Aiden stared up from the floor in a stupor, his head feeling like a bunch of little bees were buzzing around inside.

It was understandable, considering that Mr. Perez had just delivered him from a nervous breakdown using the righteous hand of god.

‘I guess I deserved it?’

Even now, minutes after waking up on the floor, Aiden could still feel the hand shaped brand on his face swelling, his addled mind struggling to process the words of the mysterious Warrior standing over him. The woman, or the person he assumed was a woman based on the tone of voice and hair style, spoke again, motioning towards Kaitlyn who remained unconscious on the nearby sofa. None of it registered with him. All he heard was a dull murmur.

‘Gahh. This ringing is so annoying. I wish it’d stop so I could at least hear what she’s saying.’

Just as he was thinking these thoughts, however, the lady Warrior bent down in front of him, reaching out a hand towards his head. A dull light shone from somewhere between them, and Aiden felt like ants were crawling up and down his neck and around the inside of his skull. He became annoyed.

‘What the hell is sh—!’

“AAagh!”

A quick burst of pain shot up from the base of his neck and suddenly the dull murmurings around him became crystal clear, both the buzzing and ringing fading away completely.

“There. How’s that?” a voice, the Warrior, asked as she pulled her hand away and stood back up.

Aiden cradled his head reflexively before he realized the pain was no longer there. Confused, he lifted his eyes back towards the woman who was once again standing over him, looking down at him from behind her mask.

She stepped back and turned to look at Mr. Perez, the man responsible for Aiden’s current position. Mr. Perez had an embarrassed look on his face as he met her gaze and shrugged, “The kid lost his head. Thought I’d help him find it.”

Aiden couldn't see her actual face, but it felt like she raised an eyebrow before saying in a flat tone, “You gave him a concussion.”

“Yeah, well, my daughter is dying so excuse me if I didn’t use kid gloves,” Mr. Perez growled angrily, “this punk is the only one with any information and I couldn’t have him losing his shit.”

Mrs. Perez reached up and placed a hand on her husband’s arm, “Victor, stop. The Warrior is right, there was no reason to hit him that hard. Without Aiden, Kaitlyn might not have even made it here for us to help her. He’s not to blame.”

Aiden, who finally seemed to realize he was still laying on the floor, pushed himself up hurriedly and walked forward to face the Perez’s with his head lowered in shame.

“No,” he said quietly, “Mr. Perez is right. I’m supposed to be a Star Order prospect. A Selectee even, as we just found out today. Someone that represents the potential of what humanity can be and I can’t even hold it together for five minutes when a friend is in a crisis. I’m a disgrace. I beg your forgiveness for my previous behavior.”

The Perez’s remained still, unsure of how to respond.

The masked Warrior shook her head and patted the young man’s shoulder with gusto.

“Listen man, your friend is suffering from Energy Overload. I don’t even understand how that’s possible, but there’s nothing you can do anyway. Just the fact that you were willing to put your standing at risk to activate your beacon speaks wonders about your character. Nerves of steel or not.”

Aiden tensed up at the Warrior’s touch but remained silent. He barely recalled reaching into his pocket to grasp the beacon, much less activating it. Who’s to say that he meant to activate it at all? Hadn't it just been an anxious reaction to the mounting pressure?

He honestly didn’t know.

It didn’t feel good being praised for something that he had no clear memory of. All he knew was that his friend was dying, and the beacon had been their only hope. It was strange that a Warrior he didn’t know had responded to the signal though.

He glanced over at the masked Warrior that was still standing to his side.

He had always expected someone from the Academy to show up if he ever needed to use a beacon, but, since he'd never seen one activated, who was he to complain?

He lifted his head when he felt a large hand grip his shoulder firmly, finding Mr. Perez looking at him with a much softer expression then before.

“I’m sorry, kid. Hurting you wasn’t my intention. I actually didn’t know hitting you that hard would have such an impact. I was under the impression that members of the Order could take more punishment than the average human.”

Before Aiden could respond, the Warrior beside him interjected absently as she moved to kneel beside Kaitlyn, “That’s a common misunderstanding. Prospects aren’t members of the Order. In fact, until a Selectee is chosen and is able to pass the Selection Exam, they’re just like any regular person.” Extending a hand over the unconscious woman, the Warrior began moving her hand in a swiping motion as if she was trying to wave away a bug.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Both the Perez’s and Aiden stared at her in silent uncertainty, one pondering her words while the other two wondered what she was doing to Kaitlyn.

Mrs. Perez was the first one to speak up, with fatigue and worry making her come off as more aggressive than she intended, “Excuse me, but you said that my daughter was experiencing something called ‘Energy Overload’? What is that, and can you help her?”

They could all see the Order cloak the Warrior was wearing, so none of them questioned who she was or her level of expertise. All the Perez’s were concerned about was whether she could save their daughter.

After a few more minutes of silent waving, the woman stopped what she was doing and released a long sigh. Without saying a word, she motioned for Aiden to hand her one of the nearby foot stools and took a seat beside the couch.

Addressing Aiden, she asked, “You’ve been at the Academy for about a year now, yes? How much have you learned about the Order and how being a member works?”

Thrown off by the woman’s apparent knowledge of who he was, Aiden managed to stammer out an answer that sounded as if it was memorized straight from a textbook, which it was, “The Order is a recently recognized organization created to develop the innate potential found in every human. Order members are given the chance to develop that potential in ways normal people can’t by passing the Selection Exam and receiving a unique guidance, called Authorities, to bring out their potential. After receiving at least one Authority, a newly selected Order member can use their innate potential to influence the world around them and transcend what it means to be human.”

Floored by his response, the Warrior could only stare up at him in total silence. Time ticked by as she wondered if she could figure out which factory this absolute bot was built in and if it was too late to send him back.

“Yeeeah. So, I’m not going to unpack any of that,” she said matter-of-factly once the only sound in the room was, once again, Kaitlyn’s ragged breathing.

Aiden expression twisted slightly. He had no idea what he’d said to get that kind of reaction; everything he’d said was what was taught to every new prospect at the Academy.

Seeing the prospect’s expression, the Warrior held up her hand to stop him from overthinking, “Relax. I’m not here to poke holes in your education. Just know that what’s taught at the Academy is only what the Order wants you to know to prepare your mindset for the Exam.”

Pausing for a moment to see if Aiden had anything else to say, she continued in her previously flat tone, “The truth is actually much simpler than all of that and doesn’t involve anything so philosophical. At least, not that concerns you.” She mumbled the last part to herself.

Having enough of watching a casual conversation taking place in front of him with his daughter literally dying at his feet, Mr. Perez cut in angrily, “I don’t care about any of this garbage! Are you going to help my daughter or not?!” He took a step forward and stood towering over the seated woman, Mrs. Perez no longer trying to stop him as her anger had finally risen to match her husbands, “If you can, you’d better do it now, because if you waste one more second talking while my baby lies here and suffers, I swear to the stars, Order or not, I will throw your ass out of my house and take her to the Academy myself!”

Bewildered at the sudden reaction, the Warrior’s casual attitude vanished and was replaced with a colder, more professional persona as she shifted her gaze to the enraged man, “Of course, sir. I apologize if it seems like I’m disregarding your daughter’s situation. The fact is this: the condition that your daughter is currently being afflicted by isn’t something that should be possible. Energy Overload is an ailment that only afflicts someone that has taken in too much natural energy and fails to release it properly. As I was preparing to explain, this condition is only seen in people that have been given access to what this young man just described as ‘innate potential’. Normally, someone with Energy Overload can simply expend the excess energy or release it slowly over time in order to remove the negative effects. However, not only is your daughter unable to do either of these things due to her not having access to her ‘potential’, but the energy that her body is containing isn’t even being stored as it normally would and is, instead, being forced to circulate throughout her body, which is causing a chain reaction with all her body’s other functions.”

The Perez’s suddenly felt their raging anger being doused with the cold clarity of understanding, fear once again creeping into their eyes, “Does that mean—”

“Yes,” the Warrior interrupted dispassionately, “If the energy isn’t released from her body before it wears her down from the inside, your daughter will quite literally burn up from the inside out. Fortunately for her, even without a way to access her ‘potential’, I have a way to drain the energy to a level that her body can manage.”

Kaitlyn’s parent both sagged in relief at the strange Warrior’s words, reaching out for each other’s hands in search of comfort. They were both exhausted from the constant strain of emotion.

“Don’t misunderstand me,” the woman continued as if she had never finished speaking, “This isn’t a cure, nor is it a permanent solution. I still have no idea how it’s possible for your daughter to have absorbed any energy at all, much less why it’s not being contained. It’s very likely that this situation will continue to occur until the underlying cause is dealt with, which means that she will need someone to constantly monitor and drain the energy build-up before it can do anymore harm.”

Without waiting for a response, the Warrior turned her body to face Kaitlyn, rolling up a discarded cloth and placing it between the unconscious woman's teeth.

Behind her, Aiden stepped back, unsure of his place in any of this, not wanting to be in the way of whatever was about to happen. Mr. and Mrs. Perez clenched each other’s hands tightly, not daring to say another word to antagonize their daughter’s would-be savior.

Closing her eyes, the Warrior’s next words were a warning spoken with calm severity, “Don’t interfere with what I’m about to do. I can guarantee that it will seem as if your daughter is in terrible agony. That’s because she will be. Her body wasn’t ready to handle this energy and it isn’t ready to release it. I think screaming will be the least she can do to vent the pain.”

The woman scooted closer to the couch and placed both of her hands on Kaitlyn’s body, one on her head and the other on her stomach,

“Don’t touch me once it begins. I’m simply going to absorb the energy from her body and release it through mine, so if you touch me, you will be hurt.”

Everyone nodded silently. No one daring to think they were ready for what they were about to witness.

With all eyes on her, the Warrior took a deep breath and a faint light appeared around her as a faint humming could be heard from the areas where she had placed her hands. Unconscious, sweating, breathing ragged, Kaitlyn remained unmoving as the Warrior began the process of siphoning the energy from her body.

A minute went by in silence.

As those watching started to believe that the Warrior’s warnings had been excessive, the masked woman’s head suddenly tilted back and a soul piercing scream echoed out into the night.