Many hours had gone by since they came back from the chaos in the city, since General Ironwood made his sad statement of war. The rush of energy that had run through Jonah was gone, and now he felt very tired. But he couldn't sleep
Every time he closed his eyes, the images came flooding back.
He saw the eyes of Subject Beta. He felt the memory of its soulless fighting style.
And then he saw Dr. Thorne's face. That calm smile as he talked about making an army. The memory was a sharp pain inside Jonah. Thorne hadn't just made a monster. He had changed the very core of Jonah's power, turning the skill of making things into a place that makes living weapons.
Jonah gasped for air. He moved himself up from the small bed in the workshop's corner. The room was dark, and the only light was coming from the glow of Vanessa's inactive Runic Loom.
He ran a hand through his hair, his hand shaking a little. It wasn't the fight that bothered him. It was the feeling. The psychic memory of Beta's terrible pain that had become part of his own soul. He felt harmed by it.
He walked over to a workbench and stared at his own reflection in a dark monitor screen. The face looking back was pale and tired.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
Jonah jumped at the voice. He turned around to see Vanessa standing in the doorway, a mug held in her hands. She wore a simple sweatshirt, and her usually neat hair was a little messy.
He let out a shaky breath. "No. It just... it keeps replaying."
She nodded, her face showing she understood. She walked over and gave him the mug. It was warm, and the smell of herbal tea came from it.
"Sorry if I woke you," he said softly.
"Don't be," she said, her voice gentle. She pulled a stool over and sat down opposite him. "I wasn't really sleeping. Just listening to the rain and trying not to think about... him."
They both knew who she meant.
They sat in silence for a minute, the only sounds were the low noise of the workshop's power systems and the rain hitting the windows.
"It wasn't just the fighting," Jonah finally said, his voice almost a whisper. "When our powers connected, I felt what it was. What it was thinking."
Vanessa leaned forward, her eyes focused and serious. "What do you mean?"
"It wasn't thinking," Jonah corrected himself, shaking his head. "There was nothing there. No thoughts. No anger. No fear. Just... orders. A set of instructions. And pain. So much pain, Vanessa. It was born in pain, and that's all it ever knew."
Vanessa's face showed both interest and much understanding. "The psychic residue. It's still on you."
Jonah nodded. "I can't shake it."
"Let me see.", Vanessa said.
"Your arm," she said, standing up. "The one with the God Mark. It's the source of your power, so that psychic scream would have focused right there. The residue will be strongest at the source. Let me see it. I can give you data. Facts. Maybe if we can define it, understand it, it won't feel so much like a bad memory."
Jonah paused for a moment, then agreed. He trusted her more than anyone. He sat on a workbench, and Vanessa went to work. She turned down the main lights, making the room much darker. Then, she activated a small, floating orb that made a soft, blue light. She wheeled over a tray of runic instruments.
"This might feel a little strange," she warned, picking up a crystal stylus.
She gently took his arm. As the tip of the stylus touched his skin, glowing runes spread out from the point of contact. Jonah felt a strange sensation as Vanessa began her work.
A holographic screen appeared next to her, displaying streams of complex symbols and energy graphs.
She worked for what felt like a long time, her face serious with concentration. Jonah looked at her, amazed. She was in her best state, changing the mess inside him into words she could make sense of.
Finally, she pulled the stylus away. The golden runes on his arm faded, and the holographic screen froze, displaying a complex diagram.
She breathed out slowly. "You were right."
Jonah looked at her, feeling very scared. "What did you find?"
"It's an energy signature, but there's nothing in it," she explained, pointing to the screen. "See these repeating patterns? These are combat protocols. Instructions. They're programmed right into its life force. And this," she zoomed in on a wild wave of red light, "this is a cycle that caused endless pain. Its own energy was being used to torture it, to keep it in a constant state of suffering."
She looked at him, her eyes showing a sad truth. "There was no personality. No true self. Beta was a program running on living hardware. Thorne didn't create a life. He just built a weapon and filled it with pain to make it obey."
Hearing her say it, and seeing the information on the screen, felt strangely good. It was like they both knew it was true, a way to feel better.
"Thank you," Jonah said, heavy with emotion.
He watched Vanessa and noticed that her hand was shaking a little.
"Vanessa? Are you okay?"
She quickly pulled her hand back, as if caught doing something wrong. "I'm fine. It's just... seeing the proof of it. Seeing what he did." She took a shaky breath and finally confessed her own fear. "I was so scared, Jonah. During the fight, all I could do was watch the data feeds from the safe house. When I saw that thing appear, that... broken copy of your power... for a second, I thought we were going to lose you."
Jonah's heart ached for her. He got off the workbench and, without thinking, put his arms around her. He hugged her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. He felt her worry go away. Follow current novᴇls on novel·fire.net
They stood like that for a long time, holding on to each other.