" Are you sure you're up for this Daniel? I don't want you pushing yourself too hard."
Danny bounced eagerly in place, pulling on his training equipment.
"Yeah, let's do this!"
Vlad smiled at his enthusiasm. It was Danny's first time in the zero grav chamber and he could hardly stand still.
"Are we waiting for anyone else?" Danny asked, strapping on a shin guard.
"Ordinarily the training sessions are for groups," Vlad agreed. "But as this is your first time using your powers freely, I thought it may be safer to keep this individual."
Danny grinned bashfully, remembering his first few disastrous discoveries. A few moments later, Vlad activated the zero gravity.
Danny felt himself go weightless, his lack of motion the only thing keeping him on the ground. He kicked off the ground, feeling a rush of joy at the swirl of air around him. One of the walls was coming up fast. Danny prepared to turn his body so his feet would be facing it. But with a sudden jolt of panic, he realized that he couldn't maneuver in his weightless flight.
He flew straight into the wall and bounced off it, his surroundings a spinning blur. He tried to stop himself, to regain control, to stop moving. But no amount of twisting and turning stopped his wild flight.
Finally a strong hand caught hold of one of his flailing ankles, jerking him to a stop. It was Vlad. He laughed as he pulled Danny back to an upright position.
"Sorry about that. I didn't expect you to take off like that before a little instruction. Are you alright?"
Danny nodded, rubbing his bruised shoulder. Still chuckling, Vlad drank another small vial of Halpha blood. Danny waited for his transformation to complete, still in awe of how quickly Vlad morphed between forms. Up close, he saw that Vlad didn't look completely Halpha once he had changed. His skin tone was more blue than green, and though his eyes glowed more than usual, they remained the same deep red instead of black and green.
"Well, I think we should start small today," Vlad said. " You've already learned that extremes in your emotional state can trigger the ability to phase and create blasts of energy. There are others we can go into later, but for now, let's get these skills down."
"Other powers? Like what?" Danny interjected excitedly.
"It's hard to know everything a fully developed Halpha can do. Most records of their full abilities were lost in Space Corps information purge. But we've discovered a few additional abilities here. Some of the older Halphas can compartmentalize their phasing, limiting in to only their hands for precision. You all have unnaturally strong night vision and quick healing. One girl has even began to unlock the power to blend into her surroundings through a chameleon like skin change. With practice, this could even become full invisibility! You truly are a remarkable species." Vlad said.
" But for now you need to learn to summon your power when you want it, and suppress it when you need to."
Danny nodded.
Vlad closed his eyes, relaxing his muscles and letting himself hang in the zero gravity.
" Close your eyes and relax Daniel," he instructed, his long hair floating weirdly around his head.
Danny did as instructed, letting himself drift aimlessly.
"Focus on the times you've used your power in the past," Vlad's voice said. "I imagine they were emotionally charged moments, but don't think about your feelings. Think about the feeling of power. The rush of heat that flooded over your skin. The energy that burst from your heart into your blood."
Danny focused. Punching through that bully's chest, exploding the tennis ball, raging at his family's lack of solutions, trying desperately to escape from Space Corps.
"Remember that feeling of power. Build it. Pull it from inside."
Danny clenched his eyes shut, reaching down deep. He almost thought he could feel something. A warm heat rising from his core.
" Now release it!" Vlad commanded.
Danny's eyes flew open as his hands blasted out glowing green energy. He rocketed across the room, the far wall looming closer. Danny swung his hands to face the wall. His rapid flight swayed, stopped, then launched him away from the wall.
A moment later, Vlad appeared at his side.
"Amazing Daniel!" He cried, eyes wide. "Now let the power ebb. Let it fall back inside and stop."
Danny did as he was told, disconnecting from the warm flood of power. The glow from his hands died and his flight slowed. With a little help from Vlad, he was soon floating stably again.
"That was incredible!" Vlad praised. "You caught on to this like a natural. With your level of control already, I bet you will be one of the most powerful Halphas I've ever trained!"
Danny grinned, his hair glowing white.
"Can we go again?"
YOU ARE READING
Split Between Stars
Ficțiune științifico-fantastică(Sequel to Half Life) Danny has lived his whole life thinking he was the sole survivor of Halpha's destruction. Space Corps has hunted him and his kind for years, making it almost impossible to survive. But after being saved from their clutches at...
