3846 words ~ General

Note: So this happened. I saw this post and just…this happened. Then I got about half way through and was like…Shit this got stupidly long. One of these days I should have someone beta for me. 

Anyhow, it’s just a thing with Cor being the one who snuck in and stole Prompto. Threw in an OC to move the story along. Funnily enough, I almost changed the story completely and had him steal two of the clones instead. But I managed to talk myself out of that. Anyways, enjoy.

It was frigid in the hallway, and the dimmed lights only
added to a feeling of being out of place. And he was very out of place since he
was neither one of Niflheim’s scientists, or one of their experiments. Such was
the nature of Cor’s mission though. Infiltrate the facility, find any useful
information, don’t get caught. 

Being out of place wasn’t anything new.

However, what was new was all the luck he’d been having once
he was inside the building. The first door he’d managed to sneak through lead
to what appeared to be a staff lounge of sorts, giving him a chance to catch
his breath after being outside in the cold. Not only that, but there had been a
map of the facility with a note on it, labeling a recent add on as where the
Deathless project would be stored.

He’d figured that just the map would have been the Astrals
smiling upon him. But the note? That sent red flags up in his head considering
Project Deathless was precisely why he was here. Could someone have leaked
that? Was it a trap? But trap or no trap, he’d have to check out the location
marked on the map anyways. It’d be a good starting point. And on the off chance
it wasn’t a trap, he’d be that much closer to getting the information he needed
and getting out.

So, he’d left the room and embarked down the hall, making
sure to memorize the way back for a quick escape. Occasionally, there was one
of the Magitek soldiers ambling through the halls on a patrol. They weren’t
very good at it though, considering that hiding behind the occasional box or
around a corner seemed to be enough to keep himself out of trouble.

But then he’d stumbled upon a small shelf with papers on it.

He’d grabbed the top most paper on the stack and frowned. A
memo with an all access pass code to the facility. Ironically, it stated that
the employees needed to stop leaving the passcodes laying around. If he wasn’t
careful, the frown on his face would become permanent. This was entirely too
convenient, the enemy must have known he was coming, and he was probably dead
the moment he’d walked through the doors. No. The moment he’d left Lucis

…That, or he’d done something that’d pleased the Astrals
astronomically.

He could guess which was more likely.

But it had him curious. Just what kind of trap was he
walking into? So, he’d continued to the room, which was, predictably, locked
with a keypad. Warily, he punched in the code from the memo and stepped to the
side as the door opened with a pressurized noise. He drew his blade and waited
until the count of five before stepping out from his cover and rolled into the
room. He landed in a crouch and was ready for a fight, tense and waiting. His
focus was on the area around him, and his intuition ready to tell him where any
strike may come from.

So, it was something of a surprise to find nothing popping
out to attack him.

Cautiously, he lowered his blade and rose to his feet, eyes
scanning the room. Nothing. There were no guards, none of the magitek, or even
any scientists.

“Just what kind of security are they running over here?” He
muttered under his breath and he sheathed his sword and started to look through
the room.

It’d been quiet for almost half an hour as he perused the
documents laying around, hoping to find something of use. Since it was so
quiet, when lights turned on behind him suddenly, he’d been startled. He spun
around quickly, hand already on his hilt when he ended up freezing.

His heart clenched. The documents had mentioned infants he
recalled. He’d assumed that had been for a study of some sort. Assigning case
numbers and such. Instead, he was face to face with an unspeakable act. The
light that had startled him was emitting from seven tanks, and inside each one
floated an infant. All of them drifting in their tanks, unware he was there.

Each tank also had what appeared to be paperwork attached to
it. Perhaps holding what he was looking for. Though he hoped not. Slowly, he
made his way over, and with every step his morals were screaming out that
everything about this was wrong. He approached one of the tanks, picking up its
papers, and slowly inhaled before reading. As he read, his face slowly paled,
and his eyes widened by the slightest of margins.

The realization that this was what he was looking
for almost knocked the wind out of him. He looked at the baby in the tank,
floating inside, eyes closed as if it was sleeping, blond hair floating freely
around him.  He’d never been an emotional
kind of man. No. But seeing a child’s face, and knowing what their fate would
be was one of the hardest things he’d ever experienced.

This was Project Deathless.

He dropped the paperwork before he thought better of it,
needed a moment to adjust to the reality he was in. How had Niflheim allowed
this to happen? To let infants be raised for war and nothing else. To be
twisted by demon blood and changed from human to machine.

His hands slightly shook as he picked up the papers to take
them with, recalling just how many of the magitek he’d slain over the years. If
the papers were to be believed, they’d all started out as this. Just a child,
robbed of any other life they might have had.

With a heavy heart, he turned to leave. He had what he
needed. But as he got to the door he paused and looked back. He felt tired and
knew that making decisions when he was tired wasn’t the wisest of choices. But
as he gazed back into the room at the child, he made a choice. He crossed the
room quickly, recalling what he’d read and pressed three buttons.

One to drain the tank, the second to turn off the vital
monitors, and the third to lower the glass.

This wasn’t his best idea, and there was also no way he
could rationalize saving one life, and he knew that this wasn’t atoning for the
countless he’d taken. But his damn conscience wasn’t going to let him walk away
from this child. It was screaming for him to take them all in fact.

But he couldn’t.

Once the glass had dropped, he picked up the child as it
coughed up the liquid and cradled it to his chest. Once the child had finished
coughing, he breathed normally, and his pulse was strong. Considering that the child
had just been submerged in what he assumed was liquid oxygen, his mind turned
traitorous and wondered if the infant was used to switching between air and the
liquid. If so, how many times had the infant been taken out and then placed
back into the tank?

A huff of disgust left him before he could stop it, and he
glanced around the room for anything to cover the child with. If he was taking
him with, he’d need to be covered with something to protect him from the cold. It
was then he noticed the shelves sitting just outside the light of the tanks.
Upon them were heaped what looked like blankets and supplies for the infants.
Bags, food, clothes…

Convenient. Again.

But he didn’t care. For all he knew the child could be a red
herring with false information attached. If that was the case he’d gladly
accept that he’d failed the mission in exchange for saving one of these
children. He quickly packed a bag and filled it with what he could for the
child. Supplies that he’d probably need considering there was no way in hell he
was prepared to care for a child on the way back to his extraction point. Once
a bag was packed and he had it situated on his back he turned his attention to
the baby sleeping in his arms.

As Cor pulled the clothes on him, that was when the child
started fussing. Its eyes popped open and immediately turned watery. Cor
hurriedly finished dressing him and bundled him into a blanket.

“Shh,” Cor scooped the child back up from where he’d lain him
and lightly bounced him, thanking the astrals that he’d seen Regis with the
prince more than once, “Hey now. It’s alright.”

He spoke quietly to soothe the child, and watched the door.
No one was coming so far. But the crying did make him second guess his choice.
Only now did he remember that there were Magitek throughout the halls. Could
the child be quiet enough to make it through them all? Did he dare risk an
alternative route?

But then the baby quieted, and looked at Cor.

Cor without thinking really, offered his pinky to the child.
The baby’s hand grabbed onto him, and cooed, but not happily, no. Rather, he
just wanted to make noise it seemed. Cor kept his face neutral as he studied
him.

Bright blue eyes stared into his and this time a happy coo
did leave the baby’s mouth. Almost as if he was just happy to be looked at.

Cor inhaled slowly and then sighed, knowing this was the
right choice, and turned his attention back to the door.

Back the way he came then. He could make in one shot if he
ran maybe… Wait, shit. Running with a baby. Bad idea. He’d have to go as slowly
as he came, if not slower. Plus, how was he going to explain that the mission
might be a failure? Technically, this was…project Deathless. There was the
paperwork, and he didn’t have to put in the report that he’d pretty much been
guided here… They didn’t need to know he didn’t look anywhere else, right? And
it might not be a red herring!

…

He was so fired.

But, he figured as he looked back down at the baby, it’d be
worth it. If he could get them out of the facility and back to his extraction
point that is.

“What do you think little guy? Can you manage to be quiet
for that long?” He muttered.

The child squeaked rather loudly, but with a smile. Another
slow sigh left Cor, followed by the child reaching up and hitting his nose
lightly.

But that was when he heard footsteps at the door.

His head swiveled up and he froze, as did the woman who’d
began to walk inside.

For a moment, they just stared at each other. Sizing each
other up. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have been a problem. She was clearly an
academic. He could have incapacitated her within seconds of seeing her.
However, the child in his arms posed a problem.

Her face, one of shock and fear, slowly turned into narrowed
eyes and a hardened gaze.

“You…You’re Lucian…no?” Her voice was quiet and the words thickly
accented. The woman sounded like she’d hardly spoken a word of Lucian until
this point. But he still understood, and nodded slowly, his own eyes
scrutinizing her, trying to figure out what she was doing.

“Yes.”

She glanced back at the door, giving him a moment of panic
at the thought she was going to go get help. But then she stepped into the room
quietly, and pressed the keypad beside it to shut the door.

“Quickly…The child… She said, turning back to him, her
expression pleading.

“You…want me to take him?” He asked, confusion running
across his face freely. He was anyways, but he’d expected her to have the
opposite reaction. Like trying to stop him.

She nodded and then beckoned him to follow her over to the
computer. He did, though slowly. She placed what looked like a jump drive into
the man computer and began to sort through files. Over her shoulder he watched
the screen. Data from the project streamed across it rapidly, and his grasp of
Gralean only allowed him to catch small phrases, or part of a word. Something
about demons? He frowned and tried harder to translate faster, but she moved
from file to file too quickly.

Eventually, after minutes of silence, she stopped, closed
all programs, and pulled out the drive. Her eyes met his as she handed him what
was probably the most information Lucis would ever have on the Magitek. He took
it from her, looking up with absolute confusion. She shrugged and gestured to
the tanks.

“Project…Deathless.” She scoffed. “Many die.”

She shook her head, “It’s… This is not what…”

She said something in Gralean, which he took to mean she had
meant to help the people. Which he understood how sometimes people could be
twisted against themselves. He could hear the regret in her words. Perhaps she,
like him, hoped to save at least one of the children from a life as a machine.

She gestured to him to follow her again and he did,
tentatively. At the back of the room, a secret hall opened, and she stepped
through. He peeked inside, and jumped when the child suddenly babbled. He’d
almost forgotten he was in his arms. Of all things.

The woman turned and looked at the child fondly, almost with
what Cor could call longing as well. But then she faced forward.

“This path leads to the…The-” She muttered what sounded
like twenty different curses in Gralean before snapping her fingers, “-the
entry hall.”

“No Magitek?” He asked, an eyebrow raised as he followed
her. He knew following her blindly like this was stupid. It was. But part of
him honestly wanted to believe that some shred of human decency could be found
in this facility.

“Some.” She said, and he stopped in his tracks.

But then she held up her wrist, a silver band with a small
red light going off every few seconds. “They won’t attack.”

“What is that?” He asked, starting to follow behind her
again.

She glanced back at him, and then gestured to another
doorway. “Electronic pass. They don’t attack.”

“That’s handy.” He mutters. Maybe if they had that in Lucis
as well…they could use the Nif’s tech against them.

Almost as if she could hear his thoughts she added, “Also
tracks. It… records our movement. We can’t leave.”

“We?” He frowned. Did she mean him and her, or her and
someone else?

“Scientists.”

She then stopped and pushed him into a room.

“Hey-!”

“Shush!” She stepped in front of the doorway and blocked it
from view. Rounding the corner was one of the Magitek security details. She
dropped her gaze to the ground, but held up her wrist. There was a moment where
it paused, but then it soon continued, not bothering to look inside the room
she was blocking.

They waited a few moments until it was out of sight before
she let him step back into the hall. They then continued at a fast pace.

“Hurry. The timing…” She shrugged as she walked, giving up
on trying to get what she wanted across to him.

He understood though. Kind of. He could only guess, but he’d
hoped she meant that if they timed it right, no further troubles would happen
across them. And it was true. They went down hall after hall, with her in the
lead, and came across nothing else. Soon enough, they were back into the lobby
he’d started in.

She’d then paused in the room, and turned to look back at
him. “May I…?”

She gestured to the baby and he nodded. So, she stepped
closer to him and placed a hand on the child’s head, who burbled at the
contact. Up close, he could see that she was about his age. Maybe a few years
older possibly, but still in her twenties. And there was a definite sadness in
her eyes as she looked at the baby.

Without meaning to, he asked, “Why are you helping me?”

The question, he thanked his lucky stars, didn’t offend her.
Instead, a small smile crossed her face when the baby’s hand wrapped around one
of her fingers.

She said quietly, “Let me at least save this one.”

He looked up at her and watched as she pulled her hand away
from the baby’s grasp, and then took a step back.

“Go. In that file, you have the…names. You have the names of
scientists here and other…Facilities? Who don’t want this.” She said, returning
to the determined mindset from earlier.

“If you don’t want this, come with me.” He said without
thinking. That same longing from earlier crossed her face.

“I can’t. Go out the door and-” she held up her wrist,
“-Magitek will come.”

“We could out run them. You could come to Lucis.” He knew
that what he was saying was a lie. They’d likely be caught. But there was a
slim chance they’d make it. And, like before, it wasn’t sitting right with him
to leave someone who, for all intents and purposes, was being forced to carry
out these inhuman experiments.

She shook her head. “We do not expect to be saved, Lucian.”

He stared at her for a few moments, and opened his mouth to
try and convince her to take the chance. Even though he was already taking one
with the child, he was willing to try and get her out too. But then a voice
startled both out of their conversation.

“Oh dear. A Lucian is making off with one of our star
experiments.”

The voice sent chills up both their spines, and Cor whirled
on heel to face whoever it was. The woman paled, but stood up a little
straighter upon seeing who it was. And in his arms, the baby began to fuss.

“Chancellor.”

“Sunna.” The man strode into the room with a smirk on his
face. “One of our researchers assisting a Lucian. What would Besithia say?”

“Who are you?” Cor, though he knew it was dangerous, drew
his sword and held it in front of him one handed. An attempt to keep them safe.

“It doesn’t matter. Consider me a friend.” He grinned even
wider, and Cor felt very uneasy.

“You’re no friend.” The woman, Sunna he recalled, said.

“Aw,” The Chancellor feigned being hurt by placing a hand
over his heart, “And here I’d brought a gift.”

Cor watched as the man reached into his pocket and pulled
out what looked like a metal key of some sort. Beside him Sunna stiffened.

“The key to your freedom Sunna. Imagine. No more hurting
those children you seem to adore. No more learning from Besithia.” He smiled.

Cor glanced at her, and saw that she was looking at her
wrist. But then she looked up and her eyes narrowed. She was going to refuse,
it was clear on her face. Before she could respond, Cor cut her off, seeing an
opportunity to get her out of there as well.

“What’s the cost?”

The man smiled, and instead of answering, tossed the key
over. Sunna’s face was bewildered as she caught it. “No cost. I merely wish to
aid you in your mission.”

Cor grimaced, “There’s always a catch.”

“Oh…Alright. I wish for you to return my map to where it
was.” The man laughed as Cor visibly paled.

“You…It was you?”

“Oh yes. We knew of your mission months ago. Or rather I
did. And I saw an opportunity.” The man out stretched his arms, gesturing to the
whole facility. “This facility. Easy to get into and out of wouldn’t you say?
And if Sunna had the resources, that thing on her wrist wouldn’t have stopped
her from leaving. She’d have been able to get out of it I’m sure.”

“But alas, no matter how much I told Besithia that the
security was lacking, he has not listened. And so…” He gestured to the three of
them. “Once he hears that not only a scientist escaped, with one of the experiments,
and at a Lucian’s side none the less…He’d have no choice but to better our
security.”

The reason sounded as insincere as they came. But Cor wasn’t
going to question it any further. He recognized a snake when he heard one. So
instead of responding, he turned to Sunna.

“Hurry, take that off.”

She startled out of whatever thoughts she’d been having and
moved to comply. She looked…hopeful almost. And soon enough, the bracelet
clicked open and dropped to the floor. She kicked it for good measure, sending
it sliding to a stop at the man’s feet.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” He said, almost playfully,
“Unless you’ve changed your mind. I’m more than willing to take the child
back.”

He held out his arms at the same time Cor tightened his hold
when the baby let out a soft coo. “Not on your life.”

“Oh? Pity, and I thought we were friends. Ah well.” The man
then turned on heel, and began to leave. As he left he called back over his
shoulder, “You’d best hurry on by the way, the other scientist will be waking
soon.”

When he was finally gone, they both stood in stunned
silence. But then they both turned into a flurry of movement. He placed the map
back where he’d found it, note and all, and sheathed his sword. Sunna accessed
a box of jackets, for when the scientists had to go outside and put one on,
alongside a hat and gloves. She then took an extra one out as well and hat as
small as she could find.

She then walked over to Cor and then arranged the hat on the
baby’s head. “For the child, the blanket will not be enough.”

She said in
explanation, and gestured for him to hand him over. He did so without
complaint. Sunna could be trusted, he was sure of that now. She tucked the
bottom of the coat over the baby’s feet before zipping it up and tucking the
rest around him, creating a makeshift snowsuit. Then she picked him back up and
cradled him to herself. In her arms, the child began to drift back to sleep.

“We need to go. That man…” She started, but Cor stepped
forward and to the door.

“Come on then.”

He felt like she had more to say, but it was better to leave
sooner. Considering that he originally was sure he’d failed the mission, and
only just now realized that he was coming back with the project data, one of
the experiments, AND a researcher, he did NOT want to tempt his luck by staying
any longer. What she had to say could wait.

And so, for what she hoped was the last time, Sunna keyed in
the code and opened the door to the outside. They both then stepped outside,
and departed, the tracks left behind them disappearing as the snow quietly fell
around them.