Chapter Twenty One: Founding Fears

Silas watched as Trigger and Sellius helped carry Ronin to his bed in his room.

She watched them pull the blankets up over him, hoping to raise his body temperature which had dropped frighteningly low. 

She called Liliana and told her to avoid the room for now, Ronin was sick and she was having the best medical help in the school look after him.

When the team had first been formed, she'd informed Scalpel of Ronin's situation involving Aether, so Scalpel had kept a close eye on his mental health.

The effects of Aether on humans was still widely considered unknown, despite the now widely accepted fact that humanity had in fact been tainted by the substance.

No Deviants had yet been born of man, but Ronin was a singularity even among mankind.

So much Aether coursing through his body would HAVE to have SOME kind of effect on him that couldn't be predicted, or so she'd believed.

She'd hoped that this was what was happening at least...in the moments before he'd attempted to activate the enhancements the Aether had granted him, she'd seen his eyes glowing bright silver, the same as when he'd first been injected with it.

What else could it be, she wondered to herself.

As she wondered this, she received an emergency alert that read, "Researcher Silas, as the assistant to Director Ronin, we call on you for an emergency meeting. Our system is reading that Ronin is currently incapacitated or dead, so we turn to you."

Shaking her head, she closed the alert and said, "Scalpel, don't leave until he wakes up or I come back, I've got an emergency to deal with."

Scalpel nodded and said "No problem...I'll contact you if something comes up, even if I need to use the civilian systems."

Nodding, Silas left and soon found herself in Ronin's seat at the Director's conference table.

With the exception of Director Vren, who was absent for some reason, the rest of the Directors seemed extremely worried about something.

Director Jerald spoke, slowly forming his words, "Director Vren….was found in his office...dead, not twenty minutes ago."

Silas gasped and listened as he went on.

"His body was...torn, ripped to shreds, as though some kind of wild animal had broken into his office and attempted to eat him. Even under extreme circumstances, Director Vren's death was...inexplicable. We do have a division working on studying Deviants, it was possible one had broken free...but this seems...different. His door had been closed, locked and there was no sign of any kind of forced entry.

Perhaps most concerning, there was no sign of self defense or even that he'd been aware that he was being attacked.

It seemed almost as though he'd sat, calmly working at his computer while something or someone tore him to shreds."

Silas watched as the rest of the Directors shook their heads, darkly murmuring among themselves.

"Director Vren was a good friend to all of us, kind and possibly the oldest remaining member of the Bureau...at our last emergency meeting, we'd come to the belief that either the government or some unknown team of alchemists were working against us," Jerald continued.

He stood and said, "The only conclusion we can come to is that both of these facts are true."

The rest of the Directors murmured louder, speaking of moving and packing while Silas raised her hand softly and said, "Is it possible they targeted Director Ronin as well?"

Jerald nodded and said, "It is extremely likely that any of us could be next. Everyone, we need to continue with our plan and continue to make movements toward Neyk as soon as possible. If they've begun reaching directly here, in our home, they've decided that the time to strike is soon. We MUST be a step ahead of them, and we MUST continue our work. The fate of our world relies entirely on our continued successes in all fields, so we must make sure that we can continue."

Silas raised her hand again and asked, "The fate of the world?"

 One of the Directors waved her off and said, "Its only a legend we Directors share to validate our work."

Jerald looked at him and said, "Is it though? Silas, long ago, the Bureau was founded by a man whose name has long since been forgotten. In its place we remember something far more important. He created this Bureau to force science and technology forward as fast as possible. It was his belief that the fate of the world relied entirely on us being prepared for some far off day when we would need to have as much strength as possible. His belief motivated Directors in his day and now in his absence, survives, if not as a direct continuation of his belief, as a driving force. 

Progress. At all costs."

Silas watched Jerald speak and she said, "What can I do?"

Jerald spoke again, his voice tired, "Whatever it takes to get Ronin back up and running."

Silas nodded and got up to leave as Jerald said, "And be careful. If someone IS attacking us as we believe, it is likely they won't stop with us Directors, they'll go after anyone they believe is a threat."

She nodded and began her walk through the halls, noticing for the first time how dark everything seemed to be. Even with the lights on, the halls felt...dim, almost foreboding, though she had never once felt afraid or uncomfortable in their darkness.

The elevator came to her rapidly, faster than she'd ever seen, or so it seemed, and when the doors opened, Scalpel was there.

"Thank god you're done, I need you to see this," She said, smiling widely.

"What are you so happy about?" Silas asked.

"I'm not happy, I got bored while you were in your meeting and started testing things, long story short, I'm going to be smiling like this for at least a day," Scalpel said as Silas walked into the elevator and selected Ronin's floor.

Shaking her head, she said, "Well even with all this craziness, at least you're consistent."

"I do try," Silas said, her eyes downcast.

As the elevator reached Ronin's floor, Scalpel said, "He's sleeping pretty soundly and he hasn't seemed to be having any more of whatever his problem was back in the lab."

Silas sighed and said, "Well that's good at least. What are Trigger and Sellius doing right now?"

Shrugging, Scalpel said, "Who knows. I had them leave so I could test my ideas without them asking me a hundred stupid questions."

They went to the door and Silas heard a man speaking quietly.

"We're out of time, Ronin."

Forcing the door open, Silas and Scalpel jumped into the room only to find Ronin sitting up, looking perfectly healthy, and Marcus sitting on a chair near the bed, a sad expression on his face.