Ascended Trilogy - Book 1

Chapter 2

- Theo -

I hate serving in the Burkundian Coalition of Armed Forces.

I hate the Taintless soldiers surrounding me every day, who believe themselves to be superior to Ascended. I hate that they despise Ascended, and overlook the torture and usage of the poor souls who are unlucky enough to be Tainted. I hate that they grovel at the feet of the Untouched, and basically worship them as gods. I hate the electrogun and hand grenades and death weapons I'm forced to carry with me all the time, supposedly keeping the city "orderly" and "peaceful".

I sometimes wonder how on Eryth I ended up here.

I'm grateful for the protection my Taint gives me, but I live in constant fear of being exposed. Every Ascended's fingertips glow brightly when using their Taint. Our bicolored irises shine so brilliantly that it's impossible to conceal them with contacts. The amount of suffering I constantly endure to keep myself hidden is enough to render me completely exhausted at the end of each day; my nerves are constantly frayed, and I keep a perpetual watch over my shoulder. As my mother always said, if you have the will to do something, you'll make a way for it to happen. And so I have, for the past two years of my life.

But I'm getting tired of doing nothing but hiding.

I'm average in intelligence, height, strength, and mostly everything else. I'm quiet by nature, observing and listening much more than I ever talk. For this, my comrades have nicknamed me "Mouse", something which I loathe with all my being but never speak out against.

My point in mentioning these things is to demonstrate how pretty much useless I am. What am I supposed to do with a deception Taint other than hiding my Ascended nature? Add to that my naturally reserved personality, and you have someone who is born to live in disguise.

Therein lies my problem: I want to help fix the world, but I have absolutely no means to do it.

That is, I had no means until I found out about the B.C.A.F., which unfortunately turned out to be just another sect of Untouched-worshipping simpletons who are primarily focused on clawing their way to the top of the social order.

So here I am, trying to fold myself as tightly as possible into the corner of the dingy bar where my squadron likes to spend their time off. Suggestive music blares incessantly from a tunebox in the center of the room, and dim hoverglobes give off only a minimal amount of light, adding to the dismal vibe of the place.

I shrink back further when Sergeant Hobbes eyes me and gestures for me to join everyone else. "Ey, Mouse! Why're you always hiding in the corner? You're missing all the fun!"

I freeze as everyone turns to stare at me, and Captain Levine waltzes over to clap me on the shoulder.

"Loosen up, soldier! Have a coupla drinks, join the party!" I smile weakly and make no reply, pushing my Taint to its limit to make sure my dual-colored eyes and glowing fingers are concealed. Levine shrugs before walking back over and rejoining the group.