Helena trained for three more hours before having to stop. Her body was exhausted, even with Belesis’ body enhancements and her skull housed a horrible migraine.

“Not bad,” Kara commented with a smirk. “You’ve improved greatly and it’s about time for the ceremony to start.”

“Ceremony?” Helena puffed air from her lungs in violent gasps.

“I could just test you myself and incorporate you into my Faction, but where is the fun in that—for the President. It’s a chance that many recruits train years for, the opportunity to advance in the eyes of the President.”

“It’s a requirement for me advancing so quickly?” Helena asked as she sat on a steel panel.

“Yes and no.” Kara sounded slightly annoyed. “I can test you and throw you into the group. However, you wouldn’t get personal commissions by the President himself unless you participate in this competition and it gives you notoriety—simply, he wants to see you perform himself.”

“I don’t have to win, just take part in?” Helena asked. That would account for Kara’s earlier statement about not winning her first contest. She must have received requests from the President, getting stronger and gained the opportunity to strike at the Purple Prime.

“That’s right, but the likelihood of you coming out alive without winning is slim. These contestants you’ll be fighting aren’t just here to get a better life. They’re here for glory and, in my opinion, nothing special. They are unrefined, but that’s what the President enjoys.”

“My opposition is already SOP capable?”

“Kind of, they’ve been training for a while now and initiation matches were held a week ago. My selection would be different, but it is what it is.” What those workers were talking about in the hall when I was trying to escape.

Nervously, Helena said. “So far you’ve only shown me how to dodge and deflect energy. I have little experience with offensive techniques and … my fear of electrical discharges. Can I win this way?”

Kara lifted an eyebrow. “Yes … if you could project electricity, but Phantasm’s given us a very precious insight, gift, as much as I hate saying it, and a curse.”

“The Espite knowledge, my trauma, and my fear of generating my own electricity...” Helena said, folding her legs.

“Yes. Fear of your own ability is an atrocious handicap, to say the least.” Kara said with a sigh.

Helena let out a heavy breath of air. I’m handicapped.

Studying Helena for a moment, Kara asked. “What makes electricity so powerful?”

Jolting out of her self pity, Helena said. “The combination of high Volts and Amps.” What’s she getting at?

“Volts are like pressure, it’s how fast electrons can spread. Consider it like a water bottle with a hole in its lid. The more pressure you apply the faster it comes out. Can you kill someone with a water bottle pressure?”

Helena lifted an eyebrow. “No?”

Kara laughed. “Very unlikely, but then you have amps, the power of electricity. Consider amps as a slow-moving river. Can you stand in it without being pulled under and dying, yes?” Helena nodded. “Can you stop it?”

Helena shook her head. “Not likely.”

“Now what if you add the volts pressure with the amps power? The answer’s simple, you get a lot of powerful energy moving at lightning speeds! Consider it like a typhoon. An electrical discharge is one of the strongest attacks we Electro Masters can accomplish, raw power, understand?” Silently, Helena sat back and nodded. She’s already gone over this.

“The problem is its requirement. It’s dependent on our Capacity, Force, and Control. If we have a large Capacity and little Force, but a lot of Control … we can still only expel a small amount of pressure. The same goes with little Capacity, a large Force and Control. However, you have a lot of Capacity and Force, but little Control. That makes it extremely dangerous for you to use electricity, but … your brother found a fix, Resonating Espite.”

Helena hummed thoughtfully. “So, I can use electricity without worrying about Control, but I still have my fear.”

Kara’s teeth clamped against her left thumbnail as she studied her internal thoughts. Releasing her thumbnail, she said. “Try it against the wall, see what you can control.” Helena’s hand twitched and started to shake slightly. I hate this gut ripping feeling. “That’s what I was most afraid of, you’ve started to fear electricity … at least producing it yourself.”

Helena swallowed the saliva that gathered in her mouth. “I can do it.”

“I know you can,” Belesis said from her position by the door. She seemed to have gotten ahold of her body and now leaned comfortably against the wall. She’s been extremely quiet since expending her energy on reforming my body, is she really alright?

Extending her hand, Helena brought the electricity to birth. Small electrical currents expelled from her hand and danced across the floor in arcs; leaving small tendrils of smoke as they traced small black lines.

“You can’t even produce more than that amount,” Kara said with a shake of her head. “You know you can, but you’ve subconsciously blocked yourself off. I hoped that by deflecting my bolts you’d be able to get over the fear. However, it looks like it’s not electricity you fear, but the energy you produce.”

Helena ground her teeth together as she thought. She’s right, I can come up with the calculations, but it’s like my mind is blocking me from producing the Focus. My hand’s even trembling with this small amount, just using a static tether I could do more damage than this. Why can I do that, but not a raw bolt of energy? Her hair started to stand on end as a charge shot through it. Even more annoyed, Helena extracted the static.

Kara frowned. “I know it must perplex and anger you. That’s good, it means you have the will to move past your fear, but again … be careful about your emotions. As you’ve probably noticed, just now, sparks were flaring at your brow. A common sign of frustration or annoyance to Electro Masters.” Helena grimaced. So that’s why my hair keeps becoming charged.

Kara let go of a dreary sigh. “I need to get ready for the contest and Belesis needs to go to the medical bay to restore her body.”

“I’m fine...” Belesis started to protest.

Kara cut her off sharply. “No, Belesis! You’re a General; you need to present yourself as such.” Kara glared at Belesis until she sighed with resignation but soon regained her spirit.

“Tigress wench!” Belesis fumed as she stormed out of the training area.

Kara shook her head. “That woman...” Lifting her head, she stared at Helena. “You need to redress and wash up. That dust covered appearance isn’t glorifying at all, if they don’t even know who you are.” I’m pretty sure, they’ll notice me by size … but Kara’s right. I don’t want to make my first live impression in these clothes.

“Also, you need to get some rest. I’ve set your alarm again.” She’s invading my HCID more than I like and I don’t even recognize her invasion. Then again, she is the one who gave it to me and I’ll be following her from now on … until I surpass her.

Helena’s teeth ground against each other as she stared back down at her open left hand. How am I going to accomplish that with a fear of my own ability? A charge sparking at her brow again, she viciously extracted it as Kara left.

Going to the cafeteria, she found a few people eating, but no one paid her much attention. Ordering a few items, she ate in silence. Heading back to her room, Helena picked out a new set of clothes; a tight plain white t-shirt that extended to her upper thighs, black tights that stretched to her ankles, white ankle socks, white undergarments and white soft sole shoes that fit her comfortably.

She placed the items on the table for after she awoke and made her way to the spa. Arriving at the spa waiting room, she found a familiar face. It’s Peter?

Peter sat in a chair; he was ashen face as he looked up at her. “Oh—Helena, you look well. I’ve heard about your training with Kara, wonderful feat. It looks like you’ll be advancing quickly.” He looks troubled.

“What are you doing here? Did you advance past your second stage of testing?”

Peter gulped down his response with a fearful tremor and nodded.

“What’s next for you?” Helena asked as she walked over to sit next to him. I don’t think this is a trap, but I should keep my guard up and reception active.

“I’m being sent to New Genesis, the middle ground,” Peter said, teeth chattering.

Helena examined Peter a bit closer. He had a plain white shirt on, with blue course pants, and white soft sole shoes. His complexion was pale and seemed to shiver every few seconds, despite the room being fairly warm. His heart thumped at irregular intervals and his eyes spoke his terror. He’s gripped by fear, this is real. What could have changed his confident attitude so much? Then again … I’ve changed a lot myself.

Frowning, she asked. “To do what?”

A low emotionless voice echoed behind her, sending a chill down Helena’s spine as a presence entered her reception. “To train … my Head Quarters.” Helena froze as one of the strangest sensations she’d ever identified came into her receptive radius. It was as if a mass of positive and negative energy was swirling around in a mass of chaos. All she could sense of whoever was behind her was a mass of energy.

Turning, she found a stringy woman in her mid-thirties; she was as thin as Tezebeth. However, this woman was curve-less, but a little over two meters tall.

She had high cheekbone and thin cheeks, a strong chin, dark golden skin, and damp, thin, ragged black hair that fell around her gaunt face to her chest. Her sharp nose fit her face perfectly and her large open forehead accentuated her low-thin arched eyebrows, making her exotic deep brown eyes almost seem black. She looked as if she didn’t eat nearly enough.

A tight black shirt covered her thin frame, course black pants framed her bony legs, and black flats shielded her feet.

Apprehension filled Helena’s chest. If this woman claims New Genesis as her Head Quarters, then … she must be Sevilla, Prime of the Turquoise Faction. What ability does she have? It seems to be similar to an Electro Master, but that isn’t too surprising since electromagnetism is one of the four basic forces. It’s like the particles she’s near becomes ionized. Is that her ability, Iokinesis? She’s the second longest living Prime, it must be for a reason.

“Sevilla, I presume,” Helena said as she stood and curtsied. Peter scrambled out of his chair and bowed lowly, trembling heavily.

Sevilla pursed her downward-turned lips but somehow didn’t change her expressionless face. “Smart girl. Kara’s girl … Vix.” Peter’s obviously scared of her. It seems Sevilla took an interest in him and that’s not good from what Booker said. How can I repay him, what can I do for the knowledge he gave me in the Black Box? His information was critical to so many different facets over the past few days.

Helena curtsied again to acknowledge her statement. “Seems true … a Noble. No wonder Eizea … excited. She’ll be disappointed … I understand.” What particularly does she understand and how did she know of my decision so quickly?

“Preparing … sleep … competition … smart.” Sevilla commented. Her eyes darted to Peter’s back as he kept his head bowed. “Know … boy?”

“Yes. We took the first test together.” Helena replied. She has an interesting way of speaking, breaking apart sentences with only words of interest.

Coldly, Sevilla asked. “Opinion?”

Helena’s vision didn’t leave Sevilla’s black eyes. My opinion will cause an effect on Peter, but in which way? It’ll also strengthen my opinion if I win this next fight and lessen if I lose. Sevilla has been described to me as sadistic and torturous. She’s cold and her subordinates seem to turn out that way, most likely due to torture in her own Faction. Should I give her a failing account or a shining recommendation? She might be able to sense the active pulses in my organs as well, discounting any lie. I don’t know the parameters of her ability and she’s a Prime. This decision will drastically change Peter’s life.

She noticed Peter’s flinch with her reception as Sevilla spoke, he knew what was transpiring. “I think he has things to learn but is incredibly bright. In the Black Box, he was the only competition I felt worried about.”

Sevilla’s eyes darted from Helena back to Peter. “Calculated … Black Box … you say … worried … bright … needs to learn … yes.” She moved around the chairs at an even pace. “Boy.” She stopped and turned to stare into Helena’s eyes. “I … anticipate … rainbow … here.”

After her words, she left with Peter trailing behind her. She spoke in increments and only words of a sentence. Each held an important message, it is a very interesting speech pattern. She’s anticipating my match and warned me about a rainbow or the rainbow. It struck her. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Blue, and Purple; every color is a part of the rainbow, the only exception being white. All the Primes are here. I’ve met Purple, Phantasm; Turquoise, Sevilla; and Blue, Eizea. Phantasm may have been the replacement for Purple when Kara killed him, but he apparently took the position without much objection.

It looks like I’ll be seeing all the Primes in the coming day. A rare opportunity it seems and even the President will be present, the Alpha would also be with him. This competition really is a big deal, but how would it affect their organization to have such a consolidation of power in one place? What if all the Primes attacked the President … or is that a part of his plan, she’s telling them it doesn’t matter if all of them are together...

Heading into the bathing room, she threw her dirty clothes in a hamper and washed. Finished, she donned a robe and made her way back to her room. Helena was surprised to find this many personnel starting to run around the halls. It must be in preparation for the contest, but the way Kara described it, it’s more like a game for show.

Entering her room, she dropped into bed with a sigh. Even if I’ve been awake for only several hours, I feel completely exhausted. Kara pushed my mind and body hard. She quickly fell to sleep.

* * *

She heard the same single screech strike her eardrums and jolted awake, blinking rapidly at the dimmed lights in her room. The HCID beeped again, signaling a message. She tossed the blankets back and scooted back against the headboard, pulling her hair out of the way. She brought up the HCID’s message:

Heya, little Vixy! The Lightning Cat herself speaks!!

It’s time for you to start your competition; slept for a while this time didn’t you!

Helena noticed the time on the HCID and grimaced. I’ve slept right through the six-hour preparation period, but she was the one that set my alarm. She began to read the message again.

Get yourself dressed and meet me in Training Room One. It’s time for your life-threatening battle to commence! All the Prime’s are coming … which is STUPID, but whatever! Some arrived later than expected and we can’t start ‘till EVERY Prime arrives … even that cockroach Phantasm will be present. I JUST WANT TO CUT HIM UP INTO PIECES AND FEED HIM TO A WEREWOLF!! But alas … that isn’t allowed ... this time…

We’ll be able to talk a bit about the contest when you arrive, so hustle!!

Goddess Lightning Kitty out!!

Helena smiled. She refers to herself as a cat and then a kitten. Phantasm must have had some part in Kara’s trauma for her to hate him this much...

Discarding her robe in the closet hamper, she dressed into the items she’d picked out and combed her hair, placing it in a ponytail. Stretching her muscles, she sighed. Whatever, it’s time to meet my competition. Exiting the room, she made her way toward the contest room.