Echo Chamber

The tension in the air was palpable.

Agreeing to that duel was stupid in hindsight, as well as foresight. The guy he was fighting was well-liked by the facility's residents. As he walked into the arena, he saw a large transparent dome, about the size of a tennis court, surrounded by multiple raised seats. A set of weapons stood in front of the dome, from a large halberd to straight swords and small daggers. None of them looked particularly sharp to Linden, but he could probably still do a bit of damage with them. Lee wondered why they didn’t use guns, but he realised that it wouldn’t have been a great idea to use firearms in an area like this. Maybe many people also preferred melee to ranged combat, or they could have had better abilities for short-range fighting. Unfortunately, Lee was guessing and had zero proof of his assumptions, so instead of guessing further he just assumed that some higher-ups thought close combat was cool.

Scott stands on one side, grinning as he casually tosses a small pouch of metal balls from hand to hand: the balls, each about the size of a marble, glint under the lights. Lee grabs a metal baton, about the length of his forearm. He grips it tightly, already suspicious of Scott’s abilities. Scott’s smirk only fuels the tension, as does Alexander’s casual observation from the sidelines.

One of the metal balls is lightly tossed into the air by Scott, with his other hand he snaps his fingers and the metal ball shoots forward towards Linden as if shot out of a gun. The ball grazes his ear as he leans out of the way. Another two get sent out. They change directions in the air. Linden takes a step back, and they smash together with a loud crash. Scott pauses. Lee takes this chance to charge towards his opponent.

He swung wildly with the technique of a blind four-year-old. Luckily, Scott also wasn’t expecting him to flail around like that. After getting hit, Scott shot away from Lee with a couple of balls hovering around him. Two of them shot towards Lee, but when he tried to jump out of the way, something tripped him over. He was hit in the chest once.

"What’s the matter, new guy? Can’t handle a few marbles?"

“What is it,” Linden replied, “Are you controlling these with your mind or something?”

Scott’s grin widened, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes. "Telekinesis?" He laughed, his voice dripping with mockery. "Is that what you think this is?"

Linden stood up. Not because of anything he had said, but because he noticed something.

He launched himself at almost superhuman speeds, well, any speed in this place could be superhuman.

Lee could feel the pulse of adrenaline as he sprinted toward Scott, baton in hand, barely processing the fact that he was moving faster than he ever thought possible. His instincts kicked in, his body reacting almost on autopilot as he closed the distance, hoping his sheer momentum would throw Scott off balance.

Scott was visibly taken aback but quickly regained composure. Scott tossed another ball, snapping his fingers in a practised motion. The ball rocketed forward, zipping toward Lee with dangerous speed. At the last second, Lee deflected it with his baton, the impact reverberating up his arm.

What he was doing wasn’t telekinesis, similar but not quite it. Lee also didn’t think it was like Alexander’s ability.

Scott looked mildly impressed but undeterred. “You’re a quick learner. But guess what? I’ve got more.”

With a smirk, he tossed two balls in the air at once, and in an instant, they shot forward, moving in sharp, unpredictable arcs. Lee barely managed to deflect one with his baton, while the other scraped past his shoulder, leaving a sting.

At least Lee was getting better at not looking too much like a fool.

As if pulled away by an invisible force, Lee shot to his right. Just in time, too. Scott had left a small, smouldering crater where Lee was standing just a second ago. Out of the corner of his eye, Lee could see some people were becoming concerned for his safety, one of them even standing up to try and stop the duel.

Lee couldn’t afford to be distracted. He heard a small but distinctive pop in the air. A split second later, something darted in front of his face. That sound must have been what he had noticed earlier. What bothered Lee was how Scott was moving. The marbles weren’t really flung at him as much as they were being shot at him. A small difference but something that got Lee thinking, the marbles were changing directions but not in the way he would expect. Lee thought it was weird how they moved quite mechanically as if Scott wasn’t in complete control of its trajectory.

Scott was in the middle of pulling out another bag of marbles. This time he threw out half a dozen. All of them shooting in the same direction. The pop, this time, is obvious. He had to figure this out before Scott wore him down completely.

Scott was watching him, his smirk fading slightly as he noticed Lee’s new focus. “Something on your mind, newbie?” he sneered, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll give you points for dodging, but you won’t get far if you’re just trying to read my mind.”

There it was, a pop. Linden stepped out of the way as soon as he heard it. Scott’s power had something to do with that. Lee tightened his grip on the baton, a surge of determination filling him. He might not fully understand Scott’s method, but he was starting to see the rhythm. With each pop, he felt the pull, almost like a beat guiding his movements. He didn’t know what it was, but he wasn’t going to think too hard about it at the moment.

Another pop, another ball. Lee turned to the side just as it approached, deflecting it with his baton. The crowd gasped, and he noticed Scott’s gaze harden, his taunts fading as his concentration grew sharper.

One more pop. Another ball launched, but Lee felt it this time - a faint vibration that connected to his senses, a cue telling him exactly where it would land. He ducked, moving effortlessly, and the ball shot past him, striking the dome wall with a hollow clang.

Scott narrowed his eyes, his grin faltering. “Lucky dodge, huh?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Lee replied, not breaking his gaze.

As he got closer to Scott, Lee noticed that Scott seemed to be reluctant to use his ability as much as before.

Lee was about to strike when his baton shot out of his hand, like the poor marbles that came before it. The sound of it almost deafened him.

The arena fell silent. Scott’s face twisted in frustration, his grip tightening on his pouch of remaining marbles. But before he could make another move, Dr. Burke’s voice cut through the tension.

“That’s enough. Lee, Scott - stand down.”

Scott was visibly pissed but restrained himself. He shot Lee a glare, clearly humiliated, before turning on his heel and storming out of the dome. The crowd’s murmurs grew louder, and Lee could feel their eyes on him, a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

Before anyone could say anything, a guard rushed into the room.

“Dr Burke,” he said, voice low and tense. “Ms Becker’s dead”

“Kiyo?”

The guard nodded grimly.

Playing by the rules was never Scott Heller's style. He was raised in a broken home on the outskirts of Portland quickly discovered that survival required keen intuition, dexterity, and the ability to charm his way out of trouble. In his tiny group of pals, he was known for being a smooth-talker and a troublemaker because he was intelligent but restless and had a knack for getting what he wanted.

Scott's charm, however, was limited. He had already ruined most of his relationships and burned through a string of occupations by the time he was twenty. When he met a recruiter from WERA, a chance finally presented itself. They were looking for young, flexible individuals to "assist" at one of the corpse sites - a high-paying, secretive, and hazardous profession. Scott immediately signed up since he was bored and in need of something more.

He was assigned to the half-buried bones of a massive ribcage that stretched across miles of wooded area, one of the main corpse sites in the eastern United States. Although Scott was informed that the bones were pieces of an ancient creature, an "Old God," and that the energy emitted from these sites was known to transform humans, it was nevertheless an amazing sight that he at first struggled to fully comprehend. The task was straightforward: remain on the scene, help the researchers, and keep the civilians away. However, Scott became intrigued. He was aware of the gossip that people were spreading about the place, the locals were scared of it. It was public knowledge that the corpses changed people but he didn’t quite know if it would be for better or for worse.

Scott's tendency for recklessness triumphed one evening. He broke all rules by going outside the perimeter and into a restricted area near the ribs during a late shift. As he got closer, the air became thicker, practically vibrating, as if the planet were holding its breath. A peculiar energy settled over him, a buzzing sensation that made his skin prickle and crawl up his spine. It was intense and intoxicating, and Scott briefly questioned whether he had fucked up.

The buzz then erupted violently. His entire body felt as though lightning had struck it. The Echo imprinted on him, burning his senses and bringing a fresh awareness to his thoughts, and he fell, his body aching. He felt different as he opened his eyes at last. More... charged. He played with the energy coursing through him, allowing it to flow through his hands and spark automatically from his fingers.