“Power…
real power is the strength to forge your own path no matter the circumstances.” Amanda spoke before taking some small bites taste checking her food.
“Wow good job Amanda, have you been reading the documentation?” Ace said jovially noticing that someone was already ahead of the curve.
“I started, I still have a lot more to read.” She responded before continuing to eat.
“What Amanda just said is partially correct, yes true power allows you to create your own path in any circumstance, but that power is far beyond the reach of your average human or almost any mortal for that matter.
Which is a circumstance in itself that seems insurmountable, and this is where true power becomes control.” Ace said before taking a few bites of his food.
“Control, like self control or hypnotism?” Jack asked trying to find a correlation between power and control.
“Yes, control like that.
What is power without precision, what is control without something to be controlled?
Control requires precise information, judgement, and confidence, even in the face of the impossible.
Whereas power needs all of those qualities to even be effective.
This is why I want you all to emphasize precise control as opposed to raw strength for the rest of your lives.” Ace spoke before taking another large bite of the food.
“The food is great thank you Ms.
Anne for the meal.” Lucille spoke up once Ace was finished seeing no one else had expressed gratitude yet.
“I’m glad you like it Lucille and you can just call me Anne, we will be working on the same team so there is no need for formalities…
Is control so important because it will allow us to be more detailed and intentional in our training?” Anne spoke with a smile on her face seeing so many people enjoying the food she cooked.
“Precisely, that brings me to my next point.
Also thank you for this delicious meal.
We established that training for control can be more effective in becoming more powerful than simply training to be stronger.
This is because there is a source for the subtle energy in the body, that source is like an infinite generator of energy and power, the more you understand your specific energy source the more likely you are to reach your maximum potential.
Understanding where our subtle energy is sourced from is one of the foundational principles within the FBSA as all members are encouraged to engage in very detailed and controlled training sessions where we keep a close eye on our energy levels in order to gain a better understanding of what is actually happening in our bodies and how our powers develop…” “Most people can only externalize their ability once they have determined where their energy source is, and what the nature of that energy source is.
I’ll also let you guys know the body can have multiple subtle energy sources in an infinite amount of locations within the body, and we can even train to develop new ones.
It’s just in order to do that you first need to understand at the very least the basic concept of control and detailed energy perception.
When you get to my level you can even sense how powerful others are and how many and even where their energy sources are.” Ace spoke leaving the room quiet as everyone had began to monitor their own subtle energy while he was talking.
“You said something about only being able to externalize one’s power after identifying the exact source of subtle energy, does that mean since most people within the FBSA is enhancement type powers they haven’t identified the source of their energy, while I already have deduced at least a single source?” Jason asked as he continued to make the food levitate into his mouth finishing his last few bites of food.
“I almost forgot you guys were prodigious, that is correct.
A lot of this process depends deeply on one’s mind body connection, some people don’t have advanced levels of proprioception, and interoception.
Most people have to do vigorous exercise and meditation to develop those types of perception.
Perception is everything in developing control, if you can’t see it clearly how could you know how to properly use or modify it.” Ace responded as he also finished what was left on his own plate.
“So I was right, good to know.” Anne said as she began to take her plate into the kitchen area and clean.
“Of course you were, how often are you ever wrong?” Jack said as he began to search his memory for a time his wife was wrong to no avail.
“Yea, yea bring me your plate muscle head.” She retorted not wanting to be put on the spot about her accuracy at times.
“It looks like everyone’s finishing up their food, let’s get this over with those guys up top just like to waste time.” Ace said as he stood up and went to wash his own plate.
The 4 Teenagers quickly followed behind also cleaning after themselves.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward with Jason unable to contain his occasional glances at Amanda, causing her heart to race and her face to flush.
“Is your brother okay?
Why doesn’t he just talk to her?” Lucille asked Ethan who was standing next to her looking blankly into the distance.
“Huh, uhhh oh it’s actually a really complicated story and I don’t know if the higher ups want us to talk about it too much.” Ethan responded after a brief moment.
“Sure…
well we have to talk to each other eventually, anyway you should tell him he’ll scare her if he keeps doing that.” Lucille said nonchalantly as she washed her plate and cutlery before walking towards the stairs.
“You guys know we are standing right here right?” Jason and Amanda said in unison causing them to briefly make eye contact before they both looked away.
Amanda and Lucille quickly headed down the stairs leaving Ethan and Jason standing there slightly dumbfounded.
Anne and Jack who were still in the kitchen began to laugh Once the girls had walked out.
“Haha you kids came back from the future but are still kids for sure.” Jack said laughing at the hot faced youths in front of him, “If I didn’t know it, I would never had suspected you two traveled back in time.” Ethan was slightly embarrassed but it was the only way to change the awkwardly silent atmosphere.
Once they had finished washing their dishes this time when they went outside there was a large silver truck sitting waiting along the street where Ace was.
The drive to the base seemed to be going much faster than last night when they had left.
But this was the first time Jason, and Ethan had seen the city, and the waking world since they had traveled back in time.
“In such a short time so much has changed, what happened why does the world look so…
dead?” Ethan asked as he saw very few people out and about.
“While we’re trying to get a handle on the loose cannons, the government has established a state of martial law.
Non essential workers are encouraged to stay in their homes to stay safe, there has been a number of civilian casualties thanks to the knuckleheads that let their newfound power go to their heads.” Ace responded his tone firm and solemn.
“Won’t that kind of blow you guys cover in this neighborhood?” Jason asked, remembering there was some sort of covert operation happening in their vicinity.
“Encouraged to stay inside.
We at the FBSA have taken control of certain regions, providing an above average security level.
Some ruffians slip through the cracks every now and then but at this rate martial law will be suspended within a couple of weeks at least.
So a lot of people are going out during the day enjoying their free time.” Ace responded his tone a little more casual as he remembered the hard work they were doing to reestablish order.
People could be seen every now and then walking their pets while the car population always seemed higher than the human population, the only places this was the case was at grocery stores and shopping hubs.
Other than that the world almost looked abandoned with a few stragglers left.
They eventually made it to the military base where it was almost an entirely different world as people could be seen in every direction.
Some exercising, others walking and going in and out of buildings, there were even large groups marching, and the line of cars coming or going at almost any given time was nothing to scoff at.
“Has the base always been this busy or is this a result of the current situation?” Jack asked from the back seat.
“This is about 2 maybe 3 times more busy than average, the people up top have decided to call what’s happening ‘the rebirth of humanity’.
I think it’s stupid but the general public is eating it up.
Recruitment numbers at the FBSA are tenfold, and the other branches of the military are integrating themselves more deeply with us so that they can still function as a useful tool to the government.” Ace responded, in the past this information would have been highly classified but seeing to how the idea of normal was beginning to change declassifying this information was in the best interest of the general public and the government.
“My dad said that the integration is omnidirectional including more integration even with the general public so that honesty keeps people prepared and compliant.” Lucille added in a matter of factly tone.
“You guys sure are proactive, this base and the surrounding area must be one of the most secure locations in the area.” Ethan said thinking about all of the pieces that had to move for them to get to where they were currently.
As Ethan said that Ace parked the vehicle in front of a large renaissance building with sculptures of people at each corner of the building in a small garden.
People went in and out of the large building continuously through multiple large entrances.
It was as if the building was alive with the continuous ebb and flow of people coming and going.
“This is the primary command post on this base, it is where teams come to get their weekly and monthly job schedules, alongside the recruitment training facility where we use some of the technology we have to help new recruits understand the depth of our work.” Ace said as he and the others began unstrapping and getting out of the car, “So this is where we’ll sign the contracts?” Anne asked, as her mind wandered between the survival of her family and the physical world around her.
“What is the tech that you mentioned?” Jason couldn’t help but ask, while Ethan nodded in approval as this was also his current concern.
“Yea the they have the contracts here, also its basically a quantum computer that analyzes how energy in all of its forms manifest physically in matter.
After a while here they’ll get you to remember the human brain is essentially this, a quantum computer that is capable of processing how energy in all its forms manifest in physical reality.
This includes senses and feelings because they are our tools that allow us to work within the physical world.”Ace said as if it were a scripture of some sort reminiscent of when they had heard him speak for the first time.
“A real quantum computer!?
I thought those were impossible?” Ethan couldn’t hold in asking loudly enough to merit some sideways glances from those around them.
“Keyword were, also keep it down a bit, not everyone here is privy to all of this, you might have just gotten a few people’s memories scheduled for a cleaning.” Ace said as he shook his head and scanned the surroundings picking out the observers taking note of everyone present.