The 7th Child

Chpater 5: The Art

March, 2012

The Doctor sorted through the files of the children, causing each one to pop up one by one. He started talking as a rotating picture of Apollo came on the screen, "The first to know is Apollo, he was the first 'gifted' child that we ever found," He said, "His gifts include a variety of terra kinetic abilities." Jennifer looks dumbfounded, which The Doctor noticed, "It basically means he can manipulate earth. Rocks, soil, plants, that sort of thing. He is one of our strongest, and possesses heightened durability." He says, sifting through information. Jennifer agreed with a nod and The Doctor continued, "The next child we found is Jackson. His abilities include manipulation of air and smoke. He is naturally faster than most in our group, however he is also naturally weaker. Then there is Ikemi-" "Where are they coming from?" Jennifer interjects. The Doctor responds, "They've come from all over the world, Egypt, Brazil, South Africa, Puerto Rico-" He says, before Jennifer interrupts him again, "And how have you found them? How did you find us?" "For certain reasons, I cannot tell you." He said, hoping to defuse the question, but he didn't as Jennifer continued with her questions, "Don't give me that!" She said, erupting from her seat, "You showed up to my house, no doubt to their houses as well. I want to know how. I mean..there are 7 children in that room including my son, they all came from somewhere." She says, not backing down. The Doctor replies calmly, "Alright. We do have a specific procedure that we undergo to locate children like your son, but for security reasons we cannot tell you until we are sure you will stay with us. As soon as we are sure, I will clue you in. Deal?" He says, gesturing for her to return to her seat. Jennifer hesitantly obliged, and The Doctor continued with his introduction of the children.

          "Next is Ikemi, and she has been the most 'sociable' out of all of them. On top of her pyrokinetic abilities, she also seems to carry a genius level intellect. She has actually been helping around our facility." Jennifer's eyes widen as she recognizes the picture of a young hispanic girl with a warm smile, "Was that the girl that had that lab in the kid's room?" she asks, and The Doctor replies to her suspicion with a nod, "Wow....how old is she?" Jennifer said in amazement. "She will be 16 this year." The Doctor replied, not looking up from his monitor. "Jesus, and you said she helps out around here? Wouldn't that be a lot of pressure for someone so young?" Jennifer asked, her glossy eyes reflecting the bluish glow of the screen. "She handles it well. She seems to find comfort in the technology.  We wouldn't have been able to do most of what we do without her help, in fact. She's a very bright kid. Along with us educating them on how to use their powers, she oversees the children's education. Things like ELA, Math, Science, and the fact being that she is the oldest among the children she seems to have taken a motherly position among them." He says, "Though with you here she may have some competition." he said jokingly, lowering Jennifer's guard as she gave a passive chuckle.

          "In fact," The Doctor continues, "She actually helps us with one of the children's powers." He says with the intention of peaking Jennifer's interest. "Which one?" Jennifer asks, taking the bait. The Doctor pulls up a case file that seems to have a little extra security on it, "Aajiah. She is a....special case." He says, as the file loads in but has much less information on her than the rest of them, not much more than a picture of a young black girl with strangely sparkling hair and a few bits of data popping up. "Aajiah's powers are still a mystery to both us...and her. We are still trying to understand them, and help her through them, as well as Ikemi." He says. Jennifer raises an eyebrow sarcastically, "Let me guess, she's more cooperative with Ikemi then you guys?" She asks. "You guessed it," The Doctor said, "The children seem to resent our forms of research here, but I can understand why." Jennifer looks down with pity and sadness in her face, "It must be so hard to be alone for so long. I know it was that way with Legai. I just hope I was enough for him." She says, doubting if she was able to fulfill her promise she made to her husband so long ago. The Doctor takes a break from his briefing to reassure Jennifer, who was now on the brink of tears, "The children have only made it as far as they have because of us, yes, but also because they've had each other this whole time. Might I ask where his father is?" He asked in a caring voice. "His father- passed away when he was young." Jennifer responded, the words coming out of her mouth coming back to stab her in the heart. "That means that for a while, you have only ever had Legai, and he's only had you. And by his apparent experience in his powers I would say you've done more than enough for him." He says, encouraging Jennifer as she wiped the streams of tears from her cheek, silently thanking him.