Chapter Eight: The First Lesson
1411 Words
The room was dark.
Mika could hear machines running behind the walls.
Adrian stood in front of a control panel.
"Before you fight Cain, you need to understand your power."
Mika looked at him.
"Now?"
"Yes."
"People are attacking this place."
"Exactly."
Adrian pressed a button.
The lights came on.
Mika stared.
The room was larger than he expected.
Metal walls.
Training equipment.
Three thick glass barriers.
On the other side stood a machine shaped like a human body.
It had no face.
No weapons.
Just two arms and two legs.
"What is that?"
"Your first opponent."
Mika looked at his father.
"You want me to fight a robot?"
"No."
Adrian walked toward the machine.
"I want you to fight yourself."
Mika frowned.
The machine's head lifted.
Its eyes turned white.
Adrian stepped back.
"Attack it."
Mika looked at the machine.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Mika raised his hand.
The machine did not move.
Mika pushed.
Nothing.
He pushed harder.
Still nothing.
Adrian watched.
"You're trying to force your ability."
"What else am I supposed to do?"
"Feel it."
Mika sighed.
He closed his eyes.
The room changed.
He felt the floor.
The walls.
The machine.
The air.
He could feel the electricity running through its body.
He could feel every moving part.
Then he felt something else.
The machine moved.
Mika opened his eyes.
He ducked.
Its fist passed over his head.
Mika stepped backward.
The machine attacked again.
He moved aside.
Again.
Again.
It was getting faster.
Mika could feel each movement before it happened.
He grabbed the machine with his power.
It stopped.
Mika smiled.
"Got you."
The machine's arm suddenly changed direction.
It hit him in the chest.
Mika flew backward.
He crashed into the wall.
Adrian didn't move.
"Get up."
Mika groaned.
"You could at least pretend to care."
"I care."
"Doesn't look like it."
"If I stop the machine every time you get hurt, you'll never learn."
Mika stood.
The machine charged.
This time Mika didn't attack.
He waited.
The machine swung.
Mika moved.
Another punch.
He ducked.
Kick.
He jumped.
The machine turned.
Mika felt its movement.
He pushed.
The machine stopped.
Mika pulled.
The machine flew across the room.
It crashed into the wall.
Mika smiled.
Adrian nodded.
"Better."
Mika looked at him.
"That's all?"
"Don't celebrate yet."
The machine stood.
Its body changed.
Metal plates opened.
Six blades came out.
Mika stared.
"You never said it had weapons."
"You never asked."
The machine attacked.
Mika ran.
A blade cut through the wall beside his face.
He jumped back.
Another blade came.
He stopped it.
The machine pushed.
Mika pushed back.
The floor cracked under his feet.
He screamed.
The power surged.
The machine flew backward.
Mika stood breathing hard.
The room was silent.
Adrian walked toward him.
"What did you feel?"
"Anger."
"No."
Mika frowned.
"Fear."
"No."
"Then what?"
"Both."
Mika looked at him.
Adrian pointed at the damaged floor.
"Your power responds to emotion."
"So?"
"So the stronger the emotion, the less control you have."
Mika looked at his hands.
Adrian continued.
"Your body doesn't just adapt to physical threats. It adapts to emotional pressure."
Mika looked at him.
"That's why Cain keeps trying to make me angry."
"Yes."
"He wants me to lose control."
"Exactly."
Mika thought about the forest.
Cain had pushed him.
Made him angry.
Made him attack.
"Then why didn't he kill me?"
Adrian's expression changed.
"Because he wants something from you."
"What?"
Adrian didn't answer.
A loud explosion shook the room.
Mika looked toward the door.
"Cain?"
Adrian nodded.
"They've reached the lower levels."
Another explosion.
Then screaming.
Adrian opened a weapons locker.
He took out a black pistol.
Mika looked at it.
"You're giving me a gun?"
"No."
Adrian handed it to Mara, who had entered the room.
"You won't need one."
Mika looked at his father.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Survive."
The door exploded.
Mara fired.
Two men entered.
Mika pushed one into the wall.
The other attacked Mara.
She shot him.
More footsteps came.
Adrian stepped forward.
He raised his hand.
A wave of energy threw the attackers backward.
Mika stared.
"You have powers?"
Adrian looked at him.
"Everybody has something."
"You're an Evo?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Adrian walked toward the doorway.
"I was the one who learned how to make them."
Mika followed.
The corridor was chaos.
People were running.
Glass was broken everywhere.
Alarms screamed.
Evos were fighting security guards.
Some had fire in their hands.
Others moved so fast they looked like shadows.
One man lifted a metal door with one hand.
Another sent electricity through the walls.
Mika stopped.
He had never seen so many Evos together.
Cain stood at the far end.
He looked at Mika.
"Come here."
Mika stepped forward.
Adrian grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't."
Cain smiled.
"Still hiding behind your father?"
Mika pulled away.
"I'm not hiding."
Cain laughed.
"Then prove it."
A woman suddenly appeared beside Cain.
She had silver hair.
Her eyes were completely black.
Mika felt something strange from her.
She was looking at him.
Not Cain.
Not Adrian.
Him.
"Who is she?" Mika asked.
Adrian's face went pale.
"Lyra."
The woman smiled.
"You remember me?"
Mika shook his head.
"I've never seen you."
Lyra stepped forward.
"Not yet."
Cain looked at her.
"He's yours."
Mika looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
Lyra didn't answer.
She raised her hand.
Mika suddenly felt pain in his chest.
He fell to one knee.
Adrian shouted.
"Lyra!"
She smiled.
"I just wanted to see if the stories were true."
Mika struggled to breathe.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking."
"At what?"
"Your soul."
Mika's vision blurred.
He saw a strange image.
A silver-haired girl standing beside a lake.
A child.
Him.
A memory that wasn't his.
Mika screamed.
Lyra stepped back.
Her smile disappeared.
"What are you?"
Mika looked up.
His eyes were glowing.
"I don't know."
Lyra stared at him.
Then she whispered,
"You're not human."
Adrian stepped between them.
"Enough."
Lyra looked at him.
"You knew."
"I knew."
"You hid him."
"I protected him."
Lyra laughed.
"You can't protect him anymore."
Cain raised his hand.
The Evos around him stopped fighting.
"Take Mika."
Everyone moved.
Mara fired.
Adrian attacked.
Mika felt the world slow down.
He could feel every person around him.
Every movement.
Every heartbeat.
He reached outward.
The corridor shook.
Every Evo stopped.
Mika's power spread through the entire building.
For one second, everyone was frozen.
Mika looked around.
He was breathing hard.
Adrian stared at him.
"Mika..."
Mika looked at his father.
"I can feel all of them."
Adrian's expression changed.
"Then let them go."
Mika didn't understand.
"What?"
"You're holding them."
Mika looked around.
He was.
He could feel their bodies.
Their muscles.
Their nerves.
He released them.
Everyone dropped.
Cain remained standing.
Mika looked at him.
Cain smiled.
"Now you're beginning to understand."
Mika raised his hand.
Cain disappeared.
Mika felt him moving through the building.
Fast.
Too fast.
Then the lights went out.
A hand grabbed Mika from behind.
He turned.
Lyra.
She whispered into his ear.
"Don't trust your father."
Mika tried to move.
She vanished.
Adrian ran toward him.
"Where is she?"
"Gone."
Adrian looked terrified.
Mika had never seen that expression on his father's face.
"What?"
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
"She took something."
"What?"
Adrian looked at Mika.
"Part of you."
Mika felt cold.
"What do you mean?"
Adrian stared at the empty corridor.
"She touched your soul."
Mika's eyes widened.
"Can she do that?"
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
"Then get it back."
Adrian looked at him.
"We may not be able to."
A scream echoed from the lower levels.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
Lyra.
"See you soon, Subject Zero."
Mika looked up.
Her voice continued.
"Next time, I'll take the rest."
The speakers went silent.
Mika looked at his father.
"What happens now?"
Adrian picked up his weapon.
"Now we hunt her."
Mika shook his head.
"No."
Adrian looked at him.
"We find my mother first."
His father stared at him.
Then nodded.
"You're right."
Mika walked toward the exit.
Behind him, Helix continued to burn.
And somewhere far away, Lyra stood in a dark room.
She placed her hand against her chest.
A small white light moved beneath her skin.
She smiled.
Mika's voice whispered inside her head.
"Mom."
Lyra closed her eyes.
Then smiled.
"Not yet."
She opened her eyes.
"First, we wake what's inside you."
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