Gulp!
Sera swallowed hard. Her eyes froze wide open, and she ceased all movement the moment she realized—someone was standing right behind her.
If he had a knife, she'd already be skewered.
"The touchscreen… it works by electrical conductivity. When your finger touches the screen, the negative charge from your skin completes a circuit with the positive charge of the screen. Stop the current—and the screen won't respond."
His voice was steady. Completely calm. No dramatic flair, no rise or fall in tone. It was quiet, serious, cold. It reminded her of Jody… if Jody were a guy.
Sera began subtly shifting her body, intending to bolt—but it was as if he could read her mind.
Click.
She felt something press against her back.
And in her head, there was only one thing it could be:
A gun.
"Smart of you to place yourself somewhere crowded. You're probably thinking I won't make a move, right? But let me tell you—when you're this close to someone, crowded places make it easier."
"..."
Her breath grew rapid. The tension was suffocating.
"Go ahead, try to run… and see which one's faster."
"…W-Who are you?"
"Quiet. Walk. Hand over the phone."
.
.
.
Sera had no choice but to obey. She didn't even get the chance to look back. He guided her through the crowd, into the school's garden courtyard.
"M-Mickey… a-are you Mickey? I saw you, okay? In the taxi… they told me you were—KYAH!"
"Sit."
The man guided her onto a white stone bench beside the fountain.
It felt like déjà vu. The same wide garden where she had once pleaded with Syd and Jody…
If he could walk me through the crowd undetected, then… he's wearing the school uniform too, isn't he? Dammit. How am I supposed to get out of this…
He still stood behind her.
"Mickey… what the hell are you doing?! This is school grounds! You can't just sneak in like this—you'll get hauled out by security!"
She still wasn't sure if this was really Mickey, so she had to play it safe.
"…'He'? Who's he?"
His reply chilled her.
"..."
The tension surged. If this really were Mickey, he wouldn't talk like this.
"...…"
"What's his name?"
"..."
She couldn't answer. She couldn't tell him.
"No answer?"
"..."
"Then we'll do it right here."
Right here?! Wait—what does he mean right here?! Is he going to shoot me right here?!
"W-Wait! What do you want from me?!"
"Who are you working for? Don't think you can lie to me. And answer the damn question—who is he?"
"D-Do you want money?! Is that it?! Fine, take it—take all of it—I'll give you whatever you want!"
That pushed him over the edge.
"I asked who you work for. Not how much money you have—"
But before he could finish—
CRACK!
A white stone spike shot up from the bench beneath her and slammed into his wrist with a loud crack.
"—?!"
He cried out in pain, clutching his wrist. Not just from a fall, but from the sheer force of that stone jab shooting upward like a piston.
Sera launched herself away from the bench. A faint pink aura shimmered around her, signaling the use of her power.
Run. Just run.
That was her best option.
But before she could get far, his hand snatched her by the shoulder.
Shit—he's fast!
That alone told her everything: this guy had been trained. Just like Syd.
He used his other arm to lock her in a tight chokehold, as if taking her hostage. That's when she saw his sleeve—
It was a school uniform.
She struggled, but she couldn't overpower him.
No doubt now—he was with the same people as Syd Barrett.
He dragged her to the edge of the school fountain. Her head was pushed down, hovering inches from the surface of the water—
And in the water… she saw it.
Electric currents.
"T-The water… there's electricity?!"
Blue arcs crackled across the surface, reminding her of the downed power lines earlier...
"If you won't talk… there's no point in continuing this. Goodbye."
He pushed her head lower. Closer to the surface. One more inch, and she'd be electrocuted.
"I give up! I give up! I'll tell you—I'll tell you who he is! Just don't kill me!"
"Speak."
"..."
Sera spat it out.
"The guy I'm working for… his name's John! J-John Doe! I don't know his organization, maybe the police?! H-He forced me to do it, I swear! He made me work for him! He's hiding at… at (…) Street!"
All of it—lies. Even the address was randomly made up. It was miles from Syd's house.
"..."
"I heard there's someone else too. Isn't she your friend?"
"…"
"..."
Shit…
"S-She's not my friend! Okay?! I just do what he tells me to! Whatever he says, I do! That's it! They're probably hiding at the place I just gave you!"
"What powers do they have?"
"..."
"John… he can harden his skin like armor. And… the woman—she's got fire. She can ignite anything."
Sera spewed the fake intel, sweat pouring down her face, her breath frantic.
"..."
"...Are you sure you're telling the truth?"
Gulp.
She swallowed hard again.
No—if he already knew, he wouldn't bother interrogating me like this.
"…Y-Yes! I swear!"
"You hear that, buddy?"
Huh?
The man's tone shifted.
Suddenly, the sense of danger that had been pressing on her vanished.
"…Huh?" Sera furrowed her brow.
{ Loud and clear. Told you my team's the real deal. }
Wait a second—that voice. That was Syd! Coming through a speaker?!
"Yeah. He's good," the man beside her replied calmly, releasing her. The electricity in the fountain vanished.
Sera quickly shoved herself away from him. Finally, she turned around—
And what she saw was…
A young man with green wolf-cut hair and a face as beautiful as a girl's—exactly like the photo she'd seen.
"...Mickey? You're Mickey, right?!"
The boy gave her a small nod.
"What the hell was that just now?!"
"...."
He handed her phone back. On the screen, she saw it was Syd on the call. She had no idea when Mickey had used her iPhone to call him.
"Syd! What the hell are you doing?!"
She was livid. She shouted at both Syd and Mickey without caring about who could hear.
{ He just wanted to meet you, that's all. I let him borrow a uniform. }
"Then why didn't he just come up and say hi?! Why pull all this crazy crap?!"
{ He said he wanted to test you... }
Then Sera heard Syd snickering over the call—along with other voices in the background.
Which told her that more than just Syd and this jerk had heard her freak out.
Crack...
Sera clenched her fist tight. She was gripping her phone so hard, the screen protector cracked.
This was humiliating. Absolutely mortifying.
"I'm going to kill you, you bastard!"
She let loose a flurry of curse words not even remotely ladylike.
{ Bring it on then, you psycho bit— }
Beep.
Before the two could start a full-on fight over the phone, Mickey calmly reached out and ended the call for her.
"...Hey."
Sera looked up at him. The pretty-faced boy removed his hand and returned to his usual pose—hands in his pockets.
He was staring at her again.
What now?
"Why the hell did you even come find me? What's the point of testing me, huh?! You moron!"
He didn't answer.
"Don't you pretend like that didn't just happen, you little sh—"
"...Yes."
"And trespassing on school property?!"
"...Yes."
"This is completely insane! You tried to kill me! You were stalking me since the condo! And now you're just gonna pretend like nothing happened?!"
"...Yes."
"You're all disgusting. Every one of you. A bunch of damn degenerates! 💢"
"It was just a test. If you're upset, I understand. You have every right to be angry."
He gave her a slight bow of apology.
"Making up false intel to throw off your enemies… smart move. Nothing to be ashamed of."
"...."
He stared at her again, and Sera suddenly didn't know how to feel.
After speaking, Mickey extended his hand.
"Mickey Mannix. Nice to meet you."
"...."
"Seraphina Gilmore..."
She shook his hand. They did a formal handshake.
"Syd told me everything about you... But first, could you help me with my wrist? Pretty sure something's dislocated."
At the school's coffee shop—the same one Jody and Sera liked to hang out at.
The cozy morning atmosphere carried the scent of coffee, paired with dark walls and warm yellow lights. Students chatted in little groups while—
"..."
Scrape... scrape... scrape... scrape...
"..."
Sera sat there, gritting her teeth as she listened to the unbearable sound of a metal knife scraping against a ceramic plate.
Mickey was slicing a muffin across from her, and only a small round coffee table separated them.
She felt incredibly awkward in this deathly silent atmosphere. The guy hadn't said a word since the garden. Her anger, once burning hot, had started to fizzle awkwardly.
"..."
"Cut that quieter. It's driving me nuts."
"Sorry... I'm not used to slicing cake."
"It's a muffin, not cake, idiot."
"...I know."
"..."
Sera took a sip of her coffee and decided to break the silence.
"Hey..."
"...?"
"...What's your ability?"
"..."
"..."
"Hey. I'm asking you. What's your power?"
Mickey glanced up at her.
His lime green eyes locked onto hers. Sera started to feel chills. Did this guy even blink?
She felt a strange, unnerving tension radiating from him. What the hell was he thinking?
"I already showed you."
"I asked what it was, not what it looked like."
"That was the answer."
"I need to confirm."
"I heard you're one of the top students here. Thought you'd figure it out on your own."
"!?"
Sera flinched. That sounded like an insult to her intelligence.
"I can manipulate electricity."
"...Electricity?"
"Yeah. I can control electric charges. So if I can control charge, I can control electric fields—like that fountain earlier."
Mickey explained as he rolled up his sleeve.
Sera looked down at his bare arm.
"...What?"
Suddenly, a green aura began to emanate from him—and then, wires started to appear.
Wires.
Wires literally formed on his arm!
Naturally, the green aura coated them too, complete with electric circuit patterns glowing bright green.
"Your power manifests physically?"
"Yeah. I can generate electrical wiring from my body. And if I connect it to anything, it becomes conductive. The wire can stretch out to about ten meters—that's the range of my ability."
He continued.
"I can even turn myself into pure current. That moment you saw me while in the taxi—I traveled through the roadside wiring. Just had to plug into a socket."
Every mystery clicked into place.
He even had a crest—shaped like a green electric field symbol.
"Those wires of yours... can really plug into anything?"
"Hand me your phone."
Sera gave him her phone. Mickey connected one of his green wires to her iPhone.
Ding!
The screen lit up—charging.
"...Whoa."
"My wires can interface with anything. For communication devices, they even auto-adapt the connectors."
"What are you, straight out of Cyberpunk or something?"
"I've got USB-C, too."
"Nobody asked."
Just then, Mickey bit into his muffin and pointed behind her. Sera turned and saw her group of friends approaching.
"Thanks for breakfast. See you this evening."
Mickey stood up.
"Where are you going? Heading back?"
"I'll hang around nearby. You finish your errand and get out quick. We've got work to do."
"I just need to drop off a letter. I'll be out soon."
Mickey walked away just as her friends arrived.
"...Sera, who was that? Don't recognize him."
"...No one."
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"Shut up."