Human Superior

by C. S. Won

Daniel’s reflection closed his eyes. “As I said before, the world is cruel. It’s been that way since the beginning, and the infuriating part is, it doesn’t have to be that way. Things could be so much better. All it takes is a little initiative and a little courage, and things can change. But things won’t change, because people won’t change. The world is the way it is because people made it that way. People never cared, nor will they ever. Cry out for help as loud as you want. You will be ignored.” Daniel turned from the window and stared at Jae. “My parents instilled that lesson in me when they showed me how cruel this world truly is, and it was through that lesson that I realized that to truly change the world, you have to do it by force.”

  Jae couldn’t help but see the remarkable parallels between Daniel’s life and Adam’s. Both had terrible, awful parents who did terrible, awful things, which in turn had a huge impact on how their children were shaped as they matured. Intentional or not, their hands alone shaped murderers. The importance of good parenting began to loom large in Jae’s mind, and he realized it was a lesson most parents themselves probably didn’t realize.

  “I think I finally understand where you’re coming from. But the way you’re going about things . . . the world doesn’t need to be punished because of what your parents did. Don’t stoop down to their level. Show them that you are more than they are, something better,” Jae said.

  “The world is filled with people like my parents. As long as these people draw breath, the world will continue to stay cruel. We can no longer suffer their existence. My father will die first, then the rest will follow.”

  “Not everyone is like your father. There are plenty of ordinary people out there just like you, sharing the same struggle and looking for help. Your help. Do for them what the world never did for you. Initiate the change you want with outreach, understanding, and kindness. Don’t do it with mindless bloodshed.”

  Daniel hesitated for the slightest of moments, before reasserting himself. “The only meaningful change that can happen is done by force. Nothing will ever change if it’s done with appeasement and soft words.”

  It was a glimpse, a whisper of a promise, but that slight hesitation was enough to convince Jae that it might indeed be possible to turn Daniel. He just needed to continue to chip away, fragment by fragment, with deft hands and a soft touch, until nothing was left but a man mournful about the path he had walked on. Jae pressed on. “You’re dragging the world into a war, and there’ll be nothing left to save once the smoke clears. It’ll be scarred and barren. Is that the sort of change you want?”

  “If expunging cruelty from this world means that I have to burn it black, then so be it. Eventually, it will heal, and something better will grow out of it. Anything to rid it of my father and people like him.”

  “Then how about we get rid of you first?”

  A woman’s voice, out of nowhere. Jae turned to see who had spoken, but a breeze pushed past him, the force of it strong enough to thrust him to the ground. When he looked up, he saw no one. Who? Jae stood, and just as he was about to ask Daniel if he heard or saw someone, a cough, hoarse and ragged, caught his attention, and when he looked back, he saw Daniel staggering towards the floor, droplets of blood falling from his lips and kissing the floor in marks of dark, oily red. A shimmer of steel, and Jae saw a knife buried in Daniel’s belly, almost up to its leather hilt.

  Jae’s eye went wide. “What—”

  “Figured I’d shut him up for you.”

  Rena stood to Jae’s left. He stepped back in surprise. “When—”

  “Super speed, remember?” Rena pointed at Daniel. “And just in case you’re a little slow on the uptake, I stabbed him.”

  Daniel stared up at Rena with bloodshot eyes. “You bitch.”

  “Good to see you too, kid. I’d ask how you were doing, but . . .” She gestured at her own stomach, in the same area she had stabbed Daniel, then shrugged, as if to say sorry.

  A portal opened up behind Daniel. He looked back, relief washing over his face. “Edison? Help me. I’ve been—” A hand coated in gleaming, smoky steel shot out through the opening and swallowed Daniel’s face into its grip. The hand pushed forward to unveil a long, muscular, steel arm, then a steel torso, then an entire man glossy in polished, charcoal metal.

  “Your thirty minutes are up!” Pax Logan stepped through the portal and lifted Daniel high into the air, letting his legs dangle under him. Dmitri followed close behind Pax. “Have a nice little chat, you two?” Pax winked at Jae. Daniel kicked furiously at the air, hitting at nothing. Humored by the attempt, Pax laughed at him. “Look at him go! Like a dog’s first swim in water.” An orange hue began to emit from Daniel’s body. “Oh. Sparkly!” Pax drilled Daniel head-first into the floor, punching up a great smattering of dust and splinters into the air. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  “Stop! What are you doing?” Jae asked.

  “You had your time, now it’s my turn.” Pax lifted Daniel off the ground. He no longer glowed. The back of his head was split open, the entirety of it caked in blood. Pax spun him around, grabbing the back of his head, then dunked him face-first through the floor again, sending up more dust and splinters. The sound of his face meeting the floor was too sickening to bear. With a laugh, Pax peeled Daniel off the floor and held him high up in the air, as if he was displaying to the world his newest artistic masterpiece.

  “Dear god,” Jae said. He wasn’t sure if Daniel’s nose had been torn off or caved into his face, but the only thing remaining of it was a big red smear. Broken teeth dribbled out of his mouth, spooling towards the ground in long, thin, bloody drips. Dark bruises and deep lacerations forced one eye to swell shut, and the other eye bled freely, twitching erratically. He emitted sickly croaking noises, like a cross between labored breathing and a death rattle.

  “Beautiful, no?” Pax asked.

  “What the hell is this? Morgan said he wanted his son back alive!” Jae said.

  His steel face dotted red with Daniel’s blood, Pax smiled at Jae, and drilled Daniel’s face back into the jagged hole he had created. The chilling sound of crushed bone rang through the warm summer air.

  “You really need to learn how to read between the lines, shrimp,” Pax said. “Duffy doesn’t want his son back. He wants him out of the picture.” He lifted Daniel’s face off the ground, showing everyone his artistry again. The face was unrecognizable now, rearranged in a way that defied gore. An absurd amount of blood painted the floor—too much of it, in fact. Jae didn’t realize the human face could hold so much blood.

  Pax leaned over and brought Daniel’s face in for a closer inspection. A frown settled on Pax’s lips, as if he was upset by what he deemed to be shoddy work. “Almost there. I think one more should do the trick.” Daniel groaned into Pax’s face, blood bubbling from his lips, in what was probably a last-ditch effort to voice a protest. Pax slammed him back into the floor, so hard that he nearly decapitated him, a sickening crunch reverberating from the impact. Jae took a few steps forward, but stopped when Dmitri maneuvered in front of him, a long knife held in his hand.

  “Susana’s kisses are cold,” Dmitri said.

  “Get out of my way,” Jae said.

  Dmitri shook his head. Pax stood, pulled Daniel off the floor, and dumped him next to the window, where he slid and went limp against the floor. Pax lifted up the hem of his shirt and wiped the blood from his face. “He won’t be getting up from that one, I’d say.” Pax let out a laugh but stopped when he found himself alone in his mirth.

  “When did Morgan give the order to kill his son?” Jae asked.

  “Since the very beginning, shrimp.”

  “But this is not what we agreed to!”

  “What are you getting so pissy about? I thought you wanted this mutt dead?”

  “I . . .”

  “You should be happy, right? So show me a smile! Daniel is no more! The terrorist is dead! Break out the drinks, ‘cause we’re about to celebrate!” Pax started to pump his fist into
the air, but then stopped. “Oh wait, but before we do, I really should bring my friend in. He wouldn’t want to miss this.” He cupped his mouth with his hands. “You can come out now!”

  Another portal appeared, and out stepped Edison, Daniel’s trusted lieutenant. The portal closed up behind him as he came over and shook hands with Pax. Jae couldn’t believe it.

  “What is this?” Jae asked.

  “The reveal,” Rena said, walking towards the two. “Our man inside.” She thumbed at Edison and shrugged, almost as if in apology.

  “He was your informant?”

  “Your ability to deduce the obvious continues to astound us.”

  The metal ebbed away from Pax’s body, exposing the soft, pink flesh underneath. He patted Edison on his back.

  “Well, this was certainly not the conclusion I expected,” Edison said, staring down at the body of the man he had betrayed.

  “I guess I got a little too carried away. You know me, when I’m doing something I enjoy, I just can’t stop!” Pax said.

  Edison nodded, saying nothing.

  “I guess this frees you from your commitment. Bet you’re happy about that.”

  Edison remained silent.

  “Any idea on what Morgan will have you do next?”

  “One of the cartel lords we’ve installed in Mexico wants to seek operational independence from us. I’ll be paying him a visit and reminding him of the downsides of breaking a contractual agreement.”

  Pax chuckled. “Wish I could be there for that one.”

  “Yes, well, there are still things we need to finish up first before we can move on to the next task at hand.” Edison looked at his watch, then gestured at Rena. “They should already be there. Take the boy first. He’ll notice a disturbance the moment I open up the rift, so do it quickly, otherwise we may lose our chance.”

  Take the boy? What boy?

  “Quickly is how I do things,” Rena said.

  “We have a team waiting forty miles west. I’ll send you the coordinates. Take him there.” Edison took a phone out and poked at the screen. “After that, handle the teleporter.”

  The teleporter?

  Rena looked at her phone, tapped the screen a few times, then put it away. “What if he interferes before then?”

  “Do your job correctly, and the boy will already be in our custody by the time Tobin even realizes what’s happened.”

  Tobin?

  Rena smiled. “Right you are.”

  “But Tobin is perceptive, and he will quickly figure things out, so the moment you come back and touch him, he’ll teleport both of you away to a remote location in an attempt to incapacitate you.”

  “He won’t.”

  “Good. Pax, are you aware what you need to do?”

  “Bleed the reporter until he gives up where they’re hiding this shrimp’s bro?” Pax thumbed over at Jae.

  The reporter? Does he mean . . . ?

  “Time is of the essence, so do what you must to break him.”

  “Oh, I definitely will.” Pax cracked his knuckles.

  “Once he divulges where Han is hiding, take him, Rena,” Edison said.

  Han? Did he just say Han?

  “Of course,” Rena said.

  “Dmitri?”

  Dmitri went over and pulled the knife out of Daniel’s body, then wiped it clean with Daniel’s sleeve. He pursed his lips as if he was going to kiss the blade. “I’m here to ensure nothing goes sideways.”

  “Then go. Mr. Duffy will not suffer delays.” Edison opened up a large portal. Through the opening, Jae glimpsed familiarity in the form of a long, horizontal building, dilapidated and rundown, the exterior of it stained by years of inattention. Trash littered the parking lot built around it, and lording over it all was a big, neon-lit sign, advertising vacancy on the premises of—

  Jae froze. It was the hotel he and Clay were staying at.

  A strong gust of wind swirled through the room, and Rena no longer stood where she once was. So quick was her departure that there was even a lingering, blurry afterimage of her silhouette, wavering until it dissipated like a puff of smoke. Pax made his way towards the portal opening but stopped before he stepped through. He looked over at Jae.

  “What about him?” Pax asked.

  “He still has one more part to play,” Edison said.

  Pax smiled and disappeared through the portal. Dmitri followed him and stared at Jae as he walked backwards towards the portal while he kept his knife at chest level. When he was gone, the portal closed up behind him, like a zipper being shut tight. The last thing Jae saw was the two of them walking across the parking lot, to his hotel room presumably.

  “That’s where I’m staying,” Jae said, dumbstruck.

  “Indeed it is,” Edison said.

  “How did you know where I—”

  “I’ve always known.”

  “You did? How? When?”

  “Your two friends led me right to it. They led me everywhere in fact, for six whole months.”

  “My two friends? Who are you talking about?”

  “Clay Desmond and his son, Marlowe Desmond.”

  “Clay and . . . ? I don’t under—”

  “Here’s a hint: the stalker.”

  Just as Jae was about to repeat what was said, the realization hit him like a hard slap to the face. “You’re the one who’s been chasing after them?”

  “I always kept a distance but made sure to allow my presence known from time to time so I could keep pushing Clay forward. My goal was to eventually lead him to you, which he finally did after six months. It should have happened sooner, but Clay was slow, cautious, and paranoid.”

  “Lead him to me?”

  “Amongst other things.”

  “What are you going to do to them?”

  Edison stayed silent

  “Answer me!”

  Edison knelt next to Daniel’s unmoving body. “Allegiance is a funny thing. Whether it’s done by words or by paper, it’s meant to be an unbreakable oath that binds two parties. But in reality, it’s a brittle little thing.” Edison had a sad look on his face, like he was troubled as to how things turned out. “He had so much potential. He could have done great things. His mother and father were cruel to him, yes, but he could have risen above it. He could have used that anger and redirected it for something greater. But instead, he chose to spend his time fighting his forebears like some petulant, ungrateful child. What a waste.”

  “Then why didn’t you intervene? Why didn’t you stop Daniel from killing all those people?”

  “Because people had to die. I’ll shed a tear for those whose lives were lost, but I’ll also sleep well knowing their sacrifice served a greater purpose.”

  “Greater purpose? What purpose?”

  “You’ll know soon enough.”

  A loud knock on the door pulled at Jae’s attention. A voice called out from the other side. “Sir? We heard some loud noises. Is everything okay?” When no answer came, the knocking became more urgent. “Edison, are you there? What’s happening?”

  Edison circled his arms and created a portal. “I’m sorry it had to be this way, Mr. Yeon.” He picked up Daniel’s corpse and flung it over his shoulder. Edison took one step through the portal but paused to glance at Jae. “We won’t meet again.”

  “Wait!” Jae ran after him, but by the time he had reached the portal, it had already slipped away, vanishing into a dying spark. He stared at the empty, yawning space before him, and it stared right back at him. In that moment he just stood there, doing nothing, his breath caught in his throat, body numb with shock. Things happened so quickly that it almost seemed a lie, a false memory implanted in his brain, fiction masquerading as truth, but the banging on the door, along with the shouting voices that accompanied it, told him it was all too real, and as he shifted his eyes and looked at the bloody hole in the floor Pax created with Daniel’s face, and felt the gaping emptiness of the room, a horrible realization dawned on him: Morgan had play
ed him for a complete and utter fool. Jae was the patsy, the chump, the fall guy, and he played his role with deadly accuracy. That spurred a groundswell of anger surging in his chest, and his dismay turned into close-fisted fury. Clay was right; he should have never trusted Morgan. He should have rejected Morgan’s proposal right away. Why didn’t he listen? Practical, obvious advice was given, but Jae ignored it because he was desperate and stupid and impatient. He rushed headlong into an ill-conceived alliance that smelled rotten from the start, and now he was paying the price for it, trapped in a small room, and surrounded by dozens of neo-humans waiting to tear him into a thousand pieces once they find out what happened.

  The thumping on the door rumbled louder, and the voices in the hallway beckoned with more urgency. They began to wonder if they should kick the doors down, although some voiced hesitation in doing so. While Jae would have liked nothing more than to continually express rage at his own stupidity, contrition had to wait for another day, because he had no desire to wait and see what sort of monstrosity awaited him if they broke through. And not only that, but Clay and his son were in danger, and he had to protect them. That was his promise. Whatever that was worth.

  Another loud thump, this one forceful enough to create a crack in the frame. Jae needed more time, and something to fortify the entrance to buy him that time, but he saw precious few things that could act as a barricade for the door. Just make do with what you can find, damn it. He took one of the desks, dumped the contents on top onto the floor, and shoved it underneath the door handle. He then ran over to a corner, lifted a bookcase filled with books, and carried it back to the door, slamming it on top of the desk. Books spilled out, one after the other, and the racket of it caused the thumping on the door to stop. More voices rose up in the hallway, wondering what was going on.

  Jae stepped away from the door and looked around, the wheels in his head turning, formulating an escape plan. He went over to the window, pushed the panel open, and poked his head outside, looking at the streets below. The drop was far—so far that he couldn’t even see the ground clearly, much of it drowning in a palette of darkness. Up above, cloud cover had blocked the moon and obfuscated its light, masking the world in a murky gloom. A godsend, he realized, as he could use the cover of darkness to make his escape. If he could make his escape.