Genetic Anomaly

Chapter 3

Now you know

I finally knew the severity of my secret and I decided to start not just suppressing it, but actively using it in order to not some day loose control over it, which could harm others. I was terrified of that outcome so after a few days I began to open out my suppressed gift. Finally letting go of the iron tight binding I held over them was like a bird spreading it's wings and taking flight. I felt so light, so free. As though I truly knew what made me. Of course, I had to do my training in a secluded place and with someone I trusted. I finally gave up all my defences between Will and I. I told him in detail the extent of my gift. Surprisingly he didn't even blink when I told him, but that was to be expected from Will, he was hard to shock.

The first day of training, we were in Will's basement. His parents were always away on business trips, I wasn't sure what they did, but whatever it was, it left Will alone quite a lot. So down in the basement, we tested our theories of what I could do. It was a little terrifying what I could do. So much so that I worried William would see me as a monster or a freak. But Will supported me through it all without even giving me a single fearful or disgusted look. That was when Will's partnership was cemented into a true friendship. Even though William wasn't able to trust me with his secret yet, I knew for certain that I could trust William.

Over the weeks the training got more intensive and we developed an even better understanding of my gift than the research had. Funnily enough, it took me no effort to actually use my gift. What had been weighing me down for the past 8 years was the stress and constant tension both mentally and physically of keeping the talent suppressed. Now being able to use it to my will enabled me to gain control over it. I didn't need to suppress it, I just mentally blocked it affecting anyone. I kept it hidden but not suppressed.

William still research while I was training and since he was much better than I was, he was able to find more information in the Core's database. We learnt, again, how unique my gift was. It looked like it was going to be a running theme with this thing. What differentiated my talent was that we couldn't place it into any category. It seemed to overlap into many of them.

The 5 main categories of Mods (modifications) were mental, structural, internal, specialised and interactive/physical. Mental was modifications done to the brain, for example, making someone's memory photographic or even enabling someone to read thoughts. I know it sounds ridiculous but scientist found tampering with certain areas of the brain caused incredible results. Structural modifications just refers to alterations to the bone or muscle structure to, for example, make someone muscles strong so they can run longer distances. Internal modifications are those that are done on the major organs and other internal workings of the body. These were not regularly done because they gave few advantages unless for a specific aim. This is why they created the specialised category. Some Elite, if they were wealthy enough, altered multiple areas for specific future careers, like a future singer would have stronger lungs, enhanced vocal cords and strengthened accuracy in hearing. The last was interactive/physical these were not alway alterations to genetics, more incredible implants that meant a person could affect areas around them. William read me an incredible file on a man who had magnetic pulse implants that enabled him to bend and manipulate metal.

My gift overlapped mostly with the mental area, accept it seemed I had a decree of interactive. Not an implant, no just the effects an interactive mod should have. Basically, the base of my gift was my mind. I had, by Norm standard, an incredible memory. Not really photographic, while I was able to remember great amounts of information, my memory or mind seemed to be systematic. For example, if you saw a question, like a maths question, you'd have to think through all the information and then work it out bit by bit. But when I see a question, I see the information, sure but i don't have to take time to process a way to answer it, I just know the answer. It's similar to factual questions, if you knew a subject and you answered a question on it, it may take you a minute to answer, for me, even if I haven't learnt anything about the subject, I know the information needed to answer the question. It was strange and scary.

That wasn't all of it. The overlap into interactive/physical was because, even though I couldn't manipulate any physical object but it seems as though I can manipulate something mentally. I don't know if it counts as mental since it's something that interacts with something outside my mind. But whatever it was, it was scary because I tested it out on William and I was able to mentally nudge Will to do what I wanted. Although that sounds like the show stopper, what made me and William scratch our heads was the final aspect. It was also the incident that started all this work. I call it Vision.

When it first happen, William was with me and said I kind of just stopped living. I almost stopped breathing, I looked like a doll, with glassy eyes and porcelain limbs. It sounded creepy. However, while I looked dead on the outside, the complete opposite happened within me. My mind seemed to take my consciousness to another place. Another situation, not my own that is. We finally figured out what exact the Vision was, funnily enough from the Core news. When William showed me his theory after I had told him in extreme detail what I had seen, I felt terrified but also I realised I had to do something about it.

William tried to talk me out of it but I couldn't, not after the 2nd. So William's help we managed to start. It risked everything William and I had worked for, but I had to, otherwise the guilt would've eaten away at me until I snapped. For a 12 year old, it was traumatic to see the Vision so I guilt tripped William into helping me and we devised a plan to report the crimes I was envisioning were going to happen. Yes, I know, impossible. I can see into the future. I only ever get them maybe once or twice a month, but every Vision is a serious and large crime. William and I have been calling into another Sector police department and eventually they listened. When I first called, they thought was a prank caller, that was until they came across the exact same case I had described to them. They only knew me as the Informant and I only ever called Office Holsberry, in Sector Gallowswade. After 4 years of calling, Holsberry and I have developed a type of rhythm in our interactions. Now I'm able to prevent huge criminal injustice that could hurt many, and even with the risk, it's worth it, because if I was given this gift, then it should be used for the good of Norm society who needed it.