The Loner Page 10

  “Yes, sir.” I nod.

  “Okay, good. I’m going to touch your arms now and feel around real quick. Is that all right?”

  “Sure.”

  “Dr. Kresnik is a scanner type. His eyes allow for him to see energy signatures that human eyes can’t pick up. He also has the ability to shift his vision to something not too far off from current x-ray technology,” Brenda explains while Dr. Kresnik applies pressure to various parts of my forearm.

  “Wow, that must come in handy as a doctor,” I muse.

  “It’s one of the reasons that I became one in the first place.” Dr. Kresnik smiles. He continues for a bit—alternating the degree of pressure on different portions of my arm. Some hurt more than others, but it isn’t anything serious. Brenda took away most of my pain, making what I feel a little worse than a slight discomfort. “Hmm...it’s just what I thought.”

  “Is it bad?” I ask.

  “No. Not entirely.”

  “En...tirely?”

  “What we’re looking at here is a case of overexertion, so you were right on that assumption. Do you know how you came to this point? I’m assuming this is through multiple uses of your powers in quick succession.”

  “Yes.” I nod.

  “...At an intense level, at that. You said your powers recently awakened after a period of being dormant? This isn’t an outcome from that, correct?” Dr. Kresnik presses on my right forearm and I wince.

  “No. It came after. I went to the gym to see what I could do. It was somewhere safe where I could test my limits, but I guess I jumped the gun.”

  “Indeed, you did. It’s great to be enthusiastic about such things, it really is. A whole new world has opened up to you, but just like the famous explorers in the past, your expeditions into the unknown must be done with caution. Does that make sense?”

  “It does, yeah.” My head slightly sinks.

  “I understand that you wish to do well in your classes, but think of it like this... If you want to get stronger, do you lift the heaviest weight that you can only one time or do you slowly build up with calculated efforts over time? Doing too much too fast will only lead to injury. You may experience gains at first, but your body will suffer overtime. Progression, in anything really, is done by constant sustained effort. Athletes have been maimed from carelessness. The same also applies to us when we train our abilities. For example, using my enhanced sight for too long can lead to temporary blindness. I learned that lesson the hard way.”

  “Blindness?”

  “Yes, but with constant training and discipline, my body has become acclimated to the extra stress that my second sight brings. I wasn’t always like this. My powers have grown over the course of my career path and through experience. Yours will grow too, just as you do. Just give them time. Rushing, ironically, will only hinder your growth.”

  “I see. Thanks, Doc.” Dr. Kresnik releases my arms and adjusts his coat after stepping away.

  “I must be going now, but I hope I’ve made things clear. The key points in which your energy flows are inflamed, but they will heal, provided you don’t overexert yourself in the near future. Treat your body right, and injuries like this won’t be common for you. If you don’t however, the repetitive strain may cause lasting damage. There are a variety of abilities that are known in the world we live in. Ms. Brenda says that you project a flame...and while I haven’t seen anything like that before in my studies, I can tell you that it’s usually projection types that experience the most adverse effects from continued use of their abilities without proper rest. Exercise caution when using your gifts. Explore, test the waters, grow, but don’t do so haphazardly.”

  “I will. Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome.” Dr. Kresnik smiles. “Okay, well I must be going now. There’s something else that requires my attention. I hope my little lecture made things clearer for you. As a student here, you show great progress, but remember life isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon.” After he says that, Dr. Kresnik takes his leave without saying another word. Brenda closes the door behind him, leaving just us two in the room.

  “So, did that help?” she asks. “Dr. Kresnik does this sort of thing all of the time. Sorry if he left too quickly, it’s just that he’s very busy, both here and at his practice. His ability is very rare, and a lot of people need his help... He can be a bit stern at times, but he has good intentions.”

  “Yeah, everything made sense. I didn’t get that vibe from him at all. He seemed pleasant enough, but even if he was aggravated with me, I deserve it. I was being reckless. I’m lucky I didn’t seriously injure myself.”

  “Just remember to take it slow from here on out, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I will.”

  “You should be able to do normal movement and moderate lifting without feeling any intense pain, but that’s about all I can do. You should feel fine by tomorrow or the day after. The network that you channel your abilities through is a bit more complicated to heal. I hope you understand.”

  “I do.” I nod. “Thank you for everything... I’ll be sure to be more careful.”

  “Good luck with your studies!”

  After our conversation, Ms. Brenda escorts me back to the lobby, and I’m free to go. The rest of the day goes by without much of a struggle. With my body somewhat healed, navigating through the rest of the school day is much more bearable outside of some mild fatigue. Any pain that I did experience was an afterthought. My mind has a million other things that I need to sort out, and I can’t let some mild discomfort slow me down. There’s still work I need to do if I want to hold my own in the next combat exercise. My classmates know what I can do, and I almost took out one of the top performers in our class with a single hit. I won’t be able to coast through from now on. I wasn’t before but being powerless made me float under the radar. Tristen wouldn’t have been so careless if he knew what I could do from the start. I can’t even use my powers and move at the same time. My powers still require me to focus to bring them out. Looking back at it, I understand now why Mr. Hoover wanted me to practice turning them on and off. If I would have listened to him, my body would have eventually gotten used to the stress my flames put on it, and summoning them would feel more natural. There was that one time when Summer tried to shoot me—when I just reacted—but that was a fluke. Ugh, I don’t know why I didn’t think to ask her how she made her ice into a bullet. She’s a projector type just like me... I know visualizing is a component of projection, but there’s an action—a missing link—that I’m stuck on. If I could use my flame as a long-range projectile, I can provide support for my team or even fend off anyone who’s at close range. If I positioned myself correctly, I wouldn’t have to move much either, so that’d solve my mobility problem. I prefer close-range combat, but with my powers, I should be able to fight at any range. I know I’m most effective up close, but once I work on developing my skills, I should be flexible. It’s a strength of most projection types. I need to do more research...

  “Yo, what’s up, A? You all right?” The first thing that I hear once I walk into my dorm is Tyler’s voice. My thoughts had carried me through most of the day, but somehow Tyler always seems to have a way of bringing me back to reality. Judging by his question, I must have been really out of it. He stares at me with a furrowed brow, his attention away from the computer screen.

  “I’m good. Just happy that the day’s over with. It was a long one, you know?”

  “Yeah, I meant to ask you earlier... I heard a loud thump this morning and thought you fell out of your bed or something. Was that you?”

  “It was. I had a rough day yesterday at the gym. I overdid it...and then I had the smart idea to spar with one of my classmates. It was a free period, so I wanted to make the most of it.”

  “You did good, right?”

  “I got destroyed. I overused my powers yesterday—my body isn’t used to using them—so I didn’t use them at all.”

  “Geez, bro.”

 
; “It’s not as bad as it sounds. It was dumb, but I wasn’t against another projection type. His power is extreme durability. I actually had the chance to hit him as hard as I could... And before you say anything else, I don’t need a lecture. Trust me. I’m never going to fight with a handicap like that ever again.”

  “You did go to the infirmary, right? Please tell me you did. If you don’t know where it is, I can take you.”

  “No need. Already handled it. They said I should be good in a day or so.”

  “So, what’s the problem? Tristen bothering you again?”

  “No, it’s not that. He’s been on the sidelines. It’s something else. I...don’t know what to do now. Like, how to progress. My body isn’t used to the stress that projecting my energy creates, and on top of that, when I do it, it restricts my movements. It’s like juggling knives. If I don’t try hard enough, the energy fades, but if I focus on it too much, I can’t do anything else. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that it’s hard for me to hold a conversation and keep my energy active.” I sigh as I shift my weight in frustration. “And when I do, I can’t shoot my energy like I did when I fought Tristen.”

  “That’s rough... So, what can you do?”

  “This.” I lift my hand and summon a tiny flame in my palm. “I can make it grow bigger, or smaller, like so.” I give it a little juice to make it grow, but I’m mindful of my ongoing recovery. “This is nowhere near my max, but you get the idea, right?” The dark flame evaporates at my command, and wisps of energy flicker through the air around us well after I clench my fist. “I can...I don’t know...force the flames to grow, but I can’t get much range from it. I haven’t really gotten around to trying out its destructive power either.”

  “...Yeah...I can see how that can be a problem. Have you tried talking to anyone else in your class who’s a projection type?”

  “Summer’s the best one that I know, and her advice kind of sucked. She said it was like wiggling your ears or something like that. I mean, I get what she meant, but really?”

  “I dunno, maybe you should learn how to wiggle your ears and apply it to your training.” Tyler shrugs.

  “Not a chance. I think I was on the right track with going to the gym, the only thing I did wrong was push myself too hard. I need to build up my ability to channel but leave it at that. Nothing fancy.”

  “Or you could try to press Summer for some more information. She’s your friend, right?”

  “I honestly think she doesn’t know. It just seems so natural to her. How do you explain walking to someone? Put one foot in front of the other...but there are a million other things that come into play for that to happen. If I press her, she’d just get aggravated and hit me. Today, she got mad at me for talking to the other team, so she pulled a gun on me.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “Well, she made her finger into a gun and tried to shoot me with an ice-bullet.”

  “She actually fired it? I’d be mad as shit if someone tried to shoot me.”

  “If it hit me, yeah, she’d get an earful, but I was able to block it with my powers. I swiped my hand in front of me, like cutting the air, and my flames disintegrated it before it could reach me. I know that my flames are pure energy, but Mr. Hoover told me that they don’t produce a heat signature. What also gets me is that Mr. Hoover said that when my powers activated through the combat exercise, they ate through Kaci’s telekinetic barrier.”

  “So, your powers can negate other powers?”

  “No...at least I don’t think so. I jumped to the same conclusion. I think my energy is just...dense.”

  “Most Projectors can adjust the intensity of their abilities on a whim, you know. You just did it.”

  “True. I’m just spouting theories, man. I really don’t know what my next move is. Everyone else in my class has a head start on me when it comes to this. They had time for their powers to mature before they enrolled.”

  “If I were you, I’d focus on what you can do, and master it. Study the other projector types you see in your class and around campus and try to do what they do. Maybe spar with one of them or watch some of the upperclassmen at the gym. You might get some ideas. I wish I could help more, but that’s all I got.”

  “It’s cool. Don’t sweat it. I’ll think of something.” I use those as my parting words and head to my room. After I close the door, the fatigue from my healing really starts to kick in. I was sure to eat dinner before turning in for the day to aide in my recovery, but it turns out that I need sleep more than anything else.

  Sleep doesn’t come to me immediately once I get into bed. I want to sleep, but my mind is too busy trying to come up with ways to close the gap in skill I have with the other students. Summer’s the best projector that I know, and she wasn’t that great of a help. Maybe I should try asking her again...

  I dwell on my thoughts some more in the darkness until my phone vibrates on my chest, taking me out of my train of thought. I flip my phone over and see a notification—an email from Mr. Hoover. It’s the write up he promised earlier that’s supposed to help us prepare for our next combat exercise.

  I skim through his notes, and it’s basically a more refined version of what he told me in my performance review. There’s an outline of my powers, a brief summary of what we discussed that day, and what I should focus on in order to improve... Control. There’s also a paragraph at the bottom reminding me to contact him if I need anything and not to be discouraged by temporary setbacks. Just from the way he worded the last bit I can tell that he witnessed my thrashing by Wayne’s hands. Great. I shouldn’t have assumed that he didn’t. Everyone else did.

  This is a setback, but it’s hardly the end. I’m going to give my body a full day to recover, but after that, I’m going to find a way to hold my own against the other students and push my limits even further. There’s no way that I’m going to get left behind.

  ****

  The extra shuteye did my body good. I woke up the following morning refreshed and determined to step up my game. Classes came and went, some faster than others. I had a good grasp on the written material that the academy offered. My mind wasn’t my problem. It’s my physical performance. Even still, I gave it my all during the lectures, taking notes and asking the right questions—anything to help the day go by quicker so that I can face-off against my real challenge—bettering myself before the next combat exercise.

  After I finished up my classes and ate dinner, I changed and headed straight for the gym to continue where I left off from my last training session. Six days is hardly enough time to master something, but I can lay down the building blocks. I have an idea about how I can compete until I get better, but first, I need to train my body to be able to handle it. I’m still not sure what it’ll do to me, but there’s only one way to find out.

  The next two weeks are going to be hell, but they’ll be worth it.

  Chapter 8

  The grip of my fist tightens while I wait in anticipation with the rest of my class, power surging through them beneath the surface of my skin. I can feel every wave. Every ripple. Every pulse. Everyone here is sticking to themselves, unsure of what’s to come. It would have been better for our nerves if we showed up on time instead of being early. The wait is hard enough.

  “All right class, today is the day I’m sure you’ve all been looking forward to—your second ABT exercise.” Mr. Hoover walks into the room and all eyes fall on him. “The rules will be the same as last time. You will be divided into teams with the primary objective of neutralizing the opposing team’s leader...” As Mr. Hoover continues to speak, I think about the past week and my odds of pulling off another win. The answer I’d been seeking had been in front of me the whole time. Tristen, of all people, was the one who first sparked the idea, Summer cemented it, and I made it my own. I just hope it’s enough. I even arranged a quick meeting with Dr. Kresnik to make sure that what I was doing was safe. He gave me the okay, but he told me to be careful and not push myself too f
ar with my new technique. If I would have caught on sooner, I would have had more time to refine my attack. The best I could do is get the fundamentals down and work on improving my stamina. “...For this session, your teams will be the same as the last time you all fought. You should all know your teammates better by now, so I expect a greater depth of teamwork from when your teams made their debut. Your individual skills should have also improved. Are there any questions before I post the pairings?” Mr. Hoover looks up from his tablet and scans the room briefly. No one says a word. “Your team colors are the same as last session, so interpret the pairings as such. If there is any confusion, your HUD should display everything you need once it syncs with our server. Just like last time, you will have five minutes to rally with your team and choose your leader. An additional twenty minutes will also be given to discuss strategy. Also note the number on the top left portion of your screen. It’s your sector number for your combat zone.” Mr. Hoover taps his tablet and my wrist vibrates—a notification came through. “I wish you all the best. Remember to put on your cowls and try your best to not inflict fatal injuries. Ms. Cosgrove and I will be on standby, and the medical staff knows that we have exercises planned for today.”

  “Mr. Hoover,” a student asks from the crowd, “where is Ms. Cosgrove?”

  “She’ll be here in time for the exercise. There were other matters on campus that required her attention. Any other questions?” I look down at the display and see everything that Mr. Hoover discussed. My team’s names are on the left, and our competition is on the right. The Grey Team—Roy, Clarissa, and Von. Even though the teachers balanced the teams, I don’t have a good feeling about this. They’re individually strong and even better as a team. “Okay then, if there are no further questions, your time begins now.” The HUD on my wrist vibrates and the clock flashes before beginning to tick down. Mr. Hoover doesn’t waste any time leaving for the observation deck to make preparations of his own. After that, the students who aren’t with their groups make a beeline to reunite with their teams.