Luckily for him, the thud luckily caused more shock than pain and turned out to be completely harmless. But this didn’t stop Roun’s eyes racing towards the person that had just bumped into him. The very source of the rogue energy signature that his scanners seemed to be tracking. His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the AR display of the visor isolate the source of the energy signature, outlining them with a green border before streams of data began to run from the bottom to the top of his vision.

“So it is you.” Spoke the familiar voice before the source of that voice looked up to reveal an equally familiar face among the crowd of strangers attending the event. “Sorry about the tackle by-the-way.”

“Zadavia, right?” Roun’s inquired with a smile that caused the young woman to smile and nod in return. “You’re awfully far from Neo Brighton.” He yelled over the crowd, causing the young woman to giggle.

“Yeah, that happens a lot—” She replied, the smile still adorning her youthful face. “—considering that I live around here and all. I’m surprised to see you though.”

“Yeah, I’m a bit surprised to be here myself.” Roun replied with mild amusement, still having to shout over the crowd as the noise continued to pick up. “I actually live in Geraheim, so I’m just here… checking out the festivities.” He explained, less than truthfully.

“Oh yeah.” Zadavia nodded. “It’s my first time doing this, but it’s nice.” She continued, also doing her best to yell over the cheering crowd and loudly playing music, which only seemed to intensify as more bands flooded into the area.

“Yeah, me too.” Roun found himself straining his voice at this point, a fact that was making an otherwise pleasant conversation someone undesirable as time went on. “Hey, you wanna go someplace a bit quieter?”

“What?” By this point the music had grown so loud that Zadavia could barely hear him.

“I asked if you wanted to get away from this place!” He pressed once more, but once again Zadavia just looked puzzled.

Roun’s head dropped slightly and shook as he realised how pointless verbal communication had become in such a short space of time, opting instead to grasp the young woman by her forearm before motioning for them to move into one of the nearby bars. Zadavia smiled once more and then simply nodded in reply before the two began to move out of the crowd and towards a small bar situated just a few metres from their current location.

Naturally, Roun’s movement caught the attention of his assigned bodyguard Rueben, whose gaze shifted immediately to the two young channelers making their way away from the side of the road. His gaze narrowed at the development that caused him to growl slightly with annoyance before waving to get Roun’s attention through the extremely loud crowd.

“Dude, where the hell are you going?” He yelled at the top of his lungs, but Roun just pointed towards his ear to indicate that he couldn’t hear what Rueben was saying before he continued to make his way out of the area. “Seriously?”

Rueben’s exasperation only seemed to amuse Roun as he disappeared into the pub with the young lady, the automated doors of the establishment sliding shut behind them. Like many of the newer structures designed to be able to withstand the often chaotic forces of the cataclysms, this bar was a completely self-contained environment. This provided it with the rather convenient side effect of being nearly sound proof. The deafening fanfare of the street parade instantly faded to faint background music, being replaced by the much quieter sounds of a local newscaster on a distant holo-viewer on the opposite end of the bar.

“Wow, that’s ten times better.” Roun sounded, still a bit loudly as his ears adjusted to the change in ambient noise.

“Yeah.” Zadavia nodded in agreement, giggling lightly at the loudness. “Sorry about bumping into you earlier by the way – I was trying to get close ‘cause you looked familiar and some guy almost trampled me.”

“Don’t sweat it.” Roun shook his head. “I’m amazed you even recognised with the new digs.”

“I’m good with faces – one of the few useful side effects of my one, super-lame ability.” She giggled lightly, causing Roun to chuckle lightly as well.

“Super lame eh?” His eyebrow tipped upwards. “What is it: compound eyes, zeta vision… obsessive compulsive stalking of moderately good-looking male channellers?” He jabbed. “I’m personally hoping for the last one ‘cause it sounds kinda neat.”

Zadavia’s giggling intensified at this point, while she shook her head to dismiss the string of potential powers that he was obviously just guessing.

“None of the above.” She replied as the two took a seat near the back of the drinking establishment, on the opposite end of the building from the holographic display of the holo-viewer.

As they sat, Roun felt a faint rush of energy channeled into the young woman’s body, manifesting as a purple glow illuminating her form before her skin tone lightened, her facial features shifted and her hair changed from black to rose-pink.

“It’s easier for me to mimic people that I’ve seen before, so my memory is practically photographic when it comes to remembering people.” She explained.

“That’s pretty amazing.” Roun’s smirked and nodded at the rather unique display of zeta channeling.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Zadavia nodded sarcastically, simply humouring the young man who she assumed to be flattering.

“What?” Roun’s eyebrow tipped upwards, while his face dawned an amused look. “I’m serious for your information, don’t let the smirk fool you.” Unfortunately, this did little to convince the target of his compliments of his sincerity.

“Uh huh.” Zadavia continued sceptically. “I’m sure it’s up there with teleportation, and whatever else it is that you and your friends can do.” She replied, rolling her eyes as she did and causing Roun to chuckle as he caught on to the source of her disbelief.

“Hey, out of the six of us that you saw that night, four of us are psychers – the other two a manipulators and that two-to-one ratio makes up most of the channelers at T.A.” He explained. “I know a handful of summoners and maybe like one morpher—” He paused, thinking back to his knowledge of that particular channeler’s abilities. “—at least I think Jayce is a morpher… he might be a psycher – not sure.” His rambling just served to confuse and amuse the young woman, who was neither familiar enough with the terminology nor his friends to even be sure what he was talking about. “Either way, I don’t know a lot of people – anyone for that matter, that can do what you can do. So to me, it’s pretty freaking amazing.” Roun explained further, causing the young woman’s pale checks to redden, before she allowed her skin to return to its darker complexion and the rest of her features to return to normal.

“Well then, thanks… I guess.” She replied, somewhat sheepishly.

“Don’t mention it.” Roun smirked. “So… no chance on that obsessive compulsive stalking power, eh?”

“Not the slightest chance.” She shook her head, giggling once more.

“Well, a guy can dream I guess.” Roun smirked. “I guess I’ll have to live with just the polymorphy.”

“I suppose you will.” She nodded. “Though, like I said, it’s not very good.”

“—looked pretty good to me—” Roun shrugged. “—but I’m guessing you haven’t had the urge to develop it very much?” He inquired, not even being able to fathom the thought of a channeler choosing to simply allow their gifts to go to waste.

“—nor the opportunity, really.” She added. “Amridad isn’t the channeler mecca that Merricent is.”

Roun chuckled lightly. “Few places are. Outside of Aviv I don’t think you’ll find any more than a handful of channelers living in any city.”

Zadavia just nodded. “Yeah, as a kid I trained with a guy from the Order of Planet Harmonics that was stationed in Amridad but after his assignment was up, there wasn’t anyone else that I could learn from. People like us are pretty rare after all.”

Roun nodded in agreement. “Less than a thousandth of a percent of the population last I checked. In most places you’re lucky if you even meet another channeler.”

“I know right?” Zadavia laughed lightly. “I was ‘the meta’ at my school – it was pretty annoying being the one that everyone considered to be a freak.”

“Yeah, I know how that is.” Roun shook his head. “I lived in Genaisa for a few years myself. I mean I had my brothers with me, but it’s hard to make friends with people who can’t see the world in the same way that you do.”

“Your brothers are channelers too?” Zadavia inquired with mild shock.

“Oh, yeah.” Roun nodded casually. “Actually, so are my parents.”

“What?” Her exasperation wasn’t just visible but audible at this point. “What are the odds of something like that even happening?”

“Statistically, slim to none really.” Roun chuckled at the comment. “But given who my parents are, I doubt you’d be surprised.”

“What do you mean? I thought channeling wasn’t hereditary…” She pressed, causing Roun to nod.

“Oh, it’s not.” He conceded, waving off the misguided idea that had actually dominated the minds of men in the earliest days of zeta saturation. “Channeling has nothing to do with your genes at all; it’s all about that perfect synchronisation of mind, body and spirit – something that happens naturally in a very small fraction of the population.”

“Right, that’s what they teach us in school at least. So how do you explain five channelers in the same family?” Zadavia inquired, genuinely curious about the young man’s anomalous family tree.

“Well, the way I see it, people have been developing methods of attuning the mind, body and soul for centuries.” He explained casually, but Zadavia just looked more and more confused. “Stuff like martial arts – qigong specifically – meditation, acupuncture, spirit-massage… I mean eastern medicine has been focused on aligning internal energies before it was even accepted that they really existed.”

“So, you’re telling me that your parents manufactured three channeler kids?” Zadavia inquired now, even more sceptically.

“Manufactured is probably a strong word.” Roun replied with a light chuckle. “But my brothers and I have all been training in that kind of stuff from as long as we can remember – I’d be hard pressed to believe that that kind of stuff didn’t at least tip the scales in our favour.”

“I guess that makes sense... there’s got to be a more to it than that, though.” Zadavia shook her head. “I mean, if you could mass produce channelers –wouldn’t someone already be doing it?”

“Yeah, probably.” Roun conceded with a chuckle. “My brothers and I are still statistical anomalies and I wouldn’t go as far as predicting that if my mom had another kid that they’d definitely be a channeler – but I bet they’d have better chance than most at developing some kind of ability.”

Zadavia just smiled and nodded.

“Maybe you’re right.” She shrugged. “After all, what do I even know about channeling anyway?” She giggled, causing Roun to laugh along.

The two youngsters laughed lightly for a moment before their chuckles subsided, leaving them with an awkward silence as the conversation came to its natural conclusion.

“So… you were saying that you live around here?” Roun decided to change the subject slightly to move conversation along.

“Oh yeah, my family moved to Frigaheim from Amridad a couple months ago.” She confirmed.

“For your sake, I’m guessing?” Roun inquired, causing Zadavia to nod. “I’d have figured that you guys would’ve moved closer to the capital then.” He added, causing Zadavia to giggle lightly.

“Well, homes in Frigaheim are a lot less expensive than Geraheim – plus, my parents are ‘normal’ so I’m not sure how well they’d get on surrounded by all of us people with these freaky abilities.” Zadavia giggled.

“Fair enough, I guess this does make sense as a compromise in that case.” Roun replied nonchalantly. “But they seem to live with your abilities just fine so…” Zadavia just smiled at the assertion.

“Thanks a lot.” She jested, forcing Roun to back-peddle quickly.

“Hey, not what I meant...” He laughed. “—you know what I mean.” But once again Zadavia just giggled.

“Yeah, I’m just pulling your leg.” She laughed. “Being able to shape-shift at will does have its conveniences; it’s a lot easier to shake stuff up for a day without having to break out the hair dye and contacts.” She smirked, now poking fun at Roun’s new look.

“Oh yeah.” Roun just shook his head. “Clearly I’m trying something new – on the suggestion of a friend – not sure I’m gonna stick with it though.”

“Yeah, it is a bit subdued compared to when I first saw you.” She smiled. “But I think the gold hair probably suits you better.” Her statement caused Roun to smile in return.

Unfortunately, at that moment their conversation was rudely interrupted by a small mob of revellers that entered the bar. With his senses dulled by his deprivation of zeta, Roun didn’t even notice the budding commotion at first, and as none of the men registered as channelers his zeta scanners were useless in providing him with the heads up. Had it not been for Zadavia’s keen senses drawing her attention towards the door, Roun would probably have remained unaware for some time longer. But as her gaze drifted, his followed, allowing him to set eyes on three visibly drunk men.

The first of them was pale-skinned and had spiky black hair, which matched perfectly with his black clothing, nail polish and eye-liner to give him a distinctively gothic look. His first friend was slightly darker, olive-skinned with neck-length blue hair and an athletic build. This particular young man’s style of dress was less distinctive, being comprised of a yellow sleeveless hoodie and a pair of baggy blue jeans, accompanied by black and yellow running shoes. However, it was the last of them that really drew Roun’s attention and worried the young speedster. This massive bruiser stood almost two heads taller than Roun, while his frame was twice the youngster’s in width. Powered-up, he was sure he’d be able to subdue the group if they became rowdy, but in his current state he was hesitant to even engage them should things go south.

“It is a strange sensation, isn’t it? This feeling of being powerless and the fear that comes with it.”

Once again the familiar voice echoed in his mind.

Conversation between him and Zadavia instantly died down, with both the young channelers now fixing their gazes on the three men that had entered the room.

On the outside however, all of this was going unnoticed by Rueben, who had since resigned himself to the role of tourist and was simply enjoying the festivities. Unfortunately, such simple pleasures were to be short-lived as his data-com drew his attention away from the streets and towards an incoming call. With a light sigh, he removed the small screen from its holster in the sleeve of his jacket, before bending the flat, transparent device and placing it across his face like a visor to connect the call.

“How are things going son?” The gruff voice of the caller brought a smirk to Rueben’s lips.

“Everything’s going fine, sir.” Rueben replied. “We’re blending in as you suggested.”

“And where is my son?” The man inquired.

“He’s in a nearby bar with a young woman.” Rueben replied. “I checked her out and she’s not affiliated with any military faction, so she should be—”

“Yes, yes, Ms. Moreno.” The man replied, much to Rueben’s surprise. “Naomi’s also vetted the young woman and agrees with your assessment but she’s not the issue.” This statement caused Rueben’s eyebrow to tip upwards.

“But an issue exists, Mr. Itami?” Rueben pressed, drawing a smirk to the lips Shin Itami on the other end of the call.

“So it would seem.” He nodded. “It appears that I’m going to need you to extract my son, that location has become… no longer safe.”

“What?” Rueben’s eyes widened at the order, which he assumed would have opened the conversation instead of the small talk that was uncharacteristic of his employer. “I mean… I’m going to collect him now, sir.”

“Before you go Rueben—” Shin paused briefly and looked away from the screen of his own communication device, after delivering the interceptive and leaving Rueben hanging. Rueben’s eyebrow tipped upwards with curiosity as he watched Shin sigh slightly, rolling his eyes as Roun tended to when annoyed before turning his attention back to the screen. “Naomi says to bring the girl as well.”

“Uh… okay.” Rueben replied with slight confusion.

“And Rueben – whatever it takes.” Shin’s final command was as cryptic as ever. “Bring my son to me.”

“Copy that.” Rueben replied before ending the link and turning his attention towards the nearby bar. “So much for sight-seeing…”