by M A Scrawl
The words poured out of her, "I promise I will do my best to help you, and in doing so I need your help. The training with Caheel will have to continue," Katy audibly groaned at that. "But we will keep it under our constant surveillance. Anything he does, we will see."
She nodded towards Quentin, "but do try not to break his arm and nose again, he's quite fragile." Quentin shrugged, blank face unreadable. She cleared her throat and then said sheepishly, "and we'll take care of the 'hair' problem as well." Katy looked confused for a moment, and Kadir laughed, fingering her disheveled hair.
"I guess we could all use," he paused for a moment, searching for the correct word. "Haircuts?" Kirby offered. Kadir smiled, then nodded.
"So, we just call you Ms. Kirby?" asked Katy, stepping a little closer. "You sure you don't just want to become friends with us so you can stab us in the back with a tranq dart?"
Kirby baffled for a moment, then let out a nervous laugh. "No, why would I?" Katy shrugged, then lined up behind her. "So, where is this barbershop you speak of?"
-----
They each followed Ms. Kirby as she led them through the halls, past confused mechanics and other people roaming Facility C. Several times they had to pull Katy away from any window they came into contact with, her staring out into the cold blackness of space and stars, glimpsing the turning outpoint.
Kirby felt a little more than awkward. She hadn't seen a child in over five years, and even back on Earth she hadn't been the best with children.
Now she had no idea what to do. She didn't really know why she had contacted them personally, but now she was even more confused. She hadn't talked to Withers about this, and she wasn't sure how he'd respond. Confusion? Anger?
She brought them to a place near sick bay, where a line of sinks and hygiene supplies filled cupboards next to mirrors. A few men were shaving there, and eyed Kirby as she entered with the children. Quentin and Kadir ignored any other person, but Katy politely smiled and waved at passing people, who, for some reason, skirted around them nervously.
Kirby sat Katy down in a chair first, and a lady came wearing a black shirt with cargo pants. She raised some questions about them, to which Kirby politely denied. Apparently word had gotten around that there were children aboard the satellite.
Katy's hair was cut, then Quentins’, then Kadirs’. Katy's hair was brown and soft, a pixie cut similar to Kirbys’. Kadir and Quentin's hair were military haircuts, short and gradually longer to the top. They were all relieved to have the hair gone, as it was getting very annoying, getting stuck in their mouths and eyes at times.
Katy enjoyed exploring the sick bay, and waving at basically everyone. She tried sharing a joke with one worker, but he didn't get it and she stomped off in a huff. Kadir noticed this and walked up to her.
"Imagine that!" she was ranting. "The simpletons that live on this place! I shared a joke, and he obviously didn't get it!"
"What was the joke?" Kadir asked, confused.
"What did the man say to his kid before they got in the car?"
"I dunno. What?"
"Get in the car!" Katy burst out laughing, obviously the only one who actually got the joke. It took a while for Kadir to sooth her to stop rolling on the ground.
Kirby kept them going, showing them around and pointing out things as they passed soldiers. There was a problem with the I.D. and Kirby had to do some persuading to let Kadir, Katy and Quentin pass the soldiers in the hallway. Apparently they needed a hall-pass or something.
They traveled down the halls, and Kirby led them to a place near the Control Deck, where they could get verified for I.D. cards.
They each had to sit down on a stool as a man took a picture of them and printed it onto an I.D. card with a barcode, a magnetic pass, as well as an I.D. number on it.
Katy had attempted to make an ugly face as soon as the man had clicked the camera, but after some persuasion from Kirby, she ceased, ending with a picture of her with her eyes crossed, which was the best photo they could do.
Then, they went to the Facility C cafeteria, which had a menu of burgers, fries, M.R.E.'s, and other stuff.
Kadir ordered a pistachio muffin, something he'd never had before. On second thought, he didn't really know if he'd had it or not, as the farthest he could think back to was waking up in the cryo-pod.
Those thoughts made him shiver. Even Caheels’ horrible training hadn’t taken away Kadirs’ fear.
Those memories were better left forgotten. For now, he needed to figure out why on Earth Kirby was doing this. Why was she being so kind all of a sudden? Coming here and offering them a tour, feeding them and giving them haircuts. Was this just a ploy to get them to do something?
Whatever the reason, Kadir was grateful for the kindness, even if it might be fake, or part of some tactic.
"Hey Kadir!" Katy yelled from across the room, in line for food. "They have ice cream! ICE CREAM!" People around her anxiously looked around, wondering why a 12 year-old girl was screaming her head off about ice cream. Kadir smiled. They probably didn't know they had powers, and Kirby had made it clear not to display any while they were out.
"Satisfied with your muffin Kadir?" Kirby asked from across the table. Kadir smiled slightly. Why was she so friendly?
"Yeah," he answered. "I'm not really hungry today." Kirby nodded, taking that for a sufficient answer. Quentin was right next to them, eating a big pile of pancakes and eggs. He looked at Kadirs’ plate and shrugged.
"I guess people with robotic arms and legs have to eat more?" Kirby said, glancing at Quentin's plate. He looked at his metal arms and laughed.
Kirby smiled. Kadir felt kind of awkward around her, not really knowing how to act around her. Should he just act casual and go along with her kindness? Should he be more protective?
"Ms. Kirby?" Kadir asked. She looked at him. "Uh, can you tell us the truth please?"
For a moment, her eyes displayed some sort of panic, although her face stayed the same. It passed as quickly as it came.
“What do you mean, Kadir?” she asked.
Kadir sighed. "Nothing," he said, turning to his muffin and sluggishly taking a bite out of it. Kirby resigned to that answer, leaning back on her chair. Quentin continued to shovel pancakes into his face.
-Chapter 27-
-Tested Abilities-
Kadir and his siblings returned to their bunker room in Facility C, sleeping deeply, recalling the events of that day. They awoke again to another speaker voice, telling them to meet in the gym, but when they walked slowly there, they found Kirby waiting for them, not Caheel.
"Good morning," Kirby said, checking something on her work-pad.
"Wheres Caheel?" Katy asked, walking up to her.
"He’s relieved of duty, for now at least, but today we will be doing something far, far more interesting."
She turned, walking out of the gym into Facility C. "Follow me," she said, not looking back. They all did, Katy running to catch up with her.
They walked through the satellite, looking out into space when they came into view of a window. Katy complained that they should've had wheelchairs to make walking easier, but Kirby remained silent as she led them on.
After a while, they passed the sick bay, with a few people in lab coats roaming about. After passing that, Quentin drew Kadir back a few steps, where Kirby wouldn't hear them.
"What is she doing?" Quentin said, grabbing onto Kadirs’ arm.
"I don't know," Kadir said. "Think it’s something bad? She's never been unkind before."
“I’m not sure what to think, Kadir. I just don’t know if we can trust her.”
Kadir glanced at Kirby. “Lets just see where this goes. Keep an eye on her though.”
Quentin sighed, but let go of Kadirs’ arms, walking faster to gain on Kirby.
Eventually, they entered a large white room, with a white platform on the right that led up to a podium. Kirby left them, walking up to it and seating herself in a chair there. She smiled, as a
few scientists wearing white lab coats entered the room from another doorway, carrying some equipment.
Quentin raised his arms in a defensive stance, but Kirby spoke over a speaker in the podium. "Quinten, please. I just want to know more about your powers, please."
Quentin looked annoyed, but lowered his arms, glancing at Kirby with suspicion. The scientists placed the machines next to Kadir.
"Can you please remove your shirt?" asked one of the scientists. Kadir raised an eyebrow and looked at Kirby. She nodded, so he took his shirt off.
Surprisingly, he had never actually noticed the muscles that were on his chest. Apparently the workouts with Caheel had done a little good.
The scientists started to place small pads on his chest, arms, and face. They were cold, but something on them made them adhere to his skin. He wondered how hard it would be to pull one off.
"Kadir, could you...turn on your electricity?”
Kadir let loose The Flow through his body, and the equipment next to him started to beep, displaying a voltage of 542. Curious, he increased the flow, and the numbers shot up to 3,218 volts.
A few more men in white brought out a small wooden target, about as tall as Kadir was. Looking down, he could see distance marks from him and the block.
"Kadir," Kirby chimed, "Could you please shock the target from where you are?"
Kadir pointed his hands out toward the wood, and released the current from his body. A bolt of lightning cracked out his hand and onto the wood. Maintaining the flow with a grunt, he saw the voltage on the equipment increase, the numbers rising past 3,000 volts.
Light filled the white room, and Kirby shielded her eyes. Kadir felt energy draining from him, and he began to wane, trying to keep the flow constant. Of course, that was very difficult, and the crackling of the energy in the room was starting to get annoying, so he released the flow, and stood, gasping for air. He'd never released that much energy before, and looking at the wood, he saw lightning patterns burned into its grain.
Kadir looked at Kirby, and she was scribbling something down in her work-pad. The scientists were checking some stuff on the equipment, seeing the rise of the voltage as time had went on.
Kirby finished writing and nodded towards him, smiling slightly. Was that a fake smile, put on for him to make him feel at ease?
The scientists moved the wood-block, one of them gaping at Kadir as though he were a unique animal locked in a cage for him to see. That made Kadir uncomfortable so he shot the man a look, and sparked up his hand, displaying colorful tendrils of lightning.
Taking the hint, the man's eyes bulged slightly and he turned, following the other scientists. They came back in after a while, carrying a series of heavy weights, the largest as big as Kadir was.
Kirby stood and leaned forward into a mic that connected to some speakers in the room. “If you don’t mind Kadir, I’d like to ask you to do something that might seem strange. Do you know if you can magnetically affect metal objects?”
Kadir raised an eyebrow, and Kirby continued to explain. "I mean that you can attract metal, like a magnet."
Kadir nodded and looked at the metal weights. Tentatively, he activated the flow through his body and let it course through him. He held out his hand, and made the energy go there, staying inside his body. The five pound weight moved a little, and he stepped closer until he was right next to it. It moved toward his hand, and he increased the flow dramatically, and yelped, leaping back, as the weight jumped to his hand.
He relaxed slightly, and released the flow, dropping the metal weight to the ground.
Curiously, he did it again, somehow switching the flow in his brain so instead of flowing through his arm, it seemed to flow away from it. The weight pushed away, and, increasing the flow, it pushed across the room and clanged against the wall.
Kadir walked over to the next one, flinging it across the room with a wave of his arm. He walked on, flinging them across the room with awe. So much power....
He came to the 70 pound weight. A flat, metal wheel with a hole in the center and a 70 lbs printed on the side in large white font.
He pushed out on it. It budged a little, and he pushed harder, groaning slightly, increasing the electricity. It slid across the floor, making a squeaking sound as it went, and lethargically bumped against the wall.
Kadir shook his head, frustrated. He moved on to the next one, a 100 lb weight and pushed against it, focusing more electricity than he normally would. Any tenacity was removed, and he pushed on the weight with full force.
It didn't move. Instead, Kadir flew backwards.
He groped for control, reaching out for a handhold that wasn't there. In the process, he completely forgot to release the flow, and kept on conducting electricity until the last moment. He fell, then rolled, hitting the wall at a dead stop.
He heard Kirby call out in surprise, as well as Quentin and Katy. He got up, groaning and clutched his shoulder where he'd hit the wall. His back and neck hurt, but he smiled and put a thumbs-up. Katy appeared next to him, asking him if he was okay.
"Well, since Kadir is okay, we'll continue the tests," Kirby said over the speaker. "And, you are okay?" she asked, concerned. Kadir nodded, rubbing his shoulder still.
She sighed. "Kadir, go over with your sister. It is Quentin's turn."
Quentin's tests were mostly about strength and speed, which he accomplished easily. He could lift about five-hundred pounds with two arms, and run 30 mph at his fastest.
Katy's powers couldn't really be tested, at least that's what Kirby said. They did find out though that Katy had an increased voltage throughout her body, and that she could teleport other objects. Apparently Katy had an unusual amount of voltage in her brain, which probably allowed her to teleport.
"I wonder if I can teleport people?" Katy said, talking to herself. "I wouldn't be surprised," Quentin spoke. "I mean, you can teleport yourself, and other objects too right?"
Katy nodded. She didn't have to constantly be holding something in order to teleport it, she just had to touch it and it would disappear with a red flash, appearing somewhere else. She explained it as though it was a cost, or energy. The larger object she had to teleport, the more energy she had to output.
As a test, Katy teleported Kadir, a living human being, about ten feet away. She had already demonstrated that she could control where the teleported items ended up, but teleporting organic matter could be different.
"You ready?" she said. Kadir nodded, although he was pretty nervous.
Katy breathed out, then touched Kadirs’ shoulder with her full hand, and a red glow spread over his body from that point.
It was like a tingling sensation all over his body, but when the glow reached his eyes, there was all darkness.
A moment later, he could see white, and that was it. His stomach lurched and he felt sick. Slowly, his vision came back to where he was. Standing in the middle of the white room. He smiled sickly, then threw up on the white floor.
Katy, who had been reaching for his arm to congratulate him, drew back her hand in disgust, her eyes widening as Kadir started to dry heave.
He finished, clutching his stomach and shuffling over to the wall, where he sat down. "Can we not do that again?" Kadir said, grimacing at the sickly feeling in his stomach. Katy nodded, rubbing her hand where she had touched his shoulder.
Kirby walked off the platform, holding up her work-pad which probably displayed all the data that had been gained through these tests. She looked at them and smiled. "We're done for the day. You are free to go about your business." She looked at her work-pad again. "It's about two o'clock now, and we didn't call a lunch break."
Katy sighed in relief as the scientists pulled off the pads on her arms and face and carried off the equipment. Kirby exited through the main entrance leaving the three of them in the white room.
"Well?" Katy asked. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving."
Katy walked over to the opening of the room and telepor
ted out, jumping in mid-air and phasing into a red flash, a slight crashing sound commencing as the air around her sloshed to take the position of where she'd been.
Kadir shrugged and turned, snatching a small weight before a scientist could grab it. He ran out the door, following Quentin who'd gotten a head start. Kadir grinned and ran behind him, trying to match his inhuman pace and failing.
They turned a corner, and Kadir threw the weight against the wall, activating the flow against it. It pushed against the wall and he increased the flow, sending him flying down the hall.
He passed a surprised Quentin who stared at his brother who soared through the air, feet slightly brushing against the ground. As Kadir flew, the wall started coming closer to his body, and he crashed into it, releasing the flow and trying to land gracefully.
He didn't. He crashed against the ground, rolling and tumbling over himself. He laughed, rubbing the same shoulder that he'd hurt earlier.
Quentin quickened his pace, going insanely fast as he passed Kadir, smirking. Kadir laughed. He glimpsed Katy turn another corner down the hall, phasing out of view.
-----
When Kadir caught up, he found Katy and Quentin ordering their food. The person at the desk scanned the I.D. cards, and verified that you could actually get food.
Katy walked past him, grinning as she set down her plate, which had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, a bag of chips, applesauce, and a cookie as desert.
"Are you sure you can eat all of that?” Kadir questioned. “Mashed potatoes just seems more like a dinner food than a lunch food."
Katy grinned and took a chomp out of the fried chicken. Quentin sat down next to her, sporting a plate full of pancakes.
"Pancakes?" Kadir asked Quentin as he pulled out a fork and dug in. Quentin nodded, his mouth full of pure heaven. At least, that's what Quentin looked like.
