"Sir, please, what is going on?" Ken asked, taking a cold drink they gave him, he never felt so good drinking before. The men looked at him and at each other. The one not driving took off his suit, his body covered in scars from the wave, just like Ken.
The man was military, with a pistol strapped to his chest. "We are not too sure ourselves. About 2 days ago, we noticed that there was a disturbance. There was a tear in space or reality. We studied it for those 2 days and the scientists decided it would be a good idea to send some people in to investigate. "
ken nearly choked on his drink. "Two days ago? Wait, what happened to those people who went in?"
The man's face darkened. "They never came back but something else came out." He pulled up a tablet, showing him footage of what looked like a research facility. In the video, a shimming tear hung in the air, like reality itself had been ripped open. As Ken watched, the tear suddenly pulsed with a blinding light.
"This was taken just before the first heat wave hit that facility. Everyone there..." The man didn't need to finish. Ken had seen enough melted bodies for one day.
"But that's not the worst part," he zoomed in on a frame just before the flash. Ken squinted at the image, then felt his blood run cold. There, in the tear, was what looked like an eye. An impossibly large, burning eye.
"Whatever's on the other side of that tear," the soldier said grimly, "it's noticed us and kid... that heat wave that hit your town? It was just the beginning. These tears are appearing all over the world now, though nothing has happened yet, we suspect there will be something or things coming out soon."
Ken stared at the tablet, his hands shaking. "How... how many survivors are there?"
"From the areas hit so far? Less than a hundred. The only ones who made it were either underground or underwater." The soldier took back the tablet. "That's why we're looking for survivors. We need everyone we can get, we don't know about all the countries but we know that many are facing the same threat."
"For what? Why are you gathering people?"
The soldier's scarred face broke into a grim smile. "To fight back, kid. Whatever's coming through those tears... we're not going down without a fight."
Ken felt a strange tingle in his chest but left as fast as it arrived. "I will help were I can."
"Thank you, that means more than you realise."
The helicopter landed at what appeared to be a makeshift military base, with tents and equipment scattered across a large field. People in various states of injury were being treated in medical tents, while others huddled in groups, their faces haunted by the same loss Ken had experienced.
"Welcome to Camp Hope," the soldier said, helping him out. "Not the most creative name but it fits. I'm Lieutenant Davis by the way."
As they walked through the camp, Ken noticed something odd. Some of the survivors were practicing what looked like combat training, but their movements seemed... different. One woman punched a sandbag and it exploded into flames.
"What the hell?" He stopped in his tracks, staring at the scene.
Davis nodded, as if expecting this reaction. "Yeah, that's another thing we need to talk about. I am sure you have felt the tingle by now, right?" He gestured to a nearby tent. "Come on, the doc needs to examine you. We've noticed that survivors of the heat waves... they're changing."
'Is this really a good idea, this place seems dangerous.' He followed behind Davis while still looking at all the superhuman things being done by people all over the camp.
Inside the medical tent, a tired-looking woman in a lab coat was reviewing data on multiple screens. She turned as they entered, her eyes immediately focusing on Ken with intense interest.
"Another survivor?" She grabbed a strange-looking device. "Let's see what the wave did to you."
The device sparked and fizzled in her hands, the display going dark with a small puff of smoke. "Well, that's new," she muttered, setting the broken device aside. "Usually they just give weird readings, not..." She waved at the smoking remains.
"Is that... bad?" Ken asked, taking an instinctive step back. The doctor's eyes narrowed as she studied him with suspicious interest.
"Not necessarily but interesting." She pulled out a notebook and started writing. "The device measures energy signatures. Every survivor we've found has them, but they're usually subtle. Yours just overloaded my equipment."
Lieutenant Davis shifted his stance, hand unconsciously moving closer to his weapon. "Doc, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying," she looked up from her notes, "that our new friend here might be one of the strongest we've found yet. The others who survived the wave... have shown particularly intense abilities. Something about the way the heat interacted with our DNA has cause us to go through evolution."
Ken felt that strange tingle again, stronger this time, spreading through his chest and down his arms. "What kind of abilities are we talking about?"
The doctor stood, grabbing a metal cup from her desk. "Here, hold this." She handed it to him. "Now, focus on that feeling you're having. The tingling. Direct it toward your hands."
He wrapped his fingers around the cup, conscious of both Davis and the doctor watching him intently. The tingling intensified, becoming almost uncomfortable. Suddenly, the cup began to steam, water condensing on its surface before instantly evaporating.
"Holy shit!" He dropped the cup, which hit the ground with a dull thud, its bottom half now partially melted.
"As I suspected," the doctor said, picking up the deformed cup with a protected glove. "You've developed thermal manipulation abilities. But the scale..." She shook her head in amazement. "The others can barely warm a cup of coffee. You just melted steel without even trying."
"Like whatever came through that tear," Davis said quietly. "Doc, could this be what we've been waiting for? A way to fight back?"
The doctor's expression turned serious. "Maybe. But he'll need training. Control. We've already lost three people to ability backfire, and they had far less potential for damage than this."
Ken stared at his hands, still feeling the power in his body. Just hours ago, he was a normal guy buying a gaming laptop. Now he was standing in a military camp, apparently able to melt steel with his mind, while dimensional tears threatened the world.
'This is crazy, what the hell is happening to the world?'