The Fall of the Society

Chapter 5: Mysterious Stranger

     "I wonder when you might show up here," a low and smooth voice said. Rose's aura burst from her and she spun around looking for the source of the voice. "Calm down, I am not here to fight or even try to hurt you, not that I could. Think of me as a third-party observer, that is trying to figure out all the details of your situation and the events involved," he continued. "Now, I am willing to expose myself, but you must promise not to attack me right away, and then drop your aura so that we are not spotted."
     Rose thought for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. She only had to wait a few seconds until a man in a sharp black suit and shined shoes stepped out of the darkness and into view. He looked very out of place in the dark ruins, his appearance was of one about to go to a business meeting. Holding his blazer open with each of his thumbs and forefingers, he spun in order to reveal to her that he was unarmed. "That proves nothing," Rose stated defiantly. The man smiled, his teeth were brilliantly white even in the dark, as he stepped forward and buttoned his coat. "Who are you?" Rose asked, still ready to defend herself or if need be attack. "What do you want?"
     "I am simply a gatherer of information, and I am very curious about your current situation," he told her smoothly. "The name is Sid, and I am hoping you will fill me in on the details about what has happened to you in order to bring you back to this desolate place."
     She glared at him. "What I am here for and why is none of your concern!" she snapped back. "Do you work for or have any affiliation with the Society?"
     Staring at her, his smile remained as if he had expected her to be defiant. "You have no need to worry about that, I do not and have never worked directly for the Society. Though, I can deduce some information about your situation. Your interest in the Society, and the fact you are here alone can only mean one thing," he said with a bit of disappointment coming into his voice. "It means the Society has succeeded in their plan to murder Tripp." They stared at each other in silence, before he continued. "I am sorry to hear that, truly," he told her placing his hand over his heart. "I used to work for a man named Maldion, he was a broker, as a sort of investigator." As he spoke, Rose felt the sincerity in his words and finally dropped her guard and allowed her aura to dissipate. "Do you know who Maldion is?" he asked her. She nodded her head, "That's good, it will make things slightly easier to explain. If someone needed something found or procured, they would turn to Maldion. When the thing that was needed was information or with a party that was unwilling to part with said item, he would deploy me in order to obtain it. Granted that all changed when Tripp extracted you from this facility," he told her. "I have always admired the way Tripp carried himself and handled his business. He was a hero for all the right reasons. No desire for money, or more power, and he definitely did not want the fame. I remember when he entered the hero game, no one knew anything about him, and it took a really long time for anything about him to come into the light. His no nonsense approach to the business and his willingness to defy the Society was something no one had done before him."
     "Why are you telling me all this?" Rose interrupted him."
     He smiled brightly at her, "Because you do not trust me, reasonable, and I would really rather not be burnt alive. Everything I am telling you is or will be of interest to you eventually, I imagine Tripp did not talk much about his past. Would you be so kind as to let me continue?" Pausing he waited for Rose to respond, which she finally did by nodding her head. "When I heard Tripp went full rogue and destroyed a civilian building full of innocent bystanders and Socialites, followed by the destruction of this Hall of Heroes, my interest was piqued. There usually is not a whole lot that draws my attention on its own, but this event, mixed with an investigation I had been doing privately lined up a little too well. Tripp had never struck me as the violent without reason type, and he never caused collateral damage in the line of duty if he could help it. I started investigating this site and other Society projects, causing a great deal of waves for Maldion. He had to do business with many of the people I was digging into and it looked bad for him. The Society forced his hand and told him to make me terminate my investigation, and that is something I just do not do, so I left his employment. Unfortunately, in leaving his service, I lost a lot of contacts and resources and that caused my investigation to slow down quite a lot." His demeanor suddenly changed and became serious. "Do you know what they were doing here? What they were researching? Anything that they did to you?"
     His sudden change in attitude caught Rose off guard and it took her a moment to recover. "They had me connected to this strange device that forced me to use my power in such a way that they could harvest it and use it for different things like powering the building. They would also sometimes use it to draw out my healing ability for high ranking heroes and Governors. Why?"
     "Do you remember anything before you were brought to this facility? Anything about the life you had before you had come here?" he asked her very seriously.
     Rose had never really thought about her past and now that her attention was brought to it she was quite surprised with what she found. "I don't remember anything beyond a few months before Tripp freed me. I only remember this facility, but I do not remember arriving here. How did I never realize I had no memories? Why did Tripp never inquire to my past?"
     "I can only speculate about the last part, but my deduction is that Tripp did not care about your past. He only cared about you and your future. The other part I can actually be of some service though." For the first time since she arrived, Sid took on a more defensive position, something he had not done even when it was possible that she might attack him. "Within the Society there is a very dangerous and highly intelligent researcher. It is possible that he was one of the original founders, but it is hard to get a lot of information on him, and my looking into it is what drew the ire of the Society in the first place. He goes by the moniker Scion and they allow him to do any research he wants, so long as he keeps it secret and cleans up after himself." As he spoke, he seemed to become much more aware of his surroundings, like he did not want to be overheard. "I have found some information that over the years Scion has even taken to testing on heroes of all levels within the Society, but none of them ever seemed to speak of it, or even know it had been happening. There was also a dossier that was incredibly hard to track down and procure that listed a few names of civilians that he tested on, all of which had blank spaces in their memories from the listed time. I believe he was the one in charge of you, and that it is possible that he has the ability to modify memories."
     "Is he at the headquarters now?" Rose blurted out suddenly. "Maybe I can get some answers from him as well!"
     Sid frowned for the first time, "Unfortunately that will not be possible. He disappeared from my radar just after you escaped so he is not at the Headquarters. For now, leave him to me. I will find him in due time, nothing I target ever stays hidden. Carry on with what you have planned and who knows, maybe our paths will cross again someday."
     "Wait!" Rose said quickly as Sid turned to walk away. "That's it? Tell me only a little bit and then leave!"
     Sid turned back to face her, his smile back upon his face. "No, that is not all, but it is what I feel you need to know right now. Some you will uncover for yourself; some will be revealed to you."
     "At least tell me your moniker," Rose stated. "That way if I come across it anywhere, I will know who they are referring too."
     "I am not a hero, and I have never worked for the Society, so I do not have one or want one," Sid laughed. "My work is best done in the shadows, alone. I took care to place a few markers to help you locate the Headquarters, though I do not think you will need it, it kind of stands out. Just head north east." He once again turned and started walking toward the darkness. "Until next time Crimson, take care." The shadows encased him, and he was gone.