“Will we forgive you? Will we, Mark?”
“Yes we will, friend,” Aaron interjected. “Now let's go find some anarchists.”
The city was only slightly more pleasing during the day. We could see where we were going, but we could also see more ruins. The air had grown slightly warmer since we left the beach, but the smell was now much more foul. I couldn’t describe it exactly, but judging by the wind, it seemed to be coming from the exact direction we were going. We were following Mark through the streets, occasionally checking to see if any of the cars we passed were recoverable. Sadly, none were, and walking appeared to be our only option.
Following Mark’s direction, we soon turned onto a walkway made of red bricks. A canopy of tall, drooping trees hung over us, and brown, broken buildings lined our path. Several bricks were missing, and weeds grew unchecked out of cracks in the stone. Short, rocky stairways forked off of the path in either direction.
“What do you think this place used to be?” I asked.
“Well according to the map, we’re on Locust Walk, part of the University of Pennsylvania,” Rachel answered.
“A university?” Aaron seemed intrigued. “I wonder what the kids of Old Earth studied.”
“Probably simple things like philosophy and art,” I scoffed.
“They also learned about medicine, technology, and law I’m sure,” Cora added.
“I wish I had the luxury of studying the arts,” Aaron said longingly. “I would do nothing but draw all day.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Lynn added. “Though I prefer learning about history.”
“Well, maybe one day you can,” I reassured them. “And if not, you can always make sure your kids have that choice.”
“Kids?” Rachel was surprised. “You think you would have kids someday?”
“Well, the human race can’t stop with us,” Cora answered. “Someday, we will have to produce the next generation of children.”
“I know she’s right,” Rachel said. “But I’ve never really thought about that kind of thing…not seriously anyway.”
“It’s a long way away, friend,” Aaron assured her. “But when and if I do have kids, I’ll make sure they don’t have to live in a world like this.”
“Do you think they’ll have powers too?” Aelia asked on a more lighthearted note. “And will their powers depend on their parents?”
“You mean if Aaron and Cora got together, would their child be omnisentient?” Lynn suggested.
“Yeah! Or if Thran and Rachel got together, they could have a child with time control and telekinesis?!” Aelia wondered in amazement.
“And then those children could get together when they grow up, and their child would be some kind of god,” Aelia speculated.
“I don’t think it works that way,” Cora said skeptically. “But it’s interesting to think about.”
It definitely was an interesting topic to ponder. Our abilities were a mystery to us, but how they would affect future generations of humans was even more puzzling. I shuddered at the idea of actually having children one day. I knew it was essential to human continuity, but I was still anxious about the endeavor. I also had that familiar artificial feeling about this as well. Like a voice in my head was telling me reproduction was a necessity, but I myself did not feel the same urgency.
“We are almost there, I’d recommend keeping verbal communication at an absolute minimum,” Mark said.
We arrived at the end of the path, and came upon a road littered with cars and rubble in both directions. Across the street in front of us was a long building that stretched almost the entire block. I glanced at Rachel’s map, and saw that behind it was a courtyard shaped like a triangle attached to a square, cleverly called the Quadrangle. The entrance was an archway just ahead, resting underneath two, stone towers built into the surrounding structure. A black gate, once constructed as a barricade, was now misshapen and flung open.
“The readings I’m getting are coming from inside the Quadrangle,” Mark said quietly.
The wind began to pick up, and the blanket of gray clouds grew denser. From where I was standing there was only a faint odor, but still noticeable. If this was, in fact, an anarchist stronghold, I would’ve expected to hear voices or perhaps vehicles patrolling about. But there was only the wind. I had a bad feeling about this, and was apprehensive about blindly encountering this new threat.
“We need to see what we’re up against,” Cora said, reading my mind.
“I’ll do it,” Lynn volunteered.
Before anyone could object, Lynn shifted into cat form and scurried off into the Quadrangle. She disappeared for about a minute before we saw her dash out of the courtyard and towards our position across the street. She ran several feet past us before shifting back into human form.
“It’s not…anarchists” she said between breaths.
Aelia ran over to help calm her down. “Breathe, just breathe. What did you see?”
Lynn paused, then took a deep breath. “It’s a Titan.”
We instinctively backed away from the courtyard towards Lynn, further into the path and under the canopy of trees.
“A Titan?!” Cora exclaimed in a whisper. “How are there still live Titans on this planet?!”
“I don’t know, but this one seemed smaller. It seemed to be asleep near the western end of the yard, but I could tell it must’ve been at least a hundred feet tall.”
“You call that small?! 100 feet?!” I exclaimed.
“Normal Titans stand taller than a thousand feet,” Rachel said casually. “I consider us lucky.”
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, and car alarms began to blare all across the street. Frozen in terror, we stood on the red-bricked path and watched as a monster rose up from the walls of the Quadrangle. First, its head emerged. The eyes were an empty black color, and the nose was just two slits in the center of its face. The mouth had no lips, just wrinkled skin contorting to form an opening lined with rows of broken, sharp teeth. Then the shoulders appeared, followed by a hairless, humanoid body covered in gray skin that seemed to be giving off steam. Several of its ribs could be seen through its emaciated body, and long, sharp nails grew from the tips of its bony fingers. As the creature inhaled, it’s nostrils grew wide, and in one quick motion it turned its head down directly towards us. Upon seeing its prey, the Titan opened it’s mouth wide open and actually smiled, revealing a disgusting set of sharp, yellow teeth and red gums.
“You spoke…way too soon,” I said.
We instantly turned back to the path and ran. Lynn took cheetah form, and Mark was flying along as fast as his little engine could take him. After about ten seconds of running, the ground actually began to shake. We dared not look back, but knew that the Titan had climbed over the building, as was now pursuing us, roaring furiously. I heard the cracking of wood as the trees behind us were crushed by the 100-foot Demon.
Aaron must’ve used his power to see through our surroundings because he motioned for us to turn left at the end of the path and take refuge in one of the buildings. There came a point, where everyone had turned the corner and I was still sprinting down the path. Aaron stood at the end, frantically beckoning me to run faster. I was still about fifty feet away, and felt the Titan picking up speed. Then a thought occurred to me. What if I didn’t get out of this one. What if this is how I died? Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead and stung my eyes. My legs burned, and I was closer and closer to accepting that I would not survive this chase. Just when I was about to simply stop in my tracks, I saw another figure emerged from behind Aaron.
It was Aelia. My vision was blurry, but I could tell that she was quite exasperated. She walked towards to me, and I tried telling her to run away, to leave me behind. She ignored my warnings and just as I passed her, she made a throwing motion with her arm, and I felt a wave of heat graze the side of my face. Then I heard an agonizing roar behind me just as I reached the corner. I quickly turned to see the Titan slow
to a halt, its hands covering its face. The others cautiously approached Aaron and I to see what had happened. Aelia was releasing surges of fire as she took slow steps backward. The Titan was screaming in pain, covering its burns. But the monster wasn’t stunned for long before it outstretched its hands to either side. Patches of fire were still burning on the creature’s gray skin, but it didn’t appear to be as much of a bother anymore. The Titan let out an earthshaking roar, and Aelia stumbled back in surprise. But she was only stunned for a moment before she composed herself and secured her footing. She then raised her hands and released a torrent of fire, constructing a wall of flame over the Demon. I could now only see Aelia, a lone figure, standing before an inferno. Seconds later, I heard a thundering crash within the burning veil, causing a strong wind to push the flames towards Aelia, who refused to flinch. Satisfied that the Titan had fallen, Aelia turned around and walked back towards us. The residual flames crackled as the wall of fire was replaced by a massive cloud of black smoke.
But just as Aelia began her walk back, a huge, fiery hand darted out from the smoke and one of the Titan’s long, sharp claws ran through Aelia's back and emerged through her chest, painted a dark red. Her eyes went wide with disbelief, and she slowly brought her hands around the claw. We stood there, horrified in silence. Aelia looked down at her wound, then back at us.
With all the strength she had left, she cried out, “RUN, YOU IDIOTS!”
Then the Titan dragged its hand back into the fire, taking her along with it.
“Aelia!” Lynn screamed.
Like the others, I couldn’t believe what had happened, and just stood there motionless. Lynn broke away and ran towards the fire, but was held back by Aaron, who attempted to comfort her amidst her sobbing. The fire had completely engulfed the area by now. No living thing would be able to survive that.
“We need to get away from here,” Mark said calmly. “Other Demons can see the smoke, it is not safe-”
“Shut up!” Lynn screamed.
Mark was right. We gave Lynn a few more moments before guiding her away from the flames. And then we ran. After a few blocks, we stopped to catch our breath. Lynn had shifted into cat form; she advanced ahead of us, and was now walking alone down the street.
“Lynn!” I called out.
She stopped, and slowly turned her head. Her feline eyes had no sign of a spark, and though her face was that of an animal, I could still see an expression of unthinkable despair. Rachel took a quick survey of the area as she ran up to Lynn, who had now slumped down in the middle of the road. She sat with her friend, petting her to provide comfort. Aaron had his hands on his sides and was facing up at the sky, looking more angry than sad. Cora sat on the curb and put her head in her hands. She took long difficult breaths as tears escaped her closed eyes. I could only stand there, knowing that this was all my fault. If only I was faster, if only I wasn’t weak, maybe Aelia would be alive right now. Mark could not feel exhaustion or sadness, but he had landed on the ground and dimmed his lights, as if to emulate our current behavior. Perhaps I should’ve been annoyed by this, but it actually made me feel a little better. One could mistake his simulated sorrow for actual grief, and at this point it was philosophically impossible to argue the difference.
We spent the next few hours in silence, searching for shelter. When night fell at last, none of us had the spirit to keep going, so we took refuge in the nearest building we could find. Sleep eluded us all, but Rachel offered to take first watch so the rest of could at least put our minds at ease.
Around midnight, we began to hear unsettling sounds in the distance. It seemed the Demons were becoming more aggressive, inconveniently timed with the attack of the anarchists. I found myself doubting that a few young Neogens could ever play a part in shaping the future of this planet. I did not abandon hope, but I will admit my convictions did falter. Cora began to hum a song so as to distract from the Demons’ screeching. It was different from what she had sung before, but it had the same, sleep-inducing effect.
Chapter 9
I awoke the next morning to the sound of water droplets meeting the wet ground. The petrichor told us that it had rained for a short while the night before. It did well to wash away all but the woes of yesterday. It was as if the heavens themselves mourned the passing of our comrade.
“We need to go back to the anarchist camp,” Cora said.
Aaron and Rachel agreed. Lynn, however, was not so eager.
“Why? Even if we find out where they are, how are the five of us gonna do anything about it?” she argued.
“Six!” Mark added.
“Do you even have weapons Mark? What can you do besides inform them to death?”
“We can gather intel, learn more about them,” Aaron said. “Then take that information to someone who will help us.”
“And who will?! Our Sanctuary is gone, yours is gone, and there is no one else we can go to!” Lynn was speaking the harsh truth that we had avoided for so long.
“So, what? We’re just lost in this Hell, alone? Forever?” Aaron argued.
“My parents will know what to do.” Cora insisted. “If we find the anarchists, we find them.”
“It’s better than sitting here doing nothing,” I agreed.
Lynn was understandably upset, but agreed to this proposal. I wondered if her grief felt as mine did for my parents. Perhaps she too was struggling with her emotions, trying to feel sad after the initial shock wore off. Perhaps she too was confused about why she felt an artificial sorrow. It would explain the anger that had seemingly overtaken her personality. I decided I would ask her, but now was most certainly not the right time.
It took us about an hour to return to the anarchist Sanctuary, through a different route this time. Locust Walk was now nothing more than a pile of ash and rocks, and it was a difficult sight to bear. Instead, we followed the street that ran alongside the courtyard, eventually arriving at the gate on our right. Rachel was the first to step through, the rest of us followed once she signaled that it was safe. Our initial sight was a large tree, wilting in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by dying grass and overgrown weeds. A path ran along the edge of the courtyard, with doorways leading to various sections of the surrounding building, most of which was in ruins. But at least the odor from yesterday was gone, and the smell of dew wafted through the air.
“OK, let’s split up and have a look around,” Aaron said.
Rachel agreed. “Aaron you come with me, Lynn you go with Thran and Cora.”
“Are you sure that’s safe?” I was hesitant. “Cora and I aren’t as well-trained in combat.”
“Aaron and I have experience scavenging together. We’ll do a quick sweep and meet up with you guys.”
I reluctantly agreed.
“I’d rather just go alone,” Lynn wasn’t looking at us. “I don’t need anyone slowing me down.”
“Fair enough. Mark, you go with our scientists so they’re not stumbling around in the dark.”
We all went our separate ways. Cora, Mark, and I took the western tip of the quadrangle. We walked past a pile of rubble, and found a stable-looking entrance. The old, wooden door opened into a dark stairwell. The stench was overwhelming, and the air was thick some kind of yellow dust.
“Ugh, that is disgusting,” Cora said, covering her face with her sleeve.
“I detect organic material in the air,” Mark said. “I’d recommend caution; these particles are interfering with my sensors, there could be something dangerous here.”
“Worse than what we’ve already seen?” I asked skeptically. I think we’ll be OK.”
We continued on up the stairs, which creaked and released more dust with each step. We figured it was safe to use a light, which Mark provided. Upon reaching the first floor, we saw two hallways leading in either direction. The right hallway was much longer, presumably leading all the way through the building that surrounded the yard. Streams of sunlight shone through the cavities where the building had been
demolished by the Titan. The left was much shorter, leading to only three rooms and relatively intact. We decided to clear this side first, then make our way around the other hallway.
The first room was empty, save some broken furniture and papers scattered all over the floor. None of them were of much use, they just had cryptic numbers scribbled all over them. In the second room, Cora found some ammunition and a gun, which we decided she should have, given that my power can help me escape danger more easily. There were also several cans of food and a pair of shoes, which we proceeded to collect and move on. The last door was closed, and when I tried to open it I found that it was locked as well. I glanced at Cora, who simply shrugged.
“I don’t have anything that can break that open, should we just leave it?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t feel right leaving this room unchecked. We need everything we can get.”
“Alright, how about you use your special door-breaking power and we’ll carry on.”
I smiled, then remembered using my power while I was falling through the floor back at the hospital. If gravity had a different effect on me, perhaps the laws of force did as well.
“Stand back,” I warned. ”I’m gonna try something.”
“I know,” she said, already standing outside the hallway.
I slowed time by a relatively steep ratio and took a few breaths, flexing my right leg. Then, with one last inhale, I kicked the door with full force which, to be completely honest, wasn’t too impressive. The door nearly shattered, breaking off the hinges and landing with a thud on the floor. Time flowed normally again as I stepped over the door into the room and turned to see Cora and Mark standing in doorway.
“How did that even work?!” she was baffled.
“I believe his power allows him to act at a relatively normal speed regardless of how slow he is perceiving the world. His time flow ratio allowed the force of his collision with the door to be compounded, as he was applying the same energy over a much shorter period of time,” Mark explained.
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