Chapter 176: Until Next Time Crypts.

Chapter 176: Until Next Time Crypts.

Aldrich had only ever heard about them on the Net as urban legends.

Supposedly, they were deep pits far underground where uncontrollable threats

were essentially just buried. Threats that just had no way to be dealt with

normally.

Villains that were too unstable and powerful to ever see the light of day

without being a threat to society were cast down into Crypts and just locked up

forever. Alters or Variants that could not die by any conventional means were

also sent down into Crypts to essentially just be sealed away until time

immemorial.

Often times, Crypts were reused again and again, tossing in villains and

variants into the same forsaken pit for them to brutalize each other.

The biggest reason why Crypts were considered urban legend despite their

name and function being mentioned from leaked government documents was

due to the fact that nobody had ever found a Crypt.

"A Crypt? Are they trying to kill me?" said Aldrich.

"No. Not yet at least," said Aarav. "How much do you know about Crypts?"

"The basics," said Aldrich. "The impression I get from them is that they're

death pits where insane villains and unkillable monsters are all piled down

together and locked up in one pit of festering agony."

"Yeah, you would be pretty accurate with that impression," said Aarav. "Just

one thing to note. Most Crypts aren't that big.

Crypts are containment chambers built around underground Null Zones, and

most of the larger Null Zones are in territory too hostile to reliably man.

That means most Crypts are on the smaller end. Not much larger than single

person occupancy, I hear, so you won't have any unsavory bunkmates. I've also

confirmed that the Crypt you're going to is empty.

Granted, there are a few larger Crypts where it truly is a mosh pit straight out

of hell, but that's not where you're going.

You're wanted alive, so you get an empty Crypt.

But you're also perceived as dangerous and unpredictable, so you still end up in

a Crypt."

"That explains why Crypts are so difficult to find," said Aldrich. "Null Zones

should interfere with any way to search for them, tech or Alter power wise.

Building a prison around a Null Zone should make it near untraceable."

"For good reason, too," said Aarav. "With all the nutjobs and crazies and new

age cultists out there, can you imagine if they could track down a Crypt and

free whatever insanity was trapped within? But anyways, you get what I mean

when I say that guests won't be an issue, no?

Even I can't stay on this transport all the way to your Crypt. They don't want

me knowing the coordinates to it

"Hm." Aldrich leaned back against the wall and looked up at the blacklight

ceiling of the Null Box, thinking.

Aarav raised a finger. "But, Mr. Thanatos, I have the power to change that. This

transport will make a stop in Kerala to drop me off, but I have a little bit of

authority there, you see. Just enough to make a very convincing argument for

this transport to transfer you over to an AA department there, one that just so

happens to be quite friendly with me.

Ican't completely free you, but I can arrange to have your containment be a

little more comfortable.

Something akin to a house arrest at a villa, for example — no cuffs needed.

Granted, you will still be under constant surveillance and have no Net access,

but I assume it'll still be much better than-,"

"That's perfect," said Aldrich with a nod as he stopped looking at the ceiling

and stared ahead. "That's absolutely perfect."

"Then you'd prefer house arrest?" said Aarav.

"What? No," said Aldrich. "I meant the Crypt."

"Let me get this straight: you WANT to go to the Crypt?" said Aarav, taken

aback.

"Yes, the Crypt is the perfect spot," said Aldrich. The government, AA, and

Panopticon all probably thought that sending Aldrich down to the Crypt was

the absolute highest form of security they could chain him down with.

A pit where no Alter powers worked and sealed with tons of metal like an iron

sarcophagus. It was a place where they could just throw him in without ever

having to worry about him escaping. They could toss him in there and chit chat

among themselves about what to do with him with peace of mind.

Little did they know, the Crypt was essentially just the perfect gamer's paradise

for Aldrich - a place where nothing could disturb him from leveling up. Aldrich

would never get visitors down in the Crypt, at least not until they unsealed it

and took him out. Nobody could even check up on him because of the tech

disruption.

Aldrich turned to Aarav and spoke resolutely. "Make sure I go to the Crypt. Do

you understand?"

Aarav blinked behind his shades, wondering if Aldrich was a madman that fit

right in a Crypt. He pushed up his shades and shrugged. "Sure, I can do that.

Even if I don't do anything, you'd be going there anyway.

Don't tell me you have a way to get out of the Crypt, Mr. Thanatos?"

"That isn't for you to worry about," said Aldrich.

"Then again, even if you did, it would be prudent for you not to escape

anyway," said Aarav. "They are also experimenting. Trying to see if this

containment will be enough for an Irregular like you. If you choose not to

escape, then you could lull them into a false sense of confidence to use against

them when it really matters.

I know I would do that if I was in your shoes. But anyways, I'll fulfill the rest of

my down payment too: I'll see to it that you'll not only get your hearing, but

you'll also get to it unharmed. One warning, though: it's likely the hearing will

be private and off the records.

I can't do anything to change that. The Tribunal will very likely want to talk to

you about sensitive matters of national and global security, and that

information is probably all classified.

Just in case you were wanting to try and broadcast your hearing to drum up

public support like with that other high profile hearing villain turned hero ,

what was his name again, ah, right, Dracul."

"That's fine," said Aldrich. "Whether it's public or not doesn't matter. All that

matters is getting to the hearing."

Aarav nodded. "Now, it'll be difficult to predict who will be on the Tribunal for

that hearing, so I don't think I can bribe everyone on there-,"

"You won't have to," said Aldrich. "I'll try to convince them on my own."

"..And if your words just aren't quite sweet enough?” said Aarav.

"They will be," said Aldrich.

Aarav shrugged again. "Well, if you have this much confidence in your

speechmaking ability, then who I am I, a reclusive CEO famous for never

making public appearances, to criticize you?

Anyways, even if the Tribunal does condemn you as an uncontrollable element,

I'm still willing to work with you in a more illegal capacity. I don't really care if

you end up as a hero or villain or something else."

Aarav stood up, cracked his knuckles, and walked over to the Null Box's exit.

only have a limited amount of time with you, and that time's almost up.

It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Thanatos. This is just a

hunch, but I have a feeling that this will be the beginning of something quite

grand. Something to make some real change."

Aarav banged on the door as loudly as he could. On the outside, it probably

registered as just faint vibrations, but enough for anyone closely looking to see

and take note of.

The door began to slide open slowly. Aarav turned around to Aldrich with a

final smile and a nod. "Until next time then?"

"Until next time," repeated Aldrich..