A hundred years ago mutation threw the world into chaos. Governments collapsed and many died before a new, worldwide, government took over and restored order. Peace replaced chaos, and was soon followed by rapid technological advancement which solved many of the world's problems. And what was the price of this peace, you might wonder? Just a little genocide, that's all. And all in the name of safety, and entertainment!
I heard someone yell, "Now!" and felt something hit my arm. The impact spun me around so I didn't see where it came from right away. As I was trying to get my balance back two of Crusher's goons crashed into me and tried to hold me down. Just what I need! My arm was really hurting, and I recognized the pain from the last time Crusher had managed to tag me with one of his energy blasts. I knew it would be suicide to try and fight back when I was already injured, so I flew up and smashed into the ceiling, knocking his cronies off of myself in the process, and shot off back to my room. Crusher and his goons can't fly, so I lost them easily.
When I got back to my room I hurried inside and hit the door plate to lock it once it closed. I felt a prick in my hand when I did, but ignored it. I knew I was due another test and was used to it. I'd been getting them every ten days for as long as I could remember.
All I could think when I saw the mess that was my arm was that it was a good thing I'm a Super or I probably would have lost it. There wasn't much bleeding, but half my arm was burned from the blast and it hurt like hell! I took off my ruined shirt and dumped it down the laundry chute. It looked like there might be some melted bits of my shirt still on my arm so I decided to take a shower and see if that helped it any. I threw the rest of my clothes down the chute and palmed open the tiny shower cubicle.
The shower seemed to help the pain some, anyway. Afterward I opened the clean laundry chute and pulled out fresh clothes and put them on. I didn't know if Crusher and his pals were waiting outside for me or not, so I decided to just lay down and relax for a while. There's not much else to do in my tiny 6'x6' room, anyway. As I lay there I wondered what happened to Carmen. I hoped Crusher hadn't gotten to her, too!
Worrying about Carmen wasn't helping the time to go faster, and I was too worked up to sleep. It was morning, anyway, so I wasn't that tired even with the attack. I decided to go out and make sure Carmen was alright, but just then the door shuddered from some kind of impact. I looked out the window in the door and saw Crusher getting ready to blast the door again! If he gets the door open I'll be dead in this cramped little room!
I jumped back from the door as Crusher blasted it again, but it held. Still, it was smoking and looked a little deformed. Crusher could probably get through it. It's just plastic, after all, though a really tough plastic. I braced myself to try and fly out as soon as the door went down.
After the fourth blast the door looked like it couldn't take anymore, but just as Crusher was charging up another blast Carmen slammed into him and sent him flying. "Get out of there Seb!" she yelled as Crusher's gang closed in on her. I palmed the door, but it wouldn't open. Oh well, guess I need a new door anyway. I kicked the door as hard as I could and it broke in half, both pieces flying out and hitting one of Crusher's goons.
"Where have you been?" I said as I slammed into another of the gang.
Carmen waited until she'd knocked another goon out before she said, "He had some of these idiots distract me so he could go after you. Watch out!" She grabbed me and pulled me away just in time to avoid another blast from Crusher. Without a word we glanced at each other and charged Crusher. It takes him a few seconds to charge up a blast, so if we could close the distance before then we could do some damage.
"I'll get you next time, Cole!" he snarled, and ran off. A couple of his gang were still conscious and picked up the others and ran off after him.
"Well, that was fun!" Carmen said. "Why were you hiding in your room, anyway?" I started rubbing my sore arm before I realized what I was doing and yanked my hand away. But not before Carmen noticed. "He got you, didn't he? How bad is it?"
"It's okay." I lied. I knew she wouldn't buy it, so I don't know why I bothered. She knows me too well!
"Yeah, right! That's why you ran instead of fighting Crusher. Come with me." It wasn't a request, so I meekly followed her. We had to go through the cafeteria to get to her room, since the doors connecting the male and female sleeping areas are always locked. No doubt the Commission intended to keep us apart, but they did a rotten job of it. It's not like any sane person would try to do anything, anyway. A Commission squad would be all over them in a heartbeat!
When we got to her room Carmen palmed the door open and drug me in, closing and locking the door behind us. I almost fell over inside as there was barely enough room to stand, but Carmen pushed me down on the bed anyway. She had me take my shirt off and took a long look at my arm. "It doesn't hurt much anymore." I offered hopefully. I really wanted to go to the Arena today, but Carmen wouldn't go for it if she thought I wasn't fit.
"You're lucky you didn't lose an arm! We're staying out of the Arena until this heals up." Carmen replied. Like I said, she knows me too well. "Did you wash it?" I nodded. "Well, at least you did that right. You know what Avatar always says, 'a clean wound is a healing wound'!"
I sighed and said, "Did you eat breakfast yet?"
Carmen nodded, "Yeah, I must have just missed you. I ate and then came looking for you. Want to go watch a match?"
"It's not the same." I grumbled. The Arena is the only place where there's room to really fly, that's why I love it so much. Even though I have to fight to go there.
Carmen helped me get my shirt back on and hugged me sympathetically. "I know, but it's something to do. We heal pretty fast, so you should be okay in a couple of days." she said. I shrugged and let her help me up. We flew over to the Arena block but had to start walking when we got there as it was too crowded with Flyers already.
"Domeside?" I asked hopefully. It's the best seat in the place to watch a match, and it's almost like flying being up there.
Carmen smiled widely at me and said, "Of course! Where else?" She wrapped her arm around my waist and we started up the sloped hall that goes to the top of the dome over the Arena. I would have returned the favor, but that was my injured arm and it was getting pretty stiff. Carmen must have realized that, as she slid around to my other side. So we made our way with our arms wrapped around each other and I forgot all about my injured arm for a while.
We always like to watch Arena matches at the top of the dome, or Domeside, as everyone called it. Not sure where that name came from, though. Probably from one of the olds who actually lived as adults outside the Arena before it was built. Most of them were long dead, but everyone used their words still.
The match was a standard 16 mutant free for all with only one winner. Prism was fighting, and won as usual. We laughed at some of the newbies, who obviously had no idea what they were doing. We'd had an advantage there; Avatar taught us about the Arena before we ever went in. One of the newbies got pretty torn up, but nobody died this time. We never talked about that, but we never killed anybody in the Arena. Prism is like that, too. That's one of the reasons he's so popular. That, and he kicks ass!
We were happy to see that Prism knocked Grim out of the fight early, that guy is so bloodthirsty most of his opponents end up dead or maimed. Prism collecting his prize was rather anti-climactic; he almost always wins. And the prize is always the same, ten credits for buying clothes or treats at the cafeteria. The clothes are all the same unless you buy better ones with Arena credits. That's where Carmen got the skirt she likes to wear so much. I haven't gotten around to using mine yet, but Prism never wears the standard uniform anymore.
After Prism's win was another standard match. Carmen and I leaned in when we noticed that Crusher and his gang were all in this one. Even better, so was Stellar! Stellar has the second best record in the Arena, and would be sure to kick Crusher's butt. I figured Crusher wanted to let off some steam after failing to get me, but hadn't counted on going up against Stellar!
I had mixed feelings after that match, though, because Serpent got a hold of one of Crusher's gang and bit him. He was dead before the match was even over from the poison in Serpent's fangs. Serpent's another one like Grim, he prefers to kill his opponents. I was sad that someone died during this match, but happy that it was one of Crusher's gang. But that made me feel guilty, too. I could tell from the look on Carmen's face that she felt the same way, and from the way she squeezed me harder after Serpent's bite. Stellar probably didn't like it either, as she slammed Serpent harder than she usually does.
"Let's go play a game for a while Seb." Carmen suggested as Stellar was accepting her prize. I nodded, and we helped each other up. We made our way to the Recreation Block and found an empty game room. The first two computers we tried weren't working, but we finally found a couple that would work and started up our favorite game. Like all of the games in the game rooms, it was an old, pre-mutant game. The multiplayer mode was called deathmatch, and most people played against each other. But just like in the Arena, Carmen and I play as a team.
We were just about to take down the boss monster for the level when I felt a sharp pain in my chest. It quickly spread throughout my entire body, and I started feeling hot, too. But just as quickly, it was gone again. While I was left panting and wondering what the hell had just happened, the boss monster killed me, and then Carmen too. "Hey Seb, what happened to you?" Carmen asked. I quickly got myself together before she turned her chair to look at me so she wouldn't get worried.
"Sorry, I guess I got a little distracted. Want to go again?" I said. She gave me a long look, but then shrugged and agreed. This time we got through the level without any problems.
We kept playing for about an hour before our grumbling stomachs convinced us to take a break. We headed over to the cafeteria and grabbed some food. We didn't worry too much about what it was, it was all equally flavorless. I was tempted to use a credit for something better, but I'd rather get better use out of them than that. Maybe if I got as many as Stellar or Prism I could splurge like that.
We talked about the Arena matches over lunch. That got us wanting to go back, so we dumped our trash and left. Just outside of the cafeteria we ran into Emanuel. He stopped and stared oddly at Carmen and I, then turned and walked away. "Well, that was weird." I said with a nervous laugh as we headed over to the Arena.
"I wonder what that was about..." Carmen said thoughtfully. She glanced at me and I shrugged. "I guess it's to be expected of Emanuel. They say it's because he's crazy that nobody messes with him."
That was a new one to me. "Really? I'd heard that he had some hidden power that allowed him to make fools of even the toughest mutants." I said.
"Well he's weird, whatever he is. Let's go see what's going on in the Arena." Carmen said. I nodded and we continued on up to the dome and got ourselves settled again. I could sit up here in her arms all day!
"Woah, look at that!" Carmen said as a new match began. I nodded, this was no ordinary match! There were 32 fighters this time, and they were fighting in teams! Usually this wasn't allowed. The only reason the Commission let Carmen and I do so is because we're so evenly matched that when we fight against each other there's never a clear winner. That was how we met, in fact.
What was really interesting was that one of the teams was Prism and Stellar! "Is this really even a fight?" I asked when I noticed them walking in together.
"Uh, yeah, I think it might be!" Carmen replied, pointing out another team I hadn't noticed yet.
"Wow, is that Pentacle and Enchantress, working together?!" I exclaimed when I saw who she was pointing at. They're both Mages, and pretty strong. "I thought those two hated each other?"
Carmen shrugged, "I guess not." We both watched in silence as the match began. A few of the teams were newbies and were eliminated quickly. One of the newbie teams did pretty well, though. I don't know who they are, but they held their own against Prism and Stellar for a few minutes before they were finally defeated.
"I don't think we want to go up against those two." I said. On a good day, we might be able to take out Stellar, or even Prism, two on one. But against both I was sure we wouldn't have a chance.
As expected, the match came down to Stellar and Prism against Pentacle and Enchantress. We'd never seen Stellar or Prism cut loose like they did in this fight! There were laser beams shooting out all over the place, dazzling flashes of light, and huge boulders being tossed all over the place. But Pentacle and Enchantress seemed to have a counter to every one of them. On their side, though, they were having a hard time doing much damage to Prism and Stellar. But then Enchantress flew up and started raining fire down on them both and they were forced to take cover. While she kept them down, Pentacle began drawing in the dirt.
"What's he doing?" I wondered.
"I've heard of this. Pentacle can do even more powerful magic by drawing symbols in the dirt. Nobody but him seems to know what they mean, but he's done some amazing stuff with them." Carmen said.
He had just finished whatever he was doing, and signaled to Enchantress, when Prism and Stellar suddenly unleashed a barrage of attacks on Enchantress. She managed to defend herself, just, and retreated behind Pentacle. Prism and Stellar charged at Pentacle, but he just held up one hand and a beam of energy shot out and struck both of them. Just like that the fight was over; Stellar and Prism fell to the ground unconscious.
"Wow! I'm glad we didn't miss this one. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it!" I said in awe.
"Yeah." Carmen agreed. "That was really something." We got up to stretch our legs and wandered around for a little while until the next match started. They had to run some heavy equipment in to clean up the mess the final battle had made of the battleground. Not for the first time I wondered if there was actually anybody in those machines, or if they were remote controlled like everything else.
The next match was a standard 16 fighter match, or so it looked at first. But then I noticed that Pentacle was in this one, too, and didn't look too happy about it! In fact, as soon as he entered the Arena he started drawing in the dirt frantically. "What's going on?" I said.
"I don't know, but look at the others. They're ignoring each other and going after Pentacle." Carmen said. I looked, and she was right. Even fighters who were notorious for hating each other were ignoring their nemesis and focusing on Pentacle. By the time the first couple of fighters reached Pentacle his drawing was almost complete. He blasted one with a lightning bolt and then turned and froze the other. Then he went right back to work. The others got more cautious when they saw the first two, and waited until they were all together before attacking.
That turned out to be a really bad idea. Pentacle had finished his drawing and stood up with a gleeful look on his face. He pointed at the advancing fighters and light flared up from his designs and focused on his outstretched hand. It built up into a blinding light that shot out and struck the ground right in front of the other fighters. The resulting explosion knocked us on our backs, and everyone else, too! When we'd gotten upright again we saw that the entire Arena was filled with one giant cloud of dust.
"What was that?!" Carmen exclaimed.
"I don't know, but I think Pentacle either killed himself and everyone else in the Arena, or just won a 15 on 1 match!" I said. We waited anxiously for the dust to clear. It seemed to take forever, but eventually we could see that Pentacle was standing exactly as he had been, except that he'd let his arm hang down again. That smile was still on his face, too. I couldn't see any of the thirteen fighters he'd blasted, but the center of the Arena was one big crater. The other two, that he'd blasted with his normal magic, were covered in dust but looked like they were probably okay.
Pentacle was announced the winner a few minutes later, once the remains of the other fighters were found. Ten were dead, the other three might as well be. Nobody cheered, even though it was a spectacular victory. We were all too stunned by what had just happened. Pentacle himself seemed to be in a big hurry to get out of there. As soon as he had his prize he ran out like the ghosts of the fighters he killed were after him.
I turned to look at Carmen and saw that she was crying. I couldn't blame her, I felt like crying myself. I'd never seen ten fighters get killed in one match before, and the other three would probably wish they were dead. I found myself crying on her shoulder before I realized what was happening, with her crying on mine. And we weren't the only ones.
"Don't cry for those idiots." someone said from only a few feet away. Startled, we pulled apart and looked around for the source of the voice. It was Emanuel, standing there with a stony look on his face watching the action in the Arena as machines came in to clean up the mess.
"What do you mean, don't cry for them?!" Carmen said tearfully, with a hint of anger coming to the surface.
"They should have known what they were walking into when they accepted a kill order." he replied.
"A what?" I asked. I know Emanuel's an odd one, but why was he talking to us all of the sudden? And what's a kill order?
Emanuel ignored me and watched Pentacle run out of the Arena. "Poor fool. He should have kept that ability a secret." With that Emanuel turned and walked away.
"That's for sure." Carmen agreed angrily. I knew she was mad at Emanuel's attitude, but I decided to keep my mouth shut until she cooled down. When she's mad she tends to snap at any little thing, and I really don't like it when she yells at me.
After that the Arena was closed for the day for repairs, unsurprisingly. We went back to our game, but Carmen was too upset to do well. And maybe I was too. We don't like it when people die in the Arena, which is why we always try not to kill our opponents. So far we'd been successful, but we both knew it was only a matter of time. Even Prism had killed a few times, and he doesn't like to kill his opponents either.
We went to the cafeteria to get our dinner, but neither of us had much of an appetite. In fact, I wasn't feeling too good and hardly ate anything at all. If she wasn't so upset over that Arena match, Carmen probably would have noticed and made a big deal about it, but thankfully she didn't.
We just wandered the halls in silence after that. Carmen wasn't really watching where she was going, so I made sure to keep an eye out so Crusher or some other jerk didn't try to ambush us.
I was steering us back towards Carmen's room, as she seemed ready to go to bed already, when there was a big commotion in the halls. People were yelling something, and the yelling was getting closer. Even Carmen took notice of it, and before long we could make out the yells of, "Commission squad!" Like everyone else, we pressed ourselves up against the walls, face first. Soon we could hear the pounding of booted feet as the squad came into sight. Despite all the powerful mutants in this place, no sight was more terrifying for any of us than a Commission squad. They had absolutely no regard for mutant life and would trample any mutant that got in their way.
A few newbies who hadn't been around when a Commission squad came through before didn't move fast enough, and were knocked aside by the squad as they came charging through. Some of them might not get back up. Commission squads never run, but they never walk, either. And they always lead the way with their weapons, which are powerful enough to put a hole through a Super like me without any trouble.
A couple of newbies rounded a corner near us and I managed to snag one of them and slam him up against the wall next to us before the squad got there. His friend wasn't so lucky, and got shot by three different weapons just for the crime of not getting out of the way fast enough. We were all covered in his blood and his friend was getting hysterical. Carmen and I knew better than to move, though, and I managed to keep the newbie from moving, too. Once the squad had passed we ducked into the nearest room, a gaming room, and I pulled the kid in with us.
"They shot John! Help me get John!" he kept screaming over and over again while straining to get free of my grasp. I got a better grip on him and Carmen slapped him. He stopped fighting me and sagged to the floor in tears.
"I'm sorry, he's dead." Carmen said sadly. She took him from me and held him as he cried while I tried to get the pieces of what I could only guess was brain matter out of the poor kids hair. He looked to only be about ten years old, which would make him four years younger than me and Carmen. And his friend just got his head blow off in front of him just because he was in the way. It made me want to rip those Commission goons heads off, but I knew better than to try that. Stronger mutants than me had gone up against squads before, and they all died.
It took Carmen a while to calm the kid down. We found out his name was Terrence, and that he and John had been friends since they were four years old. An unusual situation in this place. Just then we heard the squad hurrying back through. There were no shots fired this time, thankfully. Even so, Terrence was frightened all over again and sobbing on Carmen's shoulder.
Carmen looked up at me and jerked her head towards her room. I sighed and nodded, we'd have to watch out for him for a while or he'd get killed in the state he's in. I went out first to make sure the coast was clear and she and Terrence followed. Most people had deserted the halls after the squad went through the first time, so we had little trouble making our way back to Carmen's room.
It was a tight fit getting all three of us in there, but we managed. Carmen locked the door and Terrence looked up fearfully, finally aware of his surroundings. "So, do you have any other friends?" Carmen asked him.
Terrence shook his head. "John's the only friend I had. He kept everyone else from hurting me." he said.
I groaned, as I knew what was coming next. Sure enough, "Okay, we'll take care of you." Carmen said. She glanced at me and I nodded. We really didn't need someone else to look out for who couldn't defend himself, but I didn't want to leave him alone any more than Carmen did. "What's your power?" she asked.
Terrence shrugged, "I don't know."
"Psychic?" I guessed.
"Probably." Carmen agreed.
"What's a Psychic?" Terrence asked.
"Nobody really knows. I just know that when a power doesn't fit into any of the other types, they call them Psychics. If you are a Psychic, your powers could be just about anything. I've never met a Psychic before, just heard about them." I replied. I'd been working on nerves since the squad went through, but I was really starting to feel lousy. I sat down on Carmen's bed and wondered what I'd do about a bed to sleep on tonight. I couldn't use my room until the door was replaced, assuming it ever was.
"Seb? You don't look so good." Carmen said worriedly.
I shrugged, "Just tired. I guess I'm going to have to try and find an empty room for tonight and hope it's doorplate will work for me."
Carmen frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea. You look...different, somehow. You'd better stay here tonight."
I looked doubtfully at the bed. It seemed a bit small for her and Terrence, how much worse would it be with all three of us? "I don't think there's room." I said.
"We'll manage. You okay with staying with us tonight Terrence?" Carmen said. Terrence shrugged, he clearly didn't have much hope by himself, and was still upset about his friend. With some difficulty we all managed to get changed using the shower cubicle and then climb into Carmen's bed. It was a tight fit, but we managed as Carmen said.
Carmen fell asleep quickly once Terrence cried himself to sleep. Poor kid. I had a little more trouble, but eventually drifted off.
I woke up on the floor, no surprise there. The only surprise was that Terrence hadn't fallen off on top of me! I tried using the laundry chute to get fresh clothes for the day and was surprised when it worked. I thought they only worked for the owner of the room, but maybe not. I felt a little exposed in the room with Carmen and Terrence there, so I went into the shower cubicle before taking my clothes off. That's when I got the shock of my life!
I had all my clothes off and was about to turn on the water before I noticed it. Or, I guess I should say them! Two small mounds were sticking out of my chest. I didn't even realize I'd screamed until Carmen came into the shower cubicle to see what was wrong. "Seb?!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"
I looked at her blankly, not even thinking about the fact I was naked in front of her. Or much of anything else, really. Terrence stuck his head around Carmen and his eyes widened in shock. He squeaked and backed out again, but neither of us paid much attention to him. "I don't know!" I finally squeaked out, and then stopped in further shock as my voice didn't sound the same anymore! What was happening to me?!
Carmen took a closer look and realized what I was so shocked about. Then her eyes went lower and she blushed and turned away. "Uh, maybe you should take your shower and get dressed." she said. She left me to it and I just stood there for the longest time, not moving. Finally, I got the courage up to look down further, but thankfully everything was still there. Although I could swear it was a little smaller...
I shook that thought away and did as Carmen suggested. Once I was clean and dry I picked up the clothes that came out of the chute and was surprised to find a bra among them! For a moment I thought it was because of my changes, but then I realized that this is a girl's room, so of course it would have that. At least, I hoped that's why it was there. I left it alone and just wore the regular clothes which were identical to boy's clothes.
When I came out I found Carmen and Terrence sitting on the bed waiting for me. I sat down heavily next to Carmen and wondered what was going on. Why would I suddenly develop breasts?! And my voice was higher, too, though it still sounded more male than female. At least, I think it did. "What's happening to me Carmen?" I asked after a long, awkward silence.
"I don't know Seb. Did you feel any different yesterday?" Carmen asked.
I thought back over the previous day and winced when I remembered that pain I'd had. "Yeah, now that you mention it I did. When we were in the gaming room the first time I felt a really sharp pain in my chest. It spread through my whole body, and then faded away. And I wasn't feeling too good at dinner, either. Or after we got back to your room last night." I said.
"Seb! Why didn't you say anything?" Carmen said.
I shrugged, "I didn't want to worry you." I didn't look at her as I said it as I knew she'd be annoyed with me. I think she likes to worry about me or something.
"What am I going to do with you Seb?" she said. I shrugged again and was surprised when she suddenly hugged me.
"You're not mad at me?" I asked.
She kept a hold of me as she leaned back to look me in the eye. "A little, but I'm more worried about what's happening to you. Can you think of anything that could be causing this?" she said.
I shook my head, "No, nothing. What could possibly do this?"
"I have no idea. What about you Terrence, ever hear about anything like this?" Carmen asked. He shook his head, his eyes still wide as he looked at me.
"What?" I said.
He fidgeted and then said, "You look different."
"What, you mean my chest?" I asked. He shook his head and glanced at Carmen.
"I think I see what he means. You're face is...softer, I guess." Carmen said thoughtfully.
I groaned and put my head in my hands as I thought about what this could mean. It almost sounded like I was turning into a girl! That's impossible, though, isn't it? Carmen laid her head on my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. Then I had a thought. "He's going to be all over me, isn't he?" I said worriedly.
Carmen looked at me oddly and then grimaced, "Oh, you mean Crusher, don't you?" I nodded. "Yeah, he's going to be even more trouble than before. Wait a minute, how's your arm? I don't remember seeing anything on your arm just now."
"Hey, that's right! My arm is all healed! How's that possible? It should have taken a couple of days to heal up that completely, at least." I said in surprise. Crusher's energy blasts do nasty stuff. A non Super would have lost their arm, at the least.
"Maybe we should ask Avatar about his?" Carmen suggested. I nodded, that did sound like a good idea. He's one of the oldest mutants alive, so maybe he's run across something like this before.
"Who is Avatar?" Terrence asked.
"He's old, really old. He's one of the teachers. Who was yours?" Carmen said.
"Teachers?" Terrence asked, mystified. "I didn't know there were any teachers here."
"They're not really teachers, but the older mutants tend to help out the new kids. A lot of kids are brought here when they're only two or three years old, after all. They wouldn't last long without someone to watch out for them." I explained.
"Oh, yeah, there was someone like that. He watched out for John and me for a few years, but then he got killed in a fight. John watched out for me after that." Terrence said. He looked sad as he thought about his friend. I had to wonder who it was who helped them, as they hadn't taught them much, apparently. But then, Avatar is well known for teaching his charges more than others do, and watching out for them longer.
"Come on, let's go." Carmen said, nudging me and Terrence. She palmed open the door and checked to make sure it was clear before motioning for us to come out. I felt even more awkward now that we were out in the open. I didn't think I looked that different with my clothes covering things up, but Carmen had said my face was softer.
"Come on Seb, you'll be okay!" she said, sensing my hesitance. I sighed and stayed close to her. Terrence didn't seem very confident, either, and stuck close by us both.
We stopped at the cafeteria to get breakfast. Like most, we stayed just long enough to eat the slop and moved on. Avatar lives in one of the older sections, so we had a bit of a walk to get there. I felt like everyone was staring at me and avoided looking anyone in the eye. I breathed a sigh of relief when we got out of the busier areas. The crowds thinned out to almost nothing by the time we got to Avatar's room.
Carmen knocked on the door and waited. We heard some rustling inside, and then Avatar opened the door. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed, which we'd expected since he was on a slightly different cycle than us. "Hey! Carmen and Sebastian, what brings you two here?" he said.
"I thought you said he was old?" Terrence whispered from behind me. I forgot how little Terrence seems to know about this place, or I would have anticipated that question. Avatar doesn't look much older than Prism.
Avatar smiled ruefully, "I am old, kid. I just don't show it! Most mutants age slow, especially Supers like me. I think I'm about seventy years old, but I lost count."
Terrence's eyes widened so far I thought they would fall out, "Seventy?! How old is that?"
Avatar rolled his eyes, "Old, okay? Who taught you anyway kid? Most people can at least count to a hundred."
Terrence blushed and looked down, "Richter." He said it really quietly, which made me think he missed his old teacher. Not everyone likes their teachers, but I guess he did.
"Richter? Bob Richter? Well no wonder! He got killed in a gang brawl a few years ago. You haven't been on your own all that time, have you?!" Avatar said.
Terrence shook his head without looking up, "No, John watched out for me."
"John? The only John I know would be John Hammer, but he's not teaching any more." Avatar said, looking a little confused.
"John was his friend who was also taught by Richter." Carmen explained. "He got killed by a squad yesterday, so we kind of took over for him."
Avatar nodded sadly, "Yeah, I heard about that squad coming in yesterday. Pentacle really should have known better. Poor bastard!"
"Pentacle?! What does Pentacle have to do with the squad?" I asked, surprised.
Avatar looked surprised, too. "You hadn't heard? That's why the squad was here, to get Pentacle. The kind of magic he pulled off in the Arena is a death sentence! That's why he was put in there against fifteen other fighters like that in the first place, to get rid of him. But they must not have realized how powerful he really was, so they sent a squad. I hear he got halfway out of the arena before they caught up with him. Probably would have had a better chance if he'd prepared a trap for them with some of that ritual magic of his, but he was dead no matter what he did." Avatar explained.
Terrence frowned and looked confused by what Avatar was saying. "Are you saying the squad killed him, like John?" he asked.
Avatar nodded grimly, "Yeah, they did. Every now and then someone shows themselves to be too dangerous like that, and they always end up dead within a few hours. The Commission doesn't take chances."
"Yeah, well, that's not why we're here. We need your advice on something that's happened to Seb." Carmen said.
Avatar looked surprised and took a good look at me. I felt kind of uncomfortable for some reason and couldn't look him in the eye. "Hmm, he does look a little different somehow, but what exactly happened to him?" he asked.
"We don't really know. He wasn't feeling well yesterday, and this morning he looks...different." Carmen said, blushing. I guess she was remembering seeing me naked.
Avatar shrugged, "I guess it is a little weird that he looks different overnight, but why come looking for me for that?"
I really didn't feel very comfortable talking about it, so I glanced at Carmen and she said, "Uh, it's not just his face. You must have noticed his voice is different, too."
Avatar looked thoughtfully at me. "Hm, why don't you say something else Sebastian?"
"What do you want me to say?" I asked.
His eyes narrowed in thought and he nodded, "Okay, I see what you mean Carmen. Are there any other changes?"
"Um, yeah. His chest has...grown?" she said.
Avatar took a closer look at me, particularly my chest, and his eyes widened. His skin turned pale and he started shaking. "Shit! I'm sorry guys, but there's nothing I can do for you. I'm sorry, but please don't come back." he said and hastily stepped back in his room and palmed the door closed. We stood there looking at each other in shock before Carmen started hammering on the door. With her strength the door was vibrating with each blow, but there was no response from Avatar.
"Why did he do that?" Terrence asked, confused. I could relate. Avatar had always been quick to help us before; why would he turn his back on us now? And what about my changes scared him so much? He's not the most powerful mutant around, but his experience more than makes up for it. What could make him run for cover like that?
With my hand on her shoulder and some soothing words I managed to calm Carmen down. After taking a few deep breaths she turned to Terrence and shrugged, "I don't know. This isn't like him." She still looked mad, but at least she wasn't yelling or anything now.
"Something scared him, which is frightening enough. What could scare Avatar like that?" I thought aloud.
That seemed to break Carmen out of her mood and she stood quietly for a moment before looking up at me. "I think your change is what scared him, though I have no idea why." she finally said. "Do either of you have any idea why that would scare him?"
Terrence and I both shook our heads. "Okay, we need to think about this. Let's go see if the Arena is running again and watch while we try and figure this out." Carmen suggested. I nodded and we started off towards the Arena.
We had only just gotten moving in the right direction when we found Emanuel leaning up against the wall. He was facing the opposite wall, but somehow we could tell he was watching us. He pushed himself off and stretched. Carmen was still mad at him I think, because she dragged us both past Emanuel. He didn't seem to notice us, but when we were just passing him I heard him whisper, "Follow me if you want answers." Then he turned and walked back the way we came.
"What?" Carmen asked. Obviously she hadn't.
"Come on!" I said. Grabbing her hand I turned and pushed Terrence ahead of me. Emanuel wasn't moving very fast, so I was able to keep him in sight. Carmen grumbled, but quieted when I hushed her. Terrence just looked confused but followed my lead. We started to catch up to Emanuel, but then he sped up. No matter what we did, he remained a similar distance away from us.
I didn't notice at first, being too worried about not losing him, but we were moving into even older areas that I hadn't been in before. They looked different; more primitive somehow. Emanuel clearly didn't want us to get too close, so I slowed a bit and he followed suit. After a while we turned a corner into a particularly different looking area and found ourselves in a circular room with burn marks on the walls, floor and ceiling. I wondered what happened here, but Emanuel didn't pause, so I had to hurry to keep up.
"What's going on?!" Carmen hissed at me. She was at least trying to be quiet, but she wasn't thrilled with me pulling her around like that.
"Just keep moving!" I whispered back. I wasn't really sure why I was whispering. There was no one to hear us except for Emanuel, but Emanuel acted like he knew something. Something about me. So I was more than willing to follow his lead if it would lead to some answers!
Thankfully, Emanuel stopped after stepping through a blasted door just off of the circular room and turned to beckon us in. As soon as all three of us were in the room he shoved the door back in place and sighed in relief. "Next time, no talking!" he growled.
"What are you talking about?!" Carmen almost yelled back.
"Not so loud!" Emanuel replied angrily. "The video is out in this area, but some of the audio still works. Now shut up and listen, we can't stay here long."
I nodded and Terrence followed suit after glancing at me. Carmen huffed and folded her arms, but reluctantly nodded, too.
"Okay, here's the deal. There are cameras and microphones all through this place, even in your rooms. So what I say here stays here, got it?!" Emanuel said. We nodded again, a little quicker after hearing that news! "They'll come looking for us if we stay in here too long, so we don't have much time. Sebastian, you're in danger. Pentacle level danger." he said, looking at me.
I felt cold when he said that. "You mean...a squad is coming after me?!" I squeaked.
Emanuel shook his head, "No, not yet. But if you don't listen and do what I say, they will. You're a kind of mutant they fear very much. You're not as powerful as Pentacle, but you can blend in where most others couldn't. You're a Shapeshifter."
I suddenly realized I was sitting on the floor. Carmen joined me and held my shaking hands, but hers were shaking just as much. Terrence was looking at all of us in confusion and said, "What's the big deal about a Shapeshifter?"
"I am so dead!" I said weakly.
"Isn't there something we can do?!" Carmen asked fearfully.
Emanuel shook his head in frustration. "I told you, we don't have much time! There are Shifters that are limited in what they can do. Some can only grow wings, or add armored scales to parts of their body, things like that. We have to convince the Commission that you're limited like that. Only, you'll only be able to change from male to female and back again. And your male and female forms will always be the same. If we can manage that, you'll be okay."
"Wait, you mean I really am turning into a girl?" I asked.
"Yes, you are. Sometime after you finish changing, you'll change back into a guy. I don't know when. But you have to make sure that you change back into exactly the same form that you had before! And when you turn into a girl again, it has to be exactly the same as whatever you end up looking like when your change is finished this time. Once they've seen you change back and forth a few times like that, you just might be okay." Emanuel replied.
"How do you know all this?" Terrence asked. His question startled Carmen and I; probably because we hadn't thought to ask it ourselves!
"I'm a Precog. I saw it when I ran into you two yesterday. Look, we don't have any more time. I'll explain more later. I'm going to walk out of here in a minute. When I do, I'm going to pretend we never had this conversation. If you talk to me, I will ignore you. If you tell anyone what I've said, I'll deny it. And I'll make sure a Squad comes for you! I'll contact you again tomorrow, the same way. Be careful." With that, Emanuel turned, opened the door, and walked out like nothing had happened.
"Come on, we'd better go." Carmen whispered. She pushed me and Terrence forward and we all started back the way we'd come. Emanuel had already disappeared, but we were able to find our way back okay. Carmen led us back to the Arena and we sat to watch the next match.
"What just..." Terrence started to ask, but Carmen put her hand over his mouth.
"Let's just watch the match, okay?" she said. Terrence and I nodded and watched as Grim entered the Arena, along with fifteen others. It was a standard free-for-all match. We didn't see any other major players there, so we knew Grim would almost certainly win. Not only is he pretty powerful, but merciless!
Before she knew what was happening, one of the fighters was cut down by Grim. He liked to generate weapons out of shadows, and his favorite was a long pole with a curved blade at the end. I'd heard that some mythical figure had used a weapon like that who was connected with death somehow. That was supposed to be how Grim got his name. I just figured it was because he was always so serious and scary!
He disappeared into the shadows and reappeared near another unsuspecting fighter. This one was literally cut in half by Grim's blade before he even knew there was anybody near him. Grim was being even more brutally effective than usual!
"What is that thing?!" Terrence whispered, staring at Grim's shadowy form as he stalked another fighter.
"Grim. He's one of the psychos. He likes to kill people; that's the only reason he fights in the Arena. He's a Shadow Elemental." Carmen explained.
I was glad she was handling talking to Terrence, because I was only half aware of what was going on around me. I wasn't sure if Emanuel knew what he was talking about, but it sure seemed like he did. And if that was true, than I was really turning into a girl! He'd said I'd be able to change back, so that was good. But still! I was going to be the laughingstock of the Arena once word spread...
"You okay Seb?" Carmen asked softly.
"Uh, yeah, I guess." I said.
"C'mon Seb, stop doing that!" Carmen said. She wrapped her arms around me and rested her chin on my shoulder. "I know you must be upset. Stop trying to hide your feelings from me."
I sighed, "Yeah, I guess I am. Right now I'm mostly worried about how people are going to react to me."
"Don't worry about that; I'll take care of you." Carmen said and gave me a squeeze.
"Speaking of taking care of people, what are we going to do about Terrence?" I whispered. With her so close she could hear me easily, but I hoped he wouldn't.
"We'll have to take care of him, too. He doesn't even know what his powers are, so he can't defend himself. But we'll be fine if we just all stay together. I guess that means we should stay out of the Arena, though. At least for now." Carmen replied.
"I guess so." I agreed. I wanted to talk about what Emanuel said, but if he was right about the cameras and microphones then there wasn't any safe place to talk except where he told us about them. And it would probably be suspicious if we went there too often. I wondered if there was any way I could hide my changes, but then I remembered that Emanuel said that the Commission would know about my shape shifting, so that meant they would see, somehow.
I turned my attention to the Arena match in time to see Grim cut down the last of his opponents. By the looks of things, most of his opponents wouldn't survive the fight.
After the fight we went to the cafeteria to grab a snack, then headed to the nearest game room. We started playing our favorite game, with Carmen telling Terrence how to play since he hadn't played it before. While we were playing I realized something; we could talk through the game! As soon as we killed off all the monsters in the area we were in I typed in, "Let's talk?"
Carmen looked up in surprise and smiled when she realized what I was doing. A moment later a new message popped up on the screen from her, "Great idea Seb! So, what are we going to do about you turning into a girl?"
Terrence looked confused, but shrugged and kept playing. I got the feeling he didn't know how to read. Not real surprising; Avatar's one of the only teachers who bothers to teach people how to read.
"I don't know." I typed. "But it looks like I won't be able to keep it a secret for long."
"Don't worry about that." Carmen replied. "So long as we stick together we should be fine. Have you noticed, it looks like Terrence doesn't know how to read?"
I nodded and typed, "Yeah, I thought so, too. I guess I took our ability to read for granted. It never occurred to me he wouldn't be able to."
"Yeah. Are you sure the Commission won't see this?" Carmen typed. I glanced over and saw she looked worried.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. The computers are only connected to each other, and only these three in this group even work anymore. We should be safe." I typed back.
Neither of us could really figure out what we could do about my being a Shifter, so our conversation fizzled out pretty quickly after that. We kept playing for a while, but Terrence seemed to get bored with it. So we went back to the Arena, for lack of anything better to do.
"Uh, Seb, your hair..." Carmen said as we were settling down in our favorite spot Domeside.
"What about my hair?" I asked.
"It looks lighter, and it's a lot longer!" she said.
I put my hand to my hair and realized it was shoulder length! I pulled a bit in front of my face to get a look at it, and it was definitely a lot lighter than before. Why would my hair change color? "That's weird." I said.
We were distracted from my hair when we saw the next group of people entering the Arena. We didn't recognize any of them, and they were all pretty young. So this was probably a beginner's match. They did that every now and then for some reason. The match started off rough, as they obviously didn't have any experience in the Arena. A couple of them looked pretty promising, though.
"Why does anybody want to fight in the Arena?" Terrence asked as the match was ending.
Carmen looked at me and shrugged, so I answered him, "Lots of reasons. I like the Arena because it's the only place where I can fly around and cut loose. Some people actually like to fight, like Crusher. Others like to hurt people, like Grim. And some do it out of boredom. It's not like there are a whole lot of things to do here."
"And sometimes people use the Arena to settle scores." Carmen added.
"Why not just beat the person up if that's what they want?" Terrence asked.
"Lots of people are part of groups or gangs that watch out for each other. So if you want to get revenge on somebody for something the Arena is one way to get them away from that group." Carmen explained.
"I hate this place." he said sadly.
"Most of us do." I agreed. "But what can you do?"
"Hasn't anybody ever escaped?" Terrence asked.
Carmen slapped her hand over his mouth again, "Don't even say that word! If the Commission gets even a hint you want to, you know, they'll be all over you! And they don't just take you out, they take out anybody you've been hanging out with recently, too. Nobody ever gets out, ever!"
He kind of curled in on himself after that. I couldn't blame him, the reality of this place is pretty depressing at times. That's what made having Carmen around so important. I don't know if I could stand it without her.
We watched the matches quietly after that. I think we all wanted to talk about what Emanuel said, but we didn't dare. That didn't leave a lot of room for conversation. I almost wished I didn't know there were cameras and stuff everywhere.
Eventually we got bored with the Arena and went for a walk in an older section, though we stayed away from Avatar's area. We stopped to grab something to eat and then continued. We were way off in mostly abandoned areas when I noticed someone standing at an intersection up ahead. I glanced around and saw that there were people at every intersection of passages around here, with a big guy moving in to stand at the entrance we used.
"Ambush!" I hissed. Terrence didn't get it, but Carmen immediately moved him between us as she looked around. We were already boxed in. I didn't recognize any of the people blocking us, but that didn't mean anything. There are so many gangs nobody could keep track of them all.
Seeing that we weren't moving anymore, the gang started moving in on us. There were eight of them in all, and they made sure to keep themselves between us and the exits. I figured Carmen and I could probably manage to fly past them if we had to, but it would be a lot tougher carrying Terrence.
They were a scruffy group; their clothes were all worn-looking and torn up. Considering most people just put their clothes down the laundry shoot and got new ones from there it looked like they must have been wearing theirs for a long time, or something. I'd never seen anybody with clothes so torn up before except maybe right after a match.
Nobody made a sound as they moved in. Carmen and I exchanged glances and I knew we were thinking the same thing: I hope these guys aren't very strong!
There was this tense moment when they closed the circle on us and we all just stared at each other. It was kind of weird that they didn't say anything, but I guess it wouldn't have changed anything if they had. Terrence squirmed between us and everything happened at once.
They all came at us together, but they weren't very practiced at fighting as a group. It was like they were all trying to beat each other to the kill. Made things a whole lot easier for us!
I grabbed the first person to get within reach and used him like a club to knock a couple of others back. Carmen didn't bother, they were getting in each others' way so much she could concentrate on one at a time anyway. Thankfully, none of them were in our league.
The entire fight was over in seconds. We both stayed crouched and ready for a fight for a while in case they tried again, but the conscious ones were already dragging themselves away. Nobody came back for the unconscious ones.
"Not much of a gang." Carmen said.
"Can we get out of here before they come back?" Terrence asked weakly.
"I don't think they will, but yeah, let's go." I replied.
We hurried out of there, still keeping Terrence between us the whole time. Once we were back in familiar territory we relaxed a bit. "Why did they attack us?" Terrence asked.
Carmen shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe they thought we'd have some credits they could steal. Or maybe they were protecting their territory. Some gangs are really uptight about that. I don't know."
I glanced at Carmen and she nodded to me, "Why don't we go play some games for a while and relax?" I suggested. She smiled and Terrence shrugged, so off we went.
Once we were seated and had our game going we let Terrence go on without us as we were more focused on typing messages to each other.
"Do you think that attack had anything to do with what's happening to you?" Carmen typed.
"I'm not sure, but I was wondering." I replied.
"I wish we could talk with Emanuel some more. Maybe we can suggest this way of communicating to him whenever we see him tomorrow?" she typed.
"That's a good idea. We might get more answers that way. I'd really like to know more about what's going on. If I'm a Shifter, why am I turning into a girl? He seems to think I can do a lot more than that, so why that?" I replied.
Carmen shrugged and typed, "That's a good question. We'll have to remember to ask him tomorrow. Maybe we should get something to eat and return to my room. Even if we can't sleep yet, it's probably safer than wandering around."
I glanced at Terrence and typed, "Okay, but lets play for a while first. Terrence really seems to be getting into this."
"Okay." was Carmen's reply, before we both started playing the game. It took us a while to catch up to Terrence, but eventually we were able to help him clear a couple of levels before he got bored with it.
"How come I never saw this game before?" he asked as we headed for the cafeteria.
I shrugged, "You never looked for it, I guess. Most people don't bother with the game rooms anymore, since many of the computers don't work. Carmen thinks the Commission doesn't bother fixing or replacing them because they want us in the Arena, but I think they just don't care."
We talked some more about the game while we ate and then piled into Carmen's room. "Are you sure I shouldn't find a new room? It's pretty cramped in here." I said as she closed the door behind us. Terrence and I had to sit on the bed to give her enough room to move around.
Carmen shook her head, "No, I think we should stick together. Once people notice how you look you're likely to attract some attention. I want to be there to watch your back. Besides, we can take care of Terrence better together."
"If you say so." I replied wearily. I was surprised at how tired I was, but figured it had to do with the fight. Not that it had been all that challenging, but it was still a fight.
Terrence and Carmen weren't as tired, so they let me lay down while they sat and talked. I overheard enough to know she was questioning him about his old teacher and John before I nodded off.
I reluctantly took off my clothes and threw them down the laundry shoot before turning on the shower. Only once the water was raining down on me did I really look at myself. It looked like my... breasts, were bigger now. And I looked a lot smaller down below. I knew it was coming, but it was still kind of a shock. I also noticed my waist was a lot smaller and my hips were bigger, too. I figured I probably looked more like a girl than a guy by now.
After my shower I dressed, leaving the bra alone again. I didn't really understand why girls wore them, anyway.
When I came out of the shower Carmen was sitting on the side of the bed, clearly waiting for me. When she saw me her eyes widened in surprise. "Seb!" she exclaimed. "You look totally different!"
Silently, she nodded while still staring at me wide-eyed. It was making me kind of uncomfortable.
I flopped onto the bed and buried my head in my arms, "I am so dead!"
Terrence woke with a start when I dropped onto the bed and looked up at me blearily. "What?" he said, clearly not fully awake yet.
"Seb's a girl now, it looks like." Carmen told him, much to my annoyance.
"No I'm not!" I protested, a little more shrilly than I would have liked. "I'm still a guy."
He blinked at me and said, "You don't look like a guy."
"I know!" I growled. I noticed my voice was even lighter and more feminine than it was the day before. I probably even sounded like a girl now!
Carmen finally got herself together and hugged me, "I'm sorry Seb, it just took me by surprise." She pulled back and looked at me oddly, "Why aren't you wearing a bra? You're a lot bigger than yesterday."
I groaned, "I know I am, but that doesn't mean I have to wear a bra! I'm still a guy!"
She rolled her eyes at me, "It's not about whether you're a guy or not! It's more comfortable to wear a bra, you'll see."
I just rolled my eyes right back at her. She shrugged and looked down at Terrence, "Sorry if we woke you."
He just rubbed his eyes and mumbled, "S'okay."
Carmen retreated into the shower after that and I just sat there and felt miserable. Knowing it was probably going to happen and seeing it happen were two very different things, I was discovering. I remembered that Emanuel had said I'd change back into a guy again, though, so I hoped that happened quickly! Still, I hadn't changed all the way yet so guessed that would probably happen first. Great...not!
After Carmen's shower she got Terrence to take one as well. Apparently he and John hadn't bothered very often. But then, that was pretty common. I could swear that Crusher hadn't had a shower in a year!
Avatar always got on us about keeping clean. Besides being good for injuries he said it also kept illnesses away. I'd never been sick, so figured he was right.
After our showers we all went out and grabbed some of the slop that passed as food. Supposedly it was really nutritious or something, but I did envy Prism and Stellar's ability to have better food all the time from all the Arena credits they got.
As we were leaving the cafeteria I spotted Emanuel walking out a different door. He made eye contact and made a gesture with his hand like a person walking and then another gesture that made me think he wanted us to go out the way we were going and circle around to follow him. I nodded, though he'd already turned away, and continued walking.
I nudged Carmen to go the direction Emanuel indicated and she nodded. She was confused at first, but I think she figured out what was going on pretty quickly. Terrence wasn't really paying that much attention.
After walking for a few minutes I caught a glimpse of Emanuel turning down a side corridor that ran away from the Arena. We headed that way, but just as we were about to round the corner someone grabbed my arm, hard!
"Hey Sebastian, I'm not finished with you!" I heard Crusher growl before I turned. When he saw my face he frowned. "Who are you?! Where's that creep Sebastian?"
I was about to protest that I was Sebastian, which probably wouldn't have been a very good idea, when Carmen butted in, "Get out of our face, Rod!"
Crusher's face turned red when he realized she'd used his real name. He hated it and insisted everyone call him Crusher, instead. He let go of me and grabbed Carmen instead. As his other hand started to pull back while curling into a fist I grabbed that arm. "Leave her alone, Crusher!" I yelled, wincing at the sound of my voice.
He tried to pull his arm free but I was always stronger than him. That's why he relied on those energy blasts so much. "Who the hell are you, bitch?!" he growled.
"Seb, look out!" Carmen yelled, pointing behind me. I flew straight up, pulling Crusher along with me, just in time to avoid a blast from one of his cronies. Carmen had pulled Terrence out of the way, thankfully.
I looked around and saw three of his cronies closing in, including the one who tried to blast me. I threw Crusher at them and flew back down. As soon as my feet touched the ground I started running. I grabbed onto Terrence as I passed him, with Carmen pulling him along from the other side. We didn't stop running until we saw Emanuel again, casually walking around a corner as if we'd been following him the whole time.
I had to believe that he'd heard the commotion, at least, but he didn't act like it. We glanced at each other, shrugged, and kept following him. I glanced back behind us a few times but didn't see anyone following.
We followed Emanuel for at least ten minutes before we came to another burned out section that wasn't in use anymore by the look of it. This one was even more badly damaged than the first. Emanuel walked through a few doors before stopping and motioning for us to hurry. Once inside he pulled the broken door across the doorway.
"We'll have a little more time to talk here, especially since the three of you running all the way out here is believable after your encounter with Crusher." he said.
"Why didn't you help us?" Terrence asked.
He shrugged, "I'm not a powerhouse like your two friends here. There's not a lot I could do directly. But I saw the encounter before it happened and knew none of you would be injured."
"Seb, you had a question for him, right?" Carmen prodded.
"Oh, yeah. Uh, why am I turning into a girl? You made it sound like my abilities will be pretty versatile, so why not grow armored plates or something?" I asked.
He shrugged again, "I don't have all the answers. You're right, though, your powers could have manifested in many other ways. I've wondered about that myself."
"Why are you helping us?" Carmen asked suspiciously.
He suddenly became deathly serious as he stared at her, "Unlike the three of you, I wasn't taken from my family as an infant. My parents managed to hide my mutation until I was ten years old. I know what the outside world is like. I know quite a lot about what is really going on in this place. It needs to stop."
His golden eyes flashed with anger as he continued, "I've seen several possible futures. Most of them involve the destruction of the Arena and every mutant in it. But you two represent an opportunity to change that."
"Us? But Seb's the Shapeshifter!" Carmen protested.
He nodded, "Yes, but so are you. Your power simply hasn't manifested yet. It shouldn't be long before it does. I would have told you sooner but I figured you needed a little time to get used to Sebastian being a Shapeshifter, first."
"Me?!" Carmen squeaked.
"Yes, you. You two can leave this place and live among normal people without them knowing you're mutants. I'm sure of it. So I'm going to do what I can to make sure you succeed in that. But it won't be easy." he replied ominously.
"What about me?" Terrence asked.
Emanuel shook his head, "I'm afraid you're stuck here with the rest of us for now. I'm not even sure what your power is yet, but I'm pretty sure it's not Shapeshifting. Only a Shifter has a chance of getting by outside the Arena. The government is extremely paranoid about mutants and tests everyone constantly."
"But, what difference would it make if we made it out of the Arena, other than for us?" I asked.
He looked uncomfortable at my question, but answered anyway, "Well, have you ever wondered why the Commission is so down on mutants having sex here?"
I think we all blushed at that question, even Emanuel. Nobody really talks about sex, it's too dangerous! "Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?" Carmen said.
"I'm just making assumptions based on some of the visions of the future I've had, but it looks like the children of mutants are more powerful than their parents. A lot more powerful! You two are pretty strong on your own; if you have children they'll be stronger than anybody in the Arena. Mutants like that might just be able to break this place open. The Commission will do anything to keep that from happening. Even nuke the whole place." he replied.
"But, aren't there normal people here, running the place? Like the squads?" I asked.
He nodded, "Sure, but they're expendable. Everyone is expendable in that scenario to the Commission. They'd blow themselves up to keep mutants that powerful from living. They're fanatics."
"We're doomed!" Carmen groaned.
Emanuel shrugged, "Not necessarily. Like I said, it'll be difficult. You two will have to let your transformations happen, and then make sure those are the only transformations that happen. You can't show any ability beyond a simple gender switch with your appearance always the same or you're both dead. At the same time, you'll have to practice in secret in places like this so that you can adopt a different appearance once you escape."
"How are we supposed to escape?! We don't even know which direction..." I protested, but got cut off by Carmen's screech.
"Gender switch?! Both of us?! You mean I'm going to change into a guy?!!" she all but screamed. I looked around fearfully but Emanuel didn't look worried about the noise.
He noticed my concern and said, "Don't worry, there aren't any working audio feeds for a while in this area. I chose it for that reason. I knew Carmen would be upset about this."
"Upset? Upset?! I'm a lot more than upset!" she growled.
"Hey! How do you think I feel?!" I said.
That seemed to calm her down a bit. "Oh, yeah, sorry Seb. I guess you've got it as bad as I do. This really sucks."
"Um, how will they escape? Is there something I can do to help?" Terrence asked.
Emanuel smiled, "I'm not entirely sure how the escape will go yet myself, but you definitely have a role to play. I don't have the details yet, but you will be instrumental."
"How?" he asked, confused.
Emanuel shrugged, "I don't know. It must involve your powers, though, so I'd suggest you three try to find out what it is. Unfortunately you'll have to do so in secret. That means using these places I lead you to, but don't stay in them for longer than an hour at a time and only once a day each. Any longer and you're liable to get a visit from a squad. And they won't bother asking what you were doing."
I groaned, "I have to agree with Carmen, this really sucks!" I couldn't believe how complicated my life had suddenly become. Not only would I have to deal with turning into a girl, but Carmen was going to turn into a guy! And we'd have to do all this secret practicing while worrying about a squad showing up at any time?
"I know it seems that way now, but I think you'll be glad for this later, if you pull it off. I have one more thing to say, and then we'll have to leave. Do what I say! Pentacle ignored my advice and revealed his ritual magic in the Arena. If not for that he would be alive right now. If I tell you to do something, it's because my visions told me you need to do it! If you ignore my advice we could all end up dead." Emanuel said, looking us each in the eye to make sure we understood. We all nodded fearfully.
He seemed satisfied that we were taking him seriously and nodded back, "Okay. It's time to go now. I'll go first and don't try to follow me. When you leave, wander around a bit so it's not obvious you came to this area intentionally. I may not be able to talk to you again for a few days, so don't approach me unless I signal you. And remember not to talk about any of this outside of these areas!"
With that, Emanuel turned and unblocked the door. With one last glance at us he left. We waited a couple of minutes and then left as well. We didn't talk for a while. I guess we were all too busy thinking about everything he'd said. I know I was!
We found ourselves in a deserted-looking area and realized we might get jumped again, so we headed back towards more familiar territory. Thankfully nobody tried to attack us this time. We went straight to a game room once we knew where we were again.
Terrence seemed confused that we were so keen to play a game after everything we'd heard, but went along with it. Once the game was going again we started typing.
"How do we figure out what Terrence's powers are? My first thought was to ask Avatar, but he doesn't want anything to do with us anymore." Carmen typed.
"Yeah, I guess he figured out I'm a Shifter and didn't want to get killed with us when the Commission came after me." I replied.
I heard Carmen start to type, but she stopped suddenly as text started scrolling across the screen. At first it seemed totally random. Then there were a series of symbols and numbers that finally resolved into a series of ones and zeros in groups of eight. That continued to scroll across the screen for a few seconds before clearing. Then a new message popped up, "So this is what you've been doing."
I looked over at Carmen but she looked as confused as me. Then we both glanced at Terrence and saw he was just staring at the screen without moving. Carmen and I exchanged confused looks before looking back at our screens. A new message was waiting, "Yes, it's me."
"Terrence?" Carmen typed.
"Yes. I don't know how I'm doing it, but it's me." he replied; without touching the keyboard I noticed.
Carmen must have seen, too, "Are you using your powers, then?"
"I guess." he sent.
"I didn't know you could read or write." I typed.
"I can't, normally. But somehow it all makes sense, in here." he replied.
"In here? In where?" Carmen typed.
"In the computer? I'm not sure. It's different. Everything is strange, but if I really look at it it makes sense. What kind of power is this?" he said.
I shrugged and typed, "I don't know. I've never heard of anything like this. You might be the first. I wonder what you can do with it?"
We made all sorts of silly suggestions of what he might do with it, or what it might be called, but really we were clueless. Carmen suggested it was something else to ask Emanuel about. He hadn't know what Terrence's power was, but maybe he'd be able to figure it out now that we'd seen it in action.
We ran out of ideas after a while and just played the game. The weird part was Terrence never touched the keys again. And he was able to send messages to us while playing, where we'd have to stop and type them in. He also moved more quickly and surely than we could. So much so that Carmen and I were glad we weren't playing against each other because we wouldn't stand a chance against him!
The game continued until our stomachs' complaints became too loud to ignore. I was kind of getting bored because the game became a little too easy with Terrence using his powers, but he was so engrossed we practically had to drag him away from the computer.
After eating Terrence was eager to get back on the computer, but I suggested we go to the place where Emanuel first talked to us instead.
Carmen must have been getting bored with the game, too, because she helped me convince Terrence. It took us a few tries to find the place, but we finally did. Once away from the cameras Terrence whined, "Why can't we just talk on the computers?"
"It's not as easy for us, for one." I replied. "But I had a thought, too. There's bound to be a camera in that room. If someone notices you using the computer without touching it they'll figure out what your power is. I got the impression we don't want that."
Terrence paled, "Do you... think they'd come after me, too?"
Carmen nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, I think they might. What if you could get into other computers, like theirs? You might be able to open the doors and walk right out. Maybe that's what we're going to do, even!"
"You think?" Terrence said hopefully.
"Maybe, but remember you'd be found easy once we got out. You can't conceal your identity like we're supposed to be able to." I cautioned.
Terrence looked down sadly and nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I was hoping I could go with you, though. I hate it here!"
Carmen snorted, "Who doesn't? I'm sure Emanuel would love to go with us if he could. He seemed pretty serious about trying to change things."
"Do you think you could do your thing with the computer while using the keyboard to play the game? That way nobody would realize what you were doing?" I asked.
He shrugged, "I could try, I guess."
Not wanting to screw up our transformations, we decided we'd better not try to do anything on purpose until our changes had finished. Which probably wouldn't be long for me, but Carmen hadn't started yet. So we walked back to the Arena and watched a match.
"Is it just me, or are people dying more often in the Arena now?" Carmen wondered aloud as we saw two more people die in the Arena.
I shrugged, "Could be. I've heard some people saying that some of the psychos sometimes get messages telling them to take out certain people."
Carmen nodded, "Yeah, I've even heard that some people get forced to go into the Arena and that they almost always die when that happens."
"How do they get forced?" Terrence asked.
Carmen shrugged, "No idea. It's just a rumor, anyway."
She gave me a look when she said that that made me think she didn't think it was 'just a rumor' at all. I was inclined to agree. Ever since this started I'd been noticing that there was a lot more going on in this place than I had ever thought.
After the fight we went back to a game room so Terrence could try out his powers some more. He just put his hands on the keyboard while doing his thing at first, but eventually he got the hang of playing the game normally while still getting inside the computer with his powers.
"This is so cool!" he said, through the computer, at one point. He was still playing the game normally without typing the words in.
"That's great! Now you can practice without anyone knowing." Carmen typed.
"Yeah, but there's not much I can do in here. These computers are only connected to each other." Terrence sent.
"Maybe you can figure out how to access the computer that controls the door in Carmen's room later?" I typed.
"Yeah, that might work." he agreed.
We played for a while without saying much. Eventually our stomachs told us it was time to stop. Carmen was especially hungry and looked worriedly at me. We both guessed it might have to do with her changing, since she'd probably get bigger where I seemed to be getting a little smaller.
Carmen ended up eating twice as much as usual. She looked worried as we walked back to the game room.
"It's starting, isn't it?" she typed once the game was going.
"I think so. I wonder if it's better to know it's coming or to have it dropped on you by surprise?" I typed.
"I think it sucks either way." she replied.
We played for about an hour before we all got bored. Even Terrence, since the computers didn't really have much on them. He was eager to try his powers out on other computers but we made sure to remind him to be careful. We didn't know a lot about computers but were worried that his digging around could be detected somehow.
On the way out of the game room I found myself suddenly feeling really bad. And my stomach was really roiling and it felt like my last five meals were trying to come back out! I'd never been sick before, so this was a new experience for me. I hurried towards the restrooms but Carmen pulled me into the girls when she figured out where I was headed. Terrence was going to stay outside but she pulled him in, too.
He protested and she stopped to say something to him, but I was too busy puking my guts out to notice. It seemed like forever that I sat there. Just when I thought it was over it started all over again. I didn't think I'd eaten that much in the last three days!
"Are you okay Seb?" Carmen asked worriedly. I realized she was holding my hair out of the way, which had grown really long in the last few days.
"I don't know." I replied, waiting to see if I'd vomit anymore or not. I decided I really didn't like being sick.
We sat there for an hour before I felt safe enough to get up. I was feeling light headed and really weak. Carmen helped me over to the sink to wash my face and rinse my mouth out. Once that was done she half-carried me back to her room.
"I think we should call it a night." she said once we were inside.
"No argument here." I said. I noticed Terrence looking intently at the hand plate on the wall, but didn't think much of it as I fell asleep quickly.