The Gifted

Chapter 2

Nikolas found himself a few days later having to get his tracker recharged. It only had to happen every five years or so. 

Nikolas was guided to the tracker office by a drone. Most Gifted would be brought in person by a guard, but not Nikolas. He was trusted enough to return and besides he already had a tracker that would last for a few more months before it completely died.

The tracker office was across town from the Gifted centre. A place Gifted went to train and hang out away from the prying eyes of the city. Nikolas planned on heading there after he was done with getting his tracker charged.

Nikolas walked into the white building, leaving the drone outside, his black outfit a heavy contrast to the it. He walked to the front counter. 

"Appointment for a recharging, Nikolas Thornevale." He said softly

The lady behind the counter looked at him in awe, "Right this way," she said guiding him to a room" 

This room was the same bright white, there was a stool in the centre with a machine over the single armrest of the stool. The rest of the small room was empty. 

Nikolas sat on the stool and placed his arm, under the machine, on the armrest. The lady lowered it onto his arm and hooked it up. A searing jab bit Nikolas' arm seconds later, and then it was over. Nikolas withdrew his arm. 

"Thank you." Nikolas said, then he stood up and handed her a garnet token. The lady stared at in in surprise. Nikolas turned and left the white building his arm throbbing slightly.

Nikolas was walking along with the drone by his side. He was sorting through his memories when a loud grumble echoed down the street coming from a building off to his side.

Nikolas looked up sharply, The foundation of the rising building was crumbling. One side caved in and a portion of the wall started to fall towards the street. Nikolas glanced around and then saw a girl staring up fearfully at the peace of wall slowly falling towards her. 

Nikolas broke into a run he snatched her up and saw her father just a few meters away. Nikolas glanced at the wall fragment, before hurling the girl at her father, and seeing him catch her in shock. He tried to run as well but a chunk of stone hit him square on his back. 

Nikolas fell and curled into a ball to protect his head and neck. Just before he was knocked out by a piece of stone hitting him on the head he saw the drone taken out by a chunk of the wall.

The next time he woke to a blinding light, his vision was blurry and people were hurrying around him. Then someone approached, they wore a mask, and injected him with a deep purple liquid.

He woke a few times and each time was drugged back to sleep.

Then finally he woke and nobody was around. Nikolas tried to move his hand to rub his blurry eyes but found it was cuffed to the bed. He shook his head and laid his hand back down.

A tall man walked in and Nikolas knew, automatically, that something different about him. He was Netheri. He had strikingly cat-like eyes, his skin had a slight green hue to it and he was out of proportion compared to a Solari. 

"Good, you're awake." he said, there was a sort of song-like touch to how the man spoke. "We have been struggling our hardest to get you up and running again, oh and you might feel pain from where we removed that tracker of yours." 

Nikolas did, actually, feel the pain from where the tracker had been cut out but it blended almost seamlessly with all the other pain. It was sort of like a haze of aches in the back of his mind. 

"Where are the rulers? This isn't their clinic." Nikolas asked, he was worried, he didn't recognize this place like he should if it was his masters.

The Netheri man smiled, "Don't worry, you aren't with you master. This is an organization working for money, and the rebels have offered us a thousand garnet tokens for you!"

Nikolas was dumbfounded. A thousand garnet tokens, that was more than a life times earnings for the average  Ungifted. 

"Tomorrow is the big day." The Netheri man winked.

"Sylenar!" a voice yelled from a different room, "A little help please!"

The Netheri man - Sylenar - left the room, not even glancing back once.