[IC] 'How does it feel to be different?' [Dioxide x Caits]

[Dioxide]

Gershwin’s mind went into a surge of panic. Did she just make a mistake that would cost them their already pitiful lives, or worse, the comfort they were so generously provided, a right that could be so easily taken away just like that?

What had she been thinking? She knew better. There was no way they should still be alive, their precious lives dangling on the precipice of death, only held by these people’s pinky finger, on their other hand a knife ready to cut them up and utterly fuck their world up.

Gershwin watched Dr. Jiang-Ping infuriated with her, as if the status of being an Anomaly had no meaning to these people – as if abilities transcending those of mere human beings has no effect on them. The doctor and everyone held their ground; all but Cody who decided to be brave, trying to take them on.

‘It’s no use, Cody; they’re going to experiment on both of us regardless. To answer your question, I believe they have no idea what they’re looking for. That’s why they’re doing all sorts of crazy things to us. Am I right?’

Agent Dioxide tried to gesture ‘Christ Almighty, shut up and cooperate,’ but the message was not crossed to Gershwin. She, instead, continued herself, a rush of blood that compelled her to act instinctively.

‘Don’t think we haven’t accounted for the possibility of rebellion from you two. Subject 30 may be able to bypass all of our securities and escape, and you may be able to defy death itself, but note how you are still here.’

As if on cue, two motivator groups moved to the doctor’s side. On Dr. Jiang-Ping’s signal, one of the group’s men pulled out a metal brace that looked to fit around one’s neck, and extended its collapsible, but firmly solid arm, and rushed to Gershwin, quickening their pace when she tried to walk back to run away.

The other motivator group stood close to Cody, ensuring that he did not interfere. He didn’t. The brace was clamped around Gershwin’s neck via switch at the arm end, she choking as she was pulled back, recoiling from her run. The motivators were quick to grab her arms, and pull the struggling Gershwin to the assigned room.

Agent Dioxide caught Cody’s eyes, and hoped that his concern was received, mouthing ‘Don’t,’ subtly shaking his head so as not to betray his loyalty.

The room door slammed shut as they forced Gershwin in. The metal neck-brace was detached by the arm and reattached to the head an angled chair. She was lifted up and laid down on the chair, her arms and legs clamped hard with more restraints. She struggled to scream, the brace shut tight but not enough to hurt – nothing more but discomfort. They were adept with her now, informed that any sort of pain could activate her abilities – so they were ironically gentle in the violent event.

She screamed for help, but it was to no avail.

‘…C-Cody… help.’

[MarshiestMallow]

Cody deliberately allowed a thin coating of light to cover his body, so that if the motivators came close to touching him, they'd get a burn. This could easily be explained by the fact that their touch hurt him, a defensive mechanism, although no doubt he'd still be punished, but right them Cody didn't care. Right then, he wanted to cause enough uneasy that he could gain a footing.

In the commotion, his traditionally sightless eyes met Jiang-ping's eyes, and his expression was on that seemed to bore into the doctors, as if he was seeing he very light of her soul.

'You and I both know, Doctor, that if I truly wanted to escape, I would have, and not let you know that I could. So ask yourself, Doctor. What is it I truly want?'

He fell silent, watching as Gerswhin was forced from the room, refusing to let his distress at that be seen. It was time to play a different role, and weakness wasn't apart of it. Not with this doctor.

'Truly, you should wonder if even my test results so far are even a true representation of what I can do, and of my abilities both normal and abnormal. You maybe able to amuse me pain, but you will never be able to force me to answer truthfully. Ask yourself, is this just a wild goose chase? Perhaps I'm merely waiting for the perfect chance to destroy this place. Or perhaps I am waiting for those I now to truly wonder if what you arranged to be know is indeed truth. Perhaps I just enjoy watching you run after an answer you will never truly be able to replicate.'

Cody's voice was calm, despite a challenging air to his mannerisms, and he refused to let Gerswhins screams cow him, as he stared his sightless stare at the doctor.

[Dioxide]

‘On record we have found 40 Anomalies like you. As you may be able to extrapolate, that means that 10 of those were never caught.

Now you see, we do our jobs very well, tagging, collecting, and experimenting on Anomalies. We didn’t fail to capture the other ten; they killed themselves at the mere sight of us.

I don’t doubt your capabilities, and indeed I, and all of us here, respect them. You’ve come to accept them as your own – you are a unique individual and you don’t refuse or refute it.

However, I believe Subject 29 there does not.’

***

Gershwin was unable to fight back or even move, so she struggled to no avail as the gas mask was placed on her. The sedation had begun and she went limp. On a precaution, the motivators tightened the restraints on her body just to make sure. This was not to mistake that Gershwin was unconscious: she was still awake and could feel the bonds pressing deeply into her skin, the blood fighting to flow through the veins. She stared up at the ceiling, eyes flooded with tears, Gershwin fearing for her life. It was then she sensed a new concoction being fed to her in the gas mask.

She livened up and was hyperactive. She could not move her head so it was all she could do to stare intently at the bright white ceiling. She used all her might to look, observing every detail, every imperfection, and every crack of the ceiling above her. It was clean and normal.

It was so normal, what was she doing? What the …Hell?

Shadowy black whispers of smoke creeped around her eyes, moving towards the center, threatening to blind her, permanently putting her in a black oblivion. She cried out, wanting to scratch out her own eyes, but the darkness engulfed her. She could see nothing.

A pulsing red light glowed there in the black. It formed itself into a human-like figure whose slightly different features were so off-putting and subtle, it was creepy and frightening.

‘Hello, me.’

Then the red figure flew at her.

***

‘However, I believe Subject 29 there does not.’

Dr, Jiang-Ping, as if on cue, nodded when Gershwin screamed a torturous, feral howl, crying and calling for help.
‘Yes, much of this is a wild goose chase, but some of this is so we bring you Anomalies in line.

We cannot possibly have you things destroying the world and endangering all of our lives.

So if I were you, I would behave. The scan that’s being conducted on Subject 29 right now will continue for another hour, but the dosage on the hallucinogenic can be made milder… if you cooperate.

If you don’t, I’ll make certain she does not wake up.’

A motivator from behind Agent Dioxide fired a tranquilizer dart waist down, and the dart pierced Cody’s skin. Dosages for tranquilizer were monitored to ensure no overdosing in humans. But these are Anomalies – freaks of nature.

[MarshiestMallow]

Gerswhins screams pierced right through Cody, seeming to almost shake his very core, but he did not let it show on his face, staring unerringly at Jiong Ping. He did not doubt that Gerswhin fought her own abilities, simply because she didn't know, truly, what she could do. It was his understand that she did not remember what happened when she lost control.

He himself had known since he was little that he has abilities, whereas it seemed Gerswhin didn't. He knew it would be an adjustment, until she could understand them. And then Cody would get them out.

'the only ones destroying the world are you. Humans have been destroying the world since they first existed, so save your crap for some gullible fool that may believe you and throw a few bucks your way'

Perhaps it was lucky that the dart was fired, as Cody made to move, the light around him flaring in anticipation, but as soon as the dart pierced his skin, Cody crumpled to the ground, giving a loud thump.

There was an unerring silence for a moment, before Cody's body rapidly made to push the toxin of the tranq out of his system, working hard to do so in mere moments. He started to seize, quite violently, blood dripping from his mouth as he bit his tongue.

And Agent Caits couldn't stand by and watch, she turned on the doctor and fury radiated from her.

She couldn't do anything for Cody while he still siezed, but she could damn well berate the doctor, and the motivator that had shot the dart, turning around to face them.

'If he dies, I'll make certain you take all the blame, and you will never know what hits you until you are down'

It was long minutes before Cody stopped seizing, blood no longer dropping from His mouth, he nevertheless looked like he hadn't seen the sun in months, his eyes ringed by dark circles.

[Dioxide]

‘Are you new here, Agent Caits?

“If he dies?”

What do you care what happens to him? What do you care about the others before him and the others that will soon come after?’

Agent Dioxide raised his voice, stepping him to his partner’s aide. This was getting out of hand.

‘What about the others before Subject 29 and 30? What sort of psychotic shit have you lot done with them?’

‘Agent Dioxide, Agent Caits. I am very surprised with your new attitudes for these creatures. This procedure should not be new to you and in fact it should be looked forward to. We may yet discover the essence of what makes an Anomaly.

Truth be told: I am starting to doubt your allegiance to our side – the side of humans, and this organization.’

Dr. Jiang-Ping regarded the still but barely-conscious body of Cody with ill contempt and turned her gaze back to the two Agents. She nodded to the Captain of the motivator teams, the alpha among the wolves.

‘Please move Subject 30 to his room for the scanning session, and please escort the Agents out of this room. They are not needed at this time.’

---

To: Big Boss
From: Dr. Jiang-Ping

We need to talk. I believe our two agents are anomaly-sympathizers.

File #64

[MarshiestMallow]

Agent Caits maintained composure as she stared back at the doctor, unafraid of the others around her.

'Right now, this organization isn't human. You aren't. The only true human here, is Cody. Because a real human would feel compassion and yes, pity for someone who is forced to be here. You aren't human, Doctor. What makes a human isn't being 100 percent normal genetics. It's simply about being able to feel compassion for others.

They have gifts. But they are human, more so then you. Perhaps I am tired of the waste of life, perhaps I'm tired of seeing little more then teenagers, children, being tortured and tested simply to satisfy your own curiosity. Perhaps I am tired of having to follow the orders of corrupt beings like yourself.

dont touch me'

She snarled at the motivator, and looked to Cody one last time, wishing she had the power to take him away, before turning to leave.

---

Any who touched Cody would receive burns as his body sought to protect himself. Pain continually flashed through him, and light burned his eyes through his eye lids, and he began to moan, as if he was in great pain.

Lights around him began to flicker, glowing brighter then they normally would, and one by one they began to shatter. When the last globe shattered, light seemed to emanate from Cody, glowing brighter and brighter, and burning anyone who was unlucky enough to be close by him.

As the light seemed to gather, it exploded out of Cody, searing the ground and walls, and Cody screamed. There's was no telling what he saw, as it was all light and colors, shadows and emotions. Shapes he couldn't quite make out, but his body reacted instinctively, seeking to defend and attack.

And the only thought Cody has was that Gerswhin was in trouble. He didn't have the strength to rise, and seek her out. His light flared once more, seering anything it touched and then died out, leaving Cody fatigued, his body slack and defeated.

[Dioxide]

The hallucinations were livid and violent, mortifying and violent. There was no room for rational thought. If one were to strip every memory and intelligent thinking from a human being, very few things remained, what we consider most fundamental of what makes a human being: fear and pain. Happiness and comfort are the absences of fear and pain, what we consider secondary to the absolute core of the human soul.

However, Gershwin doubted that within herself there was only one soul. The demonic figure that still threatened to maul her, lingered in echoing thought and voice even when it felt like the hallucinogenic episode was over, and respite was simply being able to scream less.

Then it happened. So quickly was the creature to move, Gershwin did not register what had happened: its gaseous form seemed to swim up to her orifices, taking her from within.

***

Cody was moved to his room for his hallucinogenic session. Gershwin would finish 5 minutes ahead of him, but both treatments could not have ended any sooner. Agent Dioxide was no stranger to this – training to be a Subject required building up awareness and resistances to even these kinds of situations, lest they were wiped out by terrorist attacks, or even Anomalies with powers of a similar trait. Just because he had the mental fortitude to handle it, it was still just as painful and mortifying. No living thing should be subject to such an event.

That worry became great concern. It was nearing the end of the hour when the feminine screaming voice that was Gershwin’s changed. It no longer sounded… human.

‘HA HA HAHA HAHAAA HAAA HAHAHAAAA’

In that moment, everyone, regardless of belief, moral standing, and state of mind, looked at each other:

‘What was that?’ Dr Jiang-Ping spoke.

Cameras pointed at the rooms showed an exhausted Subject 30 collapsed into his bed. What was extraordinary was that both, not just the one, were glowing. Subject 30 had shone bright but had faded out. Subject 29 pulsated a deep, almost ruby red. And as garish and powerful the pulsing was, the lights died down as dramatically, and both cameras now showed exhausted, unmoving Anomalies.

‘Fascinating…’

[MarshiestMallow]

'Fascinating...'

As the word, faint as it was from traveling through the building to Cody's hearing, reached Cody, his eyes snapped open. Their light blue glowed with an inner light, piercing the darkness that was all Cody generally saw, revealing colours within the light that signified shapes and figures.

Despite the dark circles, and the weakness of his movements, Cody rose. He seemed a man possessed, as he looked about, eyes drawn the to cameras. He blinked, and the lights that remained flickered. He blinked again, and the camera's watching him flickered, as if their power source was failing.

'Gerswhin...'

Voice raw, Cody listened for the sounds of Gerswhin breathing, to know if she was even alive. He laid a hand on the door containing him, amused that such a thing could even be a mild hindrance to him now. When he moved his hand to the hinges holding the door in place, there was what appeared to be a scorch mark in the shape of his hand left behind.

He hesitated over the hinge, wondering if this was the smartest thing he could do. The need to know if Gerswhin was alright was strong, but what would be the point if he got locked away. He blinked, and the lights flickered, darkness descending. Better to keep them wondering just what they had unleashed with their chemicals. Instead, Cody laid a hand on the wall, where he thought Gerswhin was.

And he began to sing.

'I told myself
That I was wise
That I was strong
But Realized
That I was much closer to wrong
Do you believe in a future you can change
Imagine everybody living for today
Don't lose hope
Even though you can't see it I know
Things are getting better
Don't let go
We are here with you, you know
Everyone needs time
So don't lose hope
You tell yourself
That you are weak
That you are so ugly
And you cry yourself to sleep each night
You're incomplete
But do you believe in a future you can change...'

As he sung, the lights flickered on, slowly at first, before shining brightly and it seemed that the lights that remained would shatter like their predecessors. And yet they didn't, Cody and his song seemed to regulate them. His voice, raw as it was, nevertheless was heartbreaking and as it trailed off, it seemed to linger.

---

Agent Caits fully expected to be reprimanded for her behavior. She kept herself composed, knowing that if she played it right, she could easily turn this situation in her favor. She already had once before. In her office, she hurriedly put together a report, stating facts and issues that would occur in retrieving more subjects so close to having gathered Cody and Gerswhin, and the deaths of such promising subjects would be a disaster to their operations.

It also helped that Agent Caits had heard that Cody's family were wanting answers, despite the story given to them. And the fact that dog's blood had been found in his apartment, indicated foul play. She could use that to strengthen her belief that destroying the subjects so soon would cause them problems, and that was the reason for her behavior. She also stated that the new Doctor's behavior was worrying due to this, and perhaps the doctor should be investigated, perhaps the doctor wanted the operation to fail.

[Dioxide]

The motivators could find their own way back. The reports could be written and filed beyond the deadlines. But there was nothing that could repair the damage his partner caused.

Agent Dioxide sweated profusely, and his heartbeat was fast, causing him a pain that made him almost pass out. His own adrenaline and urgency kept him awake. He was panicking; he had no idea how to restore this.

He rapped on his partner’s door and let himself in, his tone and breath exasperated from his pain, but his mood and anxiety said it all:

‘We may have royally screwed ourselves. I see what you’re typing, and Big Boss is not going to give a second’s worth of fuck about it.’

As he finished his sentence, an electronic ping sounded from Agent Caits’ laptop: an email had arrived from Dr. Jiang-Ping.

---

To: Agent Caits
From: Dr. Jiang-Ping
File Attached: roleplayerguild.com/posts/3578957

Tell me, Agent Caits. What will you tell Big Boss? That I am out of line with my methods? That this organization is insane and inhumane?

You dare tell me that after seeing this camera footage, you think we’re the inhumane ones?

Let me ask you this then: What is Subject 29?

File #65

The footage played – and they both heard the demonic laugh. Then the footage caught up, and it was now live and playing the scene in present-time.

‘Oh no. They’re going to kill her.’

---

Dr. Jiang-Ping got the order from Big Boss the second the email was sent. She fancied her chances: Subject 29 was still unconscious and under hallucinogenic and anesthetic control. If the bullet to the head won’t kill her, the hundreds of bullets all over her vital organs will.

‘Agent Dioxide, Agent Caits. Big Boss firmly believes in the progression of the human race with the advancements garnered from these Anomalies. However, Big Boss also believes that certain Anomalies cannot help us if they can’t be helped.
Under orders, Subject 29 is ordered to be terminated. Congratulations, you know one of our deep dark secrets.’

An evil smirk spread across her face before she turned to the motivator teams, giving the order to go. The clicks of their machine guns sounded they were ready. They were going to shoot a dosed, innocent girl strapped in harnesses without her even knowing.

Agent Dioxide was out of the room, sprinting back to the laboratory before the footage cut off.

‘COME ON! WE’VE GOT TO GET THERE NOW!’

[MarshiestMallow]

The clicks of the guns seemed to have a profound effect on Cody. He spun back around to the door, and light flashed in the room where the clicks had come from, blinding any who were there and giving Cody time to burn through the hinges. His door fell toward with a loud thump, and then he was moving fast.

In that moment it was like he could see as he turned to first one motivator and then the Next, light lashin out like a whip at each gun. It was almost like the light was providing him the senses he lacked, and his hearing enabled him to know exactly where some one was.

His weariness seemed to burn away as light infused him, energizing him. Tilting his head in a curious manor at the sound of running footsteps, he stared unerringly at the motivators.

'cowards. All of you. Murders. How many people have you killed, for this project? You will leave her be. The only monsters here are you'

Cody's voice was furious, and his sightless eyes flashed darkly.

---

Agent Caits took the few seconds to reply to the doctor.

To: dr. Jiang Ping
From: Agent Caits

You forget. I am an agent.

I've been trained to kill.

You haven't.

You are inhuman, to kill without a thought.

But I'll enjoy your death.

#66

Agent Caits would not show any sign of weakness. The doctor was out of line, and so was big boss. She might have ended her life today, but she would ensure the doctor would not be around either.

Without hesitation, she was runnin after Agenr Dioxide, soon catching up. She pounded down the corridors, her strong muscles pushing herself to run faster, her physical condition was high, and she shoved the door open into a light so bright it hurt, making her eyes water.

[Dioxide]

The light that shone under the door should have given them the head’s up, but rushed they went in anyway, and both agents winced back as they shoved their ways into a room of blinding light.

No one could move. No one could do anything, not when their world has disappeared into a blank sheet of white that seemed as impenetrable as the darkest, deepest shades of black. No one but one being could move around in this state: the anomaly Cody O’Neil.

‘Cody!’ Agent Dioxide shouted, fearing that even his voice could not penetrate the ghastly light.

What was he supposed to do? The damage he could do could be catastrophic – there was too much going on where they were now. Yet the moment Cody stopped, the motivators would not take a second to take second wind, and shoot both Cody and Gershwin down.

Then suddenly, as faint as can be, a light feminine voice came through.

‘Cody… it hurts… stop…’

[MarshiestMallow]

Agent Caits threw up her hands to protect her eyes from the blazing light, wondering if this was what the sun would seem like close up, and glad she would never find out. She wondered if her cornea's were burned, but didn't open her eyes.

Cody's head tilted towards Agent Dioxides voice, but right then the young man could not connect the voice to ally, and it seemed for a moment that he would lash out at the agent, but then his name was spoken. He pondered for a moment, teetering on an edge.

He did not have a choice. It was either stop his attack, or let the motivators kill them. He swayed slightly, and seemed on the verge of passing out, yet he gathered his strength, and seemed to weave light into what could only be described as a prison around the motivators, deliberately making it small so that if they moved they would be burned by the bars of light.

The rooms light dimmed, and the glow faded from Cody's skin, his eyes losing the shine they had obtained. His clothes appeared unharmed by the light, and he rocked back onto the balls of his feet. He swallowed around a throat suddenly raw and dry.

'I'm sorry'

It was barely a whisper, the dark circles under his eyes seemed to be as deep as craters, and as dark as a raccoon's. His normally pale skin was almost transparent. He looked towards the sound of the voice

[Dioxide]

Cody’s light manipulation affected his immediate surroundings, entrapping the UNARM personnel in light prisons that burned on touch. Agent Dioxide tried to move towards Cody’s voice, but his outstretched, guiding hand seared against the bars made of intense light. He may have a slight burn horizontal on his palm now. He flinched back in pain. He struggled to keep still and not fall back to any of these light prisons. Even though the ambient light faded, it was still a blinding, uncomfortable state.

They were right: Cody O’Niel is a powerful anomaly. If light is his source of power, it may be possible that he is near omnipotence. When the entrapped heard him apologize, it was like a merciful god was present.

If Cody was God… what was Gershwin?

***

The lights seemed to seep into Gershwin’s room, she still holstered down in her reclined bed. Unfortunately for her, she could not provide any more protection to her eyes besides her thin eyelids against the bright light.

‘I. SAID. STOP.’

Her hands mightily broke free of their leather straps, and she reached for the rest of her restraints and tore them apart. Her eyes were blazing in pain but they no longer were blinded by the light.

This is it. This is her ability working through again.

Her eyes were still in pain, but her power is working through the pain. Her sight and strength were enhanced by the existence of her torturous pain.

With a hefty kick, she broke the door open, off its hinges, into the main room. If there was still any self-doubt that she was an anomaly, that was gone now. Her eyes glowed red, and her vision was a ruby-tint red.

Her posture was heavy and slouched. It was her fighting through the pain. Her breath was heavy, but her grip on the door frame pierced through the hard concrete wall.

With direct eye-contact to Cody, she spoke:

‘That shit hurts. Stop.

[MarshiestMallow]

"No"

the word was out of his mouth before he had even thought of it, unafraid of Gerswhin. He did however dim the lights to would could be considered a bearable level, but did not stop the flow to the light prisons. Cody wasn't too sure he could dimmed the lights completely without destroying the psions.

'If I do, they will attack and I don't have the strength to prevent them killing either of us again'

Wile Cody was sure that he would be stronger in little time, it had been a long time since he had felt natural sunlgiht on his skin. Unnatural light didn't seem to have the same effect on him, and he was so very tired.

'You might be invincible, but I am not. I can be killed'

Cody wasn't afraid. What did he have to be afraid of? he'd died the moment they took him from his apartment. The rest of the world ceased to know he had ever existed. And how could he go back to that life know, with what he could do?

'And I rather like living. There's so much light I have yet to see. What would you have me do? Kill them?'

He stood there wearily, and looked away, towards Agents Caits and Dioxide. He gave them a sad smile.

'Thank you, for trying to lesson this hell. Let me lesson your own hell now, okay?'

Cody didn't truly know what he would do. He just knew he was through being treated like something less then human, because he had this ability that he never asked for. He looked back to Gerswhin, and gave a soft sigh.

'I'm not scared, Gerswhin'

[Dioxide]

Gershwin regarded that comment of bravery with spite. No word in the dictionary could describe just how foul of a mood she was in. Normal people are lucky that they can get used to the pain – that it dies down or they become tolerant of it and are hardy towards these sources of discomfort.

No, Gershwin realized that even after a while of trying to acclimatize to the bright room, she did not habituate to it. In fact, it felt like the pain got worse. Yet because of this pain, she grew stronger and faster. She could see properly into the room and all her surroundings as if it were normal. But the pain was unbearable. She wanted it to end.

‘They will attack?’ she looked at Cody.

She walked up to one of the 20 motivators trapped in the light prisons. They were squeezing themselves tightly, trying to make themselves as small as possible. Hardened and heartless as they may be, the searing and burning on their clothes and skin, and their anguished faces betrayed their outer exterior and revealed their fragile little human bodies.

‘You strapped me down onto the chair…’ a light whisper to the man.

The light prisons were cylindrical with barely enough space to stand. Their periphery had tall cylindrical bars with almost no gap to fit an adult hand through.

Yet Gershwin, pissed off as she is, casually reached into the prison. Her right hand and arm burnt into an irrecoverable crisp – and that crisp burnt off into dust until nothing remained. However, a phantasmal hand took its place, and it moved and flexed like it was her own. She gripped the man’s neck hard. The man screamed for only a brief second before a hard snap sounded. The man collapsed to the floor, his body incinerating and releasing a powerful pungent odour.

‘You won’t kill them? Then I will.’

She eyed the next man who could only guess as to what happened to his comrade. She flexed her powerful fist, and punched a hole through the man’s chest. The torso was stuck into her arm, and Gershwin flung the lifeless body out of the light prison to release him.

The Agents heard all this going on. At this rate, they’ll all be dead.

‘Gershwin. I need you to stop. Now!’ Agent Dioxide almost reprimanding her, like a misbehaving child with a power-saw in her hands.

‘And why should I?’ as she brought the heads of two men together, crushing them into a pulp.

The motivators were screaming, trying to get out of their light prisons but unable to withstand the pain to pass through the beams. They were stuck, unable to leave, and unable to accept their fate.

‘Should I stop, Cody? Should I stop killing the people who for the past few days have been slowly killing us? Hm?

[MarshiestMallow]

Cody tilted his head, the breathing of the trapped motivators, their heart beats themselves, the slight shifts they made as they struggled not to get burned, all telling him that they now knew just how dangerous their subjects were. And perhaps how foolish they had been.

Gerswhins footsteps, her movements made Cody turn to her, to watch her light, flash and dim with each action, flaring as her rage flared, it seemed to Cody. He knew he couldn't step her, or perhaps he didn't want to stop her, but he knew the senseless killing was not the answer.

The sounds pierced Cody's ears, and for a moment he feared he might go deaf, not that his healing abilities would allow that. He swayed slightly, and for a moment it seemed he would fall. He didn't, but it was close as it all washed over him, he was lost in the sounds, the smells, the winking of the lights out of existence indicating the death of another motivator.

A pain grew in his chest, and he became even more pale, if that was possible, sweat glistening on his forehead and cheeks, and he felt sick. He swayed again, violently

'I need you to stop, Gerswhin, or it will be you killing me'

His voice was barely stronger then a whisper, and it seemed to take all his strength to simply remain up right, and to maintain the prisons. His breathing came in harsh gasps, making s whistling sound as he breathed in, as if he was trying to suck air through a straw.

It didn't seem like Gerswhin would stop, or perhaps she hadn't heard him, as yet another body fell to the ground with a thud. Perhaps agent Dioxide heard him, or perhaps he had found his voice, as he told Gerswhin to stop. The screaming pierced him, going right through him as if they shock his very cells, and for a moment he didn't seem to hear Gerswhin.

Something boiled up within him, and he screamed, the lights flaring painfully even for his eyes, and his breathing came faster and harder, and it seemed that with each breath he got less and less oxygen.

'He's having s panic attack'

Agent Caits voice seemed to cut through everything else, and the lights dimmed once more to normal, and Cody drew in a deep breath. His eyes narrowed slightly, looking to Gerswhin, trying to ignore the scents he would rather not process.

'Yes'

For a moment Cody wasn't sure if he was saying use to killing or yes to stopping, and that frightened him. If he condoned killing, what did that make him? If Gerswhin killed, if she continued, what did that make her?

'yes, you should stop. Two wrongs don't make a right, and what will you get from killing them? Why should you stop? Because if you don't, you'll be no better then them. You want revenge? They are just following orders, and they are probably afraid that if they don't, it will be their lives. Go for the head'

Beyond everything else, he didn't want to see another life wink out of existence, not when he doubted he was even strong enough to take a step without falling.

[Dioxide]

Gershwin stopped and faced Cody. In the course of pain and pain-induced rage that surged through her, all forms of morality seemed to cease in order for her to seek and stop all the hurt and discomfort. Though his words did reach to her, it took more effort for her to stop and think than to crushing the motivators into oblivion. But stop she still did, and boy did she realize that the reality of it all was very, very upsetting, and moreover, very disturbing.

At this time, the Agents were moving their way forward to their Subjects. Cody and Gershwin were watching them as the supposed amoral henchmen of this ungodly organization struggled with all their might to reach them and to care for them.

Though everything that had led up to this point had been indicative of it, Gershwin was now sure that Agents Dioxide and Caits were on their side.

‘You’re not one of them…’

And, as if by prompt, a new voice replied.

‘Yes, and how disappointing.’

---

One did not need super-hearing to hear the loud and heavy footsteps outside the concrete floors of the wide hallways. It seemed appropriate that such a character possessed such a grand entrance to his wake.

Big Boss, in all his towering 6’10”, almost 700-pound size, arched his head to enter the main laboratory. While the others were still covering their eyes from the brightness, Big Boss seemed unaffected by it, with no so much as a tear from resisting it. There was a steeliness to everything about him, from the glare that seemed to be able to pierce metal, from the tightness in his clothes that betrayed a great strength and power under his portly figure.

His big hands grabbed Agent Caits and Agent Dioxide and threw them out of the laboratory door like ragdolls. Of the two, Agent Dioxide got the worse impact: his head had hit hard against the door frame as he was flung out. Neither the two could move fast enough to enter as the door was sealed shut.

‘As we speak, anaesthetic gas is being pumped into this room. You all should feel very drowsy by now. And in case that does not work, I am here to resolve any altercation.

I am, after all, an Anomaly myself.

Gershwin knew that he wasn’t lying. The lights were dimming. Cody was not immune to the gas, and in fact was even more susceptible to it than she was. All around her, people were collapsing into sleep, all but Big Boss himself. They were going to die here in the hands of an incredibly powerful, hypocritical man. Gershwin looked back to Cody once more before, nodding in security to him, before lunging at Big Boss.
He merely caught her arms with lightning speed and hoisted her into the air. She thrashed around with her new found strength but they were no match for Big Boss’. In what seemed like an eternity, but was matter-of-factly just a few seconds, she passed out. Even in this state, Big Boss laid her out on the floor softly – he still feared her powers.

‘I know you see a certain brightness to people. Tell me: how bright am I?

Not long, Cody too passed out.

---

Agent Dioxide could smell the faintness of the anaesthetic gas being used in the room. It was subtle, despite its claim of being odourless. Its usage was confirmed with the sounds of thudding and dropping of bodies onto the floor. It was not long before the door opened again, and Big Boss was stood in its way.

His mass seemed to take up every generous space the door had, and he arched down before he walked out into the hallway again.

‘Caits! RUN!, and run she did.

Big Boss moved blindingly quick and gripped his large hand into the Agent’s neck. Though the hallway was wide and could fit five people side-by-side, Big Boss had little struggle to what he was about to do next:

With all his strength, Big Boss threw and slammed Agent Dioxide against the walls. Slam, he hit the east wall, slam as he hit the west. Bones cracked and blood was gushing out of him but Big Boss kept on going.

When just a bloody mush was left, he dropped Agent Dioxide like trash. Maccer Moretz, one of the best Agents in UNARM history, was no more. Motivators and other Agents came to Big Boss’. None of them know he is an Anomaly. His secret is kept in the main laboratory. Dioxide was dead. Caits is next.

‘Move Subject 30 into Sector G, into the Lightless Box. Subject 29 is to be put under comatose indefinitely.’

And with a mighty roar into the speakers laden in the hallway:

‘Issue lockdown! We have a traitor in our midst. Locate Agent Caits, and shoot on sight!

End of Chapter 2

[MarshiestMallow]

chapter 3: to hope is to believe

'you are dimmer then anyone I have ever seen...'

That was the last clear sentence Cody spoke, indeed even the last coherent thought. But somehow, that thought gave Cody hope. the light is the soul... Cody wasn't sure as the blackness covered him completely, as his mind seemed to float, if that was his thought, or a voice he barely remembered. mother....

The complete darkness, something he hadn't experienced since he was very young, overwhelmed him. To be truly sightless was his greatest fear, and if even his dreams were darkness, what point was it? Or was he...floating? Had his body just given up?

No. He could feel the healing ability moving through, cleansing his body but it was a losing battle so long as he was being plagued by the gas. If he was moved, taken away from the gas, he could heal. It would happen in minutes. But the longer he was kept in the room, the harder it would be.

A light suddenly appeared in front of his vision, whatever vision you had when unconscious, brighter then anything he had ever seen, hurting his eyes. A calmness spread overwhelm, and his body seemed to relax: all of a sudden he was aware of sounds around him. Was he awake? Or was it...something of being both awake and asleep? Was this what it was like for comatose people?

He was aware of himself being moved, and the moment he was away from the sleep gas, his body began to cleanse itself, and his skin began to glow, it's defense mechanisms coming into place, the light that was so much like a second skin covering him, burning any who touched him bare handed.

The smell of blood still lingered in his senses, and his mind began to process what he had heard when he was unconscious. He didn't need to see The lightless body of Agent Dioxide to know he was dead. Something seemed to come over Cody, and he screamed, probably shocking those carrying him, as he flung himself up, light, blinding and painful, almost as if a bomb had been dropped right where Cody was standing. It seared everything around him, killing those sent to take him to his new cell, and it stretched out through the building, less potent, it was still enough to blind most people in the building temporarily.

His scream would seem to echo, growing louder rather then dying off in an impossible way, bouncing off the walls, of anything solid, and when it finally died off, Cody swayed and crumpled to the floor, the slight rise and fall of his chest the only indicator that he was alive, despite the deathly palor to his skin.

---

One thing could be said about agent Caits. She was meticulous in her planning. Several times she had planned a route out of the complex and several times she had sought the best way. And the last few days she had been carrying around a USB device, filled with as much information as she could fit on it. There were, after all, many ways to fight against such an organisation.

Another thing that could be said about her was that she was fast. She sped down the halls, hating herself for leaving Agent Dioxide, but run she did. Still she was a far way from an exit, and had nearly been caught a few times.

What saved her, in his own way, was Cody. The light flashed through the building brightly, but Agent Caits seemed immune to its effects, and she ran, her feet pounding heavily on the ground yet that seemed nothing compared to the echoing around every inch of the complex.

I'm Sorry, Dioxide. You were a good friend. I'm getting out, and I will put a stop to this...

Her exit was just in sight.

[Dioxide]

Big Boss was already half-way to his room, a copious amount of blood covered all over his self. By all means the understanding of the situation was that Agent Dioxide had died by Anomaly means and Big Boss had been in the way, caught in the fight. “Luckily, he was not hurt,” is what the employees would say. Despite the size, many people agreed surreptitiously that Big Boss could not possibly be an Anomaly to his size. No one had the gall to question Big Boss out of the ambient fear he emanates. If he really was an Anomaly, emanating fear would be just that.

The flash had spread throughout the building, but Big Boss’ eyes and stride were not affected as he changed into a new set of clothes in that tiny office of his.

---

Agent Dioxide’s body was still unmoved when a new faculty of personnel moved in swiftly to move limp and unconscious Subject 29. This next procedure was the next logical step to a set of contingencies:

Deep within the main laboratory, behind a secure vault, Subject 29 was to be contained and submerged in a bullet-proof, incredibly resistant liquid-filled glass chamber. The strange, mercurial liquid is an anaesthetic and paralytic liquid that would keep Gershwin May under permanent comatose. The liquid would frequently be saturated with essential nutrients so that her body may survive, but otherwise Gershwin May may never see the light of day ever again.

---

The SRD department had been busy besides just the analyzing of the Subjects’ DNA; like Subject 29’s current permanent placement, there have been experimental designs and contingency plans for situations like this. One was the design for a special type of suit that would be able to handle Subject 30’s recent development of offensive, burning, searing light (precedence from the many screenings and tests of a previous date).

Numerous staff were now walking to the general location of the event, laden with thick, heavy brown suits. They were made with an experimental material that seemed hardy to extreme conditions, as spawned from genetic engineering from a previous Anomaly. Their suits also included large, black visors to shield their vision. The electricity to the hallway, and throughout most of the building were turned off but their visors allowed them to just about see through the dark, but also made sure that something like a flashbang would not affect them. Courtesy of, again, Anomaly technology.

They were also armed with tasers, masks that misted anaesthetic gas, and assault rifles.

---

Outside, emergency lights strobed and sirens sounded but were slow to travel to the entire UNARM facility. Patrols were rolling out on jeeps and on foot, but overall general chaos ensued. It would not be another while before announcements and inter-department communication would establish control throughout this phase.

[MarshiestMallow]

It would seem that the precautions for Cody were not needed as the young man appeared quite unconscious. Given time his body would of course heal, and he would awaken, yet not even his healing ability could account for his need to rest. You could only go so long without true rest. And Cody was aching for true, pure sunlight.

He could be taken to his new prison without incident, and perhaps his sleep was so deep as to be comatose himself. Despite his lack of energy or perhaps because of it, his body glowed lightly in the darkness. Perhaps it always did, in pure darkness.

All in all, it was an anticlimax to all that had been seen by Cody so far.

---

Caits couldn't say that she truly knew all the complex's secrets, but she knew more then most. Again that forward planning, or perhaps just curiosity. Caits could not say. Yer she was grateful for it now, as she left the building into the rest of the complex.

When she first came here, Caits was awed by its size. Yet now that was an asset to her. Avoiding the lights, Caits moved through the shadows. She didn't think about how she would survive within the complex but rather how she would survive the next five minutes and then the next and the next. Knowing the complexity of the complex and the inner workings Caits figured she had perhaps a narrow window of opportunity, and then it would be too late.

Running across the grounds, she made her way around buildings before slipping inside one. Normally she knew there would be a guard on the door for procedure, but she imagined any hands not on essential tasks would be searching for her.

How strange to be the target instead of the Hunter. Or perhaps she was the Hunter and they the Hunted. Certainly a crafting Hunter knew when to be stealthy when the prey had larger numbers. She could pick them off one by one...and if she could get to Cody and Gerswhin, why then the battle was just about won, if not the war.

Running through the Halls of the building she entered, she reached the other side and exited, once more running across the complex. Any who would review cameras would follow the logical path out of the complex but Caits took a different direction, entering what darkness there was, she rounded a far building from the subjects building, and reached a collection of Srubbs and bushes.

And then she essentially dove into them, landing on a hidden door. She yanked it open and tumbled into a narrow passageway. Shutting the wooden trap door, she rested against the wall a moment breathing heavily. She hadn't expected it to be there, long ago she'd been told of it, but thought it a joke. Running as she had been, it seemed like she had to take a chance.

Chance was all she had now.