Long Lost Human

How Action and Time can Change One's Self

Long Lost Human

Summary: 27 years into the future, General Chloe Lyne reflects back on the loss of Chris, the one person who helped us establish peace between the anthros and humans.

It's almost midnight. My husband is already in bed and I should go to sleep too. I have to be ready for the big day tomorrow after all. Tomorrow is my fifty-ninth birthday, and although they tried to keep it a secret for me, I know Alpha Squad has planned a huge celebration that will make us all live up to my organization; The United Federation. For the first time in almost 27 years, all my soldiers will be in the same place again, and even our families are coming over to celebrate with us. Mine are both in their mid-seventies now, but they insisted on being there to see their oldest daughter turn 59. Along with everyone's husbands, wives, children and siblings, we expect at least hundreds of people since the U.F. is a big organization.

But there is no sleep for me right now. Not on moments like this. On moments when my mind can only focus on the one person who won't be there. Who hasn't been to any social gathering for his whole life since he's a human. The only human soldier of the United Federation. Chris. So here I am, sitting in my living room holding one of the very few pictures that are left of him. A picture from when Chris was 17 with Alpha Squad; the age he had when he vanished from our base and our lives forever.

Chris was in many ways unique. First of all, he was the only soldier throughout the entire U.F. When he first showed up, we immediately showed our disdain and disgust towards him just because he's a human. Second was his loyalty. No matter how much we mistreated him, he always worked hard to earn our respect, like the time he saved Lara from those grenades at Python's mansion or he dropped the charges against Lupa even though she slit his throat. Third was his shady background. While my soldiers all had our own reasons for joining the United Federation, Chris was more of a wildcard; he told me everything about his group, but I felt that wasn't good enough and he was hiding something. Mika thought so, too. I remember when I told him about Cerberus, he looked like he was looking at a ghost but I didn't pay much attention to it. However, on the mission where Lupa slit his throat, Lara told me how he went commando after she told him about the torture Mika went through at Cerberus' hands and how he said he forgot where he came from.

Even though he was a part of the U.F. Chris was treated like trash by the other anthros. Not surprising since many of them have suffered at the hands of other humans, especially Alpha Squad. I even made him wear a collar that has a poison switch set to kill him if he steps out of line. It also gives him a shock thanks to the control for it. Even though he was seeing most of Alpha Squad as his friends, he can barely catch a break in his sorry life thanks to the other soldiers and this was before he joined us. The discrimination was starting to wear him out, especially since Python and his forces created a gas that turns humans into anthros. Somehow, Chris didn't turn but was left with some kind of cancer that would kill him if we didn't find Dr. Reed, the scientist who created the gas, and have her cure him and turn the humans back to normal. Then in 2072, months after Chris joined, Alpha Squad came back from a mission and they were pissed beyond belief. And that is when things went wrong. Seriously wrong.

It still pains me to think of it. Short version; Alpha Squad found out that Chris was a member of Cerberus thanks to Jason Python's video message and the girls felt betrayed by him. They went to his room, told him they found out everything, and hauled his ass to interrogation where for the next several hours, the girls beat the living hell out of him while trying to get him to talk about Cerberus. They even went as far as stabbing him in non-fatal areas. After that, he snapped and told us everything he knew: From being a Cerberus soldier at the age of 5, to how the Cerberus soldiers that violated Mika had red tattoos instead of white, to almost being raped by Roxy Drago at Iron Jaw, to saving Roxy from a butcher after the prison riot, to developing a cancer from that damn gas. At first, the girls seemed to believe him but unfortunately they didn't. They mocked him, Lara and Adder saying she couldn't believe she had feelings for him. Sadly, the situation quickly got out of hand and they quickly told the entire base that Chris was a Cerberus soldier. While I wanted Chris to take responsibility for his actions, this was going too far but I decided not to help him. I even went as far as to cut him from Alpha Squad and only allowed him to go on missions until I said otherwise. Now I wish I had stood by his side.