I leaned forward in my seat, resting my elbows on my thighs and my chin in my palms as I looked from one sister to the other. They were both quite beautiful. And both about six feet tall. Not too skinny. Perfect. And strong. I liked strong beautiful women. But I hadn't had a girlfriend since The Transformation. Didn't want to risk hurting someone...or have someone find out what I really was. I know how rare Ones are. That's why I stayed low-key. It was the best way to make sure my family stayed safe. I left no trespassers standing though, so I didn't have to worry about any backlash. That's the only way to make sure...by killing those who threaten your safety. But these sisters - heroes - they don't understand this. It's almost funny to think they believe the government can 'handle' Ones. There's no prison on Earth that can hold a One especially if they are anything like me. Twos to Fours? Sure, maybe. They probably researched enough about them to know how to hold them because of how many they are. I sighed. I pulled out my phone and replied my baby sister's text. If they were in trouble, all they had to do was call...assuming cell networks in Lagos would even allow such luxury with what was currently going on. I kept my phone back in my pocket. The sisters were staring at me warily. I chuckled. The TV was still on, drawling out the same set of words from the Sigma One threat. So I waved my hand, using my static energy to switch it off. They were a bit startled at what I did. We began hear the thunder rolling in the distance. When lightning flashed, I saw the younger sister flinch. Was she scared of lightning? The room fell quiet again. But I could tell the dark clouds outside were gathering even more. Time was of the essence.
The younger sister spoke first. I knew she was the younger but with the way she spoke and carried herself, you'd think she was the older between the two. "You're a One. So I think if anyone here can at least guess how they think, it'd be you. I think if we know how many they are and how they're managing to operate together, we'd have a better chance of stopping them", she said.
Smart thinking. She's smart. So I'm guessing the other one is the wise one. That's how the dynamic of siblings worked in my personal experience. One was usually logical and smart, the other one was wise. Was I smart or wise though? I'd have to ask Kara when I got home after all this was over.
But if I had to ask, then wouldn't that mean I'm not the wise one? But I'm not that smart.
"Alright, the way I see it, this is what we do know", I replied, clasping my hands together. "They're Ones. They usually don't, but these Ones have banded together and they wanna take over Lagos. Why? We don't know. Maybe it's just for kicks; powerful people pushing the limits, trying something new. But they'll definitely have a base they're working out of. It's the logical thing to do. Besides, they're calling for Sigmas to join their ranks, that means there's a building, street or part of the city they're operating out of, definitely. One option is, one of you pretends to join their ranks - infiltrate them, get information. Then we know who, how many they are and what they really want. I'd have volunteered but I'm a One. We need the element of surprise and right now, I think we have it. I don't think they know I exist, thankfully, so let's keep it that way. But first, we find them and to do that, I think we just need to search reports online for a part of the city that has been forcefully evacuated or taken over. I'm betting they took someplace uptown - somewhere posh with super great access to the ocean. That, shouldn't be too hard to locate".
"No need for infiltration", the older sister answered. "If we can find them, we can still get information without infiltrating the sigma army they're building. We don't have enough time to do the whole undercover thing. Lagos is in way too much danger to play 'Spy Kids'. The plan might be nothing short of bursting in, guns blazing at this point".
Wise thinking. Of course she was wise. I smiled. Am I wise...or is Kara?
"Alright", I quipped. "This is going to sound cliché but If we're going to work together I think it's important we know a bit about ourselves and what each of us can do. I can't keep calling you 'older sister' and 'younger sister'. I'd have opted for 'Green' and 'Red' but...Nah. So, I'm John. I'm a One. Basically, I'm strong, quick on my feet, I can fly - but not for too long. I can shoot beams of energy from my fists. I can also limitedly control different kinds of waves and frequencies using my static energy. I've found I'm able to negate some sigma abilities...only if I touch them but I've been mentally practicing how to do it from a close range without having to touch them. I'm not sure if I can count that as a 'special' ability. All the stuff I can do, I just do. Anyway, that's me. What about you two?".
There was a pause, then both sisters looked at each other and back at me.
"I'm Oyiza. I'm a Two", Green said. "I have enhanced strength, speed and agility. Nowhere as strong as a One, but I think I can hold my own in a fight against a One. My special ability is healing. As long as a person or sigma isn't dead, I can heal whatever injuries they have at a super fast rate without draining too much of my energy."
"Awesome. Oyiza...", I said. I looked to the other one. "Your turn, Red." Nene didn't look like she wanted to say anything until Oyiza poked her side, urging her on. I wonder why younger siblings had to share that stubborn character. Kara's the exact same.
"First off, don't call me Red ever again", Red said defiantly. "While we're working together, you can call me Nene. I'm a Phaser; I pass through solid objects, in case you don't know what that means. My special ability is Pyromancy; I can manipulate fire..."
"... I know, I know", I cut her off. "However, from the way you tried to fight me, I'm guessing you don't know you can make fire your defense ability too; Catch fire hot enough to melt objects before they reach you...like a force field. You can also use your Pyromancy to fly or glide through the air. Also, if I recall correctly, you can choose what to burn and what not to and water doesn't particularly quench your fire...that part I don't know how".
They were both visibly surprised. I could tell she didn't know all this because her fighting with the flames had been too focused on the offensive. "I've had a run-in with a Pyromancer Three before, same level as you but he probably had way more practice than you. He tried to rob a bank while my sister and I were inside. He flew in through the glass doors, shattering everything and burnt the first security guard to ash. Someone else had tried to be a hero and use a fire extinguisher on the Sigma - it didn't end so well for the guy who'd tried to quench his flames. He was still in his fire form when he started to pack his duffel bag full of money, but the money and the bag didn't burn. I sped my sister away as soon as the opportunity presented itself and left the rest of the people there - couldn't risk anyone knowing what I really was. Running was a lot more stealthy than fighting, especially because I needed to keep my sister safe".
I saw the dissapointment on their faces. "Hey, I'm not a hero, I already told you this. The real heroes must have handled it after I left, according to what i saw on the news later that night. I just want to keep my family safe. I'm not a goody-two-shoes like you", I said, with my palms in the air.
"Oh, far from it. Nobody's perfect", Oyiza replied chuckling. "When I first got my powers, I kinda...robbed a couple of ATMs. But I soon realized that wasn't my destiny. I was meant to protect people, not harm them. I'd like to believe, whatever mindset makes you protect your family, if you extend it to the people all around you, you'll find you're not so different from us".
"But I am", I answered, leaning forward till I was on the edge of my seat. "The way my abilities work, I think they make me want to do bad things. I probably don't have to kill, but once I use my powers, it happens and I can't stop it. There's something about being a One that makes you not give a damn about much else other than what's really important to you. I have no idea why it's that way. But it's how it is with me and probably the others...at least from what I've researched. You have this much power, you feel you can do anything and you don't really care much about what happens to other people".
I could tell this freaked the sisters out a little bit so I added, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, betray you or kill you. If I was that evil, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I just want to keep my family safe".
"Alright. I'll look up what I can about the base of operations thing you talked about. Just give me a couple of minutes", Oyiza said as she started to surf through her phone. She searched for what I said on Google and started to sort through the results.
While we waited, I studied Nene. I'd seen her face somewhere before...I just couldn't remember. I thought deeper and it hit me.
"You're an actress! I've seen you on one-drama-like-that on TV... 'Behind the door' !", I said, snapping my fingers, excitement mixed with amusement. The lead female actress was one of The Sisters. I was mind-blown.
" 'Behind The Smile' ", Nene answered blankly. She was about to either follow up with a snarky comment or something but Oyiza cut in.
"Found something!", she exclaimed excited. "Couple of days ago, people were reported to have evacuated the areas around Oniru Private beach en mass. No fight, no catastrophe...they just up and left. Like the Exodus in the Bible stories. They packed, but...this happened before the Tsunami threat...", she started to frown, as if trying to piece something together. I was beginning to think that sounded weird too.
"That's strange", Nene mused. "How does a whole local residential area just get up and evacuate? No threat, no nothing. It's just as if...they were..."
"...under a spell", Oyiza finished.
"No...", I said, catching on to what must have happened. "Mind control. It has to be. Think about it".
"Oh my God. They have a telepath too?", Nene groaned as she planted her face with her palm. "How's that even possible? There are no telepaths within the Twos to Fours. Just Inceptors, planting thoughts in people's minds. But full-on mind control...this is insane."
"Well, look on the bright side", I said, shrugging. "We know two of their special abilities now. The downside, however, we don't know exactly which of them is doing it and how to fight telepathy. We're going to need Intel - lots of it...". Just then, lightning flashed again and I swear I saw Nene flinch even harder. I stifled a laugh. She's definitely scared of lightning.
"...and I think I know where to find it", Oyiza said, then turned to her sister. "Beaver, Kaycee's laptop. We have to find a way to access the GLS site in there...now". She turned to me and said, "Kaycee is Nene's fiance - the runner you followed here. He works with the Global League of Sigmas. If there's useful information anywhere around here, it's on that laptop...".
"Interesting; I thought the League was a myth", I said. I knew the heroes who kept popping up at the right places and the right times to fight crime all over the world since The Transformation had to be the work of an organisation. I couldn't help being impressed at how well they'd managed to keep their actual existence low-key. I respect that. But I shrugged it off. "Well, it makes sense that they would exist. Whatever Intel that laptop has, I have a feeling it's going to be useful to us".
"But that thing is password protected...", Nene began.
"Oh, I can help with that", I said, smirking as I turned the TV on and off using my static. Nene glowered at me. I don't think she likes me very much. I turned the toothpick over placed it back in my mouth.
"...even then, that would be a voilation of...", she continued, gesticulating at Oyiza.
"We're talking about the fate of Lagos State here, Nene! Fuck his privacy and fuck yours too. Bring that laptop here, now!", Oyiza snapped at her younger sister, urgency in her voice. Lightning flashed again and Nene flinched...even slightly whimpered this time as she went to get the laptop from the room. I couldn't hold back the laughter this time.
"You're scared of lightning?", I called after her, laughing.
"Fuck off!", she swore at me.
"Amazing", I said, my laughter dying down. I watched Oyiza and I could see lines of worry on her face. "Hey, Oyiza. We can do this...together. I'm willing to bet the GLS also has information on nearby Sigmas who can help us. So just chill, okay?"
"How do you even know so much about all this? I thought you were supposed to be low-key", Oyiza asked.
"I am low-key", I answered. "But I'm a One. The last thing I want is being the reason why the family I'm trying to protect, gets hurt. I needed to know more about myself...about the others. Most of the info I managed to gather without my cover being blown was hearsay but it was good enough. I knew what I needed to about the GLS even though I thought they were probably nothing more than a conspiracy theory cooked up by the government to keep bad guys in check or something".
"Let's hope what we find in there is enough to help us...", she replied as Nene came back in the living room with the laptop. She dropped it on the dining table and drew chairs just for herself and her sister. Cute. I chuckled and walked over to the dining table, Oyiza trailing behind me. As soon as the laptop came on, I bypassed the user password with the raise of my right hand. Nene gave me a look - surprise and annoyance. I smirked, drew a chair for myself and sat down. Then the real work began. Without having to touch anything, I began to surf through the files in the laptop at super speed. I heard Oyiza say 'wow' under her breath. Guess they'd never seen a technopath before. It was one of the abilities I had. I could manipulate some technology with my static energy. I never tried to do it on a large scale so as not to attract the wrong kind of attention and put my family in danger. After a couple of seconds, the GLS emblem popped up on screen. A firewall to keep outsiders out followed. I bypassed it within a handful of seconds while I closed my eyes.
"Holy sh...". That came from Nene. I didn't figure her as a girl who could be impressed by anything. Guess she had tried to hack into it before and failed. Hilarious. Files and information containing Sigma information started to spread out across the screen. Huh. The GLS really kept tabs on it's agents. Including their codenames - Kaycee's code name was 'Runner'. Not very creative for a top secret super powered organization. There was a file on The Sisters, but it was categorized as 'Do Not Engage'. Then there was a folder tagged 'ZERO'. When I tried to get in, it was empty. Interesting. I went back to the agents the GLS kept tabs on. I searched for any around us that the GLS had probably left in Lagos. I could only find one - a suspended Sigma Three codenamed Voltage; his real name was Obeten. I didn't need to look at his information to know it meant he was an Electropath - he could control and discharge different forms of electricity. He was currently in Festac town. That was a bit too far from Berger on the other side of town, but not for me. However, I thought twice about it and I decided to reach out to him using Kaycee's ID. I summarized the situation and sent him our location. He replied almost immediately that he would be there as soon as possible. Guess I wasn't the only one looking for Sigmas to team up with, given the current circumstances. I backtracked and located another folder containing Sigma abilities and possible ways to negate them. I couldn't locate any Sigma One abilities, but I went straight for the 'Inception' file. If Nene was right, then telepathy was just a higher level of inception. If I found what could negate inception powers, we might have a chance against the telepath amongst 'The Inevitables'. In the 'Inception' file, it stated that Inceptors manipulated brain waves/frequency in order to be able to drop thoughts in their victim's minds. To stop an Inceptor, one had to blast sonic sound on a particular frequency that disrupted the Inceptor's waves. I grinned. I could handle the telepath if I got close enough. It was just waves, wasn't it? I'd just shut him or her down with my own negation ability. I didn't want to have to stay logged in long enough for the GLS to know someone who wasn't Kaycee was online.
Just as I was about to shut down the system, I saw an amber alert pop up on the screen. It was a code number - 4778. Damn. Did they have to code everything? I quickly surfed the GLS database for what the code could mean. Thankfully, Kaycee's laptop was a real good one, else my poking around would have fried its motherboard by now. The answer came at me quickly. 4778 was a code for GSST, which in turn was code for 'Global Scale Sigma Threat'.
"Shit", we all found ourselves swearing at almost the same time. This meant whatever was going on with the Sigma Ones, wasn't just happening here. Oyiza rushed for a piece of paper on the table not far from the laptop. She got her phone and dialed a number on it and put it on speaker. Kaycee responded almost immediately. At first, there was a lot of noise in the background and suddenly there was silence. He must have sped away from the source of the noise.
"Oyiza! I was just about to call you. It's worse than we thought. It's happening in almost every major city in the world. The Ones... they've formed some kind of league of their own and it looks like they want to make this world theirs! The Inevitables look like they're the point team, since Lagos is going to be ground zero for whatever they're planning. The GLS is dispatching squads worldwide to try and contain the situation. It's all hands on deck now. We can only hope to stop them or at least slow them down. But I'll be home as soon as I can. I just need to help my squad take care of the threat in Amsterdam, then we have permission to come into Lagos. Amsterdam has less than forty-eight hours before it's turned to dust. We have to stop it...". I clasped my hands at the back of my neck, shocked for the first time in a long while. I was beginning to understand the severity of the situation. Nene had started to panic. Oyiza slumped deeper into her chair.
"Fuck the GLS, Kaycee, come back home right now! These are Ones we're talking about here, you can't fight them...come home now, PLEASE!", Nene screamed at the phone frantically. Silence for a couple of seconds.
"Babe, I can't. I work for the League and I'm a hero, it's my duty to save the people who need our help and it's not up to me to say where I get to do that. I'm sorry, Nene. I love you. We have tech that kind of balances the playing field, so you don't really have to worry about me. I'll be back as soon as I can. Oyiza, you make sure you take care of her for me", the voice on the other end of the line said. There was a moment of hesitation before he dropped the call.
"Kaycee, wait...Kaycee!", Nene screamed. I could tell she was fighting the tears threatening to pour. I started to pace the living room, hands still clasped at the back of my neck. Lightning flashed again. Nene was already too panicked to notice this time.
"FUCK!", I found myself yelling. First, my family, then my city, now the whole fucking world. Basically, there was nowhere in the world to run or hide. We were on our own and we needed to stop what was coming somehow... and quickly.