— Twenty Minutes Later, General POV —
"I'm home," A blonde woman entered her boyfriend's house only to see him sitting with the recently disgraced CEO of Vought.
"Hi hon, we have a guest,"
"Hello Ms. Dunlop. I heard a lot about you." Stan Edgar said with a nod in her direction,
Adem released a large sigh before explaining to her about what Edgar had told him, and similar to him, she did not believe it until she saw the video.
"Oh my god… This- This can't be real…" She mumbled,
"That's why I called you here. It might be a fake video that Mr. Edgar made in order to have me and Homelander take each other out."
"Not that I can blame Mr. Aslan for thinking like that. It was part of our contingency plan to turn him against Homelander eventually. We had initially planned to wait until the end of the year to began, however the actions of Homelander rushed our hand."
Both of the young Supes were shocked to hear Edgar admitting so easily, but neither of them showed any outward reaction.
"Now then, should we get this started?" Edgar said as he put up his hand towards Cate.
Cate looked at the man's hand, no one willingly allowed her to use her powers on them before,
"Please Ms. Dunlop, I do not have all day." He said and Cate took off her gloves and gave his hand a shake.
She was about to give a command, but before she could, Adem whispered something to her ear, she gave a nod and gave Edgar the command. "Answer all of our following questions with the full truth."
"Very well," Edgar said.
"Was the video real?" He asked
"It is. The original plan was for Homelander and Queen Maeve to stop the terrorist, but they failed, as usual, and we had to cover it up."
"So it's true…" Cate mumbled with wide eyes, "What does this mean?"
"This means the most powerful man in the world is a psychotic man-child, and your boyfriend is one of the only 3 people who might be able to stop him when he finally breaks." Edgar said,
"3 people? Who are the other two?"
"Soldier Boy and Ryan."
"Soldier Boy? He is dead, isn't he?"
"He is not. I was the one who arranged for him to be captured by the Russians, as he was becoming a liability for Vought."
"He is a- he is THE fucking hero?! How could you do something like that?" Cate asked as her eyes began to turn red, "He fought the Nazi's and you sold him to Russians? Russians?!"
"Soldier Boy, like Homelander, was not the hero Vought presented him to be. He killed a couple dozen Nazis during the war by simply charging at the enemy fire, and after that, they turned him into a recruitment dummy." Stan said, once again shocking the duo.
"Fuck me… that's hard to swallow," he mumbled before asking, "Who is Ryan anyways?"
"Ryan is Homelander's 10 year old son. He is a product of the one time affair between Rebecca Butcher, and Homelander."
"Butcher? That name sounds familiar… wasn't William Butcher the terrorist who blew up Madelyn Stillwell?" Adem asked
"Yes, yes he is. And he is the husband of late Mrs. Butcher. However, after she became pregnant we made her disappear, and placed both Ryan and her in an isolated environment where we can mold him into the perfect product. Alas, that man-child once again interfered."
"Product? What do you mean?" The young Supe asked
"That is what you are- what you all are." Stan said and that got him a cold glare from both teens.
"We are not fucking products! We are people!" She screamed.
"You might believe that, but the reality is, you all are products."
She grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him up with one hand.
"Cate… please drop him… I still have a few more questions for him…"
She then dropped him, the older man quickly regained his composure and fixed his tie.
"Thank you Cate… Now then, tell me, what did you mean when you said my life was in danger?" He asked as he glared at the man.
"Homelander grows more erratic by the day, now that he has the full might of Vought at his disposal, he might come after any and all potential threats to him, which includes you." He said.
"Can I beat him?"
"Potentially. Our projections were for you to be a match for Homelander by the end of the year, but we were using his latest Power Test Results. That is from over a decade ago, and unlike you who trains on a daily basis, Homelander hasn't trained in a long time, so it is possible his overall strength has deteriorated slightly… or improved as he aged."
Adem contemplated everything he has heard, 'The Superman of this world is a complete psycho who is only playing hero to get the love of the public… and he might come to kill me any day.'
"Do you have any other contingency plans in place? Either for Homelander or for me?"
Edgar looked strained a little. He clearly fought the compulsion to answer, but he eventually let out two words "Woods Project."
As soon as he said that a chill ran down Cate's neck. "We don't need to talk about that!" She shouted out loud.
"Cate? What's going on?"
"Ms. Dunlop is involved with a project in the Woods." Edgar revealed, causing Adem to stare at his girlfriend with wide eyes.
"Cate?"
She tried to reach for Stan, but Adem caught her hand. He then turned towards the chicken man.
"What was Cate doing for this project?" He asked the older man.
"Ms. Dunlop has been working with Woods' team to enhance Luke Riordan, so he can potentially be a match for you and Homelander. She has been altering the mind of Mr. Riordan so that he does not remember the terrible condition we have to put his brother in, in order to enhance him."
Adem looks at Cate,
"Why would you do something like that?"
"It- It was for your own good. She said- she said it's the only way you can be the Next Homelander."
"Who said it?"
"Dean Shetty," Edgar answered.
"Why would she say something like that?"
"Because she has been tasked with manipulating Ms. Dunlop. Our goal was to use her to control both you and Mr. Riordan. Hoping at least one of you could become a deterrent against Homelander" he explained
Adem didn't know what to think about this new information.
"Are you saying- Are you saying Dean Shetty has been lying to me- to- to control me? So that- so that she can control Adem?" Cate stummered
Edgar just nods his head. Completely shattering the image of the Indian Dean that both of them had.
Cate was shaking with rage. She thought she could trust Shetty. She was the one who saved her from her parents. The one who got her into the Godolkin, and the one who helped her develop her relationship with Adem. But now, she realized all of this had been a lie.
Adem was no better. He was questioning his relationship with Cate, and how much of it was due to their feelings for one another, and how much of it was due to the meddling of Vought and Godolkin staff.
"Is there anything else I should know about?"
"No." Edgar stated
Adem was about to dismiss him until he realized his wording was not precise in that last question. "Is there anything I think I should know about?"
Edgar stifled a little before he answered, "Thomas Godolkin was a behavioral scientist. He built this place to make what makes Supes thick. Their weaknesses. How to control them. You are not in Godolkin to study. It is there to study you. You are subjects to be studied. And products to be used. Nothing more."
"Anything else?" Adem asked as he was seething with rage at the audacity of this man.
"No…" Stan said. He had not expected to be questioned this thoroughly. He thought Adem was like the Homelander, would focus on the bigger fish and ignore the small details, but it seems the boy felt like being more thorough.
"Okay then. I have no more questions for you." Adem said as his eyes shone bright red.
"Wait!" Cate shouted as she placed a hand on Stan's face "Go to your home. Drink the most expensive scotch you have. And then fucking kill yourself."
"Alright." Stan said as he walked out. Leaving the two teenagers alone.