My eyes moved back to the screen, seeing the next clip starting to play and I quickly reached forward, hitting the spacebar button. Instantly, I felt two pairs of questioning eyes on me and I gave them a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I just remembered something."

"What is it?"

"Then hurry up and spit it out."

Faviana Sanchez.

Her name sounds familiar.

"The woman's name sounds really familiar, I remember hearing it somewhere before." I said, looking at the computer screen, the video was paused and the woman's face was frozen on the screen. I frowned, deep in thought.

"What did she say her name was again?" Kim asked, obviously bad with names like she once said, even with my name.

"Faviana Sanchez." Her name rolled off my tongue easily, and I was a little surprised at how I could pronounce her name without difficulty.

"How do you spell it?"

"I have a guess on how it should be spelled, here." Nathan answered Kim, thrusting his hand into his pocket and taking out his smartphone. He swiftly typed at his keyboard, showing Kim his phone and I leaned in closer.

"Damn, I know that name. While I was invisible in Alexander's office, I peeked at his documents and letters, seeing her name several times. I skimmed through the contents, since I had limited time to stay invisible in there." Kim clicked her tongue and her words made Nathan confounded, judging by his baffled look on his face.

"How did you not get caught going in or out? Didn't you say our powers are slowly drained if we are within range of that building?"

"When I first decided to spy on him, I couldn't even enter the building properly, I almost got caught. Then I copied his schedule from his secretary, who was particularly meticulous. His schedule had everything, his mealtimes, when he exited or entered the building, who he was meeting and where, et cetera. I calculated the time I was allowed in there, when my powers would run out and planned everything out, it took me many trials and error." Kim explained and I was impressed at how she did not answer sarcastically or include any mean comments.

"Wow, such dedication." Nathan praised Kim for her tenacity and it was apparent that Kim didn't appreciate that comment of his.

"I'm doing this for a reason, not because I like it."

"I didn't say anything about you liking it." Nathan furrowed his eyebrows at her and I glanced between the two of them, leaning back towards the screen.

"Alright, I'll ask my father about the woman later, let's just continue watching the video for now." I quickly hit the spacebar button, not wanting this discussion to proceed to an argument.

"It's been a few weeks since we discovered the cube. Research shows that the cube provides tremendous power, let's just say its power is unlimited. The material it's made from, what's inside of it and the origin of this cube is unknown, we couldn't figure out anything else other than the unlimited power it provides. For now, the exploration team leaders aren't sure what to do with it and they just plan to research further on it."

Faviana glanced around, as if nervous at being heard or exposed. She brought the camera closer to her, her voice becoming softer.

"I caught Alexander Talbot on video this time, and now, he isn't just observing it anymore. He's tampering with the cube, and I'm completely shocked. I heard his company funded for this exploration and that's all, what his company does is totally unrelated to what we do. How does he understand the complex jargons we use and what he's doing with the cube is exactly how we, the scientists, are conducting the research on the cube. He knows what he's doing, but his background doesn't say anything about him being an expert in the field of science."

"That's right, Alexander Talbot is not who he seems to be. On the outside, his company manages healthcare and insurance. His public image and his reputation is one of a saint, a philanthropist but he's the exact opposite." Kim explained and it was her turn to pause the video this time around.

"What made you suspect him?" I asked and Kim adjusted her sitting position, a rare look of discomfort on her face.

"One day, I was messing around with my powers, trying to improve on it. I parked my car at the most deserted part in my area, starting to practice my powers and that's when I saw a massive truck driving by. Curiosity got the better of me, so I followed the truck with my car, which I made invisible too. I saw them unloading crates that were labelled with Talbot Inc. symbols. Even the workers transporting it were wearing Talbot Inc. uniforms, and when they opened the crates up to check the contents of it, I saw..."

Kim bit on her lower lip, anxious to go on and I blinked, surprised to see her this way.

"I saw weapons, lots of it."

The atmosphere grew tense and I could hear Nathan inhaling sharply, along with me.

"I bolted out of there and quickly drove away when I entered my car. It was freaking scary, knowing that the so-called philanthropist Alexander Talbot was dealing with weapons, perhaps in the black market. Then, I decided to investigate him secretly since I didn't believe in it, maybe he was being sabotaged or framed but...it turns out I was being stupid."

Kim clenched her fists and I could see her eyes lighting up in rage, narrowing her eyes at the computer screen.

"He even hid the fact that he contributed to the exploration of the cube, I don't even know how or why he did so but he did. I only discovered it after I started to dig through the documents in his office. And I discovered something even more disgusting."

"Disgusting?" I repeated, starting to feel dreadful, seems like she discovered a lot more things than I thought while spying on him furtively.

"He...he had files, huge, huge files on Apeirons and Infiniteum. Who were the ones affected, who were the ones that were dead, what caused them to have these powers, everything. Every single goddamn thing, and it freaked me out. I read the files and it stated that the powers were related to an Apeiron's characteristic and at that point of time, what they ingested or activities they were doing. I have never seen anyone so obsessed to do such a thorough investigation on people, humans. It was sickening. From their hobbies, to their family background, their entire life was in a single file!"

I could feel my hair raising, goosebumps everywhere at the harrowing explanation from Kim. I couldn't imagine someone looking at my entire life through reading, knowing my every secret and what my likes or dislikes were, staring and studying me so deeply.

"That's really disturbing. I can't imagine what it was like to discover that about a so-called saint known to everyone." Nathan spoke, sounding extremely perturbed.

It took a long moment for Kim to compose herself but I could still see the hatred in her eyes, as well as the disgust.

"...luckily, I didn't see a file of my name in there. I don't think I saw your name in any of the files too, what's your name again? Nado? Nata? Nutty? Or was it Nao?"

Nathan didn't seem pleased with her name-calling, despite it not being on purpose. Kim has the worst ways at recalling people names, it always never fails to offend them.

"...it's Nathan, Nathan Scott. Just call me Nate if it's too difficult for you to remember."

"Yeah no, I don't remember seeing a Nathan in the files. But, I'm shit at remembering names, so don't I can't say for sure."

"Is that supposed to make me feel comfortable?"

"No, not really, no."

Nathan was rendered speechless as he held a troubled look on his face. If it wasn't such a serious situation, I would have probably laughed.

"Hey Kim, didn't you say how strange it was when you found out about Nathan's powers? Is it because of the files you read?"

"Yeah, seems like Alexander might be wrong. A living example is standing right here, in front of us. I don't see how flight is related to any characteristics, and it's impossible for you to fly unless you were in an airplane, but no airplanes flew by during the time of the incident to prevent interference. You are probably one of those special cases."

Kim stretched her hand out, pinching Nathan lightly and he hissed in pain, giving her a look of disbelief.

"Strangely special. Invulnerability but vulnerable to pinches, hah."

I rolled my eyes at Kim, at least the atmosphere wasn't as tense as compared to before. I nudged the both of them, gesturing for them to focus on the video as I played it again. Hopefully, this is the last time with no interruptions.

"I have attached the clip of Alexander Talbot tampering with the cube, and hopefully, that would be an incriminating evidence of him should he do something drastic next time. For now, I hope everything stays well and nothing bad happens."

The video ended and it immediately went on to the following video footage.

"After doing some experiments, we still couldn't find out anything about the cube. However, the experiments about testing the power and supplying the power to other sources didn't have any complications. The testing went well, there wasn't a slightest problem with it and it is a relief. Seems like the leaders are trying to get approval on trying out the cube on a small town or city, while conducting as many experiments as we can. Ensuring the safety of everyone while testing out the cube is our number one priority after all, we need to make sure that there isn't any problems once we do a real test."

The woman was glowing with pride and happiness as she described the current events of the time she recorded the video.

"If it succeeds, the cube may give us unlimited supply of power. That means, we no longer need to rely on electricity to function, just simply depending on this cube. This will reform power supply and power itself! We could make so much improvements, advancements and so, so many things. It will take ages for me to explain what possibilities there would be if this succeeds!"

Unfortunately, on the next video, things started to go downhill and Faviana didn't seem to hold any signs of positivity anymore.

"Our experiment failed. This time, we increased the power output and a blackout happened, there were a dozen casualties. It became unstable and we tried to stop it, but we didn't manage to stop it in time. Some of them...some of them...they...they-"

Faviana's tone was heart-wrenching and I could see her holding back her tears as she struggled to put the whole traumatic incident into words. She cupped her hand over her mouth, choked sobs escaping from her despite her attempt to hide it.

"Three of them died, and the cause of it is unknown. We were planning to shut down the entire experiment and keep the cube sealed away forever by passing it to the government. However, our project to launch it at a small town or city was approved, and it is to be held at the most peaceful city in the world, Serenity. Our leaders, majority of them agreed to launch it officially in the city and the disagreement by some of them were overruled. The only reassurance they gave us was that they wouldn't launch it at the power we did before, they would lower the power output. How-how could they? For money? For pride? I don't know, there were those who opposed to it and tried to expose the results to the government. Unfortunately, they were caught and brought back, imprisoned in their rooms."

Tears rolled down from her face, and seeing her crying her heart out, utter despair in her eyes haunted me.

"I'm helpless, powerless, useless. I can't do anything to stop this, we don't even know how to entirely shut down the cube. My friend...she was killed because of this. I want to stop this, I have to but what am I supposed to do? This is the only choice I have, to record a video and provide all the evidences I can provide. The meeting too, I secretly recorded it, with the help of one of the leaders who disapprove the launching wholeheartedly. The only thing I can do now is hope and pray, or think of a desperate measure."

I couldn't stop the tears that flowed out from my eyes, sniffing along with the woman in the video. She sobbed, shakily extending her arm out, her finger pressing on something on the camera. The video stopped, and it instantly moved on to another video.

Faviana panted, running down the corridor as she held the camera in one hand, a backpack in front of her instead of behind. She sprinted, the backpack bouncing up and down from her movements. Sirens were blasting loudly in the background, a panicked look on her face yet she somehow looked determined.

"This is my last attempt to stop this, I have the cube in this backpack and I'm gonna run away with it, forever! I refuse to let anyone of them touch this cube, not when they are endangering thousands or millions of lives! If I'm caught, it will probably mean my doom, I'm not sure if they are going to kill me or not."

She gasped, turning the corner and hiding as footsteps thundered loudly behind her.

"Get her!"

"Hurry, stop her!"

"We have to catch her!"

"Faviana!"

She turned another corner yet again and this time, quickly slipped into a room. She collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air and she brought the camera closer.

"This...plan of mine...is probably going to fail. Therefore, to whoever who finds this video...please...please stop this madness. If it is launched, there's no telling how many would die...or get affected. The ones alive are still in a coma, and they make never wake. This is all the evidence I can give, and this is truly enough to put all the people responsible for this behind bars, forever."

The door was slammed open, exclaims and shouts were almost immediately heard as she gasped, horrified.

"Please, whoever you are. I beg of you."

The video ended abruptly and I was left tongue-tied, tears still streaming down from my face. I heard a heavy sigh from Kim and Nathan sat frozen in his seat, no one said a word for a moment. The silence was stifling, excluding the occasional sobs from me.

"Why didn't my dad submit this to the police...why..." I wailed, staring at the blank computer screen burying my face in my hands.

"If he submitted this to the police, what do you think would happen to you and your mother?" Kim said, but her tone lacked of any brutality, it felt heavy. She seemed completely disheartened, squeezing her eyes close.

"Is me and my mother worth the lives of thousands or millions?!" I exclaimed, glaring angrily at her, standing up from my seat and she opened her eyes, a sombre expression on her face.

"Yes, it is. Because, your father only have you and your mother. There's only one of you and one of your mother in this entire world." A bitter smile appeared on Kim's face, her piercing eyes instantly hitting me. It was my first time seeing her this miserable.

I turned away from her, slowly glancing towards Nathan. He was already up from his seat, looking down at me with a gentle expression and I couldn't help but tear up even further. The two people here with me, they suffered from this horrible experiment made by the decisions of people just like them.

"Why...are people so selfish? None of you deserve any of this, no one should deserve this...I can't believe they had to heart to proceed on with this. Oh my god...I don't understand any of it..."

"Come here."

Nathan drew me into his embrace, coiling his arms around me and at that moment, I just completely broke down in his arms. I felt him patting my head softly, whispering comforting words in my ears and thankfully, there wasn't any teasing remark from Kim.

"It's alright, it's okay. We pulled through this, we adapted to this change, now, we have to stop anything worse from happening. We can't bring back what's gone, we have to save what's still here."

"For once, Nate's right. This time, we have to do everything in our power to stop Alexander Talbot, if he reactivates the cube, the same tragedy would happen once again."

"Ho-how? By giving this to the police?"

Kim suspired heavily and I heard her standing up from her seat. I felt a pat on my shoulder from Kim as Nathan released me from his hug, and I spun around to look at her.

"Three brains are better than two, giving this to the police won't stop him so easily. Now, stop your crying and start thinking, we don't have time."

It was normal to feel hurt from her words, but it didn't make me angry. I nodded vigorously at her, wiping my tears away furiously, clearing my throat as I sniffed.

"You are right, this is no time to be crying. We still have a city to save, and Jessie." My voice was hoarse and cracking from time to time, yet, I didn't care.

Kim cracked a smile, which didn't happen very often and I found myself grinning back at her. Nathan stepped into view, a small smile on his face too as he talked. "Just like Jean said, should we report this to the police first?"

"Yeah, the more help we have, the better. However, we need to ensure the safety of her family first. Also, Faviana Sanchez, we need to find out what happened to her, you need to ask your father about that, Jean."

"Of course! Oh, you got my name right this time."

"I can call you Genie if you really want to."

I grimaced at Kim, my eyes shifting towards Nathan as I suddenly recalled that embarrassing hug. Noticing something, I gasped in horror.

"Huh? What?"

"What is it now?"

I pointed to Nathan's shirt, a damp spot on it, along with some icky stains that made want to cringe in humiliation.

"I made your shirt dirty...with my tears and snot, christ..." I uttered, my face burning up, mortified.

"Ugh." Kim made a sound, eyeing Nathan's shirt in distaste.

Nathan glanced down at his shirt, and I noticed how he regarded it with disgust albeit he covered it up hastily. He plastered a pained smile on his face, waving it off. "It's fine—really, it's okay."

"That's your favourite shirt, isn't it?"

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Nathan! I'll wash it up for you, right now!"

"No, no really! You don't have to—you don't need to take it off right now!"

I squeaked, halting my tugging on his shirt and I laughed nervously. "Oh right, you should take it off yourself."

"What? Really?"

"Are you seriously telling him to take it off, right now? Right here?"

"Uhh..."

"How kinky, Genie."

Realising the awkwardness I just brought, I wanted to curl up in a ball and roll away. However, instead of rolling away, I stiffened and spun around, dashing out of the room. Alas, my legs decided to tangle together at this moment and I tripped, though I managed to prevent myself from falling.

Kim snorted with laughter and Nathan hurried towards me, watching me with a concerned look, a little blush on his face.

"Are-are you okay?"

Can I just fade away from existence right now?

***********************

Observing the clear, azure sky, my eyes followed a trail of fluffy clouds in the sky, floating across it. The scorching sun shone down on me and I scowled, feeling the heat boring down on me. "I can't believe I'm coming here for the third time, or the fourth? I've lost track."

"I have to agree, it's getting tiring." Nathan nodded along with me. On the bright side, I finally brought a proper disguise along to prevent myself from being recognised, like Kim and Nathan.

"Shut up and stop complaining." Kim barked at us and I pulled a face at her words.

"Uhm...why am I here again? And with you guys, especially him?"

Frost stood beside Kim, looking very unhappy and I took a step closer to Nathan, trying to get closer to Frost for some of that nice, cold air.

"You too, shut up and stop complaining."

"Why did you have to bring him along though?"

"I see that our feelings for one another is mutual." Nathan commented, looking equally as unhappy as Frost.

"We need him, just like we need you, Thomas."

"Wha-did you just...my name—did you really just—my name!"

"Your name is Thomas?" I raised my eyebrows at Frost, who is now officially Thomas.

"Out of all the names...you just had to be called Thomas? My best friend's father's name?" Nathan bemoaned, sounding repulsed.

"What's wrong with being called Thomas?"

"You don't deserve to be called that."

"What did you just say?"

The two men marched across, sizing each other up and I could feel a slight cool air coming from Thomas, making me less grouchy. There were three things I hate with a passion, tall places, the unbearable heat and cockroaches.

Kim growled in frustration, storming towards them and slapping them on the forehead. They cried out in pain, as I winced, imagining their pain. They didn't have their powers anymore, since we have been standing on the rooftop of Talbot Inc. Headquarters for quite a while now.

"I didn't come here to witness your childish squabble, I came here to steal the files and documents in Alexander's office. Did you guys even listen while I was explaining about our plan just now?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

They muttered out at the same time, their irritated tone didn't seem to satisfy Kim.

"Did you really? If not, I swear I'll kick you two idiots at where the sun doesn't shine."

They went rigid at her words, nodding quickly. "Yes!"

"Now go! We can't afford to take our own sweet time!" Kim ordered and they obeyed her, heading off to do their mission assigned to them. They were assigned to shut the power down, and since Thomas knows the way, he was tasked to shut it down.

Kim was the only one who knows the way around the building and what to steal, hence, our teams were split to me and Kim, while the two men were in another team.

"Are you sure this is going to go smoothly?"

"Hopefully, they can't be that dumb, right?"

Nevertheless, exactly three minutes later, alarms started to ring throughout the whole building and I moaned in despair while Kim slapped herself on the forehead with her palm.

"What did I even expect, honestly..." Kim shook her head to herself. 

Hello readers, I'm half dead, 4.32 am here. I have a bad habit of writing at night and late into the night. 

I. Hit. 6K. Reads. OMG! 

AND I HIT #30 in Adventure! 

Thanks for reading my story and loving or liking it, and thank you for giving my story a chance. I seriously cannot thank all of you enough, I was terrified (and still am!) of posting my story here and not entirely sure how people would think of my story. I'm happy enough to have a few comments and reads on my story, especially comments. 

Once again, thank you so, so, sooooo much <3<3