[A few days ago…]
In a random house in Atlanta, a citizen watched the City News on his TV.
Normally, as any News program, the one run by the Atlanta Media Group would follow a program rundown. They would first comment on the headlines, and then focus on a single topic, such as sports and weather.
However, today was slightly different.
Under the dark sky, a reporter stood over the sidewalk while the cameraman in front of her captured the tragic sight behind her with the camera.
"Good evening, Atlanta." The reporter said, keeping a neutral voice. "I am right here on 3rd Street with 4th Avenue, where a tragic accident happened tonight. From what we have confirmed with the authorities, a car had lost control and crashed sideways with a truck. The impact made the car roll over before crashing on that wall right over there."
When she pointed at the concrete wall, it was at the same time the tow truck operator was moving out the car which had crashed. Its hood, bumper, windows, and the car's entire bodywork was broken, chances were it wouldn't be repaired. And if someone had great sight, they could see small blood stains on the seats of the driver and passenger.
Looking back at the camera, the reporter spoke again. "Due to shrapnel from the impact between the car and the truck, one of the truck's tires exploded and lost control before hitting two more cars."
"Were there any other vehicles or pedestrians involved?" The lead reporter, back in the studio, asked.
The field reporter shook her head. "As far as we are aware, no. For now, only these four vehicles were involved in the crash." She said, a natural sigh escaping. "But that is as far as the good news goes. Unfortunately, we can confirm the accident has caused a fatality. Her identity has not been–" Before continuing her speech, the field reporter heard something on the point in her left ear. "Sorry, but we just confirmed the victim's identity. Her name is Cassidy Greenway, a student from Atlanta Suburban High School."
Following her words, an image of the young girl appeared on every screen transmitting the channel, bringing out different reactions from the spectators.
"The driver of the car was her boyfriend, Rafael Whaite. For what we have accessed with authorities, the car the couple was in had a problem with the brake, making it lose control. Both were taken to the nearest hospital as soon as the ambulances arrived on the scene. However, Cassidy couldn't resist her injuries and passed away on the way."
Thud!
Somewhere in Atlanta, a young man dropped the TV's remote controller while watching the news, not believing what he was watching.
"Raf?" Landon blurted out, his voice shaking. Then, before he could think of anything else, he dashed to grab his hood and ran to the hospital.
[Scene Break]
"Good evening, Los Angeles." A blond, female reporter said. She was not only wearing a rain coat, but she also held an umbrella while the skies cried over the city of angels. "I'm Samantha Hilton, talking with you directly from Mauborn Street."
Just like in Atlanta, the occasional sirens of an ambulance echoed in the background and police sirens illuminated the night in red and blue. But at the same time the situation was similar, it wasn't the same as well.
The amount of police officers and ambulances in the traffic accident in Atlanta couldn't even compare to the amount present in the scene now. There weren't only dozens of police cars and ambulances, but SWAT Teams and even Federal agents could be seen walking around.
If anyone looked at the scenery, they could imagine how absurd the incident was from the amount of forces present.
However, right now in L.A, there wasn't a single person watching the News tonight who wasn't already aware of what they were watching. The incident from just half an hour ago was so huge that it had already spread to every corner of the US's most populated city in the West Coast.
"… From what we have confirmed with the Los Angeles Police Department, a total of thirty-four gang-related members have died tonight. There are also twenty more individuals we have knowledge of to have been sent to hospitals all over LA County. Among these twenty individuals, three are normal citizens, all severely injured caught between the fire of the two gangs. Also, fifteen suspects were detained and taken to be interrogated." She paused to catch her breath and to let the news sink in everyone's mind.
"This is the most violent gang-related incident not only the City of Los Angeles has ever witnessed, but also the entire United States." She said severely, knowing the weight of the news she was streaming. "We thought that what happened one month ago was already the most-violent night our city has witnessed, but what happened tonight changed that. In the past two months, the number of casualties between the gangs in Los Angeles has gone over the mark of a hundred deaths today, and it does not seem the conflicts will stop anytime soon."
"Has the authorities given us any reply to our questions about the reason behind the spike in violence in the past couple months?" The lead reporter asked. At the same time, she discreetly sent a text to her family, asking everyone to stay at home and to not go to the streets tonight.
Before replying, the reporter held her umbrella a little more tightly to not let the wind take it away. "Unfortunately, no. As we are all aware, the gangs have been in a brutal clash for the past three months. It has reached a point where federal forces have started to intervene to prevent it from worsening. However, as we can see, their intervention has not helped to solve the situation." She said professionally. "As for the reasons for such an incident…"
While the reporter continued to inform the citizens of Los Angeles, another discussion regarding the incident broke somewhere else.
In the office of LAPD's Chief of Police, the leader of the police department and representatives of other lawful forces – including federal agencies – tried to discover the reason behind their problems.
"Narcotics?" The Chief locked his eyes on a certain individual.
"It doesn't seem the gangs are fighting over the distribution of some new drug or trying to acquire new establishments for the production and traffic of the drugs they already produce."
"Detectives?" He looked at two individuals, a man and a woman.
The woman shook her head. "It's unfortunate to say, but we have found nothing in our investigations. The confrontations don't seem to be related to revenge, wealth or even a random affair between members of different gangs."
"So, are you saying the massacres afflicting our city don't seem to have any reason behind them?" A federal agent asked, keeping a very professional posture. "They are just killing each other because they can."
"Believe it or not, our investigations lead to it." The female detective sighed. "We've interrogated a total of twenty individuals directly related to the events of the past two months. Among them all, we couldn't secure any piece of information that could help us solve this problem. They all said the same."
"Which is?"
"They don't remember why they were shooting each other." She replied. "They stumbled against each other and when they least noticed, a dozen bodies had already laid over the street."
The room went over a short moment of silence as everyone listened to the detective's words.
"Huff… So, from what we've gathered, the gangs are just mindlessly killing each other. Is that right?" The Chief asked, with everyone around him replying by giving silent nods or brief words of confirmation. "Tsk, what a shithole we got ourselves into…"
[Scene Break]
A student of the University of Columbia scrolled continuously over his phone's screen, trying to find something interesting in his social media while on his break between classes.
The first one to catch his attention was an incident at a huge company in Seattle, Washington. During the previous night, it had caught on fire and most of the building was destroyed by the fire. Thankfully, no one died since the building was evacuated on time.
Continuing his never-ending scrolling, there were some other posts that the young adult stopped to read. Among them were news of sports teams, celebrities and some international news. But among them all, the most discussed was the brutal war happening in Los Angeles.
In the comments, people talked about what should be done for that situation to be dealt with as soon as possible. Some commented about letting the criminals kill themselves while others raised the question if it reached the point that national forces or even the army should intervene.
After being momentarily distracted by the discussion, the student continued searching for something to interest him.
Fire in Montana finally retreats after three days burning down the forests near the border with Canada. The man briefly read before scrolling down.
For a couple minutes, he didn't find anything else that he found interesting. However, when he was considering to be on the walk for his next class, a post caught his attention completely.
Mayor of Columbia steps down due to health-related problems? He frowned. What happened? He asked himself, really curious about the matter since the actual mayor was the one he voted in the last election.
Unfortunately to him, after clicking on the post, he wouldn't find any information of importance on it. There wasn't any mention of what health problem the now ex-Mayor was suffering from, there was only a phrase from him saying that the population must trust the new one now, ensuring he would do a job as great as his.
What a strange change. The student thought. Also, who was the Vice-Mayor…? He tried to remember, but the picture of the person he was trying to remember never came to his mind.
Trim…!
Just then, the university bell rang to alert everyone that the next period would soon start.
"Shit, I lost track of time!" He said, grabbing his things and running towards his class. Meanwhile, he soon forgot about the matter of who would be the next Mayor of his city.
[Scene Break]
Beep… Beep…
Mechanical sounds echoed across the sterile, white room. They kept a rhythm that hadn't been broken for decades no matter what the scientists occupying the laboratory did.
At all times, be it morning, afternoon, evening or night, the large laboratory was occupied by half a dozen guards and at least double the number of scientists.
While one of the scientists carefully wrote down her report, a colleague approached her. "It's unbelievable, don't you think?" He asked.
Even if she listened to him, the female scientist kept her eyes focused on her work. "What do you refer to?"
"What else but that pitch?" The man scoffed, sending his sight through the reinforced glass wall before them. "I just can't help but think about it every single night before I go to sleep. I ask myself how this entity doesn't collapse despite how chaotic the energy in it is."
"Is that what you want to happen?" She asked dryly.
The man raised his arms. "Of course not. Only God knows how much of this island would be left if the energy in it escapes." He said, sighing heavily. "And they say it is in a weakened state. I wonder how it was when up and about."
"You didn't read the older reports?" The woman lifted up her head, looking at him.
"I didn't have time. The previous engineer left a huge mess for me to fix." The man replied. "Care to give me a brief resume?"
The scientist looked away from the man and set her sight across the glass. There, inside the room, there was a pool filled with a substance similar to mud, but its tonality was so dark that others could mistake it for wet tar.
Upon remembering what was described in the reports of decades ago, about the stories told when the entity still walked over the world. "That it is better for it to never see the light of the sun again. Otherwise…" She breathed heavily. "we can say goodbye to the world we know today."
A brief silence lasted after the woman's words.
"Damn, and they say I'm pessimistic." The engineer said.
While the conversation between the two colleagues seemed to approach an end, the one and only door leading into the laboratory opened.
A middle-aged man wearing a formal black suit stepped inside. Unlike the guards and scientists, he didn't have a badge on him to inform others of his name or position.
The sound of his shoes' soles hitting the floor was louder than anything else in the laboratory, making everyone around pay attention to him.
When he stopped right in the center of the laboratory, he opened his mouth. "Has E-001 suffered any changes in the past 24 hours?" He asked calmly.
Among those present, an old man–in his early 60s–stepped up to respond. "No, Manager." He replied simply, knowing the man before him wasn't one to enjoy trivialities.
The response earned a nod from the man. "Make preparations for a standard process of Erasement. At 0200, the target will be here."
"It shall be done." The leading scientist said.
With no further words, the man holding the title of Manager turned around and walked away while everyone else went on to do their jobs.
Meanwhile, the two colleagues previously talking looked at each other.
"Who do you think it is this time?" He asked.
"Who could guess?" The woman said, shrugging her shoulders. "As far as we know, it can be anyone who has crossed TRIAD's path." She raised up, walking away with her reports.
Left alone, the engineer gave one last look at the mass of darkness. "Damn, I just hope it's not some player from my football team." He commented, going back to his activities.
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