Caleb Galland, now twenty-nine, sat in his office chair, mindlessly twirling a pen with his fingers. His hair, meticulous an hour ago, was now a tousled mess. His unique eyes, which appeared pink to him but were hazel to others, occasionally darted from the pen to the book on his desk, stuck on the same page for nearly half an hour.

Caleb was jolted awake from his trance by a knock on the door, and the creaking as it opened slightly. A mass of dark blond hair peeked through the doorway, followed by a pair of bright blue eyes.

“May I come in?” a familiar male voice said.

“Yeah, come in, Adrian.”

The door fully opened and Adrian Mosse, Caleb’s best friend and Head of Internal Security, came in holding a stack of papers. He placed the papers neatly on one side of the desk, and sat down in front of Caleb.

“What do they call this? Chair-rotting?” Adrian said with a chuckle.

“I’ve only been here for, like, forty-five minutes,” Caleb retorted.

Adrian raised an eyebrow. “And if I didn’t come into the room, you’d sit here until dinner.”

Caleb rolled his eyes and sat up, patting down his clothes and combing his hair with his fingers. “I’m guessing there’s a newcomer,” he said, eyeing the stack of papers.

“Yeah. Seriyah’s team found a bunch of guys, including a Hexed.”

Caleb frowned. Hexed, unlike the Gifted, had no control over their abilities. They could be extremely dangerous depending on which Hex latched onto them. Caleb had to be careful when using his abilities towards them, as he can only do so after amplifying their Hexes to a certain extent.

“Are they back yet?”

Adrian nodded. “Just ten minutes ago. According to her reports, Seriyah assumed that the person they found was just a medium-risk. Their Hex seemed to be Ego-type, with the weird effect of making their hair harden into quills. It’s like a human porcupine,” he added with a chuckle.

Caleb smiled and shook his head. Even if he’d lived in Asphodel for twenty years, the unique Gifts and Hexes existing out there never failed to spark his curiosity. He stood up, grabbing the stack of papers, and patted Adrian’s shoulder.

“I’ll get going, then. Thanks, Adrian. I’ll see you…?”

“Rosco’s Diner. Seriyah and I will wait for you there.”

Caleb nodded and walked out of the room. He headed towards the building’s interrogation chamber, reviewing the woman’s file on the way. After twenty minutes, he entered the complex’s Arcanus Tower, which functioned both as a rehabilitation center and a high-security prison.

As he stepped into the tower’s main hall, he was greeted by the massive logo of the Agency for Regulation and Control of Anomalous and Nonstandard Abilities. ARCANA was the organization responsible for managing individuals with unique abilities, and the ones who built the city of Asphodel around a hundred years ago.

He spotted the familiar group of leather-clad people huddled together at one of the tables. He waved at one of them, who looked up at him with a wide smile.

“Cal!” one of the members shouted. The rest of the group turned, and immediately stood up. A tall, tanned girl with long black hair and green eyes ran up and hugged him.

“Hey, Seriyah. How was the trip?” Caleb asked.

Seriyah Cael grinned. “It went great. We found some more Gifted and they all seem really nice. They’re already being led to their dorms as we speak.” She paused for a second. “And then there’s the Hexed woman.”

Caleb smiled. Fifteen years ago, after the establishment of the Arcanus Hunters, Asphodel became less restrictive to letting new residents in, especially children.

Another member of the group, a man with close-cropped black hair and pink irises, walked over to them and shook Caleb’s hand. “Hey, Callie. The woman’s already in the interrogation chamber. Ms. Porcupine’s Hex seems to be straightforward, but we need you to check if she has a few tricks up her sleeve.”

“Thanks, Marcus. Is there anything else I should know?”

Seriyah shook her head. “You might want to take a look at the newcomers after this, but it’s not really a priority. They’re super cooperative, and we already have a pretty clear sense of all their Gifts. The eldest one is a medium-level Matter-type, but thankfully he agreed to wear Inhibitors.”

“I’ll check up on them after this one. I’ll see you and Adrian at dinnertime?”

She smiled, squeezing his arm. “Don’t be late.”

The group patted Caleb’s back as they left, and he turned to the staircase leading down to the interrogation chamber. A security guard greeted him as he approached, and let him inside.

She sat on the other side of the large room, twenty feet away—the assumed maximum range of medium-class abilities. A glass wall separated them, designed to absorb spells in case of a violent individual.

“Good afternoon. Holly Rivera?” Caleb spoke into the microphone, reading off her file.

From both her photo and by looking at her, Caleb could see that her eyes were a darker blue, which was consistent with Ego-type Hexed.

“Yes,” the woman replied.

“I’m going to perform a test on you,” Caleb said. “I want you to imagine your favorite item in front of you. It can be your phone, a lucky charm, anything you like.”

The woman hesitantly nodded, unsure of what she was being told to do. She squinted her eyes, and Caleb began to see a subtle glow emanating from them.

“I want you to draw all your attention to that imaginary item. Keep your eyes open—just visualize that it’s right there in front of you. Focus your entire soul onto that item if you want to. Take deep, slow breaths, and continue to imagine.”

Ms. Rivera let out a shaky breath as she tried her best to concentrate, her legs starting to tremble. Caleb leaned in closer to the mic, lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Think about why you love that item. Is it a necessity? A luxury? Is it something that greatly benefits your life, or is it just a form of pleasure?” he said. “Whatever it is, I want you to feel it. Don’t just imagine now—sense that it’s actually there. Pour your entire heart into it. Keep breathing. In, out, in, out…”

The woman let out a sudden scream as her hair immediately stood up, clumps of it hardening into sharp spikes. Some of them detached and flew across the room, bouncing off of the partition. Caleb took notes as rivers of blue light flooded her side of the room. She’d lost her focus, but it didn’t matter—he knew everything he needed.

“Hold your breath now. Close your eyes,” Caleb said in a firm voice. He repeated the words over and over again until finally she calmed down and the blue light faded back into her irises.

“Are you okay, Ms. Rivera?” Caleb asked.

The woman looked up at him and smiled. Her shoulders started bouncing as she let out a loud laugh. “Okay? I feel amazing! I haven’t felt this good ever since this stupid curse took a hold of me. I don’t know how you do this, but thank you.”

Caleb smiled. He didn’t know why he had to amplify Hexes to get a read, and why it always left them unusually overjoyed, but at least nothing bad happened.

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Rivera. It seems like your…quills appear when you experience a high level of emotion—whether it’s rage or euphoria. The detachment occurs at random, and only when your heart rate reaches around 120-130 BPM. If you’re okay with it, we’ll get you fitted with Inhibitors and a heart rate monitor. Don’t worry, you’re free to take it off in your room—everything there is spell-proof. And don’t be too conscious about your hair, it’ll grow back within an hour. “

She smiled and thanked him. Caleb turned to the guard outside the room, and motioned for him to let her out. “You’ll be led to the fitting room to get your accessories. Enjoy your stay in Asphodel, Ms. Rivera.”

After the woman was released and led out by the guard, Caleb removed his jacket and tied it around his waist. Use of his Gift always left him red-faced and drenched in sweat, so he’d have to change before he went out to dinner.

He checked his phone. It was still 3:40 PM. “I guess I have time to check on the other newcomers,” he said to himself.

He submitted the file to a nearby receptionist and asked them about the whereabouts of the new Gifted. After a short call, they pointed to the dorms across the street. Caleb thanked them and eagerly walked over to the apartment. He always looked forward to seeing new faces in Asphodel.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Galland,” a bright young woman greeted him.

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“Hi, Mikaela,” Caleb said with a smile. “Seriyah told me that there were newcomers earlier. Can I visit them?”

Mikaela nodded, handing him a yellow folder. “Of course! Luckily, they’re all on the same floor. There’s five of them, four young girls and a twenty-three-year-old man. They’re all pretty nice so far, so you don’t have to worry.”

He thanked her and took the elevator to the seventh floor. He knocked on the first door, and a pair of thirteen-year-old girls answered the door. They were identical twins with the same Psyche-type Gift of telepathy.

The next door belonged to Alice, a seventeen-year-old girl with blue eyes. Caleb didn’t even have to use his ability, because it wasn’t hard to miss an extra pair of arms.

The third door was answered by a seven-year-old girl. Caleb found it weird that she was living alone at such a young age, but then a large lion suddenly appeared behind her, causing him to step back.

“What are your names?” Caleb asked nervously, keeping his eyes locked on the animal.

“I’m Amy, and he’s Bennett,” the girl replied. “You can pet him.”

Caleb hesitantly reached his hand out, but let out a sigh of relief when Benny merely rubbed his mane against Caleb’s palm. “He’s really nice.”

“He is!” she exclaimed, her big pink eyes sparkling. “I taught him how to cook recently. Actually, I’m about to eat the french toast he made me. Bye!”

Amy—and surprisingly even Bennett—waved at him before the door closed. Caleb held his left wrist to stop it from trembling. He remembered one of his ‘siblings’ back at the orphanage also being able to communicate with animals, but he’d never seen someone who was able to teach a lion how to cook.

As he approached the boy’s door, he immediately heard a bunch of cluttering inside. He knocked loudly, and the commotion suddenly stopped.

“Wait, coming!” the person from inside yelled.

The door opened all the way, and Caleb came face-to-face with a twenty-three-year-old man with dyed purple hair and green eyes which were much brighter than Seriyah’s. Caleb looked over the man’s shoulder and frowned.

“Yeah, uhm, sorry about the room. I’m still trying to get the hang of this ‘Gift’ thing…” the boy said, looking down at his feet.

“Jade Arcadia, isn’t it?”

Jade nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Caleb placed his hand on Jade’s head. “Don’t worry about the room. You can’t break anything in there.”

The boy looked up at him, seemingly studying his face. “You’re…Caleb Galland, right? The lady in the leather jacket told me about you, said that you can help me control this Gift of mine.”

Caleb smiled. “I can’t be your trainer, but I can help you know more about your ability.”

Caleb observed the room. Unlike the Hexed, the Gifted had a more controlled display of power, which made it easier to get a read. He noticed that there were items in the room that weren’t usually placed in a dorm, and they looked too numerous to be carried in a bag.

“You can create things…from drawings? But you have to take atoms from other materials to create them.”

Jade nodded. “Yeah. That’s why my room is such a mess—I accidentally dropped my sketchbook while unpacking, and in a panic I accidentally activated it.” He coughed. “I usually bring a bunch of junk as fodder, but I think it also used up some of the air in the room to create them…”

“I’ll tell them to add another vent,” Caleb said. “Have you tried removing them?”

The young man shook his head. “Haven’t gotten there yet. They usually just disappear by themselves after an hour or so.”

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck. He found Jade’s gift really interesting, but dangerous if it went haywire.

“I suggest you keep your Inhibitor on until everything disappears. Tomorrow, I’ll send someone over to register you at the training camp. Does that sound good?” Caleb suggested.

Jade bowed. “Yes, yes, thank you so much. I won’t disappoint you,” he said, before closing the door.

Caleb checked the time. It had only been half an hour since he left the tower, so he still had time to shower and even take a short nap. He decided that he’d stop by to check on Holly, just to make sure she was comfortable.

Suddenly, his phone rang. It was Adrian.

“Hey, Callie, where are you right now?” Adrian asked.

“Leonid Building. I just visited the Gifted children Seriyah’s squad brought back. Is something wrong?”

“Uh, how do I put this…” Adrian’s voice sounded nervous. “One of the other Arcanus squads came back, bringing someone with them. From how the person was basically covered in Inhibitors, it seemed like a really big deal.”

“Do you know anything else about him?”

“Not really, since they’ve covered his face. Marcus did say that he overheard the squad saying that this guy was a murder suspect. Formed a suicide pact with his brother but ditched, I think.”

“That’s it? And they brought him straight to Asphodel?”

Adrian stumbled over his words. “Well, there must be a reason, right? Seriyah got a hold of the news report, and his brother’s death seemed really suspicious. They were both seen alive last week, but when police found them, the guy’s brother was already a skeleton. Freaky stuff. That’s why we need you to figure out just how dangerous he is.”

“Okay, I’m on my way. Give me twenty minutes.”

“You don’t have to walk, I’ll pick you up. Leonid, right? Just wait for me.”

“Alright, alright. Come quickly.”

Adrian hung up, and Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose. It was probably a long shot, but he feared that the mysterious man was one of the rare Abstract-type gifted—those who can control nonmatter. He guessed that by manipulating time around his brother’s body, the man sped up the decomposition process. It seemed like the only logical explanation, no matter how terrifying it may be.

Adrian arrived a few minutes later. Caleb could see the look of panic painted across his friend’s otherwise flawless face—it was something Adrian’s regeneration Gift couldn’t hide.

“Don’t stress out. You’re driving,” Caleb said.

“Right, my bad. I’m just nervous. Do you think he could be an Abstract-type? And high-risk, too?”

Caleb shook his head, not wanting to alarm his friend by saying that he thought of the same thing. “There must be some other explanation to this. Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet.”

Adrian’s knuckles were white the whole ride. Caleb feared that he might break off the steering wheel at some point. Just barely hitting the speed limit, they reached the headquarters.

“They’re holding him in the second interrogation room—the one in the old bunker,” Adrian explained. “Elias said it’s to minimize collateral damage in case something happened.”

“If he’s so dangerous, why wasn’t he first brought to Styx?” Caleb asked.

“I don’t know, and I hope Squad Leader Nachtlicht has a good reason.”

Caleb sucked in a breath. Styx was an outpost a few miles from Asphodel, where the more dangerous individuals were held before they could be imprisoned. He wondered why a high-ranking leader like Elias Nachtlicht would make such a big mistake, but he had no time to question him.

Caleb and Adrian were met by Seriyah and her squad when they entered the building. Marcus immediately approached and handed them a folder.

“You don’t have a photo of him?” Caleb asked, flipping through it.

“That’s the thing,” Marcus replied. “We don’t have any past records of both this guy and his brother. I’m pretty sure ‘Hesper Asche’ is an alias as well. It’s so weird.”

Caleb sighed. “It’s fine. I’ll just have to see it for myself.”

Seriyah frowned, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Be careful down there. We don’t have any high-class equipment here to keep you safe from someone like him—it’s all at Styx. There also aren’t any windows in the room, so we can only watch you from the cameras. If you feel weird, or if you see something strange, pound the door so we can let you out immediately.”

“I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“If only you could still read people through video, or while they’re wearing Inhibitors,” Adrian complained. “Please don’t do anything stupid.”

Caleb chuckled. “I’m the eldest here. You can count on me.”

Marcus cleared his throat. “Sorry, but we all really need to get going.”

The four of them, accompanied by ARCANA’s best security, took the elevator down to the abandoned bunker. The gray and uninviting walls only contributed to the already tense atmosphere.

“The interrogation room is just down the hallway. Don’t worry, everything’s already set. You’re safe,” one of the guards said.

Despite the guard’s words, Caleb still felt his heart beating in his chest. His hands subconsciously fidgeted with the folder, and his legs slightly trembled with each step. When they reached the iron door at the end of the hallway, Caleb thought he could immediately sense a foreboding aura coming from inside.

“You got this,” Adrian said. “Just do what you usually do. Get the information and leave. Don’t do anything the man tells you to do.”

Caleb let out a sharp breath and bounced on his feet, trying to calm himself down. After a while, he stopped and turned to one of the guards. “I’m ready.”

A look of concern crossed the guard’s face, but he nodded and pressed in a combination. The door slowly slid open halfway, and Caleb stepped inside. He watched as the guard pressed another button. With a loud groan, the door started to close, and Caleb took one last look at his friends’ anxious faces before it fully shut.

“Hey there.”

Caleb jumped at the sound of another voice in the room, which was clear as if it came from right behind him. He turned to see a white-haired man strapped to a chair. They were separated by fifty feet, but the transparent partition still felt like it could be easily penetrated.

Caleb tried his best to compose himself and approached the microphone. “Hesper Asche?”

“Let’s stick with that,” the person replied.

Hesper’s head was facing downwards, so Caleb couldn’t see its color. He found it strange that he couldn’t see a glow coming off it, though, considering how powerful Hesper seemed to be.

“Look up,” Caleb said, attempting to sound firm.

Hesper laughed. “Are you sure? I don’t think you can handle what you’ll see.”

His words evoked a sense of fear in Caleb, but he shook it off. He had a job to do, and he wasn’t about to let his anxiety get the better of him.

“Look up,” he repeated.

“Are you sure, Caleb Galland? One last chance.”

Caleb’s breath hitched in his throat. How did this guy know his name? Did the people at ARCANA tell him? He brushed it off, thinking that maybe Hesper overheard it from the squad that took him in.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say. Look at me, Hesper Asche,” Caleb ordered.

A smile formed on Hesper’s lips. “Alright then. Don’t get too shocked.”

Caleb watched as Hesper slowly looked up, and it took him a second to process what he was seeing. He was initially relieved that he was wrong, that Hesper wasn’t actually a Abstract-type Gifted, but fear washed over him again when he realized something else.

Yes, his eyes weren’t purple.

But they weren’t weren’t blue either.

Or pink.

Or yellow.

They were gray.