Story of His Life

The world came back into focus slowly for Cyril Kuller.

As he laid on the floor, vision swirling, his mind went into overdrive, asking question after question to itself.

Why was he on the floor?

Why was his vision blurry?

Why had he been unconscious?

Why did the back of his head hurt so badly?

Who was calling his name?

Who was laughing so hard?

And then, in a single moment, he remembered. He remembered how close they had come to escaping, only for it all to come crashing down. Story of his life.

–

He had been waiting weeks for another chance to talk to the sewn-together girl and right the mistake he had made in their first meeting. He was lucky when he was confronted again by the unpleasant Doktor, who informed him that he'd be having another session with Eve, to make sure she was ready for her final mission: winning at the Autumn Effect 2. He asked why that mattered if she was going to be killed after regardless, and the Doktor just smiled behind his medical mask and made some vague comments about making sure Iwakuma's happy before he lost his life too. It was the moment Cyril had wanted, so he had little to complain about.

It was just as before, he came in escorted by two thugs and her with those headphones on her head. This time he didn't bother with the restraints, however. Cyril, bitterly, could see why. She had accepted it all, so why bother. And, again, he departed right after, posting the two thugs outside at the door. That was fine, he planned for that. And so the two came to face one another again from across the desk. Eve in a morose silence, waiting for whatever was to come, and not outwardly showing confusion at why Dr. Kuller was smiling. He spoke up, and then she did show it.

“Let's take a trip.”

She stared at him for some long moments before cocking her head to the side. Dr. Kuller kept smiling, and she finally asked if he was fucking with her. He shook his head, and informed her he was totally serious, they should go take a trip for an hour or so. She looked back at the door and then back at him, voicing the problem without needing to speak. It was fine, he told her, they'd just go out the window and come back the same way after. She pointed out that they could just hear the continuous silence, look in, and see them gone. Dr. Kuller smiled wider. He pointed out first that they wouldn't hear anything from outside, because he had soundproofed his office long before he had even gotten the job. Eve pointed out that that didn't solve the problem of them, y'know, looking in. His grin stretched.

He reached into his desk and pulled out a box of tiny metal balls. He picked up a handful and rolled them across the floor, the balls spreading throughout the room. She looked confused again as he pulled out a tiny switch and pressed it, and she seemed legitimately shocked when she and he appeared in the room, seated where they were now, having a conversation. He looked incredibly proud as he told her about his hologram projectors, using footage of their previous session. If they looked in, all they'd see was them talking. They would be entirely fine.

She looked impressed, a tiny bit, and he took it as a victory.

With no further way to avoid it, Eve had no choice but to agree to go out the window with him and followed him as he led her across the campus and onto the streets of San Diego. He led her to a skyscraper and took her in, ushering her into an elevator and with a card he produced from his coat, sent them straight up to the roof. She found herself above San Diego at night, lights everywhere. She sat on the edge of the roof and just looked out for a time, taking it in.

He tried to open conversations with her, but she was uninterested, just looking out at the lights. So, he started just talking about whatever came to mind. Experiments he had run, people he had met, an amusing but unrepeatable trip to Mexico. He filled the night air with his experiences. When he finally paused to take a breath, he realized she was listening, but only kind of. He paused, and he told her he understood. He had been wrong, he had misjudged her, allowing his past bitter experiences cloud his judgment. He wanted to apologize. She brushed it off, telling him it didn't matter, she needed another reminder to not even try to put forth trust in someone.

He nodded. And then he told her that he understood not wanting to trust anyone. Because the world was cruel, and any chance it had to take someone from you it would. He told her about loss. He told her about how he once trusted someone so deeply, truly believing with every fiber of his being that he would be able to set fire to every wrong and disgusting thing their brothers had built up, truly believing in the fire that burned inside of him.

He then told her of the night where they had been so close to their goals, the one shining moment they had been building to was right within their grasp. He had left to gather a few materials they needed, and was on his way back. He heard the explosion and saw the fire burning long before he finally returned. There was little of it left, everything they had been building to was now ashes and rubble. He thought the same had befallen his closest friend, but then he found him. He took one look at his condition and wished he had been obliterated in the blast. But he was still breathing, somehow. He still clung to life. And he put every bit of experience and work into trying to keep him alive.

Eve frowned and asked if he had succeeded. Cyril sat in silence a moment, thinking about the man in the medical mask and the dark blue goggles, who would never speak a word to him, that disappeared into the shadows when he needed him.

And he told her no. That he had failed when it mattered the most.

She frowned and looked over the lights of the city below them for a time in silence. Finally, she spoke up again, and it was the moment he had hoped for.

“Perhaps there are those I could trust,” she said slowly, “two of them.” Cyril nodded, and asked the obvious question of who they were. “Well one is....” she paused, trying to find the right word, before settling on the easiest one. “An idiot. He's impulsive, he can't stop himself from mouthing off to anyone and picking a fight, and his lack of education is startlingly obvious.”

She paused a moment, and Cyril saw a small smile come to her face. “But he possesses a heart that's far bigger and good than he ever allows himself to see, and even if he's not aware of it he's exceedingly good at understanding people and encouraging them.”

He allowed her a moment to keep those happy memories she was clearly remembering at the front of her head before inquiring about the second. She looked at him with a blank expression for a moment, and he was confused, but then she smiled at him. “Just someone that I misjudged as much as he misjudged me.” And he smiled back.

They sat in silence for a while longer before in his mind Cyril reached a decision, and pushed himself up onto his feet. Eve looked at him curiously, finding him looking down at her with a grin as he spoke his next words.

“Let's escape this.”

She stared at him in confusion. “Dr. Kuller...it's fine....we don't have to pretend. I know there's not a chance.” She meant to continue talking but he shushed her. His eyes were shining with something she couldn't put into words. A kind of fire, maybe. “Wrong. There's a chance. It won't be easy, it'll be nigh-impossible...but there's a chance. All we have to do is get on the road and we can find somewhere away from all this garbage they've put us under.”

“And just when do you propose we do this? We wouldn't have much time if we did this now, our session is suppose to be over soon, and we don't have any time to prepare.” she pointed out, but that didn't diminish his grin. “I know. But I know the perfect time. Autumn Effect 2.” she blinked, about to raise a question, but Cyril was on a roll, and he kept on going. “We both get everything we need for a long trip and have it ready that day. Once the TLC match is over, you meet me in the RIMAC. There's a few exits I've found that I don't think the goon squad will have eyes on. And then we're off, and we'll see what we can find in the world.”

She sat in silence for a few moments, looking at this lunatic spouting off some impossible dream that she knew logically couldn't work. She had already accepted her impending death, it was a finality she had been comfortable with. This unknown world he was wanting them to drive off into...it was impossible. Stupid. She needed to say no.

But instead she smiled.

“Autumn Effect it is then. I trust you.”

They departed the roof, all smiles, and returned to the RIMAC. They got to the window they had left through, and Eve climbed in first. Dr. Kuller started to follow her, only for a shadow to fall over him as he was halfway through and for something heavy to slam into the back of his head, robbing him of his consciousness.

--

He remembered all this in the moments before his vision came back into focus, and all it did was make his stomach sink. The two thugs had turned into four, the four crowding around Eve, two for each of her arms. Even then, she strained against them and it seemed to be quite a task for them to keep a hold on her. And pacing in front of him was the Doktor, who looked at him with an obvious grin behind his medical mask.

“I'd call it a shame that it had to come to this, “Dr. Kuller”, but that would frankly be a lie. I saw it coming, of course.” He told the prone man, quite proudly. “Quite clever, those holograms. Might have fooled even me, if I wasn't made aware of them by you yourself.” The confusion on Dr. Kuller's face was quite obvious, and the Doktor seemed to revel in being able to explain. “Come now, old boy, did you really expect me to not have a way of keeping an ear on your conversations with my creation?” He held up his left arm and patted the forearm. “In her arm is a nice little microphone and transmitter. I heard every word of your heartwarming conversation.”

Eve's face fell, and the Doktor as if on cue spun to face her. “Yes, my dear creation, you're the cause of all this. Really, you shouldn't be surprised. Why wouldn't I make sure your escape was impossible? Tsk, tsk. Truly you've learned nothing, it seems.” And that was all he had to say to her, turning back to face Dr. Kuller, his grin fading away for a moment as something more pressing came to his mind. “I am however, surprised to hear that HE wasn't actually killed in that explosion. How problematic that could've been for us, if your skills had been up to snuff to actually save him.” At this he grinned again, enjoying what he believed was a twisting of the knife. Cyril considered for a moment correcting him bu t realized, with no small amount of sadness, that it wasn't really far off from the truth, whether he was actually dead or not.

“But it wouldn't matter either way, now. Now, I'm ready. The Apex is mine for the reaching, and I'll be the one to fulfill the promise we all made when we were so young. Surely you remember it?” Cyril didn't bother to give that a response, but it didn't seem to bother the Doktor. “Oh, I know you do. It's burnt into your brain, no matter how hard you tried to run from it, clear as day. “The World will come to fear the name of DOKTOR ADVERSARY!”” he shouted out, one hand reaching up, to grab some invisible goal. Cyril just scoffed, but that only made Doktor Adversary smile.

“Any regrets you want to get out? Admitting you were wrong? Begging to join me? I might be convinced to spare you, dear brother....”

Dr. Cyril Kuller pushed himself up on his hands, just enough to be able to hit Doktor Adversary in the face with the spit he spat out at him. The Doktor looked appalled at Cyril while Eve let out a laugh, before Cyril spoke.

“Go fuck yourself, you son of a bitch.”

Doktor Adversary looked at him, most of the enjoyment he had been feeling leaving him. He seemed almost annoyed with his next words. “You remind me too much of HIM.”

And he drew a pistol from his belt and shot Cyril three times.

Two went through his heart, while the third smashed square into, and through, his abdomen, hammering him back onto his back on the floor. He coughed up some blood as the pain began to flood in, seeming to burn everywhere, but he ignored it. He watched as Eve let out a scream, somewhere between horror and anger, and tried even harder to escape her bonds, only for one of the thugs to jam a thick syringe into her neck, and render her unconscious. Doktor Adversary stepped over Cyril, and pressed the pistol's barrel against his chest, where his neck met the chest to be precise. The barrel was hot enough to burn him, but it didn't stand out among the rest of the pain he was feeling. “I should put a bullet through here, and make sure there's no chance of your breathing continuing. But that doesn't matter, does it? There's no one that cares enough about you to save you, and even if there was, your own soundproofing will keep anyone from knowing. So enjoy your last few moments, “Cyril”, and realize just what you've caused.”

He stuffed the pistol into his belt before gesturing to the thugs, who hefted Eve up and began to carry her out.

He watched them carry her out, and wanted to cry out, scream, do anything. But the pain was too much, his vision was clouding over, and his breathing was going more and more ragged.

He had tried to help her, and all he had done was gotten himself killed.

But more than that, he wasn't able to help her. All he had done was made it worse, given her the briefest hope only to dash it out.

Like everything else, he had managed to destroy what was important.

He had failed again, and she was going to pay for it far more than he was.

Fuck.

Those were the last thoughts of Dr. Cyril Kuller before his life finished draining from him.





–



The pounding of the doors behind her was nothing but background noise as she looked out at an empty sky. It was a cloudy night, and the stars were all hidden behind the clouds. To her, it seemed they were specifically hiding from her, not wanting to waste their shining brilliance on her. She understood that.

More than that, she wished she could do the same, and detach from herself, and go hide behind the clouds. But that wasn't possible. She was stuck to herself, and she would have to live with it. But not for long. The deadline was rapidly coming. Soon, the end would be here.

He was dead because of her. Because she allowed herself to feel hope for a moment, someone who only deserved the best earned a lonely death bleeding out from gunshot wounds on the floor. It was her fault.

But soon that would be rectified. The deadline was coming. In some days, perhaps a week or two at most, it would end. She'd get a bullet to the head.

She couldn't wait.

It was all she deserved.