Point-of-View: Tara Williams
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Tch, I can't believe that I got dragged into this...damn you, Neo, I blame you for this! Seriously, I've got so many better things to do than hunt down some random regular human that gained powers because the higher-ups' secret project failed or whatever, thanks to Neo screwing up.
I'm Tara Williams, twenty-seven years old, I've got long dark brown hair that goes halfway down my back, with the front pushed back from my forehead with hairband, brown eyes, a freckled face and fun fact about me, I hate Neo Cronje.
And like him, I also happen to be a Category 0 Meta-Human with Harmony. And I can't understand this at all, it doesn't make sense. I have no idea what on Earth the higher ups are thinking...this should be an assassination mission, not a retrieval operation!
I don't know exactly how powerful these Meta-Orbs are supposed to be, but the thought of taking in artificially created Meta-Humans is just...wrong. Meta-Humans have lived in secrecy for a reason, because humans fear what they don't understand, that's why for all these centuries, our society has almost never directly overlapped with theirs, not intentionally, anyway.
That's something that even those assholes over at Eden understand...they may want to subjugate normal human society and establish a new society where Meta-Humans reign supreme, but until that happens, they understand that if normal humans ever find out that Meta-Humans exist, it'll probably throw the whole world into chaos, and even super powers won't save us if nukes start flying around.
Tch, just looking at social media from the last couple of days is enough to confirm that us maintaining the secrecy of our existence is a necessary endeavor...most people still seem to believe that this is all some kind of elaborate hoax, though you'd think it's only a matter of time before they figure out the truth if this keeps up.
The religious nutjobs were having a field day with the viral videos, claiming that these are signs of demonic possession or some shit, and calling for exorcisms...like, what the fuck? But, then, it's not exactly surprising.
If nothing else, events throughout history have certainly indicated this much; the worst kind of humans are the blindly religious ones, their mindsets are akin to insanity and delusion.
Well, whatever, at least my job should be easy once I get to my destination...I've been tasked with going to Wales and subduing the new artificial Meta-Human there, who was currently running amok with his newfound powers. I'd been stationed in a Harmony base in London when I was basically forced into accepting this mission, so I was only a short plane ride away.
But I hate this, I usually try to stay away from getting involved in regular human society as much as possible, and that includes air travel, but with Neo busy searching in Sri Lanka-...tch, who am I kidding, it wouldn't even have taken him twenty seconds to pop over to London and then transport me to Wales!
That lazy dick, I swear I'll-...
Oh, it looks like I'm almost there...I suppose I should get ready to disembark. Tch, I'm all jetlagged and stuff...whatever, I'll just take my frustrations out on whoever came across the Meta-Orb...
...
Well, now, talk about convenient. The moment I entered the airport, I opened up my social media apps in turn, specifically looking for posts that were trending here in Wales. And as luck would have it, the artificial Meta-Human was literally right outside the airport.
Though I didn't need to pull up my social media to figure that out...I could sense his Aura before the plane even finished landing. The sheer capacity of his Aura was astounding, but the lack of any substantial pressure or intensity meant that he wasn't in control of it. Even though he had burned through a lot of it at the moment, I could still tell how vast his capacity was.
Looking at these posts, he isn't even bothering to hide his face, and some other users have identified him...let's see here, looks like his name is Osian Davies, appears to be in his early to mid thirties. Longish red hair, heavy stubble, light blue eyes, an easy enough face to remember.
He kinda had that dad-bod vibe going on, with a beer belly and hairy arms...he's wearing a sweat-stained wife-beater, worn-out jean shorts and light green crocs...not to judge someone by their appearance, but he looks like a repulsive douche.
And appearance aside, there's also the fact that he's killed a fair number of people in the past few hours, and killed them gleefully at that. On top of that, he keeps disappearing in the middle of his rampages, kidnapping women each time he did so...it's pretty obvious what he's doing to them.
He must have come across the Terra Skill Meta-Orb, that much was obvious from watching the viral footage. And the fact that he keeps disappearing for a while after rampaging and causing chaos probably means that he's able to tell when his Aura starts to dwindle, and then goes off to hide and recover. From the looks of the posts I've seen, he was just running amok with no real objective. Okay, so...how do I do this?
First off, I need to lure him somewhere where there's no witnesses or security cameras or anything...after that, I need to incapacitate him and then call someone to come pick us up...fortunately, there is a Harmony base not too far from here.
Hm...I know what I need to do now, but not how to do so. I mean, seriously, how am I supposed to lure him away without being noticed myself? Despite him tearing apart everything in sight, not everyone was running away, that much was obvious from the influx of pictures of him on social media.
Tch, it's no use, I can't think of a way to lure him where I want...in that case, I can think of one other option. I wait till he's done with his current ramage and then, when he leaves to hide and recover his Aura, I'll simply track him down by sensing it out.
How far an Aura can be tracked from depends on the target's Aura capacity, and considering how immense his Aura is, even after having depleted it so much, I might be able to sense him all the way upto within a radius of about three to four or so, maybe even more...most Meta-Humans, even with their full Aura capacity intact, can't be senses from that far away.
And while, normally, a Meta-Human would suppress their Aura, he doesn't know how to, so it should be easy enough, especially considering how vast his Aura capacity is, even if it isn't fully under control.
In which case, my biggest concern becomes Eden...there's a good chance that they're after these artificial Meta-Humans too, I doubt they're ignoring all the news reports. Now that I've actually sensed this Aura, I'm starting to see how dangerous this situation is. I'd be genuinely concerned, maybe even afraid, if he was actually in full control of his Aura and output...but since he's not, as things stand right now, he's not a real threat to me.
As I reached the front entrance of the airport and strolled out, my ears were greeted with a cacophony of terrified screams and loud crashes, as I stepped past a puddle of bloody entrails. Hovering in the air on a floating rock, was Osian Davies, laughing gleefully as he manifested and fired large chunks of rock at the people below.
He's burning through his Aura so inefficiently, but he's got so much of it that it doesn't matter, especially for the purpose of terrorizing regular, weak people. Though at this rate, it shouldn't be too long before he decides to leave again, in order to recover his Aura.
And right on cue, with a barrage of earth spikes fired down at the people below, he suddenly swooped down with his floating rock, grabbed a young woman, who let out a terrified scream, before flying off with her on his floating rock while laughing gleefully.
I began moving in that direction, focusing on his Aura...tch, he's going quite far, and at a fair pace too, I better hurry...
...
Finally...made it. Now I'm annoyed, that was over forty minutes of walking! His Aura is significantly replenished, I'm betting he's close to leaving again, even though he's probably quite far from replenishing his full Aura capacity.
Well, whatever, I don't care about the details, I just want to get this over with asap. Looks like he was hiding in an abandoned building...there aren't many people around, and I doubt that there are any security cameras in a building like this. Yeah, this spot will do nicely.
From the feel of it, he's at the rooftop of the building, which was about eight floors tall...must have been an old apartment or something, though I doubt anything besides rats, roaches, homeless people and other vermin live here now.
After making sure no one was watching me, I silently made my way through the broken in front doors of the building, a musty stench invading my nostrils as I walked in. Ugh, this place is disgusting...and also super dark. But that isn't a problem for me.
I've got three Skill types, one of which is the Light Skill. Now, it's most commonly used and known for healing, but it can also be fired out in energy blasts that cause physical damage, and more relevantly to the current situation...well, it's in the name.
After all, what's the use of having the Light Skill if it can't cast any actual light? I glanced around, just to make sure I was alone, before using one of my other Skill types, the Aero Skill, to fly myself up as well as to blow away the dust in my vicinity, while using my Light Skill to cast a small, glowing ball of light, illuminating my surroundings.
"Here goes, Light Skill: Illuminate."
Tch, I don't like this, this rate of Aura recovery isn't natural, he's regained far too much of it in too short an amount of time...tch, I think I might be starting to understand the significance of these Meta-Orb things, if they can grant a regular human this much of an insane level of power...
And what I especially don't like is that his Aura capacity is significantly larger than mine. For that matter, it was larger than any Aura capacity I've ever sensed before...of course, his refinement and control over it was several levels below mine, but if he does learn to properly control this much Aura, as much as I hate to admit it, he'll probably be stronger than even Category 0 Meta-Humans.
That's a frightening thought...I still don't agree with taking in artificial Meta-Humans like this, but if they're all this powerful, then letting Eden claim them would be a fatal mistake, a mistake that could end Harmony and see the world fall into the hands of Eden.
If you ask me, we should kill these artificial Meta-Humans while we still can, before they become real threats...but unfortunately, it's not my call to make, bringing them back alive was a strict command from the higher ups...and I can't afford to get on the bad side of those old farts, it'll make life a lot harder for me, even as a Category 0.
Okay, time to focus, I'm almost to the top. I'd been hearing some muffled screams and cries as I'd ascended through the building, but I couldn't hear them anymore. Based on his Aura, it feels like he's about to start moving...looks like he's decided that he's recovered enough of it. But this repulsive bastard is not going anywhere, I'll make sure of it...
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