Pawns of The City

Eight hours have passed since the Eastern District of New Providence was placed under mandatory lockdown due to the threat of a terrorist attack. The police had forced citizens into nearby buildings with little answers given as to why and how long they would be stuck inside for. Those slippery enough to evade the first wave of officers were given a free pass to roam the streets as if nothing was happening. This action by the police caused a massive riot online. No amount of damage control could fix the current situation. That was what a brazen, one-eyed man had thought.

"What the fuck is this!?" The man slammed his fist on his desk. "Those damn Northern District pieces of shit. Just how many damn experiments are they planning to force us to endure?" The man grabbed a cigar from his pocket and opened a holographic console. He read the contents of the screen out loud. "Operation Mindwipe: A series of nanomass waves that can knock out all unruly citizens. Then there is this cursed one. Operation Ice Storm: Those who failed to heed the officers' warning will be pinned against the Frozen Fang." The man closed his holographic console and threw his head on his desk, defeated.

"Heh...I guess this is a bad time." A younger-looking man dressed in a police uniform awkwardly scratched his head. He stood on the other side of the desk. A larger-built man stood beside him, giving the one-eyed man a pitying look. The man sat up.

"Officer Maverick just gave me your damn report." The man said after taking a large puff of his cigar.

"Y-yes, sir," Maverick turned back to look at the one-eyed man. "Officer Tony and I have investigated the scenes where the terrorist, Apollo, had been killed and the apartment complex in which Alan lives." Maverick opened his air console and sent the one-eyed man photos of the scenes. "We have learned that Arthur has learned the ability to use the nanomasses, just as Professor Omega had proclaimed he would. While searching the corpse belonging to Apollo, we discovered artificial human parts similar to the ones Omega had implanted into his body. Which allowed us to conclude that our terrorists all have the powers to use these 'nanomasses.'" Upon hearing that, the one-eyed man bit his lip. Maverick stepped back a little.

"And on top of that," an older-looking officer standing next to Maverick chimed in. "We have confirmed the deaths of two females that fit the description of the Professor's 1% handbook: Evangela Seamon and Maria Vincent. We confirmed them to be killed by the Frozen fang." The man stopped and raised a brow. "Why are we calling him that?"

The man took another puff of his cigar. "The higher-ups gave him that name because of his powers, and his weapon of choice looks like a fang with how damaged it is." He then stood up from his desk and looked at the image of Evangela's corpse. "So with her killed, his plan is a failure, right?" A small glint of hope sparked in his only eye.

"Yes, but no," Maverick said. "I did some digging on Project Alpha and found out that even if the keys die if a nano wielder kills them, their soul is collected and transferred into theirs."

"What are you implying" He gave Maverick an imitating stare.

"He is implying that the people who die to wielders become the trapped souls that power nanomasses. This also means that your daughter was a wielder who killed numerous people, which allowed the Professor's plans to advance this far." Tony said to back Maverick up.

"That's why the quake had to be done…" the man pondered a little. "What about the boy?"

"Unknown, sir," they said in unison.

"Then only you two look for him. He might be our best shot at exposing the Professor's plans. After all, we are sitting ducks with how much pressure they've placed on us."

"So you are planning to betray the government?" Maverick asked.

"No, I'm only planning to betray that damn Professor. While Seamon's plans are also bad, turning him into the enemy would be bad." He walked to the two men and placed his arms on their shoulders. "Find the boy and aid him. You two are working under the radar and will not contact other officers or me, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The two men walked out of the room.

"Professor Omega, I don't know what this Project Alpha is, but just know that playing God will cause nothing but pain and suffering for yourself." The man walked back to his desk and resumed smoking his cigar. He opened his drew and pulled out a small revolver. Without hesitation, he pointed towards his head and pulled the trigger. "Bang!" He said while placing the gun back into his drawer. "Like I have the ball to kill myself. I still have to avenge my daughter."

~~~~~

"Hey, Tony, wanna go eat?" Maverick said while sitting at a stoplight in front of the NaviCafe. He noticed that the lights inside the building were on. While concerned, his rumbling stomach forced him to ignore that the people inside were lawbreakers.

"Sure, talking to the boss like that made me hungry. Plus, we have not eaten since eight last night."

"Good." Maverick looked outside the driver-side window. "Is this place good?"

"Never tried eating here, so it would be the first for me. And it's not like anything else is open, and I'm curious as to why they had evaded lockdown."

~~~~~

"A...n...Al...n...ALAN!" A nature-like woman in a maid outfit poured water onto Alan's face. The bitter cold water forced Alan straight onto his feet with his blade in hand. Once he realized that the woman before him was Linda, his weapon disappeared, and he fell. Linda ran up and caught him. "Alan, are you okay!?"

"Take it easy," Alice said to him, "Your corruption hasn't disappeared yet." Alan looked at his left arm and noticed strange black markings on it. He went to touch it; however, as he made contact with the markings, he felt an extremely painful burning sensation. In response, he retracted his hand and looked at Linda. Behind her was another waitress who shared the same concern as Linda.

"Good...Morning?" Alan tried to smile, but it didn't really work out.

After hearing Alan's awkward remark about the situation, Linda teared up and tried to hug Alan. After nearly reaching him, she stopped and punched him on his right arm. "Am glad you are okay."

"I'm surprised that you didn't hug me." Alan gave a sly remark before getting back to his feet.

"I would love to hug you if you weren't a human torch at the moment."

"What do you mean?"

"Those black markings on you are pretty hot, not in a sexual way." She then poured the rest of the cold water onto his left arm. As the water touched his skin, it immediately evaporated. "See."

"Alice?" Alan called out to the disembodied voice in his head.

"If you are wondering what this is, then~" she responded strangely happily, "It's your ability."

"What now?"

"Nanomasses have a strange side effect when it comes to corruption, but to speed you up, Nanomass wielders used to have high synergy with the souls of the lost. But over time, humanity's sin worsened, which caused the souls to rebel more. This caused corruption to exist; the side effect of this is the machine's strange ability to manipulate the surrounding elements."

"So, to use these abilities, you must be in close contact with the souls trapped in the nanomasses?"

"Yes. Your soul emits a certain element of nature, and because of that, only the nanomasses that have the same element as you can affect you. This is what the different colored mists are about."

"I see. So, in other words, each area has an elemental affinity?"

"Kinda yes, but kinda no. It's not the area affinity you are looking for; it's the souls killed by other wielders." Alan fell silent. "Your reaction doesn't surprise me. The ability to use nanomasses isn't a blessing; it's a reminder of our sins. If you want to blame someone, then blame the woman who created them thousands of years ago under the blind influence of love."

"I see…" Alan stopped asking questions as he noticed Alice's tone shifting from happy to sorrowful. While talking to Alice in his mind, he stood staring at the wall for the others outside. Linda, growing rather concerned, tried to get his attention by rubbing his ears. Alan finally noticed her and immediately tried to flee from her.

"You know, if you keep staring off into space like that, I'm gonna get really worried," Linda said in a playful tone.

"Maddie and Linda, we have our first customers of the day." A man had shouted from the kitchen of the cafe.

"Alan, when you are ready, have a seat at one of the tables. I'll serve you something on the house." The two waitresses in the room walked out, leaving Alan alone.

"What the hell?" Alan waited for the girls to be out of earshot range, "I know that the fight was broadcasted, but she acted like it was completely normal."

"I know you have trust in her, but I don't. Her hands are stained with blood, her and the woman behind her." Alice said. "Also, I have been using your phone while you were unconscious and browsed the internet, and what I found thought was interesting."

"Wait, you what now?"

"Don't worry about it. Just know that I left your body when the others came in."

"..." Alan immediately pulled out his phone and cleared his search history. Upon doing so, Apollo's implant rolled onto the floor. Seeing it reminded him of his promise to keep Renne safe. He then tried to call Renne. After receiving no answer, he moved on to Evangela. He then turned to Maria. "Why are none of them answering?" Anxiety built up in Alan's mind. After cooling off a little, he walked into the lobby area of the cafe. He then went to sit at the counter but stopped when he noticed two familiar-looking men having a relaxing meal. Alan tried to slowly re-enter the changing room, but Linda called out to him before he could.

"Took you long enough."

The two men turned out of curiosity in the direction in which Linda was talking to. Then they made eye contact with Alan.

"Well...this is awkward," Alan thought to himself.

"Don't worry," Alice said to him. "I don't think they are hostile right now."

"I sure hope that's true."