Ed controlled some nearby materials to make a mirror and looked at his appearance. His face was covered in scars and burns. The four metal limbs shone brightly in contrast to his body. The blue patient gown was covered in blood. His dark eyes contained a hint of sorrow, but it was overshadowed by the wrath burning in his chest.
'I don't have enough time to make better limbs. My mana will probably only last around thirty minutes tops…' He melted the concrete where he buried Luny. Her body popped out of the ground. 'Hmm? Did I kill her?' He walked over and gave her a couple good kicks to make sure. Then he searched the body and found a pouch that contained 15 mana-cores. He grabbed the flamethrower to use as a weapon. It was about the same size as a steam rifle. He also found a belt filled with various vials of liquid that shone strange colors. Unfortunately, they were unlabeled. He took them anyways. 'I'll just throw them randomly…'
He walked out of the room and entered where the other patients were originally kept. None of them remained. 'The surgeries should have already finished. Jarrod probably has those espers protecting him. Damn!' He grit his teeth in anger as he searched for anything useful. He found his old clothes and backpack, so he got changed. Then he headed upstairs.
"Hmm?" Quake spotted him as he climbed the staircase. "Hey! You're alive! It's too bad about Mordy huh?"
"Mordy?"
"Right. Guy died during the surgery. Such is life…" Quake sighed. He wrapped an arm around Ed's shoulder. "You just got out, right? Let's go meet with the king. I'm sure he'll want an update on your powers."
'Mordy died?!' Ed felt slightly depressed, but then a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. "Sure. Let's go meet with him."
The duo headed through several rooms. A few espers glanced at them, but none paid them any attention. Quake was a fellow subject, and a few had seen Ed before as well. They reached a door and knocked.
"It's open." Jarrod's voice sounded.
They entered and saw Jarrod with two other espers. Quake saw Ed staring curiously and smiled, "Those two are Wind and Scrambler. You met Wind when you first came here. He was the one that knocked you out. Scrambler can interfere with other people's powers. He's been blocking World Walker from coming here. He also stops Tracker from finding us."
Another loud knocking sounded on the door. Jarrod frowned. He was getting a lot of interruptions today. "Enter."
Two skinny men entered, one of which was handcuffed. "King. I've found the man Luny requested."
Ed's eyes widened in shock. The handcuffed man was his father! His eyes turned red with rage as he prepared to attack. Bu-bump, Bu-bump, Bu-bump. His heart rate sped up. Then, he slowly calmed himself. 'I can't beat all the espers here alone… Even if I could, then my father would probably die in the process. I need to wait for the right opportunity.'
"Good. Perfect timing." Jarrod smiled. "Bring him here." The skinny man shoved Ed's father forward. He looked around the room in confusion and spotted his son. "Ed?! What's going on?"
"Ed?" Jarrod questioned. He hadn't paid much attention to the man behind Quake. "Ed! What the hell, man! You look like you lost a fight with a can opener. Sheesh, put a mask on or something."
Ed's father glared at the king. "Hmm…" Jarrod grinned. "I wouldn't normally form a symbol on an ordinary human. It's a waste of mana after all, but I suppose I'll make a special exception." He reached for Ed's father and created a King symbol on his forehead. Then he turned around and smiled, "I really must thank you Ed! To think my power had such an obvious flaw! I never would have noticed if you hadn't entered my office."
Bu-bump, Bu-bump, Bu-bump. Ed's heart began speeding up again. He looked between Jarrod and his father while feeling restless.
Jarrod stood up and opened a drawer. He pulled a steam pistol out and handed it to Ed's father. "I thought you died nearly a day ago. My symbol disappeared after all…" He glanced at Ed's arm and laughed, "Haha, Luny really did a number on you! To think she even cut off your arm with my symbol in her madness. Did you kill her?"
Ed hurriedly pulled the flamethrower from his back and aimed it at Jarrod. "Let my father go if you don't want to die!" The surrounding espers took up defensive positions and glared at him. His father pointed the gun at him.
"How about no?" Jarrod sat back down in his chair and folded his hands together. He rested his head atop his hands and looked at Ed's father. "Point the gun at your own head. If Ed makes any sudden moves, then kill yourself."
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Ed screamed. His father pointed the gun towards his own head. If Ed made one wrong move, then his father would commit suicide.
"Now then…" Jarrod smiled. "Come accept the King's symbol. If you try anything, your father dies. Even if you killed me, your father would shoot himself before my powers fade away."
Ed glanced at his father and ground his teeth. 'Fuck, I've got no choice.' He walked towards Jarrod. Jarrod lifted his arm and set it atop Ed's forehead. A golden light started shining.
'This is my chance! Should I kill him? It will be easy at this range…' He glanced at his father again and hesitated. 'No. I can't risk my father's life like that. I don't know how long the symbol will last after the king dies…'
The crown symbol appeared on his forehead. He glared angrily at Jarrod but could do nothing to him. Jarrod laughed, "I thought you were supposed to be smart. To barge into my office without the symbol. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? I was prepared to have the espers kill you, but your father arrived just on time. I really am blessed by lady luck." He stood up and caressed Ed's face. "Such ugly scars. Tell me, did you succeed in your 2nd awakening?"
"No!" Ed ground his teeth as he was forced to answer.
"Hmm… I see. Luny seemed to think psychological pressure was the key. She really made us work to track down your father you know. Let's give it a test, shall we?" He turned towards Ed's father and grabbed the steam pistol. He handed it to Ed and smiled, "Shoot your father in the head."
"NO!!!!!" Ed screamed. Bu-bump, Bu-bump, Bu-bump. His heart rate rapidly increased. He watched in horror as his arm lifted. His metal finger slowly squeezed the trigger. Bang! His father's head exploded like a watermelon.
"I'LL KILL YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!" Tears of blood poured from his eyes. He lunged at Jarrod but was unable to attack him.
"Hahahahaha!!! You can't hurt me Ed! The man who made you kill your own father is standing right in front of you and you won't even do anything! You're such a bad son!"
Ed struggled against the power. Every time he rose his arms to attack it felt like a strong binding force pulled them backwards. As he struggled, his old wounds started to open. Blood covered his body and the floor. BU-BUMP, BU-BUMP, BU-BUMP! His heart was beating so fast he felt like it would explode. His head throbbed in such unbearable pain that his veins were visible on his forehead. The adrenaline pushed him to his limits and when he was on the verge of death from the stress on his body a crisp cracking sound rang out. His mana-core had cracked apart from the large burden of mana he poured out to resist the kings power. His eyes widened, and he fell to the ground on his knees. The room went eerily quiet as the espers looked at him.
"A pity." Jarrod shook his head. "Not even that caused the 2nd awakening. Is it really possible without the surgery? I wonder if Luny was just obsessed with it in her madness..."
Boom! A large wave of mana exploded from Ed's body as it was covered in a rainbow of light. Bu-bump, Bu-bump, Bu-bump. He felt his heart slowly calm down. The last thing he saw before passing out were the espers in the room running around in panic.
…
A six year old boy was watching his father work on a broken mech. A steam engine was rotating a bronze-colored mech torso rapidly. His father and some other men carried a mech waist. The waist had no legs attached yet. They locked it on a moving platform and shoved it towards the rotating torso. A loud grinding sound rang out and sparks flew in the air. The bottom of the torso and top of the waist slowly turned red from the heat generated by the friction. Then they fused together. His father turned around and smiled at the boy, "See. Friction welding is pretty cool, right?"
"It's okay…" the boy muttered. "Are mechs even useful though? I heard that espers are way stronger! I want to be an esper when I grow up!"
"Mm." The man nodded. "Espers are much stronger than mechs, but I believe that our technology will someday surpass them in power."
"How can that be possible?" The boy questioned with a doubtful look on his face. "The teacher told us that strong espers could even destroy cities! That hunk of junk can't even destroy a building!"
"Haha! Your teacher is right!" His father smiled. "Follow me. I want to show you something."
The boy followed his father. They were in a large manufacturing plant. Factory workers hammered parts, inspected them, and welded them together. Men in military uniforms guarded the facilities. His father led him into a long hallway. He pointed towards a large picture painted on the wall. "This was the first practical steam engine invented by Thomas Newcomen. It is the basis for almost all of the technology in the world today."
"I already know that!" Complained the boy.
The man led his son further down the hallway. They passed several pictures before he stopped and pointed at one. "This was the first computer invented in 1822 by Charles Babbage. It was completely mechanical and could only do some simple calculations while making hard copies of the results. We have some similar computers in the military, though they aren't very useful."
"What's a computer?" the boy questioned with a curious look in his eyes.
"Computers were one of the major foundations of society before the apocalypse. They could perform amazing calculations that were impossible for humans. They changed the world as we knew it! Many of the other pictures I'm going to show you were inventions that used computers." He walked a little further and pointed at another picture, "This was the 1st electro-mechanic computer created in 1938. We tried recreating it, but it wouldn't work." He pointed at yet another picture, "This computer is the first electric computer. It was invented in 1943. These computers no longer work either."
"Why don't they work?"
"I don't know." The father shook his head. "People have been asking that ever since the first apocalypse started. Some scientists have proposed that the laws that govern the world have changed. Others think something is interfering with electricity. The religious believe it to be God's will."
"So why bother showing me this if none of it works!" The boy frowned. "This is boring!"
"Haha!" The man laughed. "I'm getting there. Just a few more minutes. Come on." He led the boy through the halls and kept explaining different pictures. Batteries, computers, engines, telephones, cameras, radios, television, airplanes, rockets, robots, and more were explained one by one. The boy looked with interest towards some and boredom towards others.
His father stopped in front of a particularly large picture. This picture was painted with much more detail than the others. It covered a much larger portion of the wall. A large mushroom cloud covered a city. Humans were painted as burning skeletons screaming in agony. The boy looked at the picture with a hint of fear in his heart. His father spoke, "This was the deadliest weapon mankind ever created. The nuclear bomb. It was capable of wiping out a city in an instant. Some countries had enough of them to destroy the entire world. Mankind was terrified of their own creation, yet we continued to create deadlier versions of it. This is another technology that no longer worked after the first apocalypse." The father turned to his son and smiled, "Do you understand what I'm trying to teach you?"
The boy lowered his head in thought for a moment. Then he looked up at his father, "You think we can create things like these again someday?"
"Right!" The man nodded. "The world has become blinded by the power of espers. They have forgotten what allowed men to rise to the top of the food chain in the first place. It was neither strength nor special powers. All we used to conquer the world were our brains and hands." He knelt down and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "I know you want to be an esper son." His hands shook slightly and his eyes watered. "The mutants took your mom from us during a mutant flood. I couldn't protect her. Maybe you'll become an esper someday, but the chances are very slim."
The boy looked down in disappointment. He barely remembered his mother, but he still felt pain whenever she was mentioned.
His father smiled, "Even if you can't become an esper, don't give up. Ordinary humans used to be defenseless against the mutants. Now we have mechs that can put up a good fight! Son, you don't know it yet, but you're so smart. If you walk the path of an engineer, then who knows what your limit is! You may even be able to create something as strong as the nuclear bomb someday!"
The boy looked outside the hallway and saw the factory workers constructing a mech. He turned towards his father, "You think I can make a mech someday that can defeat a nightmare?"
"Of course!" The man grinned. "Who says you can't?! I think you're smart enough to do it!"
The boy smiled, "You just think I'm smart because I'm your kid. Every parent thinks their kid is a genius."
"Haha! Maybe you're right!" The man laughed. He stood up to take his son home. The boy followed behind him while staring at the nearby mechs. The way he looked at them had completely changed. There was a slight sparkle in eyes as he clenched his fists in excitement. 'I'll do it! I'll make the best mech and become its pilot!' He laughed happily while following behind his father.
…
Ed slowly opened his eyes. "Father!" Two streams of tears covered his vision. It was nearly an hour before he stood up to look at his surroundings…