Death 1.6

While Velocity and I walked - I had taken one look at the van, with its darkness and metal walls, and violently shaken my head, which had created a patina of rust on the doors - I pondered my situation. I was some sort of Parahuman. I had lost my self. There was something nagging me. I was obviously depressed, which despite everything was a bit of a shock. Realising and acknowledging it.

There was an echo of that realisation. I ignored it, focusing on the present, and whatever could be threatening Panacea. Velocity left me alone, apart from walking along next to me. Paths sprang up and fell apart as the plight of dozens went unanswered. Each broken path slowed my steps a little more, and twisted my emotions a little further.

After three blocks, it took immense effort to put one foot in front of the other. Why wasn't I saving them? I couldn't remember. I took a step that would lead me away but Velocity murmured something about a father... My father! Dad! And so I could keep moving again, away from the city and its suffering. There was a brief flash as Scion shot by overhead, going somewhere. A path vanished, and did not pain me. Then another.

Another flash, and Scion was gone again. More paths faded as crime rates in the city dropped. The rest of the way was easy enough.

Soon after, I found myself in an interrogation room, sitting across from a face PRT trooper. He cleared his throat and pressed the 'Recording' button. I had declined a lawyer. "Officer James Mahon interviewing Taylor Hebert, official code name Revenant." He glanced at me and I took a few seconds to turn the name over in my head. Decent enough, I supposed. I had been given a mask.

"Revenant, SI Morrows was found dead in your hospital room, and an accusation levelled against you by one Darlene Adams, who is purportedly an agent of the Child Protective Services. Did you use a Blaster power to project a shard of ice into SI Morrow's heart, thereby killing him?" I shook my head and managed to mumble a half-hearted "No." It was unlikely that they would believe me. A moment passed while the officer wrote something down.

"Revenant, you proceeded to escape the room after being attacked. Do you accept this as a fact? Please state your opinion for the record." I nodded and said "Yes." "Why did you do so?" I paused. "I... followed a path. I... had to? I couldn't see anything else properly." The officer nodded. "You then proceeded towards a nearby crime in progress and became violent, concussing the perpetrator of..." He frowned looking at the paper in front of, and then looked at me.

"Yes. I attacked him while he was doing... That." I shuddered. Officer Mahon nodded. "Do you recall what happened next?" I frowned and said "I jumped from wall to wall to reach the rooftops, then proceeded to follow another path at random." A scribbled note. "And you came across another crime?" I nodded. "State for the record please" He said automatically and monotonously. "Yes, I came across another crime. I was frustrated I hadn't gotten there earlier. I do not recall the details."

The officer raised an eyebrow. "You broke a woman's arms. No matter..."

We went over many more incidents, until we came to my meeting with Panacea. "And the path led you to... Panacea? And you are sure she is or was in danger?" I nodded fervently. "I still can't figure out how she was. Is. I don't know, and thinking about it gives me a headache." The officer nodded and said "And at this point, you found a new path into a nearby building?"

"Yes, and I took it to get away from Panacea. And then the man was in danger from Glory Girls aura so I hit her." The man nodded thoughtfully. "Very well. We will now take you to a holding cell. You will be able to meet your father in half an hour."

Time passed. My father arrived. There was a lot of crying, mumbled explanations, and then he left for a bit. I think I fell asleep for a bit, and when I woke up he was sitting in the cell across from mine. He noticed me wake up, and gave me a sheepish smile. For a while, we just lay on our respective cots, and watched each other, before finally I fell asleep.

The cell bars were gone when I woke up, reduced to little piles of rust. More importantly, I had a pair of strange limbs extending from my back, made of metal not all dissimilar to the what the cell bars had been made of.