A Tale Retold, RED MIST

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   Their arrival was met with silence. Each bowed their head as they passed by. A silent respect for the fallen and the heroic sacrifice of those who died. Then they saw her, in a cryo cage, Alexa was frozen in time.

   "Is it worth it?" All were questioning, yet no one dared to ask.

   Alexa was brought into the Chrystaria Laboratories for further investigation. The leader for the investigation was 6 and Luna. They ran a few test to her, connecting her brain into a machine to read her.

…

   “I never expected you to come back.” A man greeted Anthony.
   Anthony was brought deep into one of the Timekeeper bases. His old base. His old life.
   “How’s life out there?” He asked to him.
   “It’s great. I enjoyed it. That is until now..” Anthony replied.
   “I noticed. Zero told me about the whole situation.” He said. Just like the BVA, they were also using numbers as names. His happened to be 72. “Don’t you worry. I’ll help you.”
   “Thank you, 72.” Anthony said.
   “It’s a honor..” He paused. “T-12-A.”

…

   Back on the BVA station, 491 and 27 were talking on a corridor, when 7 was seen coming to them.
   "Oh, look.. your girl's here." 27 said. "You deserve the time." He then left.
   491 was then left alone with 7. 7, without saying a word, immediately hugged him and kissed him by the lips.
   "Don't ever do such stupid things anymore." 7 said as they parted lips. "Don't you ever leave me."
   491 just smiled at her. "I won't." He pulled 7 closer, pressing her against him.

   7 then led him to the storage room where they used to hang out. She had cleaned it and turned it into a beautiful quarter. A comfy and welcoming place to be.
   "Woah.." 491 was fascinated.
   7 chuckled. "I prepared this room for us! And well.. maybe for a couple of my best friends!"
   "I see.." 491 smiled. He locked his eyes on the couch.
   He then took 7 by the waist, lifted her up and walked to the couch. He gently put her down and began to touch her in a lewdly way. 7 was breathing heavily.
   "Wait.." 7 pushed him. "I haven't lock the door yet.."
   "Let me." 491 stood up, went to the door and locked it. He then went back to 7.
   He gave her a kiss, then moved his hands everywhere on her. He slowly unzipped her jumpsuit, all while 7 did the same on him. They were going to have a good time in there for a while.

...

   "He was such a great man." 823 said.
   She was leaning to the railing on the second floor of the observatory. Beside her was 18. Both were mourning the lost of both 3 and 10.
   "They both were.." 18 said.
   "I wished I could say my thank to him for one last time.. didn't know he’d sacrificed himself like that.." She said.
   18 glanced at her. He gave a little chuckle. "He was always like this. Not caring for himself. He always put himself later, choosing to save the others at all cost."

   "A hero we didn't deserve.." 18 added.

   A far from them, a man was watching them. A hooded figure, closed mask, black tinted visor. A patch was seen on the man's left chest. The Timekeeper.

...

   Things were returning to normal. The silence soon faded and the atmosphere turned back to the usual. Those who survived the expedition began to tell stories, of what they saw and endured, with the ending of always the heroic sacrifice of the beloved BV3.
   3 was seen as a savior, a hero. A giant picture of him was hanged on the wall of the dining hall. His picture replaced the picture of BVA founder, who's getting taken down and hanged somewhere else.
   People began to cheer for the successful expedition, under the name of 3 and those who had fallen, they raised their cups and were partying.

   "Long live humankind!!" One of them shouted on top of his lungs.

   Followed by which, another man stood on top of a table.
   "For the greater of humankind!!"

   An utter joy were shared amongst the soldiers. For long at last, a genuine joy present in their hearts.

...

   "The hell.." 6 was amused. "So this is why she's unkillable."
   They were doing an experiment on Alexa's cell. They took a fraction of her and ran some test. They found that the cell were able to multiply and regenerate in such a fast and rapid way. Alexa was not immune to damage, her body just regenerate so fast.
   "Even a high concentration of acid couldn't stop her." 6 said.
   Luna was gazing at Alexa. She could see Alexa's soft face. She hasn't age since. It was still the same Alexa from seven years ago. A beauty frozen in time.
   6 glanced at Luna.
   "You alright?" He asked.
   Luna briefly looked at 6. "Yea.. why?"
   "You've been staring at her for quite a while." 6 said.
   "What can I say? For years I thought she was gone forever.. and now she's suddenly in front of me." Luna replied.
   Luna stood up. She walked to Alexa and touched the glass that separate them. She pressed her forehead to the glass.

   "I'm sorry.."

...

   "So what are you saying?" 0 asked.
   "You see.." 2 hovered his finger across the map on the table. "Throughout our expeditions, we have found several nests."
   "We suspect the same exact thing occurs on each and every nest." 1 added.
   0 listened to them carefully.
   "The hive, as we called it, is not a hive afterall." 1 said.
   "It's an egg." 2 added. "Which means Alexa will not be our last one."
   "One had caused such destruction, let alone an army of it.." 0 was in awe.
   "Yes, but we really don’t know. We have left Alexa for over 7 years. Maybe the evolution is far more superior than those who's just hatched." 2 said. "Or.. those who's still inside the egg."
   "As far as we know, 4 was dead. Burned to oblivion by the nuclear explosion. But Alexa, despite being in ground zero, only took minimal damage." 1 said.
   "We need to identify each and every nest we have found and exterminate the egg." 2 suggested.
   "But what if the nest docile or friendly?" 0 asked. "Just like 4's nest."
   "We can't risk it. Whether it's docile or not, we must destroy every nest." 1 replied.

...

   "This is a Beethoven's classic." 491 said.
   He played Für Elise on the piano. They were at the room 7 specially decorated. 7 was listening to his play by the couch.
   "You're such a talented pianist." 7 said.
   "What can I say? I was a pianist before joining the army." 491 replied.
   "Oh.. you are?" 7 was surprised by it. "That's wonderful."
   491 played several scores after. Quite a magical experience for 7.

...

   "Don't you think.. humanity has a chance now?" 25 said.
   They sat on a bench, smoking a cigarette. 27 glanced at him. He didn't give an answer.
   "After years of thinking we're on a dead end.. we succeed in something."
   "Was it worth it, though?" 27 asked. "You could've left the Earth completely."
   "We could.. but would that take our humanity away from us?" 25 put his cigarette away on an ashtray.
   "It's just a planet.." 27 replied.
   "It's our life. We couldn't just abandon the place where we're all began." 25 said.
   "The Earth has succumbed to the mist. There's no point in holding it." 27 said.
   "That's true. But we've won a battle against the mist. Soon we will know much more about the mist. We will eradicate it." 25 said.
   "You won't." 27 put down his cigarette. "You can't. Stop trying."
   25 glanced at 27. 27 was staring at him.
   "How far have you fallen?" 25 asked.
   "You noticed?" 27 asked back.
   "Since the beginning." 25 stared back at 27. "Where is he?"
   "Dead." 27 coldly answered.
   "I see.."

   Several hours later, 25 was found dead on one of the storage rooms. Cause of death: suicide.

...

   "You killed him?" 491 asked.
   "No. He committed suicide." 27 replied.
   "You manipulated him." 491 said.
   "No." 27 paused. "Yes. I did if for his own good."
   "What good? He died for nothing." 471 complained.
   They strolled over the empty corridor, watching the outer space from the windows.
   "I spared him." 27 said. "He shall not suffer our attack."
   "Do we really need to do it?" 491 stopped walking.
   27 stopped as well. He turned around to face 491. "Have you done it yet?"
   491 didn't give an answer.
   "You didn't do it, did you? Why? Are you afraid?" 27 asked.
   "I can't do it." 491 replied. "I love her."
   "Because you love her that you need to do it. 25 was close to me, so I killed him. You need to put her down from her misery." 27 approached 491.
   "It doesn't make any sense, you know? Why would killing someone relieving them from a misery that they never have?" 491 questioned.
   "Don't you get it? Soon the whole ship will bleed. It will be full of pain." 27 stared at 491 coldly. "You don't want her to experience that right? Before it all happened, she needed to go."
   491 shook his head. "I can't. No. I will not."
   "We are running out of time, boy." 27 turned and stared at the space. He then looked at the palm of his hand. "We were born from her, drew our power from her. Now she's frozen in time, weakened." He looked at 491. "I can feel that I'm starting to rot away. This body needs the mist to live or it'll start decomposing."
   491 looked at his own hands.
   "Don't you realise it? You're turning pale. If we didn't release her, we'll all die." 27 said. "So before that, you need to take your lover down, or she herself will do it."
   491 was filled with fear. Should he do it, he didn't know.
   "Make your decision fast." 27 told him. "He had pushed me to wake her up as soon as possible."
   "He? There’s another?" 491 asked.
   "One more. Even I surprised to see who it was."

...

   491 leaned over to the railing. He watched over 7 downstairs. He was drowning in dilemma. Seeing how happy she has become made him hesitated to do the deed.
   The time the message was sent to him then came, the operation to free Alexa will start in a couple hours. He needed to do it now or never.

   He went over to 7.
   "Honey.." He tapped her shoulder. "Do you have time?"
   7 turned to face him. "I'm a bit busy right now.."
   "It's a bit urgent." 491 replied.
   7 thought about it. "Sure then.. what is it?"
   491 gave a smile. He took her hand and brought her into their room.

   As soon as they entered the room, 491 locked the door and pushed 7 against it. He held her hands upwards.
   "What is it..?" 7 was blushing.
   His other hand was ready on his pocket. a knife. He was still hesitating.
   "I just want a taste of you.." He slowly kissed her neck, hovering around her body.
   "Hnng.." 7 moaned. "You're becoming a little too aggressive since you came back.."
   "I mean why not? I missed you badly." 491 replied. He let go of the knife and used his hand to touch 7 lewdly.
   7 was breathing heavily. 491 was acting harsh on her, making kiss mark all over her neck.
   "Stop it.." 7 said, though she didn't want him to stop.
   491 kept treating her harshly. He forced her zipper to open and began to undress her. "I want more of of you." He whispered to her ear.
   7 hugged him by the neck and let him undress her. He began to took her undergarments off. She was naked by the point. 491 looked at 7 with lustful eyes. 7 pressed her back into the door, letting all of her side exposed to him.
   491 began to touch and kiss her everywhere, even down there.
   "I love you.." 491 said.
   "I love you too.." 7 said. She unzipped his trousers and began to rub his thing. "Put it in me.." She brought it closer to her's.

   In the end, 491 didn't dare to end it. He enjoyed his time with 7. The knife he had brought with him didn't taste blood.