“What’s that look like to you?”

“Like… some sort of battery? I don’t get it, what has this got to do with-”

“This,” William gestured to the transmitter covered in a glass tube, “is a miniaturised ionised electro-converter. You know, like the one responsible for turning half of the human population into zombies.”

Zacharias stared in awe at the red coloured sparks spewing around the transmitter and shook his head slowly. “You reverse engineered the mutation wave? That’s crazy!”

“It’s not that difficult when you have the power core with you.” William grinned, tapping the glass containing the crimson electricity. “As my engineering professors used to say, the most efficient machines are nothing but their core with fancy extensions.”

He cut the power to his small setup. “Now that the easy part is over, I need your advice for the next part.”

“What more help could you still need?”

“If I’m not wrong, a number of these full sized converters were constructed around the world to amplify the mutation wave. Similarly, Firdaus needs to use that amplification as well as an enhanced to take over zombies. As you mentioned, Vivian’s red aura allows him to manipulate a region’s worth of mutates. But what if he wanted to control an entire world?”

Zacharias’ expression hardened. “Then he would require an enhanced with a blue aura to be the catalyst.”

“Exactly.” William’s eyes narrowed with a sudden serious look on his face. “What would you do if you were him?”

“Guard a source machine heavily and start looking for one such enhanced.” The old researcher chuckled and shook his head again. “Be careful lad, you really are getting too clever for your own good.”

“Of course, this is all just theoretical.” William laughed a little. “I’ll need the expert to confirm my theory.”

“Speaking of which, may I ask you for another favour?” The chair creaked as he got up. “Vivian’s memory is still lost. Could you help us find the reason and possibly a solution?”

“You want me to help with Vivian’s amnesia too?” Zacharias took off his round rimmed spectacles and massaged his eyes. “I’m not that kind of doctor, you know. I don’t know a thing about psychiatry.”

“The way she lost her memory is oddly precise; convenient even,” William pressed. “It doesn’t sound like your run of the mill hypnosis.”

“Being part of Firdaus’ settlement is an unpleasant experience, to say the least.” Zacharias chuckled slightly. “Her memories were probably repressed forcefully. I wouldn’t try and force her if I were you; some things are best left forgotten.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how exactly does Firdaus brainwash his residents?” William asked sharply. “I’ve seen them; they would throw themselves into the fire for him. Doesn’t seem like something a simple speech or propaganda could do, especially for the newer residents.”

“No idea…” Zacharias mumbled, before letting out a loud yawn. “Anyway if you’re done here, mind letting this old man here catch up on some sleep? It’s almost two in the morning.”

William threw up his hands in mock surrender and walked towards the door.

Zacharias eyed the door for a few seconds as it closed quietly. He pulled out a small device from his breast pocket and pressed the button on its side firmly. It stopped vibrating as he put it up near his ear.

“You couldn’t have called at a worse time, Kareena,” he whispered in a low voice. “I was just talking to the enhanced. You’re lucky the electrokinetic one didn’t come with him.”

“I’m sorry, but this is urgent,” a scrambled voice emitted from the communicator. “Firdaus is getting suspicious. I’m afraid this is the last time I can give you inside information.”

“How is the news spreading?”

“I’m trying, but the residents are too brainwashed; even the newcomers. I fear we will not be able to rally enough people on time. Whatever Firdaus is doing, it’s scarily effective at suppressing their free thought. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help you.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“I’m sorry I had to leave you behind. Stay strong, I promise I’ll be back for you,” Zacharias replied.

“You know I don’t mind dying for our cause, as so many of our brothers and sisters already have. I’m calling to give you one last update. If you don’t hear from me by tomorrow, I just want you to know that I have no regrets working with you. Thank you for supporting our cause right from the beginning.”

“It was an honour working with you.” Zacharias’ voice rose a little. “Have faith! You will prevail. Give me some time to find out the location of the source machine.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before it crackled to life for the last time.

“I hope you succeed. Goodbye, Doctor Ibrahim.”

Zacharias cut the line and walked over the desk where his camera lay. He flipped it open, staring intently at the only picture he took. He limped back to his bed, feeling more and more conscious of how crippled he was.

“Doctor Toh… To think I almost succeeded in killing you back then.” He shook his head with a hint of a smile on his face. “And perhaps that was meant to be; I almost threw away my only chance of getting myself a new body. As for you, my old puppet…”

His eyes drifted from the blue glow outlining William’s body to Victor’s surrounded in green.

“Let’s speed things up, shall we?”

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

Sleep never came easy for him, even before he was suddenly entrusted with the responsibilities of a high functioning adult at the ripe old age of sixteen. This night was no different, to say the least. Victor’s fingers moved almost methodically, fleshing out a complex design of a building.

Visualising a brand new building and taking a mental tour of its facilities was almost therapeutic for the architectural genius; drawing had always helped him with his insomnia. The business part of his hobby though? Not so much. It was almost funny how something meant to help him sleep became the source of even more sleepless nights spent rushing out construction projects.

Victor held up yet another drawing of a building that would never be built and shelved it among several others. He felt only the slightest sense of fatigue, but that will have to do. He reached for the lights, but a loud rattling on his window caught his attention, saving him from dealing with sleep. Victor walked over and opened it to let the man float in.

“Might I suggest using the door next time?” He grinned slightly. “Keep this up and Marianne’s gonna start thinking I’m your secret lover or something.”

William ignored him and walked towards his table. He seemed exceptionally moody today. Maybe it was due to the fact that it was two in the morning. Victor shrugged and followed him.

William took off his glasses and pulled out the lens, revealing a second layer of lens. “I really hope my micro camera worked; it wasn’t easy embedding such a small chip within these.”

“I never doubted you.” Victor placed a hand on his shoulder. “You were right; Zacharias is hiding something.”

“I thought that was already established when Masako asked if he was one of us after she woke up,” William said. “But I’m more concerned about the picture he took of us. You saw it through my lens when I was in his room, right?”

Victor nodded his head grimly. “I really didn’t expect you to be the one with a blue aura, my friend. If Firdaus gets his hands on you, this world is toast.”

“Well, there is one last resort if that ever happens…”

Victor looked at William silently.

“This will only work because Firdaus needs to be near a full sized converter to do his little hypnosis act,” William continued. “If a worldwide electric field conversion can be instigated with such little amount of energy, this also means that only a small frequency discrepancy would suffice to shut down such a delicate reaction. I need you to promise me that if I’m ever forced to destroy the world, you won’t hesitate to put me into the converter.”

“And what will that do?”

“Turn the world back to normal, but I die in the process. Theoretically, at least. The converter functions somewhat like a particle accelerator. I’ll probably be pulled apart and then hyper-compressed.”

“That… that’s a very big favour to ask of a friend, William.”

“We’re all going to die one day; what matters is how we use the time we have in our lives.” William shrugged. “One life for one world. It’s a pretty good bargain.”

“But that being said,” he cast his eyes downwards. “Marianne’s just got a semblance of a decent family; I don’t want her to lose it so quickly. Let’s hope it never comes to that.”

“She’s not the only one who doesn’t want to lose you,” Victor muttered. “Maybe the world just isn’t meant to be saved. Let’s just focus on finding out what Zacharias’ ability is and put this martyr nonsense behind us for now, alright?”

William looked out of the window pensively.

If only it were that easy, Victor.