“I know, Hito. But are we ever gonna see him again?”
“I dunno, Nams. I just don’t know,” Hitomi said with deep sadness.
In the week since Caiden left after their argument, the girls made a decision. Their internal homing device was ringing at an all-time high. Being cooped up in Home-base wasn’t doing them any good anymore.
Their decision to leave was a difficult, painstaking one, but they knew what they had to do. There was too much happening in the city-state; too much death, destruction, and nothing but sour memories. Despite the dangerous trek, the reward of reaching the remote Rune Village was very much worth the risk. They would do anything to escape the ever-closing walls of the suffocating city. The twins were on the run.
***
“Sir, the next wave of participants are ready for briefing,” a soldier reported to General Cain.
“Okay, bring them through,” Cain replied.
“Yes, sir!” the soldier said and ran off to follow his instructions.
The Ps-Corp Training facility was a large building. There were designated areas for all different forms of combat; a weight lifting zone, martial arts training area, an intelligence hub, and a weapons armory. General Cain, Lieutenant Daav, and Dr. Stein Volda stood atop the second level overpass, watching as the newcomers waited to be briefed by General Cain.
“These people are coming here in droves,” Lt. Daav pointed out.
“Hmm, yes, it would appear so. Including this batch, how many subjects have been assimilated now?” Dr. Stein asked.
“I’d say close to ten thousand,” Daav replied.
“Yes, that’s more than enough,” Cain said. He stepped forward and began to address the volunteers. “Fellow Neonians, it is with great honor that I thank you for dedicating your time, effort, and passion to this cause. I know it wasn’t easy, but dealing with the death of Ren Krong would’ve been much more difficult had you all not come forth,” he said. “Let me be brief; I do not want to hold you longer than I need to. With your help, we will bring the perpetrator to justice. To assist you with this, we have decided to provide you all with our custom made, military grade datashades, the X21 Psi-Vision Visors. Please take one from the utility cases the soldiers have provided for you,” Cain said. The people followed suit, driven only by their passion for their fallen leader. After Cain confirmed that everyone had their Psi-Visors, he took the next step. “Okay, my friends. Due to the urgency of this matter, we have installed the details of the mission in the main menu of the Psi-Visor home screen. All you have to do is turn it on, and everything will make sense,” Cain said.
The people powered their datashades, and in a matter of seconds, their bodies stiffened. They stood with their backs straight, their heads tilted downward.
“This is rather brilliant, Vlad. Simply brilliant! It never gets old. Nearly ten thousand humans under our control, in just a few hours! The impulse overriding agent in the COGLIM’s code is simply marvelous,” Stein said gleefully. Cain remained silent as he looked on at his newly controlled human marionettes.
“Fellow Neonians, state your mission!” Cain commanded.
“Apprehend suspect from composite image alive, sir!” the group of five hundred volunteers said simultaneously. They replied in sync; their voices monotone and flat, not unlike the androids from the Sentience when they were infected with the virus.
Cain made a hand signal to his soldiers below, who were there in case of malfunction, to double check each of them by row, to ensure that the COGLIM chip embedded in the Psi-Visors were working properly. They waved their hands in front of the people. None of them flinched; they all just continued to look straight ahead despite any distraction.
“All set, sir!” one soldier below called out.
“Good. Now, one final thing before your mission begins. With whom does your allegiance lie?” he asked.
“Our allegiance belongs to General Vladimir Cain!” the volunteers said.
“Good. Commence mission!” he commanded. Each person was given an extendable, updated shock baton before they left the premises.
“Men, meeting. Facility office, now. Time to finalize the plan,” Cain ordered.
Lt. Daav and Dr. Stein made their way to the office. Shit! All this just to question one guy? To say this is overkill would be an understatement, Daav thought to himself. As soon as they were in the office, General Cain closed the blinds and they sat down.
“These COGLIMS and the new system that supports it, who is controlling it all?” Stein asked.
“Agent Bloodfall of the CSSA at Zonos Tower. We’ve installed powerful frequency transmitters in that building for this purpose,” Cain replied.
“And was it your plan to install these things, or theirs?” Stein probed, referring to The Chosen Three.
“It was my idea. I’ve already cleared it with them, though,” Cain replied.
“Oh? Becoming more and more dangerous by the day, I see,” Stein said.
“You’re one to talk,” Cain shot back. “Anyway, with these critical pieces now in play, all that’s left is to apprehend our target. Catching him will serve multiple purposes. You will have your ultimate test subject to develop a new formula. I will have regained the trust of this foolish public by working alongside them to capture the Fayte boy, and eventually in time, I will expand westward, far into the Sun Desert, taking over Rune Village and any other ones that oppose me. All with the strength of an upgraded, and more powerful military,” Cain said.
“Rather ambitious, aren’t we? Are you sure that those mindless volunteers are sufficient enough to do the job you asked of them?” Stein asked.
A call came through on General Cain’s phone. It was Agent Bloodfall.
“General Cain, sir. Reporting,” Agent Bloodfall said.
“Agent, how are the systems looking for the COGLIM control?” Cain asked.
“All green, sir. No anomalies reported yet. Our team also found a hit on our suspect,” Bloodfall said.
“Excellent. Details, please,” Cain said.
“This guy of yours was extremely difficult to track, there was
