It's been a few days since I've met my family.

I don't know what the plans for today are yet but I'm in my bed right now.

I dreamed that I was back in the I.E.C.

No, it wasn't a bad dream. Well, not really.

It was also a memory. One that made me feel kind of anxious at first.

I don't want to tell you everything about it but I will tell you Boomer and Sensory were there.

Boomer is the name of a girl whose whisper, if you could call it that, was at a regular speaking level. Her scream could break glass and her shout would reverberate like, well, a boom.

We looked kind of like sisters which, yes, led to jokes from my bully triangle that she stole my sound.

I don't want to know what they'd say if they were to find out the truth. About my sound, I mean.

I wonder if she really is my sister.

Well, even if she isn't, I considered her one.

Right. You're probably feeling curious about Sensory.

She could make five clones of herself as well as absorb them, giving each one a different, as you may have guessed, sense.

Yes, she could control the clones but the more she had out and the further they were from her, the harder a time she had thinking clearly. That could lead to what she called a slump, which really creeped me out. She'd seem lifeless.

I was never very close with her and she wouldn't let me interact with her clones, which is probably for the best. They also creeped me out because they didn't really have faces.

Well, the one for sight had her eyes and the one for smell had her nose and you can guess what the ones for hearing and taste had.

The one for touch is the one that creeped me out the most. It had no facial features at all.

She'd usually send that one out first and the one for sight last, which does make, if you'll excuse the joke, sense to me.

I think that she might have had some memory of life before the I.E.C. She had an accent and I once heard her speaking in Hindi.

Yes, she was Indian.

I did try using written and telepathic Hindi with her but it was like she didn't want to know me very well.

Now that I think of it, she used to tell me that she thought I was cursed. I wonder how she'd feel on finding out she was right.

I shake off the memory then get out of bed and go to my closet so I can get dressed.

I open it then I'm soon wearing a green T-shirt that has a dog who looks like Pippin on it, blue jeans and my green flats.

I close my closet then look at myself in the mirror. I like the shirt very much but it makes me miss Bruno.

I breathe out slowly. I hope that I see you again some day, boy.

I grab my notebook and pencil then, shortly, leave my room. I want to know what Dad has planned today.

He smiles at me. "Good morning, Sayna. Do you want to go to the Watchtower today? We both have it off."

I ask, out of curiosity, why he has today off. Sure, it's an unexpected holiday for me but I know how Dad's boss, Perry, gets.

"Perry was feeling generous. He said that I should go do something with you. Obviously, I thought about the Watchtower. I know you've been wanting to go. Yes, you'll only be seen by people who know my secret."

It's kind of nice how he can read me like that.

"Well, Batman's busy, actually. You're not disappointed, are you?"

I shake my head, not telling him that I'm actually relieved. Instead, I tell him that I'm hungry.

I cut him off from saying that breakfast's the most important meal of the day. He's said that more than once, as I'm sure you can guess.

Oh, and I'm not scared of Batman. The reason why I'm relieved he's busy is personal.

I shake my head. How could I have forgotten? I guess I must have gotten over-excited.

I'll need to know this though.

I ask Dad an important question.

"Yes, some of them know sign. One of them's also a telepath, like you. His telepathy works different than yours though."

I was kind of expecting that.

I don't think I want to know if they know about my curse so I just make myself a bowl of cereal. I like Dad's cooking but he shouldn't have to made all of my meals.

Besides, cereal's fine. I'm more used to having it and I kind of wanted to go with something familiar.

Okay, technically I'm more familiar with regular Cheerios. It's one of the things that my bully triangle wouldn't take from me.

I leaned pretty quick what they would and wouldn't take. I knew better than to go with anything sweet, like what I'm going to have now.

Honey Nut Cheerios.

I mouth an Oh after trying one. They're good.

Dad laughs gently at my surprise.

I have mixed feelings about how so many things are new to me.

I breathe out through my nose. It's like I was sheltered.

Well, I kind of was.

Alder probably suspects that I was but I've never told her. She only knows me as Sayna and I don't want to tell her about my past.

I eat my cereal, still thinking about her. She's not as secretive as me though that's something I'm sure you probably guessed.

I kind of envy her confidence. She may hate people staring at her ears but she's not self-conscious at all about being born with missing toes.

I often see her wearing sandals. She doesn't have the big, middle or pinky toe on her left foot. Her right foot does have the toes her left foot doesn't have but not the other ones. She joked that her feet couldn't make up their minds.

I didn't think it was very funny, mainly because I know a girl with no feet at all. She has the tattoo that I have on the bottom of her right stump.

Yes, that is the word she'd use. She looked a lot like Alder, actually.

Her name was Flora because she had a strong connection with plants. She could have them lift her, among other things. I know that's how she preferred to get around. She couldn't walk very well, let alone run.

I push the memory away and focus on my cereal. Good, it didn't get very soggy.

I finish it then lick my spoon.

Dad tells me to finish my milk.

I do then look at him.

"Sayna, you needed the protein."

He takes my dishes from me. "You're still much too small for your age. I want you to grow."

I'm doing it as fast as I can!

It's kind of hard.

I tell him using my telepathy while he washes my dishes.

"I know you'll grow at your own pace."

He gently runs his right hand through my hair after he's done. "I can accept that, okay? Now, are you ready?"

I raise one eyebrow then ask if he is, using sign.

He laughs gently then, not too long after he changes into Superman, I'm on the Watchtower.

I mouth a Wow, feeling surprised and kind of awed. This place is amazing.

A man in red zooms over to us. "Hey, Supes!"

That voice sounds familiar.

I make a w with my right hand then, kind of quickly, move it from left to right.

He gets down so that he's eye level with me then takes off his mask. "You recognized my voice, huh? It looks like I get a name sign for that. Well, you should know that I go by Flash on the Watchtower."

He puts his mask back on then gets up. "Bats made that rule and I try to follow it. The name sign's fine though. I like it. Now, come on, you've got more heroes to meet."

I nod then follow him and Dad.

Soon, I'm in front of another four people. Well, I guess I can trust them enough to tell them about my curse.

It leads to shocked exclamations that allow me to pick up two new languages. I even find out what they are.

I got Thanagarian from Hawkgirl and Martian from Martian Manhunter. I like the former's wings and that the latter's my favorite color.

I also like the other people that Flash introduces me to.

Well, actually, Green Lantern's kind of serious. I like Wonder Woman more.

Green Lantern's black but he's not the first black person that I've met.

Hey, that's kind of funny. Dad has a black friend on both of his jobs.

There's obviously one at the Planet too. His name is Ron Troupe*.

Green Lantern looks at Dad. "What kind of monster would do something like that to a baby?"

I scowl then, feeling somewhat angry, levitate so that I'm eye level with him and, once I am, use my telepathy to tell him that I'm not a baby anymore.

He seems taken aback for a bit and the look on his face makes me try to laugh. I don't do so telepathically.

Dad does laugh gently though. "Yes, G.L., she's a Meta. I wasn't expecting her to show that, actually. Sayna's pretty secretive."

I go back down, feeling surprised at myself once my feet are on the floor. Well, my flats anyway.

"She had to have been malnourished. How old is this girl of yours?"

Dad answers for me.

Wonder Woman's blue eyes fill with concern. "How is it that no one put a stop to this? Children need fuel to grow."

Well, yes. My bully triangle were favorites though.

I obviously wasn't. Most of my friends weren't either.

I don't want to think about the I.E.C. right now, especially not around another telepath.

I've been told which one of Dad's friends is the telepath. I hope he didn't pick up what I was thinking.

I ask, feeling curious.

I breathe out slowly on learning he didn't. He's apparently careful not to eavesdrop.

I smile, thinking of how Sam was caught doing that by Gandalf. Both characters have their merits but they're not Pippin.

I'm distracted by Flash. He's asked me if I'm hungry.

I nod.

"Hey, Supes!"

Dad looks at him. "Yes, Flash?"

He grins. "I was just checking in before I take Sayna to the commissary."

He laughs gently. "You two can go ahead."

My smile widens when Flash lifts me up so that I'm getting a piggyback ride.

I try to laugh when he takes off. He's a good friend.

I tell him so after he puts me down.

"You're a good friend too. Now, how about cheese pizza? I'll get you a cream soda too."

I nod, telling him I like both.

It's not very long at all before I'm happily eating because he's good company.

*Yes, he's canon.