The Cure

"Good luck, and remember, the world needs this." Mark read the words again, shut the app, then paged Roger. "Are we almost ready? The sensors at the front picked up movement."

A moment passed before his phone beeped and the voice on the other end said "Last lock is almost clear. Start heading down."

"Roger, Roger." Mark smirked knowing his friend was hanging his head and sighing at the bad joke. Mark checked the sensors again as he started to jog down the stairs.

"So...what do you think...do you think it's here?" Mark's question slipped between breaths as he reached the door Roger was focusing on. "You mean are we going to find the 'cure' that people have been searching for for just over a decade?" Roger shook his head as he worked. "I think it's a fairy tale."

"Can you breath a little lighter? I'm trying to listen to the tumblers." A hint of sarcasm slipped into Roger's words as he turned to look at Mark, leaning against the opposite wall. "For an expert 'adventurer and relic hunter', or whatever you're billing us as these days, you sure do seem out of shape."

"Yeah, well, the Stygians are closing in and moving faster than we did." Mark wiped the sweat from his face, then ran his hand through his hair. "They probably have updated maps of this place. Who would have thought the paranoid dictator that poisoned the world 'for its own good' would live in such a maze."

"Makes sense. Word is, he had the architects study a place called the Winchester House when they were designing it." Roger noted while he tinkered. A thunk came through the door as it shuddered. "Got it."

Roger hopped up and grabbed his bag. "Ready?"

"Let's do this." Mark nodded.

Roger grabbed the handle and swung the door open. A steep stairwell beckoned the pair down into darkness. Roger ran his hand over the wall and the bottom steps lit up with a click. A sharp tone shot out of Mark's phone. "Shit", he said, "that's the third marker. They're really huffing it, aren't they?"

"See, that's what still doesn't make sense to me." Roger kept talking as they started down the stairs. "Kabian got the people to rise up against Sordia after it was proven that Sordia released the toxin and infected the planet. Why are Kabian's soldiers so determined to stop anyone that tries to find the cure?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Mark shrugged as he followed. "Probably worried a healthy populace will want out of dictatorship and back to democracy like before everything went to shit."

"I guess that's valid." Roger nodded as he reached the bottom of the steps.

"You know what they say.", Mark continued, "Power corrupts and all that."

"Want to lay odds on what it likes like?" Roger asked as the walls shifted from wood to cement and the final door came into view.

"Knowing the stories about Sordia, it's probably just a single syringe; just enough for him." Mark opened an app on his phone and handed it to Roger. "Instructions for the last door, just scroll down." Roger nodded and slowed his pace as his attention turned to the phone.

"It's probably blue." Mark noted.

"The instructions?" Roger looked up.

"No, the cure. What do the instructions say?"

"Final door, turn the handle.", Roger read aloud.

"What, that's it?" Mark asked in surprise as he reached for the phone. "Not too surprising," Roger offered, "I've already picked our way through three. They probably figured that would be enough."

"Ready?" Roger asked as they reached the door. Mark nodded. "Please let this be simple.", he muttered under his breath. Roger turned the handle and pushed. The door didn't budge. Mark sighed.

Before he could say anything, Roger put his finger up, telling Mark to be patient. Roger shifted his weight and threw his shoulder into the door. Scraping the frame, the door groaned and gave way.

As Roger stepped in, a low humming began as the room came to life. Fluorescent lights slowly grew from dim yellow bulbs to bright white, leaving no space for anyone or anything to hide. "A control room? The letter didn't say anything about this." Mark's confusion showed in face as much as his voice.

"Looks like a panic room." Roger offered. "Complete with computer, and I'm assuming security cameras." A smile broke across Roger's lips as he walked to the computer. "New and improved with your very ominous red button!"

Mark chuckled, "Think you can boot that thing up?", he asked as he walked to a desk across the opposite wall. "Thankfully, Sordia wasn't the most tech savvy." Roger said, pointing at a button in the middle. "They labeled his board. This one says 'On', should do the trick." The hum in the room grew from faint to heavy as it consumed the room. After a few seconds, as the screens finished booting up, the hum settled back down to background noise.

"Well, if the Stygians weren't sure which way to go, they are now." Mark quipped. "Let's be quick about it. The instructions said there should be a second way out."

"Cameras are up, and it looks like they've reached the third door." Roger turned from the monitors. "The client seriously didn't tell us what this thing looked like?"

"Maybe?" Mark scrolled through his phone quickly. "The only reference we have is the client saying 'The cure is proof Sordia has a heart."

"Very helpful." Roger muttered under his breath. "Wait, could they mean that literally?"

"Like that he literally wasn't heartless?"

"More like something heart shaped, come look at this."

"What does this look like to you?" Roger asked as Mark walked over to the computer. "Is that two hearts? Hold on." Mark quickly walked to the desk across the room. "Proof that Sordia has a heart? Never would have guessed they meant a heart shaped locket."

"Yep, definitely would have lost that bet." Roger nodded as Mark brought the locket back. "Can you get it open? Looking at this, I think it'll most likely open a side compartment."

Mark nodded as he fiddled with the clasp. "Makes sense to me, unassuming jewelry protects the key to life." About a minute passed before Mark handed the locket to Roger in defeat. Roger looked at the necklace, slammed it against the desk, then split it open.

"I loosened it for you." Mark grinned.

"Do you want to do the honors?" Roger asked, holding the pendant towards Mark.

"No, you've pretty much done the heavy lifting. Might as well get to open the final door too." Mark conceded.

"To being heroes and saving the human race?" Roger asked.

"May they sing songs of praise in our names." Mark replied with a smile. "Though the payday will be pretty great too."

"WAIT!" A voice yelled from the doorway. Mark and Roger turned from the computer as six people covered in all black body armor filled the room. Three of the soldiers had their weapons trained on Mark and Roger. Two more held their hands next to pistols. The sixth soldier stood there with their hands forward, as if offering peace. "You can't do that. Don't put the locket into the computer. If you make any attempt to, we will have to shoot you."

"Shocking," Mark said, putting his hands up, "the Stygians are threatening to kill someone."

The soldier stepped into the center of the room and took their helmet off. "The name is Sarah, and I'm going to be honest, we hate being called Stygians." Turning to Roger, Sarah held out her hand. "I'm going to need to take that locket from you now."

"I'd say the name is pretty fitting considering how many people you've killed, and how many more will die without the cure." Mark couldn't hold back the venom in his voice as Roger handed the necklace over.

"Everyone we've killed has been to save people." Sarah said pointedly.

"Bullshit." Mark spat. "We've all heard the stories. You hunt down anyone searching for Sordia's cure."

Sarah nodded as she walked back and handed the pendant to one of the other soldiers. "Hunted them down, yes. But we only killed the ones sympathetic to Sordia. The others, we employed."

The two men looked at each other. "Employed?" Roger asked.

"Many of them are scientists." Sarah started. "They're working night and day to figure out how to fight the plague. Others are opportunists like yourself who get hired to hunt down the truth behind the story of the cure Sordia supposedly left behind."

Sarah motioned to the soldiers to lower their weapons. Though the guns were down, Mark noted that the soldiers still seemed tense. "So what are you going to do to us?" Mark asked, lowering his hands.

"That depends on if you are loyal to Sordia." Sarah grabbed a chair and sat down. "If you're not, you're welcome to leave at any time. We have what we came for."

Roger looked confused. "We can walk out of here just like that?"

Sarah nodded. "Just like that." She motioned to the door and the soldiers stepped further into the room, clearing the exit.

Mark looked at the door. Leaving would be easier, but his feet wouldn't budge. The answers just led to more questions. "But what about the cure? Don't you think we have a duty to try and save everyone?", he asked.

"Let me answer your question with another question. Who hired you?"

"The client is anonymous. That's not uncommon with high value jobs."

Sarah nodded. "Which is understandable. Did you stop to wonder how they knew so much about Sordia's palace and how to break the locks?"

"I assumed they were a dissident like Kabian. Someone who was on the inside trying to do what was best for the people." Mark could hear his voice become less sure as he spoke.

"Do you know what Sordia's reason for releasing the plague was?" Sarah shifted uncomfortably as she asked.

"There have been plenty of rumors, but nobody in Kabian's regime ever confirmed any of them." Roger offered.

"That's correct." Sarah sighed. "When Kabian tasked me with tracking those searching for the cure, he told me. In his final years, before the coup, Sordia became convinced that humanity was the real plague, but he couldn't bring himself to kill everyone, so he released a weaker version of the disease. Sordia hoped, once humanity thinned out enough, the earth could recover and humanity and the planet could both survive."

Sarah paused, measuring her words. "Naturally, he became more and more paranoid over time. Sordia had his most loyal scientists create a system that could release the strain at its full power if they felt it necessary. He then told his closest allies how to release what he referred to as 'the final cure.' Sordia didn't have the heart to kill humanity, and many believed he was heartless for releasing the plague."

"Proof that Sordia has a heart." Mark repeated the words from the client's letter.

Sarah nodded as she saw the comprehension on Mark and Roger's faces. "If you had put the locket into the computer, you would not have saved the human race. You would have ended it."