Chapter 27 The War Begins

Ryan Cross - POV

The tactical gear feels wrong against my skin as Blake, Cole, and Kai finalize our approach to the government facility where Emma's being held. I can see the equipment straps cutting into my arms, watch blood seep from where the kevlar rubs against torn flesh, but I feel nothing. My inability to experience physical pain has always been an asset in medical situations, but approaching a supernatural battlefield makes me realize how much I depend on pain as a warning system.

"Thermal imaging shows at least thirty hostiles in robes positioned around the main building," Blake reports through our communication system, his psychological training allowing him to maintain tactical focus despite the bond network screaming with Emma's terror. "They're not using conventional weapons."

Cole adjusts his equipment with mechanical precision, his violent blackouts completely absent since Emma was taken. "Their psychic signatures are stronger than anything we've encountered. These aren't university-trained enhanced individuals."

Kai's latest painting shows the facility surrounded by figures whose abilities manifest as colors that don't exist in normal reality. "They're absorbing power from something inside the building. The energy patterns keep getting brighter."

Through our bond network, I feel fragments of Emma's omniscient awareness mixed with terror that makes my medical training scream warnings I can't physically experience. She's alive, but whatever they're doing to her involves systematic draining of her abilities.

"Medical assessment suggests they're using some form of psychic vampirism," I tell the others as we approach the facility's outer perimeter. "Conduit abilities being harvested through procedures that could cause permanent neurological damage."

We move through shadows between patrol routes that Blake's psychological profiling predicted with terrifying accuracy. But as we get closer to the main building, I notice something wrong with my tactical analysis. The approaching figures aren't just enhanced—they're carrying technology I don't recognize.

"Those aren't standard psychic suppression devices," I realize, studying equipment that resembles medical scanners crossed with weapons systems. "They're designed specifically to neutralize conduit abilities."

Blake's charm facade disappears completely as he processes what this means. "They've been planning this assault for longer than we realized. This isn't opportunistic capture—it's systematic elimination using technology developed specifically for conduit targets."

That's when the first energy blast hits Cole, and I watch him drop to the ground without the usual signs of his supernatural resilience. The device that targeted him continues scanning, and I realize with clinical horror that it's not just suppressing his abilities—it's severing his connection to the bond network entirely.

"They can cut psychic bonds," I report, my medical knowledge providing analysis even as tactical instincts I've never needed before scream that we're outmatched. "Whatever technology they're using disrupts supernatural abilities at the neurological level."

Kai tries to manifest one of his defensive paintings, but the moment he begins applying paint to canvas, another scanning device locks onto him and his synesthesia flickers like a dying lightbulb. "I can't... the colors aren't connecting anymore."

Blake's psychological defenses crumble as a third device targets him, severing his ability to read micro-expressions and leaving him as vulnerable as any normal human in a supernatural combat situation. "Ryan, they're neutralizing our abilities systematically. We can't fight them using powers they can shut down."

That's when I realize the fundamental flaw in our rescue mission. My medical training, their supernatural abilities, Emma's omniscient awareness—all useless against enemies who've developed technology specifically to neutralize enhanced individuals.

"My photographic memory is intact," I tell them, checking my equipment with clinical precision. "Pain suppression is neurological rather than psychic—they can't shut down what's already broken."

But as robed figures emerge from concealment around us, carrying those scanning devices alongside weapons that crackle with psychic energy, I understand that medical knowledge means nothing in supernatural warfare where the rules of biology no longer apply.

"Subjects identified: Midnight Society secondary targets," one of the attackers announces, their voice carrying harmonics that make my teeth ache. "Capture for interrogation regarding conduit enhancement procedures."

Cole struggles to stand without his supernatural strength, Blake fumbles for weapons without his ability to predict enemy movements, and Kai stares at paint that won't manifest his visions. But I move with the same clinical precision I've always relied on, because pain suppression means their psychic weapons can't incapacitate me the way they would normal humans.

I reach the first attacker before they can adjust their scanning device to target me specifically, using medical knowledge of pressure points and nerve clusters to disable them with surgical efficiency. But the moment I touch them, something impossible happens—their psychic energy floods into me through the contact, and I feel physical sensation for the first time in years.

Not just pain from the psychic overload, but everything I've been missing. The weight of tactical gear against my shoulders, the strain in muscles I've been overworking without realizing, the dozen minor injuries I've accumulated during our approach. The sudden sensory input is overwhelming, but it also reveals something crucial.

"The scanning devices work by redirecting psychic energy," I realize, helping Cole to his feet as more attackers emerge from the facility. "They're not just suppressing abilities—they're channeling them elsewhere."

Blake manages to neutralize two more attackers using conventional combat training, but without his psychological advantages, he's operating at significant disadvantage. "Where's the energy being redirected?"

"Into the facility," Kai answers, his normal synesthesia replaced by brief flashes of artificial color that show him glimpses inside the building. "They're using our abilities to power whatever they're doing to Emma and the other conduits."

That's when the scanning device targeting me activates, and instead of losing abilities I never had, I experience something unprecedented. The technology meant to suppress psychic powers interacts with my pain suppression condition in ways that flood my consciousness with medical knowledge about supernatural abilities I've never encountered.

For thirty seconds, I understand the neurological mechanics of psychic energy, the biological processes that create enhanced abilities, and most terrifyingly, the medical procedures being performed inside the facility on captured conduits.

"They're not just draining abilities," I report as the knowledge fades, leaving me with fragmentary understanding of what we're facing. "They're performing surgical procedures to permanently sever conduits' connection to psychic energy while keeping them alive for continued study."

Cole staggers against me, his normal violent capabilities completely absent. "Can the procedures be reversed?"

"Not with conventional medical techniques," I admit, watching more attackers emerge with equipment designed to capture rather than kill. "Whatever they're doing involves permanent alterations to brain tissue that control supernatural abilities."

Blake's psychological training provides tactical assessment even without his enhanced abilities. "They want us alive for the same procedures. This isn't rescue—it's systematic capture of everyone connected to conduit enhancement."

As scanning devices lock onto all of us simultaneously and figures in robes approach with medical equipment I recognize despite never seeing it before, I realize my photographic memory has become our greatest liability. They don't just want to study our abilities—they want access to everything I've learned about supernatural medicine through our bond network with Emma.

"Ryan Cross," the lead attacker says, consulting readings from scanning devices that show detailed analysis of my neurological condition. "Medical enhancement through congenital pain suppression. Designation: ideal surgical consultant for conduit neutralization procedures."

They don't want to eliminate me.

They want to force me to operate on Emma and every other captured conduit, using my medical knowledge to perfect procedures that will permanently destroy their abilities while keeping them alive for continued experimentation.