The results of the test

François was the closest to Eléonore. The latter walked toward him, intending to give him the orb.

It was apparent that he was scared of coming close to the orb. Eléonore took in his fear. She said: "Don't worry, you can hold the orb inside your hands; it's perfectly safe. I was scared of touching it at first, but it's not dangerous at all!"

She then passed the shining orb into François's hand.

François carefully took the orb and then gently rolled it in his hands.

"It's neither hot nor cold, and it feels weightless," François observed.

Altin, Paul, and Julien looked eagerly at the ball. They looked forward to touching it as well.

Noticing the kids were intensely focused on the orb, Pascal instructed: "To test your affinity towards it, relax as much as you can. Then, look for a tingling sensation in your brain. Focus on it, to the point it seems to grow stronger. Then, imagine THAT feeling in your hand holding the orb. This will allow the 5th force to manifest in your hand."

François took several deep breathes and executed.

A minute passed. Nothing.

Seeing François was about to lose patience, Juliette softly advised: "The trick is to not want the feeling to appear in your hand, but to convince yourself it's already here. This way, it will really appear."

Pascal nodded in approval. He was proud of his daughter. She had the talent to feel it and control it.

François focused...

Suddenly, the ball raised in the air and stayed about 30cm high for a few seconds. Then it fell. François had succeeded.

"Gravity is the easiest force to affect, but few can do it on the first try! Good job!" Pascal congratulated. "Please give the ball to your friend on the left."

The ball came into Julien's hands.

Five whole minutes passed.

But nothing happened. Julien was disappointed. Did he have no affinity towards the mysterious fifth force?

"It's fine. It took me months to do something with it." Marie felt sympathy for Julien. She felt the two were similar in some ways.

"Thanks. I'll eventually understand it, I swear it!" Julien replied.

Julien gave the orb to Paul.

Paul focused on the orb, drawing inspiration from his memory inside the black hole. Building upon his experience, he started to feel the tingling again. It was so much more easier! With the orb in his hands, he felt as if a connection had been created.

FLASH! The ball "flashed" a wave of darkness which immediately retracted.

"Wow, wow, excellent affinity. Stop for now." Pascal stated.

"Impressive," Isabelle, sitting next to Marie, commented.

"I've never seen that before on the first try," Marc exclaimed. He was on the left couch with Jérémy.

Paul felt proud of the result. He had been depressed given his poor performances in the black hole. However, just now, he had been proven he was, in fact, talented.

He smiled smugly at his friends.

Altin was surprised by the result, and in fact, a bit jealous...

&

It shifted to Altin's turn.

When the ball came into contact with Altin's hand, he felt a strange sense of familiarity. He felt like he had felt the exact same sensation before.

Not only he felt tingling in the back of his head, but he also felt something akin to it all the way from his head to the hand holding the ball.

He closed his eyes...

He willed the feeling to concentrate fully on his hand.

BOOM!

Darkness and electric arcs surged in great mass from the orb at an incredible rate.

Sssszzzzz

"DROP IT!" Pascal shouted.

The orb fell to the floor, but nobody cared.

The room was silent. The orb's reaction had been fast and tremendously large in size, so much that the darkness and the electric arcs had spread for two meters.

For a second, Altin didn't register what had happened.

The next, he felt his whole arm hurting. It was hot and numb.

"I'm sorry..." Altin apologized. He really was: he had not wanted to create such a reaction. But, nevertheless, he felt guilty, and his face showed it clearly; his gaze was downward, and his eyebrows were arched.

"Woww... You're amazing." Eléonore didn't seem afraid. Instead, she praised Altin. For her, that had been very exciting.

"You lack control too much." Juliette scowled.

Pascal stood up and walked to the orb. He squatted to fetch it from the floor. He told Altin: "Well, Altin, maybe you should stay a distance away from the orb for now. Can you and your friends wait outside for a moment? We need to discuss something privately. Eléonore, please also step away from the room. Please escort them to the guest bedroom."

"I think you went a bit overboard, Altin," Julien whispered to Altin.

"I didn't do it on purpose..." Altin justified.

The four boys and Eléonore walked to the bedroom. They first passed through a large hall ornated with Middle Age iron knights statues before finally reaching a golden room with a luxurious king bed.

"Can you imagine what it feels like to sleep on this bed. ?" Altin said to no one in particular.

"Should be much better than the dorm's bed," François said.

Paul and Julien simply nodded.

Eléonore, who was leading the way, laughed. She said:

"It feels like sleeping on a cloud. You guys would be fortunate to enjoy the room; my grandfather rarely invites guests overnight."

"Who comes here usually?" Julien asked.

"Members of the association or family friends," Eléonore replied. "But since the anomalies began, fewer people have come to visit us. Everyone is busy."

"Um." Julien nodded.

"What do you think they're talking about it?" Altin asked Eléonore.

She arched an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious? You. And probably what to do with you. The anomaly you generated went really overboard, you know. Even I felt a bit numb, despite standing away from you. I felt terrified when the darkness enveloped me."

"I... didn't do on purpose. It simply happened. I really want to join the association and study the orb more. Do you think I'll be given a chance?" Altin pleaded.

Eléonore looked silently at Altin. It was hard to reject his plea. "Maybe. Pascal and Marie will decide."

"What about the rest of us? Do you think we can study the orb even if Altin can't?" Paul asked.

"There shouldn't be any problem for you, François, and..." Eléonore paused to remember the name of the last boy. "Julien, right?"

"Right." He was disappointed that the girl hadn't paid much attention to him.

The five teenagers waited in the guest bedroom for about an hour. They talked during that time of their school life and the feeling the fifth force gave them.

That's how they learned Eléonore had lived in wealth all her life. Since her grandmother, Marie, successfully patented a critical application of the gas she was studying, she had earned a steady stream of profits from a billion-dollar company. The boys envied her. They felt they lived in two different worlds.

***

Finally, they were invited back into the living room.

Pascal laid there standing. He waited for the teens to sit and said:

"Altin, you have without a doubt the most outstanding talent that we've seen so far. So exceptional that it's even dangerous. You must learn how to control it. Juliette is now in charge of teaching you. Congratulations, Juliette, you got yourself an apprentice." Pascal announced.

Altin looked at Juliette. He reddened a little bit at the thought of being taught by her. To him, Juliette was already an adult full of confidence and experience. He, however, felt insignificant and shy of strangers.

Juliette had a good impression of the boy, and together they may be able to make progress on mastering the force. For this reason, although she had initially disagreed during the debate earlier, she had finally caved in.

Pascal continued to announce the association's decision. "We would like to invite all of you at least once a week here, on the weekend. Juliette, Eléonore, and Marie live here. Other members and I sometimes visit. We would like you to strengthen your sensitivity towards the 5th force and eventually control it."

"Our association was founded to research the 5th force as much as possible. We strive to remain a secret association. However, the world has changed. We believe that understanding and mastering it is of extreme urgency. If one of us becomes trapped in an anomaly, for instance, we will need your help to get out alive."

Pascal looked at Marie. "Marie has already started to send anonymous reports on the 5th force to the government."

He went on: "You have already come into contact with the 5th force, and some of you have tremendous talents. We need your help. I also believe you need ours. You will be able to train in the vicinity of the orb whenever you come, on the condition that one of us is with you. 0ur training sessions are on mostly on Saturday or Sunday."

Pascal took out four sheets of paper. "If you agree, you must sign these four non-disclosure agreements before leaving. Essentially, you are forbidden to talk about any of this to anyone, not even your family. This is because the orb is too important. For your safety and ours, we must remain hidden."

The boys exchanged glances.

Some of them would come home on the weekend. Altin, for example, would head back every Friday. So they will have to change their habits and find a believable excuse, but it looked doable. What they had seen today had changed them forever. They knew this was a golden opportunity to uncover the secrets of the world. They had to grasp it.

"I accept." François said confidently.

"Me too," Paul confirmed as well.

"Me as well," Julien said.

"I agree to the terms." Altin said in turn." But I might not be able to come every weekend. Can I visit on weekdays ?" He was reluctant to stop seeing Mr. and Mme. Durand, both of whom took care of him like their own child.

"Yes, but you will have to see with Juliette, your new tutor. She is a university student." Pascal said. "Juliette?"

"Sure, if I am free. I'll send you my class planning." Juliette acknowledged.

"Thanks, Juliette," Altin said.

"Go ahead and read the sheets, one each, and sign if you agree." Pascal handed the terms to the boys.

François, Paul, Julien, and Altin signed without reading in detail.

"One day, this is gonna bring them troubles...." Pascal sighed to himself.

However, he didn't let it show on his face. Instead, he stood up and said:

"It's settled." Pascal stood up.

"Welcome to the 5th association." He proclaimed.

Clap clap clap.

Every people in the room clapped.

Altin, François, Julien, and Paul felt a mixture of eagerness, joy, and astonishment. Everything felt unreal, yet everything was real, very real.

---

The boys stayed in Marie's apartment the whole day.

At the end of the day, shocking news came: the dark sphere, "Paris' black hole," had disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

Classes were to resume next Monday.

Evacuated residents would be told to come back a week later if no anomalies reappeared out of safety. After that, the government will no longer pay for travel expenses, such as hotel stays.

The next day, the boys came back to see their family.

They came up with various excuses, such as extra classes or homework, or trips with friends, to explain they wouldn't be able to come back every weekend anymore. They were at an age where kids rebelled against authority. Their foster families didn't argue much with them.

Altin was the only one who still decided to come home twice a month.

The weekend passed in a flash.

Finally, Monday came.

School life and training with the 5th force association started.

Altin had agreed with Juliette to meet on Monday for his first lesson.