by Kipjo Ewers
Sophia went on instinct as she rushed out of the house damaging the main door in the process. She leaped off the porch launching into the sky heading toward the glowing surge of energy. Her heart boomed within her chest while she prayed to get there in time. Sophia violently touched on the beach spraying sand everywhere as her daughter assumed a cliché stance from many video game and anime shows. In the middle of her hands was a ball of white energy savagely crackling and growing as the power poured from the pores of her skin to form it.
Witnessing the spectacle from a supposed safe distance were her friends Kyle and Akram along with some of the other children from the island.
“Kimberly! What the hell are you doing?!”
“I got it, mom! I got it!”
Her body trembled as she tried to control the surging ball of energy aggressively expanding in between her hands.
“You’re giving it too much power! Shut it down now!”
“Mom, I said I got this!”
A furious Sophia bolted over and grabbed both her daughter’s hands and focused on draining the energy. Her eyes blazed bright blue as she absorbed the power into herself until the ball dissipated. She swayed a bit due to lightheadedness of coming into contact with Awakening energy for the first time. An infuriated Kimberly wrenched her hands away from her mother.
“I said I had it, mom!”
“You foolish child,” Sophia bared her teeth. “Do you have any idea what you could have done?”
“Nothing was going to happen!” She stomped. “I wasn’t going to fire it! I was in control …”
“You were in control of nothing!” Sophia roared at her. “You had no control of the bioenergy you were producing! If it continued to expand and accidentally detonated in your hands, you could have killed everyone on the island! You also don’t have to extend your arms to release it! The slightest movement and that sphere can fire from the same stance you were in, and energy continues to move until is disperses! Did you think about the ship you could have hit or the damage it could do to the mainland it reached? California is that way!”
“I …I would have…”
“What, fired it into the air?” Sophia got into her face. “Where there are airplanes? You know we have satellites that orbit our planet and a damn space station! Not to mention what could have happened if the blast was on a supernova level, best case you destroy the planet’s ozone layer which would slowly kill off all life on the planet, worse case you ignite the oxygen in the atmosphere and turn the entire planet into a friggin fireball!”
“Mom!” Kimberly coiled back whimpering.
“Do not …!”
She caught her realizing they were not alone as the other children present stood there with scared looks on their faces watching her lay into her daughter. She lowered her head and forced her body to stop shaking.
“Go to the house …now,” she sternly whispered.
A thoroughly embarrassed Kimberly with streaming tears turned on her heel and rocketed off back to the house.
“The rest of you go back home to your parents,” she ordered the children. “Kyle and Akram …come here please.”
Both boys nervously shuffled over to stand within arms reach of her.
“We didn’t …” They began to say in unison.
“Do not lie to me,” she stopped them with a steel toned voice. “You three are as thick as thieves. Do you have any idea what could have happened today?”
They both sadly nodded.
“A lot of people could have gotten hurt,” she swallowed. “You could have gotten hurt, or worse. If you are her friends, you will never encourage her to do this ever again. Are we clear?”
“Yes ma’am,” they meekly nodded.
“Go home.”
As they shamefully walked away, Sophia turned looking out into the bright blue ocean as a wave of emotion washed over her followed by blinding tears. She muffled her mouth as her body began to rattle.
Guilt was beating her over the head about how she treated Kimberly, and fear was punching her in the gut realizing what would have happened if she was a second too late, or away on a mission saving the day.
She cursed out her frustration to the sea and then sat in the sand for a good twenty minutes taking in her tropical scenery to calm down.
She finally got up and decided to walk back to the house to further settle her nerves. As she entered the house, she called Kimberly downstairs, sat her down and apologized for embarrassing her in front of her friends. She explained to her why she was angry.
“I was afraid, for you …and what would have happened if you lost control.”
“But I wasn’t …,” Kimberly raised her voice.
She stopped mid-sentence as her mother’s eyes told her she wasn’t going to take her both interrupting and speaking to her as if she was one of their friends. She sat quietly and gave her both the respect and attention she demanded.
“You were not in control of it. Firing a stream is not the same as building a charge.” Sophia exhaled while explaining. “Discharging energy is like cutting an artery. Once you release it the flow of energy increases until you tie it off. Like I taught you, I count between one to ten seconds in my head every time I fire a stream, anything higher than ten and I can wipe out half a city. And that’s just using my eye beams …I count to eight when I use my hands, and I never hold a charge while I’m on the planet.”
“But I saw you do it twice at the mountain,” Kimberly pouted. “When I was little ...”
“I know you did,” she nodded. “But I was not as powerful as I am now, and you are more powerful than I was back then. Also, on that day, I was both angry and reckless. If I had actually released that enormous charge, I could have killed countless of people, including you. With the second charge, I was lucky to focus it into a stream, and it didn’t take much to obliterate that mountain. This power within us …it’s not something that can be easily controlled honey. One false slip and the consequences are devastating.”
“But how was I supposed to know that?” Kimberly asked while sadly lowering her head.
“You weren’t,” Sophia said with a shameful huffed.
She moved closer holding her hand.
“I should have taught you, that was my mistake. I was scared. I have been scared. A lot of what I have done to get to this point was through a lot of trial and error. And so, I have been dragging my feet when it comes to teaching you because if I teach you, I can’t take this weapon away once we’re done and lock it up for another time. Do you understand what I am trying to say?”
“I think so.”
“I don’t know what I am doing,” Sophia admittedly shook her head. “If I make a mistake, it is on me, and I have to live with it. If you make a mistake …it is still on me, because you are my responsibility, and I have to live with it.”
Sophia took another deep breath as she decided what to do.
“I need for you to promise me, that you will not use any type of energy attacks …for now. I am asking you to do this for two reasons. One, I need to get my act together and figure out the proper way to guide you in using your abilities. Trial and error are not acceptable. The second reason is unless you’re going to use it to start a fire or weld metal …you don’t need to master an ability like that right now.”
“But what if …?” Kimberly began to protest.
Sophia stopped her with a smile and a gentle hand placed on the left side of her face.
“You already know you can do it, you don’t need to master it right now.”
A teary-eyed Kimberly finally gave in to her mother’s request with a nod. Sophia pulled her in wrapping her arms around her. With a soft kiss on her forehead, she whispered into her daughter’s ear.
“You are safe. I will always keep you safe.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Sophia pulled herself out of her stroll down memory lane walking back to the dinner t
able. She took a seat staring at the food. Dread and resentment began to set in as Sophia remembered what she was cheated out of. She would never feel the joys of Kimberly’s infancy or times as a toddler. Even her terrible twos were ripped away from her. Soon it would be pre-teen and teenage years, times when she won’t want to be around her as much. Time was moving way too fast for her, and she did not have the power to slow it down.
Sophia gave each side of her face a jolting light slap to keep from falling into a state of depression. She began to dish out her food.
“Vincent, are you there?”
“Always Ms. Dennison,” her personal A.I. announced itself through the audio speakers within her home. “How may I assist you?”
“Is my scheduled appointment with Dr. Champion still on for later today?”
“Yes Ms. Dennison, I have confirmed with Maxine, the appointment is still on for later today.”
“Thank you.”
As the audio system went silent, Sophia sat alone preparing to eat, until Sir George made his way over to her eyeing the slices of fruit on her plate. It brought forth a smile from her as she picked up a slice of banana handing it to him.
“Doesn’t matter how old you get, as long as I have a banana, you won’t leave me, will you boy?”
She gave him a two finger rub on the top of his head as he took a perched seat at the end of the table next to her becoming her breakfast companion for another night.
CHAPTER 5
September 2016, seven hundred hours military time early morning, Bridgeport, California,
All seven members of the Regulator team sat within the team debriefing room waiting patiently for Rogers to arrive. Each sat wearing either the team sweatsuit or tracksuit set which came in the color tactical blue. The tracksuit had an added white piping on the side. Each outfit had the silver Regulator emblem embroidered on the right breast of the tops.
There was minimal small talk between the team as each person appeared to be still waking up, or in their own world. Adrian was the most energetic as he typed away on his iPhone with a broad smile on his face. His sister leaned over to take a look at his screen.
“Who you texting so feverishly this early in the morning, that chick you met at Barney NY, Ms. Barbara Moretti?”
“Same one now quit fogging up my screen with your halitosis breath,” Adrian bluntly answered.
With a snarl, she went to smack her twin upside the back of his head, until he grabbed a part of the chair he sat in turning into its metal composition. She then grabbed her own chair mimicking his ability and still smacked him causing him to lurch forward.
“Stop Rose, you’re going to make me drop my phone!”
“How long you’ve been seeing each other again?” Oliver asked.
“We’re going on almost four months now.” He answered while still texting.
“The longest relationship he’s had without tapping it,” his sister shook her head, “You sure she a female Adrian?”
“Yeah, I’m sure she a female,” Adrian answered with a sardonic tone. “I checked. We’ve done other things besides that. We’re just taking it slow, and getting to know each other.”
Rosann leaned back in her chair with a stunned look on her face.
“Adrian Esposito taking it slow? Who the hell are you, and whatchu do with my brother?”
“I’m just surprised your other girl has been taking this so well,” Oliver smirked.
“She was never my girl,” Adrian turned cutting him a dirty look. “And Erica fixed her.”
“What other girl?” Aashif asked jumping into the conversation.
“Angie,” Oliver answered filling him in.
“Stop playing man, she was never my girl!”
“Oh, you don’t know about my brother and Angie, Aashif?” Rosann asked with a devious grin on her face. “They were hot and heavy for a minute. I thought I was gonna to be an aunt to some T-1000s.”
“Kiss my ass, Rose.”
“Orange haired bubbly robot Angie?” Teuila asked with a coy grin on her face.
“She’s an android, who made me late on my third date by hijacking the Tornado and flying me to Hawaii!” Adrian pointed the finger at everyone correcting them with a growl. “And she was not, nor has she ever been my girlfriend! Erica fixed her!”
“I didn’t fix jack,” Erica answered with her eyes closed sitting back in her chair next to Sister Shareef. “She’s a highly advanced cybernetic android with state of the art artificial intelligence. She just got bored with your tired ass and moved on.”
Erica’s response caused all four minus Adrian to burst out laughing, while he gave her dagger eyes. Her comment even forced a smirk out of Sister Shareef who just shook her head.
Before Adrian could come up with a proper retort, Rogers wearing a Regulator navy-blue t-shirt with the emblem on the right breast and standard marine fatigue pants and boots walked in bringing a semi-serious atmosphere back into the room. Adrian put his phone away, while both Erica and Sister Shareef sat up and opened their eyes giving the Sergeant their full attention.
“Let’s get down to business,” Rogers said going into full-on Sergeant Mode. “The Vitruvian Absolute Rally in New York, which has been on our calendar is today at 2 P.M. Eastern Standard time. Rally will be held in Union Square, based on the schematics we worked out for coverage, Oliver and Teuila will be taking strategic rooftop locations along with myself for air support and sniper duty. Shareef and Aashif will be in uniform covering opposite sides of the stage to make the crowd know there is a military presence watching the event, while Rosann and Adrian will be in the crowd in their civvies keeping their eyes peeled for anything suspicious.
Maxine will also be manning the Tornado which will be outfitted with maximum capacity Nerve Hammers and Energy Dampeners. We’ll even be bringing Sam for extra firepower. The military and police presence at Union Square will be limited due to half of the NYPD’s resources being routed to Trump Towers along with secret service to protect the Republican candidate and his family should this event go south.”
“Sir, are we expecting it to go south?” Adrian asked with a raised hand.
“Honestly no,” Rogers shook his head. “Aside from the incident in Houston, the majority of the rallies which have taken place around the world and state wise have been fairly peaceful.”
“That’s because, in Houston, a couple of dumbass militiamen thought they could bring their guns to a nuke fight,” Rosann scoffed and fluttered her eyes in disgust while folding her arms.
“Yeah that was some dumb shit,” Teuila nodded in agreement, “Who they think they were going to intimate when half the attendees are superhuman?”
“Are we done commenting about the dumbass militiamen?” Rogers asked wishing to move along the debriefing. “As I stated the likelihood of an incident is low based on the fact that no acts of violence have taken place at past rallies. However, Vitruvian Absolute is still categorized as a hate group because their core ideology comes from a terrorist that damn near took over the entire planet, that and their names being linked to genetic hate crimes taking place right here in the states and abroad.
Not to mention, we believe they have been bullying their way to get their ‘peaceful rallies,' we’re pretty sure they’ve been sending Prometheans to courthouses to mentally persuade officials into getting their permits to assemble. And then when they figured out we were catching on, they sent in their lawyers with underlined threats of unlawful assembly.
You know what the scenarios look like that we’ve run, even with our entire tech and crowd suppression tactics, the collateral and property damage shattered our stress test every time. So, states have been painfully allowing them to assemble, and they have been peacefully spewing their poison, which seems to be their primary tactic because their numbers have been steadily growing with each rally.”
Everyone minus Sister Shareef and Erica straightened up taking Rogers’s orders much more seriously.
“We will not
have a London incident here on my watch,” Rogers reinforced to the team. “Everyone bring their A-plus game today, is that understood.”
“Yes, sir!” They all yelled minus Erica.
“Moving onto our last mission,” Rogers continued. “The good news is that this marked our fifteenth successful mission. As stated these missions reduce the causality count, and help weaken ISL forces within the region, so good work out there.”
Rogers’s report caused his team to nod with approval.
“And now the bad news, this latest mission has also uncovered a possible new threat on a global level. Erica will now explain what we are dealing with.”
Rogers stepped away from the podium as Erica slowly opened her eyes and shot up from her seat making her way to the podium.
“Time for a recap boys and girls,” she began. “Maxine.”
Upon command, the giant video screen behind her lit up populating with news reports and lab data.
“As we all know, one of the aftermaths of Peace’s global terrorist actions is superhuman boosting,” Erica huffed, “Now that the entire world now knows that basically every single human on the planet possesses the EVO gene within them. Those that can are now racing to research ways to activate the dormant gene within them to acquire abilities. This has led to either the recruitment or abduction of any geneticist who has half a decent Master’s degree. The latest most addictive narcotics to sweep the planet are those designed to manifest superhuman abilities. And it’s proving to be deadlier than any other drug ever manufactured.”
She paused a minute to project other findings onto the massive theatre screen.
“As you all already know, we’re facing two epidemics,” she motioned to the split screen. “The first is what I have categorized as ‘temps.’ These are drugs that when injected agitate the EVO gene causing abilities to temporarily manifest. Depending on the type of serum and the dosage, abilities usually last from an hour to several hours. The two most potent drugs that are currently on the black market are ‘Human Boost’ and ‘Ascension.’ Major drug cartels around the globe have been the ones spearheading the manufacturing and selling of these two narcotics. They are sold cheap going for sixty to seventy dollars a dose.
