Chapter 54
Dan
Feeling the soft rug on the back of his head, Dan slowly woke up and repeatedly opened and closed his eyes. He saw the dark deiling of a hotel room with the lights off. Hearing voices and footsteps in the vicinity, Dan instinctively knew not to make any sudden movements or else he would attract attention.
He tried to turn his head ever so slightly and saw two dead bodies of Kodak agents. An intense odour of burnt meat filled the air. A opened doorway at the end of the hotel room allowed some light to cascade through into the dim suite. A humanoid silhouette stood at the doorway.
“What the hell am I looking at here?”
Dan saw the spikes on the silhouette’s shoulder and knew who he was dealing with. The Kodak agent stepped into the suite.
“What’s the problem?” a second voice said as Dan saw another agent step through the doorway.
“Two or three of our own are dead. Fuck, there’s a giant hole in one of them and the other looks burnt to a crisp.”
Dan had to do something quick to get rid of these two. He couldn’t afford to die here. A surge of rage and energy coursed through his body. His HUD popped up one simple message.
Berserk activated.
He lifted his arm and saw his strange red bioelectricity cracking and shooting out from his arm.
“Woah, what the fuck is that?”
“One of them is getting back up!”
Dan flipped himself back up and as one of the agent stepped into the bedroom, he rushed the enemy agent. Moving faster than the Kodak agent could even comprehend, Dan smashed his fist into the agent’s cheek. Dan saw nothing but an explosion of blood as the agent was violently thrown against the wall from such a sudden attack.
“The fuck?!” the second Kodak agent yelled.
Dan refocused his efforts on the second agent down the small hall. The agent only had time to raise his rifle’s barrel at Dan before he crossed the distance between them and shoulder checked him.
The rifle broke into pieces and the Kodak agent’s body flung into the ground, bounced and flipped into the wall beside the doorway.
First two kills using berserk ability.
Bonus experience rewarded.
Dan was left dumbfounded at this extraordinary level of power he possessed. He recalled the strange dream he just had with the voice telling him about his new gifts. These bizarre new abilities. Just to be sure he wasn’t still dreaming, Dan pulled up his own stats.
***Supernatural stat unlocked!***
Agent: Dan “Arctic” Orion
Age: 18 M
Shard: Alpha Corporation
Rank: Tier 1 | Level 16
Strength: 23
Agility: 22
Endurance: 21
Intelligence: 28
Supernatural: 3
Healing Factor: n/a
Dan saw that his supernatural stat finally had a number to it. He didn’t know what a stat of three meant for supernatural but judging from how quickly he demolished both of these Kodak agents, he knew all of this was real. That strange dream actually did grant him new powers.
Running his hand along the wall, he found a light switch and flicked it. The carnage he saw around him was unreal.
The agent near the doorway was slumped with both his arms bent in opposite directions. He walked back near the bedroom area and glanced at the agent he just punched in the face, then wished he hadn’t. The agent’s head was unrecognizable, nothing but a mess of mangled flesh and bone. The impact against the wall left a haunting splatter of red from the force of Dan’s attack.
Dan looked down at the other two agents and saw their injuries were just as horrific. One agent had a hole through his abdomen and a pool of blood that stained the carpet around him. The last agent was the source of the burnt stench. The Kodak agent’s body armor was charred and peeling and the face of the agent appeared to have been eaten away by second ot third degree burns.
He recalled the dream he had and remembered the two agents he killed using his two new found powers. Staring back at the two peculiar corpses, Dan wondered if he somehow killed these two in particular in his sleep. Looking down at his fist, the red bioelectricity that sparked and cracked was intimidating. The surge of energy rushing through his entire body made him feel like a battery, brimming with energy ready to be unleashed.
Something hot ran down his cheeks. Was he crying? The flow of tears appeared to rapid and excessive to be normal tears. Dan touched his face and was horrified to see the sight of blood.
He was crying blood.
Dan felt a strang spasm in his right thigh and realized he hadn’t turned off this new berserk power. Assuming that it was putting a strain on his body the longer it was active, he shut his eyes.
Berserk deactivated. Please seek rest.
The heartpumping rush of energy and bloodlust throughout his entire body seemingly vanished in an instant once Dan powered down. He took some time to wipe away the strange blood tears from his face. His legs and arms felt significantly fatigued and he stumbled until he leaned against a wall.
He was tempted to allow himself to doze off but then remembered the mission. That seemed to snap Dan out of his exhaustion. He last remembered running up the stairs trailing behind Li as they both made a run to find and grab the container.
He glanced down the small hallway and saw no one else at the open doorway. That was when he knew their cover hadn’t been blown. Yet.
Eventually, someone was bound to notice four dead agents not responding to calls. He knew he had to catch up to Li and make up for lost time.
He doubled checked that he had all of his equipment on him. His silenced pistol was still on his coat at his right side and his Aero SMG was still attached to the back of his coat. Dan stepped over the bodies of the dead Kodak agent and toward the doorway.
He had a mission that was still in progress.