Chapter Text
Bzzt. “Cor, do you copy?”
Cor shook his head, the static buzzing deep into his ear. Curse the damn things. He touched the earpiece as he crept around another corner. “Copy, over.”
This facility was enormous. How am I supposed to find weapons here? The mission was simple: get in, find out what these damn Nifs were up to, get the hell out. No casualties. No distractions. Cor stopped behind a vending machine, breath hitching when he heard voices. Two scientists walked out from a side room Cor hadn’t noticed at first. A man and a woman. He listened intently, stock still.
“I don’t feel comfortable doing this anymore,” the lady scientist sobbed. “I can’t in good conscience continue.”
The male scientist replied earnestly, “This is our best work yet! We are so close to finalizing Project Deathless!”
She slammed her clipboard into his chest. “I can’t do this. It was one thing on paper. Numbers, data, DNA, nothing more! But they’re real now! They’re real and we are monsters!”
“Marie, you’re a scientist, not a moral advisor.”
She turned heel, taking her glasses off and rubbing her eyes. “Well, maybe I don’t want to be a scientist anymore. Not like this.” Marie trotted off with the other scientist in pursuit, trying to calm her.
“Marie, if we don’t finish our work, they will cut our funding and…” his voice trailed off, doors closing behind them. Cor breathed slowly, confusion masking all other emotions on his face. What on earth could she be referring to?
Bzzt. “Hey, Cor, where are you right now? Over.”
Cor winced, still not used to the technology. “Uh, I’m at the… the…” He looked around from his cramped corner behind the vending machine. A sign to his right said “Genetics II”. “I’m near some sort of laboratory. Genetics or something. Over.”
Bzzt. “Copy that, sir. We’re waiting for you on the outside. You only have a few minutes left before the next changing of the guard. Over.”
“Noted. Over.”
Cor adjusted his jacket and wiped away sweat gathering on his brow. Come on, Leonis, just make a break for it. He hurriedly made his way to the door the scientists had strolled out of, pleading inwardly that he wouldn’t need a keycard or something-
“Shit.”
The first door opened no problem, but the next one featured a small keypad with a single, blinking red light, taunting him. “You’re kidding me…” Cor leaned into the tiny window, trying not to fog up the glass, and squinted. Inside the cavernous room were dozens of tables with glass or plastic bubbles over them, like a dome. Each one was connected to a cluster of wires and-
“A heart monitor?” Cor whispered, wiping the foggy window. There was a chill seeping out from under the door, one that rattled his very bones. Cor looked back at the keypad and groaned lowly as he typed in random numbers. The keypad pinged a solitary negative beep each time, Cor’s frustration mounting. “I didn’t come all this way to be stopped by a stupid-”
Ding. The red light changed to green and the door lurched open, a wave of dense cold spilling out around the mercenary’s feet. “No way. No way!” he laughed, scratching the back of his head. “I have got to remember to tell Regis about this…” Pure dumb luck got him in and he couldn’t be more proud of himself. Okay, focus, Cor.
He stepped lightly into the room, adjusting to the chill and emptiness quickly. The domes over the small tables on wheels were coated in a thin sheet of frost and the heart monitors were all very much inactive, save for a slow, monotonous beep every few seconds. Whatever is in there is hibernating or something. …or dying. Cor pressed on his earpiece once more.
“Cor here. I am in a room filled with… medical equipment. I’ll get back to you ASAP. Over.”
No one replied. Probably for the best. His ear was still ringing from the last communication. Cor walked to the center of the room and looked straight up. The ceiling resembled a dark void, it was so far away. Not dramatic at all. He turned back to the domes and cautiously wiped away the frost. Inside was a blinding, stark white device, in the shape of half of a hollowed egg shell. And in that was-
“…a baby.” Cor blinked a few times, unsure he had seen it. But no, there it was. The tiniest baby with wires coming from its head, right arm, and stomach, attached to sticky pads. It looked to be asleep, shallow breaths the only thing alluding to this room not being a mass graveyard. The baby had no life behind its flesh. Its skin was tinted grey and it barely stirred when Cor touched the dome gingerly. “What are they doing here…”
Cor walked to the next dome, wiped it off, and saw another baby. Same grey skin, same erratic heartbeat. Another dome. Another. He grew frantic, louder, tears welling up and trickling down his face slowly in the cold, cold room. He got to one dome and the veins of the child inside were a dark violet, spreading on its face. “No. What. What is this place? They’re children. They’re…” He stopped, hands on his knees and dry heaved, holding in ragged sobs. His body convulsed while his mind raced. Did they kidnap them? Are they dead? Are they… human?
He gathered himself, clearing his throat and stepped toward another dome. His gloved hand brushed away the frost and he cringed before looking inside. But this baby… wasn’t the same. “You’re… awake.” The child’s heart monitor was still slow, but the heartbeats were closer together. It sat in its shell, opening and closing its hand lazily, fighting sleep. And its skin was alive, pink and warm. Cor smiled, the tears replenished, and pressed his hands against the glass. The baby opened its eyes, just a bit, and looked up at him. Its eyes are so blue…
His eyes met the baby’s and he felt an overwhelming need to protect it, his paternal side taking over completely. Cor looked around the dome for some sort of opening, a lock, an opening mechanism, but there wasn’t anything to be found. The baby stirred more, stretching.
“It’s like the sun.” From its peach fuzz blonde hair to the way it radiated warmth, the baby encompassed all elements of our beloved sun. The sun kept us safe. The sun kept the daemons at bay. The sun… Cor crashed through the domes and fell upon a nearby desk, tearing through the papers and binders, searching for a key. His eyes locked onto a folder labeled Project Deathless Termination Contract. He skimmed the first few pages.
“Unstable gene splicing… Subjects weakwilled, no substantial progress, growth halted.” He licked his fingers and turned the pages quickly, muttering to himself. “Subjects… to be terminated.” He dropped the folder, looking at the sea of frosted domes, and inhaled sharply. They were going to kill them all.
“No… no no no. No.” Cor walked hastily back to the sun child and touched the glass softly. The baby was asleep again, hands fisted around the cord in its stomach. The man sighed deeply. “Pull yourself together.”
Bzzt. “Cor, location, guards will be headed your way any minute and we can’t wait forever. Over.”
“I found something. Children. Dozens of them…”
“What? Cor, get out of there. You don’t have time. Over.”
“Affirmative. I… I’m headed to you. …over.”
Cor looked back at the baby and checked once more for an opening. Still nothing. The glass was fogging back up and he saw the baby stir, its bottom lip quivering. I can’t just leave him… Yes you can. You’re not here for him. You need to leave before this whole mission is compromised. But… He growled to himself, hands massaging his temples. Cor, you absolute fool.
He ripped his jacket sleeve off and wound it around his hand, testing its thickness. “Hold on, buddy,” he whispered, before punching the glass as hard as he could, until hairline cracks spiderwebbed from the site of impact. His shoulder burned, he was too rough, there was no control in his wild swinging. Cor reared back, one last time, noting the baby looking up at him with wide eyes, and smashed the glass, the sounds of it tinkling onto the ground like falling rain. The room turned red and the baby wiggled as Cor brushed glass off of it, alarms ringing to signal a disturbance. “Come here, little one, I’ve got you.”
Cor peeled the wires off and gently picked the baby up, holding him to his chest. “A boy, huh? A little boy…” The baby cooed softly, stretching and nuzzling his face into Cor’s shirt. He was warm and the baby craved it, his tiny hand gripping the shirt tightly. Cor smiled, taking his jacket off entirely, swapping the baby between arms, and swaddled him as best he could. His chubby face looked up at Cor, yawning widely, before settling into his new living conditions. The man took a gloved finger between his teeth and pulled the glove off before shakily swiping his thumb over the baby’s face. “Look at you,” he breathed, soaking in the feeling of the almost too soft infant. The alarms grew louder and Cor set to work getting out, his arm protecting his treasure as he blew through the doors and sprinted down the hall.
He rounded a corner and saw armed guards marching up the corridor and dove behind a desk. The Magitek troops strolled past, making a beeline for the infant room. Cor squeezed the baby, covering his face with his neck, and waited for them to pass. Please don’t cry, please don’t cry, please don’t cry.
Bzzt.
NO.
“Cor, get out of there, you hear me! COR!” The baby whimpered, flinching at the static buzz and Cor heard the metallic shriek of the soldiers stopping to listen before the desk was lifted and thrown into the wall. Cor leaped up, cradling the wailing child, and kicked the gun pointed directly at him from the soldier’s grasp. The other two lunged at him, but he ducked between and ran for his life. Bullets whizzed past his face and muffled sobs from Cor’s precious cargo sent him into a rage. How could they do this!?
These Niflheim abominations were raising pigs for slaughter. And for what?! For land, for greed, for money, for power. All things Cor has seen swept away by one act of fate, one mistake, one too many grabs for control. He slid around a corner, boots squeaking, catching himself before he fell. “S-shhh, little one, shhh,” he whispered loudly, barely making it past another batch of troops before they locked on. Alarms began ringing throughout the complex, metal doors coming down to seal each and every room. Cor cursed to himself, picking up the pace, the distant clanging of Magitek soldiers thundering behind him. The baby blubbered on, the alarms doing nothing to help soothe him.
Searing pain tore through Cor as a bullet struck his side. He collapsed, minding the baby, and swore. Nothing important had been struck, but damned if it didn’t slow him down. Cor clutched the wound and stood shakily, intently focused on escape. A lone scientist moved out of his way, calling for help frantically.
Bzzt. “Cor! You need to get the hell outta there! We are leaving! Magitek troops are swarming!”
“I’m coming! Just give me a minute!”
“No, we gotta go! Rendezvous at camp!”
“Wait for me!” Cor bellowed, punching a soldier in the face and continuing his breakneck stride.
“May the Six be with you, Leonis.”
Cor shouted into the earpiece, but they were long gone. “No! No! Wait for me! I have a baby! I have a baby!” He was back in familiar territory, the way he had entered was close. Just a little further. Doors shut around him, each one a death sentence. “Come on, come onnn,” he roared, seeing the exit down the last monochrome hallway. It hadn’t shut yet, miracle upon miracles, and Cor raised his arms, shielding the infant from the forthcoming impact. Gunfire rained down the corridor. Cor saw red and it wasn’t from the alarms. With every bit of strength he could muster, he broke through the door, falling face first into the blizzard outside. The last metal shutters came down, sealing in the troops who insisted on shooting the door until they ran out of ammo. Cor shook, blood from his side dripping into the virgin snow. Faint sounds of radio talk carried on the wind from the army searching for the intruders. He bit back a yell and rested on his knees, peeling his jacket away from the baby’s face. His bright blue eyes peered back, red-rimmed and puffy from crying. Cor leaned down and kissed his forehead, staring out into the storm. The baby wriggled free of the jacket and grabbed at Cor’s chin, the smallest of fingernails scraping his stubble.
“H-hey, little guy,” Cor murmured, hoisting him closer to his face. “Hey…” Sun child shot back a wide grin, sniffling. “I’ve got ya…”
Cor got back on his feet, grimacing, and began a slow trudge down the mountainside. “I’ll keep you safe, little one. Shhhh. I’ve got ya, daddy’s got ya.” Soldiers called out to one another, still actively searching for Cor and his stowaway. The two of them disappeared into the flurry of snow, Cor crooning, a look of steely determination in his eyes.