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February 22nd, 2021
There I was standing as my hand released the shotgun followed by a conclusive clatter to the floor, the deed had been done. In seeking out the truth behind this miserable place, I had confirmed my suspicions of guilt.
The day had started out like any other day, with a dream, not a very good one. Like the many visions that tore me from my rest, this one was different. Only a black void remained in an all-consuming path, the flames were absent this time. That lack of a constant conflagration somehow made things worse, no primordial sense of warmth or light to guide me. I was alone in the dark. Even when the break of dawn arrived, the loneliness never really subsided. Despite being in a fenced-off military camp guarded by watchtowers and alarm systems, the lingering presence of The Watcher clung to the back of my mind. Our guest of the hour 'The Stranger' as most knew him was rumoured to be an accomplice of The Watcher. Before that we even thought they were The Watcher, through the speaker hi-jacking and my previous visit to The Watcher's bunker confirmed they were not the same man.
Few things I did piece together from The Stranger and Watcher's notes indicated no relationship or acknowledgement of each other, they were certified loners. To some it might be obvious but in a sweltering hot desert you had to make sure that was the case. Alliances, partnerships and deals were a precarious balance as many were soon to find out. As for the Stranger, Ramos who was the person I least expected to speak French roughly translated that he was apart of some armed group or paramilitary. The Stranger spoke about waiting to be relieved and that some important person of some description went missing. We all figured he suffered some psychological break. When I pressed Ramos to ask our captive about The Watcher he was reluctant.
We could tell by his eerily erratic movements and his attempt to near choke a guard to death that he was mentally unstable. The Russian Lady who I presume to go by the name 'Demitra' had struck him over the head after one or the other must have spooked themselves by the sight. The Stranger who was promptly knocked out was dragged back to the camp, this was from the aftermath of the water tower's destruction at the hands of The Watcher. The few words of English The Stranger wrote in his own journal gives me hope he will come around to understand as all in due time. If he was not a military veteran as he suggests, then his actions speak louder than words. The Stranger's strength could not be underestimated and neither could The Watcher's vigilance.
Time was racing on, Ramos and I tried to gather more information as the others outside were dealing with a trader who rolled into town with a vehicle. I missed the trader this time around which in hindsight I wish I really had not. His vehicle however I did get a passing glimpse of until another interruption occurred in our interrogation of The Stranger. The interruption of a plane crashing was not one I wanted but one I definitely required to reach the Watcher's bunker once undisturbed once again. As always the compound front entrance was unlocked and The Watcher greeted me. He asked what I wanted, and all I requested was one final chance to speak with him before I was out of his way for good. I wanted this to be over with, I wanted answers and I wanted revenge for the water tower detonation. No matter which side I did this for, I was doing everyone a favour in dealing with this former agent of the Combine. My arrival to the force field came with an old familiar feeling of being watched, one I hoped would end soon.
I warned The Watcher, I wanted the direct truth and nothing but the truth. I knew I was going to die in this desert but I would rather go down with something more to show for it than gossip, rumours and loose ends. The Watcher re-stated what seemed to me to be excuses, that a slaver group targeted the town. Did humanity really regress to openly selling men and women as chattel? I did not believe it, I demanded tapes but The Watcher wanted to show it to me with my own eyes, unarmed. Like Hell I was going into that bunker without some insurance policy. When asked about how I could trust him, he plainly stated that I could not but was willing to make a concession. If I were to keep one hand around the barrel of my gun, it would not be as easy for me to put two slugs in them. The temptation was too great, he knew that, so the next time he returned after the forcefield was switched off he was packing himself. A fully automatic assault rifle versus two shells, there would be no way I could outfight him. Then again it was his last concession.
I stared at the explosives gathered in the corner, right there and then I could have bought myself a distraction, but I decided not. I went further ahead to meet The Watcher, not taking my eyes off him for a single second. It was there he lead me to his control room, video feed systems, cameras hooked up everywhere, The Watcher had eyes and ears all around the desert. He directed me to the monitors, giving me the choice to replay the alleged video footage that would put an end to any doubt.
The footage started off with around four vehicles rolling into town where a gang of armed thugs began surrounding the place, rounding up the residents. "What the fuck is this?" was the only message that could be described, but even worse was the lead vehicle. A familiar looking car owned by our mutual trading partner. All the thugs that seemed to accompany the convoy led the towns people into the hospital building. We skipped to an hour later and they left, the footage recorded hours of the scene with not a single soul stepping out the building.
There I was standing as my hand released the shotgun followed by a conclusive clatter to the floor, the deed had been done. In seeking out the truth behind this miserable place, I had confirmed my suspicions of guilt. The Trader had been implicated with the group and I doubt he just bought that car second hand with his shifty connections. He had a whole band of mercenary thugs backing him up. Now I knew why The Watcher kept his distance and preferred to stay inside. Before I left he gave me one final gift, an old Infestation Control hazard suit from the lockers. A bit old but still functions and better than going naked out there with prison clothes. I told him what I knew and confirmed to him that The Trader had been in town, at least that very same vehicle. It was too much of a coincidence but that presented another problem.
If The Watcher had eyes and ears everywhere, then so did The Trader. There was nobody I could trust in camp maybe aside from Ramos, but even then word would get around eventually that someone was snooping around asking questions. Somehow I had to go find and deal with this trader without arousing suspicion then catch him outside of camp. Unfortunately the Watcher decided to adopt his latest persona as 'The Speaker' letting the whole town know about its newfound trading partner using the hi-jacked camp speakers. Maybe his intention was to get the town to spring a trap but The Trader likely knew of this, a man with connections also has less scrupulous survivors who would quietly inform him of the announcement. Right on cue, the man I had come to known as Lucas reached out over radio asking where I have been and if I had something to do with tipping The Watcher off about this whole horrible affair. For the first time in a good while I said nothing. I waited until midnight to return to camp.
There was only one person there who I could trust, The Watcher may have not known who he exactly was but he was not blind either, a loner like himself. I decided I was going to break The Stranger from his imprisonment. It was built mostly for his own safety but I knew he was the only one out there that might have potentially known about The Trader even if his mind had been damaged. Someone who had the potential to be vicious and unstoppable. The survivors would no doubt use him to take on Commander 626 and his forces, their priorities were squarely focused on the Combine. My priorities on the other hand was ensuring The Trader faced justice and I had little sway over anyone there.
Was I taking advantage of this mentally damaged ex-soldier? Possibly, I was not saving him out the kindness of my own heart. Then again, he was wasting away in that prison cell. And as it turned out, The Stranger was not as deranged as I thought. With the little French I knew I butchered together a sentence stating that I needed help to stop an evil man and that he was the only one I could trust. All of what I said was technically true, he replied in English understanding that he was given a mission, a purpose. I asked him which switch do I activate? He pointed to the one nearest to the door frame. The evidence locker came undone easily, it was not like anyone in the camp expected somebody to break that lunatic out... except another lunatic like me. There was no real theft in this situation, The Stranger simply had acquired his tools to finish the job. We snuck out before dawn after that, leaving the camp confused and no doubt concerned.
We found a shack that night and just about collapsed. The Watcher had won the battle that day, now I had to win the war for him.
There I was standing as my hand released the shotgun followed by a conclusive clatter to the floor, the deed had been done. In seeking out the truth behind this miserable place, I had confirmed my suspicions of guilt.
The day had started out like any other day, with a dream, not a very good one. Like the many visions that tore me from my rest, this one was different. Only a black void remained in an all-consuming path, the flames were absent this time. That lack of a constant conflagration somehow made things worse, no primordial sense of warmth or light to guide me. I was alone in the dark. Even when the break of dawn arrived, the loneliness never really subsided. Despite being in a fenced-off military camp guarded by watchtowers and alarm systems, the lingering presence of The Watcher clung to the back of my mind. Our guest of the hour 'The Stranger' as most knew him was rumoured to be an accomplice of The Watcher. Before that we even thought they were The Watcher, through the speaker hi-jacking and my previous visit to The Watcher's bunker confirmed they were not the same man.
Few things I did piece together from The Stranger and Watcher's notes indicated no relationship or acknowledgement of each other, they were certified loners. To some it might be obvious but in a sweltering hot desert you had to make sure that was the case. Alliances, partnerships and deals were a precarious balance as many were soon to find out. As for the Stranger, Ramos who was the person I least expected to speak French roughly translated that he was apart of some armed group or paramilitary. The Stranger spoke about waiting to be relieved and that some important person of some description went missing. We all figured he suffered some psychological break. When I pressed Ramos to ask our captive about The Watcher he was reluctant.
We could tell by his eerily erratic movements and his attempt to near choke a guard to death that he was mentally unstable. The Russian Lady who I presume to go by the name 'Demitra' had struck him over the head after one or the other must have spooked themselves by the sight. The Stranger who was promptly knocked out was dragged back to the camp, this was from the aftermath of the water tower's destruction at the hands of The Watcher. The few words of English The Stranger wrote in his own journal gives me hope he will come around to understand as all in due time. If he was not a military veteran as he suggests, then his actions speak louder than words. The Stranger's strength could not be underestimated and neither could The Watcher's vigilance.
Time was racing on, Ramos and I tried to gather more information as the others outside were dealing with a trader who rolled into town with a vehicle. I missed the trader this time around which in hindsight I wish I really had not. His vehicle however I did get a passing glimpse of until another interruption occurred in our interrogation of The Stranger. The interruption of a plane crashing was not one I wanted but one I definitely required to reach the Watcher's bunker once undisturbed once again. As always the compound front entrance was unlocked and The Watcher greeted me. He asked what I wanted, and all I requested was one final chance to speak with him before I was out of his way for good. I wanted this to be over with, I wanted answers and I wanted revenge for the water tower detonation. No matter which side I did this for, I was doing everyone a favour in dealing with this former agent of the Combine. My arrival to the force field came with an old familiar feeling of being watched, one I hoped would end soon.
I warned The Watcher, I wanted the direct truth and nothing but the truth. I knew I was going to die in this desert but I would rather go down with something more to show for it than gossip, rumours and loose ends. The Watcher re-stated what seemed to me to be excuses, that a slaver group targeted the town. Did humanity really regress to openly selling men and women as chattel? I did not believe it, I demanded tapes but The Watcher wanted to show it to me with my own eyes, unarmed. Like Hell I was going into that bunker without some insurance policy. When asked about how I could trust him, he plainly stated that I could not but was willing to make a concession. If I were to keep one hand around the barrel of my gun, it would not be as easy for me to put two slugs in them. The temptation was too great, he knew that, so the next time he returned after the forcefield was switched off he was packing himself. A fully automatic assault rifle versus two shells, there would be no way I could outfight him. Then again it was his last concession.
I stared at the explosives gathered in the corner, right there and then I could have bought myself a distraction, but I decided not. I went further ahead to meet The Watcher, not taking my eyes off him for a single second. It was there he lead me to his control room, video feed systems, cameras hooked up everywhere, The Watcher had eyes and ears all around the desert. He directed me to the monitors, giving me the choice to replay the alleged video footage that would put an end to any doubt.
The footage started off with around four vehicles rolling into town where a gang of armed thugs began surrounding the place, rounding up the residents. "What the fuck is this?" was the only message that could be described, but even worse was the lead vehicle. A familiar looking car owned by our mutual trading partner. All the thugs that seemed to accompany the convoy led the towns people into the hospital building. We skipped to an hour later and they left, the footage recorded hours of the scene with not a single soul stepping out the building.
There I was standing as my hand released the shotgun followed by a conclusive clatter to the floor, the deed had been done. In seeking out the truth behind this miserable place, I had confirmed my suspicions of guilt. The Trader had been implicated with the group and I doubt he just bought that car second hand with his shifty connections. He had a whole band of mercenary thugs backing him up. Now I knew why The Watcher kept his distance and preferred to stay inside. Before I left he gave me one final gift, an old Infestation Control hazard suit from the lockers. A bit old but still functions and better than going naked out there with prison clothes. I told him what I knew and confirmed to him that The Trader had been in town, at least that very same vehicle. It was too much of a coincidence but that presented another problem.
If The Watcher had eyes and ears everywhere, then so did The Trader. There was nobody I could trust in camp maybe aside from Ramos, but even then word would get around eventually that someone was snooping around asking questions. Somehow I had to go find and deal with this trader without arousing suspicion then catch him outside of camp. Unfortunately the Watcher decided to adopt his latest persona as 'The Speaker' letting the whole town know about its newfound trading partner using the hi-jacked camp speakers. Maybe his intention was to get the town to spring a trap but The Trader likely knew of this, a man with connections also has less scrupulous survivors who would quietly inform him of the announcement. Right on cue, the man I had come to known as Lucas reached out over radio asking where I have been and if I had something to do with tipping The Watcher off about this whole horrible affair. For the first time in a good while I said nothing. I waited until midnight to return to camp.
There was only one person there who I could trust, The Watcher may have not known who he exactly was but he was not blind either, a loner like himself. I decided I was going to break The Stranger from his imprisonment. It was built mostly for his own safety but I knew he was the only one out there that might have potentially known about The Trader even if his mind had been damaged. Someone who had the potential to be vicious and unstoppable. The survivors would no doubt use him to take on Commander 626 and his forces, their priorities were squarely focused on the Combine. My priorities on the other hand was ensuring The Trader faced justice and I had little sway over anyone there.
Was I taking advantage of this mentally damaged ex-soldier? Possibly, I was not saving him out the kindness of my own heart. Then again, he was wasting away in that prison cell. And as it turned out, The Stranger was not as deranged as I thought. With the little French I knew I butchered together a sentence stating that I needed help to stop an evil man and that he was the only one I could trust. All of what I said was technically true, he replied in English understanding that he was given a mission, a purpose. I asked him which switch do I activate? He pointed to the one nearest to the door frame. The evidence locker came undone easily, it was not like anyone in the camp expected somebody to break that lunatic out... except another lunatic like me. There was no real theft in this situation, The Stranger simply had acquired his tools to finish the job. We snuck out before dawn after that, leaving the camp confused and no doubt concerned.
We found a shack that night and just about collapsed. The Watcher had won the battle that day, now I had to win the war for him.
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