Shifting tides

A giant hologram head pops out of the device. Their shock turns into total despair. David arrives at the scene, and now the trio are shocked, surprised, and horrified at the same time.

"We are losing him. Can any of you close his wound, I will handle the rest?"

"Get back, ma'am, I will handle this?"

"David? Don't move."

"It's going to be okay, ma'am. I will deal with this." He moves slowly ahead of Eve.

"People, you don't have to be scared, and more importantly, Axel's life is at stake. Can we please focus on that!"

All three stand still and stare at the hologram.

"Hey David, you were a military doctor. Bring the kit. Now!"

Everyone continues to stare with utter despair. With visible anger on the hologram's face, Zeus forces Axel's eyes open, which glow blue. David quickly lunges and runs to bring the kit. Within seconds, he is back with the kit. He opens the kit and starts to uncover the wound. He takes a look at the wound and quickly takes out cotton to clean.

"How did this happen? What are you? I have so many questions."

"I know."

Zeus continues, "I am Zeus. You can consider me an AI for your better understanding. I am the device in Axel's hand."

"An AI?" Sofia says, "But there's no AI that powerful, is there?"

"Long story short, Axel and I together are the Ghost."

"The superhero?" Eve and Sofia say it together.

"Yes. Axel found me on his trip, and ever since then, I have been with him."

They both look away. David, fully focused on Axel's wound, stops and looks up towards Zeus, then goes back to what he was doing.

"It has been Axel the whole time." Eve speaks softly, mostly inaudible to others.

"Yes, and what happened to him now was my fault. I was trying to warn him, but before I could, Axel went in and we were ambushed by the military."

"By whom?" Eve looks at Zeus with disbelief.

"The Army."

"And they shot him?" Sofia asks

"Yes." Zeus says, looking down on the floor.

"This is a sniper wound." David utters in between.

"Why? What happened? I want to know everything in detail, and I mean everything." Eve stands

Meanwhile,

Inside a huge conference room, Josh stands in a corner looking out of the window. With anger quite visible on his face he looks down on the floor and then towards the ceiling. The doors to the room open, and the Defense Secretary, with his bodyguards, walks in alongside the President. Josh turns back to look at them and pulls his hands behind him in a stoic pose.

"Welcome, Mr. President." Myra calls from the other side.

The President nods his head and sits on the chair, followed by the Defense Secretary. Both of them look towards Myra. Myra gazes towards Josh and points her eyes towards the chair. Josh Without saying a word moves and sits on the chair across them.

"Before we start, I would like Mr. President to say something."

"It has come to my attention that Sargent Josh was unable to handle Ghost. Who apparently seems to be a college kid."

Josh turns his attention to the Defense Secretary. The Defense Secretary grins. Josh notices it and turns his gaze towards Myra.

"I am sorry, Mr.President, if I am going out of line here but Sargent Josh didn't order anyone to fire at Ghost. It was the Defense Secretary's call to fire the shot. If he hadn't ordered anything, Josh would have had him."

"How can you be so sure, Myra? He was wasting time talking to that guy." the defense secretary says.

"With all due respect, he is not some terrorist. For all we know, he might come after us."

"Then we can deal with him our way."

The president turns his gaze towards the Defense Secretary. "We were supposed to gain information about the Ghost. If what Myra is saying is true, the guy who has been responsible for the drop in criminal activities in New York will be something that you will have to deal with. All I wanted was to know about him. Now we have made ourselves an enemy. He could have been an asset to us."

The Defense Secretary looks down.

"How are you going to clean this mess?" President looks at Josh. "I am sorry Sargent for accusing you, I guess I was given false information."

"You don't have to be sorry about it Mr. President. In the end I still could not complete the mission, and I think we lost the chance to negotiate."

"Yes, that we did, and I am sure he will be vigilant now."

"The wound from the sniper was deep. Do you think he will survive because we are not going to spot him in any hospital?" Myra asks

"I am not sure."

"It's mentioned in the case file that bullets don't hit him, then how did the sniper get through?" Mr. President looks at the file.

"No, actually he has the ability to become untouchable, but he can shift between being normal and being untouchable somehow." Myra says

"Oh, I just hope he is safe, because his blood will be on our hands."

Everyone sits silently gazing away, Josh leans back on his chair and Myra taking support of her hands leans down.

"So this has been going on for weeks now."

"Yes."

"He will be okay, right?"

"Yes, it will take some time, but I think he's…" Zeus looks down at Axel. "Yeah, he is awake."

Axel opens his eyes only to see Eve, Sofia, and David surrounding him. His eyes are barely open and he tries to get up.

"Don't move Master Axel, the stitches will open."

"Stitches?" Axel is still squinting his eyes.

"Yes, the wound was deep. I couldn't fix it myself, so I took help." Zeus speaks from the hologram.

Axel opens his eyes completely and notices Eve. He is spooked. He abruptly switches his gaze to his left hand, notices the device and his eyes open wide.

"I can explain."

"No need, we heard everything from Zeus." Eve puts her hand on his shoulder stopping him from leaning forward.

"I am sorry, I…"

"It's okay."

"Sis, I realize this is shocking, but please allow me to say something."

Eve still holds him by his shoulders. "No excuse is going to work. I will only say this once."

"After what I have witnessed today, I want you to stop playing hero and start focusing on things that matter."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But I want to do this."

"Axel, I am not asking you. Sorry Zeus but I can't let this continue."

"I promise I'll be careful."

"Just like you were today."

"Today won't happen next time."

"Yes, it won't because you won't be a superhero anymore."

Axel tears up, and so does Eve. The heated argument has turned into a silent contemplation. Eve stands up and moves back. Axel gets up while David supports him.

"By tomorrow morning, I know you will be healed. So I want your heroing to end."

Eve leaves the room while her eyes are still a little watery. She moves fast and swiftly wipes the tear drop coming out.

"Just know that she loves you." Sofia says

"I know." Axel feels hurt. He lets out a sigh and starts walking down the hall.