I BECAME WHO I NEEDED.

Even when he. wasn’t expecting her words of advice, SoHyun found them very helpful and compelling. There were multiple times when he wanted to give up and live a secret life of a human, not showing any possession of mutant ability, and live without being fearful of causing someone harm. His gratitude towards her was etched in a smile on a face, while he paid full attention to what she had to say. “It’s taking a lot longer than I imagined it would, but that’s on me. I’m not so great when it comes to patience,” he admitted. He was the worst, in the patience department, but SoHyun was also well aware of how practice makes perfect– which was the only reason why willing to stretch out his anticipated agenda for his ability. 

Speaking of his impatience, ‘yes, right now,’ he thought. Yet, SoHyun didn’t want her to do something she didn’t want to. So, when she agreed, he grinned in response and emitted a small force-field surrounding them to show her he was well equipped. “Yeah, it’ll hold against the rain.” He knew that because he had tried it before. Multiple times. Retracting his fields, SoHyun turned towards the closest doors while still looking at the young girl. “You’re Faith, by the way, right ?”

“It happens.” replied Faith in an understanding tone. She felt the exact same way when she underwent training with the government. She wanted to get passed the hard ships—all that blood, sweat, and tears, were gruelling and yet, she somehow managed to make it through. The end result was well worth it...If you had their mindset of course. Currently, she was trying to overcome her past and so far, it’s been a slow ride.  “Nobody gets it down overnight—You’ll get there eventually. You know your own strengths and limits, hold onto that and just keep going.” She tried not to cringe after realizing she sounded like a life coach and forced out an encouraging smile instead.

“Awesome!” exclaimed Faith as she walked by his side. At his inquiry, she nodded and said, “Yup, that’s me and you’re....? I’m sorry, as you can already tell I’m super bad with names...” Exiting the vicinity, she was taken back at how rainy it was outside. “Oh wow, it is raining...Damn, I’ve been cooped up inside for too long to even realize that.”

Last year, hearing those words, Raleigh would have laughed and deemed the girl insane. This year, it left no impression as if hearing about an ability as casual. “What do you get out of it?” he asked before answering. A few exchange of words with this girl, he felt as if she wouldn’t do something just for the good of it. “Inspirational. Other quotes or motivation advice to provide?” A cheeky smile graced his lips at her observation, not sure if she caught his sarcasm on it or not. “I don’t have the brains, so what else can I rely on? Looks get you places nowadays.”

“Nothing,” she deadpanned, before her lips curled into a sly smile and asked, “—Unless you’re being a gentleman and you’re offering to owe me back later?” Faith also knew that it would be a 50/50 chance he’d take her up on her offer, but at the same time, she had a feeling that he would try to do both. Give her what she wants, but not the entirety of it. Therefore, instead of waiting for an answer, Faith went ahead and concentrated on her telepathic powers by removing the Swiss army knife from the guard’s pocket and snatching it with ease as it ended up in her hand. “Here ya go, they’ll eventually review cameras if he claims it missing, but at least it’ll buy you time to unpack.” 

She pondered for a moment before saying, “Nope, I think I did my fair share of good offerings for today.” Faith then expressed a look of realization as she nodded in understanding. “Ah...Makes sense—you made do with what you have. Has your looks been reliable lately?” Sure, this wasn’t a serious conversation, but she finds his answers amusing for the most part and so, she looked forward to hearing his response. 

Darius just looked at the girl. Honestly, he could understand the her sarcasm, but he wasn’t in the mood for it. As long as she wasn’t committing any felonies or destroying property, he could not care less about what she was doing. Even if she was destroying property he wouldn’t care. This is a government run facility, they have the money to replace things. After taking a deep breath, ready to give his own sarcastic remark, Darius had to turn his head into his elbow as a coughing fit overtook him. Definitely not what he had intended to do. “Look,” Darius began, voice rough and painful after the coughing, but he pushed through it because he just wanted to get to the pool, “You’re not going to get in trouble as long as you weren’t trying to kill anyone, I just need to know because it’s my job, then we can both go our separate ways.“

“Mhm?” Faith still kept up her innocent demeanour as she observed him while he explained himself. Clearly, it looked like she was going to get away with being out late at night, since it seems like he wanted nothing to do with her. Suddenly, Faith crossed her arms and furrowed her brows at the mention of killing people. Touché, but she did her best not to get too affected by his words. “If you must know I have trouble sleeping and so I like to wander...Does that answer your question?” 

“Y-yes, yes ma'am!” He gives a full bow of apology.  Not too long later, ever-curious as he is, he bites the inside of his cheek, slightly leaning in as if about to share an important secret. He knows it’s definitely none of his business, but he takes a deep breath and goes on anyway. “I-uh, um, hope you don’t… mind, but-uh, what–what was that… thing you did? That slight um, levitation, or whatever you may call it…?”

“Ma’am?” Faith reiterated in a weirded out tone. “Faith—my name’s Faith...No need for the formalities mmkays...?” Still eyeing the young man in an oddly manner, she then listened in on his question and chuckled softly, once she understood that he was intrigued by her abilities. “Atmokinesis and Telepathy are my powers. I levitated with the use of weather manipulation since I’m using the air’s atmosphere for flight. Now that you know what I can do, what can you do?”

“No, no. You’re fine.” SoHyun didn’t mind at all. Talking about it made it easier to accept, in a way. It made being at the MPP and having an ability more real instead of avoiding the subject and carrying on with their lives as if they were going to a regular school with regular people – at least, the way he defined regular before the blast. “It wasn’t anything, specifically. I mean, yeah, I felt bad when I heard about all those people who got caught up in it. But hey, turns out I was one of them. Just in a more FORTUNATE way.” Better mutate than dead, right ?“And I ended up with a pretty decent power,” he added when she complimented him on the force fields. “ I just wish I was in better control of them. Or knew what I’m fully capable of, you know.” SoHyun watched carefully as she spoke so confidently about her own ability. It was admirable, really. “Would it be too much if I asked you to shut off the rains for a moment then, or given the timeline of our acquaintanceship, would it be too soon ?”

“Ahh...” replied Faith with a nod. She didn’t know what to say to that, especially when she hunted his kind for a living. She couldn’t relate either, nor reach that stage where she felt bad...Hell, she wasn’t even entitled to feel that way because of everything she’d done. “That is fortunate.” she agreed, with a small smile. “And indeed you did, but hey, at least we have the Program to fall back on. You’ll eventually reach that level of control and know what you’re truly capable of. It takes time and effort, so it’s not something you can achieve overnight.” Her words were encouraging, as well as she was speaking from experience. Having abilities wasn’t an easy thing—whether you were born with it or not, there was a lot of work and practice that gets put into it after all. 

At the young man’s request, Faith tilted her head slightly and raised a brow out of curiosity. “Right now?” she asked. She then shook her head and emitted an amusing grin. “Too much and too soon? Nah, I don’t mind. Let’s head out, I need outside’s atmosphere to do so. Is your forcefield able to shield the both of us from the rain?” 

Darius looked at the girl curiously. She seemed nice enough, but her answer to his question was just another question, so he was confused. “Are you just saying that because you got caught?” He asked, not really in the mood to dance around something like this. Honestly he wasn’t even on the clock, so it technically wasn’t his problem if someone was sneaking around, especially since he was doing the same thing. But his military training told him to always investigate suspicious characters. Yet, now that he found someone, she didn’t seem suspicious at all. “I came for a swim.” He replied honestly, feeling no need to lie about something when he was clearly wearing swim trunks, “But I heard you wandering around and wanted to see what you were doing. Which you still haven’t answered.”

“Are you just asking that because you caught me?” she retorted back with a blank gaze and an innocent head tilt. She then pointed at his get up and added, “But you’re off duty so why does it matter?” After hearing his explanation, Faith honestly thought that she was off the hook, until he stated the last part. She still hadn’t answered. “I was in the act of heading back to my dorm room...?” This time she reiterated her previous answer, but was a bit more specific of what she was ‘doing’. 

“By sight– usually. Sometimes I can do it by touch but that takes a lot more energy. If they see my eyes turn pink and I mutter a name then they’ll suddenly feel affectionate towards that person. But first I usually have to play matchmaker to make things go smoothly for me. She said with a shrug as she ran her fingers through her dark hair. She was used to people asking her these questions. She didn’t really mind it after all these years. “I guess I’m a matchmaker of some sort, but sometimes I wish I wasn’t.”

Faith pressed her lips together as she stood there with a neutral gaze, listening attentively to Yuuki’s explanation. “You don’t have to be, despite your abilities.” she suddenly said after giving her reply much thought. “Are you forcing people to love? Shouldn’t it come naturally?” 

“I guess I don’t make the best choices.” Eugene had admitted as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. He really should have stayed in his room today but it drove him crazy staying there for too long. “Look– I’m sorry. I really am.” The male had said rather nervously as he bit the bottom of his lip. “I can set you up with another trainer if you want to still train for the rest of the week but you just caught me at a really bad time.” He had explained as he shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced down at the ground. 

“As of right now, no.“ agreed Faith in a blunt tone. Something was wrong and although he was trying to keep it together, he was doing a poor job and that made her feel the need to stick around. “I believe you, but I meant what I said—I don’t want it.” Once she made up her mind, Faith stuck with it and to make him feel better she then added, “I’ll talk to Demetria, she knows I have things to work out—don’t worry about it.” Raising a brow, Faith tilted her head to the side and said, “Like I said, maybe it’s best if you’re not out in public, so that people wouldn’t catch you at a bad time. Although don’t isolate yourself for too long, that makes shit worse...”

“And Medusa could never kill me when I’m one with nature,” He’d delightfully implied his powers to the girl. “Trust when I say that you sleep so well with your little kiddish covers and your snores,” Holden could never not teased her about anything. It was as if it came naturally out in conversation. If he realized, she never took a joke too seriously or at heart and honestly, that’s what he liked. Sure, they banter back and forth, but it seemed no one can understand such a complicated relationship where they were roomies and both frenemies. Sorta. Kinda. 

Watching the apple swoop out of his hands, he gasped and saw her powers come to life…Finally. The mess was made and a grin was released from his lips. “You’re something, honey, but I could do better.” Holden insisted, looking at the stem from the bitten red apple and conjured up to be bigger and let the brown stem be normally bigger than life and attached the girl’s wrist, pulling her closer to the gentleman. “Normally, I would say it’s mother nature’s fault, but this one is on me,” 

“You sure you’re not talking about yourself?” countered Faith with a low chuckle. No matter what words get thrown at her, it didn’t affect her greatly, especially from Holden. It was a two way street between them when it came to the banter and bickering. Her lips curled into a playful grin as she quirked a brow due to interest, “Better? Please, more like medioc—” 

Before she knew it, Holden used his abilities for the stem of the apple to grow bigger and extend to her wrists. Once he pulled her closer, the young woman gasped at first, before stifling a giggle as she was a little impressed with his comeback. “Oh, Mother Nature would be soooo proud!” she cooed. Closing her eyes, she reopened them as white orbs glowed as a warning. Faith then leaned in closer, just for him to hear as she spoke in a low tone, “However, she wouldn’t be quite fond if storm were to brew on this beautiful day right? Now my dearest Holden, kindly let go of me or I’ll gladly zap you and the apple into burnt crisp.” 

“Actually I have love manipulation as a power.” Yuuki said with a shrug. She had never minded if people knew about her power. They would run away from her as fast as possible once they find out these type of things about her. “It doesn’t even have to be lust or anything like that. It can be a love for a brother or a sister, or a family member, or even a hobby. Everyone has a love for something and I think that’s one thing that everyone has in common together.”  

“Now that’s interesting. How does it work? By touch? And do you make people fall in love or make them feel love?” Learning about other people’s powers was always fascinating for Faith. Hearing Yuuki’s perspective made sense, but it didn’t mean she had to agree on it. However, instead of disagreeing, Faith simply nodded and said, “Fair enough, that’s one way of seeing things, everyone has a love for something or someone.” 

Warren’s breath catches in his throat when the girl stumbles backward, even more so when she practically floats back up to her feet. He clutches his phone to his chest, eyes wider than ever as he looks up at her considerably taller form. He means to ask her if she’s alright, but she speaks before he’s able to, and he has to close his mouth and wait for her to finish. “Y-yes, I-uh, I-I’m fine!  What-um, what about you? I’m sorry!”

Eyeing the phone and then the young man, Faith quirked a brow and awaited his response. “Yeah I’m fine...“ Her voice trailed off as she flashed him an odd expression. “Well we’re both fine so no harm, no foul. It’s just that, whatever the hell you’re doing—just make sure you’re looking both ways.” 

He scratched his forehead in an attempt to cover up the grimace his face has moulded to at her shrill raise in voice. Cut her some real slack so she can quit complaining. “Alright. Alright ! – I apologize, and you’re right.” For and about what exactly wasn’t clear to Fraser either. He wasn’t even sure if he meant it. ( He didn’t. ) Just as long as she willing to calm down and not make him look like the bad guy here. “People will notice the littlest things – there’s only so many of us here, of course, they’re going to want to know everything about everyone.” Fraser wasn’t sure where he was headed with this little piece of advice, but he was just rolling with it, as they say, when he kept talking. “Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do. You’re old enough to handle that on your own. But there are consequences, and I’m sure you’re quite familiar with them by now. You’re off the hook for now, with me, at least. But try not to get reeled in and get involved in more trouble before you have the talk with the higher ups. Trust me on this, kid– Miss.” There was a reason why she was easy to pick on to start a fight. She was feisty. “You’re ballsy. Try laying low, maybe. That tends to shut the others up, usually.”

Faith regained her composure as she flipped her hair to the side. “Thank you, apology accepted.“ she replied with a light hearted smile. Whether he meant or not didn’t matter, she received slight satisfaction from him retracting his words. Crossing her arms, a pout appeared on her lips as she furrowed her brows at his words. “Well they should mind their damn business.” she muttered under her breath. At the guard’s warning, Faith stood up straight and faked a salute, before emitting a cheeky smile. “Sir, yes sir! I know...I know, I’m aware that my everything I do have consequences! But I’ll try to keep that in mind when the next person decides to pick a fight with me for no reason.” She then chuckled softly and waved him off, “Awww thank you.” she replied, regardless if it were a compliment or not. “Well Mr. Guard, for what it’s worth you’re good at doing your job. Some of your fellow co-workers have sticks up their asses and it’s ridiculous!” 

“Right. I’m sorry.” Eugene said, his voice monotone for a brief moment. His gaze looking at something above her shoulder. He had looked like he almost wasn’t responsive to her anymore. He didn’t feel like arguing with her. He was too tired to do that right now. He was too tired to do anything at the moment and that much was visible at the moment. “I will direct you to a new trainer that has a spot open right now, that is if you still want to train.” He said keeping it quick and professional. He just wanted to get through this day in all honesty. He had felt like he could pass out at any moment. Maybe if he just cooperated with people for once he’d get through everything faster.

“Forget it.” she repeated, this time her tone was cold. The fact that the man before him looked exhausted and completely not there, made Faith tired as well. Now she wasn’t in the mood to do anything and despite training being important, she wanted nothing to do with it. “No, I’m over it. I don’t want it. Whatever is going on with you, I truly hope it gets better, but a word of advice, if you weren’t in the mood in the first place—then you should seriously take time off.” 

It must have been nice to have known how to deal with superpowers ever since birth. This entire ordeal of re-learning the basics of his new life was a little more nerve wracking, especially given the lesser time they had, after so many years had passed. Although, SoHyun was starting to learn that the blast had pressed onto some kind of reset button on already-mutants, because apparently, many of them had to work their way around accommodating unknown aspects of themselves. But he did like what she called their abilities. A gift. “Uh, yeah. The blast caused me to have mine, I wasn’t born with anything. Force-fields, I mean. That’s my gift. But, atmokinesis.. That’s the weather control thing, isn’t it ?”  He had done his fair share of research on what kinds of mutations already existed prior to the blast, atmokinesis being one of the few that really sparked his interest. “대박 – that’s so cool. Like, you can make it be summer all the time.”

“What was the explosion like for you?” she blurted out. Maybe she should have worded it differently, but she was always curious as to how the blast chose specific humans to carry the mutate gene. The government ops program provided the science of it, but she never even bothered to pay attention the specifics. She preferred hearing about it at first hand. “—I mean, was that too soon? You know what? Forget that I even asked, that was very intrusive of me.” After learning about his abilities, Faith expressed an impressed look and said, “Force fields? That’s pretty cool! You’re ability is practically both defence and offence—it’s pretty versatile.” She then nodded in response to his inquiry, before emitting a proud smile. “Yeah, that’s pretty much the case, though I’m not thaaat perfect—probably for a certain period of time, but it’s doable.”