Horrific Gospel

Reed had just crashed into the bay, which could be observed through the visual feedback of a security camera presented on a screen that Matthew watched.

"You've got to be kidding me…" He observed Reed beginning to recover. "The bay's on the opposite side of the facility from here... Did Michael's attack propel him that far?"

Matthew recalled the strike. Michael had landed a brutal kick to Reed's face, and the impact was strong enough to send the boy flying through the Garden's north wall. "The Garden's walls are heavily supported… and not only that, there's approximately 87 sets of walls between here and the bay!"

The point made evident to this surprise; Overseer Michael was tremendously strong.

But that wasn't the problem at hand. That idea was already objective in A.X.A.'s facility. What was alarming was that Reed Regardius, the most dangerous subject of A.X.A., was starting to make a break for the facility's exit, which would inevitably lead out into the open world.

"Shit! As if the other six escaping wasn't bad enough, now a subject with guaranteed destructive tendencies is escaping!" Matthew crawled to the sub-terminal by his side.

"I need to follow up the last broadcast with another one, specifying this incoming disaster… Maybe I should dig up the documents of the other subjects too…" He re-opened his Cardinal Nexus-mimicking document.

Matthew was suddenly met with a dilemma. "Should I just leak the entire truth to the public?" But before he could properly make up his mind, his hands already began moving. He clicked on folders, further accessing high-security documents, and eventually, came across all the details necessary.

"This is it…" Matthew began typing. "I need to condense and describe this the best I can."

His fingers tapped across the keyboard frantically, while the system autocorrected his spelling mistakes as panic grew within each key he pressed.

"Seven subjects in total… escaped A.X.A.'s facility…" Matthew occasionally muttered as he typed an excessively large document to be broadcasted to the society set above. He continued to output as much information as he could, within the smallest frame he could create.

Now nearing the end of what felt like his final report, and a crying message to the outside world, his finger approached the final letter to his broadcast.

"Will revealing this truth put an end to A.X.A.?" Matthew truly wondered. "This world-wide revelation very well may be the start of a revolution, or the complete opposite; a world-ending catastrophe." He pressed the last button.

The document was now finished. The message was ready to be released. All Matthew had to do was click "Publish".

"Will this make things worse?... No, this could save lives… Hundreds… or maybe even thousands."

His finger hovered over the left-click button, ready to unleash a horrific gospel of truth onto the world.

Suddenly, Matthew felt a hand grip tightly around his ankle. "—!!!"

He looked down while shaking his leg in shock. There, was what could be barely be recognized as Raphael. He clutched Matthew's ankle with an unbelievable amount of strength, and the reporter screamed out of fear. "Raphael!?"

The Overseer's limbs had been bent and broken, while blood leaked from various wounds that scathed his body. His face was planted against the floor, due to the disproportioned twist done to his neck and shoulders. With a frightening cracking sound that emitted from his jaw, Raphael forcefully lifted his head up towards Matthew.

"You… trai..tor…" The Overseer could barely speak. Shunned by the words, Matthew looked over his shoulder, realizing the risk of what he currently performed. But the man couldn't find any care in what he did anymore. For the first time in all the time he could remember, Matthew did something of his own accord.

"A.X.A. is over Raphael. Look at you, you've been abolished by your own subject. It's time to let go." Matthew shook his foot with indication to release. But Raphael only gripped harder, with what seemed like a rather growing fury.

"You used… the… D...Z3E on… me…" Raphael muttered his bloody words.

"I did. That's why you lost to Reed. And now you're on the verge of death, so just give up already Rapha—"

Raphael suddenly tugged Matthew's ankle with unforseen strength. The reporter fell onto his back, now being pulled towards the zombie-looking Raphael.

The built-up panic had now released, and an instantaneous pain shot up into Matthew's head.

"NO! STAY AWAY!!!" He felt death clawing its way in.

But he then remembered what he'd set out to do just moments ago. Whether his final moment was now, or later, he knew what he had to do, and that was to reveal the undeniable truth to everyone above. So Matthew resisted, as Raphael continued to pull. Matthew held onto the side of a panel for dear life, while Raphael slowly began grabbing his way up his leg.

"No! Not… yet!" Matthew reached up, and grabbed the mouse hanging by a wire over the table. Without time to waste, he clicked.

A verification sound was heard, confirming the publication of his report to the public as a broadcast.

The truth was now released.

To this, Matthew smiled. "Ah…" He felt his stomach tear open.

"It's finally… over."