Chapter 8 Ekrons

The pilot put down the radio and started the engine of the helicopter. Asia looked back at Arlo, he was preparing himself to fight.

When all the Ekrons finally boarded, the helicopter started to rise up. Asia could see as the first monster finally made its way at the top of the building. In a mere flick of Arlo's wrist, the monster fell, cut at least ten times. Asia could not even follow and count every flick on Arlo's wrist.

The helicopter hovered way above the building. Far enough to be unaffected by the battle but close enough to watch how Arlo fights. He was only using the cleaver, but on his hands, it was the deadliest weapon against the monsters. Arlo moved gracefully and smoothly and in his every move, one monster was impaled.

The helicopter swayed and a figure jumped from their helicopter towards the building. It was a young boy who, like Emma, was holding a broadsword--the size of it dwarfed his small body. He was even smaller than Anita. A girl who was younger than Asia followed and casually dropped into the building. She took out the broadsword and raised it high above her head.

The instant the two Ekrons attacked, Asia shivered. Another two monsters came, only these two monsters were stronger than the previous ones. The other Ekrons also felt the presence. Asia observed the battle, as it continued, she could not believe it. The monstrous aura was coming from the two young Ekrons fighting alongside Arlo.

It took minutes before the escaped monsters were completely wiped out.

“Russ, are we missing any more monsters?” Arlo asked, securing the cleaver on his waist strap.

“Wait,” the young boy said and sat down.

The helicopter started to come down. Asia gripped at the nearest chair. She does not want to be down there. Then she sat down on the helicopter's floor.

It can't be. She repeatedly said to herself. Another shiver came to her and when she looked at the kid called Russ, he smiled at her.

“No one escaped,” Russ said and stood up.

“As expected of Arlo,” the young girl said.

“Stop patronizing me, Sophie,” Arlo said and patted her head.

Asia could feel as the monstrosity of the two Ekrons subsided. Arlo gestured for the trainees to approach him.

“That bastard,” a woman said leaning on the helicopter. She was wearing all black and was scowling. From the looks of it, it seemed like the grimace was a permanent look on her face.

“We are too late,” a man said, tucking the broadsword at his back.

“Finley! Alex!” Arlo shouted at them and gestured for them to come closer.

“Hi, Arlo,” Alex greeted as he approached Arlo, Russ and Sophie.

Seeing the two of them together, Asia could see their difference in height as well as their body built. In any of these aspects, Alex wins over Arlo. If Arlo looked younger than his actual age, Alex might have been the opposite. Finley ignored Arlo and stayed leaning on the helicopter.

“She's in a bad mood because we are late,” Alex said and looked around at the corpses. “You really did a number on them.”

“Russ and Sophie helped me, and Emma too. Only, she perished the instant these came out of the Dome. They were agitated. I tried to stop her but she just jumped and it was too late,” Arlo said.

“That hot-blooded idiot,” Alex said.

Arlo shifted his attention again to the trainees and said, his tone changing back. “Now, we are having such fine examples, aren't we?”

No one nodded while Asia hugged herself to stop the shivering. She was in the center of the mangled corpses of the monsters. Under her feet was a glop of whatever substance it was.

“Do you want to be beaten up again?” Angus whispered at her ear.

Asia was frozen. The pain of being beaten up by Angus scared her more than knowing that the two children in front of her had the aura of a monster, like that lady who killed her own daughter at Delta U.

“I will remain by your side to remind you not to show your abnormality,” Angus whispered again.

Asia nodded and noticed as Russ, Sophie and Alex gathered up the mangled body of the monsters.

“These are the faces you better remember in your stay at Ashkelon as well as the red haired lady leaning on the helicopter.” Arlo continued as he gave the trainees the opportunity to stare at each of them. “They might just be able to save your life.”

Arlo paused as he looked over the pile of the dismembered monsters.

“This is the proper way to kill these monsters. After, you have to burn them. And this will be your sole purpose as an Ekron. The true reason for your existence,” Arlo added in a more serious tone.

Upon hearing, Asia's knees failed her again. Automatically, Angus' arms went around her, supporting her. If only she could cry, she might have already cried buckets of tears. If this was her job, then she really might die in a month or less depending on her luck. And so far, her luck had never been nice to her.

“You better stand on your own, wimp,” Angus whispered.

“I know,” Asia whimpered. “ I am trying.”

“Trying is not good enough.”

“Trainees, help in gathering them all up and burn it,” Arlo added.

Ekrons around them started to move but Asia was still incapacitated while using Angus as her support.

“How long are you going to use me as your crutch?” Angus asked looking around. Fortunately, Suha and the other Ekrons on Angus' team were hovering around them.

Asia looked at the young kid called Russ and he was staring back at her. She jerked instantly and found her strength when the kid approached her. Angus removed his arms around her and left her standing idiotically at the center.

“You have such a nice smell,” Russ said sniffing at her. “What's your name?”

“A-Asia,” she stuttered.

Russ laughed. “Strange.”

He proceeded to smell Angus. “You are a strange one, too. Like Arlo but different to Asia.”

“Don’t lump me in with her.”

He left Angus and proceeded to the other Ekrons. Sometimes he would tell them that he liked their smell. Sometimes he would compare them to other Ekrons. But most often than not, he would just totally ignore them.

However, even with someone’s death, Arlo continued his lessons while the monsters burned.

“We hide our existence to some citizens because we were ordinary humans before. Because of that, we lack the confidence to believe that we will be widely accepted by the general mass. We are different from them and that will alienate us even if we existed to kill those monsters in order to protect them. We may be evolved humans but we were created to protect what we previously were.”

“What is the name for those monsters?” a guy asked whose shirt Asia grabbed on to during her bout of fear.

“Why give them a name when our purpose is to kill them?” Arlo challenged.

“Because of morality?” the guy answered, unsure even of his own answer.

Everyone was quiet. No one mentions morality within the Ekron group.

“It’s strange you’re bringing up Morality in this context, Ernest.”

The guy called Ernest did not respond.

“See, the principles of distinguishing between right or wrong does not involve the monsters. Monsters are never in the equation, ain’t that right?” When he did not get any response, Arlo continued. “Morality,” he repeated, almost spatting the word. “When we had become Ekrons, we stopped being social animals, isn't that right, Ernest?”

“We lost our emotions,” Arlo added. He approached Ernest.

“We lost our ability to learn through human interactions.”

When he finally reached Ernest, he placed his hands on his shoulders.

“We lost our ability to adapt to group behaviors.”

Beads of sweat started to form on Ernest's forehead.

“and we lack a basic understanding of what morality is. But do you understand it, Ernest?”

Is he scared? Asia thought as she stared at him. The same as her? Asia watched as Ernest shook his head vigorously.

“Are we clear then?” Arlo asked and smiled, but no more gentleness can be found on his smile.

Ernest nodded and yet he still asked, “Then, why do we have to kill them?”

Before Arlo could even answer, a guy whose name Asia forgot, interrupted and said, “We have the impulse to destroy. Of course, we exist to destroy everything. All values are baseless and--”

Before he could even finish, Arlo was on him. Arlo's cleaver protruded on the guy's back. It passed through his chest. He looked at Arlo confused and unsure of what he did wrong. Arlo pressed the button on his cleaver and the electric edge vanished. He fell at Arlo's feet while clutching at his own chest.

“Alex,” Arlo said.

Alex approached the fallen Ekron, carried it and threw it casually at the fire.

“Value and purpose. That’s the only thing that inhibits us from being nihilistic,” Arlo continued. His voice was cold and hard. “And if you lost it, prepare to be burned together with the filth in the fire.”

Asia was horrified. Her heart had stuck at her throat. Arlo's eyes had ceased to become sympathetic. All the other Ekrons were deathly silent. This was all an Ekron would amount to. Faking expressions, faking every single hint of an existing emotion. When you remove all that mask, only a moving flesh with a single purpose exists.

And Asia was reminded that it was not only the monsters that she must be careful and scared of, but the other Ekrons themselves.

To be continued..….