Beyond The Sea Blue Light

Everybody Wants To Save The World

The third, and final Facility is located around a day's drive from here, hidden in some remote valley, far from any sign of civilization. Jack, Alex, and Gerard disappear for a few days as they explore and scout out the place. Meanwhile, Vic and I help Awsten with his powers, trying to help him control it more. I struggled with mine when I was first at the Facility. Similarly to Awsten, I couldn't access mine when I needed to. It was as if there was a block inside my mind, fear preventing me from using them. Even beatings and the injuries I sustained weren't enough to get my powers working. It almost cost Vic his life before I could finally access my powers. But we're determined to help Awsten through it, preferably finding a solution that involves less blood and trauma. Finally, they come back, all three of them looking exhausted. The rest of us anxiously await the news and plan, though Gerard doesn't call us for a meeting until late that night.

"This one has a slightly different layout," Gerard says. "But I think it's about the same. If we use a similar strategy as we did last time, have several people be a distraction while others sneak in, it might work. Last time, we had the element of surprise. They didn't expect us to attack. This time, I bet you they know what we are aiming for. We couldn't really tell from what we saw, but it seems as if there are at least twice as many guards, if not three times more. This time we just have to—" he trails off and I know what he's thinking of.

"What are we going to do about the guards?" Andy asks. I can hear the note of hostility in his voice. "Last time, remember what happened? You can't just expect them to leave them alone."

"We leave them alone," Gerard says firmly. "If they attack, try not to kill them."

"Why not?" Andy snorts, his whole body trembling. The two of them stare at each other, daring the other to back away first. "We lost one of our own last time."

"They're just doing their jobs!" Gerard argues. "It's not fair to kill them too."

"Well they are trying to kill us!" Andy shoots back. "I think that's only fair."

"Not all of them are," Jack cuts in. "What about Rian and Zack? They helped us."

"And Matty," Alex says. "They didn't try to kill us. Not all the guards are bad."

"It will only make it worse if we kill them," Gerard explains. "If we hurt them, they have more of a reason to come after us and kill us. We will never get peace if we kill to get our way."

"Maybe we need to," Andy says. "Do you really think that after this, they will just step back and pretend that this never happened? You really think that this will get us freedom?"

"Yes," Gerard says. "It will. It might take some time, but we need them to see us as humans, not as bombs. The best way is to show we have compassion. Remember what happened after the Attack, when twenty people or so were killed? What do you think will happen if they just see us going around and blowing things up? They will try to crush us harder, not try to help us." I've never seen either of them this riled up before. To be honest, it terrifies me. I've seen what Andy can do before. If he gets mad, I'm scared that he will lose control.

"You are mistaken then," Andy sneers. "They never have felt compassion for us. Even from the beginning, before anything happened, they still wanted to kill us. After the Attack, things just escalated. Before then, we were still getting murdered, for doing nothing!"

None of us dare argue with him, just sit there in silence, staring.

Andy takes a deep breath, standing up. "Let's say we do get peace," he says, breathing heavily. "You think they will just accept us?" He casts a glance around at the rest of us, where we sit, staring at him. He's voiced my greatest fears, my greatest doubts out loud. What if all we work for does nothing? What if we do end up at square one all over again?

"Well then," Andy says slowly. "If you do, then you are just fools." He turns and leaves without another word, letting the doubt build inside of me.