Chapter 94 (1/2)
Freya was the first to regain the power of speech. ”Beloved,” she said, shakily climbing out of her lawn chair. Her hand was gently extended in a warding expression towards Connor, as if he was a bomb ready to go off at the slightest touch. ”Are you well?”
The young man's brow crinkled with visible confusion. ”Of course I am.” He examined himself, appreciatively flexing an arm. With a smile, he added, ”I've never felt better!”
He turned to Dan, resuming his confident stance. ”Let's keep going, Newman. I promised you an ass-kicking and I plan to deliver!”
He hadn't, actually, but Dan felt that now wasn't really the time to mention it. Not when Connor was crossingthedistanceBLINK!
Dan reappeared across the yard, both hands held high. ”Woah there, buddy!” he called. ”
Connor reoriented himself toward's Dan's voice, turning on a dime. It was rather similar to Abby's method of sparring with him, but rather than kicking up huge clods of dirt when breaking his momentum, he seemed to instantly redirect himself. The change was so sudden that Connor was caught off-guard, stumbling forward, nearly falling, as his inertia radically shifted directions.
He caught himself, barely, but fell out of his batttle stance with a confused look. Holding both hands before himself, he muttered, ”The hell...?”
”Yeah, that's what we were saying,” Dan acknowledged, taking several cautious steps towards his bewildered friend.
”I don't understand,” Connor stated, sounding a little lost. ”What just happened?”
”You've incarnated a power. You're a natural.” Abby's voice cut through the confusion with iron-clad certainty.
”That's not possible.” Freya's denial was immediate. Something closely resembling panic crossed over her face, the first time Dan had ever seen her composure break in all the time he'd known her.
”I'm sorry, but that seems to be the only explanation,” Abby said carefully, comfortingly. ”You saw it yourself. What else could it be?”
”It could've been a trick of the eye!” Freya exclaimed. ”Just an optical illusion!”
”Caused by what?” Dan interposed. He gestured to his yard. ”It's not like I've set up any mirrors beforehand.” He could somewhat understand why she was so deeply in denial, even if he thought she was being hysterical about it. There was a significant social stigma towards Naturals, but surely, after meeting Gregoir, Freya should know that at least some of that dark reputation was overblown.
Freya's mouth opened and closed as she flailed for a plausible excuse.
”I'm a Natural.”
Connor's admission made her mouth shut with a click of her perfect teeth. She turned to him, jaw tensing and eyes wild.
”I can feel it, Freya,” he continued, still staring at his hands. He slowly tightened them into fists. ”I can feel it, inside my limbs. Something... new. Like a muscle I've only just noticed.”
She shook her head, her hair whipping back and forth at the motion. ”It's not possible.”
”It is,” Connor denied, his gaze falling on her. He smiled sadly. ”I was at the mercy of a mad scientist for hours. Who knows what might have been done to me.”
At this, Dan interjected, ”You weren't looked at by anyone?”
”I was examined by paramedics,” Connor said, keeping that small, sad smile on his face. ”Anything beyond that would have placed my family in a difficult position. My identity was never leaked, despite the kidnapping. Officer Gregoir saw to that. But a trip to a specialist might have alerted someone. People would start asking questions. It would be an embarrassment.”
”That's—” insane, was what he wanted to say, but there were some things that Dan felt he didn't have the right to comment on as a spectator. A person's family was one of those things. He settled for a simple, ”I see.”
”That was weeks ago!” Freya picked up right where she had left off, stuck in a state of denial. ”Most Naturals incarnated within minutes of exposure! The records are very clear about that!”
”Long incubation periods are not unheard of from victims of artificial exposure,” Abby stated quietly.
Freya just continued shaking her head, closing the distance to Connor and wrapping him in a tight embrace. They whispered to each other, their words rapid and hushed.
Dan sidled alongside Abby, quietly asking, ”Why is she so afraid?”
Abby turned to him, her own anxiety carefully hidden. ”We mentioned it earlier, Danny. Artificial exposure tends to be unstable. No one has ever really made a proper cosmic generator. The Naturals that are produced tend to have powers that are... difficult to handle. Dangerous. To themselves and others.”