Interlude: A Crucial Mistake

Energia: Titans of Verità
Table of Contents (For Catching Up)

Scott sat with his arms crossed, trying not to let the anger show on his face despite being alone in his room. “I’ll ask again,” he said into the holo-phone in a level but cold voice. “What. The hell. Happened?”

He was having such a nice day up until that point. It all started with a lovely breakfast, bacon and eggs with a warm crispy waffle. Then he went out into the city and managed to recruit not one, but three new preachers to his cause. And to top it all off, his research team had finally found the way to enhance the resilience of God’s children, increasing their regenerative abilities. Everything had been going so smoothly.

Then, just as he stepped out of the shower and wrapped his bathrobe around himself, he turned on the news. And what did he discover? His precious child had not only escaped, but had been slain by four ORDER Operatives.

He sat on the bed, his back to the wall and his holo-phone to his ear. On the other end, a nervous voice swallowed with a dry throat. “I-I’m sorry, sir,” he stammered. “W-we were transporting the specimen-“

“Child,” Scott corrected. Scientists were useful assets, but they didn’t seem to understand what the inhabitants of Verità truly were.

Again, the other man swallowed. “C-child, yes, we were transporting the child from the research facility back to the holding pens. We hid it in one of the secondary warehouses until we could make the proper transfer, but… w-well, it broke out.”

“I was assured multiple times that those housings could resist their strength.”

“N-normally, yes. B-but it would seem that our modifications-“

“Refinements.”

“Y-yes, refinements, they had some unforeseen side effects. It must have increased the creat- um, child’s adrenaline output. It would have torn some muscles ripping the cage open, but the new regenerative cells would have healed them quickly enough. So…”

“Hm.” Scott hummed, contemplating. Not a terrible side effect. Poorly timed, but not terrible. It didn’t make up for one simple fact: ORDER was aware of them. They may not know who they were yet, but they knew they existed. And that fact in it of itself was enough to make Scott’s blood boil. It was all going so well…

“S-sir?” the scientist asked nervously. “What should we do?”

This one is too nervous. I’ll have to kill him later. Wouldn’t want those loose lips of his to sink our ship. “We keep going,” he said aloud. “Everything else is moving on schedule, yes?”

“Y-yes sir. We just need a few more months.”

A few months… that could work. The more they let tensions rise within Unity, the less work they had to do. “Fine. Continue your work. This time, make sure no more children escape.”

“Y-yes sir. Very good, sir. Right away, sir.” There was a quiet click, then the other line went silent.

Scott sighed, setting the holo-phone down beside him. He looked up, staring into the plain black surface of the metal ceiling. God has set some interesting challenges in my path. And the only help I have are useless fools. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him. They’re all I have. May as well make use of the less-useless ones.

He picked up his holo-phone again and dialed another number. They answered immediately. “It’s me,” Scott said without waiting for a response, “I have a job for you.”