Bab 43: Chapter 43: Welcome Home [1]
"He should be gone by now..."
Professor Hathaway pondered silently to himself by a workbench in his office.
Inadvertently, a sigh escaped his lips as evident unease shrouded his face.
'Was what he said... true? ' he often lately found himself reviewing, no, haunted over and over by Huey's words before he left.
'...If mankind doesn't get their shit together, they're doomed. '
It had only been a few hours since he had that 'private discussion' with the strange and mysterious young man, Bling Hathaway had failed to entirely absorb the outcome, or implications.
'Creatures more terrifying than Elder Gods...the real Elder God's. The apocalypse has merely only began! '
The sound of shattering glass crackled in the air as a glass beaker crumbled to pieces in Hathaway's clenched hand.
"Ah." He voiced a small sound of concern and face palmed with his left hand.
'I need to calm down. I have to calm myself. This is precisely the reason why Huey advised against carelessly disclosing this information to the general public; the share scale and ratio of unease and panic would be disastrous. '
Seventy years surviving an invasion only to discover it was merely the beginning.
The real forces and threats have yet to descend upon their world; that kind of notion would plunge the remnant of mankind into despair.
Professor Hathaway couldn't help but curse at Huey for telling him something like this just before an important surgical operation!
Taking deep breaths to calm his raging thoughts, Professor Hathaway calmly gathered the broken pieces of glass. Thanks to his enhanced body, sharp pieces of mundane glass couldn't pierce even the outer layer of his skin, so he suffered no damage.
"But this isn't something I can just sit on and wait either," Professor Hathaway concluded with a grave resolve.
Huey hadn't been clear on when the real apocalypse would begin. Humanity might not have enough time left, even if they were to begin creating countermeasures right that very moment.
'And just what kind of countermeasures would suffice for those entities?!'
The more Huey had described the creatures from the Other Side, the more inclined was Hathaway to believe humanity just might have been over.
'And how exactly would you say these...'entities' match up against you...? '
Hathaway recalled a specific part of the conversation he had with Huey. He had quickly grasped the danger and threat level these unknown abominations held over the rest of humanity and was inclined to ask a strange question like this.
Hathaway knew Huey was powerful, immensely so, after he explained how he defeated an Evolved Elder God, though partial, but he still couldn't put a clear and vivid understanding to just how powerful the young man was.
Huey was different, the moment Hathaway first laid his eyes in him he could tell.
He had a Core but he wasn't a Knight.
Neither was he just human, like the Outsiders.
He held similar characteristics to the Elder God's, but he wasn't one of them; he was beyond that.
Then what exactly was he?
At that moment when he posed the question of the difference in strength and status of the abominations compared to him, Huey Blade gave a warm amiable smile and siad confidently.
"I'm just built different."
His response was anything but satisfying, yet Hathaway couldn't probe because Huey refused to establish that.
'Just built different. '
Hathaway was more than inclined to believe that meant he was something far more dreadful than the Elder Gods on the Other Side. At the very least, he was on par with them.
But the confidence in his tone and nonchalant behavior in his smile when said that, hauntingly implied he was peerless compared to the Elder Gods.
From that specific exchange, Professor Hathaway had reached two conclusions.
The electric sound of the steel doors sliding open resounded in his silent office as a figure walked in briskly.
It was a young woman with short light hair, and in her hands was a futuristic clipboard with a interactive holographic screen.
"Professor, the preparation for the operation have been completed and ready." The young lady, Hathaway's assistant said, hanging her head in a small bow, a show of respect.
His assistant's words pulled him out of his tumultuous thoughts and Professor Hathaway rubbed his glabella while letting out a deep breath.
'I can't let myself be distracted before a delicate operation like this, his companion's life is on the line, ' thinking like so, Professor gave another quiet sigh and forced all other thoughts, oustide of the upcoming operation, to the back of his mind then gathered a few things and turned around.
"Let's proceed, shall we?"
He gestured to his assistant and proceeded to leave behind his office.
If all of what Huey said was indeed true, humanity had even less limited time to be counted. It was a fact that carelessly exposing this information to the ignorant masses would rise above chaos and unease, but it was also true that failure to making any measures and not doing anything despite being aware of the impending doom was a recipe for disaster.
'I might have to return back to civilization much sooner than I expected, ' Professor Hathaway's thoughts were grim, heavy and cold, but more settled compared to earlier.
He had to begin setting up countermeasures, and had to inform at least the higher ups of the current humanity civilization. Yet he also couldn't carelessly do that, especially without proof.
How would he explain the manner in which he discovered this 'truth' without having to disclose the existence of Huey?
'I'll think about how to pose this information to the Heads later. For now, I'll complete the Operation on Lyra, supplying her a new core then begin on establishing countermeasures. I also need to have another talk with Huey when he gets back...'
As professor Hathaway walked the dim hallway with his assist flanking his side quietly, his thoughts slowly sort out, considering his next steps of actions.
The first conclusion Hathaway reached was rather obvious.
If a countermeasure was at all possible against the possible future, then it had to be something that could completely suppress someone...no...an entity like Huey Blade. Or at least be on par with him.
It might have appeared like Professor Hathaway was giving much too much credit to the person known as Huey Blade, but after listening to his story and observing the way he carried himself, the boundless confidence... arrogance... before his words, Hathaway had subconsciously raised a tall bar. And that bar was Huey Blade.
The second conclusion was rather simple when the first was considered.
"I'm just built different."
Huey's words and smile kept recurring as flashes through his memories, and Professor Hathaway's thoughts grew even colder.
Huey Blade was a monster.
The question now was;
Was he a Monster for humanity, or a Monster against mankind?
Regardless...
'Countermeasures most be considered against him too! '
Professor Hathaway's cold steps resounded I'm the empty passage, chilling resolution brewed in the depths of his heart.
***
Meanwhile.
Small compact bangs like exploding drums shattered the air as a blurred figure streaked across like black needle.
Huey's figure descended sharply to the ground, a tremor rocked the surface and a tapestry of cracks drew a web beneath his feet.
Huey's ponytail fluttered slightly in the wind as he stood up straight and slowly observed his surrounding. A vast plane of of desolation presented itself before him.
The ground was scorched and ripped apart, while the black patches of fuming clouds blocked the entirety of the grey sky in a billowing dark carpet of thick fumes. Occasionally, a distant thunderous sound reverberated from the rumbling clouds, and the stale wind picked up slightly in velocity, swaying his hair, carrying with it a distinct and familiar smell.
If Hue hadn't known better, he would believe a not so distant storm was brewing ahead.
He shifted on his feet and looked to the sides.
"Should be around here."
Hours had gone by since Huey began his journey to seek out his old neighborhood. With the aid of the Professor's map, he was able to travel towards the right direction.
But even then, the map was nearly unreliable. The mass displacement of land mass during the first invasion rendered most of the old information detailed by the map partially irrelevant.
But yet it still held a general idea which offered Huey an objective direction.
At the moment he sought out a distinctive landmark.
Huey's eyes scoured the region before deciding to take steady steps toward a certain direction.
A large partially buried structure rose from the scorched ground, rising up towards the shattered sky like an imposing spire. It was the steel remnant of a broken bridge, its steel surfaced marked by deep groves and scars from the passage of time.
The path Huey continued to walk ascended upwards, and the closer he approached the ledge, the more distinct the familiar smell in the rising wind became.
A dismal scene befitting a post-apocalyptic world unfurled itself before his vision at his very rise to the top of the ledge.
Huey stood up with his hack straight, casting his deep gaze across the sight that spread for the distance.
Before him was a massive black mass of water, a gloomy river, which still lightless surface reflected the vast emptiness and darkness of the carpeted sky.
The humongous pool of black water spread out before his position up on the elevated ground. Gigantic and familiar structures broke from the still surface, tall edifices and testaments to a civilization that once was seventy years ago.
Hulls of twisted ships and planes stood as solitary eerie islands, a graveyard of them. The thick black clouds above gathered and swirled, arcs of dim purple lighting tore deep shadows within, and the clouds bellowed in a deep thunderous rumble like at tte eye of a storm
The very center of the Black lake stood the partially submerged structure of a once glorious and historical landmark.
The statue of Liberty laid drowned in all of it once glorious splendour and beauty, stood now as an almost forgotten relic of a haunting past. A morbid memory of the darkest hours of humanity.
Huey moved his deep gaze beyond the vast expanse of the lake to the other side.
'There it is. '
Beyond the black river was a mismatched and shattered mainland. The gloom of this part of the apocalypse was further highlighted by the obscurity of the bellowing clouds and arcs of dim purple lighting that drew cracks above.
That was Huey's old neighborhood.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
It goes without saying that this is all just a work of fiction.
Well, Huey has finally discovered his old neighborhood and we are reaching closer and closer towards the end of the first volume with this. Yes, Book One was Huey in search of his home, it's nothing much but I hope you've enjoyed it, and you continue to.
I'm still in the midst of sorting out my thoughts and schedule concerning RED, but I should at least be able to release three chapters this week. So support me by voting power stones or commenting for the continuation of this novel.
Hadiah
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