"Hmmm..."
Hex rubbed his eyes, waking up from a deep sleep. Opening them, he found himself lying in bed with machines beeping around him.
He felt a slight headache followed by a sharp, piercing pain that brought back memories of what had taken place. He looked around and saw the glass windowpane.
Looking outside, he knew exactly where he was.
At that moment, a sharp clicking sound echoed.
"You are awake!"
"Hmm," Hex hummed at the nurse and asked, "What happened to me?
"Am I sick?"
The nurse, Nina, took out the tablet and spoke, "Don't worry. Your condition has been stabilized. As for what happened to you, we believe it's the neural recognition awakening your mutation. It caused drastic neural dystrophy pain along with a high heart rate."
"Huh!" Hex's eyes widened in shock.
Awakening...
He found it a bit absurd and staged.
The era of mutations was paired with complicated reasons.
Alien invasions, cosmic travel, gates, and much more.
Some were able to manipulate their power from birth like it was nothing, whereas others needed external help.
That's why a vaccine was administered at the age of ten—to stimulate the potential for a mutation to unearth the power. If you didn't awaken, then you were hopeless.
The nurse, seeing the young one's look, smiled.
"It's not impossible to awaken later."
"See, kid… the human body is a miraculous machine. Countless millions of things occur, and at this age, with a variety of factors at play, random mutation can occur that forces you to awaken."
Hex nodded and asked, "What is my power? Did my mutation index change?"
"Sorry, we don't have that high a facility. You see, you're not in one of those First-Class healthcare centers."
Sector 10 was too poor to even afford high class facilities.
"I understand..." Hex spoke, knowing the underground process.
Despite world leaders' control, there was an invisible force that controlled many things.
Taking his current condition and credits into account, administrator AI would have selected a suitable place. More than that, he couldn't afford it.
Hex exchanged a few more words, asking more about his condition, and soon the nurse spoke, "The Bureau will soon give you a visit. You'll know more about it then."
With that, she left—leaving Hex alone, who pondered deeply.
'The note said everything would change when I was 18. Is this about power...? How did she know I would awaken at 18...?'
After some thought, the only conclusion he could arrive at was the nature of the power he had inherited from his parents.
Hex had never seen his parents. What had happened, had happened,it didn't matter much to him whether he was an orphan or not.
But for the first time in his life, he felt curious about that.
"Let's leave that aside. If I have awakened my power, I should check what kind of power it is."
With that, Hex closed his mind, trying to see if anything felt different. Despite the stoic expression he was quite jubilant inwardly.
He focused and concentrated, trying to visualize his power.
He had heard from the professor that once you awakened a power, it would feel like breathing to use the power subconsciously however..
A moment later, Hex's expression changed.
"I can't feel anything..."
He fell into deep thought and then tried to make weird hand gestures to see if his hands would commit to anything.
He had seen a Pyromancer shoot flames, others shoot spider webs, and many other kinds of abilities.
He had barely tried a few movements when a scream erupted.
"STOPPPP!"
Hex felt his heart jolt. He looked around to see a burly man screaming and running toward him while holding a girl in his arms. It was an open ward, with rows of white beds lined up on both sides, curtains partially drawn between them. Monitors beeped in rhythm to patients' vitals, and a soft fluorescent light flickered above.
The man's loud voice made heads turn at him.
The other patients, startled, jumped or gasped. An old man two beds away shouted, "What's going on now!?" while a teenage girl clutching a teddy bear looked up nervously. A woman with an oxygen mask tried to sit upright, mumbling, "Another one of those... mutants?"
"What..." Hex muttered, frozen mid-motion.
"You were trying to test your power, right? You're one of the ones who just awakened, right?"The man asked with a frown.
Hex nodded with a flustered look, feeling embarrassed at the sudden attention.
"Listen, kid, whatever it is, don't try anything! Many people don't know how to control their power at first and things get out of control. A month ago, someone burned down the entire ward floor—so stop, for god's sake, and let the people come!"
"Uh... Oh! Sorry, I didn't know about that," Hex apologized, bowing his head slightly.
He then looked at the man with a questioning gaze.
"I'm an Elite... I brought my daughter here for a check-up. The doctor asked me to wait here," the man explained while adjusting his grip on the small girl in his arms.
Hex's eyes fell on the quiet girl with two ponytails, who gave a brief nod in greeting.
Hex's cold expression softened, and he smiled.
The girl's eyes widened as she saw the handsome boy smile. Her cheeks turned red, and she blushed, looking away shyly.
"It seems my daughter took a liking to you..." the man chuckled a bit and gently put her down on the floor beside him.
Hex turned toward the man and said, "My name is Hex. If possible, can you tell me about the Elites? I mean... how it really is out there."
"Call me Uncle Rondal. And I can't reveal much, but I have to say—it's quite brutal. Don't think anyone who awakens a power feels lucky. What you'll feel instead is an endless abyss... We're still weaklings compared to the creatures out there. There's a talent cap."
Hex already understood it. If the man was a strong figure with influence, he wouldn't have brought his daughter to a ward like this for a check-up.
As Rondal explained, the little girl hip-hopped over to Hex and handed him a toffee wrapped in a colorful blue foil.
Not averse to it, Hex unfurled the toffee and popped it into his mouth while gently patting the girl on the head.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Mira..." the small girl answered softly.
Hex looked at Rondal and was about to speak when a loud quake shook the building.
Quake...
"Ahahah!"
Screams and a terrifying roar erupted from the upper floors of the building. The ground beneath them trembled violently, shaking the walls and sending metallic trays clattering to the ground. IV stands rattled, and ceiling panels creaked overhead.
People screamed. The old man cursed, "Not again! This damn hospital!"
The woman with the oxygen mask screamed, "Help! Somebody help us!"
A nurse near the ward entrance dropped her clipboard and dashed to the emergency button.
Hex's eyes narrowed, and his body tensed as he felt a surge of instinct telling him something was coming.
And with that,the entire ward began to rustle with panic.