"Boopy-boop-a-doop," I casually mutter as I play with the green watch on my wrist. Various holograms are cycled past, but I don't really pay all that much attention to it since I know all of them by heart.
"Are you seriously still playing with that after half an hour?" a raspy voice asks in my mind.
"Why yes, Z'skayr," I reply. "I find that it is quite calming to see the forms shifting back and forth."
"Out of anything that you could do on this backwater mud ball you call a planet, you choose to sit on your bed and play with a watch like a child with its binky," Z'skayr replies.
"Hey, I'm a lot more intelligent than a baby," I say. "Plus, if I was acting like it was a binky, wouldn't I be sucking on it?"
"You are already suck way more than any being that I have ever met," Z'skayr says with a wheezy laugh.
"Wow," I say. "Top shelf insult right there. I am really hurt by the sheer meanness that your joke carried."
"Meanness isn't a word, you stupid child," Z'skayr says.
"Shut up," I say. I just go back to playing with my watch.
"Ben!" I hear my mom call from downstairs. "Someone is here to see you!"
"Got it!" I shout back. I deactivate the watch before heading downstairs.
"At least something is happening to break this endless monotony," Z'skayr says. "I am not technically living, but the sheer boredom of having to watch you liv your life made me want to find a way to kill myself."
I enter the living room to see a bald man in a wheelchair waiting with a brunette girl around my age. My mom is sitting in an armchair nearby.
"Hey, what's up?" I ask.
"These visitors are here about a private school that is interested in enrolling you," my mom says.
"How desperate are these guys if they are searching you out for a school?" Z'skayr asks. "I think that it is a bad sign if you are an actual prospect."
"Cool," I say out loud. "What kind of school is it?"
"It is for those with peculiar abilities granted by a happenstance of genetics," the bald man says. "I am Professor Charles Xavier. I run the school. This is one of the students, Kitty Pryde."
"Hi," the newly named Kitty says.
"Hey," I reply. "You said something about genetics?"
"Yes," he says. "Have you noticed any strange occurrences that have happened once you began puberty?"
"I think that he means your private time in your bedroom with the door locked, incognito browser on, a box of tissues, and a bottle of lotion," Z'skayr says.
'Shut up!' I think at the annoying specter.
Z'skayr materialized behind the professor in his usual appearance. A whispy grayish-white form with black lines and a single purple eye.
"Is it just me, or do you also want to hit this guy into a corner pocket?" Z'skayr asks pointing at Professor Xavier.
"What do you mean, strange occurrences?" I ask. "Spontaneously turning to stone or unaided flight?"
"Those are good examples," he says. "But I have also met a few people that also have voices in their heads." He gives me a knowing look.
My eyes dart over to my mom and see that she seems to be frozen in time. I look back to Xavier and I know what his power is.
"You are a telepath," I say.
"With a touch of telekinesis as well," he says. "I just wanted to give you some privacy in case your mother did not know of your mutation."
I narrow my eyes at him and quickly activate my watch, cycle through the list and slam down the dial.
In a flash of green light, I am standing in front of them at a height measured at about 4 inches tall. My form is slightly reminiscent of a frog, but bipedal with grey skin, thin frame, and green eyes that have sideways closing eyelids.
I hop onto the coffee table sitting in the living room. I sit down on a discarded book and fold my right leg over my left. Kitty still seems to be in shock that I just transformed in a flash of light.
"I would advise you to not attempt to probe my mind any further," I say. "The average Galvan mind is much more capable than that of practically any member of Homo Sapien Sapien or Homo Sapien Superior species. Despite your likely great skill in mental manipulation, that could very well be a conflict you would lose."
"I apologize for the intrusion into your mother's mind," the man apologies. "But I have seen, on more than one instance, perfectly normal families ostracize one of their own for being a mutant. I have found that this is the better of two evils."
"A pragmatic approach to a potentially volatile situation," I say, analyzing it from his point of view. "While I dislike the idea of one person affecting the mind of another, this is a restrained form which I can understand."
"Thank you," the professor says with a nod.
"However, the concern is not necessary," I reply. "My mother is knowledgeable of my abilities and can be included in this conversation once you release her from her mental stasis."
"Of course, Benjamin," he replies. I reach around to my back and awkwardly press the dial that is located there.
In a flash of green light, I am back to human and my mom is back to normal.
Kitty seems to finally break out of her surprise. "How did you do that?" she asks.
"Do what?" my mom asks, not knowing what previously occurred.
"Professor Xavier wanted to give a conversation more privacy," I explain. "So he essentially paused you."
"I am sorry, Mrs. Tennyson," he says. "I have seen the knowledge of a mutant in a family turn badly before. I sincerely apologize."
My mom seems to come to terms with it fairly quickly. I guess it is because of all that she has had to get used to with my powers. "It is alright," she replies. "So, what happened?"
"I turned into Gray Matter," I say, before turning towards Kitty. "That is my power. I am able to turn into aliens."
"How does that pertain to the watch on your wrist?" Xavier asks.
"It is a device I had to design to get a better control on my changes," I say. "It funnels my ability and helps me to stay in the driver's seat."
"Against the other?" Xavier asks.
"The other what?" Kitty asks in confusion.
"The other being chilling in my head," I say. I activate my watch and turn the dial to Ghostfreak. "This is what he looks like. He is an Ectoneurite. The way my power works is that I tap into an extradimensional energy that contains the DNA of all species in the universe, leaning more towards the sentient species. I can access genetic templates for certain species and transform into them. However, the consciousness of Ectoneurites are contained down to their very DNA. This means that since I can turn into one which I call Ghostfreak, it also means that I have to live with the consciousness in my head as well."
"What does he do?" the professor asks, interested in the effects of an alien mind sharing the same space as that of a human.
"Well, he used to try and take over my body," I admit. Kitty and Professor Xavier's eyes get big. "But since I built the watch, he is stuck as just a voice in my head. Since he got used to the fact that he would never get out, he now just acts like a dick whenever he can."
"They seem to get along well enough," my mom says.
"I am quite surprised at how relaxed you are at the fact that you are living with an alien presence in your mind," Xavier says.
"He's fine," I say. "The worst he can do is annoy me. Every now and then, he messes around with my dreams by putting in jump scares, but that is pretty much it."
"That just means I have to step up my game," Z'skayr says. "You will be sorry for this insult!"
"Z'skayr is pretty harmless," I add.
"So, what can you do?" I ask Kitty.
"I can phase through things," she says. She walks towards and through the coffee table, passing through it like a ghost.
"She seems acceptable," Z'skayr says. He is a critic for anyone who he feels copied his powers.
"Pretty cool," I say. "But you guys said you were from a mutant school?"
"Yes," Xavier says. "It is for those seeking to control and learn about their abilities while gaining kinship with people going through a similar situation."
"It really helped me to get a handle on my power," Kitty says. "I used to barely be able to control my tangibility. Now, I can turn it on and off easily."
"Are there regular classes as well?" my mom asks.
"We currently enroll the students in a nearby high school," Xavier assures. "In the future, we are hoping to host classes at the mansion, but we are still in the earlier stages. It also gives the students experience in holding back and not using their powers."
"If you are looking for more students, Ben's cousin has abilities as well," my mom says.
"No, Mom!" I shout. "I mean, seriously! Gwen doesn't need to know about this! I don't want to be stuck at a school with her of all people!"
"Come on, Ben," my mom says with a sigh. "She's not that bad."
"Yes, she is," I say. "I swear to God, if I have to listen to her lecture me on study habits and proper application of effort in school, I will hurl myself into the ocean and drown."
"Ben and Gwen have been feuding since they were ten," my mom says to Professor Xavier. "Six years later and nothing has changed."
"Yeah, but she is abusive now," I say. "She threw me through a tree last week."
"You were Four Arms," my mom says with a sigh. "You barely felt it."
"It's the though that counts," I mutter. Kitty seems to be barely holding back laughter at my behavior. Even Professor Xavier has the beginning of a smile on his lips.
"Well, I guess this means that we will be getting two new students," Professor Xavier says.
I slump in defeat. This sucks.