Chapter 23: 23. Sisters

Already, eight days have passed since my interrogation of Painter. And yesterday, Painter somehow managed to open his carotid artery using only his restraints.

He died seven days after our meeting.

With him being such a high profile criminal, and still awaiting trial—his death of course lead to a thorough investigation.

In the end, the police in charge of his prison were determined to be partially responsible, due to negligence. The task force shared no accountability for the incident.

No one was punished for his death.

The good news is that Rise, and the task force were not only given credit for his capture—they were also heavily rewarded for ending one of New Eden's most brutal murder sprees.

Alexia and her superiors repeatedly apologized to me for the technical issues that caused me to be trapped alone with that maniac.

She assured me she was taking steps to prevent future incidents. 

Regardless of what changes they make—it won't stop my power.

For now though, the task force doesn't require my help in any other cases.

Alexia lightly hinted to me that she will be able to recruit even more investigators to the task force, due to their performance. In other words, they'll be growing in number.

Ultimately, it seems I'm parting ways with the task force for the moment. I offered them my help if they ever needed it—Alexia said she'd have Rise contact me if they did.

I'm glad I helped them with this case, but truthfully, I wanted to get more out of it.

With the exception of Kenzo, pretty much all of the task force members consider me a friend, and an ally. Some of them even contact me occasionally, primarily checking the status of my injured arm. It's nice, knowing they care—but it's a shame that none of them share my ideals.

My primary focus was helping Rise, and gaining info on the corruption. However, I wanted to find like minded allies within the police department who believed in change—people willing to put aside personal feelings, and work toward the greater good.

Unfortunately, I failed.

They all seemed content working under the current system, and following orders without question. They're far too loyal to the government, and their fellow investigators. They lack the ambition to pursue a better alternative.

I guess I shouldn't have expected much from cops, considering how many officers are corrupt themselves.

It's ironic really.

I wish I could say that everything went how I wanted, but it didn't.

I hurt Rise, more than I ever wanted to.

All I wanted was to protect, and help her.

She continued avoiding me, and barely speaking with me for almost four days.

It seriously sucked.

Then three days ago, the task force held a party to celebrate their achievement of capturing Painter.

I was invited, and attended despite my reservations.

I knew it wouldn't be easy getting close to her again, but I was hoping she might finally talk to me there. We were both awkward around each other, it felt like we were strangers. She kept glancing away whenever I looked her direction, and avoided eye contact altogether.

Finally, I decided to just apologize for worrying her, and everything. Apparently, she had the same idea. In hindsight, it's clear that both of us had the same feeling.

We both thought we hurt each other.

Rise felt that everything was her fault. She believed she forced me into helping the task force— because of that, she also blamed herself for me getting stabbed.

And of course, I hurt her due to my selfish plan.

Luckily, with both of us apologizing, and both of us blaming ourselves—we were able to reconcile.

I wound up telling her that she didn't need to worry about me anymore, and that I was okay with the task force having my cooperation. As a result, she agreed to me occasionally assisting her in the future.

It feels like Rise no longer sees me as just her best friend's son... or a worthless little brother. Instead, she views me as someone worthy of respect; an equal.

Although it wasn't perfect, I think it worked out well.

I'm happy with how things turned out, even if I didn't gain an ally. I'm glad we were able to part ways on a positive note.

***

It's already two weeks into my summer vacation, and I haven't achieved anything notable. I've continued my training, and my search for the corruption—but I've turned up empty.

The fact that the corruption was in New Eden...

It means my sixth sense isn't perfect.

That's part of the issue I've been wrestling with.

My physical brain may actually be my greatest limiter at the moment.

When I extend my sixth sense to it's maximum range, I can fully cover more than twenty million square miles—approximately an eighth of the Earth's surface area. Although I'm able to sense everything within that range, my brain can't keep up with that much data.

It's just too much to go through.

So either, the corruption is managing to somehow hide itself in my sensory blind spots, or...

The corruption is able to mask its presence...

Both are bad, but the idea of it being able to hide from my sixth sense is a terrifying prospect.

I need to use my power to bring about the change this world requires... But...

If I only had to worry about a world of regular humans with no psychic power—it may have been possible to rely on my power alone. But with the corruption hiding somewhere, I can't focus on both alone.

I need allies.

I've been struggling with this for a long time.

I wanted to either remain alone, or at least wait a few years before gathering allies. But I don't have much of a choice now.

The idea of exposing even a fraction of my power to another living person is extremely difficult for me. My powers aren't something anyone should have access to, let alone control over.

I know it would be highly beneficial to gather a group of highly skilled, trustworthy individuals, but, there's always a risk of betrayal. If my power become known to the world, I'd become target number one. Everyone would want to either control my power, or experiment on me.

With that being said—I don't fear humans in the slightest. There simply isn't anything they could do to harm me. After WW3, space weapons were outlawed internationally, so worst case scenario—they launch dozens of hydrogen bombs at me. But with my sixth sense and psychokinesis—they'd never come close to me.

And unfortunately, simply killing all government officials wouldn't be enough to get the change I desire.

If I want to change the world, I'll need to target both humanity, and the corruption.

I know what I need to do.

I'll create an organization like no other. An organization made up those who wish for change.

Ughh.

There's a major problem with that.

Such an organization would breed conflict. If everyone believed in changing the world, they'd fight each other for dominance.

That leaves only one option.

I need to find people who wish for change, and are willing to follow me absolutely.

Only then can I trust them with my secret, and the knowledge of my power.

 

At least I know where to start.

Erika Velle. She will be the first. She possesses great potential, intelligence, and a desire for change. So long as I can convince her to follow me without hesitation, she will make an excellent foundation.

Luckily, I know exactly how to go about gaining her loyalty.

***

June 20, 2037

Erika Velle

Although she's only twenty one years old, Erika Velle is considered one of the greatest scientific minds of the twenty first century. She's worked on countless projects, and has been credited for creating numerous inventions.

Her work spans across several fields including robotics, nanotechnology, medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, aerospace engineering, computer science, quantum mechanics, and artificial intelligence.

She's seen as one of the jewels of New Eden—but she sees herself as nothing more than a glorified prisoner.

For all of her work, she's never received money, or anything of value. The only thing she receives is lab resources, and...

 

She's continuously forced to engineer weapons, and technology that will inevitably be used to kill civilians, and countless people. Yet, she has no choice.

Even though she knows her creations are evil, she does it anyway.

The root cause of this stems from decades ago.

Following WW3, humans began having their genetics modified voluntarily. At first, the modifications were purely meant to help humanity adapt to the new post-war world they'd be inhabiting.

As genetic research advanced, so did the type of modifications.

Originally, people may have only had their metabolism altered in order to better survive a world with less food available. But when scientists realized what they were capable of—genetic alterations became commonplace. Facing the fear of extinction, they were granted limitless resources, so they strove to create perfect humans.

The modifications may have been something as simple as a unique eye, or hair color—but often times, these changes were more complex. Some genetically modified humans even gained a slight increase to muscle strength, intelligence, or another trait. The increase was never more than three percent, but still—it was enough to make some feel superior.

Nowadays, almost every human in New Eden has some amount of modified genes. Either through their parents, grandparents, or a doctor, most humans are born with a small percentage of genes altered.

If genetic modification was used to make people smarter, and stronger—there'd be no problem right?

Wrong.

Genes are incredibly fragile things.

They can easily mutate, and turn against you.

In short, altering your DNA is dangerous business.

Although the vast majority of humans with modified genes live a perfectly healthy life, not all of them do. A rare minority develops sometimes devastating side effects.

Erika's sister is one of the unlucky ones.

Anna Velle, Erika's younger sister by six years.

By simply glancing at Erika and her family members—it's clear their family has undergone genetic modification. The entire family wears a combination of golden hair, and unnatural, golden colored eyes.

While many would be happy to gain Erika's traits, the genetic condition inherited by her little sister has become the chain that tethers her to an institution she reviles.

When Anna turned ten years old, she developed a rare genetic condition known as 'Type-Z Rejection.'  It's one of the rarest conditions caused my genetic modification.

Her altered genetics causes her body to refuse to produce certain proteins, enzymes, and hormones necessary for survival.

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In order to survive, she continually needs booster shots—and New Eden's government is the only place Erika can get it.

To make matters worse, Anna requires multiple boosters per month. Although a permanent cure for her condition supposedly exists—it's completely unattainable to Erika. Every single booster injection costs millions of credits, however, even the temporary shots can not be bought with money alone.

Her only way to keep her sister alive is to create whatever she is asked, without question.

***

A golden haired teenage girl lies sleeping in a hospital bed.

She'd look peaceful if it weren't for her pale skin, and the countless number of wires, tubes, and sensors attached to her body. A young woman with almost identical features sits next to her, lovingly caressing her face.

"What happened?"

Erika asked the nurse standing next to Anna.

After receiving her monthly shot, Anna fell unconscious immediately after waking up.

This is becoming a common occurrence. Ever since Anna started developing rejection symptoms, she's been constantly falling asleep during the day. Her doctors say it's because her body doesn't have the energy to stay awake, which makes sense.

However, ever since the last incident, Anna hasn't woken up at all.

The nurses tried using different methods such as electric shocks, drugs, and even hypnosis, but none of them worked.

All they managed to achieve was making her sleep deeper and harder.

"She's building a tolerance to the booster," replied a doctor standing behind her. "It's very hard to wake someone from this state."

She feels numb.

Erika knows the scientific reason for why her sister is developing a tolerance... But she can't understand why. Why does her little sister have to suffer?

Why must she spend her life in a hospital room?

Erika's broken every one of her ethical barriers to obtain the booster shots, but now they're not working?

After everything, she might not even wake up anymore?

She may be unable to speak to her tomorrow, or any other days to come.

No matter how hard she tries, Erika can't bring herself to hate Anna for her suffering.

Instead, she hates the world that created her, and then tossed her aside.

Why must her sister be the sacrificial lamb?

"How long until she wakes up?"

"Not sure. We're going to try giving her a higher dosage. Hopefully, it works this time."

***

After giving Anna a kiss goodbye, she manages to drag herself to a cabin waiting for her.

She orders the cabin to head to a specific set of coordinates.

The only reason she hasn't given up hope yet is because of her greatest secret.

It took her more than four years, and endless amounts of blood, sweat, and tears, but she was somehow able to create her own hidden laboratory deep underground.

It's not as high tech as her laboratory at the Anithrel Institute, but she's spent years smuggling tools, machines, tech, and just about any resources she could make disappear.

Her mind races, thinking about what she can do to save her sister.

Her lab is her last hope. It's the only place she can be alone, and pursue whatever she wishes—without being constantly monitored.

Even with the lab, the wall she faces is immense.

She's spent years researching the booster shot her sister receives, and she's tried looking into the supposed cure that exists—but neither have turned out well. They're both extremely classified.

Just to produce the booster, she would need a machine that only the government possesses. Her hope was to replicate that machine—and produce the booster herself, thus she'd be freed from her servitude.

But now...

The booster is losing its effect.

She feels her tears begin to form once again.

It feels hopeless to her.

Finally, the cabin arrives at her specified coordinates. She quickly wipes her tears, and hides the cabin under an overhanging rock.

In front of her lies a small cave opening. With trembling hands, she pulls on a pair of gloves, and begins her journey through the cave.

Having spent about three minutes slowly walking, she eventually reaches an abandoned subway tunnel.

When she finally built up the resolve to attempt creating this lab, she spent numerous hours searching for a possible location.

Ultimately, she settled on an abandoned subway tunnel. Before she built emergency exits—that tiny cave was the only way to get here. It offered her the perfect location to hide.

After another few minutes of walking, she finally turns into a small passageway—at the end of it lies a steel door.

She presses her thumb against a scanner, then places her eye in front of an iris scanner. Once scanned, she hears a loud clang from the massive locks disenganging. She opens the heavy metal doors, revealing a large chamber filled with seemingly endless amounts of scientific equipment, computers, and holograms.

A smile spreads across her face.

This is the only place she can be at peace.

Looking toward a table, she sees what can only be described as multiple squares of metallic looking material. Each square contains a glowing blue light, and each of them are connected together by wires that extend throughout the room.

To most people, this would just look like a few chunks of metal covered in wires. But to Erika, this is her hope.

This is the project she's spent her entire life working towards.

Nanotechnology.

She knows how close she is to realizing her dream. She almost has functional nano bots, but she's still missing a suitable power source.

She lets out a hopeless cry, and throws herself into a chair.

Her plan had been to focus her energy on securing production of Anna's booster shots, but they're no longer working, so there's not much point. Even if she gets a limitless supply of boosters, Anna may never wake up.

That leaves the cure. She's positive that a cure exists, but there is no possibility whatsoever of the government giving the vaccine to Anna. She knows it won't happen.

Which leaves her with a single option.

Trading her life's work for a single dose of the cure. If she could actualize nanotechnology, the government may be willing to trade the cure for her research.

Her heart breaks knowing this is her only option.

This time, she allows a few of her tears to fall.

Deep in her heart, she's aware that she's deluding herself.

There's no chance the government would make a deal with her.

She knew that from the beginning.

But accepting the truth is never easy. She refused to throw away her hope. Not just hope in her sister, but the hope that her inventions would one day help humanity, instead of hurting it.

Slowly, her sadness turns to anger.

"Why?! WHY?!"

She releases a heart rending yell, and throws a cup directly towards her computer.

She stares at the table.

Why does this world reject her sister?

Why must she pay with her life?

With a tearful sigh, Erika picks up the shards of glass off the ground.

Behind her, her computer slowly turns on.

In the corner of her vision, she notices a blinking red light appear on the computer screen.

"Huh?" She exclaims in confusion.

Why would that be blinking?

She gets closer to the computer. She can't believe what she's seeing. That red light... It was a security measure she designed...

That light indicates lab access... Unauthorized Lab Access...

As her mind races, she realizes she's not mistaken.

This means someone entered the room while she was away.

How is that possible? The security system automatically notifies her of every security update?!

Wait... The computer turned on a few seconds ago... It's hardwired directly to the lab's generator... Its never supposed to turn off.

She races to the computer while panicking.

"Aino! What time was the lab accessed!?"

Aino, the lab's A.I replies in a cold voice.

"Unauthorized personnel entered premises thirty seven minutes ago... Scanners currently indicate two life form present within facility."

Two life forms?

Aino's words send shivers down Erika's spine.

T-That means someone else is in the lab.

"W-Where is the unauthorized individual!?!"

"Yo."

She suddenly hears a calm, slightly robotic voice directly behind her. She's never felt fear like this in her life, but she instantly turns around.

Standing just a few feet in front of her is a figure dressed in pure black. They're wearing a jet black hooded long coat. She tries to view their face, but all she sees is darkness. It's completely obscured.

Erika attempts to speak, but her breath catches in her throat.

"W-Who are you?"

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