Absolute Zero (IC)

It was getting early, and still no sign of the zero subject. Daylight was only a few hours away, and he had run out of cigarettes. Cernobyl slowly looked up from his scope, and noticed that Voice was no longer observing him. That being noted, the tired man stood up and stretched his back, still stiff from the crouching position. He walked back down into the filthy apartments and left the surveillance eqipment there. She would clean it up. She always did. Like my mom or something... his thoughts were interrupted by a dufflebag sitting on the front desk of the lobby. It had a note that simply said- Nhil. he took the bag and walked out of the building into a nearby alleyway, surprised that nobody was managing the desk. Within the bag were his clothes, neatly cleaned and folded. ...Like a mom...

It had been almost 6 hours since he was informed of the Zero Subject's presence, and still no coffee. After changing and hiding the bag now filled with his suit behind a dumpster, Chernobyl decided to head back to the Litte. Walking past a large complex of apartments, aptly named the Flat, he noticed a young girl walking into it looking a bit haggard and observed her progress for a minute or two. She was petitite, and it looked like she had been chwewing on her lip for a while. Cute... snapping out of his thoughts, Chernobyl quickly made a mental note of her and went along his way. Might be worth looking into... he smirked In a short time he walked through the doors of the tiny coffee shop and his heart skipped a beat. Shiiiiiiit.... looking across the room, he spotted his superior, even Voice's superior. "Morning Josef..." he said gingerly, taking a seat across the table from him. He called over the current employee working and asked for a large black, then returned to staring down his fellow agent. "Did you summon me? Sorry 'bout that, guess I didn't hear it." he laughed, not exactly cheery but more of a mocking chuckle. Chernobyl new full well that Josef had told him specifically to meet him here, due to his nullification. One of it's few drawbacks was that in resisting psychic energy, a weak telepathic message wouldn't even make the slightest noise in his head. "Your looking...well. What's up?"

” Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town…”

The light and dreamy voice of a young girl penetrated the near silence of the night around the Tesco store around the old London Blackfriars area, accompanied only by the blowing of the wind. From outside the store, two workers could be seen inside the lit windows of the shop, a blonde girl in her late teens, and a man who appeared in his early thirties, both going about the jobs that needed to be done before they could leave the shop.

”Up stairs and down stairs in his night-gown…”

As of yet, both were oblivious to the eerie singing that could be heard in the car park outside, but a group of hooded youths hanging around nearby - drinking and smoking their lives away – looked up uneasily, murmuring amongst themselves nervously, one laughing briefly at the others being unnerved by a little girl’s singing, but quieting themselves quickly as the singing came closer.

” Tapping at the window, scratching at the lock…”

The night was dark and starless, the only light provided by the shop window and the street lights scattered about the car park. Abruptly, the lights began to flicker, first the street lights, buzzing on and off at random, then the store lighting. The group of kids had had enough by this point, and gathered up their booze before hurrying off, later to joke about how wimpy they’d been, and take the mick out of those who suggested moving on.

”Are the children in their bed? For its past eight o'clock!”

Within the Tesco, the two workers exchanged confused glances at the lighting, still oblivious to the singing and thinking it but a technical fault. The older man headed off toward the back room where the electrics were controlled, to see if he could do anything about it, leaving the girl leaning on one of the tills, bored, casting an idle glance outside.

When she did so, however, she almost jumped out of her skin. Standing outside the store, one hand rested on the glass, was a young girl. She looked about her mid teens, long black hair falling over her eyes and draped on her shoulders. She wore an old red dress that had plainly seen better days, over ripped black tights. The girl was staring at the floor, her hand tracing circles in the condensation that coated the glass, her lips moving silently.

The blonde girl turned to get her colleague, somewhat alarmed by the girl’s presence and unsure as to what store policy was on creepy little girls outside the window after closing time, but as she did so the sound of breaking glass resonated through the store, and when she turned back, the little girl was gone. The front of the store had entirely shattered, the glass covering the floor inside, the frames still present, untouched. The girl shivered as the cold air washed into the store, stepping backwards.

“H… hello?” she called, looking left and right for the girl she had seen. She was nowhere to be found.

”Ring a ring o’ rosies, a pocket full of posies…”

The teenager stiffened as the tune of the old nursery rhyme echoed through the store, commonly believed to refer to the time of the Black Death in reference to how doctors carried flowers, believed to protect against catching the disease from their patients. She backed up further, pressing her back to one of the aisles, shaking.

”Atishoo! Atishoo! We all fall down…”

As the song finished, the teenager looked up at a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. At the opposite end of the aisle, the little girl stood, staring at the floor. It was not that which caused the scream that would escape the blonde woman’s lips, however. That was caused by the sight of her colleague, lying in a pool of his own blood at her feet, his face fixed in an expression of horror. A gaping hole in his chest around where his heart should be, and as she looked up from his corpse at the girl, she could see the organ clenched in her little fist, blood dripping from it and covering her hands. The girl turned to run, screaming at the top of her lungs as she dashed for the exit. But then the little girl was in front of her, a blur of speed as she crossed the distance between them in an instant to block the woman’s path.

”No no no… you can’t leave now. That won’t do, I cannot allow, a witness of this to escape from the scene, to cry and weep and tell all you’ve seen. I’m terribly sorry, but I cannot lie. The voices confirm it, you have to die…” she recited musically, no emotion showing on her face.

The piercing scream of the woman echoed into the night, resonating through the car park and the surrounding streets such was its intensity as Erin reached for her. Placing her hand on the woman’s chest, her expression remained fixed in blankness as a pulse of ESP energy left her palm and burst through the woman’s chest, bursting through her in a splatter of gore that flecked the shop floor behind her, droplets landing on Erin’s face and coating her already bloody hand.

”Bye bye miss, I’m sorry you’re dead. But it was either your life, or mine – blood had to be shed.” she sang, turning from the corpse and skipping into the store proper, where she gathered food and clothing into a trolley, and skipped out again.

It wouldn’t be long before an EPC response team arrived, but they would find only the bodies of the workers, and some traumatised youths babbling about little girls and nursery rhymes. Erin had vanished into the night.

Ajax went up to surface level and stood at a street corner, just standing around with earbuds stuck in his ears as the time passed. He would walk to a new area from time to time, to sit in a diner or on a park bench, and pick around the areas waiting from a job, which was unlikely. At his final area where he stood, a light post down the street from his apartment, his pocket viabrated, but as he checked his phone he realized no one had called.

He looked around at the surronding area, suddenly afraid. There was no telling what crazy powers these ESPers had, but Ajax didn't know if this one had meant something. A man walked down the street, looking quite irritated, and shoved Ajax into the light post.

"What's your problem?" Ajax asked.
"None of your business," the man replied.

Ajax looked from where the man had come from, but nothing suggested that anuthing could have aggravated him so much he would push a stranger out of his way. No police, no tailers, nothing... not a soul. He looked back at the man and was surprised to see he had vanished. There was no alley he could have sprinted towards and the end of the street was almost 600 meters away...

It hit Ajax full force. He checked his side pocket and found his side arm was gone, as well as his house keys.

"What the !?"

Ajax went down the street and entered the lobby of the apartment. It was layered to two complexs per floor and his was on the fifth floor, which was pretty close considering that the building was twelve stories. He ran past the lobbiest and to his room, but the door was opened.

"Oh no..." he whispered. He heard two voices say, "Hurry up, this guy is supposed to have massive amount of cash and ammunition, just the thing we need."

"Wait!" Ajax yelled, "Don't-" but it was too late. The man had pulled open the door to Ajax's closet and the shotgun Ajax had rigged to the door went off. Ajax had put a second entrace into it form the bathroom, beside the sink. He needed the extra protection for he kept all his electronics in there, including the scrambler for contracts sent to his phone or computer. The scrambler would be all the proof anyone needed to prove what Ajax had been doing and even be able to track Ajax via phone. The scrambler automatically, if the code was placed on a contract (EE117), send a fake emailed or texted contract directly to another fake phone number, while the real one was posponed until a week afterward, nearly eliminating any intrest in the contract.

Now that it had gone off and both the men were dead...

Ajax walked swiftly down the hallway, to bathroom, through the fake wall, and pressed the Critical Delete button. He then ran. He ran outside and into the sewers. It was time to call in a favour.

As soon as Josef entered the store, he was bombarded with an overwhelming sense of order, and calm, unexpected, but not unwelcome. He pondered how they had managed to achieve this as he strode across the room, itself a very warm shade of ochre, with several patrons sitting at tables around the establishment, and stepped into line, taking off his billed woolen cap. After about thirty seconds standing in line, thinking, he came to the conclusion that the glass had to be layered, and the doors to be layered and sealed just as the windows...

Not only is it quiet... it's safe.

Josef stood waiting in line for what seemed to be an hour, a surprisingly long line, for being the wee hours of the morning, but he shrugged, and continued to wait, no real telling when his people would get the message, but it's not like he could really do anything. The Subject was only one person in a city of millions, and Josef didn't have much use ESP-wise, his real worth was in coordinating the hunt. He himself could also handle himself in a fight, but he preferred deception and persuasion to fighting. That's where Chernobyl came in in the order of battle, serving as a Radar Jammer in air battles of the early 21st Century, he kept them blind, powerless, to a degree of course, but the help was welcome, and should they try to resist, that's where Gallant came in. He could handle just about any scenario that came up, and often did. But Josef preferred to take in ESPers alive, for documentation, at the least, and may I take your order...

What?

"What'll you be having?"

Oh.

"I'll have a..."

Josef skimmed the menu's contents, finally deciding,

"Extra large cup of coffee. Normal, black, if you could please."

He offered a slight smile to the young brunette behind the counter, who seemed slightly puzzled, too used to dealing with all the speciality coffee's the store offered to just realize someone had asked for a cup of black joe. She spoke up,

"Just a normal coffee?"

Josef nodded before adding, with a raised hand, bringing it out of his pocket, his index finger pointing to the size chart,

"Extra Large."

She nodded, slowly, eyeing Josef suspiciously, before going back to fixing the drink, which, needless to say, didn't take long, being just an average cup of coffee. As the woman strode towards the cash register, Josef already had the money out, waiting for her to get on with it.

"That will be-"

Josef dropped twice the amount needed on the counter, saying as he reached for his drink,

"Keep the change, I might be here for a while."

And with that, Josef took the cup, turned about, and made his way to a table by the window, taking off his overcoat, placing it in the chair beside his own, and he sat, waiting, taking a sip of his drink every so often, and with that, his morning went on fairly uneventfully. He saw shifts change an the place empty out sometime around four in the morning, but it was flooded only an hour later as many prepared for their mornings, as well as their jobs. Josef looked about himself, and out the window, a grocery store not too far away, which seemed to be quite the place for ruffians, as he could observe from his window seat. Josef was just about to refresh himself and get another cup of coffee when a slight buzzing noise entered his head, a telltale sign that either he was feeling a little tipsy or Chernobyl was near. He would assume the latter, unless the girl, who had left sometime around three, had slipped something into his drink, but he shrugged, and resolved to wait a few more minutes. Sure enough, Nhil could be seen making his way towards the building, dressed in surprisingly clean clothes for just emerging from a back alley, and as he made his way into the store, Josef stared at him until he noticed his presence, and as soon as he did, he waved him over to the table.

Sprechen Sie vom Teufel.

After a tentative greeting from Chernobyl, he responded,

"Not a problem, friend, I trust she's been taking good care of you?"

He leaned back in his seat, both of them knowing who the pronoun was referring to, but he then continued,

"Very little, I've decided that it might be a bit more prudent that, instead of looking for it ourselves, we let someone else find it. Then, we just... acquire it."

He looked out the window, down the street to the grocery store, and he glanced back to Chernobyl,

"I believe I've found a good starting place, where we'll start, and so, I'll give you a while to get your coffee, while I go and relieve myself, if you'll excuse me..."

Josef stood up, and after nodding to Chernobyl, took off, with a slight bit of haste in his step, towards the restroom. A minute or two thereafter, he emerged again, much more calm, strode over to the table, and donning his overcoat, and putting on his cap, gestured to the door, and not so much asking as just declaring,

"Shall we?"

"Wow...thanks dude." Chernobyl said in a low voice as his superior went to 'relieve' himself. He let's me have coffee. He leisurely leaned back in the comfortable chair and ordered a cup of black. Sweet, sweet black. While waiting he took in the atmosphere, the cafe was quite...pleasant. Even with the luxuries of this city, however, Chernobyl rarely took advantage of them. He prefered walking to the shuttles and trams, and hadn't talked to many people since arriving. I think...I need...a date. that girl in the Flats was cute...maybe I could--

"Your coffee sir." the cafe employee set the cup on the counter interrupting the agent's train of thought, and waited just long enough for Chernobyl to leave the boy a nice tip. Lila had informed him that his picture was up in the worker's lounge with the words 'BIG TIPPER' printed in big, bold letters below it. He smiled at that.

"Thanks..." the mighty Shroud agent was so humbled by the simple cup of coffee, he sat there for a few seconds taking in it's aroma. just as he was about to take that first, delightful sip...his phone recieved a text. ...No way...she couldn't have... haltingly, the message was opened.

PUT IT DOWN. NOW. no more than that was needed, for Chernobyl saw the all to familiar red laser point upon his cup. Glaring at his phone, the cup was set down upon the table and a reply was typed. Once that was sent, he slammed the phone down onto his table, drawing more than a few stares from the other patrons. His reply was simply; Why?

IT HAMPERS YOUR NULLIFICATION.

At that, Chernobyl paled. Sitting in silence for a little while, he finally thought of the correct words to type. Thank you. But i'm still drinking when im off the job. he would ask how caffeine affected his powers later, for now he would be grateful. After a few more moments passed Chernobyl realized that no reply was forthcoming, and sighed. Josef was walking back. Showtime.

The ESPer got his things together and asked, "Shall we?" not really asking though...not so much as commanding. That bugged Chernobyl. Josef knew he wouldn't stand a chance against him in a fight, but prodded him knowing that Chernobyl wasn't fool enough to go against Shroud. Shooting a short glance at Josef, he exhaled deeply and stood up, feeling for the one gun he kept on his person at all times. Knowing it was secure, Chernobyl walked out the door into the slowly waning night towards the grocery store Josef had pointed out earlier. "Of course." he replied.

"It's got some great produce ya know."

No sooner after he landed from the shack's roof, Lev's head banged like a drum right next to his ear as another spike of ESP activity waved over his mind. It caused his thoughts to rattle and his vision blurred, making him fall over into the snow as he gripped his head in pain.

'Argh! ...What...malice! ...It's... so strong...'

Then it ended in an instant, with Lev heaving forward to empty his stomach and panting heavily. The disorientation began to fade with his returning sight, his thoughts settled and only a slight pounding in his head remained. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Lev carefully got up, bracing himself against the shack's rotten wall. He forced his legs to steady themselves as he thought with distaste, 'Dammit... Just when I thought... I didn't want anything to do with this... cursed city,' Lev's back straightened as he collected himself at last, and voiced his remaining thoughts as he spun to face the concrete jungle in the distance.

"Shouganai na," Lev sighed with a confident grin, before bursting out to the horizon, "I can't ignore a strong opponent even if I wanted to. Ya' hear me!? I'm coming for you, ZERO SUBJECTS!!" In a flash, Lev Altrius disappeared into the trees towards the city, the moon's rays that leaked through the foliage, shined on his flowing, long silver hair... and reflected now topaz eyes as menacing as staring at a tiger face to face, while it licks its lips eagerly at its prey.

Quiet. It has been so since he left their home to do "normal" things. For a long while Eve remained in the darkness of her room, unwilling to move or do anything. If it were up to her, she'd probably have stopped breathing a long time ago. This was how it always was, everytime he left. An empty feeling crept over her and her eyes, now red, ceased crying. She was smitten and it seemed he was unaware of her feelings. But how could he notice? With that birch throwing herself at him every chance she got. Frowning in thought, a nearby cup proceeded to "float" around her. The water swayed with the motion yet she paid it no mind. It was unimportant, like her.

Smash! The cup fell to the ground and broke into little pieces leaving a dark spot on the floor. With fresh water pouring from her eyes, Eve stood up and proceeded to leave her room. It wouldn't be long before "she" came home and at least Eve could have some time alone in Michael's room.

Yes, this was where she spent most nights, curled up in his bed. Taking a deep breath, she breathed in the scent from his pillow and smiled. One day, she thought before sleep pulled at her. The longer she stared in there, the heavyier her eyelids became until eventually she was fast asleep.

As usual, her dreams made no sense. There was a green Echoe pointing and laughing at her while a red Michael grinned. His arms wrapped around Echo, he proceeded to "male love" to her as Echo's laugh grew louder and monstorous. Horrorstrick, Eve ran from the screen only to hit a door. She tried the handle. Locked. Taking a quick glance around her, she gasped. There were mostly broken experimental tubes around her, all labeled "Subject One."

Countless verisons of her stared back at her with dead eyes. Accusing dead eyes. She leaned against the wall, stiff as can be while each one proceeded to move. She tried to scream yet her voice was gone...

Leo stood above a tall skyscraper that hangs above the cloud itself; he did always have a knack for high places, he believed it give him peace of mind. He thought about what he should be doing, a question that should have been answer in the past, and once again he could not answer that question. Leo look in front of him and gave a frowned, or at least it would have been that way if he did not learn how to keep his face emotionless at all time. He despised how the world turned out as the once beautiful and powerful sight of nature begun to disappear, but this wasn’t what he was focused on right now.

Following his orders, he was currently in London to capture some very special subject. Subject Zero they were called, and he knew that name all too well. Leo look into the horizon waiting for the sun to rise and at the same time, hoping it doesn’t. When the sun rise, he would have to start the mission…something he dearly did not want to do. He still remembered the time he found out what Primus had been doing with his targets, and why wouldn’t he? The picture was too cruel and gruesome to be erase from his mind, and it stay in his mind as if the picture was branded in his mind.

He still remembered the dreams he constantly have, none of them pleasant. The dream of the children he captured being tested and tortured, the dream of him being symbolized as the devil, and even the dream of him being tested and tortured on. His mind remember them clearly and he felt a tinge of regret inside, yet this was not enough to make him quit Primus.

"Genesis can you read me?"

The voice that rang in his ears had put him back into reality.

“This is Genisis, I hear you…” He replied back, his voice sounding a little weaker than usual.

“…Have you arrived in London?”

“Yes I have…”

“The mission starts soon….is something wrong?”

“……No…and roger on that…”

“Okay then…just don’t make a mistake this time...”

Leo stayed silent from the voice last comment as he waited just for a moment before leaping off the building and teleported himself to the ground below.

“…I guess I will have to make a choice soon…hope I make the right one…” He murmured before running off to seek his targets.

Within a nondescript skyscraper of purposes whom to the public was of a series of skyline offices of multiple enterprises, these enterprises span from Accounting, the Stock Market, Information Stockpiling, Data Management - all of which could arguably be components of a larger corporation, which they were. Shroud's London Headquarters, to the outside, this building seemed like a number of different business practices and on record they would belong to several different people, however in truth they were all but a subtle façade to hide the nature of the ominous and towering structure.

Within this building, much of the upper area was sealed away, floors that the elevators would not even make note of upon the multitude of buttons, the staircases too would only reach to several floors below the top. Needless to say, certain methods were employed to keep the true entrances to the more secret and... important, areas of Shrouds interests out of notice. It was upon this upper reaches that calculated and business like discussion was in full swing, beyond a series of scanners and detection systems to keep the unwanted as far away from the Executives of Shroud as possible.

Behind a double door of mahogany, preserved and imported from the pre-war periods amongst much of the furnishing and art of the Executive floors lay a conference room. Within this room, an air of decadence, malice and cold cunning hung heavily and it caused many of the ESPer guards standing attention around the room to become nervous. This general atmosphere amongst the occupants - whom none wore anything but the most expensive suits and incidentally did their best to keep their identities hidden behind tinted glasses and leather gloves - was a result of recent activity within the city below.

Whilst none of the voices were particular raised or angered, one could feel the malice dripping from the words of the speakers as they conversed together - within Shroud, friendship and alliance were superficial, only money and favour was to be relied on - "What are the latest reports upon the information we decrypted from the EPC transmission?", one spoke swiftly - an act to hide a sibilant lisp, weakness of any kind was to be avoided - "Our agents are afield and information seeking as well as hunting, our retrieval groups reassure me that results will be swift and conclusive."

Hmph

The single, disdaining noise which echoed from no one present set everyone silent, they all knew the origin and chatter died down. Shroud was to speak. A synthesised, emotionless voice echoed from the Telecom unit upon the hardwood conference table, despite its distinct lack of humanity, it was not difficult to discern the mindset of the apparent speaker.

"Gentlemen, it has come to my attention not by your reports, which incidentally omitted particular information of question which I am about to raise.", buttocks clenched suddenly amongst the gathered Executives, some began to sweat and others reverted to nervous tells - twitches, scratching, adjusting of clothes. - "Obviously, it was clear that we would not be the only ones to move in on the information we intercepted. Primus has already dispatched their agents to the area, Mercenaries are being called in. You must... understand, we cannot afford our vital test subjects to become labrats to our competition."

The group of Executives remained silent, it was not uncommon for... those who interrupt, to be removed... forcibly, from conference. "The Genetics department has just finished their latest batch of Drones." - Drones, being test tube developed soldiers designed for rapid combat deployment... Shock Troops. - "Deploy them to the field under the current field officer... furthermore, I have already issued the orders to the Bioweapon labs, Gallant will be fielded under my direct command."

The Telecom went silent at that, as abrupt as Shroud often was in matters to the Corporation, whilst it was his.. or her name upon the Corporation and its ownership, their existence was a mystery and little did they partake in Company affairs, still their presence was treated with fearful respect which was still rippling throughout the Executives even after their presence had departed.

Until the Telecom sparked again, for a few brief and disturbing words to those present. "Gentlemen, do not fail me. I do not enjoy failure."

To be in Shroud was to succeed at any cost, none of the Executives wanted to fail and none would pray for the souls that did.

As Maseen ran over the roof of the grocery store, they saw agent James pummel the thief who had attempted to rob him. As they jumped and rolled onto the cold, concrete floor behind Agent James throw the man then suddenly appear right in front of the thief. James then created a fireball in his hand and was about to incinerate the man. Jason stayed James' arm before he could throw the fireball while Maseen telekinetically moved the thief's gun into his hand. Maseen then turned to Jason who shook his head. If Jason had nodded his head, Maseen would have holstered the thief's gun and knocked him out for taking back to Primus' headquarters. The shaking meant that the thief was not a Shatterpoint and was therefore not important.

Maseen pointed the gun right at the thief's head, which naturally squirmed as Jason held the thief down. It would not do to have the thief be alive to remember that he had accosted an ESP user. He would then have gone to the local authorities who would then warn the EPC and it would become another thorn in the side of Primus which neither of the brothers wanted. Then Maseen stopped before pulling the trigger on that gun. To minimize the sound, he telekinetically grabbed a bullet from inside the barrel of the gun, and then he drove the entire casing through the thief's skull. The effect was just like that of a bullet but without any sound to alert passersby.

Jason then stared directly at Agent James. To minimize noise he communicated telepathically with their superior while Maseen telekinetically grabbed the thief’s gun and holstered it. So Agent James, do you have any relevant information that we may have overlooked in our search. You are our superior aren't you? Jason managed to put as much sarcasm in his telepathic voice as he could. There was absolutely no love lost between the two of them, as Jason thought James to be a pompous fool. To make James even more uncomfortable, he shot telepathic needles at James' mind. They were pretty small and would register as sharp pains in James' head. They would not kill James, but they would annoy him.

Lying in her bed, she stared at the ceiling of her apartment. Cayden lived on the third floor of an apartment block in East London, it wasn't too bad; nice rent and not too bad for rent and bills. In a way it was perfect for her. It made her feel like she fitted in with the population, despite the fact that she didn't.

Getting up, she washed and dressed, going about her normal morning, having breakfast and making sure all the small jobs around the house were done before she left. She'd also have to make sure that she could mask herself, hide her powers. She didn't want anyone knowing who she was. She just wanted to be normal, like everyone else.

As an ESPer, she'd lived her first 12 years in captivity almost; a painful captivity, mainly because she wasn't one to cooperate with the scientists there, now that she was in the public though, and able to hide using her masking ability, she was able to fit in and just be an ordinary girl.

She knew it wouldn't last long though. She knew she'd get hunted. She wasn't going to go down without a fight though.

That was her main reason for keeping as anti-social as possible. If she didn't mingle and make too many friends (or enemies) it would take longer for people to find out who she was and the information wouldn't be leaked out because Cayden wouldn't have slipped into unmistakably trusting someone. That was her theory anyway.

Arriving at work, she was greeted by the owner of the corner shop, an old man in his 50's, beer belly, tanned of Italian or Spanish, or maybe even Portuguese origin, she wasn't sure. What she did know was that he was always happy to see her, which was kind of freaky, in her opinion. The fact that he was just a happy person in general anyway didn't change things.

"Hey there Cayden." He smiled.

"Hey." The girl simply answered, heading around the counter.

"Ready to start another new day at work?" He seemed so happy that work was starting again.

"I guess." Cayden replied, dumping her stuff before moving down one of the aisles.

"You always seem so down Cayden. Is everything okay?"

"I'm not down, Mr. Finchello. This is me every day." She replied.

He sighed, shaking his head and started opening up the shop ready to take on the customers that were going to enter that day.

Buckley, England,
Northwest of London



The sun had barely broken across the horizon before light was flooding in through the tightly shut shades and sending sleek lines of brightness into the darkened room. Across from the window laid a young man, the covers thrown around his lower body as his shoulder was buried into the sweet embrace of the bed. The repetitive, droning sound of an electric razor could be heard through the cracked door of a bathroom the the right of the bed; a line of light colliding with that penetrating the shades as the man slowly stirred.
"God dammit, Archer --" Havok groaned angrily, leaning himself to the side in an attempt to shy away from the light.
"Early bird gets the worm, Ben." Came the voice from inside the bathroom, the low buzz of the razor stopping for a split second before the sound of running water could be heard.

"Fuck you and your fucking birds." Havok barked; dragging his head upward as he spoke. His eyes were shut tightly before he thrust himself back against the pillow, one hand moving downward to drag the comforter up atop his torso. A chuckle was heard from the bathroom as the door opened, revealing Archer with a towel draped over his shoulder. Archer took in a depth breath, the darkened skin of a long-healed would across his chest flexing with the inhalation; Archer had received the wound years ago from a scorching blast of shrapnel delivered by a rocket.
"Up and at 'em, Ben." Archer grinned, pulling the towel from his shoulder and swinging it. The towel smacked against the comforter and pushed it off of Havok's leg, whom groaned loudly and folded his head under the pillow. Drawing his hand back, Archer tossed the towel onto the bed beside him.
"Fuck you!" Havok barked again, digging himself farther into the pillow. Archer sighed and let a grin break his face as he reached into his small bag; withdrawing a white button up and an undershirt, Archer reached forward and pushed Havok's leg. The young man groaned before rolling over.

"Ben, get your ass up or a shoot you." Archer said, reaching for the handgun he had left on the nightstand when the duo had arrived in their hastily purchased motel room. Havok remained silent as Archer shook his head. Standing up, Archer clenched the sidearm in his hand as his other wrapped around the mattress and quickly pulled it upward. The force would throw Havok off the the bed, the mattress quickly falling over on top of him and creating a loud crashing noise. Havok would be awoken abruptly and forcefully, as Archer gingerly plucked a ring of keys to the small sedan parked somewhere in a parking lot outside.






London, several hours later


"Place looked pretty nice ... " Havok managed; his thumb tugging at the coarse spin-wheel of the small lighter. With a soft click; a flame sprang from the metal housing, fueled by the soft hiss of lighter fluid within the confines of the metal casing. Benjamin inhaled sharply several times, coaxing the burning flame onto the tobacco and wrapping material as the dried mass sprang to brightness.
"Yeah yeah." Archer groaned; the small trunk door of the sedan opened, any prying eyes would notice the several assault rifles in padded containers in the bowl of the trunk. Archer reached a quick hand into the confines of the trunk, withdrawing a small handgun and quietly placing it into a small holster. Havok spoke abruptly as he noticed his older friend and the handgun.
"Y'know they're gonna' pick that out, right? They aren't that stupid -- you remember those loonies we fought in Turkey -- yeah man, EPC." Havok boasted; shuffling a shoulder to the side to point toward the tall building just across the street from the parking garage.

"Yeah, well I don't want to rely on you if they start shooting." Archer growled; friendliness evident in his tone somewhat. Havok smiled calmly, the cigarette held within tight lips as he outstretched his palm toward Archer.
"Gimme' somethin' too, I don't want to rely on your shooting either." He returned. Archer sent his younger comrade a harsh look before he plucked another handgun from the confines of the sedan and cemented its location into Havok's open palm. His hand folded around the grip of the pistol, and in a split second it appeared as if it had become an extension of the man himself. Ben leaned his hand forward and aimed down the barrel of the pistol; with a soft sigh Havok spat away the burning cinders of the cigarette, the small object bouncing against the concrete wall of the parking garage as he quickly fell in behind Archer.


"So what're we doing exactly?" Havok said as he idly slid the weapon into his belt line, moving his jacket over his hip in an attempt to conceal it as best as possible. Archer continued his brisk walk; the open morning skies of Buckley exchanged for the hazy mid-morning fog of London. As the duo neared the small gate, a security guard nodded to the two men.
"We're seeing if any needs some hired help -- I hear they're cracking down on Psychies here."
"Sounds like a plan."

"Well, you would already know it by now, wouldn't you?" James answered coldly, trying to ignore the headache that was building up. First they took away his kill, then they pester him with headaches.. He wondered if they truly was on his side at all. Primus side, a small voice told him and he nodded. At least they had both a common interest; to ensure the goals of Primus would succeed. A small comfort, he thought as he looked around the back alley.

"There is a few ESPers in the area, mostly sleeping" he started, reciting what he had learned so far. "The EPC is here too, and I bet my head there is a few shrouds here as well."

He took up his phone and opened up the bookmark of the Z-subjects. "Do we have a confirmed location of any of these, away from here? Or could it be anyone?" He read quickly the headlines of the first subject, noticing the header Location: having a big red 'UNKNOWN' as it's only content. A quick check on a few others confirmed his suspiciousness; all of the Z-Subjects' locations were unknown. He put the phone back into his pocket.

"Then I suppose we should split up. If you head towards the right," he said and pointed down to where the EPC probably would be, "you might pick up what the EPC know of the Z-Subject's whereabouts." He paused and closed his eyes for a moment, "I'll take the rooftops, see if I can find him from there. And stop with that at once," he said rubbing his temple. "We're at the same team, remember that. Have some respect for your superior!"

Addie emerged from the grocery store with a little smile on her face. The older gentlemen that owned the place had been a jolly man with pictures of his kids to show her. He had let her use his phone to call a friend to pick her up, assuring her that people got dumped at the bus depot all the time. She had bought a chocolate bar with what little money she happened to have in her pocket, and she unwrapped it as she exited the store.

She had told her friend to pick her up right outside the little shop, and she intended to sit on the curb to wait, but as she left the building she could hear static voices in her head that did not sound happy. She was disoriented for a moment and stood still, feeling like she might faint from the sudden influx of nearby ESP use. When the voices faded for a moment she realized that she was standing at the mouth of an alley right by the grocery store, and she was looking in on a scene that she was probably not supposed to witness.

Three men were standing there, conversing. One was holstering a gun and another had his eyes closed with his hand to his temple, as if he were concentrating on something. She was about to tiptoe away when she saw a man in hooded sweatshirt, lying unconscious in a heap of wastebins. Her body stiffened and froze in fear and the chocolate bar that head been poised at her lips fell to the ground with a soft plop. She turned and ran as fast as she could towards the long line of buses parked across the street, hoping to hide there until her ride arrived, praying that she hadn't just drawn her friend into a dangerous situation.

As she ran behind the first bus she realized her mistake. She had dropped her chocolate bar behind. She had not eaten or slept in at least three days, she wasn't sure how long, and her brain was starved of the glucose it desperately needed. Her poor liver couldn't keep up with producing the glucose while the rest of her body worked to catabolize her fatty acids, and she started to feel light-headed. Her legs slowed their pumping, she leaned against the side of the bus, and then she passed out, falling hard and smacking her face off the pavement.

The quiet sound of the footfalls of a child seemed amplified in the silence of the street, echoing as the girl made her way down the center of the road, skipping while singing quietly to herself. A gust of wind disturbed her tattered red dress as she walked, chilling enough to make even the detached and distant girl shiver, before gazing up at the dark sky. It was the beginning of morning, but the sky was still dark with clouds - it would be a stormy day today, it seemed.

As if on cue, a raindrop fell from the sky to land on the pale girl's cheek, her dark brown eyes blinking as a light drizzle began to fall, quickly wetting her hair and clothing.

'You should find somewhere to take cover.'

The benevolent and kindly voice spoke in Erin's mind, bringing a smile to her youthful features as she nodded briskly, glancing from side to side in search for the shelter she had been told to find. To her left, near the other end of the street she was standing in, stood a line of buses, possibly indicating a bus shelter she could sit in till the rain subsided. Erin began to run toward them, her shoes splashing in the shallow puddles that were already forming on the road, her hands moving to shelter her head from the rain as best she could. As she rounded one of the buses, however, she stopped, blinking curiously.

Before her, a young woman lay face down, her red hair falling limply to the ground, the rain soaking her through despite the oversized lab coat she wore. Erin peered at her curiously for a moment, blinking twice.

'Just leave her, Erin. You need to get somewhere warm.'

For once, Erin ignored the voice, her expression perplexed. She felt a relation to the girl, probably something to do with their similar small stature, and as such Erin decided that she was going to help her. This was a somewhat alien concept to the girl, who hadn't helped anyone but herself for several years, but it seemed the right thing to do at the time. And if she was unappreciative, well then, Erin could just kill her later.

Walking over to the girl, Erin leant down and hooked her arms under the woman's armpits and started to drag her toward the bus shelter. This was somewhat ineffectual, however, as Erin was anything but physically strong. And so, with her usual disregard for if any other ESPers were nearby, Erin activated her telekinesis ability to lift the woman's form and levitate her alongside her as she walked to the bus shelter, where she lay her out on one of the benches before taking a seat herself, humming quietly as the rain drummed on the roof of the shelter.

Location: Somewhere in Central London.

"'ey 'ey", the fat, slovenly man spoke with a mouth full of saliva and a hint of hesitation, "Its shocking how quick you work kid.". He was of course, talking to Michael. The time was early morning and the streets were slowly congesting as pedestrian traffic built whilst people travelled to work - mind you, Michael had already finished his - paying no heed to the news stand that didn't ever seem to actually sell anything, or Michael, who always seemed to be there at the same time.

With a soft, inaudible sigh, Michael placed a thick brown nondescript package upon the counter of the news stand, much to the raised eyebrow of the fat man, "I thou-", he began before Michael raised his hand to cut him off. "The plan changed, your contractor paid me to delivery it at normal rates, if he wanted me to delivery it under those conditions, he'd of paid more.", Michael spoke pointedly and one could guess by the topic of discussion as the talk continued was somewhat illegal.

After much bickering between the two and a more than ample threat from Michael pertaining the safety of the fat - and balding - man if he didn't pay him for at least trying, "I'll remind you just why you asked me to do this in the first place, pops.", the threat was clear as the merchandise around the news stand, which was clearly just for show being heavily outdated began to rattle on their pegs and racks. "Alright... alright I'll pay."

~

A few minutes later, Michael was in the process of his usual route home, an unmarked envelope in his pocket containing an undisclosed amount, considering the job wasn't done. "Sigh...", he spoke aloud, eyes fixed on the heavens as his feet carried him automatically around the twists and turns of these old London roads that had managed to survive the second blitz, "I hate it when I can't finish a job but... killing isn't something I can do for money... this job isn't either, but nothing else was available that would pay enough... hmph."

Food, rent, basic needs were all things Michael had to consider and with the fact he was eighteen of age with no education - in consideration - it was rather hard to get a job to support all of that. Also in the back of his mind he reminded himself of other reasons money was in dire need. He had to make sure that he had enough money to up and leave London and move somewhere with the others if the need arose, false passports and documents to keeping information on the internet of himself low key. Shaking his head in frustration, he idly watched as a group of lads idly walked past with not a care in the world.

Grumbling, "I wish life could become simpler...", simple would involve a normal life, a nine to five job and no fear of hidden cameras and surveillance teams tracking you. The mere thought began to make him cautious, he knew the EPC were aware of him from earlier, he could guess that other groups weren't far behind. It was like a deadly game of cat and mouse that they had played for the past six years, the mouse needless to say was intelligent enough to escape the cat. Memories turned to watching an antique episode of Tom and Jerry before focusing back on getting home without being found.

Which was incidentally what happened next as Michael rounded a corner towards his apartments, having taken a different route than he had left to get back, one could say he was a little surprised. There was a small retinue of EPC MHR (Meta-Human Retrieval) personnel in the area, watching exits and entrances... and him. Michael kicked the ground as he flung himself back in the direction he had came and the squad was already in chase.

He had to think fast and keep moving, he told himself, these soldiers would be unrelenting and while he knew they would not harm him - much -, he did not fancy the idea of being a bird in a cage to gawk at in their 'labs'. They wouldn't kill him, but if it was needed for defending himself, Michael would kill them. However, such thoughts had little place in his mind as his focus shifted, the pavement in front of him exploded into dust as one of those behind him gestured.

This was bad, Michael decided internally, he guessed at least half of them had ESP. Which undoubtedly meant nearby EPC members had been alerted and planned to be ahead of him without any verbal command. Their tactic he had experienced was often to pen the target in and force it to submit. Michael had neither will nor wish for such to happen as he barrelled sideways into a doorway of one of the terraced houses on the side of the street he was on. Using ESP to cushion the impact and splinter the door, he knew the layout of these buildings fairly well as he continued straight forward.

Crashing out of the doorway of the terrace on the next street over, Michael quickly glanced back at the hole he had created between the two houses and the stares of the shocked occupants which to his amusement, began grabbing at the EPC for an explanation. Continuing to run, he knew the distraction was but a few seconds and he had to gain distance and distance he would gain. With a small intake of breath, Michael became a blur as he moved down the street, leading the chasers further away from his apartment he hoped and the others within.

Anyone with half their ESP senses would be able to detect the rapid usage of ESP energy as Michael sped away, no doubt would the EPC scanners be following his every movement. Good, Michael knew it. If all the eyes were on him then none would be on his friends he decided to himself.

The phone called just as James flung himself violently up the side of the nearest building. He turned and yelled back at the twins to wait a second, and checked the called. Primus.. He pressed the green answer button, a bit nervous about what this new interference could be and answered the call.

"Agent James.."

"Good. I'll be quick: We have intercepted new transmissions from the EPC. They are currently engaged in combat with a Z-Subject and we think we have confirmed that this is indeed Subject Zero."

"You decoded the transmissions?" Jason enquired the voice on the other line. It was computerized and lagged a great deal, a sign of heavy encryption. Even his high tech cell had problems decoding it fast enough.

"We are still decoding it. The EPC raised their encryption levels after the initial encounter."

"Where are Subject Zero then?" Jason asked and made a thumb up sign to the two brothers to indicate it was good news.

"We are still decoding it, but if I know the EPC well enough it's just to follow the noise and destruction." There was a pause, and the voice returned briefly. "Hold on."

James used the brief pause to converse the news to Jason and Mason.
"We have a confirmation of the subject; it's the zero subject and he's currently engaged in combat with the EPC," he said, almost shouted from the rooftop. The voice returned.

"We have confirmed Shroud agents in London. They probably know about you as well, so be careful. Primus out."

He opened his bookmark and checked the profile for Subject Zero. Male, 19 years, of C level... A drop of water hit the screen of his phone. A sly smile spread on his face as another drop fell.

"Shroud is on the move. You are to find them, and stop them from obtaining the subject. I'm off for the Zero Subject!" He yelled down to the brothers as the sky erupted into a shower. He turned and faced the downtown. The rain should not hinder him that much.

A small shockwave disrupted the water droplets as James teleported onto the next roof. From there he used telemovement to race through the roofs, searching for any disruption of ESP. Surely the EPC had a few ESP users with them, with their minds set to kill. Reading their ESP should not be hard, not when they were after such a fine price. He continuously pushed the water away from him to avoid getting wet as he raced through the roofs, alternating between short telemovements to levitation. He smiled again as he felt a touch of a bunch of negative charged ESP users. Clearly a battle was going on somewhere ahead.

She woke up disoriented with a pounding headache. She was so tired that it was difficult to open her eyes. This wasn't the first time she had passed out when her blood sugar went wild after days of unintentionally starving herself. She was always bone tired afterward. She no longer cared about eating, she just needed to sleep.

It was a few seconds before she pieced together what she had been doing right before she passed out. Cracking one eye open revealed a big blue bus, and it all came rushing back: the men in the alley, her sprint across the street, and the danger that she was probably still in. She widened her telepathic connection with the world but there was mostly just noise; the men must not be after her, or she would hear them close by and louder than the surrounding medium.She was relieved that the men had not been a threat after all. She had probably imagined half of the danger in her exhausted state, and now she felt silly about running away and hurting herself.

Hurting herself. Her face did hurt, she realized. She must have smacked it off the pavement, which was weird because now she was lying on her back. She cracked her right eye open just a bit further, moving her body in tiny, millimeter increments to see if she had seriously damaged anything while the yellow bus moved by slowly. When she realized what she was seeing, her eyes shot wide open. That was a different bus. Christ! They're driving around me while I lay here!

She started to roll to her side and her stomach lurched, despite how empty it was. Her equilibrium went wild as she looked down toward the ground. At first all she saw was the ground a meter below her while she stayed perfectly still, almost flat on her back with her head turned to the side and the ground moving by in her peripherals. The buses weren't moving, she was.

Next she noticed the little girl in the ragged red dress. The child was small and walking along beside her. It wasn't until Addie noticed that her hair was wet and plastered to her head that she realized that it was raining, big plops of water dropping down on her face and turning her lab coat transparent. The ESP radiating from the girl was obvious, though she wasn't transmitting her thoughts because Addie would have picked them up easily. Did she know this kid?

Addie couldn't react to the little girl and her levitation. She didn't know where the girl was taking her, but she was so bone-deep tired that she couldn't muster enough energy to do anything. Her brain was so devoid of fuel she wasn't even thinking clearly, and as usual, passing out had rendered her completely useless. Her face hurt bad, especially her right temple, and she wanted to reach up to probe the spot gently. Instead she closed her eyes and pretended that she was still passed out, to lazy to try for a better plan of action.

She felt the instant that the rain stopped plunking on her and cracked open and eye to see that she had been brought to the bus shelter. She felt the bench press against her back gently as she was laid down. She only waited a moment before moving to sit up slowly, turning to face the small girl who was now humming. "Hi there. I um...thank you for taking me out of the rain. What's your name?" She talked in a barely audible voice, as usual, and changed her tone to the soothing, sing-song voice that was commonly used with children and small pets. Those few quick sentences were probably the most she had said aloud, rather than telepathically, in quite sometime, and they felt funny in her throat. The tickle made her laugh softly, and the little giggle brought her back to her normal self.

NEA, London, Riverfront

That was then. This was now. Owen had switched out his civilian clothing for milspec HEC (Hazardous Extraction Condition) coveralls and infrared viewer goggles. His new attire reflected the increased severity of the mission; Primus and Shroud were getting too close to what they wanted.

Now he engaged his powers of tele-movement to flit from rooftop to rooftop, following the psychic emission signature of subject zero. All psychics had a unique "thumbprint" that identified them as themselves. The Zero Subject's physic signature was wholly unique, jagged, reflecting its experimental nature.

Then he found it. The portable ESP detector he carried with him confirmed a match, heading his way, intercept in four minutes.

"LONDONCOMM, I have located Zero Subject. I'm moving in now, over." He said into his headpiece.

"Copy that Ramsey, we're dispatching an extraction team now, over.

"Understood, break radio contact, over." He barked.

Acting quickly, Owen teleported into an apartment's bathroom and grabbed several aerosol cans from his backpack. He took each one in succession and meticulously coated himself in a reddish-blue foam. The foam quickly condensed into a gelatinous membrane, one which one would move and flex with his body. It would mask his ESP signature, absorbing and reflecting energy it boiled it away.

He teleported to the roof. As the Zero Subject glanced upwards at the whoosh of air he slammed himself prone into the ground. Rolling over the casements, he dropped, crouched onto the fire escape and un-slung his electro-arc rifle, a stunner without contacts.

Owen dropped to the fire escape's second level with electro-arc rifle cradled against his side. He hoisted up the rifle and lined up his sights, hedging his bets that the Zero Subject hadn't seen him. Then he fired. The air buzzed monetarily, alive with thousands of volts of electricity coursing through an ionized plasma bloom.

Jason simply smirked, saying "Stop doing what, oh gracious leader? We are merely providing you with a momentary distraction from what is at hand. But if you wish for us to stop then

we most certainly will. We of course are always here to serve you and the glory of Maseen piped in

Primus.

Maseen had finished examining the gun from the thief. It was a simple gun with an elegant design. From its look it appeared to be a GLOCK 19. It would not help against the EPC but would certainly work against the subject if his back was turned and he was unconscious. He then smirked, checking the cartridges to see if they were fully load. They were, which made Maseen and Jason both give off a sickly smirk at the same time. Both of the brothers then turned briefly. They had both sensed someone using ESP. However they could not pursue the source as use of the ESP had come right in the middle of the street. They would have to pursue the person later. However they also sensed someone very weak near the stronger ESP user. They would have to track both.

As James was talking, both Maseen and Jason gathered the information and stored inside their brains. However they were focused on grabbing two tracking devices that were both tied into Primus' satellite network. They were manufactured to look like simple insects and were so small they were almost unnoticeable. So Maseen and Jason both levitated the two tracking devices, Maseen sending his after the stronger ESP user while Jason sent his after the weaker one. But after James had disappeared, Jason activated his omni-masking ability. This would mask Maseen's presence while Jason followed him.

Both brothers immediately knew what the plan was. They were not simply going to split off in a different direction looking for Shroud Agents. They would shadow James and they would pick up any Shroud agents that attempted to pick James or the Subject off. Hopefully they would also be the ones responsible for the Subject's capture which might elevate them in Primus' standing. So just after James teleported away, Maseen and Jason did the same. While Maseen was using his telemovement, Jason had to concentrate on masking Maseen's presence. If any agents did pick up on Jason, they would see a defensive user and would be less likely to attack. Both the twins sensed James' presence and continued to follow him, hoping they would catch the prize and be recognized for it.