Soul Walker: #ONC Finalist

Mission 24: Aftermath

----"This is War"- Thirty Seconds to Mars--

After the Elementalist died Charlie, Meg, and Carmine had spent days within the Cavern. Despite their obvious weakness and wounds they barely ate or drank. They had one singular mission that they had to finish, and would not rest until it was complete.

The nanobots had busied themselves on repairing their bodies, and they had scavenged some of the stokeholds. They ate just enough to keep going. As they healed they moved faster within the cavern.

The only one who was not helping was Derrick. Charlie directed the nanobots only to keep him alive, not well, he wanted Derrick to suffer for what he had done to Meg and somewhat for what he had done to Carmine. There was a part of Charlie that appreciated the playboy's tactics as well as his obvious affection for Meg. Carmine had surpassed Charlie's expectations and when the moment called for it had protected and even saved Meg. For that, he was eternally grateful, and though he would never admit it out loud, he would grant him permission to date his daughter.

Meg begged Charlie to heal Derrick further, but Charlie did not trust him. He never would, not after what he had seen in Derrick's house. That boy could be saved, but he needed his own 'Bellina'. His own embodiment of sunshine and charity. Derrick was at a crossroads. He could follow in his father's footsteps or a new path entirely, and Charlie did not intend to stick around long enough to find out.

The only thing Charlie made sure of was the fact that Derrick knew he would be watching him, always. Every time Derrick slipped up Charlie would be there. He would never let him forget what he had done, and he would never be forgiven. It was up to Meg to do that. Charlie had been too long in this world. He knew the reality of it, it was only at his daughter's behest that the corrupted soul of Derrick was still on this side of the veil.

As hours and days passed the trio had all but given up hope on their treasure hunt. They searched every corrupted database, old filing cabinet, and safe they could find. It was not until Meg chased after a missing drone in her last and final attempt to prove what had happened. Charlie had all but given up hope at revealing all of the data that would prove 'e' stealing his inventions and selling them to terrorists was the tip of the iceberg. Thankfully, Meg was just a little more stubborn than him and she had found the missing drone, and that drone had found their jackpot.

Hidden deep in the intricate catacombs of the Elementalist's lair was a secret room. Hidden under rubble and an icy mountain lake was a small cavern. No larger than a gas station bathroom on a forgotten road. It was Charlie that had to slip into the trap door. He was the only one who could get to the bottom of the lake because he did not need to breathe, and the only one who could slip through stone.

On the other side of the wall was an enormous hub of files and computer stations that had files linking 'e's corruption around the world. It had accounting documents for off state banks that lead to transactions that hired hit men, smugglers, thieves, and terrorist organizations. Charlie had found the white rabbit's hole and he was willing to follow it to wherever it was going to go. He did not care how many small cakes he ate, he was going to get to the other side of the corruption wonderland.

He downloaded each bloody file, each tainted document, and slipped it onto a small waterproof thumb drive. He released an army of nanobots to link this station to his house and let the data stream flow free.

From this room he sent each file to the correct agencies, untouched by 'e's influence. His cold ghostly finger pressed the button that would annihilate the company within his next breath, and then he rose up from the depths of the frozen mountain lake, gathered his daughter and her entourage, and headed home.