way.”
“You could have warned us!” Michael argued, obviously on Sandra’s side. “You can’t just
mess with people this way!”
“What’s done is done though,” Billy murmured, looking at Michael and Sandra. “You took
the drug and you’ve been changed. We all have, maybe with the exception of George. So why
don’t you stop arguing and figure out exactly howyou’ve been changed?”
“That is an excellent way of looking at things,” Dr. Carnesby said heartily, grinning at
Billy. “Besides, no one else has to know about what abilities you may have now. No one else will unless you tell them. I am bound by the confidentiality agreement. The only people I will be
telling are my superiors who organized the trial.”
“So, what? You just want us to experiment and hope we don’t get hurt? Or hurt anyone
else?” Amy asked, staring at her fingers again. “What if we can’t control whatever our new
abilities are?”
“We’ll go slowly and Jane will be monitoring every step,” Dr. Carnesby reassured her. “I
can understand why you might be afraid, Amy, with your apparent affinity with fire. But I can
promise you that we will be carefuland I don’t think any of you should explore your abilities
alone.”
Silence reigned at the table again as everyone got lost in their thoughts. It was a lot to
absorb. Suddenly, I felt a hot flash of jealousy go through me. All the others had gotten these
new powers and I got nothing? Even though I went through the same sickness, the same
regimen as all the others? It didn’t seem quite fair and I could feel my hands clenching into fists.
I wanted to smash something, break things, do something to release all the anger and jealousy I
was feeling.
A gasp startled me out of my thoughts and I looked up to meet Amy’s frightened eyes.
Her gaze flicked down to my hands and back up to my face, her eyes even wider than before.
Confused, I looked down at my hands and felt my mouth dropping open. My fists had somehow
turned into hammers on the end of my arms! I still had feeling in them, felt like they were a part
of me. But there were indisputably hammers at the end of my arms where my hands should be.
Shaking, I wished desperately for my hands back, all anger forgotten.
Slowly, the hammers melted away and my fingers reformed. My fists appeared,
clenched, and I stretched out my hands with a sigh of relief. My heart was hammering in fear
and wonder, hysterical laughter bubbling in my chest again. I took several deep breaths, trying
not to break down in laughter or in tears. “Guess I’m not the odd one out,” I murmured, clenching and unclenching my hands.
Feeling the urge to be somewhere, anywhere else, I shoved away from the table and picked up
my plate. I dropped it into the sink and headed out to the laboratory, wanting to use the
treadmill. Hopefully, if I kept my body busy for a little bit, I would be able to get used to what had
happened to all of us. It seemed so fantastic, unreal, like something out of a book.
I started out at a walk on the treadmill and quickly sped up to running. My feet ate away
the time, keeping up a measured pace on the treadmill. I couldn’t decide if I were upset or
interested that this had happened. I was definitely curious about the extent of my new ability,
whether it was limited to my hands turning into hammers. Or to just my hands and not the rest of
my body.. I guess this was where experimentation was going to come in. I heard footsteps
behind me and slowed the treadmill, allowing me to look behind myself without the risk of
braining myself on the machine. Billy stood there, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.
“Hey,” he said diffidently, not meeting my eyes. “I just wanted to come see how you
were. I can... hear you, all the way at the other end of the building.”
“Hear me?” I repeated, stopping the treadmill and stepping off it. I breathed deeply for a
few seconds before looking up at Billy. “I wasn’t talking out loud.”
“No, no you weren’t,” Billy agreed, shaking his head. “That’s my ability, apparently. I’ve
become a telepath. I could hear you thinking and your thoughts kept going around and around
in circles. So I thought I’d come and see if you wanted to talk. I was getting sick of hanging
around Sandra. She keeps mucking about with emotions and it’s exhausting.”
“A talk would be nice,” I admitted, shaking my head. “I seem to have hit a dead-end in
my own thinking, so maybe bouncing ideas off of you would help. Can I take a shower first?”
Billy nodded and stepped aside so I could get past him and into the hallway. To be
honest, talking to someone sounded wonderful right now. It would help me get out of my head
and remind me I wasn’t the only one who’d changed. I showered quickly and got dressed, meeting up with Billy again in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, picking morosely at a
leftover pancake.
“You ok?” I asked, concern on my face as I took a seat at the table.
“I will be, I think,” Billy said, his eyes finally meeting mine. The violet seemed muted
somehow, darkened. “It’s just that everyone’s thoughts are so loud right now. I can’t seem to
shut them out.”
“We don’t have to talk now, if you aren’t up to it,” I offered, moving to get up. “I won’t
pretend to understand what you’re going through but I won’t force company on you.”
“I sought you out, remember?” Billy chuckled and pushed the pancake bits away. “You’re
the quietest person here. I had to listen carefully to actually hear what you were thinking rather
than just a garbled hum. Your mind is very selfcontained.”
“I’m used to keeping myself to myself,” I shrugged diffidently. “I can tell you, it’s a
whirlwind in here. I can’t seem to get my thoughts to settle. Nor can I seem to decide how
exactly I feel about all this. Exasperated, excited, scared, thrilled, nervous, confused, curious.
They’re all blending in my mind and making it hard to think.”
At that moment, Sandra rushed into the room, a smirk on her face. She seemed to be
almost glowing with happiness and her deep brown eyes were glittering somewhat maliciously.
She studied us for a moment before darting around behind me and crouching down.
“Hide me for a few minutes?” she hissed at me. “I stimulated anger in Amy and Michael
and now they want to fight with me.”
Before either of us could answer, Michael and Amy stormed into the kitchen and glared
around the room. I could tell they were looking for Sandra and decided to be on her side just this
once. Though, if something like this happened again and it was her fault, I’d let her deal with her
own consequences.
“Where’s Sandra?” Amy growled, her fingers curling into claws. She looked about ready
to rip the other woman’s eyes out. “I don’t know,” I replied, shrugging. “Why?”
“She’s messing around with us, making us feel things,” Michael replied, his voice low
with anger. “I’m sick of it and I want her to stop.”
“She’s not here,” Billy said, rolling his eyes. “You might want to try the lab? Or maybe
even her room? She might have ducked in there.”
Amy and Michael left without another word, shoving at each other as they walked down
the hallway. They headed to Sandra’s room first and as soon as they l
eft, Sandra stood up.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling at both of us.
“You shouldn’t be messing with them like that,” Billy chided her. “What happens if you
spark a killing rage in one of them and they kill you? Or hurt themselves or someone else? You
need to be careful with your ability, Sandra.”
“Oh, I know that,” Sandra said airily, waving Billy’s concerns away. “I just wanted to see
if I could.It won’t happen again.”
With that, Sandra walked back to the laboratory with careful, quiet steps. If she was
lucky, Michael and Amy wouldn’t find her until after their tempers cooled. Billy just shook his
head, staring after Sandra with a worried look on his face.
“She’s not worried at all about the consequences of her actions,” Billy murmured
thoughtfully, talking more to himself than to me. “She thinks it’s all a thrill and nothing can
possibly hurt her. She doesn’t even feel guilty for causing negative emotions in people. It’s just a
game.”
“She’ll come to her senses one way or another,” I replied, just as softly. “Sandra is a
good person, just like the rest of us. She wants to be a DA, remember? You can’t be all that bad
of a person and want to go into a job like that.”
Billy turned his eyes back to mine, disbelief clearly reflected in them. He shrugged and
let it go; there wasn’t really anything that we could do about it now. He studied me, his eyes clear and very direct. I fidgeted a little bit under Billy’s gaze; it felt like he was studying me from
the inside out. Which, considering his new ability, may very well be the case.
“I won’t intrude on truly private things,” Billy said, sadness and a hint of reproach in his
voice. “But I can’t help hearing some things. I guess surface thoughts, I’d call them.”
“That’s... good,” I said hesitantly, not wanting to offend Billy. “There are some things I
want to keep to myself, you know? So how about you? How are you adapting to your shiny new
power?”
Billy laughed dryly and shrugged. He broke my gaze and looked around the kitchen, his
eyes skittering here and there. I thought for a moment that he looked hyped up on something
but then realized it must be all the voices he was hearing. Suddenly, sympathy overrode all the
other feelings I had at the moment; it must be pure hell hearing everything and not being able to
block anything out.
“I’m getting used to it, I guess,” Billy said. He turned back to me but didn’t meet my eyes
this time. “I’ve always distanced myself from people and I find it supremely ironic that I’m the
one who turned into a telepath. I’m working on blocking out thoughts but it’s very slow going.”
“What’s it like? Hearing all of us, I mean,” I asked quickly, not able to hold the question
back.
“It’s weird, I feel like you guys are all talking to me at the same time,” Billy mused,
looking around the kitchen again. His fingers tapped arhythmically at the table as he continued,
“And you’re all talking at different sound levels. It’s very distracting but it does allow me to
concentrate on an individual person. Though I’m a bit terrified to be in a really large group of
people.”
“I’m sorry,” I offered. “I don’t even want to thinkabout what I’d do if I became a telepath.
There are some things I’m quite happy not knowing.” “Yeah, luckily none of us are mass murderers or pedophiles or something,” Billy drawled,
a smile lighting his face for a moment. “But what about you? Your thoughts seem to have settled
a little bit since we started talking.”
“Mostly because we were talking about you,” I replied, chuckling. I could feel my heart
rate pick up again, anxiety filling my mind. “I like getting people to talk about themselves. It’s
amazing what you can learn about humanity from hearing people talk. But I’m dealing, I guess.
It’s difficult. I mean, what use is hands turning into hammers going to be?”
“You could use it at accidents,” Billy said after a few minutes. “You could help get people
out of wrecks. Or you could go into construction. Never lose your hammer orslam your thumbs.”
I laughed warmly at that, relaxing as I’m sure Billy intended. He was very good at putting
people at ease and I wondered where he learned it.
“My sister has an anxiety disorder,” Billy said. “I read up on calming techniques and how
to deal with what were, basically, panic attacks.”
“Well, at least your ability is going to come in more handy than mine,” I grumbled a little
bitterly. It didn’t really seem strange that he was able to pick up on my thoughts anymore. It
actually saved a lot oftime in conversations. “I’m afraid that I’m going to hurt someone or
something.”
“Why would you hurt someone?” Billy asked reasonably. “Your hands changed back as
soon as you concentrated on them.”
“Yes, but they changed without me directing it the first time,” I countered. “I was angry
and afraid and clenching my fists. I didn’t even know my hands had changed.”
“But you’re, at heart, a kind person. You aren’t going to want to hurt someone unless it’s
in selfdefense,” Billy pointed out. “If you learn control, you won’t even have to worry about that.
Have you tried anything since breakfast?” “No but I have been thinking really hard about it,” I admitted, scrubbing a hand over my
afraid to test it because what if I can’t change back?”
“You did once,” Billy said logically. “And if you practice with other people around, they
could help you. You know Amy won’t let you stay stuck. She cares about you a lot.”
I thought about that, staring down at the table. Billy was silent and let me work through
my thoughts, which I was thankful for. He could probably follow each one anyways and didn’t
really need to add to them. I knew Amy would help me with pretty much anything,just like I’d
help her. And if I mastered this transformation or shapeshifting or whatever it was, I wouldn’t
have to worry about accidentally hurting someone. I’d have control over it and I could help
people who might need it. Billy’s comment about helping in accidents came back and I really
liked the idea.
“So?” Billy asked as I came to the end of my chain of reasoning. “Feeling better?”
“Yeah, I am, thanks,” I said, smiling at him. “Though I’d be much more reassured if you
helped as well. What if I’m in a form where I can’t speak or hear? I bet a telepath would come in
handy.”
“I suppose one would,” Billy said slowly, though his small smile told me he was messing
with me. “No better time than the present to start. Where do you want to practice?”
“The lounge?” I suggested. “It should be empty right now.”
Billy nodded and got up from the table. Before leaving, he cleaned up the bits of
pancake he’d shredded and dumped them in the garbage. We headed to the lounge, hearing an
argument between Michael and Amy as we walked down the hallway. I chuckled a little bit at
that; Amy had always had a volatile personality and it seemed Michael did too with Sandra’s
influence. We stopped in the lounge and I looked around, trying to decide where we should go.
“How about we sit in the armchairs?” Billy suggested. “It might be easier if you’re
comfortable.” I nodded and dragged one armchair over to sit across from another one. Billy dropped
into the chair and crossed his legs underneath him. I sat down and rested my arms on the arms
of the chair. I took several deep breaths then closed my eyes. I wanted to focus on my hands
first, wondering if I could change them into something other than hammers.
“That’s probably a good start,” Billy commented. “We can work up to your whole body
and keep things safer that way.”
I nodded, still with my eyes closed, and concentrated. I wanted to turn my hands into
something other than hammers. I thought about it then smiled. What if I could turn them into
spatulas or something? I held the image in my head, my fingers melting and flattening and my
hands turning into flat spatulas. I started when I heard Billy snort and opened my eyes. He was
looking at me with his hands over his mouth, struggling to contain a laugh. I looked down and
saw my hands had indeed turned into flesh-colored spatulas.
“Really?” Billy chuckled. “That’s what you went with?”
“They could be useful for cooking,” I replied, shrugging and grinning. I concentrated and
turned my hands back. It didn’t take quite as long this time and I felt that I was getting used to
this. “I guess that answers the question if I can turn into more than hammers. Now I want to find
out if more than my hands can change.”
“Go for it,” Billy said, waving a hand at me. “I’ll be able to follow what you’re
concentrating on and pull you out if anything goes wrong.”
I closed my eyes again and tried to figure out what I wanted to turn in to. Then I
remembered that when I was little, I always wanted to be a tiger. I concentrated on a tiger’s
form, getting the image perfect in my head. Then I imagined myself turning into the tiger. I felt
an odd pull as my bones shifted and changed. It was intense but not quite painful. I didn’t let go
of the image and finally felt everything settle into place. I didn’t need Billy’s gasp to tell me I’d
succeeded. I opened my eyes and took in my new form. I had tumbled off the chair as I changed and was on the ground. My eyes were sharp for