Tessa touched the ground, pulling the energy up through the earth, routing it through the Tesla coils, which hummed with the buzz of raw electricity. She opened her eyes to see the arcs of electricity jumping from one coil to another around the triangle. She reached out to touch the battery, which drew energy from the coils now, including the battery in the loop. Electricity crackled through the air, and Finn inquired if she was okay. She reassured him with a nod but did not speak. Tessa was much too focused to speak.
Tessa sensed the energy pulse through her body as she passed the pulse onto the battery. She adjusted her bodies resonate frequency, searching to find a match to the vibrations of magnetic energy the earth radiated. As she zoned in closer to the frequency, the ground trembled signaling Finn to express further concern. She held out her free hand to show him she was okay. Then she placed both hands on the battery.
Tessa dug deeper into her mind and melded with the power in the earth. She was closer to becoming one with this energy, and the trembling intensified to more violent shaking on the earth’s surface. Tessa heard equipment rattle and the sound of tools falling from shelves. She was getting close now. Finn warned her in the earpiece as he prepared to shut it all down, but she was too far along for that. The power was self-sustaining now. Even if Finn killed the power to the lab, she would not stop. This power didn’t come from anything the lab controlled. This was raw power generated by the earth. Nothing could stop it.
Tessa understood why H.I.V.E wanted this energy to power their arc. It was raw and extreme. It would power their ship. This was a power that could not be stopped. It would last forever. It was a force that powered an entire planet.
Tessa concentrated harder to match that resonance and bring forth the earth’s energy. The moment she achieved synchronization with the earth was a moment of pure euphoria. Tessa never felt such power. She felt the energy coursing through her veins. At first, she thought the energy might tear her apart from the inside out, but the moment it synchronized, she felt a sedated peace. She still felt the current through her, but it was part of her now. The earth stopped shaking, and she held that power inside her for a brief second, savoring the sensation.
Tessa breathed deeply and released the power she held into the battery core. She felt herself pull the energy up through the earth and up through her feet and into her body like a conduit for electricity. She released the energy through her hands and into the battery. The spiraled core of the battery glowed in her signature purplish-pink light, bright and brilliant. This was pure, sustainable energy. Tessa felt like it was part of her in the battery, and in a sense, it was.
Finn came bombarding out of the safe room smothering Tessa with great concern about her wellbeing. He held her by the shoulders, looking her up and down for injuries. “Are you all right?”
“I’m better than all right. I’ve felt nothing like that before.” Tessa was still in awe of what had just transpired.
“I’ve seen nothing like that before. It was terrifying.”
“I’ve never been better.” Tessa felt like she had a newfound understanding of her power.
Finn looked at the battery, “Well, you did it.”
Tessa looked at Finn and the rest of the engineering team, “We ALL did it.”
17
Tessa spent the next few weeks building new raid teams. She made sure they had proper training and understood all the risks involved. She wanted to ensure that each individual volunteered for the task knowing full well they might not return from the mission. Tessa had no desire to manipulate or convince people to join risky ventures. It was what separated her leadership from Stonewell’s.
Tessa remembered how it made her feel to not be in control of her choices. Stonewell had drugged her to take advantage of her powers, and she hated him for it. He didn’t see anything wrong with his actions and argued he did what he did so the team would survive. Tessa didn’t see it that way. She saw a man making a poor decision to manipulate a powerful Evo into joining a fight. She wasn’t sure she wanted to join the rebels, and he took that decision from her. There wasn’t much freewill left in the world. H.I.V.E had already taken most choices out of the equation. Tessa’s decision to join the rebels was one of the few independent decisions she ever had, and Stonewell took that from her, which in her eyes made him no better than H.I.V.E.
Finn made a list of potential raid targets, and Sam briefed the teams before missions. Their base continued to grow, and Tessa needed to remain on-site to address issues as they arose and offer base security with her powers. She fielded concerns about living accommodations and food rations. Their population of both Evos and humans multiplied at an alarming rate, she needed to make swift decisions. Tessa’s presence and quickness to resolve issues put people at ease.
Tessa’s goal to untie Evos and humans in a new alliance didn’t come easy. She made sure people heard her message loud and clear. Both races were required to work together, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t conflict. There were constant disputes on both sides, and Tessa intervened if the conflict got too far out of hand. For smaller disputes, she left decisions up to her team. She had to delegate some responsibilities; otherwise, she would have no time
