Boiling Point

Chapter 1

Ends County, zone unassigned, located on the edge of District 3. A meeting of the Non-Advancement Movement (NAM), one of many anti Nantis groups that had emerged in Ends County, was beginning to come to order. A new leader was believed by many to be the one that could bring the Nons back to their rightful place among society. Nons were declared to be ungifted in this realm, originally referred to as Personne, however, to the Nantis who were considered gifted, this title was even too ostentatious for them. Thus, the Nons were born.

Many of those in attendance wished to gain back control from an organization known as the Ligue. The Ligue that had ruined the town, making their existence unbearable. They believed the Ligue to be the source of much of the injustices they faced every day. The Ligue was home to a rather cruel, underhanded, despicable group of Nantis. They, however, went unchecked within Ends County as they were the pinnacle of what was gifted, possessing intelligence and strength believed by many to be the future of human existence.

At the meeting, seated off to the back left of the crowd, a girl named Stellar was making conversation with a boy she had just met named Jason. Stellar had kind features and a cheerful way about her, making those around her feel at ease just from being in her presence. At least, Jason seemed to feel so. Having just met her he felt as though he could share his most private thoughts with this, for all intents and purposes stranger.

In her early twenties, she had soft-light brown hair. The beautiful auburn locks flowing just an inch past her shoulders with a ponytail tied off on the side of her head. Her denim overalls had only one leg that could be considered a functional pant leg. The other cut short, hugging her thigh not far from her waist. The rest of the leg of the overall pants hung loose. A unique sense of style, Jason noticed upon further inspection. She was also wearing a faded long sleeve shirt. Well, at one point it was certainly a long sleeve shirt. In reality, the sleeves were torn at uneven lengths revealing her snow-white arms. The sleeves looked as if they had exploded from some great force Jason observed. Jason thought she may have been in a hurry that morning or maybe she was dressed in the dark. Either way, Jason was feeling as though Stellar was trying her best to give off the vibe of a stereotypical 'girly girl'. Her clothes certainly belied the air of her personality. However, she was undoubtedly kind and kind to him. He rested his internal introspection into her character and enjoyed conversation with a new friend.

Jason was a very young boy, fifteen if Stellar had to guess. His circumstances had clearly withered him away, leaving him a small scrappy young man with dark, tired eyes. The clothes he wore were indicative of a sheltered upbringing one with wealth to spare. His demeanor giving the impression that he led a tough existence. There may had been a light at one point in the boy's life however, that light had clearly left without a trace. The reason for his anger toward the Ligue was aimed solely at their leader, Hog. The man he felt was responsible for the ruination of his family and everything he held close, making him who he was. Hog had robbed him of his very identity. At least, this was the impression his words would place upon Stellar.

“My father, he was actually the lead candidate in the last Mayoral election...”

“Oh, your father is that man…..Prefeito was it? And you ended up being born a Non... I didn't even know it could work like that.”

“No,” he corrected her hastily. “My father was the one who was running before that man even set foot in the public arena.”

Stellar knew exactly who Jason was referring to now. “Wow, I'm sorry,” she whispered, her eyes now set to the floor. “I heard what happened to your father…”

“That was no suicide!” Jason shouted, loud enough to quiet those in their immediate area. Jason was convinced of Hog's involvement in his father's death. Stellar was taken aback by the sudden shift in the seemingly timid young man.

This new Mayor, since taking office, had provided a life even further beyond endurance for the Nons in town. Signing off on laws that created hiring biases, now prevalent and legal among most large businesses. Afterwards, most Nons were relegated to menial Plant work.

The pair were then cut short as the presumed leader took to the stage. All the attention was now to the speaker and leader of the Nons in attendance, a man who called himself Charles. Stellar noted the reaction of the crowd. It was one of seeming idolization. An utter adoration. Creepy, Stellar thought as she turned her attention to the speaker.

Charles was a well-dressed and many would say a very confident, flamboyant speaker. Clad in a bow tie over a white collared shirt. The left sleeve hung loose, just hanging and swaying to and fro with any slight movement. His arm was missing from the bottom of the bicep down. He wore his dark brown hair tightly slicked back framed by graying temples. His mannerisms were quite charismatic, even eccentric as he waved his one good arm around as if it were serving as the punctuation for each of his sentences. The people there in the front row listened intently to his powerful words, as they were his devout followers who had taken to him wholly since he had taken over this faction of NAM.

Charles appeared well informed, as he claimed to know much of the Ligue's activities and that he was privy to information on their latest plans.

“There is a new drug on the streets,” he claimed boldly. A drug that promised Nons could gain the same mental capacity as a typical Nantis. The Ligue appeared to be busy bribing the pharmaceutical companies in town to permit over the counter sale before testing the product. The Ligue was going to use this drug to quietly kill off the entire Non populace.

“Because who would not want the power of a Nantis at their disposal?” he asked the congregation, “We Nons would pay any price to achieve such results that come so naturally to them. And with what shall we pay? For they have taken all opportunity away, disenfranchising us to the point of our current sorry destitution! Blood! We will all pay in our blood, our sweat, our tears!”

This was coming to be known as the Ligue's latest move against the Nons led by Hog. Despite this grim picture being crafted before the NAM assembly, Charles claimed to have a plan to counter this 'cleansing program'. It involved his personal knowledge of their known properties. He had pinpointed the location of three key buildings involved in their plan to traffic the new drug and process the profits. They were going to be doing things underground since it appeared they could not market this new drug legally.

Charles stated that he wished to attack these locations that very same night. Thus, he fully divulged his plan of an all-out counterattack to stop the Ligue. They would steal the plans for manufacturing the drug as well as destroying any supplies that may or may not already be awaiting distribution. This would not only save the community from this new threat but also cripple them financially if only in some small way. It was offensive as well as defensive, the perfect tactic. The proposition was met with roaring applause. The mass of standing onlookers was enough to unnerve Stellar. She wondered when things had reached such a boiling point within Ends County.

As Charles concluded his speech, he then went among the crowd, putting together a team of those he believed could successfully carry out his counterattack. He homed in on his most well-known followers. Those selected, were to go out and burn several of the buildings in use for the underground economy of the Ligue's drug business. Knowing full well that they were ready to do anything to take charge of their lives, Charles knew they would not mind resorting to arson to fight back. They were ready. He knew many of them well enough by this point to know what ends they would go to for their noble cause.

Those selected were grateful for the opportunity to fight for their people. Three teams split among the three buildings. The meeting then came to an end as Charles dismissed everyone, demanding that they all return the next day. Then, he asked those selected for the mission to stay back for further orders. Stellar and Jason waved goodbye to each other. They were not selected for the mission yet promised to meet up again for the next meeting and sit with one another.

*****

That evening, Stellar headed to the Ligue's main office to report her findings at the meeting to Horace Bosse, otherwise feared by Nons as Hog. She was, after all, the best information broker in Ends County, currently contracted by the Ligue with infiltrating the meetings of Nons. She was currently contracted to gather information on their day-to-day activities. The head office she arrived at was by far the nicest building in use by the Ligue. Located on the edge of the city close to the wharf in the southern area. It sat auspiciously in between two side smaller rectangular buildings. Its proximity to the docks facilitated the import of weapons and other commodities needed to run their de facto militia of Nons who worked under Hog's 'Tenacious Ten.' It was a good thing too, for guns and other deadly weapons were hard to come by. Essentially impossible. Such dangerous items no longer existed or rather, they were not so commonplace.

The Tenacious Ten were the most powerful Nantis in Hog’s arsenal, they were the elites of the Ligue. Six women and four men, all with incredibly powerful abilities, all of which had never been heard of before manifesting in these individuals, they were truly unique soldiers. They were housed in the two buildings adjacent to the head office where the various leaders commanded their own small groups of Nons and Nantis. The addition of Nons to the Ligue was a recent arrangement as part of their aggressive expansion. They worked for the Ligue doing all the drudge work no self-respecting Nantis would even consider doing. Slaves working tirelessly to keep from being disposed of.

Though the Tenacious Ten were terrifying in their own right, they were in no way the only Nantis within the Ligue to be feared. There was a multitude of just as powerful Nantis, however, Hog had a fondness of the name. It took him a long time to come up with and adding more would require him to exercise creative muscles that simply did not exist within him. Plus, he had plenty of uses for the other powerful Nantis at his disposal.

Stellar made her way through the main lobby. She chose the left staircase, as she always did, toward Hog’s extravagant office. She entered to find Hog the same way she would always come to find him, sat back with his fat belly poking out in an overtly relaxed position. His sturdy stone desk along with his throne-like desk chair backed with beautifully shining red felt made it almost worthy of royalty. To his right, a gargantuan bookshelf that would put any scholar to shame. Packed tight with books of various subject matter, all of them in pristine condition without even a hint of a crease to mar the integrity of the spines or covers. Each page pure white. The walls were decorated with large game animals that had been stuffed for display. No sign of a wound from an arrow or other weapon could be noted upon inspection, they were in perfect condition, as if they had just been found lying dead of natural cause.

Hog greeted Stellar as he poured himself a glass of 'vintage' Merlot silently awaiting the young informant’s latest news. Stellar began her report as to the Non's new ambitious leader, Charles, and their plan to perform arson on multiple Ligue facilities to interfere with operations. Hog's cavalier attitude towards her report surprised her. He merely sat back in his oversized office chair as if he were not even listening to the words she spoke, simply demanding that she follow up the next day to determine the success of the Non's plan to interrupt their business. He dismissed her with a wave of his fat hand. Astounded by his inexplicable nonchalance, a new look for him, Stellar took her leave. She was merely an informant, so long as her fee was paid, she could care less about the outcome.

*****

Nothing short of wide-eyed terror greeted the NAM party as they congregated at the entrance of the woefully old wooden warehouse. The door creaked open, releasing the most horrendous odor any of them had ever had the misfortune of infiltrating their olfactory bulbs. A stench that overrode, or rather, short circuited the mind. It was unknown. Anonymous. For nothing in existence could cause what was before them. Their senses began shutting down one by one. All but the sense of feeling, that much was certain for the feeling of trepidation was well represented within the unsuspecting crowd as they bore witness to true unholiness.

Many began profusely vomiting as they stood frozen in the doorway. In a panic the crowd began to pour into the warehouse. Three groups of bodies were found in an unspeakable state. Some were nailed to the walls, with what appeared to be large metal spikes. They were found, mangled and almost unrecognizable aside from their clothing. Their faces had been smashed into bits, tiny fragments in a most grotesque display of unthinkable brutality. Blood had clearly dried as it ran down the walls where they hung, pinned to the wall, pooling up in large puddles where the floor met the walls. It was astounding that the human body actually held as much blood as was coagulating on the floor around their feet. Given the smell and the dried blood, the bodies had been there since sometime in the early morning. There was no chance these bodies would be identified but the fear gripping everyone spoke the truth no one wished to hear. These were the three teams selected for Charles' 'master-plan'.

Visibly shaken, yet attempting to hold it together for his followers, Charles was the only one able to get close enough to the bodies without falling into madness.

“This is the work of a powerful Nantis,” he asserted. “I can't see a single clue pointing to anything else. They were not killed by any man-made weapon, but with the bare hands of one savage individual.”

His voice was trembling, deceiving his calm, relaxed stature.

“There is a rat among us!” His words stunned all those who were still within their right mind to perceive sound.

Everyone in the meeting was frozen with a mix of panic and suspicion. Their eyes darted around the room in a fit of paranoia, inspecting one another as Charles put padlocks on all the doors so no one could escape, trapping the culprit in among them. The more he spoke, the more unhinged they all became. “Do not let anyone escape! We must find the culprits and execute them without hesitation!” His words now only furthering the tension in the room. Almost instantly, they all began accusing each other of being Nantis, further escalating the fray in the small warehouse.

Stellar herself was also in disbelief. Charles had completely lost his calm demeanor, she thought to herself. In mere moments the air in the room had completely shifted. She watched as the great leader of these Nons caused more chaos as he began a witch hunt for the culprits who they had no certainty were even present. The cacophony of screams nearly brought her to the edge of her own reason. “Okay, we need to get the hell out of here!” Smack. She slapped some sense into herself, literally, and looked to Jason. The look in his eyes caused her to freeze. Movement, time, even her thoughts stood still as she watched the stranger before her as he stood up on a chair to address the room.

“The Nantis will reveal themselves by protecting themselves with their power,” Jason screeched. The mob cheered and rallied behind him in agreement. Stellar was trying desperately to calm him down, urging him to collect himself in the midst of the heightening tension within the room. Her words failed to sooth him unfortunately, as Jason completely unraveled from the fear and pressure of the situation along with the rest of the room.

Jason pulled one of the crusty iron spikes that were now a dark shade of red from one of the corpses hanging on the wall. Then at random, he began impaling members of the meeting without the slightest bit of apprehension. The first spurt of fresh blood splashed the crowd nearest him as they all began to cry out in a deranged ode to madness. No longer were the sounds human. They now sounded as if they were a pack of wild animals as they began to claw out each other’s eyes and rip at each other’s flesh. Jason's actions had set off a violent chain reaction within the room as the members of the meeting began an impromptu 'witch hunt' to find the mole and or moles.

Chaos spread like plague in the meeting area as people indulged in maiming and killing each other like savages. The screams grew deafening as they echoed off the walls, the only other audible sound being bloodshed and the cracking of skulls and bones. Stellar, horrified at the scene before her, noticed a fire had broken out in the hall as one of the members lit a fellow Non on fire causing the curtains on the walls to go up in flames. The flames danced up the walls of the warehouse, engulfing the room in a matter of seconds. No one besides her had even noticed the blazing inferno as they continued attacking one another.

The fire began to spread exponentially as Stellar desperately searched for a way to get herself and the others out of the building. Her sight hindered from the smoke filling the room, she began crawling below it in search of a viable exit. “I'm not getting paid enough for this,” she sighed as she crawled across a floor that was rapidly heating up to skin melting temperatures.

Finally, an exit graced her sight in a solid wooden wall of the warehouse. She barely winded her arm back and unleashed a single punch that blew a hole in the wall of the warehouse. The smoke immediately billowed out of the opening she had created. The release of pressure caused her clothes to rattle with the wind. It was still too late, for the flames had grown too great to extinguish. She desperately urged everyone to calm down and escape with her, though her calls fell upon deaf ears as everyone had been completely consumed by fear to the point of inexplicable madness. Tears streamed down her face from a culmination of the smoke in her eyes and the gore riddled sight before her. She had no choice but to evacuate the building.

Stellar fled the scene, still greatly conflicted over what she had just witnessed. She had begun to vomit as she ran down the streets tripping every few steps along the way. This was not her fault. There was no way she could have known this would be the result of her involvement. Being a neutral third party was not as easy as she had hoped. She had hoped her years of service would make her cold. They had not. Rushing through the streets of the town, she began to gather her thoughts so that she may accurately convey the news to Hog later that evening. Though, she had already drawn the conclusion that her report would be unnecessary. The burning warehouse had drawn a crowd to the edge of town. Sirens wailed in the background as tears created streaks through Stellar's ashen face.

*****

That night, Stellar gave her report to Hog, still shaken up from the events that unfolded at the meeting. The pit of her stomach turned as she spoke; certain Hog would be the confirmation that the horror from that hot afternoon would be her cross to bear.

“Ha, well I'll be damned,” Hog interrupted. “That one armed bastard might be useful to me after all.”

One armed man. Stellar's eyes widened as she felt a chill down her spine. The small invisible hairs of her pale white arms stood high above a rigid formation of goose pimples as the ominous presence passed her slowly. The corner of her eye scanned the profile of his smirking, evil, narrow face.

Hog slid Charles a silver briefcase as he passed Stellar and stood before Hog’s desk. Charles turned his gaze to Stellar and made a motion toward the case for her to open with his left nub of an arm. The case was completely stuffed with local currency.

“You’ve won our little wager and it appears the Ligue could use a man like you. With this, you can have anything in the town that you need and no one from the town will suspect you are an outsider with our local money!”

Charles smirked at the case with a bored amusement.

“I am a man of simple tastes. Anything I desire I take by persuasion.” He then reached his one good arm out and took one silver coin from the case. “This much will suffice….”

It had been at least a minute before Stellar could form what she would consider to be a coherent thought. This entire two-day job was orchestrated in advance. She had merely been placed in a position to babysit the neophyte.

“I thank you for taking care of me during this test.”

“Test?”

“Merely getting a lay of the land I should say, I just rolled into town and without a formal education there is little work for one of my skill set...”

Charles' eyes conveyed a sense of lacking. Stellar saw in them worse atrocities than she had experienced that very afternoon. Every word he spoke filled Stellar with a feeling of unease.

“My ability may not be preternatural however, it is an ability nonetheless,” Charles laughed jokingly as Hog stood up and patted him on the back as if the two had been friends for years. He had stood up. The surprises for Stellar were unending. She never thought she would see the day Hog moved his rotund frame.

Stellar surmised that this man before her must be the devil manifested in physical form, or worse, she had never met such a terrifying individual in her entire life. How could someone fake such compassion and empathy while manipulating a group of more than one hundred people to kill themselves? That is what happened. The truth of the matter. The simplest way for her mind to articulate or paraphrase the events leading to Charles' initiation into the Ligue.

Stellar recalled some of the things he said in his speech and remembered feeling moved by his words. The idea of it all chilled her to the very core of her being. The entire exchange made her question what she was doing there in the first place. This was not why she had become an information broker. As she arrived that night, her worst fear was finding out that she was the one responsible for what had unfolded that day. She left with a clear conscience and fear unlike any she had known before.

“As promised Charles, you will be placed in charge of the distribution of Coup De Pouce. The kids in the lower ranks are calling it CDP.”

Hog explained the terms of the deal for Charles. He would be responsible for securing the production and distribution of this drug that was beginning to take hold of the Nons in Ends County. At least, everything Charles had said was not a lie. There was in fact a drug and the Ligue was responsible for it.

“I almost forgot, while I'm working in Ends County please, call me Mason. That is my name after all.” Hog waved Mason off as he did not care what the man called himself so long as he carried out orders as he would expect of any of his subordinates.

Before taking his leave, Mason turned to Stellar.

“I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it for myself. I saw what you did to that wall at the warehouse.”

“.......”

“Hog, you mentioned that people in this place were different, I guess I should learn to take you at your word. You Nantis have me feeling an excitement I have not felt in years.”

Charles, or rather, Mason, had admitted he was not expecting a fire to break out, surmising that Stellar must truly be invincible, as the fire did not even scorch her in the slightest.

“I would have died in that room if it weren't for you. I dropped the keys to the padlocks and couldn't see for the smoke. It's been a while since I felt so alive. Then I saw you blow out that solid wall with one hit. I've gotta tell you I couldn't tell if it was you or the thought that I was about to die, but I'd never been so turned on...”

“…………”

Mason let out a creepy laugh boasting, “A woman with unfathomable strength and invulnerability, now that is truly terrifying. That’s it right? Your ability?” His outstretched hand met nothing but the empty air of the room. Stellar officially had reached her limit with her encounter with Mason and took her leave. She left, stiffing him of the hand-to-hand contact. Mason's words had caused her fear to warp into anger. She knew she could have easily torn him limb from limb right there if she wanted. Well, she could have about five minutes ago, before he became the Ligue's newest star. She was truly strong, but taking on the entirety of the Ligue was a fool's errand and she knew it all too well.

“You suppose it was something I said?” Mason pulled back his hand as he pouted. Hog and Mason shot each other a grin before he left to meet the faction that Hog had arranged to be at his disposal. Mason bid farewell to his new boss and merrily went about his way. “There isn't much time before you too…. Here you will be... Oh, the fun I have in store for, You. And. Me…,” Mason sang below his breath.

*****

The next morning, the sun was rising as a young man named Ari made his way past the giant metal turbines that spun in the wind. Between that and the sound of generators he could barely hear the music playing in his ear. A Plant. It was a telltale sign that another town would be up ahead. Ari was whistling a jaunty, infectious tune through his dry parched lips. The whistling, mirroring the music that was blaring through his over ear headphones which appeared to be on their absolute last leg. So damaged that it would be no surprise if the next song would be their last. Then, the sound of the Plant would be the only audible company for the next few miles. Ari’s appearance may not have been much better and the same could have been said of him. Despite this, it appeared that he did not have a care in the world as he continued down the dirt path.

The young man had just turned twenty-two three days prior. A birthday spent in the solitude of the road. His hair was trimmed short on the sides with longer disheveled, wavy hair over top and back of his head. He was wearing torn up, worn out blue jeans with a dirty tattered white shirt tucked into the waist of his jeans, his appearance blurting out to any and every one that he had been without stable living for quite some time. His skin was golden brown, cooked from many seasons under the sun without cover. Ari then stopped walking and read the sign before him 'Bienvenue au Comté d'Ends'.

“Tell me he's going to be here.....” A small sand rat startled Ari out of his inflection.

“I wonder if you've seen him, little guy.” Talking to animals. This was Ari's wake up call. He immediately needed to find a room and a meal. Some water would be great too.

“You were literally about to ask the mouse, idiot.”

“Was not”

“And now you're talking to yourself!”

“It's better than asking a mouse for directions.”

“Well, that's tr-”

Ari stopped for a moment, having a good laugh at his own expense until his dry throat gave into a fit of coughing. It had been sometime since he had spoken out loud. He understood there was nothing to do but go and see for himself. Hefting his large bag over shoulder, he strolled into town. As he walked, he began to smell a most nostalgic odor, one he often had the displeasure of when arriving too late to stop what was beginning to feel inevitable.

Ari continued and finally came upon a gruesome scene. Charred bodies being hauled out of a smoldering warehouse by coroners and emergency workers. The bodies were completely blackened to a crisp, some of them still smoldering and smoking, their faces, the ones he could make out, were fixed in a chillingly twisted state to forever immortalize the tragedy that took place there. He ran up to get a closer look but was quickly blocked off by the local law enforcement officers maintaining the scene. There was no way he could get through without causing further commotion. Ari continued his trek into town with a new determination in his gait, his carefree demeanor changed as his face contorted with a look of ferocity, his casual whistling a mere echo left behind at the border of Ends County. “You're not getting away this time, Mason!”