"Hun... she still has the mutant gene... we failed..." a woman in a white lab coat looks down to her daughter, who is giggling up at her mother.
Her husband shakes her head. "It can't be helped." He sighs. "It might be a part of evolution, but we can't keep her like this. Her powers could interfere too much..."
"I know." Tears form in her eyes. "I know."
The same baby sits alone on the front porch of a mansion, wrapped in a forest green blanket with 'Salsber' stitched across it in black thread. She turns in her sleep.
A young man walks up the stairs, curiously eyeing the bundle on his porch. He kneels over and picks up little Salsber. "Hey, little bit. What're you doing here, all alone?" He picks her up, finding a note clipped to her blanket. "We'll look at that later, k? I'll bet you're gettin' cold." He walks inside.
A five year old Salsber sits on a wooden floor, gulping water from her water bottle.
"You done, already?" The same young man, plus about four years, walks across the room, looking at her through the mirror that spreads across a whole wall.
She jumps to her feet. "Done? Yea, right! Gimme a tough one, Master Martinez!"
He laughs. "Alright, then. How about..." He throws three sharp daggers, all aimed directly at Salsber's chest.
She shrieks then dives onto the floor, covering her head. "Master!" She whines.
He kneels beside her and gently pats her head. "You know I'd never hurt you, little bit. They weren't real." She looks up and he winks. "You said to give you a hard one."
She pouts, blushing. "Meanie."
"Oh, yes. I'm so horrible."
Late at night, with the stars shining brightly overhead, Martinez stands in a corner watching as Salsber breaks into a locked up bank door across the street. Once she breaks through, he phases out of his body and into the bank to watch her progress. As she starts working with the vault lock, another man walks into the bank door, which Salsber forgot to close behind her. Salsber doesn't notice the stranger walking up behind her, not until she falls to the ground, screaming, pleading.
Martinez quickly pulls his spirit back into his body and runs to aid his student. "Salsber!"
"MASTER! NO!" she breaks free of the stranger's mind just as a centriole, summoned by her and the stranger's use of power, stops Martinez in his tracks, killing him instantly.
She tries to run to her Master's aid, but the stranger grabs her arm and pulls her into the bank vault, shutting the door behind them. "You little idiot! Did you wanna get killed, to!"
She beats against the door, sobbing uncontrollably. "NO! LEMME OUT! I GOTTA HELP HIM!"
The stranger slaps her. "Fool, stop this! You've got to calm down, your master is beyond help. We don't have the air for you to flip out."
She collapses onto the floor, sitting Indian style, staring into nothingness.
The stranger listens through the door, then opens it slowly and sighs. "It's gone."
Salsber goes to the street, there's no sign of Martinez left. The stranger places a comforting hand on the young girl's shoulder. She buries her face in his chest. "What's your name, child?"
"Salsber..." she manages to say through her sobs.
He nods. "Alright, I'm Chikan." He runs his fingers through her hair. "It's alright. You're alright, I'm here, now."