CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Ares' POV
If there was one thing anyone should know about me. It would be me being pretty particular with my time.
I was so crazy about my schedule, Gibbs swears he could actually label me with an obsessive-compulsive disorder when things don't go as planned.
Given at least twenty four hours to solve the problem, I already set a time table of how my day would go. I barely had three hours to spare was even willing to pull on an all-nighter.
And yet, here I was, summoned to a personal conference by the General himself. Apparently, I still had so much to report to him, none of which I began yet.
"Dr. Portley, it has been more than a week since you filed in that last report, and here I am now realizing that some of our men are missing, do you know how much trouble you are putting me in?"
Despite the formality he was pitting me with, his tone was just like that of a father scolding his child for the umpteenth time.
Forget about Ego. This guy could eat your pride right in front of you and still scar you for life. I don't know about you, but that was how I looked at him. This guy right here was not just the General. He was my dad; it didn't have to be in a biological sense, but yeah. You get my point.
I almost forgot to mention one thing about this place. It was all about documents.
For every mission that has succeeded or failed you were required to file in your report along with everyone else that was involved. That way, credibility was preserved.
"I only have until tomorrow, Lieutenant," he added.
Drowning in my own thoughts, I wasn't sure myself with where to start. This was the first time I failed to pass a report on time, while my brain was working its magic to solve my other worries, my body stayed frozen as I stood right in front of his desk like a statue.
"I'm afraid," I began, my voice cracking under pressure, "I can't give out an oral report just yet, sir,"
He stood from his seat, and I just wanted to melt. The General stayed quiet, waiting for an answer, by the look on his face, it reminded me of that day all over again when I made a deal with ERA. I never thought I’d live to see another day like that go by again.
"I'm currently under a mission--"
"One that I obviously did not send out, what is it about?" The solemnity in his facade made me want to just run away from him. He wasn't supposed to know any of this, because that would mean me having to start from the very beginning of all this mess. Then he would know. And if he did, what would happen next?
"Sir it's a long story--"
"Then keep it brief,"
Dear lord, I have no idea where I should start. Now that I began babbling some hints of breadcrumbs to my secret, there was no backing this one out now. My eyes wandered as I sorted through my thoughts, "I have gained information from ERA," I began.
"And why haven't you reported to me immediately, Lieutenant?"
"Because the mission is still ongoing," I continued, forcing myself to gain a little more confidence. Before he could ask me what it was about, I initiated my story recollecting major events that took place and slightly editing out bits that he didn't need to know, such as how we totalled the Experiment Area and that one neighboring warehouse within the vicinity. All went well actually… until I ended my story as to how much time I had left to cure an electronic virus.
My oral report lasted me some good ten minutes (if I'm not mistaken) and relished the silence as I braced myself for the General's reaction, like one would prepare for a hurricane.
Throughout the tale I told him, he remained standing behind his desk, clasping his hands behind him and maintained an unfathomable gaze fixed carefully on mine. He was like a cheetah, sizing up his prey.
"What is the name of ERA's rogue agent?" He began curtly.
"Sir, I rest assure you he is not rogue, he wishes to be a part of ARC--"
"He is not an official member yet without my permission. He is still ERA's rogue agent, I need a name Ares,"
"Gould," I replied calmly, "Ethan Gould wishes to return to us,"
The General's hardened composure wavered ever so slightly as his keen eyes brightened by just a tad bit. A hint of sadness and joy emanated briefly as if he was a blind man who could finally see again.
"Ethan Gould?" He repeated as he staggered to his chair. For once in my life, I saw his practiced reverie crack to tiny pieces as he fell vulnerable before me. It took a lot of getting used to if you asked me.
"That means..." He looked at me slowly.
I nodded curtly, fighting back the random blur that was threatening to tumble out of my eyes, "yes sir," my voice betrayed me as a tear rolled down my cheek, "I know,"
"How much?" He asked.
"Ethan is my brother, I have the Alpha bot in my brain, I'm capable of building everything my father stored away, because it's all in here," I stifled a sob, pointing to my head. I've never felt so pathetic in my life. Just like how I found out Ethan was my brother, I once again had no one else to turn to but my papers shortly after Emily left.
I've never broken down like this, I haven't cried in front of anyone at all. But I was just in so much pressure and I had so many things going in my head right now. Time that was given to me to cure Robyn was so limited; the woman I have ever come to love has little to no chance of surviving the unofficial mission she decided to drag my brother into. My brother, whom I thought never survived, actually did, and just as I was about to catch up on all those lost years, he had to leave so soon leaving me with so much responsibility.
Rubbing my face furiously against my sleeves I buried myself in it, I stood there as my body rocked from the sobs I miserably failed to stifle. Taking in one deep shaky breath, I forced myself to calm down. I needed to seriously pull myself together.
"I'm sorry my boy," said the General, "you deserved to know everything,"
"Then why didn't you tell me right away?" My voice came in urgent and hushed, I am not going to cry again. Oh please don’t cry again Ares, suck it up man! Suck it up!
He sighed deeply, "I guess it was partly my guilt that kept me from telling you.”
Hesitating for a bit, he shook his head and went on, “About fifteen years ago before the tragic incident happened on ARC, your father was being pressured by the president to use his technology on human samples. No one dared to volunteer, and he was already getting enough warnings from the President himself. He was well aware of the consequences his technology had, but on that one day, our institution was being attacked. He had no other choice."
"He decided to bring the two of you with him, fearing that the enemy could take you both and be used against him. He knew it was risky, but he would rather have you two near him anyways. I was there, you, your brother, Craw, Colonel Marduk and a team of five scientists were also there to aid us."
"He locked all of us in a safe room while the building was burning. The rescue team was just on their way then. Your father, had with him two purple bags filled with a liter of bots and began setting up an IV line to have it injected into you and your brother. Our supposed human experiments died along in the fire accident that took place. Leaving you and your brother as the next desperate choice."
"I was against it and so was your father, but Marduk was the only one fully supportive of it. I knew then something was off. By the time you guys had the bots in you, we barely had time to stabilize both of your vital signs because everything was happening too fast."
"You were worse for wear compared to your brother; you were too weak to handle the nanobots invading your system. Marduk took your brother and Craw with him as they escaped with the first rescue team, the next team came and we needed to leave fast, but your father couldn't and even if we brought you along we knew you wouldn't make it."
"What he did was he injected you with so much drugs so you would stop convulsing, eventually you also stopped breathing. For a moment, I already thought we lost you. He was on the brink of losing his sanity, I’ve never seen him so bro
ken before. I told him we had to go because the whole place was coming down from the fire, the rescue team was by the window on a helicopter ready to go. We only had seconds left to decide."
"Instead of leaving you in that state, he took out this gun and pulled the trigger in your mouth. At first I thought he lost it and decided to put an end to your misery. Instead you began breathing. He handed me his notebook and told me to give it to you. He ordered me to leave because he said he needed to eradicate everything else in the main computer which I very well knew was way back in to the center of the building."
"Before I could actually stop him he disappeared back into the safe room, away from the window we perched on and the rescue team hauled us out of the building just in time before the rest came crashing down."
When the moment of silence dawned a little too heavily on us, the General tried to speak again "Ares, I hope you understood why I kept you away from field work and basically locked you within the confines of this institution, but I only did that to keep you safe. It was the last thing I could do for your father, keep an eye out for you for as long as I can--"
Red lights began blinking in the General's office followed by an eerie siren that obviously meant that something wasn't right. That immediately snapped me out of my reverie as my heart sank further into the depths of my gut.
Soldiers banged the office doors open and filed in with one of them immediately reporting that someone has invaded the facility.
"Where's it coming from?" I dared to ask, the authority of my voice scared me so much I was actually more proud with the fact that it didn't fail me.
"Sir, one of my sources has reported that it came in from the Intensive Care Unit at the west wing, sir." He saluted.
Shit. I glanced at my wristwatch. I don't get it, an hour barely passed and it was already happening so soon? I knew I should have left someone in there to watch over Robyn the moment Emily mentioned in her letter that she took Ethan with him.
But the scary thought of Emily not coming back overwhelmed me so much it threw me off track, I was so rattled I was basically panicking. I barely lined up a series of test to run on Robyn, that was all I needed to do for the remaining three hours I allotted to myself. And they were all backed up in the laboratory also located in the west wing.
I seriously had a timetable going on and it was so planned that I had back up plans if things like these should ever happen. And now that it did, here I was far far far away from my comfort zone and there was only so little I could do.
While the General was busy barking orders to ‘Kill on Sight’, I was already dashing down the hall towards the very threat itself. There was no way that was happening. I promised Ethan she would be safe, I also promised her that same thing.
Like I said, if there was one thing anyone should know about me. It would be me being pretty particular with my time.
At this point, it was something I could no longer afford to lose.