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DATE: Sunday, October 28th, 2018
LOCATION: 142 Oakwood Drive, Bethesda, Maryland (suburban Washington, D.C. area)
PERIOD: Early morning
TIME: 02:11 AM
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Ægiso straightened to his full height—six-two, perhaps six-three and moved slowly acting like he wasn't trying to scare anybody. He took one step, then another and walked close enough to whisper to his face.
"Funny thing about those programs… the damage they do tends to be permanent." He paused, studying Marcus without blinking. "Especially when permanence depends on the very few mortal men who created them continuing to breathe."
Marcus's hands were shaking now—no longer the faint tremor of shock, but a deep, uncontrollable fear that ran from his shoulders down into his fingers. He pressed his palm harder against Lila's hip, trying to seal the wound, but the pressure only forced more blood through the soaked cloth.
"Stay back," he yelled as his arm tightened instinctively around Lila's waist, pulling her closer against his chest.
"Don't you come any closer."
Though, Ægiso had actually not moved an inch and remained rooted in the same place, his posture unchanged. Marcus had always been quick to see malice or betrayal in others—every glance carried the threat of ulterior motive—yet he reserved no such scrutiny for himself. That blind spot in his own character had left him exposed, time and time again, an open book in a room full of closed fists.
It was precisely this habit that had marked him as easy prey for Ægiso to track down after eleven years. He talked when silence would have served him better, words spilling out to ward off the imagined knives behind every shadow and Ægiso knew with the right words he could break Marcus down mentally to admit to all his wrongdoings.
The more Marcus spoke, the more he revealed—weaknesses, fears, half-formed plans—and the more he invited others to exploit what he so carelessly laid bare. That same compulsion had driven him, almost inevitably, into the arms of the odd fellows or to work for the Alpha-7 program.
Ægiso watched it all unfold. Marcus's words were never new information to him; it was simply the latest evidence of a pattern long observed. The man before him was trapped by a simple, relentless machinery of his own nature: assume the worst in everyone else, excuse the worst in himself, and never stop talking long enough to hear the trap snap shut.
Ægiso straightened his cap and slid his hands into his pockets, to look friendly perhaps. "Congratulations, Marcus."
A small pause.
"But I find it a bit disrespectful you know....." His gaze stayed fixed on him. "Seven years… and you didn't even bother to celebrate the anniversary of the day we stopped pretending I was just as human as you were."
Marcus swallowed slowly as his eyes flicked to Lila, checking whether she was conscious enough or whether she could hear secrets he had never confessed to anyone, before speaking. "I did… what was supposed to be done," Marcus replied flatly without staring into his eyes. "You lost control, Adam. You went off the rails."
"You threatened me…" Marcus said, his voice trembling slightly but trying to sound defiant. He fidgeted, darting his eyes left and right like a cornered man who thinks he's still in control.
"Right to my face, you said it. My wife, my daughter—you didn't even hesitate! And I—Christ—I mean, what was I supposed to do, huh? Just stand there like some fool? Let you hurt them? No. Not me. Not on my watch. I… I did what any man with a spine would do!"
Aegiso gave a low, measured chuckle, fully aware of the calculated game Marcus was orchestrating.
"Plus I… I didn't know what they were going to do to you when you were transferred to the program," Marcus pressed on, puffing his chest out as if proving something to himself. "When the rumors started leaking out of that place… I drove there myself. Middle of the night, rain pouring down like hell itself. Took me three damn hours just to get there. I banged on the gate, yelled until my throat nearly split.
Marcus continued rapidly "So I demanded to see you, but they wouldn't let me in. Said you'd been… reconditioned, like some broken machine they patched up and tossed aside. I stood there for an hour—an hour—just staring at the razor wire, the floodlights, freezing my ass off. And for what? For what, huh? They didn't care about you after all they had done. Not one bit. But I—I didn't stop..."
Ægiso frowned, eyes narrowing as he thought aloud:
*.....was he.... was he really trying to pin all this on his colleagues… as if his own hands were clean?*
Ægiso held his gaze, unflinching, wondering if Marcus really thought he could reduce him to the level of Lila and Grace, who believed him like fools.
Marcus went on, deliberately prolonging the exchange as he positioned himself for what he planned next. "....then I got back in the car and drove home because.....Grace was pregnant with your kids. I had to keep them all safe, Adam. That's all I was thinking about back then."
Marcus's gaze snapped to Lila's phone that was sprawled across the scarred wooden floor from earlier. The screen remained illuminated, pulsing insistently with a 911 callback.
Then he paused and suddenly leaped towards the other side, his palms slapped down and he grabbed the phone, fingers slippery with blood. He scrambled up fast and bolted down the narrow hallway. "Help—please, this is Marcus Salvador—I called earlier. There's someone in my fucking house—he's—" he gasped into the phone the second the line picked up.
Upon realizing Marcus had just outsmarted him with his bullshit and grabbed the phone to call 911. Ægiso simply nodded, a quiet "you got me this time" in his gesture.
Meanwhile, the operator's voice stayed calm and steady. "Sir, is everything okay? We have your prior call noted as a possible domestic. Can you reconfirm your address and—"
"Domestic… what?" Marcus panted, still running. "No, no, no—I never did that! That's not what's happening here. You got it all wrong—"
He skidded around the corner, and leaned on the wall and tried breathing, his heart was still beating hard. He paused to catch his breath and suddenly, his mind flashed to the incidence with the light bulb that had gone out earlier, the way the power flickered right when Ægiso showed up, then the scanner and then the call's misinformation. And that's when it hit him—Ægiso was messing with the electricity, the network, everything. He was controlling it all, as stated in his profile.
Somehow.
Thought Marcus.
Marcus never got the chance to say another word, as he saw a long, jagged shadow stretched across the hallway floor. Marcus froze mid-sentence, the phone still pressed to his ear.
His mouth hung open, the half-formed plea dying on his tongue. On the other end, the operator's calm voice echoed through the sudden quiet. "Sir? Are you still there? Can you confirm your location?"
Before Marcus could answer, Ægiso closed the distance in two smooth steps. His right hand snapped out like a striking snake, clamping down on Marcus's wrist with bone-crushing force. At the same moment, Ægiso's left hand shot forward, ripping the phone away in one brutal yank that nearly dislocated Marcus's shoulder.
Marcus thrashed wildly, his shoulder slamming into the wall with a hollow crack. A framed family photo—him, his wife, and their daughters at the beach—tumbled off its hook and shattered on the tiles, the glass exterior exploded outward in glittering shards.
The phone was gone from his grip now. Ægiso's thumb stabbed the red end-call button with deliberate finality. The line went dead with a soft, final click. Before tossing the phone aside like it was trash. It clattered against the baseboard and slid under the side table.
Then he turned fully towards Marcus and a thin, nasty smile crept across his face, the kind of smile of someone who'd been waiting for this exact moment. "You see…" Though strangely, Ægiso's voice was almost affectionate. "This is exactly why I never give people second chances."
Ægiso continued, tilting his head like they were old friends. "I mean, come on, Marcus," He added. "We were having such a nice little talk, you and me. A real family catch-up.." He spread his hands slightly, palms up, as if inviting Marcus to agree. "No need to drag outsiders into our private little reunion, right?"
Marcus's face was full with sweat that stung his eyes. His hands shot out to rub his eyes. "Give it back," he rasped. "Just… just give me the goddamn phone, Adam. Please. I won't call again, I swear to God. I just—I just need to make sure my wife gets some help. She's—she's losing so much blood, you know that. She needs—"
Ægiso tilted his head the other way, eyes narrowing in mock sympathy. He reached out with two fingers and flicked an invisible speck of dust off Marcus's collar. "You haven't been very honest with your family, have you, Marcus?" Ægiso then stared into his eyes and added "They obviously don't know you were one of the organizers in the program. Do they?"
Marcus looked like he had stopped breathing for a second. His hands, still raised in surrender, started to lower an inch before he caught himself and shoved them back up. "That—that was years ago," he stammered, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. "I got out and I walked away. You know I did. Please, just… just let me call the hospital. Five seconds. That's all I'm asking."
Ægiso let him go and began pacing slowly, stalking back into the living room where Lila was. For a moment, Marcus didn't understand what he doing, but he followed him anyway since he had left his phone there. Then Ægiso halted at the same small oak side table by a window where all the files laid arranged.
Marcus stared curiously, as he shivered from the cold.
Ægiso crouched slowly and slid his hand underneath the hidden ledge. He searched for a few seconds before his fingers closed around the worn leather diary. He brushed the cover with care.
Marcus's eyes bulged in raw terror. No words were able to escape for a second. Marcus looked back at his wife and back at Ægiso, the words tore out. "How… how the hell did you know that was there?"
Ægiso meanwhile flipped a few pages with a soft rustle, scanning the handwriting with a satisfied smirk. He lifted his gaze, locking onto Marcus across the room and completely ignoring the question.
He raised the diary high and said. "I'll make sure Grace reads through every last filthy page, out loud if I feel like it. I'll sit right next to her on that couch I bought, pour her some nice english tea like a perfect gentleman, and watch her pretty little face crumble as she learns exactly who her daddy really is. Page after fucking page of your confessions, all your goddamn sins, your cowardice. And when she closes that book… she'll look up at me with those big wet eyes and realize I'm not the villain here"
He chuckled at himself "I never was..."
"I'm just the poor bastard finally handing her the truth on a silver platter."
Marcus's whole body shuddered immediately. His fists clenched, ready to strike with the weak arguments Ægiso had always dismissed—but this one had actually hit a nerve.
"You are sick!" Marcus screamed, spit flying from his mouth. "You need real fucking help! This....this... fucking obsession of yours about controlling Grace and making her feel scared about her own fucking safety— that's exactly why I had to send you away! You don't get it, do you?!"
Ægiso stared straight into Marcus's terrified eyes and without warning, he snatched a vase and slammed it hard against the wall, breaking it into pieces.
"No. No. No. No!!!"
"If only that whore daughter of yours hadn't opened her goddamn legs like a cheap fucking slut and fucked my best friend behind my back…" Ægiso's voice rose into a raw shout, spit flying too now as he squeezed the diary hard. "Maybe I won't have hard to control her movements and I'd still have my goddamn life! The life you took from me! Maybe I wouldn't be standing here right now, making sure every lying sack of shit like you pays for what they stole from me!"
Marcus squeezed his eyes shut tighter, shoulders hunched like he was waiting for a punch. Ægiso then backed off and tossed the battered book to the floor and stepped even closer again. "You think I'm the sick one? Because I cared about her? Because I cherished her?, Marcus. I loved Grace more than anything in this world, she was carrying my babies. And while I was out there risking everything for the job, she was in my bed fucking Matthew. Your golden boy agent, it was no coincidence anyways that he was the one you liked better."
Marcus didn't say a word after that. Tears gathered in his eyes as he glanced at the front door only seven feet away. Realizing it was his only chance, he shoved away from the table slowly to not alert Ægiso, before he ran for it, not even stopping to grab his phone.
"HELP!" he screamed, his voice cracking. "Somebody help me! Call 911 — there's a psycho in my house!"
He yanked the door open and rushed outside, stumbling down the three concrete steps into the overgrown front yard. He turned toward the dark, silent houses across the street and shouted as loud as he could.
"HELP! ANYONE! HE'S INSIDE—HE'S—"
But Ægiso had already had enough of talking. Words meant nothing now. Acting in a sudden burst of speed, he hurled himself through the broken window infront of him, shards of glass scattering across the floor and lawn as he forced his way out.
Marcus was already running down the yard, heart beating wildly, desperate to put distance between them. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. But Ægiso was relentless. With frightening speed he closed the distance between them.
Unfortunately, Marcus's foot struck a loose stone in the grass. He stumbled violently. Marcus's side struck the cold ground, knocking the air from his lungs. For a moment he could only gasp, his hands clawing weakly at the dirt and loose gravel.
Across the yard, Ægiso approached at an unhurried pace. Marcus swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he forced the words out.
"Ægiso… wait. Just—just listen to me for a second, alright?" he pleaded, raising his shaking hands slightly as if he could physically slow the moment down. "I know what happened back then... went wrong… worse than either of us expected. But it doesn't have to end like this. I can fix it."
Ægiso looked at him intensely.
"I swear to you, I can fix everything that went wrong. The program, the reports, the records—everything. I still have contacts. People who owe me favors. If you just give me time, I can make this disappear."
Ægiso said nothing.
"I—I didn't know it would turn out like that," he continued quickly. "You have to understand that. None of us knew how far it would go. Things escalated, people panicked… decisions were made that shouldn't have been made. But I wasn't the only one responsible."
Ægiso tilted his head with a smirk.
Marcus finally looked up desperately. "Just give me one more day. One day, Adam. Twenty-four hours. Let me fix this properly."
Aegiso's expression changed almost immediately. "You've called me a fool too many times, Marcus."
Marcus tried to push himself up slightly. "Adam, listen to me. I know you're angry, and you have every right to be. But this doesn't need to turn into something we can't undo. If you walk away tonight, we can still find a way to resolve this without—"
But Ægiso already knew his game and kicked him back down to the ground. "Adam?" Aegiso repeated softly.
Then he chuckled.
"… Mr. Salvador," Ægiso said calmly, almost conversationally, "it's not Adam anymore."
He tilted his head slightly.
"That identity was erased a long time ago thanks to the decisions people like you made for me."
"You decided how this..... should end...."
Marcus opened his mouth to respond—
But Ægiso spoke again.
"You can't outrun your demons, Marcus."
Ægiso's hand moved forward and his fingers locked around Marcus's collar and throat, as his feet kicked helplessly in the air, the tips of his shoes scraping uselessly an inch above the dirt as Ægiso lifted him slightly off the ground. Marcus grabbed at Ægiso's wrist with both hands, his fingers shaking violently as he tried to pry them loose.
Ægiso didn't even flinch.
Marcus's face began turning red as the seconds passed. His chest convulsed as his body fought for oxygen that wouldn't come. He tried to pull in a breath, but only a dry, broken wheeze escaped his throat.
"You took everything from me!!!" Aegiso snarled.
Spittle flew from his mouth as the words exploded out of him. The calm he'd carried before was gone, replaced by something violent that he didn't know he had.
"And I'm going to go for everything you love!"
Marcus's face darkened from red to an ugly purple. Thick veins bulged along his temples and neck as his body struggled harder for air. His hands weakened, his grip on Aegiso's wrist loosening as the oxygen drained from his brain, before a sudden blast of energy erupted from his grip. A faint distortion formed in front of Marcus's throat, subtle at first—almost invisible.
Marcus noticed it immediately.
His eyes widened.
At first the skin on his neck simply trembled under Ægiso's thumb.
Then it rippled.
Marcus tried to scream, but no sound came out—only a choking hiss as the strange shimmer intensified, and small blisters formed beneath the skin.
They swelled rapidly, bubbling outward as if something beneath the surface were boiling. Marcus's entire body jerked in horror as he felt it happening, as the bubbling patches simply dissolved into the air.
Marcus's eyes rolled wildly as the front of his throat slowly opened. The exposed muscle twitched helplessly as the invisible force continued its work. Ægiso held him there for another moment, watching the life drain from his eyes.
Marcus's head tipped sideways, mouth frozen mid-gasp. Then it fell—thudding heavily onto the dew-wet grass with a wet, meaty sound. A half-second later, the body followed, collapsing in a boneless heap beside it, legs twitching for some seconds, before going immobile.
Ægiso stood over the remains, the diary still tucked under his other arm. He wiped his hand slowly on his jacket, as if brushing off dust, and looked down at the separated head with something almost like satisfaction.