Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

74. Time to visit the past

I let my words sink in, watching my friends' reactions closely. Jayson scratches his head, eyebrows drawing together over his eyes, still trying to process my words. Kalen is as impassive as always, but I see a flicker of something on his face, whether it's reluctance or acceptance I can't tell. Mara doesn't look very convinced, but Cassie jumps up from the sofa, staring at me in shock.

"That's genius!" she exclaims, throwing her arms up to grab at her hair.

"What better way to end inequality than by getting rid of that which causes it? Why didn't anyone think of that before?"

She muses, rubbing her chin, before she sees the four of us watching her, eyebrows raised and expressions blank.

"What?" she says, shrugging. "It is genius."

"But do you really think he could pull off something so big? He'd literally have to modify the entire world's genetic code. Nothing exists that is capable of doing that. Not on that scale, not at the same time," argues Mara, not wanting to fathom the possibility of our crazy theory being true.

"But there is something that exists that can do that," says Kalen, and we all whip our heads around to stare at him.

"The MIMS." He looks at us as if the answer were obvious. "The machine that can modify your memories, the memories of the entire world, in a matter of seconds. I bet someone could modify it to change the population's genetic code, especially if Diana helps somehow. Maybe by channeling her Gift into the machine?"

"But how would they do that?" Mara is getting more and more riled up, dark eyes wide.

"Isn't there a Gift that allows you to transfer one person's Gift to another one? Like swapping abilities. I think I learned about it in biology with Amanda. And another one that allows you to extract a person's Gift and make it tangible, being able to use it whenever you please," I say, trying to think back to my class.

I remember it had been one of the more interesting ones, and Amanda had been in a good mood that day, so the class was more entertaining. She told us about people that could transfer Gifts into other living things, switching them between one person and another, and about being able to use those Gifts for themselves. But is there a Gift that can transfer into an inanimate object? What would be the use of that?

Jayson snaps his fingers, pointing at me as if I just said the most intelligent thing in the world. No one is left in the common room, so no one witnesses his little outburst.

"That's right," he says. "I learned about that Gift too. It's one of those really rare ones, only appearing once in every tenth generation." He pauses, thinking "Does that mean that one of those Gifts exists in this generation, and Dominic somehow found it?"

It could very possibly be what we are facing. Joining the Gift of someone who can take everyone else's away, and one that can transfer them to other people, and very possibly, to a machine built specifically for it is a powerful combination. One that would mean the end of our mutations as we know it.

Cassie draws up her knees to her chest, hugging herself in a little ball. A troubled expression crosses her face. "Do you really think that is what we are up against?"

How could I know? But right now, it is our best bet.

"He wants Gifts gone, all his years of being 'dead' must have been for something. He's probably been looking for a way to get rid of them all this time. The amount of research he must have done," I shake my head, biting my lip. "All I know is that the man is dangerous, and if we just figured out his master plan, we can't let him get away with it."

"We have to make sure Diana doesn't leave this compound until he's been caught," says Kalen, getting up from the sofa. "We need to tell her what's going on, so that she knows the severity of the situation."