Burden of the Pure

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I was caught off guard by his lack of reaction when I broke his joint. I was so surprised that he was almost able to land a right-side kick to my body. But of course he couldn’t, because my soul scepter had reacted. Once his initial kick missed he attempted to connect a back kick that seemed to be in a taekwondo style of fighting. With his movements being as slow as they were, I was able to catch his leg and twist it to the point where I dislocated his knee.

After I released his leg he began to hop on the one that wasn’t damaged, but once again he expressed no sign of pain or discomfort. It seemed the only way for me to stop this man was to kill him. Unfortunately, my only solution had created another predicament. Brawls and unsupervised spars were allowed, but the taking of another soldier’s life in the organization was strictly forbidden.

In the earlier days of my time in the organization, after being consumed by rage, I had taken the lives of a few soldiers that were irritating me, in a similar fashion that my opponent was doing. Except he didn’t kill anyone. The consequences of my actions drilled that rule deep into my brain, like the roots of an elder tree.

My opponent and I were once again in a competition of staring. I saw the knee of his good leg bend, preparing to lunge at me, but then I heard a loud slam come from behind him. Two armed soldiers had burst through the door ready for combat. They were not from the same unit as me, for they wore camouflage pants, and a dark blue bullet proof vest, with short camouflage sleeves that covered their biceps and triceps.

They both carried two of the same black guns, of which I had never seen. With them, they both shot two bullets that were about the size of a thumb tac. As the bullets sliced through the air I noticed that both contained a fluid substance within them. The two bullets pierced both of my enemy’s shoulder blades.

A moment after impact the victim seemed to become dazed and unbalanced. He then proceeded to drop to the floor causing a small tremor on the ground because of his weight.

The two marksmen came over and collected their target, then proceeded to carry him out the doors over their shoulders. I then picked up my tray, and found an empty table, where I began to consume my meal.

After I had just finished eating, I was approached by one of the Seven Sins. The woman came up to me and said, “Your presence has been requested in Kane’s office.”  Her voice sounded dry and cold. Like ice that had never been touched by light. At a smooth pace, she made her way out of the dining area and I followed her lead, assuming we were going to the same place.

The Seven Sins were Kane’s elite group of guards. I had never seen them fight but Kane has stated that they would give Jade and I a challenging confrontation. They rarely ever left the base, and if they did, it is only when a mission of extreme importance was at hand, and it had to be carried out flawlessly.

When we arrived in the hallway that led to his iron office doors, the Sin gave me the gesture for me to enter.

Kane’s office always filled me with amaze and wonder when I entered. The two side walls were embellished with weaponry that ranged from axes to grenades. The backwall was completely kaleidoscopic. The wall had been transformed into a humongous bookshelf containing a worlds worth of knowledge of philosophy, science, martial arts, and war tactics. The colorful book covers created a visual that was pleasing to the eye. Kane sat behind a large desk in the shape of a crescent moon, with only one computer monitor to his right. I’m willing to bet that underneath his desk was a computer or several that rivaled the technological capabilities of the core, for I could hear sounds like that of the core coming from his desk.

I took a few steps closer to his desk, and he turned his head from his computer to look at me and said. “Devante my boy, are you alright?” I nodded in confirmation. With a chuckle he said “Of course you are. Why did I bother to ask? Please forgive me for the incident that had just occurred. The scientist thought that K42 was ready.”

“K42?” I repeated.

“Yes. K42 is an enhancement that we had developed to completely numb pain, without any other affects to the brain. We had tested various versions of it on subjects and we thought that K42 was our breakthrough. Unfortunately, it seems that if it stays in the body’s system for too long it will make the host more aggressive over time.”

“Oh, that makes sense. But what do you mean by ‘host’? Wouldn’t the subject have been a more appropriate word?”

A small look of shock and surprise emerged on Kane’s face. “No. Host is correct. You see… K42 is a living organism that resides in the user’s body.”

With confusion I asked, “Like a parasite?”

“No,” he said immediately. “The relationship between K42 and the host is to be completely mutual. The organism resides in the brain tissue and grows along with it’s host. It is the same as the soul scepters you and Jade contain.”

Astonished, I took a small step back. “Wow. I had no idea that I shared my body with another being.”

“Yes. I understand that this is quite shocking, but as I said before, it does no harm to you. If anything, it is your friend.”

Assured that my well being wasn’t at risk, I shook my head in confirmation. “Another reason I called you up here, is because I have another mission for you. Once you leave here, have a nice spar, cleanse yourself, then meet me in the core.”