The steady beat of the heart monitor and the slow drip from the IV bag filled the room. My eyes opened as I looked around the room. The first thing I noticed was Iseph sitting down in a chair next to my bed, reading his book and smoking his usual cigarette.
"Oh, you are finally awake," Iseph said with a casual tone, as if he wasn't the reason why I was in this bed to begin with. I slowly sat up, feeling the soreness and pain from the evaluation.
"So, did I pass?"
His eyes began to look up from his book, and as usual, he used his cigarette as a bookmark. "You passed with flying colors," Iseph said coldly.
Anyone could tell from the coldness in his tone that this man was hiding something. "Don't you have something else to tell me?" I said while examining his expression. Most people make it obvious that they are lying, but Iseph wasn't most people.
"Can you stop being such a curious ass, Caspian?"
Looking at me with an annoyed expression. I wondered what he could be hiding, but I just pushed it to the side and began to sit up. Iseph eventually stood up, walked towards a table, and picked up a small device that looked like some sort of reader. He walked towards me and held out the device.
"Put your finger on the device," Iseph said with a commanding tone. I was a bit confused as to what the device was, but I still put my finger on the device. The surface was warm–too warm. It felt closer to skin than metal.
Then the device lit up.
Not one color.
Not a spectrum.
The light stuttered.
Iseph stared intently at the device's screen, eagerly waiting for a reading.
A low hum filled the room, then a wide array of colors etched across the luminescent screen.
"So, what's it doing?" I asked.
Iseph didn't respond, his eyes still tightly focused on the screen.
Symbols began burning across the screen, classification signals meant for post-analysis. One after another, they appeared… then cracked like glass under pressure.
"His primary type should've arrived by now," Rhex said while looking at Iseph, "It's not stabilizing…"
I noticed Rhex leaning against the wall, watching carefully.
"When did you get here?"
Rhex would turn his attention to me, "I just got back from a little short mission," Rhex said before turning back to the device that was still fluctuating.
The device then went dark.
The moment it went dark, everything felt lighter, then the machine screamed.
Not a sound– a pressure.
I ripped my finger away as the device split down the center, purple light leaking from the fracture as if it were a wound.
PRIMARY TYPE: NULL BEARER
The room changed.
Rhex's expression darkened.
"...That's not possible," Rhex said. "Null Bearers don't register, they erase readings…"
The device cracked down its center.
Purple light bled from the fracture, like a wound before finally dying out.
Iseph stared at the broken machine.
Then he exhaled slowly, "So it confirms it…" Iseph said.
"Confirms what?" I asked while looking at his expression for any reason why they were so shocked.
His crimson eyes finally set on me. His gaze was neither hostile nor kind… it was just sharp.
"Null bearers generate karma much differently than other types," Iseph said, "Instead, they subtract."
"Subtract? What do you mean?", I asked with a hint of fear and confusion in my eyes.
"It means that you steal karma from the dead," Iseph said, "The more you kill, the stronger you become."
After what seemed like a few minutes, Iseph's face finally turned into a smile, a crooked one at that.
"What does this make me…"
"It makes you a walking dead zone," Iseph said while walking closer to me before suddenly leaning in.
"And if you ever lose control…"
His crimson eyes stared at me for an unusually long time.
"You won't spiral, you'll take everything else near you."
"Then what do I do…" I whispered, my voice shaking.
Iseph's eyes locked onto mine. "There's only one thing you can do. Control it. Master it."
"But what if I can't control it? What if someone—"
His hand snapped across my face before I could finish. Pain exploded across my cheek, but worse was the fire in his gaze.
"What kind of man are you, Caspian?" he spat, each word slicing through the air. "The kind who trembles at the thought of killing his teammate… or the kind who takes initiative, so that it never happens?"
He stepped towards the door, Rhex following closely behind. I felt the weight of his gaze one last time.
"Don't disappoint me, Null-Bearer."
The door slams, with the same slow, methodical drip of the IV.
I pressed my hand to my cheek, tasting blood, feeling the sting. And then it hit me, the truth of Iseph's words. I had to master my powers. Or it would end up controlling me.
What am I?
A member of the Concord Division?
A Null Bearer?
Or just scum dragged up from the streets?
Those negative thoughts still lingered in my mind, no matter how hard I pushed them away. Perhaps my life was bound to be like this. A life where I could never truly find a sense of friendship or something to care for.
I refuse…
I refuse to allow my life to continue under this false belief of weakness. If I had to control this power, I would do so.
No matter the cost.