A total of 728 days went by, two years since Visette began her training.

Her isolation from the outside world had no visible effect on her rate of growth.

Just as the medical doctor who examined Visette first suggested, her eyesight developed further. In fact, all of her innate “Abnormal” traits grew much to Visette’s surprise as her body adjusted quicker than she realized.

Lyn called the changes Visette was going through puberty but Vis understood her bodily reactions were the result of her genetic makeup and her constant psionic channeling. She stood at 166cm according to the yearly medical evaluation she was recently made to undergo. Even though she appeared like a normal teenage at first glance, her muscle tissue and overall skeletal structure had increased in density. As of now, if she didn’t use psionic energy to enhance her physical capabilities, she’d be around a Type-2 strength Abnormal and that was just the start as it would increase as more time passed.

Visette sat deep in thought, attempting to figure out how to best make use of her changes.

'Natural strength creates less wasted energy on psionic channeling. It is best to redirect my psionic enhancement toward other areas...If psionic energy is redirected to my nerve endings and optic nerves then my reactivity should increase-'

“Hey!” Lyn’s voice interrupted Visette's brainstorming.

“Did you hear me?”

“Yes,” Visette replied.

“Then what did I say?”

“That training exercises will be postponed for today.”

“Smartass,” Lyn grumbled.

“...May I know the reason for the delay?” Vis inquired.

“Commander Wakefield.” Lyn crossed her arms and fell into a chair. “He’s in hot water for improper use of military resources.”

“Hot water? Is that another figure of speech, perhaps?”

“Yeah, anyway, you know that town you came from?”

“C-23.”

“The fact that the Commander diverted a recon team toward that town to collect his wife and daughter came to light and some of the councilors are making a big fuss about it.”

“I see.” After hearing further details, Visette pondered if the Commander’s situation would become an obstacle to her.

'Unlikely.' After coming to a quick conclusion, she grabbed a nearby book about wildlife she had already finished and started reading from the beginning.

“That’s all you wanted to know?” Lyn asked, making it clear she wanted to continue the conversation.

“Yes, there does not appear to be any other necessary information I need to inquire about.”

“Well, you're wrong about that. The fact he diverted a recon team to a town in order to secure Rachel and Charlie Wakefield was already known for a while. The only reason it's being brought up now is due to you.”

“How does my presence affect the situation?”

“Those councilors are citing it as evidence that he shouldn’t be the one to take charge of you. Basically, it means they want to see if they can rope you into their factions or have someone they can influence be assigned to watch you.”

“I do not want that.”

“Yeah? Well, I don't either but we don't really get to decide.”

Lyn stood up and stretched before heading toward the exit.

“We’ll just have to see what happens, Vis,” She added before leaving the warehouse.

Surprisingly, it only took another week for the matter to get resolved. Commander Wakefield was now required to send reports of all his orders and commands to the council so they could evaluate it. Previously, he would only have to send reports to the Governor which allowed him some freedom. Now that an extra level of scrutiny was added, the Commander would have to be wary of making mistakes as his power and influence would be cut down with each one.

At the end of what was a slow week, Visette went to sleep just like any other day. Although she still retained consciousness, she would often see thousands of dim blue lights blinking during her sleep. It was a strange phenomenon, one that she couldn't find the cause of.

...

It had been 1095 days since Visette started her training and with a few exceptions, those days had used to their fullest.

At the moment, Visette and Lyn were engaged in a tense spar. Enough time had passed where Lyn could make use of her Abnormal traits without fearing Visette would be hurt. The constant training served to condition her body immensely.

They stood an equal distance apart and mirrored each other's stances. Their legs spread apart with their primary feet forward, chins tucked, and arms raised to guard against the attack of the other. They cautiously inched toward each other in unison, keeping their bodies grounded in order to prevent the other from gaining even the slightest advantage. Once Lyn entered within an arm's range of Visette, they began trading a few punches to probe the other for an opening. It went on for quite some time until the repetition was broken. A barely noticeable shift in Lyn's stance was instantly magnified in Visette's vision causing her to prepare for the next attack.

Then, with what looked to be without warning, Lyn adjusted her footing to stay balanced and performed a spinning back kick. With her inhuman agility, Lyn's foot cut through the air cut but Vis was ready, she raised her arm to block her head while simultaneously kicking at Lyn's unguarded leg which caused the latter to stumble. Visette quickly added another kick and Lyn fell on her back and immediately raised her guard while Visette climbed atop her.

Visette then began to rain down a series of ruthless punches that aimed for Lyn's face but only hit two arms raised to defend.

Just as Visette was going to continue, a stopwatch sitting on a nearby table began to beep giving some sort of signal. In response, Visette immediately stood up and offered a hand to Lyn.

"The designated amount of time has passed."

“Damn.” Lyn clicked her tongue, raising her calloused hand to grip Visette's comparatively softer palm. "Your win...again."

“I now have a total of five hundred forty-five wins while you have a total of three hundred twenty-six,” Visette intoned.

“Yeah, yeah.” Lyn made a bitter smile as she thought of Visette’s growth.

The borderline tortuous training routine made Visette reach a level of specialization beyond her own. She even guessed that Vis would be able to complete dangerous missions that would require an entire team of Abnormals by herself.

“By the way, how are your jokes coming along?” Lyn asked as she removed the sparring equipment.

“You have not tied your shoes correctly.” Visette gave a monotone reply.

Lyn looked down at her sparring shoes that didn't include laces and then back to Visette with no sign of amusement.

“So it still needs some work I take it?”

“Correct.”

“What about your smiling? Have you finally figured it out.”

Visette’s facial muscles twitched unnaturally and the edges of her lips rose ever so slightly.

“...You’ll get it right one of these days.”

Recently, Dr. Eliza urged Lyn to interact with Visette more than usual. The goal was to keep Visette from falling into a completely unsociable state due to the extreme isolation she was under. It was a good idea but Lyn wasn’t a very sociable person in the first place. Still, she tried her best to get Visette to open up or to at least realize she wasn't completely alone.

“I’ve read the list of books you’ve asked for and I don’t think you’ll get them this time,” Lyn suddenly said.

“That is unfortunate but not unexpected.” Vis didn’t seem to be too disappointed.

“If you didn't think you'd get it- No, why'd you even ask for things related to electronics and radio waves in the first place?”

“Curiosity.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.” Lyn tossed a towel and a water bottle to Visette who caught them.

The real reason for Visette’s sudden interest in electronics was to find any research that could help her understand the billions of nanites in her body. After spending some time thinking, she assumed her nanites to be the cause of the strange visual effect of blinking lights. Novo Prime wasn’t as technologically advanced as Minerva but since she couldn’t access the lab hidden in the ravine so anything that could possibly provide insight would have to do.

Visette pushed her lengthy white hair away from her face before pausing and turning to face Lyn.

“May I borrow your knife, Lyn?” Visette asked.

“What? Why?”

“Excess hair is unnecessary and hampers my vision, therefore, I wish to remove it.”

“...But I like your hair.” Lyn removed her black hair tie and gave it to Visette. “Don’t cut it.”

Visette accepted the hair tie and simply looked at it sitting in her palm.

“You don’t want it?” Lyn fished another black hair tie out of her pockets and tied her ponytail once again.

“I do not know how to use it.”

“Come here, I’ll show you.”

Visette stood in front of Lyn cluelessly, awaiting further instructions.

Lyn moved behind Vis and gathered her hair up before tying a short ponytail.

“There you go.” Lyn smiled.

“Thank you,” Visette responded, satisfied with the current solution.

After solving the problem of Visette’s hair, Lyn made Visette practice shooting a few more times before calling it a day.

…

1252 days after Visette started training, the nature of her strange tattoos had finally been noticed. Specifically, after a detailed medical checkup revealed that the tattoo on her right shoulder had read as F-16 instead of F-13. It caused a stir due to the previous letters and numbers of her tattoos being recorded during the time she first arrived in New Mayhall.

The issue understandably began to grow as there was little explanation for a changing tattoo. Things only calmed when a theory was put forward, one that stated was some sort of subdermal biological marker in place that reacted to the chemical changes in Visette’s body as she aged and acted correspondingly. It wasn’t too far from the truth as Visette’s nanites changed the pigment of her skin in accordance with her age. The reason for it was due to Minerva's decision to use Visette as a walking file. If the time for her recovery came and the necessary files on her were damaged or lost, a glance at her tattoos would impart the most basic but most vital information about her. At least, in the eyes of a high-ranking Minerva researcher.

Commander Wakefield sat in his office and heavily contemplated Visette’s tattoos once more as they had been brought to the forefront once again. The fact that the F proceeding the numerical value indicated her gender was widely accepted and the simplest tattoo to decode.

What still couldn’t be figured out was the string of number and letters under her collarbone and the pattern of overlapping squares over her F-16 tattoo.

“To create a reactive chemical marker would require medical technology we don’t possess...Is it possible she’s from Eden Hill.” Commander Wakefield thought aloud.

A network between cities was formed but they rarely interacted, only sharing information about the Corrupted and not much more except sharing the occasional rumor. One such rumor told of Eden Hill, a city who was previously on the same level as the others, experiencing a massive technological boom. It was said a few other cities spread around the continent also had something similar happen. Whatever the case was, it was impossible to confirm the truth of the matter without Eden Hill making a statement or sending someone to infiltrate the allegedly high-tech city which couldn’t be done safely. If a spy was captured and their origins were discovered, Eden Hill would be likely to respond aggressively.

[Commander, you have received a memo from the Councilors.] The intercom sitting on his desk buzzed.

“Bring it in.” He sighed and prepared to read what he thought would be another set of demands from the council.

A well-dressed lady entered his office and placed the memo on his desk before leaving.

Not expecting much, Commander Wakefield picked it up and skimmed over it before his body froze.

Due to the high possibility of Commander Nathan Wakefield misusing military assets for his own personal gain, we recommend that the Abnormal soldiers he assigned as guards for Rachel and Charlie Wakefield be replaced with DSF personnel. It should also be said, that only members of Government are allowed to have Abnormal individuals attached to their security detail. Commander Wakefield's allocating the guards meant to defend him to his wife and child are another clear violation of that rule. Even if it isn't expressly forbidden, it is a loophole which Commander Wakefield has taken full advantage of. Thusly, the Domestic Security Force should take full charge of their safety.

Unanimously signed, New Mayhall’s Council.

Commander Wakefield gently placed the letter down and inhaled deeply.

“You old bastards!” His expression warped with anger as he slammed his fist down on his desk viciously before regaining composure as the stinging pain was transmitted through his knuckles. The cold and calm face he usually wore returned and he even flashed a faint grin. Commander Wakefield’s enemies within the council, as well as those who wanted control over Vis, were making a threat with their statement. Since he clearly treasured his family there was no better way to move him than to take away the protection he provided for them.

“Fine, if this is the way you wish to go about things then I have no problem responding in kind.”

He grabbed a pen and began writing his own memo in response to the Council’s decision.

After comprehensive study from our renown psychoanalyst, Dr. Eliza Brendan, I highly recommend that Visette Thales receive more social interaction to avoid negative mental development. I propose that she enters the senior class of New Mayhall’s Academy and be allowed to learn alongside people of similar age. She will have the chance to develop ties and relationships with citizens of New Mayhall which will only increase her loyalty toward the city.

Signed, Commander Nathan Wakefield.

Commander Wakefield finished writing with a look of satisfaction and then sent the memo off. He had no worries of the councilor rejecting him as letting Visette into the public eye would be a good opportunity to try and recruit her into their factions. Meanwhile, the problem of Rachel and Charlie’s lack of security would also be solved as they would most likely invite Visette to stay with them.

…

A total 1456 days passed since Visette started training.

Four years of Visette's life were spent outside of the Minerva lab and before she even knew, she had turned 17 years old.

Visette stood at 174 cm and show no resemblance to her previous self. Her cheekbones and jaw became fairly sharper. Her muscles had become incredibly defined due to the rigorous training she endured and her own genetic structure. Above all, she maintained a visibly petite frame but her natural physical strength was enough to classify her as a type-4 strength Abnormal. The lack of visible muscle mass on her body made it hard to tell that she weighed more than expected due to her extremely dense muscle growth.

As Visette began reading, Lyn entered the warehouse with a sandwich clenched between her teeth and a paper bag in one hand and two coffees squeezed into the other. She looked over at Visette who remained buried in a book and took a slight pause. Even Lyn had to admit that Visette somehow surpassed the notion of beauty. If looking at her before made one want to protect her, a single glance now would make others want to preserve her like an expensive portrait. The unflattering dull grey fabric Vis wore didn’t subtract anything from her overall beauty either.

“Do you require assistance?” Vis asked without looking.

Her speech pattern largely remained the same over the years but very with small differences that only Lyn and Dr. Eliza would immediately notice.

“...No,” Lyn averted her eyes and placed the paper bag on a nearby table.

Visette shut her book in a practiced manner and went to join Lyn at the table. She opened the bag and began taking food out before accepting a coffee from Lyn.

After taking a bite of her sandwich, Lyn began to speak, “There’s some good news today.”

“Pertaining to?”

“Who else but you, Visette? Your training is officially over today.”

“I see.”

“That’s not all though, you’re also going to be enrolled into the academy for the next few months according to Commander Wakefield.”

“Will I have access to all educational material while I am there?” Visette inquired.

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t.” Lyn shrugged.

“Then I have no issue with attending...When am I to be released?”

“After you finish eating I’ll take you to see the Commander and we’ll figure everything else out from there.”

Visette nodded and finished her meal in an orderly manner.

“Alright, let’s get going.”

Lyn led her out of the warehouse, through a metal tunnel that was guarded by two soldiers, before she stepped outside again. The active military base the warehouse was stationed in was filled with activity. Soldiers ran intense training drills in a field far off in the distance. Armored trucks steadily patrolled the area and a few inexperienced soldiers could be seen attempting to find their post. What Visette took notice of were the air hangars, specifically, the ones left open. Even with them being far away, Visette could make out the small aircraft that resembled nothing like what was on Earth.

"Hey, do you want to stay another four years or something?" Lyn called out to Visette while climbing into a black military truck.

Visette took one more look at the aircraft before entering the truck and finally leaving the base.