'You know I don't think that Holborn is my future self...' I said, patiently waiting for the next class to begin.
"Why would you think that?" Ryuk asked, curiously.
'I thought about it for a long time but... Think about it... Why would I, the future me, want to create so many Flash points? That would just erase his existence faster. He won't know if I succeeded or not either... I think I am missing something,' I explained. 'What if he is a variant of me?'
"A variant of you? You don't even exist on Earth Prime, how would there be variants of you? Earth-5 is the only planet where you exist... However, the multiverse is complicated... Even higher dimensional beings find it hard to understand," Ryuk complained.
'Well... Since there exists branches of the original reality, why can't there be leaves? Like the Flash Points that I create leave a diversion in my path, if branches can be formed from the same diversions then can't leaves be formed from it as well?' I asked.
"..." Ryuk stayed silent after listening to my theory. "If what you said is correct then... Holborn... Which one is he? How many of you are there? Not every variant will be like him... You need to prepare yourself."
Prepare myself for myself... Well fuck... I am so screwed.
I need to get stronger somehow... Those variants are all SSR ranks, even with preparation time I don't have a way to stop them. They are variants of me after all, they know all my tricks, none of my plans are going to work on them.
'Based on what I know, Doctor is one of the good ones among my variants. He won't try to harm me but I can't guarantee that he won't stop me from killing Samuel,' I reasoned. 'This however is according to Holborn's explanation, I don't even know who to trust anymore.'
The fact that an fifth dimensional being doesn't know about the existence of leaves, made me question myself if my theory was correct or not.
"She has two hearts?" Sylvia murmured.
"What? Did you say something?" I asked her, not quite hearing her.
"Are you day dreaming again? Our substitute teacher, she has two hearts," Sylvia repeated herself, which immediately shifted my attention.
The substitute teacher was a young lady with red hair and yellow eyes, wearing a lab uniform.
'I don't recognise her,' I thought.
There was one thing that I hate more than anything, unexpected variables.
Holborn and Doctor are already a handful and now this... And she has two hearts...
What type of alien has two hearts and looks like a human?
"She looks like Professor Holborn, don't you think?" Sylvia asked.
"... I figured it out," I said to myself. "I could just kiss you right now, Syl."
"What?" Sylvia asked back, not realising what I just said.
Holborn had lost everyone after he destroyed his planet, which means she is probably a relative of Doctor... I found it... A weakness of Doctor... Wait does that mean Doctor has two hearts as well? Am I going to have two hearts?
"Ray... Do you realise what you just said?" Ryuk asked.
'Our substitute teacher is a relative of Doctor, that's my best guess... Is something wrong with that?' I asked back.
"Nevermind, I never thought you could multi task like that, great job," Ryuk showed me a thumbs up, snickering.
'Why do I feel as if someone is glaring at me?' Risa thought to herself. "Quiet down class, although Professor Holborn is not here, it doesn't mean that you all will get a free period."
"Let's start with metahumans, Mr. Allen, can you tell what are the main factors of a Metahuman's abilities?" Risa asked looking at my direction.
'I am already starting to dislike her,' I thought. "The most important factor of a Metahuman would be their DNA. Most metas are born naturally from lineage while some awaken near the presence of dark matter."
"Good answer! However, what if I tell you all that there are more ways to become a metahuman?" Risa raised the question in front of the whole class, stunning every one present there.
'What is she trying to do?' I thought.
"Today we will talk about awakening stones! Awakening stones have always been known as a myth by most people but due to our recent research records, we have found the existence of metahumans who awakened with awakening stones. Our scientists at Paragon have tried their best to research the bodies of those awakened metahumans and found out that those awakened by the awakening stones don't have major changes in their DNA," Risa explained.
"The abilities granted by awakening stones don't have a rank, these abilities are different from the abilities of a normal meta, unlike regular meta abilities that can be ranked up according to the usage rate and talent of the user, the abilities of awakening stones can't rank up. It can only be improved from practice... However, if an ability awakened by the awakening stones reach a certain level of mastery, they can unlock a new form for a small duration of time. This form is called as awakened state, as long as the user is in this form, he/she can bring out their full potential for a limited time. The duration increases accordingly to the usage of the awakened state."
For some reason I had the urge to smack her head... If what she said is true then Doctor has already figured out everything about the awakening stones. By the looks of it, she wanted me to know everything about my ability... Why is she helping me? Is she not with Doctor? Was I wrong about her?
... What if they are trying to play mind games with me? I see how it is... Holborn warned me not to trust them at all. I should consider if she is an ally or not after making sure that she isn't a threat to me.