Xcom 2 Story Part 9: Determination 


Chapter 1: More Action, More Drama!
   Finally, after about three hours of wandering the forest pathways, almost getting caught because of a green heavyweight Muton, and what feels like almost getting reset back in time, myself and the Muton finally returned to the Blacksite after what was supposed to just be my patrol that turned into having to drop of a paperweight Xcom soldier to his hideout. I could of been out and back in time for lunch, but noooooooooo! Papyrus wanted me to drag along the extra weight of a Muton and a should of been dead soldier.... But besides all that, as I approached the Blacksite gates, I saw some shadows of god knows who - or what dashing around inside. It almost looked like a big goat monster and a bunch of smaller humanoid like figures all standing around one center, definitely-a-human figure. Suddenly, the center figure activated something like a jet pack and took to the sky, firing off a few rounds before disappearing behind the great evergreens of the forest and into the warm orange fire glow of the setting sun. Then, I heard screams of pain and a bunch of worried shouts. Myself and the Muton ruched the gates too see a bunch of what I thought to be Monsters from the nearby settlement Classic Sans told me about gathering around a small, teenage girl. The girl was wounded, gunshot to the side… dame, I felt bad for her. I know gunshots sting, even with armor on… the levels of pain she must be feeling are beyond measure. But before I could intervene and ask what the hell was going on, all the people from the Monster settlement disappeared. My guess was Fell Sans was there and teleported everyone away with the wounded girl. Then I saw Classic Sans walking to his quarters, and tried to catch up with him. But before I could get within earshot, Keeper blocked my way and I almost walked right into him. 
   “Hey Shields, you're back! Great! Listen, you might wanna check on your girlfriend… she’s sitting under a tree at the back of the Blacksite… she looked upset and I could swear I heard crying.” Keeper explained, gesturing towards the back of the Blacksite. I gave him a look, but turned around anyway. Low and behold, there she was. Kayla was sitting under a tree, all huddled up with her face buried in her knees. I holstered my rifle, and on the way over to her, grabbed a completed carbon alloy sword she had me craft for her before my patrol, hoping that maybe seeing it could cheer her up. As I approached, she saw me and did her classic “STAY AWAY” shout at me, but as always, I was determined to learn why she was upset. 
   “Alright, enough of that. You know I care about you, I just wanna know why you feel upset.” I continued to approach her more carefully, but apparently she had more going on that what I thought. 
   “OH! So you CARE about me huh? You REALLY do, huh? I’M JUST A OBJECT TO YOU!” For a moment, that line… is all what echoed in my mind… (Hey, that rhymed.) she’s just a object to me? Apparently, something went wrong somewhere and I just wanna know what at this point. 
   “Ok, ok… back up, calm down, take a deep breath and relax a bit. What EXACTLY is up, clearly something is clouding your mind that you wanna get off your chest.” I sat down a few feet away from her, setting the finished sword on my left side so she could not see it. Suddenly, I saw light reflecting off her cheek as tears started rolling from her bright, purple eyes.
   “I just can’t do it anymore… I don’t want to do it anymore! The war, the fighting, constantly being under a blanket of fear…confusion...do you even know what that feels like? Lost on some life path, not being able to really know who you're real friends are? I just want it all to stop… slip away like some bad dream…” Kayla buried her head in her knees again… I let her words sink in...I mean, I know the effect of war on a person. You feel locked in this bubble of always being on alert…never knowing when the next attack is coming from...but never on a scale like this. 
   “Ok, calm down, just breath. I know what war does to a person, slowly breaking down a person’s personality...mind...even SOUL. And this war has dragged on longer than the original World Wars… we all are tired, but it’s almost- no, it IS a way of life. And I may not understand where you come from, but I understand where you are NOW. This wartime lifestyle can chip away at even the strongest of men and women. But you know what? You gotta fight back, test fate, show it that you are not gonna back down so easily, and most of all, you gotta fight. Fight for yourself, your friends, your values, your morals.” I felt like I was giving a pep talk… and in a way, I guess I kinda am. “Now, I can not force you to do anything, but just remember that you have some good friends here, me, Keeper, even the Skeletons! But, if you want to leave, I can’t blame you. But please, just take some time to think about this alright?” Kayla looked up, and she cracked a halfhearted smile… but deep down, I know my message was heard.
   “I...guess so… I’m just so confused!” Kayla shouted. 
   “Yeah, I know. But if you still want it, I finished the sword you requested.” I brought the Sword out and showed it to Kayla. 
   “Of course I want it.” Kayla replied, taking it and we both stood up. 
   “Feel better now?” I asked. Kayla nodded and went for a walk in the forest, shimmering as her camo kicked in, and soon she disappeared into the forest. I decided to leave her be for a bit, she could use the time alone to think. I just hope she comes back. Regardless, I made my way to the mess hall… all this drama makes a man hungry. 


Chapter 2: “DETERMINATION” 
   A few hours later, I was spending my time getting ready for my next patrol. I couldn't stop worrying about Kayla, she seemed really upset at well, life. I don’t know if it was because of me or what, but I had that haunting feeling in the back of my head. On my way out, I passed Keeper who probably could tell I was worrying. 
   “Hey Shields, what ya thinking about? You seemed worried about something.” Keeper asked. 
   “Naw, it's nothing.” I replied, trying to hide it.
   “Dude, you look miserable. I don’t even need psionics to tell you're lying.” Keeper rolled his eye. 
   “Ok, fine! It’s Kayla, ever since I talked to her… I don’t know, I hate seeing her upset! And then she left, I do-” before I could finish, Keeper cut me off.
   “She left? But… she just walked by like, 2 minutes ago. Anyway, sorry about that.” Keeper said, looking a bit confused. 
   “So, she did come back? Ok… well I guess she just wanted to blow off some steam and went for a walk. Well that's good, at least. I still feel like it’s my fault, ya know? Like something I did is bugging her.” I explained, kicking the dirt. 
   “Don't beat yourself up about it man, she’s probably just tired. Besides, you've been treating her nice enough so far, I can't think of anything she would be mad about.” Keeper replied.
   “I guess so… anyway I gotta head out on another patrol.” I put on my helmet, but before I could walk away I heard footsteps behind us.
   “Hey, I heard my name get called. What’s up?” Kayla asked. I turned around and though might as well just say it.
   “I was wondering where you were, considering you did not really tell me you were coming back earlier today.” I explained. 
   “Oh, well I just needed to calm myself down… ya know? I feel better now, but still, you know how it is.” Kayla replied. 
   “That’s good to hear, but again, I gotta head out on another patrol, so I’ll be back later.” I made my way outside, and I could barely hear Kayla and Keeper talking about Psionics before I got to far. 
   A couple hours into my patrol, I was standing on a hilltop overlooking the countryside. Flat, rolling hills glowing in the setting sunlight. One of the few places left untouched by the war. It’s a crazy thought thinking about all the beautiful landscapes that’s been ruined by this. It’s also a sad thought too, having to walk so far from the closest thing I have to a home just to see the natural beauty of Earth, having most of it war-torn and burnt to the ground. Suddenly, among my daydreaming, I heard my radio go of. I was shot back into reality when I pressed the receiver button and my ear was filled with Advent gibberish. I never got a full understanding of the Advent language, but losey translated one of the Blacksite’s scout squads uncovered some cargo at a small Xcom encampment. And because I’m the only superior on patrol, I’m the one that has to go and check it out. 
   About half an hour later, I finally found the Xcom encampment the scout squad raided. I quickly took note of the area, it appears that this place is about five miles northwest from that old First Nations camp. To my right, the raging river that cuts the forest in half continues to flow and the forest entrance was a few feet beyond that. Regardless, I made my way around the blood soaked bodies and damaged supplies to a truck full of weird creates. Inside the crates were bottles of bright milk like fluids, packed six to a create with at least twenty creates in total. The bottles were not labeled but the crates had “DETERMINATION” written on them. I grabbed a bottle, and out of curiosity I opened it up. After a second look, whatever it is looked more like the stuff found in lava lamps. And let me tell ya, it did NOT smell like milk. I was sitting there, confused… then something clicked. I remember the two Sans’ talking about some weird top secret substance so maybe this is it. I resealed the bottle I had and clipped it to my belt to show Classic Sans. I told the scout squad to secure the area as I started to make my way back to the Blacksite.


Chapter 3: Experiments 
   I found Classic Sans leaning against the wall of the armoury, probably half asleep. I walked up next him, holding the bottle, he did not even bat an eye. 
   “Sans… hey, Sans! SANS! Oh my gosh… SANS!!!!” I was practically yelling in his face, but he did not respond. I knocked on his skull a couple times and he woke up, almost jumping outta his sk- well I guess he has no skin to jump out of, but I did scare him a bit. 
   “By Asgore Shields, what the hell do you want? And what the hell that?” Sans sighed, leaning against the wall again.
   “Sorry! Anyway, I got a call about a raided Xcom encampment and upon approaching the area, I found some of this weird...stuff.” I help it up so he could see it, but he still looked confused. “The bottles are not labeled but the crates they are stored in are labeled Determination. I was hoping maybe you would know about it.” I added. Sans’s eyes went dark, and his smile turned into a worried frown. 
   *“If that’s really what you say it is, we need to secure it and lock it up ASAP.” Sans started to sweat… which I still did not understand because he’s a SKELETON! How do they sweat!? But I guess it was question enough to how he was even alive, but was not my biggest concern. 
   “Well, I drew a map on my way here of the area, so we can go now.” I explained. Sans nodded and before we could leave, Fell Sans walked by. He went to wave at us, but he saw the bottle in my hands and his eyes went wide… guess he knew what this was already. He ran over and ripped the bottle out of my hands, his eye glowing blood red.
   *“Where. Did. You. Find. This?” Fell Sans growled. 
   “At a Xcom encampment, about 20 miles out.” I explained, grabbing the bottle back and clipping it on my belt.
   *“Don’t matter where it came from, we gotta go scure it.” Classic Sans intervened. Both myself and Fell Sans agreed and I gave Classic Sans the coordinates of the Xcom encampment. Before I knew it, the three of us were at the encampment. The scout squad was still there and when they found us, I told them that myself, Fell and Classic Sans would take it from here. They wandered off and I showed both Sans’ the truck. 
   *“By the Queen, look at all this! There is so much of it… how did Xcom find all of it?” Fell Sans asked, completely shocked. 
   *“I don’t think they found it, exactly…” Classic Sans shouted from inside the command tent. Myself and Fell walked in beside Classic and found ourselves face to face with what looked like framework to one of Sans’s Gaster Blasters. 
   “Hey Sans, that looks like a Gaster Blaster, don’t it?” I commented. Both of them looked at me… “What?” I asked. They both rolled their eyes in unison. 
   *“Of only it was just that. That is actually a functioning mini-model of the Determination extraction machine… which means Xcom somehow knows about it… and is now capturing monsters for this… if they find out what DT actually does to humans, or monsters… this is NOT GOOD! We need to get both the DT and this machine back to the Blacksite and lock it up. Keep it in the vault until we find a means to safely destroy it.” Classic Sans started pacing around the tent. 
   *“I’ll go back and tell one of the Papyrus’ to get it set up.” Fell Sans as he disappeared in a bright flash of red light. Classic Sans walked outside the tent and I followed.
   “What’s so bad about this stuff? What does it do?” I asked.
   “Well, to humans it’s like a super boost of energy, giving them the power to SAVE, LOAD, and RESET. Pretty much, they can live after death and reset the world to their last safe point. But monsters… monsters can’t handle DT. So if they absorb to much, their physical forms fail. They start to melt… and merge together into these hellish creatures… we already learned that the hard way… er well, Alphys did at any rate.” Sans explained. Then something sparked in my head… I reached for a first aid kit on my belt and brought out a needle. Yes, it sounds like a crazy idea, but if humans can withstand an injection… might as well, right? I opened the bottle of DT I had on me and filled up the needle… 


Chapter 4: Unlocking The Power
   *“What do you think you're doing?” Sans asked as he finally figured out what I was doing. 
   “What does it look like?” I replied, taking off my wrist guard so the needle could go though. 
   *“Don’t. Even. Think. About. It.” Sans’s eyes went dark, but just stared at him, rolling my eyes. 
   “Come on, you said humans could take this stuff, right?” I asked. 
   *“Yes, but it’s not really worth the risk. You body could ment and turn into a pile of goop, ya know. That and the power of Determination is dangerous. Alphys and I have been studying this timeline, and the integrity of it is weak because of Error Sans. Resetting the world would just further weaken it, leading it to the brink of collapse.” Sans explained. 
   “Oh come on, you know how powerful this could be in battle? I promise I will not reset the world, but you never know, I could get some crazy superhuman abilities.” I countered. Sans sighed. 
   *“You better not break that promise, we Sans’ can remember resets.” Sans warned. I rolled my eyes again and stabbed my wrist with the needle. Watching the lava-lamp fluid disappear into my body. I clipped the needle back to my belt and suddenly I got a burst of energy surge through my body. I felt twice as strong and mentally sharper than what I once was. Suddenly a small yellow heart floating beside me. It started flying all around me like a bee around a flower. 
   “Yo, is that my soul?” I asked, amazed. 
   *“It appears so.” Sans replied.
   “Why is it yellow? Does that mean something?” I asked again. 
   *“Yellow means justice. It will give you buffs in battle, if you fight for a nobel cause.” Sans explained. “It could give you and surrounding allies buffs in battle. Maybe more aim or defence, could be useful. At least it does not have high SAVE and LOAD powers…” He added. 
   I closed my eyes, unable to describe the feeling, I felt strong but also a little weird at the same time. Like my body is adjusting to this newfound power. The soul heart disappeared… I feel...something…but whatever it was, one thing was clear... I opened my eyes and they were glowing yellow, the color of justice...I am filled with… DETERMINATION. 


Chapter 5: The Vault
   Before long, I had a air transport fly in and take the DT creates to the Blacksite. As I was loading crates on the transport, Sans was still pacing around the camp.
   “Why do you still look so worried?” I asked, almost dropping a create. 
   *“I don't know, just a bad feeling about having DT around again. The Underground has a bad history with that stuff.” Sans replied. 
   “I wouldn't know, then I don’t think I really want to know.” I said. “Anyway, you sure we shouldn't bring this stuff to that settlement? Ya know, so it can be tested by doctors who actually know what it does.” I asked. 
   *“No, no, NO! It’s to risky for either Alphys to get their hands on this stuff. I do not want a repeat of the True Lab.” Sans snapped, his eye glowing blue for a second before quickly fading out. 
   “Alright, alright, a simple no would've been nice.” I loaded the last crate on the transport. “You coming back, or what?” I asked, taking a step inside. 
   *“Eh, why not. I’m too tired to shortcut.” San replied, jumping on.
   “Alright, take us back!” I shouted to the polit. The doors hissed closed and we were on our way back to the Blacksite. 
   We landed just in front of the vault. Literally a massive metal door with a super-lock on it. Classic Papyrus was already waiting for us. We hit the ground and the doors opened, letting in the cool evening breeze. Sans walked off towards his quarters and Papyrus approached. 
   “Ah, good, you finally made it. Let me unlock the vault and you can move that… stuff inside.” Papyrus walked back to the vault door, unlocked it and opened it. Inside was empty space… I wonder how long this had been just sitting here. We are in the back corner of the Blacksite, but it should not of gone unnoticed for so long. 
   “How do you think this is gonna get destroyed?” I asked, starting to haul the crates in the vault. 
   “I would not be surprised if Sans destroyed them himself, one by one, with his bare hands.” Papyrus laughed. A few minutes later I got them all in. Papyrus resealed the vault and the transport flew away. Night was falling on the Blacksite once more, and it was time to get some more sleep.
   “Well, that’s that. Another day, another mystery substance found. I just hope I don’t start melting later… I did inject myself.” I mumbled.
   “YOU DID WHAT?????” Papyrus shouted. “Does Sans know, at least?” He added, a bit calmer. 
   “Oh shut up, he was right beside me when I did it. I promised not to ruin the world.” I replied. 
   “Alright, I’ll believe you. But I hope you keep that promise.” Papyrus warned. 
   “Yeah I will, anyway it’s already pretty late. See ya in the morning, Pap.” I waved and went back to my quarters. I can’t wait to see what my new DT power can do, but that will have to wait.