Chapter Text
"Fucking hell…"
Those were the first words out of Viktor's mouth the day everything
Became
Damned.
Honey colored eyes stared at the ceiling, the blankets long pooled on the floor around his shared bed as the nerves in his right leg screamed with the agony of an unnatural neural link, his nightly dose of drugs long worn off.
A sharp inhale came with thoughts of regret. Regret for testing on himself with experimental technology. Regret for thinking the pain would subside with time.
Regret for letting his pride get the better of him.
He ran his hands against the off-white material of the exo-skeleton encasing his leg, feeling the polymer under his fingertips as it kept his leg forward. The technology had been experimental, something to test the font of energy produced on Mars for something other than a power grid.
It had been harnessed in small amounts to help power the augment that helped keep Viktor upright, or at least mobile without the need of a wheelchair.
There had been reservations. After all, there were concerning rumors as to where the energy truly came from, where it was taken to be refined. Even Jayce, his loving, darling husband, had wanted to avoid the use of it on the body, concerned that there had been no research done on what it could do, what dangers it could pose.
In the end, however, Viktor waved off the worries.
He had a chance to change the world, and he wasn't about to ask for permission.
So he used himself as the guinea pig.
"Are you sure this is safe?" his husband asked him.
"Of course not." Viktor said before he was wheeled back for wires and nodes to be connected to the structure of his limb.
As he forced himself upright, Viktor thought back on that day as he let his own leg be the subject of one of the first tests. The deterioration of the limb had left him nearly wheelchair bound, and in hindsight, he realized he had let his longing for the return of his, albeit limited, mobile freedom make blind him to the risks.
He had allowed himself be put under so that the necessary changes could be done, to be unaware of the neural connection as the augment was put into place.
He woke up to agony so prevalent he thought he was dying.
He now sat there, that same agony reminding him of his choices, of his regret as the pain refused to be truly dulled, he had simply adjusted to it.
Adjusted, and allowed himself the medication that sat on the nightstand to help ease the nerves into compliance.
He supposed it could be worse. It had only been his leg, and he had gotten his limited mobility back. He could still recall one his higher up opting for a full body augment to combat idiopathic scoliosis, ignoring his warnings of the agony as she went through the same procedure.
"Pain makes your mind sharper." she said, waving off Viktor's warnings. "It opens you to… new possibilities. New truths that will promise you so much."
Unlike Olivia Pierce, however, he didn't buy into the idea that the medications for pain dulled his mind. He allowed himself his dose so that the pain wouldn't overtake him.
Pain clouded. Pain controlled. Pain stole. He would not let it take anymore from him.
Viktor wondered if the pain she suffered daily correlated to the rumors going about on the Mars base saying she was starting to lose her mind when she had said those words to him. When he had first started working with her, before the curve of her spine put her in a wheelchair, she had been brilliant, focused.
The days after the augment changed her.
He wouldn't doubt it, but he also would no longer be aware of the events of his former scientific post. It had been a year since he and his husband had returned to Earth for medical leave, the harsh environment of the red planet having deteriorated Viktor's already ailing lungs despite the environmental controls put into place on the inside of the station, and even with his best efforts to keep in contact with his colleges, it had been radio silence for months now.
Silence that made Viktor wonder about his return to work. Silence that made him wonder about the rumors of the fall of the Mars base.
Rumors that left an itching sensation crawling through Viktor's nerves, wondering if Jayce's concerns about the origin of what they were working with had substantial evidence behind it.
Jayce, after all, was highly intuitive, far more than most gave the man credit for.
It would be another regret Viktor had, ignoring his own husbands sense of awareness to sate curiosity. Viktor really should have known better.
It was no matter. They weren't there now. They were back on Earth, a year after Viktor found himself in treatment, patiently waiting the day of their next assignment, whatever that may be. If there had been a disaster that left the base overrun, there was nothing they could do now.
They were scientists, after all, not soldiers.
He grabbed the pills set aside for him, popping them in his mouth before taking a swig of the water to down them. He followed it with a couple of the crackers from the sleeve he kept on hand, more to ease his husband's fears of taking his medication on an empty stomach rather than any awareness for his own care. He sat there, breathing slowly, easing his unsettled stomach to ease.
The sound of an explosion broke Viktor from his morning ritual, the surprise and shock of it spiking his adrenaline as he sat ramrod straight, pain dulled by the shock as his apartment shook with the shockwave. His eyes darted towards the window, cursing at the closed curtains before him that blocked his view of the outside world. He grabbed onto his crutch, moving to get up as quickly as his aching body would let him.
He was barely on his feet before his husband was barreling into the room, booted feet slamming on the ground as Jayce barged in, hand holding Viktor's travel bag meant for carrying his various medications and prescriptions. Hazel eyes were set with panic and fear as he darted to their closet, the force of opening it causing it to fall off the track.
"Viktor, get dressed and grab whatever you can that is important to you." Jayce said, his voice shaking as he tossed a set of clothes onto the bed before grabbing a backpack from the floor and filling it with whatever it could hold. Jayce cared little for the intricacies of folding clothes or organizing the bag, his actions that of someone rushed.
Viktor had never seen his husband this frazzled or careless, having known Jayce to be meticulous in everything he did for as long as Viktor had known him.
"Jayce, what is going on?" Viktor turned to his husband, moving towards him, mind no longer caring about the outside world even as he heard a sudden bellow of screams from it. "Where are we going?"
Jayce paused only for a moment, his eyes wild he stared at the man before him.
"We have our new assignment from Doctor Hayden." the words came out fast, as if he didn't even have the time to speak. "The rumors were true, Viktor."
With that, Jayce turned back to his task.
"What rumors?"
Viktor didn't need clarification, not really. He knew what Jayce was talking about.
The rumors that the science they were partaking it was far more dangerous than they were allowed to know.
The rumors that one false step would lead to fire and brimstone.
The rumors that Olivia Pierce had made a deal with devils, leading to the damnation of the entire Mars base.
The rumors that the reason Viktor's colleges would not reach back out was because they were all dead, their families forced into silence.
"The shit we were doing, what we were experimenting with… We were fucking around with Hell, Viktor!" Jayce shoved the last of what he could into the suit case, pausing only for a moment to leave room for what Viktor would grab.
In the end, Viktor grabbed only one thing, his mind reeling in shock at Jayce's words.
A single framed photo from their wedding, eyes bright and faces beaming at the prospect of a new future for humanity, nestling it against the clothes like the sacred keepsake that it was before he moved to change into the clothes Jayce had provided him as the backpack was forced shut before slinging it was slung over a muscled shoulder.
Viktor barely had time to react before Jayce's hand was around his thin wrist with an urgent tug as he was pulled out of the bedroom and down the hall. They passed through the living room, the sliding glass door to the balcony exposed, allowing Viktor to catch the sight of the chaos that was beginning to unfurl.
A midday sky, slowly turning the color of blood and brimstone, clouds of ash and sulfur slowly filling the sky as strange, fleshy beasts of red flew through it like a flock of raptor avians hunting prey. Several buildings that once stood tall were beginning to crumble as a beast of hellish burden plowed through them, the boom resonating through the city at the wanton destruction it wrought. People's cries of pain radiated from the streets, cut short in gurgling throats, their violent deaths unseen.
Viktor did not wish to know what brought about their end, but he knew the streets were running with rivers of blood all the same.
"Viktor, we need to go!" there was a harsh tug on Viktor's arm, the action so foreign that it spurred the shorter man to move. The adrenaline coursing through his veins was beginning to dull the agony of his augmented leg, his thudding heart urging him forward.
Survive. They had to survive.
They burst from their apartment, the screams of their neighbors filling the halls as they moved forward, Viktor barely catching sight of two soldiers, suited in black, masks obscured by visored helmets as they wielded guns of energy. They waited until both scientists were moving down the hall before accompanying them, the soldiers flanking them protectively as they moved.
Viktor caught sight of the logo emblazoned on their breastplates.
ARC.
Not UAC.
"Jayce!" Viktor's voice was alarmed, though he didn't stop moving, forcing himself to keep up despite the strain it caused on his body. "If Olivia was behind what happened on Mars, how can we trust Doctor Hayden? Was he not a part of the same research?"
Viktor watched as Jayce's back went rigid at the thought. Still, they kept moving forward.
"Hayden is no longer a part of the UAC." one of the soldiers spoke up, the helmet he wore adding mechanical reverb to his voice, no doubt to try and hide his identity. "He requires your assistance with the Armored Response Coalition. He was hoping to build up precautions after the fall of the Mars base."
Doctor Hayden had run out of time was left unsaid.
"Weapons, then…" the word tasted sour on Viktor's tongue.
He had joined the UAC right out of college with Jayce, during the height of the energy crisis. They both had hoped to take a part in an initiative to change the world.
To change lives.
That all seemed for naught, now.
No, it was worse as far as Viktor was concerned. He and Jayce had actively participated in the damnation of humanity. His lack of awareness of the fact at the time mattered little.
"Then it's weapons we will have to build." Jayce said solemnly. Viktor could feel bile curdling in his gut.
They were supposed to be scientists.
Not soldiers.
The truth was bitter to Viktor as he realized that he couldn't change the world if it was consumed, and it would take weapons to keep humanity alive against the mindless brutality it now faced.
"Where to?" Jayce demanded as they reached the stairwell, passing by the elevators as a rush of people tried to crowd them. Despite Viktor's leg, Jayce had no desire of getting stuck in one, waiting for an inevitable doom to arrive and slaughter them without mercy as if they were nothing more than bovines in a cattle chute.
"To the roof." the other soldier demanded. "Doctor Hayden has a port-"
The man's words were cut off with a howl of agony as he was slammed into the ground by a blur of rusty brown and charcoal black. An inhuman screech came from the being that tackled the soldier, a thin dexterous arm that ended in claws raised to strike a blow. Jayce and Viktor paused for just a moment at the scene, watching as the still standing soldier raised his plasma rifle to slay the beast before them.
It was too little too late.
The beast had already plunged it's claws into its prey's abdomen, the armor nothing more than soft butter to its inhuman strength as it tore out the bowels of the trapped soldier, blood spraying a screaming crowd. Even as indigo energy began to blast through the creature, the damage had already been done. They could hear the choked final breaths, could only watch as more of the creatures began to descend down on the fallen, on their neighbors.
On them, if they waited too long, listening to the tearing of viscera and the breaking of bones, to the screams of the innocent as Hell took what it wanted and painted the walls red.
Jayce had no intention of waiting. As Viktor stood in shock, breath quick in terror at the scene before him, Jayce swept an arm underneath his husband's thin legs. As he pulled Viktor up into his arms, the smaller man could not help but to scream in abject terror, crutch raised and ready to strike.
"It's me, Viktor!" Jayce shouted, causing the strike to stop just above his head. He could feel the rapid pulse of Viktor's heartbeat just underneath the hand pressed against his back, could see the terror in golden eyes that stared at him.
"Set me down!" They were words that Viktor had spoken many times before, either incredulously, in the days before Jayce knew Viktor's boundaries, or with mirth, like the day Jayce teasingly lifted his new husband over the threshold of their home.
This was neither. This was the sound of a man panicked, of terror Jayce never thought he would hear from someone who thought safety regulations were simply suggestions.
"I'm not risking your life to get caught by those things!" Jayce argued as he pushed his way through the door of the stairwell, legs already beginning to burn as he started to make his way up the flight of stairs. He had enough instructions from the soldier to make it to the checkpoint, and that was what he intended to do. Guilt ate away at Jayce, realizing he was leaving the soldiers behind, innocents behind, but he knew if he tried to stay back and fight, they would be among the dead in short order.
He had no intent of finding out what would happen to their souls if that happened.
"Jayce! Please!" he could feel Viktor squirm in his arms, could feel that the man was giving in to terror and panic. Strong arms tightened around a thin frame, ignoring frantic pleas.
Jayce would simply have to ask Viktor for his forgiveness later.
Jayce's legs burned with the exertion as he powered through the stairwell, each flight getting harder, his lungs aching and begging for rest as his arms demanded he set the weight he carried down just as much as the man in his arms did. Still, Jayce pushed on, the instinctual drive to just survive overriding his body's basic needs, ignoring whenever someone pressed past him in a desperate bid to get down the stairs.
They would find no hope of safety, however. Just a direct path down into hell.
Each moment felt like it dragged, each movement felt like a dream, that desperate need to run being dragged down and slowed in an unwaking nightmare. They could hear the screams of terrified people just trying to survive the attacks, the growls of monsters that made their way through the halls to slaughter prey, and the rending of flesh as lives were torn apart. Viktor's pleas to be let down were quieted as they passed yet another stairwell door that led to one of the upper floors, the tempered glass of the window splattered with blood and viscera.
Viktor gasped, hand clamping over his mouth as he desperately tried to prevent himself from retching at the sight.
Jayce was nearing collapse, the demand on his legs nearing their limit when the door to the roof finally came into view. He couldn't help but to breath that desperate sigh of relief as he slammed into the push bar hip first, careful to not slam Viktor into the door as he exited into the outdoors.
The smell of sulfur, blood, and rot assaulted their noses, making both of them choke on the spoiled air of the outside world. Viktor rasped, the air making him cough uncontrollably, throat rough by the sharp desperate need to clear his lungs in a way he had not experienced since the Mars base.
Before them stood a battlefield. Even on the roof, the demonic presence was strong. There stood the portal that they prayed lead away from the bloodshed, a temporary doorway to the unknown, to hopeful safety, guarded by soldiers as they blasted through monsters that charged them. A horde of the lanky rust and iron colored beasts charged, one seeming to gather energy into it's hands in an unrefined ball of hellfire as its brethren charged with blood lust.
The color was familiar, deep crimson, crackling with power, and they both recognized it for what it was.
It was the energy they worked with before it was refined by the argent reactors on Mars, before it was converted into Argent, the source of energy that had brought an end to Earth's energy crisis.
It was the power of Hell that Jayce and Viktor had been working with all along, playing with powers that they had no understanding of.
The beast was slammed back before it could finish it's charge, violet plasma energy tearing through it's torso in a spray of guts and gore onto the concrete slab of the building's roof. The upper body writhed, the creature howling in hate and pain as claws scrabbled , it's desire for blood unwavering.
At least, it was unwavering until another blast left it's brains and skull splattered with the rest of it, a single eye torn away, staring unseeing up at the two scientists.
It did little to demoralize it's kin, another of the monsters rushing forward through the remains for another attack. The creatures were unceasing in their wrath, wanting little more than to wreak havoc onto humanity. Wishing for nothing more than to escape the hellscape that was once their home, Jayce surged forward towards the portal, running at an angle towards the motioning arm of the soldier that spotted him to avoid the beasts trying to flank them.
"Jayce!" Viktor's voice was a piercing cry of terror. "Watch out!"
Jayce had no time to react as he felt something slam into him with substantial force, causing him to tumble onto the concrete. He could not hold onto Viktor as whatever had slammed into him pinned him to the ground. He could hear a cry from Viktor, a clear sign of pain from when he had hit the concrete nearby. Jayce's heart pounded in his chest, trying to push whatever had slammed into him off as terror pooled into his gut.
He remembered the look of the soldier that had been taken down, disemboweled through the armor meant to block bullets like there had been nothing in the way. His eyes met that of glowing hellfire, eyes set into sockets that looked like they had been human at one point. Lips were desiccated and drawn back to expose gnarled teeth caked in blood and flesh. The forehead was carved, an upside-down pentagram, a show of the disfiguration of hell wrought upon the being. It's nose was gone, leaving only the exposed cartilage, the overall face looking more like a skull than that of the living. It wasn't a large figure— no, it was even more slight than Viktor was, dry skin pulled back to expose the outline of bone. Yet, despite it's emaciated appearance, it was strong— inhumanly so.
Jayce could feel his life flash before his eyes, could only lay there and watch as the corpse-demon raised its arms for an assault, ready to bring them down and give Jayce a violent end in a way only it knew how.
"Stay away from him!"
The words wouldn't be registered, Jayce too focused on bracing himself for his inevitable end. They wouldn't be recognized for what they were.
Not until something was connecting with the head of his attacker, metal meant for stabilization cracking against the monster, forcing it sideways off of Jayce as blood spurted from a cracked skull. Jayce could only watched as crimson coated him, mind reeling and unable to process what happened.
Then the length of metal came down again, a sickening crunch indicating the cracking of the skull. Bits of brain and bone joined the blood spray this time, covering anything in the vicinity in it.
Jayce and Viktor included.
Viktor.
"Viktor!" the shock gave way to realization as Jayce looked up, seeing the desperate wild look in Viktor's eyes. The man was unstable on his feet, relying on the augmentation to account for Viktor using his crutch as a defensive weapon rather than a mobility aid. He would be in pain, later, gritting teeth as he forced himself through his work, despite Jayce's protestations, but in the moment Jayce was thankful for Viktor's tenacity.
The crutch came down one last time, a final hit that crushed what was left of the head, Jayce having the forethought to back himself up before he was covered in any further gore. It did little good. Viktor's desire to keep his husband safe drove him to a violence that neither really knew he was capable of, the force of the attack bringing an end to Jayce's would be killer, leaving the end of the crutch mangled and bent. The corpse-beast's head was little more than it's lower jaw and tongue, the rest of it a smear of violence along the concrete roof.
Viktor stood there, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath from the exertion. Jayce was quick to move, quick to get on his feet, hand on Viktor's shoulder to ground him and bring him back to reality while leaving a print of red on the shorter man's clothes.
"We need to go." the words were urgent as Viktor registered them, his golden scared eyes looking into hazel before giving a shocked nod.
The soldier that was ushering them rushed over, providing them with cover now that their advance was slowed. Jayce didn't dare try to pick up Viktor again in fear of another attack. He simply remained by his side, eyes darting wildly as he kept aware of his surroundings.
They did not rest once they were behind the line of the ARC soldiers, hearing as the men shouted orders, informed of incoming attacks. The soldiers wanted to ensure at least they could pull back if needed, though Viktor and Jayce weren't sure themselves if the portal was just for them, or if the men were also seeing who else they could save.
They paused for a moment, looking at the portal than at one another. With silent understanding, they nodded before walking through the slip gate.
It had not been the first time they had been through one of these. The technology was an important piece of work in the Mars facility in moving between labs, but it was never one they ever got used to. It left them feeling disoriented, nauseated, and like something was trying to tear away at their very soul. It was never a quiet affair, the energy around them as thunderous as hooves.
It only lasted moments, but the unpleasantness of it always left it feeling longer.
Still, they could feel the change of the atmosphere. The heat that had radiated from the world moment prior, one they had not realized had started to affect the city around them, made way to cooled circulated air. The smell of sulfur changed to that of disinfectant and chemicals. The roar of beasts and the screams of the damned turned to the beeping of technology and the fast paced chatter of scientists in the midst of terrifying discovery.
Danger made way to tentative safety.
Their portal closed behind them, cutting the demonic hoard that had invaded their home from the sanctuary that they found themselves in. Viktor's shaking legs finally gave out, his knees slamming into the cold steel floor with a sharp gasp of pain. Jayce hovered over him, settling next to his husband as he looked over the man he loved.
"Are you alright?" the words came, earnest and worried as his tanned hands quickly framed Viktor's face. Blood smeared against pale skin, warm and wet, but Jayce didn't care, and neither did Viktor as he pressed into the gesture, seeking comfort.
Viktor gave out a brittle chuckle, his voice rough from his shouting and the pain that now wracked his body. His own eyes scanned Jayce's face, a pale hand moving to pat it, leaving it's own sanguine path of red in it's wake.
"I'm not the one that was attacked." Viktor said, voice humorless and betraying the fear that still settled into his bones. "I should be asking you that."
"I'm… I'm okay Viktor." Jayce promised, leaning forward to press his forehead to his husband's. He ignored the gore that caked in their hair, more concerned about their safety in the moment.
They sat there like that in silence, simply processing the events of terror that had chased them from their home. The backpack that Jayce had slung over his back was set onto the ground so he could better wrap his arms around Viktor, just taking the moment to be thankful that they were alive.
They only pulled away when they heard the sound of quick boots on the ground drawing near. A young man approached them, head bald, thick rimmed glasses adorning his youthful features. He could be no older than 22, around the same age Viktor and Jayce had been when they had become interns for the ARC.
"You must be the scientists that Samu- Doctor Hayden is waiting for!" The man's excited tone was in stark contrast to the grueling experience they had just gone through, and the two of them did what they could to not let it grate on their nerves, still high strung from the terror they experienced. There was a pause in the man as he finally had a chance to look him over.
Viktor and Jayce were a mess. They were soaked in blood, coated in the brains and guts demons, battered and bruised from their tumble to the ground before nearly losing their lives. They had not realized it themselves, too focused on their rush to safety, but their clothes sported singe marks from attacks that had just barely missed them, both hellish and human.
They looked like, for a lack of a better term, hell.
Realizations dawned on the Intern's face as he looked at the two scientists before him.
"Right. Right." the Intern watched as Jayce got up, grabbing the backpack as he did so before helping Viktor off of the ground with a stabilizing hand to his husband's back. They said nothing, only watching the Intern before them explain why they were here.
"He wishes to see you right away. I know you are… not in the best shape,"
"That's one way to put it." Viktor said dryly, picking a piece of skull from his shirt and flicking it away, his gold eyes finally having a chance to examine the brutality he was covered in.
The Intern didn't flinch, but it was clear in his look that he was feeling a little more than awkward. "R-right. Anyways, you probably already know that this is an urgent matter. You'll be taken to your living quarters after so you can clean up." He turned around and started walking, thankfully slow, showing his understanding for Viktor's condition as he moved. "This way."
"What do you think the tin can has to say for himself about all of this?" Jayce whispered into Viktor's ear as they followed, the hand on Viktor's back drawing him closer to his husband.
Viktor offered a worn shrug. "He'll probably talk platitudes. Considering how things were run on Mars, he'll probably talk circles about the betterment of humanity and how this helps us." a pause.
"A whole lot of betterment it did us."
There was a humorless chuckle shared between the two.
If the Intern heard them, he didn't show it.
"I… apologize for my lack of honesty while you were on my team on Mars."
Despite the robotic reverberation of the voice, it still held the almost-human quality of it's formerly organic owner. Heavy metal footsteps hit the tile floor as the construct before them paced slowly, the faceplate of the head lacking any human features for them to read their once-more superior's expression.
It was something that had always unnerved Viktor and Jayce. The former UAC Chairman turned ARC leader had, in all intents and purposes, learned how to escape his mortality by transferring his brain into a towering metal construct. He was older than even their grandparents, if they could reckon a guess.
Yet, despite this amazing feat of technology, they found it odd that it had yet to be replicated for anyone else, and of all the aesthetic choices Samuel Hayden made, they couldn't get over how inhuman he looked.
Even if his mannerisms betrayed his supposed humanity. It was as if though he were reaching to the aesthetic of something else. Something otherworldly.
He turned to them, hands behind his back. They felt like they were being scanned, judged, their worth being determined at the hands of a singular being.
Jayce and Viktor may have had a lot of things to say, most of them impolite, but they kept that to themselves.
"You must understand. What we were working with is a danger if someone else were to get a hold of it. I had not expected everything to… get out of hand."
Mostly to themselves.
Viktor slammed the end of his mangled crutch on the ground, jabbing an accusatory finger at his boss, his brows furrowed in a righteous fury.
"Out of hand? Out of hand? With all due disrespect, sir, people are being slaughtered!" The trauma of the events were still fresh in his mind, and with the pain that was radiating up his leg once more, Viktor found little desire to hold in his displeasure, even as Jayce raised his hands to placate his husband.
Though the attempt at placating may have been more out of preserving their lives out of fear of being sent back into the hellish landscape than any disagreement with his husband.
Hayden stood there, the soft glow of his optic turned toward victor before a laugh escaped. He was amused, watching the far smaller human let his wrath be known.
"You seem to share the same sentiment as Him." Hayden said, though there was no clarification of who he could be talking about given. He once again returned to his slow pace, acting as if though this were a meeting about metrics and not the dire state of the world.
"Yes, lives are lost. Unfortunate." he continued. "After the events of the Mars facility, I was hoping to keep ahead of the invasion. I have underestimated how quickly things would happen, but there is still a chance to turn this all around."
Viktor's fists wrapped tightly around his crutch, his teeth gritted in rage, but he remained silent this time, listening intently.
"It is a boon you fell ill when you did, Mr. Hlavac-"
"Talis." Jayce corrected, his own anger escaping with the word.
"Right. Talis. Forgive me for not paying attention to minor details of your lives." he waved his hand at the two.
"You knew this back on Mars." Jayce shot back. "You are the one that told me that you thought that "my husband was a menace!" Jayce gestured the quotation marks as he said the words. "For someone that spoke about making things better for humanity, you sure do know how to show how little you fucking care for it!"
It was Viktor's turn to try and ease the other, a steadying hand on Jayce's shoulder. "He's only trying to rile you up." he offered, making sure that their boss heard his words. Jayce gave a huff before settling back, letting Viktor's words reach him.
When he felt like Jayce was settled, Viktor allowed himself to speak, even though his words were laced with the venom and frustration he felt for Doctor Samuel Hayden.
"Yes, good, some boon to fall ill, manage to survive that, and wake up to Hell literally at our doorstep." golden eyes narrowed as Hayden stopped in front of him. "So how are we even going to be able to help? In case you haven't noticed, we aren't skilled fighters."
"I did not bring you here to fight." Hayden quipped back, an almost bored tone to his voice, almost as if he were talking down to a child. The tone grated on Viktor's nerves, but he held his tongue.
Like he said to Jayce, Hayden was only trying to get under his skin.
"You're scientists. Brilliant ones at that. Your intelligence would be wasted on the battlefield. No, I need you here." the construct continued, making his way to his desk. With a press of the button, a hologram of Earth displayed, the map of the planet riddled with red dots.
"We need time to hold back their forces, and I need your minds to help come up with Earth's defense. We must do what we can to contain the invasion, at least long enough for the main blow to be struck."
Each red dot grew. Jayce and Viktor realized in horror that they were invasion points from Hell.
Viktor's eyes grew wide at the sight of a particular one, the worst of them, growing far more rapidly than the rest.
It was settled in Central Europe. His homeland.
Viktor could barely hold back a sob. His family, his friends.
Were they safe?
Were they alive?
Though it did little to sooth these thoughts, Jayce reached out a gentled hand to grasp a thin shoulder all the same before turning to Hayden.
"What if we are unable to hold back the invasion? What if what we do isn't enough?" Jayce knew the reality of that statement, but he needed to know that there was a contingency, that they weren't banking everything on a single attack.
"It will have to be. There is no room for failure." Samuel Hayden insisted. "We must do what we can until He is able to drive them back. For now, He is not… ready. Not yet."
There was something that was confusing them, Jayce and Viktor were concerned for their boss, wondering if he, too, was beginning to lose his mind in the same way his subordinate did on Mars with how he spoke about relying on a single man to make the deciding blow. Viktor looked over, eyes settled on the optic, brows furrowed in confusion as he asked the next question.
"Who… is "He"?" Viktor asked, unsure of how one man could stop a world ending army.
Samuel Hayden hit the button again, the globe being replaced by a single symbol. It was a cross, with an angled slash at the bottom of it, another to the left angled downward, and one more at the top, just above the horizontal slash at the top. Four simple symbols surrounded it at the corners, the entirety of it a blazing blood red.
"The Beast." Samuel Hayden answered simply.