Tautology

"Do not over rely on your meta ability. People have done fine without them for millions of years, do not be the first to break that streak." - Truth the Sunmaker, in her book: A Simple Guide for the Inheritors of Earth, on How to Break Someone's Nose.

The office of Wren's grandmother was cold and bare. Rigorously organised file cabinet lined the walls of the already cramped room. The desk so filled to the brim with paper work that no arm may rest on it, yet it was still as meticulously ordered as the women behind it. Wren's grandmother had not a strand of grey hair out of place, her grey clothes covered every square inch of skin looked so strangling that Wren found it hard to breathe just looking at her.

Everything in the room followed a method, an order, a law, except Wren, hesitating at the door before she stepped in. "Mrs Chitwood? You called for me?"

Her grandmother's face was a picture of controlled neutrality. "Sit." Neither a request nor an order, simply the tone of someone who knew her word would be followed. "You are a current student at M.I.A, one of the juniors who will be participating in the Dawn week event."

"The paintball war? Yeah, I'm doing it with a team."

Her grandmother got up and gestured her to follow. "There is a mission you must accomplish for me during this event." She passed Wren a file, "Read it as we walk."

"Me?" Despite her surprise, Wren's legs moved on their own to follow her grandmother. "Isn't Seline also in the paintball war?" Surely her elder sister would do a better job than she ever could.

"This is classified information, only a few major geneline families know it," her grandmother said as she pressed a hidden button inside one of the filing cabinets, the walls parted, revealing a secret passage. "M.I.A seniors will be attending another event and Seline must perform well in it."

Wren followed her in, a quick scan of the file showed it was the standard sterile document about a metahuman artefact, except it was all massively redacted and censored. The little words that weren't blacked out told her it was about something far more powerful than she was ever supposed to know; the kind of weapon entire dynasties were built upon.

They reached a massive vault door, her grandmother typed the password and the door shuddered open with a groan, then walked through without a second glance. Wren followed, noting with some growing anxiety that the vault door was thicker than most buses.

That anxiety only grew as she saw another vault door at the end of the tunnel, an exact copy of the one they just walked through.

Her grandmother opened the second vault door without waiting for her, revealing a third one behind it. "To assist in your mission, I have approved the deployment of artefact 087 and 096. Their files will be sent to you later."

Wren didn't know what either of those artefacts were or did, she knew the family had them, they were a geneline family after all. "Am I… Qualified for this?"

Her grandmother didn't answer, only kept walking forward as she opened the third door, revealing a fourth behind it. Wren hesitated, she looked back at the multiple opened vault doors behind her while ahead of her more doors kept groaning open.

By the time she decided to hurry up and follow her grandmother, the old woman had already opened three more massive vault doors. Only after what seemed like an eternity of walking and opening vault doors did Wren finally see a regular wooden door at the end of the tunnel.

Wren's grandmother opened it with the same apathy as the countless impressive doors behind them. Behind it was what looked like a child's bedroom, faded photos depicting two young girls decorated the wall, dusty and fraying plush toys lay scattered throughout, there was a messy bunk bed to the side of the room.

Dominating the other side of the room was a large metal pod, a small sliver of glass revealed the girl within, one of the girls in the picture, she looked like Wren when she was younger, if not for the frost flaking on the glass and the cold chill emanating from the pod, one might almost believe the young girl simply asleep.

"Who is she?" Wren asked.

"008," her grandmother dispassionately replied. "A weapon and metahuman artefact. When its ability was discovered the family decided that to maximise its benefit it cannot suffer the gradual degradation that came with ageing."

"So you just froze her in there?"

Her grandmother turned around, face perfectly neutral and apathetic. Wren's voice had been louder than she had intended, and her grandmother noticed. "Yes, and if your ability was of sufficient quality then the next sarcophagus will be made for you."

Her grandma turned back to the pod and undid a few simple latches, the pod hissed as it opened, blowing freezing air into the room. The young girl's eyes slowly fluttered open, she let out a yawn and did a long stretch, as if she had only woken from a nap rather than cryosleep, she saw Wren's grandmother, "Saya? Is it Halloween already?"

"No, it is Dawn Week," the old woman answered.

"What are you waking me up for then?" the young girl groaned as she hopped out of the pod, rubbing her eyes as she did so. "Am I finally needed?"

"That is not it either," the old woman replied with the same apathetic voice. "Thinker analysis has determined that there is significant risk in your deployment while you are in your current state. You lack combat experience and training. I am here to remedy that."

The young girl finally looked at Wren, "And her?"

"Wren Chitwood, your handler and guide at M.I.A, she will give you information about current junior students and create an effective training regime for you."

"I will?" Two pairs of eyes stared at her, Wren's shoulders slumped, suddenly feeling very small. "I will."

"You should begin with students within the same metahuman classification," her grandmother said. "Wren, who is the strongest spawner you know?"

<I>|<I>

Aiden yawned and rubbed his eyes as he stood on the barnacle ridden docks, watching Ya's men load up the fishing boat. "Do we have to do this tonight? I have school tomorrow."

Rain sat beside a pile of rope, she hadn't commented on his changed appearance and Aiden suspected she didn't even notice. "You should know that opportunity is fleeting and time waits for no one." Tranquil and meditating, Rain also didn't seem to notice that she hadn't convinced him at all. It was the second argument that convinced Aiden. It came delivered via the Scarlet Letter directly from Ya, a cheque labelled; 'bonus pay.'

Aiden read the number, then carefully stowed away the cheque with a grin, "You should stick to murdering people, Ya is much more convincing."

"Murder is a waste, it is better to let my adversaries live and grow to truly challenge me in the future."

"That's just suicide with extra steps," Aiden, rather ironically, pointed out.

Rain smiled slightly, "Indeed it is, but at least there is meaning to it."

Aiden yawned again, "Ain't no meaning in this life, sis."

"Then make your own."

"Make believe is for kids." He matter of factly replied. One of Ya's men waved Aiden up. "How are we travelling?" he asked. Intercepting a cargo ship in the dead of night and returning before morning was no feat of speed this dingy ship could accomplish.

Lucky Wu sensed his uncertainty and grinned, the old man gestured below deck where many of the crew members were locking themselves into seats with thick seatbelts.

"Huh?" The ship shook and he would've lost balance if not for his powers. Aiden at that point noticed that Rain did not follow him onto the ship, looking over the edge, he saw that she was instead still on the docks, lifting the entire ship with one hand. "You can't be serious." He then noticed the pile of rope beside Rain were attached to two things, the ship itself, and a surfboard, he would've also noticed Rain doing some light stretches as she balanced the ship over her shoulder, had he not immediately run below deck and started strapping himself in with as many seatbelts as he could find.

Beside Aiden, Vanta sat strapped like a mummy with seatbelts, he reached out and offered Aiden a helmet, the type pilots of supersonic jets used. Aiden remembered the strange burn marks on the hull of the ship and took it without hesitation.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The ship bobbed up and down as Rain did a few test throws.

"Is this safe?" Aiden yelled to Lucky Wu.

The old man only started laughing.

Aiden tightened his seat belts just a little bit more.

One arm stretched forward, the other stretched backwards with the ship, Rain took a stance alike to a spear thrower, the human form held taut with potential energy.

Then she released.

Sound disappeared and the sea parted, the ship flew forward with such extreme speeds that it painted a cone of flame ahead. When finally sound sluggishly caught up with them like a wizened old man, they had touched water, friction slowed them down to a pace where Aiden felt comfortable stepping onto the deck. He grabbed the railing and promptly vomited overboard.

Behind the dingy ship, Rain stood straight as a blade on the surfboard, which she had stepped onto a moment after she had thrown the ship.

Following him onto the deck, Vanta signed something with his hands and offered him a tissue.

"I have no idea what you just said," Aiden replied, making sure his lips were facing the other meta, he took the tissue, "But thanks."

Lucky Wu, the old bastard, had somehow laughed through the entire short trip and hadn't stopped even when he followed them onto deck. Aiden might've worried for the old man's heart if his intrusive thoughts were not thinking of stopping it himself.

"I am never going to do that again," he declared.

Vanta looked at him sympathetically as one of Ya's men came up with a small dart covered entirely in black paint.

Aiden looked at Vanta, then at Rain who had leapt onto the ship, then at the small dart.

He had to take out the bonus cheque Ya sent him and stare at it for a long time.

<I>|<I>

A small dart stabbed into the iron hull of a cargo laden ship. Practically invisible in the dark of night, unheard against the roaring waves. A single black finger reached out of the tiny slit of black paint on the dart and tapped the side of the hull.

"Paint It, Black."

Black paint spread from the finger and Vanta pushed his other hand through the new portal, creating another patch of black paint right above, repeating this step to slowly crawl the hull until a tiny drop of black paint dripped onto the deck. Step by step, Vanta reached a nearby cargo crate, flicking a bit of paint into a small crevice in the door, within the pocket dimension, Aiden watched as the cargo fell down in full.

"You're bloody useful," Aiden commented, his hands twirling a flare gun.

Vanta repeated his process and another crate of stuff fell through, he continued looting the ship, until the dark space was almost full, and they began to leave.

Both Aiden and Vanta's jaws suddenly clamped tightly shut. A flood of white rushed through Vanta's portals, what appeared to be dozens and dozens sets of teeth, the kind a dentist might display, formed a clattering white tide that rushed the both of them.

All stopped just short of Aiden and Vanta. Aiden's arm, now stone grey, clapped Vanta's shoulder, his other arm poked his own teeth, which had seemingly merged into a single bony inseparable set. Still, Vanta could read Aiden's lips. "I guess this is when I'm useful."

Something was thrown into the portal, a canister poked full of holes that hissed as invisible gas spewed out. "Gas attack, get out," Aiden's lips mimed as he pulled Vanta out of his pocket dimension and onto the deck of the ship.

Outside, the man who threw the canister stood with his back to them. He had styled blonde hair and held a selfie stick with a phone pointed at himself, the camera on the phone showed a manic face that spoke with similar energy. "We're back chat! Attempt two hundred and forty six! Let's get a perfect run here!"

Aiden did not forgive such an opening. A wide kick, hiding a serpent in its blindspot, each avoiding the mirror that was the phone's recording. The man caught the his leg and swung the selfie stick to pin the snake. Tentacles exploded onto him, obscuring his sight, under cover Aiden threw his fist with a single finger covered with an Extremely Fast Strong Powerful Bullet-Like Mantis Shrimp Claw tattoo. His opponent caught his wrist, somehow both avoiding all of his tentacles and determining the exact place Aiden had attacked. Aiden's finger flick was redirected onto the ship wall, tearing steel and shattering his finger. The tattoo transferred to his other arm in an instant as the jagged steel edges turned into a massive jaw, both attacked the man. But the man had already moved as if he knew Aiden's moves in advance, he closed in and headbutted him forehead on forehead.

In that momentary dizziness the man elbowed Aiden's gut while slapping away a darting Oros, then jabbed both Aiden's throat and stomped onto Oros. Both injuries compounded on another as the man struck the exact place on Oros that corresponded to Aiden's throat.Out of breath and disorientated for another moment, the man slammed Aiden's falling head onto his knee. Aiden's vision went black as the man picked up his selfie stick.

When Aiden came to, he was in another room. The bridge of the ship. Aiden's head was still groggy from the repeated blows, yet Nightcore's buff remained, healing him and allowing him to sense familiarity in the fight he just had. 'He knew my moves beforehand.' His enemy was like his classmate Vince, a thinker who had perfect future sight and movement for six-seconds, but this ability felt different. Vince moved with perfect mechanical precision, but this man, Logan, moved with practised precision. Him and the teeth ability meant there were at least two meta abilities in play on the ship.

"In the past humans gave name to their enemy." Aiden's attention was drawn to the front, where three men stood abreast. They wore white jumpsuits with the tattoos of the Democracy that denoted them as Tier Four Citizens. Most notable to Aiden were their faces, they were empty. Aiden saw eyes, ears, mouths, and noses, yet his mind refused to correlate them into a complete whole. What he could gather were that they were all identical and completely lacking in distinguishing features or expressions. As if someone had taken all that made a face a face and subtracted it. "They called their enemy the heretic, the mutant, the alien." Three mouths spoke, but only one static unchanging voice came from them. "These people were not of the Democracy and thus naturally wrong, the true name of humanity's enemy is much more succinct. The enemy of humanity is the different."

Aiden groaned, as he wiggled his digits. "A monologue, really? I suggest you guys find a dictionary and read what democracy actually means." He could feel his fingers and toes, he was tied up but that was little obstacle.

"We understand that your people have been suffered propaganda and misinformation that was embedded into your very education," they answered. "That is not a flaw that can't be corrected."

One of them raised a tattoo gun.

"No thanks, I prefer my own." Aiden activated his power.

Nothing.

"You have noticed then," they continued. "When there are three of us, we can create the Freedom Zone and restrict whatever we wish." Nothing registered on Aiden's Hume sense, this was purely an effect created by Living Concepts, a Bleed so integrated with their world that it was now one and the same.

"Could you monologue a bit more?" Aiden asked as he scanned the room. His body was still changed by Nightcore, it was not a blanket ability restriction. "What about your names?"

"I am Hyper Washington Moregunson." "I am Budlight Turbo Reagan." I am Praise Amazon." They introduced in order.

Aiden chuckled, he wiggled a hidden knife under his sleeve into his palm. "And Ranpo says I make shit names."

"You are attempting to buy time, that will not save you." The one with the tattoo gun, Praise Amazon, stepped closer.

"Ah, but that's the thing," Aiden grinned towards the inky black shadows in the bridge. "I have the power of friendship."

They followed his gaze and Aiden cut his bindings while they were distracted. He slashed Hyper Washington Moregunson's neck, flicked the blade into his other hand to go for the next man. Budlight Turbo Reagan caught his blade and held down his hand while Praise Amazon moved in perfect sync to flank him. All in slow motion to Aiden's sped up senses; he sawed the blade deeper into Budlight Turbo Reagan's hand and kicked Praise Amazon off balance. Budlight Turbo Reagan went for the punch but Aiden spat a needle into his eye.

Yet the man didn't hesitate and decked him in the stomach, the impact threw Aiden back into Hyper Washington Moregunson, who grabbed him from behind, his slit throat soaking Aiden's collar in blood. Budlight Turbo Reagan punched him in the gut again. Praise Amazon recovered from his fall and punched Aiden's face, drawing blood.

"You do not understand the power of humans," they said. "We do not fear death or injury, for we follow true and justified purpose."

Budlight Turbo Reagan raised a revolver, "It is clear you are beyond redemption. We shall send you off with more dignity than you deserve."

Then his head exploded and the revolver clattered onto the ground.

Outside almost two kilometres away on the small fishing boat, hidden under cover of darkness and tides, Lucky Wu reloaded his sniper rifle.

Hyper Washington Moregunson suddenly found his body releasing Aiden as tattoos wrapped over his jumpsuit. Praise Amazon went for the kick but Aiden threw Hyper Washington Moregunson into him, the tattoos on his jumpsuit puppeteered his limbs so that he wrapped around Praise Amazon, both men now locked together, Aiden put his fist on Praise Amazon's back and flicked with the mantis shrimp tattoo. Bone cracked as the spine shattered and both men slumped bodily.

Then the door was thrown open and Aiden was kneed in the face by the man with the selfie stick. No matter what move he tried, it was as if the man knew it all in advance. Aiden was laid out again onto the floor, the man's knee on his neck.

"Can we get some poggers in the chat? And remember to HIT LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO JOIN THE LOGANG!" The man, Logan, cheered.

"You took your sweet time," Hyper Washington Moregunson said as Praise Amazon pulled him back up. "Where is the other one?"

"Smash Mouth bros got him," Logan flicked his head to the side, narrowly avoiding Lucky Wu's sniper fire, before glancing outside, sensing what Aiden had sensed.

Rain stood on a flying sword, hands behind her back, "I'll have to bid you to release our tea maker, if you do I shall leave an intact corpse for your family to bury."

"Logan, keep the alien busy, we need to recover." The headless body of Budlight Turbo Reagan twitched. All three Tier Four Citizens had lethal injuries, it did not stop them from heading for the door.

Rain leapt through the window shattered by Lucky Wu's bullets, ready to stop them, yet hesitated a step, and loudly sighed.

Logan started maniacally laughing as he released Aiden and stood up, his focus now entirely on Rain. "Did you see that, chat? She can see the loop! She can see the loop!"

Rain watched as the three Citizens escaped, to Aiden she said, "Teamaker, this man practices a very tedious technique and will take some time to dispatch. Could you get our doorman?"

Aiden rubbed his sore neck as he got up, warily staring at Logan, "I'm getting a raise after this."

"He will approve it, but will make the customary attempts at negotiation, he is rather lonely after all."

"Why does it sound like your setting up a playdate for your child." Aiden muttered.

"It is an apt metaphor for the two of you, especially during this nihilistic phase you are going through," Rain answered. Aiden rolled his eyes and slammed the door as he left.