Program Erin

by Alex Fall

  I watched as a Red moved up the stairs to begin opening the vault door. He quickly removed a panel and began examining the wiring. Two more began moving up the stairs, but I noted with great interest that the one higher up on the stairs produced fire and burned the other down. That's him. I found you.

  “I win…” I mouthed as I stood and also made my way to the vault. I reached into a side pouch and touched a special key card, immediately unlocking the vault door. The Red messing with the wires looked up and stood in confusion, but his next actions were blocked by a massive plume of fire. Once it dissipated, I saw that the vault was open and that Burn was entering. Yes! YES!

  He paused and looked around inside. No! Don't stop, get in there! I ran for the vault. The Red turned in time to see me charging from the darkness. I have 0.8 seconds to react or something bad will happen. Actually, no! Screw you, I don't have any time for you! Get out of my way!

  I channeled enough fire to burn the legs of this miserable theif and also melt the floor beneath him. He screeched and fell through the grating onto the first floor. It seemed the fire caught that Burn’s attention, however, because he turned around in time to see me tackle him into the vault. Once inside, the door automatically shut and sealed itself once it detected my key card inside. We tumbled onto the ground together but slid apart. Me and the Burn stood simultaneously.

  Inside this refrigerator was roomy. There was plenty enough room to move around and hide. I even brought in loads of boxes and canisters to clutter up the area, besides having several wall safes inlaid. The refrigerator functions worked well, as it was quite cold in the room. It was also dark, lit up only by blue accent LEDs, roughly the same color as my eyes. Once the door sealed, it also became quiet, as if the sounds of fighting were many, many meters away.

  The Burn smirked. “So much effort to be alone together. Are you SURE you don't like me?”

  “If I shoot you, does that answer your question?” I retorted.

  “Oh, playing hard to get. You know, it's hard to get your attention. I tried to hard to collapse a building in one go and you just ignored it, every time.”

  I unholstered my pistol as if to show him I had a gun. Immediately, he raised a hand and caused an explosion between us. The force knocked me back and made me drop my gun. I rolled onto my knees and then dashed away. A second explosion rocked the room, but not near me fortunately.

  “I don't think you want to make any more fire,” I warned.

  “Why's that?”

  “This room is air sealed. And if you'll notice, there is no access panel inside here. You're locked in and burning your air away.”

  A third explosion ripped a box apart. Is he that crazy? “So what? Either I blow a whole in the wall, or we both collapse and suffocate together.”

  I moved positions silently and kept my head low to hide the origin of my voice. My leg was beginning to cramp from injury, and my fresh burns and the refrigerated air didn't agree. “This vault is armored. I had it made that way. And any smart guy would know that a woman has less physiological needs that a man. I don't need as much air as you, and you've been active for a while, haven't you?”

  “You planning to talk me to death, Sapphire Eyes?”

  I shifted again, moving to retrieve the “mystery drug” from its safe storage compartment. “I figured you out. You can't stand not being as powerful as me. That's how I know I can win.”

  He stopped moving. I wish I could see his face right now. “Oh please, like I'm weaker than you? How about you stand up? We'll both use our powers and see how it turns out.”

  I chuckled. “You asked for it.” I stood and stepped into the open. He faced me and raised an arm at the same time I did.

  Slight blue lights lit up along my arm as my Templar unit activated. The Burn’s face turned from pure confidence to frustrated pain as I froze his arm.

  “Ah! GAAAH!” He yelled and fell to his knee. I approached until I was clutching his frozen hand.

  “Oh sorry, not what you were expecting?” I mocked. He raised his other arm and fire spilled out between us both. While it did hurt and burn me, much of it couldn't reach me because of my armor. I clenched my teeth but stood my ground, and as I turned back to him, for the first time (perhaps because of the anger behind my eyes), he seemed frightened by me. I grabbed his other arm with my arm and put his wrist in a submission.

  “Pretty much everyone on this planet wants you dead! And any other day I'd be happy to oblige!” I shouted. “But you can thank the Seeker that you're still alive! Let me tell you something. Our powers are not the same. You got yours from the Seeker, and I get mine from years of intense pain and experimentation in a far away place called the Decapolis. My power is better than yours. So here's how this works…”

  He pulled away from me and stood with a disturbing anger on his face. And here I thought he was scary when he was happy. I touched a button on my key card and within seconds, fog began rolling into the room through the venting system.

  “I just released the cure for your power into the air. Now you have two choices.”

  He yelled and caused another explosion at me. I dove away in time to recieve minor injuries. “Ugh! Don't make me freeze you again! Just listen!”

  “Why?! So you can stall and cure me?! I'll kill you!”

  “TWO CHOICES!” I continued. “Fight me and end up cured but alive, or you can take this!” I held my arm out into the open to show him the syringe. “Its the Seeker’s drug. I have no cure for it. It may be more powerful than me, but I don't want it. I'm certain that stuff would kill about ninety-nine percent of whoever takes it. But if you're crazy enough to-”

  I didn't even finish my statement. He lunged and grabbed the syringe from hands, scrambling like a madman to inject into himself. I'm amazed he didn't stop to think about this. He really is crazy.

  “I WILL BE THE BEST!” He shouted after taking the shot. “The best burn ever! BETTER THAN YOU!”

  I watched calmly from my location. He was already showing signs of discomfort, signs of rejection. He tried to ignore it, but after a minute, he leaned against the wall, and another minute later he was bent over. More and more, he showed signs of pain. He coughed, he tensed, he pounded the wall in frustration. Then he looked up at me.

  “What...what is this stuff? It burns!”

  “You don't know a thing about Keegan. That's why I knew I could win. He would never make another drug like the first…”

  “What?!” He shrieked. He raised an arm as if to burn me, but instead just fell back against the wall.

  “If you live, you will be as powerful as me, because that drug isn't a prototype Seeker drug,” I said. “It's official name is Project De'mus, Program Extension Erin, initiation serum one.”

  * * *

  I awoke with a gasp. The nightmares were back, though infrequently. The weeks following the defeat of nemesis felt so boring, but I knew that drug would kill him. I thought if he gave it to himself, I would feel fine, but Keegan was right. I feel terrible.

  On top of that, the Board made contact. They're on their way. It won't be long until the arrive. The Dwellers here are getting acclimated to living a bit more normal lives. They want to throw a welcoming party to greet those from the Decapolis. I know however, they won't be happy with me. I took the Little One. It doesn't matter if I saved the Dwellers. It doesn't matter if I broke the Reds. It doesn't matter if I accomplished what Keegan left me to do. I'll still be in trouble. I hate myself…

  Nicolette suffered major “losses.” Many of her team were killed or cured. She herself was hit with the cure. I haven't seen her since, but I imagine she's grieving.

  Sharon was excited for the upcoming party. I had to hide my disinterest so that she wouldn't get depressed. I kept hoping that maybe some more Reds would show up and give me an excuse to miss it, but at this point, I think we either got all of them, or they ran away. Lenburg was returning to normal. And they wanted to celebrate. Wyatt was busy putting equipment together wit
h Lori, and Tetsuro volunteered as a ferry service to and from the venue. All I was left to do was fiddle with the cello. I wish I was as good as the music Keegan left for me…

  The day drew to a close and people started to gather in an old theater. There was supposed to be some DJ volunteering to play, and enough alcohol was found to start a bar. That's only asking for trouble in my opinion. Nonetheless, the bar provided chairs, so I sat as far away from the noise as I could. Eventually, one of the Little One's crewmen came and sat nearby.

  “How's the event coming along?” he asked.

  “It hasn't started…”

  “How are you coming along?”

  “...the same.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Is that good or bad? I can't tell.”

  “...both.”

  “Are you worried about the Board?” he asked after a moment.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don't you have somewhere to be?”

  “Not really. Besides, you look upset.”

  I scoffed. “This is my normal look.”

  “Are you wearing your armor for any particular reason?”

  “For safety. Why else would you wear armor?”

  “Did you bring your helmet too?”

  “Of course.”

  He sat back and sighed. “I don't mean any disrespect, but isn't that a little paranoid?”

  “The last person to tell me that said that right before someone made an assassination attempt at me.”

  “Point taken.”

  We sat in silence for a moment. Ugh, when is this guy going to leave?

  “What do you plan to do once the Magistracy and the Board take over Lenburg?”

  A spark of irritation wanted me to snap at him, but the question is a good one. I have no purpose anymore. I should just go off and die. “I don't know. Probably leave somewhere…”

  “Where will you go?”

  “I'll figure it out. Can you leave now?”

  The crewman sighed and stood. “You should get a drink when the bar opens. They'll probably give it to you free.”

  I glanced at the bar. It was just some cabinets and desks put together to form a stand. There's nothing appealing to me there. Not unless they have sleep meds.

  The night wore on. Music started and people tried to enjoy themselves for once. Now that I'm at a party, I felt like I was in the Decapolis again. Sharon gravitated towards the pool table that they brought in, and some grown ups showed her how to play. Wyatt was talking to voluptuous woman, distracted away from everything else around him but still as immature as ever. Tetsuro was somewhere in the crowd and it's been awhile since I've seen Lori. I closed my eyes to alleviate the dull headache caused by the music. The Board will be here any minute. Oh joy… And amazingly, with all this movement in here, I'm still cold.

  When I opened my eyes, I saw a guy across the room. He wasn't dancing or talking to anyone. In fact, I think he's staring at me. I sat up a little to see if that's the case, but then the guy flipped me off and walked away. What the? What's his problem? I got up and grabbed my stuff to confront him. Once I left the auditorium, I caught a glimpse of him far ahead. Who is this guy? I didn't recognize him. As I started shifting down the halls, someone hustled from behind me.

  “Captain! What's wrong?” Lori asked as she approached.

  “Nothing. Well, sort of. Some guy has an anger issue with me.”

  “What guy?”

  “I don't know, he just gave me the finger and ran off.”

  “It's probably an old Greater. You have enemies here.”

  I found a staircase and heard out of place noises coming from above. I began ascending the stairs. “Could be.” I activated my comm and called the Little One. “Can you check to see how many unmarked individuals there are at my location?”

  “This is Little One. I can check, but it may take a second. There's a lot of people there.”

  “Proceed.”

  “Captain, I think if you were present when the Board arrives, it will make things between you guys easier to deal with.”

  “Ugh, I don't want anything to do with them.”

  Lori sighed. “I know that, but can you at least try?”

  I turned around suddenly to face her. “I said I don't want anything to do with them.” We began to have a stare down, but movement caught my eye. “Hey! If you have something to say, say it to my face!” I stated as I quickly marched towards the door. Lori followed but remained silent.

  I entered the room with force but it was just an empty, dark classroom. Nothing but chairs and desks. I stopped upon entering. “What…”

  “Captain?”

  I turned around to face Lori. I could have sworn I saw something. But at the last second, I saw movement again at the window right next to me. Well….botches…

  A mechanized arm burst through the glass and gripped my throat. Lori screamed and fell back as whatever it was pulled me through. I was now on the roof of the first floor of the school, being held in the air by a sort of loading and shipping mecha. Instead of legs, it had tractor tracks, and it's arms were bulky and the hands were simple and claw like. The arms were attached to a pod where the pilot sat inside. A small, thick glass window revealed a man inside, who reached up and flicked a switch to say, “Acquired. Pull me up!”

  While I was still trying to figure out what was happening, I became aware that the mecha was attached by a cable on its back to an airship above (the source of the out of place noise.) We were jerked into the air. Oh no, you don't!

  I lit up my left hand and attacked the arm to burn through it, but something perplexing happened. My hand stopped against the arm. The metal coating this mecha was white, and very fireproof. This mecha was armored with the same material my armor is made from. I can't burn it! The hand tightened down and began to crush my neck. I felt like I was about to die.

  “Erin!” Lori screamed from the ground. Was she really that far below me? Besides being high in the air, the ship we were attached to began to pull away. My vision began to flicker and I sincerely worried about my neck breaking. My eyes rolled up, and when they did, I saw the other end of the cable, with another white mecha waiting. I lit up again and shot a fireball through the cable, ending our ascent. The mecha and I began falling to the ground, and inside I heard the pilot began cursing.

  But it didn't let go. I need it to let go! *Cuss*...I didn't want to do this…

  Based on everything I knew, I charged my power up enough to burn through the white plating. I closed my eyes in anticipation of the pain, and released it. A flash of light separated the two of us in mid air, followed by a boom. Pain rocked my body and I began tumbling, and once I did, I realized just how far we traveled and how high up we were. Breath returned to my lungs, but adrenaline clouded my mind. I'm already too high up to survive landing. Can I freeze something to land on? No, that would take too long. Can I use my power to fly? I can't say that I've ever tried. The world spun around me in a pattern of ground, sky, ground, sky. Each time, the ground grew closer. But I don't know what to do…

  So this is how I die.

  An old office came into view, the building I was on my way to splattering on. I suppose there's only one last thing I can try. I began collecting my power again, and on one of the last rotations I made before I struck the building, I released a wave of fire that melted a large U shape down into the structure. The rooftop level of the building gave way and formed a temporary ramp for me to impact indirectly on. I crashed into the rubble and rolled off, which led to me caving in the second story that I melted through and forming a second ramp. Finally I crashed into the ground floor and rolled until I came to a halt.

  Pain made me slip in and out of consciousness. The world felt like it was still tumbling from dizziness, and mental alarms screamed for me to address my injuries. I took another labored breath, then I became quite aware of something broken in my right arm. I forced myself to sitting on my knees, but all I could do for several minutes was take hard breaths and cry
.

  So much pain.

  So much suffering.

  I'm ready for it to end…

  I need to call for backup. If they have the white plating, that means they are ready for me at last. I reached for my comm but realized two things. First, in burning through the white plating, I melted the armor off of my left arm, and now my left arm looks critical. Secondly, I'm not wearing my helmet. Therefore I don't have a comm. I pulled my arms in, doubled over and cried. My arms don't work. My right one has so much pressure, it hurts so bad! My left one is burnt to a crisp. If I don't get some medicine soon, it could be…

  No, don't think about it. One step at a time. First, where am I?

  I rose on shaky, scalded legs and stumbled over to the nearest window I could find. Despair swept over me. I don't know where I am. I don't recognize this part of the city. I don't know what direction I came from. I...I'm lost.

  Faint noises tickled at my ears. Is it the airship? The other loading mecha? I have to move. This building is burning now, a telltale sign of my existence. I limped onto the street, cradling my broken arm. With my somewhat functional left hand, I went through and checked all of my gear. I still had my revolver, but only with one clip. I had two vials of the emergency medicine tucked into special pockets of my armor. Out of all the little emergency meds I keep, that's all that made it through. I better take them now. THIS is an emergency. And finally I have a Templar unit.

  I'm so cold. I craved sleep meds through all the pain. My fighting mode was engaged, but deep down, I have to admit I'm scared. What else was on that ship?

  To my horror, the very ship I was wary of came into view in the distance. It pulled around until it was over the burning building. Something or someone began to lower, but as I crept out of view to watch, a more nearby disturbance demanded my attention. It sounded like thick plastic being bumped. I crept further past the surrounding buildings and found cover behind the trees that had once been planted as saplings in a parking lot. There, about thirty meters out, was the original white mecha. The tracks below its torso were crushed, and mechanical debris was around it. I saw cracked concrete where it surely landed then bounced. Its right arm was missing. But most notably, the center pod was open…and empty.