Omega Zero

by Kurtis Eckstein

  I began wracking my brain, wondering what she had heard or seen that would make her abandon what she was doing. Did she learn something important? Did she overhear the metahuman say something vital? Or maybe she was heading back because this reception was a trap. Maybe it was about to be bombed or something.

  I had no idea the reason, but I didn’t hesitate to pull my pants back up and button up my shirt as she drew closer, ready to hear what she had learned. I began sensing activity outside while waiting for her to return. The guards who were stationed around the building were heading to the back now, gathering into a rear hallway.

  Ava popped up through the floor just a minute later, her eyes looking panicked as she solidified. Her hand shot down in between her legs, her hand and knife going right through the dress as she returned the blade without lifting the heavy silk material. She then grabbed my hand, yanking on me as she opened the stall door.

  “What’s going on?” I hissed as I let her lead me out of the bathroom.

  “No time,” she hissed back urgently, leading me down the hallway towards the throng of people clustered by the ballroom entrance.

  I was a ton stronger than her, so I was tempted to just stop and demand she explain herself, but if she didn’t think we had time for it, then I trusted her judgment. However, instead of her making a beeline for the front exit, she instead went past the ballroom where we had eaten and continued on towards the third ballroom that hadn’t been used.

  The door was locked even though the lights appeared to be on in the massive room, so she glanced down the hall to make sure the coast was clear, before shifting through the door and opening it from the inside.

  I followed in after her, realizing the heavily armed guards had moved up to the second floor. They would be appearing on both pathways overlooking the room any moment.

  “Madison!” I hissed. “We need to get out of this room! We’re about to have company!”

  “Hurry!” Ava agreed, rushing me another twenty feet, before abruptly stopping in the middle of the room.

  I bumped into her from her sudden stop, barely avoiding knocking her off her feet from the force of my impact. She grabbed ahold of my clothes to catch herself, whirling around in the process to face me, while simultaneously hiking up her leg onto my hip, only to grab my face with both hands.

  “We’re out of time,” she whispered, panic still in her eyes as she brought her face closer. Suddenly my thoughts shattered for half a second as her warm full lips pressed firmly against mine. I was so shocked that she was kissing me that I didn’t even pay any attention when the guards burst onto the second level overlooking us, rapidly surrounding us from above.

  Her lips sent a surge of warmth all throughout my body, prompting me to uncontrollably wrap my arms around her waist before my thoughts began flowing again.

  Was kissing the point? To appear like a romantic couple caught having an intimate moment in the wrong place?

  No.

  Instantly, everything fell into perspective as Ava’s hand left my face just before I felt her knife stab against my abs in the small space between us. Her lips were still locked with mine, her expression was still panicked, yet her arm was trembling as she struggled to pierce the knife through my skin.

  This was a trap.

  And Ava was the bait.

  But what did that mean?

  I didn’t have time to think it through.

  Just before the sound of gunfire reached my ears, blood shot out of my body and rapidly covered Ava, clothes and all, like a crimson skintight suit that was stronger than a metal shield. Tendrils then shot out from that in every direction to slaughter our enemies firing at us.

  Once the sound of gunshots and yelling stopped, screaming filled my ears as people in the other two ballrooms began flooding out into the hallway after having heard the noise over the loud music. I shook the bullets out of my clothing while uncovering Ava. I was surprised to see that she was in her shadow form, beginning to transition back to normal, because her body had felt solid underneath my blood.

  She immediately dropped her knife, her hands trembling violently as she looked up at the horror scene above us. She then took a deep breath and balled her hands up into fists.

  I was about to speak, but she cut me off, swooping down to grab her knife from the floor as her body began shifting into a shadow again. With half her face pitch-black, she spoke in a harsh tone.

  “Can you sense anyone?” she demanded.

  “The other metahuman?” I asked in confusion, quickly continuing when she glared at me. I’d never seen her so pissed. “Y-Yeah, he’s moving pretty fast though…” I paused. “I think he’s in a car leaving the estate.”

  “Meet me outside,” she snapped. “I’ll grab the car.”

  And with that, she disappeared into the floor again before I could get another word out. I sensed her heading at full speed towards the garage, so I spun on my heels to leave the room. Even though I had been shot a multitude of times, my clothing must not have looked overly torn up, because no one seemed to notice as I merged with the crowd rushing out the doors.

  I pushed my way through the throng of people, and rushed down the pavement towards the garage, sprinting faster when Ava burst through the gate and screeched to a halt when she saw me.

  Not having time to waste, I sped up to an inhuman speed and jumped into the vehicle. She took off even before the door was closed, racing away while trying to fumble with a cellphone in her hand that I hadn’t realized she had.

  “You need to drive,” she snapped, giving up on the phone for a moment to glance at me with hard eyes.

  I gawked at her briefly, thinking that switching would be difficult considering how fast we were going, before reaching my foot over to replace hers on the pedal. She didn’t even hesitate to slip into my lap as I shifted my weight, grabbing the wheel while we quickly traded places. Once I settled into the driver’s seat, switching my feet on the gas pedal again, I returned to glancing at her from the corner of my eye.

  She held the phone up to her ear, her body still visibly trembling.

  “What happened?” I whispered again.

  She completely ignored me for a long few seconds, speaking once the phone connected. “Shadow reporting. Confirmed theory twelve with thirteen. Male. Beta generation. Caucasian. Black hair. Faint German accent. In pursuit.”

  I tried to rack my brain for what theory twelve and thirteen were. I knew they had several possible explanations for how the terrorist attack had been pulled off, with numbers one through four being a hypnotizing ability activated through various means, such as eyesight, sound, or pheromones, but what was twelve and thirteen?

  The theories overall got worse as the numbers got higher, with suggestive hypnotism being a mild concern compared to…

  Mind control.

  Long-term mind control, potentially permanent.

  Not even ‘suggestive brainwashing,’ but straight-up making a person do exactly what you wanted. Twelve through fifteen were total mind control, and specifically number twelve was mind-control via eyesight while thirteen was mind control via verbal commands. A combination must mean that he had to be looking a person in the eyes when he gave them a command, making it weaker, but it still didn’t change the fact that it was real, possibly irreversible, mind control.

  And Ava had been affected.

  My knuckles turned white on the steering wheel, the plastic and metal crushing underneath my grip. I had to get a hold of myself or else I was going to make it impossible to steer the car. Ava was focused on the response from the other end, giving simple one-word answers to the questions being asked, her freehand a tight fist in her lap.

  I listened intently to the person’s questions, trying desperately to hear them. My ears became warm then, feeling a little larger than usual as an unfamiliar person’s voice continued speaking.

  “…and you can’t tell us specifically what he said?”

  “No,” Ava replied, after having just
said yes.

  “Because you can’t remember?” he clarified.

  “No,” she repeated.

  “You do remember?”

  “Yes,” she replied, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes. The fist in her lap tightened even more.

  “And you refuse to tell us what he said?” he asked again.

  “Yes,” she stated firmly, those tears slipping down the sides of her face.

  “So then, it’s absolute obedience.”

  “Yes,” she choked out.

  “Abort mission,” the man announced. “Target lock confirmed via satellite. Devil and Feral are in pursuit.”

  Ava’s eyes widened in surprise by his response. “B-But–“

  “Your team is compromised,” the man retorted harshly. “Abort mission.”

  “Copy,” Ava replied quietly, before hanging up the phone. Her hands were trembling as she turned her head away from me to stare out the window.

  I was still speeding down the estate roads, nearing the gate now – what had previously been a ten-minute drive had turned into just a couple minutes. I didn’t know if I should slow down or not, even though I had heard what the man said. I finally cleared my throat when I saw that the entrance was blocked off in the distance with giant steel gates that had been open previously. No doubt our enemy had ordered them shut after exiting himself.

  I could sense the guy already far away, rapidly increasing the distance between us. He must have been going double our speed.

  “Umm, Ava.”

  She didn’t even look in my direction as she spoke. “They’re betting on Feral’s left eye,” she replied quietly. “It paralyzes her target by activating the freeze response out of the fight, flight, and freeze reactions, making her mostly immune to–”

  “No!” I cut her off. “The gates are closed!”

  She finally looked ahead.

  I spoke up again when she didn’t say anything. “Should I just stop to kill the guards and cut through them?” I demanded.

  She pursed her lips for a moment, before shaking her head, her hand reaching out and gripping my shoulder roughly. “Floor it,” she hissed between her teeth, looking pissed again. “We have to continue, no matter what.”

  I looked at her like she was crazy before seeing that my right hand was suddenly pitch-black. I gawked as I felt my entire body begin to feel weightless. The steering wheel turned shadowy a moment later, followed quickly by the rest of the interior.

  Just as we reached the gate, the car slammed into it at full speed, only to slip right through it. I barely noticed the steel bars passing through my body though, because I was so focused on the bizarre world around me. Everything was the same and yet completely different simultaneously. Up in the sky was a bright red moon that lit everything up in a red hue, while the world around us was otherwise shades of black and gray. But that wasn’t the most shocking aspect of the sky. The stars were extremely bright and clear, but behind the moon was a massive void where there was absolutely nothing. I could tell the void was circular, but it filled so much of the sky that I couldn’t see the whole thing out of the window, even after craning my neck.

  I didn’t get long to witness the bizarre world Ava had told me about previously though. Even before we had fully cleared the gate, Ava’s hand dropped from my shoulder and the normal world reappeared before my eyes.

  And with it, a chill settled in my core.

  The vehicle abruptly jerked violently, the rear bumper having solidified while the bars were passing through, before we broke free, leaving the bumper behind.

  I smashed my foot back down on the gas, the vehicle sputtering, knowing I had to get the car going much faster just to prevent our target from getting further ahead of us. I glanced down at Ava to see her body limp in her seat, appearing to be completely unconscious. All around her were tiny craters in the door, dashboard, and even floor, with one of the blemishes being an actual hole in her window.

  Really, everything in the car was affected, and the sputtering of the engine made me realize why I was suddenly so cold. I gritted my teeth and focused on accepting the chill – to live within it, instead of focusing on the inviting warmth coming from my side.

  Suddenly, I had the overwhelming urge to reach out and run my fingers over the smooth silk covering Ava’s warm stomach. I desperately wanted to feel her soft tan skin underneath her dress, to reach inside her and…

  No.

  I shook my head, trying to focus on the road, to focus on my target far ahead of us. If I wanted to steal someone’s warmth, then it would be that asshole’s warmth, not Ava’s.

  She woke up a few seconds later, though those handful of precious moments felt like an eternity of me standing on the edge of a cliff.

  I saw Ava give me a concerned look from the corner of her eye, her voice full of apprehension as she reached out for my shoulder again. “Jake, are you–”

  “Don’t touch me!” I snapped, causing her to flinch and withdraw her hand. “I’m sorry,” I quickly continued when I saw the pained look in her eyes. “I’m just hungry, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Oh,” she replied simply, falling quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize it would be so difficult transforming the car too. I had planned on trying really hard to bring you back without hurting you.”

  “It’s fine,” I retorted. “I assume I should keep our pursuit?”

  She nodded. “How long was I out for?”

  “Just a few seconds.”

  She nodded a second time, her expression hesitant. “So…” she paused before retrying. “So does that mean you’re not angry at me?” she wondered.

  I glanced at her in surprise, before shaking my head. “Why would I be angry?”

  “For betraying you,” she whispered.

  I shook my head again. “You couldn’t help it,” I tried to reassure her. “And it’s not like you actually hurt me.”

  “I tried to,” she replied quietly. “On purpose.”

  I was about to contradict her, suggesting that she couldn’t control what she was doing, but her tone and expression made me hold my tongue. After a moment, I replied. “He didn’t tell you to stab me?” I wondered.

  She was silent.

  I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be an answer on its own, or not. But it wasn’t good enough, because I had no idea what her silence meant. I cleared my throat, only for her to interrupt me.

  “Ask something else,” she blurted out. “Rephrase.”

  I felt my brow furrow, my gaze focused straight ahead. “Did anyone tell you to stab me?” I tried again, uncertain if that was sufficient enough.

  “No,” she replied simply.

  “Then why?” I wondered.

  She was silent again.

  Dammit, I didn’t know what game we were playing at. I took a deep breath and tried to think it through. Obviously, this guy could tell her to do anything, and she’d have to do it. But she was able to answer a question simply by me rephrasing it…so then, that must mean there were loopholes in his instructions. He must have been in a rush and didn’t consider all options.

  But, the problem was, she had just been telling the man on the phone about this metahuman, and now suddenly she couldn’t answer questions about him? What did that mean?

  I spoke my thoughts carefully. “You were just talking on the phone about your situation.”

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “But you can’t tell me directly?” I wondered.

  She was silent again.

  I took a deep breath and tried to loosen my grip on the steering wheel. It was a miracle it hadn’t completely broken yet, but it was certainly in bad shape between my strength and the craters that had appeared after becoming solid again.

  But her silence did answer my question this time. She couldn’t tell me directly, because she had been told not to say anything to her partner. But why leave open that loophole? There was no way this guy was that careless, even
if he felt rushed by the unexpected appearance of Ava. It seemed like it would be easy for him to say ‘don’t tell anyone about me.’ But obviously, he must not have told her that.

  Which meant, he probably wasn’t planning on her having the ability to tell anyone, because she’d be dead. Still, it seemed careless to just not give a blanketed statement like ‘don’t tell anyone.’

  I sighed heavily. I felt like I could question her until I was blue in the face and never get anywhere. I had no idea how to even phrase all the questions popping up in my head in a way that she could answer them. Without really thinking, I spoke again.

  “You knew that stabbing me wouldn’t hurt me,” I considered, just speaking my thoughts out loud. “And no one told you to stab me…” I took another deep breath.

  “Yes,” she repeated quietly.

  Unexpectedly things began to click when I recalled her kicking me in the face to stop me from mating with Blair. “You were trying to warn me,” I realized. “Not of the men with guns, but of the fact that you had been compromised. The fact that you were kissing me because someone had told you to do it.”

  She flinched, turning her head away. “Yes.”

  “And you still are compromised,” I added, not looking for an answer, nor did she provide one. I already knew as much based on what she said previously on the phone. She was still compromised, because his commands were absolute, leaving her torn between her allegiance towards her comrades – no, her allegiance towards her family – and a forced allegiance to this stranger…

  A forced allegiance…

  A thought occurred to me then, prompting me to look at her fully to examine her body in its entirety. The red silk fit her toned body like a glove all the way from her chest down to her hips, and her dark skin looked especially appealing in contrast to the shiny crimson dress.

  Appealing.