Reunion

< Exit Music

Prologue
"Angels? Quite an ironic name, considering the Euclidean definition of the word."

In the damp, humid air of a Thales swamp, two unique figures stood in conversation. The first of them was an android, and the second, a demon. Listening in to their words was a massive river which cut the dense swamp in half.

The android was unlike any other. Rather than imitating a human, he was only metal and wires. Enclosing him was a intricate, tattered collection of robes and coats; protecting him from the swamp's moisture. A small opening in his head revealed his sleek, matte finish.

The demon was colossal. A raggedy top-hat rested on his head, complimenting has fat, catfish-like structure. His old, withered green skin meshed with the swamp's leaves.

"Eh, it's a darn shame what happened in the city." said the demon.

"It's interesting how those humans have managed to survive this long. Fascinating, isn't it? At one end they face troubles from those terrifying demons, and those 'angelic' angels."

"Times are hard, fella." The fat, old demon took a sip of his whiskey, reflecting on the hardships of the world.

A blast of wet air hit the robed android.

"You're an intriguing one. I have fought against the angels before, in my previous experiences -- small skirmishes, might I add. I know of the fact they attacked the city, but did anyone tell you how?"

"Brother," The Demon chuckled as he relaxed in the swampy water. "Whole world's a river, and I'm its king. Ain't no place I ain't been, ain't no place I can't go again. Ain't no thing I haven't seen, either." He reached a short arm backwards to scratch his back.

"You're the king?" explained Null. "Didn't you say you stay in the river all day?"

"Like I said, whole world's a river. Not all rivers reach the ocean, son, high time for you to learn that." The Demon opened another bottle of whiskey, offering it to the Android before remembering what his companion was,

Atticus and Melissa
"Atticus?! Wake up, please. You have to wake up now, please!"

Feeling strangely comfortable and laying under warm blankets, Atticus ignored the calling and continued to drift into sleep. Feeling a force grab his arm and shake it while calling his name out even louder than before, he quickly opened his eyes and sat up in the bed. Momentarily blinded by the bright lights that flooded into his vision, he winched and stammered out a single word: "What?"

With his eyes adjusting to the light, he noticed he was in a hospital room, surrounded by bright, white walls. A long purple curtain cut the room in half, preventing him from the seeing the other side of it. At the side of his bed, with her grip on the railing of it still, he noticed a former companion that he had not seen in a long time - Melissa.

"Melissa?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse due to the dryness of his throat, "What are you doing here? How did I get here?"

"You're awake!" Melissa yelled. Ecstatic, she moved her grip from the railing to Atticus' body. He had a smile as the girl gripped him tightly. "I'm so relived to see you, I was so worried!" she said, her voice quavering a bit.

Atticus wrapped his arms around the girl, patting her back gently.

"Good to see you too. But how did I get here? And where is Marshall?"

"He's behind the curtain." she said, pausing for a moment. Looking at Atticus, she began to slowly dictate her memories of the previous night. "I looked for Chris last night... I couldn't find him. I tried my hardest, but do the attack plus the rain... I ended up twisting my leg badly. My brother, Steven, forced me to come here. I noticed you two being carried in here, and I made sure to visit you all in the morning."

Attics placed his hand on his forehead, rubbing it slightly as he thought the latest events over. "But what happened? Last I saw was a blinding flash of light and then I was here."

Looking over at the curtain, he then thought of more questions to as. "Is Chris alright? Marshall and I heard the announcement Alchem. Corp sent about him. And uh, brother?"

Melissa sat down next to Atticus' bed. "Well um, I don't know how to say it but beings called... angels attacked the city. After I left to look for Chris, there was this bright light like you said.... It was horrible, they killed so many people, hundreds, thousands. I-I c-could hear their screams as I ran through the rain. I d-don't know much more than that. As for Chris, I.... couldn't find him, nor Savannah." Melissa stopped as her voice started to quiver, she took a breath wiping away tears. "I met a man when i came to the city. He took me to this lab and I saw this boy who looked really familiar. I remembered him, my twin brother.."

Taken back by the story told from Melissa, Atticus sat back in his bed, confused. Quickly thinking of a reply, he looked back at her, suddenly hearing Marshall call out from the other side of the room. "Okay, slow down. You're not making any sense. How do you know all of this stuff? What is up with these "angels? and this secret twin brother you never told us about? Who even is he?"

Melissa looked at Atticus, she was slightly annoyed by having to explain herself yet again. "I saw the attack, I didn't know that they were angels until after my brother told me, and hes not a secret brother... I just didn't remember him, but his name is Steven, he works here in Silvia, he's actually outside..or well should be."

"You're not making any sense, this just sounds crazy." Atticus said.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I really don't know how to explain it any better, it's all still confusing to me as well." Melissa admitted.

Chris
"What catastrophes befell my physical state?"

In the dilapidated, rarely-used android wing of the Masquerade Hospital, Chris Wellington lay on a vertically standing silver table. Shocked by the location, he attempted to move -- but metal restraints restricted his arms and legs. Looking down, Chris was surprised to see he did not posses his usual attire. Rather than his orange and blue outfit, he now wore primarily black. Chris wore dark, baggy sweatpants; and a tight short-sleeved sweater with a large hood. A Silivian emblem was embroiled on the left arm. Perhaps if he had the chance, he would get something more like his original clothing.

Adjusting to the unique environment, Chris checked his watch. Looking at it, he knew it had been several hours since the encounter with Fontaine, so the water must have had quite the effect to get him put in here. He sighed with relief, then looked closely at the doorway. Would he ever see Savannah, Atticus, Marshall, or Melissa again?

With the room's silence being broke by Chris' awakening, a man rose from a table and approached the android. The man was the only other person in the large, dusty room. On his table, the man's strange work was showcased. Beakers containing liquids of different colors were being warmed by Bunsen burners. He had left his notebook on the table, filled with mathematical equations and notes.

The man stood above the plans and papers littered throughout the room. His skin was fair and brown, and his hair thick and straight. The man's dark clothes matched Chris' new attire. As he examined the android's progress, an orange cat, the man's pet, jumped on to his shoulders, purring softly.

"You're alive." he said to the android, deeply.

"Uh...just who do I have the honor of addressing?" Chris asked as he investigated the man in more careful detail. "Because, if you must know, I have a rather urgent telephone call to make..."

The man was amused at the android's vocabulary. "'Honor', Cunning? I've certainly never been called that.'" replied the man, as a large meow filled the room. The man's awareness of Chris' series classification filled the android with bewilderment and curiosity. "Welcome, my friend, to the long-forgotten android services of the Masquerade Hospital. I salvaged your body and brought you here, to be rebuilt."

"Thank you very much for your assistance," Chris said. "Now, could you please undo the ropes tied around my levers...er, arms?" He eyed the door carefully.

"Well, I suppose you are in a hurry." The man walked over to the android, undoing his restraints and allowing him to stand. As Chris began to stumble, the man grinned cockily. "Tell me, Cunning. Savannah, Melissa, Atticus, Marshall -- they're good people, aren't they?"

“Absolutely, of course they’re good people...” Chris said as, he got off the bed and cast a glance towards the door. “Wait, how are you aware of them? Could you elaborate?” He was starting to get suspicious.

The man smiled even further. "That is not important. What is important though, is you getting to them as soon as possible. But before you do " He quickly walked over to his desk. At once, the cat jumped off of his arm, and began rubbing it's fur against a small, black backpack. The man gently picked it up, and presented the bag to Chris. "You might need these for your future journey. Wouldn't want you to be attacked by some unknown rogue assassin again, hmm?"

Chris paused for a second to think about it. "I guess that's a wise choice, always good to have materials, thank you very much," He cautiously took the bag, very curious to know what was in it. As he headed towards the door, he realized he had forgotten something important. He turned to look at the man again. "What do they call you?"

The man looked closely at the android. "About time you asked this, eh Cunning? Samuel. Samuel Brownlee. Based on the stuff you'll find in that bag, I trust this won't be the last time we see each other."

"A pleasure to meet you, Samuel. Farewell," Chris said, as he twisted the doorknob and opened the door, preparing to head out into the decrepit hallway.

Chris walked slowly past the messy walls, keeping his eye on the rickety staircase at the end of the corridor. He detected a very putrid odor coming from the ground, which increased the run-down effect of this place. As he got closer and closer to the staircase, Chris noticed that it had yellow caution tape all over it. He would have to devise an easier method of getting out.

Finally, Chris found another set of stairs a little ways past the first set, and carefully climbed them. Opening the door, he found himself in a large waiting room, which had fancy-looking chairs. In one of the chairs, there was a boy with shoulder-length black hair. Could it be Atticus? Not giving a second thought, Chris hurried towards the chair and tapped the boy on his shoulder. As the boy turned, Chris was shocked to see it wasn't Atticus at all and lifted his hand off. Before the boy could respond, Chris said, "Pardon me, sir, that was an accident. I'm searching for my friend, Atticus,"

"Oh, it's fine, no problem. And Atticus? I've heard that name before. What's your name?" The boy replied, confused at the strange character.

"Well, technically, it's Cunning Humanoid Robot Intelligence Series MKII, but everyone calls me Chris. I don't even know what became of MKI," Chris explained, yet again not remembering something important about his life.

The name "Chris" quickly clicked a button within the boy's mind. At once, he was hit with memories of conflict, torrential downpour, guilt, and arguments. Recognizing the name, the boy held out his right hand to the android. "Chris Wellington, then? I'm Steven."

"I suppose it's a pleasure to meet you, Steven," Chris said, taking Steven's hand. "Now, explain how exactly you are aware of my surname, considering I never told it to you. Would you happen to have met any friends of mine?"

Steven smiled nervously, and scratched the back of his head. Laughing through his teeth, he remembered the circumstances in which he knew of Wellington and his friends. He considered dictating it to the android, but because of the tale's complexities, he opted to save it for another time. "Well . . . it's a bit of a long story. How about we explain it in your friend Atticus' room? I know where he is, you and I could go there. Come, follow me."

"I'd appreciate that very much," Chris replied, noticing Steven was already heading for the stairs. "Hey, wait up!"

The android followed the boy as they approached the stairwell. As the two began climbing the stairs, Steven talked with Chris.. "Room 562, the front desk told me when I got here." he said. "It's amazing, Chris, when I think about it . . . My days this past week were quite mundane, and then all of a sudden, my sister shows up and all sorts of things unfold. I know you're an android, but. . . can you relate?"

"Well, if I remember correctly, there was a dramatic change at some point in my life. However, I know no specifics, nor if it was positive or negative. My database has gradually conked out over the years," Chris explained as he followed Steven. The boy smiled in curiosity, and they continued to climb the metal stairs.

Eventually, the two arrived at the fifth floor, and entered into the hallway.

They walked slowly, searching for the door with the number "562". Through their walk, Chris and Steven listened to the sounds of machines and murmurs. Occasionally, some people restrained to stretchers would pass them -- survivors of the angellic decimation of the city.

Steven stopped walking. In front of him, room number 562. He took a soft breath, unsure of what to expect. "Would you like to knock, Chris?"

"I suppose I shall." replied Chris.

Walking in front of the door, he began banging his hand. A muffled voice seemed to respond with "Who is it?"

Without hesitation, the android swung open the door. "It's me, Chris. I am relieved to have discovered your present location."

Protagonists
Melissa turned hearing Chris and jumped up in joy rushing to hug him tightly. "Thank god, you are okay! I was so worried." She exclaimed, excitingly.

"Relieved that you're okay as well, Melissa," Chris said, not letting go of Melissa. "I hope Atticus is alright," Chris looked out into the hallway for a second. "Steven, would you mind coming in?"

Lisetning to the android's order, Steven was a bit nervous at first, unsure of if he was still on good terms with his sister. "As you wish" he said, as he began to walk forward.

Atticus quickly looked towards the door as it sprung open and was shocked to see Chris Wellington behind it, with a young unfamiliar brown-headed male behind him.

"Chris? How are you here? How did you find us?" He asked, confused, but glad to see the android.

Just then he heard Marshall call out again. "Yeah, we're here. Melissa, can you pull the curtain back for him?" Right as he addressed Melissa, she flung herself to the android, embracing him in a hug.

"Atticus, it's a delight to see you," Chris said, as he and Melissa finished hugging and he noticed Atticus was awake. "This is Steven, by the way, and I sure have quite the story to tell you guys,"

Melissa looked into the hallway, and noticed the boy emerging behind Chris. She gasped softly at the sight of her brother. Smiling, she skipped over to him. "Steven!" she said, and the two embraced -- to Steven's surprise.

"I'm glad you're alright." said Steven. She let go of her brother, and the three entered into the room together.

Marshall walked along the butterscotch path. A tiny purple and blue pixie appeared in front of Marshall. It flew around in a panicked fashion.

“Can you help me find my friends? Great! One is yellow with green hair, can you find him? He’s where? That’s right, he’s behind that bush! Gre—“

Then, the pixie vanished cleanly from the world. They world went from colorful to plain white in an instant.

”Wha—“

He was confused as to what was going on.

Seconds later, a large red and white peppermint with eyes, arms, legs, glasses, a top hat and a cane appeared and leaned close to his face.

”Hello there, I’m Mister Peppermint, of the Lola June Candy Corporation! Here, we make everything from candy canes to licorice to caramel. Today, we are introducing Fudge Balls. They are chocolatey spheres of deliciousness. But then at your local candy store today!”

Marshall’s eyes shuttered, then opened to see that it was merely just a dream. He looked to his right to see a purple curtain. He heard what seemed to be Atticus’ and Melissa’s voice on the other side.

“Why the hell am I in a hospital?!”

Marshall looked down at his bed-ridden self. He noticed scrapes all over himself and felt a pain in his left arm.

“Agh. How the hell did this happen?”

Marshall adjusted himself in his bed and overheard Melissa, Chris, and Atticus’ voice behind the curtain to his right.

“You guys here?”

". . and that's all what happened, as I remembered it. Now I'm here, back with everyone." Melissa smiled as she finished telling her story to the four people in the room.

"Sounds really intense what you went through with Steven..." Chris said in response to Melissa. "I suppose now it's time to tell my story,"

Chris sat back in his chair, and began, "Well, I had two places I escaped from after being kidnapped...one was an ocean-bound military base, the other some android training facility. My escapes from both places had a lot of obstacles, but I consider the second one more of a success, considering it ended up being my "escape route" from the first one. Gabriel tried to restore my memories at the military base, and at the training facility, it was like being in what you guys might call a school.

"Using a "recharge battery" excuse as one of my tactics, I escaped from that place and saw this fuzzy creature, which caused me to bump into a tree. Behind the tree, there were these two boys, Harrison and Piercy. Brothers, it seemed, from the dialogue between them. But what really intrigued me was that they were talking about some leader or sort, yet they kept referring to him as "The Demon", for some reason. The two were thieves of some sort, but after asking for directions, I parted ways with them, so I didn't ask too many questions. That led me here, and it's been tough."

"Demon, huh? Like the creature we ran into in the woods that time?" Atticus asked, intrigued.

"I wasn't present for that encounter, but I suppose this can't be a coincidence. Perhaps that really was this guy the Provosts referred to as "The Demon". And if not, there are numerous demons that could be the boss of them all, since we're assuming this is a literal demon," Chris explained.

"Hmmm. . . ." Steven had his arms crossed, reflecting on the information provided by the android. His story sparked something in his mind. "Excuse me, Chris . . . 'The Demon' . . . the two you were talking about, they specifically said "the" demon, right?" said Steven, enunciating the word "the".

"Absolutely, they indeed did that," Chris replied, tension building up inside him. "Why do you ask, do you know something? About this demon?"

Atticus leaned forward, listening closely to the young man. "Interesting. And who exactly is "The Demon"? What is so special about them?"

“The Demon must mean Mister Peppermint. That thing is the stuff of nightmares.” Marshall joked.

"Unfortunately, we know very little about The Demon. We only know about the creature from a combination of conflicting accounts from both defected and captured demons. Truthfully, we do not know if they are even a literal demon, or a metaphorical "demon" like creature. What we do know, however, is that The Demon was definitely involved in the creation of Euclid. Some research suggests he helped create the land, some say he is a colossal "God". We look into all of these reports over in The Laboratory of the Unexplainable."

Atticus gave Marshall a slight look, suggesting his comment was weird, before turning his attention back to Steven. "I don't get it? Can you explain more? How is he like a god?"

"It's. . . .complicated, really. The Demon being a 'God' is one of the many reports and testimony we have got from demon primary sources. In this version of The Demon's story, The Demon was once a colossal god who created this planet; but was transformed into 'The Demon' for unknown reasons. I never thought of this version as anything significant, though the others at the lab do serious research on the 'God' story. This version of events even says something about a red light." he responded.

The word caused an alarm to go off in Chris' brain. "Red light? Specifically scarlet-colored?" Chris asked. "Back at the animal feeding station where we woke up, we saw the sky turn red and glow in a rather ominous way. Could this be connected?"

"Yeah, yeah, he's right. That day at the barn, just as we were leaving, this huge red light streaked across the sky and colored everything red in its wake," Atticus said.

Steven listened to Chris, and fell into his chair, his hand on his chin. "Interesting. . . . I've heard of that happening before; and we look at that from time to time in the lab. I don't agree with it's name, but officially, around Euclid, we call that . . ." he paused for a second.

". . .The Demon's Light. Yep, that's it. To those who support the 'God' theory, they say it came from The Demon, after he fell from his status as a God."

"Wow. I -- this world is really different from how I thought it was . . ." said Melissa.

"That's pretty insane," Chris realized, "To think that there is some electricity source so powerful..."

"Fell from his status as a god?" Atticus repeated. "How did that happen? I'd like to know more, if you have it."

"Ehh, I wouldn't know that one. Those at the lab might know." replied Steven.

”One time, I thought I heard a god calling me but it was actually just my dad.”

Marshall sighed, taking a sip of the water left out for him on his bedside table.

Atticus rolled his eyes at Marshall's randomness, shaking his head.

"At the lab, hm? Could we go by there and check it out? I do not know why, but I feel intrigued by this information." He said, replying to Steven.

"A curious one, aren't you? Very well then, I can bring everyone to the lab, and we can discuss this further. Also, you all need a place to stay, right? I know a guy with quite a few free beds. . ." said Steven.

"We'd all appreciate that very much," Chris said in response to Steven. "But there's something we need to do first," He looked over to the others, each of them looking equally confused, not knowing what he was talking about.

"And what is that?" said Melissa.

"Savannah is still missing, we need to find her."

"Stevie, while I want to take the others back to the lab, we are forgetting something." Melissa said before standing, "Where is Savannah? No one has seen or heard from her since the car accident, and I'm really worried something bad has happened."

Melissa perked up at the mention of "a place to stay." "That would really help!" she began. "We could finally use a bed to sleep on. Where is this guy?"

Steven smiled. "He's an. . . interesting fellow. I knew him when I was younger, he's got a lab of his own that you all could stay in."

"That's a really great idea, I know I'd appreciate having a real place to stay," Chris said, delighted at what Steven had just said.

"Well, only if the guy approves me bringing all of you to his lab. Though I'm sure he might like new subjects . . . " explained Steven.

"Subjects? I really don't like the sound of that," Chris said. "Are you saying he experiments on people? Like, will all 5 of us suffer by going there, or will we benefit?"

Melissa looked at her brother confused. "What do you mean new subjects?" She asked.

Steven was amused at their curiosity. He smiled, not wanting to reveal the secrecy of the mysterious man's work. "He does. . .a different kind of experimentation, you will see. It's great work he does, I promise."

"I guess we can do that, then," Chris says. 'But we still have a major problem to deal with."

"Experiments? I never agreed to be some wack job's test monkey I'm not just gonna come and let whatever happen, happen!" Melissa said angrily at Steven.

"Calm down, Melissa," Atticus said, looking at her. "I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think."

Turning his attention to Steven again, he nodded. "This sounds interesting and all, but before we go there, we need to focus on our group. Savannah is still missing."

Epilogue
Dressed in a green sweater and a black jacket was a tall man. He walked alone, wearing white gloves and a surgical mask both to conceal his identity and keep him safe from the germs a hospital would contain. His dark outfit contrasted greatly with the white hospital corridors as he watched for the room he'd arranged to visit - On a scrap of paper he held, "J. FONTAINE - ROOM 7" was scrawled messily in blue ink. He shook his long white hair out of his eyes as he opened the door to the room labelled '7' and stepped inside.

As he sat down, a heavily bandaged man turned to look at him with great struggle. Apparently, this man had sustained his injuries about fifteen minutes before the invasion began. He was found heavily beaten at the sight of a house fire caused by a gas leak, presumably induced by damages caused by a stray bullet during whatever fight he was caught in. His skin, very few of it visible, was dark and burned, and his one eye was scarred and bloodshot. Fontaine could barely make out the face in front of him; He was high out of his mind on painkillers, after all, but he could tell he was being berated for... something. Maybe he'd just drift off. He didn't want to be here, anyways.

Gabriel's lips moved fluently under his face mask, as though he'd rehearsed his speech multiple times in advance.

"-In conclusion, John Fontaine, you are no longer necessary, and I'm afraid you know far, FAR too much." Fontaine's eyes began to focus as he noticed Gabriel twirling a wire between his fingers, unplugged from the wall. Fontaine attempted to muster a scream, though his lungs denied him the opportunity. "Shh, Fontaine, you're already dead. It would take a real miracle to save you, now."

Gabriel dropped the cord, stood up, and exited without another word.

Surrealism >