Chapter 23: 22 - Interlude V

Decontamination was almost the most discomforting event Louise had to go through during her entire stay.

Stripped down to nothing but her undergarments and Liberty Aegis, it was a cycle of being blasted by a stinging disinfectant spray, followed by a few minutes of the decontamination room heating up to sweltering temperatures. Then, right as the temperature returned to comfortable levels, the cycle would begin anew. Sprayed, cooked, sprayed, cooked, over and over for what felt like half an hour. All while Louise stood in the center of a small chamber, waiting for it to end.

After heating ended, she heard machinery whirr down, followed by a hissing from the chamber door.

“Your clothes have been disinfected as well. Put them back on, and return to your cell.”

She sighed in relief, but her body still stung. It was spotted with patches of red, as if she decided to take a roll through a patch of poison ivy.

“You better not have been spraying me with something else…” She muttered to herself.

“Your health and safety is still of my concern Louise.”

She grumbled to herself, leaving the chamber. There were the same camo pants, alien t-shirt, and jacket together.

Most notable, however, was the phone and collar placed next to them as well. She swiped it, pressing the button, and it flashed on, the battery now with a full charge. Her instinct was to unlock it and make a phonecall, but remembered of her possible fate. Thinking more, she knew what the Collector wanted if he returned her phone back, fully charged and working.

She gritted her teeth, placing it to the side as she re-dressed herself.

A group of five men were waiting outside to escort her back to her cell.

Her gut was screaming she could easily beat them and flee, but the rest of her body felt so tired. She grunted to herself. She knew that this could be a perfect escape opportunity, but how far could she keep pushing herself?

A bit of rest and I’ll have my vengeance…

Arriving at her cell, she was shoved in by the guards, and the door sealed shut behind her. She bolted for the pitcher of water, chugging it all down, alongside shoving the rest of the ration down her throat. Then, she dove onto the stiff cot, face first into her pillow.

Just a bit of rest and the nightmare would be over.

Her heart sank as she heard the intercom crackle.

She whirled to the ceiling. “What is your problem? I thought you said you cared about my health and safety?”

“Do not worry Louise. For your compliant behavior, I am going to allow you to rest for a few more hours extra. I have one more job for you planned tonight, so don’t get too relaxed.”

Her heartbeat steadied, and she shoved her face back into the pillow, quickly drifting away into sleep. Her anxieties still swirled in her mind, but the exhaustion was too much, even for them.

The Collector hangs up the intercom phone, and pushes a button on his desk.

“My business is finished, you may come in.”

The doors to his office swing open, and in walks a man dressed totally in black. Black suit, shoes, gloves, even a full black mask to hide his face and hair. He looks almost like a perfect shadow of a person. Pulling a seat across the Collector’s desk, he sits down.

Collector speaks. “Now then, where should we begin?”

A roboticized voice speaks through the mask.

“Beginning your quarterly analysis, there are numerous things to cover today. We will start with the most pressing.”

Flipping his briefcase open, he pulled out a small stack of papers, stamped with a strange P.A.I.N insignia, putting it on the Collector’s desk.

"Your performance as of late has been very lacking. While requested local samples have been above average, the concerning detail has been the amount of escaped specimens from your facility. Too many have required P.A.I.N. resources in order to clean and cover up from the public. Furthermore, each escaped specimen risks destabilizing the Singularity. P.A.I.N. expects you to have a 95% containment rate through the next quarter."

"95%? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m aware of the numbers on other P.A.I.N. facilities, and you know I am exceeding them." The collector curled up his fist, trying to hold back from pounding it on the desk. "I've achieved higher standards than the rest of your organization, and this is my treatment?"

The representative stood still, unflinching and unmoving.

"Unless you are exaggerating your expertise, such a high containment rate should be within your capabilities. As of late, you have given us good reason to doubt you.”

The briefcase opened once more, and a shorter report was placed next to the performance report.

“The recovery attempt on the lost Skinwalker is comparable to the worst of P.A.I.N’s recovery options in its entire history. Even when P.A.I.N facilities suffer mishaps, they’re isolated from most civilian locations, hence our high tolerance for loss of containment. Not only does the location of your facility have greater risk due to the proximity of civilians, but its proximity to the Singularity makes stakes far higher."

Collector scoffed. "Thanks to those stakes was the entire reason why that team lost control of Scarecrow. P.A.I.N knows that even the most well trained of agents can lose control of a cryptid. Had you allowed me to assist my team, I would still have a Scarecrow, along with the Skinwalker in tow. No cleanup needed."

"We are not talking about the possibility of success. Only about your failure. You understood the restrictions placed on your activity, and you should have accounted for that when organizing your recovery team."

“And is it not P.A.I.N who approved my plan and team? You don’t let me move an inch out of my facility, and still breathe down my neck when I try to do any sort of work! I’m working with your choking guidelines, and I’m the one at fault?”

“You’re still the one commanding the operation. All responsibilities still fall upon you.”

“And without being in the field, I am hindered as a leader!”

“Then you should learn to adapt.”

The collector exhaled out from his nose, giving a stern look at the representative.

"Continuing. Witnesses to the disaster were minimal or inconsequential. Those injured by the attack were compensated and the cleanup was performed without issue or further contamination."

The Collector still stared at the representative.

"As was communicated before, all of your previously approved operations are to be ceased. No operatives are allowed to leave your base without explicit permission supervision from P.A.I.N"

Collector tapped his finger on the desk.

“These restrictions will be lifted at a to be determined date. The Admins are re-evaluating your performance. The current discussion is to allow you to keep your collection, but you are to be put on permanent leave, unable to perform any duties, and unable to leave your facility without explicit watch by a P.A.I.N. agent.”

The Collector clenched his fist. He took a deep breath, and sighed.

“My performance? Do they really think I’ve gone soft because of one mishap?”

His face changed to a more confident look.

“If they want to re-evaluate my performance, allow me to demonstrate it for them. That and more, as penance for my…” he looked towards the floor. "Recent failure…"

He looked back at the representative.

"First, I will offer my skills and experience to assist P.A.I.N. in capturing a Slip Bat from Romania. I’ve been hounded by them constantly for tests, so I am sure they would love to have one of their own. As an additional sign of my good will, I will allow P.A.I.N. to perform physical studies on a select number of cryptids or artifacts in my possession, so long as the studies do not compromise them, or the environments they are in. Simply have them send what they wish to study and what experiments they wish to perform, and I will accommodate them to the best of my previous guidelines."

The representative nods.

"I will relay this information to the Admins. Should they accept, I shall return with a contract."

The collector smiles. "Oh they will. I've offered the two things they value most out of me."

The representative opened up his briefcase once more, pulling out an incredibly thick stack of papers.

“With the most pressing matters set aside, we will now move onto your budget for the month. Do note that there will be significant cuts due to your setbacks.”

The Collector rubbed his brow, staring at the stack of paper. He gritted his teeth, then transitioned to a calm sigh.

The girl is almost broken. She’ll willingly give me what she wants soon enough.

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Going to school tonight.

Kirino was messaged. The plan was drafted, and the sun was beginning to set. Davis typed in Rex’s number, pausing for a moment.

We still need him. Louise isn’t going to take any offense that you needed some backup.

He sighed, sending his address to Rex. Moments later, a response.

I’ll be there in 20.

He took another deep breath, feeling anxiety run through his body.

Queen had been staring out the window, watching cars and people pass by passively, and Davis sat down next to her.

“So… Anything you’re thinking about?” He said, steadying his breathing.

“How do those cars move?”

Another one zoomed past the street.

“It’s complicated.”

“Then I want to learn how to read.”

Davis glanced over at her. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea.”

“I know about the internet. Louise said it can answer anything for me.”

“I mean, yeah that’s kinda true. But sometimes it’s wrong.”

Queen cocked her head. “How can you tell if it’s wrong?”

Davis shook his head. “I can point that out when it happens. But how about this: Once we free Louise, I can help teach you how to read. Does that sound good?”

“But what if we fail to free Louise?”

Davis winced. “I’m trying to not think about that possibility…”

Queen turned back to the window. “We can still retreat and try again if we fail, so long as we survive. Right?”

Davis imagined all the angry phonecalls from Louise’s parents about where she had run off to.

“I suppose so… But we gotta make tonight count.”

“Count, like, making sure we don’t need to retreat?”

“Yeah, now you’re getting the hang of things!”

The two sat together, calmly watching the street, watching several cars and people pass by. Davis felt his eyes grow heavy, when Queen perked up.

“He’s here.”

Davis jolted upwards, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

He rushed over, unlocking and opening his front door, finding Rex walking up the path to the door. He looked slightly surprised, still wearing his shades and formal wear.

“Woah, didn’t think you were so excited to see me!” He said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Oh, you’re here just fine. Come on in, and take a seat, or something. I’m going to give you a rundown on the plan and all that.”

“Sounds like a plan. Get it?” A wry smile spread across his face.

Davis squinted at him, and turned into his home, entering his bedroom. He returned with his notebook, and Rex was lounging on the couch.

“You got this place all to yourself man?”

“Yup. Nobody but us here, and my parents aren’t gonna be here anytime soon?”

“Dang, this place is nice! I just got some sub-par apartment downtown. You the son of a millionaire to get you this or what?”

Davis scratched the back of his head. “Oh, no I uh… I’m not alone ALL the time. My parents visit every now and then, but they’re always super busy and stuff.”

Rex nodded. “Fair, I guess.” He glanced over, smiling at Queen. She still stared warily at him.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“All right,” He said, turning his head to Davis. “What’s the plan? Where are we going, and who do I get to beat the crap out of?”

“So, have you ever heard of the name P.A.I.N?” Davis said, a twinge of nervousness in his voice.

“Yeah, I mean who hasn’t?”

“Paranormal Acquisition and Investigation Network. They’re probably the feds that keep trying to get you, and the facility we’re going to be attacking is basically a big prison for all sorts of monsters and creatures. My friend Louise is trapped there-”

“Yeah, no worries, I get it all. You wanna free your friend, and I honestly just want to smash up their place a bit. See how they like the shoe on the other foot. Maybe make them reconsider that big zoo plan as well.”

Davis paused, then nodded. “Well that’s good. I kinda expected that, because for this plan, I want you to be as big of a distraction as possible. Attack guards, destroy things, though uh, I wouldn’t recommend attacking anything that looks like containment cells or anything like that.”

“Gotcha gotcha. Smash things up, smash feds up, don’t release any monsters.”

“Oh, and there’s one other thing… There’s one other individual who you gotta be sure to avoid at all costs. How do I put it… Queen. You saw The Collector, right? You can show him what he looks like.”

Queen nodded, and her face began to twist and distort. The two could hear bones cracking and rearranging as her face turned into a near perfect copy of The Collector’s.

Davis winced slightly, and Rex stared, silently nodding.

“This…” He cleared his throat, looking away from Queen. “This is The Collector. He runs the entire place. Don’t attack or kill him at all.”

“Seriously?” He scoffed. “I thought you wanted to get back at these feds hard.”

“I just want to save Louise. According to a trusted source, he’s hiding something that’s going to be fatal to all of us… Maybe like a dead man’s switch or something to the facility. I do want to come out of this alive. Wait, you can tolerate bullets and stuff, right? I assumed but just confirming, since I’m sure everyone in that facility is going to be armed.”

“Oh yeah. They sting a whole lot but even if they cause any serious damage, I’ll be able to grow it back. I’d demonstrate, but you don’t have any high powered rifles around here, do you?”

Davis smiled, sighing in relief. “All right, then my plan is solid. We’re gonna head off to the facility, from my source, we know of a back door that should be unguarded that we can enter through. Queen will lead the way there. Oh yeah, also when we’re in, and you’re doing your… distraction thing, Queen is going to lead me to Louise. When we find her and break her out, here.”

He handed him a walkie talkie.

“We’ll exit through the route we entered, head on home, and then… yeah. The front door of this place is like a military base, so unless you think you’re a true one man army. Sounds good?”

“Hey, I wanna get out of here alive too. But yeah, you got it. If anything gets rocky for you though, I’ll still have your back. Just let me know where you are, and I can probably find my way to you. This facility isn’t a giant maze, right?”

Davis turned to Queen. “Well, you’ve been there, what do you know?”

She shook her head. “It smells like cryptids.”

Rex shrugged. “Eh, we’ll figure it out when we get there.” He punched his fist into his hand. “Let’s get going already, I’m pumped up!”

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“Processing through requests and changes will take a week. I will return with updated paperwork, and we will resume negotiations.”

The Collector stared at the representative, smiling and nodding. “I do hope the administrators appreciate the offer I am giving them.”

The representative stood up silently, turning and leaving the Collector’s trinket-adorned office. He sighed, slinking back into his chair, and picking up the intercom phone.

Louise was lying on the cot, staring at the ceiling. She could still feel her heart thumping against her chest. Her legs were feeling less sore, but still ached from her long underground trek.

“Louise, it’s time for your final task tonight.”

She lurched up.

“Since you didn’t do so well with the Oracle, we should try again with your specialty. One of my cryptids needs subduing.”

She heard several pairs of boots march outside of her cell.

“Complete it with no trouble, and you can get an upgrade to that bed of yours, alongside a good night’s sleep. If you’re up to the task, however?”

She clenched her fist.

“Keep throwing whatever you got at me, I’ll still stand firm!” She yelled.

Her cell door opened, revealing a squad of guards, similar to last time.”

“You could have told me we’d be going on an extra long hike to get out here!” Rex scoffed.

Davis turned back to him, annoyed. “Well, sorry if you thought a big secret base was gonna be easy to get to. Where did you even expect it to be?”

“Somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, but probably still accessible?”

Long stretches of dry grass and trees adorned the countryside as the two followed Queen. The Moon was now in the sky, the sun barely giving any light over the horizon. There were no abandoned buildings, dirt roads, or anything manmade in sight, just untouched foliage and foothills.

“Also, uhh, can you see in the dark?”

“Me, right?” Rex said, gesturing to himself.

“Yeah, because I have a headlight in case you need one.”

“Oh nah, these eyes can see pretty well. You probably should have asked that earlier though.”

Davis slipped on his night vision goggles, moving forward.

They continued trekking through, until they reached the base of the hills.

Queen perked up, pushing aside overgrown grass.

There, embedded in the ground was a steel shutter, with a heavy hatch to the side of it.

“This is it. They opened this door, and set me free here.”

Davis grabbed the wheel on the hatch, attempting to turn it. It was stuck.

“I don’t think I’m strong enough. Hey Rex-”

Rex’s hand had unraveled, forming into a spear-head. He stabbed it through the steel shutter with a loud crash, and Davis winced. With the hole he made Rex lifted the shutter.

“Why bother with that heavy door if they gave such an easy entrance here?”

“Yeah… but like, what if they had any sort of alarms or anything?”

“Do you not trust your source? If it’s unguarded, that means no alarms, right?”

“I mean I expect a big cryptid prison to have SOME alarms but-”

Rex peered inside the facility.

Inside was a pitch black hallway. It was a straight, incomplete tunnel. Several construction materials were strewn about, there were several missing steel panels on the walls and floors, exposing support beams and dirt. There were unlit construction lamps strewn around, and even opened toolboxes that were tipped over.

“Yeah, no security here, 100%. I don’t think they have any electricity running here either.”

Davis and Queen peered in as well.

“Let’s get a move on!” Rex yelled, marching forward. Davis and Queen hurried behind.

Queen paused, sniffing the air. She closed her eyes, focusing.

It was faint, deep in the facility, but Louise’s scent was present.

“She’s here. This way.”

Queen scurried ahead of Rex and Davis, leading the duo further into the dark.

The rest of the halls were in a similar state of disrepair, the group taking care to not step into several of the holes in the floor. They reached intersections that Queen took seemingly random turns through, until they reached a small, lit dead end.

There was a single red lamp above another steel shutter, this one looking much sturdier than the one before, with a security door to its side.

Davis put his hand in front of Rex.

“All right, don’t stab through the shutter again. Let’s just take it slow, and examine this stuff.”

“Nah don’t worry, I get ya.” He nodded. The three observed the security door. It was smooth, with no handles to be seen anywhere. There was a small keypad to the side with a slot for a card.

“No key, so ok. Rex, the deal is-”

“Whatever you have, It’s not as good as what I got. I got a hunch of what this door is.”

Davis stared at him with contempt. “So you’re a door scientist or something?”

“Oh no, but I always thought a security guard should know about the hardware he’s working with. I’ve seen government contractors use these ones, they’re smooth, typically sealed with electromagnetic locks so you need something like a tank to pry it open. HOWEVER!”

He rearranged his hand into a ball of fibers, smacking the keypad away. Davis cringed, looking around wildly for any sort of alarms to go off.

“That means they need quite a bit of electricity to stay sealed. Which MEANS behind these walls are some wires that are connecting to some local power block or somethin.”

He re-formed his hand, tearing out the wiring of the keypad, and finding a mess of wires behind the wall.

“Now… I need you two to stand back.”

The duo backed up.

He cut through the mess of wires with his hand, and grabbed the wire ends.

A massive flash, and an ear-splitting SNAP emanated from Rex. The single light went out, alarms began blaring.

Rex’s body stood stiff, and two slits opened up in his back, ejecting a blast of high pressure steam.

“That’s bound to get their attention!” He laughed. He walked over to the door, flattening his hands and bending them into a crowbar-esque shape. He hooked them under the slab of steel, and lifted it up, revealing a well lit hallway inside with alarms blaring. It was completely empty, but construction here was at least completed.

“If doors are sealed electronically, there still needs to be a means to manually open them when they lose power. In case of fire or any sort of disaster. Glad to see even the feds follow these safety policies!” He laughed again. “Too bad that’s gonna bring a disaster straight to em! Now come on, I got another really good idea that’ll give you both a clear shot through this place.”

The guards had escorted Louise to a smaller chamber, this one deeper within the earth. She knew how badly this was going to be the chance she could beat them up and make her escape. But she couldn’t help thinking back to the future she was shown. Could obedience really be the key to averting that future? Obedience until she’s given an easy way out? The Collector had so many holes in his facility, she was bound to stumble upon one. But what if the future happened because of something The Collector does to her?

She shook her head, trying to stop thinking about it.

Thrown into the security room portion of the chamber, the speakers crackle to life again.

“Inside this chamber is an invasive plant called the Styx Weed. It tends to get uppity every now and then, so I simply need you to exhaust it. Approach it however you please Louise.”

She grinned. “I can’t tell if you’re really smart because you’ve kept me trapped here, or the biggest idiot on earth for giving me something so easy. I’ll exhaust this thing all right, and make sure it can never move again!”

The interior door opened.

The chamber was a small cave carved out of rock, lit with very dim lights.

Ivy sprawled around from a small stream running through the center. They ran across the floor, up the walls, and even across the roof.

The vines of the ivy shuddered as Louise took her first step in. She walked over closer to them, looking down.

The leaves were wrapping around her sneakers. She kicked them away, sighing and thinking.

“I know what you’re thinking.” She said to the roof. “You think I’m just gonna charge in and get myself caught up in a bunch of ivy. But little do you know, I’m pretty good at yardwork.”

She stepped into the stream, finding the plant was growing out of a crevice beneath the river.

“If you wanna get rid of weeds, you pull them out by the root!”

She grasped the ivy by the stem.

The plant shook at the touch, more of the ivy attempting to wrap around her hands.

She dug her feet into the ground, and pulled as hard as she could.

SHe could feel it budge slightly, but her grip slipped, and she staggered backwards.

The hand-like leaves began to rise up, now trying to grab her by the ankles. She kicked them away, the leaves still gripping her as they snapped from the stem.

The ripped leaves quickly grew back, and started grasping onto her with more strength.

She scowled, trying to work her way back to the stem.

More and more of the vines began clamping down on her ankles, making it harder to move.

“Would you quit it?” She yelled, grabbing one of the vines and snapping it off.

Most of the leaves grasping her ankles went limp. All of the arms of the weed shuddered, as from the stream burst forth a new, larger and stronger vine. She leapt to the side, stumbling from the grip of the other ivy, as the new vine smacked down next to her. It motioned towards her, the re-grown leaves reaching out towards her.

“THat’s the deal, huh? You can’t exhaust it, if you keep ripping it up it’ll keep getting back, right? No way to actually exhaust it?”

The intercom crackled on.

“There is a means to exhaust it. If you’re such a confident cryptid hunter, you should be able to figure it out like I did so?”

She grit her teeth.

“I’m going for the roots. I’m going to kill this thing, screw exhausting it!” She yelled

She stepped back into the stream, feeling the grip of the vine around her ankles more.

She gripped as hard as she could, and began tugging at it again.

It failed to budge, and she pulled even harder. Her grip slipped again, and she flew backwards, stumbling. The plants caused her to fall backwards, landing on her back.

She felt more of the leaves grasping onto her arms. She instinctively jerked away, feeling them all rip off from the stems.

She grimaces to herself, hearing the vines shuffle, growing back stronger.

They grip again, and she struggles to get back to her feet, pulled down by several vines and leaves grasping onto her. She rips away more and more, and the leaves regrow, redoubling their attack on Louise.

She clenches her teeth and tries to break free, but she’s eventually pulled to the ground, unable to move.

She struggles more and more against the weed, but they feel incredibly taught, like steel chains are binding her to the floor.

“Oh I know what’s gonna happen again huh!” She screamed. “You just wanted me to get into this mess, so you can show up again and throw me back in my cell!”

No response from the intercom.

“Or maybe you want me to horribly screw up or something huh? What’s your deal? Just say it, you jerk!”

Still, silence. She felt the weeds tighten around her more, pulling her into the ground. It started to ache.

“Yeah no crap I’m gonna fail to ‘;tire this thing out’ if you just throw me at them like this! I bet you I can still tear this thing to shreds if you didn’t throw me in a locked room with it!”

Nothing.

She was barely able to move her head, trying to lift up her hands to stare at their gauntlets.

She conjured her shield, but was still pinned to the ground. She couldn’t maneuver it

“Come on, do your thing, get me out of here, something sharp preferably.”

Nothing.

Then, darkness.

The lights turned off. All she could hear was the rustling of the Styx Weed, slowly trying to pull her deeper into the floor.

She grimaced to herself silently.

“Just hurry on and get over here already you piece of trash… Just get me back to my cell…” She muttered to herself. “This is all such a stupid game and I’m getting sick of it…”

Her mind kept flashing back to the future. She would be alive. But she couldn’t remember. Did she squeal to the collector? But did that future come because she stayed silent?

SHe struggled more against the vines.

Where was Davis? He hadn’t forgotten, had he? Did he already attempt to come in and fail?

She wanted to grab her head.

“JUST HURRY UP AND GET THIS OVER WITH ALREADY! WHATEVER!”