Power Blues

Kiehra lay on the thin mattress of her camper, staring at the ceiling as the early morning lights shone through her broken window. The sun's rays bathed the small home in dull orange light, but the warmth did nothing to chase away the cold that clung to the surface of her skin. The destruction she caused at the Field of Fallen Gods was stuck in a loop in her head. Everytime she blinked, she saw the jagged cliffs, and even when the ground beneath her was perfectly still, she could feel the violent quakes beneath her feet. She had come to hate the quietness of the night, because it was too similar to the eerie silence that had followed the catastrophic event. 

The news reports had been endless. Every single station, every single channel, was flooded with coverage of the tremors that had shaken everywhere from Phantom Sentry HQ to the corners of Abyss, the restructuring of the land, the unnatural bends in the sky. The question on everyone's mind was what caused it, and despite all the various theories, hypotheses, and investigation, nobody had been able to come forth with a correct answer. 

Her stomach had been twisting nonstop with guilt, and yet, beneath all of it, something else stirred—a twisted excitement. The memory of the pure, uncontained power that had surged through her muscles lingered, threatening to pull her into its intoxicating feeling. She hadn't only utterly destroyed a powerful spirit, she had bent the fabric of the world with her supercharged muscles alone. The thought was downright exhilarating. That was only the tip of her strength—not even amped with her spectral energy. If she could unleash blows of such devastating impact without even trying…what would happen if she stopped holding herself back?

No, she told herself firmly, slapping the sides of her face as though to rid herself of the thought. I'm not a monster. 

But the memory of her power wouldn't leave. It hung at the edges of her thoughts, tickling her brain with the possibilities of what she could do. She closed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. 

"Why didn't you reverse it?" she asked aloud, breaking the silence that was threatening to kill her. Three had been quiet ever since he lay eyes on that dormant spirit. He was still lurking around inside her, but he hadn't spoken much in days. She couldn't help but wonder what exactly he had seen that left him with so much to think about.

Three stirred at last, sounding uncharacteristically tired, as if he had just awoken from a deep slumber. "My…our time abilities only work on small scale events, like with your warehouse mishap. What you did…was different. You didn't just break a building. Your strike…it rewrote the land itself. My time…it can't touch that."

His explanation felt flimsy, and his words hollow. His tone carried something else in it, and it made Kiehra shiver with unease. He was keeping something from her—he had been ever since the incident at the Field. The uncertainty in his voice only made her worried and uncomfortable. 

"What aren't you telling me Three?" Kiehra muttered bitterly, rubbing her eyes. "Am I just stuck with this disaster on my hands?"

Three gave her no response, his presence dwindling back into the furthest reaches of her mind, meaning she was alone with her thoughts. He had never been the most comforting presence, and though she found his snarky remarks annoying at times, it was preferable to this silence. Something had gone wrong with him in the Field of Fallen Gods, and it wasn't good.

Her Emitter, the small digital watch assigned to all Sentry personnel, buzzed on the floor next to her, shattering the tense quiet. A message was displayed on the screen, its bright blue screen stark against the light of her camper. 

You've been selected for a mission. Report to Sector Twelve at 0800. 

Kiehra jumped up, blinking at the message in disbelief. A mission? This was going to be her first mission! For a moment, all the guilt and unease faded, replaced by the tiniest flicker of positivity. Finally, the time had come to show everyone—and prove to herself—that she was more than just a force of destruction. Maybe she'd even prove that she was deserving of her rank, in spite of everything. 

The halls of the Headquarters were cold and unwelcoming as Kiehra made her way through the glassy corridors, the sounds of boots clanging against tiles providing a sufficient amount of background noise. Other Initiates passed by her, their eyes darting in her direction, lingering just a millisecond too long. She kept her head as low as she could, but the hushed whispers followed her, hanging unto her like cigarette smoke. 

"It's her right? The one from the exams right?"

"Yeah, the one who destroyed the punching machine." 

"No freaking way that was natural."

"I heard she cheated."

The weight of their combined gazes threatened to crush her, each whispered word cutting deeper than any blade. I didn't mean to, she thought bitterly, her nails digging into her palms. She had tried. She had really tried to hold back during the physical exams. She had woken up that morning with every intention not to draw attention, but as always, her body remained truly ungovernable. The weights were weightless, the speed test was done in a flash, the obstacle course was a joke. And now, everyone else thought she was either a freak or a fraud. 

"I'm…I'm not either," she said through clenched teeth, her emotions threatening to spiral out of control. 

Three's voice wafted into her mind, not all there, but present enough that she could detect the sympathy in his words. "Don't bother with them. They don't know anything. They're scared of the unknown, and like sheep, band together against that which is foreign to them."

Kiehra bit her lip, thankful for his sudden reappearance. "But they're not exactly wrong though," she responded, careful to keep her lips from moving too much. "What we did…our direct soul bond…I know you said it's inherently stronger than using a Spectral Interface, but—" She hesitated before saying the next part. "—do you think it did something else to me? To us?"

Three was silent for a moment, the sensation of his presence flickering in and out like a faulty light bulb. When he finally responded, he sounded…confused. "There's something…a reason for this. Even in the ancient times…no…direct soul bonding wasn't so strong. There's something else…we are—"

He stopped suddenly, words cutting short. 

Kiehra's eyebrows furrowed. "We are? What are we? Three? No.33?"

But there was no answer. His presence faded again till the point she thought he wasn't even there anymore. Kiehra frowned deeply. Something's wrong. Three, for all his cryptic behavior and mischievousness, had never sounded so vague before. He always sounded certain of everything. Today he sounded lost. 

By the time Kiehra reached Sector Twelve, the uneasy feeling in her stomach had only gotten worse. She entered the designated briefing room, looking round the small space. Three other recruits stood waiting, all of them Initiates—LV1s to be exact. They didn't look capable of lifting their own gear, let alone going out on a spirit involved mission. 

What am I doing here with them?

According to the handbook given to them, as well as Payday's own words, Initiate LV4 and above were supposed to be out in the field, gaining real time experience. This…this was clearly a cleanup crew. The gadgets in their hands, the visible wear and tear on the equipment…it was all meant for grunt work, not battle. 

Her heart sank as the realization hit her like a speeding truck. Vela. This had to be his doing. First it was with subduing her rank, and now this. Even after her showing in the physical exams and the run-in she had with him prior, it was clear that he still saw her as a janitor—a nobody. 

She didn't even have the leisure of dwelling on her frustration before the whispers started up again. 

"It really is her. Why's she here?"

"She shouldn't be here. Something's wrong. Keep your distance."

Kiehra clenched her jaw, putting on her sanitation gloves with deliberate calm. The comments cut into her very soul, but she refused to react. Just get through the day. You come from Abyss. You worked as a janitor. You've endured worse. 

The assignment was straightforward: clear out the debris from a recent encounter with a rogue spirit. Nothing special, just manual labor under Gehenna's scorching orange sun. The degrading work wasn't made any better by the fact that the others muttered incessantly behind her as they worked—questioning her presence, rank, her strength, even her true species. Kiehra worked quietly, her muscles begging to be unleashed as she moved rubble and a couple of broken gadgets. The only good thing to come out of the past several days was that she'd gotten some degree of control over her physical power. It was barely any progress, but it was something. 

Hours passed, and by the time they were finally finished, Kiehra was barely holding back her growing frustration. By some miracle, she had managed to go through the day without losing her temper, every fiber of her being aching from the pressure of keeping her power contained in some form.

I could silence them all in a second. Why? Why am I even bothering?

She expected a response of some kind from Three, but the spirit was still radio silent. Even a dry chuckle would have offered some comfort. 

----

A couple minutes and several swears later, Kiehra found herself trudging through the futuristic streets of Vivaria, navigating the sparkling city and its crowded roads in pursuit of a bus to Old Oasis. She rounded a corner, and her eyes locked on a familiar figure—Flak. She hadn't seen him since the chaos of the spirit capture. The alien boy was standing near a stall, clutching a brown bag to his chest. His wide purple eyes met hers for a brief moment, and panic immediately flashed across his face. Before she could call out to him, he turned around and ran, vanishing into the crowd like a skittish animal. Kiehra looked on in confusion. Had he heard the rumors too?

She didn't get the chance to do much about it, because another voice cut through the air, dripping with malice. 

"Well well well. If it ain't tha sta' of tha application exams."

Kiehra turned to see two figures approaching. The first was Fabian Rann, the aloof young man who had apparently come in second during most of the physical exams. His small, lean frame moved with cold precision, his posture impeccable. His unique silver eyes that carried no emotion regarded her with a slight nod—an acknowledgment of her presence, though the wariness lingering between them was impossible to miss. Just like her, Fabian was under investigation by the Lieutenants. His strength and speed, while pale in comparison to Kiehra's, was still remarkable for someone without a Spectral Interface, which raised a couple of eyebrows. It made him respected, but also warranted close inspection.

Beside him, Riona Hale moved with a slow, deliberate grace. Her deep maroon fur rippled as she approached, her sloth-like features twisted into a nasty sneer. Riona, had placed third place in the exams, and was a force to be reckoned with. Her bizarre yet vaguely humanoid biology carried an ominous air, her sharp claws extending from the tips of her fingers as though always ready for a fight. She had done what a few could—bonded with a spirit of above-average risk during the capture, a performance that put her on the fast track to becoming a Lieutenant instantly. Initiates of all levels regarded her with awe and fear. Vicious and determined, she was practically destined to shoot to the top.

"Nice o' ya ta finally show up," Riona spoke, her words coated in contempt. Her sharp, green eyes narrowed at Kiehra. "Didn't think ya would actually sho' up out here. Dont'cha got some enhancement drugs ta get high on?'

Kiehra crossed her arms, her fingers gripping onto her sleeves to quell the irritation in her chest. She forced herself to look calm, her eyes flicking between the two of them. "Got no idea what you're talking about."

Riona's sharp teeth gleamed as she bared them in a low growl, her claws tapping against her arms. "Oi, no playing dumb. I know ya cheated. Ain't no way a bugger like ya, who barely scraped through tha written exams and only pulled two wee spirits, could pull off what ya did in tha physicals. Don't know how ya did it, but it's clear ya didn't earn tha LV4 rank."

Fabian remained silent, his eyes studying Kiehra. He looked puzzled, but didn't say anything. 

Kiehra's blood boiled, but she willed herself to appear calm. She'd been dealing with so much in the past two weeks. The struggles with her power, accusations like this, whispers everywhere she went, Vela's breathing down her neck. Hearing even more negative statements from Riona, a sloth alien she didn't even fucking know, hit a nerve. "Think whatever the hell you want," she muttered, her voice lowering. 

Shit. I'm losing it. 

Riona stepped closer, her towering form casting a shadow over Kiehra. She leaned in, her body giving off an intense heat that reminded one of her alien biology. She growled again before speaking. "Oh I will. And so will everyone else when they see tha' ya ain't none but a fraud. Ya didn't earn tha' LV4 rank. It's only a matter o' time till someone finds ya out."

Kiehra clenched her fists. She's wrong. She doesn't know anything. None of them do. But a small, dark part of her mind acknowledged that Riona wasn't all wrong. She wasn't sure of the true extent of the power given to her by Three. She didn't even know if the strength given to her even had limits. She didn't understand it, and each day the line between control and chaos felt thinner. 

Fabian finally spoke, his voice calm. "We just got back from the field. I thought LV4 to LV6 initiates were supposed to be out there. Why…why were you working with the LV1s?" His question lacked the venom of Riona's accusations. He was genuinely curious, trying to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her, and in a way, that felt worse than the open hostility. 

Riona wasn't done. She pointed at Kiehra, her claws extending by a couple more inches. "Ain't it obvious? It's where she belongs. Cleaning up afta' everyone else. Nothing but filth, just like tha' trash she'll be picking up." 

Kiehra took a deep breath, doing everything in her power to maintain control. She could feel the power surging through her veins. It gathered and danced underneath the surface of her skin, waiting to explode if she let it. 

But losing control here…

"I've gotta go," she mumbled, brushing past them. 

Riona, however, wasn't letting her leave so easily. "Won't be long before tha' higher ups figure out what ya truly are," she called after her, her tone heavy with disdain. "A FRAUD!" 

Kiehra froze. Calm down. Ignore it all. Don't feed into her taunts. Even though you could shut her up with a finger. She took a step forward, but Riona's words echoed in her mind. "Fraud."

Suddenly, Fabian spoke up, his tone flat but direct. "Enough, Riona."

Riona turned to him, eyes flashing with annoyance. "Oi oi oi! Ya can't be serious. Ya were there, ya know—"

"Until proven otherwise, all we know is she got here by her own merit," Fabian retorted, his demeanor cool and composed. 

Riona opened her mouth, but snapped it shut, glaring at Fabian. There was an intense stare down between the two, but she finally huffed and turned away, her claws retracting to normal size. "Wha'eva. She'll sink soon'a or later." She stormed off, her maroon fur swaying with each heavy step, leaving Kiehra standing there with closed fists. 

Fabian lingered a few seconds longer, his gaze briefly meeting hers before he turned and followed after Riona. 

Kiehra stood there for a long time, the vibrations in her veins dying down. She could have cracked that girl's skull open with a sneeze. She could have brought that confrontation to an end with one flick of her little finger. But she walked away. 

As she made her way to her home in Old Oasis, the anger lingered, gnawing at her insides. Why am I even trying? I could bring the world to its knees if I wanted to. Why do I keep holding back? I'm tired. Why do I care?

Three's voice whispered in her mind, more awake than before. "While that would be interesting to see, I know you're better than that. You're—"

"Three?" she whispered, but he was gone again.

Kiehra sighed, the weight of the day settling over her like a thick blanket. As she finally reached her camper, she immediately fell on her bed, more exhausted than she'd felt in weeks.