Potent Metas: The Lessers Part 2
------ SAINT ------
The rain washed the metallic smell from Oriyun's wrists along with the blubbery junk that attempted to cake his empowered palms. The billboards above him smiled down; an entire pristine family chowing down on factory-made garbage from up the road.
Oriyun put his hand on the cement near his feet, now feverishly more curious about the scope of his strength than the gnawing feeling of loneliness he felt bubbling up. The feeling was gone still but Oriyun was able to more accurately judge the measurements of his body with his new senses.
With one hand planted on the floor and another on his elbow for balance, he could easily lift his lower half above his head with almost a whip-like snap to a 90-degree angle.
An old woman screamed as she stumbled upon the freshly slaughtered carnage of the few gang members who decided to test Oriyun; the sudden noise compelled him to slip in the rain from his stance and tumble into one of the bodies, nearly touching foreheads with the caved-in skull of the once leader of the group.
"It was self-defense--" Oriyun stood in the pouring rain, seeing the red glow faintly bouncing off the walls from his eyes.
"You're one of them! Stay away from me--HELP!" The old woman began to cry out in dread as she took a step back to the edge of the alley. The fear radiated into Oriyun's senses, her soul unable to hide even a shred of anxiety.
He would have tried to make a better effort to comfort her if he cared even in the slightest; Oriyun barely gave it a second thought as he watched her squeal in terror from what he had become. "What's so wrong with being special?"
The night sky wept, a cleansing deluge that the city would thank the morning for once it had passed. This was a security that Oriyun knew like he felt he understood why the eclipse had chosen him even though he was once so weak; Power was for the strong the bring peace, not for the weak to wield in hopes of beating back the dark.
He took another look at the starless night sky, the haze of pollution was thick but made a beautiful tint of orange that made Oriyun smile. The smile quickly faded though, the want to share this moment with his family--
The almost breaking sudden yearning to turn back time, why couldn't he? It must have been a long while since he had been standing there, not fully cognizant of the figure that stood fully straight at the edge of the alley.
Oriyun turned to face the person who came into his view, seeing the same suited man who had run away a short hour or so ago. This time, he wore a name tag that marked him as a corporate dog of Armistead Industries. "You sick fuck--" The man began to say as he covered his nose at the sight of the bodies. "Are you just going to stand there in the remains of hard-working company men?!"
"If you're talking about these...waste of life scumbags--" Oriyun voiced like a canine, his foot kicking out to one of the motionless corpses and sending it skidding bloodily. "I guess so. It's a little interesting earlier you and your goons weren't wearing any nametags."
The man lifted his hand into the air and snapped his fingers despite the dampness that engulfed them.
Within moments a swarm of armored paramilitary agents swept in and pointed emerald-colored laser-beamed sights directly toward Oriyun's chest and brain. The suited man did not move as they surrounded him in a square formation that blocked the opposite end's exit.
Oriyun turned to see another wave of agents hoarding in a much tighter formation on the closer side and completely cutting off either end of the alley. Before he could speak, the tops of the roofing became similarly glutted with men and women wearing sleek combat helmets; all with rifles trained directly on the Aberrant threat.
"Well let me be more formal; I am an Exec. over at Armistead, that means I'm one of the only fucking people with the ability to deem you stable or unstable...and by the looks of this blood bath--" He rummaged his eyes over his 'companions in an almost laughable attempt to show sincerity. "You are absolutely unfit to live, Kill it."
--------------- Rose. ----------------
"Rose!" The voice cut straight through the smooth beats that found their way from the woman's headphones; She looked up past small dangles of brown curls to see a pudgy face with a slight twitch in his bushy brow.
"Yes, Sr. Terrance--I will have the report on operation 'Hell-Maker' by..." Rose cut herself off after noticing the man on the verge of yelling, his puffy face becoming redder.
Sr. Terrance pulled a small chip from his chest pocket with a single flick of his wrist. Without another word, he placed it within a nearly needle-thin slot on her company computer and placed his I.D. onto a scanner that holographically scrambled to life. Rose hated the new systems; they did not make any of the telltale click-clack of working manually that she knew as a constant during her academy years.
"Would you care to explain why one of our Exec.'s are running around Old York shooting kids on social media?!" He began to tap his finger on the slick metal of Rose's desk, the sound digging into her ears as he slowly drew out each tap in a strange fashion. "You are slipping--There's no reason you didn't already sanitize the situation! What did they send you over from the acedemy for?!"
It was a good question--At least, to Rose, it was a deeply profound pit that was only scraped by the man's piled on inquiry that mirrored her own; Why was she even here? She stared at him for a moment, wordless.
"...Just fix it, I don't care what--" He froze as a static voice began to speak over the floor's P.A. system.
"Warning, Warning; multiple company chips going offline--Sr. action advised in sector 14-alpha." The computer sounded off so loud that it rattled Rose's teeth, only able to pull a slight cringe from her expressionless face.
Rose stood up while typing the sequence that brought up CCTV feed from nearby buildings but found most offline due to the slum's constant disrepair. "It seems like Exec. David took a kill squad out against what I had instructed him...And something is slaughtering them--Quickly.
Her boss pulled his fist back and slammed it loudly into the metal desk, cursing the gods above for the day even beginning. "That son of a BITCH--"
"It is going to cost us alot of money to replace those chips, sir. I think it would be best to send in some S.U.I.T.S.; the kill squads are much less effective when dealing with anything above street level." Rose interrupted while standing.
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Her boss, seeing the stoic response she gave, straightened up. "Then fuckin' get to work--I don't pay you to run facts by me, I pay you for results...Make this quiet and be sure to fire Exec. David for incompetence."
She knew what that meant, many Exec.s had been terminated in front of her eyes. While it was necessary to keep company secrets and many times to prevent actual war, it was still a bloody and sordid affair to Rose. "I would rather not, Sr....If it is alright with you, It would be preferable to bring him in for retraining and punishment."
It was a death sentence sure, but not any less than actually receiving a bullet in his unsuspecting head as he tried to do what the company had asked; even if a little misguided it was still an attempt to stay within the large cement walls as a salary-man instead of a slave to its factories.
The Sr. looked over the screens of flickering static as one was able to capture the Aberrant responsible for the kill Squads mangling. "How did this one slip through the radar," His eyes went wide as he watched Oriyun spear his hand into the chest of one man and fling him like a toy into another. "How Quickly can you and a S.U.I.T. unit get to downtown?"
Rose was already putting on her jacket, ignoring the question completely as her gaze fell back on the Aberrant one last time as she checked the standard Armistead-issued firearm. This was not going to be as simple as a normal run, she judged from the vacant stare in the crimson eyes of Oriyun.
"I'll do my best to contain it quickly--Along with Exec. David, the lab would be very grateful to run some tests on this one," Rose motioned to the man's glowing eyes. "Normally it takes a few weeks to months, or instability, before an Aberrant starts discharging energy like that." She knew that he was not in fact unstable though, due to his lack of aggression and the methodical way he was almost testing the bounds of his limits on the kill squad.
"Do whatever it takes, Exec Fate."
-----------Oriyun Saint-------------
"No god no!" the voice of a bloodied soldier was barely audible under Oriyun's now shoeless foot. He looked down as his face was peppered by birdshot from the man's personal shotgun, the tiny pellets pimpling his skin but not drawing blood.
Oriyun crushed his chest with his ankle for the trouble, fanning the smoke from the gun as he held the barrel with one hand. He could smell his skin burning slightly but still felt nothing as he looked over the piles of bodies he had just finished tearing through.
"What kind of ANIMAL--" A bullet slammed into his face but bounced off with a glancing collision that sparked into the darkness of the alley. It was from Exec. David who was now suspended by a street sign that was embedded in his clothing and the wall behind him. "Please, I just want to get home to my family..." He began to sputter as he saw the disdain in Oriyuns face.
"Begging...Pathetic." Oriyun muttered, kicking a body toward the man that splattered within the paramilitary gear like a water balloon housed within a garbage bag. The crunch made the Exec. wince, he was only able to struggle aimlessly as he was approached by the Aberrant. "Did you feel good?" Oriyun stopped a short 2 feet away from the squirming man.
"W-What? What the hell are you talking about?" David spat out.
Oriyun clenched his fist, still unable to feel anything else besides the emotions inside his mind and the sensation of enhanced senses. "Did you like killing that kid and his dad earlier--Y'know, somebody killed my dad too..."
There was a pause in the man's frantic scrambling to free himself as he heard the sadness break through Oriyuns voice. "Nothing special, he was some low-life drug dealer...But I always remember what he told me the last time I saw him; like he was some sort of fucking priest," He paused to chuckle to himself, unsettling the only man left alive in the alley. "We're Saints; Not sinners..."
The man nearly choked, resuming his desperate attempt to escape as he heard the sound of sirens approaching. "What the fuck does that even mean?!" David was nearly in tears as the strong fibers of his suit finally gave way and let him drop to his shaking feet.
Oriyun, without a second of relent, grabbed the nape of his neck and ripped his spinal collum from his back; chucking his mouth gaped decapitated head to the floor among the large puddle of rainwater and blood that had formed.
"The fuck if I know...didn't make sense to me either."
------ Rose ----
Rose clasped the leather steering wheel of the company armored car, her knuckles locked as she navigated the grimy streets of Old York at a quick pace. The vehicle's reinforced chassis effortlessly absorbed the impacts from potholes and debris that littered the dilapidated street, but Rose felt every vibration intensely nonetheless. She blinked rapidly, the world around her seemed to blur at the edges.
"And then Stacy from accounting. Man, she was wild," Her partner droned on, his voice chafing Rose's nerves like a fine grater. The S.U.I.T. agent sat beside her, his bulky mech suit barely fitting in the passenger seat. He slid his faceplate back to reveal a straggly bearded man with a short military cut. "You should've seen the way she slurped my--"
"Enough, Gary," Rose cut him off, her voice eerily subdued despite the irritation bubbling beneath the surface. She took a deep breath, willing her racing heartbeat to slow down from the constant uptick she had felt since the last eclipse. The changes were becoming more frequent, more intense.
Gary chuckled, interrupting her thoughts with a sound amplified by his suit's speakers. "Aw, come on, Rosie. Don't tell me you're jealous. I've got plenty of love to go around..." He slid his faceplate back in place as he laughed once again.
Rose ignored him, focusing instead on the mission at hand. The streets were muted; the usual rabble of Old York's slums was replaced by an oppressive silence as many scrambled either away from the vehicle or hid in darkened corners of the street.
In the distance, sirens wailed. "Any sign of the target on your sensors?" she interrogated, more to change the subject than out of any real expectation from the pilot that governed it.
Gary thumped the controls on his suit's arm with a heavy metal hand. "Nothing yet. But man, this guy's a real piece of work. Took out a whole squad without even showing up on our radar...Gotta admit I'm a little impressed."
Rose bobbed her head absently. The decision weighed heavily on her - capture Exec David or eliminate him? She flexed her gloved fingers on the wheel, surprised to find small cracks forming where her grip had tightened from how tightly she clasped the steering device.
"Whoa, easy on the wheel there, Rosie," Gary said, noticing the damage. "You been hitting the 6th-floor gym or somethin'?
Rose forced a smile but did not make eye contact. "I'm fine. Just focused on the mission." As they turned a corner, Rose felt a sudden ripple of energy course through her body. She blinked, and everything snapped back to normal speed after a few seconds of what felt like everything was nearly still as her heart pounded in her chest like machinegun fire.
"You sure?" Gary nudged. "You look a little faded. Maybe I should drive--"
"I said...I'm fine," Rose fractured the calm demeanor she had created, her voice intenser than planned. Rose took another deep breath, centering herself as they passed a normally busy encampment that housed a large sum of lesser aberrants; empty. "Sorry. It's just... the pressure of the situation."
Gary shrugged dismissively, the movement exaggerated by his suit's whining gears. "No worries. That's why they sent the best, right? You and me, we'll bag this Aberrant and be back in time for happy hour on the 6th floor." He rattled off as he snapped with both hands.
Rose rolled her eyes but felt slight regret; Gary was annoying, sure, but he was good at his job and proved it in their short time being partners. And right now, she needed that stability of knowing that he would be there.
As they approached the last known location of Oriyun, Rose's nose picked up the smell of blood and ozone cascading into her brain. She pulled the car to a stop as the CCTV-previewed alley came into view, her movements controlled despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
"We're here," she announced, cutting off Gary mid-sentence about his latest conquest of the large-chested woman who is supposed to be in charge of HR. "Remember, our primary objective is to contain the Aberrant threat. Exec David is a secondary concern."
Gary nodded, his face suddenly serious behind the suit's semi-transparent visor. "Roger that, Rose--Though between you and me, I wouldn't mind if Exec. David got a taste of his own medicine. Heard he's a real piece of work."
Rose said nothing, her mind still torn. As she stepped out of the car, she felt another swell of vibrancy just barely beneath her skin, scarcely managing to stop herself from having heart palpitations. She clenched her fists, willing herself to stay steady as her eyes almost lost focus.
"You coming, Rosie?" Gary called, already stomping towards the alley entrance and the wafting smell of blood and innards.
Rose took one last steadying breath. "Right behind you," she said, her voice now steady.
End part 2