Chapter
3 – An Unquenchable Thirst for Penance
This hunting and killing of
criminals has become addicting to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve been living in
the memories of the people I’ve assumed into my body, or the killing is turning
me into a different person. It could be that I was always a monster, and now I
get to be that in an unrestricted way, but then again, why would I regret
killing some people like my wife and daughter, want a normal life, and want to
say sorry? I want to say sorry to my wife, my daughter, the innocent guard I
killed, and my parents. I want to apologize to them for being such a horrible
son, for not involving myself with the family, and for keeping my distance from
them.
My reflection has woken up my mind
from wanting to kill and has, instead, given my mind focus on my true target.
The people that I’ve killed have given me a list of names of those in
Coronamento who want to take the research they’ve done, sell it, make a name
for themselves, and change the city and world in their own way. Coronamento may
be a shady place, but they’re the lesser of two evils in this case and at least
don’t work with criminals, murderers, and human traffickers, or at least the legitimately
good people in it don’t like my older brother, Salvatore, and his boss Giovanni.
I’ve gathered pictures, files on USB drives, paper receipts, and the research
the traitors inside of Coronamento have copied and put it all in a single place.
Tonight, I’ll go back to the facility and expunge every traitor in a single
night. After, I’ll let them do whatever they want with me. If it’s being killed
or locked up forever for experiments, I don’t care because I deserve both and
worse.
Everything is already set up. In my
days of hunting and criminals, I’ve learned that I can leave pieces of myself
and use them as traps to either kill or capture, so I’ve done that and placed
pieces of myself in the facility where my targets are. When the time is right,
and all my targets are where they should be, I activate my trap, bring everyone
to me, and reveal myself. The facility locks itself down, and every possible
guard here has their gun locked on me.
“You’ve all been looking for me, so
here I am, and I come bearing gifts. These men and women are traitors to the
company, and if you’ll allow me, I’ll prove it to you,” I say.
I then tell them the address where I left the
proof and then am approached by Giovanni himself. He wears a confident smile on
his face that he always has when I see him on TV and in videos on the internet
and the green and purple dress pants and outfit that he usually wears.
“I’m glad you came to us with such
gifts. I guess I should’ve expected it since you come from a family of
investigators,” Giovanni says.
“Maybe, but I am unworthy of my
family name. I only hope that what I’ve given you helps you and is an
acceptable penance for my many sins. Now, I give myself over to you. Do
whatever you want.”
“Oh, stop being so dramatic,”
Salvatore says as he approaches me from the crowd of guards. “You’re not the
type.”
“You can put down the traitors,
Ignazio. We’ll handle things from here,” Renzo says with officers behind him.
“Why are they here?” I say to
Giovanni.
“Your brother wanted to know the
moment I got news of you. Who am I to deny one of my best employees and his
brother?” Giovanni says with an extended smile.
I give the traitors over to the
police, who take them away. Giovanni and the other guards leave me and my
brothers to ourselves in a breakroom. Surprisingly, they don’t restrain me in
any way, nor do they put any guards around us, but then again, I am in their
facility with numerous superhumans and guards here and dozens upon dozens of
cameras. I then explain what I’ve been doing, how my abilities work, and why
I’m here now. Despite knowing that I’d be explaining myself to my brothers and
practicing my explanation using the memories of people who can explain things
well, I tell them everything in my voice and way. It seems that my guilt and
shame are too much for even my body to bear.
“I know you’re probably livid at me
still for the deaths of my wife and daughter. You can shoot and beat me as much
as you want. I won’t die from it even though I know I deserve it,” I say.
Renzo and Salvatore look at me as
if considering it and holding back their rage.
Salvatore walks up to me, slaps my
face, turns his back on me, and says, “There. I did what I wanted to, and don’t
tempt me to do more.”
“Ignazio. I…I’m not as mad at you
anymore. You’ve shown that you’re sorry and willing to give yourself up to pay
for what you did, so…the only people you have to apologize to are mom and dad,”
Renzo says.
To my further surprise, Renzo and
Salvatore don’t yell or do anything to me, keep the conversation short, and
Giovanni allows me to see my parents at their house. Of course, my brothers are
accompanying me, so I guess they’re supposed to be watching me so I don’t do
anything. When I see my parents, I think I’m ready to explain everything to
them, but I break down in tears.
“I’m sorry for not being the son
you wanted or could be proud of! I’m sorry I couldn’t be an officer like my
brothers were and kept using every excuse to stay away from our family. I’m
sorry for trying to kill myself and only ending up killing my wife and
daughter! I’m sorry!” I say with both hands covering my face.
My parents embrace me, tell me that
it’s okay, and forgive me, which only makes me cry more, especially when my
brothers embrace me as well in one big family hug.
“I’m sorry if we made you feel
lesser than your brothers. It was never our intention,” my mom says.
“You only need to be sorry to God,
son,” my dad adds. “I forgive you.”
After having dinner with my family
for the first time in a while, I am brought back to the Coronamento facility by
my brothers and talk with Giovanni, who won’t turn me over to the police
because of what I did for him and his company.
He says, “The police won’t take you
in as long as you work for me. It’s a pretty good deal, working with your
brother and being paid more than you ever did at your previous job at an
office, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” I admit.
This is sort of what I expected
because of Giovanni’s kindness and pragmatism. What good would I be being stuck
in his facility being researched every day when I’ve shown that I’m more useful
out in the world? Part of our agreement does include some tests on me so they
can understand how my body works, but I won’t be a lab rat to them. When news
of the traitors to Coronamento is brought to the news, Giovanni spins it as him
being transparent and willing to cull his own employees if they turn against
the law and himself and is given praise by the majority of the public because
of it since he actually knew nothing of their backstabbing. He really is good
at making the most of bad news.
As for me, I’m on my first
assignment with Salvatore and Renzo, cleaning up the rest of the conspirators
who the traitors and their criminal friends knew. Going immediately to the emergency
meeting point where the criminals agreed to meet if their plans were ruined in
the form of Vic, I find several of my targets there.
One of them looks at me and says, “Vic?
How did you manage to escape all the chaos?”
“Are you saying a slick bastard
like me couldn’t get out well…hahaha! I didn’t,” I say.
“What…what do you mean?”
“I died, or rather, Vic died,” I say
as I start to transform. “And you will, too.”
I assume the targets of interest
into my body while my brothers shoot the rest who resist arrest.
“Did we really have to do this in
this way?” Renzo asks.
“It’s the most effective to find
the criminals we need to find. They were going to get life sentences or the
death penalty anyway,” Salvatore says. “Did those people have the information
we needed?”
“Yes, and they had more,” I say.
I didn’t expect I’d ever work with
my brothers like this or want a life like this, but this is the life given to
me, and I’ll use every second of it to pay for my past sins. Even though I’m
still a monster, I’m at least a monster who is putting his life to good use for
once.
The End
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