The Evil That Came

Part 14: The Gilded Sword

The relentless, continuous beep of the monitor echoed off the white walls. The surgeons moved about, nipping, plucking, and tucking his face. The Man, breathing evenly in his forced slumber, slowly moved his eyelids, and through blurry, pain-glazed eyes, he watched the figures in white flit around him, their movements practiced and precise. His face was swollen. He could barely see. The nurses would come in daily with healing spray, or Phoenix, as they called it. The spray landed on his face, healing the wounds within a week. A perfect face, the Man thought as he turned his face to and fro in front of a mirror. "Now, let's add the eye color." The Man told the nurse. 

General Alden clapped Viktor on the shoulder, steering him away from the chattering crowd. "Let's go for a ride," he said, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

Viktor followed, a sliver of unease prickling his skin. General Alden's self-driving H.U.V. hummed to life, wrapping them in a silent bubble. Once on the open road, Alden turned to face Viktor, the smirk hardening into a knowing smile.

"This has been a long time coming," General Alden said, his voice low and gravelly. Viktor felt a shiver crawl down his spine. The general's words were cryptic code he couldn't yet decipher.

"Viktor, "General Alden leaned in. Normally, I would send all my resources, but you're the best we've got. You have trained for about a year and are now on a special assignment to find your sister. In 3 days, you must say goodbye to your...uh, girlfriend and head out on the mission. This is not going to be an easy journey." General Alden leaned back. "This mission is critical for World safety, and it's personal. I must know you are ready to do whatever is needed to get your sister back?"

Viktor nodded. "Yes, Sir, I am ready." 

General Alden smiled. "Perfect." 

"Where are we going, if you don't mind me asking? Sir?" Viktor glanced out the window, the familiar cityscape blurring into an unrecognizable sprawl.

General Alden chuckled a dry, humorless sound and placed his hands behind his head."Relax, Viktor; we're just going on a ride. Besides, I'm pretty sure I just saved your ass from an awkward encounter with your girlfriends." 

Viktor's eyes widened. "You knew about that? Am I in some trouble?" 

A sly smile flickered across General Alden's face. "No, you're not in trouble. And I know everything," is all he said.

Viktor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He decided not to ask anything more. General Alden and Viktor quietly rode around before General Alden broke the silence. "Viktor, I see a lot of myself in you. I worked very hard to get where I am, but I think you're going to go places, and it's honestly not what you know but who you know." Clearing his throat, he continued, "When you're off mission, we should discuss a promotion. Very few soldiers get this opportunity."

Viktor raised his eyebrows. "Wow, sir, thank you!" 

General Alden is now sprawled out comfortably on the back seat. "You're welcome. Now, Viktor, relax, and that's an order!"

Viktor didn't hesitate to lean back, the rhythmic whirring of the H.U.V. lulling him into a false sense of security. Yet a nagging unease lingered. General Alden's words and cryptic smile felt like a puzzle he couldn't quite figure out. As Viktor relaxed his gaze, it fell upon General Alden's hand, a dark shape peeking out from beneath his sleeve. A tattoo, intricate and unfamiliar, lies beneath the surface of his skin. Viktor couldn't make out the design, but it gave him a strange feeling. 

The Man would rub his foreign yet familiar face and stare at the mirror. "Amazing," he said in awe. 

"You seem to like your new face," said Fara, the after-care nurse. "Your eyes are getting better before you can't even see," she remarked.