The Frieden Chronicles: Reckoning

Betrayal

Marcus Cornillius

"Thank you for coming here Mathias..." I said to my old friend before as he sat down with his usual happy demeanor.

 "The pleasure is mine my friend, so I noticed that you made some improvements. What did you add? Another one of your famous paintings or something?" he asked before Hassan and I chuckled from the comment.

"... Well you know for a fact that I do enjoy my artwork..."

 "So... Why did you call me up here? I don't think you just wanted me to just watch your latest work right?" he asked with a more stern demeanor.

"I will get straight to the point... how is our... subject behaving? Any abnormalities as of late?" I asked before he smirked, adjusting himself in his seat.

 "Well aside from being a complete ladies man, nothing out of the ordinary really. He is surprisingly far better than I expected when managing his unit. Other than having that uncanny ability, I haven't seen any other side effects. Then again if you feel like he has an unfair advantage, you could order him to give lectures to the other officers on how to gain the respect of their men." He said jokingly.

"Well he seems to be the type to think outside of the box... All joking aside, I have a few questions about his traits. I know he isn't the only one in the facility and this has brought some concerns to several of the ambassadors. This is why I called you here... I need to know what they are exactly since you are more versed in their history?" I asked before his smile faded away.

 "Well if that is the case, then let me lecture you in some world history my dear general..." he said before he took a deep breath.

 "... Do you remember back when we were kids the first great war started?"

"I remember all too well..." I said before I took a puff of my cigar.

 "Then I assume that at least you remember they found the origins of Operation Phoenix?"

  "Isn't that the one where they made these damned chimeras in order to be killing machines?" I asked as I leaned forward.

 "Precisely..." Mathias said looking at me in the eyes.

  "Where are you getting with this Mathias? we all know the story of the hybrids became a plague to this forsaken earth..." Hassan said standing on the corner of the table with his arms crossed.

 "Well what if I told you, that there was a second project called Olympus. These people were the pinnacle of genetic engineering. They possessed all the traits of the hybrids and even more. A brigade of these turned the tide of the war with their insane abilities, some even surpassing expectations..." he said before leaning forward as well.

 "... The records that were available were mostly lost after the facility that produced them was overrun by their 'failed experiments'. Since the project was a closely guarded secret, no one knows where this facility was located. All that was left about their information is the basic concept of how to mix all three, several eyewitnesses or tall tales from back in the day."

  "The Zebulun brigade... my father used to tell me stories about them, just the mention of them made his face light up with glee..." Hassan said, jumping in the back conversation as he looked at Mathias.

"I remember hearing some stories about that brigade when I was just a ensign... my next question is do you think Captain Lopez is a child of one of them?" I asked but the more questions that are answered it feels like the questions just multiplied.

 "... I can't tell for sure if he is one or not..." he said thoughtfully.

  "Well... remember that Augmenter poisoning can happen to humans too... the cases are not as common in comparison to hybrids but it is a possibility with the dosage he was injected and given his record... well it is not such a difficult thing to believe that it might have been the case." Hassan said shifting his gaze towards me with a subtle smirk.