As we entered the clinic, I sensed something was wrong. It was too eerily quiet. Everything seemed out-of-place. Auntie Akiya grew suspicious. The clinic was totally empty.
We went to the secretary's front desk. No one was there.
Auntie then called out, "Hello?"
Her voice echoed throughout the corridors of the clinic. We heard no response.
I spotted the door to the Management's office. It was left ajar , so Auntie checked it out to see if anyone was in there who could explain what was going on.
We found the Clinic's Head Office Manager , Mr.Rosen, frantically zipping his bag and preparing to leave his office.
"Excuse me, Mr.Rosen? Do you have a minute, please?" asked Auntie.
Mr.Rosen looked up and replied reluctantly,
"Ah, sure. But please, make it quick. As you can see, the police are temporarily shutting down the clinic and blocking all entry passageways and exits into and out of the clinic. And the Chief himself is asking for me. So, I would appreciate it if you get to the point."
Aunt Akiya said,
"Mhm. This is my daughter Fuyu. She was supposed to have her last , final check-up exam , but her room was at the center of the bombing, so her check-up was inevitably delayed."
"Fuyu? Miyazaki? So you're her Aunt , Akiya Shinichi, right? Good that you're here, actually. Perfect timing, I've been wanting to have this conversation with you." said Mr.Rosen.
"Conversation?" asked my Aunt.
"Yes, please, sit down, and we will begin right away. Fuyu, could you wait outside, please?" asked Mr.Rosen.
Before I could say anything, Auntie replied back,
"Does she have to? It's not something that's related to the police or yesterday's bombing, right? Fuyu has already been through so much already this past week, and we just would like to go home and rest. She starts school next week. It's her final year of high school! She's supposed to focus on her studies so that she is prepared for the bright future ahead of her!" said my Aunt , with a concerned parental look on her face.
She really does love me as if I were hers. And I love her too. I always will.
Mr.Rosen laughed,
"Don't worry, Madame Akiya. I assure you, this may be the happiest news you will have heard all week. I just need you to bear with me as go over the details of Fuyu's health insurance, since you shall be her new guardian, and as such, we will be making some new changes, per the request of the Deputy."
"Changes? What kinds of changes?" asked Auntie.
The demeanor with which Mr.Rosen talked about my health insurance made it sound like I will be getting free healthcare though I doubted that would be the case. Nevertheless, Mr.Rosen called one of the nurses to have the check-up done for me.
But something still didn't feel right. Why would the Managing officer speak directly to the nurse and not to his secretary? And why isn't his secretary even around?
"Alright, Nurse Mary is waiting for you outside the door, Fuyu. You will be going with her for your final check-up. Now, if you will excuse us." said Mr.Rosen.
"I'll catch up with you once I am done Auntie, bye." I told my Aunt.
"Okay, just call me and I will be waiting for you outside, sweetie. Bye." nodded my Aunt.
I closed the door behind me, only to be startled by Nurse Mary, who made herself visible when I walked out the office.
"Oh my God! You can cloak yourself too?!" I let out.
"Yes, just like Macmillan, if that's who you meant by 'too'. He's my brother."
That made so much sense! But my brain wasn't processing what was happening these past few days, so I didn't realize yet that the nurse who worked with Macmillan was identical to this one, but her name tag was different. Instead , it just said , "Margaret". No last name, which was also pretty strange to the say the least.
However, given that both Mary and Margaret could also go invisible like Macmillan, that means they are all phasers , which means they are all in danger.
But the even bigger question is, how did these three phasers , who probably share the same powers and are middle-aged , even survive all these years and became part of the working-class, all while being undercover ? The questions in my mind became endless at this point.
Who were those guys? And why am I here?
"Hey , are you still with me? We gotta go, c'mon!" said Nurse Mary, catching me off guard while pondering.
"But what about my aunt?" I asked.
"We will be back here before she even realizes it. Let's go." said the Nurse.
"To where?!" I said.
"To the ward. They are waiting for you there." she responded.
"Who is waiting for me there?" I said.
"Are we going wait for you Aunt to finish her conversation with Mr.Rosen while you fancy asking me more questions, or are we gonna get a move on?" she asked, clearly bothered by my excessive questions, so I zipped my mouth and went along with her (even though I didn't like to be put in this situation at all).
When we opened the doors to the ward, we passed by the Recovery rooms and went straight into the Operating room. The whole ward was just as empty and lifeless as the clinic. I didn't know why then, but the whole process of walking through the ward and seeing the hollow rooms was particularly nerve-racking and depressing.
It kept me wondering what happened to all the poor patients who were injured because of Cyclop's attack.
Though at the operating room, it was whole different story. A whole new world opened for me. One that I never would come back from again. There was no going back after seeing that.
What I saw made my stomach sicken and shrink with disgust at the horrendous sight of Cyclops's (or Cipher's) corpse. His ribcage was exposed and his lungs were deflated. It almost looked like his chest was flattened by a road roller.
His eyes were splintered with glass shards, yet his visor was still stuck to them as if it was glued into his skull. And the smell from his decomposing body was awful : a rotten , putrid odor with fruity undertones. I wanted to puke so badly. Nurse Mary acted quickly and handed me a sickness bag. I vomited.
"Well, there she goes. You could come out now, Margaret." said Nurse Mary.
"Why did you have to bring me here?!" I told
Nurse Mary, my eyes still twitching from puking.
"I suggested we have our meeting here, Fuyu." spoke Nurse Margaret, who unveiled herself as Nurse Mary called out for her.
"That way , we could discreetly have our meeting whilst avoiding any unnecessary intrusions." she said.
As I predicted, Nurse Margaret was another invisible phaser, and from how identical they looked, both nurses were twin sisters.
"Meeting? So what's this? A phaser family gathering? How is this even possible in the first place? Who ARE you people?" I asked.
"They are the Phasers assigned to protect and find teens who are starting to develop their newly given Phasing abilities, Miyazaki."
I stared into the shadows as the Chief of Police walked into the scene. To my surprise, it wasn't Inspector Ray who accompanied him , rather, it was Dr.Macmillan himself. His head was wrapped with bandages, and his white coat was in tatters and had blood splotches all over. His right arm was in a cast too.
My eyes widened upon seeing him. He looked like he hadn't slept for days, which makes sense since he US a doctor after all too.
"Chief? Dr.Macmillan? What are you all doing here? And Doctor, I can't express my thanks for saving me back there. I am truly grateful and am forever in your debt." I said, evidently confused.
"It's alright, Fuyu. It's my job. Also, you can just call me Max." said Dr.Macmillan.
"About us, as Chief Philips was about to say, we will be assigned to protect and watch over you as you start your journey to become a Phaser."
"Journey? What journey? I didn't up for any of this." I rebounded.
"Shush! Listen to what Chief Philips has to say!" whispered Nurse Mary as she judged me with her elbow.
"Miyazaki, the Triplets " continued Chief Philips, "will be moving in as your neighbors very soon."
"Wait, what?" said Nurse Mary, visibly disturbed at what the Chief said, as if he insulted her.
"This wasn't part of our deal, sir!" exclaimed Nurse Mary, also perplexed by Chief Philips's statement.
"We're nurses, not babysitters!"
The whole room went silent. Chief Philips looked Mary straight in the eyes. His emerald eyes sparked inner conflict and temptation. His eagle-like gaze is bound to scare off any criminal : pro-phaser and anti-phaser alike. Anyone in his presence would shudder from that threatening death glare from his eyes alone. His moustache was well trimmed and combed. He wore his medals respectably and honorably. He certainly looked the part and DID the part.
"I understand your frustration, Mrs.Mary, however," spoke the Chief, switching between Margaret and Max, "I cannot allow what happened this week to happen again. With all due respect you three, but because of your negligence and recklessness, I lost five officers out there! FIVE!" the Chief raised his voice, "If you had better coordination and actually followed the orders given to you, perhaps we wouldn't have lost as many lives as we did. Yet, Max decided, on his own terms and without informing the district's police station and call for back-up, to engage the enemy solo and ignore protocol. Even worse, you engaged him within the Hospital's premises. All while the two of you nurses weren't concentrating, so you didn't know the exact details of the situation and called for the police to be deployed instead of the SWAT teams , even though you were told not to. I will not tolerate risking anymore lives, be it yours or my officers'. And I absolutely will not condone the rash
decisions and behavior you three shown, so, I hereby declare, by the jurisdiction of Bracnia's Central Police Department, your resignation from Bracnia's National Medical Center, effective immediately. You have been relieved of your medical duties. As for your new duty, I will repeat what I said to Miyazaki: you will be her neighbors to protect and keep her Aunt's home under constant surveillance 24/7. You will be given fake names and an address for the new home you will be living. Do not attract unwanted attention , especially from her Aunt, do I make myself clear?"
The Chief stared at the Triplets with the eyes of a scholar , observing silently from afar , yet having a thousand thoughts stir in his mind about how to approach and fix the triplets' grave mistake.
The triplets all nodded in unity. Dr.Macmillan then breaks the silence,
"But what of Fuyu's powers? What will we do about her training?"
The Chief replies back, this time his eyes fixated on me : "As for your powers Miyazaki, I plead you do not use them at all, for any purpose whatsoever, since we don't know the extent of your abilities and the dangers that could come with them. That shall remain the case till your powers fully develop and mature by the time you reach 18, the age of adulthood."
"So I have just under a year left, sir?" I asked.
"Yes. In that period, this year will be responsible for teaching basic fighting skills from martial arts to defend yourself and find an escape route in case you encounter a threat like Agent Cyclops." said Chief Philips, looking at the Agent's rotten corpse.
I was so distracted by Chief Philips's repatriation of the Triplets that I forgot about the terrible smell of Agent Cyclops's corpse completely!
"Now, listen." directed the Chief at the triplets. "This is your last chance to prove yourself capable of protecting those phaser kids. You three are the only phasers of your generation left unscathed. If you don't save and find the rest of those phasing kids, we lose any hope of finding proof against and taking down X-Vision , and you lose your only ticket to establishing the Phaser Corps Division and finally coming out to the public. Do not ruin this chance, please."
"Yes, sir! We won't let you down!" All three triplets said in unison.
"Uhm," I swallowed, "You see, I am not caught up with the news about the recent kidnappings and all, but in all honesty, I am astonished that you three are actual phasers and somehow stayed away from trouble all these years. You all look like you are 30 something and are working and living among us normally. I know it probably has something to do with the Chief , but still, how did you do it ? Moreover, how come you three have the same set of abilities. And Dr.Macmillan or Max or whatever you're called, how are you even ALIVE when Cipher died ? I really thought you plunged to your death.
"Hmm, I was not told she knew about Cipher, Max." said the Chief.
"Ah, well," hesitated Max, "we will tell you everything in due time , however , since Rosen won't be able to distract your Aunt forever, all what you need to know now is that we are light phasers. We can cloak our bodies or parts of them as we see fit for specific time intervals. We do so by reflecting off light certain colors of light and absorbing others at different wavelengths thanks to a rare frameshift genetic mutation. This requires us to consume a lot of calories every day, but we can't use any of our light phasing abilities without the presence of any natural or artificial light source, from which we derive our abilities."
"As for how Max survived, continued Nurse Mary, "he used mirror walkthrough, a light-phasing technique that same the mirror gauntlet Max used to deflect Cipher's beams is based off, to cloak himself and pass through glass."
"Wait, what? You can actually do that? Like pass through mirrors and glasses and stuff?" I asked, baffled.
"Yeah, but we can't do it through chipped or any broken glass mirrors. Also, we can't do it when there is no light in the space around us." said Mary.
"Plus, it takes a toll on the light phaser because it takes an amount of energy equivalent to that of an hour of sleep." said Mary.
"So the longer you keep traveling through mirrors," proceeded Margaret, "the more likely you are to get tried , or worse , lose your consciousness in the midst of battle, so it isn't that convenient."
"So, how did Max carry Agent Cyclops's body through the mirror then, since I suppose he did, right?" I asked.
"Let's not get too technical anymore about the details, Fuyu." responded Dr.Max as he switched from Margaret and Mary to me. "What's important is that you recover these next few days because you will be starting your training as soon as we deal with this mess, which may take a while depending on how much attention the media will attribute to this incident."
"Which... will probably be spread nationwide." said Mary.
"Tsk tsk tsk, I guess we got too carried away, huh? Sorry, Chief." Said Margaret.
Dr.Macmillan replied back, "But the point still stands, Fuyu. As you may have already heard
recently, there have been some mysterious disappearances and kidnappings. Those kidnappings are of suspected phasers who have not fully developed their abilities like you. However, unlike you, none of those kids exhibited wild capabilities as you did. In other words, your wind powers as an air-phaser gave you the advantage of being found before those kids first. And when we found out about the Warehouse Incident, we determined you are likely going to be the next one in line to be taken captive by the government and tested on. And we have reason to believe that the ones behind all this are the X-Vision Corporation."
"The X-Vision Corporation?" I inquired, "you mean the company that envisions a bright future for all the peoples of Zuylandia (honestam terram in Latin, or Honorable Land)?"
"I am afraid so," said the Chief.
"As they say," added Margaret, "Hidden in Plain Sight. Furthermore, their CEO Kevin Williamsburg is planning to run as a mayoral candidate in next year's elections."
"Wow, this is much deeper than I thought."
I replied.
The next few moments were of pure silence.
The Operating room's white walls and the icy, gray ceramic tiles were glossy and polished enough to remind me I was still at the now barren hospital.
"One last question though, why is Cyclops on the operating table?" I said.
"Because we don't know where we can bury him yet. We only got him here, so that Max can show the Chief how far advanced the Government's technology has gotten." said Mary.
"You see, Cipher's visors didn't just go pew pew pew, but according to the MRI scan results, both of his retinas had wired chips implanted in them. Not just any chips, but reflective ones that can stimulate electrons to emit electromagnetic radiation through the photoelectric effect." said Max.
"We asked for those chips to be taken for analysis by the Forensics Division. The results haven't came back. But from the looks of it, the government is programming its technology to adapt to our powers. In other words, Cyclops's visors were designed based on light-phasing." said Margaret.
"Like yours, basically?" I asked.
"Yes, and we suspect that the government is abducting teens like you for that same purpose : speaking X-Vision's wealth on painstaking research to study phaser's genes and copying their genetic makeup to design weapons of mass-destruction." completed Chief Philips.
"AHEM, so simply put, we are looking at a Biological War." said Margaret nonchalantly like she has seen that scenario in only movies before.
"So , who else knows? Just us or ... are there others that do too?"I asked.
"Only us, my Deputy Chief Malcom Hansen, and Inspector Ray." replied Chief Philips.
Mary spoke , "Look Fuyu, we are sorry that we got you into this mess, but we were practically forced to do so, at this point. The situation is getting more critically desperate, and we couldn't allow X-Vision to get to you first."
"But what am I going to tell Auntie? I mean, I know I can't tell her now, but what if she suspects anything out of the ordinary? She's already concerned for me and will tighten her grip on me, so how will I have my training? And as Chief Philips said, I am useless without knowing how to utilize my powers. And even if I did, what if something to happens to Auntie, say X-Vision sends another Agent after her like they did to Mom?" I said.
"You don't have to worry about that. That's why we are here. To watch over you both. As for the training and your Aunt's doubts, we and our buddy Rosen will deal with it." said Max.
"Is Mr.Rosen in on it, too ? I said.
"No, he just owes for our last encounter with Agent Cyclops ." responded Mary.
Dr.Max walked up to me and bent down on his left leg and said,
"I didn't thank you enough for saving me back there , Fuyu. You have proven yourself worthy of being a fighter back there. If it weren't for you , I wouldn't be facing you all now. You are a kind young lady and definitely with a pure heart. All you need is some guidance and wisdom. And that's what the Phantom Trio is here for."
" 'Phantom Trio' ?" I asked , giggling. "What kind of name is that?"
"Eh, excuse me for my lack of creativity, but I couldn't think of a better name." replied Dr.Max
Nurse Margaret sighed, letting her sisterly instincts kick in , "C'mon Max, don't poison the girl's mind with your gimmicks."
Nurse Mary smirked, "I not only agree with you Margaret but I also disagree. I believe M&Ms will make a better name. Get it? M&Ms?"
Both siblings looked at Mary, irritated by her nonchalant demeanor. The Chief rolled his eyes.
At that point, I was overwhelmed, so I told them,
"Just take me back to the clinic where my Aunt is. I will figure out the rest later ."
"Okay, here is our card." Dr.Max handed it to me. "Whenever you need us, just call us."
"Hahaha, just don't call us every time you have an emergency. We got the Anti-Phaser society, cultists, and the government on our tailgate too. Speaking of whom, how are we supposed to deal with them?"
"We will figure out a plan, Margaret, I promise," said Max.
"Though I don't suppose there is need for me to remind you again that you would also have to keep this discreet from anyone you know, so that they wouldn't be in harm's way." interrupted the Chief.
"I ... uh...understand, sir. I won't tell anyone." I said reluctantly.
"Give us a week, Fuyu. We will come up with a solution , and we will figure out a way. Just sit tight." said Max.
I sighed. A lump formed in my throat.
Here goes nothing.