Signs Of Humanity - Chapter 0
It was 200-odd years in the past, at a time when things were relatively peaceful save for a few skirmishes from those at the reins of power. Most people lived in a state of agitated peace where your day to day could be seen as bearable and at times peaceful. However, there was always that feeling lurking in the background that everything was just a few inches away from crumbling down.
That was where Atlas Freed hoped to take the pressure off everyone, even if it was just a single valve. Depending on your choice of news diet it was either the saving grace, God incarnate coming down to bless you with his guiding light. Or it was an apocalypse waiting to happen, a hellish evil thing that Satan himself dreamt up to slay us all.
The truth was it was a nuclear fusion generator that was showing some promise. It was hardly the only one of its kind, in fact, it was a smaller operation than most. It however was obtaining greater and longer-lasting power cycles than its competitors and on less fuel to boot. It's also worth noting that "some promise" a phrase that never seemed to make it into the news cycles, was an overstatement to the layman, to those in the know it was accurate. Truthfully it meant that the power that when into each cycle was only slightly less than the power it put out, about roughly enough to run a microwave for about a minute. All this is to say the project was by all standards harmless and only remarkable to those that worked in the industry.
That's why it's sudden detonation shook the globe both figuratively and literally. Something horrid had happened, but no one knew what exactly. All evidence of what could have happened where reduced to basic atoms and flung across the planet along with half of the European continent where the facility running the experiments resided. Everyone's best guess was that it was always bound to happen and the hubris of man playing with powers that we didn't understand would always result in such a thing.
However, at the time of the detonation or as it would come to be known as The Remaking it was the least of humanity's worries. The wave of radiation that flooded over the planet seeped its way into every rock, plant, animal and human it destroyed and rebuilt everything from the ground up. There was the expected die-off as the cells of many creatures and plants broke down rotting everything from the inside out. Earth was beginning to resemble the other planets in the solar system turning into a dead brown husk.
The rush of deaths from radiation poisoning was only the first wave, next was the plague of cancers. This affected almost every member of fauna on earth, with entire species dying out in barely a generation, humans being no exception. The population tumbled to a point that might have been preindustrial, not that many could be certain. Global communication was all but gone, leaving the now sickly population dependent solely on their localised communities, even building trade networks within countries proved to be an arduous task.
If things remained on their current course, it would see humanity die out within a decade or two. However, something strange began to befall the survivors. While many lay sick and dying a few seemed to be untouched by the radiation. While others seemed to be more resilient but given enough time around the radiation they would eventually fall to cancer or poisoning.
In the end, those who seemed to be surviving well enough in the new irradiated world appeared to be broken up into even thirds. One-third of the normal humans seemed to be a bit more resilient to radiation. The other two-thirds were completely immune to the radiation but there was more to it. They appeared to be human on the surface but underneath they were something else. Somehow the radiation had mutated them, changing them into something else.
One group that would eventually come to be known as Brutes had a mutation that could be best described as physical, with each person’s ability varying from individual to individual. They did however have similar enough abilities that they could be categorised in a type of class.
Some had enhanced healing abilities, others had abilities that augmented their body's physical properties making their skin harder, increasing endurance or strength. While some could transform their bodies in different ways. The extent of these abilities also varied from individual and could be improved over time, they could even change completely. If the Brute were to continually use their ability, they could further their mutation it was almost like exercising a muscle, the more it was used the stronger it became.
For all their variety Brutes did have common traits that denoted them as belonging to the same group. They all had enhanced senses of sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. As well as greater strength and faster reflexes than normal humans.
Brutes could also activate a voluntary reflex which would cause their eye colour to flash from their natural colour to an icy blue and the pupils to snap into vertical slips. Doing this also had the added benefit of enhancing their already strengthened senses. This quickly came to be known as their Release, while it did offer many benefits it was also incredibly draining. To the point that prolonged use could see Brutes collapse from exhaustion even if they had been sitting stationary the entire time.
These powers did come with some drawbacks, while the powers did put them head and shoulders above normal humans their advanced senses put them at a disadvantage at times. Their brains weren't built for the new sensory information which could lead to over stimulation. If they were exposed too much sensory input, they were likely to pass out while their minds recovered. Even simple tasks they were used to preforming could induce a panic attack from the sudden change in their perception of the world.
Emotions also seemed to be felt more deeply by Brutes, the theory was that their brains were now more sensitive to chemical responses and could cause over-blown reactions to normal events. For example, something that might only cause a normal person a mild amount of annoyance would induce a blinding rage in a Brute. Say for example receiving a miner cut while trimming branches off a tree. Most people might not think much of it, maybe it would give them some pause while they assess the damage. A Brute on the other hand was liable to activate their Release and punch the tree so hard it would shatter the trunk.
The anger would subside as quickly as it came, leaving the Brute embarrassed with themselves and fearing what others would think of them. Which would in turn be felt more deeply than normal sending them into a spiral that would also result in a panic attack. Because of this sudden imbalance in emotional responses, Brutes came to be ashamed of their emotions and would spend long hours isolating themselves as they practised ways to soothe and control them.
In the eyes of the public Brutes seemed to be unhinged beasts who should be avoided, which only caused the group to isolate themselves further from the rest of the population.
The other group of Mutants were given the name Psychics, like Brutes they exhibited greater abilities than normal humans, however, a Psychics ability seemed to come from their minds and didn't cause any modifications to their bodies.
Different kinds of coginesis were common, abilities to create and control fire, lightning, shields or move things with their mind made up a short list of the more common abilities. Some could have multiple forms of these abilities or only one, in rare cases people could have all of them. Others couldn't directly use their abilities some needed a medium to make use of their powers. For example, some could change the atomic alignment of materials, making things harder or softer, giving substances new properties or even making it possible to pass through objects that would normally be impossible to do so.
Like Brutes, Psychics also had joint abilities that were shared among the group. All Psychics have what was called an Affinity which allows any Psychic to gather knowledge on a single subject extremely easily and quickly. This subject would vary from person to person and at first, was hard to describe to other non-Psychic humans often they would just wave it off as a "talent". But once it was better understood it became apparent that an Affinity was something much more, almost mystical.
An example that was often used to describe this abnormality was; Say you have two Psychics sitting in an Advanced Physics lecture given in French. Neither of the Psychics Speak French nor do they understand anything about Advanced Physics. However, one Psychic has an Affinity for language while the other has one for maths. While neither can grasp the concepts of the lecture once it is over the Psychic with the Affinity for language will walk away with new knowledge of French, new words for their vocabulary and an understanding of the grammar structure. While the Psychic with an affinity for Maths will have learnt new math formulas used during the lecture they may not understand how they relate to real-world concepts but will know how to solve similar equations when presented to them in the future.
In short, the Psychics mind seems to be like a sponge that soaks up and gorges itself on information that it finds pleasing.
Psychics also have a Release state like Brutes; however, their eyes shift to red, with their pupils changing to white with what looks like a thin black line running vertically down the centre. In this state, they have shown a sensitivity to light, but it's believed they are able to see electromagnetic waves. Anything that has electricity flowing through it glows with a light in their eyes. The intensity of which varies with the amount of energy.
They also report a feeling of expanded awareness of themselves in this state. Like their bodies are projected in a rough two-meter dome around themselves. Within this dome, they are very sensitive to any movement giving the impression that they have eyes in the back of their heads. Like Brutes being in a Release state it is very taxing on Psychics and can drain their stamina quite quickly with the bonus of severe headaches after prolonged use.
Unlike Brutes, A Psychics abilities are more finite and draining, the more one uses their ability the quicker they exhaust themselves. While say a Brute that can change their skin into an impenetrable armour could maintain the state for a full day before feeling drained. A Psychic with Telekinesis holding a 20kg box in the air might only be able to do so for an hour at most. However, their recovery time does outpace Brutes by a significant amount.
Psychics' personalities aren't different from normal humans, however when it comes to the subject of their Affinity, they become obsessive and fanatic, like a starving dog devouring table scraps. Which could make them appear to be single-minded and callous towards others. In the minds of the public Psychics came to be seen as intelligent but pompous and rude. Developing a stereotype that they saw normal humans as lesser beings.
In the beginning, while the sudden appearance of these mutated humans was off-putting and unnerving to those who remained unchanged, given the current state of the world it was the least of everyone's worries. Not only had humans mutated so had plants and animals, these mutations weren't as varied as in human's but posed a greater threat. Plants grew to new sizes developing more lethal defences, with some becoming more carnivorous in nature.
Animals became more deadly some effectively amped up their offensive capabilities as if they were a mirror to Brutes. While other animals developing abilities akin to Psychics, however, the strength of their abilities was dictated by the size and complexity of their brains. Collectively these horrid beasts and Plants came to be known as the Vile, due to how unnatural they seemed and the threat they now posed to humans.
Brutes and Psychics for all their strangeness became indispensable in this new world. Thanks to the Brutes newfound strength and durability they become a pillar in the labour sector. Brutes also could act as a security force keeping settlements safe from any threats that the Vile might pose to them. While Psychics' ability to grow their knowledge as fast as they could helped immensely with planning and logistics, they also excelled at passing on that information too non-Psychics.
With the help of both these groups humanity was recovering well from the cataclysm that had rocked their world. Eventually however non-humans came to resent the Mutants and began to develop conspiracies around them. While the Mutants were still humans they didn't seem to reproduce at the same rate as Non-Mutants, which eventually led to an imbalance in the population. For every Brute or Psychic child born, there were two human children.
Despite the Brutes and Psychics slowly becoming the minorities in society they still tended to hold more power in leadership roles. This was due to the fact they had spent years working at the behest of their communities to rebuild. So naturally when it came to elections for leadership roles they were often looked to as the best options. Because of the work and reputation, they had achieved in the eyes of their fellow man they were trusted more than relatively unknown humans.
However, to a growing number of people, the idea that someone separate from you and your kind holding power over the masses seemed wrong. In their eye's the Mutants were these other-worldly beings seemingly human but also different, smarter, more powerful and immune to the poison of the land. Almost as sure as the sun would rise a conspiracy began to form.
One of which positioned Brutes and Psychics as snakes in the grass that have always been with humanity, just out of sight waiting for their time to strike became very popular. Those who felt themselves cheated by the new system of the world began to spread poisonous rumours that Brutes and Psychics had always been here biding their time to take over the world.
They would say "Since their birth rate was so low they had to wait until their numbers grew before they could take over". They would claim the Mutants were the ones that set off the explosion at Atlas Released, and caused The Remaking, and that they were the ones that flooded the world with radiation, radiation that they were immune to. Then would quickly follow up with "once us normal humans began to die out, they could take over the world. But it didn't work, we humans didn't die out in the masses they thought we would and now they seek to control us with laws."
At first, these rumours didn't hold any water, most people knew the Brutes and Psychics before they transformed, and there was no way they could be hiding such a thing. But as time wore on those who were there at The Remaking began to fade away and a new Generation moved into the spotlight. Suddenly these rumours and tales seemed to be a bit more tangible.
With the world beginning to slide back into a comfortable norm it was starting to get difficult to see why the Brutes and Psychics were so needed. Mysteries about the Vile were being solved, technology had been developed that both kept humans safe from the world but also allowed them to conquer it again. The question to the average person "Why do we put so much faith in the Mutants?" became not such an unreasonable one.
Things however went into over drive when people who stood to profit from a sudden change in hierarchy latched on to the growing subconscious fears of the masses. Using printing presses, cultural hubs of entertainment and even places of worship, those who held the means of spreading messages wide and far began to spin a twisted narrative. At first subtle stories, reminding their audiences of the over-reactive nature of the Brutes and the alienating and calculative thoughts of Psychics. Reminders that they could with ease do great harm to a human without even trying "not that they would be inclined to do such a thing" was often a line that punctuated an anti-mutant lecture to make the performer seem impartial.
Eventually, this spiralled into always positioning Mutants into the outside other, someone whose culture was too strange to meld with humans, then slowly they became the aggressor, and finally, they emerged as the villain.
These con men were cunning they had to walk a tight rope as they sought to change the public's opinion of Mutants, while not allowing an alliance between Brutes and Psychics to form, as they feared they might fight back the misinformation they peddled. They set about isolating the two groups from one another, they couldn't be allowed to see each other as joint Mutants but rather as Brutes and Psychics.
This was achieved by creating even more insidious narratives, to both demonise the other but also bolster each group's sense of superiority. For the Brutes material was spread to create the illusion that Psychics looked down on the Brutes for being slow and dim-witted, "Only good for the muscle they lumber around, easy to manipulate". While also playing up their other traits under the guise of self-improvement "We are strong, why not take what we want, it's good in this world to be powerful, it gives you the right to lead." "We feel things more deeply, this makes us more human, no need to seal your emotions away, let them run free, it's not wrong to feel."
For the Psychics, this was a bit more difficult, as many among their ranks could identify the propaganda for what it was, some couldn't and fell into the same tactics that worked on the Brutes both pandering to their egos and cutting them down in equal measure. To sow more discontent a more lateral approach was needed, this was achieved by paying small gangs of Brutes and humans to vandalise the property of Psychics and harass them whenever possible. Eventually the astro-turfed movement morphed into a grassroots movement as the groups became more hostile towards each-other. Coupled with over-reporting in Brute on Psychic crimes made it difficult for even the most stanch collectivist, Psychic advocates to get laughed out of any room.
The stage was set and given a few years of incessant grinding the relation between the groups would break down resulting in the disillusionment of the current status quo, paving a way forward for a new regime built on dictatorial roles. However, for all their bolstering those that courted a change in power they didn't account for the more fanatical groups they inspired.
In their haste to instil division, they had created a culture of fear and paranoia which resulted in the creation of a cult calling themselves the Church of Seon. An offshoot of Christianity that saw humans as God's chosen people and Brutes and Psychics as the Devil spawn sent to earth to taint God's gifts. This played off the old conspiracies that Brutes and Psychics have always been on earth biding their time waiting to take over. That every evil act humanity has ever suffered was brought on by the Mutants, every war, every genocide, every thought and ideology that went against God's teachings was all through the forked tongues of the Mutants.
This cult started small but was growing in legitimacy as people came to fear the Mutants more and more. They were even granted some authority when their leaders were given writing spots in newspapers and academic papers they wrote were used as sources for scholars. For a time, they were seen as the ones who took things a bit too far but had some interesting points. If things were to stay as they were, they would maintain a reputation that kept them at arm's length as a culture that was obscure enough that they could be ignored.
The balance was interrupted when a sudden plague began to ravage the human population. The virus seemed to have come from the Vile and was deadly to humans, but only induced mild symptoms in Psychics and seemingly left Brutes unaffected.
If almost by the natural occurrence like the sun rising or the tides receding. The now sizeable propaganda machine began to turn out story after story about how this was The Second Remaking, that the Brutes and Psychics were making their next move. While it would have been the right thing to stop this misinformation in its tracks. The machine was now so fragmented and decentralised doing so was an impossible task even for those that built it. Not that there was any plan to do so, their fake lawns had spouted real grass, and it was working for them.
While conspiracy was running rampant with wildly differing stories, causes and solutions, they all seemed to centre on the fact that "The Church of Seon was right" whose memberships and influence ballooned. As the church expanded it went from a niche collection of weirdos to being a pillar of the human community, then finally its leaders.
Those who set out to alter the power structure now found themselves in a dilemma. Do they remain outsiders from the Church which could cause complications with its more radical followers, while they try to start up the media machine to outs the Church like they had with the Mutants? Or they could take a shortcut to their ultimate end goal and assimilate into the Church, using their pre-existing influence to rise to its leadership?
The choice for them seemed simple, this was in the years the plague was at its worst and the Church of Seon was bolstered with massive influxes of cash and influence in sectors they previously had none. This meant there wasn't a part of the human community that didn't have a connection to the Church of Seon. The population either being avid followers of the Church or at the very least held support for them, with the rare few who disagreed, conforming regardless to avoid ostracisation from the community.
The final indicator that The Church of Seon had reached total cultural saturation was when they developed their paramilitary group, formed under the illusion of defence, "After all, if we humans need to defend ourselves from the outside world, we can't be expected to wait for a Mutant to show up can we?" was an often-spouted line from its leadership. The Church had also morphed, no longer could it be seen as just a place of worship, it had to become something more, something more akin to a home that happened to be decorated with religious paraphernalia. So, the Seon government was formed, it could control territory, run trading networks and offer social safety nets to any human settlement that was willing to join. All the while spreading its poisonous teachings about the Mutants.
The Brutes and Psychics were also engaging in their own isolationist tactics forming communities separated from one another. However, while they still made up the Bulk of the heavy Labour and Academic sectors, they were still heavily reliant on Seon-owned and run businesses. Brutes and Psychics were beginning to reach a breaking point. They were now being taxed more heavily than their human counterparts, their housing was being restricted and were finding it difficult to access food with more and more stores refusing to sell to Mutants.
This situation could have been rectified peacefully if the two groups could come together and form an alliance. However, at this point, they see the other as the reason for their suffering. Alone and isolated the more radical among the groups began to grow in influence.
With the plague reaching its climax it would only take a single spark to ignite the fury that had developed among the groups. Which came as sure as the seasons turned, during this time Seon started to preach a message of unity. Asking the Brutes and Psychics to come together and "help heal the wounds between the Mutants and humans, through atonement". It was confusing messaging even their more fanatical population was throwing up arms against the proclamation.
The atonement Seon was speaking of was to help their doctors and scientists find a cure for the plague. Which had taken on the name Vile Pox, the name came from the suspected source being the Vile and the large green oozing welts that grew on the infected‘s bodies.
Seon proposed that if the Brutes and Psychics were to come to testing facilities and volunteer to participate in experiments there was a hope their immunity to the virus could be identified and replicated. This on its surface seemed to be a reasonable request but finding Mutants that would volunteer was hard.
After the decades of mistrust between Seon and the mutants finding people that were at least open to the idea seemed unlikely. However, as a show of good faith, Seon rolled back taxes on the Mutants, opened new housing and outlawed mutant discrimination for merchants. With a final measure of allowing Mutants to be on staff at the testing facilities. Psychics would be allowed to participate in the experiments and research while the Brutes could act as security and maintenance personnel.
This seemed like a fair deal with the added reassurance that their kind would be manning the facilities, Seon slowly began to see Brutes and Psychics volunteered to be in the experiments.
For a while things had been going well, Seon was allowing anyone to have access to the findings of their research and progress on a cure was being made it seemed. Some had miss giving's for a while, wondering why the Mutants had to stay at the facility and couldn't return home.
This line of questioning was quickly snuffed out by having Psychics and Brutes working at the facility go to their respective communities and assure them that everything was fine. "This is a normal part of medical experiments, and we need to keep the patients isolated to prevent any outside factors from interfering with the results" was the official reasoning behind the Mutants absences. They were offered the opportunity to have written correspondence with their loved ones in the experiment to answer any other fears the Mutants might have, but this didn't calm everyone's fears.
In the end the Mutants had to begrudgingly accepted this, confidence was also being bolstered by the near-daily protests Seon fanatics were bombarding the streets with. Decrying their government for betraying humanity, claiming they were poisoning the pure blood of humans with that of the Mutants. Seeing the Seon government so willing to weather the onslaught of abuse, rioting and civil disobedience from their most loyal followers, gave many hope, that relationships between the groups could be mended.
This all changed however when Mutants began to escape the facilities and with their escape came the ugly truth of what Seon was really doing. The escapees told stories of horrible experiments that were being performed on them. Being forced to take drugs with wildly different effects, forced to go days without food and water and being subjected to both extremely hot and cold temperatures were among the tamer experiments. Worse were stories of weapons testing, forcible impregnations and abortions with even tails of vivisections.
The spell of cooperation had shattered and when escapees were asked if the Mutants who were working at the facilities were aware of this the answer lit a bond fire of rage and set off a tidal wave of revenge.
"What about the Brutes and Psychics, working there please don't tell me they knew" A sobbing man eked out, clutching his withered daughter. His deep rattling breaths passed through the poor girl’s frail body threatening to crush her with their subtle weight.
She was not the cheerful confident beauty she once was; her long lavish hair was shaved down to the scalp which was pitted and scarred with neat straight lines left by a surgeon’s tools. Her once gleaming eyes, now dark and void of personality sunken into her skull, half the number they once were. Her frame once full of muscle and toned by hours of daily labour now thin, pale and discoloured, lessened by the absence of her right arm.
She pushed the words out, with what strength she had left, it was important for her father to hear, for everyone to know what was happening inside the facilities, if she didn't speak the others would be left to suffer at the hands of those demons.
"Dad... They knew... No, more than that..." Her father's hold on her tightened but before he could speak, she continued.
"They helped Dad, the Psychics helped run the experiments, they would look at us like we were filth, they would never speak to us when we begged for help or pleaded for them to stop, they became angry with us like we had no right to complain."
Her father's breath caught in his throat; his view of Psychics was low, but he always held out hope that they still had some solidarity with Brutes they were both Mutants after all. His mouth was now dry as his imagination ran wild trying to simulate what his daughter had seen he croaked out "And the Brutes... The guards, what about them?"
"They helped Seon, if we tried to fight back, they would restrain us, hold us down force us to comply. When I asked them how they could be doing this to us, the most I'd ever get as a reply was 'better you than me'. Dad... I'm sorry I left I shouldn't have trusted them"
Another wave of tears poured from the two as they clutched each other tightly. At this point, a crowd had begun to form around them as word of someone escaping a Seon facility spread. They all stood in silence as they listened to the girl’s words. As the news of what was happening to their brethren sunk in fear and anger began to ripple through the crowd. Until one lady spoke out, asking a question that for a moment would, again unite Brutes and Psychics. "I'm sorry but miss, what about the Psychics that went to the facilities? Were they..." her words trailed off like she didn't want to ask what everyone else already suspected.
The words hung suspended in the air as everyone focused on the broken woman cradled in her father's arms. Her head slowly pulled away from her father’s shoulder, her face wet with tears she turned to look at the crowd. The moment seemed to drag on forever like the weight of her answer was slowing time. Finally in a whisper that shattered the air she spoke.
"We were kept in the same cages."
This wasn't a direct answer to the question, but its implication was obvious as the crowds looked around at each other they noticed that they were standing shoulder to shoulder as Brutes and Psychics. While they had their differences and animosity between themselves, this time it was clear they had a goal they needed to achieve together.
"What do we do now" asked a Psychic man.
"I think it’s pretty clear, isn't it? We get our kind back, don't we? We should do it now, while the sun is still down." A Brute woman snapped back.
"But what about Seon? Maybe we could partition the government to release the Mutants" a timid Psychic woman muttered.
"Are you joking? That girl just told us our people are suffering and dying at Seon's hands and you want to play nice with them?" a grizzled old Brute man shouted.
The crowd was beginning to fight amongst themselves arguing back and forth about what was the right thing to do.
"You Brutes are all the same, always wanting to fight, never wanting to think."
"Like you Psychics can talk, always debating on your choices never getting anything done."
"Beasts!"
"Cowards!"
Suddenly a rippling chime rang through the minds of everyone in the crowd followed by a soothing yet firm voice echoing in their thoughts. "Alright you all, be quiet your bickering is doing nothing to help." In unison, the crowds turned to two figures that had separated from the crowd. Their eyes were drawn to the tall man standing to the left, like their instincts were screaming at them that he was the one who was speaking in their minds.
The man was Nathanael King an older gentleman with long white hair dressed in the white robes of the Psychics College, which resembled the formal wear of East Asian aristocrats, but paired back to be more utilitarian sporting many pockets and hidden pouches that usually contained numerous instruments, pens and notebooks. The man was as thin as he was tall, he radiated the calm confidence of someone who rarely considered anything or anyone a threat.
He was widely accepted as the official leader of the Psychics in this settlement. His glowing red eyes snapped back to their milky blue as he released his hold on their minds. Nathanael could expand his thoughts well beyond his body and could work his way into others forcing them to act as he pleased, a disturbing ability even among the Psychics but one he rarely used. Rumours among the Brutes was that you should be careful what you think about the man as he is always listening. Truthfully Nathanael's ability was limited to his line of sight but there was no need to correct everyone on that one misunderstanding.
Once he released his hold, the Brutes and Psychics had two very different reactions. The Psychics focused on Nathanael, not in rage but fear, he never used his ability on others unless it was a last resort. This meant what he was about to say would be a matter of life and death. The Brutes on the other hand were boiling with rage, how dare this pompous Psychic treat them like puppets?
Before a roar from the Brutes could begin to rumble in their throats, a pain gripped their ears one only they could hear, which left the Psychics standing around them confused. It was a horrible screeching whistle that stung the ears of Brutes but pulsed silently around the Psychics as their ears weren't attuned to the frequency of the noise. They did however hear the sudden booming voice that followed.
"Brutes, get a hold of yourself, we aren't playing games no more!" The words came from the short, dark skinned, muscled woman standing next to Nathanael. Maxine Wales's shaved head only came up to the chest height of the man standing next to her, but her build made her seem like the more imposing figure. She was half dressed in what would be a worker's baggy blue overalls, however these seemed to be a size too small on her as they were pulled tight over her muscled legs. She had half removed her coverings and tied the sleeves around her waist revealing the stained grey singlet she wore underneath which only emphasised her tree trunk-like arms that rippled with power.
Unlike Nathanael, Maxine wasn't an official leader of the Brutes, she was however one of the most well-known and respected foremen among the them. Maxine was an Enhancer, meaning she could enhance any aspect of her body far beyond what was capable for Brutes let alone humans. Just as she had made her voice into a thunder boom, or generated a high pitch whistle only Brutes could hear. She could increase her strength, speed and healing. While concentrating she was able to even enhance biological factors in her body, like bolstering her immune system. This level of control over her own body had given her incredible longevity, while she was only eight at the time of The Remaking, now an odd one hundred years later, she had the appearance of someone only in their mid forties, this was a rare phenomenon for Brutes, but not unheard of, it was like a child being born with red hair.
Over that time, she had held many leadership positions, while a well-respected leader she always felt more at home on the job sight. The perception of her past however had made her into somewhat of a grandmother to those who did take on leadership roles in the Brute community. She often found herself having to advise any politician who graced her work-sight. As such the Brute community saw her as the one their leaders turned too in times of need.
Still in a loud, but slightly toned-down voice Maxine continued. "Alright I have been talking to Nathaniel about what we need to do next, we are both in agreement that we need to act now before Seon has time to organise."
The crowd murmured in agreement with the words, it gave the impression that everyone present agreed that they needed to act now. The crowd quieted down as Nathaniel readied to speak again, his eyes again snapped to red as he spoke.
"Maxine and I both think it will be best if we, Brutes and Psychics work together and raid the Seon facility. We don't know what we will face and what their numbers will be like, however we will need overwhelming force to succeed."
Nathaniel's voice was drowned out by shouts and roars from the crowd as they protested their disagreement of Brutes and Psychics working together. However, he was using his ability to project his words into their minds. No matter how loud the crowd yelled they were forced to hear every word as clear as day and the emotion that they held. A pleading desperation for just this one time of unity came over them.
Maxine barked another ear-splitting shout "Shut Up!" but the flood of emotion from Nathaniel had already caught most of them off guard. Maxine continued her yelling.
"I know there is bad blood between us, but you heard what that girl told us. Seon throws us all in the same cages, they don't see a difference between us so why should we?"
"Seon has spent decades splitting us apart so we wouldn't team up against them, all so they could hold power over us. And even when they won, they still felt the need to wipe us out! No more, let's go, let's take back our people and burn that place to the ground."
The Brutes in the crowd cheered unanimously, their anger and hatred for Seon had hit a boiling point and they were itching for an outlet to relieve the pressure. The Psychics however were a little more hesitant, they hated Seon just as much, but had always seen themselves as the calmer Mutants, the more respectable and trustful, would they dare give into the desire for revenge as well and become like the Brutes?
Before any could begin to voice their concerns, as if Nathaniel was plunging the depths of their minds his voice chimed in their heads. "Stop thinking we are superior to the Brutes; we all care for those who are being held captive in this moment it is right for us to feel our rage". The words were coupled with the burning sensation of a white-hot flame that scorched their thoughts with his rage.
As the crowd began to agree, they were told to form groups of both Psychics and Brutes and talk amongst themselves to share information about each other's abilities and think of ways they could fight effectively. While those too young, old or unwilling to fight were sent to inform every other Mutant in the settlement about what was going to happen. They were either to find volunteers for the assault or to tell everyone else to be ready to flee, that once the Mutants were rescued, they would be leaving Seon territory for good.
Once planning was finished not that there was much of a plan, this was a slapdash rescue mission with teams that had just formed with no experience. The idea was to take the facility by surprise and do something the Mutants had never done before to the humans, to use their overwhelming powers to crush and destroy opposition. This wouldn't be an easy task, Seon had weaponry effective enough to keep a population of Mutants subdued. There was also the Mutants that had become traitors, they would also need to be dealt with. There was a high possibility that many could die in the attack.
When the conversation of what was to be done about the Mutant collaborators Nathaniel without hesitation sent a cold and brutal message to everyone. "The Proditors? No mercy, they sided with our killers they can join them in their fates." Nathaniel had an Affinity for languages which seemed to go hand in hand with his ability. While only a few in the crowd understood the word the feeling of it and its meaning were apparent to all. The Latin word for Traitor was forever carved into their minds.
So, the assault on the facility commenced, not for the first time nor the last. This scene that was playing out here was also happening all over the world at different times. Seon had formed a world wide web of influence and under the guise of research for a cure to the Vile Pox plague they were running these experiments on the Mutants. They did this to find out what made them tick, what was the extent of their abilities and of course how to effectively kill them.
However, given enough time a test subject would escape, or someone from the community would break in to find out what exactly was going on inside. Sometimes another Mutant from a different settlement would come and inform the locals about what Seon was doing. Some Mutants even began forming roaming gangs that would periodically attack Seon facilities. No matter how hard Seon would try to keep their secrets eventually something would slip through the cracks and leak out.
The assault led by Nathaniel and Maxine was overall successful their teams were able to force their way inside and rescue the Mutants. While the Seon forces could put up a fight and did manage to kill some of the attackers, they ultimately couldn't stand against Brutes and Psychics working together with the intent to kill.
The Brutes and Psychics that stood with Seon didn't stand much of a chance either. Some tried to surrender, claiming that they had no choice, that they were forced to work for Seon, but these pleas fell on deaf ears. None of the Mutants in the attack enjoyed killing the traitors, none did so in anger or some misguided sense of justice. Instead, it was done in a cold surgical manner, ruthlessly efficient like someone picking out rotten fruit from a harvest.
Even the Brutes who feel emotions deeper than everyone else, showed nothing to them. Like Nathaniel said they are Proditors now, they are not Mutants, not Brutes or Psychics, nor are they even human, they are nothing.
Once the raid was over the facility crumbled in crimson flames, the Mutants that survived the raid carried out their sick, wounded, traumatised, dying and dead. As Maxine had said, "We all are leaving, no matter what." Not one among them would have the facility be their grave.
There was no celebration, no cheers of joy, no smiles, every mutant that came out of that facility was scared, broken and lesser than the people they were before, shadows and husks of their former selves. Those who had rescued them had failed them and there was nothing but pain and loss.
All this, the result of a naive and childish hope to help Seon cure the humans of the Vile Pox, to mend relationships and create some kind of trust between the groups. As the crowds who were now refugees sunk away into the morning light in search of a new land. Brutes and Psychics among them coughed and spattered, green wounds littered their bodies as they gasped through the pain for breath. They hadn't made the sickness any better, Seon had only made it worse.
Years on from this event, now 200 years after The Remaking, Seon still holds tight over the territory they had claimed and is often openly hostile to any Brute or Psychic that comes near their borders isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Brutes and Psychics have formed similar isolated communities, sometimes there are a few rare, combined settlements that permit humans, Brutes and Psychics to live together, the largest of which being Melbourne Australia. While others are far stricter for the Mutants, two factions formed one being The Sentinel's Helmet was a group of Warlords that control territory they set aside only for Brutes, they are a war-like group that sees might as right and aren't afraid to raid others if they see fit.
Another main contender is the Omni-Scholarly these are groups of Psychics who isolated themselves from the world and keep what goes on in their settlements under wraps. Like The Sentinel's Helmet, they only allow Psychics in their communities. Although they may seem peaceful, they do defend their territory viciously and are reluctant to let outsiders leave once granted entry.
With humanity now separated into its different isolated groupings, you might think Seon would be content with their place. They had their land just for humans, they were safe and prosperous, and it only cost them some men and research. However, the inadequacies of man faced with an unknown element make for a garden of poor choices. The research needed to continue; Vile Pox was still a threat but what seemed to be more of a threat was the thought of Mutants teaming up again. They were so easily overwhelmed before, what's to stop them from doing it again?
So, the experiments started up again, but this time finding subjects was a little harder. No longer could they lie and ask for volunteers. No, now they would need to take them by force, so the Seon Raids began. While larger settlements that had the backing of warlords and isolationist hermits were out of the question there were plenty of smaller independent villages ripe for the taking.
It was during one of these raids that Jericho a young man of 22, lost everything he held dear, lost his freedom and his time. Locked away in a Seon Facility somewhere north of Broken Hill, kept as a test subject to be poked and prodded, cut open and sewn back together. When he was not awake to be used as a lab rat, he was kept in a constant state of semi-consciousness never allowed to be asleep or be aware of where he was. The Shifter Subject 24 who was unknown to all was about to awaken.