The smell of fresh rain and motor oil permeated through the dimly lit streets of Bangkok’s shadiest commercial district. Senior Detective Talay Wittikorn leaned against a metallic pillar that once represented the crest of the previous government. 

A dilapidated public announcement display hung on a battered street lamp. The screen was cracked, but the voice of a newscaster could still be heard faintly through the empty streets.

“Since the uprising of Super Soldiers and hybrid humans, the political conditions of the region have laid at the hands of President Attiphan. The people of Bangkok have praised Attiphan for his efforts to increase the availability of Lumification for all. President Attiphan recently confirmed that experimental studies into the optimising the ‘Lumification’ process are currently underway…”

Talay scoffed at the Anchor’s words. It was all fluff and showmanship. Deep down, the country showed the disenchanting signs of oppression – people’s happiness was forced, the praise for Hybrids was overbearing, and crime was down not because people’s needs were being met, but rather because they feared punishment at the hands of the Super Soldier Division of the police force.

Super Soldiers were ‘made’ hybrids – ordinary humans who underwent the ‘Lumification’ process. The process involved a series of experimental procedures by which a network of self-generating metallic circuits, that were formed by genetically modified cells called ‘LuMa Cells’, were implanted under the skin. This network was allowed to innervate specific regions of the brain, such that electrical impulses generated by the brain’s neurons could trigger the circuits.

It resulted in the ability of these now hybrid humans to manipulate the energy of atomic particulates in the air around their fingertips, resulting in the emission of powerful streams of energy that were tangible. It made humans deadly weapons.

Soon, the commercialisation of the procedure by the government led a significant portion of the public to undergo a less intense form of ‘Lumification’.

The power that came along with the technology was poison to an already divided society.

The presence of non-hybrid humans was fading – many were leaving the central city to escape the threat of police violence that was on the rise, while several went missing without a trace.

While those present in the Police Department were still respected, there had been a recent series of disappearances among senior members. When they finally turned up, their bodies were covered in electrical and heat burns.

Talay and his team were currently tracking a new lead – a ‘Rogue’ soldier, a traitor, who had been linked to many of these crime scenes. 

The deaths should have been more striking to the department. The loss of so many members should have called for an internal review and the setting up of a task force to chase down the criminals that were harming the city’s protectors. But these cases just got added to the ever-growing list of unexplained non-hybrid deaths that had started many years ago.

 

Talay flicked his fingers, unconsciously staring at the bluish-green photon swirl emanating from them as he thought about Wai; and how Wai’s name had been added to the list. The thought made the weight in his chest expand, making it difficult to breathe as the pressure continued to build. Wai was his best friend and the Captain of Precinct X10 until a few years ago when he vanished without explanation. Rumours chalked it up to the beloved Captain being involved in the murder of his fianceé.

Talay knew better.

At work, Wai had been the epitome of a righteous person. Underneath his comedic antics and playfulness, he chased justice like a man that had been personally wronged by the world.

But, he was also one of the most loving people Talay knew.

The only time Talay had seen Wai wear the dark veil of despair that Talay often wore every day, was on two occasions: the months following his fiancee’s death, and the day it was announced that Talay’s name had been drawn at the enlistment ballot for the Super Soldier programme.

Wai’s demeanour had changed entirely in those days. He became a shadowy figure, locking himself in his office for hours on end before emerging with an exhausted, hollowed-out look on his face.

As part of the enlistment training, Talay was required to undergo a series of procedures to actively convert him into a hybrid human being.

And Wai was firmly against the rise of hybrids.

Wai had spent years comforting families who had lost their loved ones to hybrids going ‘Rogue’. He had witnessed the anguish and bloodshed caused by the presence of such power at the hands of people to the point where he feared that regular human beings such as himself no longer had a place in such a society. 

And yet, Wai had sat by Talay’s side as he recovered from the excruciating pain of becoming a hybrid human. When Talay went into Acute Rejection within two months of the procedure, and his immune system’s antibodies began attacking the newly formed ‘LuMa’ circuits, it was Wai who had rushed him to the Special Forces hospital, all the while holding Talay’s hand and promising him that he would be alright. 

“Sir!” called Junior Detective Neo, interrupting Talay’s thoughts. “I’m detecting massive levels of Electromagnetic Radiation emitting from the corner street behind the old tavern!” He exclaimed hurriedly. 

“Must be our rogue Super Soldier,” Talay said coolly, as he shifted his feet to start walking in the direction that Neo had indicated. “Come on, Neo. It’s time to catch this guy in the act.” 

The two detectives quietly approached the alley where their target was. Darkness enveloped the street almost entirely; except for the multicoloured glow that was growing amongst the shadows. 

Talay curled his fingers to clench his fist, slowly activating his own powers to be able to retaliate against the fellow super-being he was about to face.

As Talay peered around the corner of the tavern to gauge the danger level of the Rogue, a horrific site stared back at him.

On the ground beneath the Rogue, were the lifeless bodies of two missing police officers. Their skin seemed to have been singed with electrical burn marks.

The Rogue wasn’t what Talay was expecting – the creature seemed to be emanating photons from all over its body at such a high intensity, it was unlikely that it was even a hybrid. As the creature frantically kneeled over the bodies of the officers, it seemed to reach its hand out towards their necks. 

“Bangkok Special Forces Police Department! Don’t move!” Talay yelled while turning the corner and preparing his own powers against the creature. 

It was a rookie move to startle a super being, or whatever the creature was, but Talay couldn’t stand the thought of allowing such a being to harm his fellow officers any further. Talay didn’t get to say goodbye to Wai, he wasn’t about to let the officers’ families be deprived of the closure of being able to put their loved ones to rest.

The creature froze in its tracks, not out of fear, however, but out of shock. When it slowly moved to stand, Talay shielded his eyes from the intensity of the light it was emitting. Talay managed to distinguish its anatomical features. It seemed to resemble a man. But that’s all he could discern through the blinding rays. 

“Reduce your Luminescence right now, or I will have to retaliate!” Talay ordered the creature.

He couldn’t back down now. This was his chance to catch the killer that took Wai from him, and he would use all the power he had to retaliate against it. 

“Talay!” the creature cried out.

Talay froze. Not because the creature knew his name, but because he knew that voice.

“Talay! They set me up! You have to believe me!”, It yelled desperately. The light it was emitting mimicked its panic – it was almost blinding to the point where it was beginning to distort and warm the air around them.

“Sir! The Rogue’s radiation levels are through the roof! If we don’t restrain it now, it’s going to make this whole district a Supernova!” Neo called out while assuming an offensive position to respond to the current threat.

“Talay, they killed Rose! They’ve been taking those of us who spoke out against them!” The creature exclaimed, “They’re using a new experimental mutated form of LuMa Cells!”

“It’s been bad, Talay.” It whispered somberly.

“It’s a form that’s been wiping out the nervous system of non-hybrids and those of us who can bear it, it takes over everything.”

Talay could hear the echoes of the same voice whispering to him in the same way as he was wheeled into the Emergency Room all those years ago.

“Sir! We have to do something!” Neo shouted hastily as he readied a massive surge of power between his hands. 

“No! Wait!” Talay shrieked. 

Neo unleashed the surge.

Talay’s cries echoed through the streets of the dimly lit streets of Bangkok’s shadiest commercial district.

“WAI!”