As the monitor hummed to life, Edith adjusted her gsses and leaned ba her chair. She couldn't help but stare in awe as the footage from Fii's ret battle pyed out on the s.

  The girl's abilities had always shown promise, but it seemed she had taken a signifit leap ht. As she watched Fii manipute objects with her power from afar, Edith couldn't help but wonder what had ged. Was it the stress of the fight? The music? The adrenalihe fact that she was fag another metahuman? Or perhaps some bination thereof.

  The footage pyed on as Edith g the metrics scrolling by on the side of the s. Fii's heart rate and brain activity were both elevated, but that was expected given the circumstances. What ied her more was the readings from the suit. The sensors within the garment were desigo analyze the kiid gravitations of Fii's powers iime, allowih to ily track the ebb and flow of her abilities as she fought.

  And by analyzing the data, she had determily where Fii's range of influeeo—two meters around herself.

  But acc to the numbers, Fii's range had increased tenfold from the beginning to the end of the fight. Twenty meters, all in the span of several minutes. Su extraordinary adva in power was unheard of, and eveh had trouble believing her eyes.

  Edith tapped on her keyboard and cross-referenced Fii's current power level with the past, searg fns of any kind of pattern in her growth. Any ge at all might be relevant. Anything to figure out why or how Fii had made this drastic jump.

  After some digging, all the records indicated that she had exhibited greater trol over her ability since fighting against the Neon Viper leader. But Kasumi wasn't a metahuman.

  If that was the case, then could that mean...?

  Fii ehe training room, her bodysuit. She looked over at the observation window and waved at Edith, who returhe gesture. She had called Fii over earlier to test her powers and run more tests on her abilities.

  "You've made quite a lot ress since yesterday's spar, haven't you?" Edith asked as the younger girl approached. She motioo the video feeds dispyed on the projector on Fii's side, repying various clips from her most ret fight.

  Fii nodded excitedly. "Yeah, I guess so! The feeling during that st part, when I pushed my ra? It was incredible. And I just felt s. Everything around me seemed malleable and responsive. Holy, it was overwhelming at first, but it felt natural. Almost like aension of myself. I didn't want to stop at all!"

  "Hm. Did you feel any strain on your body? Your TFSI readings were stable at around 0.382 at the peak of your output."

  Fii scratched her nose sheepishly. "Eh, maybe a bit at the beginning? But moving those bats around and pig things up after that point didn't feel much harder than before, and my headache afterward was more like a hahan anything serious."

  Edith o herself. Those results cided with the previous tests.

  "Now, how about trying to replicate that in this chamber? Give me a demonstration, Fii." She leaned forward aed her on her hand.

  "You got it!" Fii responded enthusiastically.

  Fii assumed her usual pose as she trated her power.

  Various training tools as levitated around the room. As she lifted more and more items, Edith noted Fii's posture and stance: Rexed. fortable. Casual—a stark trast from the girl's rigid and awkward stance from her past trials.

  Meanwhile, the digital readout of Fii's TFSI stabilized around 0.255, well within the safety limits.

  " you move them around?" Edith asked as the objects floated freely above the floor.

  "Easy." Fii casually maneuvered the equipment around the chamber. She made the floating objects revolve around her, creating plex patterns and trajectories while maintaining a sistent TFSI throughout.

  "Anything else you'd like me to try?" she asked after several minutes passed. Her voice held a hint of smugness as she spoke.

  Edith smirked in respoyping rapidly on her sole. "Oh, I think of a couple of things. But first, was there anything else different or peculiar that you experienced during the fight with Kenzo? Aside from the increase in trol and range, I mean."

  Fii rubbed her , sidering the question carefully. "Well, there was this weird 'sixth sense' I had, I guess. Like...there were these faint ripples surrounding the things I was affeg? Maybe?"

  Edith perked up at that statement. Sixth sense? Ripples?

  "Could you describe the phenomenon further? As precisely as possible, if you ," Edith asked.

  "Hmm...it's hard to put into words, but...okay, here's what I mean," Fii answered. She poi a single dumbbell floating in front of her. "Right now, I kinda see something like...a ripple in the air around this. It's like a heat haze during the summer, but much fainter unless I'm fog on objects."

  As she waved her hand around, the dumbbell followed suit, drifting along with her movements. She tinued, "The ripples tend to flow in one dire—down to the ground. I'm guessing that's the dire of the Earth's gravity. When I focus, those ripples shift to whichever dire I want the objeove."

  Fii directed the dumbbell to orbit arourag a slow, steady path in a circle.

  Edith's eyes widened.

  Fasating. So Fii had developed a visual cue that helped guide her maniputions? Could she have created this herself, or had this sensory capability all along and not noticed until retly? Regardless, this discovery was astounding.

  There were very few metahumans iabase that possessed sixth senses associated with their powers. For Edith to add another spe to the registry would be a signifit adva in her research. She jotted the notes down on a tablet before addressing Fii again.

  "How about the range of your power, Fii? How does that affect your awareness of those ripples? What is the effe your body if you push yourself to expand ye?" Edith probed, watg Fii's movement and expression. She o assess whether this phenomenon affected Fii's physical state and vice versa.

  "Well...let's see..." Fii muttered as she resumed her exercises. She pced her hands on her hips and closed her eyes in tration. The dumbbell circled around her a few times faster as her brow furrowed. She gradually raised her hands as the weight began to spin faster, accelerating to a blur.

  The readout of her TFSI only increased to 0.283, still well within the safe range.

  "My head's starting to hurt a little. Nothing serious though," she expined. "The training room is kinda small so I don't know if I'll be able to push my limits here. Oh, yesterday I tried pushing further out, but I just sorta hit a wall at twenty meters. I think the ripples start to fade out around that raoo. I don't see them as clearly anymore."

  Edith typed in her observations, making special note of the disfort Fii described. Her assumption on the range was iing. Perhaps the sensation of 'noise,' as she described it, faded when her trol over the ripples grew less precise? Was that the factor limiting her range, or did she ck suffit energy to sustain her powers over longer distances? Or something else entirely?

  A twenty-meter limit did seem disappointing. But with such a substantial increase, she had already e leaps and bounds beyond what Edith had estimated her to be capable of. Perhaps some aspects of this power relied on instinctual guidance, rather than scious effort. And perhaps in time, Fii could learn to fully unlock the potential of her power.

  That st thought intrigued her. Twenty meters robably just another soft limit—a boundary to be pushed further as her power evolved.

  Some metahumans in the upper echelons of the power spectrum had a simir growth pattern as Fii, but the circumstances of their growth varied siderably.

  Edith's eyes flickered to the journal article that y on her desk, tucked beside her keyboard: 'Metahumans: The Unfinished Genome.' She drummed her fingers on the edge of the table, lost in ption.

  Eventually, she sighed and cleared her throat. "Very good. That's enough for now, Fii. I want to run a few more tests ter, but I need you to recover for the rest of the evening. Be sure to rex and maintain a banced diet. Take whatever you want from the fridge and call me when you wake up tomorrow."

  Fii let out a long yawn, stretg her limbs before waving at the observation window. "Alright, alright. Goodnight, Edith."

  The objects floating in the air drifted back to the floor as she exited the chamber.

  Edith tio stare at the ss, mentally reviewing the gathered data. She jotted down the key points and attached them to the log files. Tomorrow, she po observe the pain with fresh eyes, paying closer attention to the sensory phenomena Fii described.

  No equipment she possessed could measure or detect whatever 'he Fii referred to. Even wheh first detected Fii's ability, she only identified obvious gravitational fluctuations within the facility.

  She had to make do with what she had. No prior research existed fravikinesis, and even stific resear gravity itself hadn't advanced beyond trying to unite Einstein's general retivity and quantum meics. The dete of gravitons remained an impossible dream.

  heless, Edith had a hunch Fii's ability worked on a scale beyond simple manipution of that fual force of nature.

  As the data colle cluded, Edith powered down the system and rose from her seat. She felt satisfied with the progress they made, but she knew she wouldn't find any aonight.

  For now, a hot bath and a stiff drink sounded quite appealing.

  The te afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows as Fii curled up on the couch with a book. She had spent the past few hours buried in a cssitasy novel, ed in the fort of its story. It felt good to escape into a world where she wasn't being chased hting thugs, where she didn't have to worry about keeping her guard up every sed of the day.

  In the quiet of the Gilded Library, she found soce. Here, she was free to sink into the pages, letting her imagination carry her far away. Textbooks about onian physid Calculus sat untouched, repced by fial tales of magid adventure.

  Her favorite genre itasy: stories set in imaginary worlds filled with dragons, elves, and a prophecies. The richly woven storylines drew her in, transp her to a world beyond the dreary slums.

  And the characters! She loved imagining herself as the plucky protagonist, traversing the wilds and battling evil with her sword.

  Oable, her pile of novels grew steadily. Every time she finished one, she'd immediately find another, sc the shelves for anything that caught her attention.

  As she flipped through the pages, her mind wao her own life—the life of a superhero.

  So far, the only foes she battled were low-life gangsters and thugs. Although she relished the feeling of triumph she earned over every victory, she wished for something more meaningful. She dreamed of a true nemesis.

  'Cobra' Kasumi was the closest she got to a rival, but even that meeti her frustrated. Granted, Fii barely won that enter, but if they were to meet again, Fii knew she'd e out ahead. After all, she wasn't the same girl she used to be. Not anymore.

  As she closed the book, Orion hobbled over to her, clutg a stack of i his hands. His eyes twinkled with amusement as he fshed a wry smile. "You're a fast reader, aren't ya?"

  Fii grinned sheepishly as she gazed at the mountain of books piled oable. "Guess so." She had gotten a bit carried away, but she couldn't resist.

  "So, what have you been reading?" Orion asked, pointing at the worn covers. He propped his e against the armrest and lowered himself onto the couch opposite her. He winced as he moved, clutg his lower back.

  She grabbed the top book from the pile and ha to him. "Mostly fantasy stuff. Have you read this?"

  He took the book, examining the cover and flipping through the pages. "Yes, yes, I have. A great read, I must say. Did you enjoy it?"

  She nodded vigorously, taking back the book aing it aside. "I loved it! I'm so hooked. It's really hat you have all these books in the library. Most of the kids in my neighborhood 't read. I wish they could experiehis too. Stories take you pces, you know?"

  Orion stroked his beard. "That, they . The best adveart with a siep. Or a page. Heh, heh, heh." He chuckled to himself, his eyes distant with recolle. After a moment, he turo Fii with a curious look. "You could try and teach them, you know. You could teach them to read, like what Dr. Edith did for you."

  "What?" Fii bli the suggestion.

  Her? Teag others how to read? The idea hadn't occurred to her before, but it made sense. Fii didn't just learn to read by herself. Edith taught her how to read and write properly, instead of her typical streetwise approach.

  The only problem: She still had no formal teag experience whatsoever. Would she be any good at it? Orion seemed to think so.

  Fii sidered the thought, tapping her fingers against the armrest. "That sounds...like a nice idea. But how am I supposed to do that? I don't even know where to start!"

  "Well, you have time. And this library provide the material. Dr. Edith provide some pointers. It'll be fine. I'm sure you ma," Orion reassured her. "You're a smart young dy, you'll do fine."

  Fii exhaled deeply and rexed. "Well...okay. I'll give it a try. I bring them here for the lessons?"

  "Sure, that's fih me. I have a spare room out back that you use as a . But don't let them break anything, okay?" Orion said, chug to himself as he wagged a fi her. "If they do, you'll be responsible for fixing them."

  Fii pouted, resting her head against the back cushion. "Fine, fine. I do that."

  She mused to herself.

  Teaeone how to read and write. A ask, a new challenge. She didn't o be Axion for this, either. Just Fii.

  It was o do something different and not have to worry about proteg her identity or saving the day. Being Axion gave her purpose aement. But just being herself allowed her to pursue other things she enjoyed doing. Things that didn't involve violence or heroics.

  Plus, it was something useful—something that could improve people's lives for the better outside of using her powers to solve problems.

  That st thought brightened her mood. If she wao do something bigger, being Axion wasn't the only way to aplish that goal. "I'm gonna head back for the evening, Mr. Orion. Thanks for the books."

  "Not a problem, young dy. Take care of yourself." Orion winked, giving her a two-fingered salute. "Be careful, now. Stay out of trouble, you hear?"

  "Thanks, and don't worry, I will." Fii waved goodbye aed the library, desding the steps with a boun her stride.

  Teag might be really fun.

  Ah! Maybe I could get Quinn to help!