Cykopath- Birth

by Luca Braña

  Cyko, it was Cyko! He was okay!

  “CYKO!” Magy leapt to her feet and rushed towards him, eyes still full of tears as he waved a tired hand in her direction.

  “Hey, Magy…” the boy managed to say, not resisting in the slightest as she clung to him, pulling his trembling body into a tight embrace.

  “Myo... Myo is… and you were…” she sobbed out, emotions in disarray now that he was safe. She was glad and relieved to see him again, but on the other hand, her heart was still hurting from losing Myo—not even the death of Drago and those mages were enough to relieve her.

  “I know, I know. Let’s sit down.” Cyko led his friend towards the bed she was at… Myo’s bed. Magy started a new round of sobs, to which the boy wrapped his arm around her in comfort, as his own heart hurt with her. The satisfaction and vindication from Drago’s death was short lived.

  “He was too innocent, he didn’t… He didn’t deserve… to end up like this!” she cried into his shoulder, sobbing as the sadness struck her again, holding onto her friend for dear life.

  “I avenged him, I killed him, Magy! I killed that monster who took Myo away! But…” Cyko’s voice cracked as he began to cry into Magy’s shoulder, unable to contain his emotions. “It won’t… It won’t bring Myo back! It won’t make this suffering go away!”

  As they cried into each other’s arms, the pair remembered all the moments they had with Myo, both good and bad. Their first time meeting him, introducing themselves to him, comforting him when he cried or got scared, slowly motivating him until he became the brave boy that stood against the mighty beast, his moments of sweetness and innocence… They were all gone forever. Both Magy and Cyko shared their sadness, venting and crying for what felt like hours.

  However, they knew they couldn’t stay that away forever, they had to do something else, even if it felt impossible to forget the sadness of losing Myo. They would mourn, they would mourn for a long time, but they had to be functional. There were many others who still needed their help.

  After dinner—which had arrived without either of them noticing—they climbed into the same bed, facing each other with sad, tired eyes.

  “Your face is a little different now,” Magy whispered as she brought her right hand up to Cyko’s head and began to trace the markings his face had gained from his change.

  The boy seemed confused. “It is?” he whispered back, his voice just as tired as hers.

  “Mhm,” she affirmed, fingers grazing his cheek next to the blue mark on the side of his face, “not just those markings, but… I could feel it, Cyko, I could feel the change in your soul when you broke free of those restraints. Scythe… Scythe told me you are no longer the person you used to be… I could see part of it when you fought those mages.”

  What she said surprised Cyko. She noticed? He knew Tela had noticed his changes because of her mental abilities but… No, that’s not what matters at the moment. Yes, he did change, and he’ll likely keep changing for a while until he’s unrecognizable, but… he promised himself. Putting his hand on Magy’s, he clenched it, giving his friend an understanding smile.

  “Yes, it was the price I had to pay to gain the power to avenge Myo… and to stop something like this from ever happening again to the people I love. Which includes you, Magy,” Cyko answered, causing the pink-haired girl’s eyes to widen. “I’d pay any price to keep you all safe, even if it means becoming a monster myself,” he added.

  “Cyko…” Magy whispered, tears forming in her eyes. His words made her happy. Moving herself closer to him, the girl wrapped her arms around him, finding comfort in her friend. “You’ll never be a monster to me…” she offered, smiling as she felt him wrap his own arms around her.

  “Thank you, Magy.”

  That night, both friends slept in each other’s arms, finding comfort from the tragedy that happened that day. They would never forget their sweet little brother and how he met his tragic end. They made a silent promise to each other to kill as many of them as they could during their escape, but for now… Now was time to rest, to find comfort, and to mourn.

  8

  Dr. Gacha examined a sample he had collected from Cyko, using the advanced equipment in his personal lab to analyze it from as many angles as he could, both in the realm of science and of magic. If he could find the source of Subject 444’s sudden change and power increase… it would advance their research of the hidden genes by over two hundred percent.

  He glanced towards his desk at the small, white kitten asleep on top, unaware of the events that happened a few hours ago. If she were to learn of the death of one subject she got attached to, he knew she would be saddened. He had not expected Drago to go that far.

  The whole chain of events from the mental attack to the riot, to that child managing to break himself free with a sudden raise in his energy levels, slaughtering a security guard and dozens of elite mages in two minutes before proceeding to kill the strongest subject of the mutant ward… was a lot.

  During the fight, his team had made several protests of allowing the battle to continue, but Dr. Gacha had been adamant in allowing it to proceed. They had an anomaly, one never seen before.

  Subject 444 had exhibited new abilities that didn’t match with the ones they had recorded. Besides enhanced strength, speed, endurance, and reflexes, he had shown the ability to vanish and procure a weapon from thin air, and create several copies of himself.

  When Drago had gotten desperate enough to use his strongest attack, which he had been explicitly forbidden from using, his team panicked. Even Dr. Gacha himself would be lying if he said he had not felt scared, terrified at losing all their subjects at once, which would mean a catastrophic failure for the entire project, but the blue-haired subject kept his calm and countered him, resulting in the mutant’s death.

  At that moment, Dr. Gacha knew he needed answers, and needed them immediately. As soon as the guards had him surrounded, he sent explicit orders to not shoot him or antagonize him. The head scientist was pleasantly surprised when he acquitted to his request and asked the guards to gently escort him to a room in the soft labs before taking a small team of mercenaries to his destination.

  During his interrogation, Subject 444 proved himself cooperative, even giving explicit details as to the reason of his rampage and increase in power: hatred and the desire to avenge the subject known as Myo, which the child referred to as his little brother. He blamed himself for his death and promised that he would kill Dr. Gacha if he ever got the chance to.

  Thankfully, he stayed calm for the whole interrogation, answering every question with honesty—according to the mages. However, Subject 444 was too emotionally compromised to be convinced of the scientists’ innocence regarding the death of his brother, and thus had to be released. Dr. Gacha asked him to give them a small sample of his blood alongside a few strands of his hair, to which the child agreed with a drained glare.

  Watching as his innovative equipment analyzed the samples, the scientist thought about the future of Project R.N.G. If all subjects experienced this enormous power increase and addition of new, unexpected abilities, they would have an enormous advantage in their army. Their efficiency and capability to protect the world would increase tenfold. This made Drago’s sacrifice worth it, as now, all Dr. Gacha had to do was to figure out how to replicate the results and make it work, preferably with an injectable solution.

  Walking over to his desk, he stopped to pet his sleeping kitten, his mask of indifference cracking to show an affectionate smile. He reached over to his tablet, which was beside many drawings the feline had made today to pass the time. Opening it, he typed a message with top priority to his superior, Mr. Whale, informing him of his plans to cease combat simulations and move forth for the final phase of Project R.N.G.: Loyalty.

  As he walked away to continue typing his message, he didn’t see one drawing in particular was near where he took his device from the table, as preoccupied with the project as he was. A detailed depiction
of Cyko, Magy, Myo and the artist herself, all smiling happily. Their names were written on top of their figures, several small hearts and cat paws covering the edges of the drawing, giving it a heartwarming atmosphere and at the top were the words, ‘Friends Forever.’

  CHAPTER 5

  AFTERMATH

  1

  “Dr. Gacha, my friend, would you care to tell me what happened down there?” Mr. Whale asked in a strained voice, face set into a hard frown in contrast to the head scientist’s emotionless one.

  Mr. Whale waited a moment before launching into his spiel.

  “Over a hundred mercenaries killed, many of which were elite mages. Some at the hands of a rogue child and the rest by one of their own, who decided going berserk would be the best choice. Before that, we had a revolt and a mental attack on nearly the entire scientific team, which got through our many, many expensive security measures!” The plump man hit his desk with his clenched hand, face morphing into an angry scowl.

  “Because of these deaths, the Neon Lunatics have doubled their monthly fees, which were already costly enough! One of our most successful and loyal subjects is dead and now the psychologists say that the chances of rebellion are much, much higher! And to make matters worse, we may already be compromised from that mental invasion! Do you know how hard it will be to explain that to the Board? They are expecting results, not failures!” He concluded his rant and retreated into his chair.

  After a few deep breaths, his voice returned to its rational tone. “I apologize for my strong response.” Mr. Whale noticed that the scientist’s face hadn’t changed since he yelled at him. “But you must understand, everything was going so well before that, to have a crisis arise so suddenly… It’s a bad sight for business. We’ve come so far to have our plans crash and burn, and you want to cancel the remaining combat simulations to rush ahead to the next phase? Can you tell me why?”

  The scientist closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about his next words. “Maybe it was a stroke of luck, but most of the subjects with the highest potential had already been tested before this happened. We have valuable data on potential live combat scenarios that can be used for future training. But what really brought up the need to skip to the next part is twofold.” The head scientist brought up his right hand, one of his fingers raised.

  “First, the subjects are divided amongst mutant and non-mutant, and a hatred towards the staff originating from the second faction. They all are expected to work together, both with each other and with us, so divisions on that scale will only lead to further conflicts which may lead to even more loss of lives, money, and time,” Dr. Gacha explained, before bringing up another finger.

  “Second, a great discovery was made during this fight that may prove the losses suffered were inconsequential. Something that, once fully understood, could increase the efficiency of each individual subject up to 200 percent or 300 percent.” He watched how Mr. Whale’s expression changed during his explanation, eyebrows knitting together in contemplation.

  Reaching inside his coat, Dr. Gacha took out his tablet, clicking and swiping through the menus. “The first reason is obvious enough, but the second requires more substantial evidence. Here is the recording of the scene, shown from multiple angles. You can make your own conclusions, Mr. Whale.” The head scientist leaned back in his chair to wait.

  As Mr. Whale took the device and played the recording, he mentally prepared himself to witness chaos and the loss of life. From the start of the video, the situation rapidly evolved into madness as the two subjects attacked the barrier to interrupt the fight in the arena. Dr. Gacha had told him that at that point, they were already under attack and could not put a stop to the turmoil that followed. More and more children joined in, their many powers and abilities crashing down against the mages, threatening to break the barrier until the dragon roared his orders for the mutants to interfere. That was when things escalated into a free-for-all.

  When the bracelets activated, it brought the combat to a full halt, restraining even the strongest subjects. Sheer strength was useless, elemental manipulation was voided, direct transmutation of the bracelets nullified, shape-shifting reared pointless, and even intangibility couldn’t pierce through the shackles as the soul-bonding technology made sure that the bracelets would stay on their bodies, no matter the form or lack thereof.

  However, when the battle of the two subjects in the arena resulted in the death of the small child present, Mr. Whale had to take a minute. He knew that sacrifices had to be made, knew that children died in the experiments and that they suffered during their stay, but it was hard not to be affected by the violent death of a child so small.

  “Doctor, why didn’t you stop the match when you could? Surely that boy didn’t have to die,” the businessman asked with a sigh, knowing that the man in front of him only cared for one child, his own.

  “That subject was the lowest on the priority list. While his powers could be useful, the side effects would have been too expensive to justify,” the scientist said, pausing before he concluded the harsh truth. “Whoever targeted us wanted to stop the match to save him. I allowed the fight to go on hoping to catch the perpetrator or at least, get closer to identifying them. Whoever they are, they didn’t try again,” The doctor explained, his voice as cold as always.

  “Was his death necessary? Surely you could have arranged for the fight to end just before Drago took his life, remember what we did with many of the children that didn’t make the cut?”

  The scientist shook his head slightly at the suggestion. “While yes, that option was available for him, it was before the mental attack happened. The importance of discovering the perpetrator outweighed the subject’s life and while the gamble failed, you understand that many sacrifices have to be made for the greater good, Mr. Whale. He was not the first and likely will not be the last to die for the sake of humanity’s own future,” the scientist replied matter-of-factly, to which the businessman nodded in reluctant acceptance.

  As Mr. Whale resumed the recording, he wondered if he’d ever be able to have children of his own and raise them without thinking of all the ones whose lives were ruined.

  Turning his attention back towards the recording, he saw what he expected. Children fought and broke away from the main battle at hand. He still couldn’t figure out the cause for the deaths and chaos that followed. What had happened down there?

  His frown hardened when the guards entered the area to physically and verbally torture the children. It was his own permission that allowed the science team to use the guards to further torment the children. He shook his head as the guilt was strong now.

  Clearing his thoughts, he had noticed that one child, the blue-haired boy who had struck the barrier first, had risen from his position on the ground.

  From that moment, Mr. Whale witnessed what could only be described as slaughter, a scene ripped right out of nightmares. The child who had been restrained somehow broke the bindings and slew the mercenaries near him and all the mages that had been maintaining the barrier. How was that possible?! Not even the strongest enhancer could break them, they were supposed to drain strength from the prisoner’s soul—the magical engineers had assured him of that!

  And then, the video showed his brief fight with the last mage who, in desperation, had used forbidden magic and blasted everything around him, other subjects included. After finishing the mad mage off with ease, the rampaging child moved on towards the dragon. The blue-haired subject and the dragon fought, and fought, and continued to fight even when he thought they’d have been done for.

  The boy and the dragon seemed to be evenly matched, keeping up with each other blow for blow and with every advantage one had, the other had a way to make up for it… Yet, somehow, the blue-haired child always stayed one step ahead of the giant dragon, provoking, mocking, and hurting him with indifference. It wasn’t until the end that the boy showed any desperation when Drago resorted to his strongest attack.

  Mr. Wh
ale almost choked as he watched what happened next. If that child hadn’t stopped the dragon’s roar, most of the children would have died in the following explosion, just how close to complete failure was this work of years and billions of gems?

  Still, that scenario didn’t come to pass, fortunately enough. They still could salvage the situation from what he witnessed… Using his own tablet, Mr. Whale checked the now outdated information regarding Subject Number 444. A simple enhancer type with heightened strength, agility, endurance and reaction time. He was nothing better than all the other enhancers, but now…

  New abilities had been awakened in him. Possible teleportation used for surprise counter attacks. Weapon creation of excellent quality, as they could cut Drago’s scales, which were supposed to be as tough as titanium. The ability to create mass clones of himself, duplicates able to fight and act near independently from what he could observe, being able to dish out just as much damage, if not being able to take as much punishment. These powers were all coupled with the noted increments of his own base strength… If they could find the source of his powers and make it so all children could be as strong as he was now…

  “I must admit, Dr. Gacha, you have me interested in your proposition. I even have one of my own,” the businessman offered as he handed the device back to the doctor, who nodded at his words. “My feelings on the catastrophe that almost happened down there are mixed, but that discovery outweighs them by a large margin… If we can reap the benefits, that is.”

  “Ms. Allure, could you please bring in a few refreshments for us? And clear my schedule for the next two hours,” Mr. Whale spoke into the intercom connected to his secretary’s desk.

  After a few seconds, she spoke back to him, “I cleared your schedule, Mr. Whale. I’ll be right in with some refreshments.” The secretary’s light, cheery tone made the businessman smile. He had made the correct choice in hiring her.