Long Forgotten Sons (Beta)

Oliver faded away, no longer a part of this vision, and the sound of clapping could be heard. Whereas Oliver was real, dreaming somewhere in the facility, this next person clearly wasn't. Unless he could be in two visions at once that his. The tapping of boots and manner of clapping made it clear exactly who this was, no one was as sarcastic.

"...What a revelation. Even as a child, you had it inside you. Oliver was missing the point, he said it wasn't your fault. You know what i think? I think it was. You lashed out, just like me you let rage and hatred overcome you and splattered your mother's brains all over your bedroom walls, finally you admit it. And you say i don't have a grip on my emotions." Lucius said. He paced around the male, as if sizing him up.

"Your creation was wrong, your life itself is wrong. You made the wrong choices all to get to the wrong ends, and even now you resist and gravitate toward what is clearly WRONG! You buried your personality and emotions deep in yourself not because you believe in logic over feeling, but because you were scared of them. You feared that chemicals in your mind could make you do things you didn't want to, that they might be powerful enough to overpower your will. You're a weak, fragile little coward." Lucius continued, raising his voice a bit.

"Why are you doing this? Do you even think you can win? Why do you continue to lead your family into something you don't even really care about? You could be taking them to their deaths, yet you selfishly do it anyway. I do what i do because i see a world that needs fixing, you do it because you were born into an evolution cult. Your continuing the work of the people that tried to kill you. That's not really what you want, is it? What's your purpose? What do you love? What mark do you want to leave on the world? TELL ME TRAVIS! .......Oh, that's right, you can't, not honestly, because you don't know." Lucius concluded. He was jumping around to different points, trying to mentally batter Travis into submission. He needed to admit it, he needed to see the truth he hid from himself for so long.

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Why is it so cold?

That's the only thought that passed through Lucius' mind, again it was dark, but eventually flashes of what seemed to be memories shot in and out of his head like thunder. He saw fire, screaming, slaughter....... He saw his failure, he saw his body under the heel of some agent, he saw the innocent people of his country caged or killed or worse. He saw the scene in so many different ways, but the end result was always the same. He lost.

Because you're dead

Because you failed

Because you can't win and you know it

It's so cold....

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"Huh, i thought for sure it would work. Guess we'll have to ask Lucius about it some time. Wanna go play video games?" Lucas said, seemingly dropping the subject now. If his brother accepted he would lead the way to his room, where he had everything set up to play.

Oliver faded, leaving him with the sound of clapping. There was only one person alive that would be arrogant or sarcastic enough to clap like that in the face of a person's misery. "I knew I smelt bullshit, and look who it is." Alpha said with a sigh, turning to see Lucius in the...dream flesh. As expected, they had come here to talk down to him, but then again Lucius Alba looked down everyone that wasn't him. It was that preconceived notion of him that made believing this new man crap he had been spilling all the more unbelievable. Still, the idea that he was weak was one that his very mind roiled against more than anything else. How could he be weak? Weaknesses wasn't something that he could be allowed, not when one had os many lives within their hands.

Pride, vanity, they only lead to pointless bloody deaths. Questions, about purpose and existence, throw his way as if they were expecting something. This illusionary Lucius had an interest within that, but for what reason exactly. What mark did he want to leave on this world, or did he even care enough about the world itself to leave any mark. Despite how inane the question may have seemed, he found himself wondering about the answer nonetheless. If anything else, this illusions knew how to drum up the most annoying people to bring up, or how to undercut his confidence within the answers he had made for himself. Why couldn't he think of an answer, something that didn't feel so weak when given even a second of thought. For someone that was supposed to be strong, his weakness was so painfully obvious.  

In fact, how obvious this truth proved to be was enough to make him laugh, or cry even. However he did neither, staying silent to prove Lucius right in the end. "You really like to talk, don't you Lucius?" Was all he said.

--

Well....Ryan didn't feel too good about lying to Lucas, but then again things were as they were. "Video games? That sounds pretty awesome." He said with a smile, nodding a couple of times thinking over the ideas of games that they could play. "What do ya wanna play?"

The illusion of Lucius smiled, slightly more wicked then usual. It made the man's title quite accurate, even though you probably wouldn't catch him with something this creepy on his face, probably close though. He saw the confusion and contemplation in Travis, he knew he had no response, finally, he had nothing to say in retaliation.

"Oh yes, i do. But so do you, the only difference is every word i say isn't expertly fashioned to shield my damaged mind." Lucius said, the room finally shifting, though Lucius remained. All that really happened was a sort of holographic screen appeared, and on it, several things taking place after Travis' inevitable death.

"This is ten years from now. Ryan took up your mantle, and guess what? Most of your family are imprisoned by the Agency, and the ones that aren't are broken. Ryan can't hold it together, even though he becomes a better leader then you'll ever be. You're setting yourself and your family up to fail....." Travis would see Oliver die, Aaron, Isalia, Luke, all of the second generation, including......Ryan. They were brutalized and tortured, experimented on and exterminated. They were smeared, and looked at as not human at all, to the point where people cheered at their deaths. This was the end.

"You have the power to change it Travis, if only you would let your pride fade and focus. You've done nothing for the cause in so very long yet you still are a part of it, making you a sitting duck ready to be blown out of the water. Please, listen to me." Lucius said, walking around Alpha as he watched and finally placing a hand on his shoulder as he finished his sentence. The hologram would fade, and the situation was in the Alpha's hands.

-------------------

"Dunno, Olly just got Fallout 6, we could play that, I'm sure there's another system around here somewhere...." Lucas said. It was a single player game, but he had plenty of monitors in his room, and he was sure Isalia had a system. She probably wouldn't mind if they borrowed it, and that's what they did, settling in play once they got everything set up.

(Lucas and Ryan can be put on hold for now, they got video gurms )

Give Lucius an inch and he'll find a way to shank you to death with the ruler. Well that was much one could tell about them. With their next statement the room shifted, changing to present him with a holographic screen, one that projected images before him. Adding the Lucius commentary and it was almost like a terrible presentation in the worst possible way. Ten years from now, and things looked terrible to say the least. Still, part of him found it difficult to believe that he was simply being presented with a vision of the future, unless he was suddenly being presented with a vision of the future. It wasn't his inevitable death that troubled him, it was seeing his family destroyed that did that. Just thinking about it made him almost violently ill. Was this to be the end of everything he had done, utter ruin and destruction, for the ones that had done nothing wrong.

Thinking on it only made something broil within him, something that...well he tried to keep in check. Anger did nothing good, it only lead to destruction and more destruction. All because he was prideful, or so seemed to be the case in the end. Pressure could be felt against his shoulder, likely Lucius' as he finished his little speech. "Looking at this.... I can't afford not to care anymore." He said with a sigh, stepping forward if only to make some distance between the illusory Lucius. It had been something he told himself, but never really believed. It wasn't for him, but...well his family.

This was it, perhaps the moment that could fix whatever it was that was wrong with Alpha, at least partially of course. He had to change his ways, or else it would lead to what he saw, that was almost certain. So, the illusion of Lucius stepped back, beginning to speak once again.

"There are three things that need to be done, not only to pass this test, but to save your family. First, you need to go and live. You need to leave Alpha, take time off to find yourself. People will be waiting for you that will help you prepare for what comes next for you, i believe there is something big in the works for us both. Secondly, Ryan needs to be taught and nurtured, prepared, and he needs to find what his goals are, not indoctrinated by us. Finally, let go of your past, and start to feel again. I don't care if you need to wipe your mind, you'll need your emotion for what's to come. Some things, like your family, you can't decide the outcome of with sheer logic. Do you agree to do these things?" Lucius asked, holding out his hand like the business man he was. Once they shook, Alpha would be released from his vision, appearing where he was previously.

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Far from home on a road unknown

Where the vultures circle on winds that blow

From northern skies that haunt these waking moments, moments

On shadows cast by the mountain range

On calloused soles we find our way

Through desperate eyes, we long for the horizon

While this sun is rising, yeah!

We are the long forgotten sons!

And daughters that don't belong to anyone

We are alone, under this sun

We work to fix the work that you've undone

When cries for help go unanswered

And signal fires just burn and burn.......

The voice echoed out into the dark room, who it was was unmistakable. The voice was high, giving the song a new style, but it really was a beautiful singing voice that Lucius listened to for awhile before he asked just what the heck was going on.

Lucas! What is this?!

You don't understand?

No, I'm sorry, i don't

Remember your legacy, remember us. Even if you fail, we're your last ditch effort, we're your fail safe. We have hard lives ahead of us, give us what your parents never gave you. You can wake up now, Dad.

With that, Lucius snapped awake, almost falling over as he adjusted to the real world. He saw Alpha was out as well, and Flamel looked at them, actually glad it seemed.

"Congratulations, you both aren't as prideful as i thought you were." Flamel said. Lucius hadn't really had a test of pride, but that would have been redundant considering his previous experience, Flamel didn't know that though.

Things that needed to be done. It sounded so simple when said by something else, and yet so difficult when one put any thought into it. Giving up being Alpha, for a small while sounded like an interesting idea but then again it came down to something like trying to find himself. To live, he found himself wondering what that even meant. People tended to make a difference between that and just surviving, however what that meant was something that he ran over within his head multiple times. At the very least  the portion about Ryan made sense. The cause as a whole, well it wouldn't benefit from mindless fool parroting the things he was taught, being lead by his own beliefs would be...more beneficial.Well, as long as a genocide of their family did not end up being that end.
 
In the end, the idea of letting go of his past was something that sounded so...nice. Still in a sense it felt wrong, to just act as if nothing had happened, nothing was learned that way. Maybe that would take some time, but he did have a little time to spare. What exactly he needed his emotions for, well that he would find out in the future. Nodding, Alpha extended a hand to shake the one extended towards him, and then the illusion ended. So this was a test of pride, well that was something. "Well, I'm glad to subvert expectations." He noted with a shrug. If anything else, it was an interesting experience.

"Yes well, you have a long road ahead of you. With this, finding out about the world of mysticism will be easier. It will reveal itself. But we have to take this in gradual steps, I'll be on my way, see you two soon." Flamel said, disappearing as he had appeared and leaving the two to stand there, silent. Lucius was wondering what Alpha had seen, but he wouldn't ask, he simply contemplated the meaning of the words he himself had heard. There was much more to come for the two scientists, from Archon or Flamel or otherwise.

"Let's get to work, then."

END