Zero Shift: Second Gear: A Superhero Academy LitRPG, page 18
“I know,” Rey said. “And part of me will always hate you for that. But part of me understands why you did it.”
“Understanding doesn’t excuse it.”
“No,” Rey agreed. “It doesn’t. But it explains it. And explanation is the first step toward forgiveness.”
Viktor tried to sit up, wincing as his body reminded him that he was no longer enhanced, no longer capable of ignoring pain and injury the way he had for decades.
“The facility,” he said. “Prometheus Industries. Did you—?”
“We destroyed it,” Rey said. “We exposed the whole conspiracy. Three thousand enhanced individuals have been freed from Monarch facilities around the world. The program is finished.”
“And the people responsible?”
“Some are in custody. Others are in hiding. A few are probably dead. But their ability to hurt enhanced individuals on an industrial scale is over.”
Viktor was quiet for a long moment, processing the magnitude of what had been accomplished.
“I spent eighty years planning my revenge,” he said finally. “Eighty years consumed by rage and hatred and the need to make them pay for what they did to me. And in the end, it was six college students who actually stopped them.”
“It was all of us,” Rey corrected. “Your attacks on their facilities, your liberation of their test subjects, your sacrifice to save us – that was all part of stopping them. You started something that we were able to finish.”
“At what cost?” Viktor asked. “How many people did I kill in my quest for vengeance? How many innocent lives did I destroy?”
“Too many,” Rey said honestly. “But also not as many as Monarch would have destroyed if you hadn’t acted. The world isn’t black and white, Viktor. Sometimes good people do terrible things for good reasons.”
“And sometimes terrible people do good things for terrible reasons.”
“Which one are you?”
Viktor considered the question for a long time. “I don’t know anymore. I used to be a good person. Then I became a terrible person. Now... now I’m just tired.”
“Then rest,” Rey said. “You’ve earned it.”
“What happens to me now? I’m a war criminal, a terrorist, a mass murderer. Even if my reasons were understandable, my actions were unforgivable.”
“That’s not for me to decide,” Rey said. “But I can tell you what I think should happen.”
“What?”
“I think you should help us. I think you should use your knowledge of Cataclysm and Monarch, your understanding of their methods, your connections to the enhanced individuals you freed – I think you should help us make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”
“You want me to join your crusade?”
“I want you to find redemption. Not through death, not through punishment, but through service. Through using the rest of your life to protect the people you spent eighty years trying to avenge.”
Viktor looked at her with something that might have been hope flickering in his eyes. “And you think that’s possible? You think someone like me can be redeemed?”
“I think,” Rey said, “that if you’re willing to try, then redemption is always possible. It won’t be easy. It won’t erase what you’ve done. But it might give your life meaning beyond revenge.”
Before Viktor could respond, there was a knock on the door. Dr. Farnsworth entered, looking as composed and unflappable as ever, followed by the rest of our team.
“Mr. Volkov,” she said with a slight nod. “I’m pleased to see you’re recovering. We have much to discuss.”
“Dr. Farnsworth,” Viktor said, his voice taking on a wary tone. “I should have known you’d be involved in this somehow.”
“I’ve been involved in enhanced individual affairs for longer than you might imagine,” she said. “And I have a proposition for you.”
“What kind of proposition?”
“The same one I’ve made to your great-niece and her friends. Join our organization. Help us protect enhanced individuals from the kind of abuses you experienced. Use your knowledge and abilities to prevent future Monarchs.”
“And in exchange?”
“In exchange, you get the chance to build something instead of just tearing things down. You get the chance to save lives instead of taking them. You get the chance to be the hero you were meant to be before they broke you.”
Viktor looked around the room at all of us, his eyes lingering on Rey’s face.
“What would you have me do?” he asked.
“For now, recover,” Dr. Farnsworth said. “Regain your strength, both physical and mental. When you’re ready, we’ll discuss your role in our organization.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then you refuse. We won’t force you, and we won’t turn you over to the authorities. You’ve suffered enough at the hands of people who claimed to know what was best for you.”
“But you hope I’ll say yes.”
“I hope you’ll choose to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem,” Dr. Farnsworth said. “The world is changing, Mr. Volkov. Enhanced individuals are ever present. The conversation about coexistence has begun. We need people with your experience and knowledge to help guide that conversation in a positive direction.”
Viktor was quiet for several minutes, considering the offer. Finally, he looked at Rey.
“What do you think I should do?” he asked.
“I think you should do what feels right,” Rey said. “Not what feels good, not what feels satisfying, but what feels right. You’ll know the difference.”
“And if I make the wrong choice?”
“Then you make another choice. And another. Until you get it right.”
Viktor nodded slowly. “I’ll consider your offer, Dr. Farnsworth. But I need time to think, to process everything that’s happened.”
“Of course,” she said. “Take all the time you need. But don’t take too long – the world won’t wait for us to be ready.”
As Dr. Farnsworth prepared to leave, she turned to address the rest of us.
“Speaking of which,” she said, “I have your first assignment.”
“Already?” Jason asked. “We just saved the world. Don’t we get a vacation?”
“I’m afraid not. The exposure of Prometheus Industries has had... unexpected consequences. Enhanced individuals around the world are coming forward, revealing abilities that have been hidden for generations. Most of this is positive, but some of it is concerning.”
“Concerning how?” I asked.
“There are reports of enhanced individuals with abilities that don’t fit the normal parameters. Powers that seem to be connected to ancient artifacts, historical sites, archaeological discoveries. We believe there may be a connection between these anomalies and certain... historical events.”
“What kind of historical events?” Sophia asked.
“The kind that have been deliberately obscured from the historical record. The kind that suggest enhanced individuals have been part of human civilization for much longer than we previously believed.”
“How much longer?” Rey asked.
“Millennia,” Dr. Farnsworth said. “Possibly since the dawn of recorded history.”
“And you want us to investigate this?”
“I want you to go to Egypt,” she said. “There have been reports of unusual activity around several archaeological sites. Enhanced individuals with abilities that seem to be connected to ancient Egyptian artifacts. Local authorities are requesting international assistance.”
“Egypt,” Amara said. “Land of the pharaohs, ancient mysteries, and really good food.”
“Also land of political instability, religious extremism, and temperatures that will make you long for Russian winters,” Dmitri pointed out.
“When do we leave?” Rey asked.
“As soon as you’re ready,” Dr. Farnsworth said. “But I should warn you – this mission may be more dangerous than anything you’ve faced so far. The forces you’ll be dealing with are older, more powerful, and less understood than anything Prometheus Industries created.”
“Older how?” I asked.
“Think about it, Mr. Grey. Enhanced individuals have existed throughout human history, but they’ve been hidden, suppressed, forgotten. What if some of them weren’t forgotten? What if some of them became legends, myths, gods?”
The implications of that were staggering. We’d just finished dealing with a modern conspiracy to create enhanced super-soldiers. Now we were being asked to investigate the possibility that enhanced individuals had been shaping human civilization for thousands of years.
“So,” Jason said, “we’re going from corporate conspiracy to ancient mystery. That’s quite a career change.”
“It’s not a change,” Rey said. “It’s an evolution. We’re still protecting people, still fighting for what’s right. We’re just doing it on a bigger scale.”
“A much bigger scale,” I said.
“Are you ready for that?” Dr. Farnsworth asked. “Are you ready to discover that everything you thought you knew about human history might be wrong?”
I looked around at the faces of the people who had become my family. We’d survived Viktor’s attacks, exposed a global conspiracy, and forced the world to confront the reality of enhanced individuals. We’d proven that we could handle whatever was thrown at us, as long as we faced it together.
“We’re ready,” I said.
“Good,” Dr. Farnsworth said. “Because the plane to Cairo leaves in six hours.”
As we prepared to leave the medical facility, Viktor called out to Rey one more time.
“Rey,” he said. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not giving up on me. For believing that redemption was possible, even when I didn’t believe it myself.”
“Thank you for saving us,” Rey said. “For choosing to be a hero when it mattered most.”
“I’m not a hero,” Viktor said. “Not yet. But maybe, with time and effort, I can become one again.”
“Maybe we all can,” Rey said.
Six hours later, we were on a plane to Egypt, flying toward mysteries that were older than recorded history and dangers that we couldn’t yet imagine. The world had changed because of what we’d done, but our work was far from over.
Viktor’s war was finished. Prometheus Industries was destroyed. The Monarch conspiracy was exposed.
But as we flew through the night toward the land of the pharaohs, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were about to discover that everything we’d accomplished was just the beginning of something much larger, much older, and much more dangerous than anything we’d faced before.
The ancient world was calling, and we were about to answer.
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George Bach, Zero Shift: Second Gear: A Superhero Academy LitRPG
