He shrugged, a gesture that spoke of weary bureaucratic experience. “But there have been other surviving Y-unlocks before, and sometimes when a Y-unlock mysteriously disappears, well, we get the blame, and sometimes a Y-unlock is so unstable that we HAVE to limit the damage somehow… but I promise we don’t torture anyone or turn them into lab rats. It would be pointless since we aren’t going to find anything useful by dissecting alphas.”

  “However,” he looked thoughtful, and I felt the other shoe begin its agonizingly slow descent. “As a Y-unlock that HAS discovered a method of working around the lack of a link to the quantum reality, even if it’s slow and unreliable, you are definitely a person of interest. Be aware, though, that we might… request information if you find more ways of accessing energy, or have a dramatic expansion, or something like that. That’s why I said that your degree might not be as important as putting food on the table. As a class six alpha, I can promise that the BSA will be very happy to compensate you simply for sharing your knowledge of how a Y-unlock can expand their abilities.”

  “Why is a Y-unlock so important?” I asked, the grifter in me already calculating the potential consulting fees against the sheer, terrifying hassle of being a government guinea pig.

  He grinned, the expression transforming his tired face into something predatory and excited. “Because Y-unlocks can do insane crap. You know how powers are basically expressions of functions locked into a concept?”

  I shook my head. “No. This stuff isn’t on the wiki anywhere.” My entire education was looking more and more like a children’s picture book.

  He nodded. “Right. A lot of it is firmly hidden on conspiracy theories and metaphysical websites that nobody pays attention to cause they think they are religious or mystical gobbledygook. Well, powers have two parts: function and concept. That’s WHY so many male double unlocks kill themselves. They gain the function, but without a concept to control and limit it, there’s no safety valve to tell it what it’s SUPPOSED to do. That’s what the quantum reality does, it links it to your mental concept of HOW the power is supposed to work, and then provides the extra energy needed to turn the staff into a snake.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “The fact that you have an ability with a function that doesn’t adhere to a concept, and yet you both made it work and survived the attempt, makes you very valuable, but more in a ‘let’s see what he can figure out’ way rather than a ‘let’s lock him a box and force him to do what he already knows how to do’ way.”

  He sighed, the excitement fading back into professional weariness. “That’s why super-brains are so sad. Half of the males who awaken their Y ability gain a concept without a function. A function without a concept is like handing a toddler a chainsaw, while a concept without a function is like being born paralyzed. Most super-brains aren’t actually geniuses; they just have a concept that drives them so firmly and no way to express that concept that they explore the concept exhaustively until it drives them insane. That’s why almost all mega-brains are male, and those guys, well, we do lock them up in black sites, because it’s usually only a matter of time.”

  “So Tinkers and widgeteers are like super-brains, except that they have an actual function to go with their concepts?”

  He nodded. “Actually, most powers are like that, widgeteers tend to have a stronger concept, but without the scientific foundation of their concept to back it up, they don't have any longevity. Tinkers make worse heroes than widgeteers but are much more valuable as teammates. When you are in the academy, they will teach you about the most common concepts and more about power scaling functions. In this case, because you can simulate a concept even if you don't have it magically applied to your function.”

  A tiny, treacherous spark of hope managed to ignite in the damp, cynical pit of my soul. “Wait, so that means I will be approved for Kellar Academy?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, even if you weren’t referred, the academy would be desperate to offer you a scholarship. Even if your function doesn’t lend itself to a front-line alpha, it is very flexible. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if, once you figure out more about how it works and how to grow your energy levels, you were able to do things that would solidly cement you into a combat role if you wanted it, maybe even changing your power classifications since classifications are an expression of concept, and you could potentially press far beyond that limitation.”

  I kept my mouth shut since I already knew he was right. The future was suddenly a lot brighter and infinitely more complicated. And in my experience, whenever things looked up, it was usually because the anvil was already halfway through its descent.