The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 41

Sera POV

Finally, about an hour later, Arlo and John both stood in front of Sera to be told about Spectre. Something about the presence of John made everything feel a bit less dark, despite his serious expression. It was comforting to know that he was there too. She didn't have to keep secrets anymore, too, which was a big relief. She'd hated seeing John's expression when he learned that she was hiding things from him.

As soon as they were sure they were alone on the roof, where they'd met up, Sera began to explain. She told them first about the way the mission had been changed to force her to do more than just work at NXGen. Then, she gave a runover of the week, ending with the stealing of the strange tube that had made her dizzy, and the conversion technology that NXGen had wanted to steal. After a pause, Sera added in what she remembered about NXGen's patient, the one named Jane who was a 9.1.

Once she was finished, she turned to Arlo and John to hear their opinions. Arlo simply looked thoughtful, but John's face had become pale and his eyebrows were furrowed. "Can you tell me more about that patient they had?" He asked after a minute. Sera frowned.

"She had white hair and amber eyes and looked tired as if they'd been using her for a long time... Her ability was something like 'Channel Manipulation' too. It must've been something to do with auras, kind of like yours, John," Sera explained. As she talked, she felt a wave of uncertainty, as if she were missing something. The feeling only amplified at the shocked expression on John's face.

"What was her last name?" He finally asked.

"It started with a D... the rest of the information was blocked off." She paused. "Why?"

John had started shaking. "N-no reason. I just... I need to check something." Without another word, John rushed off the rooftop, leaving both Sera and Arlo in confusion.

"He doesn't normally look that startled," Arlo commented once he was gone. "He must have figured something out from what you said."

Sera nodded. Maybe there was some sort of plan Spectre was making that she was missing, one that made John nervous for the future... or maybe, it didn't relate to Spectre at all.

As Sera continued thinking, she realized something that made her eyes widen as much as John's had.

John's uncle, Alban, looked a lot like NXGen's patient, Jane...

No. It can't be. Jane can't be related to John, right? She bit her lip. John had never told her much about his family besides his dad. She'd known nothing about his uncle until Alban had shown up in the office. There was a high chance that Jane was another member she'd never heard about.

Sera bit her lip. John's reaction had been strange. When Alban had come, he'd been stressed, but the expression on his face right now showed something more than that. Jane was someone more to him than Alban was. If she was his aunt, maybe she had simply been closer to the family- Wait. During their training sessions, there had been one thing that Alban had brought up again and again: John's mother. John never told her about his mother himself, but Alban had mentioned her several times. He'd also mentioned that she was strong... stronger than John. She gasped. All of the pieces fit together.

Just as John had, she turned and ran through the door of the rooftop, leaving Arlo alone in confusion. She heard him begin to call out before giving up. He likely understood that this was something he didn't need to be involved in.

Unfortunately, John wasn't still by the roof's door. He wasn't at the bottom on the stairs either. Sera was just about to head towards his dorm when she heard something.

"...Come on!" The frustrated voice of John echoed through the halls. He was in one of the empty classrooms near the roof. The door had been half-shut behind him, but it was enough for Sera to hear some of what he was saying. "Pick up!"

She took a step forwards, slowly pushing open the door to the classroom. If what I'm thinking is right, he's not going to be happy right now. She'd already been able to tell from the expression on his face when he'd heard about Jane that he wasn't taking this well. John was good at hiding his emotions, but she'd seen the shock on his entire face. This was too big to hide. This was something he hadn't expected.

"...John?" She asked as she stepped into the classroom. The black-haired boy's back was turned, and he held his phone to an ear with a shaking hand. As she watched, he pulled it away from his ear and lifted it into the air as if to throw it. A moment later, his arm lowered and he took a shaky breath.

When he turned towards her, his face was twisted with a mix of emotions. She reached for his shoulder. John let her rest a hand on it, though he didn't look at her. She could feel small shivers flowing through his body. Although she already knew what the answer might be, she decided to ask and give him a chance to tell her. "What happened?"
His shoulders tensed. Shaking her hand off, John stepped past her and towards the door of the classroom. Before leaving, however, he turned again to face her.

"I... I need to make some calls on my computer. I'll talk to you later," He told her, his voice still shaking despite the causal words. Sera sighed. This means he doesn't want to talk. If I'm right, he'll want to ask his dad and his uncle about this. She didn't want to stop him from trying to figure things out, and it was clear he was too stressed to stop and discuss at the moment.

"Alright," Sera answered. Giving her a small smile that was filled with worry, John turned and hurried away. She watched as he vanished into the hallway, the sounds of his footsteps fading to nothing. Once he was gone, she leaned against the wall of the classroom she now stood in alone.

John had already dealt with so much, but this was worse than any of that. This was something big. If she was right, his mother was stuck in NXGen, getting experimented on... and she'd been like that for an unknown number of years.

If Sera was right, Jane was John's mother.