Ampersand

I hear a knock at the door. I look through the peephole, it's her again.

"What do you want?"— I ask Ten, letting all my annoyance seep through my expression.

"Yo, how's it going?"— the memo didn't get to her in the slightest —"I'm here to talk about our powers do you want to step out of your base of operations?"

"Sup, Ten"— said Sgt. across the room.

"Hi, Sgt! I'll be borrowing him for the evening!"— When did you two become so matter-of-fact with each other?

I follow her downstairs. A car passes by, which I assume is driven by Ten's brother, who gives me a stern look as he drives away. There's a nearby park with very little activity and some benches and that's been the place where we'd held some 'training' sessions which in reality constitute an endless Q&A and I'm near the end of the line when it comes to giving answers.

—"Movies?"

—"What about them?"

—"Do you like them?"

—"I haven't gone to the cinema in ages."

—"W H A T? It's so fun!"— said Ten with a cheery attitude.

—"Hmm I watch some stuff at home in the laptop Sgt. lets me use, but yeah I haven't stepped into a movie theater in... 2 years."

—"So you don't have any good watches as of recently?"

—"I watched some I missed from 2007, the same year I stopped going to the movies. 'Tern Promises and There Will Be Cruor, pretty good."

—"Haven't heard of them. Mmmm. "

—"What's the last movie you've liked."

—"I'm thinking. Maybe The Pursuit of Joyfulness."

—"Hah!"

—"What's so funny?!"

—"Sorry. Just seems like your thing."

—"Hmph. Anyhow you're losing out. There's this trailer for this new movie coming out in December by the director of Britannic with heavy use of 3D."

—"You mean CG?"

—"Yeah, that!"

—"Can't see myself getting excited, the reason I stopped attending theaters is solely because I never had any expectations going in so I just ended up watching whatever."

—"Maybe that'll rekindle your love for cinema."

—"Maybe so."

A bit of silence followed this exchange.

—"So..."— Oh I don't like that, her tone has changed. —"How about a day? Can you go back a day?"

Really?!

—"Look Ten, that's wasteful, why would I need to go back a day besides I've already told you what happens if I try to 'teleport' using my time-travel powers."— I consistently (and reluctantly) talked to her since she figured me out (at least not the 'loosing my powers' part).

For the longest time, I had always been sure my power only transferred to my subconscious because I mainly use my powers to reverse my actions not jump ahead, or in this case backward. There was this time I tried to travel back with my full body but ended up meters away from where I was standing, it could've been milliseconds or a whole second, but I didn't pick up on it because of the bad sensation I felt. Planet Earth moves about 67,000 mph if I had traveled back in time for a day who knows where I'd end up since the position my body takes in space is fixed but everything else is moving.

—"How about a year? The Earth would be back at the same point in time."

—"That's ridiculous, you have to have such an idle-ridden brain to even think these things. And to answer your question, no, my calibration for a second isn't detailed, it's safer to just reverse time or transport my consciousness with a ||, a <<, followed by a >."— I make sure to move my hands accordingly to the symbols so it complements my nonsensical grunts "hngh", "ahg ah", "bleh".

—"But would you want to change things from the past using your powers? Solve issues plaguing today's society."

—"Ok, your questions have gone from hypothetical scenarios to full-on fantasies, don't expect me to answer them appropriately when even I don't understand the full capacity of my powers."— I don't want her to know that I'm losing my powers either. —"Besides, when thinking about periods of time where I could've helped humanity, even if I wanted to, I'll probably not understand the language they used or the culture they lived in. Not to mention how they'd even go about taking my instructions to heart, they'll conclude I have a screw loose."— As well as not being alive during those eras, I'll probably end up erasing my existence accidentally by breathing in the air that future ancestors would've needed to get to me being conceived before I do anything worthwhile.

—"Ah, you really halt any and all discussions I try to create!"— she was  half serious, half not.

—"They feel more like an interrogation."

—"Sorry, I didn't want to bombard you with questions but I was sure you'd be the one who'd have a better grasp of the nature of powers."

—"I mean... I have a slight idea of the origins of powers."

—"Oh, do tell."

"They come from especially distressing situations. Just like when your body reacts to danger by tensing up and becoming paler, powers can emanate out of one's body if they find themselves in a difficult situation. However it's also a matter of luck, we'd be hearing more about powers emerging during wars or even gang fights."

—"Mmm. I guess that's also why we don't see people who've hit rock bottom suddenly burst out into fits of power usage"— she seems to be adapting to the linguo well enough.

—"Don't be so sure about that. One of the contacts we work with, called Lou, has a crippling gambling addiction, even he got powers." — Let's not give her the wrong idea. —"But in the mind of someone who's just asking for anything, for a glimmer of hope, a bone thrown their way, the capability of their powers may be far more limited in scope."

—"What do you reckon was the purpose of me developing powers?"

—"I can't say for sure, the you I met had spiraled out of control."

Ten looked at me with a frown on her face. Part of her doesn't want to believe what I told her, that she'd dug a deeper hole after her initial rage that'd compromise the lives of innocent people. Don't blame her, people can't master their powers out of the gate, I'd imagine most of my bouts are with individuals who've gone through a great deal of trauma, but (even if it's to justify me 'taking care' of them) turn opportunistic the second they understand their newly acquired curses.

—"Not to excuse myself but I was getting pressured a lot, things have been going... strange for a while now, like some secret cabal is making sure I can't enjoy things."

—"How's college been treating you?"

—"Ah, you had to bring it up. Fair I guess, as fair as it is with everyone, and by that I mean pretty rough."

—"Well, that's the sort of stuff we bottle up and it comes bursting out into powers. We all reach our limits whether we want it or not."

—"What about you Gyu? What propped you up to gain time-related powers?"

—"... I mean... At the moment what I wished for the most was to course-correct an event that shouldn't have transpired."

—"Did it turn out good."

—"..."— It made my life into a living hell.

—"Are you alright?"

—"Bwah! Eh... Yes, sorry."— Keep it together man. —"It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least..."

—"If it's a touchy subject let's move on"

—"No. It's quite alright."

The atmosphere had turned gloomier, the sky was full of clouds with barely any sun rays. An amalgamation of creases and wrinkles fill the ever-expanding sky.

—"Ok so what about..."— Quick recovery, I also prefer the barrage of technical questions, for how grating they are to hear it's actually fun to have someone ask about the intricacies of my powers. Feels like the first time someone gave a shit to ask me. —"You can basically teleport, right? That's what I've garnered from our conversation so far."

—"Saying 'basically' is sort of a stretch. It has more to do with what my powers affect, in this case, my body."

—"Precisely what I wanted to get at. So, like, if at that time you moved your full body the planet had moved in such a way that your feet were below the ground would your body be mauled by the sudden change in the space it occupies or just pushed out of the way."

Another weird scenario.

—"I mean. That's not something I'd necessarily know, like I said I haven't done full body time-travel, even now I just think of it as transporting my consciousness not my actual brain when I skip back in time."

—"What about sending a toe or a piece of your body back in time? Like, let's say you've got an atrophied body part that you decide to send back in time for whatever reason, would your current body react as if it's lived through the many days you sent it back? Would you die instantly if you were in an already critical condition?"

—"These are getting morbid. Again, how would I ever know? I do understand what you're getting at though, sometimes powers are more flexible than we expect them to be but a better word would be 'vague'. I also don't see why I would do the things you suggest."

—"No, they are not suggestions."

—"I know, I know."— The enthusiasm to just idle-chat away about meaningless hypotheticals is contagious.

—"Back on topic. What would happen if you detach a toe? Could you get it back into your hand by using your powers without having to reverse time?"

—"..."— That's actually a good question. I take it all in for a minute then I stand some 7 or so meters away from the bench.

—"What's going on?"— Ten says as I point my right hand's index finger to my front, sideways from Ten's point of view.

—"Do it. Cut my finger."

—"WHAT?!"

—"I mean slash it with your power."

—"Are you mad! Are you trying to traumatize me?!"

—"No, don't worry. I've had my fair share of injuries, I'm stitched up thanks to reversing time. If it all goes south then it'll be as if it never happened."— I'm fully stocked on my powers and haven't used them in any menial tasks today so it should be fine, maybe this will help me discover a new way to use my powers.

—"I-I don't know about this."

—"It'll be fine I swear."

—"You won't get angry at me."

—"I'm the one asking you to do it, expect some cursing just because of the sheer pain though."— Maybe tease her a little. —"Not as much as what I endured in our battle."

—"Ugh, bringing that up... I don't like this at all ok."— Ten, reluctantly, focused on me, raised her hand, and dragged it down in a slashing fashion.

—"Oooaugh! Aaaugh! Motherf-"

—"Ah, I told you! Sorry! Please forgive me."— I couldn't hear Ten's plead by the excruciating pain. I saw as my finger lay on the concrete floor. I tried to collect my thoughts as well as I could and visualize my finger going back to its respective place.

—"As I thought this doesn't-"— Suddenly, it lifted itself up as if it was a magic trick, floated back, and clicked as if it was a magnet connecting to another's opposite side. —"Holy..."

—"Oh god... it worked."— Ten sighed in relief.

—"Argh!"

—"Are you alright?!"

The pain is still there, it's as if my body is getting mixed signals from my brain which is still confused as to whether or not my finger should be part of my body. The effect dissipated quickly.

—"Go back to the bench."

—"Wha-"

—"Please, would you do it?"— my sentences come a little rushed as I try to regain my breath. Ten heads back to the bench and turns around to face me.

—"What now?"

—"Again."

—"NO!"

—"I need to figure something out, please cooperate."

—"We have confirmed your powers allow you to take back severed limbs, what's the need!"

—"So you know nothing bad will happen or what's the hold-up? Afraid of a little blood?"

—"No, it's just that..."— Ten's voice broke a little. —"I don't want to hurt you..."

I guess I should've expected this. This is the same Ten that had given up her life after realizing the damage she'd done. I shouldn't tip her emotional balance off, but it's necessary to understand my powers to the fullest degree possible.

—"Don't worry. I trust you Ten."

—"..."— she held up her arms.

—"Hey."

—"..."

—"Focus on me, otherwise you won't cut anything by looking down."

Finally, Ten gave me a determined look. Can't say I wasn't nervous about this situation as well.

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—"I'm sorry."

—"Don't apologize. It was me who wanted to know the limits of my powers."— My hands are severely inflamed aaaah. Thankfully I learnt a lot of things about this ability of mine.

1) During one of the multiple experiments carried out this afternoon, I tried throwing a finger as far as I could and it came back, the pain made me not take into account how far it went but I'd say 15 meters. As long as it's part of my body I'm able reverse it's course back into me.

2) I'm not only reversing the limb trajectory back into my body per se but also the blood that flows out of my body. While Ten helped me I noticed that as soon as I "called" for my finger to be back in it's place blood came back, the way it reversed makes me believe it's possible it doesn't get contaminated which is a relief to hear.

3) Finally, the moment of truth. If something get's in the way of my body and my finger it'll be pierced. The way I visualize it as a straight line makes it so that it flies back to me. We tried with some empty cans left around the park and made it all the way to a lamp post. In conclusion:

My finger has become stronger than a bullet.

*B e e p*

Ten's got a notification.

—"Oh. Seems I gotta go."

—"Okay, catch you later then."

—"Yeah... see ya."— her intial cheery tone during our meeting had mellowed down by now.

Poor girl. I don't blame her if she doesn't want to associate with P.U.C. in general after this gory experience, which would be a shame since her abilities sure are powerful. Though it makes you wonder, what is her reason for hanging around an odd bunch like ours? Maybe it's just the fact people want to relate to others with the same predicament as theirs... or maybe I'm making a misjudgement.

—"SEE YA! FOR REAL THIS TIME!"— said Ten at the top of her lungs, a considerable distance away from me.

That startled me but I couldn't help but crack a small smirk.