To Err Is Human

The Past

Shink walked as fast as he could to the door. He peeped outside to see if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. He had to be really sure. There was no one there. He exhaled and then closed the door slowly. He hurried to the bed as fast as he could and turned to Anna.

"The G-unit made contact?"
He repeated his question again. Anna exhaled as she watched how Shink came to a stop in front of her. He looked so anxious. She nodded.

"Oh my God, you met them?"

"Yes Shink, I met them."

"What were they like? How many of them are they?"

Shink was so interested in getting every detail. Not like she could blame him for his extreme anxiety, the G-unit was all her and Shink had tried to find for a long time. It was all they could ever think about. She was still having a hard time wrapping it all around her head. Everything was finally falling into place and the thought of it was overwhelming both for Shink but still, something didn't feel right about all of it.

"I don't know Shink." She said weakly. "They're just... different. They know a lot about everything, more like they planned everything. They have their roots even deeper than we thought and it happens to be that they don't need the bracelet to use their powers."

"Their bracelets are deactivated too?" He furrowed his brows. I knew he was surprised to hear that considering the fact that we never knew anyone else that had access to their powers besides me. We searched for years.

"Temporarily."

"Anna, I thought you were the only one?"

"Well, that was what I thought too."

"Did you ask them how they did it? What if there're more like you guys at the arc or among the chosen ten? More of us whose powers are not bound to their bracelets, who just need something to trigger it."

"I don't think so Shink. Gina said it's just us."

"Gina?" Now she had to explain everything she knew in details and also talk about the lady she had only met for what? Four hours?

"She's the leader of the G-Unit."

"I thought you were supposed to be their leader?"

"Funny enough they said the same thing too." Anna whispered. "You should have seen them Shink, with all those powers, they were so powerful."

She scoffed.

"I've never seen anything like it. And you know the best part? It never hurt them to use it. Not as much as it hurts me. Or maybe it does but they're trained to embrace the pain." Anna sighed.

"Of course it'd hurt Anna. Not because you're a shape shifter but because everytime you're triggered to change, your bracelet tries to fight it. That's what causes the pain. Transitioning would be much easier if you didn't have the bracelet on. That's why we can't afford to deviate from all we've planned right now. We are supposed to find a way to permanently deactivate the bracelet for all our people. We can't afford a distraction. Your brother and the rest of our people are counting on us. Eight third borns were killed at the arc yesterday." Anna narrowed her gaze on him. Eight third borns ? How could she forget so soon how all third borns in the arc were killed? It was a major memory of her past. "We don't have much time."

Of course she knew all Shink said. That's all she ever thought of since she met the G-Unit. That was the only reason she acted the way she did with Angelo because she knew how important keeping her feelings in check was. She couldn't afford a distraction. She couldn't afford the distraction Angelo was trying to rope her into. Unlike him, she had hundreds of people to look after, hundreds of people counting on her.