Metal Thunder (Karl Heisenberg - Resident Evil)

Chapter 22 - Mutations

Katl led Emily up several levels of the factory, or at least it felt like several to her given the number of stairs they had to climb until they reached the main elevator and Karl pressed the button to take them to level B2. They remained silent, their hands still joined, and somehow, Emily dared not question where they were going.

When the elevator halted, Emily recognized the catwalk from the very brief time Karl had shown her this level. It was the closest to one of the moving production lines, but he had never taken her beyond what was at the top of the ladder nearby or the sealed door with his sigil. Emily knew somehow that the ladder had to lead to the grinder and ventilation shafts. This door Karl was leading to her was something else.

Reaching into his pocket with his free hand, he pulled out a silver key that also had his sigil on it and turned it into the lock. The many pipes on the door separated simultaneously, opening their path. They walked down a narrow corridor with many twists, turns, and the occasional generator in the corner until they reached the door to a dark room. When they opened the door and stepped inside, Emily was met with a place that looked like some kind of observation deck with a large window overlooking a dark platform below with a crane at the edge of the balcony that could be raised to a sealed door above. Within the room, they now stood in was a small wooden desk with a chair, an ashtray, and a locked diary which Emily dared not touch, but she saw Karl was approaching the window and below the sill was a long booth of surveillance equipment with screens viewing into every corner of the factory and a central touch screen that could possibly be used to enlarge the view of what was on the smaller ones. A microphone sat mounted just above the central screen.

"I said no more secrets, and I meant it. This is how I've been able to see everything that happens within these walls and grounds outside and how I've been able to communicate over all those speakers. It's damn impressive to me, but to you, it could cause some frustration. That is why I have decided that going forward, I will come to you in person like I did now. Surely you can trust me on that?"

Emily looked at all the screens and then back at him, pleased with his honesty. "Yes,"

"Here is also how I was able to contact you externally after you escaped the caverns. I run an entire network here. Miranda doesn't like it, but because I was the least disappointing of her experiments, she allows it, for now," Karl continued,

"From now on, you have access to this room should you be unable to find me. There is only one place that isn't monitored by these cameras, and it's the shafts. Take that ladder you saw earlier, and it will lead you to a tunnel that goes straight to the catwalks inside the grinder shaft. It's perfectly safe, and the grinder can be disabled should you need to climb above it,"

Emily nodded in understanding, but her mind was filling with questions. "Why are you showing me this? You said there was something you wanted to discuss,"

Karl stroked his chin, "I know you have your doubts. It's okay to share them. So I'm being honest and giving you full access to everything now. Hopefully, that eases any remaining uncertainty you have,"

"Yeah, what else,"

Karl approached her closer and removed his sunglasses. His beautiful eyes mesmerized her once again.

"Emily, when Miranda confronted you knowing all about your abilities, did she, by any chance, suspect you might be able to take it further?" Karl asked calmly.

Emily gazed at him, and she then recalled all those times before the one name Miranda always used.

"She called me Storm Angel. I don't know what that means. But it does make me think of the day I stood up to my father and destroyed the lab. Something overtook me, I was engulfed in the storm, and I was flying, literally, like I had grown wings. Since then all I could think about afterward was never doing again, until now. It must be a transformation I can trigger somehow, Karl, I just wish I knew, why do you ask?"