"Hey! Hey Jared! Run this way!" Shaki cried.
I did not even think twice. My legs moved swiftly as I ran with Maverick behind me towards the building that we had just escaped. Once inside, we found the other scientists tied up in groups, not with rope but with long strips of a yellowish-red fire. I noticed one trying to escape as Shaki turned her attention towards us and the strip of fire grew, leaving him grimacing in pain. He immediately fell back to the floor and sat there, glaring at us with a murderous hate. I turned towards the closing door and watched as Maverick covered the door in a thick, impenetrable ice. He then came and stood with us as Carlos caught his breath, then began to speak.
"Alright...so...hold on...!" Carlos said frantically.
"Just calm down. Take some deep breaths. Then speak," Shaki said calmly.
"Thank you...1...2...3...10," Carlos whispered to himself. "Alright. Like I was saying."
"Ummm...you didn't really say anything," Maverick replied with a scowl as Shaki punched him on his arm.
"Just listen for a second, Maverick," Shaki said calmly.
Carlos began again, "Well, the information that we found on the machines has all been obliterated. We set some bombs up in the area that can only be set off using fire. Once everyone is out safe from the building, Shaki will use her link with the fire in each bomb to detonate them, destroying this facility. We do not need anyone recreating what was made here." He gestured to Shaki as he was speaking and continued.
"I did some extensive research on the chemical compound of the drugs they used as well. It seems the drugs are indeed a way to control emotions, but not only that. Once inside the bloodstream, they somehow can make a tracer of the output of Ether in the body of the Pariah. I tried testing it on Shaki and myself and we were able to notice large amounts of Ether coming from her using our machines. It is no wonder the Garwayway find it so easy to search and find even a weaker Pariah. I still wonder how they are unable to recognize you, Jared." Carlos looked over at me as I shrugged. I did not fully understand that either.
Carlos went on, "Anyways, we also discovered in Dredge's notes that the chemicals first used in the bombing years ago are now in our system as a mutation, and they are not at all in the atmosphere. They dispersed hundreds of years ago. All of this has been a lie, but we have to be very careful about sharing that with anyone. If anyone asks questions, we will just have to tell them that we were all exposed to things here that made us allergic to the drugs." Carlos finished speaking and turned his attention back to Shaki.
"Thanks Carlos. This was all quite the shock - I did not know any of this, not even through my father. It bothers me, but I will not mention it to him. We will have to mention everything else, even the human-cyborgs that Dredge was creating. It seems they were created by him to take over my father's kingdom. Dredge wants to be a god like my father. Another thing — the cyborgs that you were fighting before? The humans inside are still very aware of what is going on but are being controlled by the machine part of them. They can see, hear and think, but their motor functions are all directly controlled by something else remotely. Most likely another machine, and it seems that they learn from each other through wired connection. I noticed it the second time we fought them as I was able to cut the wires from their heads, but I let them escape. I did not want to kill them when they did not know what they were doing. But now I am not sure if I made the right decision," Shaki shook her head, remembering the battle with the trapped cyborgs.
"Wait! These machines have people inside who are very much alive and do not have control over their own bodies? That's why they were crying?" Maverick said, puzzled. "Why would they do this?"
"You noticed it as well?" I asked as I turned to Maverick.
"Yes! It is why I could not get myself to attack them. I found it strange that there were tears coming from their eyes. I first thought that their minds were dead, and it was just their bodies being controlled. Why would anyone do this?" Maverick screamed as he looked over at the scientists who were tied up.
"These are some sick and twisted people," Shaki replied. "That is all."
"Let's kill all of them then," Maverick barked.
"No!" Shaki screamed. "What's going on with you? We cannot go around killing people. We have to put them through the right procedures and place them in prison," she said calmly.
"It must be the drugs that wore off. You are usually not this angry," I enlightened.
"You should be, Jared. You're the one who has been pretty calm lately," Maverick replied as he lowered his arm that was once pointed towards the scientists and clenched his fists.
"I have to be. My emotions fuel my powers. I do not want to kill anyone by accident or even on purpose. I am honestly worried about what else I might be able to do," I replied as I looked towards one of the walls.
"I think all of us are. But once you have them under control, you will be a beast of a Pariah, hermano," Maverick replied confidently, as he placed an arm over my shoulders.
"Your arm is a little cold, Maverick," I said as I smiled.
We turned towards each other once again to continue talking, but just then we were almost knocked off our feet as the ice wall Maverick had created came crashing down behind us. I retrieved both my guandao this time and stood firm near my friends. Shaki was first to notice that the human-cyborgs had all taken the same stance that I now took. They had learned from fighting against me. I knew we would have to beat them here and now. I directed my gaze towards their arms so I could not see their faces. I did not want to get emotional knowing what the human inside of this machine might be feeling. I could not even imagine what it would be like to be inside of a contraption that controlled you and you were only along for the ride.
The first machine stepped forward, but it was met by Maverick who slammed it hard in the face with a heavy ice punch. The ice that had formed on his arm looked to be as large as me, but ice spikes covered it. The human-cyborg flew away from us into what was left of the door. Whomever it was did not move again. "Good," I thought. "We could at least knock them out." From the looks of it, it did not seem that it (or he) was dead — at least I hoped it was not.
The next machine was a little more careful this time. It stared at us for a moment, then pointed towards Carlos. The only one that would not seem to be as much of a challenge. Shaki stepped in front of Carlos but he lightly brushed her aside and retrieved two glowing, burning sticks from his waist. Maverick placed his palm to his face, and I did as well. We may have both been thinking the same thing. Carlos needed to create a new weapon.
Once he was ready, Carlos stepped forward and so did the human-cyborg. Carlos was first to make a move this time and he rushed towards the machine who easily dodged the first blow, taking a step to the left and kneeing Carlos in his side. Carlos fell to the floor immediately, clutching his stomach and taking in deep shallow breaths. The human-cyborg just stood there as if it was waiting for instructions, and then its right leg raised up and came crashing down just as Carlos rolled out of the way, standing back on his feet holding his side.
I was about to step forward and help, but Shaki put her arm on my shoulder, pulling me back. Her face told me to just relax and wait. I turned my attention again to Carlos who dropped the two glowing sticks and began dodging the attacks of the contraption in front of him. I was not sure what he was doing but then he changed into a boxing stance. There was no way he could have learned it from my uncle or cousin as he was moving too well. He must have picked it up at an earlier time. Then I remembered Change, the tech Pariah we had met during our previous scuffle with Scythe. He must have been secretly training Carlos somehow.
Carlos sidestepped again, and I noticed a liquid metal form on his arms which seemed to harden in an instant as his fist connected with the human-cyborg's gut. The liquid metal then returned to Carlos' chest as an undershirt, its color changing to an off-white as if it were made from a soft, cotton fabric the whole time. I only smiled and looked at Maverick who smiled back. We both nodded at each other in agreement. The human-cyborg picked itself off the floor and changed to a boxing stance as well, but Carlos switched it up again as the metal shirt again turned into its liquid form and covered his whole body.
The machine ran at Carlos at full force, but Carlos dodged its next punch, grabbing its arm then twisting it, breaking the whole thing off. He then threw the arm next to the machine who did not seem to be in much pain. Metal wires poured forth out of the stump where its arm used to be and reattached the arm to the body of the contraption. It then jumped back and stood in line with the other two contraptions while the first who had been knocked out by Maverick still lay there on the floor. Wires came forth from the human-cyborg on the floor and attempted to attach itself to the other three, but a blast from Shaki stopped them immediately, disintegrating the wires from its head.
"I am up next," Shaki said with a grin from ear to ear.
The next human cyborg came forward. We could all tell that this one was not as young. It was much taller and was more rounded, most likely the human inside had been around the age of forty. Most of the others I had noticed seemed to move quicker, as if they were younger, possibly sixteen to twenty-five years of age. This slower moving contraption was the only one that I had noticed that still had its hair. Its skin was the same brown shade as Carlos and its features were distinct, with long flowing brown locks. Whomever it was, they must have been a good-looking human being before this happened to them. It is a shame that they had to face Shaki. The machine seemed a little more cautious this time as it watched the black flames that had formed over Shaki's fists. She did not move. She just stood there waiting for the machine to move first, and it did.
It rushed at her, then dodged her fist, narrowly getting caught in a shower of black flames that I knew would have exploded the machine on impact. The flames were not too large, so I did not think Shaki was aiming to kill it, just slow it down. The machine then aimed a kick at Shaki's head, but she blocked it with her arm; her flames touching the machine, causing its body to spin in a circle as it flew into the ceiling, trapping itself.
It made some attempts to move or escape its new home in the metal ceiling but to no avail. Shaki simply walked over to us without even looking at the cyborg-humans to see if they were following. She looked at me and gave me a wink and a nod as if to say, that was easy, now it's your turn. I moved forward and noticed it was the machine I had faced before. I readied my Guandao and remembered not to look directly into the eyes of my enemy. I did not want to see their pain. I knew it would be too much for me.
One of the scientists tied up on the ground spoke up, "You will have to kill them. We made sure there is no way to reverse the process. Either they kill you or you kill them."
The scientist beside him continued to speak, "You can keep us chained here but we will find a way to continue to do more experiments on those humans. Community service is nothing. I hate all of you stupid individuals".
"Shut up," Shaki screamed. "Before I give you a reason to."
"Ohhhh...I am so scared," The first scientist screamed back. "All I care about is seeing you filthy humans suffer like you made us suffer thousands of years ago because we were different."
I turned around and glared at the scientists that were chanting behind me. Foolish mistake. It was what they wanted as in that moment as the machine came crashing into me and my Guandaos flew into the air, falling next to Maverick. The contraption did not move again after that. It only stayed there as if it was waiting for more orders. I got up slowly and glared at the scientists, remembering all the evil they had done, what the Behemoths had done, and I began to believe I could not allow anyone who was this evil to survive in this world.
Anyone who was like Dredge. I could feel emotions dwelling in me; they seemed to pour out of me. Like a bubbling cauldron of stew, I felt everything; it was different, and for some reason it felt good. I wanted revenge on these men. I wanted to show them that I was not just a regular human. I wanted to show them what it was like to face the wrath of a person who no longer cared and had thrown their humanity away. I wanted to show them the power of a monster.
"Jared?! Whatever you are thinking, stop now, Jared!" Carlos screamed.
"Hey Jared, no this needs to end!" Shaki shrieked.
"What the heck is going on?" Maverick yelped. "I feel so tired."
I ignored their cries. I was doing this for them. No, I was doing this for me. I wanted my revenge and I would have it. I turned around and caught the arm of the machine. I glared deep into its eyes then somehow turned the metal sheet covering its head into liquid. The metal dripped down towards its neck and I began to suffocate the thing. The more tears I saw, the more I felt a feeling in me that this was right. They deserved it. Anyone who would submit themselves to Dredge deserved to feel this pain. Once the contraption fell, I turned my attention towards the scientists who now looked bewildered and afraid. I smiled. I slowly walked towards them as I noticed 4536 rushing towards the rest of my team, but I could not bring myself to care - my full attention was locked on what I needed to do. I would do this on my own.
I raised both my arms and black flames formed on my hands. I turned my head towards my friends who were all but gone. They must have escaped and would not see what I was truly capable of. No matter. I would destroy this whole place even if I had to die in it. No one would do this again. The sound from the bombardment of these flames sounded like cannons and the scientists all died instantly in the explosion. I turned my attention again towards the human-cyborgs as the ceiling began to collapse; everything being destroyed.
Before I knew it, I was already on top of one machine, smashing its head into a wall, my arm covered in ice. The next I cut its head from its body with a purple flame, sharper than the blades of my guandao. I raised my arm again and melted the rest of its body with white flames that looked like a flash grenade. I smiled. It felt virtuous. I raised my hand again and without looking, blasted the ceiling where the last contraption had got stuck with white flames; and with my feet; I made a tower of ice that pushed me out through the large hole I had made with melting heat and outside into the real world. I looked down and noticed the floor beneath me was like lava. Then I saw what I was looking for. Somewhere in the distance.
I felt even more emotions building up inside of me; like a torrent of water rushing throughout my body. My feet instantly turned red with fire and my arms again became lit with purple flames as I flew at the brown-white mass in the distance. It was Dredge. Once I reached him, I attempted to slice him open but missed. He somehow dodged the attack and flew upwards towards the clouds. I was hot on his tail. Dredge looked back and his face was plastered with terror. He knew this would be his end. When he turned away again, I picked up speed, flying past him into the clouds then I simply waited.
I watched as he looked around for me. As he calmed down, believing he had lost me in the white pillows of condensation. Then I attacked. I went at him with such a speed that the trees beneath me tore and the clouds disintegrated. The purple flames did their job, my borrowed purple flames cut Dredge in two. I grinned again and landed softly on the ground as I watched the eyes of the monster before me close. Time seemed to slow down and darkness closed in....I had done it. Everything started to fade away as I lost consciousness.
I woke up much later in the vehicle with Maverick and Carlos sitting near me, while 4536 hovered over me; Shaki was driving.
"Finally woke up, I see," Carlos said calmly.
"You really did a..."
"Shut your mouth, Maverick," Shaki quickly interrupted.
"Wait! What was Maverick about to say?" I said, confused.
"Nothing! Jared. Don't worry about it!" Shaki barked.
I sat there for a moment staring off into the distance through the glass of the hovering vehicle, back towards the trees and land that seemed to be scorched by fire. I continued to glare and then I remembered. I remembered everything. I lay my head down, turning it towards my friend and then stared off into the sky. A tear trickled down my face as I watched the sun go down and I fell back to sleep.