For generations, the Council has fed their city on a secret food stream from the Outside. While they tell the people within their walls to fear the Beasts, they feed them the meat of those very creatures. Last month, however, Roy Connor, one of the runners, spoke out against this lifestyle. “They never even come out here – what are they going to do if we stop bringing them food? We have nothing to fear. Let them feed their own people!” His words resounded with many other Outsiders, and no shipment of Bison meat has been carried to the Council in weeks. As of yet, there is no word from them on an attempt to mend this relationship. – Julian Welsh, 525 Anno Imperi Ortu

One complaint no one will ever raise about the Outside is its lack of space. If there is one thing provided in abundance – it’s open ground. Not long ago, I would have been intimidated by the vast emptiness which surrounds us. I would have trembled as I stood on this hill overlooking threateningly bare rolling hills. Of course, then I had only a few soldiers by my side.

Now, standing beside Satoshi and observing my budding army, I can’t help but feel a sense of pride. The Outsiders have quickly taken to me as their leader, and now they train ceaselessly. Well, within reason, that is. We still have to return to town at night to avoid the Beasts.

With the commotion we’re making, though, I can’t imagine even the Beasts would be daring enough to approach. The yellow grass has been all but eradicated in the one-mile radius of our new training area. The ground is littered with craters – the size of which tells me the day they were created.

Watching everyone relentlessly exercise their powers invigorates me, but I know I must be patient. As intimidating as they may be – the Council will not be afraid. Jade’s strength still can’t rival Derrick’s, and none of us can destroy things as quickly as Alistair can make them. With Krista’s intelligence and Dante’s life experience, I have no question they have a plan which utilizes their home-field advantage. Minerva is still a wild card, so we have to be prepared for anything. Regardless, it’s hard to not rush. When I look at the people scattered around the plains before me, I see no chance of defeat.

Jade and Alfred are sparring once again. In the brief amount of time we’ve been training, Alfred’s left arm seems to have grown noticeably. Jade throws a punch and he blocks it with his forearm. I’m practically able to feel the energy from where I stand as they collide. Neither of them seems bothered, though, as they continue to trade blows. Alfred has the disadvantage of only one superpowered arm, but he holds his own nonetheless. Parrying one attack after another, he finally finds an opportunity to retaliate with his strong arm. Jade flies through the air, colliding with the side of a hill and leaving an indent.

The other training is far less interesting to watch, but brings a smile to my face nonetheless. Kenneth is working on a way to weaponize his sweat without affecting himself, but he mostly looks ridiculous waving his arms through the air. Ravi, whose power I would have assumed is nothing but a hindrance, is working on a special move of his own. Tossing a large rock into the air in front of him, he lunges forward. Floating, he’s able to grab the rock, twist and kick the air behind him, then direct the fall of the stone toward his imaginary enemy as he lands. Focusing on the acrobatics of his limited flight, he’s able to turn his power into something impressive. Calypso, who apparently has no control over her invisibility whatsoever, is training with Conroy in martial arts. A few others have taken up a bit of ground for a shooting range, negating the need for their useless powers. Lukas has taken to racing the bullets, and though I’m quite a distance away, it looks to me as though he’s beating them.

As an Intellect, Satoshi has also proven quite useful. He designed a specific training regimen for each soldier. Of course, he had the benefit of knowing the majority of them, but it didn’t take him long. He’s even managed to manufacture a few items to help the others harness their powers better. For Dianna, a runner who can’t handle the friction generated at high velocities, he made shoes with a near zero coefficient of friction. Now she’s training herself to stop in them. For Sven, a Brawn whose bones hadn’t adjusted to withstand the force of his own punch, Satoshi had created tension-reducing gloves. While they aren’t capable of bringing Sven to his full potential, they are able to help him reach easily quadruple that of a normal man. Of course, Satoshi is also our primary manufacturer of firearms and ammunition because he saw the methodology in a book once.

The ground shakes as Jade rolls away from a stomp of Alfred’s massive foot. She jumps to her feet and catches him in a headlock. Grabbing her shoulder and leaning forward, he manages to slip from her grasp and throw her forward once again. Her eyes burn as she twirls in the air and lands on her feet. Running in what appears to be blind rage, she charges toward him. Opening with a wide right hook, she pulls his attention to that hand before following up with an uppercut with her left arm. Slipping past Alfred’s guard, she lands the attack on his jaw. I’m worried she’s done permanent damage, but she appears to have held back, as he merely stumbles slightly. With another step, she closes the distance and throws another punch. Panicking, Alfred tries to block with his right arm, but he can’t overpower her with that side of his body. The attack sends him sliding backward and he trips over a tangled weed in the ground.

Trusting them to treat one another as allies, I turn my attention back to Lukas. I can barely see him as he runs back and forth down the shooting range. Finally, he pitches forward and drops his hands on his knees. Both of them have come so far in a matter of days. Jade’s strength is growing rapidly – but her battle sense is the more impressive improvement. She no longer relies solely on being more powerful. Lukas, who was already impressively fast, is even quicker and his stamina is nearing infinite. Today, he outran over a dozen bullets before he needed a brief respite. Compared to them, I am concerned I’m making no progress at all. I seem to have hit a wall. I try to train, but I’m worried my period of rapid growth is over. At this rate, it won’t be long before Jade actually does surpass me.

“They’re coming a long way,” Satoshi observes.

“It’s all thanks to your mind,” I humbly admit.

“They wouldn’t have cared to try without a leader,” he counters.

“Thanks. I guess I should get to training myself. I can’t get left behind.”

“Let me come with you.”

“Who would supervise them?”

“If you want to stand a chance against the Council, you’ll need to be at your peak. Do you think you can reach that alone?”

I sigh and glance over my shoulder. I don’t want Satoshi to watch me train for various reasons. At this point, I’m embarrassed by how weak I look. I need to break through this glass ceiling before showing him my progress. Besides, I’m worried I might hurt him. I try to hold heavy rocks until I physically can’t – which leads to things crashing from the sky. Unfortunately, he has a point. Everyone else owes their progress to Satoshi. If I’m going to accept him as my new advisor, I have to give him the chance to help me grow as well. No leader holds infinite power – I can’t create that charade for myself.

“Fine,” I finally agree. I nod to my left and he follows me. I want to say something more to him. I want to ask about his travels or the world before. Instead, I find myself tripping over any words before I can muster the strength to say them. I hate depending on him, and I hate feeling vulnerable. I’m supposed to be powerful, but now I’m about to show someone else my limitations. I’m worried he will lose faith in me.

“You know, people used to have a concept called a photographic memory,” Satoshi tells me, breaking the silence. “It was never proven to legitimately exist, but it was a concept for something very similar to my power.”

“I don’t understand,” I stutter. I don’t see his point – of course people would have a concept of an Intellect.

“Before the emergence of the first power, I mean,” he clarifies.

“How would they know about powers then?”

“Well, they didn’t. I mean, they had plenty of stories about them, but that’s beside the point. A photographic memory was simply a gift certain people were thought to have. It makes me wonder, though, if that glowing child was the first power or simply the most obvious.”

“It was a mutation,” I respond.

“Of course, but everyone is born with a multitude of mutations. Why was this the first to be called a power?”

“Maybe it was the most out of the ordinary,” I shrug.

“Perhaps. Or perhaps that’s simply what we think of the world of nearly a century ago. You see, Carson, this is all simply the next step in human evolution. That doesn’t happen instantaneously.”

“I’m sorry Satoshi, I don’t understand your point.”

“Well, early powers were things like a photographic memory. Someone could remember well. Others could lift telephone poles.”

“What?” I interject.

“Sorry, they were heavy means of communication. The point is, they were strong.”

“So you’re just saying the first powers were weaker versions of current ones? The Council says the same thing.”

“But what they won’t tell you is that the next logical step is to affect the world outside of your body. They’re afraid of people like you.”

“I’ve reached that conclusion,” I agree, finally seeing his point. I wish he didn’t have to speak in riddles, but that’s part of what makes him who he is. Honestly, I can’t blame him with the sheer amount of knowledge he has stored in his mind. Maybe he has to search through some of it which has been filed away before he finally gets to his point.

“There’s something else I have to tell you, Carson,” Satoshi adds cautiously. Nervous, I continue walking, but offer him a confused glance. “You must be careful. In your quest to overcome the Council, that you don’t become like them.”

“Trust me, that’s not going to happen,” I laugh.

“It’s easy for rage to corrupt your mind. Just please be careful.”

“I think we’ve walked far enough,” I tell him. I don’t want to address the ridiculousness of his advice any longer, and I need to focus on training. I’ve learned the lesson of being blinded by rage the hard way, and I won’t make that mistake again. Glancing over my shoulder, I confirm that no one else is in sight, and we’ve crossed enough hills that even the far-sighted Kyle won’t be able to see me. His enhanced vision helps him see in the distance, but he’s essentially blind to anything less than a mile away. Still, even he can’t see through this terrain.

“Alright, so what is this mysterious training to which you’ve been subjecting yourself?” Satoshi asks, slowing to a stop. I hold my hand up to tell him to stay still and I walk a few hundred feet away. This is my last chance to back away from this. Maybe I should just do a lighter form of my regular training so he doesn’t see me get tired. If I do that, though, he will simply believe I’m weaker than I am. No, I’ve come this far, I have to put my trust in him.

I point an open palm to the ground a few dozen feet from me. The dirt splits and the crack follows my hand as I move it in a large circle. Finally, I pull up and lift a ton of dirt into the air. Slowly, I move it upward. As it moves higher, I already feel my head begin to ache. Regardless, I hold that hand in place and use the other to lift an equally sized chunk. My head pounds as I keep the two tons of earth suspended to either side of me.

“Why are you pointing at them?” Satoshi asks. I assume he’s simply trying to understand my power, but it comes across as a taunt. Clearly, my annoyance shows, because he raises his hands and takes a step back. A bead of sweat forms on my forehead and I feel as though the weight of the dirt is on my back. My legs grow weak, but I try to stand tall. I lift the two sections of dirt into the sky so they’re close enough to hold with only one hand before repeating the process to add a third to it. Finally, the third ton is enough to break my stance. I fall to the ground and the clean hemispherical shape of the dirt falters. I manage to catch it, but my head feels like its going to explode.

Finally, grains of dirt begin sifting through my telekinetic grasp. My ears are ringing and the light of the sun suddenly seems blinding. The agony in my head is unbearable, but I have to try. I have to get stronger. I feel the mass of dirt lowering, so I hold both hands toward it to support it. Still, larger and larger chunks break through my grasp and fall to the ground like miniature meteors. I start to feel dizzy and I’m seeing double. I have no way of knowing how much dirt has fallen, but somehow it doesn’t feel lighter. I lose my composure and collapse to the ground. The dirt rains down around me – a perfect picture of my failure. I wanted to show Satoshi my power, but all I’ve managed to do is prove to him that I’m weak. Lying on the ground in front of him, I feel not like a leader – but like a worm. I can’t bring those people to victory. I can’t even stay standing during my own training. Satoshi speaks, but his voice is an earsplitting screech. I try to move my hands to cover my ears, but my muscles refuse to respond. Completely exhausted from only minutes of training, I’m nothing more than a pathetic pile of mush. No better than the dirt which surrounds me. Satoshi’s shrill voice makes my ears feel like they’re going to bleed, but I can’t force myself to ask him to stop speaking. After a few minutes, the world stops spinning and the nausea settles down. Finally, I’m able to understand his words.

“Carson?” He repeats. I acknowledge him with the only thing I’m capable of – a pitiful groan. “That was amazing.”

I want to argue with him, but I can’t move. I feel his hand on my shoulder. Gently, Satoshi helps me sit and leans me against a massive pile of dirt to my right.

“None of your stories made me think you’d be capable of this!” He laughs.

“I need to be stronger,” I choke.

“Stronger? Are you kidding?” Satoshi laughs, looking around the field. I lean my pounding head against the dirt and look into the sky.

“Wait,” Satoshi stammers. Dropping to a seated position across from me, he places his arms on the ground behind him. His smug face is infuriating, but I can’t do anything to wipe the smile away. Satoshi reaches into his backpack and retrieves dried meat and water. He offers it to me, but I can’t move my hands to accept it. Cocking his head in confusion, he holds his superiority over me once again. “Are you tired?”

“Is that not clear?” I reply spitefully. I am trying to remain patient, but he’s seen me at my weakest and his first response is to make a joke of it. Michael never would have made me feel so inadequate.

“I suppose it is. The reason is what’s not apparent to me,” he tells me. I want to quip back with something about my power’s limitations, but I stop myself when I see genuine confusion in his eyes. He isn’t taunting me – Satoshi actually doesn’t understand. That’s surprising. Trying to calm myself down, I force my hand up to take the meat. After only one bite, the pain in my head already begins to settle. After I’m done eating, I feel ready to have a conversation with my advisor.

“Even my power has limits,” I sigh. “I have been trying to lift heavier things, but I seem to have reached my potential. I also try to use my power without my hands, but it hurts my head and lowers my overall strength.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Satoshi counters.

“I think I’d know,” I scoff, struggling to my feet.

“Carson, you just dropped three tons of dirt from the sky over your head. I had to retreat to avoid contact. Somehow, though, none of it landed on your back.”

“Physics is a strange thing.”

“I can calculate dozens of equations, factoring in the forces of air resistance and the wind, in mere seconds. Nothing explains how you were completely spared. Nothing except your power.”

“I didn’t control it,” I argue. “I couldn’t even think.”

“Exactly – and that’s why you controlled it.”

“What?”

“Your body knows what to do, Carson. Your limits are in your mind.”

“I don’t understand.”

“This is just my theory, but it’s one derived from the mathematics, what I’ve observed of hundreds of powers, and all the logic I can muster. I think you’re misunderstanding what you can do.”

“What can I do, then?” I ask.

“You tell me. I want to hear your thoughts.”

I take a drink of water and think about my response. I realize I haven’t actually given a name to my power. Michael called it telekinesis – which simply means moving things without physical contact. Outside of that, I haven’t tried to put words to it.

“I can move things with my mind,” I respond.

“Exactly! You’re thinking of this on a macro level. Carson, you’re trying to use your mind – your own energy – to move things. I have to test this theory.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to punch you. I want you to stop me,” he says. Without warning, Satoshi throws a punch. Physically exhausted from my training, I’m not able to put up a wall in time. His fist connects with my cheek and I stumble backward. Pressing my hand against my cheek, I glare at him. He shrugs. Then, he steps forward again and throws a punch. This time, his fist collides with an invisible wall before me. Changing his angle, Satoshi throws another punch, but the same wall stops him. Thankfully, with his strength, I don’t need much energy to stop his assault.

“Had enough?” I ask.

“Nearly,” he responds before throwing himself forward. He hits his face on the wall and takes a step backward, rubbing his nose. “It’s just as I thought. Tell me, how did you stop my attacks?”

“I put up a wall of energy.”

“You erected a wall? An invisible wall? With what?”

“I don’t know; I just put it there.”

“Do you know the first law of thermodynamics, Carson?”

During high school, we had learned simple things such as thermodynamics. While I haven’t applied the principles since, I find my mouth moving almost before my brain does. Without taking a second to process the words or their meaning, I answer his question.

“Energy cannot be created or destroyed,” I reply as though it’s obvious. When I see him raise his eyebrows, his point settles in. I can’t create a wall of energy before me. I can only move energy to form a wall. I can add energy to the air, I can compress it into a solid mass, but I can’t supply energy from nothing.

“So where is the energy coming from?” He asks.

“Me, I suppose.”

“I would venture the same guess,” he replies. “I would also argue that it doesn’t have to. You’re not projecting your energy, you’re controlling energy around you. When the dirt fell, your body didn’t have enough energy left to deflect it all – yet you managed to do so nonetheless.”

“So you’re saying I’m limiting myself?”

“You’ve come a long way under such usage – I’m surprised you haven’t torn yourself apart. I would think you’re using energy in your muscles, creating physical strain on your body – releasing it as heat – and channeling that heat.”

“If not that, then what should I be using?”

“Anything,” Satoshi laughs. Stepping backward and holding his arms out, he looks around the open field. In the light of the setting sun, his smile looks almost hysterical. He’s ecstatic to be piecing together this puzzle – to finally have a chance to face a new power. He is relishing the opportunity to be learning about something new. “Anything at all.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” I stutter.

“Let’s try again.”

“It’s getting late,” I argue. “Anyway, I don’t have any strength left.”

“That’s exactly why we must try again! You can no longer rely on yourself. Look around you, Carson. Feel the movement in the air. Feel the heat of the sun. Feel the core of the Earth. There is energy all around you. Use it.”

Though I’m not sure we’re on the same page, I nod nonetheless. Clearly, my own training strategies have been failing me. There can be no harm besides a devastating headache in trusting in Satoshi. His unorthodox training hasn’t let anyone else down. With a deep breath, I steel myself and prepare for the inevitable agony.

Pointing toward a mass of dirt nearby, I lift it from the ground. It can’t weigh more than two-hundred pounds, but it is already beginning to take its toll on my mind. I try to hold it in the sky, but I feel my muscles resisting movement. My legs shake and sweat drips into my eyes. I don’t feel any different – nothing is changing. Satoshi has never seen a power like mine, and I’m the one who’s been using it. I should have trusted my own instincts. Maybe he’s just wrong. There’s a first time for everything.

With my knees wobbling, I try to dig my heels into the ground. If I adopt a better stance, perhaps I’ll be able to ground myself and use the energy of the Earth like he said. My knees stop shaking, but I don’t feel the weight lifting. My head starts to hurt and my vision blurs again. I have to set it down or I’m going to risk hurting myself or Satoshi.

“Don’t drop it,” Satoshi urges. “Just look at me. Don’t look at the dirt, don’t think of the weight. Put your hand down.”

I follow his instructions. Despite the agony it causes, I drop my hand. Suddenly, it feels as though all of the pressure of the dirt is filling my head, compressing my brain. I think I’m going to vomit. I can’t take my eyes from the dirt. It’s too much. Suddenly, I feel Satoshi’s hands on my face. He pulls my eyes away from the weight and all I see is him. As if by magic, the pressure is gone. His eye begins to twitch and his legs shake, but I feel nothing. Somehow, he’s taking my pain from me.

“Good start,” he chokes, dropping to his knee. “Now use something else.”

I blink, but the light doesn’t fade. Confused, I allow my eyes to fall closed. Before me, I can still see Satoshi on one knee, but his form is dark: merely an outline with various streams of color flooding through it. Those streams seem to be thinning, but there are still so many surrounding him. In the air and even in the ground. They are nearly infinite – and it’s overwhelming. However, I shift my focus from Satoshi to the ground itself. One of the streams shoots upward, piercing the dirt in the sky. I glance down at my hands and see thousands of tiny streams sprouting from them. Quickly, I open my eyes. Nothing looks different – yet nothing feels the same.

I feel no pain. My head is perfectly clear and my vision has returned. My thoughts run clearly through my mind, unobstructed by pain or pressure. I take a step back, examining my hands in shock. A smile spreads across my face as I look up toward the dirt. It’s weightless.

I have to test this. All around me, dirt lifts into the sky. It’s in various clumps and holds no neat structure, and I don’t bother pointing to each individual clump, but it rises nonetheless. I feel the same power I’ve felt before – when Jade stopped me from destroying my base. Now, though, I have control. Imagining those streams of energy rising from the dirt or coming from the diminishing light of the sun, I picture those streams – rather than myself – holding the dirt. Within a minute, the three tons of dirt which had felt like the weight of the world moments ago now flies effortlessly around me. Pushing my limits, I raise more patches from the ground. I lose track of how much weight I’m lifting, but it doesn’t even begin to faze me. Confidently, I lift myself into the sky. The loose dirt begins swirling around me like a tornado. Careful to avoid being swept into the fray, Satoshi stumbles backward and puts distance between himself and my growing whirlwind. I have to know what I’m capable of, but I feel no strain and see no end to my power. I rise higher and the dirt picks ups speed, fueled by the energy of the Earth.

Taking my focus from my own capabilities for a moment, I see Jade running toward me. She must think I’m losing control. It looks as though she’s brought Alfred, Conroy, and Sven as backup. Prideful as she may be, she’d not stupid. This is the perfect opportunity to test myself, because clearly the Earth is no match for my newfound strength.

“Powerless!” She yells as she approaches. I can’t help but get a sense of satisfaction from the worry in her eyes. I don’t know if she’s concerned for me or for herself, but I can see that she fears she won’t be able to stop me. “Calm down!”

“Don’t worry, Jade,” I reply in as static a tone as I can muster despite the excitement flooding my heart. She slows to a stop and her concern is replaced with confusion. Her comrades stop beside her, all of them enraptured by the movement in the sky above them. Suddenly, the dirt comes to a halt and I allow it to fall to the ground, careful to avoid colliding with any of my followers. Slowly, I lower myself and walk toward them. “I can handle this power now.”

“I don’t understand,” she stammers.

“Honestly, I’m not sure I do either,” I shrug. “What I do know is that I’ve always had this potential. Now, I’m able to utilize it.”

“Oh,” she stammers. “Well, we should get back to down. It’s getting late.”

“Soon,” I agree, looking up at the orange sky. “First, I need help from all of you for one more training exercise.”

“What is it?” Alfred asks suspiciously.

“I’m going to put up a wall. All four of you attack with all your might and try to break it. Your goal is to land a single hit on me.”

“Are you sure?” Conroy stammers.

“Yeah, I don’t know about this,” Sven agrees.

“He’s your commander,” Jade spits, scowling at them. “If he issues an order, you will follow it.”

“Thank you, Jade,” I reply, surprised by her loyal reaction. When she turns toward me and I see her smirk, though, I can see that there’s something else behind it. She wants the opportunity to shatter my confidence. Her competitive attitude is exactly what I need right now. It will stop her from holding back.

She throws a strong punch, but it stops when she collides with my invisible barrier. Reluctantly, the others join in. As their confidence in my ability grows, so does the strength of their attacks. I feel myself growing overwhelmed, so I lift my hands toward them. Digging my heels into the ground, I try to draw my strength from the Earth. With their combined power, I feel myself start to slide. It’s as if all the progress I’ve made is being taken from me. My head starts hurting again as the four of them release a series of merciless attacks against my wall. The loose dirt beneath my feet is displaced as I am forced backward. I have to stop them.

“Carson, get out of your head!” Satoshi calls. His advice serves the opposite of its intended purpose, and I focus more on my own lack of strength. Finally, I feel my wall shatter. Jade steps forward and drives a fist toward my jaw. I see it happening in slow motion. Just like the first day I used my power, I feel everything moving around me, but I know I’ve lost.

No, this time is different. This time, I won’t accept defeat. I close my eyes once again so I can see and feel the energy coursing through the Earth. Within an inch of my face, her hand is forced to a complete stop. I open my eyes to see the shock on her face as she tries to pull her arm back, but each of her joints is stuck in place. Without moving my hands, I release a small burst of energy which sends Jade flying backward. She passes the others and collides with a pile of dirt. The force of my attack embeds her into the loose dirt. When I see her emerging from her temporary prison, I smirk at the others, who drop their jaws in amazement. I crack my neck and laugh to myself. Finally, I’ve found my true strength. I’m ready.