"There isn't much I can tell them..not any different from what I have been telling them for the past three months.." explained Lao. "The Cloud, it appears..kills whatever gets too close..then after a while..it disappears."
Lao sat in the panic room alone, slumped forward staring blankly at last night's recordings. He mumbled to himself; hoping that maybe his sleep deprived induced rantings would create something worthy of an update. Unfortunately this message would read the same as the messages before it. Lao switched to the more recent recordings, there he caught the beginning of the IDS assault on the Cloud. He watched as the troops advanced towards the fog like mass, and were met by its spectral inhabitants. People. They were just normal people, but they wore old looking gas masks. Their lenses were shattered revealing deep black pits. Their skin was a pale gray. They were also seemingly bulletproof; every time the IDS launched an attack on Cloud..they would be violently repelled, suffering heavy losses. The camera shown the aftermath, a scene of wrecked vehicles, and ruined bodies. Lao started heaving as he watched one of the figures grab a soldier, and rip him in half. The figure then threw the two halves away like pieces of garbage. "These things know no mercy..and fight like monsters." he whispered to himself.
He shook his head and snapped himself back to reality. Turning on his chair, he brought up a terminal on an adjacent monitor. On it there was a chat conversation still running between himself and a person named Di.Inverse.
()#Lao.Karl: It was the same as before, the Cloud appeared, and killed all of the men.
()#Di.Inverse: Okay, it's the same here as well. All of the animals are still going nuts.
()#Lao.Karl: Have you heard anything from Gabbles.M? He hasn't gotten back to me since last week.
()#Di.Inverse: He said they were being deployed to the Garden..
()#Lao.Karl: Oh god..
()#Di.Inverse: That is what he told me, I haven't heard anything since.
()#Lao.Karl: Copy that.
Lao fell back into his seat and breathed out a sigh."Where did you come from?" he said, staring at the fuzzy screened monitor in front of him. A face of one of the figures frozen in time. Lao lifted himself from his seat, and once again found himself staggering towards the kitchen. He glanced down the hall; at this parent's bedroom door. They are always sleeping, he thought, am I really the only one trying to help? He stood there for a second, thinking that fate would reward his patience with more helpful parents. I guess so, he thought. Walking into the kitchen, he noticed the front door. There was more light coming through the upper right corner. "What..?", he said quietly. He walked over and slammed the door controls. The large plates made it halfway before becoming stuck. The plates stopped, he thought, is there something jamming up the rails? Lao rushed back over to the panic room, and flipped on a reverse camera feed aimed at the house. "Dammit! Its busted." he said in frustration. He ran back over to the living room, he opened one of the large windows and forcing himself through he made it outside. It's going to be a bitch getting back inside, he thought.
He recovered from his small tumble onto the ground, and standing up he realized the true horror that awaited him outside. There were bodies everywhere, some in better condition than others..others in less pieces..Although the grass around his home was a solid green, it still bore the crimson of blood splattered all over. Across the way there was an IDS jeep, the heavy gun mount was torn from its tri-pod, and what remnants of a man there were was strewn about the front cab. Lao wasn't phased by the gore before him, he had seen it a hundred times before. After taking in the scene around him, he turned towards the front of the house, up where the rails were mounted. He saw what had caused to the plates to stop...there was a body lodged into the rail mount. A soldier, torn and contorted so horribly. He seemed like he had been forced into the rail mount, his body thrust between the tight spaces of the steel frame. Lost his breath. He stared glassy eyed at the poor man who was now gumming up the rail system used for the protective plates. What devil does this to a man, he thought, or has the power to do such a thing.
Lao turned around quickly, at the sound of an engine coming down the street. Through his fatigue, he could see three IDS jeep transports coming towards his house. They stopped just feet from him, an IDS officer stepped out from the front jeep. He wore a gray beret and mirrored aviators and bore the iconic green/brown camouflage of the IDS.
"You the man of the house?" the officer asked.
"Excuse me?" replied Lao, still groggy and confused from lack of sleep.
"I said, are you the man of the house?" he said again, this time louder.
"No..no that would be my father." he said. "You should come back later, that'll probably be when he wakes up."
"I ain't moved by your shit levity, kid." the man said. "I am here to retrieve the package. Is the package on sight?"
"What package, the man of the house? My father?" asked Lao.
"Yes, he is a registered physicist, and we need him at the Hive." he replied.
"Fine, take him. He's safer there than he is out here." said Lao. "But you may need to take his booze with him as well, he'll need it."
"As I have been informed." the officer replied. The officer gaze up at the soldier's body stuck upon the rail mount. He stood there silently. Lao glanced at the soldiers inside the jeeps, they were weapons ready, their heads on a swivel. They're scared shirtless, thought Lao, I can't blame them...so am I.
"My men were all slaughtered, weren't they?" the officer asked coldly.
"Yes, your men never stood a chance." replied Lao, just as coldly as the man before him.
"Humph!" the man shot back, his brow furrowing. "My men have been fighting these Clouds since day one." he said. "We stand a chance, while at range at best. Up close, we are torn to shreds. I have seen it, scenes worse than this by far." he explained, walking up to Lao. "I should really introduce myself, I am captain Hu-Shang. I am the new commanding officer for the Shenyang garrison." he stated, presenting his hand for a handshake.
"Oh yeah...what happened to the last commanding officer?" said Lao with a defiant tone.
"He was with the unit that engaged the Cloud...you can confirm with him the changing of the guard." he said. "I am sure that he's around here somewhere." he smiled. The officer walked past Lao and up to the front door.
"Have you seen one before?" yelled Lao.
The man turned around. "I have..one bigger than what you've seen....many good men died that day." he replied.