A Quiet Spark
Power control. I stared at Amy, my heart hammering against my ribs. As if sensing my anxiety, she merely smirked, reaching out to pat my head. After chuckling to herself for a good while, she finally stopped and stood up.
"Is that it?" Amy asked.
"Yeah." Victor nodded, beginning to set up a device on the floor. It looked like a giant battery.
"What is that?" I asked.
"To check the limits of your power," Victor replied.
It looked nothing like the equipment they used back at the laboratory. In fact, it didn't look like it was designed to measure an ability user's limits at all. No matter how I looked at it, it was just a battery.
"Isn't this just a battery?"
Victor ignored my question, focusing on setting up the device as quickly as possible. He unraveled several long cables, connecting them to other components. Once hooked up to a computer sitting on a small table, the battery flickered to life, glowing with a soft blue light. Shine, apparently finding it fascinating, hovered around the device and gently touched its glowing surface.
"Who wants to go first?" Victor held out two small metal rods. They were attached to black cables running directly into the glowing blue battery.
"I'll go first," I said, reaching out to take them. A faint, low vibration thrummed through the metal.
"Hold on tight. Don't let go."
I squeezed my hands shut, following Victor's instructions.
"Good. Now, channel your power through the rods."
His instructions were simple enough. I began to pour an electric current into the metal. Blue arcs of electricity crackled across the backs of my hands. Zap! With a small spark, every bit of current I released was sucked directly into the rods.
"A bit stronger," Victor commanded.
I pushed harder, releasing more current. My heavily suppressed power flowed out rapidly, obeying my guidance. Although channeling it through such a narrow outlet felt uncomfortable, there was no danger of it running wild.
"Is that all?"
I nodded. I couldn't pour out a massive amount of power through such a narrow bottleneck anyway. On the monitor Victor was watching, the graph maintained a steady, flat line.
"Alright. Let's take a breather."
I cut off the flow of my power. The graph on the screen plummeted instantly, and the blue electric field dancing across the backs of my hands vanished into thin air.
"It's incredibly stable," Victor muttered, stroking his chin. He slipped his glasses back on and began analyzing the graph.
"How is she?" Amy asked.
"With a little bit of polishing, she could easily go on active duty."
Amy's face fell at Victor's words. She shoved his head down firmly and warned, "I am not letting these kids do anything dangerous."
"It's just a figure of speech," Victor grunted.
Their bickering dragged on. I set the rods down on the floor and shook out my hands. Perhaps because I had channeled my power so intensely, my skin tingled. Shine, who had lost interest in the machinery, slumped into a nearby chair and let out a soft yawn.
"Should we raise the output level?" Victor suggested.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Amy countered.
"Well, you said yourself she isn't showing any of the instability she had when she first used her power."
"That's true, but..."
"Let's just observe a bit more for now."
Listening to their conversation, it didn't look like I'd be getting this bracelet off today.
"Then it's Shine's turn," Victor said.
I walked over and sat down next to her. Everyone's eyes turned to Shine. She glanced around, then stood up and walked over to where I had just been standing.
"You saw what Jeff did, right? Just do the exact same thing," Victor instructed.
Shine picked up the rods from the floor.
"Victor. Amy. Jeff."
Shine softly called out our three names.
Suddenly, my vision began to blur. A thick, hazy fog descended upon my mind, pierced by a faint, crackling noise. The buzzing in my ears grew louder, like the harsh static of an untuned radio filling the room. The sensation in my fingertips faded. I blankly raised my hand, watching Shine's figure warp and distort through my hazy vision.
"Jeff..."
Shine's voice sounded right in my ear, the sense of distance completely warped. Her soft breath tickled the back of my neck as she spoke, making my body instinctively shrink back.
"It's okay," she whispered, and the tension drained from my muscles. My blurry vision began to spin. It felt like wandering through a dream, completely paralyzed. Watching me, Shine let out a soft chuckle. Despite her tired face, her smile seemed to guide my very movements.
"Jeff, let's do the same thing we did earlier."
I nodded blankly. My sleep-laden body reacted sluggishly. Before I knew it, the metal rods were back in my hands. I slowly turned my head to look at Victor and Amy. Both of them were staring blankly into space.
"Shine..."
I barely managed to move my numb tongue. The dull sensations of my body were slowly returning, but Shine, who was staring at me, suddenly swayed.
"Jeff—"
The static returned. Two overlapping frequencies clashed inside my hazy mind. My mouth fell open blankly. All sensation vanished from my body once more, and my memories sank into a deep, dark abyss where I couldn't grasp a single thought.
"Begin," she commanded.
I moved exactly as she wished. A slow, blue current began to bleed from my hands and flow into the rods. Zap! Crackle! The sharp sound of electricity sparked repeatedly. Black smoke began to rise from the rods in my grip, and the graph on the computer screen spiked to an abnormally high level.
"Stop!"
I gasped, stumbling and collapsing onto the floor. My consciousness was slowly returning. My blurry vision cleared, and I blinked rapidly as if waking from a deep dream.
"Shine?"
Shine was the one holding the rods in her hands now. Wisps of black smoke drifted away, and the acrid smell of burnt metal stung my nose. Shine looked exhausted, her face pale and strained as she spoke to Amy and Victor.
"I'm done."
In an instant, all the static vanished. I stood up, utterly bewildered. I was sure I had been sitting in the chair, so when did I end up on the floor? Before I could even process my confusion, Victor and Amy blinked slowly, the haze in their eyes gradually clearing.
"Huh? You're done? Already?" Victor rubbed his eyes and checked the computer screen.
"See? This is normal. Most kids this age are exactly like this." He nodded, gesturing to the jagged, erratic graph. The peaks and valleys were incredibly wide.
"The current setting is perfect. I don't know about Jeff, but Shine's power is far too unstable," Victor said. Amy nodded in agreement.
"Are we done?" Shine asked.
"Yeah, we're done."
"Can we play ball now?"
"Of course you can."
The moment Amy gave her permission, Shine dropped the rods. As they rolled across the floor, I noticed they were covered in black scorch marks.
"Let's go, Jeff." Shine walked over and held out her hand. I took it blankly, my fingers still tingling so much I could barely move them. Shine gently stroked my trembling hand.
"I'm sorry, Jeff."
"Huh?" An apology out of nowhere. I stood up and asked, "Why? What are you sorry for?"
"It's nothing," Shine said, shaking her head weakly. She seemed strangely drained of energy, but I let her lead me to the corner of the gym anyway. She picked up a ball from the floor, a look of anticipation and faint excitement lighting up her face as she turned her sparkling eyes toward me.
"Shine, you look really tired."
"I'm fine."
Despite my concern, Shine shook her head. I glanced over at Amy and Victor; their discussion didn't look like it would end anytime soon. There was a soft mat nearby, so I figured if Shine admitted she was tired, I could convince her to lie down and rest there.
Shine and I began to play. My eyes naturally followed the rhythmic bounce of the ball. Slowly, vitality returned to Shine's exhausted face, and she laughed as she caught the bouncing ball. The tingling sensation in my skin had long since faded. I tossed the ball back to her. It flew through the air, hit the floor, and bounced back up. Just as I was starting to lose my breath, Shine suddenly collapsed to the floor. Startled, I dropped the ball and rushed to her side. She was sitting on the floor, gasping for air and clutching her head.
"Shine! What's wrong? Does your head hurt?"
"No... I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."
When I reached out to her in worry, her arm slithered up mine with a fluid, seamless motion. It was like a snake wrapping around its prey, locking my arm in place in an instant. As I blinked at the bizarre movement, my body began to tilt. Her grip was ironclad, showing no intention of letting go. I ended up collapsing onto the floor right next to her.
"Just stay like this for a bit," Shine murmured, snuggling deep into my chest. Her silver hair filled my vision, and a sweet, fragrant scent washed over me. She gently closed her eyes. Though I was flustered for a moment, I raised my free hand and began to stroke her hair. The slight tension in her face melted away into a peaceful expression.
"More..." Enjoying my touch, Shine burrowed even deeper into my embrace. Her shifting weight threw me off balance, and with a soft thud, we both tumbled onto the gym floor.
"Shine?" I whispered. Wouldn't the soft mat be much better than the hard floor? But she didn't answer. As if this very moment was perfect, she kept her eyes closed, refusing to let go of my arm.
"You should do your sleeping back in your room," Amy said, walking over now that her conversation with Victor had wrapped up.
"I'm not sleeping, Amy," I replied, waving my free hand. I was completely pinned by Shine, who was already breathing softly in a deep slumber. Amy looked down at the sleeping girl, then reached out and gently scooped her up into her arms. The warmth that had filled my embrace vanished. Feeling a strange, subtle sense of loss, I rubbed the arm Shine had just been holding.
"Let's go, Jeff." Holding Shine with one arm, Amy offered her other hand to me. I took it and pulled myself up. "Shine must have been exhausted." Shine showed no signs of waking. She remained nestled in Amy's arms all the way back to our room. Once there, Amy gently laid her down on the bed. Shine's silver hair spilled across the sheets, shimmering brilliantly in the light.