Xionus - Intro: Reflection

   "Mr. Brenan, It's time to wake up. Your daily testing is about to commence." A soothing feminine voice announced through the holo-screen.

   I toss back the odd, yet comforting gel blanket and stand up. I stumble over to the mirror. I brought my weight up by twenty pounds, making a grand total of 156. My build slightly leaner than I used to be. My chest still bears a scar from where that bullet struck me twenty years ago... I glance towards my stubbled face. I gaze into the depths of those unfeeling brown eyes.

   I get distracted as the door slides open and the Doctor steps in. As she flips her brunette hair her eyes look me over as I get dressed in the strange blue jumpsuit patients wear. As it vacuums into a form fitting shape, I give a sigh. "Lets do this." As we begin the walk down the extensive sterile white corridor, the doc says something to me.

    "Alright Jacob, I need you to stretch out your arms. Thats it. Now your legs, and work your wrists. I don't want you cramping up. All right, let's go."

   "So, what are we testing today Dr. Thentas? Why do I need to stretch anyway? what are we going to do? More spoon bending? I told you, I can't do any of that anymore. I lost it when..."

    "When your brother died?" "Yes..." "We forgave the Human race for the atrocities committed. Even your family, Jacob. Do you want to know why we haven't sent you home?" I listened intently on her velvety voice, focused on the accent that no longer disturbs me. "Yes, I have been quite curious. You won't even let me outside..."

   The doctor takes a deep breath. "One of the terms of cease fire was a complete blockade between our planets. There was a two month grace period in which the stranded survivors of both factions were allowed to travel home. Currently, the only craft allowed to land on Earth or even here on Xionus, are ambassadors from both worlds. Last month a trade meeting was announced. Valuable minerals from our planet, silicon and various metals from yours."

   "Well, when we are done here, can I go back to Earth?"

   "No, I'm afraid it's not quite that simple... As I said, only political officials are allowed transit. Those who didn't make it home are left on the planet. We take great care for the human refugees, though most are bitter about it." A depressed look crosses her face, her pale skin writhing and twisting, trying to shift back into it's normal state. She notices me staring in awe, and subtle revulsion. After refocusing it shifts back into the human form I am accustomed to seeing.

   "I am so sorry..." she states, expressing true concern.

   "It's, fine...I guess..." I am actually quite shocked. It is policy to maintain human guise while working with true humans. As we walk into the rounded room I stop and think about what the Skinners really are.

   I have only seen their true faces and bodies when I killed them,during the assault they were all in their natural forms. Thin, Armored bodies covered in a tan and gold chitinous material not unlike a Terran crab. Between these exoskeletal plates is scaled flesh in an iridescent blue. Somehow their form is malleable, even to the point of mimicking simple clothes.

   I pull out my chair on the small square table and gaze around the room, just as pale and sterile as the hallway. I start remembering my first kill, and it haunts me.

   Shortly after the botched attack started I gripped the closest Skinner in a telekinetic vice. And I squeeze. My physical hands are gripping air as I focus more intensely on crushing this bug into paste. It screams and explodes, blue-brown ichor splats onto my face and body... I mercilessly slaughtered all in my path until that slug thrower hit me in the back.

   I shiver involuntarily at the thought that I killed so indiscriminately, only to realize it was a mistake. These people don't even hold a grudge for it. I snap back to reality at the doctors voice and take my seat.

   "Since we have passed the two month adjustment phase since I thawed you, The psychology division thinks you are ready for this. Please remain seated." She has a worried look on her face, which unsettles me. The Doc is the only "friend" I have at this place. Other scientists will talk, but they always seem disinterested.

   "Ok doc." I answer nonchalantly. In reality I feel quite uneasy.

   The door shuts and I can hear the safety bolts locking into place. A holo projector switches on, the emitter placed atop the table emits an eerie glow which forms a two-dimensional screen. I glance at the one way mirror that dominates the left hemisphere of the dome-like room. The video is showing a bustling city. I see a human vehicle land at the outskirts, and a few dots exit. I realize with horror that this is the night when my life crashed all around me. I can hear screams. There are flashes of electricity and gunfire, followed up with a few pulses from energized weapons.


   "Turn it off. I said TURN IT OFF!" I scream at the glass. The video continues to play. I can hear the screaming of the populace now. So many dying. "Please, Turn it off!" I begin to shake. remembering my father's sudden death from an Ion blast to his skull... My sister died next. On the video I can see the pulse of electricity that signals her death. The camera zooms down into the city. I can see Jordan leaning over my twitching body, the pavement bubbling near him.

   The video switched to a weapons point of view. The peacekeeper is walking towards my brother. He doesn't shoot, focusing instead on me . He points the gun to my temple and utters "Human trash." And prepares to fire. Jordan whirls on him, making eye contact. I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes, the look that Jordan gives the officer is one of innocence lost. His light-brown eyes have dulled, all that exists within is sadness, and a hellish wrath.

   "TURN IT OFF GOD DAMNIT! PLEASE!" I scream to them, begging to have it shut off. Everywhere I go in the room, the screen follows. The officers field of vision is engulfed in a torrent of fire. The last few seconds show the gun fire a round which slams into Jordan's chest. The chairs in the room begin to hover, vibrating in tune with my pleas to the Skinners behind the mirror.

   The camera cuts to a birds-eye view of the city. A path of fire is worming its way to the city center. Once there it pauses for a moment. The chairs fly at the projector, only to smash into each other. I try to close my eyes but I can't, I watch as a wave of unearthly fire rips through the entire city-scape.

   The camera descends, hovering over the blast zone. Skinners in environmental suits leap into view, a dull maroon flash envelops them as they activate gravity nullifiers. My lifeless body is retrieved. There is nothing else left around. The only untouched patch of pavement is the one I was on. Ropes drop from the cameras point of view, and the recovery team grabs hold and the camera lifts off again.

   I look at the glass, And shout "WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU MAKING ME RELIVE THIS!" I can feel myself reaching boiling point, and the glass shatters. Everyone behind the mirror is jerked into the room. Pieces of the floor are being slashed open by a whirlwind of invisible blades, and shards of glass.

   I start walking towards the helpless scientists and revel in the terror behind their eyes when they realize that as I get closer , more of the ground is being destroyed. One gets up to run away and steps to close. His hand simply drops off along with his "nose" and a half-inch thick layer of skin which slides off his chest as the telekinetic blades whicker in his direction. I stare at the tissue and observe the transition back into skinner flesh. I turn to face the others, intending to make them suffer before killing them. They obviously didn't expect an emotional response this intense. They are wrong. Dead. Fucking. Wrong.

   I take the first few steps in the direction of the other two, only to hear the soft whisper of a dart. I grab at my neck to pull the needle out. Before the drug even begins to kick in I find myself losing control. The telekinetic force has dwindled to a mere breath of air, and just as harmful. In seconds I lose it completely.

   I look to the doorway to see four guards and the doctor walking in. I sit on the floor, trying to contain the emotional despair within me. The guards spread out around me while one of them rushes the wounded Skinner to the infirmary.

   I can hear the doc shouting at the scientists. "I did not authorize you to show him the whole thing! He was not ready! I specifically told you to edit out the death of his family! " Her speech devolves into a stream of chittering nonsense, and the others responded in kind.

   After saying something to the guards, she sits down next to me and places an arm around my shoulder. I can't hold it back anymore. I begin sobbing like a child. The only time since my family died. "Doc, I...I couldn't save him... He would have lived if only I had died be...before he got to me. H...H..He was just a kid! They wouldn't have killed him! What was so Goddamn important to send a child out into the field? They could have found another to take his place! P..pyrokinetics are easy to train why not someone older? No, it had to be the whole family..." My words begin to run together.

   "Shhhhh...Calm down... It wasn't your fault..." Doctor Thentas whispers into my ear as she pulls me closer. I give in to the embrace and begin to feel the effects of the drug.

   "Doctor Thentas... Will I ever...be allowed to leave? Even...after this? I can't take it anymore." I ask groggily.

    "I will take care of it. Just go to sleep. Everything will be better in the morning."

    "Thanks Doctor Thentas."

    "Call me Brokha. Now go to sleep."

    "Brokha. That's a nice..."


  Darkness seeps into my head, stealing away conscious thought