The Next Generation (FIRST DRAFT)

Chapter 23

Ben was actually returned to his cell sooner than he had expected, the same day in fact. Once the medics had identified the root of his problem, they realized that all he needed was basic medication and some guards that actually have half a brain. The day and evening guards were changed out and Alex stayed on the night shift. 

    When Ben was returned, he actually walked, no need for carrying. Matthew was still in the cell waiting for him. The blankets and pillows from the cots had been changed out as too try to get rid of all traces of the virus. Ben walked over to his cot and sat down, embarrassed about all that had happened earlier that day. He put his head in his hands and sighed. 

    “Hey,” Matthew said. “There’s no need to be shy about before. You weren’t in the right state of mind.”

    “I know, but I still feel bad that you had to deal with me like that.”

    “Well you better get used to it because I’m going to be your in house medic for the next few weeks.”

    Ben looked down at the floor in silence. 

    “Why did you do it?” he finally asked. 

    “Do what?”

    “Work for these…,” he trailed off. “Monsters.”

    Matthew sighed. He sat down on the side of Ben, knowing that this was going to be a long talk. Ben stood up, not wanting to be near him.

    “Really?” Matthew said. “You’re acting like a child.”

    “Well I think I kinda have a right to.”

    “Meaning?”

    “I’ve missed my entire teenage years, first to fight my illness and now this!” Ben shouted in anger. “I’m sixteen, Matthew, still a kid. I think I deserve some petty moments, don’t you?!”

    Matthew put his hands up and stood up from the bed. “Fine!” He said, looking Ben dead in the eyes. “Now do you want an explanation or not?”

    Ben sat back down on the cot and crossed his arms. “You may continue.”

    Matthew chuckled to himself and went to sit on the cot opposite instead. “They didn’t really give me much of a choice.”

    “What do you mean?” Ben asked.

    “It’ll probably make more sense if I start at the beginning.”

    “Okay then.”

    Matthew sighed and began. “I’ve always been the type of person that would do anything to help someone else. So much so that I rarely look out for my own safety before helping others. Usually that would be a pretty good quality to have, but if not kept in check, it can come back to bite you. It did to me. 

    “My family has always been a priority for me. I was the oldest of four children, so I’ve always been the responsible one that had to take care of everyone else, at least until I got sick that is. 

    “I had been born with a weak immune system, so much so that even a simple cold could mean a potential trip to the hospital. Paired with my weak heart, getting pneumonia like I did was a recipe for disaster. 

    “It all started with a trip to visit my grandparents. They lived up here in the northern US and we visited during the winter, so sickness was rampant at that time. One day when my family was out playing, I started coughing really badly. I caught the flu and when mixed with the cold weather, it quickly became something much worse. It evolved into pneumonia. I was seventeen at this time.

    “The sickness evolved rapidly. Every breath I took was agonizing and made me just wish that I was gone already. After battling with the sickness for three months, it was finally over. I was gone, or at least I was until the company stepped in. 

    “They told my family that they could heal me, that I could come back not just healthy again, but actually healed. That meant no more extreme sickness, no more regular hospital visits, no more heart problems. I would be completely normal, just a healthy kid again. Of course my parents agreed. If you got an offer like that for your child, wouldn’t you?

    “You probably know how the rest of this goes, how Nox visited me and gave me my powers. I do remember one thing he told me, how he said that he doesn’t normally give advice, but he felt like I could use it. He told me to follow my moral compass, that nine times out of ten, even if the decision didn’t seem like the best one I could make, it actually was the smartest decision. 

    “I was the first out of the five of us to awaken, a couple of days before everyone else. I woke early in the morning but didn’t get very far before someone caught me. The business people were discussing down in the morgue at the time so they pulled me out of the drawer only to find me looking like...this. They were surprised to say the least. The suitman was very happy though. They had been having similar supers show up all over the country and he was glad that I had ended up being more powerful. I don’t know if you realize this, but if you have a strange outside appearance, you usually are more powerful than those without it. They call those like us ‘mid risks’ because we are too powerful to be held in the normal cells like your friend Talon but not powerful enough to be able to get out of these higher security vaults.”

    “Wait, you know Talon?” Ben interrupted. 

    “Yes, he spoke to me telepathically. Now be quiet so I can finish,” Matthew said. “Now because he was ‘fortunate’ enough to have had me wake when they were right there, he offered me a deal. He told me that if I joined him, after we finished gathering all the supers together, they would let me go back to my family. Of course I agreed.”

    “Really? You didn’t think about how they might react to all,” Ben said, gesturing towards Matthew’s spikes. “This?”

    “I didn’t really think about it too much. I was just too focused on getting back to them I guess.”

    Ben looked at the floor, guilty and embarrassed. “I can definitely relate to that,” he said, recalling when he ran to find his mom, not caring how she might react to his metallic shell. 

    Matthew chuckled and continued. “Anyways, after I agreed, they put me up to various tasks. My dad ran a martial arts school so, weak heart or not, all his kids were expected to learn from him. I got to be pretty good, good enough that when I agreed to help, almost all of my assignments were combative. When we finally managed to track down and capture the last super in Alaska, they took me here, saying that we had some things to take care of before I could leave. Then they threw me in here with you.”

    Ben stared at the floor, silent. He knew that these people were cruel, but what they had put Matthew through was beyond okay. Ben decided that they needed to fight back. They needed to escape. 

    Ben looked up. “Matthew, I have an idea.”