Dr. Kong held the photo between her thumb and index finger. Sighing as she hunched over in her little chair. So many years ago... Now where was she? Some shithole in the Caspian Desert. Sure she was still helping people, but now? Where was her lab, her colleagues, her dream... The medical training could only do so much. At most she was just a competent medic, in this place anyways. But all that time ago? She was on top of it all. Planning a proper comeback for the Human race!
She heard the others outside. Muttering about her little outburst from earlier. Not every detail, but she definitely knew people called her expertise into question. Which was... understandable.
But god did it just eat at her to think her brainchild... Her life's work... Was taken. All so quickly. Not even a couple years back. All because that fucking Belgian. Loyalists... Always willing to throw a future under the bus for some scraps of fucking power.
It mattered not right now... Hopefully soon she could try again. Even if her work would never fix anything, it was a cause worth going for.
"Five? That's how many there were, Doctor?" The man asked, sipping his coffee.
"Five." Hae sighed, sliding over the photo to her contact. Drumming her fingers as the dim light showed the details. "One picture of the leads... Romaschenko, Artaud, Myself..." A click of her tongue went out as she reached for a water. "Full team was Szpillman, Romaschenko, Artaud, Myself, and Oshikawa. Five of us were going to make history..."
"Hrm. How would you figure that, you were specializing in uhhh, synthetics? Hell, even transhumanism... Some real fucked up shit here." The man droned. Sipping his coffee with a bored look.
"More than that. All pieces of a puzzle... Biology, synthetics, transhumanism, and... Combine technology in general. My expertise helped organize proper resources to do what we wanted... No... What we needed. That second chance." She sipped her water, wiping at her eye. "There are things that... You have to make due sacrifice for. If you are to save everyone."
"I see, I see... So Doctor, mind if I ask what your whole plan was?"
"To save us all. Five of us... Experts in different fields. All wanting to use the mistakes of the past to write a better future... One without the Combine driving us to extinction. We... We wanted to be stronger. To have Humanity steal back its future... DUSK was..." She sighed. "It was to be that second chance..."
"Then Artaud ruined it." The man bluntly responded. "I'm aware... I read the reports my guys got when you smuggled out with Szpillman and Oshikawa."
"Speaking of are they-" Hae sighed. Looking to the man with another bout of tears. "Are they okay, did they find new homes?"
"Yes, the resources you gave to us were incredibly valuable. The others are helping their own cells in the other corners and helping us at least... Do something. You have my word, Doctor. But uhhh, with Artaud and Romaschenko... Are you certain she uh-" The man awkwardly coughed. "Let him live?"
"She didn't kill him. She brought him back into the fold... Their work is helping the Combine, and she's reaping the benefits of her betrayal..." Hae curled her hand into a fist. "It... It doesn't matter. She's ruling her little kingdom in City 24 and Romaschenko's in her dungeon with no escape and no way for me to save him... It's... a bitter pill I'll have to swallow."
"Mrm..." The Man clicked his tongue. "That just leaves one thing for you. Do you want to be given a quiet life and leave this behind or-"
"There's no leaving this behind. I'll die with the species and in disappointment, or do something to claw back a future at the very least." She grunted.
"Mrm... Well Doctor, how do you feel about Kazahkstan...?"
