"Once he figures out how to use it with precise control, Jonathan will enter the portal to attempt to assassinate the Crimson Red King."
Even though in all realities that being has killed him, he must be aware of his abilities, and that is why Jonathan planned to wait for him in his world.
"Only here can we hold him." Jonathan knew that this was his only chance to succeed.
…
"Another day without news…" Jonathan had been living in the church for three months in the company of Wednesday, slowly watching his days pass from an isolated setting.
His life had been reduced to a single thing, eliminating dark entities and listening to people's problems.
He had good health, at least that was how it appeared.
His face was distorted, his complexion pale, and there was a shadow around his head that looked like long hair.
"What are you thinking about?"
"About the way I will eliminate a dangerous opponent." Jonathan smiled bitterly, knowing that his chances of winning this battle were slim.
Wednesday's visions carried his consciousness into a distant future, where Jonathan had disappeared from him without leaving any trace.
Whether he died or not, that was uncertain.
A few hours later, Jonathan received an emergency call. A man sent by the church would inform him about new discoveries, and he had to attend that meeting before going to the base.
Jonathan sped his vehicle along the lonely roads, the wind lashed fiercely as he headed toward the café where the meeting would take place. The purring of the engine echoed in his ears, but his mind was full of thoughts and doubts.
He wondered if it had been a good idea to take such drastic measures to protect the portal and keep Jake Chambers' family under surveillance.
However, he was not worried about involving someone else in his dangerous plan to assassinate a god. Dark entities were unpredictable and could represent a great risk for those who tried to face them.
Jonathan had gone through dangerous situations and had seen firsthand the devastating effects of dark entities on people's behavior after incursions.
While driving, Jonathan recalled the conversations he had had with many of his followers. The truth was that he had always voted for people to have the right to know about the existence of dark entities, because if things were done that way, no one would receive major surprises when they could no longer be contained from the public.
The world must know, that is the reality.
Jonathan parked his motorcycle in front of the café. He adjusted his jacket and stepped inside, searching for the man among the crowd of people enjoying their coffee in the afternoon.
Entering the café, Jonathan looked at the man named Gabriel sitting in a corner. "You must have your mind somewhere else, you should pay more attention to your surroundings, director…"
Jonathan sat down distractedly, without looking further around.
"I see you are doing well. From those scars, I can tell you don't usually activate your supernatural abilities very often…" Gabriel said as he placed two large files in front of Jonathan.
"Have you discovered anything about the dark entity organization that manages the portals?" Jonathan did not directly ask about the contents of the two files.
Gabriel shook his head, his tired expression turning toward the documents as he said: "We still haven't been able to find where that organization originates, nor do we have reports about its whereabouts. Even so, they are not what worries us the most."
"Lately, corporeal dark entities that awaken in the human body are like dormant eggs… An infection, perhaps a virus that rests in any living being and then mutates into monstrous creatures," Gabriel said slowly while drinking his second cup of coffee.
Hearing Gabriel's words, Jonathan remembered everything he knew about anomalies. Ever since he was a captain against dark entities, he had been able to detect that sometimes monsters are humans mutated in a very particular way.
The mutation that transforms the human body into monsters was unknown to him, but he knew one thing: the human body was aware that it was undergoing a metamorphosis and that it was slowly losing control of itself.
"Are you saying that there are corporeal dark entities that are in their premature metamorphosis phase and have not fully changed?" Jonathan asked, unable to believe this, because it would give everyone the possibility of becoming dark entities.
Even with his limited experience, he had never encountered a dark entity in its premature state. According to the files he had found, transformation is the ideal moment to eliminate a dark entity without much trouble.
However, Jonathan could never understand how a human could mutate in that way. Some kind of virus? Radiation? If so, how could a normal civilian end up becoming a monster?
Then, how is the exponential mutation of animals into a frenzied state explained? For now, Jonathan could not imagine something so strange. Even different organizations and other nations do not know where dark entities come from or how they manage to mutate.
Jonathan had read reports made by scientists, but these were only mere speculations. One possible explanation could be through the interaction of genetic and environmental factors.
The report establishes a scenario in which certain individuals possess a unique and exceptionally complex genetic combination.
These genes could contain encoded information that, under certain specific circumstances, would trigger the manifestation of anomalies in their bodies.
These circumstances could be related to exposure to radiation, chemicals, or unknown energies.
Let us imagine that an unusual exposure or an anomalous reaction to these environmental factors would trigger a series of events within the organism.
These events could include accelerated or uncontrolled genetic mutations, the activation of "latent" genes that are normally inactive in humans, or even the integration of extraterrestrial or unknown genetic material.
These mutations and genetic changes could drastically alter the structure and function of the human body, leading to the appearance of monstrous or anomalous characteristics. These beings could present physical deformities, superhuman abilities, or extraordinary sensory capabilities.
Furthermore, in this hypothetical scenario, these anomalies could be linked to the activation of parts of the human genome that are more related to primitive or ancestral life forms, which have remained inactive throughout human evolution.
Gabriel smiled strangely and said: "It is the only explanation we can find… Most of the dark entities that are identified around the country are always related to the brutal death of some police officer or civilian. If we are lucky enough to identify something out of the ordinary, we might find the corporeal dark entity before it makes contact with civilians."
Jonathan understood this, but unlike those incorporeal entities, physical ones cannot be tracked with special equipment; werewolves, fully incarnated demons, or vampires cannot be hunted because the process of finding them is carried out through investigations.
"That would be impossible if it is still in its mutation process. There is no guarantee that it can fully contain itself, and it most likely already has victims." Jonathan ordered a coffee and looked at the files on the table.
"You're curious, aren't you?" Gabriel, who understood much more about it, said: "The first folder contains the new program that the country will implement in the coming weeks."
"Is it the new program?" Jonathan took the folder and began to read the information.
"A new distribution of the organizations that will defend the planet in the event of a total war. And it will not be under the intelligence services of each country, for your sake…"
After mentioning the name of the organization that the government had approved decades ago so that it would be officially integrated into the army's plans and any department involving the security and well-being of the people, Gabriel explained in detail: "The government, seeing the inefficient work they perform due to our poor organization, approved this new command group that will be entirely responsible for everything related to corporeal dark entities, working with the Association of Light. I think they had already explained it to you before."
"Cleanup department, logistics, investigation, immediate response command, and even something as simple as special investigation agents will be the new departments that will deal solely with dark entities." Gabriel sighed in frustration as he lit a cigarette in the place without caring at all.
"Maybe your grandfather told you about the government's plan to deal with the ongoing outbreak of dark entities and our inefficiency in eliminating them immediately."
"Metropolitan city and province will initially only have one special base of this organization that will mainly handle corporeal dark entities. While more bases are created around each city solely for immediate response, there will be support from military bases only if a disaster occurs… But from now on, the army infantry will focus on securing the area with the help of anti-terrorism police to give the S.G.C. time to eliminate the threat."
Jonathan listened in silence to what Gabriel was explaining. Looking at the sheets of information, he found a special section.
"[Metropolitan City of New York]"
"[General Captain assigned to the central base of S.G.C. in the country: Jonathan Winchester.]"
"[Full authority to deploy the containment power of the S.G.C. base and its personnel. Each regent has full authority to communicate directly with the General Commander of the Armed Forces. He has full authority to communicate directly with the interim president in situations of extreme emergency. In addition, they have full authority to speak under the same conditions as a Guardian Bishop of the Association of Light.]"
"The country you were assigned to, and the one I proposed—not only me, but many high-ranking officials who know about your new potential—decided to grant you full authority. Many believe that Washington must be specially protected," Gabriel said with evident displeasure in his voice. Taking a sip of coffee, he looked at the time on his watch and waited for Jonathan to express his opinion.
"There are already experienced hunters to take care of all this. Even my father can do a good job…" Jonathan knew that these old men wanted to completely enslave him to the organization.
Gabriel smiled slightly and said helplessly: "You are the only one who is not rotten, and you have both the power of the church as well as that of the hunters."
"That is…"