It was a leisurely morning, and Soldier Boy was still curled up in bed, sleeping soundly.
All superhumans enhanced with Compound V had bodies that needed no sleep at all to recover their stamina, but going without rest for long periods still caused mental fatigue.
Soldier Boy was far stronger than ordinary superhumans, but even he occasionally needed sleep to soothe his mind.
An insistent ringing interrupted his pleasant dreams.
"Fuck you!"
Woken by the noise, Soldier Boy answered the phone and offered that blessing without caring who was calling.
"Sorry, sir. I'm very sorry to disturb you." It was Ashley on the other end, stammering.
Soldier Boy rubbed his eyes and forced down his anger. "You'd better have a fucking good reason, Ashley."
"Sir, this might be a little serious. I don't know how to put it." Ashley sounded strange.
Soldier Boy asked casually, "What is it? Did Vought go bankrupt?"
"No." Ashley paused.
"Fuck, don't tell me the White House has nukes aimed at us?" Soldier Boy's expression changed.
"Not that either." Ashley seemed to be struggling to say something.
Soldier Boy lost all patience. "Fuck, you idiot, spit it out."
"Your ancestral graves have been dug up. None of the graves of your family's ancestors were spared, including your father's and mother's."
Soldier Boy: "?"
He abruptly sat up in bed, and a brief silence fell over the other end of the line.
Soldier Boy remained sitting on the bed with the phone pressed to his ear, looking as though someone had hit his pause button.
"What did you just say?"
Ashley cautiously repeated herself, and an eerie silence settled over the air again for a moment.
"Ha." Soldier Boy suddenly laughed. "Wait, let me get this straight."
He rubbed his face, his expression full of disbelief.