A month later
Saturday 6th of April, 2002
Hand Recruitment Centre
8:47am
Bakuto watches from his office as he sips his morning coffee. He gives a pleasurable sigh.
'It tastes better every year' he thinks to himself. He is currently looking at Jim and his roommate Ben walk steadily towards the building he is currently standing in.
'Their objective? Most likely the cafeteria below' Bakuto thinks to himself. Lately he has been watching Jim's workouts and training. He only had one thing to say.
'Amazing' Bakuto thinks bout the last time he watched the boy go through physically strenuous exercises ranging from Cardio to Martial Arts to Calisthenics, all in a single day.
'He was pretty tired afterwards, but his muscles should've been screaming in pain after the cardio alone'.
'Not only that, he does these workouts everyday. No negative side effects shown. He has been switching it up with rock climbing and gymnastic training also, improving well in both". Both kids at this time notice him and wave. He smiles and waves back with a grin.
'After a few years I'll prep him for transfer. Jim James, you will become the next Bakuto!'.
Scene Change
"Go go go!!! Watch your footing" Colleen shouts motivating Jim to climb higher up the rock wall. Jim looks to his left. There's a considerable distance between himself and the next crimp in his approach is more than a few feet away.
'Seems I screwed up my approach again' Jim sighs and looks at Colleen from the corner of his eyes. 'Since she's supporting me, I gotta make the jump. Not like I can get hurt anyway'. He looks at the soft floor of the rock climbing gym. He tenses his feet and takes off. He makes it about two feet before feeling gravity taking him down. He falls onto the cushioned floors. He lies there for a bit as Colleen comes over.
"Don't worry, you'll get it. You've only been at this for about a few weeks" She tries her best to console him. Jim just sighs and Colleen gives him a playful kick to his ribs.
"You really did good. We don't have a gym for people your age. You're currently using the one for teens, trust me, you're fine". She stretches out her arm and Jim clasps it, allowing her to pull him up.
"Thanks, I'll work harder" Jim says resolutely with his own grin and Colleen frowns at that. Their hands separate and Jim walks towards the male showers.
'This guy really doesn't take a break, Bakuto-Sensei is really worried bout him. I've also been hearing rumors from the boys dorms that he's been having nightmares and barely gets any sleep'.
That is not an uncommon occurrence in these centers that bring people from all walks of life but that doesn't mean Colleen shouldn't be worried.
"Uhm, Jim?".
"Yeah?" Jim answers, starting to take off some of the rock climbing equipment.
"Are you getting enough sleep?" Colleen gets straight to the point and notices Jim's body slightly twitches at that. He then sighs.
"Nah, not really" Jim says. 'She probably knows already. One of my dorm mates told her, I guess. Can't blame them, they're just trying to help'.
"You know if you can't sleep, why don't you try meditation. My grandfather used that as a substitute for sleep a lot" Colleen says. Rather than talking about the source of the problem, she brings up a possible solution. She has met a lot of people since she moved into the US, and a lot more when she started staying in the camp.
Most of these people are runaways, the rest students or kids who come over for some of their programs. She has learnt to not push into their past, and just accept that not everyone wants to talk about their problems.
"Meditation?" Jim asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I'll send you copies of a few books to read. There are different ways to meditate, so you could try a few out and see which is best for you. You could just do that instead of sleeping at night".
"Hmm, I don't know" Jim says, unsure if anything can help him with his problem. It also seems impossible that he won't have to sleep using this method. Colleen grins.
"Sit down, I'll show you. I'm not that good at it, but I think I got the basics down". Colleen sits in a lotus position and Jim copies her form.
"Back straight please, hands resting on your laps like this" Colleen says instructing him carefully. "We're going to be using a mixture of different types of meditation. You'll read on them later, so it'll just take time explaining to you now". Jim nods attentively.
"So now close your eyes, and do your best to follow to follow my breathing.
We're going to do the calming breath, inhale slowly through your nose, hold the breath to the count of three, then exhale slowly through your mouth.- No need to open your mouth that wide!!! Just a bit to let the air out.- Yup like that. Good job". Jim smiles for a moment and continues the exercise.
"Keep it up, get used to it" she gives him a few seconds to get used to the repetition. "You ready now?" She says and Jim nods slowly.
"Now this is the chi relaxation technique. Pick a color, this color has to be the color that you can picture in your mind clearly".
Jim immediately picks the color he sees every moment he looks into a reflective surface. The purple of his eyes.
'Okay, i can do this. Just picture it clearly' Jim says to himself.
'Okay now focus on the color, and feel the motions of your body as you breathe".
'I'll just keep this up for like five minutes, then tell him to get lunch'.
Unknown to her, Jim has entered a trance.
Flashback:
2 weeks ago.
21st of March, 2002.
"Why won't it work!!!" Jim shouts. He's currently in the forest near the camp, currently trying to get the purple energy to show itself. As you've probably noticed, it isn't going so well.
"I really need to get the hang of this, it can't just be a once in a while thing" he says. A few times per day, he manages to get the purple energy to show itself. He does feel some fatigue after and is still having trouble sending and grasping the energy. He walks over to a tree looks at his watch hanging on a branch.
'16:26pm... it's getting late. Lemme put in a few more tries before it's time for dinner'. He tries to will out the energy again but to no avail and he grunts with frustration. He does it four more times and gets it on the fourth time. There's now a purple energy surrounding his hands.
"Yes!". He then tries to hold onto it but the energy quickly dissipated.
'What am I doing wrong!!! Jim screams in his head.
Flashback End.
Following Colleen's instructions, Jim enters a trance. Concentrating on the color and following the motions and activity of his body, he begins to feel an energy following the motions. The energy feels relaxing and soothing to himself. He begins to feel the fatigue he's gotten from a full day of various exercise slowly ebb away.
'Amazing' Jim thinks himself 'this is the purple energy!'. He sinks deeper into the trance and begins to follow the energy through toys revolutions in his body. He starts from where he feels this energy the strongest. Near his stomach he feels a pulse spread out energy through his body in a rhythmic fashion through various pathways going through his body.
He follows the energy through these pathways feeling as most of it gets used up, then returning back to a core in his stomach. When he returns he is deeper in the trance and can sense more. He keeps flowing through the pathways, up to his brain, coming back down to the core, then-
"Jim?!". He wakes up with a jolt, feeling some pain on his left shoulder. He looks up with a confused look on his face, at Colleen who is currently shaking him.
"Colleen! Ouch!" He says grasping his shoulder and giving her a frown. Colleen pulls back and gives him a sheepish look. She then smiles apologetically.
"Sorry bout that, been trying to wake you up for a few minutes now. You must be really tired, but here isn't the best place to sleep" she says assuming he slept off during the meditation practice.
"I didn-" Jim wants to tell her otherwise but stops himself. 'If I tell her, I'll have to explain what I was doing with the purple energy'. Jim pretends to laugh. It seems pretty real, he's been lying and acting for a while now.
"Sorry, I'll hit the showers and head for lunch" Jim says giving her a grin. "I will get those books though, who knew that I'll sleep so easily".
"Yeah sure, I'm gonna be busy this week, so I'll have someone send it over" Colleen says giving Jim a hand and pulling him up.
"Oh what's going on" Jim asks.
"Our summer school program is starting soon, we'll have an influx of teachers and new kids coming round" Colleen says with a smile.
"You guys have school here?".
"Yeah, by the way if you're staying here all year round you gotta take part in the summer school program".
"Really?" Jim says kinda bummed out by the idea of school.
"Hell yeah! Besides it's better than doing normal school. The program is pretty intensive and goes up to high school level, and we're partnered with another school where you can take an exam there and come out with your high school certificate".
"Yeah I guess it's better" Jim says, shaking his head at the thought of going to school from August till April.
'Yeah... better to suck it up for a few months of summer' Jim thinks to himself.
"Well you stink" Colleen says playfully. She then wrinkles her nose.
"Hit the showers". Jim snickers and gives her a mock salute.
"Yes ma'am" he says before running off to the showers leaving Colleen standing in the gym.
'Nice kid, like I have a little bro' Colleen thinks to herself. 'Got some secrets to him though' she thinks back to when she woke up Jim from sleep.
"My eyes probably playing tricks on me" she says playing off what she saw. She then makes her towards the gym entrance and stops when she places her hand on the door. She turns around, taking the whole gym under her scrutiny.
Flashback
It's been six minutes since they started meditating.
"Okay Jim now exhale and open your eyes slowly. How do you feel?". Colleen opens her eyes and looks at Jim, who is still with his eyes closed and breathing slowly.
"Jim?!" She says raising her voice a little, but Jim doesn't even react at all.
'Did he fall asleep?' She stands up and taps Jim on his left shoulder.
"Hey, you can't sleep here tho" she says but still Jim has no reaction. Takes a while of her tapping and saying his name for him to jolt and look up at her. That's when she saw it. Colleen eyes meet his, and they weren't his usual dull purple. This time those eyes glowed.
Flashback end.
Colleen shakes her head again.
"Nah... I'm seeing things. I need some food and sleep as well". Colleen turns back to the entrance and steps out. She then remembers what day it is and begins to run towards the cafeteria.
"Shit! Today is Cupcake day!!".
Two years later
7th of August 2004
Location: little forest in Camp.
Time: 6:30 am.
"haaaa" Jim exhales from his mouth as he continues his tai chi katas. He is presently shirtless and his body is covered in sweat. If you look closely you can see purple lights move under his skin. His eyes closed, he goes through various forms and sometimes switches to other martial arts. After ten minutes he stops and sits down panting.
Jim is presently thirteen years old and stands at 5 feet 5 inches. Due to the constant calisthenics, martial arts, gymnastics, cardio and other sports, you could say that his body is perfect. He is pretty ripped for a kid and his physical fitness is amazing. He keeps his hair to a short Afro and is handsome.
"Alright let's try this again" Jim says. He closes his eyes and pulls his right hand back. Immediately a purple glow surrounds his hand, especially his fist. He then punches forward and at the moment of supposed impact, cause he's punching air, he releases the energy in a kinetic blast wave. There is a faint pop as the energy meets air and the leaves in front of Jim rustle.
He feels himself tire, but then his healing factor slowly kicks in.
'Fatigue isn't an issue for my body, just injuries'. Simple wear and tear is healed in seconds, it takes just over a minute to heal a cut and from what he remembers, it took him about half an hour to heal a hole in his leg from an arrow that hit bone.
He has tried his best to study his powers as much as possible. The camp teaches first aid and basic medical knowledge. Sometimes they teach emergency surgeries or procedures needed for if someone needs immediate medical assistance.
When he left Nigeria, he was already in middle school as there they can start school pretty young. He was in year two which is seventh grade but Colleen decided to place him back in sixth grade during summer school classes as they are more his age. His love for medicine made him study the three main sciences judiciously. Especially biology and physics as he felt they were most in tune with helping him know more about his powers.
From studying science and the meditation and chi arts gotten from Colleen he has made a few assumptions about his powers.
"For one: there are three different types of energy present with my body. Two I'm able to manipulate". He looks within himself and studies the three energies within his body.
'The one with the smallest looks light blue and from what I've read seems to be my chi or bio energy. The largest one comes from someplace else'. When Jim now meditates he feels a connection to a place. That place is where he pulls the purple energy from. He feels like he can go there, but he has decided not to do so.
'The largest one is the first purple energy I came into contact with. This energy when used directly by me isn't physical. It passes through every state of matter without any effect. This energy though affected that place I was in. For now though, I still don't know what I can do with it since it isn't exactly physical'.
Jim remembers his fight in the room to protect his mother from that bastard, and the monster that came afterwards.
'What was that place?' He asks himself. He sighs and feels a bit sad about his lack of knowledge.
'The third energy I can use is a mixture of both. I can't manipulate my chi, but large amounts of the purple energy mixes with the light blue and forms another kinda purple energy. To make differentiation in his notes easier, he decided to give a name to the two different energies.
He called the first energy Prana, the second mana. He took both words from the books on meditation and energy.
'Prana by itself phases through all physical states of matter with no effects, but when it mixes with the chi in my body, it becomes mana. Mana can interact with matter. Sadly my amount of mana is smaller than Prana, and mana is harder to exert my control on'.
'What mostly fills my body is mana actually as instinctively, most of my chi merges with prana and when I use it I begin to feel tired, sometimes my body aches'. Jim concentrates and watches the production of chi in his body. His healing factor starting to make up for the lost bio energy. Slowly his prana begins to merge with the chi and mana fills his body once more.
'As long as I don't overdraft the amount of prana I pull out from that place, I'll always have mana to use. I also must not overdraft my mana, if I do I'll leave myself in a weakened state. Since my body uses mana as it does chi'. Jim begins to circulate the mana flowing through his body faster, upping its consumption. His vitality starts to increase, and he can feel his body getting stronger.
'I can only hold this for a few minutes now. Although my body produces bio energy or chi quickly, it doesn't produce it fast enough'.
'Seemingly the amount of mana that is stored and that I can use has increased, so I can guess that the amount of chi I create hasn't reached its cap. It's still growing'.
Jim finishes his training, taking care not to exhaust all the mana in his body, and sits down beside a large tree.
He opens a bag at the foot of the tree and brings out a water bottle and a book covered in leather. It's in this book that he has written most of his findings and theories in. The book is medium size and about a few hundred pages. To not make it suspicious the book also contains notes from biology, physics and chemistry. A lot of notes on first aid and medicine as well. Also his training routine, which he has been strictly following. He writes down a few things and puts the book back, getting into a lotus position.
'When I first started studying my abilities I wondered if other people were like me. I could guess that everyone has chi or bio energy, but I wondered if anyone has mana or prana as I did. And I discovered the truth'.
Flashback
A year ago.
Location: Basketball court.
"It's okay! Just breathe. They've run to call the medical unit" Jim is presently trying to console his friend Timothy, who is screaming his ass off on the floor. Tim just experienced an ankle sprain while playing basketball. His right ankle and foot looks all sorts of wrong, to the point that a younger girl passed out from looking at it.
Jim kneels on the ground beside Timothy who is clutching his left leg groaning in pain. Jim reaches for him with his hand to give him a reassuring touch to focus on but pulls back a bit as flesh meets flesh.
The reason? He feels a shot of pain run through his body.
'Is-is that mana? It's smaller than mine though. I also felt the presence of prana clearly. I can't sense chi, but that can be expected since I can't seem to manipulate it' Jim had tried to manipulate his chi for a few months now with no luck, and has given up on it.
'But why do I feel pain?'. Motivated by his discovery of prana and mana in others he moves to touch Tim again.
'I have to say thank you Tim, I know you won't be mad. Cause I can guess this is gonna hurt me as much as it hurts you'.
"Tim it's gonna be okay" Jim says placing his hand on his friend. "J-just breathe slowly and think of something else".
Flashback End.
That day Jim signed up to volunteer at the medical unit. From various helpful situations, he discovered that everyone has prana and mana, but their volume is far smaller than his and only becomes noticeable to him when that energy is excited. You can probably guess what gets the prana and mana the most active.
Pain.
'In those moments of pain, those two energies became a lot more noticeable to me. They seemed restless and unstable'' Jim thinks to himself
But that led him to ask himself a question.
'Is it only by pain that I can feel their energies?'. The answer to this question is no. To find this answer Jim got a bit handsy and tried to initiate physical contact with people, as they were in various conditions. The more he sensed these energies in people experiencing pain, the easier it became for him to sense it in those who aren't experiencing pain.
Over a few months, he started experiencing different emotions from physical contact.
He opened a dictionary and scoured its pages and found the word detailing what he was doing.
'Empathy, I can feel others emotions through mana or prana, now it's not only limited to touch. If I focus and I'm close enough I can also feel their emotions'.
Jim stops his train of thoughts and decides to meditate for a while before he has to leave for an outreach program.
The youth empowerment camp has several homeless shelters, soup kitchens and other philanthropist organisations they work with. It's also to help their wards not to feel too cooped up in the camp, so they have the kids sign up for their outreach program.
Jim decided to sign up with the F.E.A.S.T. branch in town. He helps their medical unit there, while also making himself useful in the kitchens. After about five minutes of meditation he gets up and walks back to the dorm.
He leaves the wooded area, passing through the sports area. The Camp also has a tennis court and a swimming pool.
"Overall this place is pretty huge". As he walks he passes by a group of other kids going through their varying morning rituals. Some jogging, playing basketball, meditating alone or in group, going through katas. Jim starts his ability training by around 4:30 am and ends before 7:00 am, cause some people do walk around or into the wooded area he uses to practice.
At night he goes there by round eight, cause there are far less people about then.
Seeing this amount of people sometimes makes Jim wonder how many homeless kids or runaways are out there.
'This world definitely needs more places like this, more people like Mr Bakuto'. Jim waves and greets a few people on his way of course. He stays all year round, but some people come and go. Some aren't even homeless though, they just come cause the place is a fun place to be and socialise.
Jim reaches his cream coloured dorm building and walks up to his room on the third floor. He pulls out his key and opens the door. The room is pretty small, originally a half empty closet that had cleaning supplies. There's a mattress with sheets on the floor now, the window not so big but good enough, a small table with books on it and a drawer.
Jim got rights to the room when there was a general cleaning day about a few months ago. Luckily there was another little room that also had cleaning supplies on the floor so he just asked Bakuto-Sensei and got his permission.
'I still have to share the bathroom though'. The reason Jim doesn't train in this room though is because he has three reasons. One, the room is too small. Everything in the room has filled up most of the available space. Two, the possible volatility of his abilities. After learning more about science and physics in school, he has learned how dangerous the energy he controls could potentially be. Rather than destroying his room, better to break a few stones and trees. He'd rather not damage where he lays his head for the night.
Three is just that he feels comfortable training in those woods as he is used to it. After all he had been training there for over a year before he got this room. Although then he could only train in the morning and not at night. Having this room gives him more freedom to do his night training as there's no one really wondering where he is.
It's not that Jim doesn't have friends, but he doesn't have any close ones except Colleen who he looks up to. Jim picks up a few toiletries and hits the shower. He comes back, wears a blue hoodie and black jeans. He picks up his bag before stepping out and locking his door.
He walks out the dorm, greeting a few people along the way and reaches the camp's bus that'll be taking him and a few other people doing their outreach work into town.
The camp is pretty isolated near the mountains and forests, it's about thirty minutes before they'll reach the town.
"Good morning Mr Butler" Jim says greeting the driver.
"Hey Jim, got your breakfast and lunch bag right here" The driver says handing Jim two brown bags with his name on it. The cafeteria gives breakfast and lunch packages to the kids during their outreach days. Jim takes his food and sits down at the back of the bus. He checks his breakfast bag seeing two thick looking sandwiches and a cup of juice. He immediately starts to eat. They wait for about ten minutes as the bus slowly fills up with people and once about fifteen teens are on, they are on their way out.