The light was like heaven on her face as she emerged. She slid down the outside of the access tunnel and basked in the dim white sunlight.

  Her tablet chirped numerous times and a plethora of messages came from her dad.

  [Dad] - How's it going kiddo?

  [Dad] - They're loosening up security here. Seems like I covered my tracks well enough. Made sure it looked like a fuel leak.

  [Dad] - Are you there?

  [Dad] - The enforcers are acting weird. They're setting up a perimeter around the hangar. If you get this—don't use the access tunnel exit. They got it surrounded.

  [Dad] - My people can't track your tablet's location. Shit.

  Just then a new message popped up.

  [Dad] - I just got the footage! I haven't watched the whole thing, but it looks like a horror show—we're sending it to our source in the ENN, the whole colony will see! But Jesus fuck, Sel, I would've never sent you in there if I'd known!

  Selene smiled weakly. Wait, they had the access tunnel surrounded?

  "—You survived. Amazing. Over fifty dead enforcers and 12 researchers. And yet you survive.... Fascinating."

  She looked up to see Dr. Bryant surrounded on either end with four enforcers. Their weapons trained on her.

  "Rex," he told them, lowering the barrel of one of their rifles with a hand. "it doesn't seem she's in any condition to resist. Take her into custody. I have questions. And I want whatever security footage you can scavenge. There must be a reason she survived. Contain the specimen-"

  His voice became muffled as her vision darkened. She passed out as the enforcers approached her.

  When she came to she heard the rhythmic pulses of a heart monitor. They began to speed up.

  "She's up." someone said.

  The room was was dark besides the bright white light above her. It cast through wisps of smoke. It smelled like tobacco.

  "Finally... Can she speak?" a deep voice said. She's never heard a voice quite like it. Rough but crisp at the same time. The closest comparison would probably be her father's.

  The vibes around her were more intense than ever before. Curiosity. Excitement. Anxiety.

  "Yes sir. Everything appears normal. Her telepathic abilities are also reading within a maintainable range. Though that will change soon, if we administer inhibitors in controlled—", "Enough, doctor. Leave us.", "Uh.. O-of course sir."

  There were the sounds of footsteps leaving the room. And the swish of a mechanical door closing behind them.

  Selene groggily propped herself up from the table in which she y using her elbows. "My head..." She brought a hand up and rubbed her forehead. It felt like there was a nail stabbed in it with something leaking out.

  "Ah, yes. Telepaths report various symptoms when their abilities manifest. Headaches, out-of-body experiences, and nosebleeds, and that's not to mention the abilities themselves. You will feel normal again—with treatment and proper training."

  Selene trained her eyes on the man who was talking. He was a brute of a man. Though he was sitting, she could tell he must've been at least 6'5". Over 300 pounds of fat and muscle. He wore the kind of suit a puck general would wear. Grey with gold embroidery and tassels. An assortment of multicolored reflective badges on his left breast.

  "Who are you?" she asked. Still trying to cover the hole in her head that didn't exist.

  He picked up a cigar from the tray embedded into the armchair he sat in and lit it with some fancy gilded lighter.

  "I am General Desuran. Commander of the research branch of the P.U.C. Defense Force."

  Selene barely registered what he'd just said. Her mind was elsewhere.

  "My family... My brother Camden, is he—"

  "Your family will be fine, Ms. Carrington. Now that you are in our service, they will receive the full support of the Protectorate."

  She gred at him. That was both reassuring and not.

  "Rest assured, the mishap on Endelon is not reflective of the Protectorate at rge. The alien invasion was the first of its kind; thus far no biological lifeform has been so effective against our defenses. The Protectorate has sent its apology in the form of financial remediation, and we've since relocated the colonists to a new world in need of those with experience running an agricultural colony."

  All that? Already? "How long have I been out?"

  "Two weeks, Ms. Carrington."

  "TWO WEEKS!?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

  "We've notified your family that you will be receiving specialized training for a new position within the Protectorate... Given your successes in alerting us to the alien menace, it seemed, even at your age, you seem to have an affinity and drive for protecting our citizens. Of course they are aware that you agreed to this position yourself."

  She opened her mouth to speak. Then stopped. Agreed? Who agreed?

  "..No?"

  He picked up a remote from the opposite tray in his chair and pushed a button on it. The camera in the corner of the room had a red light that went off.

  "Let's speak frankly then. Your father is a retired revolutionary, a rebel traitor. I have your messages, Ms. Carrington. I know that you were an accomplice in releasing highly confidential Protectorate state secrets to the public. And furthermore, once we investigated your fathers history we learned that he was not only a rebel but also a commander of their forces... Know—that If you do not comply, you will be putting your family in danger. But luckily for you, my colleagues and I believe that would be a serious waste of your potential."

  That expined a lot. His hatred of Puck. Who he was working with to get the video out. He was working with rebels.

  "...What do you mean, potential? Why does my head feel like a leaky bucket?"

  He pushed the button on the remote, and the red light reappeared on the camera.

  "On to the matter at hand then. You are a telepath, Ms. Carrington, a person with psychic abilities. You slipped through our screening processes, likely due to the use of inhibitors."

  "S-so it's true?"

  She thought back to all the stories she's heard. About Bck Ops units with mind powers who could turn off cameras with a gnce, lift things with their mind, and even kill with a thought. But that all blended into the other crazy rumors about Puck.

  "I assume you mean the rumors the public toss about. And yes—partly. Though we are very careful about exposing these secrets. If you speak about your abilities to anyone without clearance, the consequences would be dire. So please keep that in mind... The truth is humanity is evolving. Individuals with your abilities began to appear a few generations ago, and we're not quite sure why. I'd suspect your father has simir abilities. It would expin a great deal."

  Selene closed her eyes. "It's... It doesn't feel good," she said. It was true. She was being constantly reminded of a sharp pain panging randomly around her head. In the air. And a slipping feeling between that. Like a leaky valve.

  "A common symptom. Don't worry. Most symptoms fade, and for those that don't I hear that many telepaths are hardly inconvenienced by them. Visual snow, tinnitus, headaches, nosebleeds, the list goes on and on. Training to harness your abilities is the best treatment there is. Inhibitors can dull them as well, but they loose effectiveness overtime. So it's best to only use them when absolutely necessary. You might interpret this as a dire diagnosis Ms. Carrington. But it's not. It's a very unique opportunity many within the Protectorate would be overjoyed to have."

  Selene gnced to a gss of water on a shiny aluminum table next to her. Desuran gestured to it as if to say 'go ahead'.

  She drank it, it was one of those cold gsses of water at 2 am dry mouth drinks. She even felt the dull panging subside a bit. But it slowly returned.

  "What opportunity? I'm the st person you want to be a solider... I was training to be a therapist for crying out loud. I just want to see my family... What exactly did I 'agree' to?" she said as she made air quotation marks around the word agree. Still propped up by her elbows.

  "You will see them again, I promise you. It's just that by the nature of who you are—you have a much higher clearance level than they do and it will take some time before you earn our trust."

  Desuran took a drag off his cigar and leaned back in his chair and crossed a leg over his knee.

  "What stories did you hear exactly about telepaths?" he asked.