Professor Li took out his POD as he gestured towards Dr. Fitzgerald’s. Li began to write on the POD, in such an angle that Sebastian couldn’t see. They both silently stared at their PODs, while occasionally tapping on the screen.

Sebastian couldn’t tell what was going on from their emotionless faces. To him, it looked like the most boring game of chess.

Dr. Fitzgerald shot Li a skeptical look. “I’m assuming that means custody of Sebastian Rutherson has been moved to the Halcyon Academy?” Dr. Fitzgerald asked, breaking the silence. “What of his parents?”

“They have already been notified,” Li replied, moving towards Sebastian. “As written, on the documents provided.”

Dr. Fitzgerald raised an eyebrow as his eyes scanned the screen. “Professor Li, why are Ruth Clark’s files confidential? I don’t see why-” Fitzgerald’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before settling back to normal. “Wait, is this who I think it is?”

Li kept walking, ignoring his reaction. “Yes, it is. And of course, it would be wise for you to keep that information to yourself, Dr. Fitzgerald.”

Dr Fitzgerald just stared at Li. “Of course. It’s just that… nobody knows where he disappeared to after the Second Okorian War. The topic has been hotly debated-”

Li sighed, turning back to Dr. Fitzgerald, and whispered something to him. While the doctor was still in disbelief, nodded his head shakily and kept reading his tablet.

Sebastian had no idea what they were talking about. “What do you mean by that? What’s wrong with my father?”

“Mr. Rutherson, I believe it is time for you to rest,” Li deflected, not even bothering to look at Sebastian. “Your condition is still in a precarious state, and we do not wish to cause the doctor any more stress, do we?”

"You didn’t answer my question, Professor,” Sebastian noted, clenching his fists as a cold feeling washed over him. If someone had known why his father was… broken, then didn’t he deserve to know? To know what made his father into the shell of a man he was now?

Li ignored him once more, motioning towards his POD’s screen. “Doctor, when I checked Mr. Rutherson’s files, I noticed the discrepancy in his chest, specifically his soul,” he commented, pointing at a section Sebastian couldn’t see. "Did you notice the discrepancy as well?”

“Why are you ignoring me?” Sebastian demanded, nearly slamming his fist into the glass. “This isn’t about me! This is about my father!”

He never knew what happened to his father. He had been told by “friends” of his father that his father was a “great hero” and a “grand protector”, but the man, if he could still call him that, wasn’t there anymore. Sebastian didn’t even remember his father ever being normal.

All his father did was spend most of his time in his room, working out. Training for Fate knows what, and all his father would say was that it was to prepare for what came next. He would jump at everything, lashing out at sudden movements or completely eviscerating it with his powers. His personality would shift every day as well, no matter how old Sebastian was. Every day was a gamble on what personality Sebastian would be treated as. Some days, he was a fellow comrade, other days he was a servant, and worst of all, some days he was a stranger.

Without the support of his father, Sebastian had first tried to find out who his mother was. To find out why she left his father, abandoned him. Every lead he could find went cold almost immediately. So, he had to learn to do everything on his own, even ways to help his father. At first, when he was younger, Sebastian had scoured his POD and the local libraries to try and “diagnose” him, and that went as well as expected of a kid no older than 10. PTSD was his only conclusion, and what could Sebastian do about that?

The only relief he had was that his mother had paid for everything they needed. When Sebastian was younger, he would go out and buy everything, from food, to toys, to games, to tickets to the Gladiator tournaments. The purchases were always approved instantly, no confirmation necessary. He had thought himself the luckiest kid in the world.

Until he realized he had nothing. When the other kids went to birthday parties and amusement parks with their parents, he had all the toys and games in the world.

Yet he had no one.

“Mr. Rutherson, that reaction is exactly why you do not need to know this information yet. When the time comes, you will be informed,” Li explained. “Until then, we have more pressing matters to deal with.”

“Like what?” Sebastian snarled. “Are you-”

“Your impossible Aetherite awakening, Mr. Rutherson,” Li interrupted, sounding almost annoyed. Both Sebastian and Fitzgerald's eyes widened. Fitzgerald turned to Sebastian in wonder for the first time, looking like he won the lottery. “That’s what it was! I was worried that it could’ve been Plasmicendo-”

Li put his hand up, cutting the doctor off. “Now is not the time, Doctor. I’ve contacted the Healing Saint for his input in this matter. He has cleared Mr. Rutherson for testing, as well as for the other anomalies. The information is, again, on your POD.”

If the doctor wasn’t fully awake already, mentioning the Healing Saint definitely woke him up. “The Healing Saint?” He asked, nearly dropping his POD. Fortunately, the POD noticed and attached to him. “This is… I thought he would come down personally. That’s a shame.” He looked down, then back at Li. “If it’s his word, then this should be fine. Will we be releasing Sebastian first? There isn’t exactly a procedure for this.” Li pulled out his tablet, clearly reading something on it.

Sebastian blankly stared off into the distance as he tried to process what he had just heard. “So it’s true?” He asked, sitting up in his bed. “I’m an Aetherite?” This was it for Sebastian. This would even the playing field for him!

“Not exactly, Mr. Rutherson,” Li clarified, dimming Sebastian’s hopes a little bit. “We still need to run some tests to confirm it.” Sebastian’s hopes soared once more as Li activated a holo-projector, displaying a hologram filled with documents and other information.

“The plan is to go with the Secondary School Testing Protocol. We will start with the uninfused tests to establish a baseline before allowing the testee to slowly increase their Aether saturation, if you can at all.” Li pointed at the chamber console. “Doctor, please remove Mr. Rutherson from the stabilization chamber. Transportation has already been arranged for him to return to Halcyon Academy.”

Dr. Fitzgerald tapped a few buttons on the screen, but hesitated as his finger hovered over another. “While I understand that he is approved for this testing, I would like the testing to be done in the physical training wing of the hospital,” He said, turning back to Li. “He still needs the right care in case his condition changes drastically. If anything goes wrong, the doctors here can help.”

“There is a team prepared for Sebastian. Halcyon Academy is well-equipped for this sort of testing. We run these tests monthly. While it certainly would be more logical to run the testing here, precautions have been taken to protect everyone in the hospital. The authorization of this testing requires multiple on-site doctors as well as a Teleporter on standby. There is a concern that Mr. Rutherson and the other anomalies may have… unforeseen consequences on medical equipment, personnel, and himself. It is in the best interest-”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Wait, what?” Sebastian interrupted, smacking the side of the dome. “Concern about unforeseen consequences?”

Li waved him off. “It is not a concern to you presently. We will go-”

“No, what?” Sebastian demanded. “How would it not concern me? I have an excess of Aether in my body apparently, while not being an Aetherite, and that shouldn’t concern me? Do you know what these ‘unforeseen consequences’ are then?”

Dr. Fitzgerald sucked in a breath. “Kid’s got a point. The way this plan is written, it's almost as if you know what’s going to happen,” he mused. “Fate forbid, it seems like there is a protocol for something like this.”

“I certainly find it unfortunate that you have come to that conclusion, but it is simply absurd,” said Li, as he put his hands behind his back. “We are navigating new waters, no doubt, and your cooperation would help us chart the course better.”

Sebastian blinked at that. Everyone knew that Li was pragmatic and thorough with whatever he did. When he was right about something, which was infuriating most of the time, he would take the time to make sure everyone knew. Yet, here he was, trying to speed things up with vague answers and deflections.

“I’ll be keeping Sebastian here until I get further notice from my superiors. I’m afraid I just can’t agree to his movement without more information. I refuse to put my patients in possible harm.” Fitzgerald started to write something on his wristband, but abruptly pulled his hand away, as if he was burned. Sebastian noticed this as well, spinning towards Li. There Li was, his eyes glowing red. In his hand was Fitzgerald’s POD.

They all stared at each other, tension growing as Li studied them both. Dr. Fitzgerald merely tilted his head in confusion, tapping on the screen next to him, causing Sebastian’s chamber to slowly roll backwards, away from the two men. Sebastian flinched as the bed moved, but he stayed silent.

Right when it looked like Li would do something, he sighed as his eyes turned back to the regular brown.

“My apologies. I am… stressed right now.” Li sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes, as he reached for his POD. “I promise you, my concerns right now are for Mr. Rutherson’s safety. This is an unprecedented situation, of course, but in the past, there have been Aetherites who have had their powers double or triple in scenarios that have not been replicated. Those protocols have been decided to be the most relevant to testing Mr. Rutherson’s possible abilities.” He offered Dr. Fitzgerald’s POD back to him, but the doctor ignored it.

“And who decided that those protocols would be best?” Dr. Fitzgerald challenged, crossing his arms. “I know there’s more than meets the eye, but this level of confidentiality is quite frankly ridiculous.”

“The Council of Medical Affairs, Doctor,” Li explained, once more offering Dr. Fitzgerald his POD as the doctor’s eyes widened. “Your superiors. They put you on this case solely because of your stellar track record and willingness to do the right thing. I see that they did not emphasize your morals enough. Your instinct is correct, however. There is more going on than I can inform you of in the meantime, such as how this situation is related to… that conflict.”

Dr. Fitzgerald relaxed, just a little bit. He picked up his POD out of Li’s hand, reading the POD, his eyes hardening the more he read. “Ah. I… see. I understand the situation now.” He looked at his POD again, sighed, then turned to Sebastian, tapping on the screen of the console once more, this time releasing him from the chamber.

Sebastian watched as the glass dome slid back into the chamber, confusion likely plastered all over his face. As he slowly lifted himself off of the bed, he could only wonder why the doctor immediately agreed with Li because of some conflict he didn’t know about.

“Does anyone mind actually explaining what in the hells is going on?” Sebastian pleaded as the silver-haired doctor helped him up. “I’m right here, you know? I really don’t appreciate being treated like an object. So what is actually going to happen?”

“Sebastian, it looks like you’ll be heading to Halcyon Academy,” Dr. Fitzgerald explained. “I’ll try to explain everything on the way there.”

Sebastian nodded, slightly more satisfied.

He shot Li a look. “As much as I can, at least.”

Sebastian’s head snapped towards Li, but Dr. Fitzgerald’s arms stopped him.

Dr. Fitzgerald gave him a sympathetic smile. “Look, kid.” His smile wavered. “If what these files are saying are correct, then your powers will be something that hasn’t been seen in… a long time. You would be able to fix so many problems, even if half of the estimates are wrong.” His smile fell. “Don’t worry, kid. I’m not a big fan of this either. I can say, however, that nothing will permanently hurt you. I doubt there will be anything that would hurt you in general, but this is the best I can give you. Unfortunately, I can’t step in because the intentions by your guardians, now the Halcyon Academy, are to keep you safe. But if there is anything I can do for you, I’ll try my best.”

Sebastian nodded, standing up on his own. “Can you at least contact the Alfonso family? They were supposed to be my guardians in case stuff like this happened.”

The doctor smiled. “Of course.” He gestured towards the door as the electronics in the room turned off. “After you, Sebastian. I’ll be right behind you.”

Li, who was standing by the door, held up his hand. He stepped out of the room, looking around the hallways. He seemed to notice something, before stepping back inside. “There is no need. One of the Teleporters will be arriving shortly to move us to the Academy. Mr. Rutherson, have you had any experience with teleportation?”

There was no chance that someone like Sebastian would have gone through teleportation before. Teleporters were the backbone of the Republic’s power. Without them, the Republic couldn’t protect their entire planet. With their power, forces could go across the planet in a second, instead of having to fly, which could take days to weeks. Unfortunately, Teleporters were so rare that it would be a blessing for the average citizen to even see one, much less be able to teleport. Not only did a Teleporter have to be made by an Aetherite, the Aetherite had to be attuned to spatial Aether, which was one of the most rare types of Aether and the Teleporter had to be made from Valerian, a special metal that has the highest absorption rate of Aether. This meant that only the most important people as well as important cargo was moved through teleporters.

Sebastian shook his head, “I haven’t had the chance, Professor.”

“I see. The side-effects should not affect you too much. Just know that you will be disoriented.” Sebastian knew about the possible side-effects so he wasn’t too worried about that part of the test. However, as he was trying to relax, he heard something loud down the hall.

“Is someone coming? Three people, maybe?” Li nodded. Dr. Fitzgerald’s eyes widened just a bit, enough for Sebastian to notice.

Before Sebastian could ask again, two Crimson Guards came into the room, walking towards Li.

The one on the right saluted while the other pulled out a strange gun-shaped device. “Greetings, Professor Li. Confirmation is required for access.”

The device was set in front of Li’s face. His eyes started glowing red. After a few seconds, the guard pulled it away and Li’s eyes returned to normal. “Identity confirmed. Cloaking system releasing.”

Slowly, a third woman appeared in front of Li as if stepping out of thin air. Sebastian flinched, almost bumping into the wall. She was different from the other two. Instead of the standard Crimson Guard armor, she wore a simple blue robe with white armored vest. All Sebastian could see was that she had no helmet on and that she had short, black hair.”

She looked right at Li. “All checks have been passed. Are the occupants prepared for Aether-travel?” She turned, looking at Dr. Fitzgerald and Sebastian. In her hands he saw a small silver box.

Li bowed. “Of course.”

Dr. Fitzgerald nodded.

She turned to Sebastian, giving him a questioning look.

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

She nodded as her hands started glowing. “Permission granted by all travelers. Teleportation initiated.”

The room suddenly filled with blue light, and Sebastian was in Training Chamber Alpha of Halcyon Academy.