A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 3 - Tinkering Before the Storm

The first thought he had of stepping foot into the open air, surrounded by people, terrified him into momentary silence. Cursing his weakness, he set his mind back on the conversation.

"I... don't know what to say, Jim. That's a very serious accusation. Do you think Harold knew what Holmes would do?" He asked.

Jimmy took on a pensive look for a few moments, the sadness falling away from his face as he started working on the question.

"No." He almost whispered, "I don't think Harold knew. I've never heard of Holmes killing a single worker, let alone an entire lab team. Harold is a wreck too. Holmes had him watch... It was like he knew Harold lied and was punishing him. The look on his face when I passed him in the hall... He went straight to his room and won't answer any messages, not even the work ones."

Seeing one of the two scientists who had raised him so worried made Gabriel start to do the same. "Look, why don't you keep trying to contact him? He's bound to answer sometime, I mean he does have to go home, right? Take him out somewhere and get his mind off things. Whatever you do, don't mention this incident, that'd be a horrible idea."

Jimmy perked up at the prospect of a plan and nodded vigorously. The water glistening in his eyes drying, his eyes setting with determination. "I'll do that, and if he doesn't come out soon then I'll hack his door and force him to come out for drinks with me. I can just tell him that I need to drink after today. Maybe he'll open up to me?" This thought he finished aloud while walking out of the lab, still nodding his head.

The pep in the step of the person Gabe considered the closest thing to family he had at Iodine brightened his mood. Humming, he continued working on his armaments. His concentration broke when the newsfeed playing on one of the holo-screens started streaming breaking news.

The MechaBlitz had demolished the city of New Seattle, which the humans had retaken only weeks earlier in a bloody and costly battle. The Sentinels were faltering against the onslaught of Exo-Suited reptiles that had harassed the planet for years.

Thinking of the brutality that took place near his very lab hours before put his mind in a dark place. Gabe cringed, remembering what he knew of the beginning of the invasion. As well as the horrible circumstances that allowed humanity to fight back.

In the early decades of the 21st century, the "Gene Corruption" spread throughout the entire living population. This corruption did nothing to the bodies of those it infected. What it changed was their offspring.

Almost overnight women began to suffer almost surefire stillbirths.

Close to 80% of people seemed to have lost the ability to bear healthy children. A lucky few did not seem affected at all. That's what they believed in 2027, at least.

Such a large drop in population left serious power vacuums around the world. As such, the new territorial alliances tended to focus on population procreation and protection. Militarisation came about from serious fears of getting wiped out.

This resulted in a strange discovery. It seemed that the first healthy generation born after the Gene Corruption was remarkably gifted - physically speaking. They were leaps and bounds faster and stronger than the average human of the previous generation. We believed it to have been a result of only the strongest genes surviving the corruption. This was wrong, although it wasn't until 2134 that we learned the Corruption hadn't caused the strongest to survive at all.

The survivors had adapted to it.

With the third generation, supernatural abilities appeared in humans. Powers like telekinesis and flight, and even greater levels of physical strength and speed. The general public dubbed these people "Supers".