Chapter 12: When you practice, you progress

The team attends their first self-defense class. After a news story, they discuss whether they would be willing to turn themselves in.

“Okay, sir, we have a busy day ahead of us,” Alicia said as soon as she walked into the lab. “We have Soman and Bree coming for the armor and non-Newtonian fluid and Tae coming for electricity tests and electric conductors.”

            “We have a busy day not doing our research?” Pagel clarified.

            “Yes sir,” Alicia replied. “However, this should not take long because I already have the fluid and found a program to design the armor plates. You could speed up the process by accessing a multimeter.”

            Alicia turned to see Bree and Soman bogged down with bags at the door. “Oh hello, nice to see you here so early.” She greeted cheerfully.

            “Come in, and meet Dr. Pagel,” She continued.

            Alicia gestured towards Pagel who was grabbing some DNA kits. “Hello, Soman, Bree,” Pagel said quickly. “Would you like to assist us in our research by giving a DNA sample?”

            Soman and Bree looked at each other, confused. “Uh, sure,” Soman answered with a hesitant smile. “What do we need to do?”

            Pagel handed both of them cotton swabs. “I just need some saliva, so gnaw on your cheek a little and swab it with your cotton-on-a-stick.”

            Soman adjusted his various bags before taking the cotton stick. They followed his instructions and placed it in specimen bags. “Okay, thank you, I will get these to the lab, so they can be karyotyped.”

            Pagel started walking away but stopped and turned around. “Nice to meet you two,” He said before leaving.

            “Nice to meet you too,” Soman called to Pagel’s receding figure down the hall.

            Bree turned to Alicia, a little wide-eyed. “He seems busy,” She commented.

            Alicia nodded. “He is trying to get some research done because what I am doing today is more about the team’s business than our research.”

            “That’s fair,” Soman replied. “Let’s get to work too, so you can help him out sooner rather than later.”

            “Alrighty, you have the measurements?”

            “Yes,” Bree answered, poking the satchel Soman is carrying.

            “Great, then let’s go to the 3D printer lab,” Alicia responded, taking the lead.

            She led them out of the radiology department and down several halls to a computer lab. She unlocked it and opened the door, letting the couple go in first. She approached the computer closest to the giant machine in the corner and logged in. She opened the program before explaining to the designers, “Okay, how this program works is it will take your measurements of diameter and length and construct a 3D model of the limb. From there, we can create a plate to cup the limb. We can scale it up by a centimeter to allow for the padding and that should be good. Do you understand?”

            “Yeah, we follow,” Soman replied, pulling out the measurements. “Here are the measurements.”

            “Cool,” Alicia commented, grabbing the notebook.

            She started typing into the program before pausing. “I forgot to load the printer with FEP. I’ll be right back.”

            Alicia jogged out of the room, returning a few minutes later. She opened a compartment of the printer and put FEP into it. Alicia returned to the computer and finished her first piece of armor, a chest plate for Kris. She showed Soman and Bree and they seemed to be impressed, smiling and nodding. Alicia printed the first plate.

            The machine whirred into action. It made a shoop-shoop noise as its printing part moved back and forth. They watched as a flat plate started forming on the platform beneath the printing part. When it stopped, Alicia moved to grab the plate; she held a hand over it, waiting for it to cool. She picked it up and held it to her chest. It covered the upper half of her ribs without curving too far onto her sides under her armpits. “Looks good,” Bree said from a chair.

            Soman agreed. Alicia feels the plate, trying to bend it. “It’s plenty sturdy,” Alicia commented before setting it down near Bree. “Will you keep these organized by person?”

            “Of course,” Bree answered.

            Alicia returned to the computer to print more plates while Bree took out a pen and tape. She labelled the plate as another printed. They continued this process until all the plates were printed. Soman took off his large backpack and placed the plates carefully into the bag. “Great, that’s done,” Soman said. “Where’s the fluid?”

            “Back in my lab,” Alicia replied while logging off the computer.

            She turned to them, smiling cordially. “If you will follow me please,” Alicia continued.

            She led them back to her lab where they found Pagel and Tae waiting. “Oh, good timing Tae,” Alicia said as she walked in.

            Tae raised a hand in hello. Alicia went to a counter and grabbed a closed gallon bucket. “Here is the non-Newtonian fluid.”

            Alicia handed it to Soman. “Uhh,” Soman said, laughing. “This is a lot of stuff weighing me down.”

            Bree pulled the satchel off his shoulder, commenting, “I can carry this, honey.”

            Soman thanked her and gave her a kiss. Alicia watched with a little smile on her face. “So how do you plan on using the fluid?” She asked.

            “We were thinking of sewing a pouch and filling it with the liquid before placing it into the pocket for the armor. To make sure it doesn’t leak, it is going to be several layers thick with a few millimeters wide opening to be sewn shut. Something like a water balloon.” Bree explained. “Don’t worry, we can handle it.”

            Bree smiled with confidence and Alicia nodded her head. “Alright, good luck,” Alicia responded, grinning. “I’m sure we’ll be visiting you soon.”

            Soman agreed, “Yep, just got put these plates in and we’ll have you in for fittings.”

            “Great,” Alicia commented, glancing at Tae. “You excited for fittings?”

            “Sure,” He replied nonchalantly, nodding once.

            Soman and Bree backed into the doorway, politely smiling. “Okay,” Soman said. “We’ll let you get to your other business. See you soon.”

            “Have a nice day,” Alicia responded, waving. “We’ll see you soon.”

            Soman and Bree left. Alicia looked at Pagel. “Did you get the multimeter?” She asked.

            Pagel rolled his eyes and point at the small machine on the counter. Alicia stepped closer and grabbed the nodes. “Okay, Tae, this is a multimeter,” Alicia explained. “It can measure a bunch of different things about electricity, but right now we are going to check out voltage of your lightning.”

            “So, we are going to attach one node to one hand and one to the other hand,” Alicia continued, handing Tae the nodes. “Then when you charge up, it will create a current through the machine and tell us the voltage, or intensity, of the electricity of your lightning. Usually one end is an anode and a cathode, however I think you work like a battery and simply put, this should work. If not, we’ll attach the cathode to something else. Go for it when you are ready.”

             Tae held each node between his forefinger and thumb. His hands flashed, and the multimeter exploded from the top scattering a few pieces around the room; what remained of the multimeter caught on fire. “Out!” Alicia shouted quickly.

            The fire went out. Pagel and Alicia looked at Tae. “On a scale of one to ten,” Pagel said calmly. “How much energy were you putting out?”

            Tae looked down in thought. “Maybe a five or six,” Tae answered.

            “It’s okay,” Alicia responded. “This multimeter can only take 600 volts. To get it to… blow up would only take some amount more than that… perhaps double it? Pagel?”

            “I’m not sure, electricity is not my specialty,” Pagel commented. “It had to exceed its top reading by several times, like hitting the little reader with literal lightning. I’ll go get another one.”

            Alicia nodded, chiding him to go, and Pagel left the lab. Turning to Tae, she asked, “Do you think you can feel it and control how much electricity flows through your hands?”

            Tae grimaced. “Yeah, I can feel it flowing and I can tell when it’s going to be strong, but I’m not so confident about stopping it or weakening it.”

            Alicia patted Tae on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we can work on it,” Alicia said, reassuringly. “That’s what practice is for.”

            Tae nodded. Alicia had an idea. “Hey!” Alicia started excitedly. “What if we give you a multimeter? You can practice using that.”

            Tae smirked, replying, “First, I have to prove that I can use a multimeter without blowing it up.”

            “True.”

            Pagel returned a few minutes later and set up the multimeter. After handing Tae the nodes, Pagel took a step back. Tae tried again, his hand flashing. The multimeter read 459V. Alicia cheered a little. “Good job, Tae,” She said. “I told you, you could do it.”

            “Sir, I told Tae that he could keep the multimeter to practice,” Alicia mentioned.

            Pagel shrugged. “Why not? We will have to add to our expenses two ‘broken’ multimeters and it should go over fine. So, about your idea, Alicia?”

            “Oh yes,” Alicia responded. “My idea is to get two iron bars and wrap them tightly with copper wire so that Tae’s electricity will get diluted and directed accordingly. It can create an electromagnetic field and or it could be used to conduct a current through a person without killing them.”

            “Without killing sounds good,” Pagel commented, while Tae nodded in agreement.

            “Great, so I will get to work on constructing those and I think we are good to go here.”

            Stretching his arms, Tae smiled hopefully. “When do you think they will be done?”

            “Before the end of next week,” Alicia answered. “I’ll give them to you next practice on Saturday.”

            Tae nodded. Pagel handed Tae the multimeter before rubbing his hands together. “Alright practice with this,” Pagel declared. “You are free to go because we need to work on our research.”

            “That is rude, Pagel,” Alicia rebuked before warmly addressing Tae. “I’ll see you at practice, Tae. Have a nice weekend.”

            “You too,” He said quietly before leaving.

            “Alright to work,” Pagel said. “The chemicals that coated the plants allowed for refraction and specialized absorption of radiation. It misses the nucleus and hits other cellular structures like chloroplasts. Now why do you think that is?”

+++++

             “Alright class, we have a large group of new people here, so we are going to go over the basics, fighting position, punching, and blocks or dodges for punches.”

            A small woman stood in front of a room of people. Silva had her hair back in a ponytail and wore a black sweat suit. She tapped her foot on the ground. “Let’s start with an ideal fighting pose,” Silva said, moving into position. “Your body should be rotated to the side so that your dominant hand is away from your opponent. Your feet should be diagonal, weaker foot in the front and dominant foot in the back. Keep your arms up, fists about shoulder high and the bony edge of your forearm facing towards the opponent.”

            Silva quickly walked around, looking at people’s poses. “Oh twins?” Silva commented, while walking past Kris and Q. “Nice to meet you.”

            “Nice to meet you too, Professor Silva,” Q chirped, shifting their weight.

            Kris awkwardly nodded and smiled, relieved that the ruse was accepted so readily. Q transformed into Kris preemptively to avoid any accidental transformations during the class. Silva kept moving, coming back to the front. “From here, let’s go over some punches. There are four main types: a cross, a jab, a hook, and an uppercut.”

            Silva moved into fighting position. “A cross is where you throw a punch with your dominant hand,” Silva explained, demonstrating.

            Her right hand whipped out from her body, rotating so the knuckles of her fist were shoulder high. “You see how my fist crossed my body? That’s where the name comes from. It is one of the stronger punches because it has a more significant windup from your dominant hand. This punch is good for any region of the body; high up for the face, straight forward for the chest, or a little lower for the abdomen. I would like you all to try it.”

            The class practiced throwing crosses. Silva watched intently before changing subjects. “Okay, good job everybody. Now to the jab; the jab is similar to the cross, but it uses the other hand. The other hand is closer to the opponent, so it is easier to quickly jab it out and strike them.”

            Silva moved her left hand out quickly, striking the empty air in front of her. “Again, this punch can land anywhere and it’s easier to reach the face or abdomen compared to the cross because the arm is closer to the opponent. Try it now.”

            The class threw some jabs before Silva got them back together. “Alright class, the next two punches are similar because you strike with a curved arm instead of straightening your arm. An uppercut is pretty simple; a curved punch in the upward direction. It is best for the chin and stomach. A hook is a curved punch from either hand coming in from the side. It is best for the face or ribs. Either option is difficult because it requires you to be close to your opponent, so be careful when using these punches. Please try these.”

            Paul took extra time practicing these, wiggling his eyebrows at Alicia, his sparring partner. “This would be great with vines,” He whispered to her.

            She nodded in agreement. “Any would be great,” Kris hissed at him with an eye roll. “Baby fists, remember?”

            Paul laughed lightly. He boxed more before Silva called the group’s attention. “Now those are the four defined punches, but honestly in a fight your opponent will just try to hit you. So now, we should talk about blocks and dodges. The best option is to dodge; it will be the least damaging response to an attack. You cannot always dodge an attack, so in those instances, try to direct a punch towards less critical spots such as your shoulders or upper arms. Yes, it may hurt, but it won’t as bad as if your internal organs or face is hit. The best way to practice this is by sparring, which we will get to after I discuss blocking.”

            Silva held up her arms. “For blocking,” She continued. “You can move a blow outward or inward. To do this, you move your arms to either side of the blow and push it aside, away from where the person was aiming. An outward block moves the blow outside your body, effectively making the blow miss your body. An inward block directs the attack to the inside of your body, which can reduce the damage by making it a glancing blow. Either option would be better than a direct hit. Now, I would like you to partner up to practice spar.”

            Paul turned to Alicia, Tae walked over to Theo, and the “twins” nudged each other’s shoulders. “Alright, find some space for the pairs to fight. Once you find your space, get into fighting position facing each other and when I see that everyone is ready, I will call you to start your fight.”

            The team shifted to the far wall of the room. The pairs faced each other with arms raised. Silva watched the class and nodded. Kris reached out and patted Q’s right hand; Q scowled temporarily and switched footing. Tae kept his arms down and his shoulders loose as he stood in front of Theo. Theo smiled lightly, but Tae didn’t respond, trying to stay focused. Paul bounced in place while Alicia cracked her knuckles. “Everybody gets five minutes to spar,” Silva said. “Ready, Go!”

            Paul was quick to start, throwing a cross at the go. Alicia stepped back to avoid it. Theo threw a jab. Tae blocked it and countered it with a light punch to the stomach. Theo grunted in surprise and tried again with a cross. Tae ducked below the punch and jabbed at his hip. “Come on,” Theo commented good-humoredly.

            Kris punched at Q who sidestepped. They threw a punch and Kris pushed it aside with a forearm. Kris tried again, aiming low. Q stopped it with two hands. Alicia threw a jab and Paul dodged into Alicia’s cross. Paul moaned in pain. “Nice combo,” He complimented as he crouched and punched.

            “Thanks,” She replied, grinning and turning away from the blow.

            Theo threw a punch and Tae grabbed it, directing it over his shoulder. He held the fist and nailed an uppercut in Theo’s gut. Theo exhaled sharply. Q got distracted by his reaction. “Hey, Kris,” Q whispered, taking a blow with their arm. “Ow! Did you see that uppercut? Tae is kicking Theo’s butt.”

            Kris glanced over and chuckled as Tae hit Theo again. Q punched Kris in the shoulder. Kris threw a punch at Q who quickly took a step back. Q took a step forward and lunged, bent at hips, aiming a close blow to Kris’s stomach. Kris pushed Q’s arm down and grabbed the back of Q’s neck, bringing up her knee to Q’s face. Kris stopped before her knee made contact. “Don’t put yourself out there like that,” Kris chided lightly, releasing Q. “You made your body open by putting all your energy in that punch.”

            Q nodded, rubbing the back of their neck. “Noted.”

            Paul tried a cross again. Alicia smacked it aside. She threw a punch towards Paul’s face. Paul ducked and punched her stomach. Alicia flexed her stomach reflexively only to feel a light tap. “I knew it,” She snapped, hitting his face with hook. “You are going easy on me!”

            “Ow!” He responded, using a hand to rub his jaw.

            Alicia punched him. He caught it and pulled. Placing a foot in front of hers, Paul pulled Alicia off her feet. “Claro, I went easy,” He said, looking down at her. “I wanted you to get some practice, not get beat up.”

            “I can handle myself,” Alicia huffed, getting up.

            Paul held out his hand. Alicia crouched and suddenly extended her leg, striking Paul a little below the knee. Paul crumpled to the ground, clutching his knee. Paul laughed through the stinging pain. “I’ll treat you differently from now on.”

            Paul got up slowly as an alarm went off. “Alright, class, that’s time for the sparring,” Silva called. “I’m sorry that we didn’t get a chance to do a boxing ring, maybe next time. You all did great and I will see you next week.”

            The team gathered outside the dojo. Kris playfully nudged Theo with gloved knuckles. “Did everyone see Tae kick Theo’s a*s?” Kris asked.

            The team laughed as Theo ruffled her hair in response. He turned to Tae, unable to damper his grin.  “Where’d you learn that?” Theo asked Tae.

            Tae shrugged. “You have to learn to fight when your trans,” He said quietly.

            Theo patted his shoulder. Q and Paul reached out to touch Tae, trying to reassure him. “Well, nobody can match you in a fight now,” Q commented.

            Tae nodded, putting on a smile. “Well, this was good practice, team,” Paul said, clapping once. “Let’s see if we can incorporate it into our regular practices too. Go home, get some rest. You all did great. We’ll see each other very soon.”

+++++

            “Power bubble burst,” Willow started. “Scientists at Kattegat Institute fess up that the explosive testing on Orange Day was in fact radioactive. And that radioactive fallout is resulting in human mutations. We covered an incident just last week on the subject where an attempted bank robbery by a man could control fire was thwarted by a pair of likewise super-powered individuals. However, that was just the beginning. Dozens of incidences have occurred since. Only a few have been criminal in nature, and all criminals of this ‘super’ caliber have been detained until further notice. Politicians in Kattegat are scrambling to figure out how to handle the situation and are currently urging the public to proceed as they normally would.”

            “Well, Maddox,” She continued after taking a breath. “You said last week that your concerns centered on the effect of these super-powered beings on society. What do you think those effects are, now that we know more?”

            Maddox shifted in his seat and clasped his hands together on the table before he started speaking. “I would like to begin by saying I don’t think these people are degenerates or that all of them are criminals. We can see from these events that just as some like to commit crimes, there are those who are willing to stop them. One instance had a known criminal, a felon. The bank robber from last week’s incident was Cole “Burning Man” Fueguito who was convicted of robbery and arson well before Orange Day.”

            Wilson nodded along to what Maddox was saying. “However, they, super-powered people, may still pose a threat to society. Many of these people were normal a month’s time ago, but now they have these amazing and dangerous powers. They don’t know how to use them, so they risk everyone’s safety by going out and pretending to act normal. I think politicians are doing the wrong thing by asking people to ignore the issue.”

            “What should they do instead?” Wilson interjected.

            “I think they should politely request that all people who have superpowers turn themselves over to the police or the scientists at Kattegat Institute. That way the public at large is safe, and research can be done on what caused this and how to manage it.”

            “You don’t want to treat them? Cure them or remove their powers?”

            Maddox shook his head. “That sounds unreasonable. Besides, some people may want to keep their powers and it is wrong to force a treatment on someone who does not consent to it.”

            “So, you want people to turn themselves in, but don’t want to treat them?”

            Maddox smiled. “Turning yourself over would be voluntary as would treatment, due to the strong belief in body autonomy we have as a society. This request would only bring in those who are willing to do this to make society safer. But at this point, the government isn’t doing anything about the issue so…”

            “So, all of this is hypothetical, a recommendation,” Wilson offered.

            Maddox nodded. Wilson thought before responding, “The biggest issue with your plan is that it would further separate and stigmatize this group of people. It would be harder for normal, or rather non-powered, people to see these super-powered people as their friends and neighbors. This could breed animosity between the two groups that would mostly result in a don’t ask, don’t tell policy.”

            “A political policy?”

            “No, a social one, implemented by society at large, especially if the non-powered people are the majority.”

            “But as you said, it would be voluntary.”

            “Only until the government says otherwise.”

            “Do you think they would make this mandatory?”

            Wilson had a quick comeback. “If super-powered people are a big enough risk, then yes. Then again, to make a mandatory, effective policy, they would need some sort of test to determine if a person is super-powered. To create a test, they would need research to determine what differentiates normal and super-powered people. To get research, they would need volunteers. And we are back to where we started needing super-powered volunteers.”

            “That wouldn’t stop the government from making it mandatory in the future.”

            “No, it wouldn’t, and I have a feeling that this mandatory versus voluntary segregation will be dependent on the behavior of super-powered people over the next several months.”

            Kris switched off the television and muttered, “Great.”

+++++

            Kris stood before her couch, which had the rest of the team sitting on or in front of it. Q, Alicia, and Paul sat on the couch, while Theo and Tae sat on the carpet. “Alright, thank you all for coming at such short notice,” Kris said.

            “Where’s the Chinese food?” Paul interjected.

            Coming,” Kris answered impatiently, running a hand through her hair. “Now to the actual topic at hand, the latest news report from the Katte’s Meow.”

            “The one that says that the government should detain us?” Paul clarified.

            Alicia faced him, eyebrows furrowed. “That’s not what Maddox said,” Alicia countered. “He said that the government shouldn’t be passive when it comes to people like us.”

            “And that the government should do research with volunteers,” Tae added.

            Theo nodded. “Then the whole segregation discussion happened,” he commented. “Which was crazy to hear.”

            Q looked around at their teammates, taking in the discussion. Paul stood up and moved beside Kris, taking control of the situation. Paul clapped his hands together, while Kris took his seat beside Q. “Maddox said that the segregation would be dependent upon good behavior. You know what that means?” Paul asked.

            “We have to be on our best behavior,” Kris droned, sinking into the couch.

            “And we gotta help others behave,” Paul added, pointing to her in acknowledgment. “Which is why I think it’s high time we start patrolling.”

            “Agreed,” Theo replied with other teammates nodding in approval.

            “Great, with everyone in agreement, I have gifts,” Paul declared.

            He walked over to his coat and pulled out a plastic bag. He took items out of the plastic bag, revealing animal masks. “A new snake one for Coral,” Paul started, tossing the snake mask to Kris.

            “A bear one for the big, strong Light and a zebra for the speedy, skilled Eon,” Paul continued, handing masks to Theo and Tae.

            “A fox mask for the foxy Queen B and a giraffe for the lovable Q.”

            Paul gave Q and Alicia their masks before placing his eagle mask back in the plastic bag and returning the plastic bag to his coat. “So, for the patrols,” Kris said. “It should be two people per patrol and each pair could patrol a different area of Kattegat.”

            “You know what would be nice?” Paul asked rhetorically before answering. “Knowing what crimes were in progress. That way we could find out about the super-powered ones and deal with them ourselves.”

            “That’s a great idea,” Alicia commented. “You should look into police radios.”

            Paul nodded. “What about the time of patrols?” Theo asked. “I work pretty early sometimes.”

            “Same,” Kris put in.

            “I’m thinking maybe late until midnight,” Paul responded. “If I figure out the police radio idea, then we could stay home and listen, be able to continue life for the most part. If it gets easier, we can take shifts so that not everybody is up late.”

            Knock knock. “That should be the Chinese food,” Kris said, getting up.

            She walked to the door and opened it. She took a brown bag full of food and paid the deliverer. Kris brought the brown bag over to the table. “Dinner time!” She called as she pulled containers of food out of the bag.

            “Two General Zhao, a sweet and sour chicken, honey garlic pork,” Kris listed. “A jiaozi set, and finally some lo mein.”

            People came and grabbed containers. Kris threw plastic utensils in the center of the table. Everyone found a seat and began eating. “So, if it came to it,” Theo said after swallowing. “Would you guys volunteer for research?”

            “We already did,” Kris replied moodily. “That’s what Alicia is doing with Pagel.”

            “That is secret research,” Theo said. “What Maddox is suggesting is public research. Would you volunteer for public research?”

            “Oh, I definitely couldn’t,” Paul answered. “Who would take care of Espe? I know we have family in Mexico, but I don’t want to take her away from here. She’s happy here.”

            Theo nodded. “I feel the same way about my grandma,” He said. “I know she can take care of herself, however I’m afraid that without me, no one will visit, and she’ll get lonely. I’m all she has.”

            “I would be tempted to,” Tae said quietly. “My family doesn’t like me; all I have is my theater troupe. If I was needed, I would go, only if they treat me like the human I am. You know?”

            “I do,” Kris responded. “I don’t want to be seen as a monster. I sometimes feel tempted to find a treatment, get rid of my powers, but I don’t want it to be seen as me trying to be normal… It’s complicated. If I anything, I want options for people who need it and that’s why I would do the research.”

            Q shook their head, looking pale. “I don’t want to turn myself over to any authority.”

            Alicia waved her fork with a piece of pork on it as she stated her opinion. “Well, I wouldn’t want to volunteer because I don’t like being the subject,” She said before taking a bite.

            “I’m a scientist,” She continued. “A researcher. I can’t be on the other side of the research because I would be frustrated not knowing the data. I need to know the data, and the researchers don’t tell subjects about the data because that could affect the data and stuff like that. And it would just drive me mad, so no, no research volunteering for me.”

            The team ate in silence until Paul commented, “So if none of us want to volunteer, then I think as a team, we don’t volunteer if it comes to that.”

            “Yeah, bright idea boss,” Kris replied sarcastically.

            “Even if it becomes mandatory?” Tae asked quietly.

            Paul reached over and patted Tae’s hand. He purposely met the eyes of every person at the table. “Yes,” Paul answered. “We are not giving ourselves up.”