Haunted House

“It looks so normal from the outside..” Lad observed. The huge multi-story tenement structure looked like any other block-sized building within the city. The outside was cold cement with reflective glass windows and enough pump units running on the roof to cool or heat the thousands of units. It was hard to believe that within there was a Dryder nest. As he thought about it, there really was nobody coming in and out despite the size.

“Of course. If it were easy to spot we would've found it without the Jackals help.” Kai said.

“That isn't just because you guys don't care about most of Orr outside your arcology...” Lad muttered without thinking. It was a creeping thought that crawled out of his mouth before he could stop it. Lad and Yeong looked at him.

“What was that?” Kai looked at him questioningly.

“Nothing... I was just thinking out loud.” His face heated up.

'Programming is forcing me to say weird things... Or are those my actual thoughts? I feel them.' He admitted to himself.

“You're right.” Joseph whispered into Lad's ear.

“Mostly.” The Ciar rested a hand on Lad's shoulder.

“They care, they just don't know...”

Lad was a bit surprised to hear Joseph talk, to begin with. The fact that he said something like that was even more interesting to Lad. As he looked the Elf over, he seemed uncomfortable.

“Are you alright?”

“I am 'fine.' But I am only half the man I usually am without Janna around.”

Lad relaxed a little. He felt some insight into Joseph that he did not expect. “I know how you feel. I never want to leave Leto's side. I guess with your powers being somewhat connected you both have that feeling, just turned up to 11, right?”

Joseph smiled weakly. It looked like a gratefulness at being understood. He gave Lad a curt nod. “I'm not useless without her, but I am slightly lost.”

“You'll do great, Joseph.” Lad encouraged. The Elf's face lit up at that and he took in a deep breath and seemed quite ready to take on the mission. Lad had a thought, concerning what he was good for.

'Did it seem like I helped him? Is just this much fine to justify me being on the team?' He looked up to see Kai waving him forward.

“Come on, Lad. We're going in. Everyone keep your trackers and communication on so Command can keep Overwatch up. Two hefty looking drones descended to circle Kai. They were armed. There were loud noises as a few more made holes at different levels and floated inside. Lad gazed up at them in amazement. Kai noticed.

“What's up?”

“Do you control all of those by yourself?”

Kai grinned, her tail swaying happily behind her. “Yep!”

Lad felt a pang in the back of his mind that quickly passed to the front. He felt glazed over for a moment as he asked without any control:

“How do you keep tabs on all of our suites and control those drones at the same time?”

Kai shrugged. “I don't. Overwatch is command's job. I can focus on one or the other and on a mission it's usually the one that involves protecting everyone here and scouting.”

Lad nodded, feeling guilty for having asked that when it was very likely a question that was only to the benefit of the Hero. Echo was obviously targeting Kai, as well as Yeong.

'They're using me to probe them for information... It's sloppy to let the programming invade my mind so easily. I need to try harder for their sake.' The group of four entered the building through the front. Kai cringed.

“Anything, Kai?” Lad asked.

“People, but they're off... They're sitting in their homes ignoring the drone completely. I thought this place would be a lot bloodier.”

“Maybe it's an act.” Yeong guessed.

“Maybe... But we can't just harm them on a guess until we know that they're with Echo, right?” Lad asked. He did not know these people personally, but he lived in a building like this. He knew his neighbors. The city below the Arcology was full of people just trying to live their lives. He shook his head.

'Is that empathy... Me? Or is it the programming turning me against them.'

“We're not gonna do anything to hurt civilians until we know what's up. Chill.” Yeong stated.

“Right.” He took a breath and pushed any negative thoughts back.

'It feels like my mind is being ripped in half. I don't know what is me and what is a result of the programming... Maybe this is his goal. I'm no longer being ****. Instead he's preying upon my ill feelings towards Corps in general...' He began paying attention again as their surrounds kept getting more and more odd. The strange part was not that it looked particularly strange but rather that it was normal. As they entered there was even a security woman on the far side of the lobby.

“Careful.” Lad warned, approaching first.

“Hey!” She called out.

“Are you okay? This place has been taken over by a Dryder! You shouldn't be here.”

“We're with ChesAn. We're the Rangers.” Kai added.

The woman replied robotically. “Are you interested in one of our luxurious suites?”

“No...” Yeong squinted at her, trying to figure out what was wrong.

The woman just continued speaking like a normal representative. “I am not the building Manager, however I know that we have several one, two, and three bedroom units available for rent. Are you interested in renting a unit?”

“We said no.” Kai reiterated.

“Then-” The woman stood up like a marionette. Still smiling she drew a side-arm and pointed it at Kai.

“I am afraid you will have to die.” She pulled the trigger. Lad gasped. It happened faster than he could move. Kai did not seem too worried. None of the rangers did. One of the drones turned on it's side so that the plating was blocking most of Kai's body. The rounds bounced off. The woman kept firing until the gun she was holding clicked. Without even looking at it or changing expression, after a short paus she reached back for an additional magazine. In that time Yeong closed the distance and knocked the woman out by striking her in the back of the head. She fell forward, slumping over the security desk.

“Weird..” Yeong inspected her.

“She looks normal. She was just a normal-”

“Look out!” Joseph warned. As he mentioned it, you saw it, too. A shimmer of string leaving the woman's body from the back of her neck. It was almost invisible and Yeong did not have time to react before the thread attached to her.

“Huh?” She reached back and caught it once it was attached. She pulled, but it looked firmly stuck.

A cackle rang out through the building's intercom. Everyone looked for the source. It was a speaker in the corner of the lobby.

“You're mine, now darling! You'll make such a lovely puppet.” Lad observed, seeing Yeong's hand raise, then clench and released. Her fingers wiggled. It was like someone was testing her body.

“Like a charm.” The voice said jovially.

“Who knew it would be 'this' easy!”

“Who knew?” Yeong rolled her eyes and yanked the thread harder, pulling it free.

“W-what!? How! Your body was under my control!”

“Obviously not. Do you think these suites are for show? The moment the thread touched it we were already looking for a way to adapt the suit to defend against it.” Kai bragged, staring straight up at a camera that was pointed at them.

“Some 'web'. You're just using the buildings security system... Which means I can also track you back to-” Kai smirked.

“W-what happened?” Lad questioned.

“She busted up the security console she was using. Which is good for us because I was just bluffing.” She stuck out her tongue at the dead camera, triggering a shaking and a roaring to resonate throughout the building.

“She's mad.” Joseph laughed.

“Cut it out.” Yeong scratched her head and brushed herself with her hand to check for any more threads.

“These are normal people so we can't exactly just go wild. Plus, it seems like she's gonna have them do all sorts of crazy stuff to get us. This is a complicated situation.”

Lad felt relieved that Yeong was there. 'I- Maybe I don't actually have anything to worry about? They all care about the normal people being affected here. Not just me. I was fooling myself to think that they didn't care.'

“Let's go. I'll lead the way since I can take most of them out non-lethally.” Yeong ordered.

“Command figured out how the suits could neutralize the Dryder thread pretty quickly but I'll get them working on a solution to freeing the people that are being controlled.” Kai explained.

“How do we find where this thing is hiding?” Joseph asked.

“If she was in the security room then we just need to explore the first floor. She may have moved but it's a start. Best to work our way up, anyway so let's do that. It might be a long day.” Kai groaned. She gave Lad a look like 'this is cutting in to our time together.' He was flattered, but ultimately would rather have been here than anywhere else.

'They're here too, though... And they want to help.' He followed closely behind Joseph. The rational for Lad was, because he was the least useful in a real fight it was better for the three actual Rangers to be in front and not at risk of ambush from behind. So he insisted. Part of him was also positive that since he was a 'pawn' of the Hero as well he was not actually in that much danger as the others. He was proving correct when, after passing a dark stairwell corridor on the way to the security room a white hand emerged and pulled him in. He panicked, but was relieved to realize he was not yet dead or under attack.

He saw the figure that grabbed him. The dark-haired girl from the apartment with Sebek, and also from the headquarters. She was ghostly in color, but not in shape. She seemed quite filled out in terms of her figure. Her body was toned and Lad could feel by the way she was holding him that she was strong. Incredibly so. She was standing up to that Jackal, after all.

“Uhm...” Before he could speak she held a finger up to her lips. Lad gulped and quieted down.

She cocked her head as she looked him over appraisingly. After a few moments of that she released him and began walking down into the darkness. Lad just stood at the top of the dark, first floor stairwell awkwardly, watching her go. While she was still in sight the girl looked up and asked.

“You coming?”

Lad was not sure what it was. Her nonchalance or possibly the fact that he was still very much under the influence of the Hero, but he followed her down the stairs anxiously. Once they were completely in the dark and Lad's light came on, illuminating the halls ahead. She spoke.

“You don't need to take part in this haunted house, since you're one of us. That's what Mother said, anyway...” There was a bit of disdain when she said the word 'mother.' It was telling without him even having to read much into the relationship. The halls were no longer dressed up to look livable down below. Latices of pipes crisscrossed the ceiling and the walls were simply cement with many wires stapled down.

“Haunted House? Is that what you call it?”

“Yep.” She turned suddenly into a side room where there was dim lights strung up around the room. A couch sat in the middle, worn beyond belief. It was likely discarded before it was brought here. She plopped down and stared at a television set. Lad looked at it and expected to see a security feed. Instead it was just old cartoons.

Lad, significantly confused, sat down on the other side of the couch. “Shouldn't you be... Helping?” He asked while the obnoxious cartoon sound effects blared in the background, lighting up the room in flashes of color.

“I get yelled at when I don't do as I'm told so why should I bother sticking my neck out? She can call me and ask me for help whenever SHE wants.” She uttered venomously.

“Besides, I'm guarding the egg.”

“The what?” Lad lifted a brow.

“The Egg.” She repeated like it was obvious.

“Egg.” She pointed to the corner of the room. The thing he thought was an ornament sitting there in the corner wrapped in lights, for some reason, he noticed to be a slick white egg. He immediately got a squicked out feeling all over him as he imagined what monstrosity was squirming about inside.

“Oh god, is that..?”

“It's Mother's, yeah.”

Lad was horrified, but a thought crossed his head just based off horror stories and common knowledge. “Shouldn't there be more?”

She looked at Lad searchingly. “God you ask a lot of questions.”

“S-sorry.” He stared up at the screen to see a Cat and Mouse character smashing each-other with hammers.

“It's whatever.” She shrugged.

“There's just what we were able to take with us when we broke free from the Lab. Apparently they took all the eggs they good from her. Most of them are gone and there's just that one that she was able to save. She was kinda bitter about it, but I don't really care. Who needs more little copies of her around? Ugh..”

Lad decided to probe for info while continuing to tread carefully. “What's your name?” He asked, trying to build rapport. She looked at him like he was Crazy. She looked up at the screen uncomfortably. He wasn't sure if she was thinking of a name, or ignoring him. Just when Lad began to think it was the latter she spoke in a flushed tone.

“It's Drianna. Or 'Dri.” She offered.

Lad smiled genuinely. “That's a nice name, Drianna.”

“You think so? I actually hate it...” She claimed.

Lad chuckled quietly. 'Then why do you look so pleased for me to ask, and then hear it?' He wondered about her. She did not feel like a ****, or someone that was particularly evil.

“Is the plan to use that egg on one of us?”

“Eventually. Grow our faction, or something. Mother says that if one Dryder is strong, two is basically a **** of nature.” She turned and grinned wickedly.

“If they don't eat their Mother the moment they're born.” She seemed excited by the concept.

“Wh-what drew you to Echo?” Lad asked, ignoring the maliciousness she displayed just now.

“You kidding? Being able to live without being afraid of getting caught or experimented on? Isn't that what anyone would want? The Hero said people like US get to live like normal in his world. That there's no need to hide or act like we're different.” She seemed to believe that.

'I can't exactly say that she's wrong for wanting that...'

“But you don't look like a Dryder or a Beast?”

She nodded. “The scientists designated me a 'traveler.' Whatever that means. I got shocked and cut up and **** to eat Mothers former children or be eaten...” Just as he thought she was going to look sad, she grinned.

“It was delicious. The scientists were too. I enjoyed finally hearing their screams after years of drawing out mine.” She inhaled happily.

“What about you...” She eyed him.

“My name is Lad.” He introduced himself.

“Sorry... I should've said that sooner.”

“It's fine...” She was no longer staring at the screen and was purely eyeing him, instead.

“Lad.”

He wondered what type of Beast a 'Traveler' was, and if they could be affected by his trait. It was just likability, after all. It seemed to.

“I was... F-****.” He had trouble even getting those words out.

“What?” She stared at him in confusion.

“The Hero did things to me, too... He pushed some programming into my brain that makes me want to love him. To serve him faithfully. To betray my friends. I can only tell you this because you're also with Echo. You probably think it's silly for me to even be fighting it...” He gave a short, exasperated exhale.

“That's not what being 'free' means.” Drianna stated astutely, much to Lad's surprise.

“Well... When the Hero takes over he's probably going to do it to a lot more people.” He felt a bit ill and was **** to add in good faith to the Hero.

“P-probably to make it so that people like you can live safely and comfortably.” Even with that caveat it did not help Drianna's expression.

“I don't like that. I'll ask Mother about it, but I doubt she'll care.”

“Does everything you know come from your Mother?”

“Yeah? Why?”

Lad felt a pit in his throat. 'She literally never stood a chance in this world...' If he cared about the people in the building, he felt himself caring just as much about her. She looked like an Elf. She could've been a neighbor or someone he met at the market if she was allowed to live a normal life. Thoughts in the Heroes favor swam into his mind.

'They... They would kill her if they got the chance. She would never get to live if they got their way. Their duty is to destroy Beasts. She wouldn't be any-' Lad groaned and **** those thoughts out. The memory of those two came back to the forefront of his mind. Yeong and Kai's care for the people. Their empathy.

'N-no! Their supposed to deal with Core Beasts, but that doesn't mean they would kill someone without giving them a chance... ' He felt an argument return as he thought that.

Not in his voice, but in another. 'You care about her, don't you? Anything you do to help them will hurt her. Do you not want her to be safe, just like everyone else. Who's vision involves seeing to it that everyone is saved and whos involves killing girls like Drianna in cold blood? Lad?'

He was sweating. It did not help that Drianna was staring at the doorway angrily. “Good job occupying her, Lad!” Yeong looked into the room, her eyes widening with fear as she regarded Drianna.

“O-oh... No...” You felt like you saw an internal struggle within her for some reason as she saw the 'Traveler.' Lad squinted.

'Is she afraid? Why would Yeong be afraid?'

“You punk! Were you tricking me!?” She stood up and glared at Lad.

As Drianna was staring him down he heard behind him Yeong pumping herself up with a quivering, whispering voice.

“You're stronger now... You're stronger now... It's different...”

“Yeong what's wrong?” It was Kai's voiced beyond the door.

Lad cringed. 'They are all here.'

***

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this story and want to read more of it, more Chapters are currently available to read at https://www.patreon.com/TVWintergreen I upload new chapters every week day with extra content also being released constantly to my discord for Extra Tier Members."