Derailed - 3. What makes you tick?

Chapter 2

I opened my eyes to see Seth standing outside of the tent, staring at me, annoyed that I was still in bed.

“Get up already,” Corbin said, “If I have to tell you one more time, your gonna have cleaning duty for the next year,” he said, rolling his eyes before taking off.

I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on allowing a few minutes for my eyes to adjust before finally crawling my way out into the now restless crowds. I headed over to the breakfast line to see what, if anything, was left. Living down here made cooking very limited. Usually most of our food consisted of only what could be kept in cans or what could be stored dried. So for breakfast all there was was corn flakes made with some form of powdered milk. I was never very big on corn flakes so I grabbed a small Dixie cup of orange juice and went off to find Seth.

“Took you long enough.” He looked at me inquisitively. ”You’re not eating again? Man, you gotta learn to not be so picky or you'll starve,” he said with a smirk.

I saw him bite another huge chunk out of his bread before devouring more of his cereal. It amazed me how someone could have a never-ending appetite like his and yet still remain in as great a shape as he’s in. But then again, when you have as weak a stomach as his I guess that doesn't become too much of a problem. I laughed inward to myself, as I hoped for his sake he didn't have to go anywhere on the trains today.

“I see your stomach is feeling better,” I said, smiling as he took yet another bite from his bread.

He looked at me for a second trying to finish his bite so he could answer me. Half way through, it must have gone down wrong as he grabbed his juice and downed it almost all at once. He slammed his cup down, allowing air to once more fill his lungs. After realizing that he was ok, I couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight.

“Damn Seth, slow down some, I don't think it’s gonna run off, and even if it did it’s not like you couldn't catch it easily enough,” I said, in between fits of laughter.

“Ah knock it off will ya? You seem to forget that I lost the only food I ate yesterday, I’m starving!” He took another bite of cornflakes and grumbled something under his breath that I couldn't make out.

Shortly after, Bruiser came to join us, sitting down next to Seth with a tray consisting of three large bowls of cereal and five slices of bread and three glasses of orange juice. Bruiser’s power was that of a physical nature and because of this, his metabolism acted almost seven times greater than that of a normal kid his age. As small as he was, he could easily out eat a fully grown man. The only one that could out eat him was Corbin and even then it was a close match.

As he sat down he began cramming a slice of bread in his mouth in almost the same fashion that Seth was. Living in our situation table manners were never really pushed, much to Andrea's disapproval it was one of the many things her and Corbin would argue about constantly. Andrea felt that even though were living as outcast from society doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hold our standards to the same level as people on the outside. Corbin didn’t see much of a point to it

After a few moments of hearing only the sound of them chowing down Seth finished and set his empty bowl down, and looked over to see Bruiser starting in on his second bowl still with no sign of slowing. We watched as he devoured his food almost like a ravenous who had caught it prey and was no enjoying the fruits of it labor.

“Damn Bruiser Why not just eat it bowl and all” Seth said as the boy took a long swallow from his cup he sat it down with a scowl on his face.

“Andrea says im Growing and it good that I have a healthy appetite” he said folding his arms across his chest but as he did his spoon slipped off the table and hit the floor with a loud Clang. Reaching down to pick it up, he used the corner of the metal table to support himself. It started to bend downward under the force of his strength. He immediately shot up right to survey the damage caused.

“Oops, I'm sorry, I’ll fix it,” he said, grabbing hold of it and bending it back with ease, but still leaving it at a slightly-off angle.

After a short pause with none of us speaking, we all broke into a fit of laughter, forgetting about all the worries and the trouble that have become the norm for us. If only for a short time, we were kids, be it very unusual kids, but kids none the less.

“I'm glad to see you guys are enjoying yourselves.”

We all looked up to see Corbin standing there his arms folded across his chest, somewhat smiling at us. It was a rare thing to ever see him so much as smirk, even rarer to see a full faced smile. I think in the ten years I've been living here, I've seen him smile maybe once or twice, but then again, if I had all the responsibilities that he shouldered and as much to worry about as he did, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to smile a lot either.

“Seth, as soon as you and Bruiser are finished, I want you two to go join the others to help with the repairs to the roof. Me and Adrian are going to take the Refugees to meet up with the convoy, then we’ll be back to help you guys finish.” Corbin's smile once again faded into the serious stone gaze of authority that we had all become accustomed to.

“What about me?” I asked, wondering why I wasn't included in the order. It’s not like Corbin to let anyone out of chores, especially when there was a lot to be done. And with the damage to the roof it was going to take all of us to have it repaired by tonight.

“Actually Cameron, Mark asked me to have you come by his office. He wants to try to run some tests and he needs you in order to do it,” Corbin said swiftly, not wanting to give me any chance to argue. He knew that I felt uncomfortable around Mark, hell half the people down here felt uncomfortable around him. Andrea was about the only person he kept any real contact with. And even then, he seemed distant with her.

“Can’t someone else help him with it?” I said, hoping to avoid any prolonged interaction with him.

“No, they can’t. This test was created specifically with you in mind, it may help us to gain a better insight to your ability and ultimately help you gain a better understanding and control of your power. You said you were tired of being left down here, well how can you ever be allowed to go up with us unless we are absolutely sure you won’t blow our cover or become a risk?” Corbin said, using his tone that told you there would be no arguments. This session with Mark wasn't a request, it was an order.

Corbin walked off to go meet up with Adrian, leaving us to silently finish our breakfast. It was Seth who finally spoke up after a few minutes.

“I think you may have pissed him off big this time,” he said, looking somewhat worried.

Corbin was always under a lot of stress and often let it get to him, causing him to come off as uncaring or cold at times, but everyone who knew him knew that he had more or less sacrificed everything to help others like him. And we all respected him for it.

Seth and Bruiser finished their food and headed towards the wreckage of yesterday’s fight as I ascended a flight of stairs towards Mark’s lab. As I climbed, I looked at all the old architecture of what was once a very grand and busy cross section of the city. It was as if you could feel the ghost of the building itself trying to tell you its story, but now all that remained were the remnants of a forgotten city. As the years passed and the city grew, certain parts began to become outdated and over looked. Such was the fate of the terminal.

As I made my way to the top of the stairs, Mark’s lab came into view, it was actually an old camera shop that was emptied out to make room for what computer parts and equipment we were able to obtain. Over the last few years, Mark, being a techno-path, had been able to assemble them into quite an impressive setup. It was here that he spent 90% of his time conducting research into each one of our abilities in an effort help us understand them and possibly gain full control. And I had become his greatest project, seeing as I had the least control.

As I approached his lab I noticed Andrea leaning against a filing cabinet, looking almost annoyed, as Mark was rummaging through a pile of papers, looking somewhat distraught, almost as if they were arguing about something. It was the first time I could ever really remember seeing Mark show any true emotion other than his usual blank stare. It was almost abnormal. Curious as to what could cause him to break his composure, I decided to not make my presence known and instead hung somewhat out the doorway listening to what was going on.

“Exactly how long do you really think you can hide it, Mark? You need to deal with it and soon. It can’t be healthy to keep on going like this. I don't need my ability to tell me that,” Andrea said, as she walked over to try to put a hand on his shoulder. But as soon as he felt the contact, he shrugged away as if her skin were poison.

“Look, I asked you to come here and help me set things up, not for advice on how to handle my personal affairs besides its not like you really have a right to hand out advice on the matter. I'm quite capable of taking care of my own problems. If I had wanted your advice, I would have requested it”. He looked as though he was becoming more and more anxious to quickly end the conversation, but Andrea wasn't having it.

“So then what do you intend to do about it, ignore it and hope it goes away? You can’t pretend it isn't real. Sooner or later you’re going to have to tell...” Andrea was about to finish when she was cut off by Mark who spotted me standing outside the doorway.

“I see you’re finally here, Cameron. I hope you weren't waiting too long, Andrea and I were just discussing some research I've been going over,” he said as blankly and flat as ever, as if his and Andrea's conversation had never occurred.

It still annoyed me that even though he was barely two years older than me, he still acted and treated me as if I was a child and he was my babysitter. What right did he have to patronize me? It wasn't as though he had any more experiences or wisdom in life than me. He was like this with everyone except Corbin and Andrea. It was as if they had somehow earned his respect as equals.

I walked towards him in the center of the lab. As Andrea walked past me she put her hand on my shoulder and shook her head and sighed before leaving the room. I look at her inquisitively as if to non-verbally ask her what was going on, but I got no answer as she walked past me and out of the lab, leaving just Mark and me there.

I looked back to see Mark fidgeting with a computer. He ran his hand along the side of the tower and as he did, I saw images and documents fly on and off the screen too fast to be recognized by the human eye. I watched him as he seemed to instantaneously pick out what information he needed. I watched him for a moment, curious as to how this process worked and how he was able to make sense of the multitude of information that fast, but then I remembered that he’s had years of practice put into this.

After a few seconds, he took his hand away from the tower and stepped back for a second. He looked almost confused and disoriented. But he once again regained his composure and looked at me, voiding of any signs of emotion.

“Right, I need you to sit over there, if you would,” he said, nodding towards a small wooden stool sitting across from a large metal table.

As I sat, he began grabbing an assortment of equipment. Which included a small computer monitor of some kind a small metal box with various dials and several bundles of electrical cords He laid it all out on the table in front of me and right away went to work plugging various cords in to different outlets He then pulled out what appeared to be some kind of adhesive pads connected them to some wires leading to the machine that was feeding into the monitor. Without warning he began to place them on either side of my head I reached up to touch them but with out even looking at me he quickly smack my hand away. Almost in the same manner that a mother would smack a child’s hand away from a hot burner on a stove and finished placing them were he needed.

The moment he finished attaching the pads he walked over and flipped a switch on the small metal box. The screen became alive displaying a blue colored light that seemed to softly drift on the screen in almost unnoticeable motion. I watched as mark went over with a clipboard in hand and jotting a array of notes he then began walking circles around the table thinking to himself ignoring the fact that I was still sitting there with no clue as to what was going on

after a few seconds of him walking around studying his clipboard I grew tired of sitting there with no idea as to why I was there “Sooooo exactly what are we doing here” I said trying not to let my frustration show

“I want to get a reading on the electroencephalograph to get a better understanding of how you’re processing your emotions,” he said not, even looking at me.

“I'm sorry, the what?” I said, pulling one of the pads from my temple.

“It’s going to help me monitor your brain activity, and this,” he said, pulling out what appeared to be a metal head band with four distinctly placed microchips on it, “This is something I created called an Emotional Inducer. It’s unique because only I can operate it. We’re going to run a series of tests today in which I am going to induce certain emotions and we’re going to see how your powers react.”

After he placed the head band on me, he placed an empty Coke can on the metal table directly in front of me “Now all I want you to do is concentrate on the can. Whatever happens, I need you to do this in order for the test to work,” he said, placing his hand on the head band.

He closed his eyes and I waited there for a second with nothing happening. A few more seconds passed and I began to think the experiment was a bust and I may get off easy, so I began to remove the now uncomfortable head band. Then it hit me like a train, all at once images of my mother began to fill my head; her laugh, the way she used to smile at me and her warm embrace. But it wasn't just the images that flooded back to me but all the thoughts and feeling that went along with them. Tears immediately began to pour down my cheeks as I tried my hardest to concentrate on the empty can on the table. Like a bullet it shot up and hit the ceiling, the pressure I was exerting on it began to crush it flat against the roof.

The once bright blue image on the monitor turned into a dark deep shade of Green and began to stretch until it was nothing but a thin line shooting vertically on the monitor. Feeling the emotional pain become too great, I ripped the head band off and stumbled away into a corner of the lab. The now flattened can immediately dropped and landed back on the table rolling on its edges for a second before finally settling.

“ENOUGH! I'M DONE WITH THIS TEST!” I screamed.

The lights in the room began to flicker and the image on the computer monitor began to swirl as I almost knocked his entire system offline. Mark hurriedly tried to keep his system intact until I was able to regain myself.

“Listen, you need to regain control of yourself before we can continue on with the test,” Mark said, smoothing out his lab coat, not even looking in my direction.

“Didn't you hear me? I said I'm done!” I said, my fist now shaking wanting more and more to send him flying.

He continued to stare at me blankly, never once losing that same empty expression, even with me there staring daggers at him. I couldn't tell if he just didn't get it, or if he just didn't care. Either way, I wasn't staying and going through that again, not ever.

“Cameron, if anything, what we just witnessed was all the reason in the world to continue, we may finally be on the verge of learning what triggers your abilities. I have a theory, but in order to see if it’s true or not, we must continue.” He looked at me for a second, hoping to get some kind of an answer.

“Why?” I asked, now feeling my anger and hatred for him growing out of control “WHY THE FUCK DID YOU CHOOSE HER? … WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO SHOW HER TO ME?” I screamed, causing the light to flicker and almost short out this time.

“I didn't,” he said, “you did… I only told the inducer what emotion to focus and your subconscious did the rest. It selected what memory to bring up. Now if you would, please...” he said nodding back towards the stool.

Still seething, I made my way back to the stool and he hooked the machine up to me once again. As he put the inducer on my head and placed a new can on the table, the test began once again. I waited for the emotional pain to once again hit me, but it didn’t happen. Instead, I felt something different; it wasn't painful, just different and then images of Seth began spilling into me; the way he laughed, the way his eyes looked when he gazed back at me and finally, his smile, the one that seemed to automatically become the center of attention whenever he entered the room, the same smile that I loved more than anything in this world.

The image on the monitor had gone from the blue light to a bright golden shade and it began to swirl back and forth and as it swirled other colors came into play as streams of blue green and red began swirling and interacting with the gold until it looked like tornado of rainbow like colors dancing with each other And as I felt this flow through me, the can I was trying to focus on slowly rose off the table about a foot and began spinning and turning in every sporadic direction it could. It then began to twist slowly into every shape it could manage. And as it was doing this, I was calm and felt a sudden joy rush over me and I couldn’t resist allowing a smile to part my lips. After a few minutes, Mark released his hold and the feeling stopped. I was almost saddened by the sudden loss of it.

I looked at Mark as he swiftly turned his back to me looking at the monitor screen so I couldn't read his face. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.

It’s..... interesting, your ability. It would seem as though different aspects of it are governed by different emotions.” He sounded almost overwhelmed by it.

It took a few minutes, but he soon regained his normality and once again began processing what information he had collected.

“Cameron... you were rather old when your powers manifested, were you not?” he asked in an almost curious tone.

He was right, though. It was only three years ago that they first became active, when normally, most kids began to show their power at around 6 to 5 years old. For a while it was believed that I had dodged the bullet and hadn't gotten the gene. And that I might someday be able to live a normal life and not have to hide with the rest. It was this reason that Corbin was so insistent on keeping me down here. I hadn't had nearly as much time to adjust to my power as the others.

“Yeah I think it was about five years ago. I was nine,” I said, wondering what he was getting at.

“Well, if my theory is correct and your power is fully overseen by your emotions, then it’s possible that the reason you were so late to develop them was that you hadn't experienced an emotion strong enough to make them manifest. Tell me about the day you discovered them. Did anything major happen that would have caused an emotional response like that?”

It hit me like a bullet! My powers became active right after I lost my mother I remember sitting in my tent crying and looking up to see everything around me drifting through the air. But the last thing I wanted was to give mark any more information then necessary

“No, not really,” I said, “Nothing that truly comes to mind.” I said this but I think he could tell that I was lying; I was never a good liar. Luckily he didn’t press the issue.

“Well then, I would like to try one last test, then I think we can call it a day,” he said, walking towards the equipment.

I sat down and once again placed the metal band around my head, waiting for him to begin. He looked at me as if to study me for a second.

“I’m going to need you to have absolute focus. This time there can be no exception.” He said this almost nervously.

He placed his hand on the band for the last time today and closed his eyes. It wasn't even five seconds when my heart went to stone and my vision went black. Images began flooding my head so rapidly that I couldn't make them out, images of pain and suffering my mother once again filled my head but not of he smile or her beauty but rather the night she was taken from me and the feeling I had of being to weak to do anything about it I remember wanting to last out at anything and everything at the same time

I opened my eyes to see the computer monitor the blue image once again changed from a floating sphere, It blew out in all directions and covered the entire screen and it glowed a bright crimson red as I saw this I became aware of only one thing – fire, a fire that was burning hot within my chest, it swelled up and into my throat and my vision went from a blurred black to a deep radiating crimson red. I tried to focus on the can, but it was of no use. I wanted a release from the pain and the hatred that I felt. My fists became tight balls as I squeezed harder and harder, eventually breaking the skin and allowing the blood to flow down my hands. I couldn't take it anymore. The fire was growing and it could no longer be contained. With one ear shattering scream, I exploded!

The first thing I felt was the band on my head shatter and pieces of it flying in every direction and Mark being flown back and hitting against the far wall. Then I heard the shatter of glass as the bright red monitor and the lights burst and flew in all directions sending bits of glass shooting in all directions, cutting me across my face. I felt the floor crack beneath me and give way under the pressure I was exerting. The glass from what used to be the store front shattered into millions of shards, flying outward into the hall and down the stairs. I felt as though I were going to bring down the entire foundation itself! I had no control! I was a force of nature itself, no more contained then a hurricane of pain and hatred I began sending out pulses of pure energy in all direction and each time I did the wall would crack and begin to crumble and more anf more of the equipment that had once sat in all the table of the lab would be sent flying in the corner of my eye I saw mark huddle under neeth a table trying to get some kinds of coverage from the emotional storm I was putting out. And no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t quit I continued to seen out every bit of rage I had!

This continued for close to 5 minute before I was finally able to calm myself down. I fell to the floor on my hands and knees. Breathing heavily as I felt sweat pouring off me now, into the small sized crater I had created. Blood from the numerous cuts I had obtained ran down the side of my face and dripped on top my hands and over my lips. The taste of my own blood was warm and salty and made me somewhat sick to my stomach I looked at Mark, panicked, as I saw the damage I had caused to his lab. For the most part, it was totaled. I look at him. Barely able to speak, I asked,

“What... what was that?!” I said trying to catch my breat my hands still shaking just about every muscle in my body was on fire.

He looked at me, still clearly shaken by what had happened, and very softly said,

“Anger.”