Unknown Society

The Hypnotics

"We spiral-eyed freaks are called The Hypnotics," Kingston continues, "for we know all, see all, and hear all from the past, present, and future." They walk Martinez down a hallway of stuffed replicas of all of the tribe members.

"Are you the leader?" Martinez's voice echoes through the corridors.

"A spiral-eye freak, I am, but a leader I am not, nor do I have the wisdom," Kingston looks ahead, "Our elders are our leaders, our people, or perhaps our enemies. They know all, from our next generation of leaders of course. They're willing to pass on knowledge of time, but are you willing to?"

Martinez began to hesitate. "If all of my mysteries are solved," she sighs with finality.

Kingston and Martinez stop at a pond. "Look at the water, tell me what you see." They instruct.

Martinez looks deeply into her reflection, only seeing a mask staring back at her.

"Take off the mask. No need to fear the face of yours," Kingston points out.

She unbuckles her mask, tossing her mask aside. Upon looking at her reflection, an older lady blinks at her—it was an older version of herself. Martinez looks at Kingston for a moment.

"No need to fear a face of yours. Talk to your future self."

Martinez looks at the reflection again, and this time, a strong gust of wind punches her in the face.

Martinez finds herself in a white room with clouds and nothing else but blue sky. The older version of herself slowly walks up to her, her old bones creaking. Martinez eyes her up and down, expecting the worst. "Look at me, child," the version that was old told her.

Martinez does so, seeing all of the wrinkles and gray strands of hair.

"What do you see in me, child?" She says.

Martinez shrugs. "I only see an older version of myself, which would be you."

She kneels down. "What do you see beyond my spiritual body?"

Martinez's eyebrows furrow a bit as she squints. In front of her was a future of children like her who were brought into a different orphanage; like her, they were experimented on and beaten and tortured. Martinez walks closer to one enclosure where newborns rested. Upon closer inspection, the newborn was like her in a sense, but they had a broken left horn. Martinez had tears in her eyes.

"That future is what you see and what you are potentially living to see," said the older version of herself, "Stay true to your words, perhaps the future you desire may hold a reward of some kind."

Martinez snapped back into reality, Kingston still standing beside her. "What did you see?" Kingston asks.

"Everything," she says quietly, "a future where an orphanage like mine was built with the same children as us who were born into a life of trauma. I—I saw a baby who was like me, wanting a better life."

Kingston nods. "What will you do with this information of what is ahead?"

Martinez raises her head. "I've had enough with hiding. It is time that I face my past, even if it means hurting myself again." She stands up, looking up at the sky. "I won't let you down again, Pixel." She mumbles.