Simmons gulped, and did as she was told. This wasn't her first time interacting with someone who could contend with a Lister, but the feeling was entirely different. Captain Callan had certainly been powerful, but she did say that, in her time, it took her entire team to face a Lister.
This woman, Ms. Vecdra, could handle a high-tier Lister on her own. The difference was insurmountably vast.
"For formality's sake I will introduce myself to you. I am the Warden of the Hypogeal War Prison's 12th Branch, Teu Vecdra. You may address me as you wish, but if I perceive any disrespect I will react accordingly. That concludes the introduction, so I guess I can get right into it."
Simmons nodded, and was about to properly introduce herself when Teu shook her head, glaring.
"I've seen your eval; you don't belong here. This prison destroys the weak, and no matter what your ability seems to be, it isn't enough. You can't-" The Warden stopped as her pupils suddenly shrank. Her eyes were completely focused on Simmons' arms, which the young woman had placed on either knee.
"Where is your A.S?" Teu asked this without looking away from Simmons' arms.
"My what?" Simmons frowned.
"Your Anti-Suppression. You weren't given a device upon entry?"
Simmons shook her head, and Teu frowned. Her pupils returned to normal, and she narrowed her eyes. This time, she looked at Simmons with something more than just superiority.
To Simmons, it felt like she was assessing something.
"Did you feel any of the usual ill-effects when you entered The Abyss? No weakness, or nausea?"
"No."
Teu's eyes widened a bit.
"No headache, stomachache or other bodily pain?"
"None."
Teu's eyes widened a lot, and she shoved herself backward in the chair, rolling away from the desk just a bit.
"Callan briefed you as she was supposed to do, so you already know about the Suppressive Field's capalities."
Simmons nodded, but Teu did not seem to be waiting for her confirmation. She was already assured that she was correct, which annoyed Simmons for some reason.
"Control over an ability isn't all it takes to ignore the effects of 100% suppression. Even having an obscenely powerful ability doesn't mean shit if it gets suppressed to 100%. The only way you can handle suppression like that is with the right kind of mutation."
Simmons was intrigued, but she thought twice about asking questions. Even so, Teu saw in her face that she was curious, and arrived at the conclusion that Simmons did not know enough.
She opened her mouth to berate her, but then remembered that, before that day, Simmons had been in the dark like the rest of the world. She frowned even deeper when she realized that it was actually her responsibility to make sure Simmons knew everything she needed to know.
This was not just because she was the Warden, but because those were the orders given to her from above.
"1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Gen ability-users exist. The denomination of 'Gens' is strictly for the purpose of making the right people know what kind of mutations to expect."
Simmons was a bit confused by this. She had learned that it was a way of differentiating between people with weaker or more powerful abilities.
"Despite what you think you know, 1st Gen mutations are far more complicated than any other. That's because, when the drug first hit shelves, it was crude. It overrode genetic codes instead of inlaying with them, and that caused drastic changes to the human genome. People's minds and bodies were altered, which is way the largest number of physical and mental related ability-users are 1st Gen."
"Over time, the drug was slowly perfected. By the 3rd Gen, it truly began to co-exist with human DNA, rewriting it in a way that didn't change any of the fundamentals. Abilities started to extend to outside sources- fire, water, air and whatnot. From there, things only got sharper and sharper. Mutations were brought down to a minimum, and the variety of abilities seen only increased."
Simmons fell back in her seat, astonished. She did not want to say anything, though. She was worried that she might offend Teu and thus hinder all this learning.
"Everything I just said, of course, only really applies to normies. You see, the whole point of continually perfecting the drug was because some people had extremely unique genes. In response to these genes, the drug went haywire. It ran rampant through their bodies and changed far more than it should have."
"Those people are the Listers..." Simmons could not control herself. The realization was so eye-opening that she simple had to say it out loud. Luckily, Teu only nodded and continued explaining.
"Listers have appeared from every generation, but in fewer and fewer numbers. We've had only one 5th Gen Lister, who was swiftly apprehended. As you would expect, the largest amount of Listers come from the 1st Gen, and it only decreases as you move upward."
"What determines how powerful a Lister will be?" Simmons asked, hopeful that Teu wouldn't snap.
"That's entirely dependent on their genes. Generations don't matter when it comes to genes. The drug isn't any more or less effective, the only change was the way in which it worked. As long as someone's genes are weird enough, the drug will have an all new reaction."
"So the 5th Gen Lister you mentioned must have the most crazy genes ever."
Teu did not immediately respond, which reminded Simmons that she should have been keeping her mouth shut.
"All I can tell you is that, theoretically, that is the case. Someone's genes would have to be incredible to mess up even the 5th Generation of the drug. As for Neonaters, there's way too much unpredictable stuff happening beneath the surface. The mutations of their parent passing to the child, then either the child will only mirror the parent's mutation, or they'll mirror the mutation and mutate further."
"The possibility also exists that they acquire an all new mutation. Neonaters are considered to be the people with the greatest control over their abilities, because they acquire them while they're still in the womb. Although this seems to be the case, based on various studies and whatnot, it is still only a theoretical conclusion."
"There should be no difference between a Neonater and an Artificial- in fact the differentiative terms aren't even actual terms. People just made them up. Even so, it cannot be overlooked that Neonaters do have better control. They just tend to."
Teu reached for something under her desk, and when Simmons saw it she grimaced.
It was a jar of what seemed to be dirty, brownish water, with floating black particles. She brought it to her lips and started drinking, then exhaled in satisfaction after drinking half of its contents.
"That is the best example I can give."
Simmons mouth fell open, and she leaned forward.
"I am a Neonater. My control over my ability is incomparable to others with similar or the same ability. However, they are all Artificials and I'm the only Neonater. None of them do what I just did. They drink regular water, while I simply cannot. I have to drink water drawn from a less... human source. If I don't, I suffer for it. But, as long as I conform to my nature, I will continue to have greater control of this ability than anyone else."
"Do you understand some of it now?"
Simmons nodded.
"Not all Neonaters are like this, though. Sure, they'll do weird stuff under their ability's influence, but they don't suffer for it like I do. Only about 5% of Neonaters suffer drawbacks like that, but it isn't unique to Neonaters."
"Huh?" Now Simmons was confused.
"Less than 1% of Artificials also have these problems."
Teu shut her eyes for a moment, then said, "These people are all Listers."
Now it all fit together. Simmons finally grasped some of the truth, and it blew her mind.
"There are about 16 billion Artificials, and approximately 0.23% of them are Listers. On record, there are about 6.5 million Neonaters, and, as I said, about 5% of them are Listers."
Simmons gasped, "So you're an... ex-Lister?"
Teu actually chuckled at that.
"In definitive terms, I'm not a Lister, but I'm no different from one of them. I simply chose the winning side, is all. There used to be 4,000,050 of them out there, now there's less than 15,000."
"What about #1? Are they still out there?"
Teu, once again, did not respond immediately. Instead, she took a moment and sipped some more dirty water before saying, "The numbering system doesn't really have to do with how dangerous or hard to apprehend a Lister is, you know. It's a matter of priority over everything else."
"The lowest portion of the list consists of the 1st Gen Listers, and the top portion consists of 3rd and 4th Gen Listers."
"So the one you mentioned earlier was #1? They're already imprisoned?"
Teu gave an awkward nod, then said, "Now that you're up to speed, we can see about getting you situated here. The Patrol Captain will be over shortly, and she'll take care of things for you."
Simmons nodded firmly, and then sat back to digest everything she had heard.
"As for the topic of you not needing an A.S. device to stave off any of the ill-effects, I'm guessing you can kind of understand why now. Your mutations were a bit special, meaning you have all the right ingredients. I was wrong earlier."
Even though that was meant to be an apology, it did not sound like one. Even so, Simmons didn't mind it. She guessed that that was simply how the Warden was. It probably had to do with her ability as well, since Teu was one of the few people that were directly influenced by their ability.
"Do you mind if I ask about the boy you brought in earli-"
"Yes. Until you're officially a member of my staff, there are certain things you cannot know. It is the way things are. None of this is meant to be known, the New Regime was clear on that. If anyone hears or sees something they aren't supposed to, it is a Warden's job to kill them."
Teu's pupils suddenly flattened into a more oval shape, closely resembling a cat or some other kind of animal.
"Instantly."
Simmons felt the chill run up her spine and decided to shut up. She did not want to press any further than she had already. If she did, Teu would simply attack her. She felt it in her gut.
They both sat there in the office and waited in silence. Teu got started on the mountains of paperwork, and Simmons digested all her gains. Her eyes were opened, and now she saw the world through a new and improved lens. It also made her think about her own ability, her own genes, and whether or not she truly had what it took to handle the prison's environment.
After about ten minutes, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in, Blythe." Teu, in the exact same tone that she had used for Cenn, told the Patrol Captain to come inside.
The door opened and shut. In the room now was a blonde woman, dressed in a black uniform. She was quite short, barely five feet, but commanded an air about her that ensured she would not be underestimated. Her eyes were a full green, but her pupils were strangely tiny. This gave her a most unnerving appearance, and Simmons began to suspect that this person was also incredibly dangerous.
"Tanya Blythe, this is Brooke Simmons, trainee. You know what to do. Begone."
Teu dismissed them instantly, and Tanya said nothing. She nodded and then opened the door for Simmons.
Once they were through, Tanya let out a breath. In a soft, pitchy voice, she said, "I hate it when she calls me to her office. I never know if I'm gonna die or not."
Simmons chuckled softly, "I see it's a common thing."
Tanya nodded. As they got further away from the door, she seemed to come to life a bit more. Finally, when they reached the middle of the waiting room, she extended her little hand for Simmons to shake it. There was a bright smile on her face, even despite her lack of a front tooth, that helped relieve some of the pressure.
Simmons had to bend over a little, as she was taller than average, just to shake Tanya's hand.
"I'm Tanya, the Patrol Captain of the Hypogeal War Prison's 12th Branch. Nice to meet you, Brooke!"