«Welcome to the Nemlyth Institute!», as soon as Nathan crossed the threshold, a girl with short brown hair almost attacked him. Dawn introduced her as her best friend, Ellen.

«Calm down, you're scaring him.» Dawn said, moving her friend away from the door to allow Nathan to enter.

The room was a small living room. There was also a sofa and a huge carpet in the center, in front of a television connected to a console. Sitting on the ground playing were two boys, who stopped as soon as they saw them enter.

Standing with her back against the wall was a girl with long rusty red hair. She seemed pretty irritated, perhaps because they had been woken up in the middle of the night, by a poor text, to meet a stranger. They were all wearing pajamas, they had wasted no time in changing.

Next to the sulking girl, there was another young woman, with gray eyes and long brown hair, tied in two pigtails, who instead seemed rather calm.

A little boy, with black hair and blue eyes, entered shortly after them. He crossed his arms and began to scrutinize Nathan. «Is he the new one?»

«Yeah.» Dawn answered him.

«I have to say it, he looks really cute.» said a female voice, which seemed to come from the sofa in the center of the room. When Nathan looked, though, he didn't see anyone.

Dawn sighed. «Meg, there's no need to blend in here.»

«The principal's daughter is a big nuisance.», suddenly a girl appeared on the sofa. Her hair was a lavender color, which contrasted with the green of her eyes.

«You made us come here, in the middle of the night, for him?» the red-haired girl complained. «Couldn't we meet him tomorrow?»

«Sam isn't entirely wrong.» the black haired boy said a few steps away from Dawn and Nathan.

«We're all pretty tired, actually.» the sofa girl also agreed.

Dawn tried to restore order. «Guys, guys please. Be quiet for a moment.» she said, moving towards the center of the room, so she could keep an eye on them all. «I called you because I would like him to join the Council, and take part in the rescue missions with us, starting tomorrow.»

Everyone's attention shifted from the principal's daughter to the boy she had brought with her.

«Is he one of the ones we were missing?» Ellen asked, quickly approaching the newcomer. «Did you really find him? What powers does he have? Who is his ancestor?»

«Ellen calm down.», Dawn reached her and pulled her away from Nathan. The boy looked confused, and almost afraid. «You have to forgive them. I know this will all look like a madhouse to you now, but you'll get used to it.», Dawn then turned to the others. «Let him breathe.»

«Yes ma'am.» Sam, the red-haired girl, replied sarcastically. 

«So? What power do you have?», one of the two boys who was on the ground got up and approached Nathan. «What are you able to do?»

«I…», Nathan looked at the young girl with purple hair. «Th-that girl... came out of the sofa... », apparently the scene of a few moments before had particularly struck him.

«Technically I wasn't on the couch, I was camouflaged on it. It's just one of my powers.»

«Megan is seventeen and can camouflage herself. She also has much more developed senses than a normal human being.» Dawn explained to Nathan. «She can sense any sound or movement, even of the smallest insect on Earth.»

«I'm Jeyson.», the blond haired boy who had approached Nathan earlier introduced himself. «I'm the computer whiz here. If your cell phone breaks, count on me.» he said. «I also control the cyber network and the cameras of the surveillance system. So be careful what you do, I'll keep an eye on you.», he held out his hand but Nathan didn't shake it.

Ellen grabbed Nathan's hand suddenly, without waiting for him to shake it. «I'm Ellen, nice to meet you. I'm twenty-one and, as Dawn told you, I'm her best friend. I can create anything with my imagination.» she explained.

Jeyson suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, away from Nathan. «And she's my girlfriend, so hands off, okay?»

«But she was the one who– », Nathan didn't have time to finish his sentence because he was cut off.

«It's my turn now.» said the younger boy, the one with black hair. He said his name was Jeb and that he was fifteen years old. «I am capable of flying and making who or what I want fly. I can also walk through walls and... », the boy disappeared from Nathan's sight before finishing the sentence. «…teleport me.» he said reappearing right behind him.

Nathan began to feel disoriented. There was too much information to absorb and these people kept showing up one after the other, without giving him any chance to interrupt them. Even though it was him he was addressing, he felt completely out of place and terribly uncomfortable being there. He just hoped that they would hurry up with the introductions and free him from that torment. Only three were left.

The girl with the pigtails told the other young man on the ground to get back on his feet and join her. «We are Chelsea and Richard, we are twins.»

«We are strong and fast.» the brother continued as he reached his twin sister. «We can also jump high, but not fly like Jeb unfortunately.»

Jeb snorted. «Poor losers.» he whispered and Dawn glared at him. He grimaced and didn't say a word.

«My name is Samantha and I'm seventeen like Megan and Jeyson.», it was the red-haired girl's turn. «I am able to create and control magnetic fields and protective shields. I also interfere with telephone networks. Fine, can I go now?»

Nathan wanted to escape from there as much as she did.

«Actually, now it's his turn.» said Jeyson, still holding Ellen close. «You still haven't told us who you are and what powers you have.»

«He needs us to find out.», it was Dawn who spoke for him, since Nathan seemed lost.

«What? But he is no longer a child... it's impossible they have not yet manifested themselves.» Jeb said.

«Are you sure he's one of us?» Megan asked Dawn, moving away from the couch.

Dawn looked at Nathan. «Yes, he is like us. I felt it.», she smiled at him, as if to reassure him, then she turned back to her friends. «That's why we have to help him find out.»

«If you're convinced you can do it, I trust you.» Ellen told her.

Dawn smiled at her. «Now go back to your rooms, I'll take care of Nathan.»

Without being told twice, the Council members disappeared and left them alone. They just wanted to go back to their beds and sleep.

Nathan sighed, relieved to have finally gotten rid of all those people and found the quiet he was used to.

Dawn apologized to him. «Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have you meet them all together, especially at this time of night. It must have been traumatizing.» she said. «I thought their energy might wake you from your catatonic state, but I think I did worse, with all those informations in such a short time.»

 «Catatonic state?» Nathan echoed, without realizing it. Allen, that girl's father, had also said it shortly before.

«Maybe you didn't realize it, because your life is empty. But you live completely, and constantly, bored by everything. You don't react to any stimuli. You have no dreams or ambitions. You're just waiting for the end, am I wrong?»

Nathan looked down. Dawn was right, she had hit the nail on the head. He was just trying to survive, there was nothing in his life that really mattered to him.

Dawn reached her hands towards his face. She lifted his hair, which was too long and partially obscuring his vision, and freed his brown eyes. «Get ready to change.» she told him.

Nathan instinctively stepped back and turned his face away, surprised by that unexpected gesture. Just then the principal came into the room and addressed him. «Follow me, I found you a place to stay for tonight.»

«Yes. It's getting pretty late, you'd better go and rest now.» Dawn said to Nathan. «I still have a lot to tell you, but we'll talk about it tomorrow. That's it for today.»

Allen took away Nathan, who still wasn't understanding much, but who couldn't wait to be able to rest and be in peace. He was a loner, and all those people who spoke to him were just an annoyance to him.