Geneva Elizaveta Hawthorne

  It was a long jaunt through the city's subway system, and a short platform ride up to the ceiling. The group had arrived in front of a large wall leading to the side of Allusion Logistics Transport Yard 331.

  “Alright, stand back,” Archaeus called. His hands glowed a bright white as he placed one of them on the wall. The rock began to sizzle and melt. A magma seeped down and away from where his hand gained purchase. After a matter of minutes, there was a roughly human-shaped hole in the exterior of the facility.

  “That took you longer than normal,” Geneva said.

  “And you could have done better?” Archaeus retorted. “If you had made the attempt, you would have blown up half the city.”

  “Hey, not cool,” Geneva replied. “Let's just get this over with.”

  The group entered into an open pit the size and length of a stadium. Stacked hundreds of feet high were rows and rows of transport containers.

  “How the hell do we find it in here?” Jerry asked. “I mean, I’m as excited as the rest of you, but this seems like it’d take all damn day.”

  “Jerry, how many times we been over this?” Archaeus said. “What are Geneva’s powers, man?”

  Jerry stared blankly. After a minute, his eyebrows rose sharply.

  “She’s gonna blow this whole place up?” Jerry asked, a shocked expression on his face. “I mean, sure, it seems a little drastic, but it sure beats searching each container over the course of several days. I mean, do the higher-ups even know this is the right place? I mean, of course, they'd know they were the ones who sent us out here in the first place. And with her lack of control, it was guaranteed some explosions would take place. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.”

  “Jerry,” Archaeus replied. His fingers massaged the bridge of his nose. “No. She’s not going to blow up half the city. Are you nuts? We'd have a dozen level ones on us in a matter of minutes. On top of that, there are rumors that there is a level 0, or several for that matter, existing within this region. They would drop half the cavern on our heads. What kind of deranged plan did you somehow concoct in a matter of minutes?”

  “Yeah, Jerry,” Veralia replied. “Her powers are energy-based. So yes, one plan would be to destroy everything. Or, like a smart and intelligent person, she could sense the energy and fluctuations around the facility to then narrow in on specific cargo. You know energy isn’t all just explosions. But of course, with your sensibilities, that wouldn't quite occur to you.”

  “I will add that I have a PhD in astrophysics,” Jerry replied. “Not that it’s a lucrative field but I understand some complexities of our reality.”

  “Just because you get numbers doesn’t mean that you are intelligent in other areas, Jerry,” Veralia said. “Besides, I think she’s already figured out where to start looking.”

  Geneva had honed in on several locations around the nearby region. There were definitely a lot of quantum fluctuations, but there were also numerous mechanisms that often tripped that sense for her. It was normal for everyday households to possess some kind of quantum device. She looked around with her spectral sense for any spikes in energy. After a few moments, the group began to move.

  "Three rows back on the fifth stack down there is a crate that had some strange energy feeling to it," Geneva said. She couldn’t place it, but it felt as if space was folding around on itself. This had to be something worth looking into.

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  They came to the crate. Veralia pumped her fist out and to the left, and the door to the side of the hexagonal crate popped open and slid up as if its locking mechanism had been triggered. The group was startled to find that within this small case seemed to be a large reservoir of water that stretched far beyond the limits of the casing.

  “This isn’t it,” Geneva said. “Albion, take a sample. If they went through the trouble of putting it in this quantum expanded casing. Maybe it is something special. I'll try and pin down a separate unit.”

  Geneva once again focused on the energy patterns around her. She could feel the resonance from the transport yard around her. Slowly, she broadened her awareness, straining to the far reaches of her abilities. She then sensed a set of strong presences moving towards their group.

  “Oh shit,” Geneva said. “We got 3 Level IIs and a Level I coming in our direction. Albion, did you get the sample? This will have to be all we can get. Aside from our company, I can't sense any other strong quanta layer energies.”

  She felt her wrist vibrate; an affirmation from Albion from her device. A geyser of sweet-smelling liquid burst from a nearby container.

  “Ah, what is this shit?” Jerry asked. He was covered in a thick layer of the syrupy substance.

  “Aw, you're finally sweet, Jerry,” Veralia said. She tasted the substance. “Looks like some sweet syrups for drinks.”

  The residue splattered on the surrounding containers as a blast of air buffeted the syrup from Jerry's person. More liquid seemed to pour in of various types; he used the air around them to form a molecule-thin shield protecting them.

  “Okay, it's definitely a liquid type,” Geneva said. “Archaeus, you take them three and get back to the safe house. I'll lead these pursuers on a wild goose chase in the meantime.”

  A wall of liquid rocketed towards her. Before it made contact, it froze to a solid mass and shattered a few inches from her skin. She took off in the direction she had initially sensed the four pursuers.

  As she came up on them, one appeared to her right. A level two with some kind of jumping ability. Within seconds, a heat blast had seared a chunk of flesh from his left leg, and he went down.

  She dived underneath a man, withdrawing a small amount of energy from his being. He fell to a heap as she passed. She kept going when a boomerang whizzed past her face, a chunk of her hair shearing off. It was razor sharp, she surmised. It came back for a second pass, and she seized its motion in the air. It dropped, falling to the ground below.

  She slammed her palm into the ground, and the containers all around them shuddered and started to toppled down. With the path of the third and fourth assailants now blocked, she rounded a corner and sped to the exterior wall of the yard.

  As she moved, she felt the Level I's power once again spike. A thin needle's worth of water scratched her ear as she dodged in the nick of time. Without a thought, Geneva slammed her palm into the exterior wall of the transport yard. A plume of debris and cement bore a tunnel into the cityscape beyond. Several buildings lay partially collapsed on the other side. She had accidentally used too much force.

  She ran through the path she had made as she jumped over the fallen remains of the neighborhood and into a street. Water billowed from the ground as she sensed once again the Level I's energy spike. A massive barrage of thin needles assaulted her.

  She increased the energy her feet radiated step by step. Moving swifter and swifter. She didn’t have time to prevent collateral damage as surviving this mission was critical. Despite her efforts, the Level I following her stayed glued to her heels. The woman, she now noticed, seemed to glide on a thin layer of sewage that flowed along the roadway. Geneva increased the force of her steps once again. Each one now carrying her several feet into the air and tens of feet forward. Beneath each step, the concrete material crumbled slightly, only reinforced enough to resist basic abilities and the light traffic.

  No matter how much energy she dumped into her movement, the Level I kept up in the pursuit. She had no choice. Before local authorities were able to track her signature, she had to put this woman down. With the next step, she reversed the flow of energy, and her position halted. In a single fluid motion, not caring about who she hurt in the process, Geneva turned with a solid fist and planted all of the energy she had accumulated into the woman’s face.

  They faced the direction of the city center. All of the energy from the punch transferred through the woman, and then the ground beneath her. The woman fell, her face a frame of shock. Eyes wide, mouth agape, she slammed into the ground. A crater appeared beneath her. Geneva quickly realized she had overdone it.

  She tried withdrawing all the energy she had just released. Her efforts were only enough to keep the woman from getting her skull crushed. She felt a reverberating resonance shake the city. The sky overhead flared red.

  “Category 9.8734 earthquake detected. Category 9.8734 earthquake detected. Please remain calm. Please remain calm.” A voice blared; it echoed throughout the cavern. The massive city was engineered to resist such an event but still shuddered slightly. Buildings reflexively elevated and absorbed the energy from the cavern around them. People on the streets swayed a little. Some from the cavern ceiling could be seen falling. The holographic sky eventually arrested their momentum.

  Geneva took her chance and ran.