Chapter 365: Stay Put (2)

*A couple of hours before Lilith vs. Greed*

Perseus POV

Leilah was great, she easily tracked Keith Hughes down. With the gadgets that Dawn gave, she put them in his room and we now have access to his tapped security camera in his room that was placed by Cain, not even Keith himself knew it.

With a secret microphone in there...well, the things I heard him say are very disturbing.

The maniacal laughter that reverberated through the hidden microphones sent chills down my spine. I had been a subject of his experiments, a pawn in his twisted game, and I had endured unimaginable horrors at his hands.

But now, as I observed him from the shadows, I couldn't help but feel a strange mix of pity and disgust. I know...I just used the word revulsion...that's how insane this is and how insane HE has become.

When I was his captive, I saw his eyes, it was mad and it was driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge and power. I get that his want of revenge for his comrades was a factor in that drive, but it was that very drive that had led him down the dark path of madness, where ethics and morality were discarded like discarded lab equipment.

He had reveled in the suffering he inflicted on me. He also always had this look, it was as if he was always convinced that he was on the brink of some groundbreaking revelation.

As I watched for a while now, I couldn't help but wonder if there was any humanity left in him.

Had he truly believed that he was the savior of mankind, or had he merely used that justification to mask his descent into madness?

*****

*Present time*

"Are you still checking in on the scientist?" Maple asked as she came into the bedroom, "Oh, looks like Lilith gained her divinity back?"

"Yeah, anyway, are you sure that you want to use your date favor today? Like, we could have a much better date on a later date...too much date in one sentence, that sounds weird."

"Yeah, I was here to tell you that we should call it off for now, the other 3 are tracking down Wrath and Lust, they want to confront them, our guests are only going to handle 2 gods for us, they chose Sloth and Gluttony."

Damn, they could have taken Envy, that is the strongest God among the 7, well, at least based on the information given.

Those guys practically nap and overeat for a living. It's like they're living the dream while I'm stuck here questioning my life choices. If they can handle these two, they should have no problem with Envy.

"So, why are you here?"

"What?" She was taken aback.

"I mean, you're the type that should be helping the other 3, you could have called if you wanted to call it off."

"Mom suggests that I come with you, after your public appearance, you're definitely going to meet up with the Brianna person, so I'm here for support."

"You're angry about something." I noticed, "Is it because we have to call it off the date or is it because I'm questioning why you're here?"

"Those 2 and...well, Lust sent a message to mom."

"What did she say?"

I wonder what tantalizing words or tempting proposition she might have for us...I mean what could she possibly be sending us this time?

"Apparently, you have a preference toward...Latina women."

"Oh. That's nothing."

"Your therapist, your ex-girlfriend, and mom said that around 50% of the women you had a crush on were"

"That's what you're angry about? Besides, I never even had a crush on my own therapist."

Lust waste an email on that? Bruh, I knew that she could sense my preference but I didn't expect to be exposed like this, besides, Meira has Indian and Arabic blood in her...

Yeah...it doesn't help that the family of gods in my new world is mostly white, even the anti-magic cult openly admits that they wanted...let's not get too deep into this.

"You guys don't have to worry, I still love you guys."

"I'm not that mad, but let's get this over with." Maple replied, "And I'd rather you end that scientist already, what if he takes his madness out on someone else because of his insanity."

When I look back on the screen, I can see him leaving pressing a button under his desk and a wall of his lab opened up to reveal something inside.

"What the..."

What lay inside was a scene straight out of a nightmare.

A massive, grotesque machine was hidden in the chamber, its mechanical appendages twitching and whirring with eerie precision.

Tubes and wires snaked out from the contraption, connecting to a monstrous, hulking figure suspended within. It was like a grotesque parody of Frankenstein's creation, a patchwork monstrosity stitched together from various body parts.

Keith was cackling maniacally, his voice echoing through the hidden microphones, I could see that he had succeeded in creating a modern-day abomination.

The horror of the scene was almost too much to bear. It was as though he had harnessed the very essence of fear and suffering, and distilled it into this monstrous creation. The worst part is...I can recognize my own body parts on there...my eyes...my...and if they could reignite Vince's body as an energy source. Can he use my vocal cords as well?

I don't know how they're doing it since our powers are supposed to die with us, but this is...something.

I also have to factor in other information like Cain having other gods backing him up in secrecy, Jerah couldn't have known everything, it's impossible, Dawn can't either, her information network is advanced, sure, but it doesn't necessarily know everything.

"Project: Frankenstein!" he laughed, "My greatest creation."

Just when did this guy go from calm and sarcastic to maniacal and whatever this is?

"Maple, we might want to hold on meeting with Brianna for now, we've got another thing to worry about."