Luke met her at the front.
"There's more to our powers than we realize. You all know my brother, Luke, and his para-power of walking through walls, right? Well, I'd like you to see something." She turned to Gary, already prepped for this demonstration, and nodded her head.
Gary flicked a penny at Luke, and Luke raised his hands. The penny stopped in midair, held there by some unseen force.
The students gasped, and whispers rippled throughout the room.
"As you know, he's never been able to do that before. I think it's connected to his original power, but its inverse—a shadow power. Luke can separate the molecular structure of something in order to pass through it. Now, he can enforce that same structure outside himself, creating barriers and fields. We discovered this while on our assignment. In addition to detecting lies, I can now coerce someone to lie. I have a theory that each of us has a shadow power to complement our normal para-power. We just have to tap into it and practice it. Then, we will be twice as strong."
Everyone in the room smiled openly. For the first time in a long time, hope filled them. The shift in energy was palpable. Her mind flashed to Adam. They owed him so much and they would never know it.
"We need a bigger meeting place, somewhere secret where we can train and improve our powers."
A girl stepped forward. "I could start looking. I know this school well. Someone once showed the blueprints of the entire campus, and I have a photographic memory."
Lucy frowned. "What's your name?"
"Linda."
Gary nudged Lucy and whispered to her. "She's been a close friend of mine for a long time. We can trust her."
Lucy nodded but still had to check. "Linda, can you come up here for a second?"
Everyone watched as Linda approached. She was a slight thing with eyes too big for her head. Lucy softened her tone. "You're new. Everyone has to pass a lie detector, just to be safe. It's not personal."
Some of the tension eased out of her. "Oh, right. Gary told me about that. Sure."
After a few questions, some standard, others new, Lucy trusted that Linda wouldn't betray them.
"Great. Everyone, consider what your shadow powers might be, but don't get caught practicing them. We aren't safe here anymore. We'll reconvene when Linda has found us a spot."
***
Lucy eyed her computer with evil intent, but resisted the impulse to throw it through the window. After all, it wasn't her computer's fault she couldn't crack the damn code on the damn disk she'd copied from her damn assignment.
The scientist had said something about viruses. Were they creating some kind of biological warfare to wipe out humans? A virus to infect people with para-powers? A virus to control those with para-powers? The possibilities were endless, which was why she needed to crack the code.
She stretched her back and stared out her window at the moon. The campus looked so peaceful at night; it reminded her of life before the men in black turned it into a prison.
The sphere in her pocket pulsed with energy of its own. Lucy took it out and examined it again, tossing it back and forth in her hands. There didn't appear to be a way to open it or use it—no buttons or triggers. Still, some power surged through it, and Lucy could feel the same power rushing through her own body.
The sphere mesmerized her and drew her in. It unlocked her mind's secrets—
"Lucy!"
The sphere slipped from her hand, and she glared at the interruption. Gary stood at her door with Greg beside him. "Sorry to bug you, but we found a place to train. It's perfect."
Anger filled Lucy with a ferocity she'd never felt before. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
The boy's head dropped. "We... did. You didn't answer, and I thought you'd want to know, because of the timing and everything."
The web of emotion weighing her down vanished. She shook her head to clear it. "No, of course. I'm sorry, I'm still recovering from my injuries and I get a bit grumpy. You did the right thing. Let's get Luke and head over."
Lucy leaned over while the boys turned to leave, and grabbed the sphere. She shoved it back into her pocket and followed them out.
***
The walk through campus at night was a risk, but Greg kept the surveillance off of them. It was too late to call a meeting, but they could at least set the place up.
Linda and a few other Freedom Fighters met them at The Hub and took them to an abandoned building that, before the soldiers had moved in, was going to be refurbished as a new gym.
A guard with a flashlight approached, and they all ran into the main doorway. Larry, a guy who could generate light, used his shadow power to shut down the guard's flashlight.
The guard slapped the useless metal against his palm, then swore and headed back in the direction he'd come.