Omega [REDUX]
Chapter 16
Elsa wasn't prepared for what had happened in the convention center. Neither was she prepared for its aftermath.
In the wake of the destruction, almost 500 cutting-edge prototypes had been destroyed, out of the 550 originally on display. The crossfire and resulting battle left most of the machinery largely obliterated, and even the surviving models suffered minor damages here and there. An estimated 50 billion credits worth of damages, not including infrastructural damage to the building that would have to be repaired. 53 civilians lay dead, 187 injured. Two delegates from the academy were left critically wounded, including Anna, and had to be rushed off to intensive care. Edison's body, now with a jagged hole in his torso, was bundled up and shipped off to a tech lab for examination and study. The dead enemy soldiers were disposed of; Elsa assumed that the wounded were taken for interrogation. The UIF team that had been sent to dispatch Edison simply disappeared, and Elsa couldn't find them afterward.
But shockingly, she learned that it had not been the only the place to have suffered an attack. As the remaining recruits that had passed the on-site medical examination were airlifted back to the academy, she caught wind of reporters nearby mentioning something about a "coordinated attack". On board their transport she'd drawn out the data tablet she carried with her, given to her by Hans, to find out for herself. The information she gathered only served to confirm her worst fears. Across UIF territory numerous weapons factories, warehouses, and even the headquarters of the manufacturers, were targeted in ruthlessly efficient strikes, with almost 85% fatalities.
"If it involves destroying my enemies' technology, or killing their loved ones, so be it," Edison's haunting voice came floating back into her ears, sending a chill down her spine. "All of this is ultimately a means to an end."
When they'd landed back at the academy's air base they were greeted of previously anxious but now relieved parents, all so glad to see their children return. The other delegates rushed out, terrified by their ordeal and simply downright relieved to be back in their parents' embrace. Behind, Elsa lingered, taking a slow walk back to the team's dorm, ignoring the cries of "I love you" and "I'm so glad you're back" that echoed across the air base.
She drew up the news report again; reading the chilling details of the various people slaughtered, their friends and family running to the attacked areas crying, only to be roughly held back the local enforcement to keep them safe. Reporters at the convention center fervently covered the events as they unfolded, beyond the grief of the victims' families to the widespread paranoia that had begun to border on hysteria. Mysterious superhuman attacks weapons convention, read the headlines. Terror attack on all weapon manufacturers within the Arendelle region. Redeployment of UIF forces to ensure public safety.
"All of this is ultimately a means to an end."
Elsa reached her room, hitting the button to allow her door to slide open, tossing her tablet onto her bunk and collapsing on the floor, too tired to move any further. She needed a shower, and a lot of sleep, but right now she was overcome with grief.
I did this.
I could have acted sooner.
And I didn't.
I hesitated.
I'm so confused.
There were so many things I should have done and so many things I shouldn't have done and I—
"…reports from eyewitnesses who survived the ordeal seem to point to one particular figure aside from the first superhuman," the tablet's speakers blared. "This is Michelle McCarthy with more information."
"Thanks HQ, I have someone here who claims that there were not one, but two superhumans in the incident that occurred right here at the SunTec Convention Hall. Is that the case, sir?"
"Yeah, about 10 minutes after the shooting started, when the UIF recruits began to evacuate us, we had to pass back through the main hall, where the man with lightning bolts had already killed quite a few people…" The male voice on the speaker took a deep breath before continuing, "and then this figure in some kind of suit just comes out of nowhere, and starts firing ice at the guy! Whoever this person was, he or she bought us enough time to get out of there."
"Did you see who he or she looked like?"
"No, there was a mask covering the guy's face. Everything happened so fast and we were so concerned about getting out, so I didn't even get to look at the person's physique."
Elsa shut off the tablet as she retrieved a change of clothes and walked off to the showers, dragging her feet across the marble floor. She stripped, hung her clothes on the hanger and turned the shower knob, allowing the hot water to cascade over her body. She exhaled deeply, her heart aching as she did so, leaning back against the cold shower walls.
The image of the first time she'd set eyes upon Anna flashed through her mind: the way she flipped her red hair, the way she smiled and laughed, along with the way she loved to snuggle up to Elsa at night, how peaceful she looked when she was asleep. How she'd blossomed from pure incompetence to lethal and practically sexy, but was still willing to trust Elsa despite her misgivings.
And she'd almost let her go.
She'd almost killed her.
I almost killed her.
And then she simply collapsed to her knees, crying as she did, miserable and wet, her mind only able to think of how she'd let so many people die, how she'd almost let Anna die, and how she'd made everything worse despite her best efforts. A crushing wave of insecurity and self-doubt overwhelmed her resolve and she broke down, shivering and sobbing, under the pitter-patter of the shower.
"…recent incident at the SunTec convention hall has sparked academic debate over the problem on Empyrean. Join us as we engage our leading experts on the course of action the UIF should undertake next…"
Anna's eyelids flickered, her mind slowly becoming conscious of her surroundings. The soft, albeit cold fabric of sheets. Bright white lights that pricked at her eyeballs. Cool air that caressed her cheeks, the taste of sterilization on her tongue.
What in—
The sound of gunfire came flooding back to her; she could almost feel the weight of the rifle she carried in gloved fingers kicking back into her palm as she squeezed the trigger. She could still see the men she gunned down spurt blood from their mouths as they fell, clutching at their wounds, spasming in pain.
She felt a shiver travel down her spine. Anna shut her eyes and shuddered, but the images would not leave her. They were burned into the back of her mind.
No…
What have I done?
Anna opened her eyes, letting her exhausted muscles savour the sensation of the soft, cool sheets of the hospital bed, relaxed but not quite at peace. Her body remained motionless, but her mind ran wild with what had happened. If she hadn't been constrained by exhaustion she'd probably have punched a hole in the wall with all the frustration she was feeling.
Her heart ached as she remembered Elsa, and what she'd done. How afraid and shocked Anna had been when Elsa revealed herself as a… mutant. How Anna had forced herself to put aside her emotions to kill fellow human beings. How terrified she'd become as the strange man lifted her in tendrils of lightning, and then—
What happened next? She couldn't remember. Heck, she didn't even know how she ended up in the hospital. She only remembered being caught by the electric tendrils, her brief but terrifying exchange with Elsa, and triggering the EMP. What had come after that had only been pain that blotted out her vision, and had probably knocked her unconscious.
I have blood on my hands.
"…managed to acquire first hand footage of what exactly happened at the scene," the television in the hospital bed blared. "Our analysts are here to guide you through what exactly happens in this clip. Over to you, analysts."
"Thank you, HQ. What we have here is first-hand footage recovered from a prototype suit on display from the convention. The data is partially corrupted, so only a portion of the recording was recovered, but according to eyewitness accounts, this was one of the two suits used by a UIF recruit and another unknown individual to fight off the Empyrean attackers."
It was the suit Anna had worn in combat. Somehow, the footage had been recovered. Inwardly, she questioned the methods the news network had employed to acquire the data, then put it out of her mind as the footage began to play. It was exactly as she had recalled; although the part that involved her breaking down wasn't being televised, the combat was identical. She watched herself gun down enemy soldiers, in a fashion not quite so different from reviewing past performances in the simulation room with Elsa.
Elsa.
Where was she now? Anna strained to look around her room. She was alone. Her teammates were probably with their families, or if she'd been out long enough, normal lessons would have resumed.
She watched as the footage showed her being lifted up by the mysterious man with electricity, and after that the clip faded into static as the analysts reported that the rest of the data had been totally corrupted, and that this had been the only recoverable portion.
"But let's go back and rewind," the commentators continued, stopping at the portion where Elsa could be seen, fully masked, firing off an ice beam. "Who is this mysterious person? Is this person and the Empyrean assailant that controls lightning of the same kind? The same species?"
Right now Anna didn't know what to feel; on one hand, she definitely felt changed. The fact that she'd turned into a cold blooded killer affected her deeply, but on the other hand, she didn't feel that this disturbance was quite it. She found herself more concerned with Elsa.
More specifically, she didn't know how their relationship was impacted. Was Elsa scared of opening up to her now, after exposing her secrets? Was Anna herself scared of Elsa? A mutant that had hidden away her powers, a mutant that Anna snuggled up to after every simulation review session they had at night?
How did they feel about each other?
Anna sighed deeply, her heart remaining a mess of emotions that she could not fathom.
"We're going back to the scene with one of our reporters…"
The door creaked open. Anna turned to look. It was Merida. Her red hair was now tied up, bundled under a white beret that matched the formal military dress she adorned. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," Anna replied. "I could be a lot worse, I guess."
"That's good," Merida said, and for a moment Anna could see Merida's stoic features betrayed by the concern in her eyes. Anna smiled in return.
"How long was I out?"
"A day. A full day. The city is still reeling."
"How bad?"
"They're still repeating footage from yesterday. Was a pretty severe incident, evidently."
"…want to thank all of the delegates who came to our aid, and evacuated us well before the first responders arrived," the television blared as it now focused on one of the eyewitnesses at the scene. "We were originally trapped inside, and we would probably have died if it wasn't…" The woman had to stifle a sob. "…wasn't for their intervention and bravery. Thank you so, so much."
"Come to think of it," Merida said, "they're making too much of a big deal out of this incident."
"What do you mean?" Anna asked, shifting herself on the bed to get comfortable. "I'm just glad they don't see me as a cold-blooded killer." And it was true; Anna was genuinely relieved by the statement.
"You? A cold blooded killer?" Merida laughed. "Our actions are considered self-defense, Anna."
"Still…"
"Look, frankly we'd have done something about it anyway," Merida went on. "Getting them out was the right thing to do. Or hide them and wait for rescue or something. We don't need medals for that."
Anna smirked. "Who said anything about medals?"
"UIF headquarters, apparently."
Anna raised an eyebrow, then everything clicked together in her head. "Oh."
"Why do you think I'm wearing the uniform?" Merida said, an amused smile on her face. "I'm here to pick you up, get you changed, and ship you off to the ceremony. We're all getting medals."
"All of us?"
"…except Ursula and a bunch of her jokers. They fled the moment there was an attack."
Anna stuck out her tongue. "Cowards."
They shared a laugh. It was a good one, but it didn't stop Anna's mind from wandering back to Elsa.
"Who is this mysterious person? Is this person and the Empyrean assailant that controls lightning of the same kind? The same species?"
Elsa shut off the television in the room, leaning back in the cushioned chair. She'd had enough coverage for one day.
She was lucky, in a lot of areas, that her identity had not been found out. First was the corruption of the data in Anna's suit, which the press had retrieved and published. Second was the UIF confiscation of her own suit, preserving the footage and preventing the press from learning more. Third was the fact that no eyewitness so far was able to identify her. Only the delegates that had participated in the daring rescue knew of Elsa's involvement, and even then the UIF had issued a gag order upon all of them, and to only agree with facts already released to the public.
But even with luck on her side, regret filled her.
A single solitary snowflake floated in her palm, twirling slowly on an axis as she tapped her left foot gently in a slow rhythmic fashion, the only sound that broke the silence of the white room she sat in, adorned with nothing but a similarly coloured set of furniture and a similarly coloured coffee dispenser. The blue snowflake pulsated gently as it rotated, the familiar glow doing nothing to soothe her emotions.
Right now her mind replayed the instance she watched Anna become entangled in Edison's electric grasp.
Then her mind replayed the moment her blade penetrated his skin, plunging into his flesh.
Then she saw Edison in front of her again, breathing his dying breath, his pained gaze full of agony and regret.
She closed her eyes, but the images were undeterred. A solitary tear rolled down her cheeks as her face began to feel hot again.
Sorrow.
Confusion.
Two more emotions that she could feel.
Love?
Was that an emotion? More importantly, did she feel that way? Elsa understood from her reading of various articles of literature that it was one of life's greatest mysteries; many had tried to define it, a limited number found it, and even fewer understood it.
The million-dollar-question was, did she love Anna?
How… perplexing… she thought in between waves of pain that raked the inner walls of her heart, aftershocks of the emotional trauma she'd been through for the hours after the incident.
The door clicked, and slid open. Hans walked in. "You're early," he remarked.
"Didn't have much to do," she muttered in response.
"Don't quite blame you," came the reply. "Well, you'll have enough to do soon enough afterwards, once we resume the normal academic schedule."
"When's that?"
"After the ceremony."
Elsa nodded. She understood; any onlooker would deem the incident to be above and beyond the call of duty for recruits, and would give due recognition.
"When's the ceremony?"
"About to start."
"Good." Elsa leaned back.
"You don't seem too unhappy about that."
"About what?"
"The lack of recognition."
"Oh." She hadn't really thought about that, all up till now. "That would only reveal my identity. And my powers."
"That is correct."
"And honestly, Hans," she said, her voice now soft and honest, "I got a lot of people killed. I almost let my…" She hesitated, trying to find the word. "…friend, get killed."
Hans cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
They both held the mutual gaze for about a second before Hans reached over for the remote Elsa had placed on the table, and turned the television back on.
"Civilians across the city are holding tribute to the delegation of recruits from the military academy of UIF for initiating a rescue for the citizens involved as what has been dubbed the 'SunTec incident'", the speakers began to blare. "Families and loved ones of those who survived have come out to the streets, along with throngs of grateful citizens to laud the actions of those who took part in the daring rescue."
"It isn't just about letting a 'friend' get killed, is it?"
Elsa's heart stilled, but she kept a straight face. Nothing betrayed her true emotions. But did Hans know how she felt even better than she did?
"You're thinking about Edison. And what you did to him."
Elsa nodded silently, maintaining her facial expression. It wasn't a total lie. She was thinking about it. "I knew him. From my time in Empyrean."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
"I've had to kill my teammate before," Hans said, leaning back on the white table. Elsa noticed his normally intense gaze soften as he did so. "It wasn't pleasant."
"Mind if I ask what happened?"
"We were best buddies for such a long time. We practically grew up together. We were both crazy, and when I was younger I loved crazy. We signed up to the military for the hell of it, and we excelled in combat.
"He had a preference for frontline engagements, while I preferred strategic overviews. But I joined the combat division simply so we could fight together. We were part of a Class-X insertion team, and we were one of the best.
"On one of our ops, things got botched, and he got riddled with so many bullets he didn't even look human." Hans stopped to take a deep breath. Elsa could see his eyes fill with pain. "When we disengaged our contacts we realized comms were down and we couldn't call in CASEVAC to extract him and get him medical attention. Then the bugger, the stupid bugger that he was, used every fibre of his body to grab my hand holding my sidearm, and reposition it over his forehead.
"I still remember the faint nod he gave me. I had no choice; he was suffering far too much."
A brief silence endured between Hans and Elsa, one recovering from the pain of recollection, the other experiencing the agony of sympathy.
"Anyway, I didn't say all this so you could know my sob story," Hans continued. "I'm telling you this because I know how it feels like. I know how hard it is to move on."
He stood up, knelt down so he was at eye level with Elsa, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you ever need any help, I'm here."
Elsa nodded, red-eyed and brimming with tears.
"Don't cry," Hans said. "I know it's tough, but you'll get over it." He got back up. "At least you know what it's like in actual combat. A lot of recruits who signed up for this academy don't even begin to comprehend how painful it can actually be. Myself included. We all learn the hard way."
Elsa relaxed into the cushion, trying to get rid of the emotions clawing at her. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I know you're confused. Murdering Edison isn't the only thing bothering you."
"Will I be put on trial for that?"
"No, we consider that self-defence. But that still isn't the true thing that is bothering you."
So he does know. Elsa shrugged. "I'm not even sure if I know what it is myself."
"Anna."
The single word struck a chord in Elsa's heart.
"You know, normally you're super-composed about yourself. But I mention her name, a single word, and your face clearly shows your affection to her."
Elsa cocked an eyebrow. "I don't know how, or what, I feel about her."
"You'll figure it out," Hans replied, leaning against the table once more. "It's what compelled you to fight on. To try to save your friend. That's how you found the EMP. The retinal scans of your brain from the suit confirm this trend."
"You heard everything?"
"Yep. I know you did your best to save her. And you did save her."
Elsa looked down, not knowing why her face was burning up.
"It's clearly more than just simple affection for her, Elsa. I know it. You know it. You just have to admit it."
Hans got up and walked behind the table. "I didn't call you here just for chit chat. I actually have business to conduct with you."
"And what's that?"
She watched as Hans opened a drawer behind the desk, crossing one leg over the other as she did so, the white fabric of her pants tightening in a somewhat uncomfortable fashion. Hans drew out three metal boxes; the first was large and flat, the second decently small, and the last one of medium size.
"What's all this for?" Elsa asked.
"Consider them, gifts, in a sense," Hans replied. "Go on, open them."
Hesitantly Elsa pushed herself out of her chair. She reached for the first box, feeling the cool metal cover with her fingers, then lifted it gingerly. The cover revealed a gleaming blue apparel that lay beneath, some kind of ceremonial dress. But something seemed off about the dress; Elsa confirmed that suspicion as she put a hand on the fabric.
It was ice.
"What the hell?"
"I'm just as clueless as you are," Hans said abruptly. "This is yours, apparently."
"Mine?"
"You were found wearing it when you were rescued."
"Kristoff didn't have a say in this?"
"Kristoff doesn't have a hand in your affairs in so far as he was part of the team that got you out."
"I killed half of that team," Elsa said bitterly.
"You weren't consciously aware of that, as evidenced by our scans of your brain activity during the medical checkup that followed," Hans replied. "And, since every time you were deployed in Empyrean you were wearing something different from this… gown, it's safe to assume this was relatively new, and you were unaware of wearing it. Let alone aware of killing 2 people in a trance-like state."
"Trance-like?"
"Kristoff reported your eyes glowing blue."
Elsa stiffened. Glowing blue? This was something she hadn't heard of before. She didn't even know what she herself was capable of.
"You still have two more boxes, you know."
"Oh. Right." Elsa took the second, comparatively tiny box and removed the cover with ease. The Medal of Honor sat gleaming inside. "What—"
"We can't recognize you publicly, but that doesn't mean we won't do it," Hans said with a grin. "You deserve that. Honest."
"Thanks, I guess," she replied awkwardly, moving to the last box and pulling open the cover.
It was a joke book.
"Really, Hans?"
"Hey, from my experience, if you want to pick a girl up, jokes are pretty good."
Elsa half-glared at Hans, who kept smiling in the face of it. "I'm being totally serious, by the way," he went on. "It works. You should try it."
"Whoever said anything about picking anyone up?" Elsa said as she turned away abashed.
"She's worth a shot. You'll never know until you try I guess. It will take time, but if she's worth it then you won't have any qualms about how long you'll take to get there."
"Where's there?"
"That, ultimately," Hans said, picking up the book and tossing it into Elsa's hands, "is up to you."