The Mantis Corruption - Book Three - 30. Chapter 30 - Olona & Sumi

Olona jumped up when the bell to the front door of her shop rang, and she greeted her guest.

“Good morning, Sumi,” she said. “Thanks so much for coming by, and thanks again for loaning me your file for the past week. It was a fascinating read! I’m excited to see what we can find out.”

Sumi looked unsure. “You read it? You mean, you actually understood it? What do you want me to do?” she asked.

Olona smiled. “Come in and we can try a few things. Let’s go into the back room where I’ve got some gear set up. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No, thank you,” Sumi replied as they headed through the storefront.

“Alright,” Olona said, “then if you’re ready, let’s get started. First, can I simply observe you using your powers? Will you please just go from one side of the room to the other in front of me?”

“Okay,” Sumi replied, and suddenly she was standing on the other side of the room.

“Wow,” Olona whispered. “That’s incredible! Do you mind telling me what you experience when you use your powers, while I put something together?” She waved at her organic mechanic equipment, lit a joint, and sat at her table to assemble a few small components.

Sumi explained, “I refer to them as doorways. It feels like they open on my skin, and then I can move through them. The doorways lead me from one place to another.”

Olona looked up at her. “What happens if you just open a doorway and feel it on your skin, like you said, but then you don’t go through it?” She continued manipulating the instrument that she was constructing.

“I’ve never done that. I just go through when it’s there.”

Olona made a note and requested of Sumi, “Next, can you teleport me across the room with you?”

Sumi nodded. “Yes,” she said, and she held out her hand.

Olona reached up from her seat at the table, took Sumi’s hand, and suddenly they were both on the other side of the room. Olona was still in a seated position but the chair was no longer beneath her. Her hand slipped from Sumi’s, and Olona’s backside hit the floor.

“Oooff!”

Sumi looked mortified. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I should’ve made you stand up first!”

Olona laughed. “No, no,” she replied, as she rose to her feet, “that was unbelievable, marvelous! I don’t even know what I just experienced,” she exclaimed in a delighted voice. “How long did you feel the doorway open before you took my hand?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Sumi responded.

Olona concentrated, trying to organize her words. “I guess I’m asking if you felt the doorway open at the same instant that our hands touched, or was it already open, and then you grabbed my hand?”

Sumi seemed to ponder Olona’s words. “Well, no, my doorway doesn’t appear at the same instant. It’s more like it’s waiting for me.”

Olona stepped up to the table and lifted the device she constructed. “Can you take me across the room again,” she asked, “but this time, please hold this in your hand?”

“Okay,” Sumi agreed.

She took Olona’s small machine, and Olona pulled her hand away and quickly asked, “Can you feel your doorway?”

Sumi hesitated. “Yes,” she said with uncertainty in her voice.

“Look through it, but don’t step through it,” Olona instructed. “Can you still feel it?”

“I can.” Sumi closed her eyes and gasped. “I can see you from the other side of the room! I can see myself!”

“Yes! That’s perfect.” Olona was very pleased with the results. “Can you step through it and keep it open?”

Sumi opened her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Can you teleport to the other side of the room, but when you arrive, can you feel the same way that you feel right now? Can you go through and still feel the doorway?”

Sumi concentrated and appeared on the other side of the room.

“Close your eyes!” Olona quickly instructed. “Can you still see me?”

“It’s gone,” Sumi said in a disappointed tone.

“No problem, that’s no problem at all,” Olona replied. “These are all just tests. I want to make a few notes. Will you teleport across the room a few times so that the device can take some readings?”

“Okay,” Sumi said, and she extended the little machine back to Olona. “Here you go.”

Olona looked confused. “It needs you to teleport in order to take the readings.”

Sumi furrowed her brow. “I just did,” she responded. “I went back and forth nine times. You didn’t…” she hesitated. “You didn’t see me?”

Olona tentatively took the device from Sumi’s hand. To her surprise, sure enough, it was registered with nine teleportations in less than a nanosecond.

“Wow,” Olona whispered again. “Can you do it one more time, just across the room?”

Sumi obliged and took back the device. She stepped through another doorway and appeared across the room.

“Thank you,” Olona said, and she began to write furiously into a large bound notebook.

Sumi stood there awkwardly holding the device for several minutes.

Olona repeated herself when she finished. “Thank you. May I please see the final reading?”

Sumi returned the device to Olona, who plugged it into the cable from the organic mechanic device her forearm.

“Wow, this data is unbelievable.” She looked Sumi in the eyes. “Your file states that it’s possible for you to see through your doorways, like we just proved, but it also says that you can go into and remain in that in-between space before teleporting out again.”

Sumi did not respond and looked uncertain.

“Do you want to see if you can teleport across the room,” Olona suggested, “but not immediately? What if you open another doorway, and peer through it, but then you just enter it without exiting on the other side.”

“That doesn’t seem possible,” Sumi replied.

“If they put it in your file,” Olona commented, “that makes me think they tested and were able to prove these details about your powers.” Olona then looked serious. “But, Sumi, I don’t want you to feel the way you did back at the compound. I don’t want you to feel like I’m running experiments on you to hurt you. Those people kept a lot of facts hidden from you about your powers, but I want you to know everything you can about yourself. You are truly incredible, Sumi. I’m in awe of you,” Olona added.

Sumi could not help but blush a little. “This doesn’t feel like the compound at all,” she said quietly. “The medics were horrible and the officers were worse.”

“Well, I do not want you to feel what you felt with them, not with me,” Olona stated. “If I suggest a test that you don’t want to do, just let me know. Also, if you ever want to tell me what happened to you, I know that I’m not even 20 yet, but I think I’m a pretty good listener. Conversely,” Olona added, “if you never want to think about those things again, we don’t ever have to discuss them.”

Sumi had been in Teshon City for less than a month, but she had already experienced an abundance of compassion and understanding from the people with whom she and Harakin had become friends. She gave Olona a steadfast look. “I’m interested in seeing what we can figure out, what they wanted to keep from me.”

Olona beamed at her and replied, “Not only are you powerful, but since knowledge is power,” she declared, “learning about yourself makes you even more powerful!”

Sumi smiled. “Okay, let me try and see if I can go in between without going all the way through my doorway.” She closed her eyes and said, “I can see us from the other side of the room again.”

“Good, it came naturally that time.” Olona recommended, “What if you continue to look through the doorway after you step in, but don’t stop looking through, will that keep you in-between?”

Sumi disappeared.

Olona looked around and headed out into the front area of her shop. “Sumi?” she called to the empty space.

To Olona’s surprise, Sumi suddenly reappeared in the backroom with a small girl, and they both fell to the floor.

Olona rushed over to help Sumi up, and both of them spoke in unison.

Olona asked, “Who is this?” at the same instant that Sumi gasped, “The princess?!”

The young child groaned, sat up, and stared at Sumi and Olona.

The two women looked at each other and then back at the girl.

“How are you alive?” Sumi whispered. She was shocked.

“Are you okay?” Olona asked the child.

“I was in the castle,” the princess whimpered, “and everyone was dying.” Tears poured from her eyes.

Olona tried to comfort her. “You’re okay. You’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you.” She put an arm around the girl. “Would you like something to eat or drink?” she offered.

The princess sniffed hard and wiped her eyes. “No, I’m not hungry. We just finished dinner, and I’m still full.”

The bell at the front door of Olona’s shop rang again, and Ilya’s voice suddenly cried out, “Olona! Where are you, Olona?!”

“I’m back here with Sumi!” she replied.

Ilya burst in urgently. She ignored Sumi and the princess, and Ilya looked right at Olona.

“I need your help!”✪

- Book 4 is coming soon!

“The Mantis Continuum”