"That's… something. Shit, that puts a new spin on this situation. When did this happen?" this was the first power he heard of that did something outside of the body. He had his healing factor, there was a criminal with skin-hardening, and, if "Wake-Up Call with Hank Baker" was to be believed, a woman producing insects. Lena's power meant concordis wasn't restricted to purely biological changes.

"Two days ago. My boyfriend and I got into an argument, and he tried to slam a door into my face, and that" - she pointed at the book lying on the ground - "happened. I came because of the mental changes. You are the only person I could call an expert on this topic, and, first of all, sorry. I didn't get what was happening in your head then, but now I have an idea. And I need your help."

"I mean, I was an asshat. Wanna call it even?" he said, extending his hand forward.

"Sure."

They shook, and started talking in detail about their respective experiences. It turned out the psychological influence of floyda concordis was more or less universal - restlessness, feeling energetic, and the need to influence the world around them. Lena was shocked to discover Tadeus met Dirty Tim, and he was curious about the extent of her power.

"So you can just stop objects around you?"

"It feels more like I… suck out kinetic energy from them. It happens instinctually if I don't notice the thing coming straight at me, but I can also force it. For example, I halted my cat and it couldn't walk away from me."

"Alright, but then, where does it go? The energy, I mean."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Inside me, as vague as that sounds. When I use it I feel like a wave of hot air hits my muscles."

"Okay. At least we don't have to completely change our understanding of the laws of thermodynamics. What about limits?"

"Well, I was always able to stop anything I tried to stop. Maybe if I siphon too much I get boiled alive." she chuckled, but it quickly turned into a more nervous kind of laughter.

----------------------------------------

"Hi David, we have a guest!" Tadeus exclaimed entering his house, Lena closely following.

"Oh, hello there. I'm David McNamara, Tad's boyfriend. Pleased to meet you, miss…?"

"Doctor Lena Cunningham. And likewise."

"Oh. Why are you here then? I thought you didn't leave on the best of terms."

"There has been a… new development."

"She has a power too." Tadeus explained. "Relax, Lena, we're all friends here." he assured as she was looking at him with offence for revealing her secret.

After a round of exchanging information, they came to a consensus.

"We have to find other people with powers." Lena summarized.

"God, we need a name for you guys. 'People with powers' is a mouthful."

"Concordians? Because of the concordis." Tad suggested.

"Nope, still too long."

"Why are you even talking about this? We have more important things on our plate than nomenclature." Lena interjected.

"How are we gonna talk about this if we don't have proper words?"

"Plus", Tadeus added, "when all this stuff inevitably goes public we have to have a non-offensive term on the ready before they call us aliens or mutants or something. PR is important to avoid being put into one box with Dirty Tim and the like."

"Alright, alright." she conceded. "Well if 'Concordians' is too long, let's cut out the first syllable. Cordians. How does that sound?"

"A bit weird, but works well enough." Tad commented.

"Sounds cool, actually."

"Great. Then, to the original point, we need to find more Cordians."