Mat appeared in the classroom annoyed.
His little (elder) sister was always causing an issue.
Before her coma, she was always leading Max and himself into one mischief after another. What made it worse was that she always pushed the blame on them.
They were never the ones who sought for trouble, but both of them were always punished. Unless, of course, their sister was caught red-handed in the act.
It was said that boys were mischievous, and since they were boys, it was they who were the ones that got into mischief. Even when it wasn't them.
But this was his (baby) sister, after all, he couldn't leave her alone no matter what she did. Even if she got herself into trouble the last few times she 'went out'.
He sighed as he looked at both females in the virtual classroom.
"I'm her brother." He indicated Lys. "What did she do now?"
Lys was half outraged, "I didn't do anything!"
"You always say that. Now hush. I have to get back to work."
"Mr Ng? I'm the Abilities 101 teacher, Miss Apple. I did the abilities test with your sister, and the testing apparatus had an interesting reaction to her." Miss Apple answered, walking to the crystal ball.
"When most adults with abilities touch the sphere, it turns murky, then the colour changes to that which correlates to their abilities." She touched it and it turned yellow.
"Try it."
Mat reached out, and the crystal ball shone a metallic silver, then a hint of purple flashed through.
"Metal and Lightning, very nice, and rare. But your sister…" She turned to Lys. "Go put your hands on the ball again."
Lys reached out. And they watched in silence as the sphere turned murky, then a multitude of colours, then blue, then green and finally back to the myriad of colours.
Miss Apple turned to Max.
"I've tested thousands. They never turn out like that. They either stay murky, which means their power has yet to develop. They stay clear when they will not develop any powers. Or the colours shine through like yours or mine. That's why I called you."
"Your sister has untapped potential. You may want to send her to the Royal Institute of Learning's testing centre for confirmation, but I'm pretty certain she is a genius. Especially since she hasn't reached majority yet."
"I wanted to call the other teachers and the principal over to witness this but as you indicated full confidentiality upon purchasing of the course, I had her call you over first."
"No, no calling anyone." Max finally lifted his eyes from the crystal sphere that was now clear.
"I want all the recordings of this lesson deleted. And you should forget this lesson ever happened." He turned to Miss Apple.
"This lesson never happened."
He dialed someone on his comms and another man appeared, while Lys was sent out of the virtual classroom.
"Principal!" Miss Apple was surprised to see her boss appear.
"Mr Ng?" The principal was confused.
"The last lesson never happened. All recordings are to be deleted. Make sure of it. Or you will never have happened." Mat said as he left the classroom.
The principal nodded as he turned to Miss Apple.
"We should do what he said, Apple. And forget that today happened. We can't afford to offend them."
###
Lys got a call from Mat after he left the classroom.
"Be good. Stay at home. Talk to you at dinner."
That was all he said.
Why bother talking to her then?!
She had to complain about his behaviour… How dare he treat his elder sister that way…
Even if she was physically younger than him right now…
###
Mat had a conference call with his parents and Max.
"Lys, she is… different."
"Wasn't she always?" Max pipped. "That brat is never normal…"
"What do you mean, Mat?" Grace Ng knew her son would never call all of them like that if it was something minor.
"I enrolled her in an Abilities 101 class earlier," he explained. "Her test results were unusual, to say the least."
"Elaborate."
"The sphere did not settle on any colour. It turned murky and was a myriad of colours for almost the entire, briefly flashing blue and green."
Grace gasped.
"She might be a Fusion or an Amplifier. Maybe even an Absorber." Mat stated. "We should send her for further testing soon."
"Have you settled the Teaching Centre?" Ian Ng asked. It would be troubling if anyone found out about Lys's abilities.
Those that had their abilities manifest before others tend to be stronger. Not to mention her abilities were those highly regarded, and she would be either enlisted by the Imperial forces or captured by those with bad intentions.
"Yes. I told them to wipe their recordings and have sent a virus to make sure. Max you may want to send someone down?"
"No problem. Have anyone considered why it shone blue and green?"
"She was hospitalised for the past 30 years. Doctors and Nurses usually have Water or Wood abilities. As she was in close contact with them during that time, a person with those abilities would generally show some of those traits as well." Ian Ng explained.
"We have to let her know to keep her abilities secret. I'll arrange for further testing. Max? Let Lance know. He would be able to help with keeping her off the radar and help with honing her abilities."
"If the T Project learns about this, they just may take her from us for good."
###
Lys sat in her room in silence.
The crystal ball had lit up in blue and green, which means she had water and wood abilities, right?
She went online again and searched for how to start using abilities.
"Hmmm… To use an ability, one must focus to find the source of the ability and circulate it around the body, directing it at the 'outlet' one wanted the ability to exit from." She read off the page.
"Your first attempt might have been accidental. If so, try to recapture the sensation of what you were feeling when it happened and try to reproduce it."
"Since it was a greenish liquid that I produced that time, it should have been a combination of both the water and wood ability. And I was injured then… Should I injure myself again?"
"But if I were to do so and can't heal myself, mom might freak. I should try without hurting myself first."
She crossed her legs and tried to focus on what she felt during the escape. Feeling a wisp of energy circulating within her body, she focused on it and tried to circulate it throughout her body. But it didn't move according to what she wanted.
Drats.
###
Grace Ng summoned her daughter after she rushed home.
She didn't want Lys experimenting on her abilities in the public eye, what if someone finds out?
So, when she finally saw Lys, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then confusion.
Why was Lys all wet and covered in a slimy green liquid?