Omega

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The dimness of the cell poured a deep shadow over Maya, accentuating the hollows and lines of his face. The strange lighting gave him a ghastly appearance. His eyes were deep set and sloped in anguish. His shoulders were tipped forward and his entire presence was pulled in. Xiao couldn't believe how he could become so unrecognizable in such a short time.

Maya shook his head wearily and avoided looking Xiao Yan in the eyes.

"I wish you had not come." Xiao stepped forward and leaned toward him.

"Brother how could I not?" At the sound of the familial term, Maya visibly flinched.

"You know what I have done. What more is there to say?" In response Xiao simply nodded for the tech to escort Maya to the inquisition table.

Maya looked over the terminal equipment and sighed heavily. Still, he obediently sat down.

Xiao guided him through the events of the day. He started from the week prior and ended on the evening after the incident. He walked through Maya's recall, carefully analyzing every detail.

He watched as Maya and his team began finishing the day after working on the construction of his lab. The special forces were used in heavy construction due to their increased strength and endurance. The young rookie followed Maya back to the city as the day finished. Suddenly there was a a run of static and then a blink of black.

In the next moment Maya's blade swung with no thoughts running behind his actions. In less than a blink of an eye, the young soldier was cut down. Cleanly decapitated, he fell to the ground. Maya's mind was seemingly empty throughout the act. There was a stillness to his thoughts that was strange; a void Xiao struggled to understand. He felt the rush that broke through, the utter confusion that then overtook Maya as he absorbed the events upon looking at the young rookie's body on the ground.

Xiao set down the terminal and loaded the inquiry onto a memory crystal. He packed up his stuff and reached across the table to grab a hold of Maya's hand. Maya's head was lowered and his shoulders shook and trembled at the contact. Xiao couldn't find any words to say that would lessen Maya's anguish. He knew that Maya was in a level of despair that he couldn't comprehend. All he could do to help was try to find out what had happened. Even though Maya's memories correlated with the murder, something seemed off to him. He stood up and quietly exited the cell as the officer restrained Maya.

Xiao walked straight to Casey's lab. He needed Casey's mind to bounce his findings off of. Casey looked up from his bench as Xiao entered the room. His eyes were full of sadness as he took in Xiao's turmoil.

"I heard that you went to Maya's cell to perform your own inquiry. Were you able to find anything?" Xiao sat down wearily and handed Casey the memory crystal.

"I need another mind to see everything. I can't shake the feeling that something is very off."

"Are you sure it wasn't a mental break? That could show up as a variety of anomalies." Xiao shook his head.

"Although that is not my field. I really don't think that is what happened. Something....just feels wrong about the whole thing." Casey's eyes widened to green pools and he grabbed Xiao's hand.

"You are too close to this."

"Just look it over and tell me what you think." Xiao waited while Casey reviewed his inquiry of Maya's memories. Suddenly Casey stilled and handed a terminal to Xiao Yan.

"There is something that doesn't fit." Xiao affixed the terminal to his head. In front of him was a table with an apple. A pair of glasses was pierced through the center of the apple and a window was fixed behind the table, under the table was a thick darkness. The scene was bare but oddly full. Xiao wasn't certain what he was looking at.

"This is what is referred to as a core scene. It is the subconscious in a crystalline form. The thing is, this only occurs in the moments before death. I saw it many times with the Surge when Valentin was using researcher minds as processors. Right before the brain would collapse their mental processing would coalesce into a static scene that represented the cornerstone of the individual. This scene showed up very briefly after the static. If I had not seen these with the Surge, I would have missed it. They only flash very briefly. I have never seen it happen with a living healthy person. You are right. This isn't mental illnesss. It isn't a mental break...it isn't even murder. There is only one way that this would occur other than death." Xiao looked up at Casey, anxiously awaiting his answer.

"An invader."

"That isn't possible. Not only is controlling actions nearly impossible even with the most skilled of blockers, but Maya was not hooked up to a terminal. How could someone hack his mind? Why?" Casey shook his head, clearly confused himself.

"I have no idea." Casey worried his lip and furrowed his brow as he thought.

"what were they doing that day with your lab?"

"They were finishing the building up."

"Have all the system lines been installed?"

"of course that was one of the first things done, once the frame of the building was constructed. That still doesn't explain anything. Even if they could access the system...how could they get to Maya?"

They both grew silent as they mulled the odd situation over. In the end neither of them could come up with anything.

Xiao headed back to his dorm, only to be faced with darkness. It took him a minute to remember that Heine had been sent to secure the perimeter with his team. Xiao had a feeling that Heine had requested the charge after hearing what happened with Maya near his new facility. He knew that Heine was just as unsettled by the events and wanted to ensure his safety personally.

The next morning Xiao awoke to a strange sense of chaos gripping the Shire. His contact went off and he lifted his wrist to see Gordon's face pop up.

"Ervel needs to meet you in his office as soon as possible." Xiao nodded and hurried to get dressed. He rushed over the Academy and walked straight in to Ervel's office.

He was instantly ushered in and saw Ervel sitting at his desk with a strained look on his face. Xiao sat down and waited for him to speak. Ervel rubbed his temples tiredly, a slightly shell shocked look twisting his features.

"Did you know that Jane was back?" Xiao leaned forward confused.

Had Jane done something?