Kinson awoke slowly, as though rising from a deathdream. For a second, he thought he might be in his deathdream when he saw the steel paneling of the BPI above him. Yet, something felt off-namely the soft mattress below him. They hadn't had those in the shelter. He idly wondered what would happen if he did form his deathdream. Would it be off the most traumatic moment in his life? Because that would be the nightmares, not his final moments. Or perhaps it would be a strange combination of all the 'final moments' he had suffered.
Before he was able to think more on the topic, he took a deep breath, then instantly regretted it. Pain lanced through his chest before traveling around his nerves to his whole body. Kinson bit back a scream, but his clenched fist and curled toes were more than enough to show his pain.
"Kinson! You're awake, I see," a familiar voice rasped in his ear.
Kinson blinked away the tears and met the gaze of Rachel, who stood over him. A rare worry creased her already wrinkled face. He tried to talk, but his dry throat suffocated his words.
"Don't try to move, or even talk. You nearly died, and would have if Griffon hadn't rescued you in time."
Kinson nodded slowly, but even that hurt. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes. If he was being honest, this pain wasn't even close to what that Pirate had hit him within his first deathdream. The only real problem seemed to be that he had trouble breathing, and his body hurt every time he shifted. Aside from that, he was covered in bandages from head to toe. No blood stained the white linens though, so they weren't likely the original ones.
Unable to do much more than move his eyes, Kinson eventually fell back asleep. When he awoke once more, the room was empty, but he found himself able to breathe easier. His bandages had been changed once more and felt much tighter and more constrictive. His eyes darted around till he managed to find a clock on the wall. Nearly midnight.
He wasn't feeling that tired, but couldn't find anything to do. His bandages were a stern reminder not to roam, but his thoughts weren't quite aligned right. Try as he might, Kinson just couldn't get more than fuzzy images from before he fell unconscious. One thing was certain though. He had had a tough fight, and not in a deathdream, either.
A thought suddenly appeared in his head, making him smile. There was one thing he could do. Kinson closed his eyes and opened his senses to his soul. Immediately, he stiffened, sending pain shooting into his tender ribs. He barely felt it, focused instead on the change which had taken place. A warm, golden glow accompanied his normally white soul. What it was, or why it had appeared, was beyond him, but his soul radiated a presence he had never felt before. He couldn't have stepped into class 5, could he?
Kinson spent the next several hours in deep meditation, trying to discover the secrets inside. If anything, though, his soul felt further away and harder to synchronize with than it normally did. His body must have needed the rest because he drifted off once more mid-meditation without realizing it.
His rest was interrupted by the worried cry of a familiar voice.
"Kinson!"
"Mom?" he mumbled, mostly half asleep.
"I'm here, baby. Don't worry about anything," the loving reply confirmed his guess.
Kinson's eyes snapped open. "What are you doing here?"
His mother stood beside the bed, her hand wrapped around his. She smiled softly when his eyes opened, but the worried light remained in her eyes.
"I came as soon as I could, but the situation held me back for several days. Your father's on his way, but he won't be here till tonight. How are you feeling?"
Kinson blinked, slowly registering what she said. "Several days?" he mumbled. "Wait, I've been sleeping for several days? Griffon will kill me! I can't miss another day…"
Kinson abruptly sat up and was pleased to feel the spike of pain was significantly less than before. A tender hand on his chest pressed him back down.
"I'll take care of that," his mother said. "You just stay and recover."
Kinson nodded, still feeling uncertain. "About that. Why exactly am I here?"
His mother's eyes widened. "You don't remember?"
"Not really," he shook his head, "everything is still fuzzy. I remember we were in the shelter, and the radio started acting weird. Everything after that is a mystery."
"That's okay if you can't remember. You've got the rest of the summer to recover, so maybe it will come back to you," she said gently.
Kinson nodded again, feeling her cool fingers smooth his wild hair out of his eyes. "I was going to ask for the holidays off," he said.
"No need to worry about that. We're taking you home until the school year starts, if you still want to go."
"But I can't go! I have so much to do," Kinson protested. "We were just starting to make progress in the deathdream. Actually," he paused. "Now that I say that, I feel like something really important happened. If I could just remember…"
He rubbed his head, but the gaps in his memory remained. Suddenly, the door opened.
"I was wondering about that too. Regardless of what happened, one thing is final," Andres said, walking in.
"Andres!" Kinson called out. For some reason, he felt extremely relieved to see him.
Andres wasn't all fine, though. He had a bandage wrapped around his arm and several scrapes and bruises that had yet to heal. Furthermore, he walked with a slight limp, favoring his left with each step.
"You'll be given time off until the school year begins. Make sure to rest up and recover," Andres said with finality.
Kinson wanted to protest, but a look at his broken body convinced him. That, and his mother's fiery gaze. With both Andres and his mom on the same team, the fight was already over.
"Fine," Kinson reluctantly conceded.
His mother clapped her hands, a brilliant smile on her face. "Perfect! The doctor said you could travel in only a few days. Apparently, they've had Titan's best psionics working on you ever since the incident."
"Could someone explain what happened?" Kinson asked again, frustrated he still couldn't remember.
Andres launched into a story, explaining everything from his end. After he had drawn the superhuman, Jack, off into the hallway, Camarin went into the bunker. A few minutes later, he heard a scream, and Camerin stumbled out of the room, clutching his stomach. The wound wasn't quite fatal, and bore severe scorch marks which partially stemmed the flow of blood. The Earthlings froze upon seeing Camerin's state, and quickly evaded the way they had come. Right as they left, Griffon returned and found Kinson's body. According to Kael and Luthier, they saw a great flash of light right before Camerin dropped them. Presumably, it came from Kinson, who had just charged him.
"That's it?" Kinson looked at him regretfully. "They don't know what the green flash was?"
Andres shook his head, leaving Kinson feeling unsatisfied. Still, there was nothing to do about it.
"I'll let the team know you're up and feeling better. I'm sure they want to drop by. Luthier's actually been by here several times, but found you asleep," Andres explained, walking to the door.
"Are you sure you're alright? That's quite a limp," Kinson asked.
Andres laughed and assured him he was fine. Throughout the day, everyone on the team made an effort to come see him. Kinson's smile grew larger with each visitor. Never had he imagined the friends he would make.
As promised, Kinson was able to walk just three days later. After another day, he was released to go home with his parents. Andres saw him off, accompanied by Griffon.
"Now, Kinson. Your location is actually confidential, so don't do anything that would compromise it. No one knows that you survived the attack, and we're going to keep it that way for as long as we can," Andres informed him.
"Really? Can't I tell my friends though?" Kinson asked hopefully.
Andres shook his head. "I'm afraid not. We can't even guarantee your safety at the BPI, much less in Atlas. If you act recklessly, it's upon your head. Call if there are any problems."
Kinson reluctantly agreed, and they parted ways. Soon after, he and his parents boarded the air taxi from Colony to Atlas. The taxi itself was a large, low-atmosphere transport ship capable of ferrying hundreds of people and their luggage. It was the only public transportation that spanned the thousands of miles between the two cities.
Kinson watched as the tips of the exposed subterranean buildings that made up Colony faded on the horizon behind him. The largest protrusion, the BPI building, was the last to disappear, which left Kinson with a keen sense of yearning.
"Are you alright?" his mother asked.
"I think so. I just wish it hadn't happened like it did," Kinson said ruefully.
"Oh, honey," she ruffled his hair. "It's not your fault."
Kinson shook his head. "No, it was. If I had been stronger, faster, or smarter, this might not have happened. I'm lucky I survived to change."
"Is that so?" she responded idly.
He nodded emphatically. "Yes. I… won't end up like them. I can't."
She looked up at him and smiled. "I don't know who the 'them' are, but I'm sure you can do it. We're here for you, too."
"Thanks, Mom."