If Dean were being honest with himself. He had no idea how the current phenomenon of "special abilities" came to pass, or what their limitations were.

His abilities were largely diagnostic, allowing him to see through a lot of the bullshit in the world and properly prioritize certain tasks. But it only really benefitted him in critical moments.

Yuki’s ability was far more active. Allowing her to camouflage herself with her environment. But she didn’t know how to activate it, what its constraints were.

Sometimes it extended to her clothes around her, but at other times her skin blended in with her clothing.

Could anything she made contact with become camouflaged? And how did that function?

It was impossible, at least under current circumstances to know. All they could do was experiment.

And Yuki found this dreadfully embarrassing. But Dean forced her to do so. After all, it may very well be a matter of her survival that she learns to control it.

Days went by as Dean focused almost exclusively on Yuki’s abilities. Whether emotions activated it, whether conscious thought activated it. How it could spread, or if it could. And what its limitations were.

And after days of experimentation, Yuki found herself understanding her abilities more, and had even begun to control it for a limited time.

Katherine performed regular medical checkups on Dean and Yuki, since carving their own territory outside Elysium and creating a safe corridor to the Foundry, Elysium had taken control over the Hospital and salvaged anything that could still be used.

Not just medicine, but X-rays, MRIs, and other such machinery.

They had even begun to build their own dedicated clinic outside of Dean’s basement, but inside the Agoge.

This made it easier to see patients while still remaining under strict supervision and protection of the Elysian Militia.

The daily checkups on Dean and Yuki were as much scientific research as they were health management. There had even been attempts to transfuse their blood to replicate results in others. But whatever was happening to them it couldn’t be transmitted to another willingly or otherwise.

After days all she conclude was that they were perfectly healthy without any abnormalities whatsoever.

And yet, Dean spoke of his "Tyrant’s Ledger" as if it were a visual hallucination, and Yuki clearly had gained some form of active camouflage.

It was fascinating, mind boggling, and deeply infuriating all at the same time. In the end Katherine looked at the two of them seated next to one another and sighed heavily while shaking her head.

"I’ve run every test I can think of or am otherwise physically capable of carrying out. I cannot explain what is going on with you. It is simply beyond our current capabilities, but at the very least it has had little to no effect on your physical health. So I would suggest using your abilities sparingly in case there are long term complications we simply can’t detect yet."

Dean nodded his head, and Yuki clung to him closely. She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know how to react. She was simply happy that Dean had been exclusively by her side these last few days to help her figure it out.

Katherine looked over at the two and shook her head once more, murmuring beneath her breath something that only she could hear.

"God help us all."

She then took off her surgical gloves, threw them in the trash, and immediately began to wash her hands all while scolding the two of them.

"Anyway, that is all I have to say for now. You best be on your way. I have other patients waiting in the lobby."

Dean nodded and rose to his feet, helping Yuki to hers before wandering off with her hand interlaced with hers. He looked back at the doorway to Katherine and gave her a slight nod of his head.

"Thanks, doc, I’ll try to stay off your table."

Katherine shot Dean a nasty glare.

"You damn well better!"

Dean and Yuki disappeared, leaving Katherine on her own, looking over one piece of data that was a physical anomaly.

She hadn’t bothered to bring it up because it wasn’t at a dangerous level yet, but both Dean and Yuki’s bodies released an unusual level of background radiation whenever they activated their abilities.

She didn’t know why this was the case. Or how it affected the two of them. All she knew was that it she felt something strange inside of her every time she thought about it.

As if there was something deeper going on with the world that the survivors of the Long Winter were currently blissfully unaware of.

She sighed and muttered beneath her breath.

"A sudden shift in climate, total collapse of global communication systems, and now strange mutations that have traces of radiation tied to them? Just what the hell is going on with the world?"

There was no way to answer her question, but it was still unsettling, nonetheless. Katherine could only continue on with her duties of looking after Elysium’s population as the next patient walked through her clinic doors, and the nurses quickly began to attend to their tasks.

Dean and Yuki would return home, and while Yuki went back to her duties, Dean found himself once more entered in training the next batch of soldiers for a war he knew was just around the corner.

One that Elysium currently lacked the manpower, and munitions to sustain. He needed either access to chemical manufacturing capabilities, a chemist, and the stockpiles needed to make smokeless gunpowder, or they would need to go back to basics and resort to less evolved firearms.

Either way, the current path forward needed a resolution soon, let Elysium would find itself overwhelmed by the government when it finally returned for them.

And that was something Dean would never allow to happen. But for now, he continued to train the militia, and the men suitable for becoming hoplites and peltasts. All else could be solved at another time.