We didn’t leave the practice chamber until all three of us were exhausted. I didn’t want to leave until I had a good handle on teleporting. It took a combination of intent and effort. The major condition being in motion with the intent of a destination. I can’t do it while standing still. That was a long uneventful series of tests. In the end I got it down. Its short range though. Only about thirty feet.

“Let’s get some water before we rest.” Lucy said between labored breaths.

“May sound strange, but it’s nice to know we can still get this winded. Kind of reminding me I am still human.” I said as we walked down the narrow hallway. When we get to the halfway point corridor they turn into it. Exciting me. The next section reveals what I have been looking for.

“BATHROOMS!” I yell pointing to small rooms with simple toilets in them. There is no way to shut the doors or wash our hands. Barely even the minimum of privacy in place. I rush to use one before either of them can stop me. Lucy left me alone, but Mac just stood there waiting in the doorway.

“Ya, um, you’ll only need to use the potty like once a month. Our bodies are super efficient now.” Mac said, “You can putz around on there all you want, but I doubt anything will happen. We also don’t need to eat or drink much. It’s more of a habit thing.”

It took some time but Mac was proven right. I reluctantly got up and they continued to lead me down this hall towards the elevators. To drive home Mac’s point none of the bathrooms were occupied. We passed dozens and they were all empty.

Eventually the bathrooms end and small closed cubbies take their place.

“If you want food and water you need to train.” Lucy said as she places a hand against one of the cubby doors, “Not everyone trains or fights anymore. Those of us who do put in extra work so others can get what they need. About three hours of training gets the goods” The cubby door opens revealing a bowl and bottle. She pulls them out. Mac does this as well. I place my hand on one of the doors and it opens. I take out the containers and put them on the floor. Then I try to touch another cubby. Which gives me a jolt.

Mac says, “A lot of experimentation has gone into this. Don’t try to cheat the system. If you do they will just kill you. Think of how unappetizing these things would be if you had to walk over a rotting corpse to get them.” One of the pellets flies into his mouth. He pretends to eat it like they are delicious, rubbing his belly while he chews. I’m not buying it.

“You can have my soylent green. By the way how do we know they are what they are?” I ask.

“There was a guy who had an intense magic sense. Kind of like Macs with tracking. He was able to track objects backwards to a limited degree. Knowing what processes they have gone through.” Lucy explains as we walk. “He told us lots of things. That was a bad idea.”

“Let me guess, he is dead.” I state.

“Super dead.” Mac responds.

“After he told us about a few things he simply dropped. No discomfort or warning. In the middle of saying something. Everyone around him is still unnerved by it.” Lucy continued as we entered the elevator.

We walk silently as I work stuff out. They want us to be able to fight, but they also want us to know that they can kill us whenever they want. On the plus side they didn’t kill him for knowing this information. Still it isn’t something I’m not eager to test at the moment. Not when there is a test that I have a near uncontrollable urge to do.

As we walk into the corridor to Mac’s floor I take a step and teleport as far as I can. No extra effort was needed. It was exactly the same as when we were in the training room. When Mac and Lucy caught up to me I did it again. The effect is the same. Now at the end of the corridor. Several people have demonstrated abilities even with the implants. So they don’t stop everything.

“Chuck says they let us have a few abilities to keep balance with their floor leaders. I think it's so we can practice.” Mac says, “who knows for sure.”

We reach Mac’s room and hand him my bowl of pellets. Not only because they are disgusting and I’m not particularly hungary. But I feel indebted to Mac and whoever else sacrificed their food for me. The least I could do is pass along what I don't want. My intentions are to spend a lot of time in the training room. So food shouldn’t be in a short supply. The water is mine though. I grasp it tightly as I slide down the wall.

My head wobbles for hours but sleep never comes. It may be my perception or that I don’t particularly want to sleep. There is too much on my mind. Focusing is difficult and sleep is eager to win this battle. My entire body aches for it.

An inspiration hits. Bringing in a tiny bit of the ambient heat and holding it. I transform a little bit into healing energy and release it in the center of my body. Like a sip of hot coffee it invigorates me. The fight against sleep might not be in vain. Again and again I repeat the process. I need to practice how long I can stay up with this method of rejuvenation. It feels like indefinitely.

Time to practice my perception or ‘magic sense’ some. They have been operating almost completely off instinct. If I am not focusing, I just know things about my surroundings. A static outline of everything physical. When focusing it is more of a solid shape than an outline. At first it felt like it lacked substance. One shape no different than another. But as I continue to push flesh, fabric, liquids, metals all become distinctive.

The metal of my water bottle was solid. It might as well have been bought at a store on earth. I could sense a solid crystalline structure. The water inside was chaotic in comparison. Someone once told me that water is a gas pretending to be a liquid at room temperature. The molecules flow and try to float away, but the magnetic forces pull it back. It is extremely entertaining.

Steph is nearby and I am concerned that if I push my senses to a person too much she might not like it. So instead I decide to push it in other ways. First into Mac’s room. I can’t see in there. When I focus the room is a bit fuzzy, but I can make out the details and the people in it. Trying the next room. It is much fuzzier but still in my head. Now the other side of the hall. I can barely make it out. Yet another thing that is going to need much more practice.

While spanning my environment with my magical senses I open my eyes. Multi-focusing is not easy. I stare at the ceiling. My eyes try to dictate where my perception.. magical sense focuses. It is incredibly difficult to focus on two different spots. I try to relax my eyes. In the end it is pointless, my focus becomes fixed to where I am looking. Why not push into the ceiling.

At first it was as I expected. A smooth structure. Under it though is a bit chaotic. It’s more like the water. Something behaving differently than it should. Some sort of energy holding it in its shape. Maybe I can manipulate it, draw it into me like with kinetic and heat energy. No that might be a bit too dangerous. Pushing it will be a better idea.

I prepare by summoning up some energy in me. Then I push it out, shaping it after it leaves me. By the time it hits the ceiling it is similar to the energy of the metal. There is a small reaction so I keep up the pressure. The metal in the ceiling begins to ripple like water. The center of my attack starts to expose something under the metal. At which point a wave of energy blows back at me. My head slams against the wall.

“That was pretty dumb for a smarty pants like you.” Cindy is next to me. Right next to me. How long has she been there? Was I knocked out or was I so distracted that I missed her sitting next to me. Smiling a beautifully amused smile with her eyebrow crooked. I use my magical senses to dart around and see if anyone is about to attack me.

“Uhhhh.” I choke out.

“Always a man of many words.” Cindy giggles. “Don’t worry they won’t notice us sitting next to one another. That’s my thing, I’m sneaky. We are a bit overdue for a talk. Wouldn’t you say?”

“What is the extent of your sneakiness?” I ask, still concerned about who may be paying attention to use.

“Someone else’s problem field. That is what Mac called it. People see me and hear me. They just don’t care. “

“Cause it’s someone else's problem.” I interrupt “It is a bit of a mouthful. You should consider renaming it. Is this the part where you bitch me out? I deserve it.”

“No, Steph was paying close attention to you the entire time. She knows that there was no intent to harm me.” She takes a deep breath and shudders. “It’s not like we never did stuff like that. More often than not we played ‘no means yes’. I can’t blame your instincts in the matter. Heck things got really intense there in the end. It just took me by surprise and well.. There is Stephen to consider. They say you still have memory issues. What do you remember about me?”

She looks hopeful. What would be a convincing lie?

“Your name is Cindy and we were in a serious relationship at one point.” I told the truth.” How long we were together and all the details of our time together, it’s all a complete mystery to me. If you said we were together for a month or ten years I wouldn’t be able to refute it. I’d imagine Mac would know the truth. However, he won’t even tell me my last name, so he might not tell me any info about myself.”

She burst into laughter. Concern builds up at the commotion she makes. Surely other people will notice us now. It makes me stay on guard.

“Same old Dimitri. We were together off and on for five to six years. Lived together for about two years.” she says casually. “We were apart nearly four months before all this happened. I was not in a good mental state and you are not good at handling me when I have episodes.” she cringes at the end.

“What kind of episodes?” I ask.

“Bipolar or something similar to that. Doesn’t make much difference now. Whatever they did to us cured those ‘little problems’.” she emphasized little. “Think about all the good these procedures could do on earth.” sadness fills her face now.

“What's the deal with stevie boy over there? Are you with him?”

“Yaaa. In the beginning I wasn’t sneaky. The opposite. I emitted a ‘Look at me field’ and it caused a lot of problems. Especially once the floor leaders started showing up without nullifiers.”

“Implants.”

“What? I like nullifiers. It sounds sci-fi. You can’t just walk up in here with your issues and your sexy eyes and start changing things.”

“When the things are dumb I can.”

“Like I said, same old Dimitri. Anyway I had little control over my powers. That came later after Mac found me. A floor leader caught wind of me. Stephen was holding back what he could do. They ended up fighting. I was sure that the victor was just going to take me. He didn’t take me. He protected me. After I got a handle on what I can do, he still liked me. So I figure why not be with him. He helps out and gets along with the others here. Of course I already told you all this before you tried to rape me.”

“I am sorry about that. Sorry about a lot of things.” This whole exchange has me in a bit of shock. Guilt rages inside me. I did a horrible thing to her. To make matters worse. Being this close to her again. I feel those memories scratching in the back of my head again.

“I forgive you. After all, I put you through hell many times over. I’ll do my best to keep Stephen away from you. I will even give you a tiny gift.” She reaches for my hand, brings it to her lips and kisses it. My senses go dark and sleep hits me like a ton of bricks.