Working Title: Powers and Perceptions

Prologue

Dominic was kneeling in the center of the rear quarter field, middle hash location. His breath rattling loudly in his ears as it bounced back from the clear protective face shield of his mask. Five yards a way on the ground was “the package”. The fans in the stands cheering was a dull largely unheard roar. His focus had already narrowed down to the five pound bright red multi-handled goal. The only thing that marked Dominic as different from the other competitors in his uniform was the read helmet and shoulders of his uniform. It meant we wasn’t awakened, or as everyone else put it; it marked him as a “Squish”.

Squish, gummie, soft-serve, or toothpick whatever your favorite pejorative term was, Dom was a regular good ole fashioned human. But he refused to accept that he couldn’t compete in the generally with very few exceptions like himself an awakened sport. The field was three hundred meters from goal line to goal line. Protruding from the ground by random computer placement was a collection of concrete obstacles or as Dom considered them cover and route of advancement for an imaginative free-runner like him. The goal was to breakthrough the other team and make it to the goal without loosing the package. That was worth ten points. If the other team intercepted the package you lost 5 points and the other team got 5. If they scored off the interception then they got 10 points. Each side had 3 runners, run out of runners and you loose. Other team gets to five hundred points you loose.

Dom was the third string runner. Or as the rest of the team put it, the last gasp. Generally speaking the runners on most teams weren’t tanks. Because tanks were required to defend against other tanks. Fliers and teleporters likewise were banned from using those skills as runners so they normally used any other abilities they had to cause havoc on the other teams runners. Mostly runners were highly agile with some level of enhanced durability, somewhere under typical tank status. But still vastly physically superior. The way Dom saw it, it wasn’t how much better everyone else was, it was about how much better he could be.

Learning about the sport as a kid Dom realized it was way too hard to classify awakened in any meaningful way. Because a nearly indestructible tank type could in fact be a super speeder as well. Which in Dom’s opinion was just cheating but meh. No one knew what grab bag of powers they’d get if the fifth universal force triggered an awakening in them. Some poor awakened couldn’t even use the powers they got because they didn’t get the ancillary power they needed to support them as well. Like some folks get massive super strength but not the durability for their body to survive using it. It doesn’t matter if you can lift fifty or hundred tons of weight if it’s going to break your bones to try, or the ability to run at mach 3 if you can only see and react at human average, so unless you get the perceptions to go along with the other gift your just screwed, no one wants to hit a wall at over two thousand miles per hour. It stings. So when the fifth universal force called the strange force started resonating with genetic material we used to think of as “junk” creating those we call awakened it was a gradual thing. Most scientists agree it was just another function of human evolution and natural selection. He couldn’t argue that because even though less than five percent of the population is currently awakened the girls, at least the girls his age snap them up like candy and even brawl over them. Seriously they learn to fight just in case one is in the same school as them. It’s a status symbol and an act of rebellion.

Since the population was so low, his team mates weren’t all from his high school they were from his region. There were only six high school teams in the country, but according to title 7 arguments in the supreme court case of Dewy Majors Vs. The A.A.B.A.(Awakened Advanced Battle Association) Not only did humans have a right to compete but the various major league teams in the AABA had to allow him a fair chance to tryout and couldn’t deny him on spec. Turns out he made a decent last gasp runner himself he had three reasonably successful seasons before injury sidelined him permanently. The thing about running it wasn’t how much punishment you could take before getting knocked down that part was inevitable, it was how much punishment you could take and get back up from.

The cannons blasted and the pyrotechnics went off in random pulses signaling the start of the sudden death round. The official timer ran out with us keeping the other team under the five hundred required to win and our team won the toss to start sudden death. OT in a battle was simple, first point wins. Who wins the toss gets the package first. The other two runners were still getting worked on by the team healers. One was missing an arm, but he was a regen-type so it was growing back but damn it had to hurt until it did. But it didn’t matter much even if they could of came back, the runner could only be subbed once and each team only got three.

Dom had picked up the package, before the report of the cannon faded. He’d been moving since before the first echo of the cannon. The only thing that kept Dom in the battles was that he didn’t hesitate. He didn’t think about what he was doing, or what he was going to do next. He just did it. After all how did you plan your way around a man that could run across the country faster than an elite squish could complete a marathon? Or plan your way past a beast of a woman that crushed cars like a squish frat boy crushed bear cans during spring break? Nope, and if he tried to think about it he probably couldn’t bring himself out on the field to begin with. The only option was to decide to be unstoppable himself and dare them to try. He was hardly ever successful. Fortunately the team had excellent healers.

As he crossed the quarter field and headed toward the mid-field line he caught the sight of one his tank defenders getting flipped up into the air and power slammed down by two of the other teams tanks. And the match slowed down in a burst of adrenalin, experience in this state told him it was a lie. Things were moving every bit as fast as he they were before the burst, probably even faster. Experience also taught him that someone had fucked up the defensive package by the numbers. What seemed like a second later the world snapped back into full speed and the teams whisperer was speaking in his and everyone else’s mind on his team. Damn it they sucked Chad out of position again, it’s Charlie Foxtrot. The play is audibled to Charlie Foxtrot. Charlie Foxtrot, was phonetic code for cluster fuck: which in this instance meant that there was no clear way to salvage the run. And that the runner in this case One Dominic Gray, was to scramble. Because the careful defensive ground cover he was supposed to have had broken down. The team whisperer was always a telepath and usually a flier he executed the on field coordination. The Coaches couldn’t even sit on the sidelines in this sport. The whole premise of the battle was: What you had on the field, was all you had.

He didn’t see the tank coming for him, but an experienced runner learned to sense these things quickly or next season he could learn backgammon or some other board game while healers pieced them back together. Because he wouldn’t be doing too much running especially as a squish.

He quickly angled off towards a vertical concert pillar, and quickly ran up five steps before pushing off into a back flip. To land behind the poor tank that ran face first into it. Or rather poor pillar because the damn thing came crashing down as Dom sped on. He didn’t know who that tank was because the uniforms didn’t have numbers but coded glyphs that the arena’s computer system could track. But he knew he didn’t want that sack of meat and mean catching up to him again. Two more tanks came from left front and right rear converging on him, the left front was speared by one of his own guys. From the size Dom thought it was Mitch, but all he had time to do was cut to the whole and scramble over a low cube and dive through a tiny cut out, and roll quickly to his feet as a bit of pyrotechnics tried to fry him.

He’d crossed mid field and the enemy fliers the ones with ranged abilities had broken from the aerial battle long enough to blast at him. This was the tough part, he couldn’t watch up and forward and keep tabs on where he was spatially at the same time. SO you don’t watch up, you keep moving forward in as erratic a path as possible. At about a hundred and eighty yards an explosive blast hit just behind him, the concussion threw him into the air and he had nothing to do but roll with it. So he did, He crunched down hard on an obstacle that thankfully tilted towards the ground. What he wasn’t thankful for was the dislocated shoulder he had to run with which is what he had when he stumbled to his feet and started running. He crossed to the two ten mark the last rank of tanks formed up for an assault. He didn’t meet them head on. He wouldn’t of if he was fresh and his shoulder was in the proper placement of it’s socket. No he ran into the obstacles and waited for someone to trip and open a hole. He hopped that happened soon because Dom realized he was having trouble breathing and thought the fall might damaged some ribs.

Just then he felt a hard thud run through the ground, and angled towards the collapsed barrier. Tanks weren’t usually graceful, THANK god. Two eighty, mark and trouble. A single female enemy was left, between him and his long shot goal. She was tall and lean and tiger stripped, this teams last gasp runner wasn’t their long shot but their best. Everyone knew Sasha Duvane, she could of played any position on the field besides flier. Mid A-class toughness, High A-class strength, Low B-class Speed, Rumored maximum A-class to S-class endurance, and B-class energy projection. And a strange ancillary ability to put patterns on her skin at will. Normally Dom just thought she was hot but right now the tiger stripped motif was intimidating, AND hot. Dom secretly thought he was a masochist at heart, had to be so. Otherwise why the hell was he HERE.

He couldn’t out distance this girl, couldn’t go through her, or around her. Hell he was well within her kinetic blast range had been since before he picked up the package, Sasha knew all this better than he did. So he went through her or rather to her. Be bold, and advance. That was Dom’s way, and he did he didn’t slow he ran right at her. She smirked confident she could put him down without trying. And She was right she could, so she expected him to try and juke her. She was wrong, he instead barraled into her, with a shoulder rush with his dislocated shoulder no less listening to the sickening crunch as it smashed back to it’s proper place and let the recoil of the hit roll him backwards. If he hadn’t been so hopped up on the rush, he’d of been on his knees throwing up in pain. Instead he was only in sharp unremitting agony. She dashed towards him his surprise attack throwing her off just long enough for him to spin on one knee and smash the back of her knee with the package. She was just enough off balance to go down. Dom had no illusion that she was hurt. He couldn’t of hurt her with anything short of thousand pounds of high explosives and even that might only wind her. That was what it meant to be a high class awakened.

Dom was running again before she hit the ground from his second surprise attack. He passed two ninty two ninety five, he was going to make it holy shit! Suddenly he was in the air horse collared and slammed down hard, he just had time to see stars burst before his eyes before he went black. Dom didn’t get to see the package still in his hand fall down half across the finish line until well after the game.

Later after the healers fixed his ribs and concussion, Dom almost had to go back to them for further healing after the overly enthusiastic congratulation from the rest of his team. Of course being mostly dudes and mostly naked the backslapping and bear hugging was a bit awkward. Cuz they’re dudes, even though they have a couple of homosexual males on the team as Tanks they were still dudes. Emotional crap is difficult enough in a snow suit for most guys let alone a towel. Later on Doms play would be called the gummi’s gambit, statisticians would later figure out it worked about three percent of the time. But on that day on that field hey why not right?

The coach gathered the team aground him before they left the collage’s locker room. And gave a rousing speech about how proving that it wasn’t the letter class of the people on the team but about it’s heart. That Dom proved that anyone could make a difference with enough heart. It was inspirational bullshit. But as Dom basked in the glow of victory he had to admit it was very very good bullshit. Then coach called him to the center and clasped him on the shoulder and passed him a small patch. It was a gold star-burst shape in a gold ring on a field of white. It was the teams coveted hero patch for his letterman’s jacket. It would be affixed to the sleeve of his jacket as an indication of him being pivotal to the teams victory in a battle. Vargas already had his jacket and was motioning for him to had him the patch. Dom handed it over and let the pyrokinetic heat the hi-tech adhesive to the point that it stuck to the leather sleeve easily.

The team filed out of the locker room soon after leaving it as wrecked as one could imagine. No physical property damage but it looked like their had been a towel massacre and the smell was, well.. funky was the only word for it deep toe jam and backed up toilet funky. Dom finally filed out still being back slapped and flanked by two of the teams tanks.

When from further down the hall he heard a female voice yell for him. Okay so, she didn’t exactly call his name she yelled, “Hey YOU, SQUISH…” But… since Dom was the only non awakened on either team, or even in the entire high school scholastic league. It kind of narrowed it down a bit.

“Oh hell,” Dom muttered but he turned around and faced her. It wasn’t in his character to run away from a challenge, only towards them. Not that running away would of done much good, she’d been clocked at 260mph in a sprint.

Marty said, “Don’t worry bro we got your back.” Touching as that was in a straight brawl someone of Sasha’s caliber could wipe the floor with all of them. She was what was referred to as a High class. Someone with multiple A class or better abilities.

Dom didn’t respond to Marty instead he met her head on. Again.. And damn she looked good. She was as tall as either Marty or Chad, which meant she had good six inches on Dom. Her tiger stripes were gone but her letterman jacket tank top and tight low slung jeans made her look like an athletic goddess. “Good battle Sasha,” He stuck out his hand. If she was going to be a poor sportsman about this, it didn’t mean he had to be. he’d been on the shit end of the losing stick too many times to be a poor winner.

He may have turned the surprises on the field today, but she ran things now. She pressed into his personal space then pressed up against him he was sandwiched against the wall, where she planted a goober maker of a kiss that scrambled his wits for a full ten seconds afterward before she spoke. “That you magnificent bastard was your trophy for beating me soundly against the odds.” She leaned in and whispered “We’re both seniors, and I don’t expect to face you again later but if we do.. Don’t think I will let this happen again cupcake.” She winked at him as she pinched his ass so hard he was sure he’d sit funny for awhile but the bruise was worth it.

Dom never heard the cat calls of either team, or Sasha cowing them with sass and confidence as she walked off.

He had to be pushed to and put on the bus or he’d of been left behind, standing stone still and touching his lips like a goober. God that was a good battle.

Chapter One

To the victors go the spoils. That was at the heart of any battle league win. Of course as you rose from high school to collage the spoils got better. If you went pro, well they were truly epic. But as it was the hotel the team was going to rest the night at before heading home rolled out the red carpet for them. It was a Hi-Rise designed by Manic. While he suffered from bouts of depression, he could engineer structures and design buildings that shouldn’t stand, in a third the time of a boring traditional building. It was just a mark of his power. Near as anyone could tell they stood because he wanted them to. The top floor of this hotel had a completely glassed in revolving dining/ball room. It sat like a spinning crystal ball on the tip of a spire. It even had all glass high arched french doors that led out onto a balcony that ringed the entire sphere, and let one feel like they floated in mid air.

Dom waited in the center of room right now though not too far away from the elevator. If anyone asked he was waiting to greet his guests. After the kiss none of the guys and even a few of the girls couldn’t of faulted him trying to eek out another kiss. The truth was while he did use his hero’s request to invite the other team to the victory banquet. He was standing in the center of the room with his eyes fastened to anything solid and not see through because he was scared shitless of heights. Waiting for Sasha was just the more socially acceptable thing to say. The view might be spectacular but it’s hard to apprciate it when it locks your knees and turns you bowls to water. It wasn’t the idea of being up high that bothered him. If he had solid ledges under his feet he was fine. It was the idea of falling and being completely out of control that did him in.

Dom wrestled his mind away from it and tried to focus on anything else. Like the goober maker, Sasha put on him. Like how he managed to cross an entire battle ground reasonably whole and unhurt. Well, except for the two broken ribs, the dislocated shoulder, and a major concussion anyway. For an unawakened runner that was unheard of. Making an unscathed run only happens in dramas. Truth is the sport could kill you if you were a complete squish. In collage and especially the pros a match could end in under an hour. Each side scoring it’s points on interceptions and going through their runner corps before halftime.

Dom didn’t begrudge the awakened their sport. He was just glad they let him play. Life outside of the sport arena for awakened was truly unfair and scary. The registration act 1966, that required all awakened to register their powers and identities with the worlds governments. The awakened abuse of powers act, that states even if an awakened is in fear for his life that it’s capital crime to kill a human with ones powers. The segregation ruling that states if a human wants cohabitation they must also register with the government for life and give up certain protections and civil rights forever even if the relationship ends. And most unfair of all, awakened are forbidden to marry, anyone, period. Girls love awakened, women avoid them like the plague. Humanity wanted to keep their foot on that which scared them. Which Dom never understood, with the exception of falling Dom always wanted to challenge that which scared the hell out of him.

The elevator into the rotating sphere of death pinged softly like a metal tuning fork striking crystal. And a seriously pissed off red head and half her tank corps stepped off the elevator with her. Dom felt a delicious tingle of fear jolt through him at the sight of her and stepped forward to meet her. Though instinct told him to run fast. Even though she could top two-hundred fifty miles per hour in a sprint with her low B-class speed rating.

“What the hell is this, rubbing our faces in our loss squish? I thought you’d have more class than this..” She started in on him

The only thing Dom could do against her divine fury would be to continue on as he had planed “Miss Duvane, please allow me to extend my invitation to you and your team to join us this evening. I’m using this as my victors request.” He stumbled on he probably should of stopped and let it hang. “Unless of course you and your team don’t want to. Please don’t feel obligated.”

“You could of asked for nearly anything, even a new car this being the last match of the season.” She said.. “And you ask for this?”

“We won by luck, I know it you know it, and even if my team doesn’t want to admit it. They know it. Besides I got more reward for winning earlier than I have any right to expect.”

She blushed, “Fine I accept, blast a team text to the others and tell them the hero of the battle extends his invitation to dine with him and his team.” She walked passed Dom with her chin in the air.

“Meh don’t mind Sash, she just embarrassed that she jumped your shit like an ass when you were being a good guy. And thanks by the way, the fast food we could of ordered and payed for on our own would of sucked..”

Dom just nodded and tried to let the tingle of adrenalin fade from his limbs. Why facing this girl caused this reaction he didn’t know. He’d faced plenty of awakened on the field before and off, and none of them red lined him like she did. I mean none of the others were as powerful as her not even close. But seriously being able to lift 1 ton or 120 tons doesn’t matter much, mushed is mushed to a gummi. So why the rush? Had Dom been a little older and a little wiser he’d of understood, as it was he just didn’t get it. He stood making small talk with members of Sasha’s team The North Western Warriors. His own team The Southern Rebels. Had a rough go of it this year, unlike in other sports the “season” didn’t count things like winning and losing. It wasn’t that sort of game it was built around rougher rules. Winning was a huge deal with rewards and glory, Sasha was right he thought he probably could of gotten a car or some other lavish prize. But Dominic Gray didn’t play for prizes or glory, he played to play one more day one more shot to prove he could. Now it was over, he couldn’t play anymore this was senior year, and none of the collages were going to be knocking down his door to play on their squads. He was cool with that, if he tried to play in collage or go pro he’d die it’s that simple High School had rules that protected squish like him from undue force. The next steps didn’t, it was assumed that if you played in those leagues you understood fully that you were taking your life into your own hands. And in truth it was like that in High School too. That’s how he got his slot on the team. There are roughly 3,500,000 known awakened in the world. Of that number roughly 520,000 to 530,000 young adults among them of that number 52,000 or so are American high school aged awakened. And only a very small percentage of that game go in the sport of Battle. The Southern Rebels had a hard time filling out their roster his freshman year and he leaped at the chance. He’d done well enough for a human been ground into paste more times then he could count. Would of died no less than twelve times for sure had not an awakened with a gift for healing been around. And as he talked with the other team and some of them talked about the scouts for the various collages that were interested in them he felt a pang of sadness. The doors for these guys were just opening up, his was closing.

Dom excused himself politely and went to a table that held huge galvanized tubs of ice that nearly every soft drink you could imagine and took a bottle of water for myself. I learned long ago, even before I joined the team that if I wanted a hope in hell of being within radar distance of the competition, everything I ate had to be carefully monitored. Food was being served in fancy ways and all the stops being pulled out for them but the organizers still realized they were high school students, and that the more refined delicacies would be wasted on us. So it was chef’s interpretations of burgers and fries, pizza, and various other junk food treats were being served on fine porcelain and nice silver service. It looked to Dom like he was going to go hungry. There wasn’t a grilled chicken breast or mixed green salad in sight.

With every view reminding me him he was but a polymer pane away from plunging to his death. Unless one of the fliers took pity on him that is, Dom took a sip from his water and tried deep contemplation on what he should do with himself from now until he could leave the spinning death trap of doom. He chanted an inner mantra, “I won’t fall to my death, I won’t fall to my death, gravity is my friend, gravity isn’t going to try and kill me…”

Dom felt someone grab his arm to get his attention he looked around then slightly up at Sasha. “I’m sorry she said, I was a bitch.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dom got out. Her hazel eyes were rimed in a dark green and had flecks of amber. He was amazed that he got that much out.

“Was this about the kiss?” She asked.

“Should I lie? No, the kiss had nothing to do with it at all. The truth? Yeah, I wanted an excuse to see you once more before life sent us on our different ways. Or something more acceptable? Hell I don’t know seemed like the thing to do..” He grinned. “To be totally honest I wanted that rush once more.”

“That rush?” She asked crinkling her nose at him.

“You know that rush. Like on the field. The adrenalin rush of fear, and anticipation?”

“I don’t know what you mean?” Then she said, “You’re afraid of me?” She let go of him and stepped back.

“Of course, well I don’t… I was on the field. I was in the hallway to the locker room. But not at the elevator oddly, but I still got the same rush. The same rush without the fear.” He laughed, “I’m being too honest don’t listen to me I’m trying not to be terrified of falling to my death right now.”

“How could you be afraid, and still of rushed me?” This wasn’t the questions she wanted to be asking the weird squish. But she lost control of the conversation right after stepping off the elevator. “How could be afraid and still play like you do?”

“You mean poorly?” He grinned, “I want to know if I can. I need to know if I throw it all away if for even just a second I can stand on the same level as you.”

“As me?” Sasha thought he might be a bit addled in wits.

“Not you specifically, but on the same tier as an awakened.” He took another sip of water.

“So you want to prove you’re as good as an awakened?” The boy was suicidal

He chocked on his water, “You daft woman? You saw what happened out there, no what I want to prove is my own limits. I read some where once, that if you can live as if you already dead and throw everything into a single purpose a person can achieve anything.”

Sasha shook her head, “You’ve got to be the most insane squish I’ve ever met. Even though you’re wearing red on the field to remind the other team to use kid gloves you can still easily get killed.”

Dom eyed her coldly, “You think I don’t know that? Did you think when I rammed my dislocated shoulder into place on your sternum that I didn’t know you could snuff me out in an instant?” He exhaled, “I know the risks that’s why I’m not going to play in collage. Especially since I got the hero patch and for a span of a few seconds I broke through my own limitations. Oh, and no collage program takes a squish.”

“I didn’t mean to be a bitch again. You just impressed me is all. I didn’t understand how you could be afraid and played like you did you looked, …Happy out there.”

“I was, especially when I saw you were going to intercept me.” Dom shrugged.

“Come again?”

“Well this whole thing has been about me going against my limits by challenging people so far beyond them it’s silly right? And who is the strongest Awakened in our league?”

“Oh.. The perceived impossibility of getting past me, really revved your engine did it?”

“Oh yeah, I think in that moment I loved you just a little bit.” he chuckled. He didn’t talk about his pseudo fan boy crush he had on the girl from the news stories and magazine interviews she’s done.

She blushed, “oh.”

She excused herself to go greet the rest of her team as they started to arrive. Dom realized while talking to her, he hadn’t thought of falling horribly to his doom in several minutes. Until that is he realized that talking to her, he hadn’t thought of it, whereupon he promptly thought of it. Great. He shuttered He took a seat at one of the little round tables that flanked the room thankful that a white linen tablecloth covered the surface so he couldn’t look down into the maw of death.

As he stared at the table cloth a couple of guys from the Warriors team sat down with him, eyeing him up and down like they were trying to guess his weight at a carnival or something. Finally he asked, “What?”

“What you going to do about Sasha?” A no neck guy that one would of thought was one of Tank Position players and he could have been but, if Dom remembered the scouting break down they got. However he was instead the other teams whisperer. A a middle C class telepath/telekinetic with respectable low-class B durability. Dismal mid D strength though, but the telekinesis would go a long way to bridging that gap.

“Pardon?” Dom asked confused.

“What, are your intentions towards her. We want to know squishy.” This from a beligerent girl with midnight blue hair at the roots that faded to a white in the middle and was tipped in shining gold framing a cherubic face. Tessa-Anne Coltz third highest ranked awakened on the warriors. Low-B strength/durability High B class energy projection low B energy manipulation Low A-flight and, class C regeneration. For there to be even one high class and so many high middles on one team was unusual. The Rebels for instance only had two players with any skills ranked in the mid B class range. They each only had one. Fortunately a battle wasn’t about how many you had but how you used what you did.

“Ummm, not to piss her off or any of you for that matter? That count?”

The telepathic tank, whos name escaped Dom snorted, he was sure it was something simple like Cliff or Clint? Maybe Clay? “Funny squish..”

“Well we try, but I draw the line at putting on a funny hat and dancing a jig” I quipped.

“It doesn’t count, we think she likes you. We think you should go talk to her. You know, James here has picked up on what you’ve been afraid off all night.” She slapped the no neck telepath on the shoulder. wasn’t even close on the name Dom thought wryly. “Not for nothing, but if I should think you weren’t being a charming host to our Sasha, I could drop you from this height and circle four or maybe five times before I caught you hauled you back up.” She smirked, “Just saying.”

“So, umm yeah message received.”

James spoke, “Look I don’t agree with Tess’s threat. But she likes you, she’s lonely and we love her. But hurt her feelings and I’ll fling you off this tower just to see if Tess really can catch you.”

“Guys you do know I was just being a gracious winner right? Yeah I think Sasha’s great” Dom shot a thought at the telepath begging not to reveal his crush. “Who doesn’t think she is? But come on you can’t contrive two people hitting it off like some sitcom.. be rational with me for a sec.” Turns out Dom was very very wrong, they could and did expect to contrive a sitcom like romance between them.

Chapter 2

The flier Tess pushed Dom unwillingly towards one of the doors to the balcony. It wasn’t that Dom didn’t want to talk to Sasha again, but couldn’t they take an elevator to one of the regular floors to do it? Honestly if this chick couldn’t break him in half, Dom would have had some choice words for the overpowered pushy flutter-fly.

“Whats your deal, move squish.” She grumbled.

Dom kept his eyes on the moon, oddly if he looked at the moon and the few stars he could see around it in all the light pollution then he was okay he was just looking up at the night sky. Like when he used to go fishing with grandma during the summer.

Tess hissed in his ear then, “Okay we’re here heartbreak-squish, remember act natural keep her happy or I give you flying lessons.” Dom didn’t believe she would give him those flying lessons but since she hit upon the one crippling fear he had she had all the leverage. Not that arguing with a girl that could sling compact cars at people like frisbees or blast said cars out of the sky like clay pigeons would have been wise. No, wise would have been skipping this thing altogether.

Tess quickly noticed a friend, James conveniently gesturing to get her attention. And left me standing alone in a group that included Sasha in easy conversation. But suddenly one by one the other members of the group made excuses to be somewhere else. Dom was pretty sure James was whispering to them to be somewhere else. Blatant misuse of power if you asked him.

“So, erm, hi.” He started

“Yeah, hi.” Sasha said giving James and Tess a look that told him that she wasn’t fooled at all.

“So I guess they do this often?” I ventured.

“Once they did it to a gas station attendant I smiled at. Had the poor girl standing out side my door with chocolates and flowers.” She said dryly

“Oh I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were gay, why were they so insistent then?” Dom looked confused.

“I’m not least not completely,” She laughed “I’m well it doesn’t matter what I am. Because nothing can happen lets just enjoy the view for awhile. I’m smile and laugh and get you off the hook. I’m pretty sure James is listening in and giving Tess a play by play. So, Thank you guys he’s a great gift but would of meant more if he’d come out under his own power, just saying. A girl likes to know her wiles drew the moth to the flame once and awhile.”

“In their defense, you could have been out here dressed in nothing but pasties and a g-string and I wouldn’t of voluntarily came out here.” Dom kept his eyes either on her eyes when he spoke to her or fixed on the moon.

“You’ve never seen me in a g-string and pasties before, so I think I might have a shot.” she said with a little snark.

“I’d come to you on the moon, I’d come to you at the bottom of the see, I’d cross rivers of molten rock, Hell I’d even cross a football field long kitchen of frying bacon without a shirt on, But without super-chick over there pushing me. I don’t think I would of made it out here.” Dom said admitting his fear, while keeping his eyes locked on her.

She got it, “Oh, shit, sorry you’re acrophobic. Lets go inside away from the edge.”

“It’s not the height, I mean I train free running in an abandoned ten story apartment house. I’ve scaled the outside. It’s the falling that’s got me twisted up.” Then he added, “Unless I keep my eyes on you or the moon, Then I can breath.”

She smiled, “I don’t mind you looking. But I’m just floored that you are afraid of anything after what you did on the field. The odds of you getting dead in the battle were much higher than standing here now.” She took his arm and probably would of leaned against him if she didn’t have so much height on him.

“It’s not rational, I know the structure is sound that falling is almost impos..”

Explosions rocked the balcony throwing everyone on it into the air, and Dom had one of those instants where time seemed to stop with him twenty feet in the air. One of those adrenalin induced instances where afterward you aren’t sure if saw it all in the moment it happened or if your memory put it all together after the fact.

One instant he was standing next a girl that he hoped might become a close friend. The next she was ripped from his arms and tossed away. He noticed Tess her eyes rolled up in head being bounced against the entry archway as she and James spied on us. He noticed a woman slightly older than seniors around her being thrown into the night with an annoyed look on her face, like being blown up and falling ninety stories was powerful inconvenient interruption in the flow her night. Like a traffic jam. Last thing he saw before time snapped back to it’s usual relentless pace was several members of both teams being hurled over the edge with him and Sasha.

It was his worst nightmare, falling through the night sky towards the central plaza of Leandra City. Dom was in a full panic until he saw Sasha falling beneath him, she was falling. He glanced over and saw Marty and James falling James holding onto Tess’s unconscious form. Could they survive the fall? Could Sasha, Sasha was falling. It wasn’t supposed to happen, it couldn’t happen. He was useless. His bones began to hum, that was the only way to describe the first sensations. That was the end of the pleasant sensations for what seemed like years, but could only have really been an instant.

Some set Dominic’s mind afire, a raging wild fire that fried every synapse and raged across every neuron in his body. Before the fire had even started burning though, his body felt as if it shattered away from his bones and the bones themselves where filled with the liquid mass of the starts themselves. He wanted to die, he didn’t know what was happening but he wanted to die, until he locked eyes with Sasha falling. He wanted her to live more than he wanted to die. Once his bones were filled with the burning mass it felt as if they started to stretch, the stretching sensation spread to his skin starting an intense itching that if had lasted more than the few seconds would of caused madness.

Half dead from what Dominic thought had to be fear induced psychosis, Dom pulled himself together though he was probably going to die tonight he could keep his shit till the end. He concentrated on his screaming falling team mates, on Sasha and her team, until they vanished with a pop in his mind. He looked at the woman in her mid twenties falling next to him and she vanished with that same clicking sensation in his mind. With no one to focus on Dom started to panic again, he wished the teleporter would teleport him too.

With that Dom felt the click again saw that he was back up by the balcony hanging in mid air, until he realized he was hanging in mid air and the fear of falling took him again. Whereupon he promptly began falling again. This time though their were a rapid series of pops in his brain and his fall took on weird tangents. By the balcony, over the city center streaking towards the ocean, back to the balcony. Finally someone grabbed him out of the air, it was the twenty-something. Up close he could see she was pretty that she dressed the pretty down and used unflattering makeup.

“I’ve got you kid stop panicking before you hurt yourself or someone else.”

He looked down, then looked at the pretty woman, she vanished and he started falling again. In the haze that was Dom’s memory of that first terrifying step into a new world. He remembered her making several more grabs for him only to vanish and for her to be more and more frustrated with him, if the language she used became any indication, until finally Dom augured into a bare patch of field. Last thing he thought was at least that woman saved the others.

Chapter 3

“Hold onto him Sasha, the bastard is slippery if he’s startled.” Dom felt the vehicle bounce under-him, and he wished that someone would take the dead squirrel turds out from under his tongue. I felt someone grip me tighter around the chest.

I asked for what thought most pressing at the moment, “Got any water?” my voice sound normal if deeper. And not the deeper from sleep either.

“He’s awake, Melissa, what do I do.”

“Keep a tight grip on him but don’t break him, and talk to him damn it. Reassure him.”

“Hey squ, well no, Hey Dominic you’re okay we’re taking you someplace safe.”

“Hey,” Dom Said looking up at Sasha. “You’re alive that awakened saved you huh.”

“Of course I’m alive, I would have been fine, and yo..”

“Sasha! None of that now.”

“Yeah they saved me.”

It felt like someone had set a fireball off in his mind, he was sure if the world just stop spinning for a minute he could find it somewhere. Slowly the fire ebbed from his thoughts and he realized his legs were cramped he straightened on out hitting the door of the car they were in. It fell off.

“Shit, Melissa we gotta pull over and explain things to him.” Sasha sounded a bit worried.

“If he takes off again we’ll never bloody catch him.”

Odd Sasha could run me down without breaking a sweat. “I just need some water, an aspirin and the name of the joker that slipped me a spiked drink, So Sasha can kick his ass..”

The car veered off the road, and braked hard, Sasha kept me from face planting into the back of the front drivers seat. Sasha and this Melissa got out, Sasha pulling me along with her like I weighed no more than a sack of gummi-bears. I suppose to her I wasn’t much more than that. Only problem was, I noticed as I was dragged out of the back bench seat of the sedan was that the blanket wasn’t coming with me. And I was naked as the day I was born, and this wasn’t my body. A guy knows himself on sight and the abbs and the other bits and pieces weren’t mine. And the way my arms were trapped I could reach for the blanket, and before could protest or struggle a blushing Sasha was pretneding not to perv on who’s ever body this was. I was Skinny, lithe, Fit but not muscular in any way. This guy was. I could feel it in the odd balance of this body thicker shoulders broader natural stance. It was like wearing someone else’s shoes.

“Sasha, why am I in someone else’s body?” Seriously they were gonna be pissed when woke up in my rinkydink little frame. “And why am I six inches taller than you?”

“Dominic, buddy, man..” She stammered like at a loss of words, looking everywhere but in my eyes. “I’ve never had to do this, this kind of sucks. Before I tell you try to stay very calm. You awakened last night, you remember the explosion? The fall.”

“I’m not even in my body, maybe he was the one that awakened and somehow we got switched.” Should we try to find him? Dom thoughts raced alone crazy paths of LSD and Alien body snatchers.

Melissa stepped up then, the gorgeous twenty something that dressed down, she looked more right now wild and wind blown her whole looked screamed old Italian blood with Spanish influences. “You study awakened, if only to compete against them right?” Dom nodded “You heard of a transformative awakening then?” Again Dom nodded “Well welcome to your skin.”

“Wait those guys have tails and claws, or bug eyes. Not… this..”

“You think the powers that be want the squishes thinking there is a chance they can be turned into studs? Seriously, of course they gonna focus on more, outlandish transformations. This is the perfect you according to you. That’s usually how transformative awakenings work.”

“No, I’d of been slightly shorter, leaner through shoulders sleeker build. I look like an escapee from a girl-porn novel. And for the love of god can you give me my pants…”

Melissa laughed, and dug the blanket out and tossed it to me. “Sport when you hit the ground at somewhere around mach 1.3 by my best guess what do you think happens to normal clothes when you plow a trench like that? For that matter you lost most of your clothes while still in flight. So sorry no pants, and you aren’t you’re perfect self, if I had to guess you’re hers…” She jerked her head at Sasha “Nice work by the way, overall I give two thumbs up, I’d of only made minor changes.”

Sasha blushed, “How am I her ideal? I thought you said it was my ideal,”

“Get in the car you ungrateful jackass and I’ll explain my theory as we drive.”

Dom climbed into the car, and Sasha got in the back seat next to him. There wasn’t anything that could be done about the door. Sasha stuck to his side like glue, a fate that yesterday would have been much desired but right now a little more space would have been appreciated, though he didn’t have the heart to tell her so.

“Right,” Melissa said “My theory. Okay here goes, you two young love birds were so into each other just before the H.A. detonated their explosives that she was picturing you as her ideal hunk because she liked you, and you wanted to be her ideal as you were awakened.” She paused while messing with her data unit. “You two wanted to swap spit right there in front of everyone.”

He glanced over at Sasha, “It’s like that huh?”

“Oh comeonman…” Melissa bitched “Tell me your primary concern wasn’t trying to save her, who didn’t need it by the way though probably saved the city from having to fill in one more big crater. Yet you teleport her to safety all the while enduring the worst agony you’ll ever know.”

“How do you know about that?”

“The pain is the one thing we all know about,” She glanced in the rearview mirror, “She can back me up on that.”

When Sasha nodded a haunted look in her eyes Dom sat back to think. He was pretty sure that he was being punked by some spiked brownies or something. I didn’t know who Melissa was besides a seemingly close friend of Sasha’s, but if she was right she saw me breaking the sound barrier, and teleporting. Flight,teleportation, significantly tougher body, if I did auger in at mach speed. The car door strength. Then the other things hit him like, my mom. If I lived with her she’d have to give up her job working as a portfolio manager. Awakened couldn’t be associated closely to anyone in the financial industry. I, wow, I just lost a large slice of my civil rights. I couldn’t even vote, not that I was planing too but wow.

“Sasha be a dear and let him rest his head on your lap, I think the impact of what he’s lost just hit him. Dominic, it’s okay there are good sides and we’re working to change things it’ll be okay just keep whatever powers you’ve been gifted under wraps a little longer.”

Sasha for her part wasn’t handling it as well as Dom, Melissa noted. She kept mumbling “I’m sorry..” under her breath. But she pulled the boy’s head down to rest against her chest, not her lap but it would do.

A rental sedan with a conspicuously missing back door pulled into the parking lot of an Everything-mart and cut it’s sputtering engine. It had been driven hard to make it back all this way in such a short time, it wasn’t even seven am yet and she and Sasha chased the boy over nearly the entire island. Melissa turned around looked at the two in the backseat, wondering if they had their shit together yet. Dom had his eyes closed in a doze and Sasha clasped him to her like his awakening had been her fault.

“Only the new body is your doing, and only because he wanted to be IT so bad girl, ease up on yourself already.” Melissa said.

“He just lost everything, I know what that’s like.” She did too Melissa mused the only thing Sasha had kept from her old life was the last name Duvane. When her prominent family kicked the ten year old girl out simply for becoming what she was born to be. That was why Sasha made such a name for herself, a finger to her family as she excelled at academics, athletics, and social causes using her fame on the field to push back against her family’s old money and political connections. Every news story about the “phenom’ Sasha Duvane chipped away at the family she grew to hate.

“Maybe, probably, but maybe not. You think a shithead family could raise your boy?” Melissa asked.

Sasha shrugged, “I don’t know. I hope not.”

“Even so you survived, so will he.”

Dominic listened but didn’t speak, he didn’t know what his mother would choose. His father had been a collage mistake an over indulged, over privileged, sack of crap that didn’t think no was a valid answer when modern chemistry and deceit made asking the question obsolete to begin with. Mom kept him though that meant fucking up her life once by setting back her career a good ten years. Could I really ask her to fuck it up again, for me? He thought in small quiet voice.

“What are we doing in retail hell?” Sasha asked her.

“We can’t haul your boy around in his altogethers, especially with the door gone. Sooner or later we’re going to get stopped by enforcement. I’d rather avoid the hassle of explaining a naked man an outed Awakened and a gorgeous woman, I mean that’s how stories get started. So I’m going to go get him something to cover his dangly bits. Unless of course you think we shouldn’t? I mean it should be crime..” Melissa trailed off teasing Sasha.

“Go I’ll stay with him.”

Melissa got out of the car closing the door, and Dom drifted off in earnest. Not because he was tired in truth he’d never felt better now that the head ache and foul taste was gone; but because he just had a lot of questions he didn’t have answers to.

Chapter 3

A woman who looked to be in her late thirties stood at the edge of enforcement divisions red barricade. The red barricade was meant to signal an investigation involving awakened. It didn’t escape Ekaterina’s or any other thinking, breathing, and unbiased life form that somehow it was always an awakened investigation. Instead of looking into the claims that the H.A. posted themselves all over the info-grid that they were responsible for culling the awakened menace from the human population. Enforcement went right along investigating ‘claims’ that an awakened ‘athalete’ had a falling out with his girlfriend on the balcony, lost control of his powers and blew themselves up.

The pompous ass of an Enforcement Division Captain just finished grandly proclaiming to the national news muppets covering the story that, “When mongrels are allowed in decent establishments one has to expect these sorts of fiasco.” And they just ate it up, after all no reporter wanted to get their name on a watch list as a known sympathizer. Enforcement could turn up all sorts of reasons to raid your home, financials, and associates.

And at that particularl moment Ekaterina didn’t give a flying fuck in a whirlwind about any of that nonsense, her son was missing and she’d damn well find him, or find the H.A. prick responsible for hurting him. And she’d start with the pompous numbnuts in his spiffy black tactical armor. “Sargent, SARGENT!” She yelled drawing all the near by eyes pointing at who she knew very well to be a captain if her ploy was going to work she had be above him looking down. “Yes, you get over here..”

“Who are you,” he snapped..

“Shut up Sargent, I want to know if you’ve found my son yet.”

“I’m a captain, in the Enforcement division and I don’t think I like your tone.” He sneered, “I think if you’re the mother of one of these… citizens.” He sneered the word like it was the lowest form of life imaginable. “That you’ll need to come with me.”

“You’re working on becoming a corporal Sargent.” She made 3 quick taps on her data pad engaging the com function dialing a number she programed when she realized enforcement was doing it’s usual tap dance in not prosecuting hate crimes. A voice came over the speaker, it only worked if the mental midget heard and bought the sales job. “Governor Stewart’s private line,”

Before the other end could finish, or seem to finish that was, Ekaterina cut and fed the next set of response cues to the computer. “Alice, it’s Kat. Is Mike in? I’ve got problem with one of the local enforcement goons.”

“Oh dear I heard about that was Dominic there is he okay?” The computer said on cue

“I don’t know Alice,” She allowed real emotion to coat her voice to sell the act. “This Sargent Mullhairy won’t look for him..” She let her voice crack a bit.

“You just wait, right there on hold Kat. The Governor is in a meeting with the chief of staff and the chamber of commarece committee but I’ll go pull him out please hol..”

For half a heart beat Ekaterina thought the goon wasn’t going to break, but before the computer could put her on hold for a gov. that wouldn’t pick up the goon caved and proved you couldn’t save stupid. “No need Alice,” speaking with a cheery confidence that was in no way evident on his face. “This Captain Mulroney, It was a simple miss-communication please assure the Governor that everything that can be done to find the boy is being done.

At that the computer ran it’s last line of the dialogue tree. “Kat, hun is that acceptable or should I get the Governor to insure that no more miss-communications are had?”

“Thank you Alice, I think this will do.”

“As you wish Kat, young Dominic is in our prays hun…” The line went dead and Ekaterina tapped the disconnect to close the comm channel.

The ass didn’t say a word to but spun on his heel and started barking orders to resume a SAR grid search. Ekaterina knew that this ploy could come back to bite her in the ass big time, but she just couldn’t muster up much of a damn.

…….

Melissa strolled through Everything-mart, grabbing a small container croissants, a large hunger of cheese, three large bottles of OJ and various packages of launch meat from the grocery section of the store for breakfast. She the whistled to herself while she strolled over to men’s apparel, she did a quick once through in full on girl mode getting the lay of the offerings which was slim. She wanted sweat pants but since it was the wrong season and Everything-mart was all about seasonal targeting she had to settle for basketball shorts and snarky that said “I may be awakened but not until I’ve had my coffee..”. She reached for a package of boxer briefs then smirked and put them back on their hook. She rather liked the idea of everyone in the car knowing he was full on commando. Melissa knew she had an evil streak, but she made horns look good. Besides when you where her age you learned to have fun with life. She was still trying to teach her girl that, and now it looked like she picked up a boy too. Oh well the more the; the bigger amount in the bail budget needs be.

Melissa saw a guy setting up a display for a new body-wash that was supposed to make a man irresistable watching her shop. Sure Dom was naked in the backseat with Sasha, in a car without a back door, and in a public parking lot but that didn’t mean Melissa couldn’t flirt a bit with the kid. She couldn’t date the guy but that didn’t mean she had to be cold either; besides she hated good looking girls that looked down on everyone, if someone showed appreciation for a girls looks she should be gracious as long as they aren’t being an ass. And one day Sasha would thank her for the time with him, all vulnerable like a new born puppy.

….

“Geeze whats taking her so long?” Dom grew more nervous as the minutes ticked by.

“Melissa, well she’s easily distracted. She won’t let you down, but her sense of time is.. different from ours.” Sasha said cryptically. “She responsible but she also sees that responsibility in a different context because of her circumstances.”

“Add ask what those were, but if you were comfortable telling me you wouldn’t of worked so hard to dance around it like that.”

….

Melissa tucked the guys phone number into her cleavage explaining that she forgot hers in the car, he watched it disappear with awe and hope. She tapped him on the tip of the nose with a crooked grin spun and pushed her cart to the checkout feeling like she’d done her good deed for the day.

On her walk back to the car she locked her better than human normal eyesight on the rental, sometimes it was really nice having a an A-class rating in visual perception and acuity. It meant that she could oh, see most of the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum if she wanted, Read the page of a novel over someones shoulder at just about two miles at night, or she could watch Sasha and Dom look at each other like the other gave milk. Seriously she thought whats the point of giving you two a blanket big enough for two if you’re just gonna gaze at each other soulfully. She could already see that they’d need help moving things along, and that she was going to have fun doing it.

Neither Dominic nor Sasha noticed her approach as they continued quiet and thoughtful conversation to cover the serious eye contact they were making. Smirking Melissa gave the bask a little push so it bumped the rear quarter panel with a solid Thump causing them to jump as their private little world shattered around them.

“HI!” she said brightly and tossed the shorts and t-shirt to Dominic she handed a bottle one of the one the large sixty-four ounce bottles of OJ to Sasha sat the rest of the food in the seat. “Well, get dressed we’ve got a few more miles yet to go.”

“You didn’t grab any underwear?” Dominic asked her

“Why would I do that? I find the short intolerable as it is.” Melissa quiped.

Dominic didn’t say anything else just arranged the blanket so he could slip shorts on under cover. Sasha must have been telling him about her sense of humor. Oh well knowing might be half the battle but it isn’t the whole battle. She handed each croissant a package of lunch meat, and Dominic his bottle of OJ.

“Umm interesting food choices..” Dominic said

“One thing very nearly every awakened has in common is a need for a large amount of calories in the form of protein preferably. The energy for what we do doesn’t come from nowhere after all.”

Dominic just nodded and started eating from his 1lb bag of lunch meat, thinking that it was still an odd choice.

“We can ditch the rental and claim it was stolen. But that doesn’t get us to the testing facility unless we fly and Sasha runs.” Melissa said after a bite of her own lunch meat. As if they’d been talking about it all along. “And we got to get you in before tonight, Enforcement is a bunch of pricks about that law. Plus we need to know more about you.”

“Whoa, what testing?”

“You’ve got to be tested and registered with the database within twenty-four hours of your awakening or face a ten year prison sentience and twenty-five thousand dollar fine for everyday you delay registration.”

“And we’ve got to register you, since I’ve never seen someone teleport someone else without touching them. Too many people know, without us being their to concoct a story for enforcement they’ll be looking for a new teleporter.” Sasha said, “Melissa right we got to get you to the nearest testing facility and registered as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry,” Melissa said, “The testing facilities are ran by fellow awakened not enforcement, enforcement just likes to use that law to come down on us. But the facilities themselves are by agreement our lookout. That way we can control access to the side of the database that has names and addresses attached to it. So it can’t be used by hate groups.”

Melissa saw the weight of the world press down on the guys shoulders again and gave a mental sigh. She didn’t bother telling him things would work out. He’d have to see it, and accept it for himself, that being awakened wasn’t a death sentience, for now enforcement and ultra-cons controlled policy but eventually everyone got sick of bullies and bullshit. No form of oppression can or does last forever, if the awakened had been powerless maybe things would be worse but even Enforcement goons trod softly unless there was a clear law for them to hide behind. It was one benefit of the long perspective that allowed her to deal with this times assholes so benignly. She shuttered when she thought about what a younger Melissa would have done.

Chapter 5

Dominic sat in what Sasha, and Melissa both assured him was the testing facility waiting room. It looked like a DMV office. Complete with little partitioned computers for taking driving tests. Bored ladies behind a tall long counter and a rope maze for crowed control. Dominic was sure the girls where having a poke at the FNG a little awakened hazing perhaps?

The office smelled of cheap pine cleaner and plastic. The orange hard plastic chairs were bolted to a long central bar though the seats, the linoleum floor was beige with flecks of beige. Bottom line if anyone had to sit in there for longer than an hour they’d start to go a little mad. Honestly when the fake ficus is the most interesting thing to look at in the whole building, and the various public safety and information posters start to become enthralling reading there has to be some brain damage happening somewhere. Right?

When a mocha skinned woman with a short messy hairdo in sort of a faux hawk of shining mahogany mess called Dom’s name he would of sworn she was the hottest woman on the planet. Okay, second hottest? Close third he was sure. He was ready to gleefully agree to marriage and having HER baby if it would get him out of waiting area hell. Dom usually had more patience but today he wanted to get whatever testing meant over with and get back to trying to salvage his life. He still hadn’t figured out how to tell his mom yet after all.

She ushered us down a hallway past various bureaucratic functions being carried out, and then down a short turn to the right. On the right wall, was a closet marked janitorial. And Dom knew he had to be getting jerked around, because the mocha skinned faux hawk rocking woman in her very business like skirt suit unlocked the door and jerked her head for everyone to enter. Melissa and Sasha went in, Dom was hesitant maybe it was because he didn’t trust the beautiful black woman, or maybe he didn’t trust Melissa and Sasha? Hell maybe he didn’t like the scent of cleaning supplies with a top note of dirty mob. He arched an eyebrow at the woman clearly asking a silent “What the hell..”

“My name is Cynthia Green, I’ll be your test coordinator and administrative liaison Mr. Gray. Think of me as a social worker for awakened affairs. Now please enter.”

Dominic entered, as did the Cynthia woman, she pulled the door closed and as soon as the door clicked shut a horizontal metal gate closed rising up from the floor and descending down from the ceiling to meet in the middle and lock around the closets door knob. Dom felt a dropping sensation in his gut and realized with a start the whole room mop sink, shelves of cleaning supplies and all was a large elevator car.

“Neat trick.” Dom said.

“You haven’t seen any tricks yet, only the smoke and mirrors.” She said

The elevator trips was short, if Dom had to guess he’d say it was a four floor trip but it’d only be guess. For all he knew they could of descended the lowest circle of hell the world wasn’t making much sense anymore. The door at this stop slid open like normal elevator door, to reveal a new set of offices six central cubical desk arrange mean flanked by on each side of the room by four glassed in offices. It looked like so normal that Dom knew that this was real. If he’d walked into an office and papers had been floating by themselves and office workers speeding around or flying about it’d of felt contrived. But the sense of the endless bureaucratic grind felt real.

“Well, lets go into my office and get your basic information down, you know; Name, address, social. That sort of thing. Given any thought to if you want to be in or out of the awakened closet?”

“Ummm..” Dom found himself unable to speak. It was time to make a decision and he didn’t know the answer to a yes or no question. It wasn’t like him up to this point he’d always been decisive, it’s how he battled it was how he lived.

“We don’t think him being in the closet is a viable option.” Sasha spoke up for him

“Oh?” Ms. Green asked?

Melissa filled her in, “His awakening was transformative, yesterday this time he was 5’8” hundred fifty-five pounds. Today 6’5” and change and two hundred seventy pounds or so.. Think anyone will notice?” Melissa asked dryly.

The thing in all that that Dom clung to was, “Two hundred seventy pounds? Impossible!”

“Yeah, guess hiding is out for him.” She said without any emotional bias one way or the other, “And yes she’s probably right, don’t worry looks good on your mass is probably a bit more dense now so you look like you carry about two twenty, for someone as tall and broad through the shoulders as you that looks lean.” I noticed Sasha blush.

We entered her office, it was impersonal and the feeling of a shared space. There was no vanity wall, no pictures of family or friends. Everything was either a shade of gray, or blue-gray very subdued. I guess if a new awakened was rattled it help keep power spikes down. About the only personal bit was her coffee mug on the desk that read, “Awaken me tomorrow, I don’t do Mondays..” with a grumpy granny like caricature in a cape next to it.

The paperwork was surprisingly fast she input the basic data once and the system automatically filled it into the right slots, and printed it out for signing. Quick and efficient, why couldn’t all paper work go this smooth? The only minor snag was him not being able to speak for his mother, He didn’t know if she was going to continue or sever association with him he hoped, but couldn’t say.

“Well, lets take you in for testing then we can determine who’ll mentor you for next three months.”

“Mentor?” Dom asked.

“You have to be observed for three months by an awakened that can keep any power flare under control. It’s mostly pointless but we had a couple of awakened with poor impulse control and viola a new inconvenient law for all of us. So we turned it into a learning experience, for the more experienced awakened to help the new guys learn to use finer control on their abilities.”

“Oh..” Dom was disengaged at this point and he knew it. He hadn’t realized that so much of an awakened’s life was dictated by other peoples fear and hate.

Dominic was shown out of the office with Sasha and Melissa trailing behind him while Ms. Green led them to the far side of the room to another elevator. This more mundane elevator lead them down lower underground to a huge rectangular steel floored, concrete room.

“Our testing room, you can let yourself loose in here and not really hurt much.” She commented in passing.

Dom nodded.

Ms. Green spoke to the room. “Reginald, you with us today.”

A hollow computer generated voice spoke from indeterminate direction. “Yes Cynthia, it’ll be pleasure working with you today. How may I be of assistance?”

“Access; File header; Subject 3374-B69A1-4278.” She read the subject number clearly from a data pad to whatever Reginald was.

“File Accessed, Subject 3374-B69A1-4278; Standing by”

“Standard test protocols, please”

A red light strips round the floor and ceiling of the room started flashing a warning. And four foot square of the steel plate dipped slowly down and slid away as something that looked like a prop in sci-fi film rose up from the floor. It was a round shiny silver platform about six inches off the floor.

“Scanning platform standing by. Please proceed when ready.” the voice said

“What is that voice?” Dominic asked finally creeped out.

“That is Reginald, the test facility’s AI. It runs the scans and practical tests to insure protocols are followed and all metrics are as accurate as possible.”

“Couldn’t a person do it with less creep factor?” Dominic shivered

“They could,” Ms. Green agreed, “But not as quickly or as accurately. The AI doesn’t have moods, it doesn’t break up with it’s girlfriend, or get headaches. It carries out it’s series of tasks the same way every time without fail or distraction.” She didn’t add that she’d been doing the job for 7 years now and Reginald still gave her the wigs. “Please step onto the scanner platform if you will Dominic.”

Dominic stepped up on the scanner platform and faced the women in the room. “Now what?”

“Close your eyes the lights can get a shade bright, other than that just stand still.” Ms. Green said to him then she spoke to the empty room. “Initiate scan protocol, send compiled data to my pad Eyes only Cynthia Green; Senior Test Coordinator.”

“Scanning please standby…” the computer said, and even with his eyes sealed tight it felt like the light was stabbing through him. A shade bright was an understatement. “Standby.. Standby.. Stan.. Test complete compiling data in standard format. Please step off the platform.” After three more seconds, “The data on subject 3374-B69A1-4278 should be waiting eyes only Cynthia Green, Senior Test Coordinator.”

“Thank you Reginald, please run post test diagnostic and report any errors to IT. And scrub the data on subject 3374-B69A1-4278 from the buffers.”

The platform lowered it’s self back into the floor and the section of steel plate slid soundlessly back into place. Then Ms. Green spoke again, “Reginald, are you sure about these results?”

“Yes Cynthia, as per Lexington protocol any statistically aberrant result was ran an additional three billion times. As accurately as I can assess those are the proper results of subject 3374-B69A1-4278’s test scan.” The air hung silent.

Then did a low whistle between her teeth sounding like an old west movie. “Ms. Green, you should know that I’m a razor’s edge here, keeping me in suspense is damaging my cool..”

“Oh sorry,” she snapped out of it, “Just never thought I’d see one of these in my career.”

“Of what?” Melissa asked smiling brightly, “Share with the class or you don’t get a cookie and juice at snack time.”

“Yes; well basically Welcome to the world stage as a super power Dominic.” She went to continue..

“I know I’ve got some kind of super power but what..”

“That’s not what she said Dominic,” Sasha cut me off in turn “She said you were a super power.” Silence stretched as it sunk into his head. “Please continue Ms. Green.”

“You’ve got the basic wide grab bag of gifts, the unusual part of it is they are unusual strong on avg and well the really strong ones are off the charts. Before I get into details please note Reginald’s scan can only generalize and give us a place to start testing; He’s a short cut not the answer.”

Everyone nodded two of the audience having heard a similar speech before. The other just trying to understand, how he or any one person was a world power.

“Lets see lets take it in the order of what consider primary or core abilities, Strength; As governed by the ability to lift and move physical objects, Middle to high B-class range.” Dom exhaled that was pretty strong but not crazy strong. “Durability; defined as the ability to absorb x amount of damage over y amount time in z amount of physical space on the body is Assessed as probably in the maximum A cusp of S class range.” Dominic felt pole axed, accidental injury wasn’t a possibility anymore of the scan was right he knew that much”

“I’ve only got the vaguest of notions what the classes mean Ms. Green is there a resouce I can study?”

She looked annoyed the sighed and nodded, “You’ll get a full explanation in the practical tests where we’ll nail down this assessment with a much higher degree of accuracy.” She continued reading, “This is the one I’ve never seen before, Energy Projection; Defined as the concentrated release of energy in various forms from ones body through force of will. Maximum S.”

Melissa showed the first hint of surprise and Sasha gasped. “That’s like a pyrokinetic or telekinetic’s blasts right?” Dom asked

“Yes, except form this result I’m nervous with you pointing your hands towards the ground.” Dom went for clarification because now he was scared with his hands pointed towards the ground too. But she continued. “Stamina; Defined as how long one can maintain peak performance before fatigue starts to degrade one’s ability Middle to high S.” She explained before I could interrupt, “You shouldn’t build up fatigue toxins or run out of energy period, You’ll probably still need to eat to Feel right but not doing so will not hamper you, you are like your own sub-atomic power plant. She glanced over at Sasha then quipped in the first crack of professional demeanor “Lucky girl.. But seriously your S Class energy projection probably needed this adaptation or you couldn’t use it without killing yourself. Least you aren’t a broken-one those are always sad.” Dominic knew that term, it referred to awakened with gifts they couldn’t use because of flaws in their power sets, i.e. Massive strength without the durability to survive their own power was the most common one. “Regeneration; judged by how fast one heals from a four inch long four inch deep incision, Moderate S class; Law requires me at this point to explain to you at this point that at some point in your maturation process you will likely stop aging this this happens in one one hundredth of one percent of the total awakened population, should you need mental health counseling after the entirety of this new aspect to your being sinks in you’ll be provided five sessions at no cost to you.”

“Wait… I’m not going to get old?” that one was a heady one all the good popped up into his mind at once. Then the bad. Then the in between.. “I’ll see everyone I know grow old..”

“Not everyone sugar,” Melissa chimed obviously trying to perk him up. She wrapped her long arms around Sasha’s body gripping both of the woman’s sides and squeezing lightly. “Both of us will still look just this good just as long as you do.” Oddly it was a comfort.

“Wait I thought this was rare?” I asked confused when a realized the three people in one room with this kind of regen had to be odd.

“It is, I know who Sasha Duvane is I follow all up and coming stars. It was a big shock when she tested as she did. I’m afraid I’m not familiar with this young woman though.”

“Melissa Isabella Agguilara,” She said, “And this young woman was around when your great great great great, Probably a couple more greats on top of that grand-da did the do with your equally great dear old grand-ma.”

“Oh.” Ms. Green blushed, “Back to the topic at hand other classes of Regeneration have some slowed aging effects, but effectively telling someone they are immortal can have some strange psyche effects. So please avail yourself of the offered counseling if you need it. Continuing on. Psychic power; measured by how much psychic energy you can manifest or project at a given time Middle C. I’ll just add here before moving along this stat has always been the toughest to quantify, things get strange with this one.” everyone nodded at that, the most powerful telepath in the world was a high C, he could read minds anywhere in the world just by concentrating the trick he said in an interview was not to read them. While a famous A class telepath could only read minds within seven feet of himself but when he did read a mind he knew everything that mind had learned from birth. The psychic arena was a strange one.

“On to what we refer to as ancillary powers. These powers are usually side effects of the core abilities. First up, Flight; measured by the speed at which one can propel themselves through sky in sustained controlled flight. You tested Low B. That fits with Melissa’s testimony of you reaching low mach one speeds. Again if I had to guess it all ties in to your other abilities. At this a point I’m again constrained by law to inform you that there are strict FAA regulations placed upon people with this ability and that ignorance of the regulations isn’t a valid defense for breaking them and stiff penalties will be imposed upon anyone caught comiting infractions of them. Conversely let me add they don’t have a hope in hell of catching anyone breaking them and they know it but law means I had to inform you so I have and so it’s been noted. Moving right along.” She was obviously not impressed with my flight potential. “Teleportation; is measured through various metrics, How far you can teleport, How much you can take with you. No surprise, you Tested Maximum S here too. I think your energy projection and teleportation is linked. At the hotel bombing several people claim to have been teleported at the same time without someone physically touching them. That has never happened before. The other strong really strong teleporter in the world, incidentally the former strongest, can take at most two people at once along with him. You teleported twelve independent of yourself. Scary..” She exhaled and moved on, I guess she didn’t like the idea of teleportation. “Energy Manipulation; Is an ancillary metric of Energy Projection, it measures basically how you can shape or control the energy you project. You tested low C.” I was confused but she must of taken for disappointment, because she explained. “It’s to be expected as the power of the energy projection goes up the ability to manipulate said energy with finesse goes down. I like the analogy of someone swinging a sledge hammer versus someone tapping with a finishing hammer. You can’t put a tack nail into a doll house with a sledge hammer like wise though you can’t bust up concrete with a finishing hammer.”

Dominic nodded his understanding “So is that it?”

She shook her head, “One more metric was measured everything else was flat line human norm. Psychic Energy Manipulaton; Basically the same as Energy Manipulation with the same analogy. Solid Mid Class-A, Whatever this psychic based ability of yours is you can train yourself to have some fairly fine degree of control over it apparently.”

Dominic just nodded all the information he wanted so badly moments ago was now just a numb wad of indigestible goo in his brain. Goes to show, the curse of May get exactly what you wish for.. Is alive and well.

“I’ll give you three a few moments before we do the practical tests.” Ms. Green said

Sasha moved closer to him, hesitantly as if trying not to spook him. “You okay? It was all good news you aren’t broken or flawed in an obvious way, and very few things can hurt you anymore and nearly none of them controlled by enforcement.”

“Yeah,” Dominic nodded “It was good news I guess, except the world power comment, I mean I don’t want any part of that. I want to go to collage get a good looking girlfriend. Not be a global threat.”

“You really are thick you know that?” Melissa said.

“MELISSA,” Sasha hissed at her friend.

“Well he is, here he is all morose when he’s free. Anyone with him is just as free too.

• Categories

With his level of flight and teleportation anywhere in the world is possible. Want to picnic in the south of France? Poof. DONE. Want to know what color the Aegean is in the summer sun? Wham! You can explore the world forever if you want, hell with the right girl you can make love nearly endlessly breaking only for those tender moments chicks read about. That’s the real reason most normal humans hate us, people like you and me, and even Sasha are completely FREE. Don’t get bogged down in the crap of today. You go all emo and start writing death poetry on us and I swear I’m kicking your ass.” She thumped him hard on the nose and he actually felt a slight sting of pain. I guess she was showing she could back up her threat if she wanted to. Dominic realized he didn’t really know much about Melissa at all.

 

“That is all true,” Dominic allowed. “But I’m still mired neck deep in the now, forgive me if I need do some life adjustments. And I don’t do emo, lost my eye liner and they kicked me out of the club.”

Sasha hugged him tightly. And for the first time he realized she wasn’t controlling herself with iron restraint around him. She reached up to her tip toes, and whispered into his ear. “Don’t worry we’ve invested too much into you at this point to let you hang by yourself, you aren’t alone.” What Dominic didn’t know and what secretly thrilled Sasha down to her toes was that hug would of crushed granite and broken most awakened spines’ in two. And all he seemed register was a comfortably tight hug.

Redemption

This story is a work of Fan-Fiction based upon the world created by Marion G. Harmon

For every action, there must be, and inevitably always is an equal and opposite Reaction.

-The opening line in “Redemption” An unauthorized biography of a hero

Chapter 1.

I stared up at the facade of Citadel’s, the ubiquitous Supers hang-out, with it’s upper level landing platform for the flying super set. It’s cliche rope line of beautiful norms wanting a shot at rubbing bodies with the living gods inside. Citadel, a.k.a Gideon Foster had been the countries premiere Ajax class cape. Upon his retirement from active status he opened up his “joint” for his friends. That quickly grew to this monstrosity. It was all just fucking silly, if the charlie foxtrot’s had had a tour or two in China or Israel and had to wash the living gods blood out of their socks or stand at attention as the cape of a bro was hung from a guidon right next to a soldiers cross they wouldn’t worship these peacocks like they do. But what the hell, sometimes a delusion, any delusion at all is better then dealing with what was. I could relate to that at least. Dillon stop stalling jackass, so the bastard had his little breakthrough life sucks who gives a shit.

I walked up to the door an arched an eyebrow at the bouncer, he hesitated but jerked his head balanced on a thick, almost non-existent neck towards the door. I nodded at him and walked in. The guy knew who I worked for, and while Manny wouldn’t, condone me starting trouble inside, Citadel’s he’d damn sure would expect me to pursue the mark into the place. Not that Manny’s or his bosses or his bosses bosses, or hell for that matter even God his self’s expectations meant a damn. It was just a job. As my eyes acclimated to the pulsing lights and my ears to driving beats of the coordinated chaos inside, wondered if it was time to tell Manny to attempt aerial fornication with an ambulatory breakfast pastry.

The dance floor was a riot of colors and cape costumes that could double for lingerie, it all just slid off me like fog. Not much seemed to touch me anymore. Sexy women slipped past me without notice, and good food might as well be ash for all the flavor it seemed to hold for me. I knew I wasn’t right in the head, hadn’t been in a long long time. Probably wouldn’t ever be again. But boohoo one night I’d find destiny in some back alley, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. I wasn’t likely going to die of old age in a bed somewhere and that suited me just fine. Finish this job move to the next was my mantra, Marine Corps taught me as long as I could keep moving I was fine. wonder how I’m  going to find the jackass, never mind there he was center stage of course. Where else would you expect to find the newest and dumbest D class Atlas type? Was he really doing the running man mid air above the dance floor? That is just wrong, to quote Garth.. “Live in the now..”.

D class was the lowest tier of “super” it ranged from just above peek human performance to the lowest echelons of phenomenal. But still for a norm like me, this could and was likely to go sideways fast. The outfit would normally send a pair of higher rated super humans to slap this jackass back into line. But given that Manny was a nickle and dime player, and the outfit now had a healthy distrust/respect for supers, it was understandable that I’d be offered up as a sacrifice first before contracting the job out. Whatever time to make contact, walking over to the bar I ordered a martini with two olives from the little female bartender. When the drink came I slid one of the olives off the plastic sword, took a quick swallow of the drink before I lobbed the olive at the back of Cap’n Jackasses head. It hit, he rubbed the back of his head and looked around in my direction with a very confused very dumb look on his mug. He saw me and paled for a second, then smiled a shit eating grin at me. Moron. Damn I hoped this isn’t going to hurt too much death was fine, pain was annoying. I jerked my head at the side door, he nodded back.

Flying down to the door he made it outside first, as I worked my terrestrially bound way to the back exit. For all the pomp of Citadel’s front facade its alley was just a dingy alley with all the alley smells of urine and trash enhanced by the bar smells of old vomit and stale beer. The ballast of the yellow sodium light buzzed annoyingly over head adding a counterpoint to the dull thump of bass that vibrated through the walls of the club. I looked the guy over, he was dressed in loud red and blue pleather pants and a canary yellow silk shirt. First, as a rule breakthroughs didn’t get body makeovers so the belly overlapping the pleather waist band was disturbing, second they didn’t instantly get style either so the jackass was grating on my corneas. “Manny sent me, he Says you owe 50 large plus juice by next Friday, or I gotta comeback and break something.” yeah I hadn’t figured out how exactly I was gonna do that just yet.

“Really? You and what army boy?” Could the guy get more Jr. high?

“Micheal, you don’t want to do this. You had a breakthrough yay for you. I’m just the messenger, super powers or not a bets a bet, debt is debt. Now pay up.”

The Jackass just grinned cruelly at me. Normally it’d be funny I was 6’3” and fit.. he was 5’8” of flabby dough. But then he was a breakthrough like my dad was, only dad was an A class cape. And this flubber based life-form couldn’t of carried his cape. But dad was dead, this guy was probably going to be dead too. Not tonight of course, might not even be able to do much more then hurt him a little. D’s weren’t all bulletproof but then I’m not supposed to kill the guy either just tune him up. Yeah right the likely hood of me coming out of this fully functional was slim and oh hell.. But a jobs a job, and I’d never been picky.

“Hows about we do this then, I smash you up and send you back to Manny with your balls in your throat? And you be sure to tell him what he can do with that debt of mine humm?”

“I knew you were gonna say that.” I had one chance please let this guy be as dumb as I think he is.

The guy flew straight at me perfect, trying to grab me I deflected his hands to the side and spun past him kicking him in the butt as he passed. As he smashed faced first into the backdoor of the club I kicked him in the groin as hard as I could and jerked a device out the back of my coat, slapping it on his back. He grabbed his boys and spun on me listing forward a bit as he cradled the jewels. I pulled the keychain remote to the “tag” I’d slapped on his back out of my pocket and prayed the verne I bought it off of hadn’t been shitting me. The moron spit and cursed then launched himself at me head on again and I hit the button. Arcing blue electrical pulses crawled all over his body and he fell face first to the alley pavement.

“Now lets discuss the generous payment plan, Manny is offering.”

“Fuck you, norm-puke”

I hit the button again and new arcs of blue agony crawled all over his body. I didn’t like my job, but I was a scumbag dealing with scumbags, I never muscled ordinary folk only dealt with the dirt-bags that crossed other dirt-bags. And I wasn’t sadistic, but still, if I gave this ape half a chance he’d be bouncing my head off the asphalt like the worlds ugliest basketball.

“Want to try again?” and that is when the plan went to hell.

The flubber-ape rolled over onto his back and ‘flew’ into the ground crushing the tag with an audible crunch. Oh hell…

I backed up a few steps glancing around for a plan B as he staggered to his feet spiting angry invocations at me. As my brain parsed the problem I registered, oddly enough that a few of his strings rhymed. DAMN it, nothing immediately useful around and it was time to focus on flubber-ape again. Fighting skill would only get you so far against an opponent that had all the physical and tactical advantages. I’d done okay in round one because I was written off as a J.A.N(Just Another Norm), I’d played my ace and came up short. Round two wasn’t likely to go as well for me. He launched himself at me again and I braced myself to parry him into another pivot move again, when my field of view was suddenly blocked by a red flannel shirt. My ears registered a grunt of pain from the ape, and a tsking sound from in front of me.

“Sugar, I think you need to head on home now. IT’d be a shame if I had to cut my night short t’book you into the tank wouldn’t it? Big strong atlas type like you picking on a normal would get you sent up for a long time.” The southern belle dripped from her accent like sweet nectar.

Cradling his hand Micheal “flubber-ape” Discotti flew off. Apparently his new odds didn’t look so good to him. My “savior” turned around to face me. I glanced at her taking her in from head to toe. She landed in front of me and looked me straight in the eye so she was 6’3” too or close to it. Very tall. Toned everywhere that I could see and I could see quite a bit as it were. She was stunning up close, Tilted at a cocky angle on her forehead was a brown leather cowgirl hat, with a silver star and black leather band. Her red hair was in a thick braid down her back. Her sleeveless red flannel shirt was tied in knot below her breasts. And her cutoff shorts exposed more long legs then most women could lay claim to. Her peaches and cream skin showed her muscles were just impressive but not masculine. And I could see in her hazel eyes that she was appraising me as well.

She spoke first. “Boy you either gotta be suicidal or dumb, jacking with even a piss poor Atlas type like him.” She smirked at me her Hazel eyes dancing her full lips quirked crookedly on her face. “And since your shoes are on the right feet I’m guessing you ain’t dumb Sugar so what gives.”

Whatever, I don’t have time for this.. “You arresting me cape?”

“I could, I heard enough of the scuffle to know your no angel Sugar.”

“Arrest me or move..” I was under no illusion I could ‘move’ this one she was Silver-Star. A female Texas Ranger before her breakthrough now she was a trouble shooter for Super Groups a free agent of sorts. Maximum B low A class Atlas type, known for her hotness and willingness to do photo spreads, and fighting above her weight class with a recklessness that would be admirable if it wasn’t going to get her killed one day. She seemed to love life and live it very loudly.

She dropped her arms over my shoulders and locked laced her fingers behind my head putting us chest to chest, face to face, eye to eye. “Now Sugar, is that anyway to thank your savior?”

“I didn’t ask to be rescued, so what makes you think you deserve any thanks?” I was being an ass part of me knew it. But I just didn’t care much. She was exactly the type of woman though who once upon a time stirred my blood. And I could feel it in the background still trying to breakthrough. But there just wasn’t enough left of me to care.

She dropped her hands from my shoulders and backed up a little stunned looking, “Naw you can go, don’t let me catch around here again… Be a shame to have to bust you.” She looked at me another a second and flew off

Whatever, I’d have find flubber-ape again.

Most breakthroughs that come from a background like his, become super-villains. Its just a fact that holding onto a moral compass is exceedingly difficult when every support structure is brutally ripped away one at a time. Compound that with his Marine Crops service record and it’s amazing we didn’t end up with a vicious mad dog. Instead of a savior all be it a slightly darker savior then most are comfortable with

–From “Redemption” An unauthorized biography of a hero

Chapter 2

I texted Manny from the fleabag I was staying in and left the prearranged code phrases for “Made contact am on the job.” Manny was convinced the cops would love to bust his two bit ass. Personally I didn’t think they gave two farts and a giggle about him. Tossing my phone down on the unused twin I stripped my clothes off before heading into the shower. Silver-Star still foremost in my mind, it sucked being a shit to the woman, I felt guilty about it now. But it was best, I was broken and attachments ended badly. Least for me, people that get tangled up with me usually end up dead while I linger on remembering their faces long long past the point of wanting to bleach them out of my mind. I’d track down flubber-ape once more try to get the juice he owed on the marker then get the fuck out of dodge. Let Manny contract outside talent to collect the rest. Besides even if what she seemed to be offering was only one night, why torture myself with her for the rest of my life right?

Was the dream again, I always knew when it started but could never seem to wake myself up once the briefing started. You’ll proceed to from F.O.B. Thundercloud in a pave low helicopter and heilocast into the river at point xray. From point xray you’ll proceed at best speed consistent with stealth to OP able. Recon the enemy locate same and subdue prisoners higher ranking the better. Special-Forces supers Captains Wallace and Forescythe will be with you to exfiltrate your captures back to base while you continue on with your patrol. Even though technically they are officers and of higher rank you have operational command of the patrol. S2 estimates the enemy forces in the area as negligible but use cation just the same Dillion a live marine is worth a hundred dead heroes get me?

“I get you sir.” I gave the perfunctory response as I loaded the mission profile into my data pod.

I jerked awake the phone saving me from a replay of events I’d sooner forget. It was was late afternoon the long shadows coming through the blinds saying it was after four at least. I got up rubbing my face feeling the rough stubble scrape over my palms as I tried to push away the tingle of adrenalin and fear from the edge of mind a panic attack is the last thing I needed now. Exhaling hard I grabbed the water bottle from the bedside table and took deep pull at the bottles’ neck. Most people like me where alcoholics or dope fiends. Me, I lived clean I didn’t want to run from the pain. I didn’t like the pain of the memories I carried but at least it was something REAL. One of the few things in this world I could claim I owned, besides running from the pain only means it’ll snap at your heels all the more anyway. I walked into the bath room flipping the seat up to relieve myself before checking the message. It was only Manny he’s the only one that had the burnners number.

Waking the device up I read the tiny screen,  deleted the message and shoved the cheap p.o.s. Into my back pocket before finding a dive I could eat at before resuming my hunt. I walked down the street thinking about my flubber problem. D class, formidable opponent but new untrained and stupid. It was hard to plan an operation when you didn’t have accurate intelligence if I even just had a list of known associates I be in a better position then I am now. Manny said the guy was a talker and an organizer before his breakthrough flubber-ape a people person go figure. I needed to make sure the guy was alone, last thing I wanted to do was get caught around his friends then, I’m going to have enough of a hassle with him.

I came to a dinner that at least looked clean, and went in. Taking a booth at the back I waited for the waitress to bring me my coke. I didn’t bother looking at the menu, didn’t need to I already knew what I was going to get. Double cheeseburger rare, pickles and ketchup only w/ fries. It was a universal constant, screwing up a cheeseburger was though. Though some highbrow fake dinners tried real hard with stuff like blue cheese or goat cheese. But really it’s a fricken cheeseburger sear it flip it slap some cheddar on it call it done. My middle age waitress tried to make some idle chatter at me that I predictable ignored before she drifted away she was only trying to chat up her tip anyway not like she gave a damn what I thought about the weather or whatever it was she was going on about. I found a news paper under my hand that someone had left in the booth next to me, I unfolded it and their was Silver-Star in her silver cowgirl hat and silver spandex suit. It looked good on her, it was hard to rock spandex just ‘decent’ bodies need not apply. She was apparently in town as a temporary augment to Citadel’s old group The Enforcers a new mob of super-villains was apparently stirring up trouble and doing the do quietly which meant smart masks. Trouble in river city boys and girls. Well, I’d be out of dodge before I had to make nice with these guys. I hate negotiating with masks and real black-hats you never got away clean, ever.

My burger came as I read the paper quietly at my booth, I ate and thought about the job. It wasn’t bad at all simple to the point and enough calories I could run on it the rest of the night if need be. As I finished up full night had fallen, I tipped my waitress a five, and paid my bill at the counter before I went off in search of flubber-ape again still no closer to workable plan that didn’t end with me in ICU or the morgue. Citadel’s was burned he’d not go back there, if it was just me maybe but Silver-Star had spanked his pee-pee but good and he didn’t strike me as the type of guy secure enough in his self to shrug that off easily. So that meant back alley dives where he could still delude himself that he was the man. Great.

The night had progressed from one stink hole to the next. Each one dirtier than the next, I was gonna squeeze something extra out of Manny for this. The shoe leather alone was eating into my profits now. It was about eleven at night, and you couldn’t see the stars for the city’s light pollution but the moon hung swollen and low near to full bloom bathing even the darkest alleys in a silver glow. My mind lingered on the thought of ‘silver’, remembering Silver-Star in her spandex work gear. Nice. I walked on towards my next destination through a part of town cops locked their car doors when passing through. When I heard the unmistakable sounds of a beating in progress, male jeering, boxes and bags crashing about and female groans of pain. Motherfucker this was all I needed to screw my night up. I hustled around the corner taking a peek when I saw her laid out on the ground her silver spandex shining in the moonlight as flubber drew back his foot and kicked her in the head hard enough I wondered how I did hear her neck snapping. How the hell? Then I saw how, six others chuckling in the glow of the moon. One on one I’d put money on her being able to deal with any of them maybe even three on one. Six on one well, even ants can bring down a lion if there are enough of them.

Flubber walked back to a old ghetto cursing bucket and grabbed what looked like a sledge hammer from where it rested against the buckets quarter panel. “Now lets see if we can fix that face of yours Sugar …” The chuckles of the assholes around flubber made my decision for me before I realized I’d made it myself. I chose to die…

When I stepped into that choice past the point of turning back, something broke inside me and roiled about my guts searing me changing me, flubber was now five feet from the woman and I wasn’t going to let him get a step closer while I breathed. Between one blink and the next between his moving his weight from one foot to next as he walked I stood between them. How I didn’t know I was slightly disoriented as not only did I seem to teleport but also change my orientation in relation to them mid teleport, so that she was to my back and I faced them.

To flubber’s credit he didn’t hesitate when I appeared only charged faster bringing the sledgehammer down towards my head in a high fast arc like I was a nail to be driven into the ground. I crossed my arms over my head expecting to be crushed. I had no expectations of saving her or of winning this fight. And honestly I couldn’t tell you why I chose now to die, or why it’d be for her, but that is where I was. I flinched as the hammer fell, but all I felt was a tap, I could tell it hit me but there was no explosion of blinding pain or well death. Flubber looked flabberghasted I took great joy in realizing as I threw an overhand right. His head exploded in a red mist before his body hit the ground. By instinct I threw all my strength behind it, problem was there seemed to be a bus load more strength behind it then there used to be. Three of flubbers new “buddies” took off flying away without so much as pausing to glance at their fallen friend. But two thought it was a good time to play, Lightning arced down from a blown out street lamp to one weasel faced guy, then arced through him to me I felt the tingle of it dancing on my skin felt it burning my clothes but it didn’t phase me at all. I wanted to get to him fast and suddenly I was in front of him with my elbow in his face. I managed to pull back on the power enough that it didn’t kill him. That was when I suddenly felt the sticky ‘energy’ webs wrapping around my neck and legs holding me in place. I could of pulled free I felt but instead I teleported again behind the wanna be webber. I kicked him in the ass hard enough to put him face first through the buckets front window. And just like that I realized that like my other siblings in my family I’d had my breakthrough. I wondered if it’d kill me like it killed them.

Silver-Star moaned, and stirred in her bed of trash bags and discarded boxes. Enough worthless thoughts I had shit to do. I walked over to where she lay my brain pulling up what little I’d read about this cape Kara Michelle Mitchel, aka Silver-Star, and… that was it besides the Texas Ranger back story and her charity bikini modeling for men’s magazines. I checked her vitals they were strong, the only visible damage was a deep red angry welt that was spreading from temple to jaw line. Probably from where flubber had kicked her, I had a sudden irrational urge to rip his leg off even though he was very dead. I knelt down beside her and scooped her upper body up into a sitting position and gently tried to wake her. “Silver wake up woman, come on now..”

She groaned and stirred a little in my arms

I encouraged her more firmly, “Thats’ it come on you aren’t dead yet off your ass cape.. MOVE IT”

She jerked in my arms and shot up fifteen feet in the air. As if looking for her enemies. Seeing the clear signs of carnage and no threat she sagged in the air before descending back to street level. “What the hell happened?”

“I’d say in your parlance, ‘you got your ass stomped.’”

She gave me a sour look, “Yeah, but  how’d I live through it? And who wrecked dough boy and the others here.”

“That’d be me seems, I joined the super power club and that your gonna have to arrest me after all.” I wasn’t happy about this development at all.. Not only did it put me in whole other class of laws professionally, well it screwed with my head opening up things that were better left where they were, in the past in a box marked, “don’t even think of opening.”

“You did that,” She pointed at flubber’s corpse.. “What’d you hit him with?” She looked down at the spotless sledgehammer.. “An anti-tank rocket?”

I held up my bloody fist and forearm. “This..”

“When did you get your breakthrough?” She wobbled and I steadied her

“About the time flubber kicked you in the face.”, She touched the side of her head winched, “I’d come looking for him and found your beatdown in progress and well.. I teleported I was Ajax tough and strong. Only the energy manipulators powers just rolled off me. I thought that was one of Ajax, Atlas’s weaknesses? What the hell am I?” Not that I cared really but seemed a valid question if we where gonna stand around and gab.

“We’ll find out sugar, now why am I arresting you again? Sorry still a bit out of it.”

“I assaulted two men and killed one with superpowers isn’t that go right to supermax do not pass go never see 200 dollars again?”

“Naw it was stopping a crime in progress against an agent of the state. Plus your first use of super powers against people after your breakthrough is largely free since it happens out of the clear blue. And you have no clue how to control them. And even if it was a serious crime right now my give a damn is busted. Let me get my head straight and I’ll fly us to the Outpost that little electrical freak fried my ear wick.” She smirked a crooked grin at me.

On impulse I grabbed her shoulders and pictured the Outpost it was what the enforcers called their HQ and it served as the hub for the city’s dispatch system that routed supers and law enforcement officers around the city. She swayed disoriented for a second before finding her metal again.

“Well aren’t you just a handy one sugar.” she patted my hand weakly on her shoulder

I flagged the door guards down waving them over, “Whatever you say..” They stood there, their thumbs metaphorically up their asses just gawking at our arrival.. I put my middle finger and thumb to my mouth and whistled shrilly, and in my best Marine noncom voice, “Move your lollygagging asses, She’s hurt…” That got the ball rolling, they quickly whisked us inside what I was gonna do now i didn’t know. but at least it’d be interesting.

“The first few days after my breakthrough where a charlie foxtrot’s nightmare.. I was all over the place.”

-Excerpt from Dana Stalarts Interview with Dillion “Reaction” Mhartagan

Chapter 3

As we walked through the large marble hall I took stock of security, it looked casual but it wasn’t. I saw motion detectors, inferred cameras, cameras set to coordinated random rotation sweeps. And that was just what I could see. If the common everyday ‘peoples’ business area was this tight I didn’t want to know what the precautions in acted below were like. Except for that little bit outside Silver-Star didn’t hang on to me even though she was still a little unsteady on her feet. I think it was important that the people here see her as ‘strong’. Whatever that was worth let Dexter over there get kicked in the skull by flubber and see if he still had one, she survived. And sometimes when that is the best you can do you call it a victory and put it behind you. But hey if that is her bag, let her roll with it.

Silver, and our two escorts whom I’ve designated as thing 1 and and thing 2, hereafter simply 1 and 2 piled into the elevator and took a ride up the tower, apparently medical was above us. I’d of thought that all mission critical areas would be down below. Not that with the power of breakthrough that anything was really safer underground then it was above now days. It’s always been a problem, now it was more critical, mobility vs. defensive fortifications. Mobility is great for small covert units, not so great for high visibility symbols such as super heroes. “So, 1 and 2 did they have a 2 for sale on those suits or something? Or does the Outpost get a bulk deal? How you keep the ladies off you?” They didn’t say anything, didn’t even glance over at me. Silver gave me an elbow to the ribs. Whatever I thought it was funny.

We traveled about fifteen floors up, which normally wouldn’t be a huge cause for concern only hears the thing, the Outpost building supposedly only had 8 above ground floors. I cut a glance over at Silver, then back to 1 and 2. “So someone want to clue the new guy in with what gives?” Before anyone could answer the elevator stopped dead, and the doors opened up and a shimmering curtin of velvet black hung in front of us.

1 and 2 stepped out of the elevator car vanishing right into the black. Silver smirked and said “Come on you where Billy Badass back in that alley don’t tell me your scared now.” She stepped out into…. nothing?

I swallowed deep and stepped into the unknown, there was an odd stretching sensation at first, then the stretching stopped and I “snapped” like a rubber band into a high-tech medlab. And by high-tech I mean next level no clue what was up tech. Data displace seemed to project in open air opening and closing where ever a medical staffer was standing. I could see that it was some kind of alert system because all the technicians where looking at Silver. Though it couldn’t of been too bad because no one was in a hurry. Silver sighed “That system creeps me out every damn time..”

“What system?”

“Our doc, Is a vern type.. Anytime someone steps through the inter dimensional portal into the lab they are scanned they get a run down on whats wrong.. even before they actually enter the lab. Some sort of quantum voodoo. They actually receive updates a second or two before your even in the lab. Though your only in a state of quantum flux for micro seconds.” she shook her head slowly, “It’s voodoo I tell you..”

I arched my eyebrow at her as a man that was impossibly skinny walked over, virtual displays hovering around him like seagulls around a fishing boat, flashing information so fast that it wasn’t possible that he could be getting it all. “Silver-Star brought in a new Breakthrough I see? Good good, Are you injured?” his voice pinched and very nasal as he looked over the technical displays.

“Don’t you know Doc?”

“It shows a minor contusion to your head that is well on it’s way to healing. But the I.D. Scanners seem to me malfunctioning at the moment. We can’t get a lock on our friends here class. He seems to be in a state of flux…”

“Flux?” I asked flux wasn’t good did I get scrambled up in that damn portal?

“Yes, one moment you exhibit Atlas qualities, next millisecond Pyrokinetic, Aerokinetic, Flight pulses ranging in from low D class to top A, the only aspect that remains constant is Ajax durability in the top ninety-five percentile, even the strength is in flux from non breakthrough to A class. MUST be an error.”

“My powers are exhibiting schizophrenia?” Huh, makes a kind of sense….

“Nonsense, technical error to be sorted out shortly…” he sounded affronted..

“Doc you got a aspirin or something?”

The doctor didn’t even look up from his displays, he pulled a Flash Gordon looking ray gun from the holster at his belt and zapped her in the face with it. Her knees sagged for a second before she caught herself and stood firm again. “Better humm, yes good.” He banished what must have been her virtual display after answering his own question.

“Damn it Doc! I hate it when you do that…”

“Aspirin pah, my neuro-ray is much more effective at targeting and neutralizing pain receptors then mere aspirin.” His face took on a pinched look..

“Her scans are right… my scans are right.. the lab tech’s scans are right.. your a mess.. Impossible simply impossible..”

I wanted to argue that nothing was “impossible” since the Event, high school sized cheerleaders tossing cars like frisbees’ was once upon a time “impossible” now you see it as a matter of course. I started to offer my opinion when Silver-Star beat me to it.

“Doc, hun nothing is impossible these days, our HQ is in a pocket dimension that you created through tech that you imagined up. At best things are only, improbable right?”

“I suppose,” He grumbled on, “But things should be classifiable, quantifiable, ordered..” the agitation breaking through his voice

“Look Doctor, I didn’t mean to step all over your OCD and if you have some magic tech that turns a breakthrough off, then by all means get to beaming me up and I’ll get out of your hair quick, fast, and in a hurry if not let me go on my way.. I gotta break it to a pocket sized megalomaniacal punk that I screwed up.. and probably pay back seventy-five to ninety K depending on how the miserable shit calculates up the debt, so got things to do people to piss off.” Getting it ripped bloody for probably close to a hundred large is what can happen when you play the game so it was all on me. Didn’t mean I was happy about it but I played the cards I was dealt and lost.

Silver-Star looked confused.. “Really hows that work?”

I sighed hell, whats it matter now right? “Our newly headless friend, by the way we just gonna leave him in the ally like that?”

“Containment is on it.. I signaled for back up and pick up on our way up with the guards.. Go on, you where saying?”

I hadn’t noticed any signals, but then I wasn’t paying that close of attention to her in the building I shrugged, “Well ol brother Micheal, bet fifty-thousand dollars on a sporting event that sadly he didn’t know squat about it seems, with said megalomaniacal punk. Three days later some other unrelated and even more unsavory types got tired of trying to collect his promises to pay and decided to make an example of him. You see after a period of time deadbeats become a liability others might start thinking they don’t have to pay up either and it just becomes one big mess for the unsavory types so at that point it’s time to cut losses and by losses read ‘throats’. Things get unpleasant for or dear brother Micheal now, real scary real painful and that’s when he had his breakthrough which while trashing his debt collectors and thinking he’s become untouchable he really screws up… So when my former employer tries to politely collect on the fifty large, our now overly cocky and deservedly dead brother Micheal tells my former employer to attempt an anatomically improbable act of sodomy on himself, ‘I’m not paying, you nothing I’m an Atlas now..’ Soo boys and girls this is where our intrepid hero, ‘me’ gets the call to go council brother Micheal on the error of his ways and steer him back to the path of righteousness, I’m not a bone breaker personally though I intimate as much. I’m a negotiator and facilitator the bone breakers are ugly pieces of work.. I am however more expendable, and less likely to bring heat down on my old boss. So I’m always offered first. But anytime your on one of these jobs your supposed to ‘protect’ the investment until it’s time for him to not be protected anymore. I killed the investment so now, the whole debt is on me plus the accrued juice or ‘interest’ plus a small finance charge for shifting the debt to me.. very sensible right?” Okay, so I was a little bitter about it.

The Doctor focused his eyes on me be for the first time.. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard…”

“Hey I don’t make the rules, and I’m not dumb enough to think I can skate on them just because I got widdlebitty special gold star tonight. If they say I owe I owe..” I didn’t want to think about how they’ll try to make me pay.. I’d probably end up in the “Tank” supermax for the rest of my natural life. Why couldn’t that sledgehammer of cracked my nut open like a over ripe tomato?

Silver-Star spoke looking at me with the emotionless expression of an interrogator “Why do you say your former employer..” She tried to give nothing away, and damn it I was ever going to play poker with her because she didn’t.

“Because dear sister Silver, I’ve been blessed by the superpower fairy.. though we don’t know what I am.. or what I can or can’t do.. It’ll place me into a whole other league, a league in which there are two ways out. The prison cell, or the morgue.. While I don’t really care either way I still have the option of not going down either of those roads where one day I’ll have to decide if I want to be taken down by a cape or put down by a cape. I’m sure both parties would like to avoid either hassle. Yes?”

Her face had been getting darker and darker since my condescending little rant began. But really I didn’t care. I didn’t know how I was going to pay back that huge sum of money. Knowing Manny he’d make it high enough that I couldn’t ever pay it back to loop me into some super-powered scheme that would eventually get me dead. “If class is over boys and girls I’d like to find food and a liquor store, for some reason I’m hungry enough to eat cow though I don’t know why shouldn’t have an apatite at all. And then I want to get straight up slammed.. and deal with this BS tomorrow when I’m properly hungover.”

She smirked at me, “Can’t let you do that partner sorry. We can get you food we will provide shelter but the bender is going to have to wait for a couple of months, till we sort out your skills and get you trained to use them. Your a walking disaster of unknown scale.”

It pissed me off, it really did.. But I was nothing if not practical, because what could I do about it? Go to war with a whole building full of capes get them pissed off at me and end up in the jail cell anyway chained down or sedated for the rest of my days? “Great… whatever just get me the damn food then..”

We walked back the elevator/weird portal when the doors open it wasn’t there I didn’t even ask I just got in. The realities of my new situation settling in on me and the more I realized the darker my thoughts got. As we rode up higher into a tower that didn’t exist to sleeping quarters that weren’t really there. I had the strange thought, I should regret not letting her get pounded into cape-paste but I don’t. I really don’t think that would of made this any better if she was whether or not she is my catalyst or not the worlds better with her in it. Don’t go soft in the head jackass just don’t really.

She was the one that was responsible for putting back together; at least as much as I am, before that I wasn’t someone you wanted to meet. Ever.

-Excerpt from Dana Stalarts Interview with Dillion “Reaction” Mhartagan

Chapter 4

Silver-Star gave him a cheeky “Good night sugar, sweet dreams.” Just before sealing him in his room. The simple statement had carried enough innuendo to render a normal man an insensible goober. Hell her just leaning languorously against the wall the way she had in her tight silver cat suit was enough. He shrugged it off, it wasn’t something he could have, even if it appeared to be offered. Besides Silver’s whole public persona was that of a shameless flirt. Odds that she’d be into low level mob goon and fixer was probably lower than a nun shooting a porn flick for charity it just doesn’t happen.

Putting the gorgeous atlas type firmly out of his mind he examined his cell. As cells go it wasn’t half bad. Central to the room was a small sitting area two slick leather arm chairs with an small oval coffee table between them and a loveseat. Past the conversation slash reading area to the right was a queen sized bed, on closer inspection it turned out to be one of those adjustable air ride numbers with deep black comforter and sheet set. On the wall facing the foot of the bed was 55” plasma TV at the perfect height and angle for watching it in bed. Past the bed on the left was a generous walk-in closet across from the closet on the right was what he thought of as a “girly” bathroom.

The bathroom had the standard gear for the serious business. On one side of the bathroom sat the toilet nothing really fancy that wasn’t tacky to do with them so it was the standard porcelain affair. Sink and mirror with fancy hardware to the left of the toilet. Across the bathroom was the girly part, in a small alcove there was a short platform with a tub within a tub, on the right wall and the back wall was like tendrils of ivy hanging down the wall. And on the left wall facing the tub was a water fall that flowed into the outer the tub. Recessed into the ceiling above the tub was a fancy full spectrum light panel for those that wanted to bath in simulated sunlight.

I stripped down to my altogether, and found the right nobs to make the four panel rainfall shower head in the ceiling work, it was kind of an odd sensation. But what tonight hadn’t been a freaking mind twist? Flubber had gone off his rocker attacking a cape. Worse she’d been a Texas Ranger, and he was a lousy D class. There are just somethings you don’t do, attacking any kind of cop is strictly speaking dumb, attacking a fed is worse, but maybe even worse than that is attacking and killing a Texas Ranger. Even a former one, as much beloved as she was by her home state and nearly everyone in it I wouldn’t of put ten cents on Micheal’s life. They know the rules as well as we do, even if Micheal had any connections worth damn after a stunt like that he’d of found no help, and probably depending how hard they were willing to push the issue been turned over to the Rangers with a bow around his neck to smooth things out. No one wanted undue heat, which was why most outfit dealings with law enforcement was kept strictly speaking cordial, the outfit ran their games and tried not to get caught and law enforcement tried to catch them at it if they got caught ninety-nine percent of the time it was just a case “cost of doing business.”

I killed the shower and grabbed the obscenely fluffy, fresh smelling, and warmed towel out of it’s rack between the tub and stall, and started drying off when I realized the only articles of clothing that I had not stained with blood was my socks. I didn’t even have any boxer shorts, “Well won’t this be a conversation stopper at the breakfast table.” I quipped to the empty room. Further investigation found a clean and equally fresh smelling, and fluffy white robe hanging on the back side of the door, “That just about sums this place up alright.. Fluffy.”

As I walked out of the room I was struck by the scent of freshly seared meat. On the coffee table I discovered a still steaming steak, some covered dishes that probably held sides, and a tall glass of beer in a mug that was still frosty. Though shanghaied and locked into a room in a place I didn’t want to be by a woman I didn’t want to think about in a situation that was probably going to get me killed? I smiled, because in my book a hot steak and cold beer erases a multitude of sins.

….

This dream again, why can’t I ever get away from this one at least? I knew it was a dream like my others and I couldn’t ever escape it. Tommy’s funeral. Tommy like our dad dead in the line just as he had things worth living for. Sarah crying her new born clutched to breast like a life preserver, that image haunted him nearly as much as he being handed a folded American flag symbolically wrapped in a heroes cape in the same color scheme as Tommy’s costume. All the costumed heroes and local police that knew Tommy wearing arm brassards in Tommy’s gold and orange with his stylized fire bolt on it instead of the traditional black. In the dream I was still the thirteen year old kid I’d been.

Suddenly there was a shadow over me, hands pressing my shoulders down my heart slammed into action and I reacted to the situation how training and experiences I’d like to forget taught me. I jerked the body close to mine and rolled us in a quick movement, I was just going to drive my elbow down in their throat when a sliver of light glinted off of red hair, and my sleep addled brain caught to where I was which instantly lead to who my attacker must be.

“Whoa, Sugar.” Silver said from under me my left arm penning her upper chest down and left bunched up in the front of her red flannel pajama tops. “Umm this might have been a probable outcome the first night we met, but lets face it slick even with the whole saving my life thing you’re going to have to kiss some major butt and grovel a bit before anything like this is happening…” She trailed off teasing like I hadn’t been half a heartbeat from trying to end her. Then a normal thought broke in and I realized I was naked man penning her to the bed. It snapped me out of that go state that anyone who’s lived a violent life understands.

I turned her loose and spun from her sit on the edge of the bed breathing labored as I fought to push the ghosts back into the dark one more night. Head resting in my hands I tried to slow my breathing, tried to bring my galloping heart rate down. With her atlas abilities she could hear it plain as bass in an obnoxious teens car. I might of actually killed her, or hurt her badly, I wasn’t just human any longer. “Don’t ever touch me while I’m asleep…” I got out as my pulse faded from my ears and the after wash of the adrenalin spike left me cold and shaky inside. “Make noise, call out.. Just don’t touch me. What the hell you doing in my room anyway?”

“Medical monitoring AI said you were in distress, I came to check on you, since your breakthrough is of yet undetermined type. I rushed in to make sure you weren’t hurting yourself. It’s rare that a breakthrough can hurt themselves with their own power but it happens. And I..” she trailed off, she didn’t have to say more. She found him having a nightmare and tried to wake him a common first reaction.

“I get it, you were following protocol and all that. Just don’t touch me while I’m asleep, it can go bad.”

“Safety lesson learned, don’t touch, poke with a stick gotcha” She said as she sat on the foot of the bed facing his back. She got points for not trying to touch him right now. Even her silky touch would been like sandpaper across his nerves right now. “So you going back to sleep?”

“Getting a shower..” I got up not caring I was nude. She’s seen all the parts I’ve got before and one thing I was not was bashful. I walked past her to the bathroom hoping she didn’t see the fine trembles still running through me.

The day had an early start, most of mine do.