V.I.R.A.L

Chapter 179: The Cold Hard Truth

Kurt grumbled cracking his knuckles, pushing the doors to the main computer room open. "Alright, this better is worth it, I'm a man of very few free moments."

An employee turned to him, looking slightly paranoid. "Boss, you need to check this out."

Kurt slouched down in his seat as the employees pulled up an archived stream that instantly gained his attention. "The hell is this… The death of Alton Brantley." Watching the exact title play out, Kurt stood up, shaking his head. "This shit real?"

"Very likely. Do you want us to take the stream down?"

"How many times has it been viewed?" Kurt questioned lost in thought over the events playing out.

The employee shook his head spinning in his chair, facing Kurt. "Almost one million in just a few hours. Thoughts?"

Kurt leaned forward, tapping his hand serval times on the desk. "Leave it for now. Villains' Wrath, what do we have on them?"

"They are a fairly new group of streamers helm by their leader Crypto. That's all we really have, though. They were assigned to the prisoner to move a few days ago."

"Who put through the request?!"

"Huh? Umm, this doesn't make any sense. It was Alton, sir."

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"Alton put a joint-stream request in for the group who would kill him? What was his goal here?"

"Should I ban the streamers?"

"What? No, no. Not yet, I want to see what's Villain's Wrath next move is and more importantly, just how will Team Rhapsody respond to the murder of their leader. Keep monitoring the feed and give me any updates as they come in."

"Yes, sir."

Kurt stepped outside into the corridor. His anger built up as he slammed the wall leaving a deep mark. "Out of all the times, you kick the fucking bucket Brantley why now… You were our frontline for the Garden… If they were to appear tomorrow, could we win without you?"

****

Alice returned home withstanding the worst walk home she could possibly feel. She was now supposed empty and tired, unsure if anything she had just witnessed was real. Throwing her shoes off, she let out a baseless sigh which got Iris' attention. "Afternoon sleepy head. How was the stream? I was meant to tune in but overslept again… I made coffee."

"Alton's dead."

Iris dropped the two mugs off coffee, smashing it over the floor. "What?"

"Alton… He was killed by some streamers." Iris looked down at the floor, unable to fully process everything that went through. Alice had blurted it, and with little emotion behind those words, even she didn't know how to respond. Taking her phone out, she wanted to see herself. "Don't… You don't want to see."

Iris ignored her sister's warning watching the execution as she stumbled back in shock, leaning against the wall. Tears began to form as she collapsed to the floor sobbing. Wiping her eyes, she looked up at her sister sniffing. "Who are they?"

"The Alice doesn't know… A group of streamers known as Villain's Wrath."

Iris shook her head. "No, it's clearly fake—a lie for views. Alton isn't dead. He can't be."

"Iris…"

Throwing her phone across the room, she yelled out sulking. "Why didn't you save him? You could have… If I joined maybe… No."

"The Alice is sorry."

"Are you? You seem very calm by the whole situation Alice. Don't you care at all?"

"The Alice…" She stopped midsentence, looking down at her hand which hadn't stopped shaking since the sight. "Doesn't feel anything? Does that make me… Am I a bad person for that? Do you hate the Alice for that?"

Iris stood up, bawling her eyes out, hugging her sister tightly. "I don't hate you. I can never hate you no matter what Alice and you certainly not a bad person! People… People take grief differently, but that doesn't make you a bad person."

"Ok…"

"How have the others taken it… How has Zinnia taken it?"

"Zinnia… I have no idea what could be going through her mind."

****

Bargaining lay on the floor, whistling to himself. "Rough day, huh?" Zinnia ignored him entirely staring at her wall. "Is this what are we going to do? You know you can't do this forever."

"Leave me alone…" She snapped curling up her head hidden between her legs. "Nothing matters anymore."

"Perhaps. But I thought you wanted to be a hero? I'll tell you this the heroes I knew back in the day wouldn't curl over to one death. They would get back up on their feet and fight on over and over. Some hero you are."

Zinnia shot a blast of electricity, leaving a hole in her wall. "Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want to hear any of this shit! Heroes?! How am I a hero if I couldn't even save my best friend? He was right in front of me, and I just watched him die. What sort of hero is that? We made a deal so I could have the power to save them. You lied to me!"

Bargaining shook his head, standing up. Holding his hand out the wall was fixed like it never happened. "I know all about the stages of grief Trost. Putting your blame on others isn't going to solve the problem at hand. You only have yourself to blame for being weak… But it doesn't have to be that way."

"What do you mean?"

Bargaining began smiling mischievously, leaning against the wall tutting. "I mean it's just horrible what happened. To think streamers would do something so disgusting and look at their profile. It hasn't been banned and is only growing in success. They are getting rich off your friend's death. I just don't see that as of right. What has this world turned into."

Zinnia stared at her phone, shaking with anger. "Those fuckers… They think this is a joke, don't they?! Killing Alton wasn't enough for them, what was this for? Fame, success?!"

"That's the cold hard truth. Alton's life meant nothing but clicks and views. He'll be forgotten in a matter of weeks. That's just the way of life. But hey if you remember him, then that's all that matters."

Zinnia stood up emotions flooding her—denial, anger, depression and now acceptance. "I can sort this out. Fix this for good."

"But Alton's dead. Nothing you can do to fix that."

"I could make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. No, no. I could avenge him. Get him the justice he deserves. If V.I.R.A.L doesn't do it, then I should. I have the power to do so."

"Now that isn't a bad idea." Bargaining teased. "No as the matter of fact, that's a brilliant idea Zinnia. You're doing only what's right. It's only natural. Villain's Wrath killed your best friend, and you want revenge. You're only human, after all." Zinnia began putting thoughts together, opening an old worn-down backpack tossing serval items in there without much thought. "What are you up to?"

"I'm. I'm going to make things right. Who would I be to let murderers run around through the streets, thinking they own the place? Team Rhapsody stood for something. We were the ones to stand against corruption and evil in V.I.R.A.L. No matter how small we would stand up for the people and move against the oppressors and scum of Victoria. If I don't do this, that too will die with Alton. Even if he originally didn't want anything to do with this Team Rhapsody should keep fighting in his name."

"Now that's more like it. The spark of a hero making the difficult choice. Your mother was much like that. It's reinsuring to know that there still are radical heroes making change no matter the cost. I wish you the ever best of luck Zinnia Trost."

Zinnia shook her head, staring at the crackles of electricity ripping around her fingers. "We're done here Bargaining. You have no reason to toy with me any longer. Don't think you've got me under your thumb, it just happens both of our agendas a line for once."

"I see, well the question remains then miss Trost." Bargaining chuckled standing in her way eyeing her down. "If Alton Brantley really is dead, why am I still here talking to you? Food for thought."

Bargaining vanished as Zinnia stepped outside her room. Her eyes locked with Rebecca for a second before drifting away. She wouldn't let distractions get in her way. "Alton… I promise you, I will grant you the justice you deserve."

****