It took a bit of fumbling around, but she found a spot at the very end of the device that caused it to turn on. The thin glass lit up for a moment, and then the still image of her dad looked up at her. A knot in her chest formed to see him so normal, awake, and just like she remembered him.

  Em took her chips and the device and plopped down on her bed. She touched the middle of the image and it began to play. It was comforting and terrible at the same time to hear the sound of Dad’s voice, but she left it playing anyway as she dug into the bag of Cool Ranch chips.

  There wasn’t much more to the recording Mom had shown them at the hospital, and far too soon it stopped playing. Emmaline looked for a way to rewind the video, but when she tapped on the device, the image disappeared and a long list came up instead. After a moment, she realized it was an archive of entries. Quite a long list of archives, in fact.

  There was one titled Mind Bender Hazards and Injuries that she was pretty sure was the video she’d just watched. Then there were other titles like A List of Rules And Ethics For The Mind Bending Dome-ni, The First Standard of Mind Bending, and How To Create Adaptable Locks. But what really drew Emmaline’s attention was a title at the very top of the list that said To My Dear Emmaline.

  She selected it right away.

  Another image of Dad popped up on the screen. This one, Em could tell, had been recorded some time ago. There wasn’t as much gray in his hair as she had grown used to, and in the background she glimpsed Mom and Dad’s bay window from their bedroom, but the surrounding wall wasn’t the soft green it was now. Instead, the wall was light blue, and it hadn’t been that color since a little after her sixth birthday. She remembered trying to help Mom and Dad paint it and making such a royal mess Mom had banished Em to her room until they had finished.

  “Hello, Emmaline,” Dad said as he smiled from the video. “If you are seeing this, you are probably all grown up. I can only imagine what you have grown into. You are only three right now, but already I see your mother’s intelligence and my stubborn determination in you. I hope you have grown into a confident young woman who knows how much her parents love her.

  “I’m making this recording today because I’ve been thinking a lot about the future, and the day when you might learn the truth about our family. I know it will be a lot to take in. Maybe even a shock, but it was necessary to keep our secret. Right now you are too young to understand anyway, but it won’t always be that way. One day, you will know the truth, and I want you to know that we kept much from you only with the intention of protecting you and your brother.

  “It is my hope that you will learn the truth of where you come from and what you are truly capable of in the not so distant future and that I will be the one to do it. But there is a lot to consider. There are many possibilities that could occur. Some are unpleasant. Others are very unpleasant. And there is the very real fact that I might not be able to tell you the things I want you to know. I might not be there to tell you, and I am sorry about that.

  “I’m going to assume that if you have this data pad, then you at least know the basics. That we come from a galaxy far away from here called Ethia. That your mother and I had to leave that place in order to protect your brother, and that when we came to Earth, it was thought best if we changed our names and blended in with the people who lived here. So, I won’t waste any more of this recording explaining those things to you.

  “I do, however, want to talk to you about something special. It has become clear as we have been living on this planet that while we look much like the people of Earth that we are not like them in every way. There are certain things about us that stand apart. One is our ability to not get sick like these humans do. Another is our life span. We live much longer than those on Earth. But the most important difference is our Dome-ni.

  “You have already shown clear signs of your own Dome-ni ability even at age three, I am happy to say, and I very much look forward to teaching you how to use it. But if things don’t work out for me to teach you in person…” Dad paused as a sad look crossed his expression. “Well, that’s why I am creating these recordings. So that you have instruction even if I am no longer with you.”

  “It’s important that you understand that Dome-ni isn’t just a gift, Emmaline. It is a responsibility. It shapes who we are and how we interact with the world around us. It can even define who we become, for better or worse. And our Dome-ni in particular can either be used for great good or great harm. Use your ability wisely, daughter. Do not rush to use the Mind Bender Dome-ni without thinking through the consequences. What we do affects others in profound ways.”

  Dad kept talking, but she reached out quickly and touched his image. The device paused, and Emmaline sat there a long moment, letting what Dad said sink in. She was a Mind Bender, or at least had the ability to be one.

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  Holy. Freaking. Cow!

  How awesome was that!?

  Emmaline pressed the video again to hear what else he had to say. Her heart thundered with excitement.

  “This will be the first of many recordings,” he continued. “I will lay out for you what the Mind Bender Dome-ni can do and what it can’t do. I will give you practices that must be followed exactly if you want to learn the appropriate control of your ability. There are no shortcuts, pumpkin, not to becoming a competent Mind Bender. Please take it slow. Please do all the lessons in order and please, please, please take each practice seriously and with the utmost care. I cannot stress to you the danger of using this talent. There can be devastating consequences if used improperly.”

  Emmaline snorted. “You don’t have to tell me twice!”

  She already knew. His unconscious form in the hospital was all the proof needed of how dangerous the Mind Bender ability could be. Dad was supposed to know how to use his talent, and somehow he had gotten it wrong.

  But she couldn’t deny the excitement that was growing. She had a Dome-ni! Like Michael. Probably like Mom. And exactly like Dad’s. A thrill raced through her. What would it be like to have such a power?

  She eagerly pressed play again.

  “The lessons I have created will build upon the last,” Dad said, his face taking on a much more serious expression, signally this was serious business. “The first several focus solely on meditation and mental discipline. It might seem boring, but its essential groundwork. Make sure you have a solid practice and can hold images in your mind even outside of meditation. This is the key foundation of any memory working and is necessary before starting the lesson on Memory Manipulation.

  Dad leaned forward, his face filling more of the screen. “Emmaline, I need to impress upon you the importance of never messing with other people’s minds without their consent or the consent of those responsible for them. And never, whatever you do, attempt any memory manipulation on yourself. It can be done by masters, but even they hesitate to do so. It is difficult enough to do it to others, but extremely so on yourself. Any sort of distraction while working could be detrimental.”

  Her father leaned back and gave a nod. “Well, I suppose that’s all you need to know for now. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and I will try to answer them to the best I can with these lessons. Just do the best you can. Though I hesitated even to do these lessons. You really should have the tutelage of a real person by your side as you learn this Dome-ni in particular.

  “Your mother certainly isn’t happy about me doing these lessons, but if I am gone, there is no one else to teach you, and I can’t stand the thought that you having this ability and not being able to access it. There is nothing worse than an untapped Dome-ni. If a Dome-ni goes untrained, the older you get, the more you feel its loss, even if you don’t know what it is you lost. I have seen this in older Ethians. It’s an unsettling experience to witness. I don’t want that for you.

  “That being said, the Mind Bender Dome-ni is one of the few that is better to wait to train because of how difficult it is. So don’t worry if you are already into adulthood by the time you see this; that extra maturity will serve you well.

  “I wish you a successful journey, daughter, and know that even if I am not there with you in person, I am in spirit. Don’t get discouraged by the tedious work ahead of you. The real gift of this Dome-ni isn’t in the end results, but the small steps that get you there.”

  The image stopped playing, and Emmaline could only sit there blinking back the tears. So many emotions were whirling around inside. Joy at seeing her dad awake, talking, and thinking enough of her to take the time to make this video and to leave a whole archive for her to learn her special Dome-ni. Excitement about learning to be a Mind Bender. And sadness because he wasn’t here to tell her all this himself.

  It was then that Emmaline remembered what her mom, and even Dad had said in the video at the hospital. Only another Mind Bender could bring another out of the living death. She sat stunned for a moment as that sunk in, and then she rocketed out of bed.

  Emmaline jumped up and down in the middle of her room and squealed. She could help Dad! She could bring him back! She jumped up and down with so much excitement rushing through her, Em thought she might burst. This was awesome! They wouldn’t need to do surgery after all! Dad would be all right. Emmaline would make it all right again!

  And then another thought struck her.

  If all this was true, then why hadn’t Mom said something? She obviously knew Emmaline had the ability to be a Mind Bender. Why had Mom never offered that up as a possibility to help Dad? For that matter, why hadn’t Mom told Emmaline about being a Mind Bender or even given her this device so she could get Dad’s message? Surely, she must have known about it if she was scrolling through this device last night looking for the video about Mind Bender injuries.

  Suddenly, Emmaline didn’t feel so excited. She stopped jumping and stood still in the center of her room as her mind raced with more questions. Would Mom have even told Emmaline the truth if she hadn’t stumbled across the message herself? She remembered what Dad had said about Mom not being happy about him making the messages. She also remembered Anna’s words not that long ago.

  It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to discover that she’s still holding back information.

  Suddenly, Emmaline was dead sure Mom would have kept this truth from her forever. That was what Mom did, didn’t she? Lie and keep the truth hidden away.

  But it made no sense. Why wouldn’t Mom want Emmaline to know about her Dome-ni, or to save Dad? Hadn’t her mother lied enough? Didn’t she want Dad to get better?

  Anger exploded like a bomb inside Emmaline. She stood there fuming as she clenched and unclenched her hands at her side. Her body quaked with her rage. How could she? How could Mom do this again?! Well, Em wasn’t going to let Mom get away with it.

  Emmaline scooped up the device still lying on her bed, jerked open her door, and stomped down the stairs. She didn’t know when her mother would get home, or even if she would, but if that damn woman stepped through the door tonight, Emmaline was going to let her have it. And she wasn’t going to be nice about it either.