Mirage of Hope

Its been so long since the last time I was sent down there, i've lost countless number of lives while fighting and I just couldn't handle it anymore. After discovering their existence we dedicated all our efforts to training and fighting off those creatures, we discovered that the six of us who survived the attack five years ago were somehow infected and now our genes are mutated.We have this abilities that once we used, we can sometimes be destructive. Carlos and Clark, the two doctors who survived with me, were able to come up with equipments and materials that could lessen our destructive abilities, making us the number one weapon of humanity. Day after day, we were sent down to fight off those demons, protecting and saving those other humans who volunteered to come with us and help us achieve our goal.

Honestly, we could have denied all requests from our current leaders but instead we kept on going like some lap dogs following their masters and that's because we have hopes, hopes that we'll find the rest of our team. We made ourselves believe that they too survived the wave and might have also acquired abilities such as we did, but those are all wishful thinking. I kept seeing my old teams faces, always calling out for my name and sometimes I wake up drenched in cold sweats and my abilities going haywire and causing tons of trouble for some people. Thats why some feared us, they think we might become some kind of a creature that would attack them if we ever get a chance. I can't blame them though, if I was in their shoes I might feel the same way.

For now, I asked the lieutenant to give me a little break from all the fighting. Doctor Carlos told me that I've been showing signs of depression and panic attacks are like my second best habit. The last fight I had with those creatures took a toll on me, I wasn't able to protect the people that was with me, just like what happened before. I blamed myself and caused some people a great deal of worry.

Since I did sign a temporary break from the frontlines, I can't just do nothing and become a parasite. So as someone with a little background of the very reason we are stuck in the space station, I had to continue with my research for a cure and hopefully a way for us to revive Earth and make it a place for humans again.

"And here you are!" The door to my room 'slash' my lab, slides open revealing a furious friend whom I am yet to introduced.

"Trina, to what do I owe the pleasure?! By the way thank you very much for disrupting my in depth focus, now all my train of thoughts went too…toooot" I draw points on air just to prove my point.

"Well I don't really care what runs inside your head. But you need to come with me because unless I deliver you to the lieutenant, my heads on the line! That I CARE ABOUT" Trina grabs my hand then drags me out of my abode. She was panicking, that I can tell, though I'm not really sure why she's acting like this since I did finish every job the lieutenant wanted me to do.

Trina's like my personal assistant, only that she doesn't do the normal assistant stuff, her only job is to actually make sure that I appear whenever summoned. And being one of the EL30 means being summoned all the time!.

"Glad you could make it X! We thought you killed yourself again!" Carlos teases as soon as they all saw me enter the lieutenants office. I didn't say much as I sat next to Dave, also one of the mutated, meaning one of the EL30. I look back to Carlos and childishly gave him the finger. Something they are all used to seeing from me. Everyone laughed but they all turned down when the lieutenant finally showed up.

Lieutenant Broody, former member of the Presidents secret force but when chaos happened he became one of the tactical pillar of humanities survival. He's been leading EL30 since the whole ventures happened. But above all, he's just an old man trying to put collar on out necks.

"Kori, initiate private mode" Broody instructed to the AI of the ship.

"Private mode has been activated. Surveillance system are being blocked and monitored." Kori the AI confirmed.

"Now that we're safe from prying ears, I can now disclose to you something that's both shocking and a possible hope for all of us" Broody sighs before snapping his attention to the screen in front of the room. He seems tensed but also dignified. After all he doesn't really like showing weakness to anyone. Well he can't show weakness or the whole space station might just collapse.

"Meet our seventh member of EL30" Broody announces while he shows a picture of someone cute on the screen. Of course there was multiple gasps that echoed inside the room. "Before you guys ask me who this person is, listen to me first and every question you have in your minds will be answered. Yesterday at exactly o-eight hundred, I sent a team to gather supplies as scheduled when one of our trackers discovered his bleeding body along the pathway we use. They reported him almost dead but they saw the same marks as you guys have on his arms so they brought him here. Now he is healing in our med-bay, rapidly" Broody looked at all of us, then his whole attention was on me. The same me, that's still unable to say anything because aside from the fact that I am surprised with the news, I am also speechless because after so many years, ANOTHER HUMAN BEING SHOWED UP.

For many years we've been observing Earths situation and not once we're we able to scan humans roaming freely around the surface. This is a phenomenal record breaking change in our situation. He survived for so long down there, he could be the answer to all of our questions. Is there more of them? How did they survive? Where did they go?

I have so many questions but I'll just be too caught up at my own work that when I get to finally meet this guy, I'll probably forget everything I was curious about.

"Am I the only one freaking out right now?! Why are you looking so calm?" Charlene, but I call her Char, said in frantic voice. She's the other lady who survived with me and she happens to be one that has healing capabilities with her.

"Why don't you tell them what you told me Broody?" Jack said while giving a deadly stare on the Lieutenant. I raise my eyebrow at Broody, asking him to explain.

When I asked for a break, Jack volunteered to step in and lead the explorations, as he was already my second in command. He acts and decides just like me so I always know that everyone is safe as long as he is there when I am not around.

Jack usually reports everything to me so when he said something like that to Broody, I felt a little betrayed. Whatever his reasons are, he should have told me if something was up.

"Before you guys question me and strike me with your crazy powers let me at least explain what's happening?" Broody said in defense. I of course nod because I just don't like the idea of hearing just one side of the story. I learned from the past that knowing the whole story is important before going the next step. This things of the past are the ones I wish to change now, so I'm not going to just just decide the same way I did before. I at least know now the consequences of my actions.

"Continue then" Clark said in behalf of everyone, he is after all the calmest of all of us. He is the total opposite of Carlos, though I am much open to Carlos than him, still he is the only one that's calmest to us all. That's is why I call him Doc much often than Carlos.

"Few months ago, just before Xandra decided to take a break" Everyone looked at me at the mention of my name. I raise my eyebrow because I still have no idea where is this conversation going from. "When she led her last exploration together with Jack, one of the scans picked up a trace of another life form around the team, so we assumed that its one of those we don't associate ourselves with and alerted the team, ordering them to immediately return back to base. But as they were traveling back, we broaden the scales to know more of it and we confirmed that what we picked up was a residue of a human being."

I bit my tongue to stop it from swearing in front of my supposed to be superior, in fact I should probably let my lips lose and tackle him, he deserves to hear all the indecent words I want to call him right now because what he hid from us all this time is much worse than my indecency.

I refuse to accept, to believe, he would hide something this important to us after all the years we spent following and doing his orders, even at the expense of our own lives, we trusted him. I want to stab him with one of my forms but I still have enough respect to him to know that he can't die like that. I held on to my morals and waited for the rest of his bullshit to come up. That's the only way I could at least understand why he hid something so big.

"Discovering another life down there after all these years would change our lives, their existence would mean hope and salvation to all of us in this space. I swear I wanted to tell you everything but the superiors decided that it wasn't the right time and that we needed to know more. We can't let another false hope shift the believes of the people we swore to protect, we needed more evidence. But no matter how much we try to scan and locate, nothing of the same residue showed up and we were giving up" Broody lowered his voice and I nearly thought he was sincere.

Even so, he could have at least told me, I would have returned and pushed my way to every creature that blocks my way. If only he trusted me with this secret, I could have done something.

"We nearly gave up, up until three days ago, with the implants we left on Earth, we were able to pick up another set of life form. The mission led by Jack recently was to collect details and report. We told him about the human residue and made him sign a non-disclosure agreement. We wanted the operation to be flawless that's why and of course he was against it but he didn't really have a choice"

At this point I was clenching my fist, Broody crossed the line and he knows it. I entrusted him with my people, knowing that he'll never put them in a situation that would make them have to choose. But he did just that.

I looked at Jack and he had his head lowered while he clenches his own hand. He doesn't like hiding things from the team, we all do. We always tell each other everything because we trust each other. We already established a strong and unbreakable kind of trust and I know it bothers him that he had to keep something from us and that he had to risk his own principles for the sake of someone we thought would never make us do things we don't wish to do.

"I trusted you" I whispered, hoping that with my lowered voice, I could at least control the raging anguish inside me. I looked at Broody and I felt my eyes turned black, like literally black. Its how my element works anyways.

"X, calm down" Doc whispered back but I wasn't having it.

"One more word from you and I won't hesitate to kill you. We trusted you. How could you make one of us do something he is completely against. Yes, I was on a break but something this important should have been reported to me long ago. We've been going around collecting data and pushing ourselves to exhaustion so we could make another chance, hope, a livable place for everyone is this station. That's the goal! Remember?!" I reminded Broody and that made him lower his head. As I was the one who's completely connected to everyone, I felt all their anger making mine ten times more. I felt my element rising and ready to strike but I was controlling myself not to. I can't make a mess in here or I might destroy everything and that's not good for the people living in the station.

Doc helped me calm down and instructed everyone to also calm their emotions as I could feel them all.

"If he is one of us then it is only right that I take him in…" Broody tried to speak but I raised my hand allowing my element to flow out and form a sharp black blade extending towards Broody. My element is after all every deadly weapon you can think of. "Try and provoke me Broody and you wouldn't like what I'll do next. He is one of us and there is no one better to understand him than us." I had to raise my voice so he'll understand that there is no reasoning out of this situation. He can shove his reason to his ass.

"I also agree with Capt. We can help the newbie understand his skills more, if not, we could basically help him feel that he is not alone. God knows what he experienced down there. He might have thought he's the only one that's left and gave up." Carlos spoke while also pressuring Broody with his gaze.

Broody made that so familiar expression whenever he has something to say and I'm just few of the people who know him this much. If I wasn't so mad at him right now, I would just have kid around his expression and make him confess, however I am mad at him and I wasn't going to leave without making him spill everything.

"What is it? You know something else so you better start talking." Broody exhales, then he clicks something to change the picture on the screen.

"We think there's more of you down there, we managed to pick the same heat signature of our john doe here and we strongly believe that there could still be survivors who could have the same powers as you." He continues, before clicking again and showing us the current map of Earth.

There used to be different countries to which we recognize as our nation, but with the explosion and rapid development of different land forms, those nations, countries, now dissolved into one place with no differences, no sorts of distinction. We now call this vast piece of land as Zone Zero.

"We all know that over the years, we assumed that this piece of land is filled with radioactive rays that's preventing us from fully living down there or for anyone with same anatomy and physiological functions. The oxygen levels are high but the so as other elements that are harmful to normal human. However, we have reasons to believe that some may have survived and managed to create their own immunity down there." Broody then changed the picture in front of us and now we are looking at the current latest scan coming from the remaining land. There was a small area that's been masked with the same signatures as our newest member.

My heart beats fast and I could feel my blood rushed in every corner of my body. Theres that mixture of hope and fear inside me, to which I cannot explain without feeling the urge to hurl.

All this time, there's been more of us down there, thriving and living with the creatures we fear most. This could be another window we can pry to. Hope filled my heart but my mind's too busy thinking about saving those that are in trouble down there.

I know my team feels the same and if I ask them to risk their lives to save those stuck in Zone Zero, they without a doubt would pack up and go down. However, I am still responsible for their lives and I do not wish to just send them to a place without proper knowledge. I will need to wait for our John Doe to wake up. He holds the key to another pandora's box and I am not letting anyone else, handle the matter.

"I understand now. As of this day, consider my break over. Every tiny detail that concerns EL30 will be handed to me and you can't say no or I swear you'll regret it. I don't care about you or the superiors of this place, I only care for my people. I expect all necessary report to be in my lab by the end of the day. The medical bay will hand John Doe's profile to Clark and Carlos. No one else is allowed to experiment on him unless allowed and proven needed by Clark and Carlos. Do you hear me Lieutenant Broody?"

I said my words with finality, I do not wish for more arguments. My only thoughts right now are the safety of my people and that includes our John Doe.

Defeated, Broody could only nod at my words and after awhile he excused himself. I was left with the rest of my team and Trina. Trina is not like us, but she knows everything since it begun and she's my best friend, she's part of this team too.

I look at each of my troops. We were little in number, unlike the rest of the troops formed in the station. But even with small number, we could beat their assess if they decide to attack or apprehend us. After all, I was clear with my intentions earlier with Broody, if he crosses again, I am going to declare war with my superiors and he knows this.

"Doc, can you see to it that our guy gets the proper treatment he needs to survive. Bring Charlene with you, maybe with her healing capabilities, we could speed up his healing process. That is if its okay with you Char?" I asked Charlene but she was already nodding without saying a word. I could only give her a smile, I could always count on her,

"What about me? I though you want me to handle this situation with Carlos?" Clarks curiously asks.

"Yes and no. I want you to focus on gathering more information about those who are possibly living down there. You'll be working with Jack on this one since he already knows the rest of the details mentioned earlier." I look at Jack and he still looks guilty. I could feel his regret rising and so is his element.

The wave we encountered five years ago gave us this power, gifts as the superiors would call it, but for us they were curses. We all received different forms of powers that we eventually called our element. Jack's element is more on the aggressive side, he can manipulate his body to turn into any sort of metal he sees fit with the situation. He could mostly turn himself into some kind of a metal person that nothing could pierce through, well almost nothing, my element is the only thing that pierces through him. To all of them.

"Jack look at me?" I ordered, he was hesitant but he did raise his head to look at me. "I am not mad nor disappointed at how you handled my absence, we trained together and I trust you. You endured this far so don't regret anything. We can still do something and that's what important right now. Do you understand me?" I asked him in my most calmest tone even when I could feel all of his emotions.

"I understand" I briefly answered followed by wave of serenity in both our connection.

"Dave you'll be helping me fix our new guy a place to stay. Doc call me as soon as he wakes up. We still don't know what his element is, our only hope of safety is if I manage to connect with him." Doc nods at my words, understanding the situation we are in.

Years ago, when we woke up and realize that we hold powers that could potentially hurt everyone around us, we swore to never wield it without knowing how to properly contain it. We studied ourselves and day by day was torture for all six of us. I managed to control my powers first and when I did, somehow, I also managed to help the team control theirs by channeling all of my feeling to them.

We managed to connect or link our emotions and feelings to each other so when one of us is in danger, we always know how to find them. However, that connection could be turned off when we wished to do so.

As I was able to successfully wield the demon inside me, I was also able to seclude my own emotions from the rest. Well I am more of tricking them, I still let them feel my emotion but not the real one. It's a little tricky but throughout the years, I have been masking my emotions. Its not intended but I once witness them not being able to handle my deepest feelings well.

After my command they all excused themselves to do their tasks, Dave and Trina stayed with me and it seems to me that they have something to discuss with me.

"What is it?" I asked in monotone.

"About accommodations?" Trina starts.

"What about it?"

"I don't think we'll be able to find a place to stay for the new guy." She said in her usual unsure tone. She also bit her lip when I faced her with questions in my expression, because what she just said, it's the last thing I needed to hear now.