Chapter 13: The Echoes of Empathy: A New Power and a Moral Crisis
System Message: Blood Meter at 800/800. Completion imminent. Psychological impact of Empathic Resonance increasing. Recommend processing emotional data to enhance combat effectiveness. Weakness is an illusion.
"Weakness is an illusion? You're really going for the 'I'm a soulless AI who lives to watch humans suffer' vibe, aren't you, System? Because it's working. And my inner therapist is screaming."
The final kill to fill the Blood Meter was a true low point. A petty thief with Enhanced Hearing (Lvl 1), barely a supe, caught trying to steal food from a street vendor. My Empathic Resonance (Lvl 1) screamed his desperation, his hunger, his pathetic hope for a better life. It was a mirror of my own despair, and it nearly broke me.
But the System was relentless. The Meter must be filled. The power must be acquired. Sacrifice is inevitable. Progress is paramount.
I cornered him in a quiet alley. He heard me coming, the rasp of my breath, the subtle shift of the air around me. His enhanced senses, meant for survival, became his undoing. He cowered, whimpering, begging.
"Please… I just needed food… I didn't hurt anyone…"
His fear, his abject terror, flooded my mind. It was a wave, a tsunami of raw emotion. My own guilt, my self-loathing, crashed against it, amplified by the Empathic Resonance. I felt his every tremor, every racing beat of his heart. It was unbearable.
"I'm… I'm sorry," I choked out, the words tasting like ash. My hand, trembling, reached for him. I didn't use acid. I didn't use a quick, clean strike. I gripped him, slowly, deliberately, and activated my Caustic Secretion (Lvl 1) directly over his chest, over his heart. He screamed. I felt every shred of his pain, his dying agony, as if it were my own. My eyes burned with unshed tears, my body convulsed with silent sobs.
And then, silence. Only the echoes of his fear remained, reverberating within me.
[System Message: Kill Confirmed. Target: Enhanced Listener. Blood Meter Complete!]
NEW POWER ACQUIRED:
Empathic Resonance (Lvl 2)
EXISTING POWER UPGRADED:
Kinetic Redirection (Lvl 2)
Sound Manipulation (Lvl 2)
BLOOD METER RESET: 0/1600
"Empathic Resonance Lvl 2?! You're actively trying to make me suffer, aren't you, System?!" My mental scream was raw, guttural. The feeling of the enhanced listener's death, of Arthur Finch's desperation, of the hydrokinetic's terror – it was all there, amplified, a symphony of suffering in my mind.
My body convulsed. I stumbled out of the alley, gasping for breath, clutching my head. My powers felt stronger, but the psychological toll was immense. Kinetic Redirection (Lvl 2) now felt more precise, more powerful, able to push and pull with greater force. Sound Manipulation (Lvl 2) offered a wider range of frequencies, a greater subtlety. But the Empathic Resonance (Lvl 2) was a nightmare. I could feel the low hum of life in the city, the individual anxieties, the fleeting joys, the deep-seated sorrows. It was overwhelming, a constant assault on my senses.
I returned to the safe house, my face pale, my eyes red-rimmed. The Boys looked at me, their fear palpable. MM's disappointment felt like a physical blow.
"Hughie… are you alright?" Frenchie asked softly, his voice laced with concern. He felt the change, the raw edge of my new torment.
I couldn't speak. I just shook my head, my jaw clenched. I needed to escape. To be alone. The weight of their emotions, combined with the echoes of my victims, was crushing me.
Butcher, ever the pragmatist, saw the new strength in my aura. He didn't see the internal torment. He only saw the weapon.
"Alright, mate," he said, his voice unusually quiet, almost contemplative. "You're getting stronger. Good. Because we got a big one. A real big one. We're going after Stormfront."
My blood ran cold. Stormfront. The ultimate power-up. And the ultimate moral compromise.
"Stormfront?" I finally managed to croak, my voice hoarse. My Empathic Resonance flared, picking up the team's combined anxiety, their fear of her.
"Yeah," Butcher confirmed, a grim smile on his face. "Mallory's got a lead. A Vought facility where she's reportedly laying low, consolidating her power base. It's heavily fortified. Too much for us. But with you… you're going to be our ticket in."
He looked at me, a dangerous glint in his eye. "This isn't about killing some two-bit crook, Hughie. This is about taking down a monster. And you're going to be the one to do it. All of you. Me. Frenchie. MM. Kimiko. And especially you, Hughie."
The pressure was immense. My Empathic Resonance (Lvl 2) made me feel the enormous weight of their expectations, their hopes, their desperate need for her to fall. It was a cruel irony. I was being asked to be a hero, but the path to becoming one was turning me into something far worse than the villains I was supposed to fight.
The internal conflict was a raging storm. The System was pushing me towards the ultimate prize: Stormfront. My enhanced powers hummed beneath my skin, ready to be unleashed. But the echoes of the dead, amplified by my new empathic abilities, screamed in protest. Could I do it? Could I kill a monster without becoming one myself? The terrifying answer was already clear: I already was.