Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

1 hour later...

__________*_Wrex_*__________

I laid in the rubble on my belly, right where my bed once stood, I could see where some of the pieces were, scattered around the room, but I don't know where the rest of it was. I was disturbed from my wandering thoughts when I heard the clonk of rubble, a piece of debris being kicked or knocked over. My attention was brought to the doorway of the remains of my bedroom with Sora appearing seconds later.

Sora: "Wrex... What are you doing here still?"

Wrex: "Should I be somewhere else?"

Sora: "Well, not specifically, but this place isn't a good place for you to be right now."

Wrex: "She's gone, AGAIN!..." I blurted out, making Sora jump and stop mid stride as she was making her way over to me, "...yet again, she's left me in nothing but pain. She keeps doing it and I don't know how much more I can take of it." Sora sighed and continued to make her into the room, leaning against the filthy wall to my right, to where the smashed window once was.

Sora: "Wrex, she's her own person, I'm not defending her because you're right, she's stupid to run off on her own again. But she's hurting just as much as you are, I'm sure. She deals with it by looking for answers on her own because she doesn't want anyone else to see her at her weakest. So how about this, you're second in command of Fury, start setting an example, stop moping, and go and help her..." I turned my head slowly to her and raised a bemused eyebrow, "...well, you are Vanguard again now, technically you have to follow my orders." She shrugged with a grin.

Wrex: "Unbelievable..." I got to my feet, "...are you taking us there then?"

Sora: "I... Can't Wrex, I'm sorry." 

Wrex: "Knew you were going to say that...alright, but it's going to take 3 weeks to catch them up in a ship. Unless you have you have another Shard stashed somewhere..." Sora nodded and tilted her head in a way as if to say 'Maybe I do, kinda.' then it clicked to me what she had in mind, "...I hope you're not suggesting what I think you are."

__________

Sarah: "How did she survive being impaled like that anyway?"

Sora: "Apparently Alex told her how."

Wrex: "Alex has never spoken to her away from either of us, when would she have done that?"

Sora: "Not your Alex, the Alex in her head."

Wrex: "I still think this is a terrible idea."

Sora: "Good thing it's not your idea then isn't it."

Jinx: "Why can't you take us to Eath Sora?"

Sora: "Because as much as I want to, it would be a bad idea. I have no heir to the throne and there's a ship load of Executioners pissed off with me hiding on Earth that could potentially track Shard useage if they happened to be close enough." She finished as we arrived in the hospital wing.

There was Craven, sat on the edge of the bed, 2 physicians were attending to her and no less than 8 Honour Guards were standing around watching over her.

Craven: "Your majesty." She greeted with a curt nod.

Wrex: "No, No!... I don't trust her! You shouldn't be either!"

Sora: "You're only using her to get to Earth. As soon as you're there, then you can be rid of her."

Wrex: "And what, just let her roam free  after?!"

Sora: "You'll be heading to one of our ships, won't you? Might I suggest putting her in the ship's brig until you all return?"

Craven: "If I may say, Reikon killed my lover, I was prepared to look past that, accepting that it was... A necessary evil, to obtain the end goal. But she also left me for dead. Twice...." She looked down to the circular scar in her chest, where I had previously seen the staff had speared her and pinned her to the wall mere hours ago, "... she's no ruler, she's not the Reikon I once knew. If you see what she has become, you'd understand why I want to help take her down."

Wrex: "Sora, if I might have a word? Please?..." She nodded and followed me out of the room and into the hall. "...with all due respect, what makes you think she can be trusted?"

Sora: "When I first met Alex, I didn't trust her in the slightest, now I know I was wrong not to. Alex kept Craven alive for a reason, even if she didn't know what it was, she must have sensed something or else why wouldn't she let me sentence her to death. As Alex said as well, if she wanted to escape she could have done by now and I believe that to be true. I'm not freeing her Wrex, I'm placing her in your charge until you have had your use of her. After that, you may disppose of her at your leisure, but I'm recommending putting her in the brig."

Wrex: "But what if this is all part of some master plan to draw us away from you, and Draconia and to get to Alex?"

Sora: "Then we can only hope that Alex is right." I peered around the doorway at Craven cautiously eyeing up the rest of Fury, who had chosen not to open their helmets but were staring her down regardless.

Wrex: "I need some sort of assurance."

Sora: "Like what? You got something in mind?"

Wrex: "I don't know, I need someway to make sure she doesn't do anything she'll regret... Executioner suits never use to cloak when I was last here... What powers them?"

Sora: "A plasma reactor, or plasma core as Sarah calls them, but much more refined than what she's made."

Wrex: "Can we disable her ability to cloak?"

Sora: "I don't see why not. Have a word with requisitions, they should be able to organise that for you."

__________*_Alex_*__________

---21 days after The Heart destruction---

Fox News, New York, Tue 8th Mar 22 18:04

The weather was just plain awful! Seemed attuned with my mood though, torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightning, booming over my head. I sat crouched on the corner of the Fox news building looking down over the street below, the rain pelting down on my currently armoured head. My main aim here is to grab Michael to talk to him... I needed answers, I needed them now, or at the very least, I need him to point me in the right direction so I could find out myself. There he was... with my zoomed in vision I saw Michael run out of the foyer and into the rain, running up to the side of the pavement.

He tried hailing a cab as he ran backwards along the edge of the road as I stood up and started working how best to tackle him. 2 cabs drove straight past him as he waved them down, even though apparently they were available, but finally a third stopped for him and he jumped in... Damnit... Wasn't my plan... But nevermind, I'll just follow the cab. Presumably he's just heading home, will make it easier to get to him and talk to him anyway. So with that, I deliberately slipped off the roof, cloaking as I fell and locked onto the cab he was in to follow it. Only gliding through the air was really necessary, with the occasional circling over it every so often because it got stuck in slow traffic.

__________

18:18

Even with the rush hour traffic, it didn't take long for us to reach his apartment in Lenox Hill. I glided in as the cab pulled up and he jumped out, started to run towards the front door of his apartment block, only to stop as he heard the metallic clatter of my armoured feet make contact with the floor. He stared off towards and through me for a few seconds blinking a lot as the rain pelted his face. He turned to face the front door so I walked up behind him as he fumbled with his keys to open the door. I opened my hand dug my claws into the center of his back. He arched his back and yelped slightly in pain.

Me: "Get me inside, quietly. Or I'll snap your spine." I whispered into his ear.

Michael: "Argh argh! Okay okay!"

I released my grip and followed him into the building.

Michael: "This is a bit overkill isn't it?"

Me: "Shh! Keep going." I continued to follow him upstairs and finally into his apartment, with him locking the door behind him so I soon dropped my cloak.

Michael: "Alex?! I thought you were this stalker dude that's bugged me!..." He rubbed his lower back, "...that really hurt you know! What gives?!"

Me: "Sorry, wanted in." I replied abruptly.

Michael: "Could have just just asked nicely, or knock like you did last time? Jesus-"

Me: "Michael, I don't have time for games today. I need Skiff. Where is she?"

Michael: "Funnily enough, I was gonna call you when I got back. Look what I got sent through today." He opened his phone and showed me a bad quality picture, but it was good enough to recognise that it was Dr Skiff. She looked tired, frazzled, scruffy... Whatever was the matter with her, I didn't care, I had no sympathy for the woman. Right now, my children had been kidnapped by a right bitch of a Dragon and had no idea where she was.

But I was trying to think logically... If you were going to steal your enemy's children and run to another planet, their home planet!, why would that be? Why not stay on your own home world?... Because, your enemy knows everything that you know, up to a certain point. Every hidey hole on Reikon's home world is known by me and she knew that. Soo... the only hidey hole, or holes, on Earth that I actually didn't know of that Reikon did, were the top secret SkyTech bases. It's the only place or places she could be where I couldn't track her either. So this woman, now spotted in public, was my only shot to save my children... And I will burn every facility to the ground until I find them.

Me: "Where was this taken?"

Michael: "Yesterday, 12:52 GMT, just before heading into Weston Beach Cafe on a beach town called Weston Super Mare."

Me: "Yeah I've been there. So anyone know where she is now though?"

Michael: "Even better, I can tell you where she will be, she follows routine. Dr Skiff's been seen going into that cafe every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the last couple of weeks, around 1pm, without fail."

Me: "That's so fucking perfect Michael!, thank you..." I turned to leave, but stopped, turning back partially, "... Michael, if I talk to this woman, she tells me where this base is, this will be a good time to expose SkyTech and reveal the Draconians. How long will it take you and your cameras to get on the move?"

Michael: "Err, if I'm in work, mere minutes, anywhere else I need 30 minutes, tops. But how long to get there depends on where this is gonna be. Like, if it's England, then it will be hours, and-."

Me: "Ok ok, I get it, I know. I'll be in touch, give you as warning as I can." I went to leave again...

Michael: "Hey, Alex, I notice your baby bump is gone. Hope all is well with them." I growled slightly as I arived at the door, grabbed it and started cloaking.

Me: "So do I." I mumbled through gritted teeth and left.

__________

Outside Weston Beach Cafe, Weston Super Mare, UK Wed 9th Mar 22 12:50

I sat on the wall outside the cafe that separated the pavement from the road, the weather was alright, somewhat cloudy with a strong sea breeze which was making it a bit brisk. But it was nice, I couldn't really feel it, even as I sipped on my slush puppy that I had bought a short while ago from inside. I swung my legs, bouncing the heels of my Converse off the wall as I waited. Apparently my practicing had paid off since my lesson from Sora on how to disguise yourself by way of transfiguration. I had been practicing a lot in my spare time, away from Wrex and the others. I was certainly able to hold the form of my disguise with much less concentration than I use to have to with the mirage method. Plus the added benefit of now I didn't have worry about my Dragon-esque extremities being touched by or caught on unsuspecting passers by. It was my usual disguise, black hoodie, hood up right now, dark skinnies, red Converse.

I only had to wait a couple more minutes and there she was... Dr Riley Skiff... In person she looked much worse than the grainy picture. Her look overall was disheveled; she looked tired, huge bags under her eyes and the lack of makeup was apparent, her scruffy, dry and frizzy hair was just loosely tied back in a pony tail and she had a slump in the way she walked. It was weird seeing her in anything other than her formal get up and lab coat actually, just a light grey sweater and what looked like dark blue jeggins with some average run of the mill trainers. She trudged along the pavement, her head pretty much just watching her feet as she walked and turned into the the cafe entrance. I so wanted to just kill her for what she put me through, right here and now... But I fought back the urge, she had information that I needed... Maybe after though... I set my slush down next to me on the wall and watched her intently as she went inside.

I gave her a couple of minutes to get in and order before grabbing my slush puppy and making my own way in. By which time Skiff was only just making her way to a table booth furthest away from the entrance and anyone else, with a coffee cup in hand. I walked over to her and plonked myself down opposite her,

Me: "Mind if I take a seat, thanks." I asked rhetorically, Dr Skiff looked shocked at me through her glasses at me, mouth partially agape and looking for her words as I took my seat.

Skiff: "W-what? No! I mean, yes! I do mind! Please, go and find somewhere else to sit. I don't want to talk to anyone right now thank you!"

Me: "Not even for an old friend?" Before taking another sip of my drink.

Skiff: "What? F-friend?! I don't know you! How old are you 18? 20? I don't know anyone your age!"

Me: "Actually, I'm 30, but thanks for the compliment. What about 'Alex'?"

Skiff: "I don't know anyone called Alex... But wait... You look familiar!"

Me: "Maybe my full name might ring a bell? Alexander Crawford?..." Her mouth dropped agape, speechless again, "...Or how about the designation you gave me? 'D-Two Four'? Remember me now?" Her eyes opened wide now as she gasped and tried to launch herself up to her feet from the booth.

I used my powers, a faint red and purple mist knocked her back down to her seat and then clamped her jaw shut. I looked around the cafe to check that she hadn't drawn any unwanted attention, satisfied, I turned back to her.

Me: "Now now, let's not cause a scene, scream and your entire family dies. Understood?" Skiff frantically nodded so I released her jaw, she was now trembling badly and lightly gasping for breath.

Skiff: "Y-you were there! That day! The day... He... He..." Tears immediately started pouring down her face, there was no build up at all, "...He's not here is he?!" She squeaked.

Me: "Err, who?"

Skiff: "Sk-Skylen." She said in a terrified  whisper. Then it clicked to me. The incident at SkyTech that had given Dr Skiff the PTSD, was the incident that I witnessed the aftermath of while Reikon had control of my body, where she had ordered Skylen to rape Skiff. Maybe I could use this to my advantage.

Me: "Ahhh... Well, not right now... He's waiting outside incase you try to make a break for it. So I suggest you behave, yeah?..." again she frantically nodded. "...tell me me though Doctor... You remember me now though before that day, yeah? 'Alex'? 'D-Two Four'?" She slowly nodded while removing her glasses and wiping the worst of her tears away.

Skiff: "W-what happened t-to you?"

Me: "You put me on a path to a life that I had to fall down many times before I managed to get a good foothold again."

Skiff: "But, you're a woman now?"

Me: "Your procedure made me a woman anyway, I just became a hybrid with magical abilities since you last remember me." I flexed my fingers in front of her, forcing them to glow, red mist surrounding them.

Skiff: "M-magic? What are you... D-Tw-... Alex... I am soo sorry for what has-"

Me: "Oh shut up. Don't give me that crap,..." I snapped, cutting her off, "...You knew what you were doing, all that unethical research and projects. What you're doing to innocent people's lives? It's sick..." I spat at her... My 6th sense told me something... "... your food's coming. Act natural and don't give anything away." The waitress came over and stood at the end of the table, plate in hand.

Waitress: "Alright, the haddock with chips and salad?..." I gestured to Skiff and waitress set the plate and sauce pot down in front of the Doctor, "...ok, there we go. Sorry, did you order something?" The waitress asked me.

Me: "No, I'm fine thank you, I've had lunch and just bumped into an old friend, just having a natter." I smiled at her, gesturing the remnants of my slush puppy, and she smiled back,

Waitress: "Oh ok, no worries. Just wanted to make sure you hadn't been forgotten. Enjoy your meal." She said to Skiff before turning and leaving. I reached over, stole a chip from her plate and dunked it in the ketchup before biting the end off.

Me: "So... Where were we?..." I asked while chewing. Skiff shoved her plate away from herself, looking disgusted like she had been given the completely wrong meal, "...you not gonna eat that?" I asked as I finished scoffing the chip and grabbing another.

Skiff: "I am here... signed off of work... To get away from everything, my family, my work, my memories... All of it turned against me. That day... That day you set Skylen on me... Most horrific day of my life and I've seen some things in my time-"

Me: "Oh I bet and know you have."

Skiff: "You don't get it! He injured me... Tore me apart... I had to have surgery! I am STILL in pain because of you... And the memory of it too... A savage animal *sob* using me... unable to escape, scratching me up *sob* tearing me apart... The pain was so much I passed out, you have no idea-"

Me: "I have EVERY idea..." I growled at her maybe a little too loudly, once again I looked around the cafe to make sure I hadn't drawn attention, satisfied once more I turned back to Skiff again. "...Need I remind you what punishment you gave to me for simply not doing as I was told? Hmm? Sam Bryne? Or D-Zero Three as you called him? I certainly hope for your sake he's still alive as well."

Skiff: "I had orders. You cut a mans arm off. I have to show discipline-"

Me: "Fuck you. You're such a fucking hypocrite! You don't like it when it happens to you but you're still fine with letting it happen to others!"

Skiff: "You ordered him to-"

Me: "No. For the record, that day Skylen attacked you, I wasn't in control then, I was possessed. You tortured Sam into doing it though, YOU did." Skiff looked down at her lap, again removing her glasses and wiping away the tears.

Skiff: "Hang on, what do you mean possessed? By what? Like a ghost?"

Me: "Pretty much, yeah. I don't have time to explain and you're not important enough for me to explain it to. But the one who possessed me now has taken something of mine and I want it back. Now I can't find her energy signature on Earth because she's hidden somewhere, the only place I can imagine is at one of your facilities. So now you're gonna tell me where they are."

Skiff: "I don't know."

Me: "Oh for fuck sake, don't give me that bull shit, tell me!"

Skiff: "I honestly do not know!" I sighed and leant back.

Me: "You were in charge of that facility. And you're telling me you don't know how to get there?"

Skiff: "You think you Dragons were the only ones that have memories blocked?..." She turned her head and lifted up her pony tail to show me the back and top of her neck. A small scar was noticeable, a faint horizontal line. She dropped the pony tail and continued, "...There's a barrier field, a zone that once I, and other staff, cross the threshold it sets a marker in my short term memory. Once I arrive inside the facility it sets another marker, anything between those 2 markers is deleted and never makes it to long term memory. I have a rendezvous point to go to when I go to work, I am collected by an autonomous vehicle and driven through the barrier. So I never know where the entrance is."

Me: "So really, you're basically useless to me." I said, now frustrated - another dead end!

Skiff: "Wait wait! I can get you close."

Me: "What do you mean 'close'? How close?"

Skiff: "The one I work at is in the North West region of Iceland."

Me: "Iceland... Makes sense... So it's in the North West of Iceland and it's on ground if a car drives you there..." I thought about the number of instances throughout my search of the past few months involving that country that had occurred now, it actually made complete sense and I don't know why I didn't even consider it before, "...But that's it? That's all you know?"

Skiff: "I'm sorry..." I sighed and slumped in my seat, "...but... I know someone who does know a way to get in."

Me: "You sending me on a wild goose chase?"

Skiff: "No, this is legitimate, honestly. Nathan Douglas, one of the few survivors of our test batches."

Me: "And why would he know where it is?"

Skiff: "Because he's the only one of only 2 to ever escape this facility."

Me: "What about the other one?"

Skiff: "Gone. Disappeared from the face of the Earth. You won't find her, we couldn't. That one had a habit of making herself invisible to the naked eye and clearly doesn't want to be found."

Me: "Ok. So Nathan then, what makes you think he will help me?"

Skiff: "He hates Sky High Technologies as much as you do, I'm sure."

Me: "Okay then, so where do I find him?"

Skiff: "A small town in the USA called Maple Falls."

Me: "Soo... There's an ex-SkyTech Dragon, just hiding out around the town? Come on, you expect me to believe that?"

Skiff: "He's not exactly hiding. He's living quite freely, roaming around the town."

Me: "And no one has a problem with this?!"

Skiff: "He's originally from there, it's his home town. The locals worked out who he was and helped and accepted him. Now they hide his existence from the outside world."

Me: "Hang on. So how do you know all this? If you know he's there, why haven't you tried taking him back?"

Skiff: "Because it actually made an interesting experiment. We use to, from time to time, send operatives in to spy on the situation and gather intel."

Me: "Okay? Odd experiment if you ask me."

Skiff: "We were monitoring how a Dragon would be accepted in the outside world. The problem was, we concluded that this is simply an isolated incident with unfair variables and quite simply deemed it a waste of resources."

Me: "So you just left him?" I asked, actually astonished.

Skiff: "He's doing no harm. And he still has a memory block in place, an earlier version of Jarvie Industries chips. If he was found by someone besides the townfolk then there would be no links to us, only the Jarvie Industries, which would throw anyone off our trail." I paused for a minute, taking in all this information.

Me: "Why are you so willing to give me all this info? Helping me essentially to take your company down? Huh? Because I will. And if you're lying to me-"

Skiff: "That's exactly why I'm telling you... Well... Half the reason anyway. I don't want to mess with you. I've wronged you in many ways and if you're willing to take on Sky High Technologies head on, then either you're incredibly powerful and brave, or incredibly stupid, which I know you're not. The other half is my own interest... After my *ahem*... Incident... Sky High Technologies were quick to cast me to one side with little to no aid, cut my wages down to bare minimum and haven't really helped me get back on my feet. This has... erm... Taken a massive toll on my mental state... I fell out with my husband, I can't face him, he knows something's wrong, that something happened, but I just don't have the heart to tell him and I can't tell him all the details anyway. It caused a bit of a rift between us so I had to leave to get away from it all. So I came here. My parents use to regularly come here when I was younger on our holidays... Takes me back to when times were good. I thought it might help."

I couldn't believe this, I was actually starting to feel bad for her!... Only a little bit though...

Me: "So you don't care if I burn your place of work to the ground?" She shrugged her shoulders,

Skiff: "I don't really want to go back there anyway. So it's probably best that I'm not there when you find the front door, right?"

Me: "Yeah... Probably. Listen, if you're not bothered about what happens to that place, and to prove that you're not fibbing to me, give me your login details for your access to SkyTech's databases."

She stared at me for a good few seconds before pulling a napkin in front of her and a pen from her clutch bag and started scribbling on the napkin. She finshed writing and pushed the napkin towards me around her plate of untouched food. I picked it up and read the note,

'User: Riley_Skiff

PW: Sophia050911'

Skiff: "It has two step factor authentication just to let you know, but once you login in, I'll authorise it.

Me: " 'Sophia'?" I read out the password aloud.

Skiff: "My eldest." I looked up to her I could see her tearing up again. I sat back, slightly shocked at her humanity showing through.

Me: "Hmm..."

Skiff: "What?"

Me: "Why'd you do it?"

Skiff: "Do what?"

Me: "You switched off your morals, did some really nasty things to some truly innocent people, just like that..." I emphasised the point by clicking my thumb and finger, "... And all for what? The science? The money?..." Skiff's head dropped in shame slightly, "...You have a family at home, one that you clearly love and adore. Imagine if someone took any of them to do the kind of things you have done..." With her head still hung I heard her start sniffing again, clearly my words were hitting home, "...Greed has consumed you, doctor, and it's soo... so sad." I finished while slightly shaking my head in disappointment but she kept her head hung so I looked back down at the details on the napkin and accessed the SkyTech servers online, and, making sure they wouldn't be able to track my location, input her details and attempted to log in... Seconds later a message popped up on my HUD with 'Authentication request sent - Waiting for a response' and the Doctor's phone pinged at the same time from her bag.

She pulled it out and looked at it.

Me: "If you'd be so kind..." She stared at the screen, confused, then looked back up to me, her eyes red a puffy, trying to hold back the tears still.

Skiff: "How-?"

Me: "I'm pretty much a computer now..." I explained pointing my finger at my head, "...now if you please?" I gestured down at her phone. Her thumb moved to hovering above the screen for a good few seconds... Finally she pressed it. Simultaneously my HUD flashed a message 'Access approved - Welcome to Sky High Technologies secure server, Dr. R Skiff.' immediately I set about downloading all the details I could, everything and anything before they potentially lock out her login... there was a lot and it was going to take some time, so I let that continue in the background while I stood from my seat, sliding out from the booth, noticing Skiff watching me get up.

Skiff: "D-Two-... *Sigh*... Alex... I am sorry, for everything." I sighed myself back at her... She actually seemed genuine... astonishingly...

Me: "Thank you for your cooperation. I have one last demand..." She looked almost a bit fearful of me again, "...go home, to your family, make amends and don't mention this meeting to anyone ever, and don't let me fucking see you ever again either, alright?..." She nodded hesitantly at me. I used my power, slid her plate back towards her, "...Finish your lunch before it gets too cold. Don't be rude." And with that, I left her sat in the booth and left the cafe... I had a new target.

(-Against the Current)