At the Watcher Headquarters-
" How did two people manage to take down an entire troop? An entire building full of the best Watchers and AI guards, could not take down a couple of fugitives? This is beyond humiliating.
I don't know how I am going to report this to the president! "
A voice asked the gathered seniors at the Watchers headquarters along with their humanoid counterparts. It seemed like they were in a video call but the face of the one speaking was hidden.
" This was a deliberate move. There is no malfunction involved.Please ask Mr.President to rest assured that he will get the desired results.After all the process does not matter. What matters is that we reach our goal and in the shortest possible time. "
A humanoid guard finally answered.
This took the Watcher head by complete surprise.
" I beg your pardon? Deliberate move? What do you mean? "
He pushed his chair and stood up, stopping himself from shaking because he definitely looked embarrassed.
" Yes, Watcher head! This was a necessary move. The seeds of discord have been sown. Now we wait to reap its result. "
What followed an approving chuckle from the voice behind the screen despite the Watcher head's discomfort.
" Interesting, " it said. " I would like a little explanation on that. What exactly are you implying and what results can we expect? "
" Please give us a minute! "
The humanoids got busy , sending files through the screen.
" We extracted blood from each one of them. They showed us that they belonged to different tribes from Chemora with different distinguished features. We ran scans on them.It showed us that they were under some sort of an induction. They did not have their original memories with them and that gave a brand new perception of the situation.We used AI to create images of the tribes that these Chemicals come from.
This fake imagery helped us gain a sense of trust from them. We then decided to use hyno-therapy on each one of them to try and rekindle their old enmity, the hatred that divides each clan.
It was difficult to retrieve the artifact that they stole from planet earth because it was embedded inside their bodies, absorbed into their consciousness.
Even if we cut them into halves, the artifact would disappear along with their demise.
It seems like their power lies in their sync.
We are aiming towards disrupting that flow. Once they start fighting each other and the link that connects them is severed, they would be enough to kill each other and the artifact would return.
As for the humans and the halflings ,who betrayed their Watcher fraternity, we don't need to do much about them.
They would never survive with enough oxygen in outer space. Theirs will be a very painful end, like they deserve. "
There was pin drop silence in the room after the humanoids were done with their demonstration.
Even the Watcher Head had sunk back in his chair with awe and amazement.
The voice on the other side crackled as he finally applauded what he heard.
" Bravo! Bravo! What a brilliant plan. On spot thinking, reasoning with the problems and then dealing with it with least possible effort, amazing.
I think this prototype is good to go into mass production. "
The Watcher Head nodded but it seemed like he didn't share the speaker's enthusiasm.
***
Outer Space -
" Everyone, brace yourselves. We are about to leave the earth's gravitational field. "
Rozelle yelled.
" I do hope you know how to use this thing! "
Robert held onto his seat for dear life as he pointed towards the control panel.
Rozelle nodded.
" Yes, absolutely. I did read all about it when I was having my training but... "
" But what! " It was George's turn to panic.
" But it's my first time actually using it. But hold on, don't worry, I have everything under control. "
She smiled as she pulled her chair closer and strained her eyes.
George and Robert shared a pathetic look.
Quill was at the very end, his eyes closed shut as he tried to call on all the names of the gods that he had in his memory.
He was forced to join this group because he personally wanted to see the Gala's end. She had done enough damage to his emotions, playing him throughout, just to gain access to his brother.
He was not going to let that pass.
Layla was locked in a metal box, right beside Quill and was heavily chained.
She was the one directing them but Rozelle kept checking their route again and again because she didn't trust that thing even a little bit. It was Robert who insisted that they use her to reach Mira faster.
" What exactly is in this for us, Rozelle? We will just be fish out of water where you want us to go. What I feel for Mira is no excuse to put my own sister at risk. It is definitely going to cost us our lives. We are only humans." George was not the kind to let his emotions override him.
" Why did we become Watchers? " Rozelle asked her brother.
" Ummm, to protect our planet. Stand up for what was right? " George tried to pull phrases from their oath.
" Close. But the basic motivation was the establishment of balance between the world that we knew and the world that we didn't. It was about creating a better future with awareness and coexistence. That was that we thought being a Watcher was all about, but guess we were not given the full picture. "
George was quiet.
" This, my dear brother, is our shot at redemption. We killed a lot when we were simply following orders. We never asked for the end. Now we do. How can we then abandon this mission midway? It's not about saving your crush, big guy! "
She had punched him lightly, " It is about knowing the universe better so human beings have a better chance at survival. "