"What do you mean by that?" Ryan asked.
He looked from Anya to Watson, his confusion cutting through the lingering excitement from earlier. "You said catastrophic. And you told me not to use it without supervision. Why?"
He hesitated, then added, "I don't see how that's possible with my ability."
Anya exhaled slowly. It was not irritation. It was reluctance.
She had not planned to explain this yet. Not this early, not when Ryan had only just learned how to feel the second heart, let alone control it. But Watson had not spoken lightly. If he had said the word catastrophic, then he had already looked into Ryan's background, the incident with Christopher included.
That meant this could not be brushed aside.
"Ryan," Anya said, her voice calm but heavier than before, "how much do you actually know about decay? Beyond the basics."
Ryan frowned. He searched his thoughts and found very little. "Not much," he admitted, shaking his head. "Just… that things break down. Return to their natural state."
"You know your ability description says it can decay everything, right?"
He nodded.
Anya watched him for a moment, then asked, "Do you know how nuclear weapons work?"
Ryan blinked. "You mean nukes?" He shrugged. "Not really. Just that they're supposed to be… peace messengers." There was a trace of sarcasm in his voice.
Anya did not smile.
"They aren't frightening because of the explosion," she said. "They're frightening because of what comes after. Radiation. The part that lingers. The part that keeps killing long after the blast is over."
Ryan's expression tightened.
"Your ability," Anya continued, "has the potential to do something similar. If misused, you could intentionally or unintentionally trigger forms of decay that resemble radioactive processes. If you don't know what you're doing, you wouldn't just endanger yourself. You could endanger everyone around you. This city included."
The room felt smaller.
Ryan swallowed. He had never seen a nuclear explosion in reality, but he had seen enough footage, enough movies, enough aftermaths to understand what she meant. The images surfaced uninvited. Burned landscapes. Deformed bodies. Places people never returned to.
At the same time, something else shifted.
The quiet disappointment he had felt when he first heard the word decay vanished completely.
This was not weak. Not even close.
"I understand," Ryan said after a moment. His voice was steady. "I won't use it on my own. Not until I've fully mastered control over the second heart. I promise."
Anya nodded, but her eyes stayed sharp.
Then Ryan, unable to help himself, asked, "Is it possible for me to do something like that? An explosion, I mean."
Anya shook her head slowly. "I don't know about explosions. And even if you could cause one, I'm certain you would die in the process."
Ryan stiffened.
"As for radiation," she went on, "yes. That's possible. But it wouldn't be clean. You might kill your enemy and still suffer the consequences yourself. Deformities. Organ damage. Long-term effects I can't even predict. I'm not a nuclear scientist."
Her words were blunt, deliberately so.
Watson cleared his throat and nudged her lightly. "You don't have to scare him that much."
Anya turned to him. "I'm not scaring him. I'm stating facts. This information is public. Anyone can look it up."
She looked back at Ryan. "He needs to understand the consequences. Only then will he treat this power with the seriousness it demands."
Watson sighed. "Ryan, don't let her words get to you too much. None of that will happen as long as you don't misuse your ability. That's why we're here. We'll guide you."
Ryan nodded, tension easing slightly.
They moved to a smaller, reinforced room deeper inside the facility. The walls were thicker, the space more confined.
"From here on," Watson said, "we'll conduct more controlled tests."
Anya handed Ryan a single sheet of paper. "Start with this."
Ryan took it and focused, guiding the second heart the same way he had before. The energy flowed, brushed his palm, and the paper vanished instantly. Nothing remained.
He wasn't surprised.
Anya, however, frowned. "Wait."
She left the room and returned moments later wearing gloves. In her hand was a small sealed container. She opened it and took out a piece of raw chicken.
Ryan stared. "You were prepared for this."
She ignored the comment and handed it to him.
Ryan repeated the process.
Nothing happened.
The meat stayed exactly the same.
He frowned and tried again, pushing the energy more deliberately, adjusting the pressure from the second heart.
Still nothing.
Ryan looked up, confused. "It's not working."
Anya's frown deepened, but there was something else in her eyes. Confirmation.
"It seems my guess was correct," she said. "Your ability is powerful. Far too powerful for a standard dormant awakening."
She paused.
"But it has limitations."