Quake's Formation (2)

As Fico and I entered the cafeteria, I adjusted my shirt after we made our way toward a table full of other people.

"Guys, this is Cole, our newest member. Cole, this is Austin and Amy, Zeka, Kire, and Arashi," Fico told me. When she called out Austin and Amy, she only pointed to one person... which weirded me out.

"Fico, should you really be recruiting new people? What can this guy even do?" Zeka spoke up first.

Zeka looked childish, with unfamiliar hair color that appeared to be natural and simple blue eyes, he sat with a black tank top and blue pants to bring some other color into his character.

"Don't be fooled, Zeka. You don't look useful either," The man named Kire said.

Kire looked to be the oldest of the group, and he spoke in quick sentences. He had fiery orange hair and orange eyes to match, wearing a black vest and a yellow shirt underneath.

"Come on you two! No fighting around guests!" Austin flamboyantly said. Austin... wasn't wearing a shirt, and had a scarf covering the majority of his chest. He wore purple hair and a small beard at the bottom of his chin to match, along with a scar over his only uncovered eye.

"Can it old man! Okay, show us what you can do, Cole!" Zeka shouted out with his arms crossed. I was about to speak up to clear the atmosphere, but Fico put her arm in front of me and shook her head.

"He doesn't have any of his memories, he doesn't know what he can do yet. I'd rather not traumatize him, so let's take him to our headquarters where I can explain everything," Fico said, leading us all with a wave of her hand.

Everybody, no matter how conflicted they might've sounded, listened to Fico as soon as she told them what to do. They even left me alone, walking right past me to listen to their leader.

I reluctantly followed behind, scanning my surroundings.

The place looked well-kept and neat, but the thing that bothered me the most was that there were no other people around.

There was no dust, no skid marks, no hint of anything turned over or messed up... it was all perfect.

"Fico, where are we? How many people live up here with us?" I asked.

She seemed to think it was a normal question, as we were alone, yet everything was so perfect here. I couldn't understand the environment, and barely understood the people on this new team I was a part of now.

"We are the only ones up here. The difference is, we don't leave behind any traces. It's programmed into our Strand-Bodies, which leads me into a perfect discussion. I wanted to wait a little bit until your mind wouldn't collapse on itself, but your body, your mind, your everything is fake. The real you died four hundred years ago, and this body of yours is purely Strands," Fico explained.

…What?

I stood silent, just following behind everybody while trying to understand what she meant by her explanation.

"When you're in a Strand-Body like we all have, we are built like a different species. We don't age, we don't shed skin that turns to dust, we don't lose our looks as time goes on, we just don't suffer the same things as those Humans and Arkians. Beings meant to last, that's all we are. We're built-in with Incarnations, special abilities that amplify our weak points. In your past life, you were killed by Sky Asterio, and on your DNA Information sheet, your Incarnation became the perfect counter to that death," Fico explained.

"Incarnation of Healing. An Incarnation that permanently restores your body to a single point when damage occurs. Such a powerful ability, don't you think, Cole?" Fico asked me.

That ability did sound really good... any damage dealt to me wouldn't matter in the end. But, I did have a question about that.

"That's stupid. If we all died or were killed by Sky Asterio, then why don't we all have that ability?" Kire asked.

That happened to be my question as well.

"It's in the way you were killed. Sky Asterio killed everybody here, but he didn't just kill Cole. He tortured him, healed him with his own Strands, and continued to do so until he got bored with him. Until Cole adapted to the pain. Only then did he put the hammer down and end his life. Cole's Strand-Body reacted, and now has the most powerful Incarnation. Sky Asterio's mistake is his relentless rage," Fico admitted.

"Who is this man exactly? I hear so much about him, and you all hate him... is he actually important? Or is this just blown out of proportion?" I asked, but it seemed to be a sensitive topic.

"Every story has its villain. I know you don't remember much, but there isn't a story without a villain. All stories are built-in with it. The story of our lives, our timelines, our generations... that villain is Sky Asterio. We're all victims of his wrongdoings, and everybody, even on Earth, sought to kill him for as long as he's been alive. We're no different, but we're closer than the others," Fico stated.

"I'll help you guys defeat this man, but if we're all created and not resurrected, why do you hate him so much, and why do I feel nothing?" I asked yet again. This time around, Austin spoke up.

"Boy, you are new to this world. You haven't felt the effects of what Sky has done, you shouldn't feel anything for him now. Once you're awake for longer and feel what he's done to our lives, you'll start to hate him as well. That, and everybody close to him," Austin explained.

"I think I get it now... but, what happens when we kill him?" I asked more questions and visibly irritated everybody standing around Fico.

"Then we win, what else? We can fix the world he poisoned," She stated.