Finding Humanity

Chapter 1

August, Year 473, Isle of Whithook, District Ten, North

Human life, regardless of wealth or circumstance, had a beginning and an end. What humanity had long strove to accomplish was to eliminate the latter and after centuries of research they had gotten close.

But unknown to the seven hundred and fifty two scientists working on extending the lifespans of the elite, the secret to immortality was now in the hands of three friends on a personal quest to save the world.

The two men in the trio of self-proclaimed future world-savers tore their gazes away from the swelling waves that smashed against the rocky base of the cliff they stood on, hands fitted into their pockets. They turned simultaneously to the girl lagging behind them by several metres.

She didn't seem to be aware that her outburst had gotten their attention but she couldn't really be blamed for her absentmindedness.

Dawn Draekon was a pretty, perfectly proportioned, lilliputian thing—completely human, with no obvious Enhancement, auditory or otherwise. But both her friends could accurately hear a pin drop miles away while she could not.

It was a difference all three of them had forgotten despite its obviousness. Yet, this glaring fact was highlighted by the white jumpsuit she had insisted on wearing to secretly accompany her two best friends to Whithook's notorious cliff—the location with the best view of the nation's vast oceans.

The material clung to her like a second skin and occasionally glowed a murky green, showing that her mood was particularly volatile at the moment—she did not have the inherent control Enhanced humans had over their emotional state. And the last thing anyone hunting for her would expect was the President's daughter being geared up in an extremely inconvenient 111 mood suit.

Dawn's short, dark hair ran wild in all directions regardless of whether wind was blowing from the east or not, and her teeth were sunk deep into her pale lower lip, causing rivulets of blood to dribble down the corner of her mouth.

A hint of bright red diffused into the murkiness of the jumpsuit's glimmer  but she herself didn't seem to notice the pain though. She only kept her glare on the pad she held, furiously using her thumb to jab at its screen with enough ferocity to stab the digit through the sturdy holo-interface.

"Stupid prototype, can't you move any faster?" the girl growled beneath her breath, only pausing once in her incessant typing and scrolling to wipe off the blood that had dripped onto the surface of the SCREENE in her hands.

By now the two men had spent a whole minute carefully observing her. They shared a knowing glance before a look of genuine worry finally settled on the features of the younger man.

The blue in his eyes darkened to a murky obsidian as he stared at Dawn, and his jet black hair, once fluttering relentlessly in the harsh winds, stilled the moment he frowned.

Like the girl in front of him, Corey Roya was also human, but not entirely powerless like his childhood friend. At the same time he didn't consider himself part of the everyday masses who had good-for-nothing Enhancements that amounted to nothing but daily frivolities in the end.

More importantly though, he had spent almost half his life with Dawn and knew by now that she was the only being on the planet that could make someone as important as him feel like a nonentity.

For that reason alone, Corey had no intentions of waddling into the turbid waters of Dawn's broiling rage, especially today of all days.

He gestured silently to her with a throw of his hand, the message in his actions obvious as he proceeded to shove both hands deeper into the pockets in his stripped sweater and directed his distressed gaze elsewhere: I'm not handling it this time.

The other man raised an eyebrow as he stared at the friend he had considered his brother until this moment, unwillingness written clearly on his face as he contemplated just jumping off the cliff to avoid the future altercation as a whole. At least the latter was less likely to get him killed.

But alas the decision was made for him. Two hands shoved him from behind, hard, the force sending him stumbling towards Dawn.

An irritated, helpless smile formed on his lips and he half-turned to shoot a scathing look at the boy who had pushed him. I'll get you back for this, Corey Roya.

The corners of Corey's eyes rose by a margin in amusement when the hateful thought reached him, and he merely shrugged in reply. We'll see about that, Elton Yong.

Elton let out a quiet sigh, his exasperation leaking out of his lungs in steady streams as he raked his hands down his windblown mane until his fingers brushed the bare nape of his neck.

His shoulders fell as he resigned himself to his fate and stepped directly in front of Dawn, his hands falling to his sides and his smile transforming into something utterly mischievous.

"The real thing is in front of you," his wine red hair was scattered once again by the wind as it blew hard against his face, and Elton laughed suddenly, causing his two friends to look up at him with identical glares of alarm.

"What are you—"

"Hey, I didn't—!"

He grabbed the SCREENE from Dawn before anyone could realize what had happened and chucked it into the horizon behind him.

"Hey!" Dawn's eyes widened as she watched the most expensive hardware in the nation plunge to it's saliferous demise in slow motion.

She ran past the other two in anger, only to end up staring blankly at the vast ocean beneath her as its waves lapped up the still glowing, now floating, device and smashed it against the jagged rocks at the base of the cliff she stood on.

She watched it disappear forever.

Her small frame shook and her eyes glistened with moisture, her hands balling into fists then unfurling countless times as she tried to reign in her anger.

Her jumpsuit glowed a deep, furious maroon.

"I just fitted a new mod on that."

"Oh, c'mon Dray." Elton spun to face her and threw his hands into the air, motioning to the sea all the while. "Aren't you excited? How could you possibly stare at a holoform when you have this in front of you?"

"I was thinking about the loss of velocity it would experience once it smashes into the codedamned braeking shields!" she snapped, then turned to the Corey who had walked to their side while silently observing. "Or don't you think the high possibility of setting North's half of the shields ablaze is important, Re-re?"

"There's nothing more aerodynamic than a flying saucer," Corey laughed weakly and let the arm that was about to land on her shoulder fall back to his side.

From the edge of his vision, he casually watched out for a change in Elton's expression and sighed quietly in relief when his friend's only reaction was to flash him a smile and pull twice on his ear.

The azure in the man's eyes sparkled with cheekiness as he winked at Corey and swaggered exaggeratedly to the pouting girl. 

In the space of those few seconds, a slim blue box had appeared in his hand, it's surface glowing in the controlled sunlight.

"Great work on the satellite, Dray. I'm sure humanity will thank you for your efforts one day."

"Thank yourself. This whole thing was your idea." Dawn mumbled in annoyance while staring hard at the rainbow-themed rings that decorated each of her fingers—they were meant to help with concentration. "You're the reason why we've broken so many Wills before noon. If we're found out we'd be fugitives."

"In theory, yes we have broken a couple rules and two handfuls of national regulations," Elton admitted and used the slender gift box to hit his calloused palm. "But you make it sound like you weren't the one who built and improved on the design."

As he said this, all three of them turned to face the large object that hovered over the sea with a quiet hum that made steady ripples on the blue surface below it.

"It is beautiful." Dawn agreed dreamily, somewhat pacified, her gaze tracing the plate-shaped exterior of the spacecraft in appreciation.

The sun's rays reflected off the silver finishing of the large orbiter, and its body shimmered as it occasionally fazed in and out of transparency—and existence.

"And it's only possible because of my funding." Corey remarked with a shake of his head, having half the mind to put his hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of his face.

"So it better work." he added, sighing as another powerful gust of wind graced Whithook, whipping hair into his mouth.

"You mean it better not be a waste." Dawn corrected her best friend, a large grin stretching her cheeks as she passed her tongue over her lips and used her thumb to swipe at the trickle of blood drying down her jaw.

To Elton, she sent a glower, her suit dimming to a powder blue. "I can't believe Re-re spent a vault's worth of Credits just because the devil told him that the world would end."

"Braek." Elton cursed and smacked the girl on the arm with the gift he had intended to hand over to her. "Who are you calling a devil?"

"Who's the one with the flaming red hair?" She stuck out her tongue childishly, only now noticing the baby blue material that wrapped the box. "Is that paper?"

Elton nodded and let Dawn snatch the decorated cuboid away. "It's a gift. . . Since I'm leaving today, I thought that I should leave behind something for you to remember me by."

"You're leaving today?" The girl's voice broke towards the ends of the question, her eyes swiveling to the right just in time to catch the guilt that flashed across Corey's features.

The color of her suit fluctuated sharply from blue to purple—emotional pain. "You knew!"

"You knew and you didn't tell me," she pointed an accusing finger at him, her lips trembling and jumpsuit short circuiting into a dull grey.

"Dawn, I—" he tried to defend himself but the speech he had rehearsed for nearly a week ended up getting caught in his throat.

Corey looked away, at a loss for words.

"You what?" Tears streamed down Dawn's cheeks and dripped onto the aquamarine ribbon tied artfully on the box clenched in her fist. "What reason could you have not to tell me? After all the time we spent together you can still lie to me. . . After everything I did for you? Risking my life and building this stupid thing just for you," now she was screaming, her right hand poised over her head.

Just as she was about to throw the blue box off the cliff, Elton stopped her then turned to Corey with an apologetic look. "Can you excuse us for a moment?"

Following the question, Corey's gaze shifted from his friends and landed on the spacecraft that still floated above the sea, waiting to be launched. 

He pursed his lips, knowing that he and Dawn's disappearance would soon be discovered by their father if there was anymore delay. But still, he said, "sure."

He walked away from the cliff's edge towards the wire fence that walled the outer perimeter of the remote island, giving his two friends enough space to have their conversation.

Playing with the small sparks of lightning he allowed dance between his fingertips, Corey leaned against the electric fence and waited, silencing the thunder that would have followed with a hushed command.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dawn croaked, her eyes puffy and cheeks red as she looked up at the man she had always considered her older brother. "I would have—"

"You would have cried and shouted at Corey." Elton loosened his grip on her arm, took the gift box from her and laced their fingers instead. "Nothing would have changed."

"You wanted to leave without me knowing."

"After the launch, I would have." Elton nodded his head in the direction of the saucer, and they both turned to watch the sea smoothen out into a mirror that reflected the cloudless sky and the warmth of the sun.

"So why didn't you?"

"I didn't think I'd be able to live with myself if you hated me," he admitted.

"Elton, I—"

"Don't say it, Dray."

Dawn's eyes dimmed at the words and her gaze reconnected with Elton's. He looked away.

"Why are you leaving so soon?" she asked softly. "I thought we still had a year till you headed for East."

"My parents are missing." he said, like it explained everything.

"Oh," she said, because it did.

"They're folk, you know?" Elton chuckled dryly, feeling the need to elaborate as he expelled a breath and watched it transform into mist before condescending into water and falling into the ocean. "Almost nothing on the planet can hurt them. But I'm sure you knew that already. . ." he trailed off.

"It doesn't change how I feel about you." Dawn said hurriedly, then went red after she realized what had come out of her mouth. She let the words hang in the air, knowing that nothing she would have said would change a thing.

He would still leave her.

"Good," Elton's smiled in relief, ignoring the deep blush that spread through his friend's cheeks. "So you're not upset with me?"

Dawn shook her head and hastily wiped her tear streaked face with her grey sleeves. "I'm sorry that I overreacted."

"Well, fourteen year olds tend to do that," he said wryly and let go of her hand.

"I'm not. . ."

"Consider the box you almost sent to it's watery grave your early birthday present," he held it out to her.

Dawn's eyes widened in surprise, all other emotions dissipated as she tore at the wrapping paper without hesitation and unraveled the ribbon. "This is. . ."

She stared at the sleek, silver bangle that sat in the velvet lined box. "The newest model of holoscreen bracelets?"

"Do you like it?" Elton asked with a proud smile and held out his hand, a crystal chip the size of his thumbnail sitting in the middle of his palm.

"You just had to make me hate you for a bit," Dawn took her storage crystal from the man and motioned to the sea. "You just had to throw away my SCREENE without any warning."

"At least I took out the crystal." He pointed out and Dawn rolled her eyes, turning to the figure resting on the fence behind them.

"Corey, you can stop eavesdropping now. I have forgiven our eldest!" she yelled, even though it was unnecessary.

"Who said I was eavesdropping?" Corey asked with an air of innocence, a loud peal of thunder following his sudden reappearance in the space between Dawn and Elton as he slung both arms across both his friends' shoulders.

Dawn winced at the sound, slapped both hands against her ears and grimaced. "I think I'm deaf now." she complained loudly.

"You're pretty childish for someone who just became adult." Elton snorted and ducked under Corey's arm.

"Says the twenty-two year old with no profession." Corey countered with a sly smile as he straightened up and swerved around to face the ocean.

"Alright guys, let's get to the serious business." Dawn immediately broke off the squabble and pointed to the large floating disk that should have been launched ten minutes ago. "What are we naming it?"

"Alpha Zero." She and Corey shared a grin and touched the tips of their fingers together in excitement.

"Valkyrie." Elton announced with a booming voice, just a moment behind.

"Valkyrie?" Dawn raised an eyebrow, her hands still in Corey's. "Are you serious?"

"It's a good name!"

"You can name your child Valkyrie but we're not naming the first ultra-weaponized enhancement satellite in existence after a myth."

"Okay." Elton agreed easily, surprising Dawn to the point where she could only gawk at him. "I'll name my first daughter Valkyrie, to commemorate this moment."

"W-Why?!"

"Of course, it's to remember the sweet little girl who I helped built the first ultra-weaponized enhancement satellite in existence."

Dawn paused at the comment, momentarily speechless, then shook her head and focused her attention on Corey.

She beamed at him and held out her new bracelet to him like it was recording. "How do you feel about being the first scientifically created immortal?"

Corey nervously pulled at his collar, staring intensely at Alpha Zero as it started up it's countdown protocol and grew twice in size as it flew higher into the sky to gain altitude for its final ascent. "Since it's necessary, I don't really have much of choice, do I?"

"It's only necessary if The Order really ceases to exist." Elton said and crossed his arms, a look of contemplation scrawled over his features. "I could have ciphered the verses wrong, about the world ending."

Dawn and Corey shared a look and rebutted the statement simultaneously. "Your ciphers are never wrong."

Elton smiled and ruffled both their heads. "And now, for some reason, I'm positive that the earth will be safe in my absence."

They all laughed.

Knowing that this would be the last time all three of them would ever be in the same location for this long, they smiled at each other awkwardly.

Alpha Zero shot into the sky at a speed Dawn couldn't bother herself to jot down, and the oppressive force of the rapidly retreating air as it pushed against the surface of the sea activated the defensive shields of the island. She watched in anticipation of her project's crash and burn, but in the end the forcefields could do nothing to hinder the spacecraft.

It kept on gaining height without getting deflected even once.

"It should have no problem breaching the exospheric shields," Dawn let out a breath, finally relaxing. And all three of them took a careful look at the sky.

"We did it!" they touched their hands together and grinned at the hole in shields above them.

It was a historic moment for the three best friends, and maybe one day too the world would be grateful for their efforts.

"Dawn, Corey, I leave the Cipher Squad to you both." Elton said eventually, the first to draw his gaze away from the sky and break the tranquil silence.

When his two friends rested their sombre gazes on him, he flashed them a reassuring smile and took their hands in his one last time. "Make me proud, guys."

And deep down in their hearts, they swore that they would.