MOBA Game Apocalypse-Chapter 209: What I Must Do

"What the… The fuck. Isn't that the president?"

Harvey whispered loudly, his bald head swiveling toward the entrance of the fake street.

Leona, Mira, and Beatrice all turned to look, and to their surprise, it truly was the President. A brown-skinned man with dark orange hair, wearing a well-cropped suit, surrounded by bodyguards who looked too tense for their own good.

Well, of course, they would be tense.

"Don't stare," Beatrice muttered, turning back to her tablet before applying another nicotine patch to her neck. "It's rude."

"They're probably here for damage control," Mira said, her eyes shifting slightly, the pupils narrowing to slits for a brief moment before returning to normal.

"Ignore them." Leona simply folded her arms. "Piece of shit is probably just here for pictures. Sorry for my language."

The staff agents and investigators also stared for a moment, but then continued with what they were doing. Some shook their heads. A handful looked at the President with undisguised disgust.

After all, the files had already been leaked, and President Ronald Ohana's name was mentioned at least a hundred times in connection to funding approvals. The President had already made a statement claiming he wasn't directly involved, but… well, no one believed him.

He was currently being burned to the ground by the chronically online population of the internet.

President Ronald seemed to just be roaming around. However, the investigators he was talking with from time to time seemed uncomfortable just by being in his presence.

And then, there was finally activity at the house they were making sure to avoid.

Everyone stopped. The door to the fake house opened, and Katherine stepped out first, her golden hair reflecting the light. The crowd stared and whispered at first, but since it was only her, they were all about to go back to work… but then Adam stepped out behind her.

And with his emergence, everyone completely stopped what they were doing and stared. Even those who were far away all looked as if waiting for him to say something.

Not even the President had received the same reception when he arrived. The silence was absolute.

"Adam!" The members of the RLRD quickly rushed forward. Harvey reached him first, grabbing his shoulders. "Are you alright, man? You were in there for hours. You found anything?"

"Is your body functioning properly?" Beatrice asked, scanning him for injuries.

"Do you need to eat?" Leona added, her voice soft. "I can have something brought over. There—"

They all paused in shock, however, as Adam… Adam smiled at them. It was subtle, but it was there.

Mira's tail popped out from behind her, wagging furiously at that. She didn't seem to notice.

"I'm okay," he said. "Las Vegas. Has the Leak been contained?"

"Yes." Beatrice nodded, her expression easing slightly. "We were lucky. There were other Heroes present who helped clear it."

"Good," Adam said, nodding. "No one got hurt."

"Psh." Harvey waved him off. "Forget about Leaks for a second. What are you really feeling? You want some of B's drugs?"

Adam looked at him directly. "I'm truly fine. Wh—"

"Mr. Smith."

Their conversation was interrupted by President Ronald Ohana. He had crossed the fake grass, his guards clustering around him like nervous bees.

Harvey quickly got between them, his body coiling slightly, ready to strike at any moment. But he didn't say anything. He just stood there, glaring at him and the guards.

The President's guards wanted to pull him back, but Ronald insisted, holding up a hand.

"It's fine. I just want to talk."

Adam patted Harvey's arm and stepped forward to meet him. "It's alright."

He and the President shook hands.

"I was hoping we could talk," President Ronald said. "Privately."

"Sure." Adam didn't hesitate.

President Ronald was about to head toward the house, assuming that was where Adam wanted to go, but Adam walked in a different direction instead.

President Ronald was confused. "Mr. Smith? The house is—"

But Adam wasn't saying anything. With no choice, the President just followed, his guards trailing behind awkwardly.

Adam headed toward the exit of the fake neighborhood, leading them back to Dr. Tomoe's humble office. The people who were there immediately looked at each other before all rushing outside.

And once they were alone, the President finally spoke. "Mr. Smith, about the files—"

But Adam continued walking around the office, opening drawers, looking under shelves, as if trying to find something. He didn't even glance at the President.

But when Adam realized the President wasn't talking, he briefly glanced at him.

"What did you want to talk about?" he whispered, then continued searching.

President Ohana's eye twitched at this dismissive treatment, but he nodded. "I need you to stop releasing the files. It's going to disrupt the country. The markets are already panicking."

He stepped closer. "I can promise you, as long as I am in position, nothing like the Hospital will be built again. We will reform the oversight committees. We will—"

"When did you know about the Hospital?"

"They… told me the day I was inaugurated."

"Why didn't you try to stop it then?"

"I wasn't a scientist," Ronald said, his voice rising slightly. "The only thing they told me was that the Hospital makes medicines. Life-saving medicines. If you read my involvement in the files, it doesn't explicitly say I knew about the experiments. I signed budget approvals. I didn't know what they were doing to you. To the others."

Adam sighed at his words. He resumed his search, opening a cabinet, then closing it. "Did you release everything?"

Ronald was confused. "What? What do you—"

<Oh, no. No.> The Forger's voice then echoed through the speakers of the office. Adam looked up for a moment, then removed his earpiece.

<There's still at least thirty percent left not leaked. It's everything they did to you specifically. The entire last thirty percent.> The Forger… sounded angry. <It might be too horrific to expose. Almost half of the total files—are the experiments on you alone.>

"Is it…?" Adam breathed out, his shoulders dropping. He finally stopped looking around and sat in a chair. It creaked under his weight as it rolled closer to the desk. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

And finally, it was only then that Adam looked at the President.

"I won't release the rest of the files," Adam said.

President Ronald sighed in relief. "Thank you. You don't know what this means for the stability of…"

The President was saying something, but Adam wasn't hearing any of it. He just looked exhausted, staring at the desk, his eyes glazed.

Adam leaned back while the President talked about national security and healing and whatnot. But soon, his eyes caught something at the edge of the desk. A slight crevice in the wood grain.

He brushed his fingers along it. There was a line. He pressed, and a slim secret drawer popped out with a soft click.

"Oh…?" Adam opened it.

And there it was. What he'd been trying to find since earlier.

The photo of him and Tomoe. She was younger in it, smiling, and he was standing beside her, looking confused but safe.

Adam stared at the photo, and a hint of a smile crept onto his face as he brushed his fingers across it.

And then, with a sigh, he then turned to the President.

"The Hospital stays," he said.

"The government thanks—" President Ronald blinked. "What?"

"The Hospital stays," Adam repeated, tapping his finger on the desk. "And I will be the one picking the people working in it from now on. It will still be part of the government, but your involvement would only be with the budget."

"That won't be possible." President Ronald looked even more confused. "Mr. Smith, after everything that's been revealed, the public is demanding we abolish this place. They want it burned to the ground. If I don't do that, then I'll be asked to resign."

"This place still has patients that can't be in the outside world," Adam said, his voice calm. "Without the Hospital, they would most likely be killed by you. Or locked in black sites even worse than this."

"We wouldn't do something like that," Ronald insisted. "I'm not—"

Adam ignored him. "I expect more budget for the Hospital to rebuild. And it will be a public sector from now on. Full transparency. No more secrets."

"But—"

"Also," Adam cut the President off again, "From now on, I will be the only patient here that would be experimented on, and only for the sake of advancement in medicine. Enough lives have been lost trying to replicate my… condition. That stops now."

Ronald opened his mouth to speak, but Adam held up a finger.

"The patient rooms, the reinforced ones, will be used for Heroes who abuse and hurt people with their abilities. They're running rampant out there. This facility will become a rehabilitation for the dangerous ones, and a hospital for the ones who need help."

Adam stood up, staring the President in the eyes.

"Those are my terms," Adam said.

Ronald was completely stunned. His mouth opened and closed like a fish.

<Well…> The Forger's voice cut in again through the speakers. <Maybe the next President would agree after you're impeached, Mr. President. Just a thought.>

Adam pointed at the speaker, slightly raising his eyebrows.

President Ronald gritted his teeth. "If I agree to this, after everything that's already revealed, if the Hospital isn't abolished, people will demand my resignation."

"That won't be a problem," Adam said. He extended his hand toward the President.

"I will personally make a statement to the people. So, do we have a deal?"

The President looked at the hand, then at the photo on the desk, then at Adam's face. When he arrived here, the least he expected was to be completely cornered—he was here to negotiate, yes.

But to think he couldn't even say anything. He… didn't have any leverage here. He stepped back, staring at the ceiling for a long moment. And after a few more seconds, he did the only thing he could do.

"We have a deal." He shook Adam's hand.

"Thank you, Mr. President," Adam nodded and sighed. He sat back down, pointing at the door. "You can leave now."

President Ronald stared at Adam for a moment, then just quietly left. As for Adam, he picked up the photo and looked at it again.

And he didn't leave there. He stayed like that for minutes until Leona showed herself in.

"Hey there," she said quietly, lightly knocking on the back of the shelf door. "The FBI guys found something I thought you might be interested in."

Adam gently slipped the photo into his pocket and stood up.

"What is it?"

Leona smiled, and an almost childish giggle escaped her lips.

"Rocks," she said.

"...Huh?"