Six years ago…

Evan lay on a beach next to his father, breathing in a moment of peace. The sand burned; not a scalding kind of burn, but with the warmth of a million squishy grains pulling him down into the earth as ripples of water chased after his toes. Music poured from his phone, melding with the sky and waves so that it was hard to tell what beauty belonged to the world or to the instruments.

Evan could have stayed there on that beach with his father forever, but even the Sun was forced to retreat from the encroaching night.

His dad smiled with his eyes closed and patted Evan’s arm with a coarse hand. “Happy double-digits, son.”

Then came his mother’s sharp voice from far off. “Evangelos.”

Evan turned to her, a false note in an otherwise perfect symphony.

His mom stood in the doorframe of their beach home. She was a slender woman with reddened eyes that wilted even when she smiled; though, that day there was no smile.

Father hadn’t budged.

She called again, her voice a taught chord, “Evangelos.”

“Yes, Laura?” Father asked flatly.

“It’s happening,” she said.

He sat up; his expression hardened.

Evan stopped the music. “What’s happening?” he asked.

His father turned to him. “Let’s say goodbye to your guests for today, it’s gotten late.”

They hurried inside their home, where servants swept away the remnants of wrapping paper and dinner plates around the living room and kitchen.

“Leave it,” Father ordered.

The servants obeyed, making their way out of the house.

Evan searched for his party guests, but it seemed that they had already been ushered out by Father’s security, except for some business associates and Ken, who stared out the front window.

It was lame that none of the others had waited to say goodbye. Though, he knew they had only come to the party because their parents worked with his. Ken was the only one invited by Evan (not without resistance from Mom).

He wasn’t normal, according to her.

Ken waved at Evan. “Hi.”

“Hey. What’s happening?” Evan asked.

Ken shrugged. His glasses made his eyes look cartoonish, and his nose and head were a bit on the rounder side. He chewed on the collar of his shirt, which always meant he was nervous.

Evan patted his back. “Hey, thanks for coming to my party. It wouldn’t be fun without you.”

“Was fun,” Ken mumbled. He also gave shorter answers when he was stressed – stress which spread to Evan.

They watched the street together, but there wasn’t much to see besides a line of cars leaving the gated community.

A television rasped with the voice of a news guy, Terran Lucky. He was a stiffed-backed man with a tight collar that aligned perfectly with his jaw.

“It is official. The Purifier Initiative will be implemented starting immediately,” he said. “President Nero Caine has the following announcement.”

Father stared at the TV, while Mother paced behind a couch.

Their closest associates huddled around them, whispering.

Evan usually ignored these broadcasts; but this time it was hard to tune out.

“Today marks the age of unification. The decades of war are finally over.”

“Scary,” Ken said.

Evan agreed. “Let’s go to my room.”

“Your room,” Ken repeated.

The two scrambled up a short flight of stairs to a bedroom flooded with clothes. Ken immediately sat crisscrossed on a small bench that faced the outside window.

“We have been plagued and ripped apart by arrogance. Today, we will become a whole nation.”

The TV was loud enough that President Caine’s muffled voice had followed them upstairs, despite Evan having closed the door. He tried to ignore it, until the last line demanded to be heard.

“Today, we will be reborn and finally undo the curse. We will undo separation. We will undo the Titan Project.”

“Undo the Titan Project,” Ken said.

The speech sounded like every other speech Evan had heard before. He’d known few students from school were sent away for being sick with Affliction. But the Titan Project was something he’d never heard of before.

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“Undo the Titan Project,” Ken repeated, but this time in a deeper voice. Biting his collar and copying voices – that was his thing. “Undo the Titan Project,” he said in perfect mimicry of the President, including the muffled nature of the TV stream, along with some quirky facial twitching. He was doing it again.

Evan swung the door closed and stuffed a bundle of clothes under the crack to block the sound.

Ken said the whole speech now as if he had been the original source. It was his power, his Affliction. He’d had the ability since he’d turned eleven, not even Evan’s parents knew about it.

Evan was supposed to tell them, but he didn’t want Ken to be sent away, so he hid his friend’s power whenever he got like this. Evan sat next to Ken who repeated the speech on loop. “It’s ok, man. Everything’s ok. It’s over.” He patted his friend’s back, and the mimicry stopped.

“It’s ok, E-friend, it’s ok,” Ken agreed.

Evan sighed. “I think it’s time to go home, buddy.”

“Something’s outside.”

“What?” Evan’s joined Ken at the window.

Now he knew fear.

A line of cars had been halted at the community gate by a wall of armored Federation vehicles. Dust kicked into the air as a small hovercraft circled above the streets.

A voice called out from the sky, “Stay in your homes and vehicles. Federation personnel will approach you momentarily. Please be prepared to offer your citizenship identification.”

A procession of tiny eyeball-like drones swept over the streets to the line of cars and community of houses, accompanied by squads of enforcers. Families stepped out to meet with the soldiers as the drones scanned them and their IDs. After a moment, the soldiers would nod to each other and then pass to the next person.

The Federation never bothered people in this neighborhood before. It was like a bad dream.

Evan wanted to look away, as if ignorance would make it stop, but he hungered to see what would happen. He pulled the curtains closed and held them tight to his eye so he could still see outside.

“He’s not sick,” Ken said in another man’s voice.

The act jolted Evan. He recognized the voice, and it was clear who Ken was copying.

A drone had scanned a kid from Evan’s birthday party, Lucas. His parents worked with his Father in the mayor’s office.

Lucas was as neat as they came – clean hair, clean sweater. He never cried or yelled: quiet kid altogether. But right now, snot ran down his lips in all directions as he sobbed.

Evan felt sorry for him, but he didn’t know why he should be. Maybe it was because he hated to see a nice kid like Lucas crying so much.

Lucas’ mom pulled him back while his dad argued with two soldiers.

Evan pressed his ear to the window but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Thankfully, Ken’s powers made him an excellent speaker system.

“Scan him again,” Ken said in the dad’s voice.

One of the soldiers shook her head. “That won’t change anything.”

“Do it, you…” Ken stopped the translation. “He swore.”

Evan let out a nervous chuckle. “That’s okay, buddy, just skip that part.”

Ken continued with the soldier, “Your son registered as Afflicted positive on this quarter’s national blood test. According to the Purifier Initiative Act, we are authorized to detain him immediately.”

“Please,” Lucas’ mom pleaded. “Please. He’s not one of them, he’s not. Try again.”

The soldiers reached for Lucas.

“You can’t take him!” His dad punched the lead officer.

Evan hoped it would end there. Maybe they’d just be upset and write them a ticket or something. But no, it didn’t stop there, and Evan couldn’t find the strength to look away.

The mom shrieked a horrible cry.

The other soldier bashed the back of the dad’s head with a rifle, dropping him to the ground. He didn’t move.

Ken and Evan looked wide eyed at each other in utter shock. They both turned to look outside again.

The mom yanked Lucas behind her.

“He’s not one of them,” she cried, Ken continuing to relay her words. “He’s not one of those things.”

At this point, Ken had picked out Lucas’ crying, and intertwined it with the mom’s yelling.

“Mommy!”

Evan had enough. “Cut it out, Ken.”

“He’s not one of them! Give him back, give him back!”

“Mommy! Mommy!”

“Stop it!” Evan shoved Ken off the bench, breaking the power.

Ken stared at Evan with whimpering eyes. “Hurt me, E-friend.”

“I’m-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” He pulled Ken back up.

A rapping came from outside.

Evan ran back to the window and saw that the nightmare had spread to his home as well, as soldiers with an eyeball-drone entered through his home’s front door.

Only one thing came to mind: hide.

“Come on, buddy.” Evan grabbed Ken by the arm and made for the door but was stopped by the sound of clambering feet and muffled voices coming up the stairs.

“He’s in my son’s room, officers,” Ken said, copying Evan’s mom.

Then came his father. “Laura.”

“What? They asked to see him.”

“They have no right–”

Evan shushed Ken and tugged him underneath the bed. They tried as best as they could to pile clothing around the gaps, leaving a small space to peek through.

The door creaked open. Four sets of feet entered: Two sets of black boots, a set of heels, and a set of bare sand-covered toes.

“They were here,” Mother said.

Evan’s heart rattled in his chest. Please don’t find my friend, please don’t find him.

A rhythmic hum closed in on the bed. The drone poked over the wall of clothes, peering directly at Evan.

The wall of clothes toppled as two gloved hands dragged him out. He kicked, he pulled back, but it was a useless effort as he was yanked up by a soldier. Another brought Ken to his feet. Most light was voided out by their dark blue body armor, covered in pockets and magazines, rifles slung over their shoulders. They held on to Evan and Ken, their half-visored heads turning to Father.

Father glanced at Ken; his arms crossed. He scowled at Laura, then closed his eyes. “Go ahead.”

“Dad?” Evan always trusted his father, but this was wrong.

The drone scanned Ken.

There was nothing Evan could do but wait, hoping that the soldiers weren’t going to take his friend.

The men nodded to each other, then turned to Ken. “Kenneth Doleson, you, and your parents have each tested positive for Affliction. Come with us compliantly for everyone’s safety.”

Heart hammering, Evan jumped in front of Ken and shouted, “Leave him alone.” The air grew hot, like summer winds wrapping around him.

“Evan!” Mom scolded.

“They’re not taking my friend.” As his anger flared, so did a sensation that he was melting, like the world could turn to ash before him.

His mom grasped at his arm. “This needs to happen. This isn’t about us, Evan.”

Evan yanked back. “No. He can’t hurt anyone, he just makes funny voices, that’s it!”

She grabbed him, her nails digging into his arms. “It’s going to be ok, love.”

“No!” he shouted, breaking her grasp on him.

“It’s okay.” She reached for him again, that lying smile taking form.

He shoved her hands away.

In a snap of time, half of her smile disappeared, along with half of her face. Blood spurted across the room as his mom dropped to the ground writhing, cupping at the fleshy mess that used to be her cheek.

Evan fell back to his bed, his vision blurring, looking over his… his hands. No, they couldn’t be his hands. He couldn’t be…

“He’s one of them…” his father gasped.

The soldiers drew their rifles.

Evan shielded his face, and his enemies were no more.