x
It was 03 AM on November 23. Vicki was pacing back and forth outside the lab. Ever since her last conversation with Alissia, she had been wracked with guilt. Being told she was just as bad as her father had done something to her.
Since then, she had found her resolve and spent all day and night preparing a message for the world. She set a timer for it to be released the same day Avarice's final phase of his plan was meant to begin should she not return.
Now she stood before the double doors to the lab. After gathering more courage, she stepped in. Verin was the only one present at the time. Vicki didn't know whether to see it as luck or misfortune.
She swallowed, entering deeper into the room.
"Vicki," Verin stated without facing her. It looked as if she was in the middle of an inventory check as she walked around with a digital board, checking each of Avarice's rare materials he kept stored there. The PRP storage section was empty, and their cindium reserves were lower than ever, but everything from diamonds and rubies to uranium and JANUS tablets was in stock.
"Where have you been all day?" Verin continued. "I don't recall giving you permission to leave."
"I'm done...," Vicki practically whispered.
"Hm?" Verin stopped moving and turned to face Vicki. "What was that?"
Vicki inhaled and puffed her chest out defiantly. "I said I'm done being your puppet. All the people you've made me kill and sabotage over the centuries...I won't do it anymore. My father's dead and thanks to you all, the world's going to shit. I've held up my end of the deal we made when you saved me, and you've granted me my revenge. It's over now. I'm free."
Verin looked at Vicki for a moment before bursting into laughter. With a wave of her hand, she increased the gravity around Vicki, forcing her flat onto the floor.
"Aw, you've grown a conscience," Verin said mockingly as she approached Vicki. "Well, sadly, I'm not done with you yet. You still have one very important job to do."
Verin grabbed Vicki by the throat and effortlessly dragged her across the lab as Vicki kicked and clawed at her arm. She tossed Vicki into one of the suppression chambers similar to what once held Za'Fia. Vicki's back hit the wall, hard, causing her to start losing consciousness.
As her mind slipped away, she looked up at Verin who squatted down with a Machiavellian grin.
"Don't worry. I'll help you get rid of that guilt. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be numb to any more emotions that could get you in trouble."
****
A few hours later...
After giving the current situation a great deal of thought, Avarice had come up with the best course of action for the time being.
Since the destruction of the three Watcher branches, he had bought each of their company assets, making it very easy to track down anyone he wanted so long as they possessed a c-chip. Using his newfound resources, it wasn't long before he tracked down most of the Primordials along with the human. Tymon and Za'Fia were still untraceable, but the others were all gathered in one location. Using TekTra's satellite it appeared to be a secluded mansion far north.
Avarice used the transmission ID associated with the girl's c-chip to call her.
"Hello?" she answered after a short ring. The skepticism in her voice was clear to the ear.
"Hello, Alissia," Avarice said. "I've decided to move our 'relations' further along by giving you a way to contact me."
"Avarice..." she hissed as more of the background became audible. She must've put him on speaker to be heard by the others.
"It's terrible what happened to the Watchers. You should at least know that I intended to spare your family. But alas, it's difficult to contain the eagerness of the overzealous type."
"What do you want? What makes you think I'd want to contact you?"
"To avoid bloodshed, of course," he answered. "I'm throwing you an olive branch. I'll give you two months to decide whether or not you all will submit. Since my bases and Holders are gone and your Watchers are too, I'd say we're even. So, I want to make a covenant that we won't bother any of you for the next two months while you each consider my offer. Despite what you may think of me, I'm a man of my word. Do we have a deal?"
There was dead silence over the call before the buzz of the background became audible again.
"Deal. We'll agree to a truce until we decide," Alissia finally answered.
Avarice smirked.
"Good. Then, we'll speak again in two months," he returned as he ended the call.
Wren walked up to Avarice's throne, looking bewildered.
"Dad, you don't seriously plan to accept them, do you?"
"Right," Junichiro added, rising from his seat. "When the plan was to rule on Earth, keeping them under control would have proven a simple task, but taking them to another world with us does not sound wise, Father. We do not know what to expect in whatever new world we travel to. Or they may attempt to revolt during the trip there after pretending to align themselves with us."
"I've already considered that," Avarice assured. "I still only want the human and Damien. Viraa has undoubtedly been to other worlds. For the human's sake, they'll help us navigate space and advise us. Damien's skill to subjugate others will come in handy when we arrive on the next planet. That'll ensure less bloodshed as we gain their trust and learn the way of their world. I only told them that to bide time."
The others sighed in relief.
"Remember, I don't want the fighting to begin before the shipments are distributed. As you can see, fights between us and them are unlikely to go unnoticed by the clueless humans. I don't need them getting rowdy beforehand, I also don't want to risk them coming to us and this place being destroyed. So, under no circumstances will any of you go near them."
"And if they attack us instead?" Trevor asked.
"They won't. They're outmatched and they know it. Once the shipments are delivered, I'll allow you all to fight to your heart's content. Although I'd prefer to keep them alive to ensure their deaths don't interfere with my experiment, I doubt they'll give you much of a choice in the matter."
"Two months...," Kaila voiced as she spun blood between her fingernails to clean them. "I'm sure you already know they won't submit. They're more likely to use that time to come up with some plan to stop us."
"Besides getting strong enough to stop all of us, their plans won't amount to much," Avarice expressed confidently. "They'd have to resort to feeding to get stronger, which none of them would go through with. Even if they did, two months isn't nearly enough time to close the gap between them and me."
"What about the rest of us?" Trevor asked.
"You've finished the energy converters, haven't you? With those, the only true challenges for each of you would be Tymon's power, Michael's speed, or Damien's subjugation power. Getting rid of the others won't be difficult at all."
Junichiro looked unconvinced.
"I have a bad feeling...Why not capture them, take their blood, kill them, and leave Earth now?" He pressed.
"I've put too much time and effort into this plan to not see its fruition," Avarice replied as he stood. "In six months, my war should have reached an irreversible point. Only then will we move on."
Junichiro sat down in his chair, still appearing uneasy.
Avarice walked over to him, picking up a replica of Earth that sat on the table. When he reached him, he showed the globe to Junichiro as gold spread across its surface.
"Relax, son. Our fun's about to begin."
To be continued in 'The Primordials: Retribution'...
-----
Fun fact: Avarice was the first of the Primordials to gain consciousness when Viraa gave them life. In that moment he felt the overwhelming power Viraa possessed and have chased that power since.
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