Chapter 8

Flying above the city, Eidolon looked down at the people below. He'd spent the past day inspecting various points in and around Brockton Bay. He'd found nothing, but on Dragon's insistence, surveyed each site.

The only anomaly was a young man walking along the highway at night. He'd followed him for a while, but besides the young man shouting to the sky every now and then, the kid didn't stand out that much.

Until he'd decided to step into oncoming traffic. The driver had been uninjured, although severely rattled.

Eidolon still remembered the driver's words from the previous night. "I-I didn't mean to." The driver stuttered. "You saw it! He stepped into the road!"

The kid was in bad condition, if he was putting it lightly. He was used to such scenes, but the driver wasn't. One look at the beaten body had made him lose whatever he'd had for supper. A greasy burger judging from what he had cleaned from his shoes.

Honestly, he would be lying if he thought the kid was going to make it, but even so, he carried him to the hospital. The last he saw of him, he was wheeled into the emergency room. Even with his status as a Cape, the medical staff had not allowed him further. It was quite admiral, actually. Ordinary folks rarely told him what he could and couldn't do.

Eidolon continued his slow arc over the city. From this distance, the people below were akin to ants. There weren't many, with it being early hours into the morning, but the city rarely slept. It was night, so he was hard to spot in the night sky, but even so, people rarely looked up, more focused on what was in front of them and where they were going.

The silence was broken by a crackling in his ear, followed by the voice of Dragon, the person who had originally set him about investigating the sites.

"Eidolon, find anything?"

"I checked each site multiple times. Didn't find much," he replied. "It would help if you could tell me what I was looking for."

"It could be nothing, but scans showed small tears in reality surrounding Brockton Bay," the voice replied. "Half a dozen at least, but maybe more, forming a ring around the city."

"And what does that mean?"

"If I had to take a guess, something or someone being transported or teleported into the area."

Someone? Eidolon's thoughts returned to the young man he'd seen the previous night.

"The kid?" he spoke.

"Could be involved. I've asked the hospital to keep an eye on him, and provided a room."

"He's alive? How? Wait, even if he is, I doubt he won't be eating food through a straw for the rest of his life."

"Doctor says he revived after being dead. Whether he knows anything, though, is a different question. Doctor insists we give him a few days to recuperate. Claims the kid has amnesia."

Amnesia?

"Case 53?" he spoke.

As far as he could remember, the kid had no severe disfigurements, but it could have been hidden by the injuries sustained by being run over by a car. But if has amnesia…

"I had the doctor search his body for any signs. Negative for any marks associated with Case 53s, but a possibility nonetheless," Dragon's voice sounded in his ear. "For now, I've asked Yamada to find time to speak with him."

"Or, I could," he replied.

"I doubt your particular set of skills would be useful in this situation," she replied. "The kid is clearly under some sort of mental duress if he stepped in front of a car. A more subtle approach would be, I think, more prudent."

"Hm. All right, but keep me in the loop on this one."

Eidolon paused his conversation with Dragon. He could hear a car alarm going off somewhere down below and floated down to see the cause.

"And the other new kid? Invincible? What about him?" he spoke.

He had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes at the name Invincible, but he was curious nonetheless. The name could tell you a lot about a hero. This one seemed cocky and overconfident, maybe both.

"PRT is running him through tests. So far flight, invulnerability, and strength. Could be strong enough to match you and Legend, but we'll have to see."

Eidolon was now floating in the street where the car alarm emanated. A man in a hoodie was currently fiddling with the driver side door. Eidolon hands began to glow, causing the would-be thief to turn his gaze upwards.

As soon as the thief saw his blue-green suit, he dropped the tool he'd been using to jimmy the lock, hands now in the air. Eidolon didn't say anything, just flicking his head to the side in a "scram" gesture. The thief obliged, bolting into the night.

"I'll take another look around," he spoke to Dragon.

"Or, you know, get some sleep. The world won't end if you take a night off," she responded.

"Maybe, but something doesn't feel right."

Returning to his position floating above the city, he could see thunder clouds creeping in from over the sea.

[Raise The Dead!]

[Status: 7/10]

Zac only got to seven bodies before the fatigue was beginning to be too much to bear. He was rubbing his temples to try and alleviate some of the discomfort.

He'd wanted to get to all the bodies tonight, and then ditch the hospital. The more time he spent here, the more likely he was going to be caught out. He didn't actually exist in this world. They could be running his fingerprints right now, and he knew what they'd return. A big, fat nothing.

Deciding to return the following night to finish his quest, he made his way out the morgue, turning off the lights as he exited. Seeing no one in the hallway, he cautiously backtracked towards the stairwell.

The elevator had line of sight all the way down the hall. If anyone came down the elevator right now, he'd be easily spotted, so he made sure to keep an eye on the floor indicator above the metal doors in the distance.

He was going to leave his minions in the morgue. There was, honestly, no better place to keep them. The fridge would keep them cold, and since they were meant to be there, no one would ask any questions.

The fridges were closed, though, with his undead trapped inside. The units themselves couldn't be opened from the inside, he'd tried, and so he'd left one of the refrigerator doors slightly ajar just in case. That one could then free the rest. Hopefully, the staff wouldn't think too much about it.

He could still feel his connection to each of them, letting him know where they were at any time, and he could command them to do his bidding.

Fuck!

There were probably cameras in the morgue, or at least outside it, something which he hadn't thought of. He just prayed that no one decided to check them. Otherwise, they'd see poor Robert doing cartwheels with his meat hanging out.

Zac eyed the elevator longingly, but with a sigh decided to take the stairs. Anyone could walk in while he was using the elevator, and they'd probably ask questions he didn't want to answer.

He pulled his tired body up the stairs, eventually reaching his floor, but paused before going in. He remembered what the duo earlier had said about Sophie. She had a family member in the hospital she was visiting, and the PRT had been using her to keep an eye on him, or so the man believed anyhow.

The stairwell still had a couple flights going up, so he moved upward till he reached the 4th floor. Like the rest, another sign hung beside the door to indicate what the floor was intended for.

Oncology/Burns.

The door opened easily, giving him access to the floor beyond. Like his floor, this ward had sliding doors, along with curtains should patients want for privacy. Luckily for him, there was no nurses at the workstation.

Where they were he wasn't sure, but looking at the clock, it was close to 4 in the morning. With it being spring, the sun would not start to rise for a couple hours at least.

Probably off doing rounds, or whatever nurses do. Or, getting lucky in the on-call room.

He tiptoed over to the workstation, intending to see if he could find a file that would help him get some answers, but then realized he didn't actually know what he was looking for. He had no last name for Sophie, if that actually was even her real name, and no full name for her family member.

Instead, he used the position of the workstation in the center of the floor to look around. Most of the patients' rooms were dark or curtained off, but he spied one with a bit of light from what appeared to be a lamp.

Careful not to make any noise, he made his way over to the room.

The room had two occupants. The patient was an elderly female on a ventilator. If it wasn't for the steady beats of the heart monitor, he would be worried she'd already passed away. She looked awfully close to the bodies he'd spent the night hanging out with.

The second occupant was Sophie, currently passed out. She was sitting on a chair, but with her upper half lying on the bed. She no longer wore the scrubs, instead opting for a pair of faded jeans and black tank top. Looking at her face, he could see dried tears staining her cheeks.

His irritation at her slightly dissipated at the scene before him.

"Ahem."

Zac nearly jumped out of skin at the sound. Turning around quietly, a nurse was staring directly at him. She was middle-aged, hair already starting to gray, and currently giving him a rather stern look.

"Can I help you?" she spoke. Suspicious, but still keeping her voice down.

"I, uh, just wanted to speak to Sophie about something."

Peering over his shoulder, she saw Sophie passed out on the bed. "Come with me," she said, motioning for the two to get some distance from the room before continuing to speak. "Now, that poor girl has been through enough. Whatever it is, it can wait till tomorrow. Come along."

She escorted him to the elevator, making sure he went inside.

"What floor?" she asked, intending to press the button for him.

"Uh, three," he replied, immediately regretting it when he saw her eyes narrow.

I should not have said that.

She pressed the button. "I'll tell her you stopped by." She continued to glare at him as the doors closed.

It took only a few seconds for the elevator to arrive on his floor. Too tired to care, Zac lazily walked out and made his way to his room. The nurse that had taken a cigarette break earlier was back at her station, eyeing him curiously. No way to sneak past her when she clearly heard the ding of the elevator.

"Good morning," he said with a smile and a nod of his head.

He walked into his room, not giving her any chance to ask questions, and collapsed on his bed like a sack of potatoes. He would deal with the rest tomorrow, when he could think straight.

Even now, he could feel his connection to his minion. The short distance between him and the morgue did not diminish the connection in the slightest. Knowing more about his power, he could plan more for the future. He could raise the dead, sure, but if he wanted to take on Scion, he'd need way more. What he wanted now was the bodies of superpowered individuals.