“His phasing ability is limited,” Gray replied. “Only small objects – pens, pencils, paper clips. Things along those lines in terms of size and density.”
“And you couldn’t tell me that before?” I huffed.
“Classified,” Gray explained simply. It was an unsatisfying response, but I went on.
“So why is that?” I asked. “Why only little things? Is it the result of some kind of conditioning, like his inability to harm you?”
Gray shook his head. “It’s not anything that was part of our program. It appears to be some kind of inherent psychological barrier.”
“You’re saying it’s some sort of self-imposed limitation – some kind of unintentional roadblock he’s constructed,” I said. “Don’t you think that’s weird?”
Gray shrugged. “No more weird than a telepath who has trouble reading minds.”
I ignored his subtle dig at me and moved on.
“How does he find me? Are you guys tracking me – maybe through my phone or something – and he somehow has access to that data?”
“No. Your friend Mouse has altered the telemetry and specs on all League communication devices. So, while we can call you on your phone, we can’t track you using it.”
“So how does he do it? How does Jack always seem to know exactly where I am?”
For the first time, Gray looked truly uncomfortable, a sure indication that I wasn’t going to like his answer.
“It’s never been formally documented,” he began, “but Jack appears to have a low-level precognitive ability.”
“What?!” I screeched, eyes wide. “He can see the future?!”
“As I said, it’s never been formally documented.”
“Oh, you want to play word games?” I growled. “Fine. So how was it informally documented?”
Gray gave me a sideways look, then sighed. “When Jack’s handlers were trying to gauge his telepathic abilities, they often did it using a card test.”
“I know,” I stated. “I’ve seen the tapes.”
A look of surprise momentarily crossed Gray’s face, then he went on. “From all appearances, Jack flunked the test soundly every time it was given. But upon review, it came to light that – while he generally wasn’t able to peg the card that the tester was holding – he was actually identifying the next card in the deck. He would do that accurately eight or ten times in a row, which is far too great for it to be a coincidence.”
“And nobody noticed that?”
“His handlers had tunnel vision on occasion. They knew his potential based on your power set, and they were so focused on those areas that they seemingly overlooked other talents he might have possessed. Thus, the person doing the card test just noted that Jack’s answer to the pending question was wrong and failed to see the predictive pattern.”
“Now I understand,” I said, smoldering with anger. “This is why you’ve never gone after him yourself, and it’s got nothing to do with a lack of resources. It’s because he’d see you coming.”
“Resources doesn’t just mean having a bunch of tools at your disposal,” Gray countered. “It means having the right tool for the right job. If I’ve got the equivalent of a tactical nuke about to go off, it doesn’t do me any good to send in an army of uneducated grunts. I need a bomb expert.”
“And in this instance you found one – me.”
“I don’t deny that you’re the right person for the task at hand, and sending anyone else would probably just get good people killed.”
I let out a groan of frustration. “You know, you should teach a course on manipulation. This is your mess – you created it – and yet somehow, I’m tasked with cleaning it up. Moreover, at the end of the day, I’m indebted to you.”
Gray chuckled. “Don’t you get it? You’re in the course right now.”
I was about to give a wiseacre response when my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID and noted who was ringing me: Mouse.
“You need to get that?” Gray asked.
“No,” I replied, sending the call to voicemail and putting away the phone. “Now, we were talking about Jack’s precognition. You called it ‘low-level’ before. What does that mean?”
“From what we can tell, he seems to only be able to see things in his personal future. That is, things he’s personally involved in.”
“So he wouldn’t be able to see us if we were, say, colluding to plant a bomb in his car.”
Gray nodded. “Correct. He might see the bomb going off in the future, but not the events leading up to it unless he was personally involved.”
“So he can’t see us right now,” I concluded.
“No. Moreover, his precognition seems to be limited to a single, seminal event.”
I shook my head in confusion. “You lost me.”
“He only seems capable of seeing one crucial moment at a time. So if someone fires a rocket grenade at him in the future, he might be able to see that. But if someone launches a second grenade, it’s not necessarily something he’d have gotten a vision of.”
“In other words, he can see an initial threat that he might face in the future, but he doesn’t get a hint of any hazards that may follow.”
“Well, at some point the ability does reassert itself, but in terms of immediacy, you’re correct. A second seminal event coming right on the heels of the first is not something he’s likely to be aware of.”
My brow crinkled in thought as I considered what I’d just learned. The fact that he was clairvoyant explained how Jack had accomplished a lot of the things on his résumé, such his getting inside maximum security stockades. He could waltz in, observe, take notes, whatever – all without being detected, thanks to his precognitive abilities.
“So I know now how Jack tracked me,” I said after a few moments. “What about you? How’d you do it?”
Gray looked nonplussed. “I’ve already told you: we can’t track you.”
“And yet on multiple occasions you reached out to me right after I’ve had
