Invictus

Chapter 47: Showdown

Helena turned to me. She was wearing the same outfit I'd remembered her wearing when we'd first had the misfortune of meeting: black boots, fitted jacket, t-shirt, and jeans. Except this time her chest had been wrapped in a brace. She was still recovering from the damage I'd caused in Yellowstone.

"What do you think?" She asked while turning towards me. Her face tightened as she cringed from the pain inside her chest.

I looked around the room to see if there were others. Santiago had said he'd seen Kya and Mud here, but I didn't.

"What is all this?" I asked.

"Oh, these? The newest Ori-gen test subjects." Helena started to walk towards me.

"Good luck having them ready in time." I scoffed.

"Oh don't worry," Helena turned to smile back at the tanks, "They're on an accelerated growth timer like I was. They should be ready shortly."

I could feel my nerves starting to break as I looked closer at the what was inside the tubes. "What... what are those?"

"My army." Helena's face became angry. "The problem with Invictus has always been humanity. It's in our nature to rebel, to war against each other. So I've created a way to stop that. These next generation of subjects are just like the others, except that they are devoid of one singular flaw."

"What flaw?" I asked in outrage.

"Free-will. The minds of these subjects have been genetically engineered to imprint to the timbre and tone of a certain voice; mine. Once they've imprinted, their minds belong to me. I won't have to use my abilities to keep them under control. Nor will I need those archaic shock collars or years of -- " Helena paused and looked at Mud who was approaching, "'education' to make them obedient. If I tell them to sit, they sit; if I tell them to sleep, they sleep; if I tell them to walk off a cliff, they'll do so without question."

I was too stunned to speak. These creatures inside the tubes were the epitome of evil. "That means..."

"It means no more subjects seeking escape from this facility. It means no more people like Twitch or Meat defying orders. It means no more people like you." Helena stomped her foot into the ground like a pouty child. "The original vision of Invictus will be fulfilled, we will finally have what we've always desired; compliant soldiers." Helena smiled that perfect, irritating smile of hers.

Kya and Mud slipped out from around the corner. Kya's blank white eyes made it clear that Helena was controlling her. Helena's indoctrination ensured that Mud however, was here by choice; his eyes were clear. The eyes of a prisoner who didn't even know he was enslaved. There really were worse fates than death.

"The artificial wombs still need time. Keep him busy till the subjects are out. Understood?" Helena said to Mud. He nodded back in reply. Helena gave me a disdainful look.

"Shouldn't be too hard by the look of him. You can kill him but preserve his body. We'll need it." She said.

I had come here and engaged Helena on her own turf. She would have the upper hand. That meant I would need a plan, and fast. I looked around the room, trying to take in whatever I could. All around me were cables as big as my arm. They criss crossed and wrapped their way into what looked like four different generators spread across the four corners of the room. If I could get Mud to send a shockwave into any of those four generators it might shut off all the incubation tanks. Maybe it would even trigger a reaction that would set this whole room aflame.

Mud lifted his hands like a maestro and started his symphony. The ground beneath my feet began to rise, dirt poured through the cracked concrete floor and rose up into a deadly cloud. Within seconds the cloud started to take shape and become solid. I wasn't in fighting condition but I still had enough strength to run. Mud went to close the cloud around me, but I was able to slip away before he finished. I sprinted as fast as I could towards the far end of the room, jumping over wires and weaving between the incubation tubes to make Mud give chase; he did.