Deicide

January 31 23XX

"Look, you can see it." Howlan pointed at a window.

"It's not very big," Eden commented. The planet had constantly stormy weather, resulting in almost all of it being covered by thick white clouds. "At least it won't be very hot."

"No, I think it's usually pretty cold." Howlan looked at something in his Glasses. "There's no address for a Silas Finch."

"Oh, I guess we'll have to search the old-fashioned way." Eden smiled. "With our detective skills." 

"You mean your harsh interrogations?"

"I'm not harsh." Eden looked back at him.

"No, you just enjoy making people think you're the good cop, and then threaten to kill them." Howlan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but I've never actually killed anyone for an interrogation. Just hollow threats." Eden looked down as they fell into orbit with the planet. "Where are we docking?"

"The South side of a small town called Knox. We'll find a cheap Inn and talk to locals." Howlan got up and climbed to the top floor.

"By 'talk to locals', do you mean visit a pub?" Eden called.

"You're still very young, and there's no Mr. Pakuri here. I highly doubt you'll be able to get away with underage drinking." Howlan finished the AutoDocking and returned to the first floor.

"Where there's a will, there's a way." Eden pulled his chain out from under his shirt, waiting anxiously near the door for the docking to be over. "Worst case scenario, I empty my flask into a cup of Coke."

"If they even have Coke here."

"Don't be ridiculous Howlan, this is a developed planet. Of course they have Coke." Eden opened the door, and immediately they were both hit with cold air. "Jesus." Eden turned back around and grabbed his trench coat.

"You aren't gonna hide your wings, are you?" Howlan tugged at the coat.

"Yeah, why?" Eden turned around.

"Well, that kind of defeats the purpose of us being here doesn't it?"

"I'll leave them out of the tattoo, but I have to keep them under the coat to be able to wear the coat. And what if the locals here recognize me as an experiment or something and they want to kill me? I at least want to talk to Silas first." Eden left his coat unbuttoned and stepped outside. Saying that name had felt so familiar, the way it rolled off his tongue was close to comfortable. He turned back around to look at Howlan. "I don't know where we're going."

"Hello?" Howlan pushed open the door to a fairly run-down Inn.

"Good morning, were you looking for a room?" A small girl with green eyes and blonde hair walked up to the counter.

"Yes, please." Howlan pulled out his bag of credits.

"One king or two queens?" She looked between Eden and Howlan.

Howlan turned a bit red. "Two queens please."

Eden picked up on what was being implied quickly. "Aw, no need to be shy, sweetie." Eden threw an arm around Howlan's shoulder and kissed his cheek.

"Oh, um, we're very accepting of everyone in this town." The woman turned a bit pink and began looking through keys.

"No, we're really not together. Eden, fuck off." Howlan pushed him away.

"But didn't you hear her, love? They're accepting here." Eden tried to wrap his arm around Howlan again.

Howlan swung an arm over and pressed his thumb into the wound on Eden's shoulder. Eden let out a yelp and backed away. "We really aren't together, we're brothers. He's just a dumb asshole. Two queens please."

"Oh, right, sorry, here." She grabbed two keys and handed them to the boys. "And your names?"

"Howlan, and Eden." Howlan grabbed the keys.

"Alright, room six." She smiled and watched them walk up a set of stairs.

"What was all that?" Howlan shut the door behind them.

"Just having some fun." Eden shrugged.

"We're trying to keep a low profile, Eden. If she tells people about the foreign homosexual couple, everyone will know about us before the morning."

"Aw, calm down Howlan. I'm sure we'll be in the next town over by tomorrow night. This town doesn't strike me as the type to have a psionic guy in it." Eden fell back onto his bed.

"Right. Come on, get up. We have to go ask around." Howlan grabbed his key and slipped it into his leather pouch, Eden attached his to the chain under his shirt.

"Coke, here I come."

As soon as Howlan opened the door to the pub, everyone fell silent. Howlan walked quietly to the bar, looking straight forward. Eden, however, waved and smiled at everyone he could see looking at him. They sat down in front of the bar, where a man with light red hair, green eyes, and freckles was standing. Nostalgia hit Eden like a train. Everything felt familiar inside.

"What can I get for you two?"

"That depends on what the legal drinking age on this planet is." Eden smiled.

"Nineteen." The man replied.

"Damn it." Eden sighed. "A Coke then."

"Coming right up. And for you?" He looked at Howlan.

"A screwdriver, please."

"Alright." He handed Eden a cup of soda, and gave Howlan his drink. Eden didn't try at all to hide his flask as he pulled it from an inside pocket and emptied it into his soda, stirring it around before taking out the straw, lifting the bottom of his mask, and drinking it. "So, what brings you to Knox?"

"We're actually looking for something, a place run by a Sapphire? Where Project Ragnar was run." Howlan took a drink and looked up.

"What business do you have with them?" The man looked between Howlan and Eden.

"So you do know of them." Howlan rested his head in his palm. "What are they, exactly?"

"Sapphire is the name of a group, a team of fifty or so scientists. They were doing genetic tests, seeing how far they could push different species. Project Ragnar was their first successful project, but something went wrong. The project disappeared before reaching completion." The man leaned down. "Ragnar means warrior of the Gods, whatever it was, the thing was powerful. I don't know how much truth there is to it, but whatever the experiment was is strong as all Hell. If that's what you boys are looking for, you're better off leaving it be. The last twenty-something teams died trying to capture it."

"Really?" Eden tilted his head. "If people were trying to find it, then there's a picture of it somewhere right?"

Howlan noticed how quickly Eden adjusted to referring to himself as 'it'.

"Yeah, I have a few here." He bent down behind the bar and grabbed a couple papers. He spread them out in front of them. "This was the official photo, and these are reported sightings." He pointed at photos that definitely resembled Eden, but he looked almost the same. There was no doubt now that Eden was Project Ragnar.

"And this kid, did it have a name?" Eden leaned closer.

"Subject 10-09. We've shortened it since then to Ragnar." The man stared at Eden for a while.
"And what exactly could Ragnar do?" Eden leaned ever closer.

"Same as all projects run by Sapphire, it had psionics. The thing that made this one stronger though, was that this one had wings. And enhanced strength, agility, I mean they really went all out on this one. I think the most undisputed fact was the instincts, it had beast instincts. If it was backed into a corner, it would quickly resort to immense violence. It would stop caring about pain and seek out to do whatever it was trying to do in any way possible and by any means necessary. Since it escaped, they've been making weaker experiments to prevent another string of killings."

Eden and Howlan exchanged a look. "What happened to him?" Howlan took a drink.

"We think it moved to another planet." The man looked at Eden again.

"And how exactly did it kill people? What were the bodies like?" Eden kept looking at the old photos.

"A number of ways. We found them laying, insides liquified, in small craters. We found them mutilated, strangled, heads blown to bits. It had extensive knowledge of different fighting tactics, psychokinesis, mind powers, the whole nine yards."

Eden couldn't believe it. He had psionics? Why didn't he know that? Why couldn't he remember the planet at all? Everything had felt familiar, but he couldn't recall anything specific. Why had he forgotten everything? What had he done?

"Get this, some of the corpses? Even had bites taken out of them."

Eden looked up. The world around him got fuzzy. Everything was muted. His heartbeat filled his ears, he could feel his blood flowing. "What?" His throat was dry, his voice hoarse.

"Ragnar, the kid, it ate people."

Howlan looked at Eden. "Bird?" He set a hand on his shoulder.

Eden said nothing. He pulled his mask down, stood up, and turned. He walked outside. He walked slowly, then picked up the pace. He got faster and faster until he was running. He sprinted.

He had to get away. He ran until he was out of town. His agility boosted him, he ran until he was surrounded by trees. He ran because he knew. He knew it was true. He had known, always known. Just hadn't been able to place it. When he got frustrated at Mr. Pakuri's. When he made the leader bleed in the Chaol hideout. The urge. The drooling. He had known. He'd always known.

Howlan followed Eden outside. He called his name, but Eden sped up. He ran without stopping. Howlan knew there was no way he'd be able to catch up, so instead, he went back inside. "Do you mind if I keep one of these?" He grabbed a picture from the counter.

"Go ahead. Everything okay with your friend?" The man took the rest of the pictures and put them away.

"I think he was just surprised. He'll be alright, thanks." Howlan set a few credits on the bar and turned around. Then he turned back. "You know what? He's an alcoholic. What do you have with the highest alcohol concentration?"

"Oh, uh, this one." The man grabbed a bottle from the bottom right shelf.

"Right, how much for the whole thing?" Howlan took his pouch out.

"Oh, it's not for sale."

"Could you make an exception?"

"I don't know, kid-"

"A thousand credits." Howlan pulled his Glasses out.