“Today, we learn of the strengths of powers and how they are directed,” said Linns, tapping the board. “This lesson comes courtesy of the research of Claudius Eriste, the primary contributor and collector of The Directory, whose edge experiments on the subject have been highly informative to understanding the nature of powers themselves. Now, class, we separate power into two dimensions – type and strength. First is type – who can explain the origins of power type?”
“That’s easy!” exclaimed Lucio. “Where you are born determines the type! Everyone knows that.”
“True, but there is more to it than that,” said Linns.
“Conditions affect it as well,” said Darian, his voice deep. “Location only affects it due to the conditions present in the location, what that location provides.”
“Yes, that is closer to the mark,” agreed Linns. “Think of it this way – an area is not considered volcanic because of where it is on the map. Rather, it is the volcano that makes it volcanic. A region is defined by its attributes, not the attributes defined by the region. Similarly, powers are defined by attributes. Can anyone tell me why that occurs?”
The class was silent, except for a voice in the back.
“Well, they just are, aren’t they?”
“Not quite,” said Linns, and he drew a blob on the board, one the size of a person. “Here, this represents power itself. The larger the area is, the more strength a power has. Now, before birth, the general size of this blob is determined – there may be slight fluctuations, but we know from Claudius’ research that these are minor. Does anyone here know how we know this?”
“The twins disparity!” said Arial, speaking up next to me. “That’s how they found it out!”
“Correct!” answered Linns, jabbing a finger towards her. “Correct! Claudius studied identical pairs of twins around the world in what we call bimodal sites – these are regions where two power types tend to develop in equal proportions. Location only plays so strong a role in power type – for instance, ninety percent of children born in one region may be one power type, but there will always be outliers. Anyways, at these bimodal sites, there was an equal chance for two separate powers. And Claudius found pairs of twins where one twin developed one power, and the other developed another, though all factors were nearly identical such as time of birth, extraneous circumstances, and of course, location.
“And what he found was extraordinary – that despite their differences in power type, twins always had nearly the same power level in respect to their type. An Electrospark born in the center of a storm was just as strong as a Weathermancer twin, a Tempfluxer in the desert just as skilled as the twin Sandblaster. So Claudius determined that location plays near no role in power strength. Rather,” he said and drew a square over the shape of the blob on the board, “it simply shapes it! Into power type A, or for example,” he took the marker and drew an oval over the square, “power type B. Does that make sense?”
“Kinda,” said Lucio. “But there are some powers that are just weaker than others. How does that work?”
“This only determines strength within a type,” answered Linns. “Each power has an general known upper bound and a lower bound – initial power before formation simply determines where individual lies between them. This is why location matters so much, because individuals can jump entire power bands, in addition to some locations being potent enough to apply a minor power boost. A mid-level Telekinetic, mid-level Flier, mid-level Flamethrower, mid-level Duster, mid-level anything tends to start with the same initial power, even though some are considered far more dangerous than others. That danger level is simply the way we perceive them after their shaping. Now, does anyone know the name Claudius gave to this effect of power formation?”
“Egg in the nest syndrome,” spoke up Arial again, her voice bored. “We went over this last semester.”
“You did, but not everyone,” chastised Linns. “But that is correct. Claudius postulated that unformed powers seek to conform to their environment as soon as they enter this world. In zoos, we see examples of dogs raising lions when their natural mother is not present, and the lions pick up many attributes of common dogs. Powers are similar – upon ‘hatching,’ they cling to the first identity they can find, and are thus shaped.”
On the board, he went over the edges of the square again with the marker and erased the other shapes so that was the only outline left.
“Remember, power is the size,” he said, shading it in. “And type is the shape. Important, yet again, because what is perceived a low power type can actually hold high amounts of strength. And I fear we’ve run over on time now – go on, next class! But remember this idea, the idea of intrinsic power. That everyone starts the same, and it is only the circumstances that change us.”
We started to file out, and I felt a nudge as Lucio prodded me in the ribs and Darian took my elbow. And as the rest of the class turned left towards lunch, they dragged me right into a small side closet.
Chapter 29
“Quiet,” ordered Darian as my eyes widened, and put his arm on my shoulder. “We only need a moment.”
“What’s going on?” I demanded as Lucio looked left and right outside before shutting the door behind us, the only light coming from underneath the crack in the door.
“We have a secret for you, SC,” whispered Darian. “But we have to know we can trust you.”
“A secret?” I repeated, feeling a broom handle jam into my shoulder blade as I stepped backwards. “What sort of secret?”
“One about what happens at night,” hissed Lucio. “The singing, have you noticed it?”
“At first,” continued Darian, “I thought it was Lucio here planting memories in my mind, trying to mess with me like usual. We were fortunate enough that I know how mischievous he is and immediately accused him of trying to meddle with my thoughts. I wish I had been right.”
“What about it?” I asked. “I like it. It sounds beautiful.”
“Damn it,” cursed Darian, looking at Lucio, who spoke up next.
“Look, SC, that music is poison. They’re doing something to your thoughts, to all of our thoughts. They’re changing who we are, every night, without us knowing.”
“Well, maybe that’s a good thing,” I protested. “They should be molding us to become better contributors.”
“SC, that’s not what they’re doing at all!” urged Lucio. “They’re trying to use us, like tools! Siri is trying to—”
“Hold on now,” I said, anger flashing across my face in the darkness. “They’re giving us an education, and lodging, and food, and you’re accusing them of not looking after us?”
“It’s not like that,” said Darian, shaking his head. “They’re not giving us anything. They’re taking from us.”
“I’ve half a mind to report you!” I retorted, my voice raising. “For your sheer ingratitude! That’s what they say to do!”
“Who says to do? Who?” Darian asked, and I bit the inside of my lip as a lyric flashed across my mind.
The protesters, the fouled mouthed roommates,
Report them away as ingrates!
Send them to Siri to show them the way,
So they can be molded today!
“I-I—” I stuttered, blinking, before my common sense came rushing back. “Siri did, you know that as well as I do. Let me out of here. This is ridiculous. You ingrates.”
Lucio and Darian looked at each other, then turned back to me.
“Look, here is our secret,” said Lucio, changing his tone, his eyes softening. “We’ve been recruited as part of a secret team to help Siri. That was all just a test, SC. You should change your sleeping arrangements to be with us for a night. We’ll show you what we mean!”
“Exactly,” confirmed Darian, trying to place a hand on my shoulder. “She promised us it is the quickest way to become an Upper. Just for a night, you should join us.”
“After what you said,” I answered, “I’m not falling f
or your tricks. Let me out!” I pushed past them into the hallway, nearly tripping over their feet and stumbling over tile before turning back. “I’m not going to report you because I’d still like to be your friend. And I hope you see the truth. But if you try this again, I will! And maybe I still might!”
I stalked away, heading to the lunch room, irritated that I would likely be eating after the Bottoms and have less food than normal. From behind me, I heard the hushed whispers of the two of them as they followed, just barely audible.
“Should we nab him?” said Lucio, and the muscles in my back tensed as I prepared to use my Telekinesis.
“No, he’s a goner. Useless,” answered Darian, and they fell away as I entered the cafeteria, taking the scraps of food on my tray before finding an empty space to sit. In moments, Arial stood up from the other end of the table and joined me, her expression concerned.
“Where have you been?” she asked. “You’re late, you don’t want to get in trouble with them.” She nudged her head towards the two guards that had escorted me into the facility on the first day, that now guarded the lunch door to keep anyone from leaving early. I paused, thinking back to what had happened, the memory coming to me a bit slower than normal. But once it arrived, it was fresh.
“Rolled my ankle leaving the classroom,” I said, looking down to my foot. “Had to go to the nurse to have it looked at. Feels fine now, almost as if nothing happened.”
Then, at the table two across from me, Lucio and Darian sat down as I scowled. Hopefully, they had reformed their thoughts after cornering me in the closet yesterday. And now that I could think about it, I did remember Lucio apologizing later that afternoon. Good, I wouldn’t have to worry about them then.
“What’s your plan for the weekend tomorrow?” I asked Arial, starting to take a bite.
“Tomorrow? It’s only Thursday,” she answered, laughing, “Don’t get ahead of yourself! School isn’t that boring.”
“Thursday?” I said and looked up towards the menu. Today, I ate lasagna, and that was marked for Thursday. “Hmmm. I guess you’re right. Strange.”
Then I finished my meal and prepared to meet Instructor Peregrine once more, hoping the last night’s secret session would show some improvement in my power.
Chapter 30
“Josh, inside the target! No splashing, we’ve been over this!” shouted Instructor Peregrine as the arc of flame leaving Josh’s fingertips singed the entire target, and not the white square that had been shrinking every day since we had started training. Now it was a mere two by two inches instead of the original six by six.
“What’s the point of this?” Josh said in exasperation. “Why should I even aim at a target? Why not just make fire explode out from the target itself?”
He pointed his finger, and flame erupted from the white parchment, originating in the center instead of his hand.
“Class, stop your activities and come here!” demanded Peregrine. “Josh has asked a question every one of you needs to hear about your powers. Let’s go, now!”
He disappeared to materialize on top of a ten-foot obstacle in the center of the floor, bits of ice and frost falling from him as he appeared, and we circled around him.
“Every class, without fail, someone inquires why we do not use our powers directly upon someone else. For my own power, that would raise the question of why I don’t simply reach inside an enemy’s chest and pull out his heart still beating!” He flashed a smile, while Arial shivered. “Not that I haven’t tried. For Josh, why not start a fire inside their cranium, so that steam flies out their ears? Or SC perform a dissection from a distance, removing body parts until the target is incapacitated? The answer is quite simple.”
He disappeared, and I felt nausea again as he appeared at the base of the obstacle, a heat wave following his entrance, and his voice lowered.
“On Regulars, such tactics may work. But for Specials, it is different. Surely Linns has told you the origins of power types? A fascinating subject, with one important implication – all of us, though separate flavors, are the same. To cast your power directly upon someone else, you fight their own power that resides within their body. You infringe upon territory that is not your own, something so difficult to do it is nearly impossible. Josh, now, will illustrate. Go on, Josh. Start a fire in my chest, a real bonfire!”
“Wha-what?” stuttered Josh, stepping backwards.
“You heard me,” commanded Peregrine, following Josh. “Give it your best shot. Burn me to a crisp.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” started Josh. “In case—”
“Do it, boy, and do it now!” shouted Peregrine, appearing inches from his face, and Josh threw a hand up against Peregrine’s shirt, sweat trickling down his temple. And he gasped, his cheeks turning white as nothing happened.
“A slight pressure, and a slight increase in pressure, but look how exhausted he is,” said Peregrine. “Useless in actual combat. But for those in control of their power, such tactics do work on distant extremities. Such as you, with your forearm, Josh.”
The last few words came out low from Peregrine as he put his own hand in front of him, and his fingers disappeared into nothingness, though I felt space rip open before them. And Josh shrieked, looking down to his arm where several wiggling bulges appeared under the skin. Peregrine’s fingers, with the nails just visible, nearly breaking through the barrier.
“Stop!” Josh shouted, trying to lurch his arm away but finding it locked in place, the fingers gripping bone from the inside. “Agh, it hurts! Stop, let me go!”
Eyes flashing, Peregrine pulled his fingers back through ripped space, whipping the bloody tips in streaks against a practice dummy. Josh shrieked again as depressions formed where the fingers had been, shaking his arm as it was released.
“Relax, boy, compose yourself. You’ll see worse than that in the field. After class, report in to the nurse.”
The class was silent as Peregrine walked back up to the front, his steady footsteps contrasting with the uneven wheezing of Josh’s still panicked breath, and looked back towards us.
“What are you waiting for?” he demanded. “I answered the question, return to your drills. Anthony, it’s your turn to be Lucio’s partner. It’s time we switched one out.”
The students rushed to break apart, hurrying back to their stations. And Anthony took a seat next to Lucio, where I heard Peregrine instructing them with the only interruptions the thumping of practice dummies and targets.
“Now, Lucio,” Peregrine started. “You are progressing well, but you are still adding too much of your influence into memories. The subject should not be able to discern between your additions and their own past. Consider their minds a wild jungle – you must plant the seed of a weed, one not indigenous, and let it grow on its own. Let it draw nutrients from their soil, from their air, from their sunlight. The more you nurture it, the more foreign and well gardened it will be. That is unacceptable, the memory must be indistinguishable, because you have only created the spark. Let them fill in the blanks, let them create the rest. Begin.”
Chapter 31
On Friday, we were informed that school would continue on Saturday.
“You will report in at ten in the morning, this Saturday and every Saturday,” said Siri at lunch, standing at the head table, her sapphire blue eyes moving across each of us. “We have graciously permitted you the hours of extra sleep. Ensure you are not late, and ensure that you are prepared. Saturdays will be the culmination of every week and you will be given Sundays for recovery and chores. Though some of you will receive more of one than the other.”
Speculation grew that night as we readied for bed, with several of my bunkmates speaking up.
“They said that weekends were when we would be given a chance to strive for Upper!” said Josh the Flamethrower, rolling a small ball across his knuckles absentmindedly, the flame jumping an inch every time it crossed a ridge. “Makes you wonder what we have to do.”
&
nbsp; “Hopefully not hit a small target!” smirked Lucio, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth as he passed by the door.
“Nobody asked you!” retorted Josh, the flame skipping an entire knuckle as it doubled in size. “Or invited you in here!”
“You’re just jealous because I got the good room first!” said Lucio. “A lot nicer when you only have two! So roomy. You wouldn’t know. SC, though – the invitation still stands.”
“No thanks,” I answered. If Josh was right, I’d be moving to the far nicer Upper dorms soon when I could prove I was worthy in the morning. There would be no point to changing bunks now.
“Suit yourself, SC,” said Lucio, and I rubbed my back, remembering how bad the last few nights had been from the lumps in my mattress. “Are you sure, though?”
“I’m sure,” I answered. One more night wouldn’t be that bad. And when I did climb into bed, the lumps I had remembered must have been smoothed out.
That next morning, we met in the auditorium, the typical yawning reduced from the extra few hours of sleep, and the instructors leading us into the smaller practice gym, the one next to the daily Average practice with Instructor Peregrine. We lined up, the Averages along the long wall, and the Bottoms and Uppers facing each other from opposite ends of the rectangle.
The center of the gym was raised on a flat mound of dirt two feet high piled atop the floor, chalk lines creating a segmented oval with two circles on both ends. Obstacles were erected between the two circles – a car door was embedded into the dirt, a large wooden wiring spool was tilted in the middle, a low ridge of granite stones ran diagonal, and a long knee-deep puddle ran in an arc just inside the chalk line.
Perpendicular to the edge of the mound stood a table with two flip boards on it, one green and the other red, with numbers between zero and three. The two guards who had dragged me inside the first day sat behind each of the boards, their eyes on us as we entered, and their palms flat on the table.
“Welcome!” exclaimed Siri, climbing to the center of the mound and standing atop the wiring spool. “Welcome to Saturday activities! As promised, this is where you will have the ability to control your future positions in Upper, Average, and Bottom. Each week, Bottoms will be given the opportunity to challenge Averages and Averages the opportunity to challenge Uppers. Uppers, it is upon you to defend your position! Should more than one person challenge the same contestant a rank above them, they must fight each other for the opportunity to advance.”
Star Child: Places of Power Page 10