Chapter 23: Chapter 23

"I never imagined I will be this happy seeing you guys together after a month." Doctor Roberts chattered as he flashed a grin across their icy faces. But what gladdened his heart, was seeing them seated on couches and dressed casually in black clothes. Designed in The Shining's insignia.

"May I ask, how you guys deemed your training?" He asked and immediately, Collins scoffed.

"Hell!" He blurted.

"It was awesome!" Michael pitched with an excited smile.

"Extremely tough." Lola uttered in a tiredly fashion.

"Yeah." Marcus groaned alongside. Then all eyes fell on Theodore and Ariel.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Theodore remarked icily while Ariel simply swayed her head to music blaring from her headset.

"I see." Doctor Roberts nodded. "All of you must have gone through extreme training at one point or the other. But here you are, alive and better than your former status." He grinned again as he strolled around the large room displaying several holograms.

"So what's next?" Lola queried. He arched his eyebrows upwards briefly before relaxing beside Rita. He adjusted his knot as he donned a stern expression.

"We're going to have a family talk." He avowed. Collins scoffed.

"Look Doctor Roberts, you can skip all these sarcastic talks for later. Just go straight to the point."

"I'm serious!" He avowed sternly.

Theodore huffed, pinching the area between his eyebrows.

"I hate to agree with Collins, but he's right. Let's get on to the main point."

He flashed a mischievous smile across their faces.

"Then I guess you guys aren't interested in Ariel and her powers nor the Metz Gala operation."

"Well," Marcus interjected. "If you put it that way, we can certainly have a FAMILY TALK." He added while the rest nodded in assertion.

Doctor Roberts adjusted his knot yet again.

"Ariel has telekinetic powers. If she uses it too much, she gets brain damage ranging from little to mild and as you all should know by now," he paused as his eyes met the little girl's. "She can't speak ever since the explosion. The same thing can be said for some of you here." He glanced between Theodore and Michael. "Not only did the explosion give you powers but it also took something away. Michael for example, was a former MIT student before the explosion but after the catastrophic incident, his brain retarded. Making him act stupid sometimes."

All eyes darted to the young man who still retained his excited smile. But Doctor Roberts exchanged glances with Theodore. As if the blonde begged not to mention his story.

"And Theodore," he declared solemnly while eyes once again flowed from Michael to the blonde. "He has DID, an aftermath of the explosion."

"Dissociative identity disorder?" Lola asked worriedly and Theodore nodded. Sadness imprinted on his face.

"Oh my God." Marcus exhaled.

"Thank you Doctor Roberts for telling The Shining about my illness." Theodore suddenly chirped sarcastically. "Now everyone will start giving me pitiful looks."

"Perhaps your anger is justified but we're a family and we shouldn't hide our weaknesses." He clarified.

"Technically, we're a team you manipulated into working!" Collins scorned. "So let's not go about spilling each other's secrets."

He chuckled but they frowned.

"Speaking of weaknesses, what's yours? Doctor Roberts." Lola sputtered while all attention fell on him.

He simply wore a smile that didn't last the next second.

"With time, you'll know."

"There you go again with your parables!" Collins huffed with an infuriating gesture. But the rest chose to dine with silence.

"I've got something for you guys." He adorned a cocky smile. "Service!" He pitched while the round metallic center table slid open in the middle. Revealing a  tray of six tiny black capsules.

"This is a negative energy powered transceiver device I built during you guys training." He explained to their quizzical faces as they all sat up. Gazes on the device.

"Looks like Rat faeces to me." Michael remarked as he bent lower towards them.

"No Michael." He chuckled. "This is a telepathic device that enables communication within one kilometer. It allows you guys to communicate with each other both in your minds and physically."

"It works using telepathy?" Collins questioned. "You mean this stuff can actually read our minds?!" He added in disbelief.

Doctor Roberts nodded with his mischievous smile deepening.

"Sometimes. I hadn't really developed the Telepathic perception function very well. But it's main job is communication. Decoding messages from the brain in form of transmittable electrical signals.

And I'll like to call it, Tele-Talkie."

"Tele-Talkie?" Collins chirped. "Aren't there better names to give this cool tech?"

"It's my device and I have the right to name it whatever I seem fit!" He chuckled.

"Okay that's enough science for one day, Doctor Roberts. How do we use this stuff?" Marcus interjected in a weary fashion.

"You swallow it and after some hours or few it stays to the back of your neck  and voila!" He gestured his hands midair.

"So we're supposed to swallow this telepathic device thingy. I'm sure it emits some kind of radiation that could be dangerous for us." Lola voiced.

He cleared his throat as his eyes bonded with hers. "I assure you, Lola. This device is hundred percent non hazardous. Like I said before, it is negative energy powered. Which is in perfect harmony with your negative matter that gives you powers."

Michael arose, scooped one of the Tele-Talkies before tossing it into his mouth.

"Whatever Doctor Roberts say is right. And if he says, this thing is safe, then it is." He answered to the querying faces that fixated on him.

"Dude!" Collins growled while Ariel followed in the same mannerism as Michael.

And after minutes passed, they all swallowed their respective Tele-Talkies. He studied their looks closely for minutes until Theodore suddenly frowned.

"You're thinking about porn?!" He toned dryly at Collins.

"Oh my God! Collins. Eww." Lola voiced in an irritating manner.

"No I wasn't!" Collins outrightly denied. "Look Doctor Roberts how do we shut this stuff down. There's no privacy in my thoughts one bit!"

"Yeah, I can't have others reading my thoughts without notice." Marcus added. "And stop craving candies!! Michael." He growled.

"Get out of my mind!" Michael retorted.

"Oh this is not gonna end so well!" Theodore groaned.

Doctor Roberts chuckled, growing amused at the grimaced faces each of his team members wore. Even though they had distinctive characters and couldn't stand each other, he knew this was his perfect family. The only thing he feared for them, was the future.

"The device is thoughts controlled so if you can simply activate and deactivate it at free will." He explained to their awestruck faces.

"And like I said before, I wasn't able to work on the Telepathic perception function very well. So once in a while, be expecting you guys to be reading each other's thoughts." He pursed his lips.

"Now let's get to the next stage."