Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 57: The Sound of Fear and Doubt

 Roman Beluchs was only twelve years old when he bonded with the Menura parasite. This was twenty-eight years ago.

He awoke in the hospital next to his friend Joey Smooth.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It was crazy! We were playing in the backyard and a big bug monster attacked you until it disappeared. The doctors called it the Manure parasite," said Joey.

"That's Menura," said a doctor as she walked in. "You now have the abilities of a Lyrebird, if you choose to use them."

"Liar-birds are cool, they can get away with anything."

"You don't listen very well, do you?"

"No miss, I don't glisten at all."

The two of them were back at home a few days later, when Roman was being intimidated by some older kids.

"Give us your allowance, runt. That old coot didn't pay us after we mowed his lawn," said the biggest of the three kids.

"Why do I have to be the one to give you money?" asked Roman. "I worked all day for it."

"Your family's rich and ours are poor. You do the math."

"But I don't get any of that money. You should know that."

"You trying to get out of paying up?"

"You're being unreasonable, Connor."

"Now he's using my name. I thought the names of the poor were too good for you people."

"I don't know what you mean."

Their conversation continued, as Roman tried to argue that he should not be forced to pay them. Eventually, it all came to a head, as Connor insulted Roman.

"You're just a dumb kid!"

This prompted Roman to repeat Connor's words back to him, and to their surprise, the former sounded exactly like the latter.

"What are you, some kind of freak?"

"No, I'm a lyrebird!" said Roman.

He then mimicked the sound of a chainsaw, freaking out his former tormentors, and chased them away while making horror movie noises.

Six years later, also sixteen years after Simon had transferred Perry Stanton's brain into a gorilla, Amberwood Island was attacked by the infamous Grudge. Roman and Joey, having recently turned eighteen, were conscripted into the military. Though their attempts at fighting the monster were fruitless, neither of them forgot the experiences they lived through.

Their battalion was lead by Connor Stuart, who though having treated them horribly when they were young, became a lot less abrasive as the years went by. He grew into a friendly, mature, and respectable person. He made a ruthless commanding officer, though. The two boys, having matured as well, had gained newfound respect for their former bully.

One thing neither had been ready for was the deaths of two of Connor's childhood friends... they were killed by Grudge.

Connor, Roman, and Joey were in a meeting with President Fairness, discussing what to do about Grudge. She said that she would deal with the gorilla at a later date, but the first order of business was to find the person controlling him.

The three of them were sent on a secret mission to find and capture Simon, with help from Admiral "Slicer" Lachlan Baron. An anonymous tip provided them with his whereabouts: an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. He was said to have some sort of control device on his person. The group of four summarised the plan as they prepared to enter.