Genesis #30

Fast, gasping breaths burst from a dry mouth.

If only my mouth were sweating as much as my hand, the random thought skittered through Clint’s mind as he watched people in white lab coats buzz around a ring of large receptacles designed to fit a specific person; there were eleven, but the last was closed. Clint supposed it was meant for his father.

Rune stood beside Clint, gazing evenly, his jaw set, up at the gleaming vessels sitting upon a platform. Around the circumference of the dome, elevated above everyone’s heads, was a round catwalk, most likely leading to an outer deck; there were many people up there, watching expectantly, their whispers falling to the ground with the air of tension.

Keila gripped Clint’s hand so hard his knuckles turned white, she could feel her own sweat and his wetting their palms. Her eyes were wide and her body humming with nervous tension; she channeled her anxiety into her limbs, her knees trembled and her hands didn’t know what to do with themselves. the young woman was glad she had eaten little in the past several hours or she would have lost it.

Tyrene motioned to the three young people; they stumbled up the stairs to the platform, the two humans trembling enough to topple over; the sarsh had more control over his nerves, but if he clenched his jaw any more, his fangs would draw blood. the instant the three ascended, doctors swarmed them, each attempting to assert themselves over the other and the racket reverberated throughout the room, twisting into a chaotic din. “STOP!” Rune roared, his fangs bared angrily. “Can you idiots swallow your excitement for a minute and get it together?”

there was a surprised silence, and not a small amount of downcast eyes. they were like over-excited children. An older doctor was the first; he took a deep breath and stepped toward Rune. “My apologies. This is a lot to take in, I have been waiting for this for so long. Please, boys, remove your shirts. Keila, we will provide you with proper clothing.”

A slender woman stepped forward and guided Keila away. the two young men pulled their shirts over their heads, Clint with some difficulty. the latter accepted a pair of green capris, Rune just shortened his current pants, waiting rather impatiently as Clint jogged away to find a restroom to change. the sarsh snorted. “And why didn’t we do this earlier?” He mumbled. Keila returned, sporting a moss-green tank-top and shorts of the same color; she issued a small smile to Rune and swallowed hard, taking a deep breath as Clint joined them.

“Ready?” Keila asked her companions. they both shook their heads, but stepped forward as the doctors beckoned them. Rune stepped into the receptacle, the cold ground stung his bare feet, sending a shock up his legs. It cleared his blurring vision, and he watched, slightly dazed, as two doctors reached in and deftly attached dozens of twisted tubing, cords and unrecognizable objects to his skin, the icy metal sending jolts through his body. the sarsh barely flinched as they stuck an IV into his left arm, but the effects of the liquid flowing into his veins was instantaneous. His head nodded forward and the tension in his limbs softened. Vaguely, Rune felt someone place a mask on his lower face, there was a hiss of oxygen through the pipe; the same person slowly told him to breath deeply, and calm himself, but the reason for the extra oxygen was left unheard as Rune faded into a semi-conscious state.

the sarsh gasped as he felt hot, thick liquid creep up his legs; he felt a thrill of panic as he realized what was happening, but the sedative that trickled into his bloodstream prevented any reaction besides a twitch.

_____

Clint and Keila observed as the doctors affixed their friend to dozens of tubing and cords, some of them were needles, some held on by translucent tape. Keila’s face contorted with worry as she watched the needle slide under Rune’s dark skin; his head drooped to the side and his eyes turned glossy. He looked like a limp puppet with all those cords attached to his body. the doctors placed an oxygen mask over his face and the young woman’s worry multiplied as she watched glass slide over Rune’s receptacle, steam jetted from the floor and fogged the glass slightly; right after, a viscous, steaming liquid poured out from the ground and oozed its way up the glass, filling the container.

Keila glanced at Clint, her heart booming so loudly, she could barely hear as Tyrene addressed them both. “We are administering the xinvasen both externally and internally,” the man informed “I want you two to understand something; your friend will be more powerful than you. I have chosen him as the leader of you all, and so, we are delivering more into his system.”

“Why didn’t you tell him that?” Clint asked, offended for Rune’s sake.

“Because he is a stubborn person, and he would refute the extra ability. I could not allow that, so he went first so I could tell you both this. Now, if you please, follow the doctors’ instruction.”

the two friends squeezed their hands before relinquishing their grips and going separate ways; Clint paused, gazing up at his friend suspended weightlessly behind the glass, the sarsh’s eyes were mostly closed, but his metal arm moved slothlike and touched the glass; the young man’s eyes widened, and he smiled, but it faded quickly. His mind wandered uncertainly and his heart beat with fear, but he stepped past the sarsh and entered the chamber behind Rune’s. Keila did the same on the other side.

Fear dug into Clint’s spine, sending icy shocks through his body and rendering him rigid. the few people in front of him blurred as his breath sped up; they attached multiple cords to him, all that had retracted needles which would doubtless prick him later. they placed one cold needle under the skin on his arm, and the rigidity left his body; a doctor had to keep him upright as he slumped forward. they settled a mask over his face and the glass shut off all outside sounds.

______

the process was redundant for Keila, the same fear coursed through her body and the same thoughts tore through her mind at the speed of light, but it all faded to a vacant, white mind where she floated upwards, as if in water, and she entered a strange state in between awareness and unconsciousness where she watched herself float motionless; her hair rose above her head and swayed like wind in grass. It’s like a dream, Keila thought vaguely. She was unaware Clint and Rune were experiencing the same phenomenon.

the room had fallen into a trance, watching, eyes riveted on the three young people suspended behind the glass. Tyrene motioned to someone nearby and a chain of calls followed; each passing on the message. the tubes ran black as the doctors fiddled with an array of dials and buttons. the three teenagers watched, and felt, as the obsidian-black substance leeched into their veins, spreading through their bodies like a dark labyrinth.

Another hand signal.

Another chain of reaction.

the following element to the process was barely visible to the onlookers as it streamed through the tubes, but when it mingled the black substance, it flared up and burned with an unbearably bright light. their inanimate bodies shone fiercely. Rune vanished from his dream-state and his eyes snapped open, suddenly fully aware of himself. His open eyes burned with intense energy and it flared from his body like the surface of the sun; growing brighter every second, it streamed from the top of his receptacle as a beacon and it shone through the dome roof to the sky above.

Tyrene’s mouth fell open as he watched the scene before him. He could recall his own Ignition and how overwhelmingly powerful it was, stunning each of the viewers; compared to this, his was nothing.

the pure energy emanating from the frontal receptacle moved through the air in potent waves, knocking back all close enough to experience its power. Rune had become a human sun, burning with power; the warmth began evaporating the liquid cocooning his body. the lights in the room flickered and died out, plunging the room into an eerie red light, and the light emanating off the Rune, and now Clint and Keila. the glare grew unbearably bright until it engulfed the mind-staggering scene and no one could watch anymore. Suddenly, with a noise like the voice of wind in thousands of treetops, the light snapped back to the three, absorbing into their bodies and hovering just below the surface, an ultra-bright light illuminating their bodies from inside.

_____

Tyrene opened his eyes and blinked rapidly to rid them of the residual spots, he turned to the three young people and his eyes widened. they each glowed from the inside, out; and all of them were awake. the power of the Ignition and the power manifesting in them melted the tubes attaching them to their receptacle, the needles fell from their skin and, in Rune’s, the surrounding metal was red hot, quickly cooling as he no longer expelled the energy from his body.

Several scientists pried open the glass doors, unable to do it automatically, and the three emerged on slightly unsteady legs. Clint and Keila’s light faded, but Rune still glowed like a human lightbulb; he was staring in amazement at his luminous frame. He lifted his head and his fiery eyes met with Tyrene’s.

“What is this?” He whispered, his voice distorted as if he was behind a fire. Clint and Keila moved to in front of their friend and they marveled at his vivid form. Tyrene was breathing hard, the light gleaming in his fire-orange eyes.

“Rune, you are the Beacon,” He announced. “the leader of the Embers, the fiery result of Ignition. You are the guardians of the Edenstar, your influence will burn those who dare challenge it and help those who allow you to endeavor for a better world.”

the sarsh didn’t reply, seeming too shocked to say anything; all the scientists mobbed around the three and produced an array of meters and prods. “Energy signatures have increased by one hundred percent!”

“Vitals normal.”

“Muscle densities increased by twenty percent, body temperatures raised by five percent.”

“Ignition successful.”

the multiple calls from the scientists and doctors met Tyrene’s ears and he let out a long breath, still speechless. He watched as one doctor attempted to place a pressure cuff on Rune’s arm and was unable as her hands passed through Rune. Everyone in the room witnessed it and there was an audible intake of breath. Rune’s eyes widened further as he realized what had happened in his body and mind, and then, suddenly, he vanished. Just disappeared into thin air. the resulting din was spectacular.

Tyrene pushed his way through the crowd of doctors and scientists, staring at the spot where the young man was moments ago. “Rune?” He murmured. Out thin air, the sarsh’s deep voice answered.

“What have you done to me?” He whispered, sounding so scared, it was almost unrecognizable as his voice.

Tyrene reached a hand out. “Touch my arm, Rune,” He commanded, his voice quavering with excitement. the caregivers, who stood by the doors for most of the process, jogged over as they heard the commotion. Loc pushed his bulk through the crowd until he stood next to Tyrene.

“What’s going on?” He demanded, looking around. His green eyes fixed on Tyrene’s outstretched hand and seconds later, five finger-sized dents appeared on the stout man’s weathered arm. Tyrene felt a shiver up his spine as he felt the icy metal contact his skin.

“Rune, everyone knows this power as invisibility and, until now, only accomplishable by a cloaking device and even then it was full of flaws. Through Project Ignite, you have manifested this power, and it seems, you have also manifesting phasing, a power impossible for any living being in all districts until now. Phasing is the dispersal of the body atoms to lessen your body density enough to pass through most every object. Invisibility is when a certain atom in your body which refracts light photons, as if you weren’t there, thus making you invisible to the naked eye. Focus, and you can turn visible again.”

there was silence, then Rune appeared, his face pained and drawn. Tyrene pursed his lips addressing the two young people beside Rune. “I can imagine you both will begin showing your powers in an hour or two, so we’ll keep you all under surveillance, where you can rest and recover. Understood?” they nodded, and the rest of the caregivers arrived to escort their wards away. their legs shook, especially Rune’s, making it hard for them to walk. the sarsh made it out the enormous doors, ears laid back as the observers applauded, whistled, and shouted, but in the grass, his flesh knee gave out underneath him and he grunted as he half-collapsed. Loc frowned.

“Are you alright, mate?” He asked, concerned for Rune’s wellbeing. the sarsh shook his head.

“Not exactly,” he rasped, and then vomited. Loc winced and reached down, gripping the sarsh’s forearm and gently pulling him to his feet.

“Yeah,” Loc murmured, almost to himself. “I remember all the interesting things that Tyrene went through when he was Ignited, I can imagine it’ll be two times worse for you. For him, that happened about two hours after his Ignition.” Rune wasn’t even listening to the man’s rambling; he was painfully aware of the changes taking place in his body, and it was the strangest thing he’d ever felt. Loc beckoned to the sarsh.

“Let’s get you back to the barracks.”

______

the rest of the caregivers were already in the barracks room when Loc and Rune arrived, the man’s large hand on the younger sarsh’s upper arm, holding him steady. Both Keila and Clint were lying in their beds, their eyes open and full of thought; and in Clint’s case, swimming with tears. No one had seen Garret since he took Jethro away; Aurian and Elric sat across the room, engaged in conversation. Rune dropped onto a cot and clenched his fingers in his pale blue hair, attempting to calm his body and the nausea growing in his stomach. Loc patted his shoulder and moved away to join the other caregivers.

What have I done? Rune thought, his mind heavy with doubt. Was this the right decision? Exhausted of the body and mind, the sarsh laid on his side and his eyes slid shut.