Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Twenty Six: Project Clean Slate

Bridge now understood what was going on in Area 51: the Unity Order had established it as some sort of slave labour camp and were sending the ones they liked best to this "New Dawn" that the soldiers called it. Bridge took a good and long look at the people of Area 51 and asked "What did they do to all of you?" Over the next ten minutes, the people laid it all out. They were being used to grow crops and were being trained to do machinery maintenance and were being kept under watch at all times. They were also being taught how to work in service industries and how to work in luxury sectors. They were told that they would be sent to this "New Dawn" if They proved loyal enough. But They weren't told what to. About twenty eight people had been murdered for not achieving the demanded work quota and the soldiers had all cheered at each execution. During this time, some people began gathering up the bodies of the dead soldiers and placing them in the hanger bay, making it more comfortable for everyone there. Of course, about three people had died in the fighting and Bridge had decided to hold a memorial service for Them. But first, they had to find out what the purpose of Area 51 was.

The Phoenixes and Their newfound members gathered around the five surviving soldiers and Bridge said "Alright then, You lot have a choice. Either You tell Us what the Unity Order's plans are, or You shall be executed for the unjust murders of the confirmed twenty eight people who had tried to escape over the last seven months". The soldiers' faces froze with shock as Bridge muttered the words "Unity Order" from his mouth. One of them, who had the rank of Sergeant, looked at Bridge with shocked eyes and lied "I have no idea what Your talking about". Bridge could see Him sweating and bluffed "Then I guess You won't mind if We hang You from a hanger roof until you start talking?" The Sergeant began heavily sweating and said through stutters "I....I....I can't tell you". Bridge had a suspicious look on His face as He asked "Why is that?" The Sergeant then muttered out "If I talk about it......I die". Bridge looked confused as He asked "What do you mean?"

Before the Sergeant could say anything, His felt sick and Bridge's eyes widened with shock as He saw the Sergeant's skin around His ear start to turn green. As the poison made it's way to His brain, causing it to break down completely and start to bleed and as blood began poring out of every opening in His head, He said "Project....Clean......Slate". The Sergeant fell to the ground, with His skin around His right ear having turned completely green and the veins an inky black. The Phoenixes all looked on in horror as the poison further worked it's way through His body, causing the cells to break apart and the entire body to turn to nothing but a thick and bloody sludge. Blood pored out of His body as He decayed into sludge and it covered the ground. One person was so horrified at what She was seeing, that She vomited and covered Her eyes so that She wouldn't have to see anymore. The body decayed further, undergoing a metamorphosis in which the Sergeant's very DNA was reshaped to make Him a thick, red sludge. Melting His body into the ground. Several people backed away, horrified at the sight of this. When all was done, the body had completely decayed into nothing but a skeleton, covered in a thick, red and rotting sludge. As the skin around the right ear completely melted away, the microchip fell out. Joe instantly recognised it as the same kind of one He had found in the dead soldier who tried to take Him, Sebastian, Eleanor and Stacy to the Unity Order's base of operations. Bridge now understood that the microchips also worked as a failsafe. In the event a member of the Unity Order were to explain anything about the Unity Order in any way, or even refer to the Unity Order via the word "it" in which they would mean the Unity Order, then the microchip would release a genetically engineered toxin of some kind that would kill them in a mere thirty seconds and then decay the soft parts of the body into nothing but a thick sludge.

It had been the most horrific and appalling thing anyone had ever seen: They had just witnessed a soldier's body decay into nothing but a thick red sludge. Many people had backed away in horror, but Bridge didn't. He walked over to the sludge, knelt down and picked up the microchip. It was covered in sludge, but Bridge wiped it all off. The microchip was in a cylinder like shape and was about half the size of a finger. The chip had many tiny circuits and small relays, probably what allowed members of the Unity Order access to their network. It was smoking and there wasn't anything salvageable from it. Bridge dropped it to the ground, backed away from the sludge and said to Joe, who had almost vomited at the sight of this horror, "How are We supposed to get anything out of Them if They turn into nothing but sludge in thirty seconds?" Joe wasn't sure, He had seen things before, but nothing like this! That was when Sebastian said "Hey, I have an idea!" Bridge looked at Sebastian and said "Anything is worth a try". Bridge then walked over to Sebastian, who was helping the Lady who had vomited back to Her feet and asked "What's Your idea?" Sebastian then explained "Okay, so a few years before the Fall, there was this video game called Batman Arkham Knight and one of the gadgets Batman uses is called the "Remote Electrical Charge", which fires electrical bursts at machines and bad guys". Phinehas understood what Sebastian was talking about and said "Yeah, that's right. The Remote Electrical Charge unleashed a positive energy burst to activate machinery and a negative one to deactivate machinery!" Bridge's face lit up as He said "So if We can short circuit the microchips, We can get as much evidence from those guys as We need".