“Okay, thanks. Well, if you notice anything unusual, please call the police immediately.”
“Sure…um…out of curiosity, when you say unusual, are you talking, like, Blue Spekter unusual?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Okay, well, I haven’t, but if I do, I will definitely call the police.”
“Thanks, have a great night!”
Blake turned and headed away from the scene. Now I know they’re looking for me, too.
13 | Practice Makes Perfect
Quinn
QUINN FINISHED WASHING HIS HANDS and dried them on a towel. At last, the busy morning and early afternoon shift at Breaking New Grounds had ended and Quinn said goodbye to his coworkers, glad to be finished working for the day. His next event was much more exciting. He pulled his sweatshirt on and strapped on his bike helmet, then left the building through the employee exit. He looked up the street toward Kaffee Vonsolln, but he knew Blake wasn’t there. He sighed and walked to the bike stand in Market Square. Once he unlocked his bike, he jumped on it and pedaled away.
Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the empty field behind Sagamore Hill to meet with Mr. St. Germain. The field was completely surrounded by trees with no line-of-sight to any house or building. Quinn would only have to keep his ears peeled for the sound of footsteps approaching from the woods or the private drive nearby.
His mentor was already waiting for him in the field and when they shook hands, Mr. St. Germain wrinkled his nose. “Wow, you smell like wicked strong dark roast coffee, only its slightly burnt and sweaty.”
Quinn laughed. “Well, I’ve been brewing in it all day and I’m living up to my teenage stereotype by being sweaty and gross, especially after work.”
“Good thing we’re outside, then” Mr. St. Germain commented, chuckling. “Okay, first things first. Any new powers?”
“No, that’s been kind of quiet. I think the existing powers are getting stronger, though. I can fly much faster now. I also seem to recover from working out or any strenuous activity really quick.”
“Okay.”
“The thing that’s annoying me is the glowing part. Like, I can use the water powers in the shower or turn invisible without glowing—eyes or body—but when I do other things, my eyes glow. When I fly, my entire body glows. I want to be able to turn that on and off. Sometimes I think it’s about the amount of power I’m using.”
“Show me the invisibility again?” Mr. St. Germain asked, grinning. “I only saw it at night in the baseball field.”
Quinn smiled and disappeared.
“That is so damn cool!”
Quinn reappeared, and Mr. St. Germain clapped his hands. “Okay, so no glowing eyes with invisibility, which intuitively makes sense…but I’m not ready to assume your powers have a mind of their own. You said something about the amount of power…do certain things take more out of you?”
“Well, flying is really the only one, I think…like if I want to go faster.”
“So, the more power you use, the brighter you glow?”
“Exactly.”
“Can you feel or sense any of the glowing?”
“Yup. I can make my eyes glow; I can feel it somewhere behind my eyes.” Quinn turned on his eyes and they glowed blue.
Mr. St. Germain shook his head and smiled. “I will never get tired of seeing that. Do Blake’s eyes glow?”
“Yes, but they glow orange.”
“Right, okay, I remember now. Turn your eyes off?”
Quinn relaxed and made his eyes stop glowing.
“What did you just do?”
“Um, I just turned them off?”
Mr. St. Germain shifted his stance, tapping his mind and heart as he spoke. “What I meant was, what do you think about or feel?”
“I guess I just calmed myself.”
His mentor nodded sagely. “I bet you were pretty excited when you flew up to save the falling man and when you grabbed the bomber from downtown?”
Quinn nodded.
“What did you do with the guy’s bomb, anyway?”
“When I flew out over the ocean, I ripped it off the guy and threw it as far out as I could. It ended up exploding in midair miles away.”
Mr. St. Germain nodded and walked around in a circle. Quinn absentmindedly watched the hay compress under his footsteps.
“So, um, if you get excited you start to glow…does it happen with any kind of excitement?”
“No, it seems to be connected to my brain knowing I’m about to go super.”
“Do you have an example of non-super excitement?”
Quinn blushed. “Well, I got pretty excited when Keegan asked me to the Homecoming Dance.”
Mr. St. Germain beamed with pride. “Congrats, that’s a big step for you.”
“Thanks,” Quinn answered, embarrassed. “The only thing that happens when I’m excited to be around him is flickering light bulbs around me. I can’t help it, but uh, I seem to get a little more explosive when I think about him, uh, romantically.”
“But no glowing?”
“Nope.”
“So, just brainstorming out loud here, but it seems knowing plus excitement equals glowing. How did you turn your eyes on?”
Quinn shrugged. “Well, I learned how to turn those on and off at will, but they still come on when my body glows. Honestly, I just think about turning them on. My eyes are kinda like a light switch, I guess.”
“Okay, where I’m going with this is, if you try to stay calm, you might be able to keep the glowing down to a minimum or not at all. That could come in really handy if you’re in public and don’t want to call attention to yourself. Not glowing would be extremely useful to Blake when he wants to use his telekinesis.”
“Yeah,” Quinn answered softly, looking down and away.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh, well, Blake and I had a big fight last night…” Quinn shared everything he knew about Blake’s choice to work with Victor Kraze and The Order. “And all of that,” Quinn said, wrapping up his explanation, “is why he wasn’t in school. I think he will start missing more school in the future. He’d rather be up there with his new friends than down here with us.” With me…
“I see,” Mr. St. Germain responded, sighing. “I’m sorry he’s chosen that path for now. The school won’t be very forgiving with too many absences. I hope this doesn’t bite him in the ass.”
“Me too.”
“Okay, so try something. I think if you try to stay mentally calm, you can keep your eyes and body from glowing. It will take practice, I'm sure, but eventually you should be able to tap into the moment and discover a way to control the glow. At least, this is how it seems your powers work.”
“Okay,” Quinn answered.
“So, I want you to levitate only a few inches off the ground. Keep your mind calm and focused.”
Quinn nodded and took a deep breath, focusing his mind. As he thought about lifting off the ground, he felt power surge through his body and told his mentor about it.
“Great, so try to let the power be its own thing and not a burst of adrenaline.”
“Okay.” He focused again and lifted off the ground, trying to do what his mentor suggested.
“You're glowing, but not super bright like the YouTube videos of Blue Spekter in action.” Mr. St. Germain said.
Dammit.
“Stay in the air and focus. Meditate or think about ocean waves or a basket of puppies.”
Quinn giggled and then stilled his mind, allowing it to be lulled by the imaginary ocean waves he envisioned. At the moment, his eyes weren't the problem; he could tell those were not glowing, but he hadn't figured out how to sense whether his body was glowing or not.
“Still glowing.”
Quinn groaned with annoyance.
“No, don’t get frustrated; you don’t need to add difficulty to this. There’s a reason you have track practice almost every day, so this should not be treated any differently than that.”
“Hey, try something. Think about flying up to save the falling man or dashing to save the town from the crazy bomb guy.”
He nodded and remembered how awesome it felt to soar up in front of all those people and catch the falling man.
“Whoa!” Mr. St. Germain called out. “Okay, that’s like, super bright. We’re getting somewhere now, even if it’s in the opposite direction.”
❖
Blake
At eleven in the morning, Blake stepped out of the black SUV with his two escorts who shuttled him back to Rangeley. Victor opened the front door of the stone house and smiled at him. “Hi, Blake, welcome back. I’m glad Mother Superior didn’t scare you away.”
“Hello, Abbot,” Blake said with amusement, stepping into the former home-turned-museum.
Victor chuckled. “I know the titles seem strange at first, but trust me, they become second nature just like military ranks. I hope the drive wasn’t too boring this time?”
“Did you talk to your men or something?” Blake asked.
Victor smiled. “When you told me how boring it was, I asked them to be a bit more conversant. Were they?”
Blake nodded as they walked through the house to the hidden elevator that would take them to the underground facility. “Yeah, they’re interesting guys. Are all your men ex-military mercenaries?”
Victor chuckled again as he pulled on the secret book. “Not quite. While most of the men are ex-military, none of them are mercenaries. They’re full-time hires with benefits.”
They made idle chit-chat until the elevator doors opened and they stepped into the reception area. “Your librarian isn’t working today?” Blake asked, remembering her title.
“Nope, she only works weekdays unless there’s a need for weekend work. Other people are here, though. You’ll meet them soon enough. This way.”
Blake followed Victor through the security doors opposite the elevator into the hallway he had seen before. Victor stopped in front of the third door on the right, which opened automatically. “Okay, today we're going to start with a bunch of physical tests. I promise you, none of them resemble human experimentation at all. They are more like fitness tests so we can discover your strengths and limitations.”
Blake followed Victor into a state-of-the-art locker room, complete with showers, toilet stalls, a futuristic looking locker stack, and a changing area. Victor stopped in front of one of the lockers and pressed his thumb on the biometric reader. It beeped and clicked open. He pulled the door open and checked the locker’s contents. Satisfied, he shut the door before Blake could see and tapped at the controls.
“Okay, place your thumb here for two seconds and the locker will become yours.”
Blake did as he was told until the red ring light around his thumb blinked blue. He pulled his thumb off and looked at Victor. The lights turned red again.
“Now, put your thumb on it once more.”
Blake pressed the thumb panel and the red ring light flashed and turned green as the locker unlocked. “That’s really cool.”
Victor smiled. “Today, we’ll get your handprint scanned into the system so you can walk around the facility with more independence. We took an educated guess at your clothing sizes and there are some gym clothes in here for you. We're going to start with fitness tests, so you can change into these and keep the clothes you’re wearing fresh and clean.”
“Okay, thanks,” Blake said.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” Victor said.
“Not an issue,” Blake answered, pulling off his T-shirt and sweatshirt in one motion. I’m used to changing in the locker room at school.”
“Uh, okay. That was an experience I always hated. So, as a heads up, the first test will be running. The team will be attaching a number of sensors and electrodes to your torso, so you won’t need to wear your shirt right away.”
“Okay,” Blake said, unbuckling the belt on his jeans.
Victor turned away and walked to the other side of the room and stood near the sinks. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started tapping at it.
Blake looked at the new athletic clothing in the locker; white ankle-length socks, a new pair of blue and orange Nike running sneakers, black running shorts, and a moisture-wicking white tank top.
Not bad!
After he changed, he put his clothes in the locker, along with his phone, figuring he wouldn’t need it. When he closed the locker, it beeped and clicked. The green ring light around the thumb-print scanner turned red.
He turned around, tank top in hand. Victor was still tapping at his phone.
“All set,” Blake answered.
“Great, let’s go,” Victor responded, pocketing his smartphone.
Back in the hallway, Blake followed Victor to the last door on the left—the one just before the antiquated elevator that descended to the reactor core. The door slid open and they stepped into a large room. The label on the doorframe indicated it was the workshop.
“Good morning, Blake, it’s great to see you again,” a familiar voice said.
I remember that doctor’s voice…she was in the hospital when Quinn and I woke up and added to the complicated story of what happened to us. You started telling us about the museum before Victor walked in…what the hell is going on here?
When Victor stepped out of the way, Blake’s eyes landed on a smiling Doctor Amy Madison from Rangeley Medical. She wore a white lab coat and held a tablet in her left hand.
“Blake, I believe you know Dr. Madison,” Victor said. “I’m sorry to surprise you like this, but I hope by now you understand the need for absolute discretion in our operations and the manner in which we induct you into The Order.”
“So, you don’t work for the hospital?” Blake asked, folding his arms across his bare chest. Now I see why Quinn doesn’t trust Victor…
“Oh, I do, Blake,” Dr. Madison replied. “I also work for Victor from time-to-time.”
“What’s your special Order title?”
Dr. Madison smiled. “I’m the Infirmerer.”
“At least that one kind of makes sense,” Blake responded, chuckling.
She gestured to the dark-skinned woman standing next to her wearing scrubs and a lab coat. “I believe you also know, Nadia, my medical assistant. She’ll be working with us today and helping with the medical aspects of your tests.”
“Hello, Mister Blake,” Nadia said with a nod.
“Hi.”
Dr. Madison continued speaking. “Arik and Miguel, the nursing assistants who took care of you at the hospital, will be here shortly. They also work for me and assist with the technical aspects of what we do here.”
Blake nodded and answered, dryly, “Small world.”
Dr. Madison smiled. “Indeed. Okay, let’s begin. If you wouldn’t mind taking off your running shoes, I’m going to start by collecting a series of at-rest vitals and some bloodwork, so we have a baseline upon which to compare as we move through the day’s tests.”
Good luck with the blood work, Doc.
Blake untied and stepped out of his sneakers, then set his tank top on top of them. Victor walked over to a table with a sophisticated workstation that gave him a birds-eye view of everything in the workshop. Blake looked around the spacious workshop as he walked over to the scale. Its walls where white, matching those of the rest of the facility. It hosted a number of different kinds of workstations, terminals, and other equipment Blake didn’t recognize.
Dr. Madison recorded his height, weight, and used calipers at different places on his person to determine his body fat composition. Then, she checked over his body, asking him questions about his medical history and his physical appearance, including tattoos (he had none), freckles, or scars that might have changed since his exposure to orgone energy. Noting his muscular physique and visibly toned abs, she asked him about his fitness regimen.
“I run a lot because I’m on the track team at school. Training usually
involves some weightlifting, Yoga, stretching, and some cross-fit type workouts, but to be honest, my muscles have doubled in size since the accident. I’m a runner, not a weightlifter.”
“Not that I’ll be asking questions about your friend too much, but has Quinn experienced similar muscle gain?”
Blake nodded. “Yeah, from what I’ve seen changing in the locker room at school, we both look like super-sexy fitness models now.”
Dr. Madison smiled. “Okay, thank you. You can put your shoes back on. Nadia is going to draw some blood.”
Blake chuckled.
“Something funny?” Nadia asked, smirking at him. Then her eyes opened wide with understanding. “Oh, are you afraid of needles, perhaps?”
“Nope, not at all,” he answered, grinning. “You’ll see.”
She smiled at him and extended her hand toward a round stool near her workstation. “This way, Mister Blake,” Blake walked over and hopped on it, ignoring his sneakers.
“Oh my, you have been given some very good veins,” Nadia said in a soothing voice, tapping Blake’s arm. She strapped the tourniquet over his bicep and prepared the needle vacutainer and two vials. “I only need to collect two samples right now, we don’t need lower blood levels affecting your tests today, now do we?”
After rubbing the penetration area over the vein with an alcohol swab, Nadia steadied the needle and pressed it forward. It stopped when it hit Blake’s skin.
“Ouch,” Blake said, feeling a slight pinch.
“Sorry, Mister Blake,” Nadia said, dumbfounded. “That should have gone inside the vein. One more try.”
Her curiosity peaked, Dr. Madison turned and watched as Nadia pressed the needle forward again. This time, it bent, refusing to penetrate his skin. Nadia stopped, dumbfounded.
“Bulletproof skin, Nadia. You’ll never get that needle in me.”
“Really?” Nadia said, sitting back and looking Blake over with astonishment. At his desk, Victor smiled and wrote something down.
“Well, okay then,” Dr. Madison said, surprised and amused. “Let’s forgo the blood work and get you hooked up to some monitors so we can start the physical tests.”
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