Human Superior

by C. S. Won

  She stared at him and said nothing. Jae sat back.

  “But if you still have doubts, then I don’t blame you. I won’t put up a fight,” Jae said.

  They were in silence, all four of them, mired in their own thoughts. Jae wondered what Andrea was going to do next.

  She stood. “I have to go.”

  Surprised, Jae looked up at her. She exited and quickly made her way back to her car. She had her mouth covered with her hand. Jae could see her crying.

  “Hold on—”

  “Leave her be,” Clay said. “Everything she thought she knew was just turned upside down, and now she’s confused, more than ever. Her brother is most likely alive, and the man she thought was responsible for his death turned out to be innocent. She nearly killed you because of that assumption, and the realization of it makes her sick.”

  Jae watched her enter her car. She made little effort to conceal her tears now, the pain on her face plainly evident. Her car rumbled to life and she quickly pulled away, disappearing into the distance.

  Jae closed the door. He sat against the wall, dazed, and removed his hand from his chest. He wasn’t quite sure what just happened and was still reeling from the revelation that Adam had a sister. “Can you drive me to the hospital? I need to get this wound treated.”

  Clay, perplexed, looked at him. “What wound?”

  Jae looked down at his chest. The wound had faded. A scar, hardened and formed, already took its place. Even the pain was gone, something he hadn’t realized, with only a faint itch left in remembrance.

  Chapter Five

  “You have the Invisible Man living with you?” Gabe asked.

  Jae and Gabe sat on the benches lined up against the wall of the station garage. The sun’s light bled out onto the concrete through the opened garage doors, eating into the shadows and casting a soft, golden glow onto the front hood of one of the fire trucks. A light wind followed after it, cool against Jae’s skin. It was probably the first time since the bombing they’d had time to finally stretch out their legs, and not let thoughts of the attack occupy the space in their heads.

  “You should meet his son. He can tell you’re lying just by smelling you,” Jae said. It sounded like the premise of some absurd sitcom comedy. The wacky neo-human roommates and their eccentric, everyday adventures—except he was living it.

  “And this guy knows your brother?” Gabe asked.

  “Or so he claims.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “Based on everything he’s said and shown me . . .” Jae shrugged. “Yeah, I kind of do.”

  “And he can really turn invisible? Like, you-can’t-even-see-him-invisible?”

  “Imperceptible to the human eye.”

  Gabe whistled. “That’s pretty cool. I wish I could turn invisible. You know what I would do if I could turn invisible? I would—”

  “Don’t even say it, creep.”

  Gabe cracked a smile. “Why didn’t you bring him to the station, though? Seems weird to not have him around if you’re supposed to watch over him.”

  “He thought it best not to come.” Jae tried to persuade Clay to come with him to the fire station, but he had declined the offer. Clay feared that he might attract too much attention to the station, and he didn’t want anyone to get hurt on account of his presence. Jae wasn’t sure what sort of protection he could provide if he was absent, but Clay assured him that he would only stay in public spaces, constantly be on the move, and blend in with large crowds while Jae was away at work. He also said that he’d be working sources he knew in the area to see if they had any information on Han or the bomber, and he claimed these sources would not agree to meet if he brought Jae or anyone else unfamiliar along. He also had his powers, a nice trump card if trouble was afoot. But even with such assurances, Jae was not entirely comfortable letting him roam free like that. Why pick and choose when his protection was needed? Why bother traveling across the country to seek his help if he was going to be so selective about it? It didn’t really make much sense.

  Jae touched his chest, where Andrea wounded him. There was no more pain, only the raised ridges of the scar sealing the wound. He still couldn’t believe Adam had a sister who cared enough to avenge his honor. “Have you ever met Adam’s sister?”

  Gabe raised an eyebrow. “Sister?”

  “She’s a few years younger than us, so we never really knew her, but yes, a younger Erste sibling exists.”

  Gabe cupped his chin, deep in thought. “Well, now that you mention it, I think I remember hearing something about a sister when we were discussing next-of-kin.” He looked at Jae. “Why? What about her?”

  “She paid me a little visit yesterday.”

  “What? She did?”

  Jae lifted his shirt to show the great scar on his chest. “Payback for Adam.”

  Gabe’s eyes went wide. “Holy . . . !” He leaned in for a closer look. “What the hell did she do? Blast you with a shotgun?”

  An apt appraisal, Jae thought. He pulled his shirt back down. “Shocked me with electricity.”

  Surprise turned to confusion. “Like with a Taser or something or . . . ?”

  “No.” Jae stuck his hands out, shook them, and mimicked the sound of buzzing electricity.

  “I don’t get it. What exactly—”

  “She’s a neo-human, just like her brother.”

  Gabe furrowed his brow.

  “And whereas Adam could create fire, she can create electricity. A lot of it.”

  “You're joking, right?”

  “She wanted to kill me.”

  Gabe stayed silent, a smile creeping up on his lips, perhaps awaiting a punchline to the joke he thought Jae was telling, but when none came, the smile withered away, replaced only with bewilderment. “You’re actually serious, aren’t you?”

  “She invaded my home, punched a hole in my chest with her electricity, and nearly murdered me. I've never been more serious in my life.”

  Gabe leaned forward in his seat and shook his head in disbelief. “How the hell . . . ?”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “Well, she obviously failed, since you're still standing here. How did you end up stopping her?”

  “I convinced her that Adam was still alive, and after that, she just . . . ran away.”

  “That’s it? That's all it took?”

  “That’s all it took.”

  Gabe exhaled through his nose. “Did you catch a name?”

  “Andrea.”

  Gabe appeared contemplative. “Was she hot?”

  Jae rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say she’s quick to pull the trigger.”

  “I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, then.”

  “Maybe. Adam for sure would have finished me off if he had the chance. But the fact that Andrea didn’t tells me they may not share the same temperament.”

  “Andrea. Andrea freakin’ Erste.” Gabe kept repeating the name, as if he was chanting a spell.

  The siren rang out, yanking Jae and Gabe to their feet. Chief Flores came running out from the back with a troop of firefighters following close behind. Jae grabbed his helmet from a nearby rack and went over to the chief.

  “What’s the situation?” Jae asked.

  The chief gave him a grim look. “The GSU dorms on North Ave. Multiple explosions were reported.”

  Jae’s heart sank. Another attack?

  “The dorms?” Gabe asked, running up to them. “Why would a terrorist bomb a college dorm?”

  “If it’s the terrorist. We don’t know that yet,” the chief corrected him. “If it’s any consolation, the place is still standing somehow, so there’s a chance for survivors. But the entire place is already up in flames, so we need to hurry and see what—”

  Jae threw his coat on and ran to a truck.

  Chapter Six

  The fire was stronger here, as was the smoke, thicker and more treacherous, concealing the unseen hazards that awaited them in the lane ahead. Jae
went into a crouch and took his axe out from its sheath, using the blade end to push aside some stray rubble blocking their path. He tapped the axe on the floor and listened closely for sturdiness; the sound that pinged back rang true to his ears, signaling solid footing for the trek ahead. He slid the axe back in his holster.

  “We’re waiting, right? Until the others can quell the fire?” Thomas Hutchins asked, kneeling next to Jae. Thomas was a novice, three weeks into the job, and he was a wary man, flinching at even the slightest sign of possible danger or harm, and always sticking close to the safety net of his superiors. It was a comedy of contradictions because he was a giant, tall and imposing with a fiery red moustache and eyes that were always wide and alert. One would think that just by looking at him that he embodied courage and fearlessness, someone who had a routine habit of jumping headfirst into certain danger, but in reality, he was one of the most cautious people Jae knew, as timid as a newborn kitten.

  “Where did they say the girl was?” Gabe asked. He knelt next to Thomas, making sure the rookie stayed in line.

  “Down the hall, to the right, where the fire is strongest,” Jae said.

  “We wait any longer and we could lose her.”

  “Then we just go ahead? But what if we get hurt?” Thomas asked. He kept his head low, as he should, with a tight grip around his flashlight, his friend in the chaos.

  “Fledgling, I don’t know if anyone ever told you this at your rookie orientation, but it’s kind of our job to rescue people,” Gabe said.

  “I know that! It’s just I want to make sure we don’t do anything too rash.”

  Jae stood, and his vision immediately went dark, the smoke thicker at this altitude. “Go back outside and wait with the others.”

  “What are you planning?” Gabe asked.

  Jae left the question unanswered, stepping forward into the seething fire and the abyss of the smoke. Behind him, he heard Thomas objecting to his recklessness.

  “He’s going to get himself killed!” Thomas said.

  “He won’t,” Gabe said.

  “I need to call this in. The chief needs to know. I need to—”

  “Relax, greenhorn. You’re new here, so sit back and watch the maestro do his thing.”

  “But—”

  “When I say relax, then relax. I get that you don’t know what Jae can do but believe me when I say that it’s all taken care of.”

  “I do know! I’ve heard the stories, and I’ve seen the reports. It’s just—”

  “No, you don’t know. Jae is special. You’re about to see some magic happen. He’ll. . .”

  The rest of their conversation flittered away, drowned out by the roar of the fire. Jae fanned his hand against the smoke, trying to open a space through the mist for his light to shine through, but his hand did little to provide a way. He walked through the thickest of darkness, the bleakness of it broken up only by the swirling red flames that danced around him. Navigation was only possible by placing his hand against the wall and prodding the ground ahead with the tips of his boot.

  Jae came across a stack of broken concrete settled on the floor, blocking his path, and encumbered by a glaze of fire. He met no resistance when he kicked it aside, the wreckage tumbling through the wall to the other side. In another life, he would have been like Thomas the Apprehensive, wary and careful, always taking his time and on the lookout for potential dangers, trudging forward inch by inch, scanning for all possible options. But that was before he received his powers from the storm, before his life had changed. The incident left him in a coma, wiping away six months of his life, and when he had awoken, he possessed a mysterious strength unmatched by anyone in the world. It made his job easier and allowed him to take risks—risks that he wouldn’t have taken before, risks that would have surely killed him in a prior lifetime. At times those risks nearly got him in trouble, and he wondered if this was finally going to be one of those moments that he wouldn’t walk out of unscathed. Was today the day his luck finally ran out?

  He glimpsed a door through the smoke, laced in fire and charred black with burns. The doorknob itself was untouched, the brass gleaming like gold in the smoke. Jae reached out and gripped it tight. Cool to the touch, surprisingly. He gave it a slight pull, but it resisted with a rattle, locked in place. That was no issue. He twisted the knob, and with the slightest hint of pressure, snapped the latch securing the door. It jarred open with the force, the sharp clang of breaking metal ringing through the air. He pulled the door further and found himself in a room blanketed in thick layers of smoke. He cast his light inside, slicing through the smoking chasm, and found the girl slouched against an open window. Standing over her were two men, both wearing breathing masks, dressed in all black. One of them had his hand wrapped around the back of the girl’s neck.

  Jae took a step forward. “Who—”

  “It’s good to finally meet you.”

  Jae wasn’t sure who had just spoken, but he guessed it was the man who held the girl, judging by his gesticulating hand motions. He was a lean man of average height, with a relaxed demeanor. His voice was friendly and inviting, but also stern.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” the man said.

  “Who are you? What’s going on?” Jae asked.

  The man placed a hand to his chest. “My name is Daniel Duffy.” He pointed at the taller man at his shoulder. “This is my friend, Edison.” He placed his hand back to his own chest. “I’m the one responsible for the bombings of Atlanta and Chicago.”

  Instinct took over, and it told Jae to kill this man. Nothing else mattered. The rescue was secondary to what was standing before him: a real opportunity to stop a great threat and prevent thousands of more deaths. It superseded all other thoughts and desires. Even logic itself was shoved aside. Jae didn’t even care to know how or why the bomber was here in the first place. Why would he? The man said he was the bomber and Jae believed him, so therefore he had to stop him. Even the fire made little difference. The heat, the smoke, the flames—all of it was mere window dressing. A few potential burns meant nothing if it resulted in bringing down a terrorist responsible for so much misery.

  Jae took a step forward, his fists clenched, making no effort to hide what he desired. He wanted to let the terrorist know, through sheer physical presence alone, what he was feeling and what he wanted to do. The bomber was a criminal, an enemy who deserved to be treated as such, and just like all criminals this Daniel Duffy was a coward too, because he clutched the girl by the arm and pulled her up, dragging her in front of him and using her as a shield. That only made Jae seethe even more.

  “One more step and I’ll bring this entire building down, killing you, this girl, and anyone else still left in here,” Daniel said.

  Jae stopped. He saw no explosives strapped to the terrorist’s torso. His friend looked unarmed too. Jae surveyed the room but saw no bombs present, or at least any that he could detect. There was nothing to indicate that the terrorist was telling the truth. Was he bluffing? Jae wanted to think so, but the severity of the threat made him wonder if this terrorist had bombs planted elsewhere in the building.

  Jae took another step, a smaller one. Only one way to find out.

  “I guess I’ll have to show you.” The terrorist began to glow, his body emitting a bright orange hue, turning his black clothes red. Jae stopped and stared at him, his eyes going wide. The girl stifled a panicked squeal and turned away from her captor, trying to pull away from him. Jae took a step backwards, covering his eyes to block the light that grew brighter.

  Then the glow waned, the light dying out.

  “Now you know that I’m being serious,” Daniel said.

  Jae lowered his hands, taking care not to move his feet. “What are you?”

  “A Phenom, just like you.”

  “A . . . what?”

  “I do not use ‘neo-human’ to describe myself or others like me. It’s a name derived by those who hate us, a label to cast us as some great, terrible other. So
I use ‘Phenom’ instead, a more appropriate and fitting label, because we represent the next prodigious leap forward for mankind.”

  What in the world is he talking about? “Why were you glowing? What were you about to do?”

  “Detonate myself.”

  “Detonate . . . yourself?”

  “I am able to create and eject volatile combustions at will, without the need for external explosives. To put it succinctly, I am a living, breathing human bomb.”

  A cold, sharp shiver ran down the length of Jae’s spine. “You mean . . . ? No, that’s not possible.”

  “Why not? We are Phenoms. We are capable of anything.”

  Edison nodded at his superior. “He speaks the truth. I have seen his detonations with my own two eyes. I would not test him if I were you, unless you feel the need to endanger everyone around you.”

  “How does the resultant explosion not kill you?” Jae asked Daniel.

  “I’m not quite sure of the science myself to be honest, but whatever the explanation, I emerge unscathed, much to my own relief. I can also control the strength and scale of my discharges. If I felt the need to go all out, then the only thing left standing here would have been a crater of smoldering rubble,” Daniel said.

  How can the idea of a living human bomb be possible? How can someone like that even exist? Jae thought back to the photographs Clay showed him, and he wondered just what sort of testing and experimentation the government engaged in to give these people such horrifying abilities. Why was this man not locked away in some deep, dark hole somewhere? How was he running free, blowing up cities and wreaking havoc? What the hell was the government doing? This man was a walking weapon of mass destruction, the sort of neo-human Morgan Duffy tried to warn everyone about. The devastation Daniel could cause—the devastation he’d already caused, in fact—was beyond imagination. Andrea’s electrical powers, while frightening in their own right, was nothing compared to this.

  “You bombed the Ellis Tower only hours after the Atlanta bombing. How were you able to manage back-to-back attacks in such quick succession?” Jae asked.