[u][b]Cincinnati - The Dam Breaks[/b][/u]

[h3][b][color=00a651]UNITY[/color][/b][/h3]

Sammel strode triumphantly through the broken remains of Cincinnati’s defenses. He sheathed his bumper sword, still slick and dripping with fresh blood, as he watched his mutants rampaging through the ruins of the last true stronghold of The Brotherhood of Steel. Screams of the dying filled the air intermingled the pleas of survivors being forcibly dragged from hiding places in the ruins and rubble of the destroyed city. Sammel forgave them for their ignorance, their feeble minds unable to comprehend the full glory of what they were about to experience - to join The Unity and become one with the master race. Soon they would understand though, all would know the everlasting peace which The Master had promised to bring. 

Sammel and the cadre of Nightkin guards shadowing him halted their march in front of a long line of prisoners, each of the human's hands tightly bound behind their backs and their heads lowered in defeat. A mutant with a large spiked club patrolled the line, watching closely for any sign of rebellious intent and ready to tear flesh the bones of any foolish enough to test their restraints.

The mutant warlord sneered at the pathetic sight of those cowering before him. Such weakness was only to be expected from the humans, but he still found it detestable. No matter, it would soon be remedied. 

“Your time of suffering is at an end,” Sammel began, stretching out his oversized arms before them, “For The Unity has finally come. The Master brings an end to all conflict, the struggles of survival in the wastes, and to the frailty of the human body and mind. Do not be afraid, for soon you will know the sublime perfection that of the super-mutant. The true next step in evolution.”

The prisoners collectively trembled in terror, knowing what came next. 

“Bring forth the Vat!”

[hr]


Braxton watched helplessly one after the other as his Brothers and Sisters were each lifted up by the small crane and then dropped feet first into the roiling green vat of FEV. A few went silently, simply staring out into space or gibbering quietly as the crane lifted them up, but most screamed or pleaded until the final moment their head was submerged. 

No matter which way they went in though, they always came out the same.  Their bodies grossly enlarged and dripping with FEV, with the shredded remains of their clothes clinging to their new green hulking bodies. All trace of their humanity completely gone, the new mutants would simply step out and fall in line behind the rest of their kin.

This continued one after the other, until it was his turn. Braxton said nothing, he didn’t beg or plead, but like an exhausted animal caught in a trap he simply went limp and gave up. He felt the strain on his arms as the crane lifted him skyward, and saw the glowing green of the liquid below him as it shimmered like some otherworldly substance. 

There was a pause as the crane hovered over the vat. A silent stillness that felt like it could last forever. 

Suddenly Braxton dropped and in only a moment he’d splashed into the abominable FEV, submerging him completely within its mutating grasp. 

Braxton’s last conscious thought as a human was how warm the FEV felt against his skin: and then came the pain.