When Fii awoke, she was in a different pce. She found herself lying on a futon mattress inside a small, dimly lit room. The only light came from a tiny window above, and the air was damp and stale.

  "Where am I?" she whispered, groaning. Her head was still foggy, and her body ached all over.

  A door opened, and Dr. Edith appeared, holding a gss of water. "You're awake," she said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

  Fii scampered aressing her back against the wall. She ied herself, noting with relief that her wounds had healed, even her broken rib. However, her entire body felt sore, as if she had gohrough the worst workout of her life.

  "W-what happened?" she asked, her voice trembling. "How long have I been out? And where the hell am I? What do you want from me?"

  "The basement of the ic. We're in one of the spare rooms," Dr. Edith expined. "You've been in a a-like state for three days, ever since you underwent the transformation. As for what I want from you, well, that's a little more plicated."

  Fii stared at her in disbelief, her mind reeling from this new information. "So, it wasn't a dream, then? The ic, the vae, everything that happehere... It actually happened?"

  Dr. Edith nodded. "Yes, and it seems to have worked," she said, her lips curling into a smile. "gratutions, Fii. You're a metahuman now, the very first to be created in a boratory. Isn't that exg?"

  "Not as exg as my fist hitting your face!" Fii lu the doctor, throwing a punch.

  The doctor yelped in surprise and ducked, narrowly missing the punch. Fii's fist hit the wall behind her, leaving a small dent ial panel.

  They both stared at the wall in shock.

  Dr. Edith stepped back, her hands raised defensively. Her gsses slipped down her nose, and she pushed them back up, a slight tremor in her hands.

  "Okay, maybe we should take things slower," the doctor said, her voice quivering. "Let's just calm down and talk this through. I expihing, I swear."

  Fii stared at her fist, her knuckles throbbing. Shouldn't she have broken her hand? Not that she'd been in many fistfights before, but she was sure that pung solid metal shouldn't end well.

  "What the hell is going on?" she demanded, gring at the quack doctor. "I want answers. Now."

  "And you'll get them," Dr. Edith assured her, letting out a shaky sigh. "I'll tell you everything. But please, we just sit down and discuss this like adults? I promise you'll get the full truth."

  Fii narrowed her eyes, sidering the woman's request. After a moment, she relented, sitting on the edge of the futon. Dr. Edith took a seat across from her, fidgeting with her hands.

  "Start talking," Fii ordered. "The whole truth, no bullshit. Or I'll make you eat your clipboard."

  "O-okay, that's fair." Dr. Edith nodded, swallowing hard. "As I said, I'm a stist—Geicist to be exact. I used to work iropolis, in one of their top-secret research facilities."

  She paused, colleg her thoughts. "My area of expertise is geigineering. Specifically, I specialized iherapy and CRISPR teology."

  "You already lost me with all that mumbo-jumbo. I'm not some HighRise like you," Fii scowled, her patience wearing thin. "Stop using big words and talk like a normal person."

  Dr. Edith sighed. "Sorry. Let me expiherapy is a type of medical treatment that uses DNA to help cure or manage illnesses. CRISPR is a teique that lets us edit genes and ge someone's DNA. Both are forms of geigineering."

  "Oh. Sounds fancy, I guess? Okay, so you do y around with people's bodies?"

  The doctor's eyes flicked away, guilt evident on her face.

  "Sort of, yes," she admitted, avoiding eye tact. "I was hired to develop a treatment for a deadly geic disorder. But what I really wao do was to unlock the secrets of metahuman DNA. The abilities and powers they possess..."

  She trailed off, running a hand through her hair. "Anyway, it was a long shot, but I thought that if I could succeed, the bes could be groundbreaking. I made a lot ress in my research, but I o run ical trials on live subjects. The bigwigs in charge of the project...they didn't approve of my methods, and whehiittee shut it down, they fired me. Said I was wasting valuable resources and funds on a wild goose chase."

  "That doesn't expin why you're here in the slums," Fii pointed out. "Why not just go somewhere else?"

  "It's not that simple," the dhed. "The metropolis has strict regutiardiic experiments. The only pces I could tinue my work i were the slums or overseas, and I wasn't willing to leave my home behind. Besides, I didn't have the right es, or the funds."

  Dr. Edith wrung her hands together, her gaze fixed on the floor. "So, I took what I had and started my own destine research facility. The Aether ic is just a cover-up, a way to hide in pin sight and gain access to potential subjects."

  She lifted her head, her expression solemn. "It took years of work and sacrifice, but I finally succeeded. I mao create the world's first artificial metahuman. Now I prove to the metropolis that my theories were correct all along. They'll have to take me back after this."

  Fii gaped at her, dumbfounded.

  Great. So this HighRise quack doctor chasiy s had dragged her into this mess. And now, she was supposed to be grateful?

  "Wow, you're a real piece of work, aren't you?" Fii's face twisted into a scowl. "Do you even know how messed up this is? You scammed me and other people out of our trust, all so you do your freaky experiments? You're not even a real doctor, are you?"

  "Well, teically I'm a PhD, not MD," Dr. Edith mumbled, averting her eyes. "But I know enough about medie to—"

  Fii smmed her fist oal wall, creating a loud bang that echoed in the small room. Dr. Edith jumped, startled by the sudden outburst.

  That sed hit actually hurt Fii's hand, and she cradled her fist.

  "Don't lie to me," she growled. "If you're not a doctor, then what's with all that shit you were rambling about? That vae nonsehe needles? All the other crap you spewed to get people to trust you? You're er than the Gully Rats I fought earlier."

  Dr. Edith's expression ged to one of indignation.

  "It wasn't a lie, exactly," she objected. "Like I was about to say. I know enough about medie to qualify as a highly petent pharmacist and nurse. I didn't lie about giving people vaes. The shot I gave you does tain a vae. It's just mixed in with the rest of the experimental cocktail, and I might've altered some of the ingredients a bit, but I—"

  "Doesn't matter," Fii interrupted, rolling her eyes. "It's still messed up. What if something bad happeo them? What if they got sick or died?"

  "That's improbable. The worst they might suffer is a fever or temporary here are no adverse effects on the human body from receiving the experimental serum if no immediate rea occurs. That's why I was waiting to observe the results of each patient before letting them go. For the record, no one died, or had anything worse than a mild headache."

  "Still pretty shitty, doc."

  Dr. Edith ged at the accusation, shrinking into herself. "You're right. I didn't sider the emotional toll it would take on you. But this is my life's work, and I'm desperate to finish what I started. I 't apologize enough, but I need you to uand. This is bigger than just you or me, it's the future of humanity. I'm not proud of the methods I've used, but the e will be worth it, I swear."

  Fii looked at her skeptically.

  This quack doctor would make a great saleswoman. She certainly talked a good game.

  "So, what now?" she asked, crossing her arms. "You already got what you wanted from me. Do I get to go home after this?"

  Dr. Edith hesitated, averting her gaze. "It's a bit more plicated than that," she mumbled. "I mean, I let you leave, but then you'd be out there without proper training. You don't know how to trol your new powers yet, and there's no guarantee you won't actally hurt someone or worse...yourself. The risk of death or perma injury is too high to ignore. You o stay with us until we fully uand and safely trol your abilities."

  "Are you kidding me? I'm not staying here so you poke and prod me some more!" Fii shook her head vehemently. "This is ridiculous."

  "I know it's a lot to take in, but I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't necessary. Please, try to uand. This is for your own safety as much as it is for the greater good. I'm not saying that you o stay here for the rest of your life. Just maybe for a few months, until I make sure that you're fully capable of using your powers responsibly. That's it."

  Fii pondered Dr. Edith's words, weighing her options. On the one hand, she wanted nothing more than to get out of this creepy pd fet she had ever met the crazed ‘doctor’. But oher hand, the idea of leaving without any clue how to trol her newfound powers was frightening.

  What if she hurt someone by act? What if she actally crushes Rao's hand? Or the children she pys football with?

  "You'll get free home-cooked meals every day and a generous payment of ChitCreds by the end of it." The daze shifted to Fii.

  Fii's ears perked up at the mention of food and money. "W-what'd up you say?"

  Dr. Edith pushed up her gsses and smiled. "I said, you'll get home-cooked meals and a generous payment for the trouble I put you through. One of my nurses cooks wonderful curries and biryanis, and you 't get that anywhere in the slums."

  Fii's stomach grumbled at the mere mention of food, and she bit her lip to ceal a grin.

  "How much are we talkily?" she asked.

  Dr. Edith gririumphantly. "Five thousand ChitCreds, in addition to having my top-notch staff monitor your physical health while you train your powers.

  Five thousand?! That’s a lot!

  The two women locked eyes, her wanting to be the first to look away. Finally, Fii broke the silence, uo resist the offer any longer.

  "Fine," she relented. "But you have to stop with your weird experiments. No more using i people to test your crazy ideas. I'm not gonna stand for that."

  The doctor nodded eagerly, her eyes lighting up. "Of course! Of course! Since you've reacted positively to the serum, I have no further need for est subjects. I don't have enough moo fund further tests anyway, so my focus will be purely on helping you."

  She extended a hand to Fii. "Do we have a deal, then?"

  Fii eyed the outstretched hand with a mixture of wariness and anticipation. She still had a bad feeling about all this, but she did he money.

  "Deal," she agreed, shaking the doctor's hand firmly.

  "Wonderful!" Dr. Edith excimed, beaming. "You won't regret this, I promise. This is the start of something incredible."

  Fii hough she wasn't nearly as vinced. Still, five thousand ChitCreds was more than she could ever earn in a year doing the odd jobs every day. Maybe she could put it to good use, like helping her neighbor fix her leaking roof or buyier shoes for the kids she pyed football with.

  Wait, could she bee a superhero like the ones on TV? That'd be something else, wouldn't it?

  "Um, so...what exactly is my superpower? Am I just stronger now, or something?" Fii asked, her enthusiasm getting the best of her.

  The quack doctor rubbed her hands together, a gleam in her eye. "Oh, no. I mean, yes, you are stronger, but that's just normal for aahuman. All of them have at least a form of superhuman strength and enduran order to aodate their powers. What you have...is something that's never been seen befravikinesis."

  "Gravi-what now?"

  "Gravitational manipution. In simple terms, you trol gravity, hehe levitating i earlier."

  Fii blinked in fusion. "What's...gravity?"

  Dr. Edith looked at her as if she just asked what a chair was. She opened her mouth to reply, then s shut with a frown.

  "You know what? We'll get to the details ter. It's a plicated stificept, and I'd hate to fuse you and ruin the magic of it," she said dismissively. "For now, just uand that you'll be able to fly, lift things with your mind, and a bunch of other cool stuff."

  Fii's jaw dropped in awe. "No way."

  She tried imagining herself flying through the air, like those pnes in the sky. Would it feel like the opposite of falling?

  "Way," Dr. Edith chuckled, rising to her feet and reag for the door.

  "e on, after you eat, we have a lot of work to do," she said, motioning for Fii to follow. "What's one of the things you slum-dwellers say around here?... Ah! Scrap today, shiomorrow."

  A HighRise knows their sng? Well, the Aether ic had been around for months already. It wasn't unrealistic.

  "Scrap today, shiomorrow," Fii repeated, a hint of utling in her chest.

  What had she just gotten herself into?

  Edith entered her office, closing the door behind her. Her shoulders sagged, and she leaned against the wall, letting out a long breath. She could finally rex. At least for a little while.

  [How did the meeting with the subject go, Doctor?] Helix's digital voice questioned.

  She gnced over at her puter, its s alight with a variety of data graphs and charts. A small camera sat atop the s, ag as one of Helix's "eyes". She gave it a weary smile.

  "Well, she's agreed to stay with us, thankfully," she replied. "It wasn't easy to vince her, but I think she's starting to e around. Now, we begiraining in ear."

  [That's good to hear, Doctor. You seem to be relieved.]

  "Of course I'm relieved, Helix. This is the culmination of everything I've been w toward, the pinnay life's work. She's the proof of cept."

  She turned her attention to a series of images dispyed on her puter monitor. They depicted various brain ss, taken during the early stages of Fii's metamorphosis. The alterations in neural activity had been nothing short of astounding, but it was within the expected parameters for a metahuman.

  "I still 't believe it. A syic metahuman with a stable genome. And to top it off, the power she maed was gravity manipution. Gravikinesis. Literally, the ability to manipute and trol gravity itself. I don't think any other power listed iropolis database pares to it. Not even close."

  Helix remained silent.

  She tinued, her thoughts rag. "At first, I wasn't sure how she'd react, but oold her that she'd bee a superhero, her resistance practically melted away. Then again, I suppose the possibility of being a hero appeals to anyone, no matter who you are."

  [I uand that you said that in order to coerce her, Doctor. However, I fail to grasp why you would appeal to such illogical ses. Are you really going to make her a superhero? You have already gaihe data you needed. What more is there to gain from this endeavor?]

  Helix had a point. The proof that her serum worked and was stable was the only data she needed. Ohe metropolis had finished verifying its validity, she'd be allowed to resume her former position at the city's tral research facility, where she belonged.

  But she'd be a fool to think everything would work out that easily. After all, she hadn't fotten the circumstances leading to her current exile in the slums. No doubt, there'd be plenty of opposition and bureaucratic red tape to wade through once she presehe findings to her peers, at the very least.

  No. She needed more. More than the measly data collected from Fii's transformation. She needed undeniable evidence of its success, which meant putting Fii through her paces in order to maximize the potential of her powers.

  Edith o let them all know that the most powerful superhero in the world wasn't a natural-borahuman, but a girl made in a b, with her serum. What better leverage was there than that?

  "Data and proof gets my foot through the door, Helix. But in order to walk through, I need a hero to open those doors," she replied, grinning. "And, why settle for an ordinary hero when I have a superstar?"

  Zanafar