by Vee Bosse
“You all need to understand: the antidotes that Derek and his group slipped around were taken by everyone that ate in that chow hall, and I have to commend you four for beginning the divine revolution. You four started it all, not because you had access to the Diamond Radiance antidotes before everyone else did, but because something inside of you was able to slowly build resistance to the subduing energy that surrounded, albeit with a little help from Derek’s serum. Not even I could stand against that kind of exposure, and keep my consciousness.”
The group’s eyes lit up, as they began to understand that there was something special they all had in common with each other. “Yes, now you are all beginning to understand! What these four gave you wasn’t exclusive to you all, yet the energy inside of you was what made you unique. The antidote slowly interacted with that energy over the last few years, and to my fascination, it has caused you all to awaken and reemerge into your bright selves, once again.”
“That’s good to know, but can’t you tell us what they were doing to us while we were asleep, all that time? And tell us what your role in all of that was. Again, tell us why we should trust you, Hubris.” Christian’s statement rang true with everyone in the group, as they were ready to put all the questions behind them with answers.
“You are the Golden Ones, so I wouldn’t dare keep you in the dark fog of negativity. You all were able to witness something I couldn’t, and that was the glorious awakening of a forbidden ability. Andrea Sweet, your unique energy that you were apparently able to mold at your will is what I have been waiting to see throughout my entire life, yet the government was going about harvesting those abilities from you the wrong way. They wanted to turn you all into mindless zombies, that were capable of using dormant abilities that would scour any enemy’s landscape. Also, the danger of soldier mutiny? None with their deployment of Diamond Radiance in each soldier.”
“Damn...so that’s why they were hunting us down throughout our Latitude like that! It’s...beyond screwed,” Sarge said, as everyone else took in the earth-shattering revelations.
“Correct Killian, and that’s why I created this island base, so that my underground rebellion would have a fighting chance. We...no, I want you all to be my most gifted subjects yet! Fight with me, and allow me to help in awakening your incredibly unique abilities. I want your open consent to become unleashed, in the special way that I have been able to perfect through all these years of blood, sweat, and tears!”
The group stared at each other, deciding that Hubris’ story, while enough to make an uninformed citizen of the Western Latitude pass out, was a perfect explanation to everything they had been through and witnessed. “I admit that you’ve made an amazing case for yourself, but honestly, I am still feeling uneasy about your island, and your unique way of ‘unleashing’ the abilities that we need to cultivate,” said a concerned Christian.
Hubris threw Christian an endearing smile, before going on a random tangent. “The island of Tasmania, the Commonwealth of Australia, you all know of the puzzling isolation that this continent underwent a of couple decades ago, correct?” The group nodded affirmatively. “I am sorry to say that the inhabitants of Australia disappeared, shortly before the reported black out of the island’s access and communications. Millions of people disappeared in utter mystery. Scientists and investigators from the Eastern Latitude have been on the continent investigating the incident ever since then, trying to come up with an explanation. This all became under Eastern control officially, and rigorous testing on their part has still not given us an explanation as to why it happened.”
“That’s crazy, but where do we fit into that??” Laran said, as yet another globally unknown secret had hit them unapologetically.
Hubris continued on: “How did we do it here on the forgotten continent of Australia? Probably a lot of luck. The Eastern Latitude has long since ceased investigating the island of Tasmania, but their investigation on the main continent still continues to this day. Remember that often times, the best way to hide the truth from somebody is to keep it directly under their noses. That way, when they look in the spot where they expect to find it the most, it will be as far from the truth as east is from west.”
The group shared glances with each other, as they pondered the words from Hubris. Dane suddenly stepped forward, with his usual thoughts of ammunition and firepower lingering. “I wonder if these abilities ya spoke of are involving weaponry of some kind. Forget about unleashin’ our powers, I’d love to blow me up some Western Latitude.” Dane’s declaration brought concerned smiles to the majority of the group, as they had suddenly felt too tired to question Hubris’ concerning explanations.
“Indeed, Dane Wilder, all of your unique abilities are sure to surprise and please you immensely. What seems to be the case, from what I have learned so far, is that your Forbidden Abilities reflect a dominant idea that motivates your consciousness. For instance, Andrea’s ability was likely the result of her fascination with cigarette smoke. Just like the smoke, it bears a translucent quality and is formless, yet it’s as dominating as can be.”
Dre suddenly stepped forward as the group began to imagine all the possibilities that lay before them, in awakening their own powers. “So, since you seem to know how fond I am of cigs, get me what I want.”
Just as Dre finished the sentence, Hubris pulled out a pack of smokes and tossed it her way, which she gladly caught. “You are all now very precious to me, so anyway that I can put the negative vibes inside of your heads at bay, before they eat you from the inside out, I will gladly embrace.”
Hubris also tossed Dre a plain bronze lighter, which she had used to light a cigarette without delay. The sensation of the drag hit her with a euphoria that she had never before experienced. “Damn...well, I guess you aren’t totally shitty.” Dre said, as Winkle yawned in exasperation.
“I wanna hit the hay. Are these rooms where we will stay?” Hubris nodded at the group in satisfaction, as her new pawns began the movement into each of their bedrooms. Laran and Milli had entered the same room together, for their night of reuniting. Hubris had maintained an extremely gallant smile, as they all began to shut their doors.
“One more thing Winkle, before you turn in for the night, and allow dreams to consume you,” Winkle curiously turned to look back at the Professor.
“I have something that I know you will very much enjoy seeing again.” Hubris tossed a brown leather sack her way that seemed to contain some precious stones.
“Where did you find these, Professor?” Winkle said, smiling gratefully.
“These stones were assigned to me after you had arrived on the island, years ago. I was asked by Politek to find out what kind of energy and abilities they had within them. After a long time of frustrated experimenting, I have yielded no fruits in the labor of unraveling their mystery. Yet, I am truly thankful that you are now one of the Golden Ones, so that I may ask you what they are.”
Winkle’s eyes lit up, as she began to explain her attachment to them. “These gemstones, I honestly never really knew their true purpose, but I’ve always felt inexplicably drawn to them. I found them just piled on top of mountains, when I was about nine. I’ve always kept them close, because I guess I’ve always felt like I needed to. Crazy huh?” Winkle’s playful sense of mystery fascinated Hubris, as her mind began to race with thoughts of the next day’s proceedings.
“I understand. Get some sleep, you all have an enormous day ahead of you tomorrow.” Winkle smiled at the Professor’s words, as she entered her room. With the once-packed hallway now empty, she nodded to her android assistants, which then moved out of the hallway with the smiling professor who had become elated beyond words. The day was finally there, and it was the one that she had thought she might never get the chance to witness. She would move her ‘Golden Ones’ to their rightful state of prominence, whichwas globally unique and unparalleled. They would becomeUNLEASHED.
Chapter Five
They Won’t Cooperate (Th
e Rejection)
The night had settled in, and Professor Hubris and her new guests had taken to resting, before they would be setting off on her mission to unlock their abilities the following day. But suddenly, a door had opened to reveal that there were a few that were unable to rest easy. “Let’s go. We’re getting to the bottom of what’s in this factory,” said Derek as Sarge, Woolfing, and Jordan also emerged from their room in unison, determined to learn everything that they could before becoming host to whatever Hubris had in store for them.
“Jordan, go ahead. Use your Corona abilities to get us in there,” said Woolfing, as the always-unspoken Jordan began to give off a golden glow that resembled a miniature sun.
“I won’t fail,” were the first words that the 18-year-old from the Toronto Territory in the Canadian region had spoken in weeks. He had stepped ahead of the team to reach his hand towards the wall, which caused it to also give off a golden energy. Then suddenly, the wall itself seemed to break away from the rest of the building, floating upwards into the sky at a slowly increasing speed. It retained its yellow glow, as it quickly disappeared into the night sky above.
“Nicely done, as always,” Sarge said as they all leapt to the ground below, with Jordan emitting his golden aura around their feet to slow their falls for a safe landing. “You were only recently able to hone your technique to the point of effective use on objects. Now, for the same thing on the wall to the factory.” Jordan once again illuminated the wall to send it on a speedy journey to the sky above, as the four ran towards the opening with haste. They jumped into the building to observe what they could, which caused them to gasp in awe at the sights in front of them.
It was a large building without rooms that had seemingly contained hundreds of unique machines with sharp, pointed needles that were protruding out of them all. However, upon witnessing what the needles were going into, their jaws dropped in disbelief and horror. Fellow subjects, all their age, being repeatedly injected by these multitudes of machines, which caused a flurry of sparks to come flying out from them every time the probes entered their forearms. The subjects were barely conscious, and some of them moaned in agony as they were seemingly helpless to stop the cruel experiments on them.
“The hell is this? Is this what the professor really had in mind when she said that we would be unleashed!?” Derek said, realizing that the person that had liberated them had sprung them all into an even more permanent trap. Just then, almost as quickly as they had entered the building, an android they had never seen before flew down through the ceiling above, causing chaos as she slammed down in front of Derek and his team. They all noticed her black hair that was infused with blue highlights that came down and covered one of her eyes. This android showed a lack of emotion much like the others, yet she wore a slight smile that was enough to make anyone uneasy.
“My name is Sabrina Phillipi. You have gravely violated the terms of your stay. Prepare to be subdued.” Derek suddenly motioned his hand behind them as the group leaped out of the building with haste. As they contemplated a retreat of some kind, Blue Misty and the other androids jetted down in front of them, cutting them off from escaping.
“Please remain where you are for appropriate reconditioning” said one android, that looked to be of a Vietnamese origin. He wore thick glasses, and had short black hair. “My name is Skat Minh, please comply with my request,” he added, in the company of Blue Misty and the other four automatons.
“Well, oh my...this is not going to do. Derek Maxwell, your fellow subjects have come to view you as a leader of sorts, so why would you tell them to create holes in my wonderful, symmetric buildings? Hmm?” Hubris appeared from above, standing on a balcony that seemed to be part of her living quarters. She was still dressed in her professional attire, despite everyone else having gone to sleep a few hours prior.
“Jordan Jaymes...that ability of yours. I’ve decided that you are the first that I will unleash.” Hubris let a maniacal grin creep on her face at the sight of the corona user, with his eyes now turning pitch black as the yellow aura around him grew immensely stronger.
“No, can’t let that happen!” Derek protested as he clenched his fists in anger.
“We may not have a choice here guys, we may have to let Jordan take over,” said Woolfing, as the wild passion in the Professor’s eyes grew sharper every second.
“Don’t tell me you’ll be fighting this bitch without us?” said Winkle, who, to everyone’s surprise, emerged from the building out of nowhere, along with the rest of the subject escapees. All of the subjects found themselves treated to new wardrobes of their choosing in the luxury room’s closets, and all seventeen of them now had a unique style that they donned instead of the plain white uniforms from Haven Island.
Suddenly, Dre leapt down from the hole in the building as she slammed an impressive bag of weapons down in front of the group. While finishing the pack of smokes that the Professor gave her, she moved her hand in the motion that commanded her luminescent psych energy; it did well to create a unique glow amid the night sky.
“I found weapons for everyone. There was a nifty closet in the basement of this place.” Seeing that Dre and the rest of their group had been seemingly acting when they pretended to go to bed without any worries, Hubris’ smile turned into a look of concern and annoyance.
“Andrea Sweet, what negative emotions you have displayed here in the sight of your friends. This...poisonous venom...you have spread with your actions!”
Dre was unmoved by the sudden annoyance from the one who would have turned them all into mindless androids. She walked towards Derek and his group as the robots stood ahead, facing their original targets without faltering. “These psych abilities of mine are damned useful. I can use it even to reach around distant rooms and walls, and grab heavy objects. Can’t complain.”
She tossed the pile of intense weaponry at the side of hers and Derek’s group, while they noticed the other hole in the main factory that Jordan had just created. They suddenly witnessed the sight of the subjects being sparked into electronic machines, much to their horror. Just then, Christian turned to the direction of Hubris, with a look of determination.
“I am going to thank you for getting us off that hellhole, but as for killing our humanity in exchange for your power techniques...no thanks, Hubris. We will act independently from you, or any other entity from this point on.” Christian’s declaration of independence struck the rest of the group as a pleasant surprise, as they all began to realize that it was time to put their resolve to the true test. It seemed that they would have to become very strong to break free from this place, and that they would have to defy their boundaries to the point of incomprehension.
Upon hearing Christian’s words, Hubris had a very different reaction. The smile crept back on her face, and with a sadistic twinge, she began to laugh hysterically. "Oh, children! Please relax, there is no need to become this ridiculously charged with hostile emotions!” They had decided that the time for talking was over, and the group launched themselves towards their weapons of choice.
Laran picked up a black sword with a well-defined silver helm, which was the perfect weight for his average build. Dane had already beaten him to the pile though, as he sized up the feeling of two Desert Eagle pistols that had been considered the pinnacle of vintage weaponry from a century prior. He had been an avid vintage firearm collector through his teenage years, and as he removed and studied the bullets in the palm of his hand, he felt a weird energy emerging from them that had felt explosive.
Milli joined Laran in the acquisition of adequate weaponry when she pulled out a unique bow and arrow combination. The bow was also silver and black with the makings of a well-sized archery bow to boot. She studied the arrow in depth, admiring the diamond tip that was glowing a shade of blue. She realized that it was an aura-infused arrow, and if that didn’t make it unique enough, she noticed at the arrow’s end tip that there was a black cord that would come out from the inside if she motion
ed her palm underneath the arrow.
Isaac Chopin also chose the sword route, only his resembled more of a claymore in contrast to Laran’s katana. It had a brilliant silver tip, with silver and jade embedded in the sword’s hilt that was forged in the pattern of triangular tessellations. He noticed at the very tip of the sword that there were three gold triangles etched into the silver that fit together to make one larger triangle. Haynes chose a sword that was more like a smaller red-tinted rapier, with a golden hilt that spiraled around the wielder’s hand.
At this point, Sabrina turned to gaze at Hubris, almost expecting the order to subdue them at any time. Hubris curiously smiled and glanced back at the subjects in awe, noticing how each of them seemed to be instantly drawn to a particular weapon.
“Those are no ordinary weapons that your misguided teammate brought for your use. Understand children that there is no one in this world that has studied Forbidden Energy more closely than I have, and what I even discovered is that your unique abilities can manifest themselves by bonding with lethal weaponry. Rarely have any of my unleashed products been able to master such a task, however.”
Westin suddenly realized that as he approached the weapon pile, he felt no natural desire to take one, as did many other subjects as well. “I wonder why I am not drawn to any of them?” he asked, even feeling slightly dejected by his lack of instinct.
“Please don’t be upset Westin Anderson, that only means your Forbidden Energy is not compatible with any kind of weapon. In other words, you simply don’t need one to unlock your full potential.” Hubris’ smile still hadn’t broken its resolve, and as Sarge selected a giant mace hammer, he felt an amazement at how lightweight the hammer felt to him as he held it.