I. Judo&Anemone
Remember the twenty first of December.
Why? That was the day my life as it was before would never be the same no matter how much hair dye or make up I wore to detach me from my past.
December 21 2020 was the day the Particle Accelerator went off and changed my life. Not for the worse nor better, but different....very different.
I had a typical life, parts of it were good, some were bad, very bad.
I grew up in Manhattan, New York. My mom, well my mom was something special. Again, not bad, just special. My dad was...well I'd have to know my dad to tell you about him. He left when I was only just a seven year old Hershey drop, I could barely remember his face, it wasn't like my mom ever had pictures of him or ever even talked about that bastard.
Was he tall? Or short like me? My mom was nearly six feet so there's no way I got my height genes from her. I was 5'5 with heels. Oh, I tried heels, oddly enough they just made me look shorter. Don't ask me why.
I remember my small problems, at the time were hard, now if I wanted some of the problems solved I could fix it with ease now, it seemed to be a lifetime ago, not a years. I was a mechanical engineer, spent five years earning my bachelor's degree in engineering from a school accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). I even passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination. Complete at least four years of engineering experience by working for Ted Kord for K.O.R.D industries. All starting at the young age of 17.
I remember how much I dreaded waking up at 5 every morning for the hours and a half drive to Starling City, now Star City. If only long drives were the type of problems I had to deal with.
I worked on building different prototypes and was promoted within months, I was fast, clean, and good with my hands. The pay was good but not good enough, I took a second job there as an IT girl. I was good, my supervisor Janice constantly was begging me to ditch working with the Mechanics and join the computer division. The pay better too surprisingly enough, but I couldn't bare to leave my tools. Plus Janice smelled like wet socks and baby formula. Not a good smell, I can tell you that from months of experience.
Computers and I had a long and dark history, being in front of my vice all day would surely test my stability. It would take a lot to get in front of those babies 24/7.
The night that the Particle Accelerator exploded went I was in K.O.R.D. Industries after hours, whenever I was really into a project it irked me leave without completing a good amount of work in the work day.
I should I have went home.
I was in my office building a Tachyon based energy absorber called the 'Tachyon Assimilator". The company planned to modify the device to absorb crazy amounts of energy in case of a nuke attack to sell to the government. We weren't at war but better safe than sorry.
I was working on the coating of the device but I need a special type of metal to secure the radiation once it was locked in so the radiation could dissolve inside the Tachyon Assimilator.
I needed Magnesium and Rhodium based alloy, it stronger than titanium but as light as aluminum. It was extremely rare and worth a whole lot of money, like I mean if someone had a watch made solely out of Magnesium and Rhodium alloy you'd be looking at 100,000 worth.
I had open access to the room, it was rare that a woman as young as I was had that type of freedom but what could I say? I am good.
I should I just went home.
I walked to Level 150 from Level 145 where I was stationed. I walked into the room filled with hot large containers of magnesium alloy. I had my sustainable jar and was ready to start my prototype layer of Magnesium Rhodium alloy. I wasn't going to use the real deal just yet and risk wasting thousands of dollars worth of Magnesium Rhodium alloy.
I was filling my sustainable jar with the faux substance. My headphones were blasting some stupid song that I was too lazy to change and I was too careful to risk dropping the substance. It was hotter than lava, but I, with my steady hands was able to fill my jar with it.
That was until through the loud bass of my Skull candy headphones I heard the sound of people talking.
I should have just went home.
I knew that something was wrong, I felt it in my loins, I felt the shill run up my legs and up my back. My hands shiver from the chilly air in the refrigerated room that kept the temperature of the alloy balance so it didn't overheat and cause the 250 story building from exploding.
My mind told me to run and go to safety but my legs walked towards the potential danger and as I moved my feet I was met with something I didn't expect. These group of men, some I had even seen on the news from terrible crimes like murder, robbery, rape, were all carrying gigantic jugs of the million dollars worth of alloy. After I barely wrapped my mind around the fact that they were carrying tons of alloy which was at the time impossible, I quickly pulled out my phone to ring the police, they were moving in the direction of the only free exit so I knew the best idea was to called the police from where I was and they would be able to track my location from where I was and save me. I tried to kept my cool, my hands were shaking, the jug suddenly felt more heavy then before as the fear took over me, I slowly tried to put it down. The metal clang of the jun to the floor made me want to scream at myself.
"Hey, Tim, check out what that sound was."
"It was probably just a mouse boss." I heard a deep and scratchy voice utter to the intimidating man. There was a silence and I look in their direction to see if one was coming, I picked up the jug and moved to a different location.
"Hello?" I heard the police officer say on the line as leaped to a more secure location.
"Robbery--"
I looked up and the man, Tim, was shot in the head with a semi automatic. I gasped, never had I seen a dead man before, no one close to me ever died before so there was no need to. It happened in slow motion. Tim, the murder who couldn't be any shorter than six feet fell like a sycamore tree to the ground with a loud thud.
My grip on the jug faltered and before I could process and try to catch the faux alloy the jug fell on the floor and the metal splashed on the floor.
I quickly turned around the metal still splashed on my back and lower front torso and I cried out in agony. It was like bathing in fire, it was like diving into molten hot magma, it was as if I was being electrocuted a million times in the same place.
"Ahh!!" I yelled out. I yanked at my hair unable to process the torment that was flowing through my bones.
"Hello, ma'am are you in trouble?" The operator called out.
No shit sherlock, you think I yell out from searing pain for fun? Like it's an after work hobby of mine?!
My phone slipped from my hands and I was just about to pass out from the pain as I fell face first to the floor as I thrashed violently from the throbbing pain.
"Boss," I heard from behind me," there's a girl, what do we do with her? There's a phone here looks like she called the cops." I couldn't even feel fear, I was too busy wishing for death, the pain was unbearable. I couldn't take another second of the pain.
"Throw her in the alloy, make it look like an accident, throw away the camera footage, no witnesses, our success is more important that some girls life."
"But she's real purrty." I heard one of the men say as I jerked widely on the ground trying the get away from them, I couldn't handle half a pint of faux alloy, I couldn't even fathom being dumped in the real thing. "why can't we take her and make her work at the brothel. People would pay a pretty penny for this one."
"Boys, after this job, we're never going to have to work again, we'll be set for life." The Southern man picked me up tossing me on his back with no care or remorse.
"Which container boss?"
"Choose one." I heard the boss say as he began to walk away. "We're loading the docks, be done in four minutes, the police are gonna be here."
They were going to kill me, I was going to die an agonizing death and there was nothing I could do.
All of it was happening too fast, too sudden. I was being lifted up a ladder. Was it there the whole time? Had seconds passed and I was too lost to realize?
"N-no, please, sir." I begged in severe disturbance. I couldn't handle.
"Me, Jackson Jones going against Tobias Church and the big man for your life is never gonna happy cutie, don't be so unhappy, at least I'm the last thing you get to see my face before your last call." He smiled an evil yellow smile before he lowered his head and attacked me by assaulting my dying mouth with his lips while squeezing my bottom simultaneously.
"Alright Jackson, ill give you a minute to do your business with her, I can practically see your blue balls."
Jackson ripped my clothes off. I was there naked infront of all these men like a slave at an auction. It was humiliating. I tried to cry but he was choking me in midair above the alloy. He put his hands on my body, some of his buddies came around and touched me up too, I cried. It wasn't until a unknown figure in the back came into view.
"Hay!" He sounded angry, I thought he was going to save me! " I didn't not hire you to rape civilians, I hired you to get me the alloy." His accent was strong, it was some type of UK accent.
"Help.." I whimpered.
"Let her go?" Jackson asked.
"No, she's seen too much, throw her in the alloy, but there will be just do for what you did Jackson, you'll only be getting one half of your pay."
"Damn it." Jackson muttered. "You wasn't worth a million dollars." He cursed.
I jerked my head back hitting his face and spat in disgust and he just got so angry and he growled.
"J-jackson." I cried out when he started to choke me.
There was this crazy glare in his eyes. His buddies laughed which obviously made him even more upset.
"I'll be the last name you call, the last one you touch and kiss, you'll remember me when take that last attempt at breath Ms...." He looked down at my name tag and read my name "Lilith Logan." He cackled. He held me by my neck over the sea of dangerous hot alloy and I shook trying to get free. I cried out unable to form words.
His cocky smile, Tobias Church, and a figure behind Tobias stared at me amused as I tried to plea for life. So I stopped. My mom always to me that in you last seconds you could go out like a coward who cries, or a viking who welcomes death.
I let go and chose to be a viking.
"No witness, No prisoners, No mercy." Someone said, and that was the last thing I heard before I was dumped into the sea of. Magnesium and Rhodium alloy.
It was hot.
It was everywhere and nowhere and I felt like I was being branded from the inside out, I felt my skin scream from the exposure the radiation filled death trap.
Suddenly there was a loud booming sound and it felt like I being lifted into the sky, the pain didn't lessen like I thought dying would grant me, all I felt was a growing pressure in my stomach that if I had my working throat and stomach..and everything else I'd vomit profusely. And just like the few seconds I was in the air had never happened I was being flung by gravity to the floor. I opened my eyes as what I saw made want to cry out. The container were all tipping over. There must have a gravitational like disturbance in the atmosphere to cause a abnormality of this magnitude with no warning. I had five seconds before I was bombarded with the masses of deadly fluids.
I couldn't even cry, the alloy leaked from my nose and eyes, the alloy hardened in my esophagus and I was slowly choking to death while being burned alive. And not only was I afraid and alone. Through the tormenting suffering, as the blood in my veins clotted with rhodium and my organs began to be infused with magnesium, something else was brewing in me, that moment turned me into the monster I am today, it was the fiery, indignant, sullen feeling of vexed wrath sending me into a splenetic frenzy.
and then I was inflamed.
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