Regenesis (Book 1): Impact (38 page)

Nick
nodded.

“Kyle
Strife,” he told Nick as he stuck his hand out and shook Nick’s hand. Kyle wore
an unbuttoned long sleeved shirt that was well ironed with a tee shirt underneath
it of some cartoon character Nick assumed was from some anime. Kyle also wore
rectangular glasses, kept a short goatee, and had a rather large watch on his
left wrist.

Nick
let out a small breath and admitted that he didn’t plan on staying with the
group for very long, but told Kyle who he was anyway.

“Not
from what I’ve heard. You’re supposed to be Hiroshi’s,” he stopped briefly to
correct himself, “Mizuno’s, star find, and I hardly think that he’ll let you go
so easily.”

“I
don’t think it’s up to him.”

“You’re
stupider than you look you know.”

Nick
ignored the slight and simply agreed with him for argument’s sake.

Kyle
smirked and put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair before
he asked, “So what do you do anyway? You don’t look like we need you at all.”

“I
guess that’d be because you can’t see the big picture.”

“More
than you know.”

Nick
gave up. He got out of his seat and headed for the escalator before Mizuno
stopped him. “You can just ignore most of what he says you know,” Mizuno told
him in reference to Nick’s conversation with Kyle.

“I’m
not trying to leave if that’s why you’re here,” Nick said. “I just want to use
the bathroom.”

Mizuno’s
eyes gleamed and he rolled his eyes. “Sure. Just be back soon, as I’d like to
get things started.”

Nick
wasn’t one for conversations. He liked people just as well, and talking amongst
his friends never bothered him, but being surrounded by a dozen people he
didn’t know made him uneasy.

His
walk was as quiet as it could be, though the dull chatter from the second floor
echoed throughout the vacant store. He didn’t bother bringing a lantern with
him, though he regretted it once he walked into one of the empty shelves. Nick
just swore under his breath, felt his way to the floor, and sat there.

He
wasn’t sure why he was there at all and honestly he didn’t want to be there.
The plan Mizuno orchestrated didn’t interest him and as each day passed by Nick
questioned whether it was all worthwhile. Initially he wanted to stop Victor’s
killer, but it’d been weeks since his brother’s death and all Nick thought
about was whether Victor would even care if Nick did track down the killer.

“So
why aren’t you with the group?”

Nick
nearly shouted when he realized someone sat on the other side of the shelf he leaned
against. His heart slammed into his chest and he tried to catch his breath as
the man apologized.

“I
thought you saw me.”

“Who
are you?”

“Take
a guess kid.”

Nick
listened to his voice closely and asked, “Strom?”

“Yes.”

“What
are you doing here?”

“What
do you think I’m doing here? Mizuno asked me to continue to train you,” Strom
told him.

“I-I
thought we were done.”

“Hardly,”
Strom scoffed. “You didn’t even realize I was here, which means you’re not
ready.”

“Ready
for what?”

“Anything
really,” he told him. “Mizuno wants you to basically be combat ready, should
the need arise.”

“Why
would it?”

Strom
was quiet a moment before he chuckled and said, “You really have no idea? Nick,
think about everything you’ve seen since you met Mizuno. He introduced you to
the existence of people with super powers, he killed a member of the Dáfù out
of a crowd of hundreds, and he knows me. Doesn’t all of that add up?”

“What
do you mean? What are you talking about?”

“Nick,
you need to go figure out what all of this is about.” Nick heard Strom get up
off the floor, heard his duffel bag shuffle with him, and listened to him take
three steps before Nick lost him.

Nick
got up as well and slowly returned to the group. He took a seat in a corner
away from Kyle and his Korean friend, though neither of them noticed his
return. Mizuno however saw it and then ordered everyone to their seats.

He
first passed out all of the head sets and ran a brief test by having everyone
verify that it worked. “Good. I’d first like to again thank everyone for
accepting the call into this group. I originally extended it to a group of
about forty, but this was all who took a true interest in it. We’ll start with
introductions and brief bios so everyone can get to know one another, as we’ll
be working closely from now on.”

He
started with Ke, “This would be Ke Kitayama, head of the Kitayama Corporation.
His abilities include a range of innovative techniques involving electronics.
He’s capable of taking a handheld gaming system, a microwave, a digital camera,
a laser pointer, and forging a weapon with microwave emitting capabilities
strong enough to give the target cancer within minutes.” The announcement of
his ability surprised and impressed a good majority of the group. “And so
everyone is aware, Ke speaks Japanese, Korean, English, and Cantonese.”

Mizuno
moved on to introduce Mithra next, and briefly explained that he could make all
creatures, human and animal, become blind within a set radius of where he was.
(Mizuno also mentioned that Mithra spoke Hindi, Arabic, and English before he
moved on to Melanie). Melanie’s ability included complete control and
manipulation of radio waves, meaning she could control all radio transmissions
within a given area. Mizuno mentioned how he wanted her to expand on her power,
though she rarely pushed her own limits. He told them she spoke English and
Spanish.

“Next
we have Bruce Lord, who served during the war in Iraq from twenty-ten through
twenty-thirteen. His power is actually quite vital to our team, though I’m
aware of how valuable you all are. Bruce will be our primary combatant after
myself, as his senses are so heightened that he can evade shots from AK-47s,
sniper rounds, and much more.” Mizuno added that bullets were just one thing he
could evade, though the list was numerous. “Bruce speaks English, German,
Spanish, Arabic, and French.”

“Jian, Long,>” Nick noticed something odd then, Mizuno’s lips didn’t match
the translation, he briefly removed it to find the translator let him
understand them, and their voice wasn’t replaced by a computer. Nick heard the
speaker’s true voice as it would be in English. Nick glanced at Ke, he didn’t
realize how far his powers reached. “of the People’s Republic of China. Each has their own unique abilities; Long
has the ability to lift mountains,>” that comment drew some remark that Nick
didn’t hear from Kyle, who sat next to him. Kyle spoke to the Korean who sat
adjacent to him. “to blame for the H5N1 strain of bird flu that broke out in China at the
beginning of this millennium,>” Jian smiled nervously and waved to the
group, some booed him; Nick believed it was the boy that was surrounded by the
young women. “Ke and myself will actually be able to converse with them without the aid of
these translators.>”

 “is David Sinclair,>” Mizuno told them. Nick took off his headset once again
and realized that Mizuno was speaking everyone’s native tongue when he spoke
about them. David didn’t get up, didn’t wave, and didn’t make any reply; he
just continued to entertain the young ladies that surrounded him. He had dark
curly hair and smiled a lot. “which numbers to scratch on lotto tickets, when there’s danger, and if he gets
into a fight, he knows how to best deal with the situation. And he’s from Paris
and speaks French and English.>”

Mizuno
continued, “Leningrad Russia.>” Alisa stood up briefly and immediately retook her seat.
She was short (Nick guessed five foot two), had dark brown hair, and her eyes
never left David. “people she has direct contact with, and anything she holds.>” Mizuno waited
a moment for her to pay attention, which didn’t happen, so he briefly finished
up by stating that she spoke Russian, English, and French.

“newest member is Afifa Shaheen,>” he said with a smile and pointed to her as
she stood up. Nick saw how she kept her eyes low and trembled slightly with all
of the group’s attention on her. “teleporter, and she speaks Arabic and is trying to learn French,>” Mizuno
glanced at David and muttered that he might be able to help her with her French
if he wasn’t too preoccupied.

Mizuno
then introduced the Korean who sat next to Kyle. “who’s agreed to grace us with his presence.>” Yong either didn’t care that
it was a joke or didn’t realize it, but pumped his fist in the air once he
heard his name. “shortly. Yong has a unique ability in that no metal or alloy can pierce his body.
This makes him invaluable in combat, along with his mastery of Tae Kwon Do,
Jujitsu, Kendo, and his minor dabbling in other martial arts from that part of
the world.>” Nick looked as Yong reclined in his seat and nodded his head at
each of his own achievements. “” Yong
stood up and took a bow once Mizuno finished introducing him.

“Next
we have–”

Music
interrupted Mizuno’s introduction as Kyle stood up and cheers played though the
translator. He introduced himself, “I am Kyle Strife, and although I was once
born here in America, I renounce my citizenship and declare myself to be
Korean.” Yong snickered at the start of his friend’s rant, but mocked that he
listened intently. “I have the power to completely manipulate the internet and
any computer on the earth. There isn’t a single password, security system, or
firewall that I can’t break through because of it. You all can call me Wor1d,”
which some people laughed at him when he said it, “Or you all may call me
REFIOA, as I am its creator.”

At
that moment everyone was silent. Nick didn’t know what it was, but everyone
else there seemed shocked at the claim. Kyle smirked at the sudden attention he
garnered, and added, “I am also the only member of this group who Mizuno cannot
use his ability on.”

Whispers
broke out amongst David, Alisa, and Melanie, as well as some chatter amongst
the Chinese twins. Mizuno covered the microphone of his translator and muttered
something under his breath before continued. “Thanks so much for stepping up
and giving me a break Kyle,” Mizuno threw out sarcastically. “Next we ha–”

“Why
can’t you scan him?” David interrupted.

“that part of his power?>” asked one of the Chinese twins.

Mizuno
rubbed his eyes and admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure why it didn’t work.
“”

“did you know he was one of us?>” asked the other twin.

Mizuno
took a heavy breath and muttered that there wasn’t any ‘us’ at all and that
things were out of hand. “he was and it would take me just as long to explain it all to you, which is
something I’d rather not have to do right now.>”

“Are
there any other people you can’t scan?” Bruce asked him.

“Alright!”
Mizuno finally relented. “This is what I’ve figured out about my own powers.
Firstly, I cannot ever forget anything that I’ve learned. I remember everything
from around the end of July of two-thousand and eleven up until this current
moment in time. I became familiar with my second power nearly a decade later
and still haven’t managed to completely discover everything about it or my
first ability.”

Melanie
asked him why he hadn’t.

Mizuno
felt he needed to explain something else to them first. “The reason I know how
each of your abilities works is because I can scan you and figure out how you
work from knowing each and every moment in your life.”

“But
we don’t each remember everything in our lives though,” David reminded him.

Mizuno
nodded, “That’s true, but from what I can gather it seems as though an imprint
of everyone’s lives are within their own mind. It’s sort of how you can have
vague remembrances of something in your life, like from your childhood, and
even though you can’t quite remember it exactly to the detail, you can barely
recall it. It’s also how a certain word or thought can trigger distinct
memories you might have believed you’d forgotten.”

“Then
what if we’ve completely forgotten something?” Alisa asked him. “Can you see it
then?”

“Theoretically
no. If, let’s say the name of a restaurant wasn’t within your memory I wouldn’t
be able to see it. However, I generally find information, such as the name of a
restaurant that you believed you’d utterly forgotten, because that bit of
information is retained within your mind, even if you don’t know how to access
it.”

“And
because of both of your abilities you’re able to remember all of our lives,
right?” Kyle asked.