'Damien, Damien, is that you, baby? If you can hear me, take Mary and Adele and run away! Run as far as you can.'
'Mom!'
'They're coming, don't worry, your mother and I will hold them back as long as we can.'
'Dad!'
"Hey, Damien, wait up!" a voice sounded, but he couldn't hear it, as he was lost in his thoughts.
"Captain!"
"Hey, Damien, wait up!" the voice called out again, more loudly this time. Damien turned his head toward the sound with cold eyes, his expression softened a bit when he saw the people behind him but it was still blank and cold. A group of people, all wearing the same uniform, approached him. One of them, a beautiful girl with a soothing presence, put a hand on Damien's shoulder, and he finally met the girl eyes.
"What were you thinking so hard about, Damian?" the girl asked.
The girl was his childhood friend, Mary, an elf. "I was just thinking about the past," he replied.
Mary's face turned dark. "Don't tell me you're thinking about that again."
Damien stood still, not saying anything. But his silence gave the answer to her question.
"I already told you, it's just a coincidence, and even if it wasn't, there's nothing we can do about it," she said.
"Yeah, captain, just forget about it," a boy chimed in. From his appearance, one could tell he was the youngest in the group.
"If it were the world before the apocalypse, we might have been able to do something," another boy added. "But now, it's hopeless." He had the good looks of a male idol.
"Yeah, yeah!" A girl exclaimed. "Let's forget about it and celebrate!"
"Celebrate?" Damien asked in confusion.
"Oh no!" Mary exclaimed. "Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday!"
That was when it finally came back to Damien. That's right! Today was his eighteenth birthday. How could he forget something so important?
"I didn't," he lied, trying to cover up his blunder. "I was just lost in thought."
The others stared at him in silence, their eyes brimming with doubt. They had been together long enough to know when any of them was lying or telling the truth.
"Alright, let's go," Mary said, giving him one last worried look before turning to lead the way. "You guys, let's check out the new restaurant three streets away. I hear they have great food."
HUM!
As the group followed her, they were unaware of the red light blinking in Damien's chest. The light was faint, barely visible. But it was growing stronger, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"If it isn't Captain Trash?" someone shouted.
Before Damien could respond, Mary intervened. "Erick, please leave. No one here is interested in your games."
"Oh my! Is the so-called Trash Captain so feeble that he's hiding behind a woman?" Erick remarked, provoking laughter from his team members before his demeanor grew cold. "Know your place, slut. This conversation is between captains, and bitches like you should observe from the sidelines."
Damien's expression turned icy upon hearing those words. Before the apocalypse, he had ranked among the strongest captains, boasting a compatibility rate with his cybernetic implants of 97%. However, when the apocalypse arrived, granting powers to 60% of the population, he found himself in the company of the remaining 40% who didn't gain any abilities. Some remained powerless, while others struggled to adapt, ending up in hospitals. To be honest, he wasn't sure which group he belonged to. If he were to be candid with himself, he'd lean towards the latter. His survival was solely thanks to his enhancements.
"Watch what you say, Erick," Damien said coldly.
"And if I don't? What are you gonna do, Trash?" Erick replied as his teammates roared in laughter. While Erick watched the blinking light on Damien's chest, he knew what it meant, but was he going to inform Damien?
The answer was a big fat "No!"
In fact, he wanted to watch as Damien rolled on the ground in agony while he looked on from above, telling Damien how weak he was.
Contrary to what people might think, Damien didn't get angry. In fact, he was already used to the insults. The only time he would get angry was when any of his teammates were insulted because of him. He looked calmly at Erick, infuriating the latter as his provocation had no effect.
"Let's go, guys," Damien said to his team.
"Look at him, pretending not to be angry just to hide his weakness," a female voice sounded. The owner was wearing a white band on her shoulder, similar to Mary's, indicating their status as vice-captains.
"Silence, traitor!" Mary replied angrily.
The girl's name was Zara. She was once a member of their team before she betrayed them and moved to Erica's team to become a vice-captain.
"What would you do if..." Zara continued, but...
"Punishment," Damien said, pointing his finger towards her, causing her to scream in pain.
Make no mistake; that wasn't a special ability. Remember, before the apocalypse, they were all cyber soldiers under the government's secret division. A captain or anyone of higher rank could inflict punishment in the form of mental pain on someone of lower rank than them when they felt disrespected, though this wouldn't work in a fight.
"How dare you?" Erick flared up.
Serves you right.
Damien's lips curled up a little. "Didn't you say it yourself? This is a discussion between captains. She has no right to interfere."
"You..." Erick had no words to refute since he had indeed said that. So he did the only thing he could do in this situation. "Attack them."
As both teams prepared to unleash their abilities and charge at each other, a sudden interruption halted their impending clash.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you.. Erick" cautioned a dark-skinned woman adorned with a black armband resembling those of Erick and Damien. Her team consisted entirely of striking women who possessed beauty capable of inciting international conflicts. Yet, she stood out remarkably, boasting an hourglass figure, long red hair cascading to her waist, and facial features that could leave a man blissfully entranced. Mary looked at her with evident hostility, prompting a chuckle from the newcomer.
This woman, Adele, held a distinct place in Damien's life as one of his childhood friends. Although not as intimately connected as Mary, she had two years older than Damien and three on Mary. Her team outperformed Erick's, a fact he begrudgingly acknowledged as he withdrew with his team, grumbling to himself.
"Another slut opening her legs for a weakling like him," Erick muttered.
BOOOM!
AHHHH!
"Now that that's done with, let's go cele....."
Adele paused as she saw Damien's pale face and the blaring red light on his chest.
"Oh no!"
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[USER'S BODY IS OVER HEATING]
[USERS BODY HAS GONE BEYOND THE ACCEPTABLE TEMPERATURE]
[PUTTING USER TO SLEEP]