Hello RRL,

It’s my first fanfic but don’t hesitate to point out faults as English isn’t my first language.

I’m all open to advices and constructive criticism as I hope to improve myself as a writer.

I hope you enjoy my story.

**********

Two young boys were sleeping in the corner of an empty room, small toys in their hands. Nearby, a young woman stood arms crossed by the open door looking at the children, annoyance showing on her face. Her appealing yet severe figure as well as her black hair clearly showed her Asian heritage. She wore casual clothes, a simple blue skirt and a white shirt.

"There they are," she declared. "Those two make me think of Matt and you, always trying to escape chores and scheming by yourselves," she added before throwing a glance at a man behind her.

"We never really dodged chores, Akiko. People simply often forgot to tell us what we had to do," the man answered while scratching the back of his head. A roguish smirk could be seen on his tanned face.

"Right... I’m like your older sister, you never fooled me. You never will."

She walked toward the youths and then knelt beside them. After checking their condition, the woman took one the children in her arms. Then she stood, intending to leave the room.

After turning around, she stared blankly at the man in front of her. Peter was of average stature and wore short brown hair. His clothes were fine trousers and a black velvet jacket. While he couldn't be called handsome, he definitely had a certain charm to him. Akiko always wondered how the lazy boy she remembered could have gotten so far in life. One day, he simply declared he wanted to become a doctor and dedicated himself to studying. It was similar to the time they started learning martial arts with his friend Matt. To everyone’s shock, he succeeded.

No one really knew how he got the money and no one really dared to ask him. During their teenage years, the two comrades often spent full nights on the streets. The following morning they would come back with multiple wounds and stupid grins.

Although he was now very well off, Peter never forgot about the orphanage they both grew up in. They stayed good friends, and he often came to their old living place, donating significant sums. Still, she found that dumb smile of his as irritating as ever.

The woman shrugged, leaving those though aside.

"Take the other one, please." Despite all his money, she would still make use of him of course.

"Hey, that's your job you know. I'm not going to..." the man started replying before being stopped by a murderous glance.

"Okay," he reluctantly agreed.

Both carrying a child, they reached the common room. The few kids still up at such a late time were standing in a small group and looked at them.

As the two of them were walking on the tiled floor, whispers and laughter could be heard. Peter raised an eyebrow. He could guess what they were thinking. Honestly, he himself did not know the truth of the matter.

After going up the stairs to the next floor, Akiko asked mockingly, "Why couldn't you just stay with the others? You caused too much trouble to the others. Tell me so I can fix those two."

"Useless gossip and stuff. And you were just too noisy for my taste back then... You still are."

"Asshole," Akiko rolled her eyes. "Shut up and walk faster."

"You're starting to sound like old Susanne you know," Peter added with a shrug.

A look of astonishment appeared on the woman face and she suddenly stopped. Susanne was one of the women taking care of them during their childhood.

"Do I?" she asked with a worried look.

Peter just grinned and went past his friend. He enjoyed teasing her.

After a long sigh with a tint of annoyance, she followed the man in the kids' chamber.

The room's walls were white and decorated with colorful drawings. Multiple toys were scattered on the floor in a joyful mess. After putting the children in their respective beds, the two adults left the room and headed to the kitchen.

They were silently enjoying a cup of coffee when a phone rang. Peter took the terminal out of his pocket and answered the call. As the discussion went on, his look went grimmer.

"Okay. I'll be right over," he sighted.

"Work?" The woman asked after taking a sip of her drink.

"You remember Rodrigo Jimenez?" Peter stood up and put his jacket back on.

Akiko nodded. She recalled fondly the slightly overweight boy whose bedroom was just under hers. He often made cookies for everyone and stopped fights between other children.

"His daughter was caught up on the ether cloud accident near Port Four a few years ago. The kid has been in my charge for a few weeks. Her condition suddenly worsened so I got to go."

She brought her hands to her mouth in shock.

Genuinely saddened, Akiko tightened her lips.

"Terminal phase?"

"Most likely," the man put drank his remaining coffee in one long mouthful before putting the cup in the sink.

"Then it's one more. I don't know how you can keep doing this..." she shook her head. "One more is passing away in your care without you being able to do anything."

"Take care."

With a look of determination and no further explanation, he quickly left the orphanage.

**********

Peter drove his car at a fast pace through the dark streets of the city of Selen. Steel lamp posts hanged from the huge grey walls of the buildings and lighted his way. The builders of this city were obviously pragmatists and the gloomy vibe of the town was reinforced by the late hour. Due to the cold, only a few people were outside at this time and behind the transparent dome of the city the man could see the peak of the Selenean Summit, the highest point on the moon. The huge form of the ether refinery was sitting on top of it.

In 2107AC, ten million souls were living in Selen and half of them were working in the ether business. It began when some researcher found out about the existence of ether fifty years ago. It was an energy that dwelled in all things but invisible to the naked eye. The purest flows could be found on the highest points on a planet. After years of experimentation they found the means to technologically harness its power to create different kind of energy. Many devices were invented to render the process more accurate.

Thus Earth’s energy production became clean to some extent. After use, ether will corrupt itself and follow the natural streams going around a planet. If it came in contact with a living being, it would affect it. Even with the careful rules and security measures, accidents would often happen. Then humankind decided to try producing this new energy somewhere else: the moon. The business was so lucrative that many overlooked the risks and came in Selen.

A few minutes later, Peter reached the private hospital. Two ambulances went past him as he signed on the security post. After parking his car in the subterranean lot nearby other luxurious vehicles, he took the elevator leading to his office.

Elegant wooden furniture filled his workplace and the atmosphere felt warm. The man had paid a ridiculous amount of money to get those. He simply liked the genuine feeling of it.

He then sat in front of his computer and checked the latest data on his patient, Feliz Jimenez.

'Acute pain in the whole body.

Difficulty to breath.

Weakened motor functions.

Skin color turning to a dusky blue.

The ether diagram shows extreme activity

Tainted ether ratio over eighty percent.'

Of those symptoms, the pain was the worst. A big part of his job as a doctor etherologist was making it bearable so the patient could still live an ordinary life. That is until the third phase, when the other symptoms start kicking in. Some people could live fifteen to twenty years before reaching that point. Money was an important factor though as the medicine was expensive. To get the maximum effect, the drug, Essence, had to be custom made since the affliction followed different ether patterns for every individual. Most people could only afford one of the twelve standardized versions made for every archetype known of the sickness.

'It's all as expected. Well, it's not like we could have been wrong. There is no other ending after those symptoms,' Peter thought while stretching his arms.

He went to take a quick shower in his private bathroom.

‘I planned this carefully I can’t be too rash,' he thought under the hot water.

After drying himself, he put on clean clothes and a white coat before heading to the chamber of his patient.

Behind the reception desk, a female nurse was typing on a keyboard. When she heard his footsteps, she raised her head.

"Good evening Anaya. How are you holding?" Peter asked after looking at her forced smile.

"Good evening Doctor. I’ll be fine. You get used to it like you said," the young Indian nurse answered.

'That's actually the scary thing,' the doctor said to himself.

"Anyone else knows about it?”

"Only I, the four other nurses on duty tonight, the family and you," the woman replied as she tilted her head.

"Good. Is the family here?"

"Yes, they arrived a few moments ago," she nodded.

"I'll go check up on them then."

Inside the white room, two people sat by the nearby bed. The only touch of color in this asepticized atmosphere was a flower bouquet on top of a small table. The huge frame of the man overshadowed the woman’s who was holding the hand of their daughter. Both of them turned their head at Peter’s arrival. The father put his hand on his knees to help himself stand up and came at the doctor

“Rodrigo, I’m…” Peter started with a pained expression.

"Thank you Peter. Without you, she would have never been able to live that long and like a normal girl," the big man said while shaking his hand, a weak smile on his lips.

Peter had used his connections to allow Feliz into his sector. He was actually quite renowned as both a doctor and a researcher. His diagnostics were extremely accurate and his patients’ lifespan after being afflicted was one of the highest on both the Earth and the Moon. They looked at each other for a while. Afterward, the etherologist went toward the bed and met the blue eyes of Mary, Rodrigo’s wife. Though her messy blond hair were somewhat covering her face, he could definitely see she had been crying.

“I’m sorry, Peter. It thought I had prepared myself but I guess I still not ready for this,” the woman said weakly after standing up.

“Sorry I can’t do more,” the man put his hand softly on her shoulder.

“You did plenty. We already can’t thank you enough,” the genuine smile of the woman almost broke his countenance.

In the bed, the girl was looking at him with her blue eyes. Her skin had taken a bluish tint and she had lost weight those past few days. She was eighteen. The girl had spent ten years of her life under constant medication.

“How long Doctor?” Feliz asked under her breathing device.

“Six hours at most.”

There was no use lying about that. Peter knew the strong willed girl so he answered honestly. When Mary gasped, her husband hugged her and she did her best to keep herself together in honor of her daughter’s courage.

“It will be as painless as possible; I will make sure of it,” Peter reassured her.

“Okay, thanks,” the girl simply nodded and stared at the flowers. The man felt his heart twitch.

“I’ll leave you for now. You probably need some time alone.”

Peter left the room and did not look back.

In his office Peter was seated, head in his hands

‘I planned it all. It’s too risky now,’ he thought with conflicting emotions.

For several minutes, only the ticks of the old styled clock hanging on the wall could be heard. Suddenly, he struck the desk with his fist.

'No more shit. I've had enough. All those years, I've played the nice little dog. I won't let another one die like this. This is a friend we’re talking about. Screw it. It should work out.'

Since Peter had a high status in the firm, most would just let him do as he wished. So he spent years, studying multiple ether pattern combinations and experimenting by himself. A few weeks ago he succeeded, a mouse he was experimenting on fully recovered and then many more.

At that time, he was 38 years old and he was thrilled. But he knew his employers and their backers. He killed the mice and hid his work. They would never allow him to publish his work as producing the drug simply generated too much money. Despite all the praises, Peter knew he was under surveillance. So he had contacted some of his relations to find a way to escape the cartels sponsoring the firm.

He took out his phone and contacted his allies.

“I’m thinking of doing it tonight.”

“On such a short notice? What happened?”

“It has to be now.”

“Okay, we’ll follow the plan. We should be in position three hours from now on. Be careful.”

Afterward, Peter spent the two following hours carefully planning and arranging his data. Since the man knew the copying of such heavy data would trigger an alarm in the security system, he had to be as fast as possible. When he deemed everything was ready, he went back to Feliz’s room.

The family was talking quietly. Despite the fact that the girl was shivering, she was smiling and giggling. She had two hours left at most according to the readings on the diagram.

“Do you trust me?” Peter asked his friend.

“Of course. I…” The big man started answering.

“Then follow me. We’ll save your daughter.”

Rodrigo’s eyes clearly showed his surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“Follow me we have little time left.”

Then Peter began pushing the wheeled bed, the confused family on his trail. They made their way to the synthetizing area, where Essence was made. While Rodrigo and Mary were waiting near the control desk, he cleared the protocol and put Feliz on the scanning table. Next, he returned beside the parents.

“Once I start the procedure, everything will have to be fast. We’ll move as quickly as possible toward the parking lot. Friends will be waiting for us but it will be dangerous. Do you understand? ” Peter asked the couple, somber.

“Can you really heal her?” Rodrigo took a big breath.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll do whatever you say.”

You had to create the right patterns with the exact frequency and make them enter resonance with an exact energy output. For Essence, you had to make three different kinds. The initial sequences had to be input manually and then the program would take control. Since Peter discovered the arrays, he knew them by heart but it still took him thirty minutes to enter everything and launch the process.

While the scanning disk was moving the girl, he copied all this research data into two small storing keys. During that time, only the humming of the machine could be heard and the parents watching the scene with a worried look.

Eventually, a small vial of translucent liquid popped out of a hatch. The base solution was actually simple water but it was different when it was overcharged with ether.

“You have to drink,” the girl nodded and Peter brought the bottle to her lips.

After drinking it all, the girl began to scream and her mother rushed in to hold her in her arms. The formula had no pain inhibiting factor.

Meanwhile, Peter silently watched the screen, hopeful.

“What is happening? Answer!” Rodrigo had grabbed his friend sleeve.

After a whole minute, the girl finally fainted and the taint percentage on the screen had decreased by 2 percent in a short amount of time.

“It worked. Carry her, we are going now.”

“Is she really…?”

At this moment, fast steps could be heard in the hall. Peter began scanning around, is heart was pounding at a furious rate. There was only one exit, he knew it and fear was making its way to his mind. However he could not let himself panic.

’I wasn’t fast enough. Fuck.’

Before long, three men entered the synthetizing room. One was apparently medical staff while the other two wore the blue security guard outfit. The two sentry faces seemed to have ben sculpted of rock and their body looked well trained. While they were evaluating the situation, Rodrigo came out from behind scanning device carrying his daughter in his arms. They blocked his way.

“You thought we didn’t know about your little games? We didn’t know exactly what you were up too but there is too much at stake and you know it. Why don’t you just stop this folly? We’ll just go to a cabaret, drink and get a girl or two like we always do. All will be forgotten,” the smaller man declared almost pleading.

"There is more to life than just money and pleasure, Chen. Just let me pass before I punch you, I know you’re not that bad," Peter shrugged.

“We can’t allow you to leave. You know that it isn’t just about me. You’re too arrogant and confident,” the Chinese man shook his head before pointing his hand at him.

Afterwards, the two goons took out electrified truncheon and carefully advanced toward him.

‘Good, both are right handed,’ Peter thought, trying to steady his breathing.

Before they had time to get in range, Peter took out a pencil off his front pocket and rushed the rightmost one. He sidestepped to the right, blocked the incoming strike with his left, grabbing the wrist, while gouging his opponent’s eye with his improvised weapon. His street fighting days were long past, but there are some things you never forget, especially after having practiced the same moves thousands of times. His old Japanese martial arts master was a traditionalist and made sure Peter would remember his teaching all his life. The guard instantly went limp and Peter took the dead man’s weapon in his hand.

You do not survive in the night district of Selen without learning a thing or two. Firstly, you should always take the initiative if you could.

Then before it could fall, he kicked the corpse toward his comrade who took a step back, astonished. The guard’s eyes hardened and he took a fighting stance. Without waiting a second, Peter grabbed a pile of papers and threw it toward his opponent face. The guard shielded his eyes with his left hand and swung blindly to defend himself since his vision was impaired. Peter struck the hand wielding the baton with his own weapon. The discharge stunned him and the doctor put all his power in a kick to his opponent’s groin whose body then arched. Finally he thrust his electrified rod into his adversary’s shoulder. The man passed out. Secondly, using your surroundings is key when fighting multiple opponents and screw fairness.

‘I’ll never complain anymore about paperwork. For some time at least,’ the doctor was panting heavily, feeling dizzy. He knew it couldn’t be avoided, they would have not let him live anyway.

Seeing that unexpected scene, Chen ran away. Despite his retreat, Peter knew the Chinese man would come back. He was lucky they didn’t immediately draw they guns. Next time around, they would not make the same mistake.

Nonetheless, Peter could not stop now so he knelt beside the unconscious guard and took his gun. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to use it. Afterward, he looked at the Jimenez who stared at him incredulously.

“We have to get going now!” He shouted.

“Peter this is crazy…” Rodrigo was staring blankly at the small puddle of blood beneath the dead man’s head. Next to him, his wife was on the verge of tears

“It is. But it’s needed right now,” Peter stated before getting up. The two data keys in his pocket felt heavy. After some thought, he took one out and willing to give it to his friend.

“It’s better if you have this. I got another; we never know what can happen.”

The big man looked uncertain.

“We’re already in that shitty situation so let’s get going.”

“You drew us in this mess!” Rodrigo shouted angrily.

“So you would have left you daughter die?” Peter asked, expressionless.

At that time, Mary came in between looked at his husband. She then took the key and smiled wryly.

“He’s right. If we can really save her life, I’ll do whatever is needed.”

“Thanks, let’s go now.”

The three of them looked at each other before making haste toward the room’s exit, Rodrigo carrying his daughter. The few people they met looked at them curiously but no one stopped them since Peter was well known.

While they were climbing down the main stairs, they heard heavy gunfire coming from the lower floors. The whole hospital was in anguish and people mostly ignored them. Meanwhile, the doctor was leading them down and his phone rang.

“Hey Mat.”

“Where are you?!”

“I’m almost there.”

“Things are heating up down there. Be careful and hurry up!” Peter heard gunfire before the call ended.

As they reached the last set of stairs, the stairway door suddenly opened and three men burst out. As soon as they identified them, they started shooting. The doctor took cover behind the concrete handrail, but not before getting shot in the thigh. Gritting his teeth, he returned fire. One of the men collapsed and as a result, the remaining guards took cover behind the door. Luckily when the fight started, the Jimenez were already crouched at the bottom of the stairs, unhurt.

“Go down. This way should be safe. I’ll hold them back.”

“But you…” Mary said while looking at his bleeding thigh.

“GO!” He shouted.

Most people moved away from the doorway, only a few curious people were still present in spite of the warning of the guards. Due to his limited amount of ammunition, he would not be able to hold for very long and his suppressing fire would soon die out. But the time he had won was already plenty. Soon, he stopped firing.

“Surrender! You’re outmatched!” one of the guard yelled, causing Peter to laugh loudly before shooting one last time causing the men to fall back.

Taking advantage of their hesitation, Peter silently went down the stairs. A few seconds later, the guards decided to go down the stairs and gradually caught up with him due to his injury. Once they saw him, they began lowering their guns but before they could take aim multiple blasts resonated in the stairway. The two men collapsed, bullet holes in their back.

Afterward, Peter could hear footsteps and a woman wearing a nurse outfit revealed herself on top of the stairs, pistol in hand. After having recognized him, she went down and met with him.

“You are…”

“I’m with Mat and you’re too early. We weren’t ready yet and you caused a real mess,” Anaya cut him short.

“I know, sorry.”

“You are wounded.” The woman looked at Peter’s thigh.

Peter was bleeding heavily and his sight was getting blurry.

“Tis but a scratch.”

The woman was stronger than she looked and she ripped off one of the doctor’s sleeves to bandage his wound. Meanwhile, Peter was looking at her.

‘So she’s part of the dissident group… Mat had it all planned and I made such a mess. My stupidity almost made the operation fail.’

He then thought of the brave girl facing death with dignity and trying her best not to look sad in front of her parents.

‘A sacrifice for the greater good, ha-ha…’

“Now, cut the stupid act. Let’s go down,” the woman said.

Then Anaya helped him walk and after a minute they reached the parking lot. It was a warzone, two groups were facing off: their allies near the security post and the guards near the elevator. Behind a car, he saw his friend Mat and the Jimenez family.

“We have to go fast before the cartels block the roads. We have to hurry,” Anaya stated.

Behind them, reinforcements were coming down the stairs so they began making their way toward their group before being caught in a pincer attack. Crouching, they hide themselves behind cars. However Peter was too slow and luck was not on their side. When they were halfway, a bullet caught him in the shoulder and he fell. The reinforcement coming from the stairs were already in position. The Indian woman tried getting him up to no avail.

“Go! I won’t make it anyway,” he shouted while putting his data key on her hand.

“Stop the heroic bullshit!”

“You know I’m right. Tell Mat I’m Sorry.”

“You are such a…”

Despite her reticence, Anaya knew Peter would not make it. His injuries were too severe. The woman shook her head but still went as she was told. Soon she was out of his sight and he heard multiple cars going off.

Nonetheless, the man grinned. The cure was safe so all in all, they succeeded. You could even say it went as expected. They knew the guard would be heavy since many influential people from both the underworld and the popular scene were hospitalized there. Though you could not say Peter was happy with that outcome but he was somewhat satisfied. He smirked, making fun of himself.

‘A sacrifice for the greater good…’

At some point, the gunfire ceased and he knew it would be over soon. Finally he coughed and then looked at the ceiling. His only regret was never having seen the sky. Ever since he heard Mat talking about it, he would have liked going down to the planet but it was simply impossible. Despite all his money, he could not go Earth or more like he was not allowed to.

Lost in thought, the doctor did not notice the men looking at him. Only when they fell without any sign of struggle did he see them.

‘What’s this?’ Peter mustered the last of his strength and looked around.

A slender black cat stood on top of a nearby car. The animal stared at him with his emerald green eyes. Then it jumped off and walked toward the doctor.

The feline got on top of Peter's chest and put its paw on his forehead. He could barely feel the cold pad on his skin.

Suddenly, he felt an electric like discharge and heard a feminine voice in his mind.

"Hello there! Good work saving that little girl! And most likely thousands other people."

'What the...'

He tried getting up but he was obviously too weakened. The man was astonished and he gritted his teeth. The cat was actually smiling at him.

'I must be going crazy. A cat is talking to me.'

"Now… how about saving a world?" the voice rang, amused.

The cat purred loudly.

And everything went black.

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