Olivia had felt restless after Marcus dressed down Ethan and Alexa. Tomorrow was supposed to be the start of one-on-one training with mentors, though who those mentors were, Olivia had no idea. Marcus remained tight-lipped on that front.

She wanted a leg-up on the session, though. After a quiet dinner in the cafeteria, she slipped out and went on her own to the Arena. Olivia yearned to put her newfound powers to the test, eager to discover the extent of her capabilities before the serious training commenced. The last thing she wanted to do was to humiliate herself in front of everyone else. Tom and Rachel were already veterans, and Ethan and Alexa seemed more comfortable with these devices than she did. Olivia would have to get better if she wanted a place on this team.

The Arena appeared to be empty. There was a computer console near the doors leading out to the training area, and she’d inspected it briefly. They didn’t seem too difficult, but she didn’t want to mess around with the controls. Besides, right now, she just wanted to see if she could summon these powers.

Olivia stepped out into the Arena and double-checked to see if there was anyone else here. When she saw there wasn’t, she got ready. As she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she activated her Gauntlet and allowed the Omega Force to flow through her, the nanites swarming from the device to form her yellow armor.

“Okay, now what?” she whispered to herself.

Olivia had watched as Ethan and Alexa seemed to take to their weapons and powers almost as if it were second nature. But as she summoned the Terrastaff into being, there was hesitation in its formation. She saw the crackle of yellow light, just as before, but it vanished almost immediately.

“What the hell?” she asked in frustration.

“You’re trying too hard.”

Olivia recognized the voice, and she rolled her eyes, thankful her helmet’s black visor concealed them. If it were Tom, she would have felt more relaxed—he seemed nice, albeit nervous.

Rachel Kim was the opposite. Her confidence was obvious in everything she did—how she spoke, her stride when she walked, just her demeanor in general. She exuded an air of superiority, making others feel small in her presence. And Olivia rationalized that maybe Rachel was right to feel that way. It was a little strange to her they were told Tom was the leader when Rachel appeared the more capable of the pair.

That same confident gait was president as Rachel walked down the small hill to join Olivia in the valley, dressed in the standard Quantum uniform.

“It’s a nice place, isn’t it? I like coming out here to train on my own,” she said. “Helps me stay sharp, and it’s more peaceful when there’s no one else around.”

“Sorry, I didn’t see any sort of reservation list. I’ll leave you to it, then,” said Olivia, about to power down.

“Relax, I’m not here to kick you out,” said Rachel. “I saw when you leave and was curious what you were up to.”

“Is that part of the training? Spying on the newbies?”

Rachel scoffed and shook her head. “I get the impression you don’t like me much.”

Olivia’s shoulders sank. She was grateful for the helmet, so Rachel couldn’t see her face. “I…I don’t know you well enough.”

“Maybe I’m not the easiest person to get to know. After what happened to the others. And then...”

Her voice drifted off. Olivia got the sense there was something more on Rachel’s mind that she wasn’t willing to discuss. And just as quickly as it came up, Rachel changed the subject.

“Anyway, you’re having trouble with all this, aren’t you? That’s why you’re out here alone.”

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“Understatement,” said Olivia, and then she added, “but yes. I honestly have no idea why out of everyone in the world, I was tapped. Ethan’s a fighter, Alexa’s an athlete, but me…”

“If being a Knight was only about physical ability, they’d staff up the team with a bunch of Navy SEALs or something. But it’s about more than that.”

Olivia shook her head. “Come on, be real. We’re here to fight monsters. I’m trying to be a doctor, not a soldier.”

“Doctors have always served in the military,” Rachel noted.

“You know what I mean,” said Olivia. “This isn’t my deal. I want to help people, to heal them. Not…kill monsters. I don’t want to kill anything.”

Rachel nodded. Olivia couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something in her new teammate’s expression suggested that she’d struggled with something similar in the past.

“You’re thinking about this the wrong way. How do doctors heal the body?”

Olivia shrugged. “What do you mean?”

“You’re the med student. How do doctors heal the body?”

“Science. Medical treatments.”

“Right. You help the body fight off invasive organisms. You eradicate disease and infection and bacteria in the body using tools like drugs and surgery,” said Rachel. “You get what I’m saying?”

Olivia nodded. “You’re trying to say that’s what we do with the planet, right?”

“Exactly. Those breaches and the monsters they bring over, that’s the illness. We’re the tools the planet uses to fight off those invasive organisms. You’re still a healer, Liv. Just a different kind of healer. Because now, you don’t just have a handful of people as your patients. You’ve got an entire planet.”

“That’s a nice way of looking at it.” Olivia looked down at her hands. “But I still can’t feel comfortable with these powers or this armor.”

“Close your eyes.”

“I tried that already.”

“Humor me.”

“Fine.” Olivia sighed and closed her eyes behind her visor. “Okay, they’re closed.”

“Now hold out your hands. And think of yourself not as a superhero in a weird costume. Instead, think of yourself as a surgeon picking up a scalpel.”

“This is stupid.”

“Just…shut up and try, okay?”

“Fine.” Even though she thought it ridiculous, Olivia pictured herself dressed in scrubs with a mask and cap. She imagined she was standing in an operating room over a patient and she reached for the scalpel.

“Now, think of the Unicorn.”

Olivia pictured the Unicorn standing beside her in the room.

“Why would a unicorn be in the OR?”

“We can do without the commentary,” said Rachel. “I know how stupid it sounds.”

“I don’t think you do…” Olivia muttered under her breath.

Still, she kept picturing the Unicorn beside her in the OR. Without her even thinking of it, the Unicorn nudged its head against her shoulder, urging her on. A spark of light appeared at the tip of the Unicorn’s horn and it began to project, illuminating the scalpel. Olivia held it up, examining the scalpel as it turned bright yellow.

“Liv…” said Rachel. “Open your eyes.”

Olivia opened her eyes and nearly jumped when she saw the Terrastaff in her open palms.

“Holy crap…it worked?”

She looked at Rachel, who just smiled and gave a nod.

“You’ve got to be one with the Omega Force and your Titan. Once you just give yourself over to it, the Titan will do the work. But you’ve got to want it. You have to feel comfortable with your Titan.”

Olivia retracted the helmet to reveal her face. “How am I supposed to do that? Orion said we need to have a personal bond with our Titan. I’ve never even felt that comfortable with any actual person, let alone some sort of ancient mythological beast spirit.”

“Right there’s the problem—you’re already throwing up barriers between you and your Titan,” said Rachel. “You have to let go of what separates you. Doesn’t matter that the Unicorn is ancient, doesn’t matter that it’s ethereal. You two now depend on each other for survival. The Titans can’t exist in this world without us to serve as their hosts and we can’t survive these breaches without their power. It’s a symbiotic relationship and you have to treat it as such.”

“Does it just…come easy to everyone else or what?” asked Olivia.

Rachel scoffed. “No, absolutely not. It took me time before I felt comfortable enough to trust my Titan without question. It’s like any relationship—time is going to be necessary.”

“Yeah, but with a person, you build trust by spending time with them. How do you build trust with a Titan?”

“In exactly the same way.”

“But they don’t have physical forms, right? Do we have to spend all day in those weird chambers?”

“You can, but you don’t have to.” Rachel held up her arm, turning it so her Gauntlet was facing Olivia. “This gives you access to your Titan whenever you want. You can spend time with them in your dreams or when you’re meditating. The more you do, the more comfortable you’ll feel with each other. And that will strengthen the connection between you both.”

Olivia looked down at the Terrastaff. Rachel watched as she examined it and then slowly turned it in her hands.

“Want me to show you a few moves?”

Olivia’s head snapped in Rachel’s direction. “Oh no, I don’t think I’m ready for that…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” Rachel smiled as she activated her Gauntlet. A blue light emitted and soon Rachel clad herself in her armor.