Evolution drafts

I try to stay calm, yelling out to them to stop while Gareth and I shielded Mum and Lewis from the worst of it. I see a stone fly past us like it was in slow motion and see it strike Lewis on the forehead and open up a wound, blood trickling down into his eyes. His screams rise above those of the crowds' and fill my ears, until I can't hear anything else.
Something deep inside of me snaps and, guided by instinct, raise my hands in front of me and pushed. Everything and everyone in front of me goes flying backwards, like they were pushed by an invisible force.


I try to stay calm, yelling out to them to stop while Gareth and I shielded Mum and Lewis from the worst of it. I see a stone fly past us like it was in slow motion and see it strike Lewis on the forehead and open up a wound, blood trickling down into his eyes. His screams rise above those of the crowds' and fill my ears, until I can't hear anything else.
I feel a sudden pressure build up in my head until it felt like it'll burst unless I let it out, like a rushing river relentlessly pounding against a dam wall. Guided by instinct, I open the flood gates in my mind and let the river of energy rush through my body to my raised hands held up in front of me and pushed. Everything and everyone in front of me goes flying backwards, like they were pushed by an invisible force.

I try to stay calm, yelling out to them to stop while Gareth and I shielded Mum and Lewis from the worst of it. I see a stone fly past us like it was in slow motion and see it strike Lewis on the forehead and open up a wound, blood trickling down into his eyes. His screams rise above those of the crowds' and fill my ears, until I can't hear anything else.
I feel a sudden pressure build up in my head until it felt like it'll burst unless I let it out, like a rushing river relentlessly pounding against a dam wall. Guided by  instinct, I open the flood gates in my mind and let the river of energy rush through my body to my raised hands held up in front of me and pushed, screaming, "Back off!" as I did. Everything and everyone in front of me goes flying backwards, like they were pushed by an invisible force.










"Stop," Leon commands after Jason has pummelled every inch of my body--turning it black, blue and every shade in between--, liquefied my bones and painted the ground around me with my own blood. "This clearly isn't working," he continues. "We have to try something else."
"What do you have in mind?" my torturer asks gleefully, who's having too much fun to stop.
"This," Leon says before striding effortlessly to the back wall of the courtyard and he pulls off an unnoticed-until-now sheet to reveal my family, all lined up in a row, with their hands tied in front of them with rope, their legs bound together and duct-tape sealing their lips shut. "Jason, hurt them," Leon orders coldly.


"Stop," Leon commands after Jason has pummelled every inch of my body--turning it black, blue and every shade in between--, liquefied my bones and painted the ground around me with my own blood. "This clearly isn't working," he continues. "We have to try something else."
"What do you have in mind?" my torturer asks gleefully, who's having too much fun to stop.
"This," Leon says. Two more spotlights light up a lumpy, white sheet set against the back wall that Leon strides effortlessly towards. He reefs it off to reveal my family, all lined up in a row, with their hands tied in front of them with rope, their legs bound together and duct-tape sealing their lips shut. "Jason, hurt them," Leon orders coldly.









Once everyone has gotten down, with a little bit of help from a rescue trampoline for Gareth, Mum and Lewis, Illusion Girl led us inside and through a wide, dimly lit corridor that has many twists and turns, with many offshoots leading upwards and downwards.


Once everyone had gotten down, with a little help from a rescue trampoline for Gareth, Mum and Lewis, Illusion Girl led us inside and through a corridor made of the same stone as the outside. It twists and turns, with offshoots leading upwards, downwards and to the sides showing up intermittently, has great, solid, wooden doors inserted in both sides of the walls, is wide enough for several people to comfortable walk side by side down it, and bright, fluorescent lights, like the ones you find in schools, line the ceiling, bathing the corridor in harsh, white light. In fact, it's the first sign of electricity I've seen since soon after the quarantine.
"How do you guys still have electricity?" I ask Illusion Girl.
"We have someone who can produce it," she answers. "As his power, I mean. Stay away from wall sockets though--he's a little prankster. He likes to get the new comers."
"Gotcha," I say. "Stay away from wall sockets."









At the edges of the park are small smatterings of trees--which mark the borders of the park-- that have grown wild since the Event, with no one to look after them. Scattered throughout the park are small benches where people would have relaxed before the Event and the Reapers took over. Surrounding the park are roads that are so damaged by potholes that it's impossible to drive on them anymore.


At the edges of the park are small smatterings of trees--which mark the borders of the park-- that have grown wild since the Event, with no one to look after them. Scattered throughout the park are small benches where people would have relaxed before the Event and the Reapers took over. Surrounding the park are roads that are littered with cars, abandoned where they sat when their owners, and eventually the district, ran out of fuel to feed them.







When it's our turn, we see the supply crate come out directly over the park and fall until the parachute opens up and coast towards a clear spot. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows the crate towards the statue, the parachute getting tangled up in it at the top, too high for anyone to climb up safely. Nearly anyone, that is.
"Okay," I sigh. "While I climb up there, I want everyone who doesn't already have a weapon of some kind to grab one, than form a line." I turn and start climbing my way up the statue.



When it's our turn, we see the supply crate come out directly over the park and fall until the parachute opens up and coast towards a clear spot. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows the crate towards the statue, the parachute getting tangled up in it at the top, too high for anyone to climb up safely. Nearly anyone, that is.
"Okay," I sigh. "While I climb up there, I want everyone who doesn't already have a weapon of some kind to grab one." I don't bother telling them what to do once the create comes down; we've been doing it for long enough to know what to do--grab a few cans of food, enough bottles of water to last until the next week, plus whatever medical stuff we might need to survive the until the next weekly one. Everyone knows not to take more than they need: those who try to will be outed immediately and will end up walking away with less than everyone else.
I turn and start climbing my way up the statue


When it's our turn, we see the supply crate come out directly over the park and fall until the parachute opens up and coast towards a clear spot. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows the crate towards the statue, the parachute getting tangled up in it at the top, too high for anyone to climb up safely. Nearly anyone, that is.
"Okay," I sigh. "While I climb up there, I want everyone who doesn't already have a weapon of some kind to grab one and, when the crate comes down, whoever grabs their stuff first to switch with the guards."
I turn and start climbing my way up the statue.









I kick at it one last time and the top the crate breaks off with a loud, satisfying snap, to land down below me in one piece, minus the top. From here I can see bottled water, cans of food, first aid kits and various other things that we need to survive.


I kick at it one last time and the top the crate breaks off with a loud, satisfying snap, to land down below me in one piece, minus the top. I don't bother telling them what to do once the create comes down; we've been doing it for long enough to know what to do--grab a few cans of food, enough bottles of water to last until the next week, plus whatever medical stuff we might need to survive the until the next weekly one. Everyone knows not to take more than they need: those who try to will be outed immediately and will end up walking away with less than everyone else.










"Liberty City is spread across four islands that are in a square shape and each island houses a different district. In the Northwest is the Industrial District, which is where all of the businesses and most things related to that are, as well as the bridge to the mainland. To the Northeast is the Recreational District, which is where we are now, and is populated by mostly parklands and one of the city's few hospitals. In the Southwest is the Residential District, which is home to, well, the majority of the city's homes and apartments for the middle and the rich classes of the city. And in the Southeast are the Slums, where all of the city's poorest citizens are forced to live. The islands are connected by draw bridges; one going from the Slums to the Recreational District to the Industrial District and so on. There are also longer bridges connecting the Residential District straight to the Recreational District and the Industrial District to the Slums.


"Liberty City is spread across four islands that are in a square shape. Each island houses a different district.
In the Northwest is the Industrial District. This is where all of the factories are located. The air is heavily chocked with smog from the factories.  The only direct bridge to the mainland is also located here.
To the Northeast is the Recreational District, which is where we are now, and is populated by mostly parklands and one of the city's few hospitals, as well as a few malls and shopping centres.
In the Southwest is the Residential District, which is home to, well, the majority of the city's homes and apartments for the rich and the middle classes of the city. The city's schools and education centres are located here, catering for a range of  academic and sporting levels, from the lowest to the highest. Dotted throughout the district are extra shopping centres, as well as several fast-food businesses and restaurants.
In the Southeast are the Slums, where all of the city's poorest citizens are forced to live. It is the most populated district, with most people being born into the Slums. Their houses are simple lean-to's made out of single sheets of rusted, corrugated iron. It would be a struggle to fit more than three people in each lean-to, and most people living there have large families. Most of the teenagers and young adults are drug addicts, spending all of their money for their next fix.
The islands are connected by draw bridges; one going from the Slums to the Recreational District to the Industrial District and so on. There are also longer bridges connecting the Residential District straight to the Recreational District and the Industrial District to the Slums.






Out of questions, I jump off the rooftop, Illusion Girl and her friends copying me, while Mum, Lewis and Gareth took the safer route. Once they caught up, Illusion Girl takes the lead and heads to the wall the guard tower is situated on, where there's a pipe trailing down the wall, with the bottom end curving outwards at about head height and the top end going into the guard tower.
Illusion Girl says into the pipe, "Let the rope down, it's me."
"What's the password?" comes the response, rumbling down the pipe.
Illusion Girl winces, clearly recognising the voice. "There is no password, Ted," she sighs.
"What's the password? Ted asks again.
Illusion girl mumbles to herself, "Want to play like that, eh?" To Ted she yells, "The password is let us in before I crawl up this pipe and pull your intestines out through your nose!"
"Password accepted," comes the response, quickly followed by the rope.


Out of questions, I jump off the rooftop, Illusion Girl and her friends copying me, while Mum, Lewis and Gareth took the safer route. Once they caught up, Illusion Girl takes the lead and heads to the wall the guard tower is situated on, where there's a pipe trailing down the wall, with the bottom end curving outwards at about head height and the top end going into the guard tower.
Illusion Girl says into the pipe, "Let the rope down, it's me."
"Hey, sweet lips. What's shaking?" comes the response, rumbling down the pipe.
Illusion Girl winces, clearly recognising the voice. "Hey Ted," she sighs. "Can you please let the rope down?"
"Sure, if you give me a kiss once you get up here." Even through the pipe, I could hear the smile in Ted's voice.
Illusion girl mumbles to herself, "Want to play like that, eh?" To Ted she says sweetly, "Sure, I'll give you a kiss." She pauses for a second before adding in a scream that surely sent the poor guy's ears ringing, "After I shove my hand down your throat, pull your small intestines out and use them to choke the life out of you!"
"Um, uh, no that... that's okay," Ted stutters. "No kiss required, none at all. The rope's coming right now."





Eventually, we reach the door to what I'm told is my room. When Illusion Girl opens the door, I gasp when I see the size of the bedroom; my home in the slums could have fit in the space twice over. Against the back wall of the room is a massive king-sized bed. To the left of the bed is a bed stand and to the right is another door. The walls of the room are painted eggshell white, while the floor is covered in a soft, cream coloured carpet and a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, bathing the room in a soft, yellow glow.
"Bathroom's through there," Illusion Girl says indicating the door. "Just put your old clothes out here and I'll take them to Pyre. Take as much time as you need in there. I'll be waiting just out here for you when you're done."

Eventually, we reach the door to what I'm told is my room. When Illusion Girl opens the door, I gasp when I see the size of the bedroom; my home in the slums could have fit in the space twice over. Against the back wall of the room is a massive king-sized bed. To the left of the bed is a bed stand and to the right is another door. To the right of the bed, set into the wall is a huge walk-in wardrobe running the remaining length of the wall. The walls of the room are painted eggshell white, while the floor is covered in a soft, cream coloured carpet and a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, bathing the room in a soft, yellow glow.
I open the sliding doors of the wardrobe to see it completely stuffed with clothes hanging on clothes hangers and the floor lined with several different pairs of shoes. The clothes are mostly black sweat pants and hooded sweatshirts, with a little variation including short sleeved, brighter coloured t-shirts and shorts.
"We knew you'll be coming," Illusion Girl explained, "and we know you do a lot of parkour stuff." She bends over and picks up a pair of shoes. They are black and have toe shaped tips, not the usual round front most shoes have, with Vibram written on the top of the tongue. "These," Illusion Girl says, "have a thin but durable rubber form. The toe-shaped tips allow you to have a bit of extra grip when clinging to rails or climbing ninety-degree walls."
"Cool," I say while she puts them back. "How much do they cost?"
"Only about sixty dollars," she responds, shutting the door. "Bathroom's through there," she says indicating the other door. "Just put your old clothes out here and I'll take them to Pyre. Take as much time as you need in there. I'll be waiting just out here for you when you're done."




"William Borg was in the Industrial District at the time of the quarantine and since then, he has taken complete control of the District using his techno-path powers, the ability to talk to and control any machinery he wishes, to raise his own personal army. He snatches people off the street and... changes them. He implants them with mechanical parts, replacing flesh and blood with cold, hard steel, turning the people into cyborgs with no free will. Once he grows his army enough, he will take over the rest of the city, and then everything else, until he rules all. He calls his faction the Machinists.

"William Borg was in the Industrial District at the time of the quarantine and since then, he has taken complete control of the District using his techno-path powers, the ability to talk to and control any machinery he wishes, to raise his own personal army. He snatches people off the street and... changes them. He implants them with mechanical parts, replacing flesh and blood with cold, hard steel, turning the people into cyborgs with no free will. Using his army, he constructed the tallest tower in the district, from modified car and machine parts. This tower is his base, with high-tech security systems making it nearly impossible to infiltrate. He controls his army and the city's electrical supply from here. Once he grows his army enough, he will take over the rest of the city, and then everything else, until he rules all. He calls his faction the Machinists.






Suddenly, a bright light is shone at me, blinding me and outlining a figure holding an umbrella. "Hello Eric," a familiar, gruff voice says calmly.
"L-Leon?" I ask, squinting at the figure through half lidded eyes. "Is that you? What's going on?"
"Training," he says simply.
"What?" I ask confused. "What the hell are you talking about? And can you please turn that light down? I can barely see."
Leon raises one of his hands and the light dims a bit, making it easier for me to see. "Is that better?" he mockingly asks.
"Yes, thank you," I say. I can see where I am clearer now. I recognise the space in which I'm in now; it's one of the three courtyards with the dirt floors I saw on my arrival. Far over on my left and right are two metal poles that the chains are attached to, each pole being a bit longer than my arms, buried in the mud. I don't remember seeing them here before, so they must have been put in after I arrived, meaning that they should be easier to pull out. All of this I take in in less than five seconds. "Now, what do you mean by training?"


Suddenly, a bright light is shone at me, blinding me and outlining a figure holding an umbrella. "Hello Eric," a familiar, gruff voice says calmly.
"L-Leon?" I ask, squinting at the figure through half lidded eyes. "Is that you? What's going on?"
"Training," he says simply.
"What?" I ask confused. "What the hell are you talking about? And can you turn that damn light down?"
"Uh, uh, manners," Leon says but he still raises one of his hands and the light dims a bit, making it easier for me to see. "Is that better?" he mockingly asks.
"Yes," I say, adding "thank you" after a brief pause. I can see where I am clearer now. I recognise the space in which I'm in now; it's one of the three courtyards with the dirt floors I saw on my arrival. Far over on my left and right are two metal poles that the chains are attached to, each pole being a bit longer than my arms, buried in the mud. I don't remember seeing them here before, so they must have been put in after I arrived, meaning that they should be easier to pull out. All of this I take in in less than five seconds. "Now, what the hell do you mean by training?"








"I've been waiting for this," Jason leers as he looms over me before pulling his right fist back and, before I can realise what's happening, punches me in the side of the head with the force of a thousand Albert's, snapping my head to the left so hard and fast that I think he gave me whiplash. I quickly go limp after that, having taken many beatings in my life and knowing that the best thing to do is not to resist and go with the punches; when he punches me in my left side, I go in the same direction as well as I can, trying to minimize the impact.
As he does this, I try once again to get angry enough to use my power but, once again, nothing happens--that pot of water inside me starts to bubble but it doesn't reach its boiling point yet. I just can't bring myself to be too angry at him--he's only doing what he's told to do and I did hurt him before.
While Jason is pounding me, I also slowly pull on the chains that are holding me up, hoping to loosen them and, slowly but surely, the poles start to lean slightly towards me until I can wrap each chain around my wrist and hold it in my hand if I wished to; if I can't get out of this using my power, I'll have to do it another way.


"I've been waiting for this," Jason leers as he looms over me before pulling his right fist back and, before I can realise what's happening, punches me in the side of the head with the force of a thousand Albert's, snapping my head to the left so hard and fast that I think he gave me whiplash. I quickly go limp after that, having taken many beatings in my life and knowing that the best thing to do is not to resist and go with the punches; when he punches me in my left side, I go in the same direction as well as I can, trying to minimize the impact.
As he does this, I try once again to get angry enough to use my power but, once again, nothing happens--that pot of water inside me starts to bubble but it doesn't reach its boiling point yet. I just can't bring myself to be too angry at him--he's only doing what he's told to do and I did hurt him before. Plus, I'm not that worried that I'll come to any serious harm--after all, I'm an Evo, so I can take a lot more punishment than before. Also, Leon had a vision of me alive and well later. Unless he was lying about that. Just as I had this thought though, Leon commands Jason to stop, but only after he pummelled every inch of my body--turning it black, blue and every shade in between--,broken a few of my bones and painted the ground around me with my own blood.
While Jason was pounding me, I also slowly pulled on the chains that are holding me up, hoping to loosen them and, slowly but surely, the poles started to lean slightly towards me until I can wrap each chain around my wrist and hold it in my hand if I wished to; if I can't get out of this using my power, I'll have to do it another way.
"This clearly isn't working," Leon says. "We have to try something else."







"It doesn't," I admit. "What does matter though is that he hurt Lewis. Even if we pretend for a moment that everything Leon's told us so far is true, there was no reason for him to hurt Lewis. No reason at all."
"Okay, first of, it was Jason who hurt Lewis, not Leon. Second of, it was necessary. It was the only way to get you to use your power. They tried every other method before going after Lewis. And if they did do some really bad damage to him...well, they have a healer."
"It doesn't matter. They--hurt--Lewis! It doesn't matter who did it, it doesn't matter the circumstances, it doesn't matter if they can fix it right after, because they hurt Lewis!"
"Why are we even arguing about this?" Gareth asks, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "No matter what you decided to do, I'll be staying here."


"It doesn't," I admit. "What does matter though is that he hurt Lewis. Even if we pretend for a moment that everything Leon's told us so far is true, there was no reason for him to hurt Lewis. No reason at all."
"Okay, first of, it was Jason who hurt Lewis, not Leon. Second of, it was necessary. It was the only way to get you to use your power. Yes, what they did was bad, I'm not trying to deny that, and I wish that they didn't do it, but they tried every other method before going after Lewis. And if they did do some really bad damage to him...well, they have a healer."
"It doesn't matter. They--hurt--Lewis! It doesn't matter who did it, it doesn't matter the circumstances, it doesn't matter if they can fix it right after, because they hurt Lewis!"
"Well, maybe if you just manned up and used your power, they wouldn't have needed to hurt Lewis to get you to use it."
"So what? Are you saying that it was my fault that those bastards hurt Lewis because I was unable to use my power?"
"Unable to use it or unwilling to use it?"
"What are you talking about?" I ask Gareth, confused.
"I'm just saying that you already made it abundantly clear that you don't want your power, which I don't get . Like, if I had what you have, I'll be using it non-stop. But, maybe you've put a subconscious block up or something and you didn't even realise it. That's all I'm saying."
M-maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but that doesn't change the fact that they hurt Lewis, and we need to leave."
And then we descended into another round of back and forth arguing, until Gareth says, "Why are we even arguing about this?" while throwing his hands up in exasperation. "No matter what you decided to do, I'll be staying here."




Before Shadow can say anything, I say, "Why didn't you tell me about last night?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she says immediately.
"Oh, pull the other one. I saw you standing there on the wall last."
"Alright, I was there. I wanted to tell you about it, I really did, but I couldn't."
"Why not? If you knew about it, why couldn't you?"
"Because everyone goes through it! Every new arrival goes through what you went through, getting snatched from bed, having a one on one with Leon if you're an Evo, everyone goes through the same thing."
"Does everyone also get the Jason treatment? Does everyone else get the pleasure of watching their family get tortured by a sadistic bastard!" I'm surprised that I'm not foaming at the mouth by now.
"No," Shadow admits quietly, "that's rare. Like, extremely rare. Usually, Leon is a lot more patient with these things, letting the Evo go at their own pace until they use their power. He only ever gets Jason involved if the Evo is really struggling to use their power. He's never brought in family members before though. He was pushing you hard."
A bit calmer I ask, "Why though?"
"I don't know. Maybe he feels like time is quickly slipping away, like the time to fight the World-destroyer is rapidly approaching."
"Why go through the rest of it though, like the kidnapping part?"
"That's to test your reflexes, to see how quickly you react to an unsuspected situation, and to see where we should place you in our combat courses."
"Combat courses?"
"Yeah. We teach hand-to-hand mostly, a mixture of martial arts and street-fighting, but we teach weapon courses and a bit of fencing as well. Your first lesson will be right after breakfast," she checks her watch, a simple digital one, "which is in about three minutes."
"Really?" I say, surprised that it's morning already. "What are we having?"
"Any cereal you want. It's self-serve this morning. Let's grab the others and go before the line gets too long.


Before Shadow can say anything, I say, "Why didn't you tell me about last night?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she says immediately.
"Oh, pull the other one. I saw you standing there on the wall last."
"Alright, I was there. I wanted to tell you about it, I really did, but I couldn't."
"Why not? If you knew about it, why couldn't you?"
"Because everyone goes through it! Every new arrival goes through what you went through, getting snatched from bed, having a one on one with Leon if you're an Evo, everyone goes through the same thing."
"Does everyone also get the Jason treatment? Does everyone else get the pleasure of watching their family get tortured by a sadistic bastard!" I'm surprised that I'm not foaming at the mouth by now.
"No," Shadow admits quietly, "that's rare. Like, extremely rare. Usually, Leon is a lot more patient with these things, letting the Evo go at their own pace until they use their power. He only ever gets Jason involved if the Evo is really struggling to use their power. He's never brought in family members before though. He was pushing you beyond hard."
A bit calmer I ask, "Why though?"
"I don't know. Maybe he feels like time is quickly slipping away, like the time to fight the World-destroyer is rapidly approaching."
"Why else are you here?" I ask, knowing that there's a bit more.
"They sent me to get you for breakfast," Shadow admits sheepishly. "It's in about three minutes."