Mir didn't have an easy sleep that night. The lethargy caught up to him a couple of hours before dawn and he ended up snoring through his morning alarms.
His parents had decided not to open the shop today. From them, he found out that Murray had left with someone from Sunbreaker's Church at dawn. Their mother nagged as Mir and Murin devoured the cold breakfast.
"Mir, he won't listen to us. You'll have to convince him to tone down his risky ventures, okay?"
"I'm doing that already. Don't worry, he didn't go out to face dangers this time. He's probably in the Church right now."
"I'm not sure that joining Sunbreaker's Church, or any other Churches is a good idea," their father said in a thoughtful tone. "The people at the top aren't running charity organizations. If you want their service, they'll make sure you pay them back for it. Tell Murray to not get attached to his position just because of the shallow benefits."
Mir nodded repeatedly, but snorted inside. Without those shallow benefits, their family would always remain a fish on a chopping block. He didn't really understand his parents sometimes. They had grown up in the same world, in this new era of Transcenders, taboo zones, and monstrosities. Neither his father, nor his mother had had the opportunity to become a Transcender themselves, so they knew how harsh this world was to ordinary humans. Why were they so picky and controlling when it came to the growth of their children?
At least they weren't irrational with their suggestions; that was the only positive side. Mir had heard stories in College about some classmates being forced by their parents to enter predatory organizations, sign bad contracts, and make choices that were deadly for their future growth– all due to being blinded by apparent benefits.
"Murin, is your shoulder still causing problems? If the pain hasn't subsided yet, we'll need to consult a doctor," their mother suddenly said, watching the awkward way Murin was moving her spoon.
"What shoulder problem?" Mir said. "Fell asleep the wrong way?"
"I was practicing punching effectively in combat and pulled a muscle," Murin said. Mir recalled her recent curiosity with hand to hand combat and sneered at her deliberately, as it was his duty as an older brother to provoke her from time to time.
"If you need a sparring partner, I'm always here for you, little sister."
"I'll make you regret saying that one day," Murin grumbled as she finished her food and went to the kitchen to wash up. Mir was about to do the same, but his mother made a silent gesture at him to walk over to her.
"Pulling muscles didn't give her the bruises on her shoulder and ankles. Even the back of her fists look different." His mother whispered in his ears.
Confused, Mir suggested, "Maybe she's practicing combat in school with her classmates. You can't learn how to fight alone. I don't think we should pressure her if she's not bothered by it. A few bruises aren't-"
He eventually stopped speaking upon noticing how each sentence to come out of his mouth was turning up his mother's rage.
"Practicing how to fight? What's next? She's gonna come home with broken teeth and a gouged eye?"
Mir sighed. He knew his parents meant well, but the awareness didn't lessen the annoyance he was feeling.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"She won't tell me who she's 'practicing' with, or how. Try to get that out of her and talk to her partner-in-crime. They can fight, but it better not involve injuries. She's still a little girl, for heaven's sake. Why can't she have some normal hobby instead of fighting?"
Mir held back a reply that he knew would earn him a slap on the back of the head.
Despite the fright they all had experienced yesterday, today felt like a vacation. Living in surface cities had that effect on people, numbing their nerves to fear and disasters. Mir's father sat in the living room to go through the weekly news coverage, and mother chatted animatedly with a neighbor over the yard's walls.
Mir sat on a couch behind his father and scrolled through online markets and information exchange forums, looking into any post that seemed helpful for their current situation. From researching about sacred artifacts to filtering the price of foodstuffs made from the body of animals with grade-1 mutation, Mir memorized an enormous amount of data. It had been a while since he had studied anything with this much focus.
Snippets of news from his father's data terminal began to reach his ears every couple minutes while he was deep into a forum discussion. Certain keywords eventually made him look away from his screen.
"Experts are of the opinion that the new sunspots aren't a big threat to the people living in surface cities. The Z-class solar flares are already over. The ejected plasma will not deal a great damage to our atmosphere. But communication planetwide is likely to be interrupted frequently in the upcoming weeks, and no calculations can be made to predict how long this phenomenon may last. To the surface-dwellers, experts suggest not leaving the shielded parts of the city at all during these days if possible."
Mir frowned, recalling his recent experience of travelling in unshielded zones of the city. The sunlight had been in its lethal form both times. That rare happenstance couldn't be a result of these Sunspot phenomenon, could it?
Meanwhile, the topic of the news shifted. This time, the presenter sounded a lot more relaxed.
"Vortex District's young prodigy, Lumielle Lightfoot, has accomplished the rare feat of awakening 8 different mutant abilities before reaching her Saturation Limit. Reliable sources have confirmed that at least 3 of her mutant abilities come from grade-3 mutations, setting a new record of personal potential below the age of 20. The Standard Destruction Scale Score publicized on social media after her last Consolidation stands at 4.134, signifying that she has mastered four different categories of mutant abilities. Although the details of her SDS simulation aren't available, experts surmise that three of those ability types are elemental, the final one being the signature mutation of the Lightfoot family– known as the Voidsprint Mutation."
News like these were not too rare, but always celebrated. Eight mutant abilities meant eight successful Consolidations. From the baseline of 25% Saturation, this meant that she had spent an average of 9% Saturation per successful consolidation. This left only 3% of her total cells Unsaturated, which was too little for a Consolidation. Didn't this mean that she hadn't failed even once in her Mutation Awakening attempts?!