Short, Light, Free

“What nonsense are you spouting?” I held the gun close to her head.

Fatty jumped in nervously, “Calm down, Jack. There’s a tracker on him now. We’ll be able to catch him.”

“Before we catch him, we gotta know what exactly he is first,” I responded, not loosening my grip on the gun.

The old woman was scared speechless. Fatty stepped close to me, grabbed my gun and pointed it at the ceiling. “Tell me slowly, Madam. You said he’s your husband?”

She kept silent.

Fatty directed the gun back into my holster.

I sighed before securing it in place.

“I’m not as patient as he is, so if I were you, I’d speak up fast,” I warned.

Fatty pulled the lady further into the house.

A wooden table and 3 old stools.

The dim light in the room barely illuminated our faces.

The old lady smiled bitterly. “I don’t have much to offer you here.”

“It’s alright. Let’s talk about your husband,” Fatty said warmly.

After a short silence, she said, “He’s my husband. When we first met, he was 39 and I was 25. I was deeply attracted to his golden eyes.”

“That child was a middle-aged man when you first met?” Fatty asked in shock.

“I figured. Reverse aging,” I added.

Reverse aging brought no harm and was very unique.

However, what I couldn’t wrap my head around was the fact that he’d managed to dodge all my bullets.

“I did not give up on us even after realizing he’s a deviant. We chose to hide. It wasn’t easy for us but we were happy. It was only until a few years back that I discovered his secret,” she explained.

“What secret?” Fatty asked eagerly.

I thought about what the headquarters had mentioned.

Class A deviant. A reverse-aging deviant will not fall under class A.

Was the secret about his second ability?

“As I grew older, he became younger. Of course, this isn’t the most important thing. I wanted to have a baby with him but I was unable to. That was when I discovered his ability.”

“What?” Fatty asked.

I smacked the table. “Go straight to the point. Are you stalling for time?”

“Those who’ve seen his eyes will not be able to reproduce,” she revealed.

“Lose the ability to bear children?” I asked.

His golden eyes resurfaced in my mind.

“With mere eye contact?” Fatty asked.

“Yes. We hid in cities, one after another. We moved every year, all the while with him becoming younger and younger. I’m 50 now and he’s like a 9-year-old,” she continued.

“How many cities have you two been in?” Fatty questioned, astonished.

“Can’t remember,” was her reply.

Fatty looked at me.

I stood up. “Other than those two characteristics, does he have any more superpowers? Like possessing the lightning speed or the ability to foretell the future?”

The old lady shook her head.

“Damn it,” I walked out of the room in frustration.

Fatty followed behind me. “Did you look into his eyes earlier, Jack?”

“Yeah, no big deal. The problem is that we don’t know what his abilities are. Quick, check your tracker.”

Fatty quickly retrieved his phone and pressed some buttons. “I think I did look into his eyes. Just a little though. Am I not going to be able to reproduce? I’m still single, how can this happen to me?” Fatty went despaired.

I stared at his phone, noticing that the red dot had stopped at a nearby street.

I gave the headquarters a call.

“Viper calling for headquarters,” I started.

“Headquarters received. Please speak, Viper.”

“Street 34. I’ll send the suspect’s location over right now. The position of class A deviant, the suspect you had me check up on, locked down,” I said.

I threw the phone back to Fatty. “Share his location with them. Don’t follow if you’re worried about not being able to reproduce.”

Fatty nodded and remained in his spot.

I took out my gun and jogged toward street 34.

I loaded my bullets, devising a plan on how I could arrest him.

I gave the headquarters another call.

“Viper calling for headquarters.”

“Headquarters received. Please speak.”

“Have you seen the suspect’s location?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“He’s experiencing reverse aging and those who’ve seen his eyes will not be able to reproduce. I suspect that he can predict about a few or ten seconds into the future. I hope you can dispatch more officers and promote this case to class A+,” I explained.

“Request received. There are four teams of commissioners close by. Already sent the class A+ information over. I’ll send their contacts to your mobile.”

“Not necessary. I’m not using a smartphone. Tell them that the child might be able to foresee the shooting so they shouldn’t harbor any malicious intent and just surround him instead,” I advised.

…

“What kind of deviant do you deem the most dangerous, Franklin?”

“Most dangerous? Every single one of them is equally dangerous, but those with premonition are the hardest to deal with,” he answered with a smile.

“Premonition?” I repeated his words foolishly.

“Listen to me. If you meet deviants like that, you must convince yourself that you’re not trying to cause harm since they can usually predict a few seconds into the future. They can see that you’re planning to hurt them so they know how to avoid your attacks. Free your mind and they will be helpless,” Franklin told me.

“Can’t kill them with evil intentions?” I asked.

“Impossible unless there’s a sure-fire attacking method, like dropping an atomic bomb or sniping from thousands of meters away,” Franklin added with a smile.

I nodded.

“Of course, there aren’t many deviants with this ability. I’ve only met one so far. He could look 5 seconds into the future. I chose to let him hold me captive. As he ran away while holding me against him, I hid my gun in a position that he couldn’t see and shot it through my stomach. The bullet came out from me and entered his body, effectively killing him.” Franklin lifted his shirt up to reveal the vivid scar.

…

The red dot did not move.

He was only a street corner away from me.

I turned around quickly and saw that kid.

He was sitting on a wooden bench, gasping for breath.

He must be tired.

It made sense since he was an old man trapped in a child’s body.

That run must’ve tired him out.

I raised my gun and the document in my hand. “Police case! Everyone, step back.”

I aimed the gun at the child but did not put my finger on the trigger board.

He would know if I harbored that intention to shoot.

Indeed, he did not escape. Instead, all passersby fled the scene.

I approached the child slowly. “You can predict the future, can’t you?”

He only looked at me.

A few colleagues appeared at the street corner.

I was a few more steps from him but I kept my finger off the trigger.

“How many seconds in advance?” I asked.

He remained silent.

My colleagues have already blocked off the street corner by now.

“Surround him,” I ordered.

“This must be him, eh?” a colleague from far away asked.

I wrinkled my brows. “Don’t look into his eyes or you won’t be able to reproduce.”

A few of my colleagues quickly diverted their gaze away from his face.

I held the gun against the child’s head. “Do you think you can avoid this bullet now that I’m so close?”

“No idea,” his said softly.

It was very hoarse, however, like that of an old man.

I slowly moved my finger to the trigger but he did not move.

Has he given up?

I placed my finger firmly on the trigger before pressing it down.

Everyone was stunned by the next scene.

With a part of the gun barrel, the child had managed to deflect the bullet to the side.

It didn’t seem like he had the ability to foresee the future.

Such split-second reaction wasn’t typical of those with the ability to foretell.

What was it then?

The child started fleeing fast.

My colleagues were about to block him but he easily slipped through the gap. He had already run off before anyone could do more.

They got their guns out and took aim.

“Can we shoot?”

“He’s already fired a shot earlier.”

“Let’s do it then.”

They started shooting, but the child, again, easily dodged the bullets.

No, no. It was almost as if the bullets were dodging him.

I was at a loss.

What’s going on…

Our fatal bullets just won’t hit the child, unlike Fatty’s harmless tracker bullet.

I took out my pistol, inserted a tracking bullet before aiming it at the child.

I fired a shot and the bullet went straight to his head.

The boy only shook a little before fleeing further away.

I pulled a colleague aside and had him take out his phone.

Two red dots.

I was at a loss.

Misses only occurred with fatal bullets. He could only dodge a fatal bullet.

What was he?

3 months later.

We’ve been following the red dots for three months now.

We’ve tried all methods but he’s still alive.

We’ve been unable to catch him at all.

I looked at the health report in my hands.

My reproductive organs have been deteriorating severely.

And everyone else in this city was facing the same symptoms.

I found out later that people in cities the boy had been in were unable to reproduce as well.

Precisely the reason why this case was classified as class A.

The child was eight years old now and there were three uncontaminated cities left.

He moved every year with the goal of spreading the condition across mankind.

Those who saw him became infertile and blind people had long been classified as class C deviants and been chemically castrated.

The government even dropped an atomic bomb in the second last city but the red dots did not disappear.

He was unstoppable.

Epilogue.

My name is Philips.

It’s a name I gave myself.

I have no parents because I’ve never been born.

When I started to understand this concept, I discovered that I was an old man, clueless about the world.

A nursing home had offered me shelter.

Everyone told me that I have beautiful eyes.

Golden in color.

All my knowledge came from the nurses in the home.

Later on, they resigned, saying that stress had caused them to become infertile.

I knew a lot of things, like how people needed an identification card.

I had none. I did not know my age but everyone commented that I was becoming increasingly youthful looking.

After ten years of consciousness, my white hair started turning black.

They discovered my secret. They said I was undergoing reverse aging.

Being called a deviant, I was expelled from the nursing home.

I roamed the streets without the ability to take care of myself.

I became wiser as I grew younger.

I started learning how to conceal my secret. I was able to work for others to earn a living.

But I realized that whoever I passed would become infertile.

Friends around me faced the same issue.

As I grew even younger, I started to recover more intelligence.

I understood what was going on.

I’m a deviant.

I started wondering if these were my abilities.

As I regained my youthful and handsome appearance, people started to like me.

It was only until I got shot by the police that I realized I was left unhurt.

I started to understand my ability.

First, I’m able to render Man infertile.

Second, it’s not that I can age backward because I was never born.

I’m non-existent.

Since I’ve never been born, I could never die.

I fled, city to city, spreading infertility.

Because I can’t die, I’m basically putting this world to an end.

Once I realized this fact, I found myself spiraling out of control.

Instinctively, I ran. I looked everyone in the eye.

I couldn’t control myself.

It’s my destiny.