As Marcus entered the hospital, he was stopped by a familiar face. It was the nurse who had been attending to Maple previously. "Ah, Mr. Wright. We just finished releasing your daughter. Her physical condition was in top shape so we didn't any reason to continue holding her. You Alphas are really something."

"Where did she go exactly?" How could they have just let her waltzed right out? She may have been physically healed but her mind was far beyond repaired. Had they not noticed it?

"Oh, we directed her to the barracks. We figured it was best for her to be able to get to her new home right away. One of our workers here actually took her there himself."

Before the woman could continue, Marcus bolted back out the door and in the direction of the barracks. He wasn't sure why he was in such a rush. It just felt as if something was wrong. Who knows what she would do in her current mental state.

After running a few blocks, Marcus made his way into the barracks. As he sprinted down the corridors, he came to a halt as he was greeted by a sight so bizarre that he wasn't sure how to interpret it. The members of Generation were gathered around Maple, her arms glowing with a gentle blaze. He started to call out to her, but he took a second look. The flame wasn't burning her or her garments. It only glowed, eveloping her arms in a warmth.

As he walked up to join the rest of the team, Maple turned and gave a small smile to him, yet said nothing. It wasn't as eerie as the grin she beared in the hospital, but it still made Marcus feel uncomfortable. Maple gently raised her hand in a wave, channeling the flames into her fingertips. How did she suddenly have so much control over her power?

"Princess, what happened to your arms? Last time we checked, your powers had nearly baked you alive." Briggs had issued the question that was racing through everybodys mind. Maple slowly turned to him, and reached her arm out. She nodded down to her arm, Briggs approaching with apprehension. As he drew within reach, she grasped his wrist and sent her hand into a blaze. Briggs instinctively tried to reel back, but it quickly faded as he felt no pain.

Everyone watched in shock as the flame traveled up Briggs arm, somehow still leaving his skin intact and unharmed. As Maple drew her hand back, the flames withered from Briggs arm before smothering out altogether. Nobody could come up with an explanation for what they had just witnessed.

"How...how did you do that?"

Maple simply shrugged her shoulders, then clenched her fist. The flames that were drowning her arms suddenly faded out with a whisper. Marcus felt his head reel. What was happening? Why was it happening? Had she finally learned to control her powers, or was something else with graver consequences happening?

"Maple, are you alright?" Despite the fear he felt, Marcus was still concerned for her. She had only just been on the verge of a nervous breakdown the last time he had seen her. Now, here she stood in a completely different state. The dark and sullen look no longer haunted her eyes, instead replaced by a bright shine.

Before Marcus could ask any other questions, Maple turned and began approaching him. "I told you Dad, they're going to pay. It may not be today or tommorow, but it will come." There was the sinister tone Marcus was prepared for. She sounded the same as she did in the hospital. Marcus braced himself, ready for her to break down and lash out again.

Instead, he was greeted by something unfamiliar. He felt Maple wrap her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. " I know you're trying your best, but your methods just don't work for me. We let them get away with killing mom. I can't let them get away again." Marcus understood her plight, but he couldn't let her go down that path. Not only would it lead her to nowhere, it would also get her killed, something he couldn't let happen.

"Maple, you've got to listen. You're not yourself right now. I told you before, you're still rattled from everything that's happened. You just need to rest and let your mind heal." He didn't know what else to tell her. What he spoke was the simple truth. Maple had always had a hard exterior since her mother died, but he knew that the Maple that used rationing and logic was still there.

"I can't Dad. You want to try and reason with them, find a way for everyone to coexist. That can't work." Marcus felt confusion overtake him. Why did she say them? He had never tried to reason with Helix, nor would he ever. They were a corrupt organization that used violence and bloodshed to keep an upper hand.

"Maple, I never said that our goal was to reason with Helix. I agree with you, they must pay for their crimes, but just going out and killing everyone we find won't change that. We've been over this."

"No, not Helix. Humans. You want us to live alongside them. Don't you get it? It's because of them that we're here now. They created us, and now they try to destroy us because they fear us? Why should we try to accomodate them? Humans created Alphas, humans killed mom, humans killed Alyssa, humans created this world. It's only right that they should be the ones to suffer for it, not us."

Everybody stood in shock. Maples rebellion against her fathers ideals rocked more than just him. What she was saying was the essence of pure madness. Did she plan to rebel against more than Helix?

"Maple, you can't think that. We were all humans at one point. Briggs, Amanda, Germaine, Akatsuya. Even your mother and I were human. How can you possibly blame everything on them?"

"Why? Because it is their fault. They were tearing their existence apart, so they had to create something greater. Something that could stop them. You told me yourself, they celebrated Alphas when they were first created. You were war heroes, a blessing delivered on the world. You were saviours, even if it was with violence that you brought about peace."

"We still are heroes Maple. That's why we're here. We're here to show the world that. They need to know that we're not the monsters that they think we are, that we still fight for them. Helix made it seem like we needed to be hunted down, that we caused the world to be as it is. That we're just warmongers that had no purpose after the wars came to an end. We have to stay strong and show them the real truth."

Maple clenched her fist. Why was her father so stubborn. They had fought this whole time trying to achieve that dream and all it had gotten them was death and prosecution. Why bother shielding humans when they were the very reason they were being hunted down?

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Why should we even bother Dad? It was a stupid idea in the first place to believe that we could change their way of thinking. They want us to be monsters, so why don't we act as such? We should just kill them. At least then we'll have a reason to live than just being hunted down."

Her words shocked everyone. This was not the Maple that existed back in Marlow. If this was truly how she felt, it was clear that she had indeed, become a monster. Marcus felt his heart sink. What would Helen do? How disappointed in Marcus she would have been.

"Maple. If what you say about humans is true, then what of Alyssa?" Akatsuya had raised his voice. Nobody had ever heard him use the tone he had just addressed Maple in. It was dark and heavy, like a stone pillar crushing an insignificant ant under its weight.

Maple turned to face him, her face distorted into a mixture of scorn and hatred. There were no tears in her eyes at the mention of Alyssa, only rage. "What about her? She was weak, a human. That's why she died. That's why she left me."

Akatsuya paused for a moment. He was beginning to understand where Maples rage was coming from. "Then, if she was weak, why do you have to avenge her? You wanted to kill them because of what they did to her right? If it was her fault that she died, why would you fight for her?"

"Because...because they have to pay. She was like my sister. I've never been able to have anything thanks to their kind. They killed her, so they must be punished."

"But I thought you just said it was her fault that she died?"

"It... it was. If humans didn't exist then she wouldn't have died." Maple had fallen right into Akatsuyas paradox. The next question he would ask would either break her, or make her come to a realization.

"Maple, if humans didn't exist, then we wouldn't exist. Alyssa wouldn't exist. You wouldn't have memories you do have with her, or with your father, or with your mother for that matter. Can you truly say we must kill them to change things?"

Maple froze. The clearness of Akatsuyas statement shattered her mind like a baseball slamming through a glass window, letting light pour in past the dirty frames. If she killed every human, she may kill ones that were like Alyssa. She thought of children that would be forced to live a life like hers. They would grow up in constant fear, having their families torn from them.

She fell to her knees, her hands clutching the sides of her head. As she slumped down, she felt a trickle down her face, a warm glow leaving a trail. She was crying again, however, instead of a simple tear, a small glowing trail was being left behind. It was like watching a little trail of napalm slither down her cheek. It didn't burn, but glowed with the pain that radiated inside her.

Maple felt her voice break through her sobbing, her mind screaming at the top of its lungs, "Why? Why can't we just erase them and it solve everything? Why can't that bring Mom back? Why can't it bring Alyssa back?"

It was heartbreaking for everyone to watch. The weight of the world had finally broken her. All the questions she had kept pent up, all the pain, the sorrow, the grief, came pouring out at that instant. Instead of a rage bursting forth from her body, a wailing shine grew from her. The flames that had scorched her for so long now cloaked her in a veil, burning a deep blue with the intensity of the sorrow she felt. 

"I had a feeling that this was going to happen." A voice penetrated the sound of Maples wailing from behind Marcus. Lyria gaited through the door to the lounge room that had been reserved for Generation. Everyone stared at her while Maple continued releasing her grief. They all seemed puzzled.

"I thought your daughter was special for mroe than just the fact that her abilties manifested in an element. They also seem to be reliant on her emotional state, as we are seeing now. I gave it some thought when they said she had made a full recovery. It made sense that before if she had distanced herself from feelings, she would never be able to control them."

Marcus thought back to when Maple was a child. Even then, her powers had always been on the renegade side. They would flare out of control. It made sense that her powers were linked to her emotions judging by what he saw, but what did that mean when she was a child?

"After seeing her in the hospital, I began to suspect she was slowly coming to terms with her feelings for once. Only then did her powers actually work in conjunction with her, instead of hurting her. This also brings me to the next subject, Project Omega. If Faust was onto this idea, I suspect he had some idea of a way to control this to ones advantage. If properly handled, Maple could grow her power to exponential leves, far outpowering any Alpha that has ever existed."

What Lyria said seemed to make sense to everyone. If what she said was true, and Maples power could be controlled, it could prove to be the most destructive weapon to exist in the hands of the wrong person. They weren't sure if it was neccessarily a good thing that Maple had become attuned to her power, as it put her at a much greater risk if Helix ever managed to capture her.

Amidst the ongoing discussion, Maple had managed to stop herself from crying. As she calmed herself, she felt the flames begin to simmer. They still burned a brilliant blue, but they only glowed on as dying embers. She felt her mind slowly coming back to her, her thoughts becoming more coherent as moments passed.

Wiping the mucous and tears from her face, Maple stood to face Lyria. "You said I could grow my power didn't you?"

"Yes, I believe it may be possible as long as you don't distance yourself from you true feelings. If you deny them, the flames deny you."

"Then I want to get stronger. Maybe killing humans isn't the answer, but I still want every member of Helix to pay dearly with their lives." Instead of fury that possessed her before, her voice was replaced with determination. Freed from the shackles of her own bindings, Maple felt herself renewed with a sense of duty. She still didn't feel that her fathers path was really the right one, but she knew it would lead her to her own goal of vengeance.

"Sure, we can look into it. First, why doesn't everyone get some rest tonight? We've got a broadcast to make in the morning."

----------------------------------------

Char looked down at his datapad. "Commander Vossel has been dispatched to your position and is currently en route." It was staggering how fast he had responded to the call. Before Faust could even make it back to the Tower, Kirsch had already readied his platoon and had set out to regroup with Char. Along with him, he was bringing a repair barge, capable of repairing Chars busted Wolf unit. 

Having taken up camp alongside a canal that ran out of the city, Char took a moment to gaze out at the concrete jungle. Under the night sky, it looked like something out a zombie flick. The deep shades masked the decay of the city, shining down on the long forgotten remains of what was once home to many. The canals remained dry, lined instead with garbage and dirt. It was quite a depressing site.

As he was lost in thought, a large convoy began approaching on his position from behind. At the front, a large vessel, sleek in ebony black, pushed aside whatever debris stood in the way. Down to its sides were smaller vessels, remniscent of a Rapid Transit Hover Vehicle. These too, were black in color. As they approached the encampment, the convoy roared down to a snails pace before coming to a complete halt. 

The front of the largest vessel slid down and met the ground with a loud clang, hydraulics hissing under the burden of its weight. As the dust began to settle down, a large figure gleamed in the moonlight. It was the figure of a man, grown to an overly disproportionate size. His figure was a hulking mass, his muscles disgustingly large. Flakes of silver shined through the dust cloud, an ill light.

As he stepped forward off the ramp, the ground shuddered beneath him. All across his body, blades of metal protruded through his black leather uniform. Pauldrons of black steel adorned his shoulders, punctured by the metal that skewered his body. Across his chest was the Helix symbol, a red strand of DNA split apart in the shape of an H. His head and face remained hidden behind a large gas mask, metal sticking out from behind the seals. It was as if he was War incarnate.

The man walked up behind Char and reached down, placing a large hand that dwarfed Chars down upon his shoulder. With a small but brutish pat, a whispy voice creeped out from behind the mask, "It's good to be back on the front lines for a change Director."

"It's good to have you here again Commander Vossel."