The Power of One
by
Numb3rsfan
It was hot, so very hot in the large room. The air was filled with smoke and yet it wasn't that difficult to breathe. The first thing nine year old Matt Mason heard when he came to was the sound of other children moaning; some sounding as if they were in pain, others were crying out for their parents. Lifting his head the boy looked around the room as best he could. He was on his stomach, strapped to a hospital gurney that had been modified by the Skitters. The modifications were simple yet affective. His arms were secured to the sides of the gurney and the one size fits all opening which allowed his face to fit through so that he could lay flat on his stomach was also an attachment to the somewhat padded gurney.
The room he was in was dimly lit; no real lights anywhere save for some burning fires and lights coming from some of the machinery. There were other gurneys; some against the wall, some underneath what appeared to be little slides that looked like they would allow something to flow on to the clothed backs of the other children.
It was a Harnessing Chamber, Matt realized that fact with a start. He was inside a Harnessing Chamber, strapped to a gurney; a prime candidate for the Skitters.
He, Diego and a few other boys from the 2nd Mass had gone to the Harnessing Chamber in the hopes of freeing the rest of Diego's people who had been taken by Skitters and Mechs earlier that very day.
Tom Mason, Matt's father hadn't wanted him to go and in fact had been rather angry with his son because it seemed that Matt wanted to be put in danger and in fact loved the thrill of it. Tom had yelled at him; made him feel like such a little kid who couldn't do anything useful for the 2nd Mass. That was why Matt had gone with Diego in the first place, so he could prove his father wrong. Now, more than anything Matt wished that his father was there to rescue him.
His older brother Ben had been captured by the Skitters too, what seemed like so very long ago. They had put a harness on Ben's back which had turned the boy in to a slave which the Skitters controlled. It was pure coincidence that the eldest Mason child, Hal, had spotted Ben walking the street with other harnessed children, Skitters and Mechs, but ever since that first sighting Hal, Tom and others from the 2nd Mass had given their all to rescue Ben. That was how Hal's girlfriend Karen had been captured and harnessed herself. Now, eventually Hal and Tom had managed to rescue Ben and the others in his group and the 2nd Mass' doctor, Dr. Anne Glass had removed the harness, Ben still had the spikes in his back and he was still a changed boy. Sure he was stronger and his mind was his own once again but Matt knew that Ben wasn't his old self again.
The thought of what Ben had gone through now happening to him? Matt lost it for a second and started to struggle, hoping against hope that the metal cuffs holding his arms down would break and he could get out but they held firm.
Movement off to his right startled him. It was a lone, green Skitter. Matt looked in to the creature's eyes and didn't see any hatred there but it didn't matter. He was still scared of the thing; scared of what it was going to do to him.
"No...no!" he begged, continuing to fruitlessly struggle as the Skitter lifted an appendage, placing green fingers on Matt's head. The youngest Mason's head was pressed down so that he was once again lying flat on his stomach, preventing him from looking around any further. He felt the Skitter brush his hair in an almost loving fashion, like a mother would do to their child to soothe them. It didn't make much sense to him but he decided he was going to worry about that later. For now all he wanted to do was get loose and find his way back to the 2nd Mass as fast as he could.
The sudden sound of machinery caused him to stop struggling and just listen. It sounded close, so very close to him. What he didn't see was a small door connected to the large tank in the middle of the room opening. The tank itself was huge, capable of holding several thousand gallons of water of whatever type of liquid was inside. There were dirty windows all around and every so often if one were to look they would see quick glimpses of many hundreds if not thousands of living creatures swimming by. It was one such creature that slid out of the tank along with a little bit of fluid; enough to help it wash down the metal track that connected the tank to a certain point on the floor, a point that Matt's gurney was covering.
The creature with the appearance of a large slug dropped on to Matt's back with a somewhat sickening plop before beginning to move up the young lad's back towards the back of his neck.
"No!" Matt whimpered, still unable to move his head as the Skitter from earlier was still holding the top of his head down, preventing him from lifting it. "Please! Take it off! Dad! Where's my dad?!" He had tears running down his young face, tears of sheer terror. Where was Tom Mason? Where was his father? Surely the 2nd Mass' second in command wouldn't let this happen to him!
It felt like an eternity to the youngest Mason child but in reality it was only twenty seconds. The slug like creature stopped at his shoulder blades and then reared it's head. Sharp spear like teeth surrounding a circular mouth glinted off of the nearby flickering flames become the creature swiftly made it's move, launching itself down and biting in to the back of Matt's neck.
The nine year old's eyes went wide and he held his breath. There was the look of shock and pain written on his young face but as the seconds ticked by Matt felt his entire body going numb. He tried to move and scream but his own limbs weren't even responding to him! A crunching sound filled his ears; the sound had seemed to come from a long tunnel but the small vibrations down his back all the way to the small of his back told him that the slug had completed the process. What he hadn't seen were the spikes that had grown out of the slug which had pierced his skin; having gone straight through his clothes and in to his spine. With the spikes in the slug's outer skin had changed; the mushy translucency had partly changed and what appeared to be metal supports had also grown in to place. The final result? A harness. It went from the top of the back of his neck all the way down his back; the tail even went in to his pants a little ways, stopping at the small of his back. The outer 'skin' of the harness looked like a dark metal, protecting the mushy inner skin. Once the process was complete the translucent part of the harness began to glow with a dull orangish light, signaling that it was completely operational.
Matt continued to lay there, not struggling at all. His face looked completely passive, as if he were in some sort of trance. The look of pain and terror that had been in his eyes was completely gone, leaving behind nothing. There was not a hint of emotion on his face at all.
Gently the green Skitter loosened it's grip on the young child's head but instead of removing it's hand straight away it brushed it's long fingers through the thick dirty blonde hair as if trying to say that everything was going to be alright.
The sound of a metal door opening had the Skitter looking up. It removed it's claw like hand from Matt's head just as a large, gray Overlord entered the room. The Overlord; what some in the 2nd Mass called 'Fish-Heads,' looked over the newly harnessed boy's body. This was a great chain of events! The Overlords were the driving force; in fact the general masterminds of the whole Earth invasion force! Yes, the Skitters were the Overlords' foot soldiers; the ones that actually had to do the fighting and dying, the Overlords were the commanders; the ones in charge. The particular Overlord was an Espheni; in fact that was the name of their entire race.
Slowly the Overlord leaned down, it's large dark eyes taking in the sight of the harness and who it was attached to. He knew the severity of it all. He knew who the boy was and more importantly he knew who the boy's father was. Oh yes the Overlord had heard of the 2nd Mass and Tom Mason. His 'pet' Karen had been quite forthcoming. She had been a member of the 2nd Mass but during a failed rescue attempt to get Ben Mason, she had been captured and harnessed herself. While the Overlord didn't know about Ben, he knew who the leader of the 2nd Mass was; Captain Dan Weaver, and he knew who the 2nd Mass's second in command was. The resistance force known as the 2nd Massachusetts had been an annoying thorn in their side for awhile now, insisting on waging war against them. The initial Espheni force had wiped out all of the major groups world wide; all nations military force and structures, all major cities were nothing but piles of rubble. Those that survived the initial assault were killed as it was the Skitters and Mechs job to hunt them all down and kill them.
With a Mason child in his grasp the annoying thorn known as the 2nd Massachusetts could finally be crushed! The Overlord knew without a shadow of a doubt that the man known as Tom Mason wouldn't let a thing happen to his boys if he could help it so young Matt could be a successful bargaining chip.
Gently the Overlord undid the restraints on the gurney and picked him up, holding his still form close. It would still be several hours before the boy's mind would be entirely his to control. He had to wait, give the harness enough time to complete it's work and then after that it would be simple. The 2nd Mass would be destroyed and it would be destroyed by one of it's youngest members, Matt Mason.
As the tall Overlord carried the young Matt Mason out of the room, two more Skitters wheeled in two unconscious children strapped to two gurneys, stopping them under two other chutes. One of the children was Gene, Captain Weaver's daughter. The Overlord didn't care about them though. To him they would just be pawns in his little game of war.
Smoothly the gray alien carried the boy in his arms on board his ship. Minutes later the ship lifted in to the sky and flew off. Not fifteen minutes later the main rescue team from the 2nd Mass came; Tom Mason with them but by then it was too late.
They stormed the building and found Diego and some of his group, they even found the Harnessing Chamber itself and Dan Weaver managed to free his daughter mere seconds before a slug would have landed on her back, but as the smoke cleared Tom Mason realized that one very important person was missing: Matt. He wanted to search the rest of the building; he and his two other boys Hal and Ben but Skitters forced them to pull back. With a horrified look on his face Tom Mason was forced to return to the 2nd Mass without his youngest. Inside he was crushed but he also knew that he would never stop looking for Matt until he was safe in his arms again.