually heard me. "Whatever you do, DO.NOT.KILL.ANYONE! We don't want to give the DUP or the public any real ammunition to use against us." I say, watching as both Eugene and Fetch's faces scrunched up, not liking my words.
"And what the fuck am I supposed to do!? Give everyone who tries to kill me hugs and kisses and hope they decide to stop killing me!?" Fetch shouted, her anger audibly rising. I sigh, knowing she was going to say something like that, but still not liking the course of events.
"Y-yeah! What are we supposed to do?" Eugene cut in, agreeing with Fetch. Making my frustration grow and the migraines worsen.
"You shouldn't help the DUP's plans in taking over Seattle, you shouldn't help the DUP's plans in taking conduits for their mad scientists to experiment on, you shouldn't let the news completely vilify all conduits!" I said, feeling my anger rise with every word because of the weight of all the plans I'm making and the new memories being shoved into my head. I didn't see how my rising anger and murderous intent leaked out, how it slammed into Fetch and Eugene, or how they straightened into obedience because of it. Neither did I notice the distinctive feeling of wires that the DUP uses, ones set up for me to notice right away.
"Fugative conduits spotted! Proceed with capture!" An automated voice spoke, announcing our presence to everyone in the area. Several DUP soldiers flooded out of vehicles into the road in front of us, trying to cut us off and capture us again. This would be the part where I would sacrifice myself for the others, but I'm not doing that.
*CHUNK—TWANG—SPZZZZT!*
Pulling wires and cords from the ground and the overhead powerlines, I bring them to myself, turning them into a Rinkaku replacement. Using them to raise me above the ground before sending them forward, wrapping them around every single one of the soldiers and picking them up, hanging them from light poles, power lines, and even against the vehicles. The more I trap the more wires I pull from the places they get trapped to, the miles of wire from the vehicles, the sturdy powerlines running above, the electricity filled wires in the light poles, all of them flooding into my form. As the wires and power lines enter my control range I add them to the collection of growing wires and cords, before sending them out and binding more of the DUP up.
Reaching the end of the street, I look back, seeing all of the soldiers either hanging from cords or being stuck to the sides of lamp posts and vehicles. All of them are still conscious, though unable to do anything but wiggle in place or swing around.
"Hey, come on, we gotta move!" I shouted towards Eugene and Fetch, who were still standing where I left them, looking dumbfounded by the amount of overwhelming force I just brought to bear. My shout breaks them out of their shock, before they start to run through the path left behind by me. Feeling my migraine flair for a moment, I decide to just grab them.
"H-Hey! What the-!" Fetch started before I just yanked her forward.
"Wha- hold on-!" Eugene tried to object, but just gave up after a few seconds.
"We don't have time for you two to look for power sources, I'll take us until you can find something to absorb!" I say, pulling all of the wires and cords into myself. The wires and cords break down into energy before being absorbed, allowing me to slim my form down to something quicker. Bringing Fetch and Eugene close, I start flinging us forward. The movements are jerky at first before leveling out to something resembling what squids do when they crawl along the sea floor. Following the path planned for the three to follow, we come across a conveniently placed DUP control truck, filled with digital screens and topped with neon lights. I don't stop, just grabbing the vehicle and bringing it close, tossing the soldiers out and tying them up on a light post.
"Here, recharge and keep moving!" I order, hearing Fetch and Eugene absorb everything from the control truck, before I rip out all of the wires from the truck and use them to create a wall of scrap metal and cords. Letting them go, I hear them start using their own means of moving, Eugene's angelic wings flapping and the quick, snappy movements of Fetch's neon sprinting. Finally being free to move more quickly, I latch onto the closest power line and connect to the power inside them, letting me essentially ride the currents of electricity. (A/N: Think about how you ride the power lines in Sunset Overdrive)
Remembering the layout of what direction Hank, Fetch, and Eugene were meant to follow, I start scratching out some roads and find ways we can cut through.
"Come on! We're cutting through the woods here, then we follow the tunnel onto the bridge!" I say, seeing both of them stumbling for a moment before correcting themselves and following. They seemed to hesitate for a moment, probably because there's no place for them to get more power, but they followed anyways.
Time skip — ~1 hour later
We continue through the woods, weaving through the massive trees until we break out onto the road again, the entrance to the tunnel leading to Seattle in view. There was no DUP presence yet, mostly because I pushed up our arrival here, completely changing the course of events.
"Alright, we go through here and over the bridge to Seattle, when we get there we DO NOT split up!" I explain, putting extra emphasis on the ending.
"And why the hell should we!? I mean, we barely know you!" Fetch shouted, feeling more confident now that she's around more sources for her power.
"Yeah! We don't need you bossing us around. We can totally handle it from here." Eugene said, glancing every so often at Fetch, making it rather obvious where his confidence came from.
"Because I know what she's planning~, I know more about what she's planning than she does! I've been sitting and listening to everything since before Curdun Cay was built! I was supposed to be a sleeper agent, but that bitch thinks she broke me! HAHAHAHA!" I exploded, feeling the memories of my life here trying to overtake my original memories, the constant checking of how the story went overlapping with how the plans in this world should have gone, and the constant need to keep an eye on these two overpowered mental cases.
"So believe me when I say, don't go off and kill a fuck ton of drug dealers~!" I say, looking towards Fetch, seeing her reel from away in shock at me knowing what she was planning to do. "Or going off and playing hero to people while sending demons after anyone who hurts conduits!" I continue, turning over to Eugene whose confidence drained away in an instant, showing the scared kid he still is. "Because it's all part of her plan for you two, now let's go and actually make a plan to take her down without making every normal person on the planet think conduits are monsters!" I finish, turning back to the tunnel entrance and riding the currents of the wires again, hearing Eugene and Fetch following a few seconds later.
Time skip —
Making our way out of the tunnel and out to the bridge, we see the city of Seattle, still untouched by the DUP. None of us spoke, but both of them followed me into the Queen Anne area, night already having fallen over the city. Staying in the shadows as best as possible, we made our way up to the top of a large building, allowing us to look over this section of the city.
"Here's the plan, I'll look for clothes and money," I begin, pointing a thumb at myself before pointing to Eugene and continuing, "Eugene, you'll look for shelter, somewhere no one will look for us at," before ending with Fetch, "Fetch, you'll look for places we can get food, either by stealing it or it being affordable with what money I can find." I finish, waiting to see if they have any questions.
"Uh… yeah, yeah, I can do that. I know some places… like, under the bridge, or… uh… I'll figure it out." Eugene said, swallowing a bit before standing a bit straighter, trying to act brave.
"Stealing dinner, huh? Way more my speed. Fine. Just don't take too long playing dress-up, I get cranky when I'm hungry." Fetch scoffs, trying to look like she wasn't ready to run off the next second. As she stops Eugene starts to shuffle a bit before speaking again.
"So, what, meet back here in an hour? Or…?" He asked, and I nodded.
"Yep, one hour. Don't get caught, and remember," I say, turning to Fetch before continuing, "don't kill anyone." She scoffs again before running off the side of the building and disappearing though an alley.
"This is insane…" Came Eugene's response, probably thinking I couldn't hear him.
"Yeah, but it's better to be insane than captured and turned into a vegetable." I say sarcastically, seeing him flinch a bit, before he manifested his dark red demonic wings and flying away.
"Smart, darker color means it's harder to find him. Anyways, time to find some cash and clothes…so where are all the people I can rob without anyone caring?" I say to myself, trying to find some kind of criminal activity–
*KRSHH! WAAAH—WAAAH—WAAAH!*
"Hello~ money~!" I say, grinning at the sound of a broken window and a car alarm. Unfurling wires from my arm, I jump before starting to swing in the alarms direction like a mix between Spider-Man and someone using ODM gear from Attack on Titan.
[Chapter 11 End]
A/N: About the chapter; I would write it, then I'd find something that just completely contradicted what I wrote, so then I'd rewrite it. Then it would sound like I was making Isaac into a half forgettable dlc character. So I'd rewrite it again and again.
So here's the end result, what I think is a good way to stay on track while also changing the story's outcome.
Did something not make sense? Did I mess up somewhere? Did you see a part where it felt like there should have been another paragraph? Because I feel like I may have forgotten something, but I know if I go back I'll just keep editing it over and over again until I give up.
Just, please remember that I'm writing this because I think it's fun and cool to see how my favorite characters interact with different things. I don't have a lot of experience with writing and don't know if I'm messing something up or not. So I'd be thankful if you could be patient with me. I'll get there, it'll just take a while.
Anyways, sorry for the rant. I hope you enjoyed what I've written, and that all of you who have read this far, and even those who haven't, have an incredible rest of your day/night.