5th Column Comics: Gaia #6
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Nightmares are the realm of Phobetor, the Greek God of Sleeping Fear, and as I lie between sleep and consciousness I see one face looking down at me. It’s not the grim visage of Daddy Wrong Legs, that fear is new and raw, this face is one I've seen for the last ten years, the face is my own. Elouise stands above me on a pedestal looking down at me, as Indigo City burns in the background. I know about the sterilisation process because I have used a variation of it myself, albeit my efforts were limited to blight forms in a laboratory, this will be different. And on that thought I open my eyes, the room I'm in swimming into view. It’s small, musty and sparsely furnished but it is not where I expected to be. Besides the bed I'm sitting on there is one chair with a fresh set of clothes, a godsend really since unlike my flesh they didn't heal from my earlier fight.
Stripping and quickly redressing I walk past a dust covered mirror and see a phantom face looking back at me. A face that represents youth, inexperience and naiveté all things I had long abandoned, and while I dislike it the assumptions linked to my appearance are weapons if used correctly. The clothes do indeed fit and are interesting; I had long since abandoned stuff such as the brown tank-top and tight black trousers long before joining Xiphos, and are functional enough to let me run and fight if need be. Leaving the room I walk straight into what looks like breakfast, the two figures looking up in surprise at my arrival.
“You’re awake?” A man, his hair greying to match his jacket and trousers asks. “Terra right?”
”Depends.” I reply. “Where is…”
“Relax our mutual friend is unable to hurt you here.” The man tells me. “This is May,” He states pointing to the oriental woman dressed in a hooded top and jeans, “and I am Doctor Clive Anderson.” He finishes as I look him up and down, my mind running through a list of former peers.
“The Doctor Clive Anderson?” I ask sceptically. “The famous entomologist?”
“Or infamous depending on your view.” Anderson replies as he gestures for me to sit down. “My work is less focused on insects these days and more on my daughter Sarah, she has changed.” I listen intently as I take a seat and take a bite out of a slice of toast. “She became a Zeta Level Carrier; I don’t expect you to know what that…”
“Zeta Class is a term for those Carriers whose powers cause themselves harm or negatively affect their lives.” I answer swiftly. “The majority of Zetas were put in special housing by the Carrier and Blight Task Force for ‘their’ own safety.” I add knowing that it was for a whole different reason to the wellbeing of the infected individuals.
“You should take your next dose Clive.” May tells her compatriot softly. “We don't need him here now.”
“Where is here, now and for that matter him?” I ask looking over to Doctor Anderson as he opens a case that was lying on the table top and removes a syringe.
“You are in a redoubt not far from where Clive found you.” May states as Clive shoots up. “You were asleep for a few hours after your initial meeting.”
“You stabbed me in the eye!!” Clive bellows, thick vinegary smelling foam leaking from his lips causing me to get to my feet in surprise. “I hunger!!”
“Clive calm down!” May orders as she walks over to him and places a hand on his head. “Be the man not the monster.”
“I…I understand.” Clive pants as he shakes his head. “I’m sorry about him, he gets a little excited when…well you saw.”
“I did.” I answer, “But I still want an explanation.”
“Well it’s quite simple; those Carriers who are Lambda Class or Zoomorphic face problems beyond a physical change. There is a mental readjustment as well. The closer a creature is to humanity on the evolutionary line, and the higher its mental state the less change there is to the Carrier’s mental state.” Clive pauses for a second and shakes his head again. “But my other form, it’s so far from human that it’s near impossible to control. Luckily there is a fix for that.”
My mind starts racing, had I just stumbled on a cure for the Carrier Gene, was an escape route from sterilization being dangled before me? Clive’s answer quickly puts an end to that. “Using a mineral injection I can turn off the Carrier Gene for about half an hour. It’s not much but it is something.”
“How does it work?!” I ask bluntly.
“The Carrier and Blight Task Force used a rare earth metal compound found in the wreckage of the Great Crash to create a gene suppressor to aid Carrier Control.” May explains as Clive closes the case. “But supply was limited so they created a man-made copy, inferior to the original model but still effective in the short term. When Clive discovered what it could do he formed a group to obtain and synthesize the blocking gene and that’s why he hired me. I know where to get anything and everything in this city.”
“This is amazing!” I state before reaching out to grab he case only to see Clive pull it away. “Oh you obviously forgot…”
“Forgot what?” Clive hisses, the smell of vinegar coming over his breath. “I know why you want this, what you want it for and it’s not for use. This is for Sarah and me!! Not you!” He snarled as his skin began to thicken.
“What are you two talking about?” May asks as she removes her hood to reveal a bald head crisscrossed with scars. “Clive I can see a new ‘fracture’ forming, you must relax less you loose control again.”
”This doesn't concern you Siwang!!” Clive hisses as his legs start flailing about as they extend. “This is one selfish; she wants to take what’s mine to save herself! Well I say people like her should burn!!”
“What’s he talking about?” May asks as she turns to face me, her face quizzical yet calm despite what is going on around her.
“Well it’s complicated.” I start to say as May turns to Clive before walking to the opposite end of the table to him and opening a closet. “There’s a company called Xiphos who…”
”ENOUGH LIES!!!” Clive bellows as his transformation finishes. “Tell her how you plan to burn every Carrier from the face of the city. Tell her how you only want the fix to save your own skin.” He hisses. “Tell her before I do what I should have done back in the Graveyard!” He snaps as I turn to look at May, her hands resting on a massive black compound bow, an arrow already notched and ready to be released.
“You heard him start talking.” May tells me calmly. “And start talking fast, his temper is nothing compared to mine.”
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