ALEX: Prepare. Truth can be a very strange thing.

The words are barely a whisper, but you calmly nod from across the room and flash a thumbs up. Ive always known that you can hear well, but... This is kind of pushing it. You shrug and flips open the notebook clutched tightly in one hand. In fast, sloppy handwriting, you jot down a note and crane your neck to see around Daniel. You catch the eyes of the intended recipient of the note and give her a curt nod. The piece of paper that you wrote on disappears from your notebook in a flash of green light. The bell sounds. Patrick, who you had previously been conversing with, has already unconsciously sensed the shift in time and is working on the problems on the board. You begin to do the same. Anticipation for the coming shift in dynamic that Olivia predicted distracts you for a good portion of the period. You find it difficult to tune out the general voices of people thinking loud thoughts. HOW DOES THIS WORK? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? WE DIDNT EVEN COVER THIS THEOROM! You know. The usual. You are no longer ALEX. Max: Console. Language Arts is probably the most boring class of the day. You scramble to take several pages of notes down on a subject that you couldnt care less about. Every essay, analysis, study, paper... Who did what and why, how did they react to this or that. Boring and repetitive as it was, your mind tends to wander. And boy oh boy, it does indeed wander today. Youre bright red and very jumpy when you sense it. You almost leap out of your seat as the wave of emotional bonds are all altered at once. Youve felt a few people detach themselves after one person says something stupid, but... This is different. This is a fear reaction, at least twenty people feeling completely separated from someone they once at least trusted as an acquaintance. Someone poked you in

the shoulder and you turn to meet Lorrins eyes. She expresses unknowing concern and you notice that youve gone completely rigid and your mouth hangs slack. Less than two seconds later, the gunshot rings out. Ms. Byrne stops dead in the middle of a word and the silence of every person in earshot holding their breath settles over the school. Another shot. Footsteps paint the blank canvas of air. The smallish woman that has spent the last half of a year sprints across the room and locks the door frantically, covers the window, and hisses for everyone to get away from the windows and under a desk. Under your desk, Lorrin has started shaking and grips your arm tightly. You lean in toward her and she gratefully huddles against you while you turn your head toward the door and cast out your senses. When youre actually looking for them, the signs are obvious and fit together easily. Around twenty kids from Mr. Souths geometry class stopped trusting someone all at once. A gunshot was heard, then another. A second grader could deduce the obvious solution. But you know that there are many other factors at play. Muffled sobbing and a sense of wetness on your shoulder bring you back to reality. You abandon your thoughts and instead console a terrified Lorrin. You are no longer MAX. ABIGAIL: React. The piece of paper that you are holding in your hands has only one piece of information on it.

11:11
A time. Thats it. The note that you went through all of the trouble of transporting as invisible matter has only five characters, and a time that is irrelevant to you. You pretend to be irritated until the bell rings a moment later. Math is mundane at best. You finished the test that your class is working on the first day that you were allowed to work on it, so you have a period of downtime. This, of course, invites you to practice the sensory side of your... Ability. You rule the physical side of things with an iron fist, but it seems that everyone else can sense things on a level that you cannot comprehend, which irritates the hell out of you. After propping up your copy of Fahrenheit 451 so you appeared to be reading it, you clear out your mind like Olivia described.

You choose to focus on touch as your sense. With intense focus, youre able to get a general idea of where things lie about the room. The vibrations cast by shifting weight and beating hearts slowly comes into focus and creates a painting of sorts in your minds eye. All seems well. People are taking their tests, writing down things that you are definitely not good enough to read based only on vibrations. You are about to try and sense the vibrations of the next classroom over when something catches your attention. Someones heart has begun to beat at double speed. They shift to one side and retrieve something from the inside of their jacket. Your eyes fly open despite your knowledge of what they hold; you are looking at the time displayed on the Prometheus board. 11:11 She fires her first shot. You dont bother with standing up normally. Instead, you transfer yourself at the highest velocity possible to a new location; a few feet away from her in the empty seat that was blank on the seating chart. You know that no one saw you move, but there is more than one person who didnt need to. Someone gasps as the bullet impacts against their thigh. The gunner is already priming for another shot. Before she can pull the trigger, youre holding the gun in one hand and pinning her shoulder against the wall with your other. Alex. He stands quickly and strides over. Whoever was shot has started crying softly. Alex is reaching up to press the heal of his hand against the girls stunned face when another shot comes from somewhere else. You swear under your breath while your legs busy themselves with giving out from under you. Blood bubbles at your lips and everything falls into darkness. It feels like not a second has passed when youre awake again. The wound in your heart has already healed itself and your street clothes have been replaced by your god clothes. You lie on the ground where you fell after you were shot. Alex and the other girl are still standing there, but the girl has a gun pressed against his temple and one fist is stuffed with money. Her eyes are on you. You dont blame her.

That was an awesome nap, you smile calmly and stand instantly as you did before. Her pupils widen just the slightest bit. But Ill be staying up for a while now. With the tiniest flick of your finger, you draw your hood back. Something about the crackle in the air around you, the sudden surge of energy, or even the feelings of extreme confidence saturating your mind assures you that your iris and pupil are white, while the color of your normal iris fills the rest of your eyes. So lets have some fun now, hmm? You are no longer ABIGAIL.