“Of course I will. Still, you did say the physical portion was done, Allison?” Lilith asked hopefully, straightening as her trembling legs finally steadied beneath her.
The last few hours had been a near-nonstop barrage of tests, with random questions and other mental activities thrown into the middle of races, weight lifting, and gymnastics by turn. With each stage Lilith had passed, things had grown more difficult, and there was part of Lilith that wondered if the intense pace wasn’t also designed to find the limits of the victim’s endurance as well. Whether that was the case or not, Allison had certainly found Lilith’s limit, and far more quickly than Lilith would have ever expected.
“Yes, we’re done with that portion. Now we’re going to test your powers and see if my suspicions on how they work is correct,” Allison confirmed, nodding to the door leading out of the large, heavily padded gymnasium they’d been performing tests in so far.
The entire building was utilitarian and built robustly, which coupled with a number of scorch marks and dents she’d seen, gave Lilith the impression that it wasn’t overly ornate for a reason. Likely because replacing the equipment was more common than Lilith would like to consider, a thought which caused some degree of worry, considering how many superhumans that might indicate were out in the world.
Allison led them out of the room and down the hall to a heavy metal door. She unlocked the door with a proximity card, then showed them into what looked like a firing range. A man looked up at their entrance, stiffening for a moment before relaxing and smiling. He was middle-aged and of Hispanic descent, and Lilith noted the dull gray power armor he was wearing, as well as the parts of what looked like an energy rifle on the table in front of him.
“Ms. Gambry! My apologies, ma’am, I didn’t realize that you were going to be using the range today,” the man exclaimed, and Lilith smiled slightly as he came to attention, betraying what she suspected was a military background. “Do you need any weapons prepared for your test?”
“Just Allison, Sam. You know that,” Allison chided gently, shaking her head. “Thank you for the offer but we don’t need any weapons. We’re here to test something else. Could you set a pair of targets to measure the force of attacks, please?”
“Of course, ma’am!” Sam replied, quickly stepping over to a control console and tapping various keys. As she watched, Lilith saw a pair of targets in two lanes light up, a shimmering field around each illuminating them in bright red.
“This is Samuel Romero, the master of the range here,” Allison introduced the man. “He was one of the founding members of LANCE and is a minor inventor as well. Samuel, this is Lilith, the subject of today’s test, and her friends Gina and Rachel.”
Lilith’s eyebrows rose at the introduction and her estimation of the man increased sharply. After the Advent, the threat of supervillains had forced the United States to come up with countermeasures, especially after Congress was nearly wiped out by Destruction Corps. LANCE had been the result, a federal unit that was composed of former military and superhumans alike and was more powerful than most military divisions by a large margin. Even so, the formation of the unit had been rocky, from what Lilith had learned, and not many of the early members had survived their encounters with Destruction Corps.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Romero. I’ve heard a great deal about LANCE, and what I learned impressed me,” Lilith told him, nodding and smiling politely.
“A pleasure to meet all of you ladies,” Samuel said, looking up from the console and grinning. “Also, don’t put too much stock into what Ms. Gambry says. I’m retired, and happier for it.”
“Likewise, I’m glad to meet you,” Rachel told him.
Gina nodded as well, glancing at the targets speculatively. “Good to meet you, Sam. So what do the targets do, exactly?”
“The targets are each shrouded in a force field designed to absorb and measure how much energy is in an attack. There’s a maximum that they can withstand and measure, but so long as you aren’t outputting enough energy to punch through a couple of inches of steel, they can do the job.” Samuel explained, glancing at Allison as he continued briskly. “Now I’m not sure what Ms. Gambry has in mind, but you will not fire on the targets until I give you permission. Is that clear?”
“Umm, yes, sir,” Gina said quickly, nodding and gulping hard.
“Of course,” Lilith murmured, and Rachel nodded herself, folding her hands in front of her.
“Now that his explanation is done… Gina, Rachel? I’m going to ask each of you to throw an energy attack at a target,” Allison explained, her voice growing serious as she explained. “It needs to be an attack you can replicate as precisely as possible, at least when it comes to the effort it takes. If I’m not mistaken, Lilith’s power allows her to lend you energy to amplify your abilities. If that’s the case, we’ll be able to figure out a great deal by comparing your attacks.”
“Ah, that makes sense!” Gina exclaimed, her eyes seeming to light up as she relaxed. “I wondered why you brought us here.”
“An interesting idea… but what if there isn’t a correlation?” Rachel asked curiously. “What if the change isn’t consistent between the two of us, or the increase is unstable?”
“Then her power will be far more unpredictable than anticipated. It does happen from time to time. We’ll test this several times if you’re willing to go along with it,” Allison replied, glancing at Lilith and asking, “Are you willing to attempt this, Lilith? My only worry is how exhausted healing Rachel was for you.”
“It seems reasonable to me,” Lilith agreed, considering the idea. She had no idea if what Allison suggested was how her power worked but it felt reasonable, at least to some extent. Lilith had grown to trust her feelings when it came to her powers, and what Allison was suggesting felt right. “I don’t think that it will drain too much energy, either. The healing took almost everything I had, and I might have passed out anyway. I’m quite willing to give it a try.”
“Good. Ladies, if you would?” Allison asked, and after a moment, the two stepped up to the firing lanes that had been prepared. Glancing at Samuel, she added. “Sam?”
“One moment,” Samuel replied, stepping over to look downrange, then hitting a button which caused a warning buzzer to sound. A moment later, he said. “Ladies, you may open fire.”
Lilith watched almost raptly as her friends each began to weave their spells. It was the first time she’d been able to examine their casting methods this openly, which made it far more interesting to her. Especially since the two obviously shaped their magic quite differently.
Gina’s magic simply flowed out of her hands in thin streams of gold energy threaded with azure light. She seemed to be concentrating heavily as the energy focused into a blade of light that looked a lot like a spear.
Conversely, Rachel’s magic looked quite different as her lips moved almost imperceptibly, a purple mist emerging from a pair of silver rings she was wearing to form an orb of purple magic. Odd as it seemed, Lilith realized that Gina seemed to have to concentrate more for her magic than Rachel did.
Within moments of each other, the two women launched their attacks. Each magical bolt streaked downrange to explode against the targets furiously, though the sound was oddly muffled.
“Looks like clean hits, and readings are good,” Samuel said, glancing at the screen to the side. “I’d suggest hitting the targets again. Just to make sure how much your attacks vary before testing Ms. Lilith’s power.”
“Easy enough,” Rachel agreed, and began casting again, Gina just behind her. Moments later, they each unleashed another attack and Samuel nodded in satisfaction.
“Very good! Both of your attacks had less than a two percent variation,” Allison said, smiling broadly as she turned to Lilith. “Now it’s your turn, Lilith.”
“As much as I’d like to do this, I have no idea how to go about… empowering them,” Lilith replied, frowning as she mentally prodded at her abilities, unsu
re how to go about using them. It wasn’t as if they’d come with an instruction manual, after all.
“You can sense approximately where they are, correct? I’d suggest focusing on the links to Gina and Rachel and trying to make them stronger. Perhaps trying to channel some of your own energy through them might work as well,” Allison suggested.
“Fair enough. Let’s see…” Lilith took a deep breath and closed her eyes to concentrate, not wanting the distraction of seeing everyone else watching her.
Even with her eyes closed, Lilith found herself extremely self-conscious as she heard the others shifting in place. Her own breathing was still slightly heavy from the exercise she’d been put through, adding to her distraction. Clearing her mind took Lilith a few moments, and she slowly, almost hesitantly, reached out to where she could sense Gina and Rachel.
As Allison had said, the connections weren’t strong. They were faint, but even so each link was distinct. Gina had a warmer, vibrant sensation, while Rachel was cooler but steadier as well. As she sensed their presence, Lilith tried to make the links stronger, to help them grow more powerful. It was like trying to grasp smooth, wet glass, though, and they slipped through her fingers at every attempt. After several failed attempts, Lilith gave up the approach and changed to the second option Allison had suggested, trying to funnel some of her energy to her friends. She’d had some experience doing so when she’d helped Rachel the previous day, so sending the energy flowing toward the links wasn’t difficult.
It was somewhat disappointing when, just like her attempt to strengthen the connections, the power flowed around the links to Gina and Rachel, ignoring them entirely. Lilith paused after the failure, trying to think of how she’d helped Rachel before. That hadn’t been a purely one-sided experience, she realized. Rachel had let her in, not simply been a receptacle for her power. So thinking about that, Lilith instead mentally reached out to the others, murmuring. “Gina, Rachel… will you let me help you?”
“Of course!” Gina exclaimed.
Rachel’s voice was more subdued, but her gentle tone was slightly teasing. “Why wouldn’t I?”
As they spoke, it was like they’d reached out to Lilith in return, taking her outstretched hand. Lilith gasped as energy rushed down the links from her, her eyes opening abruptly. Gina and Rachel both looked startled, and Lilith shivered as she spoke. “It isn’t a matter of simply strengthening the connections. I offer my help; it’s up to you whether or not to accept it.”
“Interesting. Do you think she’s correct, ladies?” Allison asked, looking at Gina and Rachel as she tapped her stylus against the side of her tablet.
“I’m not sure, but I did feel a surge to my magic again. It feels a little more… stable, this time?” Rachel said, frowning thoughtfully. “I don’t know how else to describe it, unfortunately.”
“It feels weird, honestly. Not bad, but… strange. I’m still getting used to a few other changes to my magic so it’s hard to explain,” Gina added.
“Lilith? Are you having to maintain the effect?” Allison asked, making a couple more notes on her tablet.
“Not that I can tell. I still feel the links between us, and they are stronger now, but it feels like it was a momentary drain. Not that I can tell how many times I could do it in total… at least a few more, but I’m not entirely certain,” Lilith replied, trying to gauge how much energy she’d expended. It was hard, after the physical tests.
“If that’s the case, it might be a very potent ability. We can see how long it lasts as well, but first… would you ladies please launch another pair of attacks at the targets? That way we can see what the difference in power is,” Allison said, turning back to Gina and Rachel.
“I’m going to need a minute to get used to the power,” Gina confessed, tilting her head as she concentrated. “Last time I didn’t have time to think about it. Now that I can, it’s a little… chaotic.”
“That’s fine,” Allison assured her, and Lilith took a curious step closer as Rachel adjusted her stance slightly.
“This will be interesting. I’ll try to use the same amount of effort as before, but no promises,” Rachel murmured, and began casting her spell again. Nothing was visibly different to Lilith as the magic took form into the same orb as before. When Rachel unleashed her attack on the target, the explosion was visibly larger than the previous one had been. Rachel nodded, her voice contemplative as she said, “I definitely felt a bit more power in that attack, despite using the same effort.”
“And I’m ready, I think,” Gina interjected, grinning as she prepared to cast her spell. “I can’t let you have all the fun.”
“This is Lilith’s test, you know,” Rachel retorted. “I’m just trying to help her figure things out.”
“And I’m very grateful that you were willing to help,” Lilith said, trying to keep their banter to a minimum as she suppressed a slight smile. “You didn’t have to, you know.”
“We’re the ones who asked you to be tested so it’s the least we could do,” Rachel replied, preparing another attack. Gina had been focusing on her own spell and launched the golden blade after a moment, grinning.
“Yeah! I mean… you needed to learn about it anyway, but we kind of forced the issue,” Gina said, then quickly launched another attack, right on the heels of Rachel this time.
“Thank you, ladies. No more spells, please,” Samuel interrupted, leaning down to check his computer screen. “Interesting…”
“Sam?” Allison asked after a moment, raising an eyebrow when he didn’t reply immediately.
“My apologies, Ms. Gambry. Each of the second set of attacks had up to a three percent variance, but after taking the median between the first set and comparing it to the median of the second…” Samuel paused, glancing over at Lilith curiously as he finished. “It appears that their power increased by eleven percent in Gina’s case, and ten percent for Rachel. That isn’t an exact number; those are just the closest whole numbers.”
“Considering my difficulty controlling the power increase, I don’t know that mine is as accurate as Rachel’s would be,” Gina said, glancing at Rachel as she grinned. “She’s always been more precise than me.”
“Be as that may, it’s an interesting development. I honestly had expected closer to a flat increase in power; not one which scales between individuals,” Allison explained, looking at the screen more closely. She was obviously intrigued by the results. “I honestly wish there was more of a power discrepancy between the two of you, to see if it’s based on your current power level or if it’s more of a universal percentage. I suspect it’s the second, but there’s no way to know for certain. I don’t suppose you could use your power on me, Lilith?”
Lilith blinked, then frowned as she pushed her mind in Allison’s direction for a moment. She didn’t sense Allison at all, and after a moment, she shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I can’t sense you, and… if I’m being perfectly frank? I don’t trust you the same way, Allison. I trust Gina and Rachel implicitly, and while I trust you to tell me the results of the tests, I wouldn’t trust you with my life. I trust them completely.”
“Fair enough. Powers like your own rarely have simple conditions to their use. Ladies, if you’d let us know when your power boost ends?” Allison asked the other two, and Gina and Rachel each nodded in agreement. Turning to Samuel, Allison smiled at him. “Thank you for your help, Sam. We’ll get out of your hair.”
“Not a problem, ma’am,” Samuel replied, locking the computer and standing nearly at attention as he grinned. “You’ve been a lot better company than some of the people who come through here.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Mr. Moreno,” Lilith said politely, giving him a slight smile. “Thank you for your time.”
“Now, let’s go to the first aid room and see what else we can learn,” Allison said, leading the way out of the firing range as she continued. “You mentioned your healing ability so I’m thinking that we can see if it only works with Gina and R
achel, or if it’s something that can be used with anyone. I suspect its limitations are the same, but it’s best to be certain.”
“How would we do that? I don’t like the idea of injuring anyone on purpose,” Gina asked, sounding slightly suspicious.
“Oh, I fully understand. That’s why I’m going to use a sterilized needle to prick my finger and see if she can heal it,” Allison explained. “If either of you would volunteer to do the same, we could test that as well, but it’s entirely up to you.”
“I don’t know…” Gina murmured, frowning deeply as they followed Allison to another door.
“You may not like it but I think I could be persuaded. It isn’t that bad, and I’ve been healed by Lilith before,” Rachel said, smiling as she continued. “Compared to the damage I took, a pinprick is nothing. Besides, I can always heal myself.”
The room they entered was obviously a small medical bay, though it wasn’t incredibly expansive either. The room had pastel-blue walls, a cot, and a medical kit on a counter. The oddest thing was that the cot was heavily reinforced, but considering they tested superhumans here, Lilith could understand why it might be built more heavily than normal.
Allison took out a small device, and it took Lilith a moment to realize it was one of the machines that people used to check their blood sugar. Pulling out a sealed needle, she looked at Lilith and asked, “Do you object to doing this, Lilith? It goes a little farther than the other tests, and some people have objections to seeing blood.”
“As long as you want to give it a try, I have no problem with this,” Lilith replied, frowning as she added, “If it was a more significant injury I would be… exceedingly leery of doing so, but this much doesn’t worry me. But I have to ask, isn’t that for testing blood sugar?”
“It is. However, it’s also one of the best ways I’ve come across for inflicting an extremely minor injury consistently,” Allison replied with a smile, changing out the needle quickly and disposing of the original in the biohazard bin. “There we go.”
Down with the Queen Page 3