Quantum Leap: 3065

Chapter 2: The Next Alpha General - [Herbert]

"The former head counselor of Alpha in the Committee ceded his position to someone who he knows have the ability to rule his kind, and your father is one of who he picked. In line with this, if he will win, which surely is, the Committee would want someone else to replace him in leading the Alpha army," Mr. Zero say in his most calm tone.

"So..." I try to piece everything. "I am here because the Committee-"

"The Committee chose you to be the next leader of the Alpha Army."

"But you said you are the Commander-in-Chief of both Alpha and Beta."

"Indeed, I am. But I only command both groups when in times of great crisis. That is my only function. It is the only thing I'm trained of what to do."

I nod at him, feigning understatement. "The Alpha Officers who I just met this morning said that the Committee wanted to see me," I say, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, they do. Along with your father," he says, looking directly into my eyes with his neutral look.

I notice for the first time what Gamma people may look like. Sturdy eyes, pointy nose, and a good shape of lips. Mr. Zero's eyes were blue which fits exactly to his brown hair. His look made me think of a deep blue sea and a clear sky.

Suddenly, I am daydreaming. Flying. As if flying is one of my abilities. I am chasing the birds, the clouds, the hovercrafts that's beneath me. I fly as if I am free. Free of everything. Community Rules, schoolworks, trainings.

The sound of a door opening reels me back to reality.

"Mr. Zero," says a man in brown coat.

"Mr. Green. Come in," the president of the Gamma greets him with a full blast of smile.

I am surprised when I see my dad all clean unlike he always does. From his hands to his shoes. Everything... different. He doesn't seem like my dad. But what I see is Paris Escots. My dad. And what I see is what I believe.

I stand up from my seat and hug him as he come close to me.

"You didn't tell me about you being nominated," I say giving him a look of disappointment.

"I was planning to tell you after I win. And here you are." His eyes is filled with joy as a smirk form on his bloody red lips.

"You mean..."

"I won, duh," he says, pronouncing the word 'duh' like every other teenager girls.

"Stop that," I fuss. "Congratulations. So that means..."

"Dinner at Lourdes!" We say in unison and we laugh so hard until our stomachs seem like they've been dissected.

"Ehem. Excuse us from your little, what do you call that, father-and-son moment," the man in coat said, a stern look in his face.

Dad backs up immediately with a look of embarrassment.

"Herbert, this is Head Committee Mr. Ethan Green. Sir, this my son," dad says warily.

Mr. Green smiles as he puts his right hand over my left shoulder. "Herbert!" A pause while he almost kneel to look at me in the eyes. "You got your mother's eyes. They're as grey as fog." He stand up. "Reminds me of Elizabeth when she's still alive."

Elizabeth. I totally forgot about her. It's a shame on me to forget my own mom. It's been 16 years and I am still inside her womb since the incident had happened. My mom is a Beta. She was experimenting on something on her laboratory and asked dad to pick something for her. It's a test tube with mixed chemicals inside. My dad is an Alpha. He has superstrength. He can move things with no effort, even the huge things. When he picked the test tube using the tongs, he accidentally put too much force on it and broke. The chemicals exploded in the whole lab, burning my mom in the process. Dad survived. I don't know how, but he survived. He tried reviving mom but the Medical Agents said the chances were bleak. They explained that the test tube included a mixture of high-octane chemicals which if swallowed or touched, can lead to instant death. They also said that they were surprised to see my dad in the flesh without any burns and bruises from the explosion.

"Ethan," my father glares. He didn't have to add anymore. Mr. Green had already gotten the message.

As for me, the damage is already done.The events had already flashed before my eyes.

"This better be enough of a warning to you. An Alpha should never be with a Beta."

This again. This piece of information never cease to get on my nerves.

"The past had already been done, Ethan. We can never bring it back."

"Moving on," Ethan sighs and turns his gaze to me. "I assume that Mr. Neural Zero already discussed with you about being the replacement of your father in taking charge with the Alpha Army," he says. "We are here to know your decision."

Dad winks at me, but I know he's faking it. I know he just remembered the past and it's torturing him now. But why? What is in the past that's miserable enough to let my dad drive down?

I reach his memory using my telepathy.

 A man's voice yelling at my dad begins my travel. "You just broke a rule! I told you never to be with her. You're not meant to be with her!"

 Dad just stared at him with embarrassment. I know he just made the baddest choice in his life.

 But why does an Alpha and a Beta should not be together?

 I was drifted deeper into his memory until a voice on an intercom answered my question. "Alpha and Beta are the most complex Priva in our society today. Their complexity should not be merged or there would be a bad effect. Since anyone of us cannot remember the past before us, to teach us what to do, we intend to learn and discover it in our own hands. But currently, our researches led us to nowhere in knowing what are these complexities. So we suggest that each group should be put in different compounds to avoid mixing each other's complexities and create a bad event."

 Another memory drift went. I was fast forwarded to the time when mom got pregnant because of dad. This event created issues and predictions that the offspring, the child, will be the bad effect of merging my dad's and my mom's complexities. And so, I, the child, will have a genetic mutation and it might lead to society's danger. This is the reason why mom experimented that led to her death.

After the journey to my father's memory, it occurs to me that the explosion didn't really killed my mom. It is I who killed her. Dad chose to save my life instead of her's.

Another thing I discovered is that by merging my father's and my mother's complexities-superpowers and intelligence-led me to have extraordinary abilities. The powers that uses the brain. Like telepathy. That explains why I am the only one who have these kinds of abilities amongst other Alphas.

I wink back at my dad saying, "I will be the next Alpha General."