"Are you here for the annual check, sir?" Asked a bored-looking woman over the intercom from behind a thick glass pane, though the answer was obvious.

I simply nodded in response and showed her my ID, before going through the gate which, after a moment, she opened for me. Then, I proceeded down set of stairs, knowing pretty much by heart the path that led to my destination.

'How futile,' I thought, sighing internally, 'to have to go through this every year. The result will be the same as always, anyway.'

One in every two thousand.

That was, according to all official sources, the amount of people who 'awakened' a Power.

The motives varied, ranging from near-death experiences or heavy physical or mental harm, to something as inane as stress.

There were even some who awakened Powers for no apparent reason at all.

'Lucky bastards,' I thought, as I made my way down the winding corridor.

Just over sixty percent of these Powers caused physical alterations, be it increased bulk, bone or scale armor, metal reinforcements, extra arms, increase in brain size, or even something as simple as keener eardrums or a bigger, stronger heart.

These, the 'mutative' Powers, as they were officially called, mostly didn't defy common sense or the laws of physics, the improvements they made not usually enough to create truly dangerous individuals to society as a whole, though their workings were almost always either complex or strange enough to be mostly impossible to replicate through non-Power-based means.

And yet, almost half of the people that acquired them died within two weeks.

Some actually died within minutes. Bone or metal portrusions puncturing vital organs such as the heart or lungs, bloated muscle cutting off airways or crushing veins and arteries, increase in brain size causing the organ in question to apply too much pressure on the skull and cutting off the flow of blood, the ability to breath underwater substituting that of breathing air, and causing the person to drown when they couldn't get to water fast enough... there were many such instances of fatally flawed mutations.... although the last case was really more of an unfortunate circumstance.

But those extreme cases were a minority. No, many more deaths were caused by things such as heart attacks, when the organ in question gave out after days of pumping blood for a body that weighed maybe two or three times as much as before. Kidney or liver failure were also quite common, if not quite as lethal.

Severe epileptic attacks were also quite a usual cause, this time for those with a Mutative Power of the mental kind, along with a slew of other problems.

The main cause of death for those with mutative Powers, though, was without a doubt suicide.

'Poor chaps. So many of them get shitty mutations, and many more still end up ugly as all hell or lose the ability do so things such as running or picking stuff up. Sure, they get other things in exchange, but who would want to live the rest of their life as an oozing blob or a nightmarish tentacle monster? No wonder so many decide to just end it,' I pondered as I showed my credentials and let my retinas be scanned at a security check. The first of many.

In any case, mutants, as they were commonly called, despite the Government's many attempts at trying to enforce the use of the word 'mutatives' instead, weren't the ones who caused the world to undergo a fundamental shift after Powers began appearing.

No. It was another 30%. Those with the so-called esoteric Powers, things such as control over the elements, flight, temporary or permanent physical enhancement, telekinesis, mind reading... there were all kinds of powerful and bizarre abilities.

True, a hefty percentage of those also died within weeks of awakening, but many of the ones who were powerful enough had gone on to become famous figures of either good or evil, were they not killed early on. On the first years, decades after the first Powers began manifesting, the dawn of the Power Age, when society had yet to adapt to the sudden appearance of these powerful wildcards called 'heroes' and 'villains', casualties caused by their fights were counted by the hundreds of millions, and the governments all throughout the world were forced to band together to face this chaotic, unpredictable threat.

As a desperate measure to reestablish a semblance of law and order, they broke their piggy banks and hired all the Powered they could into their ranks, which eventually allowed them to stifle most Esoterics that had been wreaking havoc, along with the few extremely powerful Mutants.

'That was a genius move on their part,' I conceded, as I passed through the umpteenth, and thankfully last, check and received my identification badge. 'That wasn't the end of it, though. After all...'

They didn't stop there.

To prevent more of these 'villains' from appearing, all humans were corralled into strictly regulated Cities, where every Citizen was to be periodically screened for Powers to prevent any dangerous Powered from hiding amongst the populace. It worked, for the most part, and twenty years later, the world's population had begun to slowly grow once more, despite the occasional City being destroyed from one freak accident or another. Such events were unavoidable.

And so, here I was. Inside a heavily guarded underground pavilion, the vaulted metal walls and rounded ceiling resembling am old-world bunker scaled way up, the concrete floor crowded with thousands of people forming a seemingly endless, meandering queue. It was moving quite fast, but its sheer length promised to have anyone who arrived at the back of the line wait at least a few hours in it.

Guards, fitted in standardised tinker-armor and wielding Ampers, the most efficient weapons for non-lethal takedowns, were strewn all around, and the whole room was covered in an anti-brainwave field to prevent mind shenanigans, along with no doubt many more measures.

I shuffled forwards once more. The line moved quick, but it was still unbearably long.

I took my phone out from my pocket and went into the emulator to keep working on my latest project, but the lack of signal made me remember that inside this place, any kind of phone signal or connection was also cut off, and I needed it since the project in question was saved in my PC back at home. That was the only place warded enough for me to feel safe storing my more important protects, since any Tech with a half-decent Power would be able to easily break into my phone or even my laptop and steal every bit of data within.

I took it out again after a few seconds, this time just to check the time. 12:23; I'd probably have to eat a late lunch, since finishing up and then going all the way back home would take forever. Oh well. The only reason there was no anti-electron field, which would prevent any electrical or electronic devices from turning on at all, was probably the fact that it would also hinder the Ampers. Small mercies.

I once more moved forwards when I noticed the woman in front of me was already twenty meters ahead.

In the past, people used to have all sorts of wacky measurements, I think it was the case at least in the US, which used to be the name of the territory where the City I now lived in was located, but after the Merge the lot at the top grew some brains and basically imposed the use of the much more convenient metric system all throughout the world, along with the unified weight and volume system.

I suddenly felt the urge to yawn, and so I did after covering my mouth with my hand. Manners and all that. I'd had to wake up a lot earlier than I was used to in order to come here, due to how far away it was and all the stupid controls I knew I'd have to go through, and I was not a morning person.

Indeed, today, like every other year at this date, I was to be checked for Powers. most Mutants knew when they got theirs as soon as they did, and a good portion of Esoterics did too, but other than to catch the ones who tried to keep their Powers secret, this was also for the small percentage of people who awakened Powers without their knowledge.

Usually, theirs had either specific activating conditions that they had yet to discover and thus could not use them—such as Pyre, who had to stick a red-hot spike of metal through his heart to activate his Power—or they were simply subtle or not very obvious in their usage, and unless you really looked for it, you wouldn't notice them.

Thus, less than one in two hundred thousand of the people here would turn out to have a Power. Which meant I wasn't hopeful. I'd been disappointed too many times in the past already.

Plus, I was happy with my life. I was a programmer, and a pretty good one at that, one of the best in the whole City. Most likely the best one, actually, if you didn't count the damn Techs or those with intellect-boosting Powers. Cheaters. Anyway, there was no lack of people who wanted to hire me, but I only did freelance jobs. No strings, and all that. I didn't live luxuriously, per se, but life was pretty good on me.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

My internal monologues and ramblings kept me occupied for a while, and soon, it was my turn to get tested.

The line went fast. The reason? The Power-detecting process wasn't very long at all. All I had to do was place my palm on a small square on the wall for a couple of seconds, and then walk away. A square made of... flesh. Not the disgusting kind of flesh, mind, which was what first came to mind when people were first told about the annual check, it was just normal, slightly pale human skin, and felt just like touching a person, if a bit colder.

This was the flesh of Powerfeel, one of only two people in the whole continent with the Power to detect Powers. He couldn't tell what kind of Power, just that there was one. The other could do it by sight, meaning their power was higher-ranked, but Powerfeel's wasn't so convenient. Indeed, it had to be by touch, and he could only 'feel' one person at a time, or his accuracy would be compromised.

For security purposes though, the part we touched was only a temporary, easily detachable outgrowth created by Fleshmancer, whose Power was kinda self-explanatory. This was to prevent any poison or radiation Esoterics from easily killing him through touch. It would be a suicide mission for the Esoteric in question, and not many would be capable of such a thing, but Powerfeel was one of the Government's most important assets, despite his power being, technically, only E Rank. They were willing go very far indeed to prevent him from being harmed.

Thinking this, I put my hand on the pale, almost unnaturally soft skin, managing not to shudder. I removed it a moment later, and walked away to let the robotic arm on standby wipe the square clean with a baby towel and with care not to irritate the skin.

What I didn't expect was for a woman in a business suit clutching a high-tech notepad to her chest to suddenly intercept me as I was making my way out, and tell me, "Sir... Leon Parks, is it? I need you to come with me."

My brain shut down for a moment upon hearing those words. After all, this had never happened to me before.

'Wait, could this mean...'

With a start, I realised I was spacing out, so I nodded hurriedly and followed the woman through a heavily guarded metal door.

Then, I was given the shock of my life, as the woman suddenly turned to me and told me with a faint smile, pressing a button on some small device at her hip,

"Congratulations, Mr Parks. It seems you have awakened a Power. Did you know of this beforehand?"

I shook my head, jerkily, my mind still not fully grasping the situation. "N-no... I've no idea what it could be... Me? A Power?" I asked incredulously, pointing to myself as if asking if she'd somehow gotten the wrong person.

I'd suspected something like that when the woman had first called me out, but I was still utterly shocked. Seemingly expecting this, the woman led me to some kind of waiting room with only one seat and left me alone to my thoughts.

She said something to me before going away, but I didn't really understand it. In fact, I didn't even notice as she exited the room, nodding slightly. Her actions just didn't didn't pierce through the haze, the veil that my bubbling emotions had cast around my mind. I absentmindedly brought the coffee cup that had been placed in front of me up to my lips, and shoved its brownish-black content down my gullet in two gulps.

It helped a little.

'Holy shit,' I thought, 'I have a Power. I have no clue what it'll be, but I have a real Power. Maybe I don't have to keep being a programmer. I could apply for a job as a Peacekeeper, they make fortunes, I've heard. I could–'

I slapped myself.

'No, don't start thinking about things that will probably never happen, Leon. Almost two thirds of the people who find out they have a Power through the Anual Check never actually manage to piece out what their Power is. That's why there's that third fraction of Powers other than Mutative and Esoteric, the ones listed as 'undefined', because nobody was able to figure out what they actually did. And of the remaining... 36%, I believe, who do discover what their Power is, well over half are mostly useless, F Rank Powers.

'The percentage of F Rank Powers discovered in the annual check is quite a bit higher than the worldwide average, since most high-ranked Powers are easily discovered, and even the fact that mutative Powers, who are usually also low-ranked, are seldom found out here isn't enough to bring up the average. Only.. what was it? 4%? Yes, only 4% of the Powers discovered at the check are at or above D Rank. Shit. I'm rambling. Okay Leon, you gotta calm down. In, out. In, out.'

I breathed in deeply, then exhaled through my mouth. My thoughts slowed down. I was ready.

Seemingly, the woman had been watching me through some Power or surveillance system, because right as I was starting to wonder how to tell her I was ready, she walked into the room through the door she'd left it out of and told me with a bright smile,

"Mr Parks, are you ready to attempt to discover what your Power is?"

I nodded decisively, then proceeded to follow her through a dimly lit corridor and into a huge, almost warehouse-like room with all sorts of strange trinkets, devices and machines strewn about. On one corner, lay some sort of gym, stacked with weights of all kinds of shapes and sizes and machines to strain every single muscle in the body.

A little to the left was some kind of maze made entirely out of mirrors whose reflections shifted and shimmered, surrounded by similarly trippy appliances. A little further down were several rows of tables, uncountable amounts of small shapes ordered by size and material on top of them, cubes, spheres and many others, ranging from the size of a grain of rice to that of a basketball, and everything in between.

And there was more. Oh, so much more.

"Wow, this is..."

"We call it the testing room. Here, we have every means to have the highest possible chance of identifying Powers like yours, Mr Parks. of course, as you most likely already know, many still unfortunately elude us. Anyway, before we get into it, I will ask some questions to narrow the scope, is that alright?"

I simply nodded, too shell-shocked to trust my mouth not to fumble if I spoke.

Smiling, the woman led me to a spot next to the wall, where the uniform metal sheets were replaced by a small, black piece of glass.

'A tinted window, maybe? Most likely tinker-forged...'

I was startled out of my thoughts by the voice of the woman, whose name I'd completely forgotten to ask. I blamed the fact that my whole life had just been flipped upside down.

"Now, don't be too surprised when you hear it, but on the other side of this window is Truthsayer. This is because we need to make sure you answer all the following questions with complete honesty, since it is the only way to guarantee the maximum possible chance of discovering the nature of your power.

"Of course, this is also to stop any Powered who are already aware of their Powers and wish to somehow use them against the Government from having a chance to do so. As for this," she continued, tapping on the inky window with her knuckles, "It is simply a precaution, since it is crucial that no harm comes to Truthsayer, who is an important asset to the Government. Now then, shall we start with some simple questions?" She finished, regarding me with a tidy smile and patiently waiting as I slowly unpacked through everything she'd just dumped on me.

After a moment, I managed to force out a shaky nod, and the questioning began.

At first, they were simple questions, such as my name, age, where I lived... stuff they already knew to confirm I wasn't some kind of impostor, most likely. Or Impostor himself.

The answers were equally simple; Leon Parks, 23, Backend District, Street 24, n°105 2nd A...

Then they started to get more interesting.

She first asked me wether I'd experienced any physical abnormalities recently, such as increased strength or coordination, to which I shook my head, then actually answered "No" when she told me Truthsayer needed voiced responses, then followed by asking me a bunch of more specific questions, all of them in the same ballpark. Of course, I responded to all of them with a negative too.

Sighing, the woman, whose name I'd finally remembered to ask (it was Ameliah), moved on to a different set of questions, this time revolving around wether or not I felt some sort of energy within me, or some kind of muscle at the back of my mind, perhaps some strange pool of mist within me I could draw from, some kind of crackling potential or trapped force, or a mass of heat building up in my chest or palms.

Once again, I could only answer with a dejected "no", after trying for a few minutes to find anything of what she'd said within me.

Ameliah sighed upon hearing that, but only seemed resigned, not truly disappointed. She must have been used to this.

The next questions became more sporadic, ranging from wether I'd felt an increase in mental clarity or thinking speed to if I'd had some kind of persistent itch or ache anywhere in my body recently. The questions ended soon though, once again not having found out anything.

After noting something down on her notepad, an expensive-looking piece with full-surface screen that made my mouth water, Ameliah looked up to me.

"Well, your Power might be hard to figure out, but let's not lose hope yet, alright? That's are still plenty of things left to try," she said, givinge her trademark smile, though I could detect the well-hidden strain behind it.

I simply nodded and followed her to the array of objects that I'd spotted upon entering, walking up to the nearest table, on top of which were se of the smallest shapes of the lot.

I looked at Ameliah, waiting for her to instruct me on what to do, but she simply motioned with her arm to the tabletop and said, "Try picking one of those up, and focus on it as hard as you can. Try to get it to do something. If it doesn't work, try a different size, shape, material, or a combination of the three. Keep at it for... fifteen minutes maybe, then we'll take a little break, alright?" Saying that, she stepped away and sat down on a nearby chair, focusing on her notepad

I huffed, a bit miffed by the simplicity and apparent uselessness of the test, but proceeded to pick up a small metal square with a small 10 carved on one side nonetheless. After all, who knew, I might really discover my Power by doing this.

I sighed, took a deep breath, then proceeded to open my eyes wide and stare at the little cube with a furious intensity, willing it to melt, freeze, start levitating...

Nothing happened. But I refused to let my early failure discourage me, instead focusing even harder on the little cube, focusing all my attention every fiber of my being, to force the little cube to do something, anything! to move—

The cube shifted.

My eyes widened, and I blinked once, twice, unsure if I'd really just make the cube suddenly shift away from me about a milimiter or if I was seeing things. Perhaps I'd popped a vein in my eye from straining myself too much.

'I have to try again. If my Power really did this, then it should be replicable. If not, I'll just tell Amelia what happened. Let's see...'

I focused on the little cube once more and, this time with a clearer picture of what I wanted it to do, tried to push it away from me—

Nothing happened.

'Damn. Did I really imagine it? No wait, did I really see it move? Or did it just appear at its new position, slightly further back? Actually, maybe...'

I tried again, but this time with a different goal in mind. I looked at the cube, a perfect piece with pointed edges and weighing, presumably, exactly ten grams, then to the side, at Ameliah who was sitting, completely ignoring me in favour of her notepad and... wait, was that Candie Crash she was playing!?

Focusing once more, I imagined the cube appearing twenty centimeters on top of her head, a perfect position to bonk her as it fell—

"Ow! What was that!?"

My eyes widened.

'My Power is awesome!!'