Habeas Corpus
| Habeas Corpus | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 05 December 2012 |
| Location: | Manhattan |
| Synopsis: | In the aftermath of Dr. Sevarius' capture and arrest, something unexpected happens. |
| Cast of Characters: | Dr. Anton Sevarius, LEXUS |
| Tinyplot: | In A New York Minute |
This was not Doctor Anton Sevarius' finest hour.
Being stuffed in the back of a police cruiser in the middle of a small convoy, being hauled to jail for imprisonment, possibly worse. With the state of the city, it might not be out of the realm of possibility that they might throw him upon the tender mercies of an angry mob.
"What an ignoble fate."
"Shut up, you." The policeman in the cruiser didn't even want to hear him talk.
Sure, it's a mob that he helped create with his actions. The evidence from the remains of the Cyberbiotics lab in the crater in Manhattan will most certainly be enough to convict. If he only had a little more time... Or made a better plan for escape, perhaps, this would not have happened.
Such ruminations are cut short when the sleek, multilegged Heartless drops onto the glass, cracking it. The policeman yells, trying to shake the creature off. It stares into the glass with burning yellow eyes, the Heartless emblem on its head telling the nature of the beast. There are a series of modulated screeches as the Heartless is thrown from the hood, leaving deep divots in the metal. However, it is too late for it to avoid the telephone pole. Sevarius jerks, slamming into the front seats as the vehicle plows into the light pole.
The policemen survive the impact because of airbags and seat belts. Perhaps it might have been better for them if they hadn't. They yell, getting out of their car and raising pistols. One of them brings up a laser rifle. The hail of gunfire spangs off of the metallic plating, but Johnathan McCullen was a crack shot. He was the one with the laser. The beam of coherent light spears the creature, punching through it and vaporizing it in a blast of light.
The rest of the police convoy has pulled around the location, guns pointed in all directions. They are expecting an attack. Heartless never come alone...
What they were not expecting was the man. He did not particularly stand out, being in his later years. He wore a finely-cut suit and walked calmly and slowly up to the edge of the convoy. What stood out were the strange glowing circuit patterns on his tie and running up the sides of his neck to his temples. The eyes were inhuman, the irises a pit of black with an alien circular symbol in a burning violet.
The police pointed their guns at the man. Xanatos warned them about him. He raised his hands, showing they held no weapons. "I have come to offer you an arrangement. Release Sevarius to me, and I will allow you to spend the rest of your time in this world as you will."
The police, not being fools, immediately opened fire. Most of the bullets struck a hexagonal barrier field that flashes into existence around him. A few passed through, the bullets striking the man. He does not bleed. glittering, faint streamers of light running from the wounds. A beam of light punches through the field, striking him in the chest and opening a hole. He sags for a moment, grimacing at the disruption inflicted by McCullen's beam. "Typical." He remarks, before a strange, modulated tone emits from him.
A moment later, the Daemon Heartless who were getting into position while all eyes were focused upon LEXUS pounced. Screams filled the air, and LEXUS began walking forward as the chrome chitinous form of a Daemon Heartless impacts the man blocking his path. McCullen fired repeatedly, discharging the laser to hold back the swarm as best he could... Until he pulled the trigger, and the gun sputtered, emitting only a faint glimmer. It only took a moment for the Heartless to rally, and soon another Heart rose into the air, taken by the Darkness.
Severius was still looking around when the door opened. When he looked up, he cringed. "You!"
LEXUS looked down for a long moment. Fear raced through Severius' mind. Could be here to cut his connections? Finish him before he could talk? But they must have found the recordings by now...
LEXUS dispelled those thoughts when he held out a hand to help Sevarius out of the vehicle. "You are wounded." LEXUS notes. "They did not treat you well."
"Where was your help? All those Heartless weren't good enough to stop those people from destroying my lab!" Sevarius counters, angrily.
"I am helping." LEXUS notes absently. "Unlike some, I do not waste assets. Come. You have done well, and this world will soon be consumed. It would not do to lose you to it." He turns, and a Corridor of Darkness opens. "We have a new laboratory prepared for you. One which will be worthy of your talent."
Sevarius looked between the Corridor, the inhuman being offering him a continued service, and the Heartless who were mopping up the remains of the police force.
It only took him a moment to step forward. "I'll be happy to." The alternative was theoretically worse.
The military arrived only minutes later, the APC rolling up to see the deserted convoy.
