Chapter Two
(18 hours after Keyoko's storm)
The area that used to be Velfor's upper class distract, had been completely devastated by a sudden storm. As Krissy flew over the area in her Optimo flight suit, she couldn't help but be reminded of the past, of a time, when she'd seen such devastation before. She knew who could have done this and couldn't help but wondered why. Was this the day she had been waiting for? Had Urel finally returned? Would she be ready this time?
It had been nearly eighteen hours, since the news had been bombarded with reports of a strange storm that had wiped out several city blocks of one of Urutha's most populated cities. Immediate action plans were put into play, the entire area was quickly shut down and quarantined. Various branches of the military and climatologists met as intel was gathered. Once the cause was deemed to be unnatural, the government began looking into other possibilities. Some believed this was new type of weapon, perhaps it had been a test, a show of power or an intentional attack.
Video footage that had been captured was carefully analyses, using the latest and best military tech, some of which, Krissy had developed herself. Several people were spotted moving about within the center of the storm. When one of them appeared to possess abilities, Krissy was brought in. It had been almost three years since the last event. Like before, she was shown video footage and at once she knew who was behind this. She was assigned a small team and ordered to investigate the matter further. As she flew about now, taking in all the devastation, she really hoped she was wrong.
Keyoko was suppose to be able to manipulate the wind but she was also suppose to be an ally, unlike, Bayon. Yet with this amount of devastation things didn't look good. Whether Keyoko had done this on accident or on purpose, she would no doubt be considered a threat. Krissy didn't want to have to lock another down, especially an ally, but if it came to that she would do what was necessary.
She took a deep breath, wishing she could undo this, but knew she didn't possess enough power, to reverse time on such a large area. She located the center of the storm, where the Varagata Gardens, residential building had once been. There was almost nothing left of it. She did several quick pass overs, mapping the area with her suit.
A large hole in the ground caught her attention. She flew in close and carefully examined it. From what she could tell it appeared to be a sinkhole. She shined several lights into the hole, but it seemed to be quite deep, she was only able to see so far down. She took several pictures and made note of it for later investigating.
She continued on, running another life scan of the area, so far nothing had come up. By now she should have gotten dozens, if not hundreds of life signatures. Yet there didn't seem to be any survivors. She examined a few of the bodies she'd run across, those that hadn't been thrown or crushed, seemed to have internally exploded, from the sheer air pressure.
Several alarms suddenly went off, Krissy's sensors detected something, a few feet away. A heat signature followed by a heartbeat. "A survivor."
She honed in on their location and moved in quickly. She found a naked woman laying flat on her back. She looked unharmed and almost appeared to be sleeping. Krissy landed a few feet away from the woman and readied her weapons, just in case this was some sort of trap. She moved in slowly until she could freeze the woman in time. When she got close enough that she was standing over her, Krissy saw that the woman's body was healing.
Krissy allowed time to pass so she could record the woman's healing process. She zoomed in on various injuries, watching as they were repaired. She froze when she saw what was on the woman's chest. Between the woman's breasts was a small, white, almost clear stone. Krissy knew this type of stone well, she herself had one, only it was teal.
She swallowed realizing this woman was Keyoko. This was indeed another event! For a moment Krissy just stood there. Once again she recalled how things had gone with Bayon. She was happy she'd insisted on exploring the area with drones. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt. She quickly alerted the drones to possible attack. They armed themselves and quickly re-scanned the area for any other signs of life but there wasn't anyone else.
Krissy crouched down next to Keyoko. She could feel a sense of familiarity wash over her. She began to recall memories of her from past lives they had shared. Krissy reached out her hand, wanting to wake Keyoko. She wanted to find out just what had happened here but pulled back after a moment, realizing this wasn't the time nor the place.
Whether she liked it or not, she needed to follow procedures. Krissy nodded to herself and focused on the task at hand. She zoomed in on Keyoko's face, taking several pictures from different angles. She uploaded them to the advanced facial network and began running a search. As she waited for results, she carefully turned Keyoko on her side. She sought out the infinity mark on her lower back. She took several pictures of it before gently setting her back down.
After a few minutes, she stood and ran several more life scans of the area. If there were others here that had also been injured, like Keyoko, they could come back to life at any moment as their bodies healed. A notification popped up on her screen. Keyoko's identification had come back, her name was Genoa Nova Weller, twenty two. Krissy browsed her citizens report before finally contacting the people in charge of the area "This is Survayant Krissy Rogers. I have determined this is a Cursed Event! My team will be handling things from this point out."
She waited for her information to be relayed. A few minutes later, it was approved and she was given full authority over the area. Krissy looked back at Keyoko then pulled up information on her second in command. A picture of Argent Dave Burger showed up. After all these years, they were working together again. She didn't like it, but knew the system had assigned him, because other then her, he was the only one who had experience with such events.
She swallowed hoping things could remain professional between the two, but knowing him and their past, it was likely to get messy. She closed her eye taking another moment then turned on his radio. "Argent Burger, this is Survayant Rogers. I have determined this is a Cursed Event. I have located the possible cause, another Cursed. I want you to send the transport team to my location, for her retrieval, then widen the quarantine perimeter, put up disrupters every few feet. I don't want any information getting out! Once that is done, set up a team to do a full grid search. I want to be notified immediately of any potential survivors, be prepared to put them in full lockdown."
She opened her eyes and held her breath waiting for him to respond. There was a long pause and she wondered if he'd received her transmission. Finally he responded, "What do you mean potential survivors?"
"Other Cursed might be in the process of healing, and could come back to life at any moment. I want the team on high alert"
"Oh, so there is more then one, this time?" She could hear the uneasiness in his voice.
"It's possible."
"You've got to be kidding me! Its been like a day. Are you sure they can even come back after that long?"
"This one just did and its been eighteen hours. There could also be other, non-cursed survivors, the system isn't picking up. At this point, I'm not ruling out any possibilities and neither should you."
"Man I really hope there aren't any more! One of these bastard was hard enough!"
He was getting to relaxed around her and they'd barely started the mission. She knew this would happened. No matter how much time passed between them he was always ready to pick up where they'd left off like nothing happened. "Argent Burger, if you are not up to the task. I could always have you reassigned.
"No Man, I am more than ready to carry out your orders"
"Then do so and adjust your behavior going forward. From this point on, all eyes will be on us. I want you at your best!"
She could hear Burger sigh before he said "Yes mam, sorry mam, I will get right on it."
She ended their transmission and let out a heavy sigh of her own. She looked around the area again and had a strong feeling there would more of them this time... a lot more. There was also a high likelihood of running into Urel. When it came to Keyoko he was never far away. She clenched her fists then began preparing Keyoko for transport. Whatever happened she would be ready.
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