Meeting #2: Briefing Knight

Elijah Shepard

Before we begin, I would like to address the people who are commenting on how "inhumane" our tests are. While it is not my place to tell you what to think, you have to see this from our perspective. There is an incredibly slim chance that we will ever find this "Phobos" person and Nate's journal with other methods of killing the Fears, so we need a backup plan. That is what the Abominations are; a contingency in the form of test subjects. And although we will continue to administer tests until a better, more "humane" method is found, I sincerely apologize to all of you, especially Lucia for any grief this has caused and will cause.

Now, on to the meeting. 

Nathaniel and I were sitting in my office, discussing new tests for Wendigo when Knight, Lucia and Cecilia arrived at the door. Calling down to security over the intercom, I ordered Nathan to escort Lucia and Cecilia to the conference room. I myself would be taking Knight to go see Wendigo in order to brief him on his testing duty. As we walked to the observation chamber, we discussed the Fears and our mission to destroy them.

"It's a pretty noble cause you people have taken up here, but be honest with me, how do you expect to kill a Fear of all things?" He said, making the only sound in the empty hallway besides the echo of our footsteps. 

"We're hoping it won't be this complicated. As I've previously mentioned, Nathaniel had a journal detailing a method of giving a Fear the power to become a God. This process could also be performed on a human, giving them the power required to destroy the Fears. Under normal circumstances this would be our plan, but the Journal was left in the care of a runner before Nathan's 'death'. Worse yet, Nathan is suffering from amnesia due to his revival, and can't remember any of his notes. And that is why we are here at square one, performing brutal tests on a creature that shouldn't exist."

"In that case, I can see why you're doing this. It still might not be a good enough explanation for Lucia, though." He replied. I looked at my feet for a moment in shame. "It truly is a shame, but it must be done. There's no real guarantee that we'll ever find this "Phobos" kid, so we have to have other options available." Knight opened his mouth as if to say something, but then just shook his head. After a few more steps, he once again struck up a conversation.

"I understand how you guys can attempt to harm the physical Fears like the Rake, but what about the more complicated ones. Say... The Dying Man?" I thought for a moment how to answer such a question. "That is a good question indeed. I'll admit it's one I haven't thought of yet, but I suppose we'll need to cross that bridge rather soon. Thank you for reminding me Knight, you may have just saved thousands of lives!" I chuckled as I patted his back. He smiled faintly before clearing his throat and asking yet another question.

"What about the Quiet?" I stopped walking.

"What do you mean, what about the Quiet?" I asked. He tensed and leaned against the wall. "I mean what do you plan on doing about it." I shifted uncomfortably, needing to quickly think up an answer. "The Quiet isn't really much of a threat. If anything, it's just another means of killing the Fears. Perhaps this is what could kill of the ones who are less physical! My goodness Knight, we could certainly use you here in the Deicide!" I said as I laughed again. "Sarcasm, I assume?" He muttered. "Not at all! I only wish we had innovators like yourself here rather than the war hungry rabble we call our troops. There are too few scientific minds in this world, and I fear that they may all be gone someday soon." As I started to walk down the hall again, he called out again.

"You say the Quiet's not a threat, but I... disagree. I've read reports about it - seen entire lives ruined. I watched as one kid's life was affected by this thing." Knight leaned forward. "He died because of its influence.

"And if my guess right... if the organization I'm looking for was destroyed by the Quiet, then that proves to me right there that it's not something we need to overlook, Elijah."

I grinned. "You have a point there Knight, but the Quiet's a bit of a wild card when it comes to dealing with it. There's the chance that you destroy it and save the universe, or you could end up causing it to spread, destroying the universe. And frankly, that would be counter productive." I pulled my card key from my pocket, and opened the observation room for Wendigo.

"Knight, meet AB-01. This is our hybrid of the Rake and the Smiling Man, which is convenient considering we'll be encountering the Rake itself if all goes well. That large steel door across from it leads to a warehouse that we've filled with every type of weapon or element you can imagine. You want to force feed it twenty kilograms of pure calcium? Go right ahead, there's plenty. The only thing is... We've discovered how it manages to regenerate so quickly, and you may find it  a bit morbid."

"I doubt it'll be the worst thing I've seen" he said as he shrugged. I sighed, and made the confession. "It's regeneration factor is fueled by the amount of organic matter it consumes, specifically flesh. And if we're going to be even more specific... Human flesh. We've tried feeding it animal carcasses, but it just refuses. At least we can be thankful that we're in New York, where the morgues fill up rather qui-"

"Wait a moment" He said. "You mean to tell me that you're taking bodies from the city's morgues?" I put my hands in my coat's pockets. "We're not stealing, we're purchasing. We pay off the city's hospitals to supply us with any deceased humans they have on hand, and they don't ask questions. It's a win win relationship."

"What about the families?" He asked. "The doctors tell them that the corpses are too mangled to see. Ignorance is bliss, after all." I said, not facing him out of shame.

"That's a pretty heartless philosophy, Elijah."

I let the comment slide as I led him into the testing chambers to associate himself with our equipment. As we learned from Cecilia later that night, he disappeared from his hotel room and still has not been located. And while this may sound heartless... I'm certainly glad it wasn't Cecilia. After all, she's the only one who really brings anything to the table in this alliance.