For Honor or Glory

Facing the Consequence

Chapter 41

Peter was currently sitting behind a shelf full of boxes with his hand pressed against his mouth. He had left when Professor Hojo had told him to, but he had not gone far. Something in the way Alex had looked at him made him second guess his decision to help the head of the science department. Not that anything could be changed now.

Still, what he had heard exchanged between Professor Hojo and Alex sent chills down his spine. The man wasn't planning to prosecute her for corporate espionage; he was going to use her as an experiment. The thought made him nauseous. It also made him wonder if there was a valid reason for the way Alex had acted. She certainly seemed unsurprised by the professor's actions.

It took all Peter had not to whimper in terror when he heard Alex scream. He had to bite his knuckles to keep the sound from coming out. He couldn't see them, but he knew they had to have done something to her. That wasn't the type of sound a person made just because. He was almost thankful when they all left shortly after that.

He stayed huddled next to the shelf for nearly an hour after they were gone, mostly to make sure they weren't coming back. After he heard all that, the last thing he wanted was to get caught eavesdropping. Once he was relatively sure they would not be returning, he shakily got to his feet. However, instead of leaving, he decided to go see what Alex had been looking at. Whatever it was, it might be a clue to what was really going on.

When he got to the table, he gathered the scattered papers before he eyed the file name—Jenova Project G. Almost as soon as he started reading, his eyes widened at the sight of three extremely familiar names—Alexandra and Angeal Hewley, as well as Genesis Rhapsodos.

He skimmed the rest of the sheet before he fell into the chair next to him. He put his face in his hands and tried to hold back his nausea. This was so much bigger than he thought. Even the little bit he read was enough for him to not be shocked that Hojo had taken Alex, but he also had a feeling things were about to get a lot more dangerous. Especially if anyone ever found out he knew.

He thought about scattering the pages again and running like the room was on fire, but he instead chose to at least take pictures of the files. He knew it was a gamble, but it might be a bargaining chip he could use if he did end up in danger. It could also be his death warrant, but the possibility of it saving his life far outweighed the risk. That didn't mean he planned to tarry. He knew he would not be able to get it all, so he made quick work of getting everything that looked important and hoped that the guard would still be gone when he finally left.

---------------------------------------------

By the time Hojo had Alex in the lab, she knew she was screwed—well, more than she had previously thought. The elevator seemed to be the only way into the vast underground room, but many halls branched off. Any one of them could lead to an exit, or they could just as easily lead to horrors she didn't want to face. That was only part of the problem. She had finally stopped fighting her captors when she remembered enough to realize they were a special branch of Soldier that was hidden. The way the one broke her arm was only an example of how cold-blooded they could be.

She was nearly grateful to Hojo when he reprimanded the duo again as they got off the elevator. One of them had jerked on her arm, which caused her to let out another involuntary scream. At least it seemed that the madman wanted her in one piece for now.

She tried to blink away the tears so she could at least pay attention to where they were taking her. If she had any chance, she needed to know as much as possible about this place. Though the sight of several specimen tanks filled with mako and what looked like they had once been human did make her heart sink. Dear god, what was he planning for her? She highly doubted it would be anything quick or straightforward. She remembered enough to know that wasn't how Hojo worked.

They had gone down several twists and turns before Hojo finally halted them. Alex thought she could make her way back, but this place was even more of a maze than the science department upstairs was. Not that she was given long to worry about it. The door slid open to reveal a smaller lab with several people already there.

As soon as the first one saw Hojo, they all stopped and stood at attention. Alex wanted to scream at the expectant looks they gave the madman. How could they? Before she could call out, Hojo had gestured to a few of them and then back to her. "Put her in one of the exam rooms. Prep her for a full exam and heal the arm. Make sure you sedate her. It's late, and I don't want to deal with any issues when I give her the first booster."

Alex couldn't stand to hear any more. Even though the two Soldiers that held her were already following the direction just given. She still screamed, "You can't do this. I am a person, not your newest specimen."

She ignored the scientists that were all glaring at her. Hojo had turned back with a sneer as he said, "Do not pretend you don't already know. You have been a specimen since before you were born. Be thankful that I am willing to fix that second-rate scientist's mistakes. It could be much worse for you in the end."

Alex had a scathing remark on her tongue, but it came out as a garbled mess when the same Soldier twisted her already broken arm. Her breath came out as a gasp, but this time she glared at the man as she said, "You know, you are a first-rate asshole. There is no need for that."

She was shocked when he smirked, but that was all she could see with his helmet covering most of his face. That didn't keep her from seething at his mocking answer. "If you don't like it, shut up and follow orders."

He jerked her arm again, but at least it was closer to the shoulder and not where it was broken. That didn't keep her silent, even if she couldn't stop them from pulling her into a room with a table and straps. "I'm not a Soldier or a Tsviet. You can take that attitude and shove it."

Alex hadn't realized none of the other scientists had followed them yet, since they seemed to be rushing to gather supplies. She was suddenly glad for that fact when the Soldiers jerked to a halt, and the silent one grabbed her while the other one removed his helmet and gave her an even wider smirk as he said, "Well, well, well, it seems you are more informed than we thought. I wonder what the professor would do if he knew? I'm sure he would love to know your sources since we are supposed to be top-secret."

Alex felt her face blanch but could not stop the reaction. God, what if Hojo did want to know? She wasn't sure if he would believe her or not. He was just crazy enough; it could go either way. Still, she had no plans to tell him the truth. She almost felt her knees give out when the young man with spiky silver hair stepped closer and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Though, given what we've seen tonight, you seem like you might be fun to play with if you survive. I think maybe I'll keep this between us for now. You just have to make sure and show me how fun it can be to hear you scream when the professor is finally done with you. You should already know you will never see the light again."

Alex thought she had been frightened of what Hojo had planned, but the painful promise lurking in the young man's eyes was enough to freeze her tongue in her mouth. She wasn't given any chance to recover before several of the scientists came in with various utensils. The young man smirked once more before he put his helmet back on and followed directions to get her strapped to the table in the middle of the room. She had tried to fight, but in the end, the effort was futile.

She bit her tongue to keep the sick bastard that held her from getting satisfaction from her screams when one of the scientists roughly jabbed her in the arm. It was not long afterward that her vision started to go fuzzy, and any fight she had left was fading, along with her consciousness.