Whisper

Chapter 49

"Hold your fire!" Conrad shouted as he watched closely. 

A single boot-covered foot stepped out followed by another, and a small young lady wearing a worn-out trench coat, still humming a that familiar song. 

"All this for me?" She asked in a sarcastic tone, "How touching." 

"Clarise, don't move," Conrad adjusted his rifle behind him so he can lift both his hands in the air, like he was trying to calm a wild animal. "We can talk about this." 

Scoffing, Whisper moved slowly to open up her coat no words coming out of her mouth but suddenly a shadow emerged out of her coat and completely swallowed her up, and the guns began to fire upon it against Conrad's wishes. 

But the shadow just seemed to absorb all the bullets, and soon launched itself up into a nearby vent. 

"Hold your fire!" Conrad ordered just before they were about to shoot each other, "Shit, why are there so many damn vents?!" 

He didn't know where to look, no one knew, "Spread out! Report anything suspicious movement!" 

Everyone obeyed with military precision and left Conrad and Jennifer in the hallway. 

"Are you alright?" Conrad asked quickly, trying to fight his urge to just abandon Jennifer and book it to wherever. 

"Y-Yeah, just a little surprised, that's all." Jennifer stood up straight, brushing off invisible dust from her pants, her face still a little pale. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but just experiencing utter darkness so suddenly and just the fear of the unknown was overwhelming. "We should get going, any idea where?" 

Conrad looked down the hallway where he was heading to earlier, a small lightbulb clicking in his brain. "The server room!" 

A chill ran down Whisper's spine as she stood beside Frost, their heavy breaths creating soft clouds. Before them was shards of blackened ice and parts of what used to be a fully operating server room. Now all the information the ARC had gathered about Abnormals had been wiped clean. Only a few remaining servers in far off bases held what little they had on remaining on-going or incomplete reports on known Abnormals. 

But the organization had taken a massive hit in this very moment, as the operations that relied on the information stored on these servers are now just relying on past and outdated information. Future operations are now on a stand still and field agents were now left in the dark about their missions. 

Just what Whisper had anticipated. 

"Phantom, take Frost back to base with the key. I'll meet you back there tonight." Whisper spoke as she opened up her coat, letting the shadow escape and gather Frost up before she could protest.

"Whisper what the hell?! This wasn't part of the plan!" Frost's voice reverberated from the shear volume and intensity of her voice, causing everyone in the connection to wince all at the same time. 

"Everything alright?" Weaver's voice was a mere whisper compared to Frost's, maybe due to Link breaking concentration slightly. 

"Yes, I'll meet up with you guys later tonight, do not worry." Whisper then fell silent, feeling her blood pumping through her veins as she began to focus. 

I didn't even know I could do this. 

"Clarise!" Conrad burst into the room with Jennifer right behind him, only taking a second to absorb the condition of the server room, "Wait, we need to talk." 

"About what?" Whisper had her back to him, just staring straight ahead at a plain wall, "You already know why I want this key." 

"There is a better way to do this," as soon as he said those words he felt like his stomach tied itself into knots. 

"A better way? You should know of all people how this world has failed us at every step of the way. And what can I do, no matter what I say, no matter what I do, I'm a woman who has no recorded past, no foreseeable future," Whisper finally turned to him, a blank, unreadable, expression on her face, "Use your head Conrad, this was the only way to free my people and you know it." 

He was silent, but Jennifer wasn't fazed. 

"You're just spewing bullshit!" she cried, "Do you know what would happen if you let those people out?! Some of them are criminals!" 

"They only committed what you consider crimes because they do not know how to control their powers. There are children in that prison, children who are scared and confused and all you people have done was label them monsters and hide them away from society and for who's benefit? Yours? Theirs?" 

"I-" 

"I'll tell you, it's merely those you work for who's benefitting. To get rid of what they consider eyesores merely for convenience rather than helping them." 

"Well," Jennifer faltered for a moment, "What about BEYOND?! Why aren't you dealing with them?" 

"BEYOND will fall in due time, right now we are focused on you, your organization. Bringing up another evil is just a way to distract yourself from the truth. Even now there is someone else in this room who has been so blind to the truth, isn't that right Conrad?" 

"What are you going on about?!" Jennifer paused, processing what she just said only to look over to Conrad with shock, "W-what is she talking about?" 

"He suspected it after our first encounter, didn't you?" Whisper's sole focus was now on the man before her who was now just looking at her feet, "You're just like me." 

Conrad finally spoke up, only a brief, "I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Moments where no one could find you, moments where your presence was completely forgotten in mere seconds. If you want me to be blunt, your gift is the gift of concealment." Whisper tilted her head to get a good look at his scar, "When you got that was when you began to wonder, wasn't it?"