Reflection and Consequence

words: 2460

((Underlined italics are Spanish.))

The soft sound of computers humming filled the air as a soft glow could be seen. The command room of the Helios was silent with the exception of the sounds coming from the machines. The windows that normally showed a beautiful sky were painted black as the night sky loomed over the large aircraft. The deck seemed to be empty with the exception of one person sat at a chair. The seat was a large leather computer chair that seemed fairly plush. The girl sitting there had messy brown hair that reached past her shoulders. Her clothing consisted of shorts and a white blouse- that was all. No shoes could be seen being worn. She seemed to be more ready for bed than being in the command room of an advanced ship. In fact, the girl looked too young to even really be in the deck- especially when one considered that she seemed to be tinkering with the machines.

Zoe let out a soft break as her gaze looked over the soft glowing screen in front of her. Codes would fly by the screen in silence as she leaned back in the chair. Her hands gently interwove with one another as the small coded sequences reflected in her large brown eyes. A soft sigh escaped her lips. This wasn't what she had expected when signing up for Hyperion. So far most of her days had involved helping maintain the massive Helios or dealing with the other gangs of the city. She had initially joined because... well, something was strange in their school- no their city. While New York City was anything but normal, there was something far more sinister underneath the surface. A city of millions wasn't a clean place to begin with, but whatever laid under P.H.S. #552 was filthier than anything the city had seen before. It tainted everything it touched with a black mist.

A pen hung from her lips as she began to bite on it's end. When Zoe joined Hyperion she had done so in order to have unlimited access to studying Valo. He had been tainted by the black mist. There was a machine of some sort in his chest. Whatever it was could produce the black mist and pump it directly into him to trigger a transformation of sorts. Or at least, that's what she thought it did. Ideally, Zoe wanted to remove it for study, but the damned thing was connected to his heart- intertwined even. So, she had to settle for studying him from afar. However, despite the severe nature of Valo's implant, something else was constantly bothering the girl. What bothered her the most were the strange powers appearing in the student body of 552. It made it fairly clear that something was going on in the school. Hell, even the people corrupted by the black mist were students. Someone was experimented on the students of the school... but why? Was it because they were all considered disposable members of society? After all, most of the students at the school already had criminal records and they were barely of legal age. A lot of them had already messed up badly in their short time on earth. She rubbed the side of her head as she tried to remember everything... Her hand tugged on a loose strand of brown hair in silence. Zoe looked at the lock. When did her hair get so long again? It had been cut about three months ago... Now it was nearly back to it's original length...

As her eyes stared at the strand of hair in silence, a beeping sound filled the air. It was an alarm on her phone. Glancing down at the phone, Zoe sighed. That was right, she was here to do a video call with her family back in California. They were going to be calling in a few minutes. The girl moved to click on the screen in front of her to pull up the Skype program to be ready for them. Leaning back in her seat, Zoe looked up at the lights above her. They were turned off so the only light in the room came from the dim glow of the large computer screens in front of her. Zoe was honestly not looking forward to this call. Ever since her hand stopped working properly, her parents had been begging her to come back to California. After all, she had come to New York to pursue music, and now that she couldn't properly pay for it- they didn't see any reason for her to stay. However, Zoe knew that her siblings would keep coming to the city to attend school. Her brother was still here after all. Her younger sister was already transferring in next semester to Zoe's old academy and her elder sister had graduated from there already. Not only that but... Zoe had lost her dreams in the city. Her dream of playing on stages around the world was gone now, and damnit, she wasn't going to just leave the city. She had to know why her dream fell apart. Everything didn't add up from the way she got to this school to all the insane fights she had been part of. Zoe was afraid.

She was afraid someone had initially been targeting her brother to attend the school for some reason. Everything that had happened... When her brother suddenly lost his temper and became a violent mess. She had never seen him so much as kill a fly in his life. None of it made sense. When he finally snapped out of the trance- three students were nearly dead. He didn't remember any of it. Even back then, before she knew how messed up everything really was, Zoe knew something was wrong. She couldn't let her brother take a fall for something like that. He had just gotten a full ride to an esteemed university next year. There was no way she was going to allow his future to be destroyed by... something. Zoe had been much younger than him- she was able to get off easier. She couldn't be tried as an adult unlike her brother. So the option had easily been to take the bullet for him. Now, over seven months later, here sat Zoe in a world of chaos and super powers. If her brother had gone to the school instead of her, would he be sitting in this same seat? No, he'd be somewhere with Valo or Macht punching things. He wasn't a thinker. Hell, he'd have probably gotten himself killed in the same way Shugo always almost did. So, Zoe didn't regret any of this. She was happy to sacrifice a life of normalcy for her brother.

As she pondered the alternative universe of her brother attending the school in her place, the screen in front of her began to ring with the familiar sound of a skype call. She reached out to click on the button to answer the video call. Her parents would appear on the screen. Her father, an older man with tanned skin and black hair looked at her with a smile. His blue eyes crinkled with genuine joy at seeing his daughter. Her mother was a fiery looking woman with wild light brown hair and golden brown eyes. Before Zoe could even wave her hand and say hello, her mother went off into a rant.

”Hello? Zamora? Can you hear us?”she asked while leaning in to stare directly into the camera at an angle where Zoe could see all of her nose hairs. The girl let out a sigh as she smiled weakly. Her mother was never good with technology. Yes, she was sharp and intelligent, but her father was the one who was better at learning and building things. ”Yes- er... Yes mama, I can hear you- and see you too!” As Zoe spoke, she brought her legs up to hug them to her chest while staring up at her parents on the screen. Her mother would fuss with her own hair before nodding and looking back at Zoe now that she had taken a step away from the web camera. ”Ai Zamora... sweetie... You look a bit thin! Have you been eating?” began Zoe's mother was her eyes looked over the younger girl. In the background of the two one could see a quaint styled home with a brown or black haired child run behind them every couple of minutes as they played.

”I dont know why you refuse to come back home! There's nothing left in New York for you- and we miss you!” Before Zoe could even answer her first question, her mother began the usual argument. Every time she called, the conversation quickly turned to returning home. Her father would sigh and remain quiet. He knew better than to interrupt her mother. ”Your brother would understand if you came home- we miss you so much dear!” Zoe sat silently as her mother continued to talk. Finally, Zoe was able to get a word in. ”I'm fine in New York mama, I'm doing good in school and I even have a job lined up. I also like the city!” she insisted, smiling weakly. Running a hand through her hair, she smiled weakly before looking off to the side in an attempt to avoid eye contact. ”Besides, Sophie is coming up to attend school next year right? By the time she gets here, Zac will be in university and might not have time to help her out. So, it'll be good for her to have family in the city." That and the fact that with what was going on in the city might end up becoming so dangerous that her sister and brother would be put in danger. Zoe wasn't going to let that happen.

”Oh Zamora, you've always been worried about your brothers and sisters... Ever since you were all little! Do you remember when you pushed that boy off the slide because he was picking on Leon?” sighed her mother. Zoe would perk up silently. She didn't remember that at all... The girl kept quiet as she rubbed the back of her head. Before she could respond, her mother continued. ”I remember that boy's mother was furious! She kept trying to get you taken out of your band classes because that boy was in them with you- but you never let them get to you!” Zoe's eyes narrowed silently. She didn't remember any of that, but if he had taken all her band classes with her... Didn't she remember every single person she attended those classes with? They had all been rivals in the scholarship to get to New York... Zoe remembered studying each and every one of them in order to out do them. ”Mama, are you sure that wasn't Sophie?” she asked in a wary tone.

Her mother seemed offended by the very notion of her mixing up her own children. ”Oh no! I may be getting old but I am no old women!” she spoke, nodding as she stood up and moved to storm out of the frame. When she was gone, Zoe's father took the time to smile weakly and speak. ”We're really proud of you Zamora, being up in the big city- it's just, we worry... We worry about your brothers and sisters too... I don't know why that city keeps calling to our childre-” Before he could finish his statement, Zoe's mother returned to the frame and practically plastered a photograph to the camera. She then realized it was far too close for anyone to make out any detail and pulled away slightly. The picture was of a younger Zoe with a violin sitting next to a blond boy with his own violin. ”See! This is you sitting with that boy! Even though his mother was always being a witch to us- you still did that concert duet with him!” As she spoke, Zoe would stiffen. Her eyes widened. Silently, the girl spoke softly. ”Mama... papa... something's come up, I need to go...”

Zoe would hang up before her mother could begin to protest. The screen would turn black as Zoe was now sitting in the dark. She leaned back in the chair and began to press her hands to her face. Her shoulders were trembling. Both hands slowly went down her face. The girl's face was pale. Why couldn't she remember him? The more she tried to recall his face- who he was- the more the black hole that his presence in her life became apparent. She hadn't realized it, but the memory of him was gone completely. Zoe never forgot anything though. She still remembered every lesson plan from first grade to earlier today. Something was wrong- very wrong. The girl leaned forward and looked down to the bag sitting next to her chair that held a faint glow. Could it be...?

No... right?

The girl gulped as she leaned forward. Her hands folded over each other silently in a formation of thought. Her chin rested on said hands as her brown eyes narrowed. Could... Could her abilities have some sort of unforeseen consequence? Zoe's abilities did require her to run... violent levels of energy through her body. For some reason, she had never been too effected by it. The only unnatural aspect of her body was how able to handle electrical volts she was, but was that all an illusion? Had her own strange ability hidden the dangers of the whole thing? After all- passing electricity through her body, her mind, it could... have done something to her. Not only that, but she hadn't even realized the memories were missing until her parents brought them up. What else could she be forgetting? This wasn't good...

Zoe let out a deep breath before taking another one. She had to calm down. Who knew what could be causing this. Assuming her electricity was causing it could be jumping to conclusions. Maybe it was something else... She'd have to look into it... But one thing Zoe knew was that she couldn't risk stopping the usage of her abilities- especially with everything that was going on around her. She couldn't be powerless while finding out a way to stop this or make a different way of attacking others. No way with Orochi and FEAR still lurking.

Zoe would continue to use her powers and deal with the consequences- whatever they happened to be.

multiply life by the power of two