• Tears rolled down the cheeks of her pale, shocked face. Her mouth slightly opened, the smallest gasp escaped her lungs before her usual control had chance to take over. The scenes were too horrific. Ae-Cha sat at a cold metal desk in a small room. Two men stood in the room with her. One was her usual keeper, a mover controlled by the government and the man in charge of her particular "unit". She paid no attention to them. Her wide and frightened eyes were locked with the woman on the other side of the one way glass. The woman sat at an identical table. She was tall, slender, a classic beauty. Yet her mind could not be further from her appearance. She was here charged with the murders of several men. She knew where she was, but not what that meant. She thought she was in any old police center. Her mind reeked with confidence. She thought she was getting away with it.

    The man in charge stepped closer to Ae and placed his hand on her shoulder in a firm grip. Ae's face tore from the confident gaze of the beautiful woman, her stare moving to the floor, towards where the man stood, now beside her. "From your face, I needn't ask her guilt?" He smirked to himself. Another job well done. Ae made the smallest of movements to confirm his guess. The torturous images still played over in Ae's head as she stared at the floor. The screams of pain, the sickening amount of blood, the look of pleasure in the woman's contorted face... That is what sickened her most. She knew she would be having nightmares for weeks. She preferred the spies. At least they weren't so graphic.

    The firm hand left her shoulder as the man walked closer to the window and grinned ruthlessly at the woman. Ae would feel good for the parts she played in 'bringing criminals to justice' but she knew what was going to come. The woman was a Kinetic. A flamer to be exact. She would most likely accept the invitation to join 'the ranks'. Of course most did, the other option was far less appealing.

    The shattered girl didn't have long to ponder this as her 'guardian' stepped forward and placed a firm, but more careful hand on her other shoulder. She stood, her legs shaky, unsure of the weight. What little weight the girl possessed. With out actually leading, he lead her from the room. Leaving the other man to grin and smirk at his own greatness and the potential of the lethal blonde behind the glass. Ae was finished for the day. Most minders would be useless after such a 'reading' but Ae had been trained well. Her mind had grown used to the trauma. At least that is what she told herself. Her mind did not drift to her 'guardian' or the few people she passed on the way to her 'room'. She longed to be alone. To let the images take her. To get the pain and fear out of the way. So she could carry on.

    It felt like hours since she had stared into the mind of the monstrous blonde flamer, but the images still burned vivid as tears still rain slowly down her cheeks creating damp circles on her pillow. There was a soft click from the direction of the thick door in the corner of the basically furnished, but reasonably sized 'room'. Ae-Cha's eyes rolled slowly to the direction of the door as she sought the mind behind it. She sat slowly, not bothering to wipe the tears from her sore cheeks.

    The man who entered was the tall dark figure of her familiar 'guardian'. She did not resent him. She knew his mind and could see that he was as much a prisoner as her. Her never treated her with particular kindness, but he was never cruel either. They had a deep respect for each other. They knew each other's weaknesses. It was a strong bond in the ruthless world of the Kinetics. His name was Carl. Well.. that's the name the government used. Ae knew his real name, but kept that to herself. She only answered questions if they were first asked.

    C    arl nodded once as he entered the room. Ae's tear streaked face was a common sight. He did not flinch, physically or mentally. Ae stood and walked past him. She knew from his mind that she was wanted again. Leaving the room without complaint she paused as Carl turned and looked the room behind her and then carried on down the all too familiar corridor, Carl at her heels.

    Ae stopped at a large dark wooden door, a shiny name tag indicated that the office was the property of a high ranked member of the 'special' government sector. She heard the mind within change and entered without knocking or being given a verbal request. The man from before sat behind a large heavy wooden desk in a very spacious and luxuriously decorated office. He smiled at the girl and indicated the seat in front of the desk. Ae already knew where she would sit. She had been here many times before. But from the glimpses of his mind that she dared seek, she saw something new. Something worrying.

    "That's right Ae-Cha. Time to face the world once more." The man's big fat lips thinned out in satisfaction. "We want you out on patrol tonight. We've decided your... gifts are too precious to be confined to this place. Time to go fishing."

    Ae-Cha had panicked at the thought of leaving her prison. While she yearned for a sense of freedom, she knew here she was reasonably safe. After reading the minds of countless captured kinetics, she had developed a fear for the outside world. There would be no glass between her and them out there. Of course she had no say in this. She just nodded once to the man at the desk, her eyes blank and emotionless as possible. He responded with a stretched smile and a flick of his left hand.

    After leaving the office Ae-Cha was mentally steered on a new course through the maze of corridors. Carl used his 'gift' to push open the double doors at the end of a corridor and they stepped through the gap into an unbelievably large space. Ae wondered at high ceiling, questioning the likelihood that they still remained the facility. She was not used to such large spaces. But instead of feeling fear to the new experience, she embraced it. She longed to run the length of the huge space, longing to find spaces that could out do this place. Ae of course kept her expression as calm as possible, realizing that her mouth had dropped open slightly. Pulling herself back into a clam state she carried on across the room as Carl's mind dictated and stopped in front of a large black car. It shined brightly and radiated wealth and secrecy. It's windows were black, obviously to hide and protect the people within. Carl leaned past her, opened the door and let her slip inside before softly pushing the door closed behind her.

    Before long they had left the 'garage', as Carl's mind had put it with a slight humorous undertone, and were in the reasonably bright streets of the city she had not seen for 13 years. Ae peered out of her blackened window at the everyday lives that played behind the glass. Carl sat beside her in the back of the massive vehicle. Two men sat in the front, one the driver, the other his back up. Carl didn't have to speak for Ae to know what was going to happen and what she must do. They were headed towards the heart of the city where the festival will soon be taking place. It would seem that the festival was being used as a trap to draw in Kinetics. The government knew that among the swarms that would turn up for the event, a good amount would be Kinetic. According to Carl's well ordered mind, Ae was not the only Kinetic the government was sending in. They had another minder on back up, as well as several other kinetics of varying abilities. Some were 'guardians' like Carl, while others were in similar situations as Ae.

    All Ae could hope for was that the minds would not be of major criminals. She had had her days fill of disturbing mental pictures. Although she presumed that most major kinetics would not be stupid enough to fall for such a trap. Instead of worrying about the images and potential horrors she was about to face, her mind wandered to the excited minds of those she passed. 'huh... Festival... it sounds like...fun... 'she thought to herself, after reading the thrilled thoughts of adult and child alike.