⁕ Touch

Dunkel and Jack observed Conquest's frozen body inside a cryo-chamber with curiosity. His physic and the unnatural way his crystals were embedded in his chest sent waves of confusion to the scientist who ran tests on his body. 

[Dunkel] - "I've never seen something like this. Thiz cyberknight isn't like the rest. "

[Jack] - "Do you have the result yet? "

Said the admiral as he turned toward the group of scientists. 

[Scientist 1] - "Yes, sir! "

Said the scientist as he advanced toward Jack with his partner. 

[Scientist 1] - "We have concluded that he is indeed human but... he seemed to be over 12,000 years old. "

[Dunkel] - "What ze fuck! "

Yelled Dunkel as she suddenly turned around. 

With a frustrated expression, Dunkel snatched the notebook from the scientist and began to read through it. At first, her eyes were filled with skepticism but after scanning through a few pages, Dunkel's face went from doubt to shock. 

[Dunkel] - "Mein Gott... "

Said Dunkel with a blank stare as she passed the notebook back to the scientists. 

[Scientist 2] - "He must be one of the first crystal users in history. He is surely in possession of forbidden knowledge about the crystals. "

[Dunkel] - "He might help us find the holy grail to ultimate power. "

Said Dunkel with a malicious smile. 

[Jack] - "I forbid all of you from digging him out of that ice! We saw what kind of destruction he could unleash upon all of us! Trust me when I say I will shoot anyone who dares even approach his body. "

Yelled Jack with a fearful look on his face. 

[Dunkel] - "Don't worry, mein freud, we will keep a close watch over him. We'll dig him out only if necessary. For now, we can relax and claim our reward for this victory. "

Said Dunkel as she put a hand on Jack's shoulder. 

Meanwhile, inside the Amazonian jungle, an Allied scout group walked around a group of captured Imperial commandos. The scout commander lifted his radio and contacted his superior. 

[Commander] - "This is scout group Delta-7 commander Adam speaking, copy. "

[radio] - "Copy, commander Adam, state your issue. "

[Commander] - "We have ambushed and captured a group of imperial commandos trying to reach a cavern that we suspect might contain a secret imperial facility, over. "

[radio] - "Copy that, Commander Adam, Stand by, we will send a regiment over there to assist with the situation, over. "

During this time, a celebration was held over the Allied Forces' victory against Conquest. The crowd of servicemen from all nationalities applauded as Admiral Jack walked onto the stage. 

[Jack] - "Settle down, settle down! "

Said Jack as the claps slowly faded to silence. 

[Jack] - "Our victory over the imperial forces came with a great cost of human casualty but we have still triumphed against the forces of evil. You all have fought bravely in the name of freedom and I'm proud to have been your admiral. Today, we have liberated South America, tomorrow, we'll liberate the world! "

Said Jack before he was serenaded by a loud wave of applause. 

[Jack] - "Without further ado, let us welcome the hero who defeated the imperial menace; Agent Arthur! "

The crowd applauded as Arthur walked onto the stage with a limp in his legs. As the sea of people stood up and cheered for Arthur, McCree and his team remained seated without a flinch. They have all seen Kadyn's brave actions against Conquest and Arthur's cowardice in front of danger, yet somehow, Kadyn wasn't even mentioned by Jack. While Jack gave a brief speech, CK suddenly realized that Kadyn was nowhere to be found after the incident. 

[CK] - "Hey, comrades, if Kadyn isn't behind stage, where is she? "

Said CK as he turned to his team. 

[McCree] - "She ain't back yet? Did any of ya'll see her? I thought they were going to reward her for her actions back there. "

Said McCree with a surprised expression.

[CT] - "Oh my god... "

Said CT while pressing her face in her palms. 

The group quickly got up and began to look for Kadyn in the crowd. When they couldn't locate her, they quickly left the event and headed back inside the base to look for her. While Jack invited Dunkel onto the stage for her contributions, an agent suddenly snuck onto the stage and whispered a few words into Jack's ear. The more Jack was informed of what was going on, the more concerned his expression grew. 

[Jack] - "My apologies everyone, due to an urgent situation, I, unfortunately, have to leave. I'll leave the rest of the speech to Vice-Admiral Mathias. "

Jack quickly left the stage with the agent and headed toward his transport ship. 

[Jack] - "What did you say? "

[Agent] - "We found something very similar to our current prisoner. "

[Jack] - "Where? "

[Agent] - "In the Amazon forest. Reports say that there are three of them but they are luckily in a dormant state. They all seem to display the same physical and unnatural traits as our current prisoners. "

Said the agent as he walked alongside Jack. 

[Jack] - "Sent in heavy reinforcement and DO NOT let them wake up under any circumstance. Do whatever is necessary to terminate them before any incident occurs. "

Yelled Jack in a panicked voice.

Meanwhile, the hallways inside the Allied ship were empty due to everyone being at the victory event. After avoiding the few distracted crewmen wandering around the halls, Kadyn limped toward the scientific wing of the ship. As she inched forward, she abruptly coughed into her hand and tainted her palm in red. Ignoring her insufferable pain, Kadyn proceeded forward by leaning against the wall. 

Her encounter with Arthur really broke her psyche. All she could think about at this moment was getting revenge for what the Allies did to Mike. After knocking out the guards in front of a control room, Kadyn approached the control panel and changed her colour to purple. Static soon filled the screen before a password was automatically filled into the system. Gradually, profiles of scientists began to be displayed on the screen and it wasn't long before Kadyn found out that Dane was on this very ship at the moment. 

[Kadyn] - "You'll pay for this... "

Said Kadyn through gritted teeth.

The agony in her body no longer bothered her as she was filled with a thirst for blood. As Kadyn staggered toward Dane's location, she noticed how the hallways looked noticeable like the ones back at her old imperial base. The longer she walked, the more it reminded her of her past. 

[Mike] - "Well, that mission turned quite bloody. "

Said Mike as he walked beside Kadyn. 

It was a gloomy day as she just came back from an assassination mission covered in blood. As usual, Mike welcomed her return before accompanying her through the hallway. 

[Kadyn] - "I had to slash a little more than usual. "

Said Kadyn with livid eyes. 

[Mike] - "So, what's the body count? "

Said Mike in a carefree voice. 

[Kadyn] - "Primary target eliminated, 4 guards terminated and 5 counts of coincidental casualties. "

Said Kadyn in a monotone voice. 

[Mike] - "Why kill the people uninvolved with the target? I get it with the guards but five civilians is pretty unnecessary. "

Said Mike as he glanced at Kadyn without any sign of judgement. 

After observing Kadyn for a while, Mike noticed how she was quite shaken up by the experience. 

[Kadyn] - "I don't know. It happened... it just happened like that. "

Said Kadyn with a hint of fear in her voice. 

Mike stopped and placed himself in front of Kadyn before looking her in the eyes.

[Mike] - "Hey, what's wrong? You don't seem like your usual self. "

Kadyn lowered her head in shame before speaking in a low voice. 

[Kadyn] - "I'm disgusting... Mike, I'm a vile person. These people were screaming, yelling and trying to attack me. I didn't know what to do. I was cornered... I... I killed them. I'm nothing but a bloodthirsty murderer. "

Said Kadyn as she pressed her face into her hands.

[Mike] - "Hey, no, look at me! "

Said Mike as he guided Kadyn's eyes to meet his. 

[Mike] - "When I look at you, I don't see a murder. Because a murderer finds pleasure or relief when taking another person's life. Murderer kill to satisfy their own person. You feel regret, you don't kill because you want to. I don't blame you for what you did, however, I want you to try. I want you to try resolving an issue, not with your blade but with your own principles. I want you to act, not controlled by your nature but according to who you are, Kadyn. "

[Kadyn] - "Me? "

Said Kadyn as she stared at Mike with her lively green eyes.

[Mike] - "Yeah. This Kadyn, right here, at this moment, is the real Kadyn. You who can feel emotions and empathy. The you on the battlefield is not your master, you are your own master. "

Said Mike as he gently pointed his finger at Kadyn's heart. 

Kadyn looked at her own reflection inside Mike's eyes and reconsidered what defined her right now. In the present, Kadyn stopped to reconsider Mike's words as if she were back there at that very moment. 

[Kadyn] - "Kadyn... "

Kadyn touched her face and realized that she was covered in blood just like that day. However, instead of being covered in the blood of the innocent, she's tainted by her own blood. Despite all the blood pouring from her wounds, she felt nothing but pain inside her heart. 

She almost considered giving up on her mission when the memories of Arthur flashed inside her head. After all the sacrifices made by Mike, this is how the world thanked him. All his virtuous deeds and heroic actions fell on deaf ears as he wasn't even given a dignified death. 

[Kadyn] - "They don't know who you are, but I do. You are a knight, you have morals and a heart unlike me. I don't have the guts to stomach what they did to you. "

Said Kadyn as she arrived at Dane's office. 

As soon as Dane opened his door, Kadyn extended her wrist blade and took a swing at him. Luckily for Dane, due to Kadyn's poor balance, he was only sliced in the face before collapsing onto the floor.

[Dane] - "What the hell are ye doin'? "

Yelled Dane in shock. 

Kadyn stared at Dane with a pair of livid eyes akin to those of a cold-blooded killer. 

[Kadyn] - "To get justice for Mike. To make you assholes pay for what you did to him. He never wronged you, he never hurt you, he was just a good-hearted man, yet you bastards turned him into your slave and took away his humanity. "

Said Kadyn in a monotone voice. 

[Dane] - "I swear, I wasn't the one who turned him like that! It was Dunkel who tampered with my machine! I can't control what she and the high-ups want to do with him. "

[Kadyn] - "Bloody liar! You were the one who suggested this. If it wasn't for your stupid idea, Mike would been resting at peace while being remembered for his heroism. "

Yelled Kadyn while her irises shined bright red. 

[Dane] - "Alright! I admit I was guilty by association and I paid for this, I paid dearly. I lost my life's work, I lost my position and I lost my freedom. I'm now nothin' more than Dunkel's dog. Now that I think about it, I feel like a darn fool for insultin' my old man the other day. Just like him, I chased after my ambitions while losing everything else. In the end, all was for nothing. I thought I could change the world by inventing a machine capable of repairing fresh corpses but I never stopped to realize for who I was working for. "

Said Dane with a defeated expression.

Kadyn glanced at Dane's office and realized that the only decoration on these empty walls was a worn-out painting about a father and his son. Unlike Dane's previous office, this room felt small and insufferable with dim lighting and none of Dane's invention models on display. A quick look at Dane's desk revealed a broken chair held together by a few loose bolts. 

[Dane] - "My wife divorced me a few days ago as well. Maybe I deserved all this. I know my crimes, that's why I don't run from the consequences. Maybe your blades are just the right punishment for me. "

Said Dane while rubbing his dirty hands against his face. 

One quick glance at the despair on Dane's face confirmed the truth of his words. Although Kadyn felt empathy toward Dane's situation, the scar left by Arthur still proved to be too much for her to bear. With an enraged expression, Kadyn grabbed Dane by the neck and aimed her blade at his face. In response, Dane relaxed his body and refused to resist. 

The couple soon resumed their steps. As they walked, Kadyn reached toward Mike and leaned her head against his arm. 

[Kadyn] - "What should I do if I ever find myself in today's situation? "

[Mike] - "You just gotta remind yourself that you are the Kadyn who is leaning against me right now. "

As Kadyn prepared to strike at Dane, her hands began to tremble while her killer eyes slowly dissolved into her sorrow. 

[Kadyn] - "The Kadyn who is leaning against you... Is she truly who I am? "

Said Kadyn as her killer expression crumbled under the weight of her emotions. 

In a flash, Kadyn remembered how Mike tapped his finger against her heart before he passed away. Although no words were uttered, that gesture told her everything that he needed to say. 

[Kadyn] - "I, Kadyn, am not a murderer. "

Said Kadyn in a lively voice as her eyes glowed with a beautiful green light. 

Kadyn pulled her hands away from Dane and retracted her wrist blade. In her mind, she was brought back to that day when she and Mike spent the rest of that night watching old classical movies. That illusion brought a rare smile to Kadyn's face before she fell against the ground and passed out from her injuries. 

To be continued...