Luke sat cross legged in the darkened danger room with his eyes closed as he thought back to everything that had happened in Paris. He knew that while there he had tapped into a new ability, a new power that he had never experienced before but that he hadn't been able to grab a hold of since that day. This was even more frustrating that what Luke had dealt with while he was trying to learn how to control his basic sonar. To know there was an ability hiding behind the surface but to be unable to access it was something he had never experienced before.

"Computer! Seal door unless emergency override is used." His voice broke through the silence as his cloudy eyes flickered open once more to stare unseeing into the darkness, "Activate training program LJ524. Difficult setting."

In the briefest of moments, the plain room changed into a rocky terrain, very much like the mountains and hills of Colorado. While off in the distance, high snow covered peaks could be made out directly around Luke was a somewhat level piece of ground aproximately 20 feet by 30 feet. The air was crisp and cool, but not cold, meaning that his sneakers, sweat pants, and t-shirt were perfectly comfortable. Off in the distance a faint roar could be heard and that meant that the enemy was beginning to close in.

The blind man's breathing was steady, allowing his focus to travel inward even as his sonar extended outwards, sweeping the terrain around him. The enemy was out there and they would arrive soon. The program was random so there was no way to know what direction the attack would come from, just that it would come.

They were out there somewhere... without humanity. Utter killing machines that Luke would have to use all of his abilities in order to defeat. There was no way he was willing to use his new found power against even holographic humans but with the options that the danger room provided, he had been able to find a suitable target. Sure, he would probably never face anything like this in the real word, but it gave him something to fight.

With a deafening roar and huge figure hurled itself from the top of a nearby hill, towards the blind man that still sat cross legged on the rocky ground. Before it could arrive, Luke had rocked to his feet, diving away and shoulder rolling back up to his feet. The creature's fangs glinted the sunshine and its claws dripped with the blood from its most recent kill. Hair matted with dirt, twigs, sweat, and blood covered its body as its crazy yellow eyes stared out at the human intruder that had invaded its territory.

It's movements were fast, not quite as fast as Sara, but still quicker than Luke could hope to move. His only chance was to do the unexpected and somehow grab a hold of that power that lay beneath the surface. Emotion had popped the cork that had kept it bottled inside, but could he somehow mentally replace that cork with a switch or valve that he could control with his will?

The moment of distracted thought was all the creature needed. With a powerful backhanded swing of its right arm the mangy animal batted Luke aside like he was nothing. Landing heavily on the ground the blind man rolled a few times before quickly springing back to his feet. His muscles were already protesting this punishment but he ignored them as he focused everything on the animal. The danger room wouldn't let him die, but on this setting injuries were a very real possibility.

Bending down Luke picked up a nearby rock and lept towards the creature, obviously surprising it by his sudden charge. Swinging the rock violently he slammed the item against the creatures head, making it fall backward with a howl of pain. It swiped at him from the ground but Luke lept away, preparing himself for the next attack. There was no way it would fall for the same trick again but even as Luke narrowed his sonar down, tightly focusing on the creature he knew that something was missing. He still couldn't grab a hold of whatever he had accessed in Paris!

With a growl the creature lept at him, knocking him to the ground and towering over him as it roared triumphantly. VICTORY!

"Computer! End program!" Luke barked out as the vicious claw began a path downward toward his prone body. A moment later, he lay on the bare danger room floor with nothing around him. Rolling up into a crouched position Luke slammed a fist against the unforgiving floor. "Damn!"

A few days later Luke was once again in the danger room. After several unsuccessful session with his last simulation he had erased all record of it and set up a new program. Danger to himself had not been enough to reveal the connection so it had to be something else. Right now Luke was standing on a section of the New York harbor dock. All around were burly seamen that worked at carrying freight and operating machinery. It was a typical New York setting but what was hidden within the shadows was not so typical.

Something was slowly snatching the workers one by one and leaving their bloody corpse to be found in the shadows. In one way it was similar to the simulation Luke had run with Fausto to train him but in many ways it was different. Whatever was doing this was fast and had an affinity for the shadows. Having set up the program Luke knew it was because it was a shadow being that was somewhat incorporeal. Simple physical attacks wouldn't do it. The only way he could stop this menace would be with his new ability if he could just use it.

Moving slowly down the dock Luke extended his sonar to its maximum range, knitting his eyes closed on concentration as he searched for the target. For several minutes nothing was out of the ordinary. People streamed around him as they went about their business but finally someone was snatched. Breaking into a run Luke heard the scream as the shadow creature completed its kill. He had to get there before it could dissapear again or more people would die!

Luke's adrenaline was pumping and his sonar had changed to a different frequency. If there had been others in the room along with him they would have been seeing shadows and wraiths but with no other humans in the room, there was noone to affect. He was pushing himself at the maximum speed as his sonar narrowed, finally coming to a focus on the shadowy figure that was his enemy. It was female in shape but the edges were undefined like a whisp of smoke. He had closed in and all to quickly Luke realized that he still couldn't touch his power.

The figure's arm struck out of the shadow, becoming somewhat solid just before it crashed into the side of Luke's head. He went down quickly and before he could roll back to his feet he was blanketed by the semi-solid figure. He punched and kicked frantically, trying to get free but to no avail. Each time his blows went out the woman would become whispy like smoke and then resolidify in time to hit him with her own blow.

He was losing... as he lay there being pummeled he knew deep down he was losing. The feeling of the cocnrete and gravel was rough against the back of his shirt and the scent of oil and deisel fule mingled with the scent of freshly shed blood. If Luke had been able to see normally, he would have been able to make out the unseeing eyes of the body that lay just a few feet away in a pool of slowly expanding blood.

"No... No! NO!" Luke's mind screamed as it refused to give up. Suddenly the dam was broken and all of the frustration Luke had felt weeks before swarmed back to the forefront. Focusing every bit of his anger and weakness down into a tight beam, he blasted the shadowy figured with everything he had.

Luke's sonar focused down and increased in power, slamming into the incorporeal form without prejudice. For a few moments the form seemed to shimmer as it fought to stay together against the offensive blast but it was to no avail. Suddenly the figure was thrown back before dissipating from the combination of sunlight and sound as it fell out of the shadow.

"Computer..." Luke gasped out, his voice somewhat raspy from where the enemy had been strangling him moments before, "End... program."

"I did it." The blind man thought as he lay on the Danger Room floor. He was happy yet worn out even as his mind continued to try to figure out what had just happened. "Somehow my emotion triggered it... why? Why can't I just control it like my normal sonar?"

There were more questions yet to be answers but they would have to wait for another day. For now, Luke just wanted a hot shower.