“The Elder was amazed. He couldn’t believe there were still people out there who were willing to put their lives on the line to save us. If that nuke had made it into South Knot City, he would have been caught up in the blast, too. But that’s not all he wanted to say. Back when America was the United States, his uncle was drafted into war. America was getting involved in pretty much every conflict going—not that there was a shortage at that time.”
The warzone that Cliff always brought with him was a senseless battleground from a war called the Second World War. It was a war fought with fighter planes, tanks, bombs, and other small arms—weapons that drowned out the voices and screams of their victims. Sam remembered the stench of blood, mud, and oil.
“The Elder talked about the nuclear bomb. He said it was a weapon that was created at the end of the Second World War. One that could slaughter thousands in one go. Made it impossible to tell who had died and in what way. He used to say that it was the symbol of mass-produced human suffering. Each and every human is precious. Every single one of us is irreplaceable. That’s what we’re all taught to believe, right? Well, a nuke extinguishes the sanctity of individual human life. When the Elder’s uncle returned from the war, he fell ill with a heart condition and eventually went on to kill himself. But that wasn’t a senseless death. That was a death that he chose. In his suicide note, he described it as ‘dying with dignity.’
“If Higgs’s plan back then had succeeded, he would have been yet another anonymous death. Another person killed en masse. If he hadn’t joined the UCA he would have died all alone, necrotizing into a nameless monster and potentially a living nuke himself. And even if he didn’t, no one would have even known that he’d died. Sure, all the UCA did was acknowledge his death and deal with his corpse, but there was a record of him. Someone knew. He was a part of someone’s memory. And that was all down to the connection you made. And for that, the Elder was grateful.” Owen removed a scrap of folded paper from his pocket and gave it to Sam. “The Elder gave me this before he died. He told me to give it to you if I ever saw you again.”
All it said was, “Thank you, Sam.” It was written in pen. The ink was blurry and the scrap smelled of tobacco smoke.
Along with the Elder’s words of thanks was his name.
* * *
<Sam, I’ve made more progress in a certain investigation.>
Owen had probably notified HQ that Sam had arrived. As soon as he activated the communications terminal in his private room, he heard Deadman’s voice.
<The security settings for these records were unusually strict. I couldn’t access a lot of it, but I did glean a few scraps of information. It seems that Clifford Unger willingly put his own child in the care of the scientists conducting the BB experiments. It’s been difficult to compare the records, but it seems like the reason that Cliff left the special forces was because he had fathered a baby. The timelines mostly match.
<It looks like it happened after the first Death Stranding, but I can’t find a record of him getting married on the system, so I have no idea who the mother was. This is speculation, so take it with a pinch of salt, but I think he handed the BB over completely unaware of their true intentions. I’m certain that the number of people who knew what was really going on was extremely limited. It was probably only revealed to a handful of engineers and their superiors—which would have been Bridget and those in her inner circle. I think when Cliff found out about their plans, he attempted to reclaim custody. And after he failed, the BB remained in the program’s care.>
“Do you think it’s his hate for the president and Bridges that’s driving him?” Sam questioned, his voice sounding louder than he intended.
<Do you remember what Higgs told you in Port Knot City? He told you that Bridget Strand had died. But we made sure that fact never leaked out of Bridges. You even incinerated her in secret. But somehow, Higgs knew. I had suspected there was a traitor among us, but that doesn’t appear to have been the case. I think that Cliff—being dead himself—sensed that she died. That’s how Higgs found out. That would at least make some sense.
<Just because President Strand is dead, doesn’t mean Cliff’s hate died with her. No, I think he redirected it toward Bridges. Toward you and Amelie and anyone close to the director. Anyone who he sees as being involved with the BB experiments. And now that hate is driving him to set in motion the Last Stranding—to bring an end to the world as we know it.>
In a sense, the mass killings of the world wars and the mass extinction caused by the Death Stranding were one and the same. All those lives, each with a different face, a different name, different pasts and feelings, were mercilessly snuffed out by one horrific act of violence. Perhaps Deadman was right. Perhaps the hate and anger of losing his one and only child had pushed Cliff so far over the edge that he wanted to bring the extinction and violently trample all over the life and death that belonged by right to every other soul.
<I wonder if that’s why he used Higgs to capture Amelie. He knew that she’s an EE. When Amelie jumped away before, she left a message saying that she was going to finish what Bridget started. Now it’s starting to make sense. Bridget originally took the BB from Cliff to turn it into a human sacrifice and avoid extinction. Now Amelie is going to go and try to prevent the Last Stranding that Cliff is trying to cause in retaliation. She must have gone back to the Beach to confront him. But no one has seen hide nor hair of Amelie or Die-Hardman since then. They both must have fallen into Cliff’s hands. Maybe that’s why the world’s so messed up right now. It might not just be because all the knots were brought online. We have even less time than I thought.>
Deadman’s haggard appearance hung thickly in his voice. Sam couldn’t see Deadman’s face, but he could tell the man was physically and mentally exhausted. Sam was the same. All he could do was keep on inching his way back the way he came.
<Heartman and Lockne have barely gotten any sleep because they’ve been so busy looking for clues. Fragile is recovering nicely, by the way. She’s not awake yet, but she’s definitely out of the danger zone. Things are still touch-and-go, but at least things aren’t getting worse. Look, where Die-Hardman is concerned, can you think of any strong connection that he might have with Amelie?>
Sam couldn’t think of anything. All Sam knew was that Die-Hardman was always at Bridget’s side. When Sam first joined Bridges, Bridget had been the director and Die-Hardman was her assistant. The impression Sam got was that Die-Hardman didn’t decide anything. He was just Bridget’s right-hand man, only there to loyally carry out her bidding. Sam couldn’t even remember seeing him and Amelie together.
<There’s no way he could’ve made the jump to Amelie’s Beach if they didn’t share a strong personal connection, right? Well I looked… and I couldn’t see one. The network should’ve contained something, anything… but there was nothing whatsoever. Lockne is trying to break through the security on the archives, but it’s airtight and we’re not making much headway. It keeps demanding Bridget’s or Die-Hardman’s biometric information. But Die-Hardman’s entire life prior to his tenure with Bridges has been redacted. His name, his past, everything. There’s no telling who he was. Which led me to consider another possibility: that it isn’t the director and Amelie who have a connection, but the director and Clifford Unger? And what if that connection is what facilitated the director’s jump to Amelie’s Beach? If it’s those two who have a personal history, then it might explain why Cliff is holding the director hostage as well. But even if that were the case, it doesn’t answer the bigger question… How the hell did Cliff and Die-Hardman end up on Amelie’s Beach? Heartman has this hypothes
is: ‘If we want to fix the Beaches, we need to do so using some meta-level law. A law that governs human consciousness and brings a new meaning to the world is required. Perhaps that is Amelie’s Beach.’ I don’t really understand it. The Beach of everyone living on this planet can be compared to all of the individual capillaries that make up a living creature. In this case, the world.
<Each of them circulates blood without any of it crossing. So a higher plane of Beach that acts as a heart to govern this must also exist. That is a meta-level law. Until now, the life of this world has been in homeostasis. But now this new Chiral Network system is interfering with it, it’s all collapsing. The only thing that can restabilize it is a Beach that exists on a higher plane. And what if the Beach in question were none other than Amelie’s? Cliff may have summoned the director, but his true aim might have been to seize control of Amelie’s Beach. To exploit its power over every other Beach… and trigger the Last Stranding. Amelie doesn’t want extinction. She must have told you this? So, if we can eliminate Cliff, this world will be reborn as a new world that follows a new law. That’s why we need you to go back to Amelie’s Beach, Sam. That’s the only way to stop the Last Stranding.>
The room was suddenly plunged into darkness. It went silent as if the communications had been cut.
All the systems were off. The only one left on and emitting light was the incubator containing Lou’s pod. It seemed like Lou was trying to tell him something. Sam walked over to the pod. Lou was neither crying nor acting unsettled. Lou’s eyes were staring at Sam, wide open.
Let’s go outside. It felt like Lou was whispering to him.
The elevator arrived at the upper floor and the doors opened to wind blowing down the slope. The Odradek activated, but even without its help, Sam could sense that Cliff was approaching. Lou still didn’t cry. Even though it didn’t shed a single tear, Sam could tell his BB was frightened. He had the same feeling inside his own chest. But he wouldn’t back down. Battling against the wind, Sam climbed up the slope.
Let’s go. Lou was encouraging him somehow.
Cliff was here and he had brought a storm. Sam knew that Amelie and Die-Hardman must have been nearby, too. It was time to end it.
It was like the dragons in the sky had coiled into a vortex. An enormous funnel-shaped cloud, red like blood, let out a clap of thunder. It was like the roar of a raging dragon. It swooped down from the sky and swallowed Sam and Lou up in one gulp.
CLIFFORD UNGER
Night approached. The rain fell. There was no wind nor any sign of movement. The air felt like it was draped heavily around Sam’s entire body and the stench of the dead hung in it.
As Sam attempted to get up, he put his hand out to steady himself, but instead of making contact with the ground, it made contact with something else. It was a dismembered human arm. Once Sam’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he could finally survey his surroundings, he could see damaged shells scattered all around him. This wasn’t Amelie’s Beach. It was space-time that was full of death. Sam’s immediate reaction was frustration. He had wanted to go back to Amelie’s Beach. But then his mood changed. Just because this wasn’t Amelie’s Beach, didn’t mean that Cliff wasn’t here.
Sam took the rifle that the dead body was clutching.
Somewhere far off in the distance, Sam could hear explosions ripping the night air to pieces. The breeze picked up and the grass and plants swayed. The air that stroked Sam’s face was damp and hot. This place was different from the battlefields of stone, earth, and cold, dry air that Sam had encountered before. It was overgrown with plants he had never seen before and the sludgy bogs beneath his feet made it hard to walk.
The only thing this battlefield had in common with the others was the thick stench of death that permeated throughout it.
The Odradek on Sam’s shoulder rotated and stopped. It turned into a cross and glowed orange, showing the way to Cliff.
An explosion went off in front of Sam, as if showing him the way, and gracing the night with daylight for a split second. A green temple, filling Sam’s vision from the floor to the sky, appeared before him. He looked around to find a cell assembled from what he assumed to be tree branches surrounded by piles of skewered bodies, one on top the other, all soldiers dressed in field uniform. Several men appeared from the grass. All of them were dressed and equipped lightly and spoke to each other in a language that wasn’t English. Sam remained undetected as the men efficiently weaved their way among the intricately laid branches. Sam checked the direction that the Odradek was pointing and followed behind them.
* * *
The blades of a helicopter disturbed the night sky. Trees swayed wildly in the wind and the leaves that were torn off them danced through the air. The belly of the hovering helicopter opened and regurgitated its glowing, wet insides. Its long, tubular viscera that reminded Sam of intestines writhed its way down to the ground. Four soldiers nimbly descended. They were skeletal soldiers without skin, flesh, nor organs, but all clad in army gear. They didn’t seem to have souls, but they did seem to have a purpose. One by one the soldiers arrived on the jungle floor, each guided by a purpose that had piled up on the battlefield like sediment and penetrated their minds through the backs of their skulls.
The end of the helicopter’s guts was attached to Cliff’s abdomen as he lorded over the world below from his helicopter. The organ wasn’t like an intestine. This was an umbilical cord woven of all his negative emotions. It wasn’t an organ to digest all his resentment and sadness and hatred, but an organ to transmit it.
Cliff wound the umbilical cord that hung all the way to the ground back into his abdomen. Then, he suddenly kicked off the deck and dived into the jungle below.
A flare went off, as if Cliff was challenging anyone who might have been lurking below. It pierced through the night and lit up the jungle like the midday sun.
As soon as Cliff landed, an extremely hot wind began to gust violently. Trunks of trees crashed into each other and the entire jungle began to creak.
The skeletal soldiers ran in the direction that Cliff instructed, as Cliff followed behind them.
* * *
Sam was running through the jungle, which blew fiercely with hot air. He could feel the resentment of the dead beneath his feet every time his feet made contact with the ground. He made sure to keep running so fast that they wouldn’t catch him.
There was a burned-down village up ahead. The rice paddies around it were studded with holes caused by countless bombs. Dried-out fetuses were haphazardly thrown away. Sam saw one fetus wrapped around a gun that was the same size as itself. He passed a mountain of burnt and charred adult corpses. Sam kept on running, through a land where no one moved and no one breathed. The river was filled with the corpses of dogs and water buffalo and dead babies floated among the debris. The Odradek was pointing upstream. As Sam followed it, he could see flames and fires burning deep in the tropical jungle.
That must be where Cliff is.
Before he knew it, Sam had already entered a battlefield.
The ghosts of soldiers were fighting. It was the American soldiers who were clad in equipment that had been designed for killing. The weapons were engraved with the US insignia. Small-framed soldiers who didn’t even have guns attacked the American soldiers. Even though at first glance it looked like the American soldiers had the overwhelming advantage, the other soldiers put up a hard fight, and despite the difference in firepower, continued to attack. Even when they were hit, they got right back up and continued to fight. As the war raged on, the same scene played out again and again in front of Sam.
The Odradek was unwavering as it showed Sam Cliff’s location, but between them stood thick jungle. It was like a labyrinth and Sam couldn’t see the other side. The smaller soldiers were using this situation to their advantage. If Sam didn’t want to get caught up in their fight, all he could do was proceed cautiously straight ahead.
Sam walked out of the shadow of the trees and into a thicket,
and then back into the shadow of the trees on the opposite side, holding his breath the entire time. He could sense something moving in front of him. He lay down on his belly and looked beyond the grass. Two of the skeletal soldiers were heading his way. It didn’t seem like they had spotted him yet, though. If he stayed still they might just pass him by. The tension in Sam’s body grew and grew, like a screw being tightened. If it surpassed his limits, he felt like his mind and body would both explode.
Once the soldiers were far enough away, Sam resumed his path. As he carried on forward, the jungle finally came to an end.
Now he was confronted with a swamp that was too wide to cross. He couldn’t tell how deep it was. And there was no cover to be found.
He would have to go around.
He continued left, attempting to avoid the swamp, but soon found himself losing his sense of direction. He couldn’t tell where the swamp was anymore. He could no longer hear the fighting. It was like both the ghostly soldiers and the sound of their weapons had disappeared. He was surrounded by the quiet of the jungle.
Sam climbed over the shrubs in the wild undergrowth that had grown undisturbed for thousands of years and the fallen trunks of giant trees, until he thought he could smell water. He started to suspect that he had gone in a circle and had arrived back at the swamp he was trying to avoid. Was this the way he came? Was he caught in a time loop and repeating the same thing over and over again? All he could do was rely on the Odradek and Lou. If he didn’t, he would never be able to shrug off his doubts or escape the jungle itself. He would be doomed to wander it forever.
On the other side of the swamp, trees were burning. Cliff must be close. Sam was certain.