I soon found myself settling into a routine as I got used to my new life. It turned out that Dr. Montressor’s wife, Yesenia, was an absolutely lovely human being. Her family was originally from Mexico, but had moved to California when she was a girl. Now, as an adult, Yesenia had become something of an immigration rights activist. From what I understood, she ran her own non-profit organization and was constantly busy with meetings. Because of that, I had to go with Dr. Montressor to the research laboratory during the day, but when we returned home, Yesenia almost always had something delicious and spicy ready for us to eat.

Dr. Montressor didn’t really have a “nurturing” personality, but he was surprisingly attentive. He introduced me to everyone on his research team that I would come into contact with and quizzed me on the layout of the research laboratory and the emergency exit procedures until he was satisfied I wouldn’t get lost or confused at any time. He also cautioned me repeatedly about “stranger danger” and made me promise multiple times to run away if someone weird tried to approach me.

Once he was satisfied with my knowledge of the laboratory, he mostly left me to myself throughout the day. I would usually find myself in Margie’s laboratory. Instead of researching the abilities that had appeared in certain people, Margie was in charge of researching the cause of the enhancement, which she referred to as radiation. This meant that not only did she research people like me, but she also handled the carcasses of the monsters that had been left behind after the gate closed. It was fascinating to watch her dissect the monster hornets with her eyes glinting crazily. She took each piece and studied it so thoroughly I wouldn’t be surprised if she could make a 3D model of it from memory alone.

One morning, after Dr. Montressor had dismissed me from his office, I wandered around looking for Margie. It didn’t take long to find her in the large lab that contained monster carcasses. When I pushed open the door, she spun her rolling chair around and gave me a beaming grin.

“Teagen! Good morning!” she called out happily as she pushed against the floor and slid towards me with her arms outstretched.

I couldn’t help but smile and hold out my hands so that she could grab them and wiggle them around in her odd greeting. Instead of letting go like normal after our morning wiggle, she pulled me over to a desk where a strange silver object was resting. She picked it up and showed me its smooth surface, how it was shaped like a long diamond, and fit neatly into the palm of her hand.

“What’s that?” I asked curiously as she tilted it back and forth tantalizingly.

“I don’t know yet,” Margie admitted with a wide grin as if this was the most exciting event to have ever happened to her.

“I was dissecting the thorax and found this lodged inside its exoskeleton in between where its wings were connected,” Margie explained with as much detail as possible, completely ignoring the fact that this may be a little too grotesque for an eleven-year-old to hear. Luckily, I wasn’t your average child, so I didn’t react much other than to nod in understanding. “After cleaning it up, it’s obvious that it’s not a bone or cartilage. In fact, it seems more similar to a gemstone of some kind. And the most interesting part is that this little thing practically oozes with alien radiation.”

I quirked one of my eyebrows up. Dr. Montressor’s research facility was one of dozens across the United States. He’d told me that most researchers attempting to explain the cause of some humans exhibiting supernatural abilities were calling the force “mana,” but Margie seemed adamant in calling it radiation.

“May I hold it?” I asked politely while eagerly reaching out with one of my hands.

Margie smiled at me and passed over the stone without a care. As soon as the object touched my skin, though, I gasped as the stone began to shimmer brightly. Suddenly, a wave of liquid energy began to seep into my hand and spread throughout my body. Within seconds, the light emanating from the crystal seemed to slide into me, and as soon as the light dimmed, the stone shrank to half its original size and turned an inky black color.

Margie and I both blinked dumbly at the black rock that now fit comfortably in my child-sized palm for several moments.

“Sc…” Margie stuttered, glancing between the remains of the stone, my hand, and back again. “Scanner!” she suddenly yelled, leaping up from her rolling chair and dashing over to her desk. She rummaged frantically among the papers, instruments, and monster parts littering the desk until she triumphantly raised the handheld scanner she had used on both me and the shield I created for her a few days ago.

She dashed back over to me with the scanner and a notepad. She quickly scanned from my palm up my arm to the rest of my body, and then she scanned the miniaturized stone while taking meticulous notes on her notepad. Once she had done that, she cautiously held out a clear dish, which I placed the stone into.

Without saying a word, I suddenly found myself being scooped into Margie’s arms. I yelped as she ran full tilt through the hallways while yelling, “One side! Let us through! Important research happening here!” as she careened recklessly through the hallways. I wasn’t overly surprised when she practically crashed through the door of one of the medical offices that had that huge tunnel scanner that she’d sent me through a few days ago.

When she set me down, I dutifully walked over to the bench and lay myself down without prompting while Margie fluttered by the controls to get the machine warmed up. Soon, the echoey thumps could be heard from the scanner, and I felt the bench I was lying on slide forward, bringing me slowly through the center of the scanner.

A cry of exhilaration came from outside the scanner, and I wondered what Margie had seen on my scan that was so exciting. Before I could ask, though, she jumped to her feet and dashed out of the room while cackling maniacally. Figuring that she’d be back sooner or later, I relaxed and closed my eyes.

Now that I had a moment to myself, I focused inward. Just like when the gate had burst, my whole body seemed to be thrumming with a gentle but obvious energy. It felt like I could climb all the way to the 15th floor and still have energy to spare. As I opened and closed my hands, I could almost feel what seemed like an added layer of something warm between my skin and muscles.

My fingers twitched as if itching to release some of my newfound mana and create something spectacular. However, I held myself back since I did not doubt that Margie would have plenty more tests she’d want me to do.

“Come see, come see, come see!” Margie’s excitable voice spilled through the open door to the medical lab.

I stretched my neck and rolled my head back so that I was looking upside down at the door and watched as Margie practically shoved Dr. Montressor into the room. He was wearing an incredibly heavy frown that hinted at a stern scolding incoming, but Margie didn’t give him a moment to compose himself. She yanked on his arm, causing him to stumble awkwardly over to the machine, and pointed exuberantly at what I assumed was the scan of my body.

“What is the matter with you, Margaret? I don’t have time to…” Dr. Montressor huffed irritably as he combed back one of the hairs that had come dislodged from his slicked-back style.

Margie yanked on his arm once more and jabbed her finger insistently towards my scan, all the while bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet. Dr. Montressor closed his eyes and let out a long breath before folding his arms and looking where Margie was pointing.

“What am I supposed to be looking at?” he asked with obvious irritation.

Margie let out a high-pitched giggle before glancing at me. “Everything! You’re seeing absolutely everything!” she replied with a wide grin. Dr. Montressor frowned even more heavily and once again let out a controlled exhale as if trying to keep himself calm.

“Margaret, you have already shown me Teagen’s scans…”

“I didn’t use any contrast,” Margie interrupted bluntly while widening her eyes at her disgruntled boss.

Dr. Montressor’s mouth froze in the middle of his words, and he slowly blinked before turning to look at me and then turning back to look at the scan. He let out a short tut and narrowed his eyes at Margie with obvious disbelief in his normally stoic expression.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Margaret. How could the scan come out so clearly without any contrast?” Dr. Montressor argued, but Margie clasped her hands together and let out another string of excited giggles.

“It’s the radiation! Teagen absorbed all of the radiation from that stone that I found in the monster husk, and now her ENTIRE body is practically glowing with alien radiation!”

Dr. Montressor’s eyebrows scrunched so far down that it looked like he had a unibrow. He peered seriously at the scan, then promptly turned away and came over to my side. Without a word, he took my arm into his hand and felt for my pulse before nudging me into a sitting position. I sat still, moving my arms up and down and letting him peer at me for a few moments before he stepped back with a look of mild relief.

“She appears to be unharmed. Get a pediatrician here to check her out thoroughly, though,” Dr. Montressor ordered as he turned back to look at Margie.

“But Darrell, there are so many tests I need to do! I’ve only begun my…”

“You will call a pediatrician this instant,” Dr. Montressor barked out authoritatively, taking his turn to interrupt Margie. Her mouth snapped shut, obviously surprised at his firm order, but her lips quickly turned down into a pout.

“But…”

“Teagen’s health is our top priority, Margaret,” he admonished while crossing his arms and lowering a glare that was positively chilly at the excitable researcher.

Margie visibly deflated and trudged out of the room, most likely going in search of her phone. Once she had left the room, Dr. Montressor turned back around and knelt so we were face-to-face. His usual grumpy expression was still firmly in place, but the hand he placed on my forehead was gentle and warm.

“Do you feel any adverse reactions from absorbing the mana?” Dr. Montressor asked quietly, even though he had already checked to make sure I hadn’t sprouted any new limbs earlier. I gave him a bright smile and shook my head.

“Actually, I feel really good! I’m sorry I messed up the stone, though. I didn’t mean to,” I admitted sheepishly, flicking my eyes between his blue ones and my knees.

Dr. Montressor shook his head and moved his hand to give me a gentle pat on the head. “It’s not your fault. We’re all still learning.”

Margie returned, saying that the doctor was on their way. Under Dr. Montressor’s watchful gaze, she conducted as many non-invasive tests as she could while we waited for the doctor to arrive. As the room became silent aside from Margie’s occasional squeals of excitement, I glanced back up at my guardian.

“Ummm. Dr. Montressor, do you know what happened with the Los Angeles situation?”

His blue eyes turned down to regard me with an unreadable expression. Anxiety began to bubble up from my stomach, and I bit my lip as I realized that Margie’s mutterings had come to a stop as well after hearing my question.

“The situation seems close to being resolved,” Dr. Montressor responded after a heavy pause. I blinked and looked at him warily, wondering how much he was holding back because I was a child in his eyes.

“Are my… uh… friends, okay?” I asked, stumbling over what exactly to call my fellow gate survivors.

Ever the stoic, Dr. Montressor didn’t hint at anything with his poker face and simply replied with, “They will return once the monsters have been exterminated.”

Realizing that was all the information I was going to get from him, I nodded and tried not to dwell on useless worries. It had been a long time since I’d actually bothered to care about anyone other than my best friend in my previous lives. I wondered if maybe I was reacting more sensitively due to recalling my memories at such a young age.

My thoughts were soon interrupted by the arrival of a doctor, though. I was quickly ushered into another room with more medical equipment to begin another round of tests. Oh joy.