Control — Chapter Eleven
Air was something life needs.
Life depended on air to survive, for respiration, for sound waves to travel through, for temperature, to supply energy, for combustion, for a life-line in stressed out situations. Everything living on this Earth relied on air.
Air wasn't a single thing.
Air was a multitude of gasses. All ranging from; oxygen, to nitrogen, to carbon dioxide, to water vapor, ozone, and even slight amounts of argon. Air wasn't just made up from these gasses alone, air wasn't just made up from gasses alone. There are sound waves, water, bioaerosols, pollen, dust, soot, smoke, car exhaust. And it all made a different sound in his mind.
Air was everywhere.
It was in the room. It was outside. It was inside him. Inside everyone. There were around twenty-five sextillion molecules of air entering his body every time he breathed in. In other words (Or numbers), 25,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 were in a singular breath- and he could feel and hear each and every one.
Waves of sound flowed in the air, making each molecule do a little dance when he stepped forward, clicked his tongue, clapped, or took a large breath. The loose waves were spreading across the room- affecting the air, making it able tremble in response. The vibrating waves in the air died out eventually as they hit the wall of the training gym, be absorbed by the blue mats at his feet, went in one too many pillars, or just disappeared from the distance.
The air around Lukian was on high alert swirling around in front of him in fluid motion, creating a cyclone just from the moving gesture of his curling fingers alone. Using all his might, he sent the gyrating wind forward towards it's target.
Fortunately for him, he hit his target perfectly. Unfortunately though, all his might- might have been a tad too much as he watched the column behind the red and white circle crumble before his very eyes. The remains of his hit kept going as it was displaced sideways after reaching the back wall, he could hear the tight air pressure in that area. It was high pitched and obnoxious. The walls shook with force from the kid-made tornado. The air in the room was chaotic, his hair was blowing in the wind.
Yet of course once realization of what he had done set in, panic did too.
He just destroyed a freaking column.
But that sentence wasn't the first to run through his mind— it was a single word and it made it out to his mouth without first thought.
"Shit!"
Lukian quickly got control of the chaotic wind the same way he did three days ago by accident, both his hands tensed and froze down at his side. He focused on the partying molecules, on each and every one becoming paralyzed in an instant. The sound waves just stopped, unable to move. It wasn't even silent in the room, there was just nothing. He relaxed his strained hands and his mental grip on the air faded, the sound waves got back into their normal flow.
Once he did that he was only slightly frozen in shock, eyes wide.
Lukian wasn't sure which voice in his head was louder— the one telling him he was strong enough to destroy a brick column into a pile of toast, or the one telling him he destroyed a brick column and he's toast.
Okay, Okay, he had to breathe. He had to calm down.
It was fine.
He was fine.
I'm fine—
(For now)
I'm fine—
He had to clean it up to the best of his abilities, it wasn't like he could hide this like a hole in the wall with a picture frame— it was an entire damn column. An entire column down by his hand. A flick of his wrist and a curl of his fingers, and then a brick column was gone. That's totally not terrifying at all. No, not at all. Maybe if he cleaned it up neatly then he wouldn't get into much trouble. Yeah, maybe.
Just maybe.
It took him over an hour to clean up. An hour to properly clean up— every brick, all the broken gout, every speck of dust and neatly file them away into garbage bags. For about twenty minutes of all that time, he had spent it searching for those said garbage bags, a broom, and a dustpan. Luckily there was a closest in the (almost) abandoned gym holding a bunch of cleaning supplies, including the very stuff he needed. His mind was on alert every time the air molecules vibrated near the doorway— petrified it was someone who would find out what he did before he had the chance to right it.
But no, no one came.
Not then anyways.
Which was slightly surprising to say the least, but he did ask Daisy if he could stay to practice some more after she had gotten pulled away by some agent.
An agent that scared the living crap out of him. Her face was cold and clearly masked when she had glared at him, even if it was only briefly. The dark haired lady had barley uttered two sentences to Daisy and then she was gone. Had he not been able to hear the overwhelming whistling of her breathing, he never would have noticed she left.
It was eerily creepy and reminded him of someone he used to know.
I'm fine—
After setting up the target again, and duct taping it back together again (damn cyclone of destruction)— Lukian resumed his place on the other side of the room.
His body leaned forward ever so slightly, like a pitcher would on the mound getting ready to throw a fastball. He listened to the static in his brain, feeling it around him— suffocating him in a bubble. This time grabbing a hold on much fewer molecules, he stretched out his arm, twisting it— opening his closed fist finger by finger, curling the ends. The air twisted in correlations to his motions, they twirled around themselves and made their way towards the target.
Very weakly, he might add.
The strong breeze turned into a light zephyr by the time it had reached its destination. The target didn't even tremble under the pressure. Clearly power control was going to be like the three bears— one too much, too little, and one was just right. The trick was finding the level that was just right, then maintaining it. Which was much easier said than done, that was for sure.
He refused to get frustrated over this simple thing.
It was just control of a cyclone that he can form from the palm of his hand.
No biggie.
Lukian breathed. Focusing on that air instead of around him. It helped calm him down, the (piercing) whistling— to some extent was mesmerizing. If it was quieter it would be almost peaceful, like a water stream. But only if it was quieter.
And currently, quiet, it was not. His never ending headache was getting worse with the more control he had. The more he was aware of the air in his vicinity, the more apparent it was— which also meant, the louder it became. The progress he had made with his borrowed ear equipment was minimal at best. If Lukian wanted his idea to work; for the in-ear devices to block out all the sound reaching his ears like the headphones do— he needed different materials.
The silicone cover definitely wasn't sound proof. He needed a thicker material, a material sound didn't travel through. And especially since sound traveled faster through solids, that was proven difficult. If only he was able to sneak the sound proof headphones into his pockets as well, and his pocket knife would be of help too…
Which again left him wondering what the hell happened to all of his belongings in those three— almost four now— months. There was three hundred dollars of baseball equipment with all of that, he worked hard to earn it all. He highly doubted anyone saved it from the intersection to begin with, let alone for this long. The saddening fact that every one of his belongings was now one with the dumpster was not helping him calm down like he was trying too.
Lukian shook his head, hoping for a mind reset.
To no eval.
It did, however, help him out of his head and back into the present.
Taking another deep breath he tried again. This time having that mental lock on the same amount of molecules the first time around, he made the air swerve in a circle creating that miniature tornado. Yet unlike the first time, he used a lot less force but with the same amount of air.
The radius of the tornado was larger than he exacted, especially at the distance, but it hit the target, knocking it over— and not knocking down another column.
A wide grin poured over Lukian's features.
Holy moley, he did it.
Holy freaking—
"Hey, that one was pretty good!"
Lukian whipped around at the sound of a person's voice, definitely not surprised that they popped up out of nowhere and caught him off guard (not at all). It was only then the whistling decided to duplicate, or maybe it was only then he took notice of the new source. The grin was instantly replaced with a tense and weary face before he recognized who it was.
"Mack?" His voice was high pitched and squeaky.
Why was he so on edge?
It was just Mack, Mack was cool.
Mack was good.
His stomach was doing flip-flops, head was racing, breathing was faster than normal, and his feet were ready to break into a sprint at a moment's notice. Well, he did just destroy a column like an hour ago… well crap. There's no way Mack's not gonna notice it.
No second chances—
I'm fine—
It's fine—
It's just Mack.
"Didn't mean to startle you." Mack said, smile on his face— completely unaware of Lukian's internal panic. "I didn't think I could, had I wanted to. You always seem to know before you see us."
Lukian took a deep breath to calm himself before nodding. "Yeah, the-there's a new whistling source, it's hard not to notice it."
Mack gave him a look, clearly confused.
"Your breathing is loud."
Mack chuckled as he stepped further into the gym. Lukian refused to look at the garbage bags, not wanting to give himself away. He tried to get Mack so his back was facing the back wall— to no avail. Hopefully Mack wouldn't notice them, or the sudden disappearance of a column.
"You alright there, Turbine?" Mack asked, definitely his odd behavior though. Lukian cursed himself for not covering that up better.
"I'm fine." The automatic response came out as casual as ever with his loudly thudding heart. His chest felt like it was about to explode from the pressure, but he kept it under the lid- the calming intake and exhale of breathing kept him grounded.
Mack seemed to buy it for now as he looked back towards the down target.
I'm fine—
"You're getting pretty good at that, maybe next week you can take the tests to go home." Mack said.
He refused to show any reaction this time, the tornado was held in a tight leash by Lukian's hand. "I-I, um… really don't think I'm ready for that yet." Lukain protested, sounding optimistic and not at all totally and completely against the idea as he was by throwing in that yet.
Mack scoffed. "Please you've been working your as- butt off ever since you got here. You're more than ready, kid."
"You do know I'm thirteen and not five, right?" Lukian deadpanned at Mack's slip-up.
The very big (emphasis on big) guy chuckled lightly as he continued to walk around the room, seeming to be searching for something. Lukian guessed he probably could tell something was off (the misplacement of a column specifically), however he couldn't pinpoint the difference exactly. That was until Mack's brows furrowed when his eyes fell onto the trash bags lined up against the wall. Lukian's breathing hitched, he attempted to swallow the new lump in his throat.
"What the hell happened?" Mack demanded, his voice rasinga few volumes.
The air vibrated intensely as the sound reached his ears. The corners of Lukian's lips twisted up as he put his hands over his ears.
"Woah, woah, woah! Watch it with the swearing, I'm just a kid." He teased.
Mack stared him down. "Lukian…"
Unwillingly, Lukian flinched and took a step back at Mack's tone. The corners of his mouth twitched back downwards in the process. He tried his hardest to school his features, he was… whatever this was for no reason. It was all fine. Everything was fine.
I'm fine—
Noticing his reaction Mack put his hands up defensively in the air. "Hey, 'm not mad— just concerned. What happened, kid?" He asked again, his voice much softer this time.
Forcing himself to calm, Lukian only shrugged. "I did say I wasn't ready."
Mack looked back at the garbage bags, his face was full of curiosity. "What's in them?"
Lukian shuffled on his feet, slightly tensing. "The column." He mumbled pointing to the now largely open space.
"You shattered an entire column?" Mack's eyebrows rose to his invisible hairline. "That's impressive!" He smiled like it was some accomplishment, something he should be proud of.
Lukian couldn't believe it.
"That's not impressive, that's terrifying! With this and the lab- I'm dangerous. A natural disaster, literally! I could hurt everyone here just by accident!" Lukian blurted out, yelling and breathing heavily. He tried to get his breathing level, however it was proven difficult with his previous yelling and frightened state.
Mack immediately took a step in his direction and knelt down in front of him.
"Hey— Hey! You are nowhere near dangerous. You understand that?" Mack said, intensity booming in his voice. "Not even close. You hear me? You could have the potential to be dangerous, okay— everyone here does. Even just the regular folk like me. But you are not a natural disaster, you're you, and I know you would never hurt anyone you don't mean to." Mack sighed lightly. His words sunk in, only, Lukian refused to believe them. Mack went on. "I've been keeping-pace with your progress. Hearing things from both Daisy and Lincoln, reading the reports, seeing you myself. You wanna know what all three have in common?"
Lukian shrugged, not really wanting to know how much he had disappointed yet another few people he had gotten close to. Mack didn't notice his unease about it though, he was too good at hiding it.
"It's been nonstop, from the start— of how proud everyone is of you." Mack said, which shocked the hell out of Lukian.
Seriously? They were proud of him?
Lukian hid his shock behind the skepticism and tilted his head with a flat face.
Mack gave him a look. "I mean it. We're all proud of you, kid. You've handled a massive responsibility that adults have handled only half as good as you. It's impressive."
"You did notice that I completely rekked that column over there, right?" Lukian checked.
Mack chuckled as his gaze flickered over to the garbage bags laying in the corner. "It comes with the learning process. Daisy almost brought down the base on all of us a multitude of times, and then fractured her arms trying to stop it. Lincoln apparently almost burned down Afterlife when he got his first powers. Another inhuman who was here— Joey, he made a car explode and almost killed himself and a bunch of others in the process. You have to make mistakes first."
"What powers did he have?" Lukian inquired, trying to change the subject. Though he won't deny he was curious.
"Joey, he can manipulate metal from a five to ten foot radius."
Lukian's face lit up. "That's awesome. So he's basically a metal bender from Avatar?"
Mack thought for a second with a smile on his face, then nodded. "It's exactly that." He sighed again, taking a moment. "I like you, kid. You're funny, kind, far too smart for your own good, and you're juggling a responsibility better than some of the adults here. Look, you're just a kid. Yet, you have the most difficult powers to control here. And here you stand— ready and in full control of those powers. You've only been here— what…? Little less than a month, and for a week and a half of that month you were focusing on the wrong thing. But even during those days, you didn't lose control once. And that was before you knew a dang thing about control. Now you do, you've practiced a helluva lot. Take the tests. You fail, eh." He shrugged. "You train some more. You pass, you get to go back home." He broke into a small smile as he looked around the room. "It's certainly certainly better than staying here, right?"
Lukian's only response was a shrug again. Not really knowing what to say. He didn't want to disappoint— or poke the bear by saying no to Mr. Mack. It was a damn good inspirational speech too, however, he was far from ready to go home again. Power wise and otherwise.
Home was… complicated. Very complicated. So much baggage would come with it. That, and the fact he's been gone for four months didn't help either. Lukian understood— no, he knew very well he couldn't stay here forever, at some point or another they would shove him out saying he's overstayed. His choices were limited, and not ideal.
"You know, I'm almost positive the Director has a hidden stash of twizzlers somewhere on base." Mack said thoughtfully, clearly trying to stop Lukian from overthinking it.
It was far too late for that.
Lukian gave him a seriously? look. "Are you trying to bribe me with twizzlers?" He asked, alreadying knowing the answer.
Mack frowned, yet his eyes still held their smile. "I said it was hidden, I didn't say I knew where it was."
Lukian rolled his eyes. "So you're bribing me with a bribe, you don't even have."
"I never said I was bribing anyone," Mack replied, innocently.
Lukian considered it all. Going home wouldn't be the worst thing. He's survived before, he can most definitely survive now. His something extra might even come in handy. Plus twizzlers, christmas came early. Eventually, having come to a decision— Lukian slightly smiled, though it was somewhat forced.
"Fine, I'll take the test." He conceded. His stomach was already in knots at the choice, not much he could be about it now. "Also, for the record, you're a super spy, I'm sure you are perfectly capable of finding those hidden twizzlers."
Mack stood up to his full (skyscraper) height, holding out his hand, grinning. "You've got yourself a deal, Turbine."
Lukian took the outstretched hand and shook it. Mack's eye must have caught something on his arm when his eyes went wide slightly. Out of instinct Lukian immediately pulled his hand away. Mack closed the distance again by reaching out for his right arm.
"Hey, woah! Hey! You're bleeding, let me take a look."
Shocked by Mack's words Lukian froze and he took a glance down at his arm, which was in fact bleeding. A deep cut ran down his forearm about five inches long, half the blood was dried already but it was clear that this injury was fresh. And that made no sense to Lukian considering he never felt a thing, still didn't.
"How'd this happen?" Mack questioned. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Lukian opened his mouth to speak but found no words, his brows were furrowed. "I— didn't notice…" He stuttered out.
Mack looked at him. "Seriously, you didn't notice the five inch cut bleeding on your arm?"
Lukian shrugged. "I didn't notice you walk in here either." He shot back. "Must have cut it on a brick or something when I was cleaning it all up."
"Hold on," Mack stopped him. "You cleaned all that up by yourself?"
"Yeah….?" Lukian responded, suddenly feeling like he did something wrong (other than destroying a column) judging by Mack's tone.
"That was reckless and stupid!" Mack's face was grim. "Why didn't you just call one of us?"
"'Cause I had just destroyed a column?" Lukian's voice was raised several octaves.
"Still dangerous, you could have gotten—"
"What— hurt?" Lukian cut him off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, been there— done that. I'm fine. It'll close up soon."
He could honestly care less, he's fine.
Mack eyed him, a mix of curiosity and worry were both held behind his eyes until he wiped it all clean. "You're bleeding from a still open wound and you didn't even notice it. And who the hell knows what kind of crap got in there in the meantime. No, Lincoln's gonna check you out, clean it up, and make sure you don't get an infection."
"But—"
"No buts— come on." Mack gave him a gentle nudge towards the door.
"I'm fine, Mack, really. It's just a cut."
"Yeah, a deep one, one that you'll probably need stitches for." Mack stated. "Now get moving. This is not up for debate." He said in a serious tone.
Lukian bit back the reply: I've had worse as he started moving grudgingly out the door. Because he has had worse, so much worse that it honestly isn't surprising he doesn't feel it. Maybe that was the adrenaline though. His heart was still thudding pretty fast.
But hey, at least he wasn't in trouble.