Chronal Disassociation Ch. 44

The waiting was the worst part.

Lena exhaled slowly, forcing herself to stay still. She was in position inside a dilapidated building joined by Sombra next to her, while the others were elsewhere. Right now, she had a clear line of sight of almost everyone, including Captain Amari on one of the other buildings.

It had been decided that she and Angela would be laying low for a bit, by virtue of their equipment having the unfortunate side effect of glowing bright neon blue and yellow. Said medic was on a higher vantage point, her Valkyrie suit being better suited to fly down from up on high onto anyone that needed it.

For now, Archer was their eyes. Every second stretched into eternity as Archer moved unseen through the bunker, feeding them information through their comms.

"Multiple hostiles inside. Mostly lower-level operatives. No sign of O’Deorain yet, nor can I see signs of the hostages." His voice was calm, methodical, "But there’s a secured wing deeper in. Heavy encryption on the door. If she’s anywhere, it’s there."

On the outside, everything was going smoothly for everyone else. However, this wasn’t entirely the same for Lena, not when Archer was talking through her head.

“Looks like I’ll have to upgrade Talon from ‘mild annoyance’ to ‘somewhat capable gnat’.”

‘What happened?’ Anything that worried Archer of all people was automatically worrying for Lena, even if the Spirit tried to sound nonchalant about it.

“Spiritual barrier of some kind. Artificial, but one strong enough to block out my astral form from entering the room through the walls. Not something I’m entirely unfamiliar with, just unusual that Talon has the capability of making one.”

‘Will it be a problem for you?’

“If I want to enter undetected? Yes. Especially since Talon has someone capable of making barriers like this. Though, it’s not surprising that they’d take measures against me since Ogundimu knows what I am.”

‘How’d they even do that?’ Lena frowned as she continued the conversation. It worried her that Talon was able to even make a barrier in the first place. Just how were they able to do so?

Apparently, Archer didn’t share in her worry as he sent her the mental equivalent of a shrug, “Strong enough spiritual influences and beliefs, mostly. I know of a temple in Japan that has a barrier like this that was put into place by some monks to ward off evil spirits. Since Servants are still technically spirits, it works to block us out as well. I could break this one quite easily, to be honest, with how weak it is. But doing so would be detrimental to any hostages that might be in there. For now-”

“Sombra, how long do you need to crack open the door?” Archer continued out loud through their comms.

Sombra’s fingers danced over her holographic display, "The door’s easy pickings, but I won’t be able to do anything to it without tipping off anyone physically watching it. Once we go loud, we’re on the clock."

Captain Amari’s eye flicked to the remaining Talon patrols, "Then we make sure they can’t respond in time." She glanced at Cassidy and Genji. "Take out the patrols. Quietly."

"You're telling me to go quiet?" Cassidy complained, though he still made his way over to the targets, "Don't blame me if my quiet is still louder than sin."

With dexterity that Lena could barely believe the rugged cowboy was capable of, Cassidy rolled from cover to cover, avoiding any and all sightlines as even the pilot could barely spot him. Genji was already up on the roofs, striking silently at any personnel he could find.

Sombra didn't need any more signals, opening her holo-screen and typing away. Almost immediately, the hacker started to speak, "Patrol Echo, there's a disturbance over in sector G4, go check it out." Her voice had changed to that of an older male's as she did so.

Lena stared at the hacker, even as she watched Sombra's screen, showing a group of four men making their way over to an unremarkable patch of grass. Up until Genji dropped down on them and sliced through them with silent efficiency.

It was brutal.

Lena hated how easy it was.

They continued to whittle at the patrols, with Sombra essentially acting as all of the now very much dead patrols by synthesizing their voices into a facsimile of patrol comms. If anyone were to listen into the radios, they would find nothing amiss as every single check in was answered right on time.

Still, neither Genji nor Cassidy had reported the appearance of the minigun wielding man, who at this point they knew had to be higher on the totem pole from the deference of the Talon agents at the doorway.

No matter. That man wouldn’t be able to do much so long as they finished this quietly as possible.

Lena adjusted her grip on her pulse pistols, the weight familiar in her hands. The seconds ticked by, each one measured in the steady rhythm of Sombra’s keystrokes and the occasional muffled thud of a body hitting the ground.

"Patrols are clear." Genji reported, his voice barely above a whisper in the comms. "No sign of resistance inside the perimeter."

"Good." Amari replied, "Sombra, how’s that door coming?"

The hacker smirked, fingers never slowing, "Almost there. These encryption protocols are cute, almost like they want me to break in." A final tap, and the heavy blast door at the bunker’s core emitted a soft hiss before sliding open, "And we’re in. No alarms triggered...yet."

Lena tensed. Too easy. Talon wasn’t sloppy, and O’Deorain sure as hell wasn’t careless.

“Archer, you’re clear to move in. Oxton, you move in behind him, I’ll cover you. Cassidy, continue your wrap around, I’ve got a feeling that we’re not going to be alone for much longer.” Captain Amari ordered through the comms, the Spirit giving a voiceless click in response.

Lena was already moving to the bunker as soon as her name had been called. She Blinked forward, past the last two unaware guards, who both were shaken out of their boredom as a streak of blue shot past them. Their heads were subsequently pasted as two near-silent sniper shots hit them in quick succession.

The inside of the bunker was what Lena had expected. Cramped, dusty, and incredibly utilitarian. There was only one real way through the entire thing, and Archer had clearly been busy going by the number of bodies that were either unconscious or worse.

All of the cameras that were inside were on, going by their lights. Though, considering that said lights were purple, she had no doubt that Sombra had already gotten to them. Eventually, after Blinking through more hallways filled with bodies, she found Archer waiting in front of a heavier door with an electronic lock of some sort. As was the norm by now, it was glowing purple instead of whatever color it really was, courtesy of Sombra.

“I thought you were going through?” She whispered to the man, keeping her voice low in case someone was listening beyond the door.

“Thought you’d appreciate my waiting.” He snarked back with a smirk, one that still held some seriousness, “How ungrateful of you, Oxton.”

She snorted in response. In reality though, she did appreciate it. This mission was personal, and Archer knew that, “Thanks, seriously. Now let’s go save Ames, yeah?”

“I’ll take point.” The red-clad man nodded to her as they approached the door, “Amari, there’s a chance that comms will be down the further we go in.”

“I’ll send someone down as soon as we’ve completely cleared the area. Right now, those hostages take priority.”

It said a lot that the captain was sending just the both of them down. Either she trusted that Lena would be fine as the only backup Archer needed, or she was confident that the Spirit would be able to handle anything they came across.

It was likely the latter, if Lena were honest with herself. Her entire job here was going to be extracting the hostages as fast as possible while Archer was the real powerhouse.

As soon as they opened the door though, all of that flew out of the window.

“What the fuck?”

Lena had to cover her nose as the stench of rot filtered into her lungs. Even the silver-haired man had to recoil in disgust as they were veritably assaulted by the smells.

The hallway further in had completely changed. Where behind them, there was the stereotypical tunnel that any old bunker would have. Beyond though, was something straight out of a horror movie.

Thick, glistening masses bulged from the cracks, like tumors forcing their way through concrete. Flesh, veined and slick, throbbing in a slow, rhythmic pulse. A heartbeat. Lena stared, her breath catching, as the thing in the walls twitched. Not growing. Not healing. Just existing, in defiance of sense, of nature. A wet, meaty whisper filled the air as it shifted.

She took a step back. The walls were breathing.

“I’m going to be sick, oh fuck…” Her hand reached for her stomach as the smell continued to waft around them. However, something moved before she could empty her lunch onto the floor. Lena fought back against the urge to throw up, readying her pistols, but Archer held her arm as he stared deeper into the hallway.

There.

Above, on the ceiling. Another mass of flesh. Ball-shaped.

It blinked.

An eye as large as a head blinked at her, eyelids that had to be as long as her arms opening and closing. It stared at them.

And she could see the emotion behind them.

Fear. Horror. Pain.

A raspy whisper. Two, three. From all over the hallway, whispers reverberated in her bones. Ones that, even as she covered her ears, she could hear.

“Kill me.”

“It hurts so much.”

“Help me, help me please.”

Swords burst into the air, impacting the walls. In an instant, the walls were lit with fire, and unholy screeches began ringing out.

Lena stumbled back, pulse pistols raised but shaking in her grip.

Archer didn’t hesitate. His blades flickered in and out of existence, each strike precise, each burst of flame deliberate. The hallway convulsed, the masses recoiling like wounded animals. But they didn’t die. They couldn’t die. Not like this.

“Oxton.” His voice cut through the noise, sharp, “Move. Now.”

She swallowed bile and forced her legs to work. They sprinted down the corridor, the squelching underfoot making her stomach lurch. The deeper they went, the worse it got. The walls weren’t just infested anymore, they were alive, pulsing in time with the muffled sobs that echoed around them.

Then the hallway opened into a chamber.

Lena’s breath hitched.

The room was a grotesque mockery of a lab. Tables lined the space, each one occupied by a body - or what was left of one. Limbs fused to metal, torsos split open and stitched back together with glowing veins, faces half-melted into the surfaces beneath them. And at the center, standing over a writhing figure strapped to a surgical table, was Moira O’Deorain.

The scientist didn’t even look up, “Ah. You’re earlier than I anticipated.” Her voice was calm, almost amused, “I suppose I should thank you for disposing of the failed specimens. Saves me the trouble.”

Lena’s finger twitched against the trigger, “You monster.”

O’Deorain  finally turned, her mismatched eyes flicking between them, “Monster? No. A monster would have left them to suffer. I, at least, gave them purpose.”

Archer’s swords materialized again, but scientist raised a hand, a hard light barrier forming around her even as she tutted at them, “I wouldn’t. Not unless you want the rest of them to die."

She gestured to the far side of the room, where a reinforced glass partition separated them from another chamber. Inside, huddled together, were the hostages. Only, there were a lot less than expected.

All at once, the implication of where the rest of them had gone made the bile rise to her throat once again.

O’Deorain’s smirk widened at Lena’s horrified expression, “Ah, I see you’ve noticed. Waste not, want not, as they say.”

Archer’s grip tightened on his blades, his voice dangerously low, “You mad scientist types really do enjoy your experiments.”

“Experiments? No, no.” O’Deorain waved a hand dismissively. “I’m perfecting. Talon’s foot soldiers are weak, undisciplined. But with the right...adjustments, they can become something greater. Something that doesn’t fear pain, doesn’t falter in battle.”

Lena’s stomach twisted as she caught sight of one of the figures on the tables - a man whose arms had been replaced with grotesque, pulsating tendrils, his mouth stretched in a silent scream.

“You’re turning them into those things?!” She spat, pulse pistols trembling in her hands.

O’Deorain tilted her head, as if considering, “A crude way to phrase it, but yes. Though, I admit, the success rate has been...lacking.” She sighed, almost disappointed. “Most subjects expire before full integration. A pity.”

Almost nonchalantly, O’Deorain dusted off her lab coat, “Now, I really do want to study your anatomy, Archer, but I’m afraid I’m not exactly built for co-”

Swords appeared out of the air, looking more like long knives than anything, shooting forth at O’Deorain at an incredible speed. One had impacted the barrier surrounding O’Deorain, another broke it, just as a third landed behind the scientist.

Lena recognized them, the Black Keys that Archer would occasionally use in their training. She knew from experience that just hitting the shadow of one person could render them immobile. If it hit O’Deorain’s shadow, then they had her dead to rights.

It wasn’t that easy.

Somehow, in the moments that it took for Archer to destroy the hard light barrier, O’Deorain had transformed into a wisp of black smoke, which moved rapidly to the side. The Black Key that landed on the floor hit nothing but empty space.

The smoke coalesced back into O’Deorain’s form several feet away, her smirk now edged with irritation, “Predictable.”

Lena didn’t wait. She Blinked forward, pistols raised, only for the scientist to dissolve again, reappearing near a console on the far wall. A flick of her wrist, and the glass partition sealing off the hostages shimmered with a new, ominous glow.

“One more step,” O’Deorain warned, “And the gas inside fills their lungs. A far less pleasant death than my work, I assure you.”

Lena froze. Archer’s gaze flicked between the hostages and O’Deorain, calculating.

“You won’t kill them.” He said flatly. “Talon wants them alive. Leverage.”

O’Deorain’s lips curled, “True. But maimed? Broken? That, I can justify.” Her fingers hovered over the console, “Now, unless you’d like to test my patience-”

A gunshot rang out. The console exploded in sparks.

Cassidy’s voice rang out as he approached from the hallway, eyes alight with righteous anger, “Gas ain’t workin’ if the controls don’t.”

O’Deorain’s composure slipped for half a second - just long enough.

Archer moved. Swords rained down, pinning her shadow mid-transformation. She hissed as her body solidified, one arm wrenched unnaturally behind her. Lena was already Blinking toward the hostages, smashing the weakened glass with a well-placed kick.

“Go!” She shouted to the dazed prisoners. “Move, move, move!”

O’Deorain snarled, her free hand darting to her comm. “Mauga. Cleanup. Now.”

Then the bunker lit up with fire.

...

A/N: There's some very minor changes to the font for a small part on the version that's attached to this post. Beyond that though, there's no change to the content, and you're free to ignore it.