The line kept advancing until a technician stepped out holding a tablet. "Tanya Williams, please come with me."
Tanya inhaled sharply, then turned and winked at Devon with a nervous grin. "Wish me luck!" Even Tanya was unaware of what just happened. He gave her an encouraging nod as she disappeared inside the lab.
"Devon Johnson, you're next please," the orderly finally called.
Devon swallowed dryly, feeling his pulse quicken. There was no avoiding fate's judgement now. He walked on wobbly legs into the sterile chamber.
Two researchers in crisp lab coats waited beside an advanced chair lined with moulded sensors. "Take a seat Devon and try to relax, this will only take a few minutes," said the elderly male doctor politely.
Devon settled into the contoured seat as they affixed monitoring nodes to his temples and fingertips. He took deep breaths, struggling to calm his hammering heart. What would these stranger's imposing instruments detect within him?
"Initiating full body scan," announced the female technician. The ring-like machine whirred around Devon as both doctors observed data screens closely. Devon fidgeted, sensing no unusual reactions happening.
After completing a full cycle and additional targeted scans of his head and hands, the staff finally removed the sensors from a perplexed Devon.
"Well young man, I see no clear signs of any Coco Power development," the male doctor informed him. "Your biology appears entirely normal under these scans."
Devon blinked, certain he'd misheard. "W-wait, run di tests again," he urged. "Mi was swarmed bad at school, must have traces of di Coco energy inside mi."
But the technician just smiled sympathetically. "False negatives are extremely rare with our calibrated scanners. I'm afraid another pass would be redundant." Her tone was kind but firm.
The elderly doctor patted Devon's shoulder. "Not to worry, many who endure those awful mosquitos never manifest abilities. You seem a healthy normal lad with much potential ahead."
Devon stepped from the scanner feeling dazed, barely mumbling his thanks. How could he show no cultivated gifts after weeks training his increasingly potent dreadlock web tasers? Had simply awakening Hyper Rush somehow purged his Coco Powers? Nothing made sense.
Emerging from the labs, Devon was greeted by looks of pity from classmates who'd overheard the doctors' assessment.
"Yuh sure dem scanners working right?" Tanya immediately demanded. "How dem miss yuh juice and acknowledged mine?"
Before Devon could reply, Coach Adams came over. "Now now, no need to be ashamed. Plenty productive folk never get powers." His forced smile showed traces of his own disappointment for his star athlete. "Chin up Devon, yuh grades and dedication still a shining example," Coach encouraged, though his normally spirited voice sounded subdued. He gave Devon's shoulder a soft pat before moving to assist another student.
Even Mei Wen gazed at Devon sympathetically from across the room, intuiting his discouragement. He tried to appear indifferent but inside, Devon's spirit was plunged into greater depths than any scanner could plumb. Was this some cosmic joke or lesson in humility? What was the point of discovering his gifts if only to have them inexplicably snatched away without explanation?
The questions churned endlessly in Devon's mind as the remaining assessments concluded. He gave passive, distracted responses to Tanya's prodding concern and attempts to lift his sunken mood. Nothing could alleviate the hollow void left by his tremendous loss.
Soon the students were shown to plush private rooms within the tower to spend the night before returning home tomorrow. Devon collapsed onto the springy single cot, more emotionally than physically exhausted. Sleep eluded him for hours as he tried his best to fire up his electric dreads to no avail.
When Devon did finally drift off, his slumber was haunted by visions of wispy Coco mosquitos flitting mockingly around his head while faceless shadows stood pointing with contemptuous laughter.
He woke well before sunrise, eyes sandy and spirits even heavier than the night prior. Today promised little joy, only the burden of concealing painful truth from loved ones upon returning home. How could Devon ever explain losing the wondrous gifts he had only begun unveiling? Their loss left him feeling more powerless than before their brief mirage ever uplifted his hopes.
The trip back was subdued by other teens chattering excitedly about their registered talents while Devon slumped dejectedly against the window watching urban towers give way to rainforest wilderness then eventually Seacrest's familiar coastline.
Home again, he dodged his mother's eager queries about the excursion, giving vague mumbling responses before locking himself away in his room. Collapsing facedown on the mattress, Devon pounded his fists futilely against the sheets.
Rex whined and nudged his master's limp arm with concern. Devon just lay there stewing in impotent misery. He didn't react to his mother's eventual soft knocking. Not even Tanya's string of worried texts stirred him.
As Devon wallowed, a single unwelcome thought arose gradually from the mental morass - had he caused this loss himself by somehow abusing the mysterious Hyper Rush power? The question gnawed at his weary mind.
If his own actions had sapped his wondrous Coco gifts, might disciplined focus restore them again? That slim possibility finally moved Devon to uncurl from his defeated posture. He couldn't abandon hope entirely. Not when a path to redemption might still exist, however narrow.
Wiping his bleary eyes, Devon sat up resolutely. He would find a way forward from this spiritual pit, as deep and steep as it felt presently. With dogged purpose, Devon pocketed his motivation talismans - the photo of Kamau and Rayon, his honoured fallen comrades. Then he ventured downstairs to face his mother's concerned queries, and the doubt in Tanya's eyes next time they met.