Empowered

Chapter 13:.....Empty

"So, is it true?" Ember asked with anger and fear in her voice. She found herself standing or somewhat drooping over herself in Dr. Wells' office, facing Abraham and the Doc, waiting to hear the answer to the question that she feared would finally and officially kill all sense of hope and belief that she could actually be a good person.

"Well," Dr. Wells began to say, and she looked at Abraham with concern and indecisiveness about what to do.

"Yes," Abraham said firmly.

"Why didn't you guys tell me!?" Ember shouted.

"Information will always be given to you the moment it is necessary," replied Abraham in his normally stern voice.

"Don't cha think it was 'necessary' the moment I stepped back up on the surface!" Ember shouted again.

"The truth is, Ms. Crimson, it was never 'necessary' for you to know this information," Abraham stated firmly.

"How can you say that?!?! I'm fucking poisoning the environment up there! I mean, I know I'm a danger in general but holy shit! Just by walking around up there, I'm screwing things up!" Ember exclaimed, feeling hopeless, tired, and empty. "You know what, I give up. I don't want to do this anymore. I think you should just put me in The Bastille with Erin." Ember had asked them if what Larry had told her was true: that she caused the environment of Earth and the living things inhabiting it to change – that she infected everything just by being alive.

"This is exactly why we didn't tell you sweetie." Dr. Wells said in a soft and soothing voice.

"We didn't want you to give up," Abraham said resolutely.

"And we didn't, nay, we don't want you to end up like Erin." Dr. Wells said as she rushed over to Ember and held her tightly. Abraham merely observed this from afar. He wasn't one for physical contact unless that physical contact came in the form of some kind of punch to the face or gut, the cracking of an arm or leg, or – you get the idea.

Ember was mad and, sad and confused about everything that had happened with Jenny and Larry. Jenny had finally had her memories fixed so that she no longer knew that Ember was Empowered or anything about E-Corp. though Ember was unaware of exactly how they had rewritten Jenny's narrative. Jenny also had gone through something called "energy cleansing" to ensure the effects of Larry's tampering with her biology were reversed. Along with all of this invasive testing and fixing, Ember was not allowed to see Jenny or help her through any of it, which of course, made Ember feel like absolute shit about the whole thing. Still, she didn't let the turmoil she was feeling take control of her. After almost killing Larry, she was more determined than ever to not lose control of her emotions. Nevertheless, when it came to really thinking about Larry and what he had done, or for that matter, any of the perilous threats she had recently faced, she found it hard not to feel really angry.

"Why?" Ember said, wiggling her way out of Dr. Wells' grasp. "Why don't you want me to give up? And why don't you just end all of this and put me in a glass tube like Erin and call it a day? Why are you wasting so much time, effort, and resources on me?" Ember asked sadly, successfully holding back her tears.