Shaking my head from confusion, thinking it must have been something with this area, maybe the old body below had hallucinogenic effects on the surrounding people. A quick sigh came to my lips as I pulled out a gas mask to get rid of the debris out of the air, the canisters on the side had twenty markings on it, so I could safely use them for four more hours. Pressing one of the buttons on my watch numbers on the digital display started counting up split into seconds, minutes and hours. I only had five such canisters on me so I could last at most four days, and four hours if this place was truly filled with hallucinogenic vapors from the body.
Hestler looked back to me, “What’s up black, you notice something?”
“The body, it is probably letting off gasses, better safe than sorry.” My voice sounded really loud to my ears, and heat was slowly rising inside the gas mask.
He looked at me confused, “How did you know there was a body down here, you aren’t close enough to see it.”
I stopped for a moment at his words, and moved forward to confirm that it was the same body I saw earlier, then I shrugged. It didn’t matter that the place looked exactly the same as the hallucination, it probably had something to do with his psychic abilities. Hestler nodded, pulling out his own gas mask and sliding it over his head as well, his had about an hour on it left but they wouldn’t be lingering around for long.
“Something fishy is going on,” I muttered, letting my sensory powers spread out to listen for more active minds.
“God Black is being too paranoid, it’s already dead down there and my symbiote would have sensed something if there was something in the air.” Hestly didn’t seem to be talking, but I could clearly hear him speak and I just watched him as he started to mess with the computers to the side.
Another voice arose, “Don’t worry about him, he’s just here because he’s useful. The actual credit for this mission will be gifted to us as always, its better to work with a low rank than one of your standing. Who needs to share in the glories when we’d do all the work anyway.”
Hestly nodded in agreement then noticed me looking at him, something must have shown on my face because he coughed to get my attention, “Quit zoning out, did you get all the supplies? I’ll gather up what’s left.”
“Yeah, I gathered them all, we just need to pick up the last two pi-” I turned my head to more ‘voices’, they were getting increasingly close. Laying my sensory over my mental map, I was surprised to see that my area of influence was at least ten times stronger. The surprise didn’t last as I noticed fifty new minds appear in my range. “Fifty sentients, coming in about an hour away judging by their speed.”
“You can’t see that far away.” Hestly stared at me for a second before making up his mind, seeming annoyed he thought, “You must be trying to hurry me up, he should know his place.”
“Listen, I know it doesn’t make any sense but they are coming from the north, and I can feel them moving,” I almost said, ‘and thinking’ but I knew that would get me into some trouble.
Mind readers were rare, and always quarantined afraid that secrets might get out if they happen to think the wrong thought. Many people distrusted them, worried that all the skeletons in their closet would be laid bare before the reader. The readers had small villages filled with only their own kind, since only one of their own could block the mind reading. A few lucky ones made their way up the ranks to the people who kept the secrets so that other readers couldn’t get at them.
Hestly nodded his head, smiling, “Of course, you’re my partner doubting you would lessen my chances of survival.” I knew differently, but didn’t want to argue with him.
Moving our way down the corridors, slipping between the pipes to make our way back to the entrance, I noticed that they weren’t coming in our direction but going to the room we left behind. Motioning my partner to stop, we moved quickly back to monitor the situation a bit more. They might know what the room was, or what that creature was laying on the ground within it. The minds of the people got clearer as they got closer, but they were still out of hearing range for my ears which was the perfect place to pause.
“What are you saying, the King has never chosen to make anyone a splicer.” A young female’s voice filled my mind, it seemed as though speaking was also transmitted to me.
“You know that isn’t true, it's just that he very rarely chooses someone. His body is dying very slowly so this might have been his last chosen, and you know that they pass the person more power when they’re about to die.” An older male’s voice echoed out.
“Plus there was definitely a pulse from this area. They might help us fight off the hordes of Neo-Humans that came out of the tunnels recently. Our shaman says that there is someone who can sense us among their kind so we can’t keep getting rid of them with guerrilla warfare.” Another male’s voice sounded out.
“They’re talking about me.” My eyes widened a bit, I didn’t have a clue that my power had actually made a fairly big impact on the battle between splicers and humans.
Hestly looked over to me, “You can hear them?”
I nodded quickly, “I can hear all conversations inside my area of influence now. I don’t know what caused the sudden evolution of my powers but it is helpful right now.” Looking back to Hestly, “What do they mean by Neo-Humans?”
Hestly sighed a bit, “It's not supposed to be known until you’re older, but you already know half of it already due to your power. Your birthday this month you know that you’re supposed to be getting a symbiote correct?” I nodded again. “That symbiote takes care of a nano-hive in your body which increases your powers substantially.”
Fear shivered through me for a moment as I sat there, I wasn’t sure if I wanted my mind reading to increase past what it could do. Another voice was added to the mixture as I thought about this, “Then would you rather I ate the symbiote when it entered your body. I’m sure that one is enough.” Startled, I looked at the general direction of the splicers but the voice spoke again, “I’m inside of you child, you’ve gotten a symbiote a bit sooner than your peers.”
“How did you get inside my body?” I thought in surprise, then I thought back to the giant creature that was laying on the floor in that room, the creature’s voice as it said ‘You are chosen.’
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“Questions later, they are close now. Your friend here might have caused a few issues for both of you, look at him and tell me what he’s missing.” Looking to Hestly, I scanned over his equipment and noticed he was missing his backpack.
“It’s true, King is finally passed away. He was one of the first to bless our planet with Splicers.” I could hear the sorrow in the young woman’s voice.
“What’s this?” There was a long pause after the older man spoke up, and then anger filled my mind, “He didn’t choose anyone, those damn Neos have gone to far!”
Grabbing Hestly’s jacket, I pulled him to his feet, “Shit Hestly, you forgot your bag. Run now.”
He pushed me away, making me fall over the pipes behind me and crashing to the floor a laptop snapping in two under the weight of my bag. The noise was deafening in the silence of the surrounding area, and Hestly got into a fighting stance powers rippling around him as the air got statically charged. “This is what I’ve been waiting for, being able to fight fifty splicers will get me the promotion so I can have the cushy life. This coward will not get in my way this time.”
Unstrapping the bag from my back, I rolled to my knees pulling out a small black stick, flicking it, it extended to twice its size. I had a handgun to my side but guns could only be utilized in actual rooms as they had a tendency to pierce through the pipes along the corridors causing collateral damage. Shifting my weight to my heels, I went into a crouching position knowing that Hestly wouldn’t come with me if I left, and coming back without him would be detrimental to me if he survived. Stipping my coat, and baseball cap letting them fall to the floor I was ready for them to come through at any time.
I didn’t have to wait long, two splicers came around the corner cautiously as a spark of lightning crashed to the wall behind them my partner already throwing out bolts. The two of them dipped back into the hallway and then with a sudden burst of speed they jumped into the wall using their newly enhanced legs to skip between the walls as they went. This was the power of splicers, being able to change their bodies based on certain factors to adapt to any situation.
This first group was weak, I shifted my weight sending a knife from my bandolier into one of their chests sending the woman to the ground. The pause of the first one was enough for Hestly to fry the other against the wall with enough force to create minor lightning arcs between the pipes running down the corridor. Several came in after in the space of a breath, the same types but with larger numbers.
Throwing two incendiary grenades down the corridor, I followed up with several knives, killing off several of them before another barrage of lightning went through. Waiting for the next group, I slipped two flashbangs into my hands making sure my partner saw them and to my surprise only one man came around the corner.
“Ah, only a group of two this far into our territory? Scouting mission I assume.” The old man’s voice was familiar as my eyes narrowed at him, ready to throw the flashbangs. “Further deaths can be prevented as long as I keep them distracted.” He smiled softly at them, moving an umbrella in front of himself blocking their view of the hallway.
Much to my partner’s surprise, I turned on my heels and threw the two flashbangs down the other hallway and let an incendiary grenade bounce around the corner. Screams of pain followed the blast of flames that filled up the corridor, and the old man immediately rushed forward a look in his eyes of anger and fear. Hestly shot a ball of electricity down the hallway, lightning arking off of it into the pipes making them red hot seemingly about the burst. The old man pressed his umbrella forward, the painted blue pattern dissolving until it was a large mass of wiggling black flesh.
This man was dangerous, very few could actually create using their splicer abilities, and that made them all the more deadly. The last one that they had fought used dogs as a base creating a wave of monstrous canines with razor sharp spikes coming from their bodies ripping apart people as they passed. This umbrella was the same, tentacles swarmed out of the black mass and wrapped around the ball of lightning consuming it. “Stacy are you okay?!” He pushed forward pressing the umbrella creature at Hestly’s chest.
Hestly’s powers weren’t limited to the lightning that he shot out, and the man had underestimated his greatest strength. Using the energy inside of his body he suddenly ‘Overclocked’ himself, giving him more time to perceive movements. Twisting the umbrella out of the man’s hands, then forcing it behind the man to quickly snap the bone so the man could no longer use his splicing on his arm. Stepping back, then twisting forward he slammed the old man to the floor. “No splicer leaves here alive.”
His shoulder was suddenly ripped apart as a woman walked around the corner where I had thrown the incendiary grenade earlier in her hands, like mine, were several small throwing knives. She didn’t look any older than twelve, but she had a murderous glare like a wild beast, walking in on prey. She threw two more, but both were interrupted by another flashbang, which got pierced twice before erupting into a blinding flash. “The kid is the real problem, the other relies on his power too much.”
A crunching sound was heard in the middle of the ringing deafness that spilled into my ears, and I opened my eyes to see a baseball bat had been broken against me. I noticed the flying wood splinters right before the pain hit me, and I was down on my stomach clutching it in pain. One of my ribs had to be broken, the pain was too great for there not to be something broken. Then another flash of pain rolled over my body, as blood started to pour out from my leg making a pool under me.
“I had him, he just stunned me for a moment with that grenade, why didn’t he use his powers like the other one?” The girl got Hestly in the side with a dagger which allowed the older man to finally get his footing and slam Hestly into the wall. As Hestly stumbled a large piece of metal bashed through the back of his head, then slammed against the floor with a heavy clang, blood and gore everywhere as the other man came into my view.
This man wore a long white lab uniform, and his arms were augmented with the same red muscle mass as the other’s augmented legs. He wiped off the blood onto his lab coat which was already stained with a plethora of colors already only adding more flair to it. The man looked quite puzzled as he looked at me though, “He should be dead, I used enough force to snap his spine in two.”
The other two splicers looked to me, as a sinister laughter filled my mind asking me a simple question, “This seems like the best time as any to ask, do you want power?”