Chapter 24 - Believe...

Scyth told about his plan to Jones, Jarod and Vilani… About the deal he made with Zakhaev and that it’s a matter of waiting now… I didn’t know what made him so sure that we could end the war soon, but he was confident enough to say we could. But he still didn’t mention to anyone what we supposedly are… Although we have no connection to each other in any way imaginable, Scyth and I have one thing in common… A long time ago, it actually meant something to be one. But the how, and why they never got answered, and it would probably stay that way. Being an Ultimate Lifeform means you dedicate your life to pursue you’re creators ideal, even when you can think for yourself and actually have to reason with yourself for not taking drastic measurements. And remembering the good and the bad times I’ve had throughout my life made me think. Scyth and I are created for one sole purpose… We were created for warfare… And now I look at my hands and realize that nothing good can come out of it. I’ve seen it with the other lifeforms… I’ve seen them suffering… I experienced it myself… I was there… Constantly on the run for those who wish to eradicate you, to wipe you off the fracking planet… [br]
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Jasco: Meh… I don’t really mind… I got everything I want right here… A nice cozy fire, camping in the forests… A big fracking bag of marshmallows… Reliable weapons… My instincts and guts… Shame of the city being torn to pieces in the distance, otherwise it could make a great camping spot, but hey… I’m not complaining. At least we’re safe for now… [br]
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Blain: Yeah but… Don’t you ever wonder what it’s like when the war is over…? I mean… To actually live a free life…? [br]
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Jasco: Of course I do, kid. But it’s not relevant to think about it right now. [br]
Blain: Why not…? [br]
Jasco: Because the war is far from over, you know… But when it ends, I’ll know I’ll just go along with everyone else… It’s because you wouldn’t have a choice, just like now… [br]
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Blain: Yeah… [br]
Tala: Heeeey, what are you guys doing out here…? [br]
Blain: Hey Tala… [br]
Jasco: Watching the stars… [br]
Tala: … Except for Cyrus… [br]
Blain: Yeah, he gets bored easily… He fell asleep the moment we sat down. [br]
Tala: Hehehe… [br]
Blain: Tala…? [br]
Tala: … Hm? [br]
Blain: What are you gonna do after the war…? [br]
Tala: Heh… Good question… [br]
Jasco: Marrying me. [br]
Tala: Hehe, in you’re dreams, furfag… [br]
Jasco: Well, you’re in a good mood today… [br]
Tala: … [br]
Jasco: No I mean it, you look happy. [br]
Blain: … Yeah but… What if we don’t live that long to see that day…? [br]
Jasco: I know what you’re problem is, Blain… [br]
Blain: … What…? [br]
Jasco: You think about it way too much… [br]
Tala: Give the kid a break, will ya…? [br]
Jasco: No, I mean… We don’t get to decide who dies and who survives. The how and the why is something you can’t foresee. It’s not up to us. [br]
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Blain: Yeah but… Why are we fighting someone else’s war…? [br]
Jasco: It’s not just between Robotnik and the humans anymore… It’s our war now too, Blain… It’s not fighting for what we believe in anymore… We’re fighting for our survival now… [br]
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Blain: *nods slowly* [br]
Jasco: In fifty years from now, when you look back at your life, don’t you want to be able to say that you had the guts to fight along…? [br]
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I got gently shaken awake… I had trouble to open my eyes, but once I did, I noticed a sheet of paper in front of me with a pen. It took me a while to remember, but it was Jasco’s letter… It was all very dark except the little lamp on the table offered illuminates the place a bit… Then I noticed that Scyth was the one who shook my shoulders… [br]
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Scyth: Hey, you alright…? For a second there, it looked as if you were in a coma or something… [br]

Blain: *rubs eyes*… I’m just really tired… What time is it…? [br]
Scyth: Four twenty three AM… [br]
Blain: … *sighs* [br]
Scyth: What’s that…? [br]
Blain: What, this…? [br]
Scyth: Yeah…?[br]
Blain: It’s eh… It’s a friend’s last wish… [br]
Scyth: Oooh… I see… [br]
Blain: What are you doing here anyway…? [br]
Scyth: Oh… Well, I couldn’t sleep… So I went for a walk around the compound until I found you sleeping at the table… [br]
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Blain: Hmm-mm… What’s the mission tomorrow…? [br]
Scyth: Nothing yet… All we can do now is to wait… [br]
Blain: How would you know that Zakhaev is keeping his word…? I still don’t understand how you can be so sure of it… [br]
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Scyth: It’s because Zakhaev is like me… He’s willing to work together to get what he wants… [br]
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Blain: Are you…? [br]
Scyth: What? [br]
Blain: Are you working together…? [br]
Scyth: I’m doing it right now… [br]
Blain: I trust you, Scyth… I hope you know what you’re doing… [br]
Scyth: ... We’ll make it… Together… [br]
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Blain: *nods slowly* [br]
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It stayed silent for a while… [br]
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Blain: What’s the deal between you and Zakhaev anyway…? It’s not just because he’s after you, is it…? [br]
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Scyth: No… No, it’s way past personal… [br]
Blain: What happened…? [br]
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Scyth: … When I just got out of my cryogenic state, I found myself wandering through a destroyed city called Robotropolis… I didn’t know what the hell happened in this world and I had to learn everything the hard way… I was captured a few times, interrogated, tortured, almost burned to death and looked death in the eyes a lot. It didn’t took long for me to learn that the humans were the enemies and I tried to avoid them as much as possible as I just roamed the planet all alone, not knowing what to do. Then one day, as I was walking through another destroyed town, I found a human girl… She was around 12 years old when I found her, and at first, I ignored her and carried on… I heard her crying and sobbing between the ruined buildings… Then I turned around and looked at her… And she looked at me… And there was something about her… She was alone too, like me… So I took her with me… Vanessa was her name… And I took care of her ever since… And I saw her growing up over the years and we became really close… I taught her how to use weapons and how to defend herself, because Zakhaev was still after us with his men… It went good for a few years, even though we had really harsh times… But we managed… And then Zakhaev… [br]
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It stayed silent for a while… Scyth sighed a lot… [br]
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Blain: Then what…? [br]
Scyth: Well… One day, I failed to protect her… Zakhaev got her so that he could lure me out… I tried to save her, but I was too late… He shot her in front of my eyes… [br]
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Blain: … Ooh… Then what…? [br]
Scyth: I murdered out Zakhaev’s entire family… [br]
Blain: … [br]
Scyth: *nods slowly* [br]
Blain: I see… [br]
Scyth: And right now… When I think about it… When I look at you and hear the things you’ve been through… I’m beginning to think Robotnik was right… [br]
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Blain: Robotnik…? Right about what…? [br]
Scyth: I found this note in my cryochamber when I got out of my state of suspended animation… I still have it somewhere… Wait… [br]
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He searches his pockets for a while until he got out a small note… He gave that to me and I started reading… [br]
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“You shall travel through the darkest place”
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“The life of the Shadows you shall embrace”[br]
“You shall be nothing more but a mere voice”[br]
”Everything you knew is gone, there is no more rejoice”[br]
”I am what you will be”[br]
”And shall stretch out from the clear sky all to the great Northern Sea”[br]
”Blinded are your eyes, deaf are your ears”[br]
“The only thing that you feel, is the decent of your tears”[br]
”Screaming out your agony, that no one hears”[br]
“You feel no pain, nor remorse”[br]
“You shall be banished from the Source”[br]
”Until the stars unite with the sun”[br]
”For sure, some day… You will have me undone…”[br]
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It sends chills down my spine after I read it… [br]
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Blain: … Why’d he leave that note in you’re cryochamber…? [br]
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Scyth: I don’t know… But what he basically wants to say is that every Lifeform is supposed to suffer… The elements will take care of that, if not, the memories… Turns out Robotnik was more fracked up then he already was… [br]
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Blain: Yeah…[br]
Scyth: … So… What I’m trying to say is… You really are like a brother to me Blain… An older brother… And in some way, we are… I wish I had a life like you had… You know what it’s like to have a family and someone that loves you the way you are… [br]
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Blain: *nods* [br]
Scyth: But still… [br]
Blain: Yeah… I gotta admit though… [br]
Scyth: … What…? [br]
Blain: I changed so much over the years to the point I didn’t even recognized myself anymore… And eh… It was a good thing… Everything was so different once the war was over for me… It was hard at first, but then she showed up… Like… I don’t know… Like she was sent to look after me… Which she did… And she opened my eyes… She made me feel things I’ve never felt before and well… It was scary at first, you know… Until she made me realize that changes were in fact a good thing… [br]
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Scyth: Yeah… [br]
Blain: But… The things that are happening outside for the past few months… It’s so surreal… I used to take lives like it was nothing but… After being with her for more then 23 years made me realize that was a wrong thing to do… But I can’t change it anymore… And now being in this mess… I still hold on to what she believed in… To try to live in harmony with everyone and love everyone like you love yourself… But I can’t do that for some reason even though I tried… And right now, I don’t know who I am anymore… And now she’s gone… [br]
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Then it stayed silent after that… [br]
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Scyth: … Blain…? [br]
Blain: Hm…? [br]
Scyth: When this is all over… [br]
Blain: Yeah…? [br]
Scyth: Can I stay with you then…? [br]
Blain: … Maybe… If my home is still there, which I doubt… [br]
Scyth: Where did you live…? [br]
Blain: Southwest, near a small town called Deberan… We had our own little village that… My friends and I established after the war. And we didn’t move since…[br]
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Scyth: … Why didn’t you move on to the big cities like everyone else…? [br]
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Blain: Because… We had no reason to leave… I lived with Nicole in a small simple house that was located near a beautiful lake… And you could see the big green forests with the mountains… A beach was only 20 minutes walking from our house through the forests… And if you went in the opposite direction, you saw the big grass plains, with the soft hills… And every day if you woke up… You saw the sun coming up from behind the hills… And then the first thing I felt was her arm on my stomach with her head on my chest… I felt her warm breath… At times like that, I could stare at her for hours until she woke up… And… Then she would just look at me with a little smile as I lost myself in her eyes… I have no idea why she wanted to be with me… I never found out what she liked about me, but… I’m glad she did… [br]
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Scyth: … Yeah…[br]
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And with that, Scyth got up and walked away in the dark corridors…[br]
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For the past few months, nothing was really happening besides the things I experienced… Sure, 36 percent of all sentient life died on the planet during the nuclear holocaust… Not to mention the virus breakout… [br]
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Two weeks passed by since then… We’re hiding like rats in the dark, away from everything and watch how the world destroys itself. We’re fighting a guerrilla war here where nothing makes sense. But there is a little spark of hope seen in the darkness. In the mean time, we went out numerous times to pick up survivors. On the way, during, and extraction the survivors were under harsh conditions. Most of the time, we encountered GUN troops and made sure they didn’t follow us back to Azerbaijan. Sadly, no one familiar was with the group of survivors… But apart from the things that happened to us, everything went relatively smooth. We lost no one during the extraction of the survivors. But with everything you undertake and succeed without effort, it is inevitable that it would go wrong followed with every consequences available at some point. Thing will get complicated… And from my experience, when things get complicated, things go wrong… But still… I had faith that we could end the war… Scyth was the one who realized it first… Then me… Then slowly but steady, everyone started to believe… Then one night, we realized our hopes were not in vain… After two weeks, Scyth received a message from Zakhaev that he was willing to sell Miller, head of GUN, out to us. Zakhaev had his own reasons to sell Miller out, but we didn’t care. It was agreed on that Scyth and Zakhaev were meeting each other alone near an abandoned warehouse near the outskirts of an industrial terrain that was somewhat intact. But what Zakhaev didn’t know was that Scyth will not be alone… Thirty former MNAF soldiers will be backing Scyth up, hid amongst the many ruins of the surroundings. We would take Miller and Zakhaev out, and after that, it was just a matter of sitting back and watch how the human regime would crumble without leadership. I believed it… Everyone else did too… The war would end that very same night… We all believed it… [br]
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