9Hello everyone and anyone, I apologize for the delay but I was having some issues with my computer and some files (including my fiction press data) was affected. The good news is I have all of my files back! Now let's get back to the story!
Once again, Egil felt the pain and blinding light subside as she gathered her wits. She was lying about 6 feet away from the nasty dentist's chair. Her chest rose and fell as she attempted to gather as much air as she could. Egil's heart skipped a beat when she heard footsteps coming towards her.
"Well well well. Looks like you are tougher than you look little one." The man snickered as he put down a syringe on a table that had other medical instruments on it.
He knelled down to Egil, who didn't appear to be any immediate threat, and spoke softly to her. Egil continued to stare at the man and did not show any signs of fear. Although, she was quite tired from the incessant pain.
"You have assisted us make great strides in science Madame. I knew you would be worth the effort." He chucked after he finished speaking.
The man sighed after he stood back up.
"It's a shame you will not live to see the beautiful utopia we will erect." He menacingly said while reaching for something in his coat pocket. The man pulled out a small magnum and examined it, savoring the moment.
Egil just remained motionless on the ground.
"It was fun while it lasted mon chéri. Avoir!" The Frenchman said as he loaded his gun.
Suddenly, the small woman amassed all of her energy and sprang up using what little body weight she had. The man was caught off guard by this unexpected occurrence, and clumsily fuddled with the loaded gun. Unfortunately for him, Egil had already "loaded" her right fist. The man was struck on the right side of his jaw, and fell onto the wooden floor dropping his gun in the process. Egil pulled out a flip knife and held it to the man's throat.
"Ok, listen. I'm going to ask you this once. Who the heck are you, and what just happened to me?" Egil interrogated the man while panting heavily.
The man was shaking a little as he was quite nervous.
"Quite an agent I see. I suppose you are owed some insight into your past. My name is Corbin, and I was there!" He started laughing uncontrollably like a madman.
Egil was really concerned. She just wanted to get some information and get out.
"Hey! Stop laughing! Where were you!?" She antagonistically yelled.
Corbin calmed down, and looked at Egil with a serious expression.
"We witnessed it my dear. WE were some of the few to see it." He spoke as if narcotized by some drug. It was as if recollecting the past was enough to intoxicate him.
"What do you mean WE?" Egil inquired, her hands trembling.
Corbin stared at her. His eyes appeared clouded and inexpressive.
"You-you were such a delicate thing. So small and helpless. Out of all the orphans, you were perfect. After the experiment concluded, they wanted to dispose of you. But I saw more in you. I saw purpose and meaning. I knew you would be of use to us, so I ensured your safety. I archived you in a nurturing and loving environment. Thanks to my forethought, this little test was successful. Now that our role is completed, we are of no consequence. Egil, our lives have no meaning now. So whether you kill me or not, it will have no effect on his plan." Corbin concluded and stared up at the ceiling.
Egil was speechless. Was what this man said true? His entire entity had changed in a matter of minutes. What once was a healthy man, now was an insane maniac. Or was it the other way around? What influence controlled Corbin?
"Wh-who's plan?" Egil inquired.
There was no reply.
"Hey!" She shouted.
The man did not change his gaze that was affixed on the ceiling.
"I am afraid I can no long answer your questions. I hope you find peace in your remaining moments of life."
Suddenly the wooden door that was the entrance to this room burst open. The door was now nothing more than splintered wood across the floor. Through the frame came two burly men. Egil's eyes dilated as she soon realized what was going to happen to her if she remained in the room for much longer.
"You!" One man exclaimed.
Egil quickly put her knife away and reached for the magnum that Corbin had dropped earlier. She noticed that there was only one bullet in the gun as she prepared it. Egil aimed the gun at the closer of the two men. Her hands quivered.
"Stay away from me!" Egil mandated as she sidestepped towards a nearby wall.
Rays of light streamed in from an old stained glass window. One could see particles floating as they moved into the light.
Egil nervously glanced at the two men, who were slowly walking towards her, and the glass window. Egil had no idea what form of bullet protection these goons had, and didn't want to waste her only bullet. She stood up and started side-stepping towards the window. On her way, she passed by the strange device that Corbin had used on her. She pulled out a blue colored card, and put it into her pocket. The two guards didn't respond well to this. They snared as their pace increased, feeling more confident that Egil wouldn't use her weapon with every step they took.
Finally Egil made it within close proximity of the window. She smirked.
"Well, it was fun hanging out with you guys, but I really need to be going." Egil cockily said and then aimed her Magnum at the thick window and shot a bullet through it, shattering the glass around the bullet hole and severely crippling its structural integrity. Egil dropped the gun and leaped through the window. Shards of glass followed her as she fell out of the building.
Egil fell a few feet and landed on a red tiled roof. Without thinking she darted off across the rooftops. To her right was the Rhône River. One misstep, and Egil would fall of the roof and into the river. Her adrenaline coursed through her body, all pain was subdued as her fight or flight instincts took over. Suddenly the sound of a gunshot penetrated Egil eardrums. She glanced behind to see the two thugs on her tail, with one carrying an assault rifle in his hands.
"Crap." She said to herself.
To make matters worse, she was running out of roof to traverse. All of the buildings met at a central point and formed a concrete peninsula jetting out into the Rhône. Egil stopped as she reached the end of the building run. On the other side were more buildings, enough to ensure her escape. But a moderately sized inlet from the Rhône prevented her from escaping thought conventional means. The agent looked over the ledge of the building and gasped. She quickly jumped backwards as a large quad-copter surveillance drone hovered in front of her.
"Double crap."
A bright light, most likely created by a camera, flashed from the drone. Egil was slightly dazed from this and rubbed her eyes.
"Madame, se il vous plaît descendre le toit. Miss, please get off of the roof." A synthesized voice emanating from the drone instructed.
Just then a bullet hit and fractured a roof tile to the right of Egil's right foot.
"You imbecilic! Let me do the shooting, oui?" One of the burley men chasing Egil shouted while grabbing the gun from his partner.
Egil was running out of time, and options. Egil swallowed and prepared herself to jump.
"I am so going to regret this."
The small woman thrust herself forward. She extended her arms out in hopes of being able to grab a piece of the drone. The drone remained perfectly still as Egil neared it. The agent latched onto a metal handle that was extruding from the copter. The propellers strained under this new load, and the machine struggled to remain airborne. It slowly began descending towards the river. Due to Egil's momentum being transferred over to the drone, the machine and its passenger drifted away from the buildings as well. While the agent made her diagonal descent towards the opposite side of the inlet, the two goons reached the ledge of the building where Egil was only a few moments ago.
"You're not getting away from me." The man with the rifle grumbled to himself.
He held the gun up to his face, and aligned the sights for an accurate shot. The burly man put his dirt encrusted finger up to the trigger and paused.
Egil could see she was heading towards a window. She clenched her eyes shut and turned her head away, bracing for impact. Suddenly, Egil heard another gunshot and soon felt the drone swerving to the right. She reopened her eyes and looked up to see part of the drone smoking. She accelerated, and starting spinning downwards. The world ran around Egil, dizzying her with its erratic movement and disorienting blur. She couldn't hold onto the drone due to the centripetal force. Egil lost her grip and slammed into a concrete wall. Unfortunately, she was still six feet off the ground and after losing all of her momentum the woman fell onto stone pavement. Still scared and disoriented, Egil picked herself up and hobbled through the area where she found herself. Stumbling left and right as if in a drunken stoop, she determinately continued walking. Where she was going, however, was a mystery. All the confused agent knew was that she needed to get out of plain sight. Her body was seriously injured from her fall, but Egil was fighting to stay awake and couldn't tell that she was hurt. Egil heard another gunshot, but ignored it and continued walking. Unfortunately for the agent, her current physical state did not allow for precision and she clumsily slammed into a nearby window. The glass window vibrated, and the impact with the wall caused Egil to fall onto her back. She lied on the stone pavement in the courtyard. Seconds felt like hours as time crept by at a snail's pace. All of her strength was drained from her body, which prevented Egil from erecting herself off the ground. Hope seemed lost until a blurry figure appeared in Egil's vision. A muffled voice came through.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to save you again, Mon Ami."
The door to the Director's office swung open, hitting the adjacent wall due to the excess force applied to it. Xavier stormed through the opening in an apoplectic manner. His face a deep pink, and beads of sweat running down his forehead.
"That lummox!" The scientist, filled with indignation, grumbled to himself as he marched down the long corridor.
Xavier shoulder bumped into another passing scientist, but did not stop to apologize. He didn't even notice the man. Xavier was too filled with anguish to acknowledge anyone's emotions, or even existence, beyond his own. The corridor emptied into a large domed room, where multiple hallways could be accessed. Like a roundabout except for hallways. There was one elevator in the room. If the dome was represented by a clock, the hallway from which Xavier came from would be at 10 o'clock and the elevator would be at 12. Xavier pressed the call button for the lift and waited. While he was waiting, the scientist closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
"Don't worry Xavier. Whatever the Director is doing can't be too influential. You'll be out before you know it." He said trying to mollify himself.
*Bing* The elevator rang.
Xavier walked into the elevator. He pulled out a piece of paper that the director gave him. After reading it, he searched for a specific button on the elevator and pressed it. The doors closed and elevator started moving down. Xavier could feel his ears pop from the pressure. The scientist didn't know how far down he was going, but the shaft he was descending into felt fairly deep. After a few minutes, the elevator reached its destination. As the doors opened, a bright light filled the small cubicle. Xavier squinted, but soon adjusted to the new lighting. Once he regained his vision, the scientist's jaw dropped and his eyes dilated in shock and horror. He found himself standing at the foot of an enormously large cylinder. This metal container was as big as the empire state building, if not larger. There were numerous wires and hoses extruding from the container, as well as a complex labyrinth of scaffolding and support beams. Hundreds of spotlights were hung around the metallic monstrosity. Xavier could only wonder what was on the inside of this intimidating marvel. One thing was for sure, this was not your average government job. It was something much more.
"What are you up to director?"
Well, it seems that Egil and Xavier are falling deeper into trouble. Who is rescuing Egil? What is the gigantic cylinder Xavier encountered for? Leave a review if you can, as they help out a lot. Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!