True History

Of course, he knew that better than anyone else. That was the reason he came here in the first place. Realizing he had said too much Hunter coughed and cleared his throat. Max had already fallen asleep somewhere along the way.

"Heh, I guess it's not something a kid would be interested in, huh?" he meant it as a joke but Harlan, as dense he was, took it literally.

"Not at all, sir. All this brat talks about is coming over to your place to play with you, haha. It's just that he is a little tired today."

Hunter sighed inwardly. Little Mary had her work cut out for her didn't she, having married this guy.

"Come, I will bring you back. I have to go somewhere after that."

Hunter went into the other to finally get dressed properly. He came out wearing a black long coat with an old cowboy hat. The Model-32 hung from his shoulder. With him in the lead they went back the same way Harlan had come from.

It was a relatively short walk and after 10 minutes of trekking through the empty forest, they came to a small valley tucked between two stone mountains. There was a 12-meter tall stone wall blocking the entrance with the only exit being guarded by four individuals even at this time. There were two guard towers poking out from the other side.

The sun was just coming up but because of the sea of clouds only a faint outline could be seen.

Hunter stopped some distance away.

"I don't know when I will be back so don't visit me for a while. And stop going out at night. Even this place isn't completely safe. There is always something in the darkness."

Harlan wanted to say something but Hunter turned around and was gone before the words could leave his mouth. Somewhat dejected, he continued on and entered the valley.

What he didn't notice was that there was someone watching him from one of the guard towers. A youngster in his teens.

He saw Harlan's back vanish behind the rows of single-story stone houses before looking outside. He squinted but couldn't see anyone else there.

"Uncle," he called out but there was no response.

"UNCLE SHEAMUS!" he turned around and kicked a stack of blankets.

"HUH?! WHAT'S GOING ON? ARE WE UNDER ATTACK? MEN, TO YOUR POSTS!"

An unkept, red-haired middle-aged man jumped out from underneath while barking orders left and right.

"Relax, we're fine," the teenager commented before pointing in the direction he had seen Hunter.

"There was someone there, a person I had never seen before. Wore a big hat and a coat. Wasn't everyone around here supposed to be living within the settlement?"

"Huh?" still half asleep Sheamus rubbed the gunk from his eyes before peering outwards.

"Hat and coat?" he repeated mindlessly until he remembered the description matched someone else.

"Did he have a rifle on his shoulder? A long metal stick, its ah- it's not a sword but-"

"I know what a rifle looks like, and I don't know. Maybe? Why? Who is he? Why doesn't he live here?"

"And you haven't seen him before? Entering or leaving the settlement?"

"Never."

Sheamus instinctively drew in a breath of cold air, "It has to be him then," he mumbled incredulously.

"What what? Who is he?"

Sheamus leaned over the edge and whistled to get one of the men from below.

"Go tell my brother we found him."

"Tell father? Why? Will you please tell me already?" the teenager nudged Sheamus repeatedly until he gave in.

"Fine fine, you'll find out soon anyway."

Sheamus reluctantly sat back down on the blankets with crossed arms thinking about where to begin.

"Alex, how far did you get with the history of the 21st century?"

Alex frowned before giving a shrug, "Why call my name all of a sudden. I read it all, even though it was boring as hell."

Sheamus suddenly reached out and pulled his leg, making him fall on his back.

"Sit down you little shit. You're gonna make me look up at you throughout?"

"OW! What the fuck! Just say it out loud you freak!"

"Shut it! Now tell me what you know about the history of the human psychics."

Rubbing his backside Alex hesitantly spoke up when Sheamus glared at him.

"Alright alright. Um, the first recorded human psychic appeared in the year 2008. He was an extremely strong telepath considered to be an upper B-Class who after losing his mind went on a killing spree which took the lives of over 120 people."

"After that more and more psychics started appearing one after another. We were originally taken in by the various government institutions but they couldn't keep up. We were too strong and even though our identities were hidden from the populace, they still used us in wars and other political uprisings."

"It wasn't until after the third World War that they officially accepted our existence."

Sheamus nodded, "Mhm, good. And how are they classified?"

"Do I really have to? Even a kid knows-"

One bump on the head later Alex continued as normal.

"There are six official classes and each one has three minor classifications within. Namely lower, middle, and upper class. A to E Class psychics are considered to be the standard but there is a very rare chance for an S-Class psychic to be born to the children of powerful psychics."

"But S-Class psychics are only theorized and not a single one of them has ever been born. Apparently, they are on the level of gods because of their strength."

Sheamus waited for a few seconds but when Alex didn't continue he became a little disappointed.

"Is that all you know?"

"Well yeah, that was all in the books. What else is there?"

Sheamus sighed, disheartened at his ignorance.

"Books are written by the victors. They do not reflect the true reality. That's why you should always look for multiple sources. Yes, you are correct about the classes but an S-Class psychic did appear."

"We don't know their age, gender, or any other information. Only that they were the reason behind the third World War. But before we get to that you need to know more about what happened when psychics and other powerful individuals first started appearing en mass."

"Unofficially, the government knew about their existence a LONG time ago. It was only because they were out of their depths that they finally officially recognized them around 2008 but that knowledge wasn't made public until much later."

"Many nations had their own secret organizations dedicated to controlling and euthanizing these extra-ordinary individuals for centuries but the one created by the Americans proved to be the last straw."

"Almost all US presidents believed that psychics and other gifted individuals were a serious threat to their lifestyles, which wasn't entirely untrue but they had never tried to understand us anyway."

"They purged entire communities, experimented on minorities and the poor and homeless, you know the ones no one really cared about or listened to. Then around the early 2000s, one scientist discovered something."

"A gene that he thought was responsible for these 'mutations'. Unfortunately, it was only a theory and the only way to test it was by experimenting on human subjects. So once approved by their government they kidnapped, blackmailed, and imprisoned people that they THOUGHT would have this gene."

"One such program was for kids that were under 15 years old. He theorized that because psychics have such extraordinary powers, they must also have an extremely high level of pain tolerance to cope with that."

Alex's expression turned ugly. These were his people, others like him. If he was born just a few decades ago then he would have gone through the same thing.

"They tortured these poor kids. Physically, psychologically, every which way they could think off. They took them apart piece by piece and then put them back together again. This went on for years, long after the results were clear. But the scientist was unwilling to accept it and refused to acknowledge his mistakes. He asked for one more opportunity which was given to him."

"He took 70 children and a team deep underground, locking himself in a bunker. Years later when he came out less than 5 kids survived had survived. They definitely weren't psychics or supernaturally gifted but once you do something like that to a person they don't just stay the same. I can only imagine what went on down there. There were horror stories of what happened in that bunker."

"After years of mistreatment, inflicting pain on them for most of their lives, something broke inside of them. They weren't human, not anymore. Your father had seen one of them in person, he said they had lost their souls."

"These five were given a codename, 'The Nulls'. They went looking for psychics but created something entirely different in the process. These five developed an ability that allowed them to be completely immune to all forms of supernatural powers. If we were gods, they were god killers."

"Having recognized what a great opportunity they had acquired the government trained them to hunt and kill all gifted beings that stood against them. Brutal training which only three survived. The one you saw today is the last living Null, the untouchable."

"He is more of a monster than any of us will ever be. He is also the one that was most efficient among the three, their leader. He was brainwashed and programmed to kill without empathy or remorse, and he was good at it, the best anyone had ever seen."

By the time Sheamus finished Alex was speechless. There was so much that he didn't know.

"But...if he really is someone like that, doesn't he present a danger to all of us? Why do we let him live?"

"Two reasons. 1, because he doesn't kill needlessly. And 2, because he was given a pardon by the Scarlet King."

"The Scarlet King?! Lord Ramos?!"

"Yeah yeah, keep your voice down!" Sheamus looked around warily.

The Scarlet King was the one in charge of the only North American human Capital. One of the few upper A-Class psychics.

"B-But why?! Why keep someone like him alive?"

"Because he did a favor for the Scarlet King. He was the one who killed the S-Class and ended the 3rd World War. And also because you would have to be crazy to go against someone that had killed a God!"