1:50 P.M. Jericho sat in his car outside of Dr. Yohan’s office. It was an extravagant venue, one unfit for a therapist. A flashy therapist office in a downtown area appeared odd to Jericho, since he expected places like this to be more covert. Still, Jericho did not have many psychiatrist-office references in his head and for all he knew, this could be the standard.

The drive to the office took forty minutes, and he met some unfortunate road rage from other drivers. He tried his best to ignore them. The last time Jericho decided to tell off another driver, his car became enshrouded by a cloudy veil, and he had to pull off the road and wait half an hour before it disappeared. Screw that person, Jericho thought.

Jericho refused to get angry because today was the day. Today, Dr. Yohan would attempt to extract and trigger Jericho’s ability, and nothing would stop him from getting to his appointment on time.

Dr. Yohan called yesterday, and told him that he could proceed as planned, so no filler appointment to batter out the logistics of the procedure was needed. The doctor told Jericho that he was confident from the notes he took at the previous appointment, and that it would be better if he attempted the extraction the first time, and if it failed, then the second time would only be easier. Dr. Yohan had everything prepared, and his assistant was already up to speed with the procedure. The doctor gave Jericho a quick run down over the phone, and although things sounded great, Jericho was still cautious. Jericho wanted the extraction to proceed smoothly so more prep was not an inconvenience to him, but the way Dr. Yohan spoke over the phone persuaded Jericho to agree to doing the extraction the next day.

Jericho locked his car and entered the building. He was greeted with the cheerful receptionist, Amy. She used to be one of Dr. Yohan’s patients, and would always use it as a conversation starter with newer clients. She could be lying, but Jericho trusted her, well, at least the façade she created.

The words “Hello, Jericho,” and “So, that’s a confirmed appointment at 11:30 tomorrow?” came out from her mouth simultaneously. The left side of her mouth said, “Okay, sounds good! See you tomorrow!”

“Yes,” Jericho said. He took a seat. This was all custom to him at this point. The formalities were merely formalities, but he appreciated them.

“Let’s see. You have an appointment with Dr. Yohan at two?” Amy said. She now used her entire mouth to talk. “He’ll be with you in a bit!”

Amy had the ability to separately and simultaneously talk with the left and right side of her mouth. A conversation with one person with the right side of her mouth and another with her left side would be just as clear as two persons talking. It irked and baffled Jericho how her ability was possible even though abilities like telekinesis and fire wielding existed.

Her ability did not stop there. She could do many things ambidextrously and multi-task like no other. While her left hand wrote notes, her right hand could be editing appointments. It was similar to how Dr. Yohan could write ambidextrously, but the method was different. Essentially, Amy had a knack for multi-tasking. It was easy for her.

Or it could all be a bluff. She could be hiding her true powers and creating a fake one that others know of. It was not an uncommon practice for people to hide their true capabilities especially when their powers could be so much grander, and useful than what was perceived and shown. Being secretive about abilities led to advantages, and advantages led to success.

For all he knew, Amy could simply be a very smart person like Dr. Yohan, and she used her brain power to do such things. Perhaps her ability allows her brain to split into sections and she can pinpoint the tasks she wants to do, manipulating the things her brain was capable of.

Jericho thought about bluffing a lot, especially now, considering he could very soon wield his own ability. Dr. Yohan was still a problem. He would know Jericho’s true powers, and even if Dr. Yohan had a responsibility for upholding patient confidentiality, he would still know, and that bothered Jericho.

Still, most powers are latent in some regard. They do not fully become utilized until trained, and Jericho would still have to master his ability until then.

The thought of being detained for having an uncontrollable ability crossed his mind suddenly. It was not uncommon for people to be held in a facility for months or even years just so they would not inadvertently harm others or even themselves. Living in a facility was not something Jericho wanted to do, but he supposed that if it was necessary then he would. An unresponsive, sporadic ability would do him some worry, but a couple years training to control his powers would be better than an entire lifetime of being ridiculed for having none. Only a few years had gone by without powers, and he was already tired of it all. Training for a couple years would also be better than a controllable, lackluster ability. By that point he would-

“Jericho?” Amy said. “Jericho!”

Jericho looked up. Amy had buzzed open the door for him. He smiled apologetically. The door was beginning to close, but he managed to slide in before it fully did.

“A lot on your mind?” Dr. Yohan asked. He was waiting behind the door.

“Yes,” Jericho said. “But you already knew that didn’t you?”

“I do, but I am still a human after all. It does not hurt for one to be kind,” Dr. Yohan said.

Jericho grunted. Where was this kind doctor for the past few months? Dr. Yohan guided Jericho to his office in the back.

“Hello, Jericho.”

Jericho jumped from the words, and his heart raced even more when he realized that Dr. Yohan’s assistant, Corrine, was directly behind him. Jericho broke into a cold sweat. She stood there with eyeliner perfectly matched with her blood-shot, baggy eyes. Her dark outfit reminded him of a witch that accidentally travelled into the future.

Apart from her appearance she was a rather nice person, perhaps as nice as Amy. Her energy simply exuded terror, but she explained before that the persona she created made her powers work better. Dr. Yohan’s assistant was not only skillful at amplifying abilities, but also for creeping out Jericho.

“Doing well?”

“Amazing,” Jericho said.

“Take a seat,” Dr. Yohan said, and he began to work.