Citadel (Book 1): Training in Necessity

by Clevenger, J.

  Jim grunted, but it was his happy grunt. "Safer topic now. Have you heard the rumor about Jason and Jenny?"

  Kelly shot him the eyebrow again. Man that was fun.

  "I've heard they're secretly dating." Jim told him.

  "Really?" Kelly tried, but he just couldn't load the word with enough disdain.

  "Yep," Jim went on, oblivious, "I don't see it myself but that's what Kerry's been saying. She's seen him leaving their place a few times, when no one else was there."

  "Jim, it's none of our business. Besides, it's obviously not true. I live with the guy. Jason's... nice. He's really polite but… maybe a little distant. I like him well enough, but Jenny could do better. There's nothing there."

  They were interrupted by food. A middle aged guy, his nametag said Baron, holding a tray loaded down with the food Jim had ordered, to be more precise.

  "Here you go boys, enjoy!" He set a small stack of bills in front of Jim. "And your refund, sir."

  "My what?" Jim asked.

  "Son, Citadel don't pay for food at my restaurant."

  "Um, no offense or anything, but why not?" Kelly asked. "And how did you know we're in the Citadel?"

  The man smiled. "Two guys just out of high school, in ridiculous shape and they order enough food for five people?" Kelly flushed. "Also, you paid with a credit card. Feral isn't exactly a common last name, even if it wasn't a Citadel card."

  This time, Jim was the one who blushed. "Yeah, I guess that'd do it. Thanks, really, but we're just trainees, we can't..."

  Mr. Munch, assuming that was really his name, cut him off. "Yes. Yes you can. My sister lives in Vancouver, son. She wasn't hurt in the Graviton incident, but she could have been. I cheered when I heard you guys put him down. Now," his face went from genial to adamant in a flash, "you will eat your food. You will enjoy it. You will not pay for anything in my restaurant. Understood?"

  "Yes sir." they both answered.

  Pleased, Baron Munch left the table and returned to the register.

  "Should we wait for Don?" Kelly asked. Jim didn't bother to answer, just stared at the burger that was already half way to Kelly's mouth.

  Before Kelly could take his first bite, a shout cut through the room.

  "Nobody move! This is a stickup!"

  "Really, do people actually say that?" he muttered, even as he felt the tingle of changing to his combat form spread across his body.

  Jim grabbed his hand. "Not yet, cuz." He nodded to indicate the other diners. "All it takes is one stray shot. Let him get the money and we'll take him out when he's leaving. His guard'll be down."

  The robber, wearing a heavy jacket and a ski mask, moved to the registers. Along the way, he shouted at anyone nearby, telling them to sit down or shut up. It really was just like something out of a cheesy TV show.

  "Let me hit him first." Kelly said, as quietly as he could. "I can use my paralytic, shut him down without putting anyone at risk." Jim nodded.

  The two cousins watched the robbery unfold. Most of the crowd were tense, frightened, but they did as they were told. No one tried to run or tackle the gunman. Mr. Munch was eerily calm, though he kept shooting Jim and Kelly looks. He just filled a paper bag with money and handed it over.

  Kelly tensed when the masked man snatched the bag, ready to shift and attack. He never got the chance.

  Black spikes struck the man. One in his gun hand, one in each of his knees and a larger black sphere stuck him low in the back. A single shot went off. Kelly leapt out of his seat and hurried to make sure no one had been hit. The robber was down, no threat to anyone now.

  "Guess Don's here." Jim said.

  * * *

  Private Residence

  Mary relaxed the mental grip she usually had over her power. She felt it spread, settling over everything in the room. In short order, she had a working knowledge of every living thing in her reach. The woman, not sleeping but drugged into unconsciousness, the nervous young man sitting next to his mother and another one, physically almost identical, in the basement. She ignored Hector and his duplicate, focused on her patient.

  Her awareness sank deeper. The little particles that served to focus her power infiltrated the woman's bloodstream, her lungs and digestive tract. No sign of the infection. She went deeper still, the particles replicating and attaching to individual cells, her knowledge of the woman's body growing more intimate and more precise. She started reporting her findings as she went.

  "I'm not seeing any indication that Chemo's poison is still in her system."

  Poison wasn't quite right. The dead Empowered had created something that was like a cross between parasite and virus. Individually small, the particles had used bits of random matter to replicate inside her and, when they encountered nerve tissue, triggered a pain response. It was eerily similar to the way her own power worked, though more focused.

  "I think I've gotten it all, but I'd like to monitor her for at least another two weeks, just to be sure."

  Hector gave a great sigh of relief. "Thank you," there were tears in his eyes, "thank you so much."

  She nodded brusquely before continuing. "That said, there will be some complications."

  Mary began focusing on the morphine in her bloodstream. Without the pain, it would lead to euphoria and possibly addiction. She set her power to breaking it down. It shouldn't be necessary anymore.

  "Your mother's muscles are severely atrophied. Her weight is too low and..." she hesitated, but Hector leaned forward, eager to hear it regardless. "There's one more thing. Chemo's power, it left permanent effects. I can help her with the rest of it, speed up the physical recovery, but... her brain structure has been altered. Chemo's power didn't just trigger her pain receptors, it caused her to grow more."

  Hector didn't respond at first, thinking it over. "So you're saying that... that even without that stuff in her body, she'll still be in constant pain."

  Mary shook her head. "No. More likely she'll just be very sensitive. In essence, any injury she has from now on will hurt more than it should. I can't exactly quantify it, but it’ll be something on the order of… well, a stubbed toe will feel like a broken bone should."

  "Okay. That... that's not good but it's still better than what she's lived with so far, right?" He seemed desperate for reassurance.

  She smiled. "I'd say so. I might be able to help with that, but I need to talk to her before I go any further. I can do... do a little with brains, but it's not completely safe. The... the pathways the brain uses aren't identical from person to person."

  "That's fine. Even if-" Hector was interrupted by a quiet snore from his mother. Mary watched the look of wonder spread across his face. "Mom, mom hasn't had real sleep in a long time. I don't know how to thank you."

  Mary didn't answer at first. This wasn't something she wanted to talk about, but it was something she needed to. "It's the least I could do for a friend of Jason's. He... never had many, growing up. It just wasn't safe." She watched Hector carefully, not sure if she was hopeful or afraid of his response.

  "I can understand that. He told me a bit about his Empowerment. Something that dangerous, in the hands of a child so young... I can see why you'd be nervous about it."

  The boy seemed pragmatic and he was definitely intelligent. Had he realized the truth? She didn't think Jason knew enough to spell it out for him, but he might have told him enough. "Hector, there's something I need to ask you about, but first... first I need to know how you feel about Jason. I know I'm his mother, but please, don't be polite. I need a real answer."

  To his credit, Hector took her seriously. He sat and thought about it for at least a minute before he spoke. "At first, I didn't really think about him at all. Jason comes off as... bland, I guess. Everything he says in public is polite, and usually fits the situation, but that's about it. But after I got to know him a little better, frankly he scared the crap out of me. I looked him in the eyes." He stopped talking and met her gaze.

  She nodded. Mary knew
what it meant to look into that darkness.

  "After I got my powers, well, I'm almost impossible to kill. As long as one of me is running around I keep going, you know?” Hector hadn’t been her focus, but she had enough of her particles in and around him to feel the slight spike in his heart rate when he said that. A lie? “But I know Jason could kill me. He could really do it, and I knew that, knew he would, too. It was... it was terrifying."

  Mary nodded. "And now?"

  Hector's face was calm, composed. His voice was almost empty of emotion as he replied. "Mary, after what you did for me, what you did for his sake..." his voice filled with absolute certainty. "I'd do anything for him. Anything."

  She sighed. "Thank you. In that case, there's something you need to know." Hector sat a little straighter. "How much has he told you about his Empowerment?"

  Hector chewed his lip as he thought. "Just the basics, I think. I've figured out a little more on my own. He can kill anything he sees. When he does, it makes him stronger and lets him heal. The size or severity of the wound doesn't seem to matter. I've watched him heal bruises and broken bones with the same effort. It depletes his... his store of lives, I guess you'd say, which lowers his strength. When he's out of lives, he loses the effect. From a few things he's said, I take it that the healing is involuntary. Oh, and plants let him heal but don't increase his strength."

  Mary nodded. "That's... that's not wrong, but it's not everything. What about his personality?"

  Hector seemed a bit reluctant, but he answered. "He doesn't have Antisocial Personality Disorder. He’s not a sociopath. I've watched him carefully, and done a lot of reading on it. Jason... well, he doesn't seem to have a conscience. He understands that other people are real, that they matter, but only in the abstract. It's the same with empathy. I know he doesn't want people to suffer, but it's like he doesn't really get it. There's a disconnect between the idea of other people and the reality, like he can't really relate to them."

  Mary waited to see if he'd go on.

  "That said, he's not malicious. He doesn't seem to enjoy hurting people. He just doesn't understand why it's bad. It's like... like he's emotionally numb. I used to think it was a side effect of his Empowerment, either literally or just because he was under-socialized. But... that's not it, is it?"

  So he had figured it out, part of it.

  "You did it to him, didn't you? Jason told me he killed his pet dog when he first got his power, so, to stop him from killing someone every time he threw a tantrum as a child, you... changed him. You shut down his emotions, didn't you?" Hector's voice was calm, controlled. Not accusing her, just stating a fact.

  "I did. I lowered production of... well, of a bunch of chemicals in his brain and throughout his body. You don't need to know the details, but I basically left him incapable of normal emotion. I had to, or the Citadel would have killed him."

  Hector went very still. "Does anyone else know you did this?"

  Mary shook her head. "Troy, his father, just thought Jason was a little strange. I'm not sure if he believes it's because of his Empowerment or what, but he never blamed me. I taught him to hide it, kept him out of school until he was fourteen, when I was sure he could pass as just a little odd."

  "So what made you so sure the Citadel would have killed him? His power is dangerous, especially for a child, but it could have been controlled. I mean, something as simple as a blindfold..." Hector paused. "That's not all, is it?"

  "No." Mary told him. "The strength, healing, even killing along his line of sight, that's not Jason's main power, the one they would have killed him for. He killed Rex, his dog. But... he also killed his baby sitter, our neighbors' daughter. She was in the bathroom, with the door locked, and there was no way he could have seen her. He didn't know. Still doesn't, I think. Jason doesn't need to see someone to kill them, just to kill selectively. I'm not certain, but if it works at the same distance as the aimed version, he can kill every living thing within a mile. That's his real power, the reason I crippled my son."

  Hector didn't have anything to say to that, so Mary went on. "What I did to him, I did for his sake, not anyone else's. I just wanted him to live and they never would've let that happen. He was too dangerous as a child. But... the changes I made, they weren't permanent. The human brain is too good at rerouting, even without his healing. I had to refresh it constantly. Without that, he'll start to... to feel, again. I need you to help him, help stay in control. Please, Hector. You say you owe him, so I need you to help him learn to cope with it."

  * * *

  CHAPTER 14: PRIVILEGE

  * * *

  Private Residence

  Paragon327 and LittleMissA entered the ruined city. The streets were choked with wrecked cars, the buildings covered in graffiti. Not a single unbroken window was visible.

  "What is the significance of the timer at the top of the screen?" Jason asked.

  "Oh, that's because we're in the Tyrant's territory. As soon as the counter hits zero, he takes over our minds and we're his slaves." Jenny explained. "It speeds up or slows down depending on what we do."

  "That..." Jason made sure to furrow his brow as he responded. "That does not sound consistent with what I have read of his power. It was my understanding that the effect was instantaneous within the borders of Europe."

  Jenny shrugged. "Sure, but this is just a game. That wouldn't be much fun."

  A group of men and women, wearing scraps and the remnants of more normal clothing, exited the nearest building. They were hunched over, using their arms to support themselves as they moved, like chimps or gorillas. The foremost grunted and pointed at the two heroes. The pack swarmed forward.

  "I assume those are the slaves you spoke of." Jason observed.

  Jenny shrugged. "Eh. Those are just NPCs."

  LittleMissA moved forward and clapped her hands. A shockwave went forth, knocking down the nearest opponents and doing minor damage to the rest. Paragon327 stayed back, insuring that she would more easily be able to maintain aggro on the group. He activated his support aura. Together with his targeted buffs, it would increase LittleMissA's strength, toughness and regeneration.

  Working as a pair, they were able to defeat the group of feral civilians with relative ease.

  "I thought you said that this was one of the more difficult areas."

  "It's a pain to solo," Jenny said, "but a balanced group, even just a tank and a support character, makes everything easier."

  LittleMissA began looting their fallen foes.

  "Still, that was pretty easy. The thing that makes this zone really nasty is the other PCs. If the timer gets you, the computer makes a duplicate that attacks other players. It's kinda cool though, you can switch over and control the evil version instead of your regular character."

  Paragon327 rose into the air, surrounded by bands of purple energy. His health bar began to rapidly shrink.

  "Like that, I assume?" Jason asked, as a new figure appeared and attacked LittleMissA with the same purple energy. Without his healing, she fell quickly. The black, featureless opponent turned back to Paragon327 before he was free of the disabling effect and was able to easily defeat him as well.

  Jenny sighed and set down her controller. "Yep. That guy had at least a few levels on us. Probably player controlled, too. You can tell because they almost always take out the healer first."

  "I suppose that makes sense. That same tactic is likely why operative teams so rarely include a Healer in the field." Jason said, setting down his controller as well.

  "Thanks for coming over by the way. I know your rankings don't really matter to you, but it still means a lot to me." she said.

  Jason shrugged. "It is not that they do not matter." He almost smiled to express his pleasure. The shrug had been reflexive, natural. He did not, as making an artificial gesture to express pleasure in a spontaneous one seemed... disingenuous. "Simply that I thought it unlikely that I could maintain a high rank without using the more lethal aspect of my abil
ity. I am capable of great strength, but the proper approach can deplete my store of lives quite rapidly."

  "Like that time with Kelly?" Jenny asked.

  "Yes, that is correct. When he struck me, he left a large number of minute wounds. Each one took the same amount of... energy to heal as a major one would have. It left me completely depleted and vulnerable." Jason explained.

  Jenny nodded. "There's something I meant to ask you about that. I know it's been awhile but, I'm always a little... distracted when we're alone and it didn't seem like the sort of thing I should bring up around other people." She turned to face him and her face lit up with joy as she met his gaze.

  Jason rarely wore his glasses around her. Only a handful of people had ever looked into his eyes without… an unpleasant reaction. She was the only one for whom it seemed to be an enjoyable experience. Further, he found it to be quite relaxing that there was nothing he needed to hide from Jenny. She truly accepted him for who he was.

  "When we were in the fake bank, that same day Kelly took you and Anna down. That other guy, the Jordan type..."

  "Michael." Jason interjected.

  "Yeah, him. He left one of Hector's clones lying on the ground and Sammy killed it by accident."

  "I recall." Jason said. "It seemed unusual because she normally maintains excellent control of her shots."

  "Yeah." Jenny said, dropping her gaze and turning her head slightly aside. "I think I made her do that." she said quietly.

  "I had not considered the possibility." Jason said, taking a moment to do just that. "Thank you."