Dear Hostage

Inside an apartment located in one of the most privileged areas of the capital, there was a young woman inside a dark room who, although she was not bound or gagged, seemed to be a hostage or at least gave the appearance of a prisoner who was uneasily awaiting her sentence.

Suddenly the door that sealed the room was opened, the lights were turned on and several silhouettes had entered the room.

- Well? ... Can I go now? - commented the frightened young woman.

One of the people who had entered the room spoke.

- ... After having discussed it, we believe that you are still hiding relevant information. Besides, we don't know what your organization will do to us if they find out where we are. - Lorenz spoke.

- C-Come on ... that's in the past; I-I will convince them to stop pursuing you somehow, please believe me. - stammered the young woman.

- Yeah, I don't think that's possible. - commented Lorenz.

- Let's get straight to the point, we will keep you as our source of information and, at the same time, in our guarantee against your organization ... in case we are persecuted by your people, we will use you to negotiate ... at least, you will be good for something. - said Eric.

- So, how about putting everything we know so far in order? - commented Lorenz, giving the floor to a gray-haired young man who had scars on one of his cheeks.

The boy sighed.

- Well, as we know, the organization behind the disappearances and kidnappings in Luesia is known as Le Front, we do not know their origin, nor when they started operating; however, what we found on the Deep web, indicates that they are a pharmaceutical distribution company, among their most famous products are drugs that supposedly extend life ... from one to five years ... However, under that facade, is hidden a criminal organization with bases in the capital, in Zaragoza, Aragon and five more regions throughout Spain, according to the maps of the Pbook. Now, the reason behind the kidnappings is..." explained Alexander, giving way to the woman.

The prisoner did not respond and kept her head down.

- As clues we have the Pbook and the map found by Lois Valdelomar, but what was discovered that night outside Luesia, in that orphanage, all the kidnapped were dead. Why would they kidnap just to kill them? - Victoria declared.

That was the premise that no one understood, not even Alexander. And, since the hostage seemed to know something, but said nothing, they all opted for one option.

Victoria sighed.

- I guess it's my turn. - said the young mayoress.

The prisoner was puzzled by these words.

- Please don't make demands on yourself... just do it for about twenty seconds, understood? - Lorenz said to Victoria with great seriousness and concern.

- Yes, I know. - replied the mayoress with a slight smile.

"What are they talking about?" thought Lirio.

Without delay, Victoria approached the young woman who did not move an inch from that chair, because she knew well what would happen to her if she did; while the preparations were being made, Eric positioned himself behind Lirio just as a security measure.

The young hostage was becoming more and more worried.

- So, shall we begin? - Eric said and, at that instant, he grabbed Lirio by the arms with great force that left her immobile.

This act was not what surprised her the most, but the fact that Victoria, in front of her, raised her right arm and placed it on the young girl's forehead.

- W-What are you doing...?! - without being able to finish her words, Lirio's consciousness faded away.

Everyone was waiting expectantly to see what was happening and, within five seconds, a little blood came out of the mayoress' mouth like a thread.

Lorenz became increasingly concerned until 20 seconds had passed, but it seemed that Victoria was not going to withdraw her hand; she immediately grabbed her boss and pulled her out of the way.

The young woman coughed up a little blood and, even if she hadn't done some kind of intensive exercise, her body was starting to sweat and her breathing was labored.

Next to that, Alexander saw that incomprehensible state of Victoria.

"This is the first time I've seen something like this...did I cause her that much damage in less than a minute? Although, certainly, her skill is quite valuable." thought the young man.

- So it was true, huh... I can see why they were keeping a low profile... if their higher ups knew, I'd be dead by now. - commented Eric who released Lirio.

- That's why I ask for discretion on the matter. - Lorenz said with a serious, almost threatening look fixed on Eric.

Without averting his gaze, Eric nodded and spoke again.

- So... What did you see?

- Wait a minute, she has to process everything she's seen. - Lorenz commented.

- ... To manufacture manpower. - commented Lirio.

Everyone present was silent at the words of the one they least expected to speak.

- Manpower? ... With dead people? - questioned Alexander.

- Yes ... they are quiet, they work until they collapse, no wages, no insurance or benefits are required, there is no union and, if this works, they can be sold and used by the thousands or thousands ... as much as the buyer wants. - confessed the young hostage who seemed convalescent.

- What are you talking about? - asked Eric.

Before he could answer any questions, a small laugh could be heard in their midst coming from the young mayoress.

- Victoria? - Lorenz asked in dismay.

The laughter stopped.

- ... This ... really is ... crazy ...

- Stop all this suspense and talk! - Eric exclaimed.

- Not-Dead.

The young woman's response once again silenced everyone.

- You know ... undead, zombies, whatever you want to call them ... that's Le Front's goal ... to mass-produce lots of those things, to sell them as cheap labor ...

- Victoria, how is that possible? The walking dead? That only happens in the movies... did you really see that? - Lorenz asked.

- Yes ... I wish it was a bad joke too, but ... I saw some reports ... experiments, they are trying to prototype them to their standards.

The three men were incredulous at such news.

"Could this be the reason why Vincent didn't want to tell me more about this work?" thought Alexander.

- But who would buy corpses to work on? - Lorenz asked.

- ... Mining, agricultural or manufacturing companies, any job that demands high risks ... can't you come up with those ideas, Einstein? - commented Lirio sarcastically.

Silence returned, but was interrupted by an affirmation.

- Somehow, the rulers must be warned to stop this immediately ... we must not let these experiments continue. - said Victoria.

- If this is true, how will they believe what we tell them? Even we don't believe it completely. - said Eric.

- There must be some way... Right! The findings in that orphanage may be evidence, plus the other two points indicated on the map that Ms. Valdelomar left us and the Pbook are strong evidence. - said Lorenz.

While that group was discussing what plan of action they should do, a voice interrupted them.

- Guys ... I think you have misunderstood something. - said Lirio.

Victoria's expression became distressed.

- What are you talking about now? - asked Eric.

- As I see, you have left out an important fact.

Everyone listened to the young woman's words.

- They are certainly in the experimental phase, but there is already at least one prototype in production.

This confession made the group despair, especially Victoria, who seemed depressed by the news that she apparently knew, but did not want to accept.

The next day, around 8 a.m., a couple was sitting in a restaurant having breakfast.

- So, what's going on? - asked a woman with blonde hair and sharp eyes.

- Oh, come on, don't you want to have a nice breakfast and then talk? - replied a blonde-haired young man with a more fiery hue and a face with dark circles under his eyes.

- Cut the useless chatter, what was that thing we found in that canyon, does it have anything to do with your research? - asked the woman.

The young man sighed.

- Okay, listen ... after 2050, after the abdication of the previous dynasty, there were some foreigners who came to be official witnesses of the current royal house ... however, those guys settled down with permanent residence in the nation.

- Yes, I know ... but what do they have to do with it? - the woman questioned.

- It is said that some of those important guests were scientists looking for ways on how to prolong life ... some sources I found mention that they established experimentation bases in remote places within Spain and, apparently, created things that defied natural laws ...

- So you're saying that this monster is one of their creations?

- Possibly.

The woman sighed.

- I don't know whether to believe you or think you're really crazy, Marcus.

- Come on, aren't you interested too ... although the final decision is yours.

After a few seconds of silence, the woman asked again.

- What about that other thing you found, that firstborn or whatever it's called?

- Firstborn.

- Yes ... that.

- I have few reliable sources on them ... most seem to be from guys who made things up from original records ... what I can tell you is that the presence of one of them in this place can bring hope or despair to this country.

The woman was silent as she sipped her cup of tea.

- Leaving aside, I have been called as an honorary guest for this year's ARET entrance exam. So I'll leave my research for now, as it looks like this year will be an interesting one to watch for the new entrants. - commented Marcus.

- I see... the last thing I would like to know, what about those who attacked you in the accident?

- Oh about them, well they certainly belong to a criminal organization ... for some reason, they seem to be the ones responsible for the train crash and they expected everyone to die in that place ... so as I was an obstacle for them because of the rescue plans, they decided to assassinate me ... for the moment, I hope I won't run into them ... - commented Marcus smiling.

"He smiles remembering that fact ... he really is someone extravagant ..." thought the woman.

Suddenly, the couple heard the news, through the restaurant's TV, about how the capital's officials had sent a group to extract the deceased corpses in the train accident.

The sound of helicopter propellers circling the area of that tragic accident, and fire trucks and buses filled the grounds.

- Sir, we are approaching the area. Permission to descend. - spoke one of the pilots through his intercom.

- Granted. 

Three helicopters having descended, the three groups of officers who appeared to be military by their uniforms began their operations.

-Wow ... this is a mess, man. - commented one of the group.

- How many survived? - asked another officer as he looked at the scene.

- I don't know, about 40, I think. - replied another.

As the men continued talking and inspecting the area, they came to the area where the bodies were laid out.

- Is this for real? It's worse than I imagined.

- All right, let's get to work... especially you, Carlos! - ordered the one who seemed to be the officer in charge of this first group.

The others laughed.

While they were bringing the sacks to put the bodies inside, one of the officers noticed a strange presence. The appearance of a dense fog coming from the north.

- What was it?

About half an hour passed and the second fleet of helicopters was approaching the area of the incident.

- Have we not heard back from them yet? - an officer asked the pilot of one of the helicopters.

- No, sir... nothing yet.

- What's going on? Not even the firefighters are responding.

After a few seconds, a transmission could be heard by the pilot.

- Sir, we've received something!

- Is it them?!

The transmission was heard.

D-Do you hear me ... someone has ... approached our group! ... It's not ... human! ... ... Adolfo, Sergio, don't go near that thing! ... Lieutenant ... I don't know how to explain it ... that thing is coming for us! ... NO ... STAY AWAY! DON'T-...!

Amid sounds of gunfire and shouting, the transmission ended.

Everyone who heard that message was shocked and worried.

- Lieutenant ... this doesn't look like something we can handle. We must call for reinforcements ... from the army. 

The lieutenant was silent.