Squad Zero

"What do you have to present for me today?" A well-suited man crossed his fingers over his desk, watching the lesser man who stood before him.

"This folder contains files of recent incidents that have occurred in the past year that I presume to be associated with our society's current downfall."

"By downfall, you are referring to?"

"The Seven Sins." The man took a step forward. "Through constant observation of incident patterns in our present days, I've compiled what are likely to be the closest indications of this hostile group existing within our society; hidden in plain sight, if you will."

The seated man raised his eyebrow. "Hugo, was it?"

"Yes sir."

"You've gone through a lot of trouble to engage a meeting with me, haven't you?"

"Yes sir."

"Now with that in mind, I'm hoping you've produced an outstanding topic for me to look over and not just some controversial nonsense that can be found in the words spoken among our civilians. Do you understand?"

Hugo nodded. "Yes sir."

"Alright, proceed then."

Hugo took another step forward, planting his file onto the man's desk. Opening the folder, a wide array of documents came to light. "First," he pointed to one; "The anomalous occurrence in the Advanced Xavier Education Program from earlier this year. The event consisted of a mass memory deprivation."

"Mass memory deprivation?"

"31 people in the class dropped the course due to sudden amnesia that was brought upon soon before its final exams. Among these people were two top prospects, William Hesso and Harvey Johnson, who were deemed to begin internships here at the Cardinal Nexus later this year."

"That's unfortunate…"

"It's more than just unfortunate. You see, there were 32 students, meaning only one student was 'fortunate' enough to avoid the amnesiac oddity."

"What's your point?"

"That this wasn't just some lucky coincidence. I think that the Sin of Gluttony must've been among the 32 students, and I'm here to conclude that it was the Sin's doing that caused the mass memory deprivation. If we refer to the Forbidden Document, we see that one of the individuals was mentioned to have 'memory-eating capabilities'. Essentially the ability to wipe memories of certain individuals from both physical and distanced contact."

"The Forbidden Document… The PDF that was released on our public website in synchronization with the emergency broadcast of the seven escapees of A.X.A. last year?"

"Yes sir. The one that contained the list of supernatural capabilities that each of the seven convicts harbored."

"My apologies, I'm not too caught up on word of the street. The individual with said 'memory-eating capabilities' has been given the title; Sin of Gluttony?"

"Yes sir, and these aren't just codenames sir. They are universal names used among both civilians and authorities alike. Their influence as public enemy number one has taken our society by storm."

The seated man stared down for a moment in silence. "Hmm… Care to fill me in on the names and capabilities of the rest?"

"Of course sir. There's the Sin of Greed, an individual with an ability referred to as 'Emotional Condensation.' The individual is able to condense and extract the emotional energy of a certain individual and use it to fuel his own physical capabilities. Then there's the Sin of Envy, who has 'Blinding Eyes'. Stare too deeply into the individual's eyes and one could go blind temporarily or even permanently. Next, there's the Sin of Pride. This individual is apparently able to manipulate the movement of atoms in the air, allowing the user to essentially control wind. I mention these three Sins specifically first, because the next incident I hope to explain will have uncanny similarities. May I proceed with the given topic?"

"You may." The man listened.

Hugo reached into the folder and pulled out a scrapped piece of a news paper article. "This is the Pactolus Airlines plane crash accident from just a month ago. It was actually this specific incident that pushed me to begin my recent month of research on this subject."

"So you say that three Sins—Greed, Envy, and Pride, were involved with this accident?"

"Correct sir. I assume firsthand that the plane crashed due to the hands and ability of the Sin of Pride. The plane's crash was brought about by heavy turbulence, caused by wind currents so strong that the plane's outer shell was ripped right off, and a busted engine, which was studied to have been struck by something. But nothing was ever found to have struck it, nor was the engine ever in malfunction. The deterioration and destruction of the plane itself was unnatural as a whole, which is why I think Pride did it, not terrorists, as skeptics claim."

"Why do you think it was Pride, and not more conveniently just some terrorists?"

"Because I've compared the damage done to flights by terrorist artillery in the past, with the damage done to this incident's flight, and they are like night and day."

"As for Greed and Envy, why them?"

"Peter Stephens. The man who was supposed to be the next CEO of Initiate Co., who was also on the flight."

"Right but…"

"He couldn't be CEO. Not while blinded following the plane crash. Although one of seven survivors of the crash, his state was determined to be of a 'weak heart' and fully blind. He was noted to be healthy in all conditions before the flight, and that includes having full eyesight."

"The weak heart could've been brought on by the crash though, no?"

"It could have, but I also consider this: there were 102 bodies found, dead or alive, but the plane was numbered to have had 104 passengers. Coincidence or not, it was also found out that two of the 104 passengers were determined to have fake passports, a male and a female. These two unidentified passengers sat in seat A and seat C of row 19. Where did Peter Stephens sit? Seat B of row 19. He was surrounded. I think that both Greed and Envy targeted him specifically, using their abilities, while finally escaping the flight somehow before its crash."

The man in his chair leaned back, sighing. "Hugo…"

"Yes sir?"

"Never mind, continue."

"Apologies sir, this is the last case that I'd like to present to you. This is regarding the death of Richard Jennings, the previous CEO of Initiate Co."

"The one who was supposed to be replaced by Peter Stephens."

"Yes. His death was by cardiac arrest while at Numbra's Gentlemen's Club—the last place you'd really expect something like that to happen. Through Jennings' autopsy, it was determined that his heart hadn't had a history of attacks, nor did his family line. The cardiac arrest was completely new to his heart the night he died."

"So which Sin do you connect this to now?"

"The Sin of Lust. Just like Envy, you become affected when staring into the Sin's eyes. Except with this individual's case, staring too deeply would result in the excessive amplification of one's emotions to a point of fatality. Whatever emotion got Jennings' heart racing was amplified so much that his heart couldn't handle the pressure anymore. I'd like to assume the perpetrator, or Sin in this case, was female, considering it happened in a gentlemen's club. But without any actual leads, it's difficult to conclude it as that."

The man seated at the desk took this all in—everything that's been bestowed to him by Hugo. Words of controversy, but with unexpectedly good starting leads, the minister took interest into what's been presented.

"I've had my doubts, and I still did when you walked into my office. But you've provided some promising research, and honestly, with how our society's holding up right now, any attempt at putting a stop to those Seven Sins would be beneficial no matter the approach."

Hugo smiled with little relief at the minister's words. "That is right sir. Due to the increase in incidents in the last year, all rumored to be caused by these infamous 'Seven Sins', people have rarely left their houses, quit their jobs, and that has caused us a massive drop in economy. Some districts have even been driven to unstable lengths, with authorities dwindling down to nothing, as raids became common on general markets and stores due to fear of 'the end.' We need to do something about the Sins sir. The Cardinal Nexus has sat around for more than a year now without taking action. We have simply been bystanders to the downfall of our own nation. We must take action."

The minister nodded. "Thank you for enlightening me." He stopped, and took a moment to think for himself. After some given time, the minister looked back up, ready to announce the commencement of a new era.

"As the Minister of National Defense for the Cardinal Nexus, I have come to the decision of forming an elite corps group used to hunt down the Seven Sins."

Hugo's jaw dropped in awe at the realization that his words had actually breached the minister's mind. "How will you do this sir?"

"As a major influence in the military, I will grab one of the most elite candidates I can find from each of the six military sub-factions that we have. Excluding those six to-be-chosen individuals to form the squad, you will be my first choice, Hugo Hethens."

Hugo's mouth dropped even further down than he could have possibly imagined. "M-Me? In your elite squad? Me?"

"Yes. With the detailed research and information you've provided me today, you've already proven you're capable of digging up beneficial knowledge that could be used to aid your elite squad with relevant context and data. You shall be the information broker of your group, which we'll call Squad Zero for now. Any questions?"

Hugo was speechless. He'd had both weight lifted and placed back onto his shoulders within a matter of minutes. Though the idea and notion was exciting.

"No sir. I'm ready to establish myself as a guardian of this society."

"Good," the minister now stood up. "But before I officialize you into this position, tell me about the Sins you have not yet mentioned. Would you?"

"Oh!" Hugo realized his blanks. "My apologies sir. About the remaining two Sins… I have unfortunately been unable to uncover any incidents relating to their abilities whatsoever."

"These Sins are?"

"The Sin of Sloth and the Sin of Wrath."

"And what are their capabilities?"

"The Sin of Sloth is able to subconsciously control the minds of his targets within a specific ranged vicinity. His ability even consists of shifting an individual's morals."

"That is… extremely interesting."

"Yes sir. The results of his ability seem very vague, meaning he could have already done a lot of work against people in our society without anyone truly realizing. His identity and ability would be the most difficult to track."

"Indeed…"

"As for the Sin of Wrath," Hugo continued. "His capabilities are nothing but destructive. Excessive physical strength, and extreme physical durability. This Sin is what you could describe as a hulk, or a living beast. The Sin even harbors the ability to regenerate living cells and flesh, straight out of fatal wounds. To call this Sin unstoppable, would be an understatement."

The minister's eyebrows scrunched with unwanted worry. "If this Sin's capabilities are that loud, how has there been no sighting of the individual yet? Not even a trace of its influence in any incident in the past year?"

"No sir. Nothing."

The minister shook his head. "Knowing that a danger like that is present, I need you Hugo, to dig as deep as possible to uncover the identity of the Sin of Wrath. But that goes for all the Sins. I need you, along with Squad Zero, to uncover the identities of the Seven Sins and eliminate them from our society. We must bring justice to this recent year alone."

"Sir yes sir."

"And with the detailed information you've provided me on each of the Sins' capabilities, I will choose suitable candidates to fill in the remaining six gaps of your now Squad Zero.

"Yes sir," Hugo saluted.

"At ease. You may exit now. You'll be notified with updates on the upcoming progress of Squad Zero in the next week. By the time it is formed, I'm expecting that you've come up with even more research by then. You may leave now."

Hugo dropped his hand, and turned around to leave. Exiting the doors of the office, he was rejuvenated with a new feeling of accomplishment, but simultaneously, a sense of burden.