"Why don't you tell anyone about your superpowers?" asked a chubby kid with bright eyes and brown hair as they left Medford Elementary School, his excitement evident.

"I want to be like the secret Crystal Guardian," replied the slightly overweight kid with reverence, noting the commonality of his black hair and eyes.

"You want to be a secret hero, Bro?" Sam exclaimed, surprised by the suggestion.

"If you scream like that, it won't be much of a secret. Darn it, I was dumb to make you my sidekick," Ethan retorted.

"Common, that's not nice. I'm sorry, I won't do that again. I can be your desk guy," said Sam with bright eyes.

"Okay, okay," Ethan conceded, accepting Sam's offer.

Sam silently pondered the notion of his friend being a secret superhero. In today's world, superheroes were celebrities, featured across ads, attending glamorous events, and starring in blockbuster movies. They amassed wealth and fame. There was a whole economy around them. But secret heroes held a different allure. Their identities shrouded in mystery, they were perceived as nobler than their famous counterparts, garnering admiration from all corners of society. Some of them managed to hide their identity until they died. They are considered the real hero’s.

"Hey, shouldn't we tell Adona about this?" Sam suggested, breaking the silence. Mentioning their other friend, who she went to a different school.

"I don't know, man. It's only been a day since I discovered these powers," Ethan replied, uncertainty lacing his words. He was already regretting telling one guy.

"Damn, we're already here," Sam remarked as they arrived at their destination. Something similar to a bus stop.

"Shh, stop talking. The bus stop has ears, Athena might be listening to us," Ethan whispered.

They stood in anticipation of their transportation, encircled by futuristic buildings and towering genetically modified trees reminiscent of dragon trees, engineered for optimal photosynthesis. Occasionally, sleek flying spacecraft passed by noiselessly. The deserted streets added an eerie atmosphere, with hardly anyone in sight.

Eventually, a bus-like spacecraft named Ad Farisan Child Care descended, its worn-out appearance contrasting with the sleekness of its surroundings. Other kids clamoured inside, filling the air with noise as the duo boarded the vessel.

After both of them sat down in the spacecraft and arrived at their destination, silently. Following the timetable, they headed to dining area for their tea time to grab something to eat.

After finishing their tea, the duo went to their sleeping quarters. The room contained about ten double-stacked beds, now empty as all the kids were playing outside.

"Come on, show me your superpowers again. Here's the only place you can show them before she finds us," Sam urged eagerly.

"Where is she, anyway? She should have come here before us, and meet with us at tea," Ethan wondered aloud.

"Forget about her, she must have gone to the library or something. Let's go find her after you show me your powers again," Sam suggested as they sat at the edge of their beds.

Handing Ethan a worn and tattered bedsheet that he used for years, Sam said, "Fix this."

Ethan took the bedsheet and located the torn area. Activating his powers, he ran his palm along the tear, and miraculously, the threads reattached themselves as he moved his hand. Both Sam and Ethan watched in astonishment as the bedsheet now looked brand new where Ethan's arm had touched it, while the rest remained old and worn. Ethan still couldn’t believe he did that.

"That's so cool!" Sam exclaimed with wide eyes.

"I know," Ethan said with a smug expression, though inwardly he felt a twinge of fatigue as his cosmic reserves were nearly depleted.

"What kind of superpower is this?" he asked in awe.

"I don't exactly know. Repairing things, I guess. I haven't used this for anything else," Ethan admitted.

"I wish I had superpowers," Sam lamented.

"Anyone can awaken super powers if they try.You can try the Awakening meditation," Ethan suggested.

Sam began performing a series of peculiar postures in succession, which served as the first step before the meditation. These meditations aimed to relax muscles to absorb Cosmos Force.

The Cosmos Force served as the power source for superheroes, an energy invisible to ordinary human eyes. Everything in the universe contained cosmos, even plants, albeit in minuscule amounts. While regular humans possess traces of it, it is harmless and useless until an Awakening happens.

The awakening of a superhero occurs as their normal human body synchronizes with the cosmos within the body. Then they get the ability to absorb the cosmos energy from the environment and store it within themselves. When a hero utilizing this power, they are depleting their energy reserves.

After observing Sam perform the exercises and going into the meditation posture, Ethan decided to sit down and meditate.

"Let's replenish energy," he thought to himself.

Closing his eyes, Ethan focused on absorbing the cosmos. He sincerely hoped that Sam would awaken powers too, as he believed this was the best way to do it.

Through years of experimentation and observation, researchers identified two ways to awaken superpowers: natural and artificial. They discovered a handful of potent yet risky methods for both approaches, with artificial methods often being costly and more perilous. However, these artificial methods carried a slim chance of success, were high-risk endeavours, and often came with exorbitant costs.

However, natural awakening methods remained the most preferred choice due to their affordability and ease of execution. Some even posed no risk. Despite few methods carrying risks, the natural approach remained popular. Only downside was It was rare for individuals to awaken powers, yet almost every human would attempt this method at least once in their lifetime, hoping for a stroke of luck. While billions of humans were born every year, only about one million superheroes would awaken annually.

The primary method of natural awakening consisted of a set of exercises and meditations. These practices were often compared to ancient sun salutations and Buddhist meditations, drawing inspiration from a rich history of techniques aimed at unlocking the latent potential within human bodies. However, with the aid of modern technology, these methods have been vastly refined and improved.

Ever since Ethan heard of this method, he practiced it diligently every day for two hours, for as long as he could remember. Despite being mocked by everyone, including Sam, for attempting something so rare, Ethan remained steadfast in his efforts. However, a few days prior, he finally succeeded. Now, Sam, intrigued by Ethan's success, wanted to try it too.

Sam tried meditating for about 30 minutes after the exercises.

"I can't feel it, though," he sighed in frustration.

"Dude, I tried it for 2 hours every day. What are you gonna do with just 30 minutes?" Ethan retorted, feeling exasperated.

"Man, I can't concentrate like you," Sam admitted.

"Keep trying. I struggled a lot too, you have plenty of time" Ethan encouraged him.

These exercises were simple yet powerful, allowing anyone to awaken their superpowers at any time. There were even individuals who awakened these powers at an advanced age. However, the earlier one awakened, the greater their potential, as they could absorb more cosmos. Ethan's awakening at the age of 10 meant his potential was immense, although such occurrences were rare. Most ordinary people awakened during their middle age, typically within a lifespan of 100 to 500 years.

"Wait, where's Adona?" Sam suddenly remembered.

"She must have been here by now," Ethan agreed. Duo suddenly felt something was wrong.

They searched for Adona, first checking the library where she usually hung out, then the playground. They even asked the staff of the facility, but they seemed indifferent, overwhelmed by the sheer number of over 5000 kids under their care. They only took action if a child was missing at bedtime.

As time passed, they grew increasingly concerned.

Finally, they received information that Adona had gone off to the back forest by herself. This was a small section of the forest behind the facility, but there was a larger forest just outside the facility walls, forbidden to the kids. They said there were monsters out there.

"She asked me the day before yesterday what's beyond the backyard forest,"

Sam confessed as they ran towards the small forest.

They found themselves surrounded by a moderate-sized forest, with trees reaching heights of about 2 to 3 meters above them. The ground was sparsely covered with bushes, and much of the grass had been trimmed or cut.

"What did you say?" Ethan inquired.

"I said what you said to me," Sam replied.

"Damn it," Ethan cursed under his breath. Thinking about it, Ethan also noticed a change of her behaviour from the day before yesterday.

The forbidden zone was a fabrication created by the facility. In reality, there was no danger on the planet, as Athena had confirmed it to be secure. The facility lied about the danger to keep the kids away. However, Ethan discovered the truth one day while listening to a speech about AGI and its benefits for humans.

"One of them was securing the planet's humans to live in," Ethan recalled.

?Do you think she went outside?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, we should look alongside the wall,” Ethan said.

As they ran parallel to the wall, the area within a meter of the wall had been cleared of weeds. The wall itself stood about 5 meters tall, towering over them.

“Look…” Sam pointed ahead of their path.

They discovered a hole just big enough for them to fit through, along with a hammer that even 10-year-old Ethan could lift.

"Damn it," they both muttered in frustration.