turning to face the semi-circle of expectant faces. “It’s something I’ve never seen before.” He looked to Min who was still standing nearby. “You may put the Block back on her now. Best to keep it there for the time being.”
Min did as she was asked, taking my Sciathed arm in her hands and mumbling over it again. Just as the last syllable was spoken my new sense disappeared, taking with it the awareness of not only my own ability, but of everyone else’s as well. The gentle brushes against my mind were gone, leaving me totally normal once again, and honestly, a bit lonely. Subconsciously, I reached out, searching for the presence of the abilities again, but they were gone.
Jocelyn stepped forward, growing impatient. “You mentioned abilities, Cormac,” he probed. “Is she a Reader as you are?”
“I thought so at first,” Cormac answered, leaning forward. “The way she senses – that is to say, the feeling of each individual ability – is almost exactly the way in which I sense abilities when I Read someone. Initially the only difference between us that I noted was that, while I must have physical contact in order to Read, she was able to sense everyone in the room simultaneously, with no need for a physical touch. But then I noticed the attraction between her own ability to the abilities of those around her. The draw there was most unique, and quite unintentional on her part. And that’s when I saw it.” He turned back to me, placing a hand on my knee. “Becca, do you know what you did there at the end? The connection you forged between us?”
“Yes… I think. What about it? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No, no, not to worry, I was only startled,” he assured me. “But you know what I am referring to? When you made your ability one with mine?”
“Yes?”
“That is your ability,” he said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Wait, what?”
“In that moment, when your power melded with mine, you were able to use my Reading ability as your own – or would have been able to, if you’d realized what was happening. That is what she does.” He addressed everyone. “She can borrow the ability of any Holder within her sensing radius – I’d say thirty feet or so – and use it as her own. Moreover, she is not limited to just one ability at a time. With all of us here, she could impart thoughts, cast images, and read minds, all the while flying every book on these shelves around the room.”
Everyone else in the room was silent as they processed what Cormac had said, making me the only one to speak. “So, I can do anything that the people around me can do?”
“Exactly. And in turn, were you to be completely alone, you wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.”
“Wow!” was all I could think to say.
“She’ll need to be trained,” Cormac said to Jocelyn, who had begun to pace slowly around the room. “She will need to learn how to use and control each ability individually. Min can lessen the restraints of the Block gradually, that way she can learn slowly and become accustomed to the characteristics and feel of each ability.”
“What about the Iris?” Jocelyn asked. “How does it factor into all of this?”
“I believe that the true power of the Iris is an ability to magnify a Holder’s power.” Cormac stood and begin to gesture with his hands as he spoke. “That is what I believe happened to the rest of us at the test. As the Iris was overpowering Becca, it was giving off residual power that heightened our abilities. Heightened them so much, in fact, that we were no longer able to control them, even with our Sciaths on. That is what I believe the Iris will do for her.”
“Do you mean it will heighten her own ability, or the abilities she assumes from others?” Mr Reid asked, scratching his chin.
“Both,” Cormac replied. “Take you for instance, Reid. If Becca were to use your kinetic ability as her own, she could only ever be as powerful as you are. The same goes for all of us – she can only be as strong at any one ability as the Holder she assumed it from. However, with the Iris in her possession, I believe she will be able use any ability to its fullest extent, no matter the power level of the original Holder.”