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Luiza, Leon and Cameron all looked on in sombreness at the collection of anomalous artefacts, weapons and anything else that their family had collected over the years. They began sorting through the pile, so far having only placed three things in the donation box.
Cameron let out a heavy sigh, after he had picked up a red LeMat revolver that had belonged to his great great great great grandmother and stared at the inscription on the barrel for a few minutes: "TO HELL WITH YA!" it read and had a tag note which described it as being able to cause the temperature in organic tissue to rise, killing them within a matter of seconds. He gently placed it next to a pile of things that they were not going to be giving to the Authority.
Leon let out a deep grunt of disapproval, before he asked "Are you sure we should be doing this?" and turned his head to Luiza, meeting her own disappointed face.
"I don't like it any more than you two do, but I'm afraid it's for the best," Luiza said to them in a low disquieted voice, staring at a blue pendant she had received when she was no less than a year old. She threw the pendant into the box of stuff that they planned to donate to the Authority, before speaking up.
"I know this is hard, but ever since Site-014 was destroyed… I've had a bad feeling that… they're up to something."
Leon cut her off. "Oh come on Luiz, do you really think they had anything to do with Site-014?" He sneered, but quickly turned away to hide his own uneasy face. He rubbed his shoulder, then continued to look through the pile of stuff. "Even if they did, this stuff is ours to fight against them."
Luiza's face had a quick flash of guilt written on it, but she only kept her face concentrated on her pile of sorting-out. "You're right, and I know our family has had to suffer, not just at their hands…" Luiza paused, but then continued. "But that doesn't excuse us from being able to help when we can, don't forget my dad worked in Protection, and so did his dad."
"Yeah but that doesn't make it any better when almost everyone at the Authority calls us the" Cameron quickly realised what he was saying, before he shut his mouth. Cameron's sudden silence concerned Luiza, causing her to look in his direction and ask in a soft tone "What do they call us Cameron?"
Cameron didn't answer.
Luiza sighed, "Cameron, what do they call us?" She asked him again, this time a bit louder and with more sternness.
"They call us the 'Cursed Family'." Cameron quietly responded with a little bit of sob, now beginning to quietly tear up. He kept his head down and turned to the left a bit, not wishing for the other two to see him like that.
Luiza sighed, getting up and walking over to comfort Cameron. She placed a hand on his back, before pulling him in for a hug, Leon also joining in. He wrapped his arms around the both of them, before he nearly bear hugged them. Cameron wiped the tears as he allowed his family to embrace him.
"Look, Cameron, clearly we're not very popular, or hell even liked by our colleagues, but you're nineteen and you need to ignore them." Luiza told him, a comforting smile on her face as she looked at him.
"If anyone keeps insulting you, just come to me and I'll make sure to put them in a coma." Leon cracked up, although Cameron and Luiza both knew he would, He did the same thing for his boyfriend. Cameron thought to himself, and smiled at the thought of Leon being there to keep him safe.
"The New Generation can wait, right now we need to focus on what's at hand, especially if we still want to keep living here." Luiza finished her sentence with concern, and retrieved a letter from her left trouser pocket. She looked at it in gloom, before retrieving the piece of paper within.
"Fucks sake, are we in trouble with the bills?" Leon asked, as he looked over her shoulder at the paper.
"No, it's nothing like that, but ever since we became the only Chapmen, well, except for Gold" She added, quickly changing the subject, which Leon picked up.
"Hey wait a minute, where is Gold, and why aren't they helping us sort out this shit?" Leon demanded, crossing his shoulders at the thought of Gold getting a free pass.
"Gold is busy at the moment, you know how much work they get." Luiza said first, with Cameron finishing her sentence afterwards.
"Do people in The Congregance really work long hours?" Leon asked, a lack of conviction in his tone that Gold wasn't here because of that reason.
"Well, you know Gold, and I'm sure that ever since they were allowed to work for the Authority, they've been keeping a close eye on them ever since." Luiza said, Leon nodded his head in response. Is it weird to call Gold a person? She thought to herself. They're not human, but…
"Even after forty-six years. they still don't trust them?" Cameron asked, a sad disbelief in his words that even now, Gold was criticised.
"Well Cameron, you know how the Authority is when it comes to hiring… people" Luiza said, emphasising that last word to make the message clear.
"Well anyway, let's get back to sorting out what we're giving away." Leon said, before returning to his pile of items.
Cameron nodded, and placed another object in the "DO NOT GIVE" pile, a moon rock that had been brought back as a souvenir by his grandmother, Astra.
"We aren't gonna lose the place though, are we?" Cameron asked, having been unable to shake it from his mind.
"No, I won't ever let us lose the compound." Luiza declared in a fierce but determined manner, to which Cameron sighed a bit of relief.
"This place is our home, and its been ours and our family's home for eight generations, I won't let it be taken by the New Generation, the Authority, or anyone else for that matter!" She exclaimed with enthusiasm, clenching her fist during her little speech.
"I don't want to let you feel afraid that something bad is going to happen to us or our home, but I promise I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that whatever comes our way, we come out in victory." She proclaimed with more enthusiasm than before.
"Thanks Luiz," Cameron said, a soft smile now on his face as he felt a strong trust emanate from her words. Leon himself was also impressed by his cousin's speech.
"If it came from anyone else, I'd be ready with my packed things," Leon jokingly said, but smiled at Luiza with a sense of acknowledgement.
"It's nice that you believe in me, Leon," Luiza commented.
"Well you are the only Chapmen in history that ever made it to Level 4." He replied, and saw a bit of smirk grow across Luiza's face after he had said that. Cameron also nodded, acknowledging her achievement.
Come on guys, it's not that big of a deal, she thought to herself, but the growing smile on her face was too hard to contain, and she needed to keep her head down, not wanting to give Leon any sort of cheeky satisfaction. She sighed, before picking up something that had belonged to Aliza.
"Remember guys, anything that belonged to Aliza isn't to be given." She told the two of them, to which they both nodded their heads in agreement, placing whatever they found into the large pile of weapons (mostly guns) that had belonged to Aliza.
"Yeah, they don't deserve a damn thing from her." Leon said out loud, as he too was much aware like the rest of the family of the sacrifices and blackmail Aliza was put through during her time. Cameron seemed to have agreed with this, but thought to himself out loud.
"But what if Protection really needed these?"
Leon interrupted him, "Just let Protection worry about ol' Protection, and let's focus on us Research folks."
Cameron nodded, but another question popped up. "Do you think we'll get any of this stuff back?"
Leon quietly laughed to himself. "I doubt it, but if it's going to make any difference, I wouldn't mind never being able to see it again."
Maybe now, they'll be a bit less hostile to us. Luiza thought to herself, but knew that their little donation was going to achieve nothing for them.
"Do you think our family would be happy that we're giving this stuff to them?" Cameron asked, slowly halting his actions.
"Hard to say, but I think they'd understand that we're doing the right thing here. Even if they're a bunch of assholes, they've still offered us protection." Luiza said, but added "We'd probably have died out a long time ago if it wasn't for them."
Leon briefly amused the thought, but stopped to wonder if there was any actual truth in it. For years, his family had documented about the New Generation and their run in with them, how the two opposing sides had been at odds ever since the 1860s. Even after a century and six decades of fighting, the New Generation hadn't given up its pursuit in the destruction of the Chapmen bloodline.
Is it really just obsession? Leon thought, but shrugged it off and resumed back to his original activity.
Site-007's Director of Anomalous Containment, Dr. Jainy Grace, looked at the recently submitted list of donations.
Designation: LO-230
Description: (1) Journal filled with various Visual Hazards on each page
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: Each visual hazard holds a different effect upon being viewed. e.g. rendering a person temporarily blind, mute, senseless, granting them increased perception, inducing rash, inducing a desire to eat gold etc.
Designation: LO-231
Description: (2) Butterfly shaped lightbulbs
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: Will remain indefinitely lit when placed in sufficient darkness and plugged into a power source. Power source does not need to be turned on.
Designation: LO-232
Description: (1) Birthday Card
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: Will vocalise "Happy birthday to you." along with reciting the subject's name and age.
Designation: LO-233
Description: (1) Green dagger
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: When an individual is impaled with it, the object will become impossible to remove unless the affected part is amputated, or removed by a third party.
Designation: LO-234
Description: (1) Hammer
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: Wooden objects struck with LO-234 will become more durable.
Designation: LO-235
Description: (5) Police hats
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: Will convince any individual that the person wearing them is a member of the British police force.
Designation: LO-236
Description: (1) Pendant with an amethyst in it.
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: Will increase the wearer's tolerance to various alcoholic substances.
Designation: LO-237
Description: (2) pairs of black sunglasses.
Site Location: Site-007
Properties: Grants added resistance to visual hazards.