Kellen got up, his parents taking a step back, his Mom turning to take off the pads on Kellen’s chest. Charlie let go of Kellen’s hands while Kellen got ready to change places with Jules. Jules looked a little sheepish, but thankful that Kellen and the others were so easily agreeing with everything that was going on.

They were in the middle of this exchange when Taylor finally came over. She looked a little more serious this time around, so much so that everyone paused. Taylor had more papers in her hand, shuffling them around as she looked them over.

When she raised her gaze, glancing around everyone, she shifted her gaze quickly from Kellen’s to his parents, Rhys, and then back to Kellen. Kellen swallowed thickly.

"Is...something wrong?" Kellen asked carefully and Taylor made a soft noise in her throat.

"I am not sure." She said, her brows together. "This is, of course, not really the normal situation we’re dealing with. I only have Jules’ previous test to go off of, and well...you’re not going to make anything easy, Kellen." She said, her smile a little on the tired and bitter side.

Rhys moved forward, coming to look at the papers in her hand a few steps away from the others. Taylor held out the papers, showing him what she was seeing and Kellen watched as he looked a little confused as well.

He glanced up at Kellen, his brown gaze narrowing, before he looked back down at the papers before him.

"Hmm. I kinda..." Rhys shut his mouth as Kellen narrowed his gaze.

"You want to do it again? What’s hard to read about it?" Kellen asked, his shoulders tensing at even the possibility of a suggestion. Kellen wouldn’t lie, he had been actually relieved that he wasn’t going to have to do the test with Jules. It had nothing to do with who Jules was, and everything to do with Kellen’s own issues.

To have that taken away? Kellen could feel his emotions shift. Rhys could tell from the way Kellen’s face was twisting and he quietly took the papers from Taylor’s hand and came over to Kellen.

"Sugar, look. Look at the sample that Taylor had to work with." Rhys’ voice was soft, gentle as he came over and showed Kellen what Taylor was working with. Kellen turned his gaze towards the papers, his gaze scanning the pages held out before him for a moment without any comprehension of what was going on before he really looked.

It took him a second to process, but once he did, he felt his shoulders drop in defeat. Unlike the clear lines, the nice graph, and everything else that Kellen had for his Guide test, his Esper test was...not that.

The graph was all over the place, the information on the side was confusing. There wasn’t even a Class associated with Kellen’s Esper powers, though it was clear that he had them. Kellen gave a heavy sigh.

"Shit. Sorry Jules, I have to do it again." Kellen muttered, looking defeated. Charlie even looked a little upset.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked as Jules shook their head, not even upset that they were pushed to the back of the line again. Taylor came over to Charlie, reaching out and giving his shoulder a squeeze.

"No, Charlie. You’re good. I don’t think it’s anything that you did particularly. I just think you both are a little unused to this kind of guiding. Hopefully, neither of you will get startled this time so we won’t have this weird blip in the test again. Captain, can we show the others what we’re talking about?" Taylor asked and Rhys easily passed over the papers he’d been looking at with Kellen.

Once everyone was on the same page, Kellen found himself hooked up to the machine again. Kellen’s Dad made sure that both Kellen and Charlie had another shake each in them before he would allow the test to continue.

Kellen’s Mom and even Jules were looking over the test results, and that was when Kellen found out that Taylor had also printed out Jules previous test, one from ages ago, that showed how they were also a mutt. They were a mutt in the sense that they were more Esper than Guide, but they still had the ability to do both.

Looking at their second test, where they had tested their powers for a Guide, Kellen could see why Taylor needed another sample beyond the obvious. Jules’ test was in a straight line, easy to read, with only a small blip in the first part of the test where Kellen assumed the fellow Esper had gotten a small shock and then everything had evened out.

Jules was a B Class Guide. On top of being an S Class Esper. Kellen would have thought it was just slightly unfair if they didn’t have to deal with that asshole, Jax.

Either way, Kellen and Charlie were back into position, and Taylor was back behind the protective glass. The rest of the peanut gallery were back sitting down, giving Kellen and Charlie the space that they needed to get the test done properly.

Charlie was taking a few deep breaths, settling himself, clearly not wanting to mess up the test again. Kellen couldn’t exactly say he wasn’t also worrying about it. While Charlie had questioned Taylor if he had been the one to mess up the test, Kellen had been wondering the same about himself.

Both men were prepared when Taylor counted down, each holding onto the other’s hand, their minds focused.

The shock didn’t surprise either of them this time, but it still made Kellen uncomfortable. He put up with it, since 15 minutes of this was nothing. He’d done much more arduous tasks before. The slithering, weird, warm feeling wasn’t as bothersome this time, thankfully, and the 15 minutes passed peacefully.

When Taylor came back, Kellen and Charlie unmoving as they waited for her verdict, she was all smiles. She held up the papers proudly, a gleam in her green gaze.

"Kellen is, to no one’s surprise, an A Class Esper!" She declared and Kellen felt his jaw drop. What?

Kellen’s Mom’s arms around his shoulders, squeezing him felt distant. Even Kellen’s Dad peppering his cheeks with kisses and warm, loving affection felt like nothing. Charlie squeezing Kellen’s hand, his whole face lit up with happiness felt far off. Like it wasn’t him.

Kellen slid his gaze to Rhys, the only person who didn’t look like he was fully celebrating what was going on. Instead, the man who presumed that they had the same powers looked serious. His arms were crossed, his body tense as he watched the others celebrate.

Kellen remembered why shortly after.

He was the only one of his kind that wasn’t insane. It was a serious concern for Rhys that Kellen had the same powers as him, and that he could be putting himself in danger. Kellen himself wasn’t exactly sure what this meant.

Kellen turned his gaze to the paper shoved into his face and scanned it. He hadn’t seen as many Esper charts as he had seen Guide ones, but it wasn’t that much different. Under the Class level was the type of power the Esper had.

In Kellen’s case, it was written that it was unknown, but when Taylor caught Kellen’s curious gaze, she waved it off.

"We have an older machine. It works just fine, but we wanted something rather quickly. We’ll steal, uh, buy a more advanced one soon." She promised. "I’ve been told that since your chart has already been taken, once I input the numbers and everything else, it’ll correct. I wouldn’t be too worried, especially since we’re pretty sure we already know." She said with a wink.

Kellen swallowed.

"So, what about the insanity?" Kellen asked. "Also, if I have the same powers as Rhys, can’t I just reset myself? Would I be able to reset myself to before I was injured?" Kellen asked. The air stilled, and Kellen could feel it.

This time he knew it wasn’t because of him.

Rhys stepped closer to Kellen, his body humming with power. He reached for Kellen’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Sugar, you can’t." Rhys told him softly. Kellen went to protest, but Rhys continued. "I’m not saying that you can’t learn, or that you are incapable, but you won’t be able to. I wasn’t able to reset myself to before I had been injured when the gate exploded and destroyed our apartments, so you won’t be able to return yourself back to before you were poisoned. At least, not completely, but I wouldn’t suggest doing that. For research purposes, and completely selfish ones, I would like for you to continue waiting for your body to heal so that Carlos and Taylor have all of that information." Rhys told him.

Kellen felt his emotions fade slightly as he stared into the brown gaze, slowly turning the bright yellow colour that he was familiar with. The colour that alarmed others, but told Kellen that Rhys was as hardworking as they came.

"For even more selfish reasons, I would prefer it if you didn’t rely on it. We do need to experiment with your powers, but I do not want to push it. I do not want you to turn out like me." Rhys said quietly. Kellen nodded, letting out a soft, careful breath.

"Alright. I get it." Kellen told him. The moment held before Taylor let out a heavy breath.

"He might never be like you, Captain." Taylor said. "He’s able to guide himself consistently, and with the aura that all S Class Guides get, unless he puts out more than he is using, he might never have to worry about going insane." Taylor told him, a hopeful tilt to her words.

Rhys took in Taylor’s words, but he didn’t shift much. After all, he had lived with these powers for a long time. He knew their cost, so while he was hopeful that Kellen’s future was different from his own, he didn’t hold his breath.

Kellen stood up, not enjoying this moment. He needed time to look over his charts, see what they meant and process them in his own time. In the meantime, it was Jules’ and Charlie’s turn to get tested.

Kellen was more than happy to hand off these pads to someone else.