Red Tides A' Rollin' CHAPTER 6!!! (TW Surgery, cops, violence, manipulation)

(please disregard the yellow background i can't remove it lol)

The two men had been driving in their vehicles for some time now, perhaps maybe an hour with no sound except for the monotonous rolling of Fredrick’s tires against the cold concrete road, and the morning’s news bulletins playing on the radio, predicting yet another cold January day. It had only been a couple of days since Olivia died, and yet Fredrick found that he could not remember what day it was today. It couldn’t have been any more than perhaps the 4th or the 5th, right? He tried his best not to think about it much, only focus on getting back to the lab as quick as he could, the both of them. his hand had been fully healed for the most part, so what was stopping him from creating yet another robot, just to make sure he had perfected his craft? Jonathan, he thought to himself. That man worries way too much about me. Why does he care so much about something as insignificant as a wound? I mean, i know he was a doctor and all, but its not like it would kill him to calm the hell down! I’m a forty-three year old man, not some geriatric man who can’t be trusted with himself!

Fredrick’s inner monologue would soon be halted however, the moment he saw blue and red lights flashing behind him, and Jonathan pulling his car over into the side of the road. Fredrick was not the kind of man to leave his friend behind, and so he pulled over as well and popped his hood to give the illusion of him checking his oil.

The man who had stepped out of the dinged, scratched up police car looked to be around his early 20s to possibly his mid 20s. he was pale as a ghost, had black hair slicked back with what looked to be either oil or some kind of gel. his eyes were a pale green and yet they had a certain kind of malignant venom to them, not at all like how a regular officer’s eyes were. or perhaps that is how they are now, in a world where two superpowers killed each other. or perhaps that how they always were. He waltzed over to Jonathan’s car rather quickly and with purpose, and rapped his knuckles on the glass rather harshly, not caring as to whether or not the glass broke. Jonathan, with haste, rolled down the windows as quickly as his car would let him.

“W-What seems to be the problem. s-sir?”

“‘Sir?’ You mean ‘Officer?’” The officer sneered.

“Err, Yes Officer. What seems to be the problem?” Jonathan repeated.

“I’m doing a drug check. Meth, Crack, PCP, that kind of thing. I’ll need your license.”

Jonathan did not hesitate to give the man his license, wanting this to be over quickly. as the officer looked over his license, a scowl crossed his face.

“I-I’m Doctor Jonathan Min. Surely you h-have heard of me? I-I was-”

“Never heard of you.” he flatly spoke, not even letting Jonathan finish his sentence as he pushed it back into Jonathan’s hands. “now get out of the car. I’m going to search for any drugs. this is your one opportunity to tell me if you have any.”

And with that, the officer began to search every bit of that car. He checked under the seats and checked the center console and glove-box, pushing things around without a care as to if anything in there was fragile or not. Why would he care, anyway? it wasn’t his. Finally he popped the trunk of Jonathan’s car and began to rummage through his suitcase, opening up every pocket and zipper until he found something of note: three of Jonathan’s porcelain cat figurines. after looking at them, the cop decided to steal the clown cat and swiftly stuff it into his pocket. While Jonathan did not notice this, Fredrick did. His anger at the audacity of this man rose in his chest, and yet he could only keep it down in himself for the time being.

After the search, the officer, of course, did not find any drugs whatsoever. However, his attention then occupied itself on Fredrick.

“Who’s that with you?” The cop asked Jonathan, his flat, monotone voice continued.

“That’s my friend. we were just driving to his house!” Jonathan lied. The cop just looked back and forth at the two and just sneered.

“You really think I’m gonna believe that? What if that’s your drug mule, huh?”

“Sir, I already told you, we do not have any drugs on us! Here, I’ll pull out my pockets just to prove it to you!” Jonathan panicked as he pulled his pockets inside out. The officer just rolled his eyes as he strode over to Fredrick, who had been standing at his hood this entire time.

“I’m going to have to search your vehicle. step away.” He commanded. Fredrick just looked at him with malice, gritting his teeth behind his lips.

“Why, so you can steal my stuff too? You think I didn’t see that shit you pulled over near his trunk?”

“I didn’t do nothing of the sort, old man. now step away.”

“Like hell I will! I know what I saw!”

“And I say you didn’t see anything. I’m an officer of the law!-”

“Yeah, your so-called ‘Common Law’, which is just a bunch of bull y’all cooked up so that y’all could feel all mighty and powerful now that the world’s gone! Yeah, ‘Common Law’, Alright! Y’all are just a bunch of Common Punks, way i see it!”

“You better shut that billy-goat mouth, grandpa! I’m an officer and if you don’t comply, I’m going to beat the s-” the man began as his hand inched towards his baton.

It was then that Fredrick drew out his pistol from underneath his lab-coat, pointing it directly at the man’s stomach.

“You made of Kevlar, Boy? You even know who the hell I am?” Fredrick growled. “I was one of America’s top scientist, the leading man of Cybernetic enhancements, i was the number one of The Big Three! You really think I’m gonna let some stupid kid in a police officer outfit run his mouth at me? Threaten me? Steal my best friend’s things from him!?” He barked.

“Fredrick!” Jonathan called over as he walked to see what was going on, until he saw a glint of metal in Fredrick’s hand that he instantly realized was his gun.

“What are you doing!? P-Put that gun away!”

“Jonathan! this little punk just robbed you! I don’t know what he took, but I’m going to get it back!” He called back as he kept it pointed at the man.

“You’re gonna shoot me, huh? Go on then! Show your pansy friend what a real man is, you coward!”

“I’m going to give you two choices. either you give my friend this things back and we’ll pretend this never happened. Or, you can keep pretending that you didn’t and I’ll just shoot all your tiles and shoot you last. Mark my words, I will leave you for dead on this road to be eaten by Spikers. Just like how you left my kid!”

Silence lingered through the trees and on the ground as the two men stared holes into each other. The man’s knuckles were white as he gripped his baton, wondering how hard he could hit Fredrick in his head until he passed out or died. Fredrick was doing much the same.

“Kid? Wait… You’re that scientist guy they’re talking about!”

“I’ll give ya to the count of three to hand over my friend’s things.” Fredrick began as he turned the safety off.

“Fredrick! Stop! T-This is unnecessary-”

“Quiet, Jonathan! One..”

“Yeah, some of the boys are talking about seeing ya out by that Lab in Baton Rouge! Surprised ya even found it among all the rocks!

“Two…”

“And someone tipped us off that you were- what? Buying peop-”

POW!

Fredrick took no chance, and shot the man in his stomach. The man fell right into the concrete, clutching his stomach as panic began to set in. his breathing hitched as he tried to crawl to his car as fast as he could, but it was too late. Fredrick aimed for the tires.

POP! POP! POP! POP!

“FREDRICK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Jonathan screamed as he jumped back.

“You really think I’m gonna let this guy get away with whatever he stole from you?! and not to mention I think he knows what we’re doing!” He yelled back with a tinge of anger and panic. he then roughly turned the guy around and started searching him, holding his arms back with his knees. as he searched, he came upon 3 wallets, two bags of Axi, and Jonathan’s clown cat figurine.

“This look familiar to you, Johnny?”

“Wait… so he really did steal my things!” Jonathan slowly realized as he leaned onto the side of his car.

“Not only that, but he has two wallets belonging to who-knows-who, and some bags of Axi.” Fredrick huffed as he got up, kicking the man an extra time for good measure.

“So w-what now, Fredrick? Are… Are we really gonna leave him here?”

“Why not? He knows about whats going on, somehow. Its not like he can use his car or walk. he’ll ever bleed out here or get eaten by spikers.”

“I….I Guess you’re right…” Jonathan mumbled. “But what about the wallets?”

“We’ll just take everything. I’m itching to get out of B.F.E, what about you?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Well, lets get going then, shall we?”

And with that, they got back into their respective vehicles and continued driving. All the while Jonathan was thinking over what had just happened. It’s unusual for Fredrick to act that way, He thought to himself. Even when he fancied himself a punk, he only ever used violence when push came to shove, but it seemed that he took right to it, without even a thought if it was right or not. But then again, that cop did attempt to steal Jonathan’s things, and if Fredrick wasn’t watching at the time, Why, the both of them would be none the wiser! Maybe it was for the best that he attacked, he tried to reason with himself. But deep down, something just felt wrong, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was stress? Maybe it was righteous anger? Jonathan didn’t, and couldn’t know for sure. all he could do is keep driving until they got back.

When they got back, Fredrick was still pondering over what that cop said to him. While it may have been unlikely that anyone was around these ruins, it still stuck out to him in his mind. what are the odds? But then again, he hadn’t even mentioned it to him, so how would he know without there being someone scouting about?

“Fredrick? Are you okay?” Jonathan tried to ask him, but Fredrick didn’t answer. instead, he just walked back into the lab, and sat down in a chair next to one of the tables. With him was Ivan and Eva, who had some odds and ends sitting on another table, sorted in to what Fredrick assumed were Ivan’s things and Eva’s things.

“So, you two found yourselves some place to live for now?” Fredrick asked Ivan, ignoring Jonathan’s concern.

“Why yes we have, Doctor! Two houses near this lab are relatively untouched, save for some dust and knocked over things, but those can be easily remedied. How are you holding up, Dr. Johanneson?”

There it was. that question again. Are you okay? Are you okay? Fredrick understood the reasons for asking such a question, but sometimes, some questions shouldn’t be asked, he thought to himself. He could easily just ignore Jonathan’s questions, but Ivan is still such a mysterious individual, whom Fredrick only knew from the horror tales he had heard from soldiers and news articles. It would probably be best if he just answered, even if the answer was a bit vague.

“I’m doing well, I suppose. I’ve been better.” He sighed.

“Have you? You look like you’re stressed. Are you sure?” Ivan persisted, not really asking out of worry but out of curiosity. Fredrick wanted to keep insisting that he was alright, but deep down, he knew he wasn’t.

“Well Ivan, while we were coming back to the lab, we were stopped by a cop. he tried to steal from Jonathan and I had to shoot him.” Fredrick sighed, trying to leave out some detail. He looked over to Ivan for just a moment, and immediately noticed some blood splatters on the bottom hem of his uniform jacket, and across his pants and boots. the same could be said of Eva, whom only had blood on her legs and shoes.

“What happened to you two?” Fredrick shuddered, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer, knowing Ivan.. Ivan only shrugged and slightly grinned, his eyes staring right back into Fredrick’s.

“Well, if you really want to know, we encountered policemen as well. Now, inferring that you didn’t want your project to be known by anyone else, we disposed of them.” He explained, without the slightest shred of guilt in his voice.

“What do you mean, ‘Disposed’? What did-”

“I simply beat them to death with Ivanka. there were three of them, but luckily Eva helped as well.” He hummed, cleaning off his baton with a disposable cloth. Fredrick’s eye twitched at this revelation, and just put his hands to his face as he took it in. Not only was the cop telling the truth, but now Ivan had beaten three more to death, most likely without any care as to whether or not they made noise that would attract anyone. Maybe that is what Ivan wanted though. To hear screams once again. oh how he wanted to disassemble Ivan so badly in that very moment, but he immediately decided against it, knowing exactly what Ivan would do if he so much as laid a hand or a wrench on him.

“Tell me,” Fredrick began as his breath hitched due to the rush of apprehension. “Tell me it was quiet, at least.”

“Hm? you mean when I disposed of them? Of course! I had them faced down to the groun-”“Thats enough, Ivan.” Eva cringed. “I never did that before and I do not care for it!”

“Well, at least we know you’re sane for the most part, Eva…”

“Sometimes you have to do bad things in this world, Eva. Maybe someday you’ll grow into it as I have,” Ivan smirked as he leaned back a little in the chair he was sitting in. “But for now, lets just relax for a bit, Hm? Perhaps I should tell you about Bridget, as I have been meaning to.”

“T-That would be lovely, Ivan. Much better than your savage escapades.” Fredrick groaned.

“Ah yes. Where to begin? Oh, I remember now. I first met her when I had decided to take refuge under the onning of a hotel building. Little did I know that it had holes in it, and while i slumbered, i was rained on. Now, This woman woke me up when she saw that i was getting rained on, and took me inside the hotel. she gave me dry clothes, a place to sleep, food to eat. She did not have to do that. It was the first bit of kindness I had ever been treated to in quite a bit.” He mused, a smile on his face. “…Well, Besides being brought back to life, of course.”

“Oh, she sounds like a lovely dear! Do you ever think you will see her again, Ivan?” Eva questioned, like a child being told a story. Ivan closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

“All roads lead back to each other, don’t they? Maybe I’ll return to that city one day. maybe I’ll see her again on an old deserted road. Where ever ‘Somewhere’ is, I’ll surely meet her there, won’t I?” Ivan hummed as he placed one reinforced finger to his chin.

“Well, I appreciate the optimism, Ivan. I could use some right about now.” Fredrick sighed as he held one hand to his head, still mulling over the prior events. Even when Optimism was present, Fredrick’s worries still remained. over and over he thought of what Ivan had mentioned earlier, about the policemen he had struck down. he still had parts, tons of parts left over. Perhaps he could turn one of them into a guard of sorts.

“…Say, how many of them were there, Ivan?” Fredrick inquired. Ivan takes a little bit to remember just how many there were. there had to have been at least two or three, but to remain on the safe side, he answered with the biggest number.

“Three, I believe.”

“Oh, alright. I would hope that their brains were still intact, right? Its imperative that they be intact.”

“That, I am not sure of. Let me check right quick.” Ivan replied as he turned towards the door outside, but before he made it to the door, Fredrick spoke once again.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Fredrick began. “If Jonathan asks what you are doing.. J-Just tell him that you’re searching for something you dropped!” He finishes in a hushed voice.

“Understood, Dr. Johanneson. Come on, Eva.” Ivan beckoned as he held the door open for her. Afterwards, they set back to the outskirts of the town, looking for where they had left the policemen.

As the two walked, Ivan had noticed that Eva had been quite silent for most of the walk. he glanced over just for a moment, and all he saw in her fuchsia eyes was emptiness. not emptiness in a “Lights-are-on-but-no-one-is-home” sort of fashion, but empty like the soldiers eyes who had come back from war, who has seen humanities savagery. empty like dark caverns, and yet they were so bright, like glowing fireflies. and yet, so dark.

“Are you okay, Eva? You have been silent for some time now.” Ivan inquired, keeping his voice soft in the event someone may have been listening in.

“That was the first time i actually killed anyone… I don’t care for it.” Eva sighed, not looking at Ivan even for a second. “I don’t care for it at all.”

“Me neither, Eva. But you know we had to do it to them. Sometimes you have to.”

“How can you even stand it? Seeing the mess and hearing them yell?” Eva questioned, her eyes widening in apprehension. Ivan just shrugged as he strolled.

“I suppose when you were trained to do so, and have been doing so for quite some time, it just becomes second nature. Something you don’t really think about. Kind of like how you do not think to breathe.” Ivan hummed. “For you, it is an act of horror, but for me, it is merely an act of survival. In these lands, its more important now than ever to know how to defend yourself.”

“But those men did not look like they wanted to attack us.” Eva remarked. Ivan huffed, doing well to keep patient.

“They could have, though. one even raised his pistol towards us, that was the one I attacked first.” Ivan responded. “I believe we are here.”

he stepped over to the policemen, three of them having blood trailing from their heads from where Ivan had struck, and out of the three, only one looked mostly intact, with the only injury being where Ivan had slit his throat with a hidden pocket knife.

“Oh look, here is one we can bring back to Dr. Johanneson.” Ivan grinned as he used his strength to pick the man up. “I suppose we should head back now, shouldn’t we?”

Eva nodded, and together they walked back to that lab, while Jonathan sat on the hood of his car, still thinking about Fredrick actions. he slowly glanced up, and the first thing he noticed was the dead body slung over Ivan’s shoulder like it was a sack of feed. his heart dropped when he realized why Ivan had him. Fredrick was going to create another robotic Frankenstein.

“H-Hey Ivan! W-Whats with the-” Jonathan began, but was abruptly interrupted by Ivan

“We found a policeman on the outskirts of town. I thought Dr. Johanneson would like to know about this.” Ivan half-lied, staring straight into Jonathan’s eyes.

“Another one? Ivan, A-Are you sure-”

“Yes Dr. Min, I am sure. Now, If you will excuse me, I must bring him to Dr. Johanneson.”

“H-Hey, Wait-!”

With no further response, Ivan just ignored Jonathan and brought the man inside, following orders to the letter. Inside, Fredrick had just got done preparing for his next surgery, once again putting on his medical mask, goggles and gloves.

“Oh, you finally found him?” He hummed as he stretched the ends of his gloves so that they would cover the entirety of his hands with a perfect fit. “Good. Put him on the table for me, would you?”

“Understood.” Ivan nodded as he went into the operation room and sat the man down upon the table spread-eagle. Afterwards, Fredrick took the uniform off of him and proceeded to make markings over where he needed to cut with a pen, most importantly the torso and arms and legs. If this man were to be Fredrick’s Lab guard, he would need all the fixings to ensure he would be powerful, just like the super-soldiers he had created in the 2020’s!

“Is there anything else you need, Dr. Johanneson?” Ivan inquired. Fredrick nodded, and pointed his head towards the door.

“Get Jonathan in here for me, would you? I need his assistance.”

without further word, Ivan went outside to grab Jonathan, and Fredrick was left alone once again to continue preparing. Once he had confirmed that he had all the parts that he needed, he adjusted his goggles one last time before his gloves became bloodied. All alone, his thoughts were more audible, still thinking about how he and Jonathan were being watched. what if he was being watched right now? what if they were watching them through the windows? But surely they do not now the full intricacies of his project, right? What would they know about this? But just like Jonathan said, grave-robbing doesn’t carry a light sentence. how would he bring Olivia back if he was in prison rotting away? As old as he is, would he even live to make it out?

Then, his thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the lab door, and the huff of Jonathan’s breath. Even when he said nothing, Fredrick knew that voice from anywhere. the only fully organic person that couldn’t betray him, not when he was in on the secret project! If he ratted him out, he’d be ratting himself out as well!

“Fredrick, did you need-”

Jonathan stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the man prepared on the table for surgery, and the bright red of Fredrick’s gloves burned into his eyes to where blue spots could be seen if he looked the other way, confirming that, Yes, he was going to turn another person into a robot.

“…Fredrick we talked about this-”

“We talk about a lot of things, Jonathan. Now, I need you to come over here and help me with this-”

“Fredrick, your hand is still-!” Jonathan attempted to say, before being interrupted once again.

“My hand is fine now, Jonathan. I’m wearing gloves, so how would it even get infected anyway, hmm?” Fredrick retorted. there was a pause for a couple of seconds, before he spoke once again. “Now, as I was saying, I need you to come over here and help me with this. Please?”

“…Alright.” Jonathan dejectedly muttered as he trudged towards the operating table, putting on a medical mask and a pair of gloves. “So what’re we doing this time, Fredrick?” he asked rhetorically.

“We’ll be taking this man’s arms and legs off and replacing them with the cybernetic parts. nearly every bit of this man by the time we are done will be cybernetic. At least what I can change out.”

“And his memories?” Jonathan inquired as he glanced over to the man’s bloodied uniform, instantly recognizing it. “What about his memories?”

“Oh, his memories? I don’t think he’ll be needing those.” he responded rather flatly. Jonathan felt the air go cold as he heard this.

“You mean he’s… not gonna remember anything? He’s gonna be a husk?” He stuttered as he looked Fredrick in the eye.

“Eh, more like a drone, but if you want to call him that, that is alright. He’ll be a guard for the lab.”

“Ivan can guard the lab, we don’t ne-”

“Ivan is a former Russian general, and has ALL of his memories. For all we know, that thing could come in here and slit our throats while we’re sleeping!” Fredrick growled. “Now, i’ve already prepared him. so lets get it over with, shall we?”

And with that, Fredrick took a scalpel and opened the man up, just like how he opened up the last two, and quickly began removing and replacing organs with parts, all the while, Jonathan just stood there, waiting for him to give him instructions, trying his best to dissociate from the situation, but he found that he could not. What he saw was like watching a car crash. He wanted to look away, but he found that he just couldn’t. Fredrick, however, didn’t care in the slightest. In fact, the surgery and repetitive motions were all he could think of at the present moment. He couldn’t even notice the distraught look upon his friend’s face. All he wanted was to complete his task, to perfect his work and methodology so that he may not make mistakes when it was time for Olivia to come back. But at the moment, he couldn’t even think about her.

“Alright, the parts are all put together. now, we just need the arms and legs-”

“Um… Fredrick?”

“Sigh… Yes, Jonathan?” he groaned as he picked up a bonesaw from off of the table next to him, which had been cleaned from the last time it was used. He glanced over at Jonathan, who had his hands clasped together, thinking on what he was going to ask of him.

“…D-Don’t you think this is going a bit too far? I-I mean, we already have Ivan and Eva, y-you already wrote down your methods… I-Is this really necessary? j-just cutting up a random man?” He mumbled, his heart beating just a bit faster now. Fredrick’s face grew serious, and he pursed his lips as he turned himself to face Jonathan.

“Jonathan, who is the man doing the surgery here?” He asked, unusually stern as he kept hold of the bone saw. was his fear coming to light? was Jonathan… questioning his goal? after all they had done? Even when he confided in him, telling him how much the project meant to him? Why is he saying this now? How dare he?

“I-I didn’t mean it like-”

“No-no-no, Who is running this project?” He asked once again, his breath hitching slightly, not not enough for Jonathan to notice. It took him a bit to respond, taken aback by Fredrick’s shift in behavior, almost worrying that he would do something to him with that bone saw he was holding, but he knew better than to think that.

“Y…You?” Jonathan responded, slightly backing up from where he was. Fredrick nodded, still looking, staring into Jonathan’s eyes through his glasses, his face not softening even a bit.

“That’s right. it’s me who’s running this whole operation. If I didn’t think this was necessary, I wouldn’t be doing this, Jonathan.” he grumbled, his eyes still locked onto Jonathan. “And if I say we should do something, that’s probably because it will benefit us. Alright?”

“A-Alright.. Sorry.”“I don’t want you to be sorry, I just want you to understand. Now come on, we don’t have all day. Hold that arm steady for me, will you?”

“…Alright.” He blankly mumbled as he held one of the man’s arms in place while Fredrick began to saw, once again not being able to stop watching what Fredrick was doing. from how scarily vigilant he was, to getting this project done, to the sudden shifts in behavior, to even his growing worry after the incident with the cop, he wondered if Fredrick was really, truly alright. Of course, no man would be the same after losing a child, but even he knew that this was not a good way to cope, but judging by his previous words and actions, bringing it up would just trigger another one of these reactions, and Jonathan did not want to experience it again. he did not care for it. All he could do for now is hold on to this man’s about-to-be-amputated arm, and try his best not to worry.

after a while of holding onto limbs and watching them be amputated, Jonathan saw Fredrick grab a set of cybernetic arms and legs, and watched as he attached screws to bone, wire to nerve, and metal to flesh. then came the electrocution, and the erasing of the man’s precious memories except for only vital ones. the man, now nameless, would soon awaken and shamble to guard the lab’s door not long after waking up, and did so. Afterwards, Fredrick wrote down his findings and methods into his notebook, all the while, Jonathan is thinking to himself:

“What have I gotten myself into?”