Quantum Potente

13. Homo potens

Music Recommendation: 'Control' by Halsey

"Not you, Miss Bose.", Zagros Peterson's overjoyed voice bounced off the tall walls of the auditorium and reverberated through the place. Shakti turned slowly towards the stage, where the Heads were seated, with Mr. Smith behind them, standing like a carved sculpture.

Mr. Peterson's sharp features were morphed into an inexplainable mirth. Miss Lopez's strict demeanor was gone and a look of sheer curiosity and veiled appreciation filled her face. Mr. Blackwell's carved frown was washed away to be replaced by a scrutinizing gaze that seemed to visually dissect her to find out about mysteries that were unknown to herself. Mr. Murphy's cat-like eyes studied her with mere interest but his eyes were looking too bright for her to not look away.

Mr. Smith stared at her with his sharp, assessing eyes, with a gleam of slight admiration in them. Shakti was too overwhelmed by all the stares she was receiving, which made her feel like a newly placed antic piece in an overcrowded museum.

"Do you know Miss Bose, that why have you been detained here?", Peterson asked while his lip curled in a smile, that sent a chill down her spine. This man wasn't a saint, and she could bet on her sixth sense that this man was hiding a dark past. Each individual gave off a disturbing vibe that made her want to take a one-eighty-degree turn and head straight back to her dorm. But she was rooted to her spot, unable to move an inch, under the gaze of her spectators.

"No sir...", Shakti replied in a low voice. It couldn't be about yesterday's incident, could it? No, if that would have been the case, their facial expressions would not be this positive. What was the reason then?

"Miss Bose, if I say that you are special, will you believe it?", Shakti's breath hitched at Zagros's words. They could not know that, could they? Only two people in the world knew about her specialty. One was herself, another was her mother, Ramani Bose, or rather, Ramani's memories that communicated with her through her dreams every night for the past year, last night being an exception. She looked at the man with a disbelieving gaze.

"Why do you ask such an unusual question, sir?", Shakti finally asked in a calm tone, which was all a pretense as she was internally a nervous wreck. No one was supposed to know about this secret of her, except the mentioned people.

"That is not the answer to my question, yes, or no?", Zagros asked in a firmer tone this time, and his smile turned colder with each passing second. That confirmed Shakti's assumptions that the man was dangerous.

After a long silence, Shakti muttered' "Yes".

"Can you explain, why you feel so? This assumption doesn't fall off a tree, does it, Miss Bose?", asked Zagros in a leisurely manner, glancing at his watch. His behavior irritated Shakti for some reason and reminded her of another disturbing element that busted into her life the precious day and has not left her mind since.

All of them seemed to waiting for her answer, which made Shakti more nervous than ever. Keeping her voice steady, Shakti gave a simple response, "My mother told me."

"What did she tell you?", Bernice asked placing her chin between her hand, peering down at her with focused eyes. Shakti gulped involuntarily and fiddled with her fingers. How can they know anything about her uniqueness? And on top of that, why do they look like they were anything but unhappy and uncomfortable with her confession earlier? They seemed pleased, to say the least.

"She said...that I am special. And that I have a special ability. I-I can see things that are beyond regular vision. I can see snippets from past, present, and future. I can see things that are buried deep beneath the surface of visibility.", Shakti said with a straight spine, her eyes grew more confident than before.