Adopted Soldier

Alex then checked his gun and saw that it had no bullets . So the only thing Alex could use at the moment was his sword . While Alex was assessing the situation, Richter looked at him amused by his actions .

’Hmm, it would seem that he was finally able to calm down . I guess the sudden influx of different emotions had momentarily blinded my brilliant grandson . Just a little more, just a tiny push and he would finally become the perfect Greyhound . ’

The two simply look at each other for some time . Both of them said nothing, as the other simply observed the person in front of him . Alex who was still a bit agitated was the first to speak .

"What do you want this time? Are you here to gloat of your victory? Heh, what a petty old man you are . If-" Alex was about to say, if you didn’t have the those nanomachines, you would have already died a hundred times . Alex didn’t continue to say those words, since he knew that the old man only took those hits because he knew they won’t affect him . Blaming the other person because the tools he has were better than his, isn’t really something Alex should say .

Seeing Alex suddenly stop talking made Richter chuckle a bit . After chuckling, Richter’s face suddenly turned serious, with that the atmosphere became tense .

"Alex your strength is undeniably that of a Greyhound’s . You have all the strength, and intelligence of a true Greyhound . Yet you lack the most important factor that could make you into the perfect Greyhound . What you lack is a Greyhound’s calm cruelty, the calmness to logically and efficiently think of the best course of action . The cruelty to do anything to efficiently achieve your goal . Even if you lose the strength and intelligence of a Greyhound, as long as you had the calm cruelty, both of those things could be attained overtime . Unfortunately the ideals and thirst of the Greyhounds isn’t with you . Unfortunately acquiring calm cruelty isn’t gained by training, it needs to come from deep within you . Still as a Greyhound I’m sure that rage, that thirst, that insanity lies within you . Nay, I believe most humans have that characteristic and they simply mask it with their supposed rationality . So with that thought in mind I had an idea . "

Richter looked at Alex with a cruel smile on his face . Seeing him like that actually frightened Alex a bit .

"How about you kill your friends?" Alex was stunned the moment he heard the crazy sh*t his grandfather said .

"Huh? You really are an insane old man . What made you think I’ll actually do that?"

"I think you will agree with me Alex, after you hear my offer . "

"No matter what you offer I would never kill my friends . Do you think that you can give something that could actually sway me? Even in the face of death or torture, I would never harm my friends!"

"Really, are you sure about that? What if my offer is that I won’t kill Rachel . If you kill your friends I will allow Rachel to live, I could even allow her to become your wife . If you don’t take this offer, then I’ll simply kill all your friends including Rachel . I would kill them in the most horrific way you can think off . I could even torture them until they themselves wish for death to embrace them . "

Alex’s mind blanked out for a moment and he started shaking a bit, but after a few seconds he was able to think of something to say to counter his grandfather’s plan .

"I know you won’t do that . " Alex who was shaking in fear moments ago, looked at his grandfather with resolute eyes . Richter was stunned to see a reaction he wasn’t expecting .

"Oh, what makes you think that I won’t do what I say? If you haven’t notice, not once did I do anything contrary to my words . "

"It’s because you need me to become your successor or some sh*t like that . You need me to become a true Greyhound, right? It’s like you said before, you and I are the only remaining Greyhounds . If you kill my friends, I would kill myself joining them . "

Richter looked at Alex with eyes of disappointment .

"I thought you came up with something more creative, how disappointing . Let me tell you Alex, I already guess that you would do that, actually I already thought of all the different ways you would react if I killed all of them . That’s why as a final measure after showing you their gruesome deaths, and depending on what actions you take, I would most probably wipe you memory . "

Alex who heard that his grandfather planned to wipe his memory, made him start formulating different scenarios in his head . Was there another route he could take that would lead to a better ending? Killing his grandfather was impossible with his current abilities . Tricking his grandfather doesn’t seem remotely feasible . Faking the deaths of his friends would be seen through quickly . Alex though as fast as possible as to what was the best course of action, to avoid the death of his friends, and he could only reach one answer . It doesn’t matter if this would make him fail his mission, there was no other choice .

Alex quickly unsheathed his sword and was about to kill himself, but before he could do so, his grandfather was able to stop him .

"So the only conclusion was suicide . Well even that route will be blocked . " Richter then wore a gas mask as the room was once again being filled with an incapacitating agent . Breathing in the gas that was filling the room, Alex consciousness was slowly fading . He could no longer use much strength, as he heard his grandfather speak .

"Once you wake up, your friends will be here . By that time I hope you have made your decision . "