The Price Of Control (Kamwri 4)

[boink666]

Part 1

Lucas ran through the streets, barely avoiding running into a man in a business suit. People glanced over as he passed by at high speeds, undoubtedly wondering why he was running. Their questions were soon answered as a group of men soon followed, running after him. From what they were wearing, the men looked like members of a street gang. Lucas narrowly dodged another person, not turning back as they swore loudly at him. He focused on running and getting away, not paying attention to his surroundings. Breathing heavily, he turned a corner onto a side street, using his hand to block the glare of the setting sun off of the glass panels on the building that lined the sides of the street. From the sounds of the heavy footsteps behind him, Lucas could tell that the men were catching up. Desperately, he dodged into an alley, hoping that the small space would slow his pursuers down. As he ran through the alley, his mind inadvertently played back the incidents leading to the chase.

For most of his live, Lucas had been as jailer; working at the city prison. He started out watching over the main block with several other jailers, but moved on later to a smaller cell block in one of the dark corners of the prison. It was in those poorly lit, foul smelling confines that the incident occurred. While letting out the prisoners for mealtime, a group suddenly jumped out and began beating him, surrounding him from all sides. They pounded him with large swooping blows, leaving him defenseless and quickly rendering him a bloody mess. The memory of the incident still made him cringe. No matter what he had tried, he couldn’t avoid the blows that they rained down on him. Through his desperation and pain, he came to realize that the other jailers were doing nothing to stop the prisoners. They stood by as they always did, ignoring him. From what he heard, they only stepped in after he had gone unconscious. The fact that nobody came to help him sooner pained him almost as much as his injuries. He recalled waking up in a hospital room with broken ribs and a badly smashed face. It was in that same room that he was told that he had been fired from the prison. The reason that they gave him was that he was unable to control the prisoners and would therefore no longer be needed. Lover the year that had passed since then, Lucas had still not found a new job.

What he did find, though, were enemies. The friends of prisoners that he had watched over began to try to take revenge on him. His current predicament was a result of this. Quickly snapping his mind back to running, Lucas continued along as fast as he could. Looking around briefly, he noticed that the chase had taken him to the industrial section of the city. Large pipes entwined with the walls of the metallic buildings that surrounded him, lit with the dull orange or the setting sun. In the distance, several towers spewed gray smoke into the sky. As Lucas looked around, he came to realize that he was no longer being chased. With cautious relief, he came to a jogging stop, leaning over so he could catch his breath. He was sweating profusely, causing wet spots on his shirt. While he tried to catch his breath, Lucas took a closer look at his surroundings. He hoped that it was possible to get back to his apartment from his current location, although he had no idea how he would get there.

Suddenly, a strange object caught his eye. It was sitting sideways against the chainlink fence across the alley from him. He walked over, picking it up to take a closer look at it. It was an egg shaped metal object with several ridges sticking out at strange angles. There appeared to be a semblance of a control panel on one side, hosting an array of buttons. Unsure of what to do, Lucas searched his memory for any shred of information that could identify the strange object. After a few minutes, he gave up trying. Not knowing what to do, Lucas pocketed the object and started on his way home.

Part 2

“Are you sure you’re ready?”

The bald man looked over at Catherine, his face conveying little emotion. Catherine brushed her hair back over her right ear, trying to ignore the man and focus on the door in front of her. She took a deep breath, trying to ensure that her mind was clear. Without even answering the question, she pushed the door open and walked into the room. The room was well lit, giving the table that took up the center of the room a striking contrast to the suits of the men that sat at it. The men looked up at her as she entered the room, causing her to subtly bit the inside of her lip. She continued to the front of the table, putting down the papers that she was carrying. She stood at the front of the room without saying a word, leaving the room in silence. One of the men leaned forward and broke the silence.

“You can start whenever you want.”

Catherine straightened up and began the presentation, prompted by the man’s words.

“Hello, I’m here today to present to you our most recent development, the Control Capsule. It’s a lightweight and powerful device that my team has been working on for the past four years, and we believe that it’s almost ready for military use. The device is based on a phenomenon found in the Akledemerin Caves known simply as the Akledemerin Effect. The caves have caused people to temporarily lose control of their thoughts and actions. We have researched this phenomenon, and have found the cause. People in the caves seem to have part of their Vivos, or life energy, drained and replaced with the Vivos of a nearby person. That person can then indirectly control that person’s actions for a short period of time. Our device emulates this, and allows a person to drain some of a person’s Vivos and replace it with their own, allowing temporary control.”

One of the men in the back of the room interjected “I’ve heard talk about this device. From what I’ve heard, it’s been dubbed the ‘Corruptive Control Capsule’, since its caused insanity in some of its users. Now why would that be?”

Catherine fidgeted, but spoke up before anyone else could comment. “We’re not yet sure of the cause, but we’re working on preventing that particular side effect. As I’ve said, it’s still not fully ready, it’s getting close.”

The man interjected again. “It’s been four years and you still have no way of producing a stable weapon? I say that you leave and figure this out, because I’m not going to put any more budget towards this project. We all agree that you’re taking too long.”

Catherine looked around the table, desperately hoping that someone would stop the man’s rant. Another man scribbled a note in his notebook and looked up to speak. “Catherine, we’re not going to funnel more funds into a project that isn’t showing results. Go ask someone else.”

Devastated, Catherine took a step back. From the looks that she was getting from the men at the table, she had no hope of getting the extra money. Without a word, she gathered her papers off the top of the table. The men continued to watch her as she walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

She walked down the hallway, swearing under her breath. In all her years working as a weapon designer, she had never been treated that badly. Or at least, she had never been treated that badly by her superiors.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Emotional Outlet

[† Anras Rune]

Oh I like this one! Very interesting plot you got going on. Can't wait to see what you do with it. I think I'll have to up my game if i wanna win...lol

[~=>Dark<=~]

ok i like part 1 part 2 just leavings me feeling like what happen did he make it home or what