The constant and heaviness from the rain outside broke his concentration yet again, the roaring thunder in the distance looming around him. His interlaced fingers break contact when a light knock comes to the door then subtly creeps open “hey, Howard…huh you alright in here? Been oddly quiet the last few hours.” Luke asked as he cautiously enters the room. Howard trying to get back into focus continues sitting in front of the window, eyes closed, fingers locked, and steady breathing. “Yes just trying to focus, seeing if…what’s the best way to explain this? In health class, we discussed health outlets for powers and emotions. In science, we discussed the individual’s evolution of powers and how some expand into future ranges than others”, “you mean like a pyromancer bloom from simple hand tricks to higher stuff like flame embodiment.”, “yes yes, exactly. I mean what if you can do more than just transfer elemental energy through objects, like what if you could do that on a body amplifying level.” The excitement in his voice calls for Luke to be in the whirlwind of curiosity with him, “what are you aiming for?” Luke asks “I don’t know since there is no real way of guessing what kind of trait your powers will evolve into.” Luke shrugs taking a seat on Howard’s bed “So, Imma take a wild guess and assume that all this stuff you crammed your brain with is of no use.”, “ Don’t mock me, Luke.” Luke throws his hands up, defenseless “Why would you think that? I’m just suggesting you’re overthinking and meditation is well….the opposite of a brainiac.” Howard shrugs, closing his eyes once again only to shortly hear ruffling behind him. “What are you doing?” his groggy tone and low demeanor pause Luke in his actions “Well, I’m looking for a chip.”, “ a chip, you say?”, “yes, it’s a hacker chip to simply put it.” Howard grunts before opening his eyes and turning his head “ and who are we hacking?” Luke says nothing to Howard’s question only locking yes with Luke before he returns to his mediation and Luke continues to ruffle through.
A sharp yet high pitch “I found it” comes from down the hall, it was Colt. His footsteps punching the ground so heavily and with haste, he storms into the room “here…it…is, it was….under…some of your….books” his chest inflates and deflates rapidly as he tries to catch his breath. Luke takes it in his fingers and looks around the small, black, cartridge “yup, this is it.”, “Who are we hacking?” Howard asks again but he gets no response in return only hearing the rapid pounding of footsteps going as quickly as they came. Howard huffs letting out a deep exhale, the continuous rain beating on the window calms him down to concentrate once more. His mind begins to go blank, as he opens his eyes he is in a dark room with a blinding overlight above him “what is this place?” even at his low tone, it manages to echo throughout like some sort of cave. Taking a step forward he feels the wetness beneath his feet and wiggles his toes to be sure that this wasn’t some dream, “interesting “ he says to himself as he continues forward. It seemed like two hours had passed since when he first started walking. He stops for a second and plops into the water, exhausted, Hand on forehead and eyes glaring into the barely visible water. A thought strikes his mind, he crosses his legs and gets into his meditation pose, activating his x-ray vision only then was he able to see it. The flicker off in the distance, he tilts his head as he gets up and cautiously walks over to it. It wasn’t a flicker of light but rather a swirl of lights or clouds violently spinning in a circle to create a portal. He sticks out his hand to touch it but he touches the surface, it wasn’t a portal but a mirror. He stares into it, his reflection of a young teen, with long brunette curly hair, glowing white eyes. With his bare chest and thin slink arms by his side, the mirror reacts in an instant simultaneously with the thunder banging outside causing Howard to jump back. “Wow, I can still hear that. Crazy” He says with a smile turn back into the mirror the reflection gets clouded with a milky-like substance.
“It’s basics, it’s basic” it first comes in a little statically before clearing up, “look Fin. The director called wanted to know how the boys were and were their powers seeing any irregularities?”, “irregularities, as in?”, “as in enough to blackout half a state”, “Damn,” Finn says “half a state?” he asks with concern, Kane on the other hand slouched back into the chair. “ is this some portal….or rather am I seeing the present? No, the future?” Howard asks himself in uncomfortable disbelief, but whether or not he believes doesn’t stop him from focusing harder. Coming to the realization, the more he concentrates the clear he can see “ Look I told the Director and the Captain, I don’t know what kind of experiment you have going on here but it sure as hell doesn’t involve our kids” Kane takes a long drag while looking at the floor. Finn tilts his head back, rubbing his eyes and sighing. “Hey, have you heard anything from Agent D”, “ No, not for some time” Finn chuckles as he gets up walking over to the countertop pouring himself a glass of whisker over two cubes of ice? “ Guess being the head over a whole boarding school takes away your youth” he cracks a cheerful smile to Kane who has made his way over to the counter as well “ nobody ever says raising kids are easy. Which is why I don’t want any” Finn throws up his hand “ but you were engaged to….what was her name?” Finn says to himself as he trots the room.
“ must we do this every time?” Kane shouts in embarrassment “Gloria! See I told you I would remember her name.”, “disturbingly, yes” Kane replies, sighing in deep. “I get the feeling that the shadows are plotting”, “aye-aye, now you’re talking out of our pay grade.”, “I mean, tell me I’m lying Finn. We got a school full of mutants, talented children, and young adults. We could be teaching them how to harness a better future to be collective and cooperative with mutants but what does the Director want?” Kane pauses as he takes another sip from the glass “Us to babysit kids with little interferants, what a joke.” He finishes his sentence with a knockback of the liquor that was left. Finn seems to give Kane’s words a second thought before taking the last of his back when the visual turn back to a milky white.
As Howard struggles to pull the image back, he hears the echoes of words from both Colt and Luke. He tries to resist as the force of will pulls him back the black room quickly sinking, to a vivid memory. He opens his eyes to his brothers over him, shouting down as he is in a panic. Sweat running down his face, “Howard!” Luke shouts “Hey man, geez you can’t be doing that. You alright bro?” Howard doesn’t say anything to Luke in response but rather mumbles.
The storm settles as the last bit of the day’s sun rays are trying to push through, before dusk hits into twilight.
“Hey Luke,” Howard says from one of the back yard chairs that overlooks the acres of the yard into the forest, Luke however continues looking forward, not responding “ Hey Luke!” Howard says again as he walks towards him, his bare feet walking around the pool area, the ground was could he thought. Well, at least the parts that were still soaked by the rain at least. As he moves in, he places his hand on Luke’s shoulder, startling him as he looks up “ Howard? Dude, what are you doing? You know you can’t sneak up behind people like that” He says pulling out one of his headphones, “ But…I” Howard begins to say but then gestures nevermind, “anyway, I was interested in who you and Colt were hacking earlier?”, “school.”, “school?” , “yes, we wanted to know the underlying code to the academy”, “ and you know how to code?” Howard ask compelled by his confusion “man, hell no. But little bro-ski Colt does and the school might want to get a better I.T. man cause their cybersecurity is worse than “Mall Cop Bart”. His passionate response causes both the boys to pause before sharing in a chuckle, “ Find anything interesting while you were….digging around?” Luke breaks eye contact with the backyard to stare a Howard, he begins to squint his eyes looking as if he was to analyze him “ you’re giving off the vibe like you got a big secret” Howard throws up his hands “who? Me, no man just was curious what was happening in the house. Don’t want some of those crazy agents like Kane or Finn to show up at the door cause you two wanna go hacking schools”, “ uh-huh. Regardless we have found some pretty interesting things…..” The flickering of lights stops Luke from continuing, he looks down almost in concentration “Howard, do you….do you hear that” just then the sound of loud metal blades cutting through the air makes way as the aftershock causes the ground to change from a slight rumble to a full ground-pounding shake. The boys look up as he flies overhead “where is it going?” Their eyes follow it, Howard even activating his eyes to see if he can see further when a large almost cosmic mini-explosion happens just from beyond the tree lines “what the hell” Howard says blocking his eyes from the blinding light with his forearm. “ What is going on over there?” Luke says standing up, fist clenched.
“Hey Luke, Howard” everyone inside Kane comes out to say, “but…” Howard lowers his arm. As fast as the helicopter came it just as quickly went and the explosion was nowhere to be seen. As Howard walks through the door, past Kane he takes a look back over the tree-like “ Kane did you see anything before you came out here?”, “ nope kiddo, all I have seen is two kids who need to be headed to bed” Howard throws his head down shaking it before letting out the relief with a chuckle.
Thirty minutes out from midnight and the house was dimly lit and quiet, the two back yard seats now preoccupied with Agents Finn and Kane, “How long do you think they will keep those helicopters over that Clovefield girl’s house, Kane?”, “ Truth be told, I couldn’t tell you until we got our briefing on what the situation is”, “I give it an hour or so but more Agents will be placed on that neighborhood; I’d bet half my check on it.”, “whoa slow down there, cold barrel, Clovefield like the daughter of the international engagement leaders daughter Clovefield? Nah for someone in her position even as a child they wouldn’t send adult agents in to be close with her, they would send in children.
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