Entro took off into a sprint the moment the door closed. It was late, meaning the building was relatively empty, leaving nothing to bar his path.
Bursting into the lab, he quickly began looking for his emergency bag.
"They know about Agricore, we have to leave right now."
Having been interrupted from his book, Aurelian shot up.
"What? How?"
"I don't know. They offered to give me my old life if I started making more. I told them I'd think about it, but I know that yellow pot-bellied pig would never believe me; we have to leave now."
His emergency pack was ready, there wasn't much he had available to bring besides food and money.
Entro barely owned clothes, all of which were back at his hovel.
'We'll just have to make do.'
Making his way toward the door, he was interrupted by Aurelian's words.
"I can't go."
Pausing, Entro turned around, a grave expression on his face.
"And why the hell not?"
Aurelian visibly shivered.
"It's not like that. If I leave with you, my family will get involved and make a bad situation even worse. I have to stay here."
Entro hesitated, he wasn't comfortable leaving the kid here to deal with the aftermath of his absence, but there wasn't anything he could do.
"Okay. Stay safe kid, if you get into trouble, I'll wring your neck."
Shifting awkwardly, Entro dropped his bag and hugged Aurelian.
"Don't worry, I'll find you when it's safe. Keep the vision alive."
Nodding, Entro ran out with Agricore, not bothering to look back.
It was dark as they rushed through the streets,not bothering to hide, Voldstadt industries had cameras everywhere.
When they were installed, Entro meant for them to decrease criminal activity, which they initially did. But after he went under, crime rates came back up and the cameras remained.
Eventually, he had to run by the library.
It crossed his mind to at least say goodbye before he left, but he knew that would endanger her.
She would just have to forever believe he abandoned her.
Slightly over 3 hours later, they were free from urbanization and able to walk more often with the cover of trees.
Entro was very tired.
He pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion attempting to create as big of a gap as possible between their eventual pursuers.
In the forest, their usage of vehicles was much more limited, allowing them to stand a chance at evading capture.
Agricore remained calm and quiet, switching between light trotting to keep up with Entro's running and walking whenever he couldn't run any longer.
His company kept Entro relatively calm in such a tense situation.
Entro didn't necessarily have a plan other than to escape the city; they were out in the woods without direction.
Huffing and panting, Entro kept walking, wishing for some reprieve.
He realized the world obviously misheard his plea when flashlights beamed far behind them.
[Apologies for the lack of assistance Father. We're still assimilating with your body, otherwise, we would be rejected.]
'It's fine, I just need to run some more.
"Agricore, run ahead and stay safe, I'll be fine."
At first, the pup stared at him and kept walking, but at Entro's insistence, he took the lead ahead.
Entro took off into a sprint himself, running as fast as he could.
---
"Units six, four, and eight are on scene, we found fresh tracks."
Silence.
"Copy, proceed to capture the asset."
Silence.
"Copy that."
Ted put his radio up and relayed the orders to the rest.
They were tasked with this assignment simply because they were one of the best.
Their orders were to capture one and kill the other. A difficult task in and of itself, but they were all briefed on the physical capabilities the dog possessed, they had their work cut out for them.
Following the tracks, Ted noticed the human footfalls were noticeably closer together than before, suggesting a shorter gait and perhaps exhaustion; the dog tracks, however, were still spaced relatively far apart.
'They've separated. He's sent the dog to run away, a rookie move that will spell the end of him.'
"Both assets are no longer together, proceed to eliminate one and focus on capturing the other."
"Affirmative."
"Roger."
Ted knew all about the great Entropy Voldstadt, everyone did.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little apprehensive about killing the guy, especially after everything he's done for the world; his donations to impoverished persons allowed Ted to finally afford an apartment and land this very job.
However, he wasn't in control of the company anymore, and the guys who did, were ruthless. There were things worse than death, actions they were not afraid of enacted upon you should you be deemed useless.
"Hey, I found him!"
Up ahead, a pot-bellied figure ducked around a tree.
Ted steeled his heart and was prepared to execute humanity's hero when a vicious howl echoed throughout the forest, silencing the life in the area.
"What was that," someone whispered from behind him.
A rustle resounded to their left, causing everyone to flinch and aim that way.
Then, faster than he could follow, the back of their formation exploded into a frenzy.
Gunfire, screaming, the sound of bone being shattered into pieces.
It was instant.
A shadow bounced between soldiers, taking mere moments to shred them to pieces.
They tried firing on the creature, but that only seemed to piss it off even more.
If before, it staggered when pelted with rounds, it shrugged them off now, stopping to eat its victims.
Ted could have even sworn it was getting bigger, but he couldn't tell in the dark setting.
Then, right before his very eyes, the creature dove into the ground, into the shadows, appearing behind an unsuspecting soldier and ripping his head off.
People died even quicker than before if that was possible. Until Ted was the only one left.
Appearing from the shadows, it stood before Ted with glowing golden eyes.
A voice resounded in his head, "Death to all who turn their fangs against my father."
The wolf just telepathically spoke to him.
Ted lost all will to resist any longer. He dropped his gun and turned his head to the sky filled with stars.
'What kind of monster did he release onto this world.'
Darkness.