Virus
Chapter Twelve

Of course, our destination was a barren cliff. The Amalgamation certainly was clever- most would have depended on the remote location alone to defend the facility against intruders, but it was smarter- it had deployed camouflage, perhaps to confuse potential intruders. However, some tech magic by A.V.A soon resulted in a hissing noise, as the wall slid open to reveal an austere, white hallway.

The Amalgamation did not seem like something that would value comfort, and this was reflected by the lack of anything that did not have any seemingly important purpose. Everything was painted a stark, austere white, and there were no signs of personalization at any point. Everything was silent. Wait, not everything… as I increased by auditory perception, I heard faint murmuring. After relaying the news, I increased my input as much as it would go in hopes that it could be Kira.

“No! I won’t tell you! Those secrets are not mine to tell!” I managed to make out.

“Then I’m guessing that you want another session with the Taser?” The other voice responded.

“Um, guys, we might want to hurry… The Amalgamation has Kira and they might just be-” I gulped “-torturing her for information, since I heard someone else mention a Taser.”

“TORTURE!” Lance yelled, before I gestured for him to quiet down. “KIRA’S GETTING TORTURED?”

Before we go charging in there, Kira’s device may still be active- it is possible she could give us a look into her cell. Eva reminded.

To be honest, I had forgotten about those, and what A.V.A stated was true- this situation could become much easier to resolve if Kira could communicate with us.

Kira? I probed.

Eva… is that… you? Hearing…static…horrible… reception… We heard in response.

Kira, are you OK? Lance remarked.

They… have a… Taser… guards too… Kira replied. Wait… not much time…left. There’s an… electric chair… thing- save… me… soon…

“We need to replace Kira now,” I worried. However, any further attempts on communication didn’t work. Either Kira had passed out, or we were discovered, and security had been tightened. As I heard the footsteps of armed guards approach behind us, I knew it was the latter. As I knocked out most of the guards, and had turned towards the last few, I heard a series of pops as they fell to the ground. Exiting Time Lapse, I looked at Lance, only to replace him placing a gun back into a concealed holster.

“Snitched it off a guard,” he remarked. “After all, if we’re stealing planes, I don’t think a simple tranquilizer will be missed. I’m not a murderer, but I also don’t want to be defenseless. Come on.” He beckoned down the hall.

Putting away my cannon, we walked down a series of hallways, guided by the unknown voice’s murmuring. I could not make anything he was saying out, but the lack of screams was comforting- it meant that Kira was safe for the time being. Or dead… but I wouldn’t dwell on that. Finally, we turned into the final hallway. I signaled Lance to stop. From now on, make as little noise as you can. Also, use the device. That way, they can’t pinpoint us by our voices. Although I seemed calm on the outside, honestly, I was worried that with all my abilities, it still wouldn’t be enough to save Kira, who had been by my side all the years we had known each other. By now, especially given with her un-attentive parents, it seemed like she was family- a sister in anything but blood. She had agreed to join us to fight the Amalgamation not only because of the technology that could be discovered, although that may be a part of it. Kira had joined the Nameless because she wanted to help the world, without any regard to herself, and now she was the one suffering for it, even though we were the ones with something to gain from the rescue, she was the only one who went because of her own free will, and because of this I wished I could trade spots with her in a heartbeat. I should be the one on the table with the Taser.

Peeking inside the doorway, I realized that the situation was worse than we had originally thought. Kira was hooked up to some machine via electrodes attached to her head, and there was a doctor that I recognized from the room where I had lost my humanity. Entering Time Lapse, I prepared to get Kira out, when the doctor pressed a large button on the console in front of him. Struck with horror, all I could do was watch as the machine glowed bright blue, and massive amounts of electricity surged down the wires into Kira’s brain. No- this could not be. Kira couldn’t die now… “Let’s see if my suspicions about you were correct as well, child of lightning,” the Amalgamation hissed. It was unsettling, to see ordinary people’s faces contort into such evil smirks. I wondered who the doctor had been before he was abducted. Had he been an ordinary person? Surely, he must be traumatized by now.

Now in a state of surprise, I watched as Kira’s eyes snapped open. Except they weren’t the normal soft brown that I was accustomed to- Kira’s eyes were a bright, electric. She opened her mouth in a silent howl, and the room around her exploded into waves of lightning. They were hitting everything, scorching monitors and removing her restraints. Suddenly, she fell to the ground, energy spent. I watched the doctor retreat down a side passageway, but Kira came first. “We have to get you out of here,” I told her.

“What- what happened?” she croaked. “Where did they go?”

“Kira, are you okay?” I asked. “You’ve been gone for less than 24 hours, but you just knocked out all the guards in this room. I’ve never seen anything like it- you were incredible.”

“I what?” Then, Kira notices the bodies. “OH MY GOD did I kill them?” she gasped.

“They seem fine. Broken bones, concussions, but they are alive.” I replied. Except for that one on the end. But Kira didn’t need to know that. No one did.

“What- what happened?” Kira’s voice was shaky. “I remember lightning, a flash of it, then as the light faded, I’m free of my restraints, and the guards are crumpled on the ground.” She looked up at me. “What happened?” I didn’t know how to break it to her, and then Lance came charging into the room.

“So, you were hooked up to some sort of zappy device, and we all thought you were going to be electrocuted, and then when the electricity surged through you, you didn’t die!” Lance stammered.

“Well, jeez, that’s descriptive. I didn’t die.” Kira wryly responded.

“And then, you opened your eyes, except they were this weird electric blue, and then you zapped the guards.” Lance rambled on.

“Zapped. The guards. What. LANCE WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW DO YOU ZAP GUARDS?” Kira demanded. “I’ve been perfectly normal my entire life, and now I ZAP GUARDS HUH!”

“Welcome to my world,” I stated, not without a sense of wry humor. “Completely normal… until you’re not.”

“And then you also zapped your restraints and then you collapsed.” Lance finished.

I stared daggers at him. Not. The. Time. I stated, using a private connection. She is showing signs of post-traumatic stress. Now is not the time to be pointing out that she wonderfully became a human Taser, take is easy, ok? I ranted on. Understand? Good.

I had only one theory on what had happened, and it was outlandish. Extremely so. “Kira, have you ever noticed something strange about your parents?” I ventured.

“No-maybe- wait- come to think of it, I do remember something strange. There was this one time, where I saw my mom… disappear. It must have been a trick of the light, but I didn’t blink and give her time to leave, she just… vanished.” Kira responded.

“That means that you might not be completely human, Kira. You did ‘zap’ those guards, there is no denying it. Something did happen.” I replied.

“I’m… not human?” Kira repeated. “I mean, it does explain things, but not human?”

“Yes, a…” I needed to think of a title, and fast. “A Hyper-Evolved.” There you go.

“Hyper-Evolved, really? That’s the best you could think of?” Lance stated. “It could be well… umm… okay, Hyper-Evolved it is. Jeez, it’s hard to avoid copyrights.”

“Anyways, that doesn’t matter. We need to figure out what to-” my statement was cut off as Kira’s eyes began to glow blue once again.

“Guys- don’t know how to control this…” she remarked, just as the world exploded in a pulse of energy.