TOUCH | F. Hargreeves

17

If you knew Beau well you would say he was intelligent, powerful and fickle but, of course, he was much more than that. His intelligence was helpful, academically and in understanding others, but he had no real self-intelligence at all. He was beyond powerful but he didn't always have control and he didn't know when he would lose everything and kill those around him. He was fickle and sometimes it turned out dangerous for everyone, including himself. Three things that seemed surfaced actually ran deep within, flaring out greatly in a way that was deadly and unpredictable. The three things so many were afraid of.

It was the Hargreeves' incompetence that really had Beau bringing out his words as it was clear he was the only one that really understood their faults and why. He saw them all, when he looked at each of them their faults glared right back at him and sometimes it was a blessing while other times it was a curse. 

"It's tenuous but promising." Five began talking to his mannequin as he continued to draw all over the walls. Beau let out a quiet chuckle, simply sitting on the end of the bed in somewhat silence.

That was when Luther found them, however. "What are you two doing? What is all this?" He looked at Five's work with pure confusion, not even sending Beau a glance.

"It's a probability map." Five answered, his eyes flickering to Beau who held a slightly smug expression.

"Probability of what?"

"Of whose death could save the world. I've narrowed it down to four."

Beau looked over the numbers and names, wondering who the hell each of them was and how Five could have possibly narrowed the population down to only four. He found it hard to believe but he didn't utter a word.

"Are you saying one of these four people causes the apocalypse?"

"No, I'm saying that their death might prevent it."

"Oh. I'm not following."

"Time is fickle, Luther." Five began to explain with annoyance that Beau wholeheartedly shared, "The slightest alteration in events can lead to massively different outcomes in the time continuum. The butterfly effect. So all I have to do is find the people with the greatest probability of impacting the timeline, wherever they may be, and kill them."

"Oh, yeah... Milton Greene." Luther leaned closer to read, "So who's he, a terrorist or something?"

"I believe he is a gardener."

"You can't be serious. Wait, this is madness, Five." Luther turned around to see Five holding a rifle which had him shocked and Beau as well but less so, "You- Wh- Where'd you get that?"

"In Dad's room. I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros. It's similar to the model I used at work. Nice shoulder fit and highly reliable."

"But you can't- This guy Milton is just an innocent man."

"It's basic math. His death could potentially save the lives of billions. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone." Five said and it honestly made a lot of sense to Beau, something which he was actually and quickly agreeing with because it seemed like the best, and probably only, choice.

"We don't do this kind of thing." Luther eyed Beau for a moment with that accusatory gaze, telling him he wasn't a part of this 'we' for whatever reason.

"We are not doing anything. We are." Five motioned to Beau still sat on the bed with an indifferent expression.

"I can't let you go and kill innocent people. No matter how many lives you'll save." Luther shook his head.