Conduit v2.0

Prologue

This world is not the one that we would have recognized a few generations ago. Humanity is dead, it was wiped out by The Beast long ago when Cole McGrath became the host of that power. Cole has been dead for about a decade now. They call us Conduit v2.0’s. We are the product of two conduits, meaning we are born with our powers.

My name is Xavier Reid, but everyone just calls me X. My father was a fire conduit named Jeff, while my mother was a light conduit named Ava. Of course it didn’t take them long to hit it off, they seemed made for each other. That was until mom was killed in the War. As I said before, most of the people before us wouldn’t recognize this world. Soon after the death of humanity, conduits began to turn on the Beast. At first it was a small resistance, but the spark grew larger. My mother and father both battled against the conduits loyal to the Beast and, in the end, my mother died.

My father did not take this lightly, and he was soon found either with a gun, cigar, or beer bottle in his mouth at all times. That meant i had to raise myself, but for a conduit that wasn’t really a problem.

So, we covered my mom and my father, what about me? What about Xavier Reid? Being the son of a light conduit and a fire conduit, it makes me a balance between the two of them. I’m a laser conduit...at least that’s the official term for my type. I have some interesting tricks up my sleeves though. Not that I can tell you, because...well...you will find out eventually. After my mother’s death and my dad’s retreat into being a recluse, I joined the fight against the new Beast, Jerry Dubiago. Cole’s last act as host of the Beast’s power was to give it up to his right hand man. Jerry was far more cruel than Cole ever was, no matter how evil people think he was. Jerry is now eyeing king of the universe instead of the world. It’s my job to stop him.

My name is Xavier Reid, codename X, and like my mother and father before me, I am an assassin.

((It's short, but it's just a teaser. I'm currently working on chapter 1))

I like it, myself. That's my opinion, though.

Chapter 1

Jerry’s guards never saw me approaching. I dropped from above and used two throwing knives to take down the conduits guarding the entrance to the meeting. There would be more along the way and he would deal with them similarly. I climbed the wall of the building. Many of the higher-ups of Jerry’s army would be with him tonight. He would not go after the Beast until all of them were dead. I found a skylight on the roof and pressed my palm up against it. I felt the glass heating up as I projected a round laser from my hand. I waited about five seconds before removing my hand, having disintegrated the glass into nothing, leaving a hole big enough to fit myself through. I lowered myself through it and began to eavesdrop on the meeting. About ten men sat around a dining table, all of them talking about me.

“How did your men lose him?!” One says from under his black hood.

“How could he bring so much disruption to our cause?” Another says.

“We have tried to stop him, but many lives have been claimed by his stealing. He fights like no man. People say he moves like an angel of death, carrying fury on his wings.” Yet another says.

“Nonsense! These are just stories! Such...myths do not exist!” One more hooded man says, his voice rising. I notice Jerry sits at the head of the table, completely silent. He knows that I’m coming for him. I can sense the fear that he has as the room falls into chaos and mumbled shouts for my death. I’m flattered, yet at the same time I sense it is my move. I drop down from my perch in the shadows and approach quietly in the darkness, a throwing knife in my hand. I don’t need to get close to kill the man. I throw the knife and hit him with expert precision in the back. He doesn’t make a sound as I retreat back to the darkness.

After a few more seconds of chaos, Jerry says one word, “Silence.” The word is not said in any way loud, but it is projected across the room. All of the men fall silent and their hooded heads turn towards him. “This...man...wants to kills us? To take our treasure? Ridiculous. Let him try, for even angels will fall at our might.” He pulls out a sword, which I assume he must use for decoration only and places the sharp side on the table. All of the men follow his lead except for one. The one who has a throwing knife in his back. Jerry looks at the man, “Is there something wrong brother? Why do you not stand with us?” The man moves slowly, as if he is getting up. A look of annoyance turns to shock when Jerry sees the man fall over on top of the table, the knife in his back visible to all of the men. They all wheel around quickly, some activating their powers.

I leap around the room from chandeliers and bookshelves quietly until I reach the skylight. To add some finesse to the situation, I reach in my pocket and pull out a white feather. I drop it from the ceiling as I climb out onto the roof. The last thing I see from the meeting is Jerry’s look of shock as the feather lands right in front of him. I hear him say “I will get you, angel. I know your plans.” The way he says it sends chills up my spine. He didn’t shout, yet I heard him even all the way from a few rooftops away. I whispered back, “I’d like to see you try.” Part of me hopes he hears it while the other part hopes he didn’t. I turn around and begin my long journey back to my friends.

Hours later, I arrive back in New Marais, home of the rebellion. I won’t lie, I’m considered a freak in this place. Most conduits look like normal humans wearing normal clothes. I’m a bit different. As an assassin for the rebels I wear what most people in the rebellion have started calling “death’s uniform”. A grey and red hoody hides my identity, covering the top half of my face in shadows. Under the hoody is light weight Kevlar armor, not that I’ve ever needed it. I wear a belt stashed with every cold steel weapon available...multiple throwing knives, a swiss army knife, a bowie knife, and a machete. I was a walking set of blades. I only used my powers if I had to, using lasers is fairly exhausting.

New Marais had become different since Cole McGrath had left it. The swamps were filled with AA guns and booby traps to keep out all enemies. The streets of Accession Parish which used to house New Marais’ public were now converted into barracks for troops. Flood Town was a large fighting range, great for training the new recruits. The Gas Works still served the same purpose they always did...bringing in a steady cash flow.

I knew the booby traps of the swamplands by heart and avoided all of them with little problems. I climbed over a levi into the heart of the new New Marais. Accession Parish wasn’t a particularly cheery place, and it had never been, but it was great for what I needed right now. I stopped by a small market place set up outside the barracks, I was a usual customer. They had everything at this place, ammunition, blast shards, weapons customized for specific conduit types, but the thing I was looking for was none of those. I stopped in front of a weapons shelf looking for throwing knives. I had used three during the mission, so I bought five knives. Could never have too many.

I turned and walked away after my purchase, aware that most of the eyes were on me. That was fine, because no one would ever see me for about two months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25qapYbc7AA