Young Writers Society

Word Count: 1904

All this ran through my mind as I tried to grapple with the language of the universe moving through my mind. Finally, I could clearly see Cobalt in front of me, even the smile forming underneath his mask. He spoke again, Good. Good. Once you’ve been able to decipher one piece, it’s much easier to expand your influence and see more. But be careful to not let it overwhelm you. I nodded as I took in a deep breath.

It was difficult to create an image of objects that stayed in constant motion, such as the waves that quickly rushed up the shore and then immediately receded back into the ocean. I could hear them as they crashed, even feel their tremors through the waves that pounded against my skull. Then suddenly, I felt a great shift in the weight of the world around me.

I thought I felt myself stumble back a step or two and flailed my arms out in front of me, trying to find an invisible assailant. Another force pushed against my chest, and a pressure built in my temples. The dull static turned into a loud ringing that overpowered even my ability to think. I tried to reach out—mentally or physically I couldn’t tell—to Cobalt to steady me, but it was like he had vanished. My body wouldn’t respond to my will to move, and it felt like I was the one who vanished.

Then he reappeared beside me, actually grabbing my arm, and spoke into my ear with a stern tone and gravelly voice, “Never lose focus of your own body.” His grip only strengthened until I was able to remember how to move my arm again. I reached up and ripped the mask off my face, throwing me back into reality. 

“What the…,” I said, letting out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. I was still standing in the same place, in the pier above me and the ocean in front of me. When I looked down, not even the sand had been disturbed when I stepped back. Cobalt stood beside me now, still holding my arm. My head really hurt. “What was that?”

He returned to my mind. The mask amplifies your ability to sense the universe and utilize influence, but if you are ill prepared and overwhelmed, you can lose your sense of self. When he let go of me, he took the mask out of my hands and turned it over in his. I’ve never tried it on someone who still had a sense to lose. He seemed genuinely intrigued when he looked back at me, at the sheer terror in my eyes from the intensity of what I had experienced. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I didn’t know what to think. Knowing Splinter, that would not be the only time I had to endure that, and after a while it would become normal. If I thought hard enough, I could still recall the feeling of space shifting around Cobalt and hear the static in my inner ear.

Having read my thoughts, Cobalt added, You have always been able to feel it, Eric. That is what influence is: the ability to feel the universe. It just wasn’t obvious until the mask amplified it in your mind. It will get easier. With that, he moved his hand, and the mask vanished. Then, before I could think of what to say next, he began to walk away from under the pier. I just knew to follow.

I pulled out my phone to check the time and saw that maybe fifteen minutes had passed since I spotted Cobalt. The time I spent in my own head couldn’t have been longer than five minutes, but it felt as if an eternity had passed. This influence stuff still made very little sense to me, even though I had been using pieces of it accidentally my entire life. I didn’t know that some people could be born with that ability. The only other people I had encountered that could actively use influence where people of Splinter, and they were completely mysterious.

You have little time now, Eric. Cobalt began to sound slightly impatient as he waited just a few feet away. Your agency will be expecting a report soon. My face flushed with heat as I jogged a bit forward. I tried to recall the details of the false alibi I had given, like what I was supposed to do when I got back. Cobalt started down a short walking path that led into a large brush of reeds. I fell into step behind him.

After a minute or two passed, I looked up and saw a large oak tree looming over me. Confused, I stopped, turned around, and saw a long line of trees alongside a well-maintained walking path. This was the large park that was set up just a block from the main DAI headquarters where Rachel and I would sometimes go after long days. I look back in front of me and Cobalt was nowhere to be seen. I cursed under my breath. Just as had happened last night, I had seemingly teleported to where a place several miles from where I was walking.

The journal had told me there would be a briefing in the main conference room at the headquarters in just twenty minutes, which I would be expected to be at, so I broke into a jog. As I ran the rest of the way there, I thought more about influence, the mask, and the scars still all over my body. There was no good way to explain that to Rachel.

Ten minutes of running later, I arrive to an enormous building right in the heart of the city, with ornate glass doors lining the front of the lobby. A few tourists were milling around outside, probably hoping to get a surface level tour of the building. I slipped inside behind them and booked it towards the elevator, giving a polite wave to the security woman at the front desk.

The elevator doors slid open with a dig as the digital number switched to five. Directly across the from elevators was a glass conference room originally designed for ten people packed with nearly double that. I tried to sweep across the room to see who was involved before I stepped in, but Forber spotted me and gave me a nasty look.

When I sped inside, Forber called out to me with a scowl on his face. “Braxton, glad you could finally make it. We’re just getting started.” I gave him a weak smile and crossed my arms as I took a spot standing in the back corner.

Once again, my eyes tried to look for any familiar faces, and I finally found Rachel and William seating against the back wall. Rachel was looking at me with a mix of confusion, concern, and frustration. After we made eye contact, she turned her attention back to Forber. The rest of the people in the room were other agents, investigators, and even some other researchers along with William and Rachel. No one from my team was here, oddly. Maybe because I was supposedly on a solo patrol.

“Alright, everyone here is already well aware of the background for the situation involving six deceased agents,” Forber said matter-of-factly, “so the important details we need to discuss are some preliminary investigation results, some important technological failures that occurred, and what future actions we must take.” Behind him was a set of slides neatly put together reiterating the agenda he had just recited.

He clicked through a few slides that detailed what we already knew: two or three suspected Splinter members among the rally, which fled the scene, some forensic analysis. My blood ran cold when Forber made note of some blood found in the warehouse just above the cellar where deaths occurred. My blood.

I froze when Forber looked up at me and asked, “Eric, can you tell us about what you were doing last night?” Sweat dripped down my back, and I could feel my arm burning against just thinking about it. Everyone’s eyes turned to me. After a second of hesitation, my brain kicked into action.

“Right, yes sir,” I began, clearing my throat. “There was a call to the police for suspicious activity around an old pier on the outskirts of the city, and as it was reported within ten minutes of the events with the agents, Mr. Forber flagged it and asked me to investigate. Unfortunately, I did not encounter anything that was obviously related to Splinter, but later in the morning, I discovered some evidence suggesting that something occurred there while I patrolled all night. I’ll be sure to have our forensics team investigate and see if there is any correlation between the calls.” I silently hoped that it wasn't my bloodied shirt that I was sending them to find, but knowing the games the Leader like to play, it was certainly possible.

A light smile came to Forber’s lips, just fast enough that if I weren’t concentrating on him, I would have missed it. I chocked it up to the relief flooding through me. As soon as everyone’s attention returned to him, he resumed his presentation.

Forber continued by talking a bit about some witnesses who were questioned, but he emphasized that not all witnesses had been found, as many had fled before the police or any other agents arrived. He went into talking about a woman by the name of Margaret Boyd, who had a name that sounded vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn’t immediately pinpoint who she was. Technically, I had spoken with all the people who had been at that rally since I’d encouraged them all to come.

“Agent Axaili, here, encouraged this woman to give us a statement about what she had seen,” Forber explained, before signaling that Rachel take over.

She cleared her throat and tried to shake the nerves from her voice. “Thank you, Mr. Forber. Now, when Ms. Boyd didn’t have anything else to add to the events that lead to the deaths of our friends, but she gave some possible leads on the rally leader and his relationship with the rally goers. As you can see, some of her statements reveal that she received assistance from the rally leader, which paired with other evidence might suggest this man is actually associated with Splinter.”

“Did she reveal the identity of this leader? Or any leads to it?” an agent sitting across from her asked.

Rachel shook her head. “Unfortunately, no, but she alluded to some other obligations, which might involve another event on Tuesday night, in just under four days.” I tried to bite my tongue to keep from fidgeting as she said this. My automatic reaction was the steel my thoughts and keep as stoic as possible, hoping no one noticed the guilt radiating from either me or the scar on my arm.

Forber nodded his head. “We will discuss that matter in more detail later on. But if the word of this woman is to be trusted, and this man is affiliated with Splinter, we may need to be prepared for much more than another rally.” The entire room was quiet and tense. Rightfully so, I thought bitterly. They couldn’t be prepared for what Splinter was planning.