‘Uncle Gondor said her element is space, and she has a sort of split dementia in her body allowing her to stash things for her to use later. But later when I asked her, she told me she would sometimes hide bread or water, then she could remove them to consume them. Then doesn't that mean it is an active ability?’ Miles thought in his heart.
“I am not sure either. There are special abilities I cannot copy even after I copy the main superpower, such as Father’s superpower sense. Father in a range, can sense a person’s element, which I don’t have even after I copy his powers. So, when I asked father after we came from the hospital, he said Rayen’s powers are indeed the space element, but the feeling she gave father, similar to mother’s. So I am almost positive Rayen has a passive ability as well.” Merlin explained.
The things Merlin explained helped Miles understand many new things. He always knew his father could feel other’s powers, but he didn’t know it was an extra ability to his superpowers. He also didn’t know about active and passive abilities. Only now Miles realized superpowers weren’t as simple as they seemed. His desire to awaken his abilities increased once again.
Rayen listened to their conversation from the side and didn’t disrupt them. She listened and tried to understand, but there were many things she couldn’t comprehend. But since Miles didn’t say anything, she didn’t have any reason to reject either.
She didn’t know why, but ever since Miles was running with everything he had to save her, and fight with the cops who used to torture her, she knew she could trust that person. What else could she do? She didn’t have anywhere else to go and didn’t want to fall into the same trap twice. So, instead of choosing not-looking-so-trustworthy-Merlin, she chose Miles instead.
She just wanted to trust her guts and hope for a better life. Maybe, maybe this time she could have a life she could call normal.
She turned and nodded at Merlin without any emotion on her face. More likely she didn’t know what emotion she should be wearing in such a situation. Was she exchanging her ability with the wristwatch Merlin gave her? Or was she doing him a favor? It sounded like it was something big for Merlin, so she should be doing him a huge favor, but Merlin saved her and other children with Miles after all, so could she say she came off worse? She doubted.
Merlin, when he saw the nod, smiled brightly and approached her. “I have to be in physical contact with you for about five minutes. I can either hold your hand, arm or forehead. Wherever is most comfortable for you.” He said, trying not to scare her.
He was excited. If he could gain another passive ability, it would increase his total strength exponentially. He got only a few passive abilities so far because they were so rare, and not all passive abilities could be copied, so Merlin was hopeful in this one. After all, even his father said there was a high chance he could get another one.
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Rayen didn’t say anything more and reached out her delicate hand. She was held captive, but she wasn’t doing any chores, so her hands were still unblemished. She closed her hand and reached out her fist, so Merlin nodded and fist-bumped as well. All they have to do is stay in this position for a while, then he would copy Rayen’s power.
Miles has seen Merlin’s power before, so he wasn't a stranger to it. The process itself was boring, but this time anticipation was higher than the other times. The last time he was this excited was when Merlin tried to copy Marcela’s power. It was when Marcela first awakened, and Merlin wanted to see for himself. But after waiting for thirty minutes, nothing happened. Merlin couldn’t copy Marcela’s powers.
Similarly, Marcela couldn’t merge Merlin’s powers with any other. Their powers canceled out each other. Marcela even used to mock Miles, saying Miles was better than both her and Merlin, and he inherited both of their powers. But unluckily, two powers canceled each other, so Miles couldn’t use either of them. Then she would laugh hysterically. Miles had to admit that the joke was funny, but after hearing it hundreds of times, it became irritating instead.
That is why Miles would spend most of his time with his mother either in her lab in the mansion or in the army building. Marcela wasn’t very bright when it came to the subject required thinking, so she wouldn’t go to those places. Miles found asylum in science. Marcela’s bullying went psychical after some time, and Miles couldn’t even defend himself. Miles's only option at those times was to hide. It got only better when Marcela reached the age to enter Portal World.
But Mercer dawned upon him at those times. His grandfather wanted to clean away their shame, also known as Oafish Miles, and didn’t take ‘no’, or ‘grandpa leave me alone’ or ‘Cruel Heart you do not scare me!’ for an answer.
Mercer at first wanted to use an experimental drug on him to strain his genes so he could awaken. Miles of course would like to try if the drug was sensible, after all, he was even endangering his life by consuming Strengthening Serums. The reason why Miles hellbent to not accept the drug was, the only outcome was death.
Mercer said the reason for failure was because test subjects were weak and Miles, as his flesh and blood, would definitely survive. Mercer adhered to his ideals, but Miles rejected them profusely. Luckily, Evelyn was a woman of science, and with the help of Uncle Adam, they talked him out of it. After that, Mercer wanted to train Miles in martial arts. He wanted Miles to be capable enough to not shame him, so when he was sent to the Police, he wouldn’t bring shame to their last name. It was the last drop for Miles, and he left the family not long after.
Miles sighed when he recalled those days. It has been almost a year, and he is a lot stronger now. He also experienced a lot of things. He came face to face with a monster from B-Circle, maybe higher, and learned a technique from it. Who else could do what he did?
Miles looked at the duo, who had almost finished. It has been more than five minutes, which was a good sign for Merlin. If the copying was longer, it meant the thing he was taking wasn’t only a superpower. It was the same when he copied their mother’s ability. At the time Miles didn't know the reason, but now he realized why.
Merlin opened his eyes, after seven minutes. His eyes shone brilliantly, and from his smile, Miles could say the thing he acquired was something remarkable. Merlin looked at Rayen and his eyes were a little bit scary. Rayen broke the contact and came behind Miles. Merlin, on the other hand, was so excited, he didn’t realize he just spooked the little girl. If he knew, he would be ashamed because of the misunderstanding.