Chapter 18

Abilities

I don't remember much of the rest of the day. It seemed like once the first three went, the other trio had instant shifts for the better. Simone went from coughing over and over again to tossing aside her mask and doing cartwheels down the center of the room, laughing.

We all watched in fascination as Elle started to swell and fill out. The transformation was shocking not only because it was so visible, but how fast it happened. By the time my father arrived at a dead run, panting and with a handful of his staff behind him, Billy was getting out of bed with a huge smile on his face.

I spun on my father and tried to contain the excitement I felt.

"I guess you need to take your own advice more often," I said.

"You think?" His eyes shone behind his glasses.

"They just needed more time," I said.

Dad examined each of the kids, still at it when the general arrived. Mill marched to my father, cigar bobbing as he chewed it with vigor.

"Tell me it worked," he said.

Dad leaned back from listening to Billy's heart. "So far, so good."

"Any super abilities, yet?" The general seemed anxious and I tried to put myself in his position. He approved what had to be a very expensive program. If there wasn't anything to show for it he would be forced to answer a lot of very uncomfortable questions. If not a court martial, though I was only guessing. Not that I cared, considering he treated us almost as badly as my father, but I could at least understand his need to know.

"Yes," Dad said, rising and going to Andre. "Say hello to the general, son."

"Hi," Andre said.

"So?" Mill's mustache twitched.

"Say hello in German." Dad said.

"Guten Tag."

"Try Cantonese."

"Jou san."

"How about Danish?"

"Davs."

Mill shook his head. "I don't understand," he said around his cigar.

Dad patted Andre on the shoulder. "This boy couldn't hear or speak a short time ago, Harrison. And now he knows any language. I'd say it's pretty super, wouldn't you?"

Mill gaped at him.

The general continued to hover the rest of the day, ordering a chair brought in so he could observe the rest of the changes in the kids. I pretty much ignored him and focused on the group evolving around me.

It wasn't long before the adults passed out. My father, Abigail and even the general, snoring away with his chin on his chest, missed the best part, in my estimation. I continued to help the others test their strength and abilities, delighted Elle could fly. Philip's super hearing showed up soon after. The only other kid who manifested a specific gift, it turned out, was Tosh, who could see things at a great distance when he focused.

Not that anyone was disappointed in those first few hours. We were all so excited, so close, each of us celebrated every success whether it happened to one or the other.

When my father roused himself from his collapse on Tosh's bed, a few things were made abundantly clear. We were eager to share, so much we crowded around him in a giggling pack.

"What? What's going on?" He sat up, adjusting his glasses, blinking a few times to shake off the last of his weariness. "Wyatt?"

I grinned so wide I felt like my face would split in half.

"It's awesome, Dad!"

"What is?" He slid from the bed, the pool of kids melting back from him.

"What we can do, Dr. Simons," Elle said. She wasn't just cute anymore, blue eyes now crystal clear, long blonde hair rippling like silk down her back. I tried not to think about how much she'd changed. It made me blush too much.

"Such as?" Dad was all scientist again.

"Oh, let's see," Tosh tapped his chin with his fingertips. "Um, how about being really strong? Or seeing stuff far away up close?"

"Invincible is a good one," Philip chimed in.

"I can fly!" Elle dimpled.

"Not me," Billy said. Most of his bitterness faded away, but I noticed he still hung back from the rest of us and wondered why.

"I have super hearing!" Philip said.

"How wonderful." My father wrote on a clipboard he rescued from the messy covers. "Anyone else?"

"We're wondering about Andre," Elle said.

He smiled at my father. "Yes, sir," he said, deep voice very soft and smooth like cream.

"I think I have an answer," my father said. He focused on Andre in silence, frowning like he was concentrating on something.

"Well," Andre said, as if answering a question. "It's just there, you know? Like it's in my head without me thinking about it."

We all stared, everyone but Dad.

"Thought so," he said, writing away.

"What?" Andre looked confused.

"Dude," Tosh said, "Dr. Simons didn't say a thing and you answered him."

"You're a telepath, my boy," Dad said. "Pure and simple. What a gift. No wonder you were able to instantly absorb the world around you after never having been in that position. Your talent filled in the gaps the moment you registered there was something different."

Elle hugged him while the rest of us, minus Billy I noticed, offered our congratulations.

"What about the rest of us?" Billy's old attitude crept back in. It ticked me off a bit. We had been a tight unit for such a short time. I worried then his true nature might be showing through. Then the worry transferred to the rest of my new friends.

What would becoming super do to them? I had to admit, it had to be the last thing I considered when this whole thing began. But it sat in the back of my mind from that point on. It hadn't changed me for the worse. At least, I liked to think it didn't, and I hoped I was just being paranoid.

My father was oblivious. "Time will tell," he admitted to their eager faces. "It took several days for Wyatt to finish his transformation. The same is probably true for you."

"Except what we've gone through was nothing like what he did," Billy said. The look he shot me had a certain arrogance I didn't particularly care for.

"True," Dad said. "But as you've proved to me, time is the teacher. Now, I'd like to set a testing schedule for all of you." He turned his back on me and huddled in with the others. All of a sudden, I was an outsider again. His physical rejection was so painful I backed away, furious and hurt. I was as much a part of what was going on as they were. Why was I all of a sudden excluded from his grand plans?

I saw Abigail approach out of the corner of my eye and let her hug me.

"Good boy," she whispered.

***