Cyberspace; The Ultimus Collection

Chapter 8, We Need to Have a Talk

Everyone walked back inside the run down school's one classroom. Daniel sat back down in one of the decrepit desks, while Derick, Alyson, and G-1 stood at the front of the room. Derick and Alyson leaned back on the old front desk and chalkboard, while G-1 stood up straight and tall. The mood shifted, and the air was tense. Derick sighed and rested his helmet on top of the desk. 

"Before we go any further, there's something we need to have a talk about." Alyson and G-1 turned to look at Derick. All three had faces of pure sorrow and anguish. 

"Do you really think now is a good time Derick?" Alyson worried. "I mean he doesn't even have any powers. He doesn't even know his way around town! For God's sake we don't even know if the allegations are true!" Alyson yelled at Derick, not from a place of anger and rage however, but from a place of worry.

"If he is going to work with us, then he must know the full truth." G-1 reasoned. Alyson groaned.

"Okay..." She said softly.

"I'm sorry, I feel like I'm missing a lot of context here." Daniel complained. "What's with the sudden gloom, and the shattered pictures over there? I completed my little test and everything so why am I not being properly prepared for whatever I have to do? Why are we instead having a 'talk'?" Daniel made little air quotes with his fingers. "And what's the deal with this whole full truth stuff?!" Derick cleared his throat.

"You are going to be the tenth guardian of this world. A symbol of peace and justice that everyone looks up to, cherishes, and respects. I am the ninth guardian. Alyson is the first, her husband Jax is the second, and G-1 is the third. And... Vincent is the fourth guardian."

"Vincent?"

"He was a loyal friend of ours, well not so much me, he was before my time." Derick laughed nervously. "And more than a friend, he was a strong, loyal guardian. Alyson, Jax, G-1, they all trusted him. They had his back, and he had theirs. Everyone loved him, until one faithful battle..."

"Let me guess, he betrayed the people?"

"He didn't betray the people, the people betrayed him!" Alyson shouted. "This is ridiculous. Derick cut out the needless drama! You and I both know Vincent wouldn't do this!" Alyson's eyes started to well up with tears. "He wouldn't lash out like this. He wouldn't kill!"

"Wait? Kill?!" Daniel turned to Derick concerned. "Derick, what is going on? What am I being thrown into?"

"Vincent's power was the ability to create and control corrupted data. It was a little unorthodox, but Vincent certainly didn't abuse his power. He was model hero, even with his villainous abilities. However our little problem I told you about, involves corrupted data."

"Not just involves, this problem of ours uses corrupted data as the central crux to it's operation." G-1 chimed in. "Innocent lives are being taken across the internet through the use of corrupted data. And Vincent is the only know man who contains this power. My calculations state that Vincent is the most likely suspect."

"But he's not a serial killer G-1!" Alyson screamed. "Or did you also forget who he was?!" 

"If you need to know if he's the killer why don't you guys just go and ask him yourselves? He's your friend, and if you guys are so hellbent on him being innocent then I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation on what's going on."  Daniel reasoned.

"The problem is that no one knows where Vincent is." Derick explained. "He fought a villain with the power to erase someone from other people's memory. He could erode things in his hands, and whatever he eroded would be forgotten. However, he only eroded part of Vincent's body. He recovered, but the public's minds didn't. That partial erosion caused the people to forget only certain memories of Vincent, but those lost memories were enough to cause public outroar. The people forgot a lot of the heroic deeds Vincent had done, only remembering him by what they called his malicious, dangerous, and terrifying power. The people abandoned him, chastised him, and resented him. He was kicked out of society and a new guardian was put in his place. From then on, guardians five through eight all carried on the belief that Vincent was a menace to society, and the guardian program was divided into two different camps."

"Five through eight? Why only those four? Why didn't you hate him? Why and how do all of you guys still remember who he was?" Daniel questioned.

"Because of the incomplete nature of the erosion, there were still a select few group of people who remembered Vincent's true nature. Some died with that knowledge, while some chose to pass it on." G-1 chimed in once more. Daniel put his head in his hands. The room was in shambles. Derick looked at the ground solemnly. G-1 held his beliefs and suspicions. Alyson sobbed quietly in the corner, now slumped down on the floor. 

"It's... a lot to take in I know." Derick started again. "And as you can clearly see, it's a touchy subject. But that's the situation we now have to deal with. This isn't difficult for us for just physical reasons, it's difficult for us for personal and emotional reasons too. We want to tread lightly due to the chance it might be Vincent, but we don't want to leave our guards down incase it isn't. And we don't want to treat this guy like any other scumbag serial killer on the streets, because we don't want to hurt him incase it is Vincent. Our hands are tied, and it seems like every step is another landmine. With all of the information we've gathered, we haven't even determined if we should lean one way or another. Either option still seems likely. We are completely blind on this. So I understand if you want to back out. You haven't really made any official choice yet, and I can still get you out of the paper work I just signed. So if you want to live your new life here in total bliss you can. Just know that-"

"No." Daniel interrupted. 

"Excuse me?" 

"No I'm not backing out. I was a coward in one life but not this. I'm going to help you guys no matter what..." Daniel shot out of his chair. "...and prove that Vincent is innocent!"