37 Training (2)

Darren changed into an EXo Suit, a skin-tight compression suit that looked really good on him with the red highlights. He looked at himself in the mirror, from the slip-ons on his feet to the pants. The pants were quite tight, but not uncomfortable, especially around the crotch, where a baggy space cradled his manhood. The upper part of the suit was a shirt from his neck to his elbows. On his left wrist, he wore a smart-watch with many colorful applications on the screen.

He walked out of the bathroom of the medical lab. The room was large --larger than his apartment-- with many separate rooms with different medical equipment and several computer screens. He almost stepped on the small robot vacuum that kept the Medbay pristine as he made his way to where Miriam stood next to a scale, holding a tablet in her hand.

Darren stepped on the scale, watching the numbers go up then even out at a number. "90.1 kilograms."

Miriam used a long meter stick attached to the scale to measure Darren's height. Once the stick reached the top of his head, the computer beeped again with a set number. "188.2 centimeters. You were only 177 centimeters tall during your last physical. You grew 11.2 centimeters in just six months." She looked up at Darren. "You're not a teenager. This sudden growth spurt is unheard of, especially at your age."

"I'm not that old." He joked.

"You're almost 35, and you're human. You shouldn't have that kind of growth spurt at all, let alone in six months," Miriam explained condescendingly. "While you slept, might I add."

Darren walked down from the scale to a bed. The bed was completely flat with a vertical panel coming from the side of the bed. Miriam measured his oxygen saturation levels and blood pressure. She looked down at the tablet but said nothing.

Darren spent the rest of the morning moving from room to room in the Medbay. He got the DEXA scan for his muscle and bone density, an X-ray, a CT, and an MRI, and every other type of body scanning they could find in the lab.

Miriam shone a light in almost every hole in his body before testing his reflexes. She then gave him the tablet to answer a hundred questions for a general psych eval.

Darren sighed and hung his head on the 90th question as many of the questions became repetitive. All the tests were mentally wearing him down, and they still needed to take the dreaded blood test. His stomach was also starting to complain as the hours passed by.

Darren breathed a sigh of relief when he answered the last question. Miriam came to take the tablet from him. "You're all set," she said.

"But what about the blood draw?" Darren asked.

"I already took it when you weren't paying attention. Your arm isn't the only place a major vein exists in your body."

Darren looked down at his body, which was still covered in the EXo Suit from neck to toe. When did she take it? He wondered as he did not even feel anything.

…

For a while, the only sounds in the kitchen were the sounds of silverware against the ceramic plates. Everyone ate in silence with the occasional hum and moan as the food satisfied their delicate palates.

"Matt, I never asked," Tora began. "Why are you so good at cooking?"

"Mom and dad never cooked since they were always working. It was up to my brother and me to make sure we didn't starve when there was no food in the fridge," Matthew replied as he looked at Nathan.

"When Lisa and I got married, we decided that the job would always come first. We were separated for months at a time during our marriage. Lisa would eat at the Air Force base, and I would eat in the laboratory's dining lounge. We never cooked. When we had children, we had a housekeeper and nanny take care of the boys most of the time, and since neither of us could cook, we mostly ate takeout when we were together as a family," Nathan explained. He looked up at Matt with a glimmer of sadness and a bit of shame. "We weren't the best parents."

Matt simply shrugged. "We weren't raised wrong. My brother and I became independent very early on. And we also married our jobs. I guess it runs in the family," he said to alleviate the mood.

Tora decided to change gears. "Anyway, what do you have planned for this afternoon?" Tora looked at Nathan and her mother.

Miriam swallowed the rest of the juicy chicken in her mouth. She replied, "Sunbathing."

Matt, Tora, and Darren froze, raising their heads up to meet Miriam and Nathan's eyes. "Huh?" was their collective reply.

"Tora said that her powers are manipulating EM radiation. Humans turn UV light into vitamin D. One of the blood test was to check Darren's vitamin D levels. He'll lie in the sun for a few hours before we recheck his vitamin D levels," Miriam explained.

"His vitamin D levels are about average right now. I expect them to rise after he spends a few hours in the sun," Nathan said. He turned to look at Darren. "I don't think you need to wear sunblock."

Darren nodded as he raised his shoulders in a shrug. "Okay. I might as well get a tan."

Once he finished eating, Darren did not have to really do much of anything. He laid on his back on the roof of the building. It was right at midday, and the sun was brightest in the center of the sky, shining down on him like a spotlight. He laid down in nothing but his birthday suit, a pair of sunglasses, and his boxers.

Darren raised his hand over his head, placing it to overlap the sun. As he looked through his fingers, threads of multiple different colored lights radiated from the sun.

Darren sat up and removed the sunglasses. His eyes went wide as the air was suddenly dyed in color. His surroundings were giving off waves of energy in a dome-like motion. One after another, color after color, large waves mostly radiating from the sun. Other waves came from the building, and he saw many waves coming from the city, most likely the radio and microwaves that were used in home appliances. He could see the entirety of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Darren opened his mouth, releasing a breathy gasp. He repeatedly blinked, trying to reset his vision from this beautiful chaos around him.

"Darren?"

He turned to see Tora approaching him. She was wearing a tank top and shorts under a wide-sleeved silk cardigan. She wore a pair of sunglasses with two drinking glasses in her hands. He blinked again, and the colors that dyed the world disappeared as if they were never there.

Tora noticed the confused look on Darren's face and furrowed her brow. "Are you okay?" she asked as she handed him a glass.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He took the glass from her hand and took a sip. The freshly squeezed lemon juice with mint and cooled with a few ice cubes were quite refreshing for the hot summer day. He smacked his lips to lick the rest of the sweetness of the juice from his lips. He said, nonchalantly, "I can see the entire electromagnetic spectrum."

Tora, who was taking a sip of her drink, spit it out in shock. She wiped the juice off her chin as she looked at Darren. "Well, that's new. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm surprised at this point."

They returned downstairs, making their way to the Medbay to report to Miriam and the others. Miriam made Darren sit down as she was preparing to draw another vial of blood. As he held out his arm, Darren shut his eyes as he turned his head away, gritting his teeth to brace himself for the prick.

It would be okay. It was just a tiny prick; it would not hurt much.

"You can open your eyes now," Miriam said.

Huh? Darren opened one eye before he opened the other. Well, that did not hurt at all. He turned to look at Miriam. "You're finished?" He didn't even feel anything.

When Miriam held up the needle, Darren furrowed his brow in confusion. The needle in Miriam's hand was bent, the tip curved to one side. He looked from the needle to Miriam.

"I can't penetrate your skin." Miriam tossed her needle in the hazard bin.

"How many powers does that make?" Matt asked.

Tora counted. "You have super-hearing, super-sight, electromagnetic sight, flight, super-metabolism, and a super-appetite. There's also your aura." She looked at Darren. "You still haven't shown any type of super-strength or super-speed. You haven't been expelling light from your body either."

Tora pulled the drawer beside the bed and pulled out a new vial and needle. She wiped his inner elbow with alcohol swabs. Her hands lit up with blue light that enveloped the needle. "Make a fist." Darren did as she said, and the needle, surrounded with light, pierced his skin.

Darren winced, turning his head away, as the vial filled up with blood.

Once she finished, Tora handed the blood to Nathan. "You should test them right away, or else the blood will clot." She turned back to Darren, who still had his eyes closed. "You can open your eyes now. We don't need a band-aid since you're already healed."

Darren's eyes would certainly bulge out of his skull if he were to be shocked every time he discovered a new ability.