Adam

Chapter Four (4): - Day One (2)

As he locked eyes with the captain, the electricity around him exploded and he moved.

  The captain’s eyes widened as he activated his own technique “Barrier art; Locking cage!”.

  His opponent’s steps were slowed before his eyes, and as he stretched out his palm towards him, a dense, pink barrier formed a cube around the calvary and locked him in.

  Over in the observation room, a young doctor clad in a white robe, walked over to a group of security guards watching the fight scene from the CCTV footage.

  He could see the berserk calvary, a young man probably in his very early twenties that was wearing dreadlocks.

  He arranged the frames of his glasses as he observed closer, electricity was crackling violently around the calvary.

  His expression changed to surprise, then to delight, he grinned widely.

  “Will you look at that? Today is my lucky day. What’s the serial number of that calvary?” he asked one of the guards.

  The guard looked up and he saw the maniacal grin on the doctor’s face, he shrugged, all the people here were mad anyways.

  What was an ordinary day here in a secret organisation for dead people?

  So long as the pay was good, he’d keep his lips sealed.

  “That’s calvary c-10101 doctor. He’s had a berserk awakening”

  “You don’t need to tell me that” the doctor replied “but it’s quite clear that your captain doesn’t have matters under control, despite being a calvary himself?”

  The guard gritted his teeth, Dr. Kabir was infamous for rubbing salt in wounds as he was for being one of the best doctors the CCA had.

  And he was a calvary himself, although no one really knew his ability or how long he’d been around.

  Even ordinary workers and calvary’s that had been around for over fifty years met him when they were new.

  And his eternal youth, the benefit of being a calvary, almost always made people doubt his old age.

  He turned around and walked to a bigger screen, showing the energy readings in the underground containment.

  His eyes widened, the output was high, especially for a new calvary.

  He turned his head and his eyes fell on the guard at the other computer screen “I’m going in”.

  Calvary c-10101 locked eyes with the captain from within the pink, cube-like barrier.

  His rage was boiling and the crackling electricity was slowly filling up the entire barrier.

  ‘What kind of power does that monster have?’ the captain asked himself ‘just an awakened calvary and he’s easily supressing my barrier. He’s overpowering me already!’

  He was gripping his outstretched right arm with his broken left arm.

  Healing was slow because the damage was extreme.

  His sweat was beginning to mix with his blood and blurring his vision.

  ‘I can’t go down. I’ll hold him until he back-up comes. They must be on their way already. They’re seeing all this in the observation room, aren’t they?’

  Calvary c-10101 roared and pounded his fist right into the barrier with all his might and rage.

  Electricity burst and boomed as he fist struck the pink wall, but the barrier didn’t give way.

  He punched again, and again, and again, growling like a wild animal and pounding away.

  The speed of his punches increased, each blow coming with such thunderous force that the steel floor in the region of that barrier shattered.

  The captain was feeling the effect, each punch to the barrier wall, although nullified, shook him internally where he stood.

  Soon, as the punches came with increasing speed and magnitude, he coughed out blood and felt the warm trickle of blood as it poured out from his nose freely.

  ‘I’m losing out fast!’ he screamed in his head in alarm ‘I can’t let him touch it anymore!’

  He opened his palm wider just as the calvary was about to punch the wall again, then like a sudden swelling, the cube like barrier prison expanded to three times its initial size.

  The calvary swung the next punch but at that instant, the barrier expanded and he tripped and fell to the floor.

  The captain exhaled and began breathing heavily ‘expanding the barrier makes it weaker’ he thought to himself ‘but no matter the power he packs in those punches, he won’t be able to dent it for a while’.

  The calvary rose, then glared at the captain, his gaze was piercing, calculating, almost menacing.

  Then he did something terrifyingly cold.

  He raised his hand and pointed his palm at the barrier wall, facing the captain.

  And then, aside from the violently crackling electric surges around him, a new point of electricity sparked and grew instantly in front of his palm.

  The captain’s eyes widened ‘he’s…manipulating it!’

  The electric spark grew exponentially into a large pulse of electric current, then quickly compresses into a much smaller, dense sphere of electricity that crackled violently around itself.

  He locked eyes with the captain and his lips finally moved.

  “Electric art: Thunder clapping bullet”

  The electric sphere shot forward, tearing through the air as it was released and speeding straight towards the barrier wall.

  Then in an instant, it struck.

  Sounding like a bullet against a glass wall, the effect was immediate and evident.

  With thunderous force, it hit the barrier walls and barrier walls and immediately shattered it as electricity ran through it completely in a single second.

  The barrier burst apart like exploding glass, giving way for the electric bullet to shoot further.

  Straight towards the captain

  The captain’s eyes bulged out in surprise ‘shit!’ he cursed inwardly with alarm ‘he burst right through! I’m done for!’

  Then suddenly, a deep blue light flashed and doctor Kabir appeared in front of him.

  He was wearing a wide smile and gazing at the roaring electric bullet eagerly.

  All of a sudden, a huge man, about six to seven feet tall, bolted right in front of Kabir.

  How he had smashed through the electric wall at the entrance, no one knew, but he was like a moving juggernaut.

  The moment he bolted in, the electric bullet was already in front of Kabir and he threw a punch, striking the bullet and sending it flying to the wall where it exploded.

  All the security officers were in awe, this was the defiance of natural physics. To punch electricity.

  Calvary c-10101 growled and bolted at doctor Kabir, his hair flying behind him with violent electric sparks.

  He tightened his fists and roared, but just before he got to the doctor, a bright light flashed and Kabir had teleported directly behind him, smiling genuinely.

  “Hello there, calvary c-10101”

  The calvary sensed a sudden relaxation and instantly, even without his own permission, his body went back to its normal state.

  All the ravaging self-preservation animal instinct, vanished, and the violent electric currents around his body disappeared.

  In that fraction of an instant, even before he could realise what was happening to him, the huge man appeared before him and caught him in a choke hold.

  Ramming his arm into the calvary’s neck, the man sent him smashing hard into the steel floor.

  He stayed there, still conscious and still normal.

  His body hadn’t reacted to that attack.

  He took in a deep breath and shifted his gaze from the huge man to the doctor.

  He was still amazed, how had he done it.

  Finally, he asked “How did you do it? How did you…make me stop?”

  Kabir smiled at him “zero hostility. It’s a state where I reduce my hostility level to total zero, so your body doesn’t detect anything harmful from me and instantly drops its defences. It’s the same state my buddy here used to slam you down. Your body refuses to act against another body which possesses zero hostility”

  He was appalled and his eyes widened in amazement.

  Then he sat up slowly “I see. Thanks for doing that. I wasn’t in control. But I want to ask...who am I? And why am I still alive? The last thing I remember is my death. Or…am I in the afterlife?”

  Kabir smiled genuinely “Is that the only thing you remember, calvary c-10101? Or don’t you want me to stop calling you that?”

  The calvary felt a blinding light hit him and he groaned.

  Then he heard several voices, each calling out a single, familiar name.

  “Adam” he heard himself say “I think my name is Adam. But I don’t recall anything else”

  “Don’t bother” the big guy said and came up to him, then stretched out his palm to help him up.

  “You wouldn’t remember anything else about your past life anymore. That’s the price we pay for being resurrected from the dead. Adam, this is doctor Kabir, and you can call me Big D. Welcome to CCA”.

                Adam’s memory was terribly blurry and blinding, this guy was right, he couldn’t remember nothing else.

  He held the palm and supported himself up.

  “Let’s start with what you are and your purpose of resurrection” Kabir said “the rest will be a lot easier to understand after that”

  They explained to him, everything about being a calvary.

  The CCA, short for Calvary cross activists, was an underground organisation that operated worldwide under the guise of a human rights organisation.

  But their true purpose was the achievement of the impossible miracle of resurrecting the dead.

  The idea of the afterlife, a life beyond death, was the purpose they operated.

  To resurrect people who were thought to be long dead and grant them an almost immortal lifespan that could only be ended by a fellow calvary.

  Each calvary respawned with an ability unique to themselves, many times recurring among multiple calvaries. Some abilities were scarcer than others, some extremely rare, whiles others were so special only one person had them.

  Dr. Kabir, Adam and Big D sat together in a spacious lab, probably Kabir’s lab.

  The doctor rose and turned around “Remember Adam, all abilities are in a class of their own. The rarer they are, the more unknown potential they have. You possess a very unique ability, electricity. So far, with you inclusive, only 4 people in the whole world have awakened the gift of electricity. This clearly means that all the huge sub-units in the CCA will have their eyes on you. But there are also powerful categories...”

  He gazed intently at Adam

  “Light for example, has about twenty users, five times that of electricity but not to be underestimated. Manipulation of light requires extreme control, making light users terribly dangerous”

  Adam digested that part, he had to be weary of light users

  “Certain abilities however, are so much more rare and dangerous than electricity. The ability to manipulate g-matter for instance; a form of matter so terribly unstable it can collapse the sun at certain levels. Big D here, has that power at his command”

  Adam turned to Big D, stunned “So you’re that powerful?” he gasped

  “Nothing to boast about” Big D replied and turned his gaze “Great power comes with great responsibility. A lot of calvaries are irresponsible because of the power they now possess. And the CCA keep them unchecked. It’s a matter of conscience honestly, but just so you know, you are responsible for every harm or pain you cause with your power. And if you ever end a life, remember it weighs heavily on your shoulders”

  Adam seemed confused for a moment at Big D’s distant words.

  “Don’t mind him” Kabir said softly “Big D was once a rogue, he made mistakes in the past which still weigh down on him. The good news is, I’ll be in charge of you till you fully understand when and what you are. When you’re ready to be on your own, just let me know. But you’ll be seeing a lot of me till then”

  He grinned generously at Adam and the latter’s eyes widened “Okay!”

  Meanwhile, news travelled fast of the awakening of a fourth electric calvary.

  The top brass of the CCA in the country found out quick, those known as the Jagabans.

  Among them, one was also an electricity calvary.

  Douglas, the top boss of the group known as the missionaries.

                Douglas sat on a divan in a dimly lit club room at the top of a 32-storey in Lagos.

  The club belong to him and everybody in their fully packed place, were calvaries.

  He was a man that looked to be in his late 50’s.

  He had a white strip of beard running vertically along the black beard on his jaw and heavily beaded eyes that resonated with a stone cold determination.

  He wore a classic black suit and had a glass of scotch whiskey in his hand.

  He watched the stripper on the pole, eyes never diverting.

  A tall, lonesome figure walked up to him.

  A figure in black; a long black detective kind of coat that fell all the way to his knees.

  It concealed even his inner wear in this dimness.

  The figure also wore a black hat to cover his face, one that matched perfectly with the coat and gave him the black and white feel.

  “Frankenstein” Douglas said, his eyes never moving, his voice cutting through the air amidst the loud noise.

  Frankenstein rose his gaze, his face was the reason he wore a hat.

  There were multiple long stitches on his face, as if his head was a rough patch work of a child.

  “Boss” Frankenstein said calmly, his own voice calm and clear “I trust you’ve heard the news”

  “I’m not a jagaban for nothing” Douglas reminded “He’s the one we’ve been waiting for. It’s been two years has it not?”

  “Yes” Frankenstein replied “Should we act now?”

  Douglas’ eyes finally moved, and it rested on the whiskey in his hand “Slow and steady wins the race, right? It might be to our advantage after all. I don’t believe in such metaphors”

  He rose his gaze and stared into the Frankenstein’s cold eyes “Pick up the pace. And handle the first raid, immediately”

  Frankenstein nodded “Yes sir”.