by Luca Braña
Still, it didn’t hurt to try.
“Tela, can I talk with you later? I am here too,” Cyko thought to her and faster than expected, he felt her attention shift to him, just like whenever they talk, but this time, she herself also moved to face him from the crowd of people around her who were talking about many things.
“You are here!” she exclaimed in his head, the sensation washing over him and making him feel warm at her excitement, she looked around the crowd she was in for a moment, before turning to him again. “Just a moment, I’ll be there soon!” she said with sincerity before turning and talking with those around her.
Cyko wondered if it was just him imagining things, but she seemed to have taken a rather fast liking to him, as she always wanted to know his name ever since he started talking to her every day, though he kept insisting he wanted to meet her in person for that. Maybe he had made her curious by doing that? He wouldn’t know, but he always appreciated her words of support and comfort, as she always had some to spare, even when he could tell she was sad or having a bad day, indicated by her voice being softer and lower in his head.
She was a good person, and her goal was one worthy of following. Turning his head to Magy and Myo, he spoke, “What did you guys think of her? She is the one who motivated us all to work together.” Myo looked happy at his words and Magy gave him a nod, a serene smile present on her face.
“S-she is great! I don’t know what she did, but I… I feel a lot better now!” Myo declared with a big grin on his face, earning a giggle from Magy, who patted his head, much to his discomfort.
“I’d say she will be a great leader. She possesses natural charisma and her telepathic abilities directly translate her motivations to us. Hmm, I believe that having someone comfort you, even when they don’t know you, is a very nice feeling. I like her already,” the pink-haired girl said with a smile, earning a nod from Cyko.
“Yeah. Before I met her, I would say I had less determination to escape this place. Sure, I hated the scientists and still wanted to get out, but I had kind of resigned myself to be here forever, I didn’t even believe them about the powers until one of my brothers showed me his,” Cyko said with a small smile. Meeting Tela had been a turning point in his and likely many other children’s lives. He was certain she could get through to the children from the wards that haven’t seen her yet. He hoped she did, she might even get through to Drago, but he was ready in case she didn’t.
“Big brother… She must be a really great person, then…” Myo whispered, feeling excited at the chance of meeting her—clearly the boy was already idolizing her just like he looked up to his surrogate brother.
Cyko chuckled and patted his head. “Yeah, I owe a lot to her, and I wanted you to meet her, too.”
It didn’t take long before Tela untangled herself from her group of followers and made her way to Cyko’s small party of three with a smile on her face. Cyko separated himself from Myo to move towards her, extending one of his hands forward when they met.
“Hello there, Tela. My name is Cyko, and the two behind me are my little brother, Myo and my newest roommate, Magy,” he said with a big smile, glad to talk with her face to face.
Tela took his hand and greeted him with a smile of her own. “I’m glad to finally know your name now, Cyko! You sure liked the suspense, huh?” she said, earning an amused chuckle from him.
“Well, it made you interested in me at least,” he teased, to which the redhead let out a soft giggle. She then walked towards both Magy and Myo. The pink-haired girl stepped forward, with Myo hiding behind her back. She had a serene smile on her face as she also offered her hand for Tela to shake.
“Like my dear friend Cyko said, I am Magy. Scythe has a lot of good things to say about you. You are trustworthy and charismatic, I can’t wait to follow your lead when the time comes,” she said, her eyes glistening.
Tela seemed amazed at her words. “I can see you are powerful, Magy. I’ll be counting on you when the time comes and tell Scythe I give her my warmest greetings,” the redhead replied, surprising Magy who gave her a happy nod.
She then turned her attention to the small boy, Myo, whose eyes were darting back and forth between the two, hiding behind Magy’s back. Tela gave him a kind smile and offered her hand for him to touch, to which he reached towards, but winced in pain and gripped his own hand.
“Myo, what’s wrong?!” Magy worried as Cyko hurried to move to his side as his hand convulsed. Tela herself looked worried for him and reached out to touch his shoulder. Myo felt himself relax a little more, but his hand still hurt, which made the redhead sigh to herself.
“I’m sorry, I can’t heal whatever is happening to you.” She said, her voice pained.
Myo shook his head. “I-it’s not your fault…. I-I have a disease, that makes my body hurt sometimes… It gets worse when I use my power…” He said, shaking his head. It pained him to admit being useless, even with powers that should help him get stronger.
His surrogate big brother crouched down next to him and began to massage his affected hand, making the boy wince in pain, although it helped his muscles relax a little. He sighed as he felt the comfort and warmth from earlier increase. It was nice.
Tela put a hand on his head, tousling his hair as she looked at him with a frown. “You have faced horrible treatment in here, haven’t you? The scientists don’t take well to weakness… But don’t lose hope, it’s okay that you’re not the strongest, you were not supposed to be a fighter, you were supposed to be a happy child living a normal life…” Her quiet words comforted the young boy.
“However…” she continued with sincerity, “don’t give up, even if it hurts, even if it makes you cry, don’t lose hope! We’ll get out of this prison, together, and find our place in the world, some place where we won’t have to go through this kind of hell again. You can leave everything to us, little Myo, we’ll bring that hope to you,” she said in a determined voice and once again, Myo experienced a surge of willpower wash over him, making him feel like he shouldn’t give up, that he should try to resist as much as possible until the promised day of their freedom.
“Th-thank you… Th-that means a lot…” the sickly boy offered, letting the feelings and emotions coming from the older girl empower him. The pain in his hand subsided and he could now shake her hand in a greeting even though he wanted to give her a hug for being so nice.
“You are welcome, little Myo,” she said in a kind voice, still nuzzling his head, “I’m available always if you need me, you just need to think in your head as if you were talking with me. I’m sure I’ll notice you,” she said with a smile, earning a large grin of gratitude from the small boy. She removed her hand from his head and turned to look at Cyko.
“They are nice roommates to you, I can tell that much. I’m glad you got to meet them and be a part of their lives,” she acknowledged, earning grateful nods from all three. She narrowed her eyes.
“I’m afraid, however, we must discuss more serious matters. Even now, I can sense the turmoil inside many children, especially those who went with you to that meeting a few days ago. Drago, the self-acclaimed ‘Mutant Lord’ will be a serious problem. I haven’t met him yet, so I can’t tell, but if he is as twisted as you say…” She took a deep sigh as if what she would say next was very painful. “If that is true, we might not have any way of saving him,” she admitted. For her, not being able to save even one of the children whose warped future resided here… was painful.
“He deserves pity.” Magy’s lips curved downward. “No matter what kind of child he used to be before, he is now nothing more than a monster who preys on the weak. Scythe says even other mutants are afraid of him and his power, especially the weaker ones,” she scorned, causing Tela to let out a sigh of sadness. Cyko put a hand on her shoulder.
“Tela, don’t worry about him, he is likely beyond saving… For now, we should focus on helping those that we can, and we need you for this. Can you tell me how many children you
have… tagged so far?” he queried, hoping to take her mind off the giant dragon mutant, even if only for now. The redhead shook her head to dispel her negative emotions before focusing on the blue-haired boy.
“As of now, I’ve probably tagged the souls of two-thirds of all children in this place, if my memory of which gates were open now and before is correct. That means most of the children I still don’t know about are likely the ones that came to the last meeting you mentioned to me, and maybe a few others who may or may not have met yet… And the mutant ward…” she said with a serious face, explaining to them what she had already accomplished.
“Then, we are close to having everyone know about this… What about plans? Do you have any in place, Tela?” Cyko asked, hoping to get information on how they would go about this. The redhead shook her head for a moment before putting her finger on her lips in a ‘silence’ motion.
“It would be unwise to talk about this out loud, at least for now. As for what I’m doing, I am mentally cataloguing the types of powers we possess. I’m using the labels the scientists created for us, and so far, my result are as follows.” She took a deep breath and once again thought to them, “About 30 percent of us have physically enhancing powers, like yours, Cyko, where you get stronger in one form or another. Another 30 percent of the children possess elemental affinities, where they gain control of the elements in various ways, sometimes obtaining extra senses in the process. They label those two as Enhancers and Elementals respectively and right now they are the most common type of powers to be unlocked through the experiments,” she explained, her eyed searching the group to ensure they understood.
“There are people here that fit into the same category as me, the Mental type. People with mind related powers, such as telekinesis and emotion sensing. But those are very rare to appear, with a measly five percent of our total numbers so far. Some of them also possess abilities such as clairvoyance and mind reading. They are few but have been a great help in scouting this place.” She looked at Magy, who was hanging on her every word. “If Scythe is what I think she is, then you fall into the Spiritual category. These are curious cases, because they can make contracts with spirits, usually elemental ones, who can grant them powers related to the elements their spirits belong to. They are rare, being about only ten percent of us. These spirits have been helping me as much as they can, considering that the prison is heavily warded against spirit action. Spirituals are only able to interact with spirits when the scientists call them for experimentation,” she explained as Magy raised her eyebrows at her.
“I see, then I guess I’m an exception to this rule,” she thought to Tela, who channeled it to the boys as well, “Scythe is a part of me, so I’m always in contact with her. She is a representation of Death and takes the form of an actual scythe when I call her forth as a weapon. She also allows me to channel dark energy. The scientists treat me well because I’m both powerful and cooperative. I’ll tell you more later.” She sighed. Tela cocked her head towards her, her eyebrows raised.
“That’s fantastic news! Then… then can I count on your support? If Scythe can scout the prison, even just a little bit… It would help the plan out!” Tela squealed and Magy nodded at her, grinning.
“I can do that for you, although she can’t go very far from me yet, but I’m sure she’ll be useful, Scythe has never failed me before,” she admitted, her hand touching the center of her chest.
“I’m glad to have you on our side then, Magy.” Tela smiled before pursing her lips. “Now, there are two more types, and while they may seem the same, they differ greatly from each other. At first, I thought the Mutants didn’t really exist or were another way of saying Shapeshifter, but it’s actually completely different. The former, the Mutants, I discovered after you told me of their ward and their… leader, yesterday. From what I gather, their form and personality is now changed and warped into something else, like a demon or a curse from old stories. Shapeshifters are people able to change their form into something else at will, some even being able to turn into creatures of legend. According to my calculations, Mutants should represent about fifteen percent of the children present in this prison, while Shapeshifters are slightly rarer at ten percent. I had to re-estimate after that disastrous encounter with the mutant ward, though,” she disclosed.
“If you are wondering how I, as a child, did all this? Well, I was a prodigy before they brought me here… And the scientists will do small favors to subjects they deem important or cooperative. I asked them to give me books on basic education, to continue my studies, which includes math… It was hard, but I managed make those numbers and organize everyone who wanted to help,” she said, shrugging as if it was easy. “Thankfully, you weren’t the first ones to ask me about how things were going, which I think is favorable for our cause.”
Her explanation awed Cyko. She was organizing everything so well! Even he, forced to mature faster than the average kid, could not make such a structured force of action! “You are amazing, Tela!” he said out loud, before quickly realizing his mistake and going back to the mental conversation. “To do something so grand in such little time, you are amazing! I am even more confident in following your orders now!” he thought, beaming with pride.
Tela’s face turned red as she looked down and chuckled. “Thanks! I am trying my best, and I’m glad you think it’s good enough! However… don’t let your guard down,” she said, giving them all a look of warning. “They think we are too dumb or too scared to do anything, especially after that display from Drago. They are trying to instill the Stockholm effect on us, by gradually treating us nicer until we feel like we belong in this place… Don’t believe in them, don’t let them make you think any of this is right!” Her words grew louder and louder, her hands clenched at her side.
This brought to mind the way those two scientists are treating him now, Cyko thought. They were being nicer than usual, and while that confused him at first, it made sense now. They were trying to brainwash him! He would not let them get their way!
“Oh, don’t worry about that. No way I’ll let those absolute jerks think they can sweeten me up!” Cyko fumed.
Tela smiled in return. “Then, please, don’t forget these words. I’ll be counting on you when the time comes.”
Magy and Myo looked at her with clear admiration, as did Cyko. She seemed to be the perfect leader for them, and they hoped that everything went well. Tela had been taking all that she could into account, and they respected her for it.
The blue-haired boy, however, couldn’t help but wonder how she was doing, health-wise. After all, she had given him his hope back, the least he could do was give her emotional support if she needed it.
“And you, yourself, Tela? How are you doing?” Cyko asked in concern, out loud, which earned him a confused glance from the telepath, “I mean, with everything going on, how are you feeling?” He pointed to his heart. She looked surprised at his question before giving him a grateful look.
“Aw, you don’t need to worry about me!” she thanked him, “I mean, there are some things, a lot of things that make me sad every day but… I need to be strong, I can’t let my sadness get the better of me, no matter what. There are people that are counting on me, but… Thanks for worrying, that’s sweet of you.” Cyko could feel her warm smile wash over him, making him giddy all over.
“You are welcome Tela!” he said with a big grin, before gesturing towards both Magy and Myo, who were watching the exchange with curiosity. “We are all friends here, so if you need someone to talk to, either me, Magy, or Myo can help you!” Cyko declared, earning a big smile from the redhead.
“Thank you so much, I will remember your words!” She beamed. “I must go back to the others now, there are people wanting to talk today, and I need to continue making plans for everything. It was so nice to finally meet you!” She stepped forward and gave the blue-haired boy a hug, making him blink in shock and turn red at the sudden contact. She separated and gave both Magy and
Myo hugs, earning one back from the pink-haired girl and a tomato-colored blush from the younger boy.
As she walked back towards the group she left earlier, they waved goodbye to one another. Yes, Cyko thought, meeting Tela had been worth it, and he could tell that for Myo, it had been a great experience. To feel the comfort, the warmth and the charisma of the telepathic girl that wanted to help free them all seemed to have lifted their spirits again.
For the rest of the socialization time, Cyko, Myo, and Magy mingled around the gymnasium, talking and trying to have fun as they watched the redhead talk to many, many people. It was moments like these that gave Cyko the impression that everything would go well, and that they could get the freedom they were striving for.
Judging from the look on Myo’s face as he stared at the ceiling that night, it seemed he took Tela’s offer to talk to heart. It made Cyko happy to see his brother in such a good mood considering all he had gone through.
Both boys fell asleep with smiles on their faces.
8
Dr. Gacha watched intently as the girl known as Tela walked around the gymnasium, talking and interacting with as many people as she could, gaining friends and followers everywhere she went.
“Tell me, what do you think she is doing?” the head scientist asked one of the others with him in the surveillance room.
The bespectacled scientist pushed up his glasses and looked at the screen. “It seems she is trying to make connections, sir. That particular subject is one that is very important, and she was always cooperative in the experiments,” he answered with precision, gaining a nod from his superior.
“Her impressive ability with telekinesis and emotional manipulation makes her a powerful asset in our army… However, just the same, she can also be a great danger to the safety of Project R.N.G. She is just a youth, but children can also be… rebellious. Be sure to keep an eye on her, don’t let her know we are suspecting her of something, we still need her cooperation.” Dr. Gacha mused, gaining a nod from the scientist with glasses.