Sunday, October 19th. 9:00 AM.
After the rather lengthy and in-depth lecture Daina and I sat through, William finally took us inside of the 'Dojo', or 'Training Room.'
To my utter shock and surprise, there were meditation mats at the southwest corner, an assortment of various exercise equipment from weight lifting tools to treadmills and everything in between arranged along the length of the east wall stopping just before the door, and simple wooden dummies in the center of a running track. The room was bigger than the lab, heck it was larger than perimeter of the house above ground! "William, how did you set up all this in just several hours!?"
"Actually, this room is often in use by that former staff I vaguely mentioned to you, Bill," William replied. "He comes here from time to time to further hone his control."
"Former staff?" asked Daina in confused as she stopped checking out the room.
"I'm sorry, but I am can't speak about him. You will probably eventually get to meet him yourselves; when, I cannot say." If anything, I was made even more confused, but I did not feel like pressing the matter. Daina seemed to resign herself to that as well. "Anyway, it's time to have some fun." William went to the center of the west wall. He pushed his hand against a particular spot and a shelf like slot popped out as part of the wall above parted left and right to reveal a huge screen. William took out what looked like black dog collars. "These are transmitters that will read your internal energy and send data to this monitor." William pointed at the screen. "If you would, please place them on your necks."
Daina and I exchanged glances before moving towards him and taking one each. As soon as we placed them on, the monitor lit up with various information, stuff like our heart-rate, brain activity, our body temperature and even how much energy was currently in our body. The energy count had both a gross total and subdivisions for chemical, heat, electric, and Potential Plasma Energy; that is Plasma Energy not being currently utilized, or Plasma Energy at rest so to speak.
Chemical energy represented the activity in each and every cell in our body, basically a measure of our very vitality. The heat was the smallest component, denoting the constant 32 degrees Celsius being maintained by homeostasis so that our cells could work properly. The electrical component represented all the electrical signals traveling to and fro throughout our nervous system, plus Plasma Energy traveling from Pyrium molecule to molecule in the form of an electric current. The largest component by far was the Potential Plasma Energy count.
Daina had a total count of approximately 40 mega Joules, and despite me being younger I had a whopping 90 mega Joules! The shock on William's face told me everything; this was unusual. I had a rather large electrical energy component compared to Daina, for one thing; but my Potential Plasma Energy component was also no less staggering.
"Bill, I thought Daina was a special case, but you might just be something else entirely," commented William. "Even the Researcher was just barely above 70 MJ by the time he invented this data monitor system to evaluate himself."
"Wow… I guess I am pretty lucky." A thought came to me. "Hey, my large electrical component might just explain the faint crackling sound I hear coming from my body when I sit still. I mostly ignored it during the lecture."
"I guess you might be electrically focused instead of magnetic."
"Hey, maybe I could be both. So, how do we find out what we can do?"
William allowed a smirk to appear on his face. "First of all, you have a high starting capacity, Bill. You will find that by now, if you didn't have your Plasma Band on, your energy would probably be going haywire and harming your body. You are going to have to work real hard to be able to truly control your energy."
"Aw, really!?" This was news to me.
"First, let's get started on 'tempering your vessels.' Come and sit you two." William went over to the meditation mats. "This might look boring, but this is the first step. You'll want to be one in mind and body, especially since your mind will play the most pivotal role in controlling your energy."
"You sound like a monk," joked Daina.
William chuckled before demonstrating what sitting position we should adopt. "Follow after me." His legs were tucked underneath him, his eyes were closed and his hands were clasped together over his chest. He looked like he was praying. I sat down on a mat and copied him, quickly finding that the position was slightly uncomfortable. "First, just focus on your breathing. Steady yourself, become like a rock; unwavering and strong."
"Unwavering and strong," I repeated quietly before inhaling and exhaling.
"Be as a pond with a flat surface; level and undisturbed," William added.
"Level and undisturbed," repeated Daina.
I was not sure what to expect, and as I kept my eyes closed and manually breathed I somewhat lost track of time. At some point though, I entered into a state of indescribable serenity. I could feel the energy coursing through my body, occasionally making a strong surge in my right wrist, probably due to the influence of my band. "Your energy wants to be your friend, your partner," said William out of the blue, breaking the silence. "You must be warm and inviting. You must purge all doubt and skepticism. You control your energy not by forcing it, but by guiding it."
Warm and inviting, huh? I felt really at peace, like all was right in the world. Then I began to feel a foreign energy; foreign but also quite familiar. Keeping my eyes closed, I turned towards it, locking on it. I cracked an eye open, finding that I was looking at Daina. "Wow…" I fully opened my eyes. Daina was the picture of peace and grace, her body glowing in a faint purple light. Her hair was waving slightly, even though there was no wind inside this room. She was smiling the most divine smile I had ever seen. I became enthralled, unable to tear away my gaze, losing my concentration in the process.
"Bill! You have to focus!" William's warning came way too late.
"Wha-AAAHH!" I screamed as my body underwent a brief but dreadful electrocution, slumping over to the side out of the position. "Owww!"
"Billy!" Quick as a flash, Daina was over me checking for any wounds. The speed at which she had moved was almost imperceptible to anyone with normal vision, but I was able to somewhat follow it even in my pained state. "What happened!? Are you okay?"
I let out a heavy breath before trying and failing to get up. "Um… I think I'm okay… but I can't move… at all." It was not just that I was paralyzed; my arms and legs refused to even twitch, as if my brain signals were blocked from those limbs. My chest hurt and felt tight.
"Don't force it," coached William. "Try to relax. Focus on your Plasma Band. Return to the rock in the pond."
"I'll try…" I closed my eyes, and tried to feel my energy. My energy was erratic, out of control. My right wrist hurt as I felt the energy fighting with my band. I latched onto the energy, imagining it as dirty water and my band as a filter. I thought about running the water through the filter, obtaining clean water in the process. Slowly, I felt my body come out of arrest. My energy gradually calmed down. I felt my muscles tense up. "Huh?" I got up, rather quickly at that. I stared at my hands.
"Bill? Are you better now?" asked Daina.
"Yeah… Actually, I feel great. I also feel like I can't sit still." I began walking away, still staring at my hands. The ground moved under me rather quickly. "Hey…" I stopped and looked up to see I was already standing before the door, despite being sure than I was walking slowly. I turned back to William and Daina. Daina was staring at me in shock, while William was studying the monitor, leading me to look at it as well. "Whoa!"
Sure enough, my total energy had dropped slightly, down to 86 MJ, however both my Chemical and Electrical components had risen, meaning some of my Potential Plasma Energy was converted into those two. "Bill, try running on the track," suggested William. "The collar will record your speed."
"Okay." I ran to the track, noting with shock and surprise that I was moving way faster than I intended, over shooting the course and barely stopping in time to avoid crashing into the dummies. "What the!?"
"Bill, you're so fast!" exclaimed Daina.
"Amazing! That was 9 meters per second!" exclaimed William.
This time, I meticulously walked to the track, trying my best to move slowly. With every step, I could hear the electric crackling sound in my body rise and fall like a wave, feel how effortless each movement was. I felt like racecar burning nitrous oxide, like a juiced up machine. "You're right, William. This is amazing." I stopped at a white line which marked the start.
William produced a stopwatch. "Bill, the track is 300 meters all around. Do three laps as quickly as you can. Ready?" I nodded before getting down to my hands. "Set." I lifted up my rear. "Go!"
I rocketed off. I ran as fast as I could, which lead my surroundings to bleed into a blur. I had to keep my gaze down on the course in front of me in order to stay on it. Before long the first lap passed, then the second. I ran at top speed for almost a minute straight, finally stopping on the third lap. By then, whatever effect I was under was over and I was actually breathless and tired. "How… did… I.. do?" I asked between breaths as I turned to William and the monitor. The screen read eighteen meters per second. I had actually run the nine hundred aggregate meters in exactly fifty seconds, a feat I was sure a normal human could not replicate, not even a doping athlete. "Whoa, I am… definitely… sure I… couldn't… do that… before."
"Eighteen!? That is way, way faster than any famous athlete has done," commented William. "Still, you seemed to have used quite a lot of energy." Sure enough, my total count had dropped all the way to 35 MJ!
"I'll give the course at try, next," said Daina. I went over to a mat and watched as she went to the starting line. "Here I go." Daina began to run. I noticed that she was pushing herself, but she was not running as fast as I just did. She took 78 seconds to do the three laps, meaning her top speed was around a measly 12 meters per second, well within a well trained but normal athlete's capacity! And when she was done, she was even more exhausted than me and just collapsed like a sack of potatoes!
"Daina, are you okay!?" I would have gotten up to go check on her if I was not feeling so lethargic.
"My body is screaming…" Daina replied as William went to help her up.
I looked at the monitor, and the reading put Daina's remaining total at 15 MJ. "I suppose we are just too new at this…"
"My apologies for allowing you to punch above your weight class, so to speak," said William. "Don't worry; you will get better once you start exercising." William gestured to all the equipment against the east wall. "For now, you two sit on the mats and rest for a bit. You don't need to meditate. Let me just fetch you some refreshment." William brought Daina over and helped her down before moving towards the door. "Why don't you talk about your experience just now while you wait?" With that he was gone.
"Bill, I don't think I'm built for speed like you," said Daina after moment, leading me to turn to her. "While I was running, at first it was nothing. But my body gradually began to feel heavier. Towards the end I started to slow down. How was it for you?"
"Actually, I think my body was in some sort of amplified state," I said. "I did not feel tired until I felt my body… power down, for lack of a better description." Daina's eyes widened. "I think I accidentally tapped into some sort of Power-Up, if you will. It would explain why I suddenly used up so much energy, why my chemical and electrical energy readings went up."
"That does make sense… I wonder if I can do it too."
"Maybe if I can figure it out… I could teach it to you?" I offered.
Daina just smiled. "Hey, we're both beginners to all this "Plasma Power" stuff. Maybe we shouldn't sweat it just yet. I think we'll get some answers when we finally meet this fabled brother-in-law of William's."
I returned her smile, even chuckling a little. "You're right, Sister." Daina just increased the intensity of her smile at that, causing me to blush.
When William returned, he did not just bring drinks, he also brought our schedule. We would be doing exercises until we dropped, meditation while resting to efficiently recover our energy, and then have lunch, an hour break, and then more exercise until 5:00 PM. Around that time, Julie would come from work and we would share an early dinner. Our bedtime was 8:00 PM sharp, so after dinner until that time Daina and I were free to do whatever we wanted.
Realizing that I would have a ton of catching up to do when I would finally get back to school, I asked William for permission to use his computer. I wanted to keep up my end of my father's bargain, after all. I even called home to tell my parents about this plan, and Dad was especially pleased at my great thinking. Daina and I finally got hear Ameera's voice again, and she did not sound like someone having a good time. Almost losing her brother, and fairly new but no less dear big sister-figure was a heart-wrenching ordeal, I could be sure. We reassured her that we were okay and that she was get to see us next week. By then it should be a lot safer for us.
Daina and I worked hard, as there was nothing to it but to do what we had to do. Each day, we gradually got the hang of the various exercises and equipment, and we felt more in tune with our Plasma Energy. Our maximum energy capacity rose as well; bit by bit, it was higher every morning when we checked on the monitor. By Saturday, October 22nd, I was at 130 MJ while Daina was at 75 MJ.