“Is it going to hurt?” I recalled the Kinetic brain wave inducer.
“Nope, the modifications that I made make the process completely painless and the device is much more accurate now.”
He placed a black plastic case on the table. Inside was a device that looked like a crown of the electronic junk king. He put it on my head, and then took out a tablet computer.
He activated the crown.
“This tablet will allow me to monitor everything that goes on in there in real time.” he pointed to my head.
“Alright.” I am at a loss for words.
He tapped on the screen a few times. "Alright, now try and use your abilities.”
I closed my eyes and told myself that I wanted to light my hands on fire. I concentrated with everything that I had.
As with every other time, nothing happened.
“This is very interesting.” he said.
“What?” I said.
“Do you mind if I ask Sam to come in here?” he asked.
“Sure, I guess.”
He opened the door and motioned for Sam to come into the room.
“So, what’s going on?” Sam looked from the doctor, to me, then back again.
Doctor Z pressed a button on the side of a monitor that hung on the wall. He pressed another button on the screen of the tablet. The picture was projected onto the monitor. Green lines on a graph shot all over the place.
“Explain this Doctor Z, please.” Sam pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Moving from left to right is the time spent on the machine. Over here on the left is no Kinetic brain activity. Here is where I told you to use your ability.” he pointed to a spot where the green line spiked from top to bottom. "It’s in the level five ranges. But this black area.” he pointed to the area after the spike, "It is something new. So new, as a matter of fact, that the machine cannot read it. That is why it’s just blank.”
“So what do you think it is?” Sam asked.
Doctor Z pondered for a few moments chewing on the end of a pen.
“I think, and my theory is preliminary, that this is a mental block. Until she gets through whatever could be causing it, she may never be able to use her abilities again.” He turned off the monitor.
“How can I have a mental block?”
“We have seen that in times of great distress one’s abilities can be empowered, but we have never really dealt with someone that has had a distress caused by one’s own abilities.” Doctor Z said, “You can see that your brain waves do spike, but something stops the result from forming. I could be wrong but it would be the first time.”
Chapter 12: Observatory
Dr. Z wanted to look over the test results more so Sam took me back to the house.
“Do you think it’s because I reached level six?”
“I can’t pretend to know, but that could have something to do with it. I have only met one other person that had reached that level of power. His mind was stressed but for other reasons. He also had natural abilities not modifications like yours.”
“I wonder if it has to do with the people I killed when I destroyed the Aurora facility. I found out afterward from a report on the radio.” I looked out of the window. I didn’t like thinking about what the reporter said, but the memory didn’t cause any significant pain.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure that we can work through what is going on.” He pulled into the driveway and stopped the truck for me to get out.
“Are the others back?”
“No, not yet. They should be back soon. If you need anything hit one on the speed dial, the phone is by the fridge.”
I got out of the truck and walked to the front door. I placed my hand on the pad next to the door. It clicked and I pushed it open. The lights came on automatically brightening the room.
In the kitchen I found something to eat, cooked it, and sat down on the couch in the living room, alone to enjoy the quiet.
I turned on the TV. It was tuned onto a news channel but there was nothing of interest, so I changed it to a music channel, and dug into my food trying not to spill anything on the clean furniture.
After a few music videos, the front door opened and the others filed into the house. They were so loud that I could not hear myself think. They attacked the kitchen like a herd of wild animals leaving nothing but disaster in their wake.
Ronnie came into the living room and sat down next to me, "So, what is the diagnosis?” He turned the channel on the TV without even asking if I was watching.
“Apparently what is going on in my head is something that they have never seen before.” I picked up my empty bowl up off the table.
“And what’s that?” He stopped me.
“They seem to think that it is some kind of mental block.” I said simply. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk about what had happened at the clinic.
Everyone piled into the living room and started to flip through the channels, so I decided that it was time for me to relinquish the room. I took my dishes to the kitchen, cleaned them, and then I went up to my bedroom.
I sat down on the bed. I was so bored and I didn’t want to just watch TV. Someone knocked on my doorway.
It was Rachel.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m tired and bored.”
“Do you want to talk?” she seemed very concerned.
“I’m sorry, but I’d rather not right now.”
“Alright, let me know if there is anything that I can get for you.” She left letting the door shut as she walked away.
I felt alone and I didn’t know who I wanted to talk to about it. I felt like I used to feel before we had been abducted. No one at the orphanage could relate because they all had groups that they could belong to and I was alone.
And now I was right back in that situation.
I listened for everyone to go to bed. I heard Ronnie stand outside of my door for a few moments, but I’m sure Rachel told everyone that I didn’t want to talk. After a few seconds he left. I heard his hand slide off my door as he walked away.
I got up and left my room. After a quick stop off at the bathroom I left the house. It was dark out, the roads were empty, and I decided to just wander around the town. Walking through the downtown area, I just got the feeling that the place was so cookie cutter. The buildings were all built out of the same material; same basic shapes went into the design.
I knew, however, that I could eventually call this place home.
I made my way over to a building that extruded from the base of the tallest mountain. There was a sign that said Eastcroft Observatory. There were no lights on in the windows, and the doors were locked.
I wondered if they still used the telescopes or if they just used the satellite dish. I turned to walk away from the building but was startled by Silence standing behind me. I refrained from screaming but pushed him, "You jerk.”
“I’m sorry.” He said taking a step back.
“What are you doing?” I tucked my hands into my jean pockets.
“I have night watch and I spotted you leaving your house.” he held out a jacket.
“So you thought you would follow me and catch me helpless.” I took the jacket and put it on.
“No, I was going to talk to you, but I wasn’t sure if you were still upset with me from what happened this morning.”
“No, I’m not upset.” I started to walk back towards town, "I’m extremely frustrated.”
“Are you interested in the observatory?” he remained planted in front of the doors where he had startled me.
“I was just wondering if it’s still being used.” I looked up at the mountain.
“Not since Fade left. She was the only one that cared about it. Well I did but I don’t know anything about space observing.”
“Do you know if it uses a reflecting telescope?” I had had an interest in astronomy for a while a few years back.