The field test was Demi's idea.
Which meant it was also Demi's design, and nobody was going to argue with it.
She had mapped everything the night before with that same focused efficiency she brought to everything else. The route ran through the outer ring of Simara's contested zone — dangerous enough to matter, not dangerous enough to spiral out of control. Just enough pressure to make things real.
The objective itself was simple.
Keisha would cycle her amplification through each of them while they engaged. Demi would observe, record, and break everything down into something measurable.
"Think of it as a baseline," Demi had said the night before. "Not something you can fail. Just data."
Keisha had nodded.
She had also clearly taken it as a test anyway.
Arie hadn't said anything then. Just watched her process it, the way she hesitated before settling on a response, the way she tried to align herself with what was expected.
Useful.
The outer contested zone stretched out in dull grey.
Flat terrain. Minimal cover. Creatures that attacked quickly and without much thought behind it. Good for observation. Bad for distraction.
Rosh went first.
Keisha stepped in close and placed her hand against his forearm. That seemed to be the cleanest point for her ability right now.
For a second, nothing obvious happened.
Then—
Rosh moved.
It was subtle at first.
A slight shift in how his strikes landed. A bit more force behind them. Nothing dramatic enough to notice immediately unless you were looking for it.
Demi noticed.
Of course she did.
"Again," she said, already writing.
Keisha pushed.
The next hit sent the creature flying.
Not knocked back. Not staggered.
Thrown.
It hit a rock formation hard enough that the impact echoed across the clearing.
Rosh stared at his hands.
"That's… new."
"Don't move," Demi said.
Keisha held it for around forty seconds.
Then the connection dropped.
Rosh exhaled slowly, flexing his fingers like he was trying to hold onto something that had already gone.
"Good," Demi said. "Spectre."
Spectre stepped forward without comment.
As usual.
Keisha hesitated just slightly before placing her hand on him.
Then she applied the same amplification.
The result was harder to read.
The shadows around him shifted. Not dramatically — just… differently. His movement blurred at the edges, like he wasn't fully committing to the same space as everything else.
Demi's pen moved faster.
"Interesting," she said quietly.
Keisha pulled back sooner this time.
Something about Spectre clearly didn't sit right with her.
She didn't mention it.
Neither did anyone else.
"Arie."
Keisha looked at him.
He stepped forward.
Stopped in front of her.
Let her place her hand where she had with the others.
The contact registered.
Not warmth.
Not exactly.
Something closer to pressure, like something was being applied from a direction that didn't quite exist.
Then she pushed.
Oh.
He had expected an increase.
He hadn't expected this.
His power didn't change.
It expanded.
It felt like something had opened.
Like he'd been working within a boundary he hadn't realized was there, and now it wasn't.
The space around him became clearer.
Sharper.
He could feel more.
Further out. More seams. More connections. More of the underlying structure he normally had to reach for.
Now it was just… there.
A creature came at him.
He dealt with it without thinking.
Another followed.
Then more.
He moved through them cleanly with more precision
Every movement landing exactly where it needed to.
He felt Demi stop writing.
He pulled it back deliberately.
Keisha dropped the connection at around fifty seconds.
She was breathing harder now.
She looked at her hand.
Then at him.
"That felt different," she said.
"Did it?" he asked.
She frowned slightly. "You know it did."
He met her gaze.
Relaxed. Open.
"You did well."
She held his eyes for a moment.
Then looked away.
Demi hadn't resumed writing.
Arie glanced at her.
She was staring at the space he had just been standing in.
Notebook open.
Pen in hand.
Page blank.
"Demi," Rosh said.
"I'm thinking."
"About what?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Her eyes moved to Keisha.
"Your amplification behaves differently depending on the target," she said finally. "With Rosh, it scales output directly. With Spectre, it alters how his ability manifests."
A pause.
"With Arie…" she frowned slightly, "I don't have a model for that yet."
Keisha shifted her weight.
"It amplifies what's already there," she said slowly. "His power… has more space in it. More room. So there's more for mine to affect."
Demi looked at her.
Then nodded once.
"Yes."
That was the moment.
Something clicked between them.
Nothing obvious or dramatic.
Just recognition.
Arie saw it.
Filed it away.
They ran two more sequences before Demi ended it.
On the way back, Keisha fell into step beside him without thinking about it.
He noticed.
Of course he did.
"Your ability," she said after a while. "What is it exactly?"
"Reality manipulation."
She waited.
He didn't elaborate.
"That's vague."
"It's a broad category."
She gave a small huff. Not quite a laugh.
"Does it always feel like that?" she asked. "When it's amplified?"
"No."
That answer was honest.
"That was new."
She was quiet for a moment.
"I didn't know I could do that," she said.
"You're still figuring it out."
She nodded slowly.
Then:
"Is that why you wanted me in the group?"
He looked at her.
She was watching him properly now.
Not just observing.
Measuring.
"I wanted you in the group," he said, "because you're going to be exceptional."
A small pause.
"And I'd rather have that on my side than watch it develop somewhere else."
It was true.
Just not complete.
Keisha held his gaze for a second longer.
Then looked ahead.
"Okay." She wasn't convinced but not unconvinced either.
That was fine.
They were close to the Capital gate when it happened.
Rosh was talking — something about energy transfer, half explanation, half enthusiasm — when Arie noticed Spectre slow slightly.
Not enough to stand out.
Just enough.
His gaze shifted left.
Nothing there.
Just a gap between buildings. Shadow. Normal space.
He looked at it for a second.
Maybe less.
Then kept walking.
No reaction.
No comment.
Nobody else noticed.
Arie didn't turn his head.
Didn't break stride.
But he marked it.
That wasn't nothing.
Interesting.
A pause.
What are you.
He let the thought settle.
Didn't chase it.
Some things needed time.
He walked through the gate with the group, let Rosh's voice fill the space, responded when expected, smiled when appropriate.
And kept the question where it belonged.
For later.