CHAPTER TWO: RED LETTER ECLIPSE
"What did you do?! What did you do?!" Emily yells.
Riley grunts and groans, as he feels paralysed, stuck in place, as he looks at his surroundings.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Emily enunciates, facing directly towards Riley, ensuring that she has his complete and total focus, without fail.
"Um, I… I remember… Our lesson, I remember the lesson finishing early, and we came out to see the eclipse…" Riley groans.
"Tell me more." Emily demands.
"This morning… You woke me up with a knock on my door." Riley remembers. Knocking occurs on Riley's bedroom door, waking him immediately. He reacts in shock and surprise, forgetting that he now lives in a haven.
"Are you okay, Riley? It's time to get up!" Emily shout.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm up. I'll meet you in a second." Riley groans, as he realises he slept in the same clothes he wore the night before. He stumbles to his cupboard, where he sees that some clothes have been given to him already. He picks out a blue t-shirt and a blue hoodie, and some faded camouflage-patterned trousers. Riley dresses into his new clothes, and leaves his room to meet Emily.
"Looking to enlist in the military, are we?" Emily remarks about Riley's trousers.
"Uh, they were the only trousers in there. I'd have stayed in the old ones, but they were slightly tattered after… well, whatever happened." Riley explains.
"It's okay, you don't need to defend yourself! I was only teasing you." Emily speaks softly whilst making waving gestures with her hands as an attempt to reassure Riley. Riley smiles quickly, before dropping back to a blank expression.
"Sorry, I guess I'm still getting used to humour." He chuckles.
"Look, class starts in an hour and a half, let's grab some breakfast from Roberts Hall first?" Emily guides Riley as the two go to Roberts Hall together, and quietly eat breakfast with each other. Emily's group of friends approach, immediately joining them at their table.
"Hey Emily!" a female figure greets Emily as she sits down next to her.
"Oh hi Jessica, you alright?" Emily replies to Jessica, a tall and slim teenager with shoulder length blonde hair, a plaid shirt and skinny jeans.
"I'm not too bad, so you're friends with the newbie, huh?" Jessica remarks.
"Yeah, this is Riley, we knew each other on the outside. He's lost his memory though, so I'm trying to help him get it back." Emily explains Riley's situation. Jessica looks to the other members sitting at the table, without responding to Emily. As Emily places a spoon of her cereal into her mouth, she notices the others have become awkwardly quiet.
"What's the problem?" Emily asks, as she places her spoon back in her bowl. The others stare at one another, unsure of how to answer.
"Nobody in here knows each other, except for the families that arrived together. Now this guy, Riley? Yeah, Riley's come along, and you two know each other. I guess it's just a bit upsetting to some of us that we have family and friends out there, who could be dead or alive. It's a great thing you two have found each other! It's just making some of us think." Jessica explains hastily.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think about it like that." Emily stutters under her breath.
"No, honestly, there's nothing to apologise for!" Jessica speaks clearly and places her hand on Emily's shoulder.
Emily and Riley leave the table as they finish their breakfast, and depart from Roberts Hall whilst feeling the digging stares of cautious eyes in their backs. Riley turns around, and sees them all suddenly looking at each other instead.
"Come on, Riley. I should show you where the classroom is, class'll start soon." Emily instructs, as they both leave.
"When I was in her room, I saw that picture in her desk, remember? A picture marked 'Me and Riley'. Whoever that guy is, it's not Riley. You saw that photo, right, Jonathan?"
Jessica whispers to the others on the table, before directing a question to Jonathan, a slightly built teenager with very short hair, wearing a jacket and jeans.
"Yeah… So what's Emily up to? Either she's smuggling somebody else in, or Riley's powers are to shapeshift? For all we know, it could just be another guy called Riley." Jonathan responds.
"I overheard the teachers speaking about Riley's powers being inactive. Come on, Emily doesn't help people she doesn't know. Another person called Riley would be too much of a coincidence." Jessica argues.
"Maybe he's just stuck in this form whilst his powers are inactive? Or maybe that is his real form?" Jonathan counter-argues.
"I don't think it's his real form… She wouldn't take a picture with anything other than his real form, I assume… Either way, we'll find out exactly what his powers are once the eclipse is over." Jessica wraps up her suspicions.
Emily walks Riley towards the classroom, she looks towards him, analysing his eyes, truly accepting that Riley is here. As they step over creaky wooden floorboards, Emily looks at an obviously distracted Riley, but chooses not to speak to him just in case she interrupts his train of thought. As soon as they reach the classroom, Emily stops walking.
"Oh, is this the classroom?" Riley asks, as Emily nods.
"Sorry, I didn't want to say something in case I disturbed you, seemed like you were deep in your thoughts there." She explains.
"I was just staring into space." Riley answers. The two walk into the classroom, where Frank Bowman is already sitting at the desk, setting up the presentation for the lesson.
"Oh hello Emily, Riley. How are you both?" He asks.
"I'm good thanks, Mr. Bowman." Emily responds, smiling.
"And Riley?" Frank asks.
"Sorry, yeah, I'm okay thanks." Riley responds with a nervous tone in his voice.
"I promise you, Riley, there is absolutely nothing to be nervous about. Today is an exciting day, a red letter day, even." Frank expresses cheerfully. Emily sits down at her seat, and nods towards Riley to indicate that he should sit down too. Riley takes the seat next to Emily, and sits down, as the other students begin arriving into the class.
"This is a small class." Riley whispers to Emily.
"There aren't many students here, it's kind of nice. Everybody knows everybody." Emily whispers back.
"Right, good morning, everybody! As you know, we're only having a recap today so we can go outside and watch the eclipse. Turns out that it'll be in alignment with Mars also, which is a very rare astronomical event, quite exciting. For those of you who don't know, we have a new classmate, Riley Stenson." Frank introduces Riley to the class, and he nods and smiles towards them.
"Today, we're going to carry on with the Sullivan Consequence." He informs the class.
"Hmm, Geoff, mind reminding the class where we left this topic off last time?" Frank points to Geoff, a young male student in the room.
"Um, well the Sullivan Consequence is when an evolved jumped off a large structure and attempted to reveal herself to the world. It happened in the Sullivan Brothers carnival." Geoff answers.
"Correct, that's why we refer to it as the Sullivan Consequence. Claire Bennet jumped from a Ferris wheel, which quickly resulted in a global panic. Many of us tried to find out how to undo what had been done, but the consequences were so severe that any change made in the past would still create a ripple effect that would result in the Sullivan Consequence anyway. In another word, it was inevitable to change things, so they were ultimately left as they were. Many died as a result of this, and many others went missing, including the infamous Gabriel Grey, also known as Sylar. People are still hunting us today." Frank reminds and informs the class. After hearing the name Sylar, Riley hears it echoing and repeating itself in his head, growing ever louder, until Riley grabs his head in pain, trying not to attract attention.
"Riley, are you okay?" Frank expresses his concern, as he fails to read Riley's mind.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, thank you. Just a headache." Riley attempts to reassure Frank, despite his voice carrying a pained tone.
"As I was saying, many families discovered that their children or relatives were indeed one of the evolved, and they tried their best to protect them. Some others decided to hand them over the police, whilst the more unfortunate ones were killed by a group of hunters known as the Purgers. The first group of killers who sought to rid the world of the evolved, just because they couldn't understand people like us." Frank continues, as he looks to the class, witnessing their concerned expressions as they are reminded of the devastation that burdens those who aren't in a safe sanctuary.
"We should always be grateful for those who helped set up these safe havens across the world, for we aren't in as much danger as those on the outside." Frank concludes, as he looks outside the window, and then down to his watch, noticing that it is almost time for the eclipse.
"It's time to cut this lesson short, the eclipse is due to start any minute now. If you'll all proceed out to the grounds outside, we'll begin setting up for the eclipse." Frank instructs the class, as students begin placing their chairs away and proceeding towards the doors that lead outside.
"Emily?" Frank calls.
"Yes, Mr. Bowman?" she answers.
"Make sure Riley doesn't get lost, we wouldn't want him missing the eclipse, now!" Frank smiles, as he nods towards Riley.
"I'll stick with Emily, don't worry." Riley reassures Frank. Riley and Emily walk outside the classroom, whilst Frank tidies up his desk and sorts out his paperwork, he then looks up towards the door with a blank expression.
"How long is the eclipse due to last for?" Riley asks Emily.
"Oh, well the entire event takes place over a couple of hours or so, but the actual coverage of the sun lasts maybe about seven or eight minutes? That's the length of time we'll remain powerless for. Then after the eclipse finishes, hopefully it'll kick start your abilities again." She clarifies.
"What good are these abilities, if I have no memory of who I am?" Riley questions himself. Emily stares towards Riley, her eyes shifting from his left eye to his right, and back again, unsure of how to answer Riley. She looks down, staring at the ground, stammering with the jumbled thoughts that cross her mind, unable to utter a clear answer.
"It's okay. All I can do is deal with things as they occur." Riley places his hand on Emily's arm, attempting to reassure her with a gentle grip. After a moment of silent reassuring through their stares, the two walk out to the back of Petrelli Manor and join the others in preparation for the eclipse.
As Riley and Emily look upwards towards the sky, the other students begin flocking into the field to join in on the natural wonder that is about to occur. Frank hastily leaves the classroom, and walks towards Riley.
"Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Where does it come from? This constant, unfulfilled need to solve all of life's mysteries, these seemingly simple questions with what must be complex, yet unanswered explanations." He speaks with awe.
"With no memory to hold onto, I guess that feeling is ever more powerful for you than it is for those like myself, overburdened with memories of one's life." He continues to delve into his philosophical thoughts with Riley, whilst they both gaze into the sky, as the moon begins to mask the sun.
"I don't feel good." Riley groans.
"What did you do?! What did you do?!" Emily yells.
Riley grunts and groans, as he feels paralysed, stuck in place, as he looks at his surroundings.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Emily enunciates, her hands holding Riley's face, as she stares Riley in the eye, ensuring that she has his complete and total focus, without fail.
"Um, I… I remember… Our lesson, I remember the lesson finishing early, and we came out to see the eclipse…" Riley groans.
"Tell me more." Emily demands.
"This morning… You woke me up with a knock on my door." Riley continues to groan, his vision blurred. As his sight adjusts to the surroundings, Riley notices that the entire complex is on fire, and bodies lay around the field, and the eclipse has just finished. Riley shudders, he feels the cold, hollow emptiness in his chest, the fear and panic overwhelms him as he contemplates what must have happened during the course of the eclipse. He turns to his side to see Frank Bowman lying on the ground, lifeless.
"No… No… No, no, no!" Riley shouts, as he stumbles towards Frank, desperately trying to check for any signs of life.
"He's gone, Ri-, he's just gone. Everybody's gone." Emily speaks with a broken voice, as Riley looks around to see all the residents of Petrelli Manor have perished.
"What… What did I do?" Riley cries.
"It wasn't you… It wasn't your fault. I promise you. I… Look, let's get out of here, the Purgers are going to be here any moment. They would've heard or seen this place by now." Emily tries to get Riley's attention as she warns him about a group known as the Purgers. Riley is oblivious, dumbstruck and totally unaware that Emily is talking to him.
"Listen!" Emily shouts, as she slaps Riley across the face.
"Somebody's alive, Riley." Emily hears somebody else groan and shakes Riley by his shoulders, as he immediately turns from side to side, trying to find out where the sounds of desperation are coming from.
"This way!" Emily sees a figure by the main building, and pulls Riley with her as they run towards an injured figure.
"Owen, are you okay?" Emily recognises the injured student, as he recoils in fear.
"Get him away from me! Get him away from us!" Owen yells in fear, shaking tremendously.
"It's okay, it's okay! It wasn't him. Owen, look at me. I promise you, it wasn't him." Emily rushes to calm Owen down, placing her hand over his arm, calming him down.
"Then what the hell was that? His eyes, they turned orange, and he just attacked everything, relentlessly! His powers… How did he have his powers during the eclipse? We were all defenceless!" Owen yells, his mind full of endless questions. Riley listens to Owen's testimony of the events that occurred, trembling at the thought of what he had done.
"I don't know, Owen. But… But look at his eyes now, they're not orange, it's not his fault." Emily continues to defend Riley and uses her powers to calm him down.
"His powers aren't self-aware, are they? Like Osiris?" Owen's lips tremble, as he recalls Osiris, a well-known legend of a man whose body was taken over by his own powers.
"That's just a myth, Owen, but no, I-I, I promise you, this is Riley, he's not dangerous. He's kind, gentle and caring. He… Look, I'll explain it to you later, I promise." Emily makes a final attempt to reassure Owen, as she looks towards Riley and back again. Slowly, a growing sound begins erupting from the meadow nearby.
"What is that?" Riley whispers towards Emily.
"They're coming. We have to go." Emily commands as she grabs Riley and Owen by their arms.
"You ain't going anywhere, missy." A croaking voice of man emerges from behind Emily, as he knocks her over the head with the butt of a gun.
"Oh, none of youse are going anywhere." He chuckles, as he strokes the top of his hair, fiddling with his ponytail and scratching against the baldness on the sides of his head.
"Riley, do whatever it was you just did, and get rid of them!" Owen shouts towards Riley, as he crouches down to inspect Emily.
"I… I can't, I-I do… don't know how, I j… just don't know how." Riley stutters.
"G… g… got s… s… speech problems, laddie? I'm Simon, and I'm gonna be taking youse all away." The man mocks Riley, as he laughs and waves towards his group as they approach the Manor.
"You three, go search the front of the place, and you two, check the back. Kill anybody who we don't need, powers we've already catalogued, you know the drill! You hit the jackpot, Si!" An oncoming group member instructs other followers, as she applauds Simon.
"Nah, I dunno Hilary. Looks like somebody else hit the jackpot, I don't see anybody else alive here." Simon mutters as he scratches the rear of his head.
"Then you're blind, Si. Look at that, a little one crawling your way, must only be a kid!" Hilary giggles, pointing towards a crawling child, no older than ten.
"Shut up." Simon sneers, as he walks towards the crawling child.
"Mum… Mummy, please… Help me find her, please?" The child pleads, as Simon walks around the child, noticing his broken leg.
"What's your name, kiddo?" Simon asks the wounded child.
"Michael, my name… it's Michael." He answers with pain in his voice.
"I had a horse once Mike, her name was Opal. One day she fell. Her leg broke." Simon reminisces.
"Like… Like mine?" Michael wonders, as he struggles in pain.
"Yeah, kiddo. Like yours. So we went and put her down. Just a little quick bang and it was done." Simon represses a chuckle, as he crouches down to Michael.
"She… She was a horse, right? I can be fixed. You're not going to do that to me, are you, sir?" Michael asks with the utmost politeness, as Simon stands up.
"Of course not, kiddo." Simon mutters, as he fires his gun in the back of Michael's head. Owen screams out, as Riley shudders in fear.
"You never had a horse, did you?" Hilary laughs.
"I fucking hate 'em." Simon groans, as he holsters his gun.
"You're lucky the P of E doesn't go after you, or us Purgers." Hilary giggles.
"We've been through this before, why would they? My power is harmless, I can only detect whether or not somebody else has a power and what their power, or powers are. That boy already had a power we've categorised. These three don't. Oi, you." Simon hastily reminds Hilary why he isn't targeted, as he looks towards Riley.
"What?" Riley struggles to speak.
"I know you have powers, laddie. Multiple ones. Yet you're the first Evo I've come across that I actually can't scan. I've got no clue what powers you've got, so this is your lucky day because we're gonna take youse all just in case." Simon nods his head in frustration, before laughing it off.
Hilary sees the other Purgers return, and goes up to talk to them.
"Get these three Evos prepared, we need to take them back." He instructs Hilary, as the other Purgers confirm that there are no additional survivors.
"There's one guy in the prison underneath the manor, should we tell them?" Noah whispers to Emily.
"He's too dangerous, they wouldn't be able to hold him back. Trust me, he deserves to stay locked down there." Emily whispers in return without any sign of hesitation.
"Might I say thank you to our mysterious benefactor, two down, two to go!" Hilary thanks the person responsible for making Petrelli Manor visible, as she reacts excitedly at the prospect of two remaining Petrelli Manors left in the United Kingdom.
"Cover them, let's go." Simon instructs the other Purgers, as they place covers over the heads of Riley, Emily and Owen, blinding them from seeing whatever hell they are about to be taken to. As they are pushed into the back of a van, Riley begins breathing heavily, his heart beating faster, his head twitching. Emily moves her hand around to try to find Riley, and she places her hand onto his, gently caressing his hand and using her powers to calm Riley down and comfort him. Her powers could not be used at a more opportune time, for the incident that occurred during the eclipse could truly occur at any given time. Riley, Emily and Owen attempt to sit upright as they try to get as comfortable as anybody could possibly be in a frightful situation such as this.
"Good night." Hilary sings as three Purgers cover each of their mouths with a piece of chloroform soaked cloth, causing them to fall asleep, as they unwillingly embark on their journey to a locale unknown. In what seems like mere seconds in their unconscious states, Riley, Emily and Owen are woken up inside a small, dimly lit room, secured by strong titanium walls.
"You two have very similar abilities. If you didn't have the power to control emotions, I'd have killed you." Simon states from behind a reinforced door as he looks towards Emily and Owen through an opening.
"I'm dangerous. Please put me somewhere else. Please." Riley stammers pleadingly.
"You can't hurt us. See these walls, laddie? That's two metres thick. Oh, and we're also quite deep underground." Simon speaks as he slowly leans towards Riley.
"I'm not talking about you." Riley whispers as he continues to stammer, as Simon looks towards Riley and his friends with a smugly surprised expression.
"You think you'd hurt your friends here?" Simon chuckles.
"Yes." Riley answers, interrupting Simon.
"Riley, you're not going to hurt us, I promise. Not with me here, I know you wouldn't." Emily nudges herself towards Riley, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"I killed them all. I don't even remember it. I had no control over my body." Riley struggles to speak, a blank expression on his face is overwhelmed by the developing tears in his eyes.
"You mean you were responsible for all of that back there? Wow. You saved us a lot of time." Simon nods, as Riley looks towards him, enraged.
"I'm scared that I will kill all of you." Riley groans.
"You couldn't possibly do such a thing, boy." Simon replies confidently.
"Please, I'm begging you to just lock me in a hole somewhere on my own!" Riley continues to stifle his tears, as Simon chuckles and begins to walk away, before stopping.
"Actually… There is something I'd like to show you, lad." Simon returns to the door, staring at Riley with a glint of curiosity in his eye. He opens the door, instructing Riley to come out.
"Riley, don't go with him. Stay with us. Please." Emily pleads.
"I know you can control it. If anything happens to me, I know you can control it." Riley nods towards Emily, attempting to smile, as he leaves with Simon, who closes the door behind him.
"Do you know?" Emily speaks in a stern tone, refusing to blink as she stares into Owen's eyes, impatiently waiting for an answer.
"Yes. Yes, I know. As soon as I'd calmed down, I read him and I knew." Owen answers.
"I know it must be horrible, your ability. I don't know how you cope with it." Emily sympathises.
"Over the years I've come to cope with it, but reading him overloaded me, I've never felt so weak before from reading a person, seeing everything they are, seeing their past, present and future, it was messy and convoluted." Owen confesses.
"What future did you see? Don't say anything about who Riley is inside of, please. I can't risk anybody listening." Emily begs Owen to answer her, as she listens out for guards.
"You have to understand, my ability to see the future of a single person has almost never been accurate, it doesn't account for other people or any decisions made from now onwards, I can only see the future of a person as if it were to be the consequences of choices already made." Owen stutters as he tries to explain his abilities in the simplest way he can conjure.
"That's okay, Owen, I just want to get an idea, what did you see?" Emily pleads eagerly.
"I saw nothing good, Em. Complete desolation. An apocalypse. A world without water. A world without greenery. I saw him, old, withered and alone. It wasn't Riley anymore, he had changed. Whatever happened, nobody saw it coming. I could feel what he felt." Owen mutters as his voice breaks.
Emily stares, her eyes wide open, her eyebrows depressed and her face doleful.
"I didn't just see him, Emily. I saw two people. Something I've never experienced before. But reading the other person doesn't work at all, it's a colourless mess of undecipherable images." Owen explains in greater detail.
"I trust that you know it wasn't Riley that killed everybody in Petrelli Manor now." Emily makes a statement for Riley's innocence.
"Of course I know that. What can we do, though? How can we help him?" Owen runs through an endless number of questions as they form themselves in his mind.
"No matter what happens, we need to help him get back to who he was before, we need to help him recover. Please, Owen, please can you help me do this?" Emily pleads once more, as she knows that attempting to save Riley cannot be done alone.
"If I had any family, any friends in that place, I would've said no. He's damn lucky I didn't." Owen mumbled.
"I've always been your friend, Owen, maybe we didn't hang around as much but we've always smiled and said hi to one another." Emily protested.
"Sorry, Emily. I know you have. It's just even in a community where everybody should understand each other, I was never accepted by a lot of people there. They knew that I knew everything about them. The one thing I've learnt about knowing every single detail about a person is that I actually stop judging them. You don't know how hard it is that knowing everybody inside out can make you love them, or hate them. And that can happen to me seconds after meeting a new person. You can understand why I keep myself hidden." Owen complained.
Emily stares at Owen empathetically whilst he looks towards the ground.
"My power to see the memories of other people is pretty useless in comparison to yours, I can only see the memories I've actually shared with them. I don't need that, my memory is pretty good!" Emily enthusiastically tries to lighten the mood.
"I'd rather be reminded of good memories when I touch somebody, than see entire lives of people who don't know I exist." Owen interjected.
"I'm sorry." Emily exclaimed.
"No, I'm sorry. I've been feeling like this for a long time now." Owen apologised.
"Why didn't you ever ask me for help? You know I can control emotions, I can help you feel happier?" Emily questions Owen.
"It wouldn't really be how I feel, though. Just a fake overlay to block out how I feel. I appreciate it, really. I want to be able to feel what I feel, even if it is complete shit all the time. Knowing I'm still a good person despite feeling like this means a lot to me. It's not that I don't feel happiness at all, I do." Owen insisted that he doesn't need his emotions altered.
"I wonder what's happening with Riley, they're taking their time with him. I'm really worried." Emily mutters quietly.
"Don't worry. There's nothing we can do. Let's just deal with things as they present themselves. Unless you've got a teleporting power I don't know about, we're just going to have to wait. To pass the time, if you could choose another power, what would it be?" Owen wondered, as Emily shrugs and looks towards the door eagerly waiting for Riley's return.
"I guess… I mean I'm happy with my powers as they are. Right now if I had to choose it would be teleportation just so we can get to Riley." Emily responded logically.
"What about you?" She asks in return.
"The ability to slow down or stop time, definitely. I sometimes take a long time to make my mind up about things, so to be able to take as long as I like to make a decision or help somebody in danger who is far away sounds great to me. Anything instead of this, for sure." Owen sighed as Emily nods. He moves his lips, but is hesitant to talk.
"What were you going to say?" Emily asks reassuringly.
"What did you see? When it happened?" Owen stutters, refusing to make eye contact with Emily.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Emily gives Owen a chance to be spared the knowledge of the events that occurred at Petrelli Manor.
"I need to know, if I'm going to help you save him." Owen explains, followed by Emily nodding.
"We were waiting for the eclipse. I smiled at Riley, and he smiled back. He went to go and talk to Frank, and I could see him smiling politely. As the moon fully covered the sun, he suddenly changed. His smile dropped to a shell-shocked look, his eyes turned a glowing orange. Frank didn't even… He didn't fight back. He put his arm on Riley's shoulder to make sure he was okay, but Riley snapped his neck there and then without even moving a muscle. That's when I ran to hide. He looked terrified, he didn't know where he was or what was going on. He killed everybody. All of those watching the eclipse were defenceless, yet his powers were still working. He set everybody on fire, the buildings too. It was as if there was an unrelenting rage lying inside of him that set itself free the moment the eclipse had reached total coverage. After it all ended, he went back to Frank's body, standing over it and staring… That's when he saw me. I thought I was dead, but I ran up to him and instantly tried to make him feel calm. The bright orange in his eyes began to fade away, and Riley was back. I saw a tear fall from his eye, almost as if he was aware of everything he'd done, but he just couldn't remember it." Emily painfully reflects on the tragedy.
"The fact that his powers still worked during the eclipse makes him something different, something extremely powerful, Emily. He's extremely dangerous. With what I've seen from reading him, I will help you. I will. Since I'm locked in here with you, that's another motivator." Owen responds.
"He's really important, Owen. He's supposed to save the world. I know that much. If something happens, just keep reminding him that Hope Never Dies." Emily concluded.
"I shouldn't have really brought you out, but my own curiosity is just far too powerful not to. You're an intriguing figure and all, son, I can't tell what your abilities are." Simon smiles as he guides Riley down a corridor.
Riley refuses to speak, pondering on how Simon can be such an upbeat person after murdering an innocent child.
"Okay, okay. Here we are laddie." Simon mutters, as the two enter a very long and dimly lit room. He flicks a switch, causing the lights in the room light up one by one from the back to the front, revealing a complex looking machine with two people connected to it, one tall and strong black male with short black hair, and one small and pale female with ginger hair. Riley refuses to move, as Simon slowly walks forward.
"Well, come on then." Simon grabs Riley aggressively by the arm, and starts to bring him towards the machine
"What are you going to do to me?" Riley mutters, as he desperately tries to pull away.
"What? No, I'm not going to do anything to you. I want you to take a look at this." Simon remarked, as his curiosity motivates him to shock Riley.
Riley stares towards the two figures who are linked up to this machine, concerned for their wellbeing. Wires are embedded into their heads and arms, as they are kept unconscious with only their very basic functions left intact.
"Oh, don't worry about them, they're pretty much brain dead. They're only there to do the cloning. The girl has the power to clone herself, and the man has the power to give and take life." Simon explains, as he looks towards the middle of the machine, a darkened pod with a third figure, a human silhouette on the inside.
"Oh the clones get produced in there. Are you ready?" Simon asks with impatience, refusing to wait for an answer as he flicks the switch on the middle of the machine, turning the light on for the darkened vat in the middle.
"Oh, God." Riley groans, fighting against the very bodily instincts that are trying to make him vomit out of sheer shock and fear.
"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Simon chuckles, as he continues looking towards the container.
Riley looks away, attempting to doubt what he saw as the machine lit up. With little motivation, he looks back and his disbelief is shattered as he sees his own face reflected in the glass, he shifts his focus from his reflection to the figure inside the container, which appears to be a ghostly-pale and muscular version of himself.
"My employer's employer had us create this machine specifically designed to put these two together, to control and combine their powers in order to clone people. Bloody fantastic, I say. Unfortunately, some of the clones result in albinism. The Nomad is the only one who can always clone himself without albinism since he designed this machine for himself originally. We've had some people who are cloned without albinism, it's a wonderful game of chance." Simon laughs, as Riley stares on in horror.
"What the hell is this?" Riley panted, as he averted his gaze from the machine.
"Chances are you're going to die anyway, Riley. Once we categorise your powers, that is. My employer only keeps those who will benefit our cause… Even if they don't want to support it." Simon huffed, as he observes the two Evos who are unwillingly trapped and wired up to the machine.
"We, the Preservers, or the Purgers as the media likes to call us, are funded solely by the Preservation of Eden. Yeah, that eco-friendly Company that thrives to document, categorise and protect all living things on this planet, or so the world believes. It's just a front for our goal to… Well, you won't need to know that much. You're at the headquarters for it right now. The hidden part of it anyway." Simon chuckles as he informs Riley without any hesitation, altogether curious about the impending reaction from Riley.
Riley refuses to react as he walks up to the machine, his lips trembling when he reaches out to touch the glass container, his clone submerged fully in the vat of water-like substance, its face covered with what Riley presumes to be an oxygen mask.
"Oi, what's going on in here?!" A voice echoes, as Riley pulls his hand away from touching the glass.
"Jorah. I was just showing our delightful guest here the special surprise we have planned, since he's not going to live past today." Simon responds slowly with an explanation.
"Of course he's going to live past today. Take him back, right now. Nobody is authorised to access this section of the building, you should know better. Do this again, and your job will be on the line. Get the girl, and prepare her." Jorah huffs, as Simon shakes his head and grabs Riley by his clothes, leading him away from the room and back into the holding room.
Jorah interacts with the contraption as he presses a variety of buttons in sequential order, resulting in the clone opening its eyes.
"It's time to get you ready." Jorah grins, as the clone looks towards Jorah in the eyes, as if he is programmed to follow Jorah's instructions. The water drains from the container, the wires disconnect from the clone's body, and the glass container opens up, allowing the clone to exit.
Riley looks towards the other prisoners and questions their presence.
"Why do you keep these ones here?" Riley mutters.
"Sometimes it takes a little longer to document their… abilities… That's all. And sometimes we like to use them for other things. Like Dillon and Quinton in the room you just saw." Simon shrugs. Whilst the two are walking, Riley looks inside one holding cell and sees two young Asian female twins, holding tightly onto each other.
"Those two are pretty interesting, they can tell the future, but only when they're touching each other. We believe they're both capable of seeing the future without touching one another but it may very well be one of those instinctual actions that comes with being a twin and they're so used to relying on that instead. They also have another ability, something I can't detect. Rather intriguing." Simon explains.
"I didn't ask. I don't want to know what you're doing with people here. Those two people in the back room? That's morally wrong, it's horrendous." Riley lashes out.
"You know what, lad? Fuck you, and fuck those people. I might have a power too, but what we're doing here is for the greater good. We're protecting people, finding out how to achieve world peace. Think about it, wars with people like you? People capable of wielding fire, controlling the land, moving things with their minds? It'd destroy the world." Simon argues with a raised voice.
"People are capable of ending the world just fine by themselves. Powers or not. I lost my memory, and I don't even need those to know that. If you're saying you're protecting people by destroying us, why are you cloning us? Why are you categorising our abilities? Your lies just fell apart before you even finished concocting them." Riley scolded. Simon looks at Riley with a chagrined expression, refusing to reply.
"Get in." Simon grunts, as he opens the door and pushes Riley into the holding room where Emily and Owen are.
"Riley, are you okay?" Emily speaks softly, comforting Riley, as he nods his head.
"You're coming with me." Simon huffs as he grabs Emily, taking her with him and shutting the door as he leaves.
"Emily!" Riley and Owen both shout, banging on the door. Riley bangs his head against the metal door, angrily trying to use his powers.
"Stop hurting yourself, Riley, please." Owen objected.
"What good am I if I can't even use my powers? I need to save Emily." Riley murmured.
"I'll help you remember how to use them, Riley. You've gone through a lot of trauma, you need time to learn how to use them again." Owen explains.
"They cloned me." Riley divulged.
"W-what?" Owen sputtered.
"They've got two people in a back room, linked up to some kind of machine that uses their powers to create clones of people. They've used it to clone me." Riley reiterates, looking down at the ground in shock.
"Wait, how? I mean, when could they have gotten what they needed to create a clone of you?" Owen asks.
"It could've happened when we were unconscious. Some hair, a scraping of skin or a bit of blood. I'd never have known." Riley theorises.
The metal door opens again, and Simon enters the room, knocking Owen out immediately, before dragging Riley out of the room.
"Time to go!" He shouts, whilst restraining Riley and leading him to a lift.
"Why did you attack Owen?!" Riley shouts, attempting to get free from Simon.
"It was the quickest way to avoid a struggle, lad. He'll get a nice sleep in return for a little bit of a headache." Simon shrugs his shoulders, as the doors close and the lift begins ascending.
"Where are you taking me?" Riley asks agitatedly.
"My employer whom you met earlier insists we need to get you ready for something. I'm taking you to the surface." Simon answers, as the lift continues to ascend. Riley stares blankly, refusing to talk any further, ultimately concerned for the wellbeing of Emily and Owen. The two remain in silence whilst the lift takes five minutes to reach the surface. Industrial lights shine through the openings of the lift as it continues to rise to the surface, giving Riley an idea of just how deep the facility is. Sunlight finally penetrates its way through the lift as it stops to a halt, the doors open and reveal armed guards, who lead Riley to a chair, and sit him down, strapping him tightly into the constraints. Simon proceeds to walk towards a control panel, where he lets Jorah know that everything is ready to go ahead. In front of Riley, a dark and abandoned industrial building stands tall, with noises coming from the roof. Riley shivers with fear, terrified that he is going to be shot to death by a firing squad. He continues to tremble and holds his eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge his surroundings.
"I believe you two have met." Simon chuckles as he stands on Riley's left hand side. Riley looks towards Simon, and then looks to his right where he sees the clone standing firmly besides him. Riley gasps and shudders in sheer terror. As he looks straight ahead, his clone slowly stares at him.
"What you don't understand, laddie, is that you are part of something so much greater than you could ever imagine. I wasn't even aware of it until my employer let me know. The Nomad has some great plans for you." Simon smiles as he looks towards the top of the industrial building, where two security guards hold a struggling figure.
"You see, Riley, we need you to unleash that fire from within you. The fire that destroyed Petrelli Manor. Don't worry about hurting anybody, this chair and its restraints are held down by some seriously powerful magnets. We figured you'd need some motivation…" Simon explains, as he raises a thumbs up to the guards on the roof, as they take off the cover of the figure they are holding, revealing a gagged Emily.
"Don't you even… Don't hurt her!" Riley protests, shouting for help as he sees that he is surrounded by seemingly endless woodland.
"Oh we're not going to hurt her. You are. Well, another version of you at least." Simon states as he stares towards the clone.
"It's a best of both worlds scenario, boy. We get to train the clone and reveal your inner demon. Of course if you can summon it yourself, we won't have to hurt anybody." He continues to explain, attempting to motivate Riley.
"I can't control it! I don't know how to!" Riley shouts, pleadingly shaking his head at Simon.
"Very well." Simon nods towards the clone, and raises another thumbs up towards the armed guards on the roof, who take their leave. The clone stares towards Emily, making her step forward towards the edge of the roof.
"Don't do this!" Riley yells, struggling to try and break free from the chair.
"She's innocent!" He continues to protest, as Simon walks up to him and crouches down, grabbing Riley by the chin and stares into his eyes.
"Come on. You can do it. We're going to kill her. She's doing to die because you couldn't save her. It'll be all your fault." Simon whispers, trying to motivate Riley further as an orange flicker occurs in his eyes. Simon's eyes open widely with apprehension, before the orange of Riley's eyes fade away.
"Pathetic." He mutters, as he nods towards the clone again.
"Please!" Riley screams, as the clone continues to make Emily step towards the edge of the roof, as small rubble crumbles off of the edge of the roof, falling to the ground below.
"I love you, Riley" Emily mumbles in a muffled tone underneath the gag, as she tries to fight the restraints holding her hands behind her back. She realises that she cannot fight against it. Emily makes eye contact with Riley below, nodding towards him slowly, as tears drop from her eyes.
"Do it." Simon commands the clone, as he looks towards Emily and makes her take one final step, causing her to plummet off the roof to her death, as her body crashes into the ground below. Instantly, Riley's eyes turn a harsh orange, as he teleports out of his chair, and dissipates into particles and flies into Simon's body, shutting each vital organ down one by one, giving him an extremely painful death. He flies out of his body and reassembles. Simon spews with blood, before collapsing to the ground, dying a very slow death. Up to twenty armed guards begin to surround Riley, aiming their automatic rifles towards him. The clone stares towards Riley, before teleporting away.
"Stand down!" An armed guard yells as he walks towards Riley. Suddenly, the armed guard turns his gun on his colleagues, and they all enter a disastrous firefight with one another, until around ten are left standing. A stray bullet hits Riley in the shoulder, he stares at the wound as it heals rapidly.
"Hold your fire!" Another armed guard shouts, as they all stare towards Riley whilst trying to back away. Riley blinks, and with no effort, all the remaining guards drop dead. Riley walks towards Emily's body, seemingly still aware of who she is. He kneels down and places one hand behind her head, lifting her up. No matter what is in control of Riley, it clearly shares the very same emotions. The orange in his eyes dissipate, as Riley suddenly realises he is holding Emily's mangled body. He gasps in shock, slowly beginning to cry as he rests his head on her chest. Riley hears paper crinkling whilst resting on Emily, and discovers a letter marked with his name inside of her jacket.