JJ Psychic

Chapter 1

The Discovery

For the first few days after the accident, JJ's mother barely left his side.

She monitored everything.

His temperature.

His heartbeat.

His breathing.

His reactions.

And most importantly, his abilities.

She had originally been terrified that the experiment had damaged him beyond repair. But as the days passed, she began to realize that JJ wasn't dying.

He was changing.

The first strange incident happened in the kitchen.

JJ was sitting at the table, eating breakfast while his mother reviewed her notes.

A pencil sat beside him.

JJ reached for it.

Before his fingers touched it, the pencil moved.

It slid across the table.

JJ stopped.

He stared at it.

His mother looked up.

"Did you move that?"

JJ shook his head.

The pencil moved again.

This time, it lifted slightly from the table before dropping back down.

JJ's eyes widened.

"Mom..."

His mother immediately grabbed her notebook.

"Don't move."

JJ frowned.

"I'm not moving."

"I mean the pencil."

"Oh."

She watched him carefully.

"Think about moving it."

JJ looked at the pencil.

"Like this?"

The pencil slowly rose.

His mother froze.

JJ smiled.

"I did it!"

The pencil fell.

JJ laughed.

"Again!"

His mother wasn't laughing.

She was staring at the pencil as though it had completely changed everything she knew about science.

She wrote several notes before finally looking at her son.

"JJ, do it again."

He did.

The pencil rose.

Then a spoon.

Then a small toy.

Each time, JJ became more excited.

His mother became more concerned.

Over the next several weeks, she began conducting controlled tests.

She never wanted to treat JJ like a laboratory animal, but she needed to understand what the experiment had done to him.

She started with simple objects.

Pencils.

Toys.

Books.

Cups.

JJ could move them without touching them.

One afternoon, JJ became frustrated because he couldn't reach a toy sitting on a high shelf.

"Can you get it for me?"

His mother smiled.

"You're perfectly capable of getting it yourself."

"I can't reach."

"Then use a chair."

JJ looked at the shelf.

"I want to try."

His mother watched.

JJ concentrated.

The toy moved.

It slid toward the edge of the shelf.

Then it dropped.

JJ caught it.

He smiled proudly.

"See?"

His mother nodded.

"Very good."

JJ hugged the toy.

"I'm getting better."

"You are."

He looked at her.

"Does that mean I'm a superhero?"

She smiled.

"Not exactly."

"Why not?"

"Because superheroes usually wear costumes."

JJ thought about it.

"Can I get one?"

His mother laughed.

"Maybe."

For a moment, everything felt normal.

Then she remembered the experiment.

Her smile disappeared.

His physical strength was another mystery.

JJ had always been an energetic child, but after the experiment, he became extraordinarily strong.

His mother first discovered it when she asked him to help move a box.

"Don't lift that," she warned. "It's too heavy."

"I can do it."

"No, JJ."

He grabbed the box anyway.

He lifted it.

His mother stared.

JJ looked at her.

"See?"

"Put it down."

He carefully placed it on the floor.

"Was that good?"

His mother didn't answer immediately.

"JJ, you're five years old."

"I know."

"That box weighs almost as much as you do."

JJ looked at it.

"Is that bad?"

"No."

She paused.

"It's just... unusual."

JJ smiled.

"I'm strong."

His mother forced a smile.

"Yes. You are."

But she knew that something far beyond ordinary strength had developed inside him.

Then came the most difficult ability to understand.

Teleportation.

It happened accidentally.

JJ was playing with a small toy car.

He became distracted and looked away.

When he looked back, the car was gone.

"Mom!"

His mother entered the room.

"What happened?"

"My car disappeared."

She looked around.

"Where did you put it?"

"I didn't put it anywhere."

She searched the room.

Nothing.

Then JJ pointed toward the other side.

"There."

His mother turned.

The toy car was sitting on a table several feet away.

She stared at it.

JJ looked confused.

"I didn't put it there."

His mother slowly approached the car.

She picked it up.

"JJ, can you make it come back?"

"How?"

"Think about it."

JJ concentrated.

The car disappeared from her hand.

She gasped.

A second later, it appeared beside JJ.

He laughed.

"That's cool!"

His mother didn't laugh this time.

She was beginning to understand.

The experiment hadn't simply changed JJ's body.

It had fundamentally altered him.

There was, however, one part of JJ that continued to worry her.

His voice.

The damage to his vocal cords hadn't healed.

He could barely speak anymore.

Sometimes he could produce a faint sound, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

His mother took him to specialists.

She tried treatments.

She searched through her research.

Nothing worked.

Eventually, JJ stopped trying to speak.

Instead, he learned to communicate through gestures, writing and expressions.

His mother felt guilty every time she saw him struggle.

One evening, she sat beside him.

JJ wrote something on a small piece of paper.

Will I ever talk again?

His mother stared at the words.

She wanted to promise him that he would.

But she couldn't.

"I don't know."

JJ looked disappointed.

She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"But I'll keep trying."

JJ nodded.

He wrote another sentence.

Promise?

She smiled.

"I promise."

JJ smiled back.

His father, meanwhile, had become increasingly interested in his son's abilities.

At first, he had simply asked questions.

"What can he do?"

"How strong is he?"

"Can he control the abilities?"

But his questions became more specific.

"How far can he teleport something?"

"How much weight can he lift?"

"Can he move more than one object?"

"Can anyone else reproduce the experiment?"

His wife noticed the change.

One evening, she confronted him.

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

He looked at her.

"Because this is important."

"Of course it's important. He's our son."

"I know."

"Then why do you keep talking about him like he's an experiment?"

Her husband sighed.

"Because you don't understand what you've created."

She stared at him.

"I understand perfectly."

"No, you don't."

He walked toward the laboratory.

"You spent years trying to create something extraordinary."

"I was trying to advance science."

"And you succeeded."

He turned toward her.

"Do you understand what JJ represents?"

Her expression hardened.

"He's a five-year-old boy."

"He's more than that."

"He's our son."

"He can move objects without touching them."

She said nothing.

"He can teleport matter."

Still nothing.

"He has extraordinary physical strength."

Her husband stepped closer.

"This isn't just a scientific discovery."

He lowered his voice.

"It's a breakthrough."

His wife shook her head.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Whatever you're thinking."

He looked toward the hallway where JJ was playing.

"I'm thinking about his future."

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"I know enough."

She stepped between him and the hallway.

"Whatever happens, JJ stays with us."

Her husband stared at her.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then he smiled faintly.

"Of course."

But there was something unsettling about the way he said it.

That night, JJ sat on the floor playing with his toys.

His father watched him from the doorway.

JJ looked up and smiled.

His father smiled back.

"Having fun?"

JJ nodded.

He picked up a toy and made it float.

His father watched carefully.

"Can you make it move faster?"

JJ tried.

The toy shot across the room.

His father caught it.

JJ laughed.

"Again!"

His father threw it back.

JJ caught it using telekinesis.

They continued playing.

To JJ, it was simply a game between a father and his son.

To his father, it was something else.

It was proof.

Proof that his son was unlike anyone else.

Proof that the experiment had succeeded beyond anything his mother could have imagined.

And somewhere beyond their peaceful home was a world that would eventually learn about JJ.

A world interested in people with abilities like his.

A world controlled by an organization his father knew far too well.

JJ's mother had created the experiment.

But she had no idea what her husband intended to do with its greatest result.

JJ was still a child.

He still believed his parents would protect him.

He still believed his home was safe.

He still believed his father loved him.

And for the moment, he was right.

But that would not last forever.

The discovery had been made.

And soon, someone would come to claim it.