Agent BlueBird

Chapter 11-Uncovered

Hey guys! So here is another chapter. Hope you like it!

-Riftwielder

"That was amazing!" Rebecca gushes as they enter The Grill. "Did you see how I did that high kick and hit him right in the face? I'm sure a tooth came loose." The others start laughing. "What?" Rebecca asks, feeling a bit self-conscious.

"It's cute, how you are so excited about it. We are so used to it by now. I think it's good, it reminds us that what we are doing is actually pretty cool," Rebecca's mother says with a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Nicely done little birdy," Kyan says to Rebecca as he playfully shoves her.

Her father leads them to a booth, and they all sit down and have a celebratory burger and milkshake.

On the Monday of the following week, they continue training. As per usual Rebecca goes directly from school to the agency. She has a class with her mother first today, but she is already dressed in her self-defense outfit. She has gotten comfortable in it and does not mind Kyan seeing her in those clothes that much anymore. She figures that he has seen her in a worse state so what would be the point?

"Okay so, for today I thought we might just experiment. We will try to do new, more advanced things with your ability and also try to discover new abilities," her mother starts her lesson.

"You really think I might have multiple abilities?" Rebecca asks in disbelief.

"Well, your grandmother had three, so it might be possible that you have more than one."

"Grandmother had three abilities? It's still so hard to believe I didn't know anything about this stuff." Rebecca takes a moment to reflect but as she looks at the training room floor, she remembers the task at hand and shakes away her thoughts. "Okay! So how do we do this?" Rebecca tries to mentally prepare herself for whatever her mother will ask her to do next.

"I suggest that we start with manifesting. It's the easiest of the other abilities," her mother suggests with a shrug.

"Wait! Manifestation is real? So many scientists say it was only a myth."

"It is not a myth," her mother says laughing. "And don't believe everything scientists say." Her mother suddenly becomes very serious. Rebecca laughs.

"I thought you're supposed to believe everything scientists say."

"No, they don't know everything. There is a whole world they don't know about. Our world." Her mother says ominously with her hand close to her breast. Almost as if holding something close to her heart.

"Seriously? There aren't any scientists that know about our kind?" Rebecca asks confused. Her mother turns her back to Rebecca and starts to walk toward one of the cupboards against the opposite wall.

"There is only one organization we know about that knows our secret," her mother says in a fragile voice while fumbling with the arched silver handle of the cupboard, the mood of the room turning serious. "They capture our kind and do experiments on us. They try to decode our DNA and try to discover more abilities, new abilities. For what purpose I'm not sure but the things that I've heard they do..." Her mother stops mid-sentence, unable to finish the thought let alone the sentence.

Her mother looks down, "They took my brother." A tear escapes and falls onto the floor.

"You have a brother?" Rebecca asks in total shock. Her mother turns to face her and sniffs.

Rebellious, she wipes away the tears and tilts her head back slightly, trying to look stronger than she really is. But her fragile appearance and red eyes betray her.

"It was a long time ago. Shall we get started?" Rebecca knows her mother is hurting but her mother seems to have a way to deal with it and so she decides to rather not poke at the open wound. Even though she wants to know more about what happened to the uncle she has never met.

"Okay so, Manifestation. It is amazing for when you are in a tight spot. When you are weaponless you can just manifest a knife in your hand. Like all our powers it is something humans can do, just super-sized. Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?" Her mother tries her best to focus on the lesson at hand and push away the previous conversation from her mind.

"Sounds familiar," Rebecca says nodding, still feeling uncomfortable about what just happened.

"Okay, you know how actors tell themselves they are sick and eventually their bodies believe them, and they actually become sick." Rebecca nods in confirmation. "That is how this works. If you truly believe and tell yourself enough that it is real, that thought will become real. For humans, this ability is generally limited to things within their control, such as their bodies. But for us it is unlimited. We take the surrounding matter and create something new with it."

"Okay, so how do I do that?" Rebecca asks, automatically standing with her feet apart. It has become a habit ever since her self-defense classes started.

"There is a table over there. Why don't you try thinking of a stone? See its shape, feel its texture. Now imagine it on that table. See the shading, the position it is lying in, the color of the rock." Rebecca stares at the table, her mind completely focused on making the rock appear.

"Try to close your eyes and see the table with the rock on it in your mind's eye," her mother suggests in an almost meditative voice.

Rebecca is hesitant, but she has learned that even though her parents' techniques sound strange, they really work. She closes her eyes and pictures the rock on the table.

"That's it!" Her mother calls out in excitement. Rebecca's eyes fling open, and she sees the outline of a rock on the table. The dark grey color flashing in and out. She almost starts to jump up and down in elation. "Concentrate, you are losing it!" Rebecca calms down and looks intensely at the table. The flashing stops and the shape, color, texture, and shading are all there.

"Did I do it?" She asks in surprise and disbelief.

"Go check if you can take it in your hand." Rebecca walks over slowly almost as if she is afraid. When she reaches the table, she picks up the rock and wraps her hand around the big lump.

"I can touch it. It is really here!" She calls out in excitement.

"Yes, it is," her mother says proudly, a smile spreading across her face.

"I just made something out of nothing!" Rebecca says smiling at her mother across the room.

"First rule of science; matter can't be made or destroyed," her mother points out to her as she makes her way towards Rebecca.

"So, I made a big thing out of a bunch of small things?" Rebecca says cautiously with a scrunched-up face, guessing a little.

"Exactly!" Her mother says nodding. A strand of brown hair falls into her face, and she pushes it behind her hair with her slender fingers.

Great! Rebecca discovered a new ability. Yet another reasonably logical explanation for an ability. What do you think of Kyan's nickname for Rebecca? Sorry, the chapter is a bit short. Will try to update again soon.

-Riftwielder