FREJEAN STEPPED INSIDE the control room and saw Troy sitting in front of the monitor with his hands busy pressing the keys. Behind him was Asceia, watching everything Troy was doing, who then turned around after noticing her presence.
“W...We finally put Cynthia and the guards to rest. We burned their bodies in the incinerator. And the mermaids are looking for anything to wear right now.” She made her way to the vacant chair near Troy. “How is it going?”
“We’re actually in Cebu. I’m checking their database for anything useful.”
“What do you have so far?”
“Nothing, everything is restricted. There were accessible but they’ve been wiped out.”
“How are we going to go home? We don’t have money, Troy.” Frejean sighed.
“I have a plan for that,” Asceia said, speaking through her mind.
“Okay, I give up. There’s really nothing useful here that could stop them.” Troy leaned back to his swivel chair and sighed. “Someone or the system initiated an automatic wipe out when it was breached and compromised.”
“What about the flash drive?”
“Oh, right.” He quickly reached for his right pocket and grabbed the black flash drive out. He stared at it for a second and decided to put it on one of the USB ports. He opened its contents through the computer and found only one video file. He clicked it and played it.
“Troy Aguirre. I heard you were taken by them, so I made this right away.” They were greeted by Cynthia’s face, trying to lower her voice while she was hiding in a bathroom. “If you’re watching this now, then my plan worked. You’re out of this bunker. So, please... run away and hide as far as you can. I can’t let them take you, like how they took my best friend...”
“Best friend?”
“...your parents and I were colleagues, we started this unsuccessful Wave Foundation that aims to protect and interact with mermaids that only exist and thrive in this country, Philippines. We believe that their kind is the key to saving our planet. But after what Rick had done, these mermaids can also be the reason for our extinction. Once I’ll get out of this place, I’ll find you. Together, let us continue the legacy of your parents, fight for the lives of these mermaids and prevent the war Rick was brewing for months. But be careful, there are more powerful forces behind this corporation that are funding and making sure their plans will carry on no matter what happens. Call me after twenty-four hours, here’s my number...” She dictated her contact number. “If I can’t answer it after three dials surely something happened to me. So please, find my home in Barangay Lagunde in Oslob. The key was hidden under the flowerpot beside the door. Find my room and take everything in the drawer of my bedside table. It will help you.”
Asceia took a deep breath as she stared at the monitor. She stood. “What happened here will never be forgiven by the Order. What these people did will start a cycle of never-ending violence and battle between our kind. It will never stop unless one of us will be gone... and we both know who’s kind will be wiped out in the end.”
Troy, alarmed by her thoughts, paused the video. He turned around and stood. “Asceia, please. Don’t do something reckless that will harm a lot of innocent people. Both sides will have casualties, you know that.”
“I am not going to do this, people will. As much as I wanted to stop this from ever happening, it’s inevitable. I can’t stop my people. Those tortures we had for days, those will never be settled by forgiveness. My people will demand blood.”
“There are more ways to settle this, better ways that don’t include bloodshed.”
“There was already bloodshed, Troy. Your people started that.”
“Please, Asceia. We can bring the whole operation of Herozoan down without spilling innocent blood. We can do it.”
“You heard what Cynthia said, she has something we can use,” Frejean said.
“I’ll see what I can do with that. For now, I can only guarantee both of your safety.”
“I thought you’re different, Asceia...” she can sense the disappointment in Troy’s voice.
“Asceia, please.”
“Both of you, stop and listen.” Frejean and Troy froze after hearing her voice. “Leyrosa is just behind that door and she’s going to escort you outside this bunker. A man is waiting for you there. Get in the helicopter and leave. Go home.”
Like a puppet, both of them left the control room without uttering any words. They were drunk by the bliss of complying that fighting against Asceia’s commands never occurred to their minds. They walked the corridors decorated with blood until they finally stepped outside the main entrance. It was already dark when they reached the wide-open space where a helicopter was readied by the only and last standing guard of the Herozoan Genetics, which was also under the spell of Asceia’s voice.
••°°••
CONFIRMING THE DEPARTURE of the two, Asceia closed her eyes for a second and once again took a deep breath. As she opened her eyes, she instantly connected her mind to her mother, they shared senses. In a blink of an eye, her mother appeared on her left, floating midair while she was on her sercean form.
“My daughter, our warrior...”
“Mother, I freed our people here from.”
“Did the humans get what they deserve?”
“Yes, mother.
“The Order wanted you all back in the water as soon as possible.”
“Can I stay, mother?”
“And why would you want to stay on the land?”
“I have received intel that this is far from being solved. There are powerful and rich humans behind this experimentation that I still haven’t located. I need to stay and find them.”
“Finding them will take time. The Order has a better plan for these people.”
“What plan?”
“With your gift given by our Goddess Aesercean, we can use it to eliminate all of the humans in this country...or this world. It’s time to leave the deep and take this planet.”
••°°••
YOU ARE READING
Ever After #7: Waves of Scales
FantasyAsceia, a powerful mermaid, was sent to land to investigate what happened to her kind and to bring them home. ••°°•• After the telepathic connection between the mermaids in the sea and on the land was severed, the Order found this to be very alarmin...
