Chapter 3: Moonlight in the static

"Are you sure about it, Mr Krin?" Tevin's superior asked.

"Are you doubting me, sir? I know what I felt. There's a huge chance he is what we are looking for." Tevin replied, flabbergasted that his statement was doubted.

"You know I would never doubt you, Tevin. It's just that we have gotten our hopes up a lot. What makes you think this, this boy, is a godly powerful Gifted?"

"It was like meeting family you never knew existed. He seemed like me, and his gift resonated with me. I'm quite sure, sir, this boy will finally bring some of our hopes to fruition."

"Well, then I'm most certainly joining you for your mission. No dilly-dally. Get the boy ready. We must learn if he is what we are looking for."

"Do you think he is the Heart, sir? Or something else?"

"I have no idea. If he is the Heart, it will make our job quite easy. We might have to call Berry to make sure."

"Ah, I'm not looking forward to that meeting."

"Our mission comes before whatever little feud you two have."

"I know, I know, sir. Well enough, let's hope Cain is what we need. Say, will the great Hunter be joining us?"

"What Mike does is beyond my or your understanding. Let him play at his vigilante justice persona. If he wishes to join us, he will. If he doesn't want to, he won't. No point trying fruitlessly to make him do anything. Well enough, Tevin, I shall wait for the day. Also, prepare the boy diligently for meeting Mr Ryker. He is a prickly fella, and prideful to a fault. Cain must not hurt that pride. Goodbye, and godspeed."

"Goodbye, sir." Tevin cut the call, and slunk down on his sofa. The dean of Camp 63 had been gracious enough to present Tevin with living quarters reserved for superior teaching staff, even though the guest had objected to this kindness. Nevertheless, the room he was given was quite luxurious, with an one-seating sofa, queen-sized bed, and toilet. There was a communal kitchen downstairs which noone seemed to use, and a laundromat that was always too full of pending clothes for Tevin to use. He woke up way too late to be able to get a spot in the laundries, and had by now just resorted to wearing clothes multiple times before waiting hours and hours once every week to put them in for washing. He had planned to stay in Camp 63 for perhaps a week or maybe two, but the appearance of Cain had ended up delaying his departure, and it would only be the day before his next mission that he would finally leave this damn camp. It was a dreary place to be in, especially when recalling his own shitty experiences in his old training camp. Sure, the fountain and maze were spectacles to behold, that is, if Tevin could ever make it through the maze to the fountain. But, the place was backwards in it's ways. Once a student was taken in, they were pretty much stuck there. The world, though mostly ignorant or unknowing of the existence of gifted, was still scared of how powerful some of the people SCOPE brought in were. Found among the tens of thousands of students were some people who had the power to level a city, and some, like Tevin, who could destroy a whole-ass country with only a bit of skill development. Fear of such beasts was only natural, which led to the creation of countless training camps, to bring deadly gifts under control. This also ended up making pretty much complete imprisonment as the new normal when dealing with gifts. You either brought your gift under control, or were never able to reinstate into society ever again. It was all a bit too Orwellian, if Tevin was asked, and he still had memories from his own imprisonment all those years ago. But the worst fate was for people like Cain, who had powers which's existence could be proved, but the power itself couldn't be discerned. It left people like him encaged with no escape in sight, with no possibility of getting out into society.

The thought brought more fear to Tevin than any dastardly villain ever could. The idea that SCOPE, an organisation so deeply rooted in a sense of justice and coexistence, would be eager to fund and commit such atrocities on its own. It was enough to make anyone feel down. He slunk down into his sofa, desperately grabbing his phone to distract himself. He looked around at all his apps, searching for something to pass the time. He played Sudoku and Chess for moments, then began scrolling through his pictures. He went through the pictures of his old dog, Spot, an adorable beagle. He went through the pictures of his ex, and then pictures of his current significant other. He had a few photos he had taken with William Berry, wearing a silly suit or shirt, as he always did.

There were hardly a handful agents who were half as showy as Will was. Mainly working as field agent, he would always show up to the HQ in colourful garb, or wearing downright goofy accessories, such as a felt snake around his neck, calling it a "scarf". It was a pain in the neck for the Director, who always advocated for being prim and proper at work. While Tevin found the Director a bit stuck-up, usually, even he could agree that Berry was way too flamboyant.

Tevin was brought out of his ruminating by a call on his phone, that he picked up, without even checking who was calling, "Hello, sir, sorry for disturbing you. I just needed to know the info of the kid you are dealing with as of now. Cain, was his name?"

Tevin finally checked the number, though he had already realised it was Jeremy, a technical backup providing agent. Tevin hadn't talked much with him, even though Jeremy would sometimes accompany him in missions. "His name's Cain Becker. Freshmen, training camp number 63. 23 years of age, mix between African and Caucasian descent. Has spent six years as a freshie."

"I see. What about his parents? Names and current info?"

"I have no idea. He seems to be orphaned."

"I see. No gifts?"

"Nope, none, as far as can be discerned. But all tests for potential gifts come out positive."

"Weird. Doesn't usually happen."

"No shit, Sherlock. Well, is that all?" Tevin was impatient, even though he had nothing better to do.

"Ay, nothing else. Thanks. Bye." Jeremy just cut the phone, without letting Tevin say anything. He stood up from the sofa, and considered for a second to go sleep. He refused to do so, the nigh was still early. He walked out of his room, and began to strut to the fountain in the middle of Camp 63. The fountain was huge thing, imposing and in the centre of his view the moment he left the teacher's living quarters. Well, he would have been focused on it, if there wasn't the ear-splitting sound of screams and cheers. He ran through the maze, as quickly as he could, to end up finding two students fighting. One of them was someone he knew was a friend of Cain's, a girl called Dara or something. She held a greatsword on her back, and a smaller blade was situated in her right hand. It had a glowing aura, red in colour, and its edge was sharp enough to smoothly cut through flesh and metal the same. She was skillfully swinging it at a boy, who was in turn holding javelins of electricity in his palms. Behind the girl, was a boy on the ground, his shoulder clearly burned by what must have been electricity. The leaves of the maze nearby were charred black in places, and the very air felt as if it was filled with static current.

"Buzz, apologise right the hell now. Look what you goddamn did to Leron!" The girl screamed, her sword ready to strike.

"Why the hell should I, girl. He was the one who bumped into me. I just made sure next time he bumps someone, it hurts, as it should. He should be more careful." The boy replied, his javelins sending sparks all around the place.

"Let him be, Dana. He's an idiot. No point trying to make him do anything even remotely good," the kid on the ground, Leron, spoke up.

"Shut the hell up, shithead. The adults are talking."

"Is that so? Weird, I don't see any adults nearby. Well, except me." Tevin had enough of the immature squabble, and had easily understood who it was that was in the wrong. Now, boy, keep the damn electricity down, and apologise to the one you harmed. Girl, sheath your sword, and wipe the grimace off your face." Tevin walked to Leron, and gave him a hand to get up. "Buzz", apparently the trouble maker who named himself 'Buzzkill' (Did he know what that even meant?), was still obviously angry, and had still not stopped with the javelins. "Boy, don't make me repeat myself. Get the spears down, and apologise. Unless you want to become ash in a crater in the ground." Tevin aimed the smallest amount of energy he could at the ground near the electricity channeler, making a crater a few inches wide, and leaving dirt on the kid's shoe.

The boy was rattled by the show of force, and finally spoke up, "I'm sorry, Connor. I was brash." Finishing what must have been the most insincere apology Tevin had ever seen, the scoundrel just up and left, kicking up dirt in frustration. The electricity resting in the air left with him, and it soon became easier to breathe, even if their was some smoke coming from the burning maze leaves. Thankfully, one of the kids who were watching the scuffle could control water, and used the fountain to douse the flames. Everyone began to calm down, after so much tension, and Leron was sitting on the fountain's edge.

"Shouldn't you be going to the nurse now?" Tevin asked.

"Eh, I'm fine. Ol' buzz's sparks are quite weak and harmless." The boy replied.

"Don't seem like it. Your shirt's burnt right off, and your skin seems first degree burned, or maybe even second degree."

"As I said, harmless," the kid chuckled at his own joke, "I'll be fine. Thank you for your help, sir."

"No problem," Tevin turned to the girl, who had sheathed her sword into her belt, "And you, I wouldn't advice swinging that blame around. Someone gets cut, and you are being sued quicker than you could even apologise."

"I'm sure I won't be dumb enough to do that. And Buzz was asking for it." The girl still had a scowl on her face, but the murderous intent in her eyes had cooled down. Tevin was sick of how reckless kids were these days. How they risked their and others' life just for grudges, false pride and reputation. Of course, Dana wasn't to blame for the situation, but bringing out a blade would be enough for most people to villainise her. Then again, the other kid did bring out lethal doses of electricity, so perhaps it was balanced enough.

Anyway, Tevin sat down on the fountain ledge, next to Leron. Dana sat too, on the other side of Leron. After a moment or two of silence, Tevin spoke up, "So, you guys are friends with Cain, as far as I've seen."

"That we are," Leron replied, "thank you for giving him the opportunity, by the way."

"I'm just doing what I think right. What is he like, usually? He was quite standoffish to me till now."

"That's Cain for ya," Dana spoke up this time. "Bitter that he is seemingly weaker than everyone else. Then again, if being strong means being like Buzz, then its better to be weak. And Cain is strong in his own way."

"I suppose so. But he does have a gift, right?"

"He might. Then again, might not. Either way, he is capable enough to be a good asset for any mission you put him for." Leron was clearly advocating for his friend, but it wasn't like anything he said was untrue. "He is a good person, sir. You are doing the right thing by giving a chance to shine."

"I already said I'm only doing what I have to. You shouldn't feel grateful to me."

"Well, we do. Its heart-breaking to see someone as well-hearted as Cain suffer silently for no good reason." Leron was waving his hand in the fountain water, feeling the cool touch of it.

"I forgot to ask, what is you guys' gifts? I presume yours," he pointed at Dana, "is something like proficiency with swords. And those two swords seem quite special too."

"They are," the girl responded. "The big one's the Sun sword, the pride of my family. The leader of the family holds it, and the power to enforce the power of the sun comes with. The other one is the Mars blade, which is just the sword I was given at birth."

The boy began speaking once she was done, "I have state shift. Caused by intense emotion, usually rage."

"Ah," Tevin was quite surprised. Rage-induced state shift gifted were usually quite a bit more standoffish than Leron seemed. "Are you on anti-depressants or something?"

"Nope. Used to be. Now, I'm just chill cause I trained my emotions. Couldn't always rely on pills."

"Oh. Interesting. What do you shift into, though?"

"Nothing extremely apparent. Just more stronger reflexes, stronger exterior, the works. Oh, and red or green eyes, instead of brown. Depending on how angry I am. Red means everyone in a 50 mile radius is dying."

"I see. And green?"

"Green means a 100 mile radius. And that you better start running away."

"And ever actually killed someone, did ya?"

Leron was clearly uncomfortable, and Dana just shook her head, as if to signify that Tevin shouldn't have asked that particular question. Tevin kept a hand on Leron's shoulder, not knowing what else he could have done to apologise for the question. The moon was quite imposing, leaving the water of the fountain sparkling like a thousand diamonds. The breeze was cold as ever, now that the static left by the fight had completely gone away. Ruminating was what reminded Tevin that Leron was still clothed in a burnt shirt, "You should go get a new shirt, kid. It's way too burnt. You will have to throw it."

The boy was brought out of his trance by that, "Yeah, I know. I'll be leaving you two then. I think I'll go sleep. Good night, Dana. Bye, sir. Thank you again, for all your help, with the fight and with Cain." Before Tevin could object to the gratefulness, Leron was off, walking off to his dorm.

"He hurt his dad, first time he shifted." Dana was speaking, " his father was abusive, but still, hurting a parent scars someone. Especially when that parent forever considers you a monster after that."

Tevin nodded, not knowing what he could even say, "He doesn't have anyone to go back to?"

"Nope, he doesn't. It's fine. He isn't too bothered by it. That's cause of Cain, for the most part."

"How do you mean?"

"Leron needed an anchor when he came here. Obviously, he did, when the whole idea of the camp is harnessing the thing that supposedly made him a monster. Cain gave him that anchor, something to hold on to. I can assure you, sir, Cain is a good person, and he deserves to get better, and to be even more powerful. You are doing a good thing, how much ever you try to refute that. Take care of Cain." Saying that, Dana stood up, and left, with not a word more, and just turning back once to nod silently at Tevin.

"Well, ain't that one interesting little dynamic?" Tevin was speaking to himself, which got him a few concerned glances from the kids around him, still at the fountain. It must have only been an hour before midnight by now, but he decided to stay at the fountain, feeling the cool touch of the fountain water on his fingers, sparkling like gems, in the gloomy moonlight.