The Essence of Abilities

"Melinda May, my colleague."

Coulson gave an apologetic smile and stood up to open the door for May:

"That was fast."

"There's a pet shop nearby."

Melinda shrugged, gesturing at the two carriers in her hands:

"A cat, a dog, and a hamster."

"You put them together?!"

"The hamster's with the dog."

Melinda walked straight to the table in the lounge and set both carriers down:

"First meeting, Dr. Lin. This time I'm planning to buy a few potted plants to take back."

"Of course. I treat all guests equally."

Oaks nodded with a smile. Seeing an Asian face put him at ease, and Coulson keenly noticed that.

Filing it away silently, Coulson closed the door and returned to the lounge. Melinda didn't ask why Coulson wanted the animals—she'd find out soon enough.

"Sorry, Dr. Lin, but we have to verify your abilities. If—"

Coulson didn't finish before Oaks cut him off:

"This carrier—if you don't let the hamster out soon, it's going to get scared to death by the pup."

"Uh..."

Melinda awkwardly opened the carrier that had been rattling with collisions and grabbed the frantically dodging hamster:

"I forgot dogs chase rodents too."

"Cough. It's about to pee."

Oaks rubbed his nose as Melinda winced—a stream of liquid dripped from the hamster in her hand.

"Contaminating the store environment. That'll be a hundred-dollar fine. Thanks."

Tossing a towel to Melinda, Oaks held the restless Goose:

"Anyway, please clean that up. The smell's a bit strong. And if you don't want to see something too gruesome, better not let it out again."

Coulson and Melinda scrambled awkwardly to settle the little troublemakers before moving on to the ability test.

"So, should I let them out?"

"Go ahead."

The hamster was shut in a cardboard box. Coulson and Melinda opened the carriers, and a kitten and a puppy emerged.

"Meow~"

"Woof~"

A high-quality seal-point Ragdoll cat and an equally fine bi-color Pembroke Welsh Corgi—Melinda had clearly gone to an upscale pet shop.

The two little ones were over three months old and not at all shy, eager to run wild and bounce around.

"Hey, you two little guys, come here."

Oaks set Goose down, soothing her resentful look, and called to the kitten and puppy.

The two paused, then trotted happily over to Oaks.

"You—you'll be Moco. Take this to that man.

You—you'll be Coco. Take this to that woman."

Oaks gave the puppy a small ball with catnip and a bug inside, and the kitten a bottle of deodorizer. The two little ones bit their targets and scampered off to Coulson and Melinda.

"Oh, sweetie, you're amazing!"

Melinda took the deodorizer from Coco with delight, exchanging a look with Coulson, who accepted the bug with a complicated expression:

"This is Dr. Lin's ability?"

"Not just that."

Coulson shook his head, pulled out his phone, and showed Moco one message, then showed Coco another.

"Coulson, even most adults can't memorize that much complex info in such a short time."

Melinda frowned. And with those tiny little brains of theirs—showing them text?

Coulson said nothing, handing the phone to Melinda.

The two little ones whimpered and mewed. Melinda saw Oaks across from her smile and speak:

"Moco saw: 'Your phone number has been used to illegally call an overseas number. Please reply with a verification text immediately. Failure to do so will result in suspension and freezing of your T-Mobile account.'

And Coco saw: 'Your friend has dedicated a song to you, expressing their longing and blessings. Please dial 213-9527 immediately to listen.'"

Oaks looked at Melinda, whose expression had turned priceless, and Coulson, who was covering his forehead, with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"You guys are agents—do you get spam texts a lot too?"

"Uh... we're filing complaints about that."

With a weak defense, Coulson's look at Oaks had completely changed.

He had already proven his ability.

"Melinda, Dr. Lin alone qualifies as Level 7 clearance. No question."

"Indeed. Looks like the Director's going to have his hands full."

Melinda praised, handed the phone back to Coulson, then turned to Oaks seriously:

"Honestly, Dr. Lin, if you could become our—"

"Melinda!"

Coulson raised his voice, cutting her off:

"That's against regulations."

"...Sorry, Coulson. I'll write a self-criticism when I get back."

Melinda sighed softly, her expression gloomy as she fell silent.

Coulson knew why Melinda, a senior agent, had lost her composure.

Just as she'd pointed out earlier, even an average adult would struggle to recite the full text of those messages after a single glance.

Kittens and puppies, with their pitiful brain capacity and intelligence, couldn't possibly remember what they'd seen, let alone human writing.

Yet Oaks had repeated the messages word for word. If he truly could communicate with animals as he claimed, it wasn't just about understanding their language or giving them verbal commands.

What he could do was exchange consciousness with animals—something like telepathy.

That was how he could "replay" what the kittens and puppies had seen, like watching a recording—

Because whether human or animal, information that enters the brain isn't lost; forgetting happens when there's no effective active retrieval.

But if consciousness exchange is possible, the stronger party can read a wealth of information the weaker party doesn't even remember!

In the Bahrain incident, Melinda had encountered a little girl who was an Inhuman with a mental ability—except hers could control human consciousness.

So she'd immediately compared her to Oaks—one was an uncontrollable, extremely dangerous ability; the other, by his own account, was a stripped-down version of telepathy limited to animals.

Bahrain was her lifelong regret. And with Oaks... she didn't want his ability to pose a threat.

"I think I get what you're trying to say."

Oaks nodded lightly, calling Moco and Coco over and letting Goose take them off to play:

"But as for all this about me, it's clearly beyond what you were prepared for on this trip. Let's talk about Goose first—do you think it's safe with me now?"

"Yes, Dr. Lin."

Coulson gave a wry smile. As long as you're safe, Goose is safe.

"But Dr. Lin, to be honest, our mission regarding you isn't over yet."