Beyond the Horizon

50. Choices

Shion slunk down the white halls in a half crouch, Rin just behind him at his hip. The design aesthetic of Horizon Laboratories' upper floors was the polar opposite of what he had become accustomed to in the basement. The light seemed too bright, the narrow halls too wide and too filled with unknowns. Shion had come to expect darkness and horror down in the dank, dark cages beneath the ground, but he didn't know what to anticipate from the long, quiet hallways. Every turn of a corner could bring them face to face with an enemy, and Shion's chest ached from holding his breath.

          They had seen no one since Rikiga led them up the stairs and out of the lonely storage room. The floor stayed disturbingly quiet and bereft of agents. The soft tup of Rikiga's worn out shoes on the pale tile was the only noise, and it created a sort of strange dissonance in Shion's mind; they were five persons, and yet they made but one sound. The cold press of the tile on the soles of Shion's bare feet made his brain burn.

          After minutes of traveling undiscovered, he began to wonder if they might turn a corner and see the exit standing wide open before them. No fights, no obstacles, just a one-way path to freedom. While a big part of Shion wanted to unleash the full fury of his telekinesis on the agents and scientists who had kept him and his kind corralled and drugged like animals, he couldn't help but find the idea of slipping away clean seductive.

          Naturally, though, he wouldn't leave without at least finding Nezumi. But if he could get his friends out before any violence befell them, he would take the chance.

          The more time that passed between their breakout and the impending coup, the more worried Shion grew about placing his friends in danger. Aki's power only worked close range, and Hitomi was completely defenseless in her current state. Rin would be helpful firepower, but they were a child. Shion was only a few years older than them, but he felt aged beyond his years from everything he had gone through, and more importantly, he felt responsible for the group.

          "Hey, Shion," Rin whispered. "I feel my power coming back."

          Shion glanced back at them, a commingling of hope and dread swirling in his gut. Rin unfurled their hand and a small flame sparked to life in their palm. They rolled it over their knuckles and up their arm, before sliding it down to their hand again and extinguishing the flame in their fist.

          Rin's dark eyes burned with pleasure as they grinned at Shion. "It's still got a little way to go, but I can definitely do damage. I've got your back."

          Shion smiled and nodded. He realized then that he had never actually seen Rin's power in action. I wonder how good their control is.... Well, he supposed he'd find out soon enough.

          They hadn't arranged the order of procession, but it shuffled out that Shion and Rin took the lead, Hitomi nestled in the center of the formation, and Aki and Rikiga brought up the rear. Ideally, Rin would have been at the back, since they had the only other offensive power, and technically an attack could come from before or behind, but Rin was loath to be relegated to the butt of the group.

          "I want a shot at the bastards, same as you," they had said, and the anger and determination in their face was so kindred to what boiled inside Shion's mind that he let Rin stay up front with him.

          Shion slowed as he came up on another corner. He crouched down and peered around the edge, sending his powers out into the area beyond to see if he could suss out if there were any people by resonance alone.

          He hadn't had much practice with Nezumi in mapping areas by tuning into the space and objects through his powers. Shion had learned control for the most part, but he still was most successful when the objects or persons he was acting on were in his direct line of sight. Abstract or indirect uses for his telekinesis, like echolocation or imposing his will on internal mechanisms, were still areas he needed to work on.