Program: Superhuman *ON HOLD*

Chapter 13: Normal People

    “Alright, so I’ve been doing some close observations on the session we had yesterday, and I came to a few conclusions.”

    With Caspar and Gale upstairs taking care of The Last Novel, Arden, Uncle Forge, Macy, and I all huddled close to the desk area of the basement. I honestly had no idea where Timber was hiding herself. Macy sat in the chair in front of the computer monitors, which showed what I had been doing the day before when I blew up that mannequin. We had told our uncle about our suspicions of Mr. Vale, but after a short discussion, it was agreed that we’d, well… discuss it later.

    “Of course,” Macy continued, “I’ll have to run a few more tests, possibly draw a few blood samples, check vitals, maybe even collect a uri-“

    “Get to the point, Macy,” Uncle Forge interrupted gruffly.

    “Right, sorry. Okay, I’m going to play back the video in slow-mo. Watch carefully.”

    The Spaniard tapped a few buttons and we all stared at the screen. Though it portrayed my body, it was only a rough outline – like a fat stick figure – that showed the heat signatures. The reddest part at the moment was the stomach.

    “There, that’s where you start creating the energy,” Macy said, pointing.

    The red slowly moved up my body and I watched in wonder as it traveled down the length of my arms, and through my hands, to where it destroyed the mannequin.

    “Ah, ha!” Macy grinned triumphantly, twirling around to look at us. “Did you guys see it?”

    “Uh… yeah. Willow used her powers. We kind of already established this,” Arden said.

    “No! Not that.”

    Macy rolled her eyes, pausing the feed, then turning back to us.

    “Look, I was wondering – how, scientifically, is Willow able to release the blue energy? Why doesn’t it damage her hands as it goes out? After analyzing the same video for hours, I came to the conclusion that she’s able to move the molecules in her hands to make way for the energy molecules. That way, they’re able to break free. And after coming to that conclusion, I wondered if she could try doing it, say, in her foot? Her eyes? I just want to try it out.”

    “You’re saying that my hands aren’t the only things with freaky powers, then?” I asked, staring at my palms skeptically.

    She shrugged. “It’s just a suggestion. It could be completely wrong. But that is what science is, my friend. Trial and error. Theories proven wrong.”

    “Are you sure-“

    “Don’t question me; I’m the genius here.”

    My mouth shut.

    “Go and get in the training room again,” she ordered, looking back to the monitors.

Sharing a glance with Arden, I sighed and shrugged, then did as Macy told me. She pressed a button on the desk and the glass wall slid into place. Then, she turned the mic on and had a mannequin appear in front of me again.

    “Try destroying it with your foot.”

    I rolled my eyes and muttered, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

    “I heard that.”

    With pursed lips, I slid off my flip flop and lifted my foot towards the object. It was a struggle to keep my balance as I targeted and tried to focus on that feeling of desperation, that feeling of utter despair. I vainly hoped that my natural clumsiness would choose to hide itself today. Unfortunately, it didn’t like taking orders from me. I felt myself losing balance only seconds after lifting my foot. I gasped and waved my arms wildly, then finally relented and dropped my foot again. Sighing, I faced the front.