Countless humans were trampled to death.

Lure watched in disgust as the animals bereft of reason behaved like buffaloes, madly charging onwards with no regard for their fellows. It hurt; the shouts of panic and misery assaulted her ears, struck her heart like lightning, and the cruelty opened her eyes which could see the physical, yet had been blind for the important. She became perceptive. Disregarding any danger, her empathy moved her, compelled her to act. Where to help? The debris and glass splinters had been the prime cause for causalities so far: either people were struck by the fallen robots or they were whimpering, covered in blood because the glass had hit them like a grenade.

She rushed; she jumped; she landed near a boy of about her age. He lay on the opposite side, a little away from the shrieking crowd. Lure pushed the robot’s metal arm away and saw a cracked skull. With shorts breaths, she put her hands on his smooth cheeks and looked into the motionless eyes where no spark of life could be found. Impuissance. She cursed at her own helplessness and at the pointless deaths that had so far occurred this day. The metallic smell of blood reached her nostrils as she gently stroked his smudgy face. Furthermore, his facial features resembled her dead brother’s! One, two, three, several tears fell on his chin and plunged to the ground.

Why? Just why? Who profits from those atrocities? Nobody answered her, and if someone did, would she find solace in it? Which words can justify this? There are none.

She left him in the dirt and looked for others in need. Several heroes were fighting in the air, shouting the names of their abilities and protected the humans below from the attacks of the villains. Like Lure, some of the heroes were rescuing the wounded people, even villains gave a helping hand. This was a typical fight between the two groups. Rarely did the villains try to kill any humans on purpose – it was frowned upon by high-ranks – and both groups were playing a children’s game that relied on one site attacking the non-empowered humans to drive forth some schemes or plans whilst making sure that nobody was harmed. A foolish, pointless game. Collateral damaged caused through indirect involvement was regarded as a sad but unavoidable consequence, however. The villains were only trying to stall for time and the heroes opposed them since they didn’t want to lose face in the public. Dying was nobody’s business though, and between the two parties, generally, no blood was shed at all. But this time the heroes were fighting fiercely, for the villains had attacked their dignity and colleagues.

Lure bent down and felt the pulse of an elder woman with grey, crinkly hair. She felt the heartbeat and moved her hand over the mouth of the injured victim. Yet, the woman didn’t seem to breathe. Lure knew nothing about first aid, for even an F-ranked empowered has superhuman self-regeneration. Physically, regarding the biological aspect, Lure wasn’t different than any other human, but some mysterious phenomenon empowered her body, granting her strength that common mortals couldn’t fathom.

“Help, help, I need a medic!” She raised her voice, yet even after finally shouting, her pitiful plea was buried under the immense barrage of human noises, be they shrieks from the still fleeing crowd or the calls of the heroes and villains.

When she saw a passing hero with a red cross on the chest, she immediately waved. The man did notice her but only shook his head. No further words were needed. Still, Lure didn’t give up and chased after him.

Upon arrival, the healer informed the gasping Lure, “No, it would be pointless.” Most healers had passives that determined the state of other humans’ bodies and could be used as a diagnostic tool. They were useful, though were never high-ranked.

“There might be a chance.” She urged the man to reconsider, “Her heart still beats.”

“Too old.” Healers always focus first on the most valuable targets. He pointed at a young man lying a little further away. “He can still be saved and is of greater importance to the Empire.” His words may be cold, but had a rationale behind them since saving the important members of society benefited the overall population.

She didn’t bother to further argue and instead thought of what she could do, how she could save people. Most abilities are combat orientated and, in that regard, she held an advantage, for she could affect people without causing destruction.

Lure drew a deep breath and exclaimed, “Soothe,” while focusing all her concentration on expanding the scope of her ability. It worked. A peaceful aura spread from her, encompassing most of the crowd. People stopped running. Some barriers still prevented them from escaping, but at least further unnecessary damage could be prevented.

She felt as if some weight were being lifted from her shoulders as if a hand patted her on the back. Gently and rewarding. It was the exact opposite of the demons that sought to drag her down, luring her into the abyss. At that point, she even considered dropping her alias for a friendlier name. Almost. Albeit she abhorred mindless fights for petty reasons, she did understand that only her own strength mattered while words were worthless. Sometimes she had to make her hands dirty, she knew it. However, today was not such a day.

“Soothe.” She continued, fighting for the few, unimportant causalities that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. “Soothe.” “Soothe”. “Soothe”. Not only stopped the crowd, but she reached into the hearts of the people, swaying anxiety and agitation away. She felt it, the increasing potency of her ability. It called for her. It tried to put her on a pedestal.

She denied, but played the villain, a roll, she knew how to fulfill. In her mind, Lure accepted the newly found growth in strength, yet shaped the evolution of her ability the very last moment to her liking.

“Awaken.”

“Awaken.”

And people awoke. Heroes and villains ceased to fight as well.

“Awaken.” And everyone started thinking, she felt it.

“Awaken.” And they continued.

“Awaken,” she shouted one final time. And people started contemplating the absurd, the injustices they were committing, the randomness of life, leading them to those very decisions and the pointlessness of all endeavour in front of death itself.

And they stopped, the heroes and the villains. They stopped in their maddening fight for trivial reasons: honour, duty and social gratifications, orders, popularity and personal gains meant nothing, not anymore.

Lure fell on her knees from exhaustion. After several seconds of contemplation, the heroes and villains continued. Maybe because her ability was too weak, or maybe they were irredeemable in their ways. She didn’t care anymore, she felt tired. Her newly found evolved gift was of the neutral type, meaning that it had no effect on its own, thus it was entirely dependent on the target yet in comparison gained in reach and potency. Was the evolution really a step towards an increase in her power? She didn’t know.

She pressed on a device and was teleported back into the secret base.

[short chap, but I got the UBE's emblem by Henni Otto]