Elias sighed in exasperation. “It isn’t a part of life,” He said, crossing his arms lightly. If it was a part of life, why did people before the apocalypse not have powers? ‘Soulless’ was a relatively new condition. Or, oh no, was she stupid? That would make things incredibly difficult. Though, as a reasonable cure went, Elias didn’t think there was another option than the one he found. He rose an eyebrow as she mentioned that she didn’t have a power anymore. “Oh?” That was… interesting. Very interesting. “Then you’re perfect.” She had somehow cured herself? It would be interesting to slice her up and see exactly why she had been cured of her power, versus so many others who got theirs, but stronger.
Elias laughed at what she said next. He didn’t care to question her about what Hell she had gone through. And to not be scared of him? Hah! That was good, then she’d cooperate. Well, she wasn’t going to fight him, so she must not be so stupid after all. When Clementine successfully kicked his son in the crotch, Elias laughed at him as Everest placed a hand on his knee. It served his son right for not reacting fast enough. Then, she spit in his face. Revolting, but it wasn’t like she was the first person to do so. Funnily enough, Elias wasn’t very well liked when people found out what he and his son were up to.
“The laboratory, of which I’m sure you’ve heard about,” Elias glanced at Everest, who was still doubled over. He huffed, annoyed at his useless son. Pathetic, didn’t Elias train Everest to be more durable than that? “Fine. We’ll walk.” Elias started to walk out of town, keeping an eye on Clementine as Everest hobbled behind them. Feeling he was safe, Elias let down his hood. It was hot, and he supposed Clementine wouldn’t really be seeing daylight again after this.
“The world wasn’t always like this. I didn’t know any better until I left my home,” Elias said, deciding not to reveal where he was just yet. “While the relics we have are mostly display the old world in a positive light, it was actually quite corrupt. Did you know that humans experimented on each other? Although, even now, I suppose some of us can’t resist.” After all, the laboratory they had been heading to had been full of scientists that made their living by just doing that. Elias thought it was disgusting, but knew he was hypocritical since he was guilty of plenty of it himself. “You see, there were weapons that could destroy cities in a blink – called nuclear weapons – and nearly every country had one at some point. A world war – the third one of this Earth’s history – obliterated cities across every continent. That was the apocalypse people now so often talk about, the turning point that separates our world now from the old one.”
It was why the world now was so barren of technology; bombs and fighting had destroyed many metropolitan areas. That was also why huge settlements of humans hardly existed anymore. There were a few Elias had encountered on his travels, of course, but not very many. “And then, something incredible happened as the war raged on. Out of one city that had been bombed, one human came out of the nuclear blast, unscathed by radiation. That human had been the source of experimentation by scientists who were vying for the next biggest thing, to try to turn humans into bioweapons. Regardless, the news of a woman who survived an entire nuclear blast was incredible.”
“It was… superhuman.” Elias seemed to look wistfully off into the distance for a moment before returning to the story. “Needless to say, this woman was researched on – in this very facility that we’re heading towards. The scientists were able to extract the gene that they named the kenopsia gene. If you know what the word means, it’s actually quite fitting. It’s to describe an environment, like a park, that used to be full of life but is now so empty. Much like the soulless, right? They used to be people full of life, but now they’re devoid of it. It also fit the places destroyed by the bombs, and apparently, that was the first word that came out of the woman’s mouth when asked what happened.” Elias shrugged a shoulder. “I’d consider that a rumor.”
“Scientists, once they had their hand on the kenopsia gene, began to experiment with it. But the gene turned out to be malignant, and almost like a virus. The original intent of the kenopsia gene was to enhance the natural state – for example, like living forever – not shooting fireballs. That only happens when the gene multiplies quickly in a body, a bit like a cancer. Because of this, other people started to experience side effects. You know them – temperamental, hallucinogenic, so forth. It was like the virus controlled them, not the other way around. One thing I sadly didn’t find in the books was why some people contracted it, and not others. I suppose even the scientists couldn’t figure out a pattern.”
He cleared his throat, “The only person who was immune to the side effects was the woman with the original kenopsia gene. However, the scientists couldn’t continue their research. Because of these side effects and how quickly people caught it, and because they had to focus their attention on barren wastelands, the woman escaped the lab and that was that…” He grinned. “Until, hundreds of years later, I found her.”
From behind, there seemed to be sounds of fighting. But Elias was a little too self-absorbed to look back, and continued on with his schpiel.
Elias then decided to leave out lots of stuff that he would explain later, at some other mission point. “She’s not much use to anyone now, since she ended up in that incinerator you threw her in. So, now you see why I think you could be the cure. You exhibit the same exact power that the progenitor, the creator of all this mess, did. She never experienced any side effects, but you say you were cured, so we’ll have to look into it, won’t we? It might require some slicing and dicing, but I’ll leave that up to Everest. He likes getting blood on his hands. Right, Everest?” He noted how Everest didn’t respond, and upon whipping around, his face morphed into frustration.
For there was Everest, embroiled in a fight with Yale, who had happened to see them on patrol. Due to the extra vigilance that he’d been told to take, he had made his patrol radius a little wider, and it had been hard not to hear Elias blabbing about his evil plans or whatever. “Hark, Clementine!” Yale didn’t look too good, with blood soaking into his shirt and splattered on his face. His back was against a tree, and not even his fantastic aim could land a hit on Everest. The only good thing about the situation is that with those handy pagers Yahtzee let everyone use, Yale had alerted the rest of the hunter squad. “Wolfe and additional aid shall bolster my efforts here! Quickly acquiesce to safety!”
Elias joined Everest as Yale tried to keep them both occupied so Clementine could get an opportunity to run. With Vas being off somewhere (probably hanging out with Willow tbh), it was finally time for the hunters to shine. Well. Hopefully.
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