Page 34 of Emergence
Elana came down the stairs behind me, chuckling. “Yeah, but you don’t get to blow this island up.”
I smiled and saluted her. “Got it, no blowing up this pretty tropical island.”
Over dinner, we sat around and discussed the circumstances. There were ten people present. I’d been introduced to them, but I had no idea which powers each possessed. I wished I had the Terrestrial power of discernment. We had a senior at school who had that ability, and she could identify everyone with powers, except mine. She kept saying mine were all muddled up, which was annoying, and she was all too happy to say that over and over, so I mostly avoided her.
“If it’s not isolation, it has to be the elevation of the school,” one of the women said.
“Kaden, when we went up in the airship, did you feel a surge in power?” Elana asked.
“No, I’ve only felt the surge at school.”
Dr. Fagan concentrated on me. “Was it only in your Practicum class that you felt it?” he asked.
“Mostly. But no,” I said, “I felt it before. Once was the first time I felt my powers, the second time was when I saw Lysander for the first time.”
Dr. Fagan chuckled. “And when was the next time you felt it?” he asked.
I thought for a moment and remembered the day the twins had knocked the snow down onto the soccer team. “When I saw Lysander again.”
Dr. Fagan shook his head, and I noticed several others had picked up on the same thought. “Lysander is your polarity.” He looked at the group and shrugged. “I can’t believe we missed it. Kaden is already powerful, probably the most powerful being on the planet. When he’s with his polarity, those powers are magnified. No wonder he feels like they’re about to burst out of him.”
Several people in the room nodded this time.
“So,” Elana asked, “—we need to get Lysander here?”
Dr. Fagan looked at her, then over at me. “Lysander might be at risk if you let your powers go when he’s in your presence. Did you feel the same surge of power when you were at my cabin?”
“Yeah, not as strong, but it was definitely there.”
“So, that’s fifty, maybe sixty miles from the school. It might work to have Lysander here on the island. We could even use Orag Island, which is fifteen miles closer if necessary.”
The table erupted in discussion, with several people arguing that Orag was too close to the blast radius and that we needed to keep a full fifty miles from the blast site to remain safe.
Someone else was arguing that it was unethical to put Lysander at risk. They needn’t have worried. I’d die myself before I did anything to put Lysander in danger.
Finally, after thirty minutes of arguing, Dr. Fagan stood up. “It’s the only way. If the boy will come, we have to try.”
“Sir, I won’t do anything to put Lysander at risk. I-I’m sorry, but I won’t,” I said and stood up. “I know I’m a danger, and people fear me, but I won’t intentionally hurt anyone.” I almost qualified that with the men I’d killed, but decided to avoid that conversation. “The one person who means the most to me in life is Lysander Phillips. I’d rather stay away from him for the rest of my life than put him in danger.”
The group looked at one another and then back at me. An older woman said, “That’s an option. We’ve used forced separation of polarities to penalize Supes who’ve abused their powers. But, son, it’s soul-crushing to live without your polarity once you’ve found them.”
“Not only that, you and your polarity are boyfriends,” Elana said. “That makes it even harder.”
“I’ll do it if it means he’ll be safe. Wait, how did you know?”
She smiled and winked. “We all know, honey,” she said.
Dr. Fagan shook his head. “It doesn’t mean he’ll be safe. Or anyone on the planet will be safe.”
He looked at me for a long time before he sighed. “Son, do you remember when we first met, I told you how important it is for you to have people in your life?”
I nodded, remembering our first strange meeting. “Good, because the one thing we know about Supes is the ones who are isolated are almost always the ones to pose a threat to the planet. Not just humans but the actual planet itself.”
He turned toward the window and looked out over the ocean. “We can’t afford for you to isolate yourself. Even if you were totally healthy, raised in a stable, loving family, you’d still be susceptible to bad things if you isolated yourself.” He turned back toward me then and made eye contact. “When you consider you are the most powerful Supe we’ve encountered in all our time studying Supes, and your history is littered with abuse, it’s beyond imperative for you to keep healthy connections between you and other human beings. Otherwise, you could be the very end of life on this planet.”
Surely he was exaggerating. I accepted my powers were big, but they made it sound like I was an apocalyptic bomb. I looked around the room to see if maybe someone’s expression would contradict what Dr, Fagan had said. None did.
“Why can’t you remove my powers?” I asked, suddenly afraid.
