Keep Moving Forward

Harvard. A hero with the power to harden his skin. This hero died just a little over a day ago. The news said he died because of a skin disease. Another piece of bullshit from the governor and the news reporter.

There is not fucking shot he died because of that. I saw before my very eyes. They probably died because their hearts ate their lives slowly, maybe. But before that happened, they got killed faster by a scapegoat. A scapegoat who was probably sent by a secret agent or something. Then their body parts got sold on the black market without anyone knowing. The worst part was that those people who didn't know the truth still gave them a proper appreciation for their death.

We were really living in a fucked up world. What a waste of air to breathe in. I lived with those scumback. Not only that, my very own friend got tied with the problem, and I didn't even know when or why he did that.

I would love to talk about it with the others, but he planted something inside. I think that was the reason I felt sick. He was making sure I didn't ruin his plan. I could only move forward with his plan. I became his prisoner. Irony.

"Yo!" Seiza was at my door.
"What is it?"
"You have time?"
"For what?"
"The machine is ready for Zappy Girl stuff."
"Call Jordan and Wiwin. I'll be at your room in a sec."

Seiza gave a weirded-out face. Then she clocked in. "Right, you're not him. Sorry."

... She was really getting on my nerves.

Twelve o'clock. In Seiza's room. She, Jordan, Wiwin, and I were in there inspecting her machine. It looked like those old vintage radios with a round top. I was not an artist; I just thought it was cool to see.

"You sure it will work, Seiza?" Jordan was straight to the point. "It looks like half-baked."

Seiza gave an annoyed look, "You dare to mock my creation, Deez."

I felt attacked, "It was Zeed, and that's Jordan. Please, make it right."

She stopped for a moment, then, "Don't mock my creation, Jordan!"

"I just asked. I'm not trying to mock your creation."
"No! It was finished through and through. It has my charm in the ecstatic, that's why."

That was sad. She didn't need to say that last part, "You're charming, Seiza." I said it to cheer her up. "I love your creation. It looks cool and cute."

She stumped for a moment, and then she said, "Thank you for the compliment, Leed."

"It was Zeed. ZEED!" I wanted to cry, honestly.

"So, tell us, Seiza. How does this thing work?" Wiwin asked.
"Well, it needs to know the zappy-zappy thing of the lightning wave first."
I answered, "The police didn't issue that in the case files."
Jordan added, "And it'll be complicated if we go there and check it ourselves."

We looked at each other. Nothing came up. We met our first dead end this week. I could feel the anger inside Jordan. It was furious. The heat wave started to affect me from the inside.

"Hey guys!" That anger stopped when we heard Tasyah barge in. We all looked at Tasyah. "We secured Harvard's case file. You guys can research it whenever. I'll be dropping it on Zeed's table."
"Thanks, Tash", I said.
"No problem!"

That was Tasyah for you. She dived into the police case file like a fly. Really talented person in the apartment, really. We were glad she was on our side.

"Zeed", Jordan called, "Go ahead. We'll figure this one out. You focused on your task."
"Right. Good luck, guys."

I was glad he was still reasonable. I never thought he could be mad like that when we met a dead end. It was a scary feeling knowing someone else's feelings. That was what Aura Intensity could do to a human body.

In short, Aura Intensity could do many things, like mentally changing a human heart, planting immense feelings inside a creature, and even mind-controlling them. I wish Jordan couldn't do most of that. Or rather, I wish he wouldn't use it on us. I couldn't say that for sure because he had already tested his power through me, and he didn't even feel remorse.

"Even when he didn't use it, I could still feel the pressure." I closed my door and sat on top of it. "He has changed so much. Is this what that DNA is doing to his body? But DNA couldn't do that... Could they?"

It sparked a bright light in my brain. I needed to research not only Harvard death, but also this weirdnamagic DNA abuse thing...
Perhaps I needed to give this phenomenon a proper name. I will come up with a name later. Now, I needed to do my job.

Hours upon hours have passed. I learned about seventy percent of Harvard's case. He got abused in his sleep. As to why they bluffed on the news about Harvard's death, I think I knew the answer. Even when I don't have solid evidence, because I don't really see his corpse, just from the case files I gather, and search, and also Jordan's discovery, I have a solid idea as to why.

When he asked me if he could write on my whiteboard, he wrote many things. I read it and got a eureka moment. Here is how I would sum it up.

Jordan bought the heart of Electrica on the black market. He asked about her skin, and the dealer said it was burned. Not too long ago, Poiseness had similar case files. She died from skin-related diseases. Jordan also asked about Poiseness to that same dealer. They said her skin wasn't on the market.

In theory, a hero with skin-related power like poison, electricity, fire, water, et cetera would have their skin "die out" first. The same goes for Harvard, which has hardened skin power. The news declared Harvard's death from a skin disease wasn't a coincidence. They just stated the obvious and claimed bullshit from that fact.

"I couldn't believe they did that to them."

I said seventy percent, right? I still couldn't figure out who killed him, as always with many cases I research. It seemed there was something obvious... that I might have overlooked, but I couldn't figure it out for the life of me.

"Yo!" You already knew who that was. She was at my door once again.
"What is it?"
"Dinner's ready."
"I'll be there."
"Don't forget to eat, or else Wiwin will be mad again."

... She remembered Wiwin's name? But not me?