Once the alarm hit eight, the radio plays on full blast. The sudden noise toss the poor girl out from the side of the bed onto the floor. ‘Good morning Bay City!’ came the annoying radio guy’s voice. ‘And what a beautiful morning it is in our sunshine city. In today’s news an Aftershok attack at the local shopping centre rocked the city last night, as the ACA did their best to fight back against the growing threat. In other news more people have disappeared in the Neon District, local authorities have started their search of the area…’
Her hand hit the button to shut him up. Rebecca then got up off the floor and crawled back into bed. Just five more minutes she thought to herself before falling back to sleep. Then her phone sent out a beeping sound that pushed her back off the bed. ‘Fine, fine!’ she yelled grabbing her phone and answering it, ‘What?!’
‘Good morning to you too’
‘What time is it?’ she mumble, getting up and sat on her bed.
‘It’s 5 past, now get ready I will be at your door in half an hour’
‘Can’t I just meet you at the station?’ said Rebecca holding her phone to her ear. ‘I need to take a shower and have breakfast’
‘Which you can do in the car’
Rebecca frowned at her phone. ‘I can have a shower in the car?’
‘Probably not, so I suggest you get moving’
Rebecca rolled her eyes. She hung up and threw the phone on the bed as she went to the bathroom. She got into the shower and rinse her body, washing her hair before turning off the water and stepping out.
Once she was dressed in her blouse and jacket, along with her jeans and boots, she put on her belt, picked up her badge and phone then head for the door.
She waited by the steps to her apartment building. She lives in the Docks District of the city. Here she gets a view of the docks that houses the fishing boats. She got a good deal on an apartment here since people are so picky about the smell, but as long as she doesn’t go home during the hours they unload their catch she is ok with it. She look at her reflection in the window, her brown hair curly as always since she never bothers to brush it.
A car pulled up on the side of the road. Rebecca got in the front seat and buckled her seat belt. ‘What is so important that you had to pick me up?’ she asked her partner.
Detective Mike Johnson is the senior detective while Rebecca was only a junior, having recently started last year when all the crazy stuff happened with the Storm. Mike is an African Australian, his tie loose on his shirt and he wore his trench coat. He handed her some coffee he bought on the way here. She took it and drank a couple of sips as they drove off.
‘I got a report of an Aftershok attack at King’s Hospital’ said Mike.
‘Why would an Aftershok attack an Hospital?’ she asked.
‘From what my source told me, this Aftershok was a patient of theirs. He has been in a coma for a year, this morning he woke up and went on a rampage’
‘He was in a coma for a year?’ she said looking at him. ‘How do we know he’s an Aftershok?’
‘He took down a Helicopter’ said Mike.
‘Seriously? What is his power?’
‘He didn’t use any powers’ said Mike. ‘He ran up to it and made it crash. I’m guessing he doesn’t even know he is an Aftershok’
‘How do we know he’s an Aftershok, he could be some poor guy who got the wrong idea’ said Rebecca.
‘They had him under observation for a year’ Mike told her, ‘I don’t know why they gave him special treatment since coma patients get moved to another facility, but they kept him to keep an eye on him. We are going to see if we can get any answers’
‘Why bother’ she sigh, putting her arm against the window. ‘If this is an Aftershok case then the ACA will take over. You know they are basically the new police force in this city’
‘We still have a job to do’ said Mike. ‘We don’t know if he is still human, if he is then it is our case, but if he is an Aftershok then…’
‘We don’t tell them and take the case anyway’ Rebecca said to him. ‘That is what you would usually do anyway’
‘You know me so well’
They drove through downtown until they reach King’s Hospital. Rebecca look out the window to see the crashed helicopter in the courtyard, the ACA blocked off access to it as they have their trucks parked outside the doors. She is kinda impressed this guy can do that to a helicopter. ‘Do we have a name for our maybe Aftershok?’ she asked.
‘Isaac Clarke’ said Mike. He parked the car on the side of the road. ‘I will soon get a file on him, right now we should talk to the doctor in charge of him’
They stepped out of the car and made their way to the doors, avoiding the gazes of the ACA guards as they watch them enter. Then they took the elevator to the seventh floor and made it to the lobby. The ACA agents are talking to the nurses at the desk, while the patients and families waited in the waiting room.
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Rebecca look around to see one of the agents talking to a woman, ‘…He did cause a lot of trouble in school, but he isn’t a bad person’ she said.
‘Madam your son is considered dangerous’ said the Agent, reaching into his white jacket and pulled out a card, ‘If he makes contact with you please call us immediately’ he handed her the card then walked away.
Mike went up to the desk, the nurse in charge was looking over folders as he cleared his throat, ‘Excuse me’ he said.
The nurse look up, she is dark skin like him and has her hair in a bun. ‘What?’ she said, ‘We are quite busy here’
‘Detective Mike Johnson, this is Detective Rebecca Hawkins, we are here to see Dr Lee’ said Mike showing her his badge.
‘Police, we already spoken with the ACA and they said they will get this guy for us’ said the Nurse.
‘Then you wouldn’t mind if we meet with the doctor to answer some questions’ said Mike.
The Nurse sighed, ‘Fine, if it gives you cops something to do these days. He is in his office on the left’ she nodded to the door on the far side. Mike thanked her and then they made their way to the office. Mike knocked on the door, then walked in, Rebecca following behind. ‘Dr Lee, my name is Detective Mike Johnson, this is my partner Rebecca Hawkins. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?’
Dr Lee was at his desk, paperwork scattered everywhere as he put his pen down. ‘Fine, please take a seat’ he gestured to the chairs by the desk.
Rebecca look around, this office is what you would expect of a head doctor. There are medical certificates on the wall, books on different diseases and medication in the bookshelf, and of course a model skeleton in the corner. They took their seats. ‘What can I help you with detectives?’ the doctor asked.
‘We want to know about Isaac Clarke’ said Mike. ‘He was a patient here until this morning, can you tell us what he was in for?’
‘Yes, he came in on the night of the Storm one year ago’ he answered, adjusting his glasses. ‘He had a high fever that wouldn’t go down, and he was suffering from severe burns. It was then I suspected something might be off’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Mike.
‘The severe burns were not on his body; it was inside him’ said the Doctor. ‘We kept him in a cold room until it could go down, but he just kept getting hotter. The nurses all burn their hands whenever they touched him. It wasn’t until the Aftershoks start showing up that I suspected what he might be’
‘Do you think his powers are connected to the heat?’ asked Rebecca.
‘I do not know’ said Dr Lee. ‘Unfortunately he was in a deep coma, when I alerted the newly formed ACA about him they told us to keep him here under strict observation until he wakes up, by which we are to alert them at once. Which we have the moment one of my nurses told us he has awaken’
‘But he escaped’ said Rebecca. ‘Do you have a file on him by any chance?’
Dr Lee reached into one of his drawers and pulled out a folder, handing it to her. Rebecca open it up and look down at the file. Isaac was aged seventeen when he was brought in, still in high school, which means he is eighteen years of age now. ‘Did he have any visitors come see him?’ Mike asked, ‘Friends, family?’
‘His mother visits regularly’ he answered, ‘She is outside right now if you want to talk to her. His father barely comes to see him, and his siblings come from time to time. He did have friends with him the first few months, they were the ones who brought him to us’
‘Who are his friends?’ asked Mike.
‘Derek Cole and Elizabeth Wilson’ said Dr Lee. ‘Those are their names before they became Steamstrike and Artic. Seven months ago they broke in one night in an attempt to take Isaac with them, but the security guard caught them and they fought back. We never saw them again, the guard on duty was going to get married the next week’ he lower his head. ‘His poor fiancée’
‘I heard of that’ said Mike. ‘I was one of the detectives on that case’
Rebecca nodded, ‘To think those monsters were his friends’ she said.
‘Isaac could be a bigger monster like them’ said Dr Lee, ‘He proved it by throwing a Helicopter at the building. He needs to be captured before he could join the Revolution, who knows what his power will do to benefit them?’
‘We will find him’ said Mike getting up. ‘Thank you for your time Dr Lee’
‘Anytime detective’ Dr Lee shook his hand, ‘There is something else you should know’ he said.
‘What is it?’ asked Mike.
‘All we did was to keep his nutrients up, but the rest, his muscles, his legs, usually we massage them so he can get some strength back when he awakes but there was no need’
‘Why?’ asked Rebecca.
‘One night, when it was cold we were afraid his temperature might drop as quickly as it rose’ said Dr Lee, ‘So we left a heater inside his room hoping it might keep him warm during the night. But on the next day we found the heater was ice cold, while still on mind you. When we check Mr Clarke’s vitals they seem to have stayed the same if not even healed his internal injuries. It was almost like he absorb the heat to keep his body healthy. Is there an Aftershok who can do that with their power?’
‘Not one I know of’ said Mike, ‘The ACA keep track of these kind of things. Thank you for letting us know’
‘Of course detective, good luck’
They left the office back into the lobby. Rebecca spots Isaac’s Mother in the lobby, poor woman probably worried sick about her son. It is a real tragedy that she has to find out her son has turn into a monster.
‘Should we ask her where Isaac might go to?’ she asked Mike.
He shook his head. ‘No point, Isaac was smart enough to know the ACA guards were coming for him. He wouldn’t dare try to contact his mother or go home. Right now he is hiding somewhere until dark that’s when he will move’
‘Where do you think he will go?’ Rebecca asked as they head for the lifts.
‘He will try to look for his friends’ said Mike pressing the button for the ground floor. ‘He will think that the news about him will reach out to them, and they might think to meet at the last place they saw each other’
‘Which is?’
‘Vivid’ said Mike. ‘It was the light festival last year when the Storm happen, and it is on tonight. They were three teenagers out on a school night, so the most likely place they went to is the Docks to watch the lights. My guess they will decide to meet there again’
‘Steamstrike and Artic’ said Rebecca. ‘They tried to upend half the city before the ACA stopped them, but they escaped’
‘All because of him’ said Mike.
‘Do you think Hero might be with them, as backup just in case the ACA are there’ said Rebecca.
‘If he is, then this is a bigger problem than we might realize’ said Mike. ‘We need to go to Vivid tonight and search, once we find Isaac we can take him to the ACA, he doesn’t know what has happened to the world while he was asleep so we will use that to our advantage’
‘I hope you’re right about this’ said Rebecca.
‘I am Rebecca, otherwise we are all screwed’
They walked out and back to the car. Rebecca looked back the destruction Isaac Clarke caused in only one morning. He is out there somewhere in the city planning his next move, planning on hurting more people.
Who knows what is going through his head right now
