“Nicky…” Carl wept and then ran toward the ranch, intending to get their parents. Nikodemus was in a trance; he hadn’t heard a word his brother said. He could only heed the deafening calling of the sphere.

Nikodemus sped up his pace, and he could have sworn he heard a voice whispering at him from within the overwhelming noise.

Nikodemus…

Come…

Nikodemus…

You will survive…

Nikodemus sped up his pace. He sprinted toward the sphere, leaping the fence—landing on his feet with a thud—and closed the remaining space between him and the sphere quickly. He touched it.

The light from the sphere bathed his hypnotized face in an ethereal light. When he put his hand to it, it momentarily eroded the skin on his hand, revealing bone and veins. Nikodemus was not horrified by this, in fact, he merely seemed curious about it.

Nikodemus…

You are needed…

Nikodemus placed another hand on the sphere, and the sphere’s light entered his veins, filling him with its brilliance and washing away the dirt on his skin and under it. Its candescence lifted him to another space—a space that was not meant for his earthly eyes. A space he could hardly comprehend--a space that swathed him in holiness and made him lovely—as lovely as a human could possibly be. And this place gave him knowledge. Knowledge of things he had seen and not seen, and made him even more intelligent than he already was. Nikodemus lost himself inside the sphere until it felt like his body had been washed away, and all he was was just a consciousness… it was a wonderful feeling.

Eventually, however, the sphere released him, and Nikodemus immediately fell asleep—dreaming vivid dreams of what the sphere had shown him. When he woke up, he was in his own bed, and his family was crying tears of joy that he was alive.

Nikodemus snapped to wakefulness when Hilargi shook his shoulder. “Nikodemus… Nikodemus… wakey wakey…”

Nikodemus snorted and he snapped to attention. “Wh-what?”

Hilargi giggled. “Come on, you. Time to get up.” Hilargi said to him, hauling him to his feet by the arm.

Nikodemus was still a little dazed from his dream—in fact, it felt like he was still besieged by the sphere. For a moment, he knew where he was and who he was with. When he blinked, however, it felt like the dream world still had him. He tried to yank his arm away from Hilargi, but she had a surprisingly good grasp on it. Nikodemus gasped.

Power erupted from his head, pushing the mutant girl gently away from him. To everyone else in the room but Nikodemus and Hilargi, it looked like he had physically shoved her away gently. Only Nikodemus and Hilargi knew what had truly transpired between them.

Nikodemus had used some sort of telekinetic powers to push her away.

Hilargi was stunned by this fact; she was about to exclaim just how surprised she was, but managed to bite her tongue. She didn’t know what might happen to Nikodemus if it were known that he had powers like that.

Nikodemus still seemed like he was half in the dream world, half in reality for a moment. He was writhing and gasping in pain from a seemingly invisible assailant. Hilargi, fearing for his life and the fate of humanity, grabbed his arm. “Nikodemus, Nikodemus! Wake up! Lauren, go get the physician—we can’t lose the Last Man!”

Lauren began running down the hallway, but just as she did, Nikodemus opened his eyes and fell down. He was panting—overwhelmed by his memories of the sphere. Hilargi and the other mutants let him breathe for a few moments—giving him space. Once he had caught his breath, he stood up shakily. “Excuse me, my intelligent friends. Forgive an old man his vivid dreams. I must excuse myself—perhaps exploring would do me good.” Nikodemus said, heading down the hallway.

Hilargi saw that his hands were still shaking immensely. She frowned as she watched him. She said to her team, “Stay here. I need a word with the Last Man.”

She caught up to him on her much longer legs easily. She held him still be the shoulders. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

Nikodemus gave her his best smile. “Of course I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.”

Hilargi looked both ways and then back at Nikodemus. “What was that back there? You have some kind of power…?”

Nikodemus was sweating heavily. His heart was thudding in his ears. He begged her. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

Hilargi nodded. “I won’t. I promise.” Nikodemus thanked her with a silent nod. He was going to go on his way after that, but Hilargi seized his arm. She leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “I want to talk to you about something. If you could sneak away and meet me in this lab at midnight tonight, please do so.”

Nikodemus was curious as to what she had to say, but he doubted he could sneak away. Nonetheless, he said, “Very well. I’ll try to sneak off.”

After that, Nikodemus, Elizabeth, and Annie left. Nikodemus traveled up two flights of stairs to his quarters and took a nap. He prayed fervently that he would not dream as vividly as he did while in the lab. He prayed that he would have a pictureless, black sleep.

He was happy to find that his prayers were answered. He dreamed of nothing, and was relieved of it. He sat up with a yawn, and Annie and Elizabeth were still both gazing at him. Nikodemus sighed, wishing he could have some privacy. He said while smacking his lips, “What time is it?”

“It’s seven at night.” Elizabeth said.

“What?” Nikodemus exclaimed. “Is Ellia still awake?”

“Yep. She’s eating dinner right now.” Annie said.

Nikodemus beamed. “Perfect! I’ll go pay her a visit!”

Annie and Elizabeth sped after Nikodemus, who was sprinting excitedly out the door toward the mess hall. I like Hilargi, but there’s something about adult conversation that I crave—especially with Ellia. Nikodemus recognized how odd that thought was, considering that Hilargi was technically an adult, and considering that she was, most likely, smarter than both Ellia and Nikodemus. As he dashed through the white halls, he thought, I guess it’s just because Ellia has more experience than Hilargi. Hilargi is still so youthful in her mannerisms and tone… Nikodemus liked that about her, but something about adult conversation was addicting. Many of the women he had to sleep with were twenty years his junior, and often talked of the most vapid things. Even a woman who was just ten years his junior like Ellia was infinitely more enjoyable to hang out with than others.