A/N: Gotta pause with updating for the night. Hopefully by sometime tomorrow, I can post everything else. G'night, y'all!

Chapter 24 - The Boss.

I narrowed my eyes in mild recognition of him. "I've seen you somewhere." I told him. Looking at him, it was clear this guy was the head of this organization. "Maybe you have. I've even heard I bear a significant resemblance to a character in a video game." At that, I snapped my fingers. "That's probably it. You look like Carth Onasi, from a Star Wars game." I realized.

He waved it off. "That's beside the point. I'm sure you have many questions. Ask away." He says. "Your organization knows much about the creation of these Empowered people, right? How did I get my powers? I was never taken anywhere. I just woke up with them, the same day my family vanished." I asked. He smiled.

"How indeed? In fact, that's the one thing we've been curious about as well. We were hoping you would know. Because ever since that day, when you woke up with your powers, those Empowered people, as you call them, started popping up all over the continent. Some in Mexico, hundreds in America, and dozens in Canada." He confided in us.

"We know each one of them were brought in and tested on, after your powers developed, and I know of one name on their list of people that were supposed to come in. Someone that never got their powers." He continued, his eyes settling on Kara. "You can't be serious." I said. Kara paled, sitting back in her chair. "No..." I heard her whisper.

"Hazel, you'd told us that the government wanted Kara for something. This was it, wasn't it?" I knew she wouldn't have an answer, but her guess was probably more educated than mine. She just nodded. "Okay. Sure. So, I'm the first Empowered, and Kara was meant to get powers as well." I repeated numbly.

There goes my attempt to get answers of how I got powers. But I had other questions. "What about location? The System that comes with my powers warned me that we have less than a month now before we have to attack them, and I want to start planning this out." I asked.

He pulled up a map of DC on his phone, and showed me the address on Google Earth. "Here. There are some other entrances to their own bunker, connecting from these buildings, but the lab is in this one." He swiped around, showing the addresses and buildings to me, landing on a single building to finish it off. "Come to see me at 10 tomorrow morning, and we can plan with the war council." He told me.

"Understood. Can we get directions back here for tomorrow?" He glanced at my wristwatch, which I had honestly forgotten about. "Is that a Smart Watch?" He asked. "So to speak. It was specially made for my powers. It essentially gives me a minimap that only I can see, that I can turn on and off, and it's supposed to boost my powers in some way, as well, though Mana never did elaborate past that." I explained to him.

"That's interesting. I'd love to produce something like that." He mused. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can transmit directions to you." He said, focusing back on my question. "I have a phone. If you can give me the address, I can save it." Mana pipes up. At that, he picked up a pen, and scribbled on a post-it note, passing it to Mana. "There. Is there anything else I can do for you?" He asks.

"Two more questions, and I might have more in the future. Firstly, we never learned your name. Would you mind sharing so I don't have to keep cryptically referring to you as 'The Boss' in my head? Secondly, do you know how the other Empowered get their powers?" I ask.

He laughs heartily. "Just call me Alec." He said, extending his hand. I shook it. "Pleasure to properly meet you, Alec." I told him. "Same to you, Cyrus. And as for how the Empowered get their powers? Well, we're not certain on the process itself, but we do know where their powers come from." He elaborates. "Well? Where do they come from, then?" Kara asks, frowning.

Alec's eyes fall on me. "They take the DNA from the progenitor, and use that to recreate portions of its power. You may have noticed, some things went missing in your home, Cyrus. Those things all have one thing in common. It has your fingerprint, or saliva, or something. Even if it's faint, they can replicate your powers with it, to a small degree, for an individual." He explains to us.

I start to feel dizzy. "You're kidding." Hazel says. Alec shakes his head. "I wish I was." He said grimly. I stood up from my chair, the chair creaking as I got up. "I need time to think about this." I declared, taking the elevator to a random floor. Apparently, I had picked the top floor of the parking garage we had entered from. I just took in the air from the wind blowing gently by, sitting there for a while before Kara found me on her own.

"This is really fucked up." I say simply, not even turning around to look at her. I feel her arms wrap around me, and I feel her lips press against my cheek. My cheeks turn pink, and I turn to her. "That's new. How much convincing did that take on Hazel's part?" I asked lightheartedly. She laughed. "More than you could ever dream of." She answered.

"Listen, I just wanted to say, this past month and a half? It's been the craziest time of my life, and I really wonder how I got here. But I don't regret a single second of it. I'd choose you again and again, because–" I cut her off before she can finish. "Don't say it. I know what you want to say, and I have to ask that if it's true, you don't say it. Wait until this is done. Then we'll see." I said softly. A disappointed look crosses her face, but she nods.

"I'm with you until the end, okay?" She assures me, giving me a side hug. "And the same from me to you, K. Until the very end." I promised, reciprocating the hug. "I can't believe you were gonna be Empowered." I said faintly. She frowns. "My family was gonna sell me to the government for it. That's what the final straw was, that made me run. They talked about it behind my back, and I overheard them. I made a mad dash, and you know what happened from there."

I snarled, Force Storm crackling along my free hand. "If I ever meet them, I swear..." I trail off. "Well, at least my family wasn't stealing my DNA to make an army of superpowered beings based off of their own child." She offered. "At least my family didn't treat me like dirt." I frowned, responding to her attempt to belittle her own trauma. She sighed, but stayed silent.

"They're not going to hurt you ever again, alright? You're safe with me." I assured her. "Ding!" I internally sigh, glancing at the notification before mentally swiping it away.

Influence Gained: Kara! 200/200

"Ding!" I just decided to check that later. It's probably about the next 100 points of influence, anyways. "Thank you." She said quietly, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back, and she nestled her head into the crook of my neck. "What am I, a pillow?" I ask gently, laughing softly. "I don't hear you complaining." I heard her muffled voice say.

"We should wrap up our business here for today and go back home." I told her. She nodded, standing up with me. We rode down the elevator in a comfortable silence, and we found Mana and Hazel sitting, looking at us expectantly, as Alec and Phoebus were talking in hushed tones about something. Kara shook her head at Hazel, and Hazel frowned. I didn't want to intrude on their mental conversation, so I just sat back down.

"Sorry for interrupting, but should we conclude our business today? We meet tomorrow at 10 AM, where exactly?" I ask Alec. His attention snaps back to me, his cheery disposition returning. "Ah, yes. Phoebus, if you could return them home. The war council meets tomorrow at 10, on the floor just above us." The older man clarifies. I nod, standing up.

Everyone else rises with me. "I might as well come and see you off. It will send a message to the people that you aren't to be messed with." Alec said. I nod, and we stuff everyone into the elevator again. We get to the top floor of the bunker itself, and we all slide out of the elevator, moving to where we came in. Alec waved at a couple people, calling out and saying hello.

He seemed to actually know a fair share of people here. It's nice to see he might actually be a leader who's involved with his people. Phoebus gets into the driver's seat once again, and the four of us pile in again. On our drive back, we weren't required to wear a blindfold or anything, so that was nice.

When we arrived back, I did have just one question for Phoebus before he left. "How will we secure transportation back there? In case you couldn't see, we don't have a car." He laughed. "Don't worry. Transportation will be arranged. Just be out here by 9:15 tomorrow morning." He told us. I nod, thanking him.

The first thing I did when I got inside was get a pen and paper, and start to write down the powers of the Empowered I knew, connecting how they were given a part of my powers.

Medea: Interface that helps develop magical powers - I might have the Powers interface from the game, I just never experimented with it.

Elijah: Immunity to powers and can temporarily copy/steal the powers of others - KotOR II power that was never named, where Meetra could steal the Force powers of Jedi Masters?

Mana: Reading minds - I can read minds through the Force. Duh.

Michael: Harnessing pure energy - I'm not sure, but maybe a beta version of Fletcher's power, which makes more sense.

Fletcher: Electrokinetic - Force Storm.

Mother: Potentially can see electricity-based things that other people can't? - Maybe a mix of my electrokinesis from Force Storm, and my ability to read minds? Not enough information.

Father: He can see the avatars of dreaming people, and dispel them. Painfully. - Perhaps a future development of my psychic ability?

That about wrapped up the list so far. Something was bothering me. Michael's power seemed too advanced to be something borne of my powers. It looked a lot like he could harness that energy freely. But this System wasn't a perfect reflection of the game. Maybe there's a feature that I didn't know about?

Elijah's power bothered me, too, but not necessarily in a bad way. It just was raising questions that I'm not sure I liked. Does that immunity to powers stand true for all the Empowered? No, no way. Mana was affected by Medea's powers. I frowned.

But if he has an immunity to powers, and it's based off of my powers, wouldn't that just mean—? I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard Hazel. "You turned her down? Any reason why?" She asked me. "You should know as well as I do. If she further develops that attachment to me, it will only bring her or myself to harm while we fight for this cause. She would be hurt if either of us got hurt, or worse, as I told you before." I told her.

"You could've at least let her say it. Denying her that hurts her, too." She fired back. "You're the expert on hurting people, I guess." I said bitterly, in reference to her mutilation of my body only hours previous. She frowned. "Ding!"

Influence Lost: Hazel. 110/200

"You know I feel like shit about that. That was unnecessary." She said, getting up to leave the room. "Nice going, asshole." I think to myself, going back to examining the paper.

After a moment, I was able to retrace my steps back to where my thoughts had been before. "I might be immune to all powers based on mine." I muttered, bolting up from my seat. I grabbed the list, and bolted to the living room, to find Kara and Hazel examining the game further, Hazel clearly still upset, as she got up to leave again.

"Hazel, I'm sorry. I get you're upset with me, and what I said was out of line. I was upset because it hurt like hell, okay? Even if you're gonna give me the silent treatment, I do have some good news, so hold on a second while I get Mana." I apologized, darting off to find Mana. I didn't see her anywhere, so I did the thing most people do to catch mind readers. I started screaming in my head while running around, which must have been hilarious to Mana.

In retrospect, I could've used Force Sight, but I think this was ultimately funnier.

"Is there any reason you're running around screaming?" I heard Mana's voice say, amusement filling it to the brim. I focused, pinpointing the sound of her voice, and grabbed where I thought her wrist would be. It seems I was successful, and I dragged her inside. "I've got good news. I'm sharing with the group so I don't have to repeat." I shared with the still-invisible girl.

She finally turned visible, shimmering into existence, walking with me now. We arrived back in the living room, where Hazel held a stony look, and Kara looked at me with curiosity, Mana sitting between them. I placed the list on the table in front of them. "This is a list of the Empowered people known to us. What about them?" Mana asks.

"Think back to what Alec said about their powers being based off of mine. Look at Elijah's powers." I told them. "You're immune to powers." Kara muttered. "Not quite. If there was some other vein of powers, unrelated to mine, I wouldn't be immune to them. He's immune to powers based off mine, which essentially means that powers generated from my own can't touch me." I explained.

"That's huge." Hazel said, her anger seemingly forgotten for a moment. "But how did your father dispel you from a dream, then?" Mana asked. "I think it's because the projection of myself that was present at the time technically didn't have powers. It's complicated, and I'm not an expert on astral projection, but I'd imagine the projection doesn't maintain the powers of the host. It's just an extended branch of consciousness, to my understanding, thus rendering it powerless, and as such, only a spectator." I tried to explain.

"It's a stretch, but it makes sense." Mana replies. "But how do you know it's not just immunity to powers in general?" Kara asks. "Kara, use your powers on me." I told her. Kara frowned, but sent a shock at me. I brushed it off. ::Are you stupid? You're trying to get her of all people to use her powers to hurt you?:: Hazel thought to me.

"Maybe I should do it." Hazel suggested aloud, sending Force Lightning at me. I shook a bit from the electricity, but lo and behold, a share of my HP was missing. "But how does that make sense? Aren't our powers made from yours, technically?" Kara asked. "Do you wonder why they didn't just manufacture some sort of gas to make everyone they want Empowered? I suspect there's only part of the population that can be Empowered. Now, Mana, what do you think stops you from developing Force powers like Kara and Hazel?" Mana froze, and Kara looked confused.

"The potential for power comes from you. The power just latches to you, and it manifests based off of a power near you. Currently, it's technically a manifestation of your own power you're working off of. Your powers work on me because they developed naturally, albeit only after you joined my party, as you were in proximity, even if I nurtured the development of the powers, in Hazel's case. Which also means that Hazel could have got powers, though likely with more difficulty." I finished explaining.

They all took a minute to absorb that information, then Mana raised another point. "What about stealing powers? Couldn't you, in theory, take my powers, and allow my natural potential to grow Force powers from being in your party?" She asked. "Excellent question, but no. It's either you keep the powers you have, or lose the potential to have powers. My ability to steal powers comes from a Sith technique, which allows the user to steal all power from the target." I explained.

"So you're saying if you tried it, I'd lose any innate power I had." She replied, a little sadly. I nodded. "Fuck you, father, for forcing me into that experiment." She cursed. "Do you remember getting your power at all?" I asked. She shook her head. "I was unconscious at the time." She told me.

I sighed. There goes a source of firsthand knowledge.