by E S Richards
“Oh no you don’t!” Vincent shouted across the room once more. “I’m not letting him run away. He can wait in there.” The council member pointed with his pincer-like hand to a door to another room within the building, probably one used for the storage of food.
“Alright,” Zahyra called back to him calmly, “he’ll wait in there.”
The rest of them stood in stalemate while Zac crossed the room to the door Vincent had identified, closing it behind him as he entered. Zahyra then looked up at Vincent who seemed to have instantly lost all the strength he had just spoken with, already collapsing back down into his chair between the two women.
“Vincent,” Zahyra was already moving across the room towards him, Cain following her closely behind. “What happened?”
The old man looked up at her in disbelief, shaking his head slightly. He then let out a long sigh and began to talk. “Everyone is dead, my dear.” There was true sadness in his voice when he spoke, his words causing the two women to sob even louder. “They tore our home apart like it was nothing, like it was just a game. I tried to reason with them, I tried to ask them why but they just kept killing. And then I ran. I ran away like a coward. This is my home and I didn’t even try to defend it. I’m not worth the chair I sit on anymore.”
“Vincent,” Zahyra tried her best to comfort the old man. “You’re not a coward. Sometimes you have to put certain values above others and in this case you made the right choice. Your life comes above anything else.”
“No, you’re wrong.” Vincent shook her off. “It was my duty to protect the citizens of this place and I have failed them. Look at me. I’m just an old man; I’m no leader to these people. Everyone had died because of me.”
“That’s not true Vinnie,” one of the women spoke between sobs. “You’ve been the best leader we’ve ever had. You can’t blame yourself for the cruelty of others.”
“Thank you Tessa, but I’m afraid your kind words won’t be enough to change my mind, although I do appreciate them dearly.”
Vincent reached forward and took the woman’s hand in a friendly manner, patting it with the smoother side of his claw in a form of comfort. Zahyra wasn’t sure what to do in the situation. She felt like she needed to offer Vincent and the women some sort of explanation, some information about the safe haven itself and why it had attacked their home. Stopping herself however she knew it would do nothing to ease their pain. Deciding that perhaps the absence of knowledge was the kindest thing they could feel at that time.
“I’m sorry for the question,” Cain’s sudden voice behind her caught Zahyra off guard, almost forgetting that he had been stood so close. “But did they kill everyone? They didn’t take anyone away with them?”
“Of course they killed everyone!” Vincent spat back in another sudden bout of anger. “Haven’t you seen the devastation outside? There is no one left.”
“No, no.” The young girl suddenly spoke from behind one of the chairs. She had been sat quietly for the whole time, keeping to herself and not crying with the two older women, neither of whom Zahyra assumed were her mother. “They took Adi with them! They took him away!”
“Who’s Adi?” Zahyra asked softly, moving to kneel down beside the young girl. It was clear to her then that she had been crying but was now trying to hold herself together, trying to appear strong. Zahyra smiled slightly as she admired the determination in the young girl and couldn’t help but be reminded of her brother.
“Adryan.” Vincent offered in explanation. “He’s her older brother. None of us saw him be taken though so we can’t be sure. Although, we also haven’t been able to check all of the bodies.”
“No they took him,” the young girl argued. “They put him in a truck I saw it.”
“What’s your name?” Zahyra asked the girl softly.
“Clarke.”
“That’s a pretty name,” Zahyra continued. “Can you tell me how old your brother was, Clarke?”
“Ten.”
“And, did he have a mutation?”
Clarke just shook her head so Zahyra turned to Vincent again for an explanation.
“Adryan was a Zero,” he offered. “His Turning Age Ceremony was last month, although it wasn’t necessary. The boy had never shown any signs of any mutation. He was a Zero through and through.”
Zahyra nodded, turning her head slightly to look at Cain. His expression matched hers, both letting it wash over them that the safe haven had taken another boy who would undoubtedly now turn into a Gen 6. That made four that Zahyra had all but confirmed in her mind, but who knew how many more there could be. The names of the boys danced around in her head: Jonny, Dylan, Adryan and of course, Asher.
Chapter 14 – Asher
Life in the safe haven was nothing like Asher had imagined it. In fact, sometimes he felt guilty to admit that he was actually enjoying himself. He thought of Zahyra and Cain from time to time, but he was surprised to discover they didn’t enter into his mind as often as he would’ve thought.
It was certainly nothing like how it had been the first time around. He was sleeping in a dormitory with five other boys, all of them Gen 6’s like himself. Like with his occasional thoughts of Zahyra and Cain, he sometimes wondered whether it was wrong that the safe haven had created other boys like himself. But that thought was only ever a fleeting one, realising that the safe haven had actually given him a gift.
Each of the boys had the same mutation as him. The ability to borrow other mutations and together, they were learning how to control their mutation and use it to their advantage.
Their days followed a strict routine, but it was something Asher enjoyed. They were brought breakfast in their dormitory in the morning, eating in the adjoined dining room that led off from where they slept. There were also two bathrooms attached to the dorm, each shared by three of the boys.
The food they were brought was specifically designed to help enhance their mutations, with Asher being presented with brightly coloured drinks each morning that were supposed to boost his abilities. Even after a few days he could already tell they were taking effect, his strength and control over his mutation growing day by day.
Following breakfast they would all shower and head down to the training rooms. They were located in a part of the safe haven that Asher had never been to before, but he didn’t find that strange, as his first visit had been very restrictive in location.
Training would last for the rest of the day, with lunch being brought in to them in a similar fashion to breakfast. In the mornings they worked solely on their physical abilities, practising fighting and building their muscle mass. For this as well they were given special foods, developed in the facility to speed up muscle growth and allow them to gain weight quicker. Asher’s small frame was now becoming more toned and muscular, further evidence that the treatment they were receiving was working.
After lunch they focused on developing their abilities. Certain members of the safe haven were brought in, normally members of the red band who still had low ranking mutations, but ones that could be obviously borrowed and used. Already Asher had borrowed super speed, zipping around the training ground assault course like a blur and the ability to pass through solid objects like a ghost.
The second one had been much harder to master, with Asher and the other boys all failing and walking into brick walls on more than one occasion. As the boys ate their lunch, refuelling their bodies after the morning of physical training, they wondered what mutation they would get to try out next.
“I want to learn to fly,” Adryan spoke between mouthfuls of his luminous green beverage, receiving enthusiastic nods from the other boys.
Adryan had been the most recent boy to join the group after Asher himself. The other four had already been in the dormitory when he moved in and then Adryan arrived a couple of days later. At first Asher thought he recognised the boy from somewhere but couldn’t manage to place his face. After a while he gave up trying to guess, the newest arrival not seeming to r
ecognise him in return.
“Or walk on water!” Dylan, one of the twins who Asher shared his bathroom with piped up.
“Throw fire!”
“Be bulletproof!”
“Ugh no way,” Jonny, the other twin interjected. “If we learn to be bulletproof, doesn’t that mean we’ll have to practise getting shot?”
“Oh yeah,” Sam grinned. “Maybe that isn’t the best idea.”
Accompanying Asher, Adryan and the twins there were two other boys who appeared to have been in the training programme the longest. Sam and Hayden were both slightly older than the rest of them, their Turning Age Ceremonies and the reveal of their Gen 6 mutations having occurred some months back.
It was obvious they were the oldest simply because of their bigger physiques. Their muscles far bigger than any ten year old would be able to master on their own, even if Hayden was almost eleven. That provided Asher with further evidence that the food and drink they were provided would help them get bigger and stronger and he shovelled food willingly into his mouth whilst the other boys continued to discuss what mutations they would most like to try out.
“They’re here,” Dylan spoke as he finished off his drink, burping slightly after the last mouthful.
Asher looked back over his shoulder and saw their training master walking into the room, accompanied by two soldiers from the red band. This had become standard protocol now: one of the soldiers would have the mutation they would try to borrow, while the other would help in their training, perhaps possessing a mutation they could test themselves against.
“Finish up boys,” the training master called as he walked into the room. “You’ve got a big afternoon ahead of you.”
“Let’s do this,” Asher smiled as he finished the rest of his drink and moved over to stand in front of their trainer. “What’s on today, Gen?”
Their training master was actually the General of the red band, although he was nothing like Asher had expected a General to be like. He was always quite laid back around the boys, eager for them to ask questions and try to challenge themselves in different ways. He also let them all call him Gen, making the situation between them more informal.
“Wait and see Asher,” the General replied with a twinkle in his eyes. “Let’s get everyone lined up. Come on Sam, Jonny, get in line.”
The two last boys quickly finished their drinks before leaving the pile of mess on the floor where they had eaten and running over to fall into line. Although many parts of the training were informal, the General still ran a tight ship and that was something that Asher respected him for.
“All right boys,” he started. “Hopefully you’ve all regained your strength after this morning. There’s been some excellent work already today, especially from you Hayden – you’re getting stronger every day.”
Hayden grinned proudly, puffing his chest out slightly. “Thanks Gen.”
“This afternoon though,” the General continued, “things are going to get a little bit harder. Although instead of me boring you with a long explanation, I’m just gunna let these lads show you what you’ll be doing.” He turned to the two red band soldiers standing to one side of him. “Adams, Noble; take it away.”
Asher stepped backwards with the other boys slightly as they always did, giving the soldiers more space to demonstrate their mutations. They were never in any danger, but had learnt it was best to take precautions. He then watched in awe as the first soldier, Adams, stepped forward and magically split his body in half, forming two identical and whole versions of himself.
“What the...” Sam’s voice came from further down the line as Adams’ real form and his copy – although Asher couldn’t tell which was which – started moving around the room. Asher was amazed how each version of Adams was able to do different things at the same time. It was like there were literally two different people in the room, just looking exactly the same.
His wonderment grew as the two versions of Adams walked up to one another and then started sparring. They fought with precision and accuracy, blocking punches and provoking jabs in an evenly matched way. They danced around in a circle slowly as they fought and Asher quickly realised that they could anticipate each other’s moves. He didn’t find it too shocking though, as they were quite literally both the same person.
After a few minutes of the fight one version of Adams got a hit in on the other, causing him to shout out in pain. The first – the hitter – laughed, apologised and stepped forward, letting his body be absorbed by the other. Then Adams was just one soldier again, grinning from ear to ear at the look of the boys’ amazed faces.
“That was fun,” Adams smiled, slightly out of breath from his fight with himself. “Thank you, sir.”
The General nodded, also smiling at the look on the boys’ faces. “What did you think? Sam?”
“Incredible,” Sam breathed, still stunned by the performance.
“How does it work?” Adryan asked curiously from beside Asher.
Adams looked to the General for a nod and then began to explain. “Effectively I just make a copy of myself, but we think and work like two different people. It’s easy to predict what the other version will do but both my copy and myself have free will, so predictions won’t be fool proof. As you clearly witnessed when I got hit earlier.”
“Does the copy know it’s a copy?”
“What happens if you get hurt?”
“How do you decide to become one person again?”
Questions began to bubble up from the boys, Asher himself curious to know more about whether the copy truly is its own person, or just a shadow of the original.
“You’ll find out most of those answers today,” Adams spoke over the torrent of further questions. “You’ll all by trying to split yourselves today so why don’t you wait and see.”
“Wicked,” Asher breathed, turning to look at Adryan and grinning at him. He couldn’t wait to try out splitting.
“That’s not all for today boys!” The General’s loud voice pulled their attention back to him, Asher’s eyes still lingering on Adams for a moment longer. “Today you’re going to be borrowing two mutations.”
“At the same time?” Jonny asked.
“At the same time.” The General confirmed. “Now watch carefully and see what Noble can do.”
Asher looked over at the second member of the red band. They’d never tried to borrow more than one mutation at once so far, so he was excited to find out what else they would be working on that afternoon. Noble looked down at his boots slightly, not quite having the confidence of Adams, but slowly stepped forward. Then a second later his body was engulfed in flames.
“Wicked,” Asher breathed again, feeling the heat radiating from the soldiers’ body.
Noble began to describe his mutation as he stood in front of the boys, explaining that he could cover his whole body in flames or just a specific part of it. He demonstrated that as he spoke, focusing his flames to be limited to just his upper half, then his arms and then just his fists. With his fists still burning with fire he stepped towards Adams and raised them, inviting him for a fight. Adams laughed and then split his body into two again, both versions raising their fists and turning to spar with Noble.
Asher couldn’t believe his eyes. The fight he then began to witness was incredible. Adams had the upper hand at first as he literally had double the amount of hands than Noble had, meaning he could come at him from more angles. Noble however reacted quickly and lit up different parts of his body in flames where Adams’ blows came from, meaning both Adams and his copy recoiled with burnt skin.
The elegance of their fight was also magical to watch. It was clear to Asher that they were two of the more experienced members of the red band, their moves being graceful yet dangerous. He kept his eyes locked on the fight for the next couple of minutes before the General stepped forward and clapped his hands, bringing the demonstration to an end. Adams and Noble both returned to their normal states, shaking hands and moving
to stand beside the General once more.
“So boys,” his voice was calm yet commanding. “We’re going to split you into two groups so you can all learn each mutation separately before we try and work with them together later on. Hayden, Dylan and Adryan if you three join Adams. Sam, Jonny and Asher, you’ll start off with Noble.”
Asher leapt forward at the instruction, moving with Sam and Jonny towards Noble who Asher realised up close was a lot older than he had originally thought. In greeting Noble lit up his chest into flames, causing the three boys to stop in their tracks and stare at the soldier.
“Boys,” Noble nodded in greeting as he let the flames on his chest die out. “You can call me Ben. We’ll operate today similar to your other classes. You know the drill, concentrate on what you want to achieve and let it come naturally. Let’s start with just the right hand.”
Asher was glad to get straight into the lesson and watched as the soldier lit up his right hand. He concentrated on the flames as they danced on his skin and started to imagine what it would feel like on his own hand, willing for the flames to appear.
Sometimes when he borrowed mutations they happened without him even trying, other times he had to focus much harder. Frustratingly Asher realised this was one of those times. His concentration was quickly broken by Sam’s right hand bursting into flames next to him and the boy shouting out in triumph.
“What’s it like? Jonny questioned quickly. “Does it hurt?”
“Not really,” Sam mused turning his hand over in front of him. “It just kind of tingles. Come on, light yourself up.”
Asher wasn’t surprised that Sam had managed to be the first one to borrow Ben’s mutation. He had been training for longer and often had the best control over his mutation. While Hayden was bigger and stronger and excelled in the morning training, Sam often dominated the afternoon.
Pulling his focus back in Asher pushed Sam to the back of his mind and stared at his hands, choosing to concentrate on both of them rather than just one. With his eyes moving quickly from one hand to the other he felt a heat start bubbling up inside of him. Mentally he tried to push the warmth down to his hands, refusing to lose concentration when Jonny’s hand burst into flames on the other side of him.