Throughout his nine-year-long tenure as the chief scientist of Trial 017, Vysin had only been to the surface about a dozen times. Usually, it was when something serious was happening, such as a breakthrough he might want to present to his King personally or pressing situations that just couldn't be handled from afar.

This week, he'd made two such visits. And on his second visit, he had been the prisoner instead of the jailer.

"My lord, this security breach has already been dealt with," the gruff commander protested.

Senet, the commander in charge of the airfield's security walked beside Vysin, offering poor excuses as he tried to salvage his career. Although the commander towered over Vysin in both height and musculature, he stooped and bowed often enough to seem much shorter.

"I do apologize for the security mishap earlier, but the previous situation was complicated and thankfully, my men have brought it under control. There really is no further need for such personal supervision, please, I assure you-"

"Take him outside the base and execute him," Vysin ordered to his guardsmen. "There is no quarter given for failure."

Given what had just happened, Vysin was done with taking chances when it came to security. Commander Vogarin was accompanying him on this trip, bringing along some of his marshals. Armed with the latest in personal defense technology, Vogarin and his men were a sure match for any Kinetic that dared venture out into the open. If that wasn't enough, he had brought along the first fruits of the 017 project, Phase II combat units, one of which had been deployed effectively. A pity that one of his first field tests resulted in a trip to the medical ward.

Behind Vysin, three strange Krakoshans followed in formation: a massive soldier with thick skin, immense strength, and great durability; a disproportionately thin soldier capable of traveling at high speeds; and a soldier with the remarkable ability to regenerate from life-threatening wounds. The remainders of his Kinetic Krakoshans.

Trusting Vogarin to deal with the former commander, Vysin entered the remains of the main compound, marveling at the damage done to the base. According to the reports he'd received, the base had been wrecked two nights ago, and his own abduction marked the second incursion. The descriptions in the reports indicated that the first assailants had been a Nethermancer and an aerokinetic, both of whom were already back in pods. This time, it appeared their leader had decided to try and rescue them.

He stopped his procession in front of one of the cleanrooms, waving the guards to step aside. One of them opened the door for him, giving him clearance to enter. Motioning for his escort to remain outside, Vysin slipped into the room.

Inside, the young Terran boy who had tried kidnapping him earlier hung from a vertical lab table, his hands and legs bolted and secured to form a human tee. He wore a dark navy windbreaker jacket and a pair of slim khakis. At the sight of Vysin, he scowled, turning to look away. Defiant but scared, Vysin noted.

"Good evening," Vysin said in Terran, spreading his hands.

"Here to process me yourself?" Charlie asked.

"Not really," Vysin admitted. "I was hoping for something more along the lines of an interrogation."

The boy frowned, appearing confused. Not that Vysin was completely sure. Reading alien faces was always a little difficult.

"Ironic, I know," he continued. "Given that some time ago, this situation was somewhat reversed."

Charlie said nothing, staring at Vysin silently.

"I looked at your file," Vysin offered. "You were brought in from the Cadmus Institute. I suppose you must be at least clever enough to realize by now that the Gholians you saw were merely pawns."

"Why are you talking to me?" Charlie finally asked. "You tried to have me killed only a few minutes ago."

Vysin hesitated, stretching out his hand. When nothing happened, he turned slightly and growled at the nearest fellow scientist, a middle-aged Krakoshan with a scar on her left cheek. The scientist hopped to her feet, scrambling around for a moment before approaching her boss with a file.

"There's quite a few reasons," Vysin said, speaking to the Terran. "For one, you and your party were quite a thorn in our side. Under your leadership, your party cost us thousands in property damage, and funding is already tight."

He flipped the folder open, scrolling through its contents. Stopping on a page containing the Terran's genetic breakdown, he held it up for the boy to see.

"And then there's this," he said, leaning forward to allow Charlie a good look.

He stared back blankly, focused on the page Vysin offered. Moments passed, during which the boy said nothing.

"What exactly am I looking at?" he finally asked.

Vysin coughed, hiding his surprise. For a student of the renowned Cadmus Institute, Charlie seemed surprisingly dull. Of course, it was an obvious front. No student of the Cadmus Institute could truly be this ignorant.

"It's your kinetase breakdown," he explained stiffly.

"Oh," Charlie muttered. "What's kinetase?"

"It's the name of the protein family that only Kinetics produce," Vysin explained. "Terrans, in general, have forty-six chromosomes, but Kinetics possess a forty-seventh. This extra, unpaired chromosome is an amalgam of the extra chromosome your parents had, and depending on the type of kinetase it codes for, you may develop a specific power set. The quantity and type also determines your abilities within the power you inherit and your strength level, as well as whether you inherit one or two powers."

"Okaaay," the boy said, obviously unimpressed.

"Your kinetase," Vysin continued. "It's unrecognizable to us. Thanks to your tight-fisted country, our scientists only have access to outdated Kinetic classifications."

The boy squinted at Vysin, sounding out the words with him.

"Wait, I'm confused," he said. "What classifications?"

Glaring at the boy, Vysin switched to Krakoshan, addressing the scientists in the room.

"Give him a shock," he commanded. "Low current. Let's see how funny he thinks he is after he's had a little bite."

The scarred scientist nodded, directing a fellow scientist to connect multiple electrodes to the boy. Turning to the control panel beside the table, she adjusted the settings and flipped the switch, sending a low current flooding across Charlie's body.

"Agh!" he shouted, struggling against his bonds. He shuddered in place, shaking violently as the electricity surged through him.

"Enough!" Vysin ordered, throwing up his hand.

His scarred peer complied, shutting off the power. Switching back to Terran, Vysin addressed Charlie again.

"What are your abilities?" he demanded. As an afterthought, he added, "And what did you study at the Institute?"

The boy spat on the ground, sneering at Vysin.

"I'm not telling you anything," he taunted. "You can go ahead and take as long as you want trying to guess my powers."

"I could," Vysin agreed. "Or I could simply rip it out of you and give it to someone else to see what you can do."

"Ha!" the boy laughed. "I'd like to see that."

Vysin frowned, wondering what exactly was making Charlie so defiant.

"Perhaps a little proof," he said, stepping to the door.

He opened it, then barked an order, allowing one of his Kinetic Krakoshans to enter. This soldier, one of his remarkable creations, was fabricated by studying the powers of Kingsfielders and replicating a specific ability; in this case, regeneration.

The soldier stopped in front of Vysin, and at his command, drew his knife in front of Charlie. The boy's eyes widened in fright at the knife, but his expression changed to one of horror when the soldier slashed open his own chest, the sharp blade tearing right through tough scales and thick muscle. Blue blood trickled down the Krakoshan's bare chest, but as the boy continued watching, the wound suddenly began pulling itself together, starting with the blood clots. A minute later, the wound was completely healed, repaired without a scratch.

"You saw my other guard," Vysin sneered. "You may think holding out is in your benefit, but all you do is delay the inevitable. The more uncooperative you are, the likelier I am to simply rip your powers from your body and gift it to one of my men. So believe me when I say talking is the only thing saving you right now."

The boy turned his gaze to Vysin while still managing to gape at the soldier. It must be strange, Vysin thought, to be that boy. Growing up all his life with power in his veins, convinced that his power was his alone, to wield over anyone he chose. Now he was realizing for the first time whatever power he held, Vysin could take it away.

"I'm not actually from the Cadmus Institute," the boy said quietly.

"Hm?" Vysin asked.

"I'm not actually from-"

"I heard you the first time," Vysin interrupted impatiently. "If you aren't from the Cadmus Institute, what in the world were you doing there?"

"Just visiting," the boy replied.

"Oh," Vysin muttered. That...kind of made sense. "And your powers?"

The boy fell silent, glancing at the soldier.

"I-I don't have any," he admitted. "I'm an Inert."

Vysin paused, letting the boy's words sink in. That also made sense, he thought. Flipping through the file, he went back to the genetic breakdown, filling in the blanks with the boy's confession. It fit.

"I see," Vysin said slowly. "Born with kinetase, but no powers. I misjudged you."

The boy didn't say anything, refusing to meet Vysin's eyes. He didn't blame him. To his limited knowledge, Inerts were the lowest of Kingsfield, the few Kinetics born without powers, smudged from their histories and turned into myth, simply to protect their legacy as a nation saturated with power. They were a rarity, but they still occurred.

"Your kinetase must be a nonfunctional protein," Vysin mused, peering at the file. "This could be the result of any number of combination of point mutations, and I don't know nearly enough to fix this."

He snapped the folder shut.

"It seems I cannot simply take your powers if you have none," Vysin declared. "However, in recent weeks I have come to learn a great deal about Kinetics. Perhaps, with you, I'll try something new."

Turning on his heel, he motioned his soldier to follow him out the door. Just before he stepped back outside, he turned to look back at the boy. The last thing he saw before the door slid shut was a set of panicked eyes, then Charlie was gone.

"See to it that our other residential troublemaker is stabilized," Vysin sighed. "I don't trust that Commander Senet ever had things under control."

The soldier nodded, disappearing down the hall as Vysin's other guards surrounded him.

"Back to the ship," he ordered. "Looks like I've got an interesting report to make."

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