Broken Waves (Chamber x Reader)

Chapter 1

It had been about two weeks since I took a break from my job to be with my family. We spent almost every waking moment together, reminiscing about the past. But that time had ended, and it was back to work. I put on my black scientist-looking outfit, grabbed goggles just in case, and locked the door behind my apartment.

Tyler and I talked nearly daily, until the day of the LRC testing. Ever since it was quiet, which I assumed was due to large amounts of paperwork that it probably brought up. It was normal for large events like that.

I wasn't exactly thrilled to be back at work, but the thought of properly catching up with Tyler after all I've missed made it worth it.

The 30 minute drive was silent, minus for the music playing through the stereo. As I started getting near the facility, the terrain around started to get more... out of the ordinary. After a large turn, the sight ahead nearly made me slam on my breaks.

A lush green rainforest loomed in front of me, much different from the usual dry desert area I had been driving on for the past few years. I felt a pit grow in my stomach, though I tried to rationalize any and every explanation that came to mind.

It wasn't a smooth transition from dry desert to thriving forest. It was abrupt, like a strike through the ground. You could tell exactly where the desert stopped and the forest began.

I couldn't help but think about the testing that had to be done on the LRC. The testing being done was showing that radianite can make things grow a little faster in the right circumstances and environment...

I continued on the drive and approached the facility. Something seemed even more off. There were no guards, no security, in fact the door could easily be forced open. No alarm went off as I lifted the heavy metal doors up into the ceiling.

The facility seemed quieter than usual. There were always people walking about, interns scrambling to get to the places they needed to, groups of coworkers chatting in between testing, and the recreational facilities (seemingly only installed for B sector, for some reason) were always full.

It suddenly struck me: the facility had no one in it. It felt eerily silent, like a ghost town. On the contrary, the B sector had been completely overgrown. Vines scrawled across the walls, plants grew from every nook and cranny, and trees grew where trees definitely shouldn't be. It was as if I was looking 50 years into the future at the abandoned remnants of a once functional facility.

I was only gone for a month. This shouldn't be possible. Suddenly, panic gripped my lungs and it was quickly getting hard to breathe.

Tyler. I needed to find Tyler. Before I thought to do anything else, I sprinted toward his office at full speed. I knew exactly where he usually sat, but like everything else in this place, it was desolate.

A lump grew in my throat, either from tears or from vomit. I searched everything for any sign that my friend was okay. When I started getting desperate, throwing open drawers and shaking cabinets of their files, there was a piece of paper sitting neatly on the highest shelf. The handwriting was almost unintelligible, panicked and sloppy, like it was written in a hurry. Instantly I knew it was Tyler's.

Something's seriously wrong. The tie guy and his counterpart did something to the reactor. His name is Vincent Fabron. I don't know what's going to happen, in a few weeks they're talking about a purge. Thank you for being my found family (Y/n).

I read the note over and over. Something wasn't clicking. It made no sense. Who the hell was this Vincent Fabron and why did he want this place gone?

Tears had started to flow at an alarming pace. The saline drops fell onto the paper and smudged the writing. This note was the last thing I had from Tyler. I quickly stuffed the paper into my pocket and searched the facility for more information.

After a while, I had returned to the office and sat down in a seat that once seemed so comfortable. Now the feeling felt forced and out of place.

I needed to write down the information I had discovered, so I grabbed a notebook from one of the drawers and a pencil. All I knew so far was Vincent Fabron, a man with a tie. I would need to look for a security terminal to see if they had a picture of the mysterious man.

That was about all the information I had so far. It wasn't going to get me far. There had to be so many different Vincent Fabron's in the world, pinning down the one I needed would be next to impossible. I may have been a botanist, but I had very minimal tracking skills. I needed someone who could help me with this, but everyone I knew had disappeared.

The realization had set in. My heart felt heavy and the pit in my stomach grew larger by the minute. Everything I had worked for was gone. Every social interaction, the countless all-nighters to get testing done, my years of college and my debt, my life's work, everything. Wasted, forgotten underneath a dense blanket of vines and thorns.

My stomach felt sick and I quickly regretted eating breakfast. The tears wouldn't stop, the floodgates had been opened and until they were dry I knew they would not stop. I grieved for all I lost.

Then I remembered how I gave directions to the culprit, that it may have been my fault that this entire thing happened. I immediately assumed the well dressed man was some tryhard intern trying to suck up. It wasn't the first time it happened, but none of those interns ended up destroying an incredibly high-tech facility.

I forced myself to stand up. I knew I would be back, in fact I was going to be back very, very soon. I needed supplies and tips from anyone I knew on how to find someone who doesn't want to be found.

Part of me wanted to leave this place, forget it ever happened. I nearly kicked myself for the thought even flashing in my mind. All of those innocent people -- my family -- would not go unnoticed. They needed justice, and I would be the one to give them that, even if it killed me.

Walking back to my car, I gazed out to the parking lot from one of the large windows in the front. It seemed so gloomy compared to every other time I left. Everything felt heavy on me, and my body ached everywhere. My eyes burned, my fists were red from punching the walls, my knees were bruised, and my throat ached. I forced myself to continue on. All I had left was a thirst for vengeance for this Vincent Fabron.

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Author's note: updates will be slow as summer happens so I apologize :) also willing to take requests for specific chapters so we can have some actual lovey dovey stuff!