Adrian telekinetically grabbed his overcoat from the crate where he’d put it before and raised it to the side. Then he fired off a small kinetic blast from his hand, sending the cloth a few meters away.
He looked back to Clara and Meifeng, who looked at him open-mouthed. With a command from his imp he retracted the helmet part and grinned at them.
“Matter compression,” Adrian said. “You each get one too. We call them the Sentinel suits.” And the two of them immediately opened their crates with the intent of putting them on. “Wait, wait,” he said quickly, stopping them. “You need to read the instructions first.” He pointed at the small datachip.
Clara took her chip in hand while Meifeng took out a short, small box from the crate.
“What is this?” Meifeng asked.
“Ah… that,” Adrian said, and took the small box from his own crate. “We call that the NX-02.”
“A drug?” Clara asked.
“It is concentrated energy—adrenaline, oxygen, and a few substances that boost brain processing, physical strength, and speed. If used, it will replenish your energy supplies, or add to them if you aren’t depleted yet. Plus, they’ll basically make you unstoppable for a minute or two,” Adrian said.
“Wait, we have means to replenish our energy artificially?” Meifeng asked, confused. “Why haven’t we been using it?”
Adrian shook his head sadly. “Because we can’t. It is an artificially synthesized energy substance that we copied from the sphere. It can do the job, but it isn’t as good as what your body produces on its own. In fact, prolonged use will damage your organs and cripple your psionics.” Adrian flipped the lid up and retrieved a small cartridge-like vial. “That is why each suit has only one dose. It needs to be used only as a last resort.” He sent a command over his imp, and a small opening appeared below his armpit. He slid the cartridge inside, and it closed seamlessly. “I don’t think that we will ever have a need for it. But with everything that has happened to the Empire in the last couple of decades… I just wanted another ace in our hands,” Adrian finished.
“Well, I know that I won’t have a chance to use it anytime soon. We will spend the next couple of decades on Sanctuary training and teaching others how to use their psionics,” Clara said as she reached and put the gloves on, and then the rest of the suit.
“Perhaps, but it is still there if we need it. Also, these suits are prototypes, so we will need to give feedback to the scientists that made them,” Adrian said, grinning as his helmet reformed. He got into a battle stance, and waited until the two had put their own suits on before he threw himself at them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
March; Year 54 of the Empire – Sol system
Aileen struggled to stay atop a small pillar as Clara and Meifeng threw rubber balls the size of her head at her. She was deflecting them with her mind only, without using her hands, which made it much harder. And she was allowed only telekinesis; no blowing the balls away with kinetic blasts. And she needed to use all her senses in order to sense what direction the balls were coming from, as Clara and Mei would sometimes miss her intentionally or grab an already deflected ball and then pull it back at Aileen from another angle.
All in all, she thought that she was doing well, aside from the fact that she was running out of energy. And then as she felt the last of her energy disappear, a ball hit her in the chest and threw her from the pillar down onto the tatami.
“Three minutes and forty two seconds,” Adrian said from the sidelines. “You held out for six seconds longer than last time.”
Aileen groaned and got up to her feet. “It’s still nowhere close to how long you guys can hold out.”
“Of course it isn’t,” Clara said, “we have been training for years. You, only for a couple of months.”
“She is right,” Adrian said as he approached. “The energy-containing organ is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more energy it will be able to store and the quicker it will recover. You just need to keep at it. Drain it all, then recharge.”
Aileen already knew that; they had been telling her the same thing since they’d begun her training. But still she couldn’t do anything like what the three of them were capable of. She could barely move three small objects around her. They could pick another person up and throw them across the room. And their reserves came back much faster, too, whereas she had to wait almost an entire day until she fully recovered.
“I know, I just feel as if I am not making any progress,” Aileen said.
Meifeng put a hand on her shoulder. “But you are. I know that it doesn’t seem that way now, but you are actually advancing at a faster pace than both Clara or I did.”
“I doubt that,” Aileen said.
“No,” Adrian said, “she is right. They were the first that I trained, and I was still learning myself. With you, it is easier; we know what works and what doesn’t. Trust us.”
Aileen sighed. “I do. I’m just frustrated, that’s all.”
“I know the feeling,” Clara said.
“Using psionics isn’t just about energy supplies. It is about skill, too, about focus. I am expending a lot less energy in order to use my abilities than you are. It is because I have learned how to use them more efficiently. In time, you will develop those skills too. But for now, it is more important for you to increase your capacity,” Adrian said.
Aileen nodded her head in understanding.
“Good, then that is it for today,” Adrian said.
“So, I guess that this is our last practice together,” Meifeng said.
“What do you mean?” Aileen asked, confused.
Clara turned to Adrian. “You haven’t told her yet?”
“No, I planned on doing it after this,” Adrian responded.
“Tell me what?” Aileen asked.
“Clara and I are leaving for Sanctuary tomorrow,” Meifeng said.
“What? Why?”
Clara smiled sadly. “We have learned all that we can from Adrian; now it is only a matter of training and improving ourselves. We are going back to start training others that will be going through the treatments. And soon children will be born with psionics, and we will need people capable of teaching them how to use their abilities,” she answered.
“Oh…” Aileen said sadly.
“But don’t worry, you and Adrian will be going on your own trip, outside of the Empire’s territory,” Clara said cheerfully.
“Really?” Aileen turned to Adrian.
“Yes, I am getting some last-minute things in order, and then we will leave. There is no point in waiting; I can train you on board a ship just as well as I can here. We were only waiting for Clara and Meifeng to feel comfortable with teaching others. And their time with you has given them that,” Adrian answered.
“Well…” Aileen turned to the two women. “I will miss you.”
“And we will miss you too.” Clara stepped forward and hugged Aileen, then reached and pulled Meifeng into the hug as well.
“Don’t let Adrian bully you,” Meifeng sent her privately.
“I won’t,” Aileen answered.
“If he tries, just send us a call. We got loads of dirt on him; we were his bodyguards for years,” Clara joined in.
Aileen chuckled. “I promise.”
Aileen sat across from Adrian as the small inter-system transport skimmed from Mars to Jupiter. He didn’t want to tell her where they were going, but she had been told to pack, as they wouldn’t be back to Mars in a while. At Adrian’s feet sat two massive wolions, Akash and Sora. She had seen them often over the last few months since they were rarely away from Adrian. But she hadn’t really paid that much attention to them, as she was trying to focus on her training.