Enigma Source: Grey Area

Chapter 14: Recall Night

November 25, 2531
Sinclair
Slums of Everest

That memory never left me. Seeing what was over that hill. Having to witness all of that death. I wasn't prepared for it and neither were the kids. I sat up from the floor were I was sleeping. The dream I just had was actually a perfect replay of a memory, the same as all of my other dreams. Was I cursed to relive moments of my life that brought me anguish? And why couldn't I remember events prior to meeting Lux? This had to be a cruel joke someone put me in.

Grey was fast asleep, no doubt having a nice dream. He was on the couch curled up like a baby. His soft breaths were quiet and rhythmic, the exact opposite of the way his small female friend slept. Just silly if you asked me.

I looked out the window and saw that it was still dark outside. By my calculations, it was approximately three in the morning. The faint sounds of vehicles on the pavement were all I could make out from the outside world. I dug my fingers into the rough rug floor I tried to sleep on. "How did you do this Grey. This floor is awful?", I questioned his sleeping body. At that time, I felt my stomach rumble lowly. I didn't get to eat earlier since I decided to be a good person. Grey had offered to take me to another place to eat, but I declined. Having seen that boy put me in a bad mental place. I had to help him to ease my conscience.

My stomach growled once more, this time having a more pronounced fury. "Ugh. Is this what Grey felt?". I hadn't eaten in a while too know that I had time to think about it. After I defended Grey's father, all I had to eat was a measly ham sandwich the day after. Everything after that was either a bags of chips or small protein bars; So nothing that could substaine me long-term. I stood up as quietly as I possibly could (Which was very much so). "Maybe I can still find something out at this hour", I said as I went to grab my coat. And not the lame one that we salvaged here, but my brilliant while coat. The one that Lux made me. "Who am I kidding? The only places open at this time are clubs and bars. I do not want to deal with those places right now". I then thought about what I could do now that I was up.

As I picked it up from an old wooden chair I had placed it on, Grey shuffled slightly on the couch. The springs in it squeaked which made more noise than I wanted. Luckily, it was not enough to wake him. Grey was fine and all, but sometimes I wanted to be by myself. I zipped up my coat and headed out the room. I made my way to the staircase, and paused. "Can I even recreate that energy from earlier?". I'll admit, that I got lucky the first time when I made it to illuminate the stairs the before. However, I did not want to rely on luck on battle. This new ability would be a game changer. "That settled it: I'll work on mastering the red energy. Then hopefully I'll be able to use it in battle". A flash of memory came into my mind the second I finished that sentence. I remembered the moment right before I transformed into that thing in Corpus Industries. The intoxicating feeling of anger and power was familiar. I tensed up and felt a bit uneasy. "I'll have to find out more about that too".

I opened the door to the staircase and saw the darkness again. "Time to see if I've still got it in me". I reactivated my bio armor (Don't have an official name for the metal material, so I'll see if that sticks). I held out my right arm and opened my hand to a claw formation. I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly. "What did I even do to start it? Did I just think it?". I stood there for a minute trying to make that orb again. But nothing. Not even a spark. I opened my eyes and lowered my hand. "That was about what I expected". A light then literally brightened my mood. Lux had snuck up behind me and activated her flashlight mode. The little support drone chirped enthusiastically. I smiled at the sight of her.

Lux was the only one of the three drones that didn't have a voice. It would have been distasteful if I had given her one. Even though she didn't say anything I could still understand her, just like the real deal.