The hours that the shadows would begin their journey of lengthening, a house in the east of southern Carolina would be filled with the energy and noise of a highly anticipated reunion. An elderly man began grooving while he took advantage of his culinary expertise. "🎶Ooohh, I want to touch the sky, I want to—!?" He sang aloud until he was interrupted by shouting a room over. Philip bashed a dining room table lightly with his fork gripped tightly. "One of Baron dead man's young men could have come to feed my corpse to Enenra's pet at this point, c'mon Amias, what's taking so long?" He shouted with a frustrated tone. Amias sighed after realizing the state of his apron. "I swear your patience is dwindling swifter than your lives, old men— except for you, River, still as serene as ever." He replied with slight irritation of his own. River propped his feet on the chef's chair as he glanced over at him. "Philly's just gushing and busting for your— family famous chicken chow mein, Ami, so keep that in mind and take your time and yo, what do you think, Silas?" He responded and questioned in his typical nonchalant tone. Silas cleared his throat as he shut his eyes. "I'm going off-topic— I miss Ye-Jun and wish that he were here with us, guys, like this just isn't a reunion without him." He responded as he stared at the ceiling. River's eyes narrowed as he tilted his head. "We don't need to be reminded of the past and instead let's focus on the present tonight so cheer up please." He replied with sincerity in his tone. Silas crossed his arms and sighed while eyeing daggers into Philip. Derek's grandfather sighed softly as he stood up and his eyes went into a squint. "There's no way that you're shoving the blame on me for their choices?!" He replied prior to shaking his head. Silas glanced towards his lap as he bit his lip. "How well do you guys suspect a book of the adventures of Silas and Silence would sell in this age?" He questioned rhetorically. Philip sat back in his friend's son's seat in their dining room. "Serene and productive like River." He reminded himself in his thoughts, "I love my grandsons, so call us ridiculously optimistic like Ye-jun but I spoke up in support of their decisions so make where you stand on the matter very clear to us, Silas." He responded as he tried his best to mimic one of his closest friends. Silas scratched the center of his head and uncrossed his arms. "I haven't made up my mind because I can understand both sides of this ordeal but his 18th birthday is in the next few months." He blurted swiftly, "If your mind is made up as strong as stone then you better save our boys." He finished with his finger blasted into Philip's shoulder.Â
River covered his mouth with a low gasp as he shifted his gaze towards Derek's grandfather. "You and Ye-jun have been in contact for years and you two are confident about being near a solution to the issue of Derek's birth?" He added with a slightly uncertain tone. Philip stared unblinkingly towards Silas and River before swapping his gaze towards before his mouth shifted into a slight grin. "Turns out that the Hyun family have a treasure in their home when it comes to understanding the notes left behind our families— so River, Amias and Silas, they will be fine." He said with his typical optimism. River had a blink of his right eye. "You glanced over towards the right. There's definitely something that you're worried about, mind opening up, Phil?" He replied in his typical nonchalant manner after a brief squint. Philip briefly bit down on his bottom lip and closed his eyes once again. "The miracle worker in question, Ye-Jun's granddaughter, has an obsession with Derek's greatest fear and this problem is where my optimism is pushed past its limits, River." He informed his close friend. River's silver eyes were directed towards his close friend. "He'll pull through and overcome his fear because when all is said and done— that boy understands and relates to the quintessence of justice. I won't refuse to put full confidence in our boy to overcome any trials coming his way. It's important we don't doubt him because he'll be leading our promises and because our lives may one day depend on him like our fathers and grandfathers were on us in our youth." He spoke while his stomach was grumbling. Amias entered the dining room briefly with his shoulders dropped. "I just really wish that our next Quinquennial will be filled with all of the families together." He added before exiting the conversation back to the kitchen as hastily. River rested his head on his chest while holding his stomach. "Please, Ami. I'm in need of your culinary gifts now." He pleaded before laying his head on the dining room table. Silas shook his head with disappointment. "Starving yourself these days, Riv?" He rhetorically questioned with an expression of worry, "I told you to stop but give this man some food as soon as possible, Amias!" He loudly finished as he aimed his shouting towards the kitchen. River groaned and scratched his elbow. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm not retired yet and these homicide cases are stacking up. Murderers in this world refuse to take a vacation." He replied with his typical nonchalant voice. Amias hurried swiftly back into the dining room with the rest of his friends. "I don't feel like someone who willingly starves themselves deserves a meal but I can show some favoritism and go back on it for you, Riv." Said the passionate chef. The elderly friends heard someone crashing through the front door. Redmond recovers from falling to his knees. "The boys have been abducted!" He delivered with a heart broken and worried cry.Â
The twenty individuals that make up Xeteroh squadron gathered outside of Perez mortuary's front entrance. Local authorities have already set up prevention for civilians and a crime scene. Acting squad commander Adder approaches the commissioner of the police department. "Stand ready to breach, Xeteroh." He ordered nineteen others with them engaging in their readied positions, "New breakthroughs regarding intel?" He questioned with a curious tone. The police commissioner twirled his painter's brush facial hair with a deadpan stare. "The suspect we have in our custody mentioned a number. Thirty scientists employed that have the status of living and are barely managing to survive down there and around a similar number of highly trained Perez company security guards as well." He informed the acting commander of the extraordinary likeness agency. Adder let out a silent sigh as he glanced at the concrete beneath them. "Hopefully we can pull them out of this and won't force us to open fire. We don't need another massacre of trained private security details on our records." He replied before bumping fists with the police commissioner. A dark haired officer sprinted before growing exhausted halfway towards closing the gap. "Guy, guy, help please— my best friend is an officer too and I believe that he entered after what the suspect told us about the laboratory because the director is now a missing person and his brother so he assumed that he has affiliation with this place's secret and went to investigate!" He begged from the acting commander of the extraordinary likeness squadron. Adder intensely gazed at the exhausted officer and cocked his firearm. "If we identify and clear a safe passage for this officer by the time that we encounter them then count on me to select a member to drag their arse back to the surface, young man." He promised with his fingers crossed behind his back. The stubbly facial haired officer slowly nodded before hurrying to return to his post.Â
Adder regrouped with his nineteen squad mates near the entrance later. "The police commissioner told me of an operational hidden elevator discovered behind a bookcase." He informed his squadron as they followed after him until he stopped near the book case and equipped a map of the laboratory in his hands from his bag, "Here's the plan. We'll split into tens to cover more ground in this sector. Senior T.E.L.D member Grigory Orel will be leading the second group down the right of the corridor beneath us while I'll be leading the first to the left. Reminder; our primary objective is to eliminate victims of the cure to death pathogen and our secondary objective; protect, extract and bring human survivors to the surface and deliver them into law enforcement custody." Said the acting commander with a determined tone.
Grigory slowly shifted his gaze towards Benson and Leoh. "Let's head out team!" He ordered with a shout. Benson gives Grigory a glance filled with distrust before following acting squad commander Adder into the building with the rest of the team, the extraordinary likeness agency's chubby cheeked brawn suspected that Grigory was wearing a hidden camera attached to his glasses' frames. All nineteen members of Squad Xeteroh and Adder separate into their groups once they reach the bookcase they were enlightened holds their entrance. Adder spreads the team then commands four members to line up on the side and train their firearms towards the bookcase. Adder then tossed the gargantuan book case away. "The snitch's tips were on the money. For the latest and most recent recruits, some victims of the pathogen retain their intelligence, stand firm and vigilant, Xeteroh." He directs with a quieter voice. A hidden door made from shiny, thick metallic material which had a hole was revealed. Hearing human groans coming from inside, the squad readied their firearms and sprinted to their aid. The lobby that was behind the door held a dozen corpses with darkened veins. Adder inched close enough to grab a glance of the nearest to the lobby's elevator. "A mutated variation of an old treatable sexually transmitted disease." He noted aloud before returning to the vanguard position of his team. A recent recruit with emerald eyes backed further from the body. "The Ricardo Barteloloaza virus can do this shit to you, sir?!" He questioned with a panicked expression on him as he kept his firearm trained on the corpse. Adder sighed lightly while he investigated the elevator. "No, it cannot, Jace, this is not the result of what we find on the surface but someone down here has been playing God with it because a symptom is this unique smell. A man in a white coat gasped for air with additional coughs as he struggled to move his limbs. "Almost made it out!" He cried before collapsing on the ground as he was before. A member of the squadron held back his laughter and snickered.Â
Adder recognizes the gear that a corpse, inside the elevator when the acting commander opened it, is wearing as one of the SWAT members that never came out which he was informed had breached a few hours prior to their arrival. The SWAT member dropped to the floor. Adder was able to catch him in his arms before hitting the ground then removed the survivor's helmet. "The man seems delirious and out of his mind— far off to another land but he'll make it and he could have intel since he was down here that our late smart friend and diseased pal couldn't give us." He noted in his thoughts, Adder glanced up at the nineteen others under his command, "Have our precious survivor receive immediate medical treatment with the ambulance outside since he doesn't seem to be infected with anything, Enrico." He ordered one of the soldiers under his command. The lanky Asian soldier couldn't close up his mouth. "Are you sir— because it could be—!" He replied before being interrupted. Adder tossed his thumb towards the door to the lobby of the mortuary. "I don't ever find myself indecisive. He's fine, unaffected by anything harmful to the public besides trauma and is in need of urgent treatment for his wounds!" He replied in a calm manner. The lanky soldier nodded with approval before following what he had commanded for him. "I'll attempt to radio you as soon as he wakes up with answers, yes sir!" He responded with a more confident tone and returned with the fallen swat member around his shoulders. After they left, the remainder of the team trained their gazes and firearms toward the elevator with their vigilant formation.Â
As the rest of his team advances down the dark and long hallway with red lights blaring and consisting of many doors after the elevator, the team discovers loads of papers scattered everywhere on the ground halfway down the hallway. Adder halts his squad, kneels to the scattered papers and reads a few before shaking his head and commanding his team to continue. Benson, who's in the back of the formation pauses after his glance of the papers near him with illustrations that he holds curiosity in regards as he bends down to grab as many of the papers that he rolls up and pockets. The team finally arrive to the end of the corridor yet it leads the nineteen soldiers to the sight of three more halls, in the center of this threeway path, the team finds the body of a mangled middle aged corpse that were bitten all over wearing a lab coat recolored in the man's blood. Acting commander Adder shines his light on a name tag after he halted the team once more to investigate and squats down, which he had read "Josh derelik - H.R.O.Ti" on it. "We're very likely going to be a clean up crew, soldiers." He informed his team.
Adder tossed the identification card in a pouch on his hips then ordered the team to continue moving by doing the traditional hand signal. "Alright, this is where I and Grigory's squads split off. Remember to complete our primary objective and do not hesitate if you have to defend yourselves!" He ordered before Gregory and those assigned to follow him left in the contrary direction. The remaining half with Adder instead of heading down the center, vigilantly follow his lead making progress down the left corridor instead, of course with Adder still filling the vanguard of their formation. The soldiers individually survey the area around them. Before the team makes it even halfway down the dark corridor, an inhuman screeching and inhuman roaring is heard by everyone, but none of them could tell in which direction or hallway the inhuman sound could be sourced. Anthony Lenin began cowering in fear on his knees and began quivering and shaking. The member behind him tapped his shoulder before returning to eyeing his flank. "Quit with the noises and ridiculous fearfulness, Ant!" Annette aggressively whispered to Lenin. Anthony gulped as he held the firmest grip that he could recall ever having on his firearm. "I can't help it, my danger senses are going off, I can't tell from where but it's heading toward us!" Then he began cowering worse.