Darkness on the Crystal City - Chapter 6 - Oedipus

Story by Diamond Celestalis on SoFurry

, , , , , , , ,

#7 of Darkness On The Crystal City


Chapter 6 - Oedipus

"So are we agreed?" asked Ivan Grace as he sat within his massive boardroom within Phoenix Grace headquarters.

The building itself was parked right in the centre of Chentrilla Island, the dead centre of the city, amongst the most massive skyscrapers within the city. It was a seventy-five floor building which looked out over the massive island city and waters beyond it.

Ivan took a puff on his cigar; he was contemplating his next move. That was his strength, his power. He could always see situations before they arose. He sat back in his black leather chair in front of a huge glass table that bear the symbol of his dominion. A blue phoenix rising out of purple flames.

The room itself shared more in common with a stately manor then an executive building. It had large black marble flooring and massive windows in all four corners of the walls with elegant red satin drapes hanging over the massive archway windows. On the other side of the room was the only door, metallic silver that led to an elevator that ascended along the exterior of the building.

Ivan drew another breath as he waited carefully for a response. His eyes seemed to burn like they were on fire, his irises both red and a strange gold at the same time. An interesting combination for a wolf. His fur was sleek and black, slicked back with some kind of wax to give him a professional appearance.

"The production and distribution of Aesir should be the top priority" smiled a male voice coming from a laptop that was the only thing placed upon the magnificent semi-transparent table. The glass had been frosted, almost as if the Ice Queen had half-frozen it, it gave a grand appearance to be sure.

Ivan's nose twitched, he looked back at the screen. It was blank for a small icon. He had decided that when communicating with Mr Leone he was not going to see him. He could have zero accountability should the police become aware of their actions. However it was also a personal reason, Leone sounded a bit to gruff and simple for his liking, he really did not want to see him anyway. "Mr Leone..." he growled, taking a drag on his cigar while looking down at the screen. Ivan Grace spoke with such charming elocution it was almost impossible to consider that he might be involved in such evil.

"I have taken the pleasure of having our pharmaceutical division already allocate maximum resources to the project however you have to consider what Mother would want..."

Mother...

Ivan Grace had been very close to his mother, the founder of the company who had mysteriously disappeared during a routine business deal in northern Sierra. She had not been seen in almost ten years, according to the press and was presumed dead.

"Hmph..." sighed Mr Leone, his voice quite common by Ivan's standards. He considered him to be of lesser interest or importance. "It's always about your mum... you said that the Serenity Virus was what... "mother" wanted and look what that got you... face it kiddo... she's dead..."

Slam!

Ivan forced his fist into the table as a response however the glass did not so much as crap. He felt the searing pain in his hand but it did not matter to him. "MOTHER IS ALIVE!" he shouted almost hysterically, his voice filled with anger and vile hatred. He rose out of his chair. "You should know your place" he responded before sitting down calmly.

"alright... alright!" shouted Mr Leone in response, seeing how much the mere mention of his mother's death upset him.

"I apologise for my outburst" sighed Ivan as he rose from his chair getting ready to leave. He looked down at the laptop. "I want you to continue with your orders, I will contact you at the usual time."

Without waiting for a response, he closed the laptop's slim lid and walked to the elevator taking it down the side of the building watching the flickering city lights.

Night was upon the city and Chentrilla glowed as beautiful as ever but Ivan took no comfort in that as he smoothed out his black suit and continued to wait.

When the doors of the small glass elevator opened again, there was no natural light except for the florescent tubes that were hanging above his head. The corridor was dimly lit and there was nothing except for large grey concrete walls and a set of sliding metallic doors at the end.

He approached, carefully checking to see that there was nobody following him or anybody about. When he reached the door, he took out a small swipe card from his pocket and opened the door.

"Mother..." he said in euphoria as the doors slid open with a hiss. The room was built underground to protect the research interests of Phoenix Grace. He stepped inside the large blackness of the abyss the stared out of the room and suddenly it came to life.

The chamber appeared to be a scientific lab, not very big but with a few computer consoles scattered about the room and a large cylinder in the middle. "We are so close to saving you..."

His tail flapped slightly in nervous anticipation as he walked to one of the scientific consoles and flipped a switch. A large metallic shutter around the cylinder in the middle of the room began to rise as the powerful fluorescent lights in the room illuminated the remaining darkness.

The shutter on the cylinder moved out of the way as the light illuminated the large amount of clear water in the tube. But there was something else there too.

Ivan stood in awe of it. A hideous mass that had once been another anthromorphic wolf, a female. However she was extremely mutilated, her face alone was covered in huge boils and her massive size compared to a normal wolf was astounding. She was an abomination, one of Phoenix Grace's dirty little secrets.

Ivan approached, not taking his fiery eyes off her for a second. The draw between her and him was astounding as he approached, putting his paw on the tube and looking over her unconscious body.

"You are magnificent... I am so proud of you..." he continued. On the side of the tube was a large conduit that was extracting and cycling the water within the tube. Extracting green liquid that glowed ominously and most people could recognise as Aesir.

"Soon mother... very soon..."