7 The Final Candidate
As General Prius heads over to his headquarters, he recieved a message from General Johanssen. All of them are required to return to the facility in three days time. He needs to settle things with Princess Sofie's parents in order for them to head out to the facility. Three days isn't enough but he will find a way. When he arrived at the facility, he ordered his men to comply with the instructions given by the royal family for the event. He then called Princess Sofie and told her about the new deadline. He's very confident that the Princess can be trusted with such confidential matters. He needed to figure out a way to make the king and queen permit Princess Sofie from leaving the royal palace.
"General, I have a suggestion. Do you wanna hear it?" Princess Sofie was currently packing some stuff.
"What is it Princess?"
"Fake my accident, tomorrow is an important event for the Queen. Let's just say, I don't wanna participate in such a boring event and run away driving a car while drunk."
"Tell me all in details."
"I'm gonna find a way to sneak out of the event tomorrow, and I need your help with that. You're in charge of the security so I need some holes for me to squeeze out. You don't have to ask anyone to help me get out, just give me some opportunity to sneak out on my own. It's better if only the two of us knows about this. Well, make it three. I need a fake body. When there's a body inside the car they won't suspect any foul plays. Considering my behavior in the palace, everyone will believe that the accident is cause of my own recklessness."
"Quite a plan. So about the time for you to sneak out, when the Queen is giving her speech, everyone's attention even the security personnel will be focusing on her and her safety. By that time you need to be out of the hall and proceed to the kitchen. By there, everyone's gonna be busy preparing the wine for the toast after the Queen's speech. It will be up to you to manage your disguise and all. From the kitchen head for the back door. There will be patrol cars in there, take the last one I'll leave it open for you. Then you can execute your fake accident. Will you be able to manage it though?"
"Trust me General, I am more than just a pretty princess. How about the body? And the location of the accident?"
"Drive around the till you reach the expressway, there's a blind spot in the right corner of the road, even cctvs can't get a hold of that spot. I'll be following you in another car. I can provide a body perfectly fit for that kind of accident. Hope you aren't have any problems with it whie driving." General Prius chuckles upon imagining the Princess' reaction while driving with a corpse.
"You ain't attending the event?"
"I already told your parents that I have important matters to attend to. The country's security is far more important than the Queen's charity event don't you think?"
"That's true. And about the corpse, I ... I think I can handle it." Hesitant yet she must succeed.
"Well then, see you tomorrow."
The next day, both General Prius and Princess Sofie executed their plan perfectly as for what the both of them discussed over the phone. The Princess is truly capable of doing such dangerous stunts om her own. As for her and the corpse, they didn't end well. Princess Sofie vomits on General Prius' uniform just after he open the car door for her to get inside his car. She thinks of it as a nightmare that will haunt her for a while. General Prius takes the Princess to the headquarters and let her rest for a bit. Then they will head to the facility by the evening.
Back at the facility, Ara, Diego, Slacovich and Li Ying are confined separately. All of them are anxious and confused. No details about the project has been said to them. Not a single word from the generals. They don't know what's happening. Doctors go in and out of their rooms extracting blood, checking their physique every now and then. The four of them are closely monitored by the generals on the hidden cameras installed in their every rooms.
"Generals, good thing you're here. Only General Prius isn't around yet." General Johanssen looks at the monitors and examined the other generals candidates.
"General Prius will arrive tomorrow with his candidate." General Nushka sits staring on the monitors as well.
"By the way General Johanssen, I don't wanna be rude but you're the only one with no candidate at all." General Buhaden smirks off.
"General Buhaden, I think that General Johanssen has something in mind. He always have a trump card under his sleeves. Am I right General?" General Yang's tone marks a bit of suspicion.
"Calm down Generals, for the final candidate. You know how big the US is. There are a lot of capabale people in there but they lack conviction and will. If I just randomly pick a candidate coz I find them interesting, how can I get ahold of this candidate?" General Johanssen sits calmly and took a sip on his coffee.
"You think highly of yourself. You think we didn't pick the right candidates?" General Yang clenches his fist and takes a deep breath.
"I didn't say that General Yang. I know out country's have conflicts, we don't have to literally meddle with it. We're here for the same goal and objectives. Instead if falsely accusing me of misjudging all of your candidates, why not open your mind and think about what I'm pointing out on our situation." General Johanssen distributes sets of files.
"I know what you mean General. Sorry." General Yang calmly recieves the files and examines it. All the Generals did.
"These are personal information of each of the candidates. Including General Prius' candidate which is the Royal Family's only Princess." General Buhaden said in amazement.
"I've heard General Prius' volunteered for this project. He's saved from the trouble of discussing the details of the project to his candidate. For the princess is willing to undergo the mutation with an open mind and positivity. But for the rest, those candidates doesn't know anything at all, they are furious, agitated and anxious. This will hinder us from controlling them afterwards." General Johanssen pointed out the possibility of the aftermath.
"We need to deeply encourage them and assure them of the success of the project." General Nushka find it hard to take in, for his candidate is someone hard enough to convince.
"Any suggestions?" General Buhaden is starting to be bothered.
"Once all 6 candidates are gathered we should immediately discuss it to them. They might oppose but we can always immerse them to some intense debriefing. Also, we can brain wash them and make the project look like the only justification of their sacrifices. This will make them vulnerable and can be easily controlled by us. After the project, each of us will return to our countries. As for the facility, we will still fund them, for sure we will need them in the future. An enhanced mutation for an example." General Johanssen observes the other generals facial expressions. He know that all of them has different agendas after the project. He must keep them on track and secretly investigating their every move.
"General Johanssen, we won't be able to gather all 6 without a candidate from your country." General Nushka is being impatient.
"General, as for the final candidate." He throws a photo in the middle of the table.
"This, this man is who I think it is?" General Buhaden asked in confusion.
"Who is it General Buhaden?" General Buhaden gives the photo to General Yang. Both General Yang and General Nushka are shocked to see the photo. Then they give it to General Cloutier who's been silent the entire time.
"Why would you pick your son as a candidate? We all know that he has a weak heart. The mutation might kill him. What's the use of finding a perfectly fit candidate if your just gonna toss a weak one." General Cloutier bursted out.
"He may have a weak heart, but he's quite a capable young man. This project may only the only thing in this world that can save him. I talked about him about this project and he agreed willingly. He will never oppose to my instructions oncehi mutation is a success." General Johanssen clenched his fists.
"Who are we to tell you whom to pick. We all have our candidates. Don't ever blame the facility of negligence if your son dies on the process." General Yang stands up and walks out of the room. Followed by the other generals.
General Johanssen loves his son too much that he will do whatever it takes to save his life. The process of the project may end his son's life but seeing his son's eagerness to live he have a little bit of hope that he can handle the mutation. He must be there when the project starts. He's even willing to take the pain if he can. Basing on his son's physical health, he's no way capable of undergoing such extreme measures for it can kill him. But his son insisted on being the candidate and assures him that his heart isn't a problem. He will undergo the mutation whether his father agrees or not. Behind a weak body is a very strong mind. He's been studying all his life, reading books and even called the young inventor at a very young age. All of this are left behind, since the doctor found out the his heart is weak and he can easily catch diseases. He's been confined at the hospital since then. Tyler Johanssen, at the age of 20 is like a living dead. All his hopes and goals were crushed by being so physically weak. Having the opportunity to do whatever he wants give him the light of hope. No matter what he'll go through, he will push away with it and pull through the entire procedure. He will not give up this time. It will be a one time opportunity. If he dies in the process he's willing to accept it, atleast for the first time he tried something that he will never regret.
